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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

VOLUME THE TENTH.

(second series.)

JULY TO DECEMBER, MDCCCXLIV.

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AGRicu:

THE FAEMEE'S MAGAZIN^E.

JULY, 1844.

No. 1.— Vol. X.]

[Second Series.

PLATE I.
PORTRAIT OF PHILIP PUSEY, ESQ., M.P., F.R.S,

PLATE IL

Our second Plate represents a Short-horned Heifer, bred by Mr. Henry Watson, of Walkeringham,
near Gainsborough. It was exhibited at the meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society at Derby, and
obtained a prize of Ten Sovereigns, as the best yearling heifei of any breed or cross. The animal
was also successfully exhibited at the meeting of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society at Doncaater,
^\'here it gained a prize of Ten Sovereigns, as the best yearhng short-horned heifer.

MEMOIR OF PHILIP PUSEY, ESQ.,
M.P., F.R.S.

It was an early, and dearly cherished delusion
of several generations of farmers, long since passed
away, that all improvements in agriculture could
only emanate from those who culti\'ated, as it
were, Avith their own hands, the soil on which they
subsisted. This unhappy conclusion was for a
lengthened period adhered to, with a tenacity
equally ■vigorous and deplorable. It was lamen-
taole, since it rendered the farmer of past ages
deaf to every suggestion of those, who, applying
themselves with fresh minds, and an unprejudiced
love of truth to the tillage of the earth, readily
saw the errors of the old systems of cultivation, and
the advantages to be derived from rational and
scientific deviations. It was long, indeed, before
the farmer began seriously to reflect that the
man, m-Iio had been from his early boyhood
bred up to one peculiar mode of cultivation, the
use of one unvaried rotation of crops, the rear-
ing of one favourite breed of live stock, was
hardly the person likely to be the first to exchange
these for others. Time, however, and more
especially the general progress of education, in-
troduced other and happier views. Men of dif-
ferent professions began to see the advantages to
be derived to the farmer by new modes of tillage ;

OLD SERIES.}

and some of these had the courage to pubhcly
tell the English farmer this great truth. Soon
after the invention of printing, Fitzherbert, a
learned judge of one of the courts at "Westmins-
ter, in a small, and now rare book, M-as the first
to publish a treatise on agriculture ; and although
he did not, in this work, announce any very im-
portant (to us) agricultural novelties, yet, in his age,
his publication could not fail of being of consi-
derable advantage It, at least, produced the
efl:ect of making the landlords, of those days, the
clerg)', who then engrossed almost all the learn-
ing of the period, and the governors of the land,
better acquainted with the chief practical points
of, what was then deemed, good farming. It
was certainly remarkable that the first English
treatise on agriculture, was full of good sense ;
and showed, moreover, that even a learned
lawyer could treat, with advantage to his coimtry,
upon the practical details of farming. The ex-
ample, thus set by Fitzherbert, was successfully
followed, at considerable intervals of time, by
other persons ; such as by Thomas Tusser (who
was bred a chorister, and a nobleman's page), by
John ^Vorlidge ; and about a century since, by
a still greater English author than any who had
yet addressed his countrymen on the improve-
ment of agriculture — the great Jethro Tull : he
too, was not bred a farmer, for he was a barrister,
B [No, I, "VOL. XXL

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

of Gray's Inn. His efforts, however, were still
more successful and considerable, than any
Enghsh farmer who had yet appeared. Of his
practical success, as a cultivator, at Prosperus
Farm, near Hungerford, we have no certain ac-
coimt ; it was by his public efforts, by his pub-
lished works, that he has immortalized his name.
It was in these that by his advocacy of better pul-
verized soils, of the use of the drill system, of
improved agricultural machines, and of many
other agricultural questions, that he rendered
invaluable services to the cultivators of his coun-
try; and not l)y the limited advantage which
arose from the good practical example, he might
set his sluggish, and prejudiced neighbours in an
obscure Berkshire Hundi-ed. And, it was M-ith
this spirit, with such modes of action, by ado])t-
ing such a path to pu Jlic usefulness, that all the
great farmers who have adorned and enriched their
country since Jethro TuU's time have proceeded.
Such means were those employed by the celebra-
ted Arthur Young, (who was originally educated
for commercial ]:)ursuits in a merchant's office
at Lynn) ; by Sir John Sinclair; by Francis,
Duke of Bedford ; by George Sinclair ; and by
the great Coke, afterwards Earl of Leicester. It
was these great men who excited, who directed,
who maintained that noble spirit of improvement;
of cautious examination ; of scientific research ;
which have in our days been productive of such
mighty results. It was they who encouraged,
who supported the Bake wells, the CuUeys, the
CoUings, the Ellmans, the Granthams, and
the Webbs, to produce such nol)le imoroved
breeds of domestic animals. Thus, too, en-
couraged, came forth the Da\'ys and the Play-
fairs ; it was their spirit which originated the
splendid implement manufactories, sucli as
those of the Ransomes, the Smythes, the
Wedlakes, the Crosskills, and that of Uley.
It was such a spirit which led to the
formation of the Highland Society of Scotland,
and the Royal English Agricultural Society.
And, fortunately for England, before the Bake-
wells, the Sinclairs, the Duke of Bedford, Lord
Leicester, the Collings, and Arthur Young, de-
parted, they had formed and stimulated a gallant
and enlightened band of the farmers' friends,
who acted upon, and adhered resolutely to the
conviction, that little had been done for agricul-
ture, comi)ared Avith what was yet to be accom.-
phshed. Some of the points which have arisen
from acting ujjon this persuasion can hardly be
better shown than in the words of the subject
of this brief and imperfect memoir — of whom,
as a living contemjjorary, it is the best taste, I
think, to say but little, even A^'here we feel how
much must be said to his praise — who, when
recently noticing the improvements of the farm-
ing of Lincolnshire since the days when Arthur
Young, in 1/99, descril^ed its then recently rapid
progress as being " so great in twenty years, that
httle remains to do," observes very justl)-— rJoj/r.
Roj/. Aff. Soc, vol. iv., p. 302.)—' This is indeed
a bi ight picture of wide and rapid improvement,
drawn at the close of the last century, and Mr.
Young might well say that little remained to do ;

but, has nothing been done? Under another
head of Arthur Young's report — 'Amount of
Crops ' — we find the following entry : * In the
inclosures from the heath — crop of barley, three
quarters; oats, four; no wheat.' And yet, in my
own note-book," adds Mr. Pusey, " taken on the
same heath in the present year, I find — ' barley,
six quarters ; oats, none, since they are too poor
a grain for such farms ; wheat, four quarters,
sometimes five.' A warnin^j, that in farming, as
ill other 'pursuits, ice should not say very little
remains to do."

The whole of Mr. Pusey's excellent paper,
indeed, well illustrates the truth of this noble
axiom ; a paper whose opening and concluding
sentences we will insert in this i^lace, since they
will not only afford a fair specimen of the spirit,
the st)'le, and the zealous ability with which the
valuable agricultural efforts of Philip Pusey are
directed ; but they will show, in A^ry intelligible
language, tlie probable fruits which the farmer
may, in even the most difficult cases, anticipate as
a reward for his enterprise and his perseve-
rance.

"On a sunny morning in November, 1842,"
Mr. Pusey i-emarks (Jour. Roy. Ar/. Soc., vol. iv.,
p, 2sr.) " Mr. Handley having undertaken to
show me Lincolnshire farming, we passed through
Sleaford on our road to Lincoln, and soon entered
upon a higli but level tract, presenting a culti-
vated exuberance, sitch as I had never before
seen : farm succeeded farm, each ap])earing to be
cidtivated by the owner for example, not as was
really the case, by a tenant for profit : and so, for
miles, we passed on through fields of turnips
without a blank or a weed, on which thousands
after thousands of long woolled sheep were feeding
in netted folds. Every stubble field was clean
and Ijright ; all the hedges kept low, and neatly
trimmed ; every farm house M'ell built, A\-ith spa-
cious courts, and surrounded by such rows of
high, long, saddlebacked ricks, as showed that
the land did not forget to return, in August,
what it had received from the fold in December,
since the niunber of these farm houses, which
might always be seen at one view, proA'cd that the
size of the farms would not account for the extent
of the rick yard. Yet this land, so loaded with
roots and with corn, showed no mark of natural
fertility. On the contrary, it is fawn coloured
sand, about six inches deep, lying or a drj- thirsty
walling stone. At length, as we journeyed on,
Mr. Plandley jiointed out to me, standing by the
side of the road, a column seventy feet high.
It was a land hght-house, built no longer since
than the middle of the last century, as a nightly
guide for tra-\'ellers oA'er the drear)^ waste, which
still retains the name of Lincoln Heath, but is
now converted into a pattern of farming. This
Dunstan Pillar, lighted no longer back, for so sin-
gular a purpose, did appear to me a striking Avit-
ness of the s\nnt and industiy which, in our days,
have reared the thriving holmsteads around it,
and spread a mantle of teeming vegetation to
its very base : and it was certainly surprising to
discover at o:ice the finest farming I had ever

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

seen, and the only land light-house that was ever
raised. Now that the pillar has ceased to cheer
the way-farer, it may serve, not only as a monu-
ment of past exertions, hut as a heacon to en-
courage other landowners in con\-erting their
dreary moors into similar scenes of thriving
industry: within living memory it was by no
means useless, for liincoln Heath was not only
without cidture, but without e^-en a road. When
the late Lady Robert Manners wished to visit
Lincoln from her residence at Bloxholm, a groom
was sent forward previously, who examined some
track, and returned to report one that was found
practicable. Another family from Blankney was
lost on this Heath twice in one night, in return-
ing from a l)all at Lincoln, and was obliged to
remain U])on the waste imtil morning."

After giving a graphic sketch of the improve-
ments effected in Lincolnshire by drainage, en-
closures, chalkings, warpings, &c., with many
occasional side-long glances at the farming, good
and bad, of widely distant districts of Eng-
land, Mr. Pusey adds : "' What Arthur Young
said five-and-forty year since of the Lincolnshire
farmers, may be said now. I have not seen a
set more liberal in any part of the kingdom,
industi-ious, active, enlightened; free from all
foolish and expensive show or pretence to emu-
late the gentry; they live comfortably and hos-
pitaljl}-, as good farmers ought to live, and, in
my opinion, are remarkably void of those rooted
prejudices which sometimes are reasonably ob-
jected to this race of men. I met v.'ith many who
had mounted their nags, and quitted their homes
purposely to examine other parts of the kingdom,
and done it with enlarged views, and to the be-
nefit of their own cultivation." They have visited
other di tricts, and they have since so managed
their own farms, that these deserve to be A'iewed
in return. " Practical farmers," concludes the
subject of this paper, " may perceive defects
which escaped my observation; but if they see
Lincoln Heath or the Wolds either in harvest or
later in winter, when the sheep are in the fold,
and the cattle in the yard, I do not think that
they will be disappointed. They will see the
result of great expenditure on the part of the
landlord as of corresponding energy on that of
the tenant; and if other owners of desolate places
should be encouraged by the example to fit them
for man's use m hke manner, thereby enriching
their families, multiplying farmers, strengthening,
and one may say enlarging their country, and
above all, raising the weekly dole of the lal)ourer,
by the only means of raising it, namely, by
ploughing up fresh land, on which the labourer's
arm will be wanted, I earnestly hope that on
whatever moors their buildings may be reared,
or their fields be enclosed, they may be no worse
seconded in their i)raiseworthy efforts to pioneer
for posterity, than Lord Yarborough, and Mr,
Chaplin at l?rocklesby, and at Temple Burer,"

It is with such a spirit, and with such a zealous
ability that the suljject of this memoir has
served the agriculture of his country — not only
1)y his own practical farming, but Ijy a variety
of highly useful and spirited essays, dispersed

through the pages of the Journal of the Royal
[ Agricultural Society, of which, and from its first
appearance, he has had the chief direction, as
chairman of the Journal committee. He was one.
of its earliest friends; and at the meeting at the
Freemasons' Tavern, on the 9th of May, 1838,
when the society was formed, he seconded the
resolution moved by Lord Fitzwilliam, " that
annual meetings be held successively in different
parts of England and Whales." And in 1840 and
1841 he very ably fulfilled the ofi^ice of president
to the society, continuing in office from the Cam-
bridge meeting in July, 1840, to the conclusion
of that at Liverpool in July, 1841; during
which period, this great society continued to
flourish and increase in members and usefulness,
as it still does.

Mr. Pusey is descended from the ancient family
of Bouverie, now Earls of Radnor — a name which
occurs frequently in the history of the Low
Countries, and which first settled in England in
1568, at Canterbury. The fourth in descent
from this first settler assumed the name of Pusey,
and married a daughter of the Earl of Har-
borough, and had five children, of whom Mr.
Pusey is the eldest, and was born on the 25th of
June, 1799, and married, in 1822, a daughter of
Earl Carnarvon, and has one only daughter, born
in 1831. Mr. Pusey was educated at Eton and
Oxford, and a'terwards travelled over Europe,
the customary successor of academical studies.
In travelling over Spain with his college friend.
Lord Carnarvon, now his brother-in-law, they
were made jjrisoners by the royalist Guerillas, or
iSIountscerats, and were kept for four hours under
sentence of death. His property in the parish of
Pewsey, in the vale of White Horse, where he
lives, is held by a " borne " now in his possession,
and mentioned by Sir Walter Scott in his tale of
Kenilworth. The horn was given by Canute,
and was produced in a trial before Judge Jeffries,
and its authenticity admitted.

The inscription, according to the Antiquarian
Society, is to be read thus — " I Kyng Cnoote
geue ye W)'llyam Pewze yis home to holde by
thy londe.'' Most of the old possessors of land
hold by some similar pledge.

Mr. Pusey early turned his attention to agri-
culture; and, on succeeding to his property in
1828, his name was soon known as an active
leader in various improvements. His estate has
found him abundant occupation in draining, &c.;
and most of the arable farms, by the wish of the
tenants, are laid into single fields, the hedges and
Ijanks being removed; but some trees are left for
ornament. He acts on the principle of employing
many labourers, both to give employment and to
derive profit ; and encourages the Ineaking u]) of
grass-lands (" inferior") for the same double
purpose. He practises largely the allotment
system, having let, since 1829, about 400 allot-
ments; and, from experience, he is thoroughly
satisfied of the advantage of the system, and is
anxious to see it exlended. The general impres-
sion, with respect to allotments of land for la-
bourers, agrees with. Mr. Pusey's opinion,

B 2

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENTS.

Sir, — With reference to my improvements at :
Tiptree Hall (the expenditure of 6000/. on a farm |
of 130 acres, that only cost .3250/., as explained
in my two former letters), I am so constantly
told, in tones A'arying from doubt and pity to
ridicule and censure, that " It never can pay "^ —
" You win never see your money again " — ■" You
are a bold man " — " It is iinpossible it can
answer, the cost is too great," and so on — that I
must endeavour to fill up the outline of my plan
with details, and try to convince those whose
comprehension of my success is impeded by
prejudices, the natural result of long estabhshed
usages, whose continuity would almost preclude a
question as to their propriety.

Most of my operations are approved of sepa-
rately, but there is a dread of the sum total, as if
what were individually right could be coUecti^-ely
Avrong.

I shall show, then,

1st. How the farm is to pay me, as landlord,
an additional rent of 240/. per annum, with an
increased benefit to the tenant as compared with
his former holding.

2d. The intended course of croijping, stocking,
and management of the farm.

3d. I wiU remark on the weak points in the
present state of land and system of farming.

4th. I shall submit a few general observations
on the non-apjjlication of capital to land ; and on
the importance of agricultural improvements in
an economical, social, and other points of ^'iew.

It is only justice to remark, that I am fortu-
nate in having for my tenant a man of temper,
integrity and intelligence; who, with doubts at
first as to the correctness of my views, and with
an unexpired lease of five years, assisted zealously,
faithfully, and at no small personal trouble, in
canying out to the letter my various under-
takings.

In making the following estimates, I hiwe
adhered strictly to matters of fact, Avhicli I am
prepared to discuss and substantiate. I have
expressly unden'alued the benefits, because I
know how suspiciously and sceptically my state-
ment will be scrutinized by those whose minds
are pre-occupied by doubts and prejudices, rather
than by calculation.

STATEMENT OK GAIN OR SAVING.

£ s. d.

200 trees removed — estimated to da-
mage by their roots and by their
shade, Is. each 10 0 0

D50 linear rods {oh yards each) of
removed banks and fences (ditches
filled up), averaging two yards Avide
— some were four yards wide, but
the difference is set off against a few
new ditches. It is estimated that
each rod of these fences and banks
damaged 6d. by their roots, their
shade, their encouragement of weeds
and vermin 2130

l-6th saved in horse-labour and wear.
(This, in the Prize Essay of the

Royal Agricidtural Society's Jour-
nal, vol. iv., part 2, p. 336, is esti-
mated at 1 -4th.) £21 0 0

1-Sth saved in manual labour . . . 20 0 0

Seven acres gained in fences, banks,
ditches, bog, and waste, Avhich pro-
duced nothing, but cost the tenant,
rent, rates, tythes, &c., 36s. per acre. 12 12 0

Profit in cultivation of the above seven

aci'es, at 15s. per acre , . ; . . 5 5 0

105 cjuarters of wheat thrashed by
machine, gain in cjuantity 1 -28th, or
2s. per cjuarter 10 10 0

150 ditto spring corn, at Is 7 10 0

Saving in thatching, removing stacks

and straw, Avaste by birds, &c. ..500

Liquid manure tank, calculated to
contain 120,000 gallons, but A\'e only
reckon upon 20,000 gallons, at 50s.
])er thousand (each 1000 gallons
being equal to 4 cwt. guano) ... 50 0 0

Improved quality of solid manure . . 10 0 0

Increased value of stock, by Avarmth,
dryness, and diminished consump-
tion of food 15 0 0

General increase on 90 acres of corn
and cloA^er crops, arising from per-
fect drainage, at 1/. per acre. . . 90 0 0

SaA^ing in quantity of seed soAvn. . . 20 0 0

TAventy acres that used to be long fal-
loAved, at an expense of 5/. per acre,
noAv calculated to pay their exj)enses,
if not a profit, by bean or root crops. 100 0 0

A first-rate house to live in, Avith every
comfort and convenience — the loAver
rooms eleA-en feet high, the bed
rooms ten feet high, and convenient
rooms for the baihff. (Tlie tenant
could not reside in the old dilajii-
dated hoA'el, Avhich Avas damp, un-
healthy, and caused several deaths
by fever.) 30 0 0

£428 2 0

To sum up, Avhereas the former gross annual
return of the farm Avas under 51. per acre, Ave
shall try to increase it to 10/. per acre.

To this might be added several contingent ad-
vantages of considerable value, but not so easily
reduced to figures.

1st. The being able to fat at least 100 to 150
sheep more than before, of a better quality, and
earlier lambs. The tenant could breed, but
never thoroughly fatten a lamb or sheeji on the
farm, in its former cold, Avet, and exposed state,
AA'ith its homestead open to the cutting north-east
AAinds, Avithout gutters or drainage.

2d. The facility of cooking and steaming food,
and the economy of several acres that Avere re-
quired for horse food, by groAving lucern,
tares, &c.

3d. The very important benefit of early soAAdng
and harvesting. We reckon Ave shall gain at
least a fortnight in both, as proA'ed last year, Avitll
superiority of sample, and aA'oidance of a catchy
Aveek in September.

4th. A perfect independence (by our efficient

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

drainage) of a very wet season, which has often
ruined the crops on this farm; witness 1842,
when the oats yielded but three quarters two
bushels per acre, and an inferior sample.

Lastly. The agreeable feeling of having a com-
plete farm, with good roads, comfortal)le home-
stead, and good crops; instead of the former
dilapidated, beggarly, and poverty-struck land
and premises,

Tlie saving of horse and manual labour is
considerably underrated, when you consider the
ready communication with each part of the farm,
the abolition of all short lands, the facihty of
ploughing or carting at almost any time with less
power, the land being firm and mellow, instead
of putty-and-paste-like : no idle days in wet
or cold weather, there being employment under
cover for men and horses, grinding, chaft'-cutting,
or thrashing ; the facility, at harvest, of drawing
the loaded carts into the bays of our large barn,
and at once dejjositing the sheaves ; the ease
with which they are transferred from both barn
and stacks to the threshing machine, the straw
l)eing delivered by the machine into a gallery
over the very sheds, yards, and stal>les, where it
is required ; no time lost or accidents in leading
horses or cattle to water, there being tanks in
every yard, and a yard to every stable — all the
tanks filled simultaneously from a single pump.

There is another advantage of which no valua-
tion is taken — I mean the farmer or bailiff's time ;
whilst Avriting up his accounts or arranging his
plans, by stepping from one room to the other,
he can at once see every man, boy, horse, or
sheep, on any part of the farm, except about four
acres. Any accident, mistake, neglect, maltreat-
ment, or pilfering, is perceptible at a glance.

THE COURSE OF CROPPING

will be regulated by markets and circumstances.
It may be stated generally, that on the heaAy land,
wheat will alternate with beans and a little clover
and tares; and on the light land, barley suc-
ceeded by rye for feed, and then roots, so as to
have one corn crop, one green crop, and one root
crop, in two years. Should flax or Indian corn
be found profitable, ^\•e may grow them. It is
intended to adopt Mr. He\vitt Davis's excellent
practice (which is Jethro Tull's rew^ed) of a
small quantity of seed wnth wide intervals. For
carrj'ing out this, no instrument appears so well
suited as Newbury's dibbhng machine, which
will deposit three pecks per acre of wheat (and
other corn in proportion) at intervals of six inches
in the row, and the rows twelve inches from each
other ( beans, peas, and roots, we mean to place
twenty-seven inches between the rows). By
affording a sufficient space for frequent hoeing
and cleaning, this will do away wth long fal-
lows, secure heavier crops (on drained land) and
avoid that competition for support which pro-
duces, in luxuriant showery seasons like the last,
ruinously laid crops, and lean miserable kernels,
which diminish the value of the sample by ten
pounds in every hundred.

We have found Crosskill's clod-crusher roller
of extraordinary benefit in pulverizing our

stiff land (disordered by drainage and cart-
ing), and shall use Hill's pulverizing plough, with
Mason's knives : in fact, take every opportunit}-,
by means of subsoiling, scarifying, &c., to obtain
a fine and deep tilth free from weeds ; nor shall
we debar ourselves from purchasing guano or
artificial manures, should such a course appear
occasionally desirable. Our great object will be
to grow the very utmost that the land can pro-
duce by foixing ; bearing in mind, that in doing
so, we virtually decrease the expense of rent,
labour, seed, tythes, rates, and other charges,
thereby increasing our profit, and improving the
land for the future. "SVe are now using one
bushel of bone dust, dissolved in forty pounds of
pure sulphuric acid, to all our root crops, in
addition to other manure.

THE STOCK

will consist of twelve head of cattle fed in stalls
or boxes (on the princijile so ably stated and
practised by Mr. John "Warnes, jun.), \nth
steamed or cooked linseed, clover, chaft", pulse,
potatoes, &c. Tliese cattle will be considered
our manufacturers of manure, as the Lincolnshire
farmers call them, and if they occasionally pay
for their feed or a profit, so much the better.
As we shall grow annually thirty to forty acres of
roots, we hope to be able, hereafter, to produce
food enough for 200 to 300 sheep, to be folded
on the land or fed in the yard, according to
weather and circumstances, having an especial
regard to the well-established fact (as proved by
Professors Playfair, Liebig, and others), that,
with warmth and dryness, a little food fattens
quicker than a great deal with cold and wet.
Compare the sleek, plump, though naked,
African, thriving on light vegetable food, with
the fur-clothed Esquimaux, of the northern
hemisphere, trying to maintain his supply of car-
bon by swallowing daily some eight or ten
pounds of seal's blubber or other animal food.
All our straw wiU be cut into fine chaff, like saw-
dust, for litter. There appear many advantages
in this, such as the diminished space it occupies,
the readiness with which it absorbs Hquid
manure, its more sudden fermentation, its avoid-
ance of frequent turning, its portability, both as
chaff and manure, and avove all, the facihty of
commixing it intimately with the soil in prepara-
tion for root crops. In the tank we shall probably
introduce a layer of earth or gypsum between
each layer of manure, particularly in the summer
season, so as to secure the ammonia.

The hquid manure will be applied by a water-
cart to the gi-owing crops (the ammonia being
first fixed by sulphuric acid), and as the green
crops are mowed for consumption in the yard,
the hquid manure ^vill follow the scythe. "We
have also used much common salt, especially on
the hght land,

THE WEAK POINTS OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM.

I believe I am quite correct in stating, that in
our hea\7 land districts only 50 acres out of every
100 are available to produce food for man or
profit to the farmer. Full 20 acres are consumed
by the farm horses, 25 acres in long fallows grow-

«

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ing nothing, but involving an outlay of nearly £5
for each acre, and from 5 to 10 acres occupied
by banks, ditches, and farm buildings, leaving
the tenant the produce of from 45 to 50 acres to
pay all charges on 100 acres.

I think it is high time svich a s}'stem should
be altered, that by perfect drainage, economy of
manure, and superior cultivation, 12 acres should
keep the horses, and all the rest (save the home-
stead and an external iron or wood boundary
fence) be available for corn or roots. That this
is perfectly practicable is proved in Lincolnshire,
parts of Scotland, and other highly cultivated
districts. It is an easy and profitable way of
adding 40 per cent, to our territory A\ithout the
cost, cruelty, and trouble of conquest, mihtary
protection, or migration, with the stiU more pleas-
ing reflection of not having to rend asunder those
kindly ties of home, affection, and friendship, the
want of which is bitterness in the cup of many an
honest emigrant.

With regard to fences, there appears a sort of
veneration for them entirely unaccountable, I
object to them in toto, except such as are of wood
or iron. The banks on which they stand are
privileged receptacles for every description of
noxious weed, insect, bird, and vermin. Unhoed,
unploughed, unharrowed, they furnish an annual
crop of seed-weeds, carried by winds and by birds
on the land, that defies all the farmer's attempts
to clean it: that renders long fallowing necessary,
and involves a perpetual expense in hoeing, and
loss by superseding so much of the regular crops.
In fact, in a variety of ways they involve a loss
far beyond the annual interest, for the repair of
wood or iron fences, or charge for their gradual
deterioration. I object even to well-regulated
thorn fences, on the score of exhaustion by their
roots, the expense of clipping, and the impossi-
bility of disturbing the ground on which they
stand. But my dislike amounts to positive indig-
nation at seeing the generality of fences occupy-
ing one-tenth of the land that should grow our
food, and employ our labour and our capital,
spoiling another tenth by their supply of weeds
and vermin; their interniption of air and light —
to say nothing of the facilities they afford for
fraud and neglect of duty, and the difficulties
they interpose to a ready supervision by the far-
mer or his baihff. If shelter is needed at parti-
cular seasons, it can readUy be afforded by other
means.

In cold and elevated districts, well-regulated
plantation-belts are essential, but cannot be re-
quired in our midland and southern counties,
where there should be well-arranged homesteads,
through which no north or east wnd should be
permitted to breathe, much less blow.

Another gross oversight is in the placement of
buildings. How often is profit unwittingly sacri-
ficed to minor considerations! To gain the view
of a road, or because the premises would show
better, we star^-e our cattle with a north or east
cSpect, shutting out the sunny warmth, and to
increase the intensity of cold, erect detached
buildings to cause a stronger current of air (some-
thing like St. Paul's churchyard on a windy day).

Gutters to the buildings or drainage to the yard
itself are seldom thought of, it being a sine qudnon
that a farm-yard should be both cold and wet.

There are many other matters that strike me as
requiring amendment. Time is money (at least
it is paid for in money), therefore hght spring
carts and improved implements with active but
strong horses, will necessarily make quick smart
men; but this cannot be till we drain our lands,
knock down our fences, and substitute dry firm
land for knee-deep, fence-arched, green, and
muddy lanes. If, as a matter of calculation,
there are forty points in agriculture (and there
are more) a saving of one-half per cent, in each
will clearly make a difference of 20 per cent.

I have been found fault with for removing the
trees, " spoiling the landscape and beauties of
the country," as if Farming were not a business,
and carried on for profit rather than appearance :
one might almost as properly suggest to the ma-
nufacturer costly and spacious ornaments to take
the place of his spindles and machiner)\ Besides,
perfect drainage of house, buildings, or land, is
impossible where you have trees and fences, their
roots will travel many yards in search of mois-
ture, will seize on and occupy a drain (as a vine-
root would on a bone), and effectually choke it.
I know an instance where the root of a pear-tree
followed the retreating water of a weW forty feet.

I have been censured for erecting so spacious
a barn, and for building it with bricks on the
plea of its endangering the sample in a damp
season. This objection is untenable, the roof
having gutters, and the ground on which it
stands being perfectly drained inside and out, a
matter of great importance, as water rises by
capillary attraction. We have also about four
dozen of iron air-bricks as ventilators, and take
care not to fill it entirely, but leave a space for
ventilation between the corn and the roof. Last
season, with its contents of 25 acres, the sample
was excellent, and having just hastily filled it
before that heavy rain which wetted most of the
stacks through, and deteriorated the samples five
shillings a quarter, it saved us at least £20.

Threshing machines are valued principally for
their facility of conversion, and the quantity they
perform. To me their more perfect extraction
of the grain, and prevention of fraud or neglect,
are far more important considerations. A single
grain of wheat in 50 is two pounds in every 100,
or five shilhngs per acre, and an examination of
straw whenever we ha\e the opportunity, gives
us fearful evidence of what is lost by imperfect
threshing and shaking.

I frequently see with pain the farmer engaged
in laborious pursuits (the work of his labourers),
when his time shoidd be much more profitably
employed in keeping correct and daily accounts
of all his monetary and other transactions, so
that, by a reference to each particular depart-
ment, he could at once detect generally, or in
detail, the weak points that require amending.

I am not one of those who think a farmer more
likely to succeed for dressing or acting like one
of his common labourers — it is the mind and cal-
culation makes the man.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

AS TO THR XON-APPLICATION OF CAPITM.
TO LAND IMPROVEMENTS.

It seems singular that in this age of super-
abundant capital and superfluous unemployed
labour, there should never ha\'e been a concen-
tration of weath for the purjjose of impro\'ement
in agriculture. We have had companies Avith
unlimited capital for the M'ildest and most im-
profitable schemes, as well as the most trivial.
We lend without compunction our hundreds of
millions to employ the labour and strengthen the
hands of foreign nations, who are now our com-
petitors in agriculture, commerce, and manufac-
tures, and who may be to-morrow oiu' greatest
enemies in warfare.

It seems like a national disgrace, that whilst
we have had companies for almost every thing,
from a railway to a steam-washing and milk com-
pany, we have had no " Improvement of our
Native Land (.'ompany." And yet there is nothing
so grateful as the soil — so safe — so permanent —
so large in pecuniary amount — so honourable
and pleasant in pursuit.

There may appear difficulties in the way — but
in what undertakings are there not? Under a
well-arranged act of parliament, thousands of land-
lords whose mortgaged estates are now almost an
incvmibrance to them, M'ould readily avail of an
opportunity that would render their at present
sterile lands valuable properties, increase the
capital employed on them, improve the condition
and diminish the competition of our farmers,
reduce pauperism and discontent by furnishing
employment to the willing labourer v/ithout emi-
gration, and keep in our own country and for
our own benefit that large sum annually paid for
foreign corn. If there had been such a company,
I, for one, would have invested my spare capital
in it; but there not being one, I have carried out
individually, at no small personal trouble and
thought, those improvements Avhich 1 hope to
see some day effected, as a matter of coiuse, by
a well-regulated charter of associated capitalists,
who will derive not only a good pecuniary benefit,
but the more enviable gratification of having con-
ferred a A'aluable boon on their fellow-coimtry-
men. I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

I. J. Mechi.
4, Leadenhall-street,

Lovdon, June 11th, 1844.
P.S. — I am preparing drawings and ground
plans of my bnildings and machinery, which,
with copies of my letters, I shall be happy to give
to any gentleman interested in agriculture. The
plans and designs are my own. The general
application of the expenditure is as follows, viz.

£ s. J.
Draining, fencing, levelling, ditch-
ing, and roads 2200 0 0

Barn, stabhng, tanks, sheds,

yards, &c 2000 0 0

House and offices 1000 0 0

Machinery, implements, steam ap-
paratus, &c 500 0 0

Manure, marl, &c. 500 0 0

The item for house has been objected to, but
I have }et to learn that a farmer is not entitled to
be as well housed as a tradesman or manufac-
turer, and 1 am convinced brick and slate build-
ings are ultimatelv nuich cheaper than board and
thatch.

1 would caution gentlemen who may visit my
farm this j'ear. against raising their expectations
too high, for although the land is all cropped and
doing well considering the dry season, I would
have them remember that last year it was con-
sidered the ])oorest farm in Essex; that since
January, 1843, we hnve cut 80 miles of drains,
and spread their contents (nasty yellow stiff loam)
on the surface; that we liave removed 5000 yards
of banks and fences, filled up the ditches, cut
new ditches, (on the heavy land there should be
one e\'ery seven or eight acres), made new roads,
cut down and converted between 200 and 300
trees, carted across tlie land 60,000 bushels of
stones, 300,000 drain -pipes, 400,000 bricks,
200 loads of timber, slates, iron, stone, sand,
lime, and building materials; that we have re-
moved all the old buildings, and erected new
ones on a different site; that everything has been
out of order and out of time, and that all this was
done in 1 6 months, ^mthout long faUovnnq a sinole
field. ^ J .

£6200 0 0

STEWPONEY FARMERS' CLUB.

The fifth monthly meeting of this society took
place at Stewponey, on Monday, May 6. The at-
tendance of memljers was numerous.

The minutes of the last meeting having been
read by Mr. Nock, the honorary secretary, and
Mr. S. Hughes, of Stourbridge, elected a member
— (making the number of members ninety-three)
-—Mr. Foley said that before proceeding to the
immediate business of the meeting, he wished to
give notice of a motion, the object of which was
to bring farmers and chemists together. They
had begun to perceive how intimately chemistry
and agriculture were connected, and his desire
was to bring about meetings which might be
serviceable to both parties. It was not very long
since that, if they wanted good ploughs, they
were obliged to send to Ipswich, or to other
distant places, to obtain them ; but now, by in-
creased intercourse, and attention to the manu-
facture of agricultural implements, Ransome'.s
plough or any other, and implements of all kinds,
coiild be obtained in almost every neighbourhood.
What had been done in this matter he was
anxious to see effected \A\\\ regard to those aids
to the farmer which were deri\'able from chemis-
try. If chemists and farmers were brought
together he thought great good would follow.
There were various substances to which the
farmer's attention might be profitably turned,
namely, refuse gas, aramoniacal liquor — and
chinch, he had been told, had been profitably
used as manure. Under these circumstances,
as he should not have the pleasure of attending
the next meeting, Mr. Thompson, „on his behalf.

8

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

wo\ild take charge of the following motion, of
of which he gave notice —

That chemists who express a desire to attend
the meetings of this club shall, upon being first
proposed and seconded, be qualified to be elected
nonoraiy members without payment, and without
being members of the Stewponey Agricultural
Society.

He begged to state, in addition, that at the
meeting of the Agricultural Society, held this
morning, it had been determined to appoint a
chemist, at a small annual fee, who would analyze
soils, manures, A-egetable products, &c., for a small
charge, not only for the members of the society,
but for the members of the Farmers' Club also :
thus the club, as the Agricultural Society would
pay the annual fee, would cheaply obtain much
serviceable information. His friend, Mr. Whar-
ton, would now, he believed, be kind enough to
read an article from the Gardeners' Gazette, and
a letter from the Farmer's Magazine, bearing on
the subject.

The Rev. G. Wharton then read an article
from the Gardeners' Gazette of the 27th instant,
which, after some lively but sarcastic observations,
stated that substances used by farmers had been
found to be adulterated no less than ninety-seven
per cent. ; and that when Mr. Edward Solly ob-
jected to the coloiir, Sec, of some articles, he was
told — " Oh, it is good enough for agricultural
uses," as though any article, however adulterated,
was fit for the xise of fai-mers and gardeners.
The article thus proceeded —

" But to be serious, for this is a very serious
matter. Let us compare the selling price of some
of the common articles of consumption with their
real price when adulterated to this extent. Rough
phosphate of ammonia is quoted at 3d. per lb.,
but as only 3 lbs. in each 100 lbs. would be

fenuine, of course the true price paid for it would
e 8s. 4d. per lb. ; nitrate of soda sold at 2lb. per
lb. would cost about 5s. 6d. ; and sal ammoniac
bought at Gd. per lb. would stand the consumer
in just l6s. 8d. Or let us suppose that an acre
of land is known to require 4 cwt. of guano, or
20 bushels of bone-dust, or 5 cwt. of superphos-

Shate of lime; the nominal expense of such
ressings would be only 2l. ; but the cultivator, in
order to get them, would have to buy about six
tons and a half of guano, or eighty-two quarters
of bone-dust, or eight tons of superphosphate of
lime, at the expense of 66/. instead of 40s."

In giving an account of the various adultera-
tions practised, the writer said —

" Clay, lime, and a small quantity of smelhng
salts, form an artificial guano ; pounded sta-aw and
dried leaves make Peruvian guano; lime rubbish
and a small quantity of bone sifting form bone-
dust ; dirty rock salt does for nitrate of soda to a
great extent, and even soot is enormously
doctored with cinder siftings. However, in the
opinion of the sellers, they are * good enough for
fanners and gardeners.' "

And after noticing the large purchases lately
made of guano (one house alone having sold
100,0007. worth and another 60,000/. worth, last
year) it was obsen'ed " that there was no security

except by purchasing from persons of known
respectability." The letter in the Farmer's Ma-
(jazine was from Mr. Gyde, of Painswick, and,
after ])ointing out many adulterations, stated the
writer's wiUingness to become analyzing chemist
to agricultural societies at a fee of 5/. 5s. per
annimi, and enumerated the charges for chemical
analyses which would be made to members, and
of which the accompanying is an outline : — For
analyzing manures, each sample, 3s.; phosphates,
6s.; soils, 5s. for the first constituent, and 2s. 6d.
for each succeeding ingredient. The charges for
analyzing earths, i^roducts of vegetation, and
dairy produce, were nearly similar ; the charge for
a lecture from 3/. to 5/.; and chemical advice would
be given generally at corresponding fees.

A conversation on the subject ensued, in the
course of which W. Foster, Esq., and several other
members, expressed their approbation of the
suggestion, and the necessary minutes were made
for carr)'ing it into eftect.

Mr. Foley then read the following paper " On
the management of grass land, and the best
rotation of green crops."

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen,

It is with very great reluctance that I come
forward to introduce the subject appointed for
your discussion this evening. I am well aware
how much better it would be treated, and how
much more satisfactory (to you) it would have
been to have had it placed in the hands of one of
the many jjractical and intelligent farmers who
are members of this society.

In selecting interesting topics for discussion at
the formation of the club, I make no apology for
placing tlie management of grass land, and the
best rotation of green crops, on your list. I con-
sider it one of the most important that I could
name, one that has occupied the attention of the
best farmers in Flanders, Scotland, and Ireland,
and to which the two former are mainly indebted
as the foundation of their agricultural prosperity,
and by which the latter is making rapid progress
in advancement towards it. Judge, then, of my
disai)pointment when, after making arrangements
for the introduction of the other eleven subjects
agreed upon for discussion this year (and let me
take this opportunity of thanking my kind friends
for the readiness with which they all came for-
ward to assist me in making these arrangements,
and the \-ery eflficient way they have supported
this club, by their able, sensible, and useful lec-
tures since its foundation) — ^judge, then, I say,
what a disappointment it was to me to find this
subject generally avoided, and the reason assigned
that nobody had paid sufficient attention to it to
qualify them to make remarks ujion it. I then de-
termined that, sooner than it should be dropped,
I would myself undertake it; and in so doing I
hope you will make allowance for the great dis-
advantage I labour under, speaking in the pre-
sence of so many farmers far more experienced
than myself, but in whose company I always feel
a pleasure, and derive information from.

In order to make my remarks better under-
stood, there are certain opinions of mine, which
I win assume as acknowledged facts^ or (if you

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

9

think that is saying too much) ^vhich I \vill state
as arguments from whence I draw my conckisions
on this subject, which are the following : — That
the first step to be taken in improving any land
is through draining, without which all others
will end in disappointment ; that, in order to ])ro-
duce hay of the best quality, that is, with thickest
bottom grass, and containing the greatest nutri-
ment, both grass and seeds should be put up and
cut early, ])efore they are out of blossom, and
kept clear of stock during the winter months,
from the middle of October to the middle of
April; that manure applied to grass land will
give as profital)le return as when applied to arable
land; that animals soiled in the farm yard will
give you double the quantity of manure they
would out; that dividing ])astures will make them
last double the time; that cutting green grass fre-
quently does no injury to the land, provided it is
not suffered to go first to seed; but that grass and
seeds cut after the blossom is dead and gone to
seed lose half their nutritive qualities, and ex-
haust the land they grow \ipon; that sheep and
pigs are the most profitable stock for light soils;
that the more live stock that can ])e properly
maintained on the land, the greater will be the
quantity of grain produced; that animals kept
warm and sheltered from the extremes of heat,
cold, and wet, \vill thrive and fatten with less
food than they would do if not so sheltered.

In the remarks I am aljovit to malce I am most
anxious to say nothing that would be unpleasant
to any one, and in so doing I beg my tenants to
bear in mind that I am speaking of the past, and
not the present.

In the year 1821 I came to reside on my pro-
perty, after an absence during a minority, and
three years afterwards spent abroad, of seventeen
years, during which time my agent had no autho-
rity to spend money in improvements, and my
tenants, besides having annual agreements, did
not know what my feelings might be with regard
to them. It could not, therefore, be expected that
they would make any outlay beyond the ordinary
cultivation of their land. I found that I had 217
acres of meadow land valuably situated, with the
livers Stour and Smestow running through them,
but in the most deplorable condition that could
possibly be imagined, and ought more properly
to have been called marshes ; many of them could
not be used for hay, for on inquiry I found they
had not been carted on for thirty years, rolling
and manuring was out of the question, and would
have been useless. They varied in rent from 15s.
to 21. per acre, and my tenants were very fond of
them; they caused them no trouble or expense,
and they said that they threw up plenty of useful
keep in a hot summer.

The turnips were cultivated on the old system
of sowing late and broadcast, and frequently
failed, and so did the seeds the following year
after barley. Under these circumstances it was
necessar)' to wait till Michaelmas to see M'hat
sheep could be fed during the winter, before they
were bought in; no doubt there wei'e some excep-
tions, but this was the general state of things.
In 1822 I set to work to drain the meadows with

tiles; this I found to be a tedious operation, owing
to the great variety of the ground, being some-
times strong clay, at others peat bog and sand,
and abounding in springs.

The draining has been constantly going on
ever since, but I hope will be completed in
another year; the expense has varied so much
M'ith the nature of the ground that I cannot give
any accurate estimate of it. Of the grass land
drained I have made use of a trench, formerly
cut to convey water to some wire mills, to irrigate
53 acres; to these I have added 125 acres of per-
manent pasture.

For the land drained, my tenants have paid me,
on the average per acre, a pound a-year, in addi-
tion to their former rent; for the water meadow,
a pound more; for the land laid down, ten shil-
lings.

Mr. Simmons thus describes the management
of water meadows in '\^'iltshire and Hampshire in
the Fanner's Magazine, for April, page 396: —
" In the autumn, the after-grass is eaten off quite
bare, when the manager of the mead (provincially
the drowner) begins to clear out the main drain,
and right up the works; that is, to make good
all the carriages and drains which the cattle have
trodden in, so as to have one tier or pitch of work
ready for droMTiing. This is immediately put
under water, while the drowner is preparing the
next pitch. In the flowing meadows tliis ought
to be done, if possible, early enough in the autumn
to have the whole meadow ready to catch the first
flood after Michaelmas, the water then l)eing thick
and good; and this remark, as to the superior
riches of the flood waters, is one that is com-
monly made in Berkshire and other parts of
England. The length of the autumnal watering
cannot be precisely stated, as much depends u])on
situation and circumstances; but if water ca« be
commanded in abundance, the custom is to give
meadows a thorough good soaking at first, per-
haps for a fortnight or three weeks, with an inter-
mission of two or three days during that jieriod,
and continue for the space of two fortnights,
allowing an interval of a week between them.
The works are then made as dry as possible, to
encourage the growth of grass. This first soak-
ing is to make the land sink and pitch close to-
gether, a circumstance of great consequence not
only to the quantity but the quality of the grass,
and particularly to encourage the shooting of new
roots, which the grass is continually forming to
support the forced growth above, ^^'hile the
grass grows freely, watering is not wanted; but as
soon as it flags, the water must he repeated for a
few days at a time, always keeping this fimda-
mental rule in \-iew, to make the meadows as diy
as possible after every watering, and to take off
the water the moment any scum appears u])on
the land, which shows that it has already had
water enough. Some meadows, that \^-ill require
the water for three weeks in October and two
following months, will not, perhaps, bear it a
week in February or March, and sometimes
scarcely two days in April or May."

My steward, Mr. Thompson, has also obliged
me by adding the foUowng particulars of the

10

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

management of water meadows imder his care
in Hampshire: — "Tlie expense of workinja: up
and watering the meadows, if M-ell attended to,
from the last week in October until the middle of
March, costs from six to eight shillings per acre;
depending on the work recjuired to l)e none in
them, as sometimes meadows are watered with
greater facility than others.

" Farmers who have no water meadows always
take spring grass for their ewes and lambs, and
they are often obliged to give as high as forty- five
shillings an acre, and never less than thirty
shillings.

" In feeding off the grass the sheep are penned,
in the same way as turnips, and are never allowed
to go back beyond a certain distance, as the irii-
gation follows the feeding by the sheep.

" After the u'ater meadows are eaten off, rye,
Italian rye grass, or vetches, succeed, and these
are also penned, and eaten off by the ewes and
lambs intended for early sale.

" These water meadows produce from one and
a-half ton to two tons of hay per acre, and the
aftermath lets for thirty shillings an acre."

In laying down permanent grass pasture, the
plan adopted was the following: — I applied to
Mr. Thomas Gibbs, seedsman, corner of Half
Moon-street, Piccadilly, describing the nature of
the soil I wanted to lay down; this was generally
a light sandy loam, and it was the opinion of all
the most experienced farmers in the country that
it would not answer the ])urpose. Mr. Gibbs
eujiplied me with such seeds as he thought pro-
per, giving directions how they were to be sown,
and advising that it should be in April, without
any other crop; that the grass should be mowed
early, before going to seed, and manured, without
being grazed, the winter following : this excellent
advice was never followed, the land not being in
my own hands; the seeds were invariably sown
with a crop of barley, but notwithstanding these
disadvantages, not a rood out of the 125 acres
lias ever failed. The cost of these seeds varied
different years, from forty to fifty shillings per acre.

Of the very important crop, turnips, after Mr.
Wilson's able lecture last month, it would be
superfluous for me to say anything, except this,
that though it used to be considered uncertain,
since my tenants have adopted the new system of
early sowing, ridging, and drilhng, they have, for
the last eleven years, never had less than 400
acres fit for the ins])ection of any body, and their
seeds have never failed. The flocks are doubled
in number during the last twenty years, and the
produce of their arable land will average ten
bushels more grain to the acre. It gives me plea-
sure to see the sheej) now penned on the turnips,
and the sheer actively employed. I think it
would be found good economy to store such
turnips as are intended for spring consumption.
The fear of mildew prevents many from early
sowing, but I believe it to be frequently caused
by want of moisture, and I think may often l)e
remedied by deeper ploughing. It is sometimes
believed that a too frequent repetition of the same
crop is not so good as a variety, and Mr. Morton,
in his letter of advice to Mr, Pusey's tenants,

recommends the following rotation of green
crops : — " After the wheat has been harvested,
to divide your fields into two ecpial parts ; on the
one of these parts to sow the common globe
turnip, Swedes, and cabbage ; on the other, man-
gold wurzel, potatoes, and carrots ; by which
means you get six vegetable crops, each three
being of a similar nature, and to reverse them the
next course." He further carries on this system
— " The whole of the fields, after these crops, to
be sown with barley as formerly, but half only to
be seeded down with broad clover ; and on the
other half, after harvest, to sow winter vetches
and Italian rye grass mixed, and rcA'erse them
like the turnip field : yon would thus have your
wheat and barley ciop as usual, once in four
years ; your variety of green crops once in eight
years ; and the finest food for your stock in the
spring, after the mangold wurzel, potatoes, and
carrots were consumed."

I next come to the practice of consuming your
green crops ; habii becomes second nature j you
have always been accustomed to have regard to
the management of jour corn, and if your carter
was to throw a bushel of oats to each horse to
eat at once, you would feel very angry, and think
him guilty of great waste ; and yet it is a com-
mon practice to allow four or five animals to
gallop about without restraint, in a field of clover
up to their bellies. Foreigners take as much
care of their green food as you do of your corn.
Their cows and horses are soiled in the farm
yard, and they well know that the provender will
pay fifty i)er cent, for cutting, by the additional
time it lasts, and by the c^uantity of manure
gained. I have already stated my opinion, that a
pasture 'divided will last twice as long as one
undivided ; that provender cut will go tuice as
far as in pasture divided. I think that seeds
manured the first season will be twice as profit-
able as if manured previous to wheat somng ;
that grass land manured with either ten tons of
good muck, three cwt. of guano, or a similar
proportion of bone dust, per acre, once in three
years, will make a most profitable return, if pro-
perly treated ; that is, cleared of stock in the
winter months, put up for hay in April, and well
rolled after wet ; an application of urine from the
farm yard, conveyed in a water cart, would be of
great advantage ; and the addition of oil-cake,
corn, and salt, in troughs for sheep, would im-
prove the health and condition of the animals,
increase the quantity of the manure, and extend
the length of time they might be fed upon the
ground.

The last observation I have to make, is, that
animals kept warm will fatten and require less
food than those which are exposed to the severity
of wet and cold ; which, I think, can be explained
by a few sliort extracts from Liebig's very
interesting and amusing work, " Famihar Letters
on Chemistry," for his observations are equally
applicable to animals, although what I am going
to quote alludes to man.

In Letter YI. he states : " It is evident the
supply of heat lost by cooling is effected by the
mutual action of the elements of the food, and

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

11

the inspired oxygen, which combine together —
to make use of a famiUar, but not on that account
a less just iUustration, the animal ])0(ly acts, in
this respect, as a furnace, which we supply with
fuel. In cold and temperate climates, the air.
which necessarily strives to consume the l)ody,
urges man to laborious efforts in order to fur-
nish the means of resistance to its action, M-hile,
in hot climates, the necessity of labour to pro\-ide
food is far less urgent. Our clothing is merely
an equivalent for a certain amount of food ; the
more warmly we are clothed, the less lu-gent
becomes the appetite for food, because the loss
of heat to be supplied by the food is diminished.
If we were to go naked, like certain savage tril)es,
or if, hunting or fishing, we were exposed to the
same degree of cold as the Samoyedes, we should
be able, with ease, to consume ten ])ounds of
flesh, and perhaps a dozen tallow candles into the
bargain daily, as warmly clad travellers have
related with astonishment of those people. We
should then also be able to take the same quan-
tity of brandy or train oil, without bad eti'ects,
because the carbon and hydrogen of these sub-
stances would only suffice to keep up the equi-
librium Ijetween the external temperatiwe and
that of our bodies. According to the preceding
exposition, the quantity of food is regulated Ijy
the nvunber of respirations, by the temperature of
the air, and by the amount of heat given off to
the surrounding medium.

" The cooling of the body, by whatever cause
it may be produced, increases tlie amount of food
necessary."

These are short and imperfect abstracts, but I
hope sufficient to bear me out in the opinion I
have stated on this subject.

Since writing the above, I have seen my opi-
nions on these subjects corroborated by others ;
Mr. Baldwin, of Birmingham, who has obhg-
ingly presented our society this day, with twelve
copies of his very useful treatise on the cultivation
and uses of Swedish turnips, states thus, page
14 : — " I know an instance of an individual who
bought forty ewes, divided them as near as he
could, weighed each score, and also divided an
acre of Swedes, which had about twenty-foiu-
tons in it. The one half he harvested in good
tune, the other half he let remain, and eat them
off with twenty of the ewes, hurdled in the usual
way ; and the half that had been harvested, he
had cut, allomng to each sheep about eight or
nine pounds per day, and fed the other twenty
ewes in a dry shed adjoining his yard, with a bit
of ground to run on in good weather, but never
allowed them to be out in bad weather, and the
result was as follows •.—when the twenty that had
been hurdled on the Swedes had consumed their
half acre, the other twenty fed at home had got
one third of theirs left ; and he then weighed each
lot of sheep, and those that had been hurdled had
made, on an average, about twelve pounds of
mutton each ; and those that liad been fed at
home, on the Swedes that had been harvested
well, had made eighteen povmds of mutton each
although they had only consumed two thirds of
the quantity of food." Also in the Agricultural

Gazette for April 20, I find this remark, under
the head Stall feeding. — "Every one will admit
the suj)erior value of artificial grasses, who has
made a fair trial of the difference between feed-
ing cattle upon them cut green and given within
doors, and, on the other hand, in turning cattle
out upon a common pasture. A trial of this kind
was once made in Scotland, and it was found
that twenty-seven head of cattle were as well kept
upon the same (juantity of ground, in one method,
as eighteen in the other. Added to this, there is
an immense saving in the making of manure,
which process, the most important one of any,
may be going on during the whole summer,
instead of having what dung falls scattered
aliroad and dried up in the heat of the sun." — ■
Rawstorne's Remarks on Luncashire Furmbir/.

Mr. Baldwin, after recommending that Swede
turnips should be sown early in May, and that
the rows should Ije ])laced not less than three
feet asunder, for ^vhich he gives many good rea-
sons, thus accounts for mildew, at page 1 2 of his
pamphlet : — "The sun, in dry weather, acts like a
cupping glass, as it has the power of drawing the
moisture upwards ; and, if you intend to get a
large croji of Swedes, you must not allow above
twelve or fifteen dry days to pass without plough-
ing between the rows, and by no means, ever
plough between them in wet weather ; and the
dryer the weather, the deeper you should plough.
If you attend to this you will never find the tops
go blue, which is what most peojjle call the mildew,
but M'hat shoidd, in reality, be called a want of
attention on the part of the farmer, and which, if
once allowed to take place, there is probably
nearly an end to the growth of the crop ; but this
ploughing you could not effectually do if the rows
were nearer together than three feet."

If in the foregoing observations, though very
indifferently stated both in form and detail, 1 may
ha\'e succeeded in drawing your attention to this
fii'st principle of agriculture, the economical
management and arrangement of your green
crops, I shall feel that I have gained the sole
object I had in ^iew.

On the conclusion of the j^aper, \\. Foster,
Esq., proposed, and Mr. Shutt seconded, a mo-
tion that the thanks of the meeting be given to
Mr. Foley for his able and interesting essay,
which was unanimously carried ; and the follow-
ing resolution, pro])osed Ijy Mr. Wilson, and
seconded by Mr. Maughan, M'as ordered to be
inserted in the minute book : —

That this meeting agrees with Mr. Foley in liis
opinion that grass, and green crops in general,
require more attention than they actually receive ;
and that, where it is practicable, every care
should be bestowed on the formation and manage-
ment of water meadows ; and that if green crops
were used as much as possilde for stall feeding,
they would be much more valuable to the farme)',
as they woidd ena])le him to maintain a greater
quantity of stock, and also to increase, indefinitely,
the bulk and quantity of their manure.

After a general conversation, for some time, on
the subject of the papei-, and on other agricultu-
ral subjects, the meeting broke up.

12

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE
BECCLES FARMERS' CLUB.

As the usefulness of the " Beccles Farmers'
Club" is the only claim it can have to the sup-
port of the public, the committee, in drawing up
the report of its proceedings for the past year,
hope that a short retrospect of the labours of
the club since its commencement will neither
be considei-ed impertinent nor out of place.

Practical agriculture in all its branches, em-
l)racing equally the improvement of the useful
animals with the acquirement of a more perfect
knowledge of the laws which govern the vegetable
creation, has, nearly exclusively, been the object
of its investigations. Discussions have taken
place on the best method of carrying into effect
a great variety of agricultural operations, in
which some errors have been exposed, much
practical information obtained, and many useful
suggestions have been offered. The proceedings
of the club in regard to the improvement of
stock have not been less important ; the defects
of the various breeds have been pointed out, and
remedies suggested by which such defects may
be greatly modified, if not exactly removed. An
annual show of stock has also been established,
by which the important advantage of comparison
has been greatly facilitated. The committee do
not flatter themselves that the result of such
discussions and proceedings has been a marked
and rapid improvement in the agriculture of the
neighboiu'hood; they have too lively a sense of
the difficultyof removing long-established notions,
however erroneous they may be, to expect that
it is only necessary to prove such to be errors
to have them abandoned. Improvements in
agriculture, c^'en under the most favourable
influence, are ahvays slow in taking root and
tardy in their progress ; and it is only by being
attentively observed, that their onward tendency
can be perceived. But, notwithstanding these
difficulties, the committee are of ojjinion that
much good has been effected by the labours of
the club ; many prejudices, if not removed,
have been shaken ; a great desire for information
has been created ; and inquiry, the most deadly
enemy of ignorance, has been set on foot. These
feelings have displayed themselves in the trial
now in progress, by several members of the
club, of the relative productiveness of various
species of wheat and their adaptation to the
soils of this neighbourhood. Nothing, in the
opinion of the committee, is more calculated to
establish the i)rinciples of agriculture upon a
firm and secure basis, than experiments of this
nature, in which every circumstance, however
minute and trifling, that has a connection with
the case, should be carefully observed, strictly
examined, and correctly reported. The committee
anticipate much good will result from the
experiment, and confidently hope it will be the
harbinger of many others of a similar use-
ful and pleasing character. This shght exposition
of what the club has performed, will, it is pre-
smiied, fully justify its claims to public support.

At the closing meeting of last year, after a

discussion on the question of " Com Rents," a
resolution was passed, declaring such a system
preferable to a fixed money payment.

The principle of " Conversion " was next to be
considered ; in consequence of which, this was
the first subject in the present year, llie member
bringing it before the club introduced a calcu-
lation, by way of illustration, of the jirinciple he
considered preferable ; and he believed, if pro-
perly adopted, would be found simple in its
working, as well as equitable towards landlord
and tenant. If, in supposing a case, a conversion
of the rent upon a farm be made at 10s. per
bushel, and assuming such rent to be 30s. per
acre, the average value of three bushels of wheat
should be the standing rent, whatever the price
might be. It was considered, that on a fai'm
highly burdened the conversion ought to be
made at a higher rate than on those moderately
rented and not heavily burdened A\ith parochial
and other charges. It may be fairly assumed that
after paying rent at the highest rate, he would
also probably be left with increased charges in
other respects. For instance: if in the former
case the rent be converted at 10s. per bushel, only
fifty coombs of wheat wiW be required to pay
£100 of rent; but taking 8s. per bushel as the
price of conversion, in the latter case, it would
require sixty-two coombs two bushels to raise
that sum. Upon such a principle, but varjang
according to circumstances, the greater proportion
of rents in Scotland have been commuted,
although the Scotch farmer ^viU always possess a
decided advantage, from the fact that their rent
charge generally includes all others.

The principal argument against the abo^'e
system appears in the liability of producing only
a deficient crop with high prices ; an almost
certain consequence of which would be advanced
rent with diminished means. To guard in some
measure against this, a maximum as well as a
minimum standard ought, in aU cases, to be
adopted.

It was vmiversally allowed, that corn rents
based upon an equitable principle would enable
the farmer to participate, with the rest of the
community, in Avhat must ever be considered a
providential good — bountiful crops with low
prices ; which, however, cannot be the case with
a fixed payment, in consequence of being obliged
to dispose of all his extra produce to meet it,
lea\dng him at the end of the year no better oft'
than he would have been with a moderate crop
and better prices.

The subject of the " best varieties of wheat
adapted for growing in the neighbourhood,"
was next discussed. Among the many wliite
wheats mentioned, the most approved were
the Tunstall, Brown's Chevalier, Guinea, Bell
Vue, Hardcastle, and Dantzic. Several kinds of
red wheat were also spoken of; those most in
repute were Spalding's Prolific, Rumburg, Essex
Red, Hobb's, Perownes', Aliens' or Prince Albert,
and Golden Drop. Of these, the Tunstall among
the white wheats, and the Golden Drop among
the red, as being more peculiarly adapted for
good heavy lands by reason of their shortness of

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

13

straw. As much difference of opinion prevailed as
to the merits of each variety, it was agreed that seven
of the most a])proved should be grown and tested
l)y a number of members, and the results reported
at the October meeting in the next year.

" Tlie improvement of agricultural implements
and machinery," was brought before the notice
of the club at the November meeting. The first
implement alluded to was the plough, and a view
taken of the gradual improvements which have
taken place in bringing it to its present state.
A foot-plough with two wheels, introduced by
Messrs. Ransome, apjiears to be the one most in
repute, from its capability of breaking up hard
land and its steadiness in work. In the formation
of harrows, it was considered of great importance
that the ])oint of draft should l)e so fixed as to
prevent the teeth tracking or following each other
when in work. Biddel's scarifier M'as allowed to
be a most A-aluable ajjpendage to a farm ; well
adapted for breaking up land in a dry state, and
frequently superseding the use of the plough in
working wheat stubbles immediately after harvest.
The horse-hoe was another implement, which was
thought of great service upon a farm. The one
lately invented by Mr. Garrett received general
commendation. Speaking of machines, drills
were more particularly noticed, and in which
many important imjn'ovements had been effected.
Smyth's and Garrett's lever corn drills were much
approved. With regard to the drop drill for
applying artificial manure, some objections
were made; one, more particularly, from its
depositing the manure in large quantities, a
fermentation took place; and, consequently,
injuring the seed and sometimes destroying it;
it was therefore contended that the system of
distributing the manure regularly in the ridge
was preferable. Some observations were made
upon threshing machines, and defects noticed, as
compared with those used in Scotland. Several
machines, of minor importance, were also spoken
of; and on the subject generally, the following
recommendation was adopted, as being highly
desirable : — •
" That all agricultural societies should endea\'our

to have a trial of implements, in order that the

comjjarative advantages of each might be fairly

tested."

" The application of clay, rnarl, and lime to
soils generally," was the subject discussed at the
next meeting. Clay, as applied to neM'ly-])roken
up land, at the rate of forty-five chaldrons per
acre, was considered essentially necessary ;
although this quantity in two applications was to
be preferred. And also upon light sandy soils the
process is desirable, tending to increase their
solidity, and render them more retentive of
moisture ; but as regards its application to heavy
lands, it would not be found beneficial. The expe-
rience of members upon the use of marl and lime
was of so limited a scale as to preclude any satisfac-
tory statements being made upon the results of
their application.

" Raising and presenting thorn fences," en-
gaged the attention of the club at the two sub-
sequent meetings, and the obser\'ations elicited

on the subject are embodied in the following
resolution : —

Resolved — "That the first necessary thing to
be done in raising new fences, is to thoroughly
clean the land ; and if a fence has been thrown
down, it is imperative to remove all the old
bank and I'eplace the same with perfectly new
earth. That the ditch ought to be four feet
wide at top, and three feet deej), sloping the
same so as to leave it one foot wide at the bot-
tom. That the table or bed for the spring
should be made with the second spit, the first
l)eing thrown back for the middle of the bank.
The table to be not less than fourteen inches
deep, and laid back twelve inches in the slope.
The spring to be placed in a trench with the
roots, at least, two inches lowest, and then
covered with mould ; the next spit to be placed
on the spring to a height of not more than ten
inches ; the bank afterwards to be turned up
at back, and a hedge of bushes jnit upon
the same. That it is desirable to plant the
largest spring which can be procured, and
not less than fifty plants in a rod of five-and-a
half yards.

" That in the after management of fences,
great care should be taken in keeping them
clean ; and it is requisite to cut the spring off
at the end of three or four years, should the
same be found in a stinted state, scouring
out the ditch, and laying fresh earth upon the
spring. That buckheading is not desirable
oftener than every alternate time of cutting,
and that such cuttings may be done every eight
years. It will be found beneficial to keep
the ditches clean, by plashing them every
year so as to prevent any rubbish growing
therein. That clipping of fences, and keejjing
them at all times at a certain height, is beneficial
to the adjoining crops, and has a neat ap-
pearance."

The prize essa)', presented to the Royal Agri-
cultural .Society, on the " Best Rotation of Crops,"
was considered at the subsequent meeting. It
was argued, by some few members, that on good
deep soil heavy lands, such a rotation as set
forth by Mr. Stace might advantageously pur-
sued ; but, on the generality of wet soils, it was
not considered desirable to depart from the four-
course system usually practised in this district. The
subject was, nevertheless, not finally disposed of,
but left open[for discussion at some future period.
The last subject for the year was " Subsoil
Ploughing." This question had been brought
before the club in the first year of its formation ;
but the operation being quite new to the locality,
no opinion could be satisfactorily arrived at. In
the inteiwal, the practice had been carried on to a
considerable extent. On the present occasion
it was admitted that subsoiling heavy land im-
mediately after being well drained greatly assisted
the escape of the water into the drains, and in-
creased the firmness of the soil ; but in no in-
stance had it been found to jjroduce the least
influence upon the crops. The effects upon
light soils were equally unsatisfactory, no advan-
tage being produced beyond a shght improvement

14

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

in the ploughing. This being the unanimous
opinion of the members present who had
practised it, a resolution to that effect was agreed
to.

In concluding this report, the committee
would revert to a subject named for discussion in
the present year, but which for certain causes
have not been introduced — they allude to the
important consideration of " Leases and their
usual clauses." The committee would recommend
that the members of the club should endeavour
to make themselves acquainted with the terms
for which leases are granted, their provisions,
and the effects they have upon agriculture ; that
when the suljject shall be brought forward in the
ensuing year, such arguments may be adduced as
to prove that long and secure tenures, with the
fewest restrictions, is the only way of establish-
ing an identity of interest between landlord and
tenant.

The committee ai'e aware that there is still a
wide field for agricultural improvement before
them; to explore which, the surest guides are
experience and observation. This course the
committee recom.mend the club to pursue, as
the best means by which true knowledge can be
obtained, C. Gibson, Secretary.

PENWITH.

The annual exhibition of stock and implements
for premiums offered by this society M-as held at
Penzance, and was a great improvement on the
show of last year. A jiarty of about eighty gen-
tlemen sat down to an excellent dinner at Ball's
Hotel, under the presidency of Col. Scobell;
Humphry Pascot, Esq,, the Honorary Secretary,
officiating as vice-pi-esident.

Subsoil Ploughing. — Col. Scobell men-
tioned some circumstances respecting the mode
of ploughing in that district. It had struck him
they were in great error in ploughing so shallow
as they generally did. Taking the average of the
country, he thought they did not plougli deeper
than from three to three-and-a-half inches. That
was a small cpiantity of earth to be turning over
eternally, to jn-oduce crojis from. He was fully
aware there was a great horror of deep ploughing
here : and he could easily account for it. Many
years ago, an ancestor of the Praeds — he Ijelieved
the great-grandfather of the present owner of
Trevethoe — had a very deep plough, and ploughed
eighteen inches or two feet deep. He turned up
a large quantity of land, and, in fact, ruined the
country. Since that, they had had a number of
Scotch gentlemen and north country gentlemen
who had come into this county, and ploughed
outrageously dee]). Now that over deep plough-
ing he considered to be as great an error as too
shallow ploughing. The great disadvantage of
shallow ploughing v\'as that no air could circulate,
and no water would drain off; and \\'ater, if kept
on the surface, would create acidit)', which was
very prejudicial to vegetation. It was a well-
known fact that the samples of corn in Cornwall

did not come up to the samples in other parts of
England ; and he ascribed this in a great measure
to their not having a sufficient depth of soil. He
therefore strongly recommended every gentleman
to try subsoil ploughing. He had found it most
valuable in many instances. In a farm of his in
Buryan, it had almost worked miracles. It was
a very foul estate, and by subsoil ploughing, and
rooting out the under weeds, his land and crops
had been very much improved, and his crops had
improved to a surprising degree. On the farm at
Botrea he subsoiled a portion of the land, leaving
a strip in the middle not subsoiled. In the part
subsoiled, he had a good crop of oats ; while on
the portion not subsoiled, he had not a single
grain. But afterwards, when he came to look
to his arishes, he found that the part not sub-
soiled had better grass than the part that was
subsoiled. That, however, he attributed in some
measure to another cause. They had a very rainy
season when they put in their seeds ; and he be-
lie\'ed the rain-water sank down so quickly that
it formed a cake, and the seeds did not come up
so well in consequence.

Guano. — D. P. Le Grice, Esq., related the
result of some experiments with guano and other
manure. He tried guano on turnips at the rate
of 5 cvvt. an acre ; and the produce he had was
76 tons of turnii)s per acre, or 64 tons when the
tops and spindles were taken off. (This state-
ment was received with marks of surprise, which
did not appear to subside during the afternoon.)
On the same field he tried other manure at the
rate of 30 loads per acre, composed of 15 loads
stable dung, and 15 loads Penzance town dung.
The produce was about equal, so that he could
not say the result was in favour of guano, except
that guano was cheajjer than the manure from
Penzance. He used wood ashes with the guano
in order to increase the quantity. He also used
wood ashes with some part of the stable and Pen-
zance dung; and it was curious that where he used
the wood ashes there were not so many tuinips
decayed, when he went to take them up, as on the
jjortion where he did not use the wood ashes.

Several members expressed their surprise at
the statement of Mr. Le Grice, and said that 37
tons per acre was considered an extraordinary
crop.

Mr. Le Grice adhered to his statement ; but it
was the general opinion that some mistake had
been made in the weighing.

Steaming Tuunip.'-.— The Chairman said,
the next question Avas, as to the mode of using
their turni]) crops to advantage. As he was the
introducer of turnips into that county many years
ago, and had followed his present system for
20 years, he might venture to recommend his
mode of using them. He had tried it for many
years, and the more he tried it, the more he was
satisfied with it ; and he saw, too, that, to a cer-
tain extent, he was followed by many gentlemen.
All fanners and horse-keepers allowed that
steamed turnips were most excellent food for
horses. Finding that it was good for horses, he
had tried it to a great extent for other animals ;
and for the last three years he had fed mth

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Ifi

steamed turnips 100 head of cattle, about 17 or
1 8 colts, all his stock of horses, which was about
1<) or 17 more, and gcneruUy aljoiit 120 head of
pigs. All this he had done with steamed tiu'nips.
He assured the company that the trouble of doinj^
this was very little ; he did not employ one more
person in steaming turnips for his cattle than he
did in gi\"ing them raw. The expense of fuel for
the whole was 8 cwt. of coal per week. He found
all the young animals — calves, pigs, and every-
thing— do exceedingly well on this food. He
did not fatten his ])igs on steamed turnips, but
still kept them up in good store condition. He
would recommend all farmers to steam all their
turnips for their cattle. The drainage from his
steam turnip vats — that wai-% the condensed
liquid, after the process of steaming — kept all his
store pigs. The winter before last, he kept SO
head of ])igs on the litjuid that came from the
turnips. But he did not recommend the steam-
ing turnips over-much. There was an acidity in
the rind which physicked and purged the animal ;
and he thought that the merely extracting this,
and softening the outside, \\as much better than
over-steaming and reducing the turnips to a pulp,
because then they extracted too much. The
great advantage of steamed turnips was, that they
could be given to any extent in any weather ;
and they would have the same effect as oil-cake,
or hay and corn. He did not think so many
years v\-ould elapse before the farmers would fol-
low him in steaming turnips as had passed before
they followed his example in drilling turnips. He
thought in a short time it would become ver}'
general. But he would advise gentlemen, when-
ever they have a steaming machine, not to have it
too small. The larger the boiler, the less coal in
proportion required.

Mr. S. James was the first to follow Colonel
Scobell in adopting the ])lan ; and from that time,
about four or five years ago, to the present, he
had continued to use steamed turnips for his
horses, pigs, &c. As to the condensed water, he
was satisfied there was nothing so good for feed-
ing pigs. Since he had given steamed turnips to
his horses, he had never had the misfortune to
lose a horse, and had scarcely had one unwell.
Formerly he used to have horses unwell, and was
told it was from overwork ; l)ut now they did
quite as much work as before, and he had scarcely
had one unwell. He gave them very few oats.

The Chairman. — Mr. James's horses do a great
deal of work in carrying on the roads ; but I am
satisfied that farm horses will do their M'ork on
steamed turnips and chatt".

R. Pearce, Esq., said no one had told them the
difference in pounds, shillings, and pence.

The Chairman had no doubt that, feeding on
chaff and steamed turnips was'the cheaper mode;
but what the difference was he covdd not say.
Col. Rcobell then recommended the use of steamed
turnips for gentlemen's riding horses. It kept
them in good health ; free from bad eyes, broken
wind, and other ailments. He would recommend
it, to a certain extent, for all horses. Even for
the hunter, when he returned from hunting, he

would advise the giving him a few steamed
Swedish turnijjs mashed.

Cri/nvATioN OK Waste Land. — I). P. Le

Grice, Esq., proposed the health of the chairman,
to whom they were all indebted more than to any
other man in the room. He believed not one
quarter of the waste land in that neighbourhood
would have been brought into cultivation, but for
the efforts of that gentleman (cheers).

The chairman was extremely obliged by the
manner in which his health had been jjroposed
and drunk. Certainly, the im])rovement of agri-
culture had been his chief occupation for the last
40 years ; and during that time his average ex-
penditure in manual labour had been about 500/.
a-year. At present it was rather more. He had
brought in a considerable quantity of land ; if he
were to say 500 acres, he believed he should be
within the mark. He was continuing to bring in
land, and he found it answer. He found the land
in this county most (jrateful. The very worst
land would produce good oats, fair barley, good
crops of potatoes and turnips, and they were sure
of a crop of grass. Those articles were good
grounds to proceed on ; and he had no reason to
repent of the money he had laid out. It had
given him health, exercise, and amusement. The
improvement of land v/ould answer particularly
for practical men living on their estates. When
he began to improve land, he had not the advan-
tages which were now possessed by the farmer
in artificial manures ; and it was the opinion of
many that it was im])ossible he could get ma-
nures. But by the adoption of certain plans, he
succeeded; and until this last seven or eight
3'ears, he manured all his land with the manure
made on his own estate, without the aid of artifi-
cial manui-es. Though artificial were an excellent
assistance, he advised all to take care of their
farm-yard manure. He contended that no farmer
ought to buy manure. He was convinced that if
they adopted the system of house-feeding in the
winter, and of soiling in the summer, they might
raise v/hat quantity of maniire they pleased.
His great object, in improving land, was to raise
manure; because without it he could do no-
thing ; \A-ith it he could do e\-ei7thing.

Several other speeches of a practical nature
were delivered in the course of the evening. —
(Abridged from the Cornwall Gazette.)

ON STEEPING SEED.

TO THE EUITOK OF THE FAKMEr's MAGAZINE.

Sir, — A great deal has lately been said and

written about a plan for steeping seed wheat, and

other seed, in solutions of different neutral salts,

promulgated by Mr. James Campbell of Dundee,

and inserted in the Transactions of the Agricultural

Society of Scotland ; by which means, it is said,

great luxuriance of plant, and increase of produce

j is attained. That such is the effect, there can l)e

j no doubt, and great merit is due to Mr. Campbell

1 for the liberal manner in which he has made

! pubhc his process. It is, however, a trite saying,

16

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

that " there is nothing new under the sun" ; and
this remark may, in some degree, apjily to the
process in question.

In an old work on agriculture, i)ublished in
1759, called " The Practical Farmer, or the Hert-
fordshire Husbandman," written by William
EUis, of Little Geddesden, Hertfordshire, which
I have lately perused, the following receipt oc-
curs, which, though not identical with Mr.
Campbell's, involves the same principle ; that is,
of saturating the seed n'ith nutriment. Mr.
Ellis says —

" Take a quantity of the grain you are to sow,
a bushel, more or less, and boil it in a copper (to
a bushel i)ut five pails-ful of water) till the grain
bursts, and the water thereby becomes impreg-
nated with the essential salt of such grain ; strain
your liquor, and give the corn to the poultry,
that there may be no waste. While the hquor is
hot, put three pounds of nitre, that it may dis-
solve, and add four or five pails-ful of the water
which drains from the dunghill, or urine of any
sort : and in this prepared liquor steep the grain
about twenty-four hours. Let the liquor be four
inches above the corn in the vat, because the corn
will swell and imbibe it. Then take the grain,
and let it dry in the shade, or sift lime over it,
which will dry it sooner, and sow one third less
than usual, and you will assuredly find the bene-
fit by twenty-fold. I have actually tried it -^^ath
barley, and had commonly thirty ears from one
root. About three pounds of nitre, as above, is
sufficient for as much as will sow an acre or more.
You must pour your prepared liquor warm upon
the corn, and stop all as close as you can, for that
causes the salts to be put in motion. The ex-
cellency of this receijJt is obvious in all cases ;
1st., it saves seed; '2nd, it in some measure sup-
plies the defect of full dressing the land, by the
seed being full of riches when sown ; 3rd, it
produces a greater quantity than ordinary;
lastly, by this steeping, the grain will make its way
out of the groundjf drought should succeed. One
dry summer, when I was so fortunate as to sow,
for the first time, the barley after this receii)t, it
brought my crop up more even than my neigh-
bours, to the admiration of the beholder, and I
had more on an acre than ever I had — I believe I
may say as much again."

By the term " nitre," Mr. Ellis no doubt means
saltpetre or nitrate of potash, which is one of the
ingredients recommended by Mr. Campbell, and
the liquor from the manure heap, or urine,
mentioned in the above receipt, will naturally
supply ample ammonia, in lieu of the artificial
ajiplication by the more modern process.

It is amusing to observe the curious notions
which this antiqviated writer entertains, as to the
causes of fertility in the soil ; he speaks of the
sal terra or spiritusmuridi, which he conceives to
be bottled up, as it were, in the subsoil ; and
maintains that snow causes fertility, " not only by
covering the earth to preserve its spirits in itself,
but by the nitrous spirit it leaves in the earth,
after its solution;" and that "this globe of the
earth which affords unto us the substance, not
pnly of ourselves, but of all other creatures sub-

lunar}-, is impregnated with a spirit most sub-
tle and etherial, which the Original, or Father of
Nature has placed in this world, as the instrument
of life and motion of every thing." This spirit
"is a vehicle that carries with it the sulphurous
and saline parts, whereof the matter substance or
body of all vegetables and animals are formed
and composed. It is the operater or workman
that transmutes, byjits active heat, the sulphurous
and saline parts of the earth or water into that
variety of objects we daily behold or enjoy. It
continually perspires through the pores of the
earth, carrying with it the sulphurous and saline
parts, the only treasure the fanner seeks for ; as
hath been by some ingenious artists mechanically
proved, by receiving the same, between spring
and autumn, in an alembick or still-head, where
it hath condensed and copiously distilled into a
receiver at that season of the year. Which spi-
rituous hquor, so received, is not a treasure to
be slighted or neglected, carrying with it the only
matter of vegetation, as the same artist affirmed ;
and having placed the same under a melon-glass
near some vegetable, it was thereby wholly attrac-
ted externally, and converted into that vegetable.
Water contains in it the most spirituous or
aqueous part ; plants, flowers, and soils, more of
the sulphurous ; and barks of trees, blood of
animals, and several minerals, more of the saline,
which three qualities are more or less in all things.
How soon will horse-hairs receive life, lying in
rain-water but a few days in the heat of the sun,
in the spring time ? whereof many may be seen
in the highways after rain in the month of May,
very nimble and quick, that had not yet lost their
shape of a horse-hair."

This quaint writer, afterwards enlarges much
upon this spirit of the earth, as he calls it, and
sums up his reasoning on the subject, by affirm-
ing that saltpetre in the reduced form in which
this fertilizing spirit exists, as may be proved by
reducing vegetables to ashes, and evaporating
a solution of them.

I will not, howe\'er, occupy more space
in your valuable journal, l)y giving fur-
ther extracts from this curious old work ;
which is evidently written by an inquiring spirit,
and by one who would no doubt, had he h^'^ed in
the present age, have been among the
foremost to take advantage of chemical science,
to forward improvement in agriculture.

I remain. Sir, your obedient servant,

Henry Brigos.

Overton, near Wakefield, Maij 30.

DISEASE OF CATTLE.— Owing to the con-
tinuance of dry weather, accompanied by parching
easterly winds, we regret to learn that the cattle in the
neighbourhood of Dublin are beginning to suffer from
the epidemic which last year the farmers and dairymen
found so destructive. For the last two months we
have scarcely had a shower of rain, wliile at night we
have occasionally had severe frost. The accounts
from the country are very xinsatisfactory. Great
damage has been done to the flax crop in the north, and
to early wheat and potatoes. Indeed, we fear there is
every reason to apprehend a very dear and scarce
season. — DuMin Monitor.

THE PARMER'S MAGAZINE.

11

ON DRAINING xVND DEEPENING THE
SOIL.

By John Sproule, Author of a "Treatise
ON Agriculture;" and of Prize Essays
on Flax, Manures, &c., &c.

No. I.

There are not, assuredlj', within the province
of the agriculturist, any more important opera-
tions to i)erform than those of draining and
deejjening the soil. The former of these is not
of modern invention, having, in some degree,
been practised from the earliest ages of which we
have any authentic account of the practice of
agriculture. No improvement could, in fact,
have been more obvious, or sooner have sug-
gested itself to the notice of the cultivator of the
soil, than that effected by draining. The system
of cultivation would indeed be rude, in M'hich
tlie disadvantages resulting from an excess of
moisture in the soil would not be apparent ;
and as the least advance would be made towards
the adoption of an improved system of farming,
a corresponding progress in the art of draining
would undoubtedly follow. Every practical
farmer is aware, further, of the ad^'antage of
having his land not only dry, l)ut deeply pulver-
ized, in order that the most profitable return may
be obtained from its cultivation. The advantages
resulting from deep pulverization have been long
felt in the garden ; and so essential in every case
has this circumstance been considered, that the
first operation in the formation of a garden has
invariably been an effective trenching, with a view
of securing this deep pulverization, so essential
to successful garden culture. Though equally
important in the cultivation of the field, it is
only within a comparatively recent period that its
adoption came into general operation. The merits
of deep tillage were not, indeed, formally brought
under the notice of the farmers of the kingdom
until 1836, when the important e\-idence of the
justly celel)rated Mr. Smith, of Deanston, before
the Agricultural Committee of the House of Com-
mons, placed it in its true light l)efore the pubhc
as an accompaniment of his efiective system of
draining. Draining, it is true, is not required on
all soils, but there is no soil which is not improved
by deep tillage. Draining is, however, a most
important operation throughout the temperate
regions of the globe, and is especially so in a
comparatively humid climate like that of this
country. A large projjortion of our most \'alu-
able soils is rendered unproductive from an excess
of moisture ; and, before deep tillage can be at-
tempted on these soils, that evil must be removed.
On all wet soils, therefore, draining must be
regarded as the pi'ecursor of deep pulverization ;
and hence our reason for connecting these sub-
jects together. In fact, without previous drainage
on all soils requiring that operation, deep tillage
would be extremely injurious, as thereby aflbr cl-
ing greater facility for the retention of that excess
of moisture which it is so important to remove.
This precaution, we fear, is not so steadily kept

in view as it should be, before using the subsoil
plough or the spade to deepen the soil; and much
of the prejudice which has in some cases been
raised against that operation is owng to this cir-
cumstance alone.

The attention of the farming community being,
for the most j)art, exclusively directed to the ap-
plication of the almost countless number of ma-
nures now brought under their notice, it is to be
feared that the jjrimary and still more important
oj)erations of draining and deepening the soil
will be allowed to fall into the back ground. The
importance of authenticated accurate experimenttj
with the various manures now submitted to the
notice of the agriculturist cannot be denied, and
is only secondary to the improvement of the soil
itself, which must always be regarded as the
primary consideration. Manures will evidently
be ineliective so long as the land is not in a pro-
per state to receive them. Atmospheric influences
in the economy of vegetation are not confined to
the fohage of our cultivated crops, but extend
also to their roots in the soil; but the operation
of them will be retarded if the soil be not also in
a state favourable to their admission, which
evidently is only after being properly ijulverized.

The improved practice of draining at the pre-
sent day is widely different from that practised
by our ancestors. The system of farming then
in operation being extremely defective, the want
of a proper system of drainage was not so
much felt ; in fact, it was only when the surface
of the ground was in a greater or less degree
flooded with water, that it was considered advis
able to adopt any means for its removal. But,
notwithstanding the defective system in operation,
and the limited extent to which it had until
lately been carried, it has eftected incalculable
good, and has afforded a sure and striking ear-
nest of what may be done through its instrument
tality when effectively rendered available. Though
silent and comparatively unobtrusive in its ope-
ration, it has already done much to alter the
constitution of the soil, and diflfuse a healthful
bloom over the face of the country ; and not
only renovating the soil, but also counteracting,
in a great degree, the humidity of the climate.
The injurious effects of its humidity and varia-
bility on the operations of the husbandman
we may be unable entirely to remove by draining, no
matter to what extent it may be carried ; but
from the beneficial results of our hitherto defec-
tive operations in this respect, it is not too much
to calculate that a great though gradual amelio-
ration will thus be effected.

The precise i)ractice to be adopted by the
drainer will evidently vary in some degree accord-
ing to the peculiar circumstances of the case ; but
it is to l)e observed that there is now much
more uniformity of operation than in the system
formerly employed. The eftbrts of the drainer
in times i)ast have ])een, for the most part, if
not altogether, directed to the remo\'al of wetness
caused by springs ; and nearly a century ago,
considerable proficiency had been made in this
country in this species of drainage. In certain
districts throughout the country, and on certaiu

C

18

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

geological formations, a large extent of surface
was, no doubt, rendered unproductive from this
cause alone, and a proper knowledge of how the
evil was to be remedied was of much importance.
In such cases the approved practice consists in
making a cut across the hill, near the origin of
the wetness ; and this, when carried to a certain
depth, is generally successful. The precise situa-
tion of the drain in such cases is chiefly deter-
mined by the inclination of surface, and stratifi-
cation of the soil ; but, as a general rule, to use
the language of the farmer, the proper plan is
between the wet and the dry, being along the
line where the wetness first appears, or a little
above it. The depth is, of course, entirely to be
regulated by the circumstances of the case.

Such, then, was the system which may be said
to have been in universal 0])eration until the
commencement of Mr. Smith's extended and
successful operations. It is also that which is
still to be adopted in certain cases, where there
is only partial wetness of the soil, which occurs
chiefly in districts having great diversity of sur-
face. Then the soil is seldom, for any great extent,
of an homogeneous character ; so that while, in
some parts, it may be sufficiently porous to admit
moisture to pass through, in others it will be alto-
gether impervious to water, and force it to the
surface in the form of springs, the course of
which it is necessary to intercept to remedy the
evil. It is ob^aous that, in such cases, a certain
knowledge of the structure and stratification
of the materials composing the soil and subsoil
is essential in order that the operations of the
drainer may be successfully and economically
directed. Though the evil to be removed may be
spread over a great extent of surface, it frequently
happens that perhaps one or two places contain
the sources of it ; so that the perfection of drain-
ing, in such cases, is to intercept the course of
the water before reaching the surface ; and this,
too, at the least expense. It is for this purpose,
therefore, that some knowledge of geology is
desirable, to enable the drainer to ascertain the
probable inclination and extent of the several
strata through which his operations are to be
extended; which, with a little experience, will
enable him to direct his efforts to the quarter in
which they are most likely to be successful.

The system of draining here described is, it
will be observed, calculated merely for the re-
moval of moisture in the soil caused by springs or
bursts of water occurring only in particular
places. Until lately, however, it was the only
species of drainage employed, and was, therefore,
often directed to the removal of moisture retained
by the adhesiveness of the soil itself, for which
purpose it is entirely unsuited. Though the
extent of surface requiring drainage from the
latter cause is much greater than from the former,
and also aflfecting soils of greater intrinsic value,
yet when springs are to be removed, notwith-
standing all the modern improvements in the
art, the system of drainage described is that
which is still to be employed. Tliis is, further,
the system of draining which attracted so much
attention towards the conclusion of the last

century, and for which a parhamentary grant of
£1,000 was voted to Mr. Elkington, of War-
mck shire, the drainer with whom it originated.
So important was it considered at the time, that
the Board of Agriculture appointed Mr. John-
son, the weU-known author of " A Treatise on
Draining and Embanking," to accompany Mr.
Elkington on a survey of his principal drainages
in the diflferent counties of England, and to
draw up a report of his observations thereon,
which will be found in the work referred to,
which has passed through several editions.

"Wliile on this subject, a few remarks on the
practice to be adopted in such cases may not be
out of place. These are the more necessary
from the circumstance of the frequent drain
system having almost entirely taken the place of
that now under consideration ; although, as
already remarked, cases frequently occur in which
one efficient drain may effect the purpose better
than any complication of smaller ones, and be
formed at incomparably less expense. The pre-
ceding observations will show the reader the
cases in which such drains are to be employed ;
and those which follow are intended to guide
him in the course of proceeding which he is to
adopt.

The object here to be attained being the in*
terception of the spring before it can saturate
the surrounding soil, a few trials, by sinking pits
at intervals along the line, when the evil first
manifests itself, are often necessary, as affording
a correct idea of the texture and situation of the
strata by which the course of the water is affected.
The locus of the spring is also thus ascertained
when the water Avill flow rapidly into the opening
thus formed, which is thence conveyed away by
a drain to the most convenient outlet. In certain
cases, the drain may not be able to reach the
spring without sinking it to an inordinate depth,
though properly situated in relation to it ; and
then additional information may be acquired as to
the propriety of further proceedings by the use
of a boring instrument, with which, unless rocky
strata intervene, the operator can perforate the
subsoil to the depth of several feet ; and when
the water is reached, even in this manner, it usu-
ally rushes with such violence to the surface as
eflFectually to prevent the opening from being
again closed up by the surrounding soil.

The formation of the drains and the closing of
them afterwards, we shall treat of in detail in a
succeeding paper; but the frequent drain system,
or, as it is also termed, the Deanston system, from
the name of the place in which Mr. Smith so ex-
tensively carried it into operation, must first come
under review.

No. 11.

It has been justly remarked, that aU knowledge
is comparative : what is considered as approach-
ing perfection in one age being often considered
comparatively rude and imperfect in a succeeding
one : and this obsen'ation holds good in the case
of draining as in that of every thing else. The
system before referred to ia calculated merely for

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

19

tlie removal of wetness caused by springs alone,
and however efficacious it may be for that pur-
pose, it is evident that it may be altogether inap-
plicable for the removal of water proceeding from
a different cause, and such has been found to be
the case. As improvements in agricvilture ad-
vanced, it was found that the operations of tillage
were retarded in no small degree by the retention
of moisture in the soil which had fallen from the
heavens, and the crops thereby rendered unpro-
ductive ; so that here a different mode of pro-
ceeding 1)ecame necessary for its removal. A
large proportion of the richer soils of the king-
dom being of the heavier class, and retentive of
moisture, its removal could not have been re-
garded in any other light than as most important,
and deserving of especial consideration. Several
methods were accordingly ado2:)ted for the pur-
pose, the most generally practised of which con-
sisted of high ridging, with open furrows for the
water to pass away. When spade cultivation
was general, this presented little difficulty, and
the same object was effected by the plough by
repeated gatherings of the ridges towards their
centres ; in fact, so far has this practice been car-
ried in several of the clay districts of the midland
counties, and such a degree of curvature has been
obtained by a constant perseverance in it, that
persons could hardly see each other in adjacent
furrows. This system of high ridging has its
disadvantages, as leaving a large portion of the
surface unproductive by the removal of the cul-
tivated soil, towards the centre of the ridge, and
the consequent exposure of the subsoil in the fur-
rows, on which, of course, nothing could be
grown. It is also inconvenient in the manage-
ment of the operations of tillage, as cross-plough-
ing cannot, in such cases, well be practised ; and
on the whole it is altogether unsuited to an im-
proved system of cultivation, a distinguishing
feature of which is the absence of ridging alto-
gether. This system for years past has been ex-
tensively practised, and was rendered necessary
by the imperfect means in use for the removal of
superfluous moisture, so fruitful a source of in-
fertility where it exists.

The system of liigh ridging did not, however,
prevent the furrows from being saturated with
moisture, which, even in dry weather, by capil-
lary attraction extended a considerable way up
the sides of the ridges, and an ob\'ious improve-
ment here would be the introduction of small
covered drains in the furrows of the field. In
such districts, accordingly, this practice has, to
a greater or less extent, been adopted for many
years, more especially in certain parts of Essex ;
and hence the term of the *' Essex system of fur-
row-draining" has been applied to it in other
parts of the country. But the principles upon
which a proper system of draining should be
founded not ha^ang been, vintil lately, understood,
and the execution of the work being extremely
defective, this comparatively rude system never
became generally known ; in fact, for a length of
time, it had been on the decrease rather than
otherwise, even before the introduction of the
system which has desen'edly of late occupied so

much attention. The system of cultivation prac-
tised on the heavier class of soils, therefore, be-
came every day more and more unproductive,
notwithstanding the admitted fact of the decided
superiority of such soils under proper manage-
ment. Being very difficult to till properly in the
spring for green crops, such crops were on thin
soils httle known, and the very expensive pre-
paration for the summer fallow became necessary
at very short intervals, as a preparation for wheat,
this being their staple crop. One-fifth or one-
sixth of the whole farm being thus in summer
fallov/, which not only makes no return for that
season, but is undergoing a most expensive course
of tillage, materially reduced the farmer's profits ;
so that the most valuable soils in the kingdom
werethe most unproductive, frombeingimperfectly
drained. This was particularly exemphfied m
the state of the great mass of the Enghsh farmers
on the clay land districts, before the extension of
a proper system of thorough draining attracted
so much attention. During the depression of
prices between 1832 and 1837, the occupiers of
such soils were brought to the very verge of ruin.
The pecuhar circumstances under which they
laboured rendered the production of grain their
chief dependence, and the low prices obtained for
such produce were attended with their natural
conseciuences. The system of farming, altogether,
was assuredly defective in the highest degree;
but this proceeded entirely from a want of a
proper knowledge of draining, the absence of
which prevented the proper resources of the soil
from being developed, and rendered an economical
and productive system of culture impracticable.*

* A striking instance of the truth of the pre-
ceding remarks is found in the following state-
ment of expenses and produce of an acre of heavy
clay land in the county of Sussex, handed in to the
agricultural committee of the House of Commons,
appointed to inquire into agricvdtural distress, in
1836, by Mr. Thomas Boniface, as actually oc-
curring on a fai-m which he had assisted to su-
perintend for a number of years. It indeed
affords a melancholy view of the situation of far-
mers at that period : —

" First Year.— Fallow for Wheat.

Four ploughings £2 8 0

Eight times drag harrowed . 0 10 8

Drawing out manure 0 8 0

Poor-rate, highway rate, and

church do 0 4 0

£3 10 8

Second year. — Wheat.

Sack of seed wheat £l 0 0

Sowing & water-furrowing .010

Weeding, &c., &c 0 1 0

Reaping and han-esting . . 0 14 0
Thrashing 18 bushels of

wheat, at 4d 0 6 0

Market expenses & carrying 0 3 6
Poor-rate, &c o 4 o

2 9 6

c 2

20

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

In these days of agricultural improvement, it
is almost unnecessary to enter at length on the
advantages of having the soil thoroughly dried,
either for cultivation or for pasture. Every far-
mer is aware of the drawbacks attendant on a
wet farm, however ignorant he may be of the
means for its removal. The operations of tillage
can seldom be performed on it in the proper sea-
son, and at any season they are executed with
difficulty. In addition to this, when the season
turns out unusually wet, the crops frequently prove
an entire failure. There is, in fact, a perpetual
struggle going on between the ploughman wth his
horses on the one side, who endeavours to reduce
it into mould, and the rains, which again render
it solid : if worked in a wet state it is turned into
mortar, and when dried it turns up in impene-
trable masses, which neither harrow nor roller
can reduce.

The introduction of a proper system of drain-
ing— one not merely directed to the removal of
wetness arising from springs, but also of that
caused by the retention of moisture faUing from
the heavens, and one not merely temporary in
its effects, but permanent in its duration — being,
therefore, an object of primary and paramount
importance to the occupiers of at least three-
fourths of the cultivated surface of the United
Kingdom, the extent of the obhgation to which
the farmers of these countries are under to the
ingenious Mr. Smith, for the introduction of his
almost perfect system, will be properly appreciated.
It is little more than eight j'ears since the public

became acquainted with his system of draining,
though previously practised for a length of time
by himself, on his farm at Deanston, near Stir-
ling ; and now it is in general use throughout
all the more improved distiicts of these countries,
and is still rapidly extending. Like every other
innovation of established usage, its extension has
been repeatedly opposed, and objections from
time to time have been started against it ; but the
best proof of the futility of them, is the increas-
ing favour with which Mr. Smith's system is an-
nually received ; and the fact of an association
being now in process of formation to advance
capital for this especial purpose, is no small tri-
bute to its merits.

Third year. — Oats.

Once ploughed £0 15 0

Six times drag-harrowed . . 0 8 0

Once rolled , 0 0 8

Six bush, seed oats at 2s. 6d. 0 15 0

Mowing and harvesting . . 0 4 6
Carrying out and market

expenses 0 3 0

Poor-rate, &c 0 4 0

£2 10 2

Fourth year. — Grass.

Charge of grass seed 0 9 0

Composition for agistment .030
Poor-rate, &c 0 4 0

0 16 0

Total Produce.

Fallow £'0 0 0

Wheat, 18 bush, at 5s 4 10 0

Oats, 32| do. at 2s. 6d. . . 4 1 3

Grass — value of feed 110 0

9 6

Deduct expenditure

10
9

Which leaves as profits of

cultivation 0 14 11

" In the preceding estimate no allowance is
made for rent, land-tax, or repair of buildings,
nor for interest or occupier's capital" (ITiird Re-
port, p. 236).

No. III.

It has been already stated in this article that
the extent of surface injured by springs is incon-
siderable, when comjiared with that rendered wet
by the retention of surface water. Experience
ha^dng shown, in the latter case, that water may
be, and indeed often is, retained within a very short
distance of a drain, the necessity of having the
drains frequently repeated then became evident.
Where the soil is homogeneous in its nature, the
drains require to be placed at regular intervals,
to prodvice uniform dryness ; and in this case the
advantage of having them in parallel and equi-
distant lines are apj^arent. The distances at
which they should be placed are evidently regu-
lated altogether by the nature of the soil. In some
cases, especially when the soil is in any
degree adhesive, they require to be placed
at so close inten^als as ten or twelve feet;
and in others, when a greater degree of porosity
exists, from thirty to forty feet may be sufficient.
A little experience will guide the farmer in this
respect ; but it may be here mentioned that, on
the generality of adhesive soils, from fifteen to
eighteen feet have been found a good practical
distance ; and this is the distance recommended
by Mr. Smith, from a very extended experience
as to its effects. There are few soils or subsoils
so adhesive, on which drains placed at this dis-
tance will not prove effectual ; while in propor-
tion as the soils gets lighter, and more porous in
its texture, the intervals between the drains are
to be increased.

It being, therefore, determined beyond doubt
that a system of drainage by parallel and equi-
distant lines is that best calculated to produce
thorough dryness in the soil, the next considera-
tion is the direction in which such drains should
be placed in the field. On this subject there is
much diversity of opinion. In the old system
of draining, for the removal of springs, the
direction of the drains was uniformily across the
hill ; and althovigh under the system now under
consideration, the object in view is very different,
and, of course, requiring a very different mode of
proceeding, still the great bulk of our farmers can-
not at once give up all their old prejudices in favour
of any new plan, however specious or palpably
advantageous it may appear. At first sight there
is also a great degree of plausibility in the rea'

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

21

soning of the advocates of cross drains when they
assert that, in consequence of the tendency of water
to find the lowest level, a cross drain is obviously
])est calculated to interrupt its course. It is further
argued, that when the declivity is considerable,
and the descent of the water in the drain conse-
quently rapid, the drain itself would be destroyed
in a short time, and the object in view in its
formation entirely frustrated. Let us, however,
examine these hypotheses a httle more in detail.

In the heading of this article, two apparently
unconnected processes have been joined together
— draining and deepening the soil; and it is an im-
portant fact to be kept constantly in view, that
the former cannot produce the intended effect —
that of perfect dryness — without the aid of
the latter. Without the assistance of deep
tillage and minute pulverization, no multiplica-
tion of drains will accomplish the object in view;
as, before the drains can prove effectual in remov-
ing the superfluous moistiu'e from the soil, arrange-
ments must be made to see that the moisture
shall reach them for that purpose. On the supposi-
tion that the entire mass of the soil was absolutely
impenetrable to moisture, with the mere excep-
tion of the portion covering the drains, the ob-
jection to the longitudinal drains would then hold
good, as comparatively little of the water flowing
on the surface would find its way into them ; and
the cross drains would be eftectual, as being
placed more immediately in the way of the cur-
rent. But when it is taken into consideration
that perfect drainage cannot, in any case, be ac-
complished without the most minute degree of
pulverization being effected in the soil, the case
is materially altered. The loosening of the soil is
produced by the action of the subsoil plough
to be afterwards noticed. Rains after falling,
therefore, sink at once into this loosened soil,
until the water reaches the impervious stratum,
along which it is conveyed to the drains. Where
the soil has been properly loosened, the water
passes through it with facility ; and in the event of
suitable channels being provided for carrying it
away, the soil will be wet only so long as the rains
continue to faU. The importance of having the
drains frequently repeated is seen to be apparent,
for should the interval of impervious substrata
over which the water flows in its course to the
drain be great, it is evident that its accumulation
will saturate the incumbent active soil to a great
extent, until it slowly finds its way into the
drains. But this interval will be shortened, and
the water will consequently escape much more
rapidly, when it flows from each side equally into
the drain; which it is obvious it can only do
when the drain is placed in a longitudinal posi-
tion, right up and down the hill. Make the in-
clination of the drain ever so slight, either to
the right or to the left of the line of descent, and
a greater quantity of water will be collected from
one side of the drain than the other, which, it
has been just seen, is an evil to be guarded
against. The e^dl increases with the inclination
of the drain, until it reaches the transverse posi-
tion, or, in other words, until it is ])laced right
across the hill; in which case, the whole of the

water is collected from one side of the drain,
from the lower side of which the water must
pass over the whole of the intervening space to
the next drain before it can make its escape ; and
in this case the surface soil is exactly saturated
with double the quantity of water which would
be present in it, were the drain placed in a longitu-
dinal position, and the water flowing into it from
right and left. In the case of cross drains, too,
the water coming in considerable quantity, and
with greater or less force, according to the incli-
nation of the surface, it is liable to pass over the
soil, covering the drain to some extent, without
getting through it, which still further diminishes
the effects of drains placed in this position.

In the case of drains placed longitudinally on
surfaces with considerable declivity, and convey-
ing large quantities of water, it is more than pro-
bable, nay, it is absolutely certain, that the con-
tinued action of a large body of water on the
bottom of the drain would, in a short time, render
it inoperative, unless the precaution of placing
flags or tile soles in the bottom of the drain had
been adopted. But in the cases to which these
observations have reference, the quantity of
water in each indiAadual drain will be com-
paratively trifling, owing to the circumstance of
the drains being placed so closely together. In-
deed, so small is the quantity of water usually in
such drain, unless during or immediately
after heav'y rains, that is desirable to secure as
great a fall for it as possible. The injurious
effects of water standing in the bottom of the
drain are familiar to every one, but it is evident
that it is only in cross drains that such a circum-
stance occurs.

The irregularity of the deposition of sediment,
has been another objection brought forwai'd
against drains placed up and down the hill, the
force of the current depositing it in quantities at
such places as may present any trifling obstacles
to the descent of the water, and thus eventually
stopping up the drain. When the drain is per-
fectly formed and filled, however, it is expected
that the water in the drain will not retain any
sediment in suspension ; which, if it does, will
soon destroy the drain, no matter in what direc-
tion it may be placed. It has, indeed, been
clearly proved by Mr. Smith, and many others,
that the water will be completely filtered in the
soil before reaching the drain at all ; and that in
the case of drains in operation for a number of
years being opened, no trace of sediment could
be found in them. The slightest possible depo-
sition of sediments would i)rove fatal to the
operation of drains of any description ; and the
very great number of years during which drains
have been found to be in successful operation,
of itself, proves how httle injury can be sustained
in this manner. The circumstance of such ob-
jections being raised, only shows with what per-
tinacity previously conceived opinions will be
maintained, even when a slight investigation
would be sufficient to show that they are totally
destitute of foundation.

Finally, it has been contended that the system
of draining now under consideration is altogether

22

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

unsuited for the removal of wetness proceeding
from springs, even allomng it to be adapted for
surface draining. It has, however, been seen
in a preceding paragraph, that the system of
longitudinal drainage, accompanied by deep pul-
verization, presents a greater facihty than any
other for the removal of Avetness from the soil,
no matter from what cause it may proceed. It
has also been further ascertained that it is much
more likely to be eftectual even for the removal
of springs, unless perhaps the cause of wetness
is proceeding from a single source, than any
complication of cross drains, as is proved by a re-
ference to the stratification of the materials con-
stituting the generality of subsoils. On ex-
amination of these strata, they are generally
found arranged in a horizontal position as they
approach the surface, no matter how great the
inclination of the surface may be. It has been
further shown in a preceding part of this article,
that some of these strata are porous, while others
are retentive, so that the water, in its passage to
the surface, must follow the line of the stratifica-
tion. It is clear, therefore, that a drain placed
across the hill may be carried all the way along
the impervious strata, without going through it ;
in which case the water wovild reach the surface
without coming into contact with the drain, and
here the drain would be totally ineffective. Every
one at all versant with the subject will admit that
such cases are not by any means of rare occur-
rence in practice ; and that, even in situations
where draining is most required, the cases in
which drains have been formed without any
water being collected by them are numerous.
Here, of course, the drain has not been placed in
a proper situation, and another mvist be made ;
indeed, several may be required, made thus at
random, before the object is accomplished. When
the drains are placed longitudinally, however,
every stratum is cut through to the depth of the
drain ; and water, even caused by springs, cannot
reach the surface without being thereby inter-
cepted in its course.

But the system of longitudinal drainage is
attended with another important advantage,
which has been almost entirely overlooked ; and
to those who are constantly deprecating that
system on the score of economy it will be es-
teemed one of considerable importance. It is
notj perhaps, generally known that in the case of a
rectangular field being drained at certain intervals,
there will be a greater length of drains required
in any other direction than when placed longitu-
dinally. Take, for example, a field, the area of
which is exactly an acre, and the Avidth 180 feet,
in which case the length will be 242 feet. If this
be drained in a longitudinal direction at intervals
of eighteen feet asunder, there vvdll then be nine
drains 242 feet in length, or 2 178 feet of drains in the
whole field. Slant the drains, however, ever so
slightly across the hill, and the length of the
draining is increased, until they are placed diago-
nally when they will be of the greatest length.
They will then decrease until placed right across
the hill, when the total length of draining re-
quired •will be the same as in the calculation just

made ; but it is obvious that drains cannot,
under any circumstances, be placed right across
the hill, as they would then be altogether inopera-
tive, from the want of a fall to carry off the
water.

No. IV.

The direction and distance asunder of the
parallel drains in the field being ascertained, the
next consideration presenting itself to the notice
of the drainer is the situation of the cross drains
intended to carry away the water collected by the
others. Every one, having any experience of the
operation of covered drains discharging their con-
tents in the open ditches surrounding the fields,
must be familiar with the attention which they
consequently require to prevent their being choked
up by weeds and grass gro\\ing about, which,
if not frequently removed, in some time destroy
the drain altogether. This is more especially to
be guarded against in the case of drains
discharging only small quantities of water ; as, in
any other situation, obstructions are readily re-
moved by the force of the current. Although the
parallel drains, therefore, might at once open into
the ditch at the bottom of the field, it is better to
have one opening merely, discharging the whole
of the water collected by the smaller drains, and
a little attention will prevent this from choking
up. For this purpose a drain is formed along the
lower part of the field, at about the same distance
from the bottom fence as that between the paral-
lel drains, the size of which will necessarily de-
pend on the quantity of water which it is likely to
contain. Cross drains mil also be required
along every hollow part of the field, through
which the smaller drains could not convey
away the water. The cross drains, being in
every case intended for conveying a larger quan-
tity of water than the others, must be formed of
a proportionably larger size, and in all cases be a
few inches deeper; and especial care must be
taken that no corners or obstacles to the water are
left at the jvinction of these with the smaller drains.
This is the more necessary where the current is
to pass round an acute-angular projection, which,
in a short time, would give way to the action of
the water, and being deposited in some other part
of the drain, would stop it up. This is apparently
a very trivial matter, but it is believed that in
many cases the operation of drains is materially
interfered \vith by not paying proper attention to
it. The cross drains also require to be opened
before the others are commenced, otherwise at the
lower part of the field and throughout any hollow
])arts they will be filled with water as they are
formed, which will interfere with the continued
operations of the workmen.

Draining is performed with the greatest facility
when the land is in grass. There the cartage of the
materials for filling the drains is easy, and the
opening and filling is performed in a superior
manner. The surface sod, too, answers for cover-
ing the stones, or other porous materials used for
filling the drains before the earth is placed on
them ; and this, of itself, is an important consider-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

23

ation, the drains being frequently rendered in-
operative by the surface mould getting through
the stones, and interrupting the course of the
water. Indeed, it may be safely calculated that
the draining of any proportion of ground may be
performed at one-third less expense when the land
is grass, and the operation performed during the
summer than if done at any other time. The
draining cannot, however, in all cases be conve-
niently performed during that season, nor whde
the land is in grass. A common plan, in the rota-
tion for draining, is after the oat crop, and just be-
fore preparing the land for a drill crop. The land
in this case had been in grass the season before ;
and in ploughing up the lea, the ridges for the
oat crop being placed in the direction of the in-
tended drains, and of a width corresponding to
the intervals between them, greatly facilitates the
opening of the drains. This admits of the drains
being placed in the existing furrows of the field,
which secures a considerable saving of labour, both
in marking them out and in their excavation after-
wards. This is apparent from the elevation of
the centre of the ridge above the bottom of the
furrows.

Local circumstances frequently determine the
period most convenient for the execution of drain-
ing. It is sometimes performed during the period
of preparing the land for green crops, the stones
collected off the land at that time serving to fill
the drains, and thus not only effecting a saving in
bringing the stones forward to the drains, but
also in preventing the necessity of their removal
off the land. In the great majority of cases, how-
ever, while the land is in grass must be regarded
as the proper time for draining ; and when a farm
is intended to be drained, matters shoidd be so
arranged that the fields in grass come in succes-
sion for the operation.

In opening the drains, the common plough may
in all cases be effectually used, both in marking
out the course of the drain and in loosening the
first spading, which can afterwards be thrown out
by the shovel. The drain can be marked out per-
fectly straight and of the reciuired width by the
plough, which, with the loosening of the upper
stratum of earth, to the depth of six or eight
inches, considerably facihtates the operations of
the drainer. The plough in this operation passes
up one side of the drain and down the other,
throwing the loosened earth in both cases towards
the centre of the drain. When the drain is nar-
row, the mould-board of the plough should be
taken off, to allow the instrument to pass freely
through the soil.

The dimensions of the drains in some degree
dei)end on the facility of procuring materials for
filling them, as well as the quantity of water
which they are likely to carry off the land. In
many situations stones abound to such an extent
that they become a nuisance, in which case per-
haps the most convenient way of disposing of
them is to make them so wide that they shall con-
tain all the stones on the land. We have had
drains opened, in our own experience of draining,
and so great was the quantity of stones abound-
ing in the soil and subsoil, that, notwithstanding

the drains were made of an unusual width, those
taken up in the formation of the drains alone,
were more than sufficient for filling them, so thai;
a considerable portion of them had to be taken off
the land after the drains were finished, and placed
along the fences of the fields. Such cases, are no
doubt, comparatively rare ; but when they do exist,
therule should be to endeavour to make the drain of
such a size as to contain all the stones found on
the land. The depth is not, however, subject to
so much variation as the width, the cause of which
is obvious. It may be calculated at thirty inches
for the parallel drains ; and however much it may
be increased bej'ond this depth, it should not be
in any case less, in order to admit of a sufficient
depth of stones in the drain for canying off the
water, \vithout coming in contact with the plough.
When materials for filling the drains are not abun-
dant, the drain should be as narrow as it can be
formed by tlie workman without difficulty. In
this case the dimensions may be thirty inches
deep, fourteen inches wide at top, and four inches
at bottom. It is a great error not to make
drains sufficiently deep. Sixteen inches of
soil should be secured in a pulverized state,
either by trenching or subsoil ploughing,
and two inches shoidd at least intervene
of unmoved soil between the plough and the
stones and in filling the drains, to prevent any
of the soil from getting among them, and
obstructing the course of the water. Twelve
inches deep of stones are required in the drains ;
so that thirty inches is the least depth to render
them thoroughly effective. After the practice of
thorough-draining came into operation, many of
the farmers — even in the best cultivated districts
of Scotland— made their drains only from twenty-
two to twenty-six inches deep, which left but
from ten to fourteen inches of soil covering the
drains. At that period, the advantages of deep
pulverization were not so well appreciated, and
the drains were formed in such a manner as to
render it impracticable at any future time without
rendering them ineffective. In all cases, there-
fore, in which drains are formed at the present
day, they should be of the required depth to ad-
mit of the action of the subsoil plough ; for as im-
provements in agriculture advance, the imi:)ort-
ance of deep pulverization will be still further
appreciated. Draining and deep tillage are, in
fact, so closely connected, that without the latter
the former is comparatively ineffective.

The process of the formation of the drains being
so simple, it does not require to be described at
any length. It is scarcely necessary to remark
that drains are, in all cases, commenced at the
lower part of the field, to allow the water to pass
away while the work is going forward. The drain
is not carried to the full depth at once ; the usual
course being to take off one spading for a perch
or more in length, and then return to take off a
second, and so on until the required depth is at-
tained. AVhen vv^ater is found abundantly making
its appearance in the subsoil, it is well not to make
these spadings of great length ; as the action of
the water flowing along — and also of the atmos-
phere itself, on many kinds of subsoil — impart a

ta

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

tendency to it to work into mortar by the treading | the course of tillage without interfering with the

drains. Uniformity of width, though not so
essential, is still of imj)ortance, to admit of the
stones or other materials used in filling being re-
gularly placed along the line of the drain, and
also to economise them where they are procured
with difficulty.

of the workmen in taking out the succeeding
spading, and thus subject him to much incon-
venience. The better plan is to take short lengths,
and then execute the drainto the required de])th with-
out having any considerable quantity on hand at
a time. In taking out the last spading, the use of
the common spade is inadmis-
sible ; therefore a spade tapering
to the bottom, as represented
in the figure, must be em-
ployed. Intead of the shovel, a
scoop (also here figured) must be
used for lifting the loosened earth
out of the bottom of the drain.
These implements may now be
procured in any part of tlie coun-
try, or they may be manufactured
by any AuUage blacksmith.

In sinking the drain, it has
been seen that the first spading
is to be loosened by the plough,
and the others taken up by the spade. Where
the subsoil is not very hard, two spadings, after
the plough, will usually be sufficient to sink the
drain to the required depth; but, in many
cases, three spadings will be necessary. It
frequently happens that the subsoil is so hard
that the spade cannot penetrate it, in which
case the crow-bar, or common hand-pick, is
to be used for loosening it. The pick is in
general to be preferred to the Imr ; though, in
using it, there is this drawback — that the work-
man, in going forward, treads on the earth he
has loosened, and in some degree compresses it
again. In this respect the foot-pick, or digging-
bar, is perhaps superior to either. The earth
taken out of the drain is usually laid on one side ;
but when the subsoil is very tenacious, it will be
well to place the earth taken from the top of the
drain on one side, and that lower do^vn on the
other. By this arrangement the surface soil can
be placed next the stones in the drain ; and the
tenacious matter of the subsoil, by being placed
on the top, soon loses its original character by
tillage, and becomes assimilated to the remainder
of the soil. It is a great error — and one frequently
committed — to place the impervious subsoil on
the top of the stones ; for although the admission
of water to the drain will not be confined to enter-
ing it at the top, still every facility should be
given in the management of the process to efifect
the object in view. It is, perhaps, scarcely neces-
sary to obserA'e that stones met in the course of
the drains while being opened are to be carefully
laid by themselves, so as to be again available for
filling before the earth is to be replaced.

The operation of sinking a drain is one re-
quiring little skill on the part of the workman,
still it must not be negligently performed. The
bottom of the drain must be made perfectly level,
to guard against obstructing the M-ater in its
course ; and where irregvilarities of surface are
present in the ground, it is better that the drains
be formed without any reference to them, so that
such irregularities can afterwards be levelled in

(To be continued.)

REPORT OF THE RUGELEY FARMERS'
CLUB.

In reporting the proceedings of the past year,
your committee feel bound to notice with much
regret the A-ery thin attendance of the members
of the club on those days appointed for discus-
sions. Your committee feel confident that the
objects contemplated on the formation of this
club cannot be attained, nor the information so
necessary to the well-being of the society dis-
seminated, except by a more numerous attend-
ance of members at the periodical meetings.

Your committee would impress on every farmer
that the present is a time when it is absolutely
necessary that the soil should be made to give
its increase at the least possible cost ; and that
societies formed for the discussion of agricultural
subjects afford its cultivators the opportunity,
to use the words of an eminent individual, by
rubbing their minds one against another, of ob-
taining varied inforaiation, and communicating
the results of each other's experience, at an in-
significant cost.

Your committee, therefore, respectfully entreat
a more regular attendance when subjects are ap-
pointed for discussion.

At the first meeting of the club in the jmst
year, Mr. Freer gave an able lecture on the for-
mation and elementary composition of manures,
and their general effects on vegetable life.

A request has been made to Mr. Freer, with
which your committee trust he will comply, to
allow his lecture to be published, as it is impos-
sible to give even a review of it in the limits of
this report.

At the second meeting, Mr. Wm. Blurton, of
Field Hall, kindly undertook to state his views on
the best way of making cheese.

Mr. Blurton has since published his lecture as
an essay, addressed to the chairman and members
of the club, and it would be unfair to the publisher
(not being a member), to extract from the essay ;
but one important remark of his your committee
venture to notice, viz., "that a thermometer
should always be used in making cheese, to as-
certain the temperature of the milk before the
rennet is put to it, instead of trusting to the hand,
the heat of which will naturally A'ary.

At the meeting in September, Mr. M. Turner
concluded his remarks on the rotation of crops
for the best strong land. He considered no
very certain course of cropping could be adopted
on this kind of strong land ; that two white
straw-crops should never be taken in succession;

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

that a green-crop drilled and hoed might ])e
grown, instead of making a summer-fallow in
every course of tillage.

A member said, that on his farm he had in
part disjjensed with summer fallows, though in
every other rotation he might have occasion to
make one. He was enabled to a^'oid this expensive
system, by drilling and hoeing his grain, and
growing green crops. He soiled his horses during
the summer months, and by this method made
an extra quantity of manure. Several gentlemen
expressed themselves in favour of the growth of
green crops, and driUing and hoeing all kinds of
grain.

It was resoh'ed that for the land named no
A'ery certain rotation of cro])ping can he followed.

The meeting are of opinion that a green crop
may be taken with profit, in lieu of making
a dead fallow, in every rotation for the wheat-
crop.

At the meeting in October, an interesting paper
— (seethe next column) — was read by the chairman,
on the cidtivation of wheat, and advantages hkely
to arise from the use of the subsoil plough.
After making some valuable introductory remarks,
Mr. Smith noticed that many of the strong-land
farmers still continued to plough or harrow in
their wheat on fallows ; which he considered
very objectionable, where it was practicable to
use the drill, which would allow the crop to be
eftectually horse or hand hoed.

On hght soils it had been proved by experience
that the best mode of planting the seed was by a
seam-presser, with a drill attached ; or to press
the land, and sow the seed broad-cast. By either
method the seed is deposited on a solid bottom,
which is very beneficial to the wheat plant. The
subsoil may be loose, but he thought it absolutely
necessary that the young plant should have a firm
bed whei'ein to fasten its roots. The presser was
also a great enemy to the wire-worm and slug.
Mr. Smith considered a preparation for the seed
absolutely necessar)'.

On the Use of the Subsoil Plough.

Mr. Smith had practised subsoil ploughing to
some extent, and with considerable advantage ;
but he was no bigot in its favour. Its operation
might be useful to almost all land, yet if its ad-
vantages could not be attained at a cost moi-e than
sufficient to pay for the labour, then the imple-
ment became worthless. Where he had used the
subsoil plough on light loam upon a gravelly
bottom, he had been amply repaid the first year ;
and certainly no strong land can be effectually
drained without breaking iip the subsoil. He
stated the reasons why some soils had not received
so much benefit from subsoil ploughing as others.
One member thought it was useless to prepare
seed wheat ; and considered it the best plan to
plough the wheat in on fallows, because drilling
often made the strong land too fine. But few of
the members agreed wth either of these opinions.
It was the unanimous feeling of the meeting that
great benefit had been, and was likely to be, de-
rived from the use of the subsoil plough.

The best mode of making and most profitable

way of using farm-yard manure was proposed
by Mr. Joseph Dicken at the next meeting of
the club. In most of the valuable suggestions
offered, he had the apjtroval of every meml)er
present. Mr. Dicken noticed the waste of the
liquid manure, which often occurred from the bad
constructions of farm yards, and also from want
of care on the part of the farmer. — (See page 29.J

A discussion followed as to the best mode of
using this, the richest of all manure. Though se-
veral plans were proposed, no decision was given,
whether it was better to collect it in tanks, and
apply it (with carts constructed for the purpose)
at once to the land ; to put it over the manure in
the yard; or to mix it with compost, and thus use
it instead of carting it out in a liquid state. If
facilities offered, it was recommended to irrigate
the meadows with the liquid mixed \\'ith water.

The time of the succeeding meeting was occupied
with considering the expediency of forming or
joining a society for the mutual assurance of
cattle. At this meeting the Rev. Charles Lan-
don presided with his usual ability.

Your committee have pleasure in stating that
the fiinds of the society are in a prosperous state,
They wish to impress on every member how desi-
rable it is that his subscription be paid at an
early meeting in the next year.

Your committee will be glad to receive recom-
mendations of any new books from memliers of
the club, and will if possible, add them to the
library. For the committee,

Jas. Wyley, Jun.,

Secretary.

ON THE CULTIVATION OF WHEAT, AND THE
ADVANTAGE LIKELY TO BE DERIVED FROM
THE SUBSOIL PLOUGH. BY WM. TAYLOR
SMITH.

Having recently addressed you at considerable
length on the cultivation of the light soils in this
district, I again obtrude vipon your patience with
some diffidence, as the subject now assigned to
me is so nearly allied to the one we then discussed.
I shall endeavour, however, to avoid as much as
possible the path we then trod, and vaiy the scene
by diving deeper into the soil, that we may con-
vert into profitable use the hidden treasures of
the earth. But if I journey on a different road
to-day, I would not lead you to suppose that I
have deserted the old one, or consider it unsafe
or dangerous, as, notwithstanding the many hints
and rumours that have floated through the air
since my address has assumed a more public cha-
racter, I still consider it the nearest, and the one
that will eventually be the most travelled upon.

There is no agricultui'al subject of paramount
importance to the one we are about to discuss,
and if it be true that he who causes " two ears
of corn to grow where only one would grow be-
fore," deserves well of his country, it is indeed a
matter worthy of our deepest consideration.

The subject does not resolve itself into a sim-
ple question of profit and loss, l)ut how can we
satisfy the craving ap])etites of the greater part of
the civilized world. That the population (espe-

S6

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

daily of Great Britain) increases with almost in-
credible speed no one can for a moment doubt,
but it is not equally certain that the fertility of
the earth is increased in a due proportion to such
increase of the inhabitants.

England was an export country : she does not
now produce sufficient food for her children. I
do not say she cannot, for I firmly believe our
soil is pregnant with riches, only waiting for the
ingenuity of man to bring them forth, sufficient
for the wants of the people ; nay, God is too mer-
ciful to create man, and deny him the means of
subsistence. The more we ponder on the sub-
ject, the greater appears its importance ; the more
we reflect upon it, the greater appear the difficul-
ties opposed to us ; for we not only have the wire-
worm, the slug, and other natural enemies to con-
tend Avith, but an enemy far more destructive to
advancement in science, far more tenacious of a
position which it defends with the most deter-
mined bravery and sleepless watchfulness — I
mean the wilful, obstinate, and deep-rooted pre-
judice of man. In the march of intellect the old-
fashioned farmer alone appears contented in his
sphere, and heedlessly disregards the polar star
of improvement that would give light to all around
it. Do not suppose that I would have the indus-
trious farmer attend to every pretended discovery,
even if it be recommended in the most alluring
language of advertising phraseology or profound
quackery, but to consider well the interests of
the party recommending, and to ask these three
questions — Do I want it ? Am I convinced it
will answer the purpose for which it is intended ?
Will the price of the article be profitable to me ?

But bigotry and prejudice are not the offspring
only of the party before mentioned ; they are too
frequently the twin sisters of another parent, who
sorely impedes the progress of agricultvu-al im-
provement— I mean the man vv'ho has incau-
tiously pmxhased some newly discovered article,
and, having widely circulated its advantages be-
fore giving it a fair trial, is either ashamed or too
proud to acknowledge its defects when he has as-
certained them. Such an one as this is the farmer's
greatest enemy, and should be carefully avoided;
and if I have been severe on the class belonging
to the " olden time," I would inflict more stripes
on that I now speak of, for it but too generally is
formed of men of independence, and whose as-
sertion, therefore, has considerable weight. To this
class, occasionally, an extensive landlord belongs,
who, having still more influence with the neigh-
bouring agriculturists, tarnishes more effectually
the reputation of those who naturally seek and
follow his advice. If, then, we have not a suffi-
cient scientific knowledge to direct an experimen-
tal course, we must have the undeniable proof of
practice to guide us ; but I mean not practice in
its abstract simple sense, self practice, but the
practice of others ; for I hold that man to be an
injurious bigot who, having the better and more
lucrative management of a neighbour constantly
and evidently before him, still persists in his folly,
to the injury of the land he occupies, and the fa-
mily dependent on his exertions.

I will not detain you with more introductory

observations, fearing that you will even now
charge me with exceeding the limits and intention
of a fair preface.

To address you " on the cultivation of wheat"
is a task not very easily to be accomplished, for
the production of that necessary of life does not
consist in ploughing, sowing, and reaping, each
of which operations affords sufficient material for
a volume, but we have as many varieties of the
corn itself as different soils to sow with them ; we
have enemies at each extremity of the plant — wire-
worm and slug at the root, vnih smut and red-
gum in the ear, and the intermediate space but too
frequently occupied by mildew and rust. We
might, if time permitted, descant at large on each
of these destructive foes, and attempt to prescribe
an antidote for their combined assaults; each
enemy is worthy of an essay, and therefore too
important to be considered now.

I must confess that it is most annoying to see
a healthy promising plant destroyed by the hidden
ravages of these imderground inhabitants ; and it
is no consolation to be informed that what would
annihilate the enemy would most probably poison
or materially injure the corn remaining on the
ground. Smut is easily vanquished, and in these
days but few run the risk of sowing wheat \vith-
out using some preventive : mine is simple, but
eflfective, as I never heard of a single smutty ear
having been seen on any field of mine ; it is
a solution of quicklime and boiling water thrown
upon the heap of seed corn, which when turned
over lies together in a heated mass for 24 hours
before use.

Of what country the wheat plant is a native is
matter of pure conjecture, as, with the exception
of some parts of the southern coast of Africa, it
is cultivated on every part of the temperate and
torrid zones, and in some places as high as 2000
feet above the le^'el of the sea, though in Britain
it will not thrive at a greater elevation than 500 ;
oats, however, will ripen much higher, which ac-
counts for the quantity of that grain being grown
in Scotland.

I am quite satisfied that on land adapted to
turnips and well cultivated, good crops of wheat
may be obtained eveiy other year ; yet, although I
carry out this theory by my own practice, I dare
not recommend it for universal adoption, and that
only because of the abuse it would be subject to,
as I am quite aware that our manure heaps do not
receive that attention and accumulation sufficient
to supply the additional calls upon their re-
sources. My practice is to manure for turnips,
consume them on the ground with sheep, sow
spring wheat and clover, manure the clover and
consume it vWth sheep, and wheat again. Oats and
barley are unknown to my land, and I have no
desire or anxiety for a more intimate acquaintance
with them ; but I generally contrive to grow as
many beans and peas as are required for my horses
and pigs.

Many strong land farmers stiU adhere to the
custom of ploughing in their seed, and it is rea-
sonable to presume that they find it answer, or
they would discontinue the practice ; my impres-
sion, however, is that drilling when practicable is

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

27

far preferable, for the seed Is delivered at a pro-
per depth and distance — besides which, wheat
ploughed in cannot be horse-hoed or ettectually
hand-hoed. On light soils and sandy loam, ex-
perience has taught ine that the best mode of de-
positing the seed is by the use of the seam-presser,
which follows two ploughs ; the turf or edges of
the furrow-slice is pressed hard down, and thus
forms drills, into which the seed regidarly falls on
being sown broadcast. The presser, with a sim-
ple drill attached, deposits the seed with more re-
gularity ; but it is frequently difficult to get the
swollen and limed seed to run continviously down
the common drill. The pressed drills being wide
at the bottom, allow the seed to be more divided
than when dehvered through a pipe; consequently,
the roots have more room to expand in than when
sown by the drill. There are persons who fancy
that this implement makes the ground too hard
at bottom for the young shoots to penetrate, but
no idea can be more erroneous or more contrary
to the nature of the plant now under considera-
tion ; the subsoil may be as loose as possible, but
the wheat plant luxuriates on a hard seed bed j
the presser, too, is a great enemy to the wire-
worm, and the plant is never thrown out of the
ground after a hard dry frost or heavy rain where
it has been used. If the seed be not deposited
in the manner I have described, much depends
on the ploughing of the land ; if it be sown (as it
never should be) broadcast, the furrows cannot
be laid too much on edge, because the harrows
then catch plenty of soil to bury the seed ; but if
the drill is intended to be used, a wide furrow
should be ploughed and turned over as flat as
possible : thus, when the seed is deposited by the
drill across the furrows, the land will be quite
solid, which is necessary for a good crop of wheat
upon a clover ley ; and I wiU here observe that a
clover ley intended for wheat should never be
ploughed when quite dry, as you will incur the
inconvenience, when walking over it about Christ-
mas, of sinking over shoe-tops, which is a condi-
tion to be dreaded, but not easily remedied, as the
roller cannot then be used, nor sheep with safety
be folded on the wheat; this malady, however,
never annoys the strong land farmer, whose wheat,
both on fallow and clover ley, I contend should
be drilled and hoed. A prevailing prejudice
against hoeing wheat is, that the operation light-
ens the surface and lets in drought ; the very re-
verse, however, is the fact, as the more light and
pulverized the surface of any substance, the more
moisture will it retain.

I have not unfrequently known injuries, aris-
ing from the farmer's negligence, attributed to
slug or wire-worm. It sometimes happens that
wheat sown broadcast on a clover ley appears very
promising for a great crop, till a severe frost sets
in without snow, but accompanied by a high
wind ; thus the soil on the elevated parts of the
field becomes dust, and is blown away, leaving
the roots of the young plant so exposed to the
frost as to be destroyed l}y it : had the drill or
])resser been employed, there probal^ly would have
been no complaint made of the ravages com-
mitted by our natural enemies.

Although I contend that there is less wheat
and more Lent corn sown than the generality of
land allows to be profitable, still I am fully alive
to the abuse any system is liable to. It is highly
desirable that the productive qualities of the land
should never lie dormant — it is contrary to tlie
rules of nature ; but how to bring them into pro-
fitable action is a matter that requires sound
judgment and experience, as no one rule can be
laid down for the cultivation of all strong or even
light soils ; numerous instances have been known
and still exist where wheat and beans have been
grown successively and successfully for numbers
of years, when, perhaps, if that course were
adopted, even on the adjoining farm, the tenant
would have some difficulty to reap a crop worth
seed and labour.

If many farmers who now grow 50 acres of
wheat were to apply the same manure and labour
on 40, they would in all probabihty reap quite as
many bushels ; and if, instead of increasing their
acres, they were properly to cultivate those they
occupy, a much more satisfactory Dr. and Cr.
account v/ould generally be produced.

Much that is valuable has been written and
spoken on this subject ; but a man will never learn
farming from books alone. Agriculture is a science
of no ordinary kind, and cannot be fully com-
prehended without extensive pr?ctice. In trade
and commerce positive rules are laid dov/n, by
which the young are instructed during an appren-
ticeship ; but the cultivation of the soil is an oc-
cupation of endless variety, more extensive in its
effects, and governed by fewer fixed regulations,
than any other. " Practice with Science" is our
motto. Would that we all more clearly under-
stood the true meaning of those three simple
words !

I ^vill only make one more observation on the
cultivation of wheat before I hasten to the second
division of my subject, and that tends to convict
myself, and even the most scientific men in our
service, of total ignorance in a most important
branch in the natural economy of plants. That
every blade of wheat is furnished with veins and
air vessels, ahke in character, and intended for si-
milar jnirposes, as those ofliving bodies (and their
powers of digestion appear to be pretty much the
same) no one doubts ; that each plant emits its
refuse, or deposits an excrement, is also clearly
ascertained, and the most learned chemists agree
that nothing prevents a continued repetition in
the sowing and successful cuUure of wheat but
these very deposits or excrements. We know of
their existence, but are ignorant of means for their
removal ; and ignorant we must remain until the
magic power of chemistry discovers an antidote
for the poison. Yet, even here, we can but admire
the wonderful laws of vegetable nature in convert-
ing the injurious refuse of our plants into food for
its successor; for we are acquainted with no better
means of purifying the soil of this excrement,
than by solving beans or perhaps a green crop.

This process of decomposition or purification
is considerably accelerated and increased by
stirring up or lightening the subsoil, and this
leads me to the second division of our subject.

S8

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

viz., " the advantages likely to arise from the use
of the subsoil plough."

The utility of this very valuable implement
is less known even to the most extensive
agriculturists than most discoveries of very
inferior importance, although it is suited and
adapted to both descriptions of land, and that
too in pasture as well as tillage. The un wieldly
and ponderous machines that have occasionally
been introduced to our notice, are calculated,
without doubt, to feed the prejudice already
existing against a very useful implement. I
have seen six horses attached to a common
plough, with difficulty turn OA'er three quarters
of an acre per day, six inches deep ; and I have
not the least doubt that the same six horses, pro-
perly set to work, would have ploughed the like
quantity of land, on the same field, 18 inches
Avith less labour or fatigue. Experience has
made me very fond of subsoil ploughing — and I
have practised it to some extent — but I am not a
bigot in its favour ; for no matter how abundant
a ci'op may be obtained by the use of a certain
implement or manure, if it be acquired at a
cost more than sufficient to pay for the use of it,
it must be worthless. Wherever I have used it
on light or good loamy soils, I have been more
than repaid the first year ; and most certainly no
clay and strong land can be perfectly and effectu-
ally drained without the aid of the subsoil plough.
The botanist will tell you, that the fibrous root
of the wheat plant will shoot down to a much
greater depth than the straw is long in search of
food. Is it not, therefore, reasonable, even for us
to suppose that the more easily that food is ob-
tained the more vigorous will be the consumer ?
Besides which, would not the heavy lands be in a
better condition to bear sheep, if a more easy and
rapid escape be provided for the surface water ?

The pressure of the plough on a marly or
clayey soil frequently glazes the bottom of the
furrow, which effectually retains the surface water,
and is certainly succeeded by thin, scanty crops.
The same remark may not apply to light land,
but the implement is not therefore the less adapted
to it, for on that description of soil the great bulk
of green crops is produced, and nothing fosters
the growth of such crops so much as a deep, loose
soil : for instance, if we double dig a piece of infe-
rior light land, it will bear, without manure, good
carrots, potatoes, cabbage, nay almost anything.
Some very eminent farmers contend that it is lost
labour ; while others, equally skilful, consider no
system of husbandry complete without it : one
farmer drains deep, and uses the subsoil plough,
with every precaution and care, yet finds it to fail ;
another follows precisely the same plan, and per-
manently improves the texture of his soil ; both
are anxious that their friends should profit by, or
take warning of the example, and lose no time in
communicating their discovery through the me-
dium of some favourite publication ; both experi-
ments are made on what is called stiff soil, by
practical farmers andcredible men, and the only re-
sult of such conflicting testimony is, that the mat-
ter remains undecided. No sooner, however, are
the two experiments referred to their place in the

geological map (which we may all possess) than
the wlaole difficulty disappears : the one was made
on a stiff marly clay on a sandy subsoil, the other
on the most tenacious of soils, the lias clay ; the
former was permanently improved, the latter ran
together again almost as soon as done.

It is quite obvious, therefore, that some soils
acquire much greater benefit from the use of the
subsoil plough than others : the work, then, be-
comes a matter of pounds, shillings, and pence.
The operation is not so frightful if we bestow a
little consideration on it; and in order to give
every benefit to the strong land farmer, I will
suppose that a pair of horses will plough his
clover leys or fallows ; four horses will work with
ease the Rackheath subsoil plough ; consequently,
allowing 5s. for each horse, and 2s. 6d. for the
man and boy, the extra expense will be 22s. 6d.
per acre : if, therefore, by the opei'ation you ob-
tain three bushels more wheat to the acre, the
original outlay is returned the first year. But
the advantage does not end here, for if the land
intended for fallow were subsoiled in the autumn,
in most cases it might be covered with turnips,
mangold wurtzel, or vetches, instead of remaining
an unprofitable fallow. Before leaving the sub-
ject, I will give you the result of the experiment
on three different soils in my occupation, and
sown with spring wheat, beans, and peas, and to
save unnecessary description, I will call them 1,
2, and 3. No. 1 is the stoutest land I have, upon
a white clayey subsoil, very retentive of moisture,
and liable to become rough and cloddy, if worked
before being perfectly dry ; a foot-road passes at
right angles across the field ; one part was sub-
soiled after the turnips were off, the other part
ploughed only. I have not yet thrashed the crop,
but the subsoiled part will yield at least five
bushels an acre more than the other ; and, owing
to the locality of the field, the difference was re-
marked by numerous observers. No. 2 was upon
a wheat stublile, good loamy soil, and, consider-
ing that it has borne four crops of wheat in the
last eight years, in good condition : this I drilled
with beans, 18 inches apart, and without any
manure ; the crop was extraordinary : on many
stalks I counted from thirty to forty pods, and I
took one out of a sheaf six feet six inches long,
bearing forty pods and 120 good beans. But by
far the most profitable result was obtained from
No. 3, which I beg of you particularly to notice.
I determined to sow two fields with grev peas,
the one a four-year-old turf, ploughed and pressed
but not subsoiled, a month before the Sth March,
when the peas were sown ; the other a wheat
stubble upon the poorest land in Armitage parish,
that has not received a spadeful of manure for
nine years at least, which is accounted for by its
locality, as, independently of its situation being
farthest from the fold-yard, it is a dangerous pro-
cess to bring half a load out of the field, and al-
most impossible to get it in ; and my predeces-
sors had little acquaintance with artificial ma-
nures. This field, after having been cleaned, was
subsoiled 18 inches deep, and the peas were
drilled in 22 inches apart, on the 1st of April, or
more than three weeks after the others : on the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

29

8th of May they were forwarder and more \-i-
gorous than those on the turf, and when har-
vested produced more than three times the quan-
tity ; indeed, it was the heaviest and best crop of
peas I ever saw grow, and will amply repay me
for the whole of my suljsoiling operations on 26
acres, performed last season.

But the advantages of the implement in ques-
tion are not confined to the arable land alone ;
the benefit to be deriA-ed from it as a sub-turf
plough on old pastures will really surprise the
grazier. I entertain the highest possible resjiect
for ancient pastures, and we all reluctantly dis-
turb them, yet I am fully convinced that many
have enjoyed their otium cumdic/vitate much longer
than is profitable to their occupiers : the roots of
the grasses have become so matted together and
consolidated, as almost to prevent the admission
of air, so necessary to vegetable life : the best
feeding lands then become coarse and second-rate
pastures, filled with moss ; but should a sough
or under-drain run through any part of such
land, on its surface j'ou will invariably find the
grass finer and eaten closely ; its situation is in
winter always visible by the herbage above it
being of a much deeper green, nay, if you only
take a paring knife or spade, and cut lines in dif-
ferent directions, you can, in spring, trace them
by the colour and luxuriance of the grass close to
the incision. Such trifling examples as these
prove to us the use of the sub-turf plough ; you
will therefore observe, that I ha^-e no wish to
metamorphose old pastures into oat-stubbles, but
to increase their value, by occasionally admitting
a free circulation of air within the turf, at a cost
too trifling to be taken into consideration.

In thus concluding my address, I must apolo-
gise for having occupied so much of your time in
executing the task assigned to me : its import-
ance is my plea for the attempt, my own insuf-
ficiency an excuse for the unconnected manner
in which the attempt has been made ; I will only
ask you to receive my thanks for this further
proof of your kindness, and to give me credit for
the intention of doing my duty.

THE BEST MODE OF MAKING, AND MOST
PROFITABLE WAY OF USING FARM-YARD
MANURE. — BY MR. J. DICKEN.

I proceed to the fulfilment of my engagement
this day under areally painful sense of my inability
to do so in a manner deserving of your attention;
and, in justice to myself, I beg to remind you
that I did not voluntarily undertake the duty, but
at the repeated request of our chairman at the
annual meeting ; and, with these considerations,
I am certain you will receive my insignificant
attempt -with the same indulgent kindness I have
before experienced.

The subject of manures generally is one of
the most important and interesting to which the
attention of farmers can be directed. The im-
portance of it has been long acknowledged, for
men have from the remotest ages been aware of
the fertihzing effect of manure. I ftnd in John-

son these remarkable words : — " Cato tells us,
' Study to have a large dunghill — keep your com-
posts carefully !' " And then follow directions as
to the modes he recommended of applying it.
Johnson adds, these directions were given 150
years before Christ; and, after the lapse of 2,000
years, the direction to the farmer must be the
same. Little can be added to the advice of Cato
when he said — " Study to have a large dung-
hill."

Until a very recent period, however, the sub-
ject has been involved in doubt and uncertainty.
Men were not aware of the manner in which
manures produced their beneficial eftects, and
consequently they were utterly ignorant of the
results likely to proceed from the application of
diflferent kinds of manure to various descriptions
of land, and under variety of circumstances ;
hence arose the frequent disappointments that
were experienced. Most happily, however, for
this countr)', the light of science and chemical re-
search have at length lent their powerful aid to
the practice of agriculture ; and men of the high-
est rank, and of the highest scientific attainments,
are now energetically devoting their powers and
influence to promote its success. In venturing
to state my own views on this important subject,
all I shall attempt uill be to notice some of the
various practices that either have been, or which
seem likely, when fairly tried, to be followed by
beneficial results.

On the first division of the subject — i. e., " On
the best mode of making fai'm-yard manure" — I
would observe, that the situation and form of the
farm-yard and buildings should be the first con-
sideration ; for although occupiers generally have
no control over, or choice of these, and are
obliged to use such as they may happen to find
ui)on a farm, yet these are of great importance,
and should be well examined before commencing
upon a farm : for it frequently happens, and espe-
cially upon old estabhshed farms, that the build-
ings and yards are situated at the remotest and
lowest part, by which arrangement the labour of
har\'est, of carting manure, and of daily proceed-
ing to and from work are greatly increased ; and
from the lo\vness of situation, it frequently hap-
pens that the whole of the drainage is lost, there
being no land to which it can be apphed in the
way of irrigation ; and it being equaUy impossible
to preserA'e it in tanks, which would, if made, be
immediately filled with water from the brook. I
could mention many farms thus circumstanced,
which, though not naturally poor, are effectually
rendered so by these means.

In his essay on this subject, Mr. Wyatt gives
the following valuable directions : — " In making
and preparing farm-yard manure proj^erly, the
following rules should be observed — To ha^'e the
yard of a proper form ; to prevent an undue
quantity of rain from falling into the yard ; to
supply it -nith straw regularly and moderately ;
to put as much stock into the 3'ard as can be in
with safety and convenience ; to attend to the
quality of the food given to stock ; to bring the
manure from the stables, jngsties, and close
sheds where cattle have been tied up, into the

30

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

farm-yard ; and to prevent an undue degree of
fermentation."

" With regard to the proper form of the farm-
yard, it should have the shghtest possible incli-
nation from the sides to the centre, enough to
prevent the moisture running out of the yard, but
not so much as to prevent the straw from absorb-
ing it in its progress to the centre, and not so
much as to cause an accumulation of wet in the
centre. There should be a drain from the yard to
a tank, in which the urine and drainage of the
yards and buildings may be collected ; but if the
yards be properly formed, well supplied with
straw, the surrounding buildings spouted, and no
water allowed to come into the yard except what
falls in rain, I believe the drainage from the yard
will not be very considerable ; but as this is of
the greatest value, especially when not diluted by
water running through the yard, it should be
preserved with care.

" It now seems, however, to be the opinion of
those best informed upon the subject, that the
value of the whole mass of the manure is most
increased by absorbing the whole of the liquid
pai't, if possible, with straw.

" In considering this subject, the question as to
the proportion of straw that should be consumed
as food will naturally arise ; and as the two chief
objects must always be to increase the quantity,
as well as, at the same time, to improve the
quality, it seems evident that neither of these ob-
jects can be attained by consuming a large pro-
portion of straw as food ; but of course this must
depend upon, and be regulated from time to time
by, a variety of circumstances. I believe it is
Arthur Young who says the quality of manure
depends exceedingly upon the quality of food
cattle consume ; and on this account, as well as
■with reference to the profit to be derived from
cattle, it is a short-sighted economy to keep cattle
on such poor food as straw only. Green crops
should be raised whenever it is practicable ; and
when the character of the soil is such that a suffi-
cient extent of green crop cannot be produced,
the use of linseed cake is very highly to be recom-
mended."

One other mode of increasing the quantity of
farm-yard manure we must not omit to notice.
It is one little practised in this neighbourhood,
but I believe equally valuable for the double pur-
pose of making manure, and of economically and
profitably keeping horses and other stock, espe-
cially horses. I allude to the practice of soihng,
or keeping stock during summer in yards and
buildings on green food.

Arthur Young, on this subject, says — "There
is not a fact in husbandry which ought to create
so much surprise as the general custom all over
the kingdom of feeding cows, young cattle, oxen,
&c., in the fields, and the almost general practice
of managing teams in the same way." And after
speaking in the highest terms of the advantages
to be derived from stock summered in this man-
ner, he proceeds — " To this superiority we must
add that of the main object, which is the dung-
hill. In one case, this is accumulated in a degree
even superior to what is effected in winter ; in the

other, it is scattered about the pastures, and nine-
tenths carried away by flies, or dried almost to a
caput mortuum by the svin. The prodigious su-
periority of thus raising a large and valuable
dunghill in one case, and none at all in the other,
ought to convince any reasonable man that there
is not a practice in husbandry so decidedly supe-
rior as this of soiling." And then he goes on to
remark upon the superiority of the cjuality of
manure made in summer from the consumption
of green crops only, to that of manure made in
winter, excepting only that yielded by fat hogs,
andby beasts fed on oil- cake, "which," he says,
" is of such a quality that the season does not de-
mand attention."

The degree of fermentation which may be de-
sirable for farm-yard manure is the last point con-
nected with the making of it to which I shall
allude. The effects of it are thus described. —
" Fermentation decomposes the manure, and dis-
engages some of the most A^aluable elements, and
these pass away in a state of vapour. Now, these
elements or gases which escape are, according to
Sir H. Davy and other scientific men, some of the
most valuable prouerties of the manure. It is
therefore desirable to prevent an undue feraien-
tation of farm-yard manure, that the soil may re-
ceive the benefit of all its properties." A certain
degree of fermentation is necessary to relax the
strawy fibre, and to combine with it the excre-
mentitious matter, so that when it is covered in
the soil, its entire decomposition may take place
speedily enough to afford nourishment, as the
crop for which it may be applied requires
it ; but when by fermentation manure is
brought into such a state as that it may be
cut with a spade — a state which many far-
mers call perfect, it is estimated that in weight
and quality it has lost 40 per cent, of its value.

With regard to the second part of our subject
— the most profitable mode of applying farm-
yard manure — I will endeavour to be more brief.
Of course, a considerable portion will be required
for green crops. This portion, I think, should be
turned about a fortnight before thetime of its being
applied, which will be long enough for it to fer-
ment sufficiently to reduce the stra^vy parts, and
to render the whole mass more equal, and
not so long as seriously to reduce the quality and
quantity of the manure. Strawy, unfermented
dung is not favourable to the early and rapid
growth of turnips. It is difficult to cover, either
in ridges or when ploughed in on the level ; and,
even if covered, it renders the land so extremely
light and open that the seed cannot vegetate if
the weather be dry or the young plant grow with
vigour.

If the field to be manured be at a distance, it
is a good plan — in order to sa^^e time, when time
is most important — to draw out and heap the
dung in the field. If this be done about a fort-
night before the time of sowing, the carts should be
shot up by the side of the heap, and the dung
thrown up with forks. It will then ferment im-
mediately ; but if it has to remain a longer time,
the carts should be dra^vn over the heap to com-
press and prevent fermentation taking place.

THE FAIWIER'S MAGAZINE.

31

Loads of dung should then be thrown on to the
two ends of the heap, and the whole covered with
soil. In this case, a turning may be necessary ;
but this wiU depend upon the degree in which it
is found to be decomposed when the time for
applying it is approaching.

If the dung be intended for wheat fallow, a less
degree of rottenness is desirable, though it should
be sufficiently reduced to bury well in the soil.
I think a profitable way of applying dung on
strong land is in the autumn, on stubble land in-
tended for spring crop. In this case, it is better
to apply the dung in an unfermented state ; it is
then ploughed in without difficulty. It keeps the
land more open, and therefore more exposed to
the influence of frost ; and having so long to re-
main, it is certain to be sufficiently decomposed
for the succeeding crop, for which no other pre-
paration should be made than with the scuffle
and drill when perfectly dry, by which the land
wiU be worked into the finest order, and the ma-
nure sufficiently mixed with the soil without
being brought to the surface.

It appears to me that the practice of spreading
farm-yard manure on the surface should be ex-
ploded altogether ; and that, when top-dressing
is necessEiry, it should be with compost or Mquid
manure.

ON BREEDS OF SHEEP.

[extracted bx permission from a porthcoming work
on sheep, by mr. w. c. spooner, of southampton.]

The management and selection of any breed of sheep
must, after all, become matter of pounds, shillings,
and pence. The question the farmer has to consider
is, what description of sheep will in the long run re-
turn the most profit ; and this question must be viewed
in strict relation to the management he will be able to
adopt on the particular farm on which he may be
located. It is not therefore a simple, but a compound
question. It is not merely which breed will make
most flesh and fat, but which will make it in the
shortest time, and on the least food ; which can bear
the weather, or hard keep, or travelUng, or a particu-
lar mode of management, with the greatest impunity.
All these considerations must enter into the farmer's
mind before he can come to a sound conclusion. From
the want of making these considerations many fatal
mistakes have been made, and a flock has been selected
altogether unsuitable to the soil, and incapable of
bearing the severity of the weather.

The two breeds wliich appear as rivals in their claims
on public attention are the new Leicesters and the
South Downs. It cannot be doubted that, as far as
propensity to fatten and early maturity is considered,
the Leicester will not only rival, but eclipse all others ;
for these qualities the former may justly be considered
£is a model, and all other breeds will possess these qua-
Hties in a greater or less degree, in proportion as they
possess the similitude of the form and points of the
Leicester sheep. The South-Down itself will not be
an exception to this rule, for if the improved and the neg-
lected specimens be compared together, it will be
found that the excellences of the former consist in
those points which approximate most to the Leicester.
The wool, too, is also a consideration ; for the fleece,
from its greater length and weight, will bring in

nearly double that of the Down. Where, therefore,
the pasture is very fertile, and the sheep can be tended
with much care, and without exposure, the Leicester
may be justly regarded as the most profitable of the
pure breeds. Its drawbacks, however, are the incapa-
bihty of the animal for bearing exposure, or travelling,
or hard living ; in fact, its weaker constitution, and
greater liability to inflammatory disorders. It is thus
unfitted for the purposes of folding, or for the exposure
of the South Downs, and still more for contending
with the severities of the Grampian hills or the Welsh
mountains. In such localities these sheep could not en-
dure. Then again the mutton is by no means so good
as the South Down, which, however, is partly, not
wholly, owing to the early period (twenty months) at
which they are fit for the butcher, and partly to the
very large proportion of tallow in proportion to the
lean. Thus it is not a favourite in the London
markets, and accordingly, of late years, the first cross
between the Leicester and the Down has been pro-
duced instead of the Leicester ; and it is contended
that this first cross is the most profitable sheep that
can be fattened, making greater and more rapid pro-
gress than the Down, and better meat than the Leices-
ter, and possessing, to some extent, the dark faces of
the Down, which sign-manual of their origin renders
them a greater favourite with the butcher.

The South Down, or rather the improved South
Down — for there is a great difference between the
two— possesses most valuable qualities; with a pro-
pensity to fatten inferior only to the Leicester, but
with later maturity (often 32 months, though conside-
rably shorter than what it once was), this breed are
excellent travellers, well adapted for folding, hardy
compared with the Leicester, and capable of living on
short pasture, and perhaps the best of all breeds for
the Down farms of the south of England. The mut-
ton, too, is more esteemed than any other, with the
exception of the small mountain sheep. Perhaps
there is no ancient pure breed of sheep that has under-
gone so much improvement as the South Down ; and
it affords the owners of other breeds a proper example
showing what can be done by care and attention, and
the application of proper principles. Nothing can
afford a better proof of the sterling quaUties of this
breed than the fact, that some 20 or 30 years since,
ths price of South Down wool rendered the fleece a
matter of great importance ; and now, although the
price is reduced to one-third, and it can never ex-
pect to realize much advance, yet, notwithstanding
this, the valuable qualities of the animal, and the im-
provements that have been made, have enabled the
breed still to retain a foremost rank in public favour.

With these two valuable breeds, each adapted for
different pastures, ^^it may, perhaps, be asked. What
need is there of any other ? It will, however, be
found, that in the marshes of Kent and many other
places, the superior hardihood of the native breeds has
rendered them more profitable than the Leicester,
though unquestionably, crosses with the latter have
much improved their value. And notwithstanding the
eminent qualities of the South Down, they have been
found not sufficiently hardy to endure the severities of
the Grampian hills or the Welsh mountains. They
have been tried and found wanting; vast numbers
have been destroyed by the rigours of winter in these
bleak situations, and the losses that have accrued to
many parties have deterred others from following their
example.

The Cheviot sheep possesses many valuable quali-
ties ; decidedly inferior to the South Downs in their
fattening powers and their early maturity, they are
superior in these points to all other mountain sheep,

32

TPIE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

and in hardihood, even to the South Down, and are
thus the best adapted to their native hills, and all other
pastures of a similar character. When carried, how-
ever, to the extreme north and the islands of Zetland
and Orkney, it is said they are not sufficiently hardy
for these extra rigorous places, although it is probable,
with a little increase of care, they might be rendered
so, and they would then be far more profitable than
the ungainly forms of the native breed.

These three breeds — the Leicester, tlie South Down,
and the Cheviot — may be considered as the principal
pure breeds which this country possesses. They are
essential to the variety of pastures which obtain, and
without them this country could not be properly
stocked. Other breeds, which it maybe advantageous
to adopt, either possess pecuUar qualities which
render' them valuable, or have been crossed exten-
sively with more improved breeds.

EXPENSE OF CULTIVATING WHEAT.

We lay before our readers a statement
made by the Earl of Ducie, at the late
meeting of the Anti-Corn-law League, in Covent
Garden theatre, with a view to show the profits to
be derived from growing wheat on land of differ-
ent qualities, and more particularly to pro-\-e that
a repeal of the corn-laws would not throw the
poor lands in this Idngdom out of cultivation.
We trust that some of our experienced practical
readers will answer the noble Earl's statements.
If such statements are allowed to pass uncontro-
verted they wiU produce more effect than a
volume of argument unsupported by practical ex-
perience.

" THE EXPENSE OF CULTIVATIXG, HARVESTING, AND
MARKETING 120 ACRES OF WHEAT ON WHITFIELD
EXAMPLE FARM.

To 186}days of a man and two horses plough-
ing, cultivating (i.e. working with culti-
vator), drilling and harrowing 120 acres,
at 10s. per diem £03 2 6

To 173i bushels of seed wheat, at 7s. per

bushel 60 14 6

To hoeing 120 acres, at 2s. 6d. per acre ..15 0 0

To cutting, binding, and stooking 120 acres,

at 8s 48 0 0

To pitching to carts and ricks, building and

leading, at 2s. 4d. per acre 14 0 0

To 72 days of one-horse cart and boy to
haul the produce from the field to rick-
yards, at 4s. 6d. per diem 16 2 0

To threshing and winnowing, say 500 quar-
ters at 2s 50 0 0

To marketing 500 qrs. at 5 qrs. per cart, 50
days of a man witli two horses and carts,
at 10s. and for expenses 2s., — 50 at 12s. 30 0 0

£'326 19 0

This sum amounts to 54s.6d. per acre,

or Is. 7id. per bush.

To half dung on last year's crop, 50s.

per acre, or Is. 6d. per bush.

Rent, tithes, and taxes on 120 acres,

50s. per acre, or Is. 6d. jierbush.

4s. /^d.per bush.
Deduct the straw at value to be consumed on
the premises ^"115 0

The produce being a fraction over 33 bushels, it will
reduce the cost something more than Is. per bushel,
and therefore let us take the cost at 3s. 6d. per bushel,
for the sake of even numbers. The capital necessary
for such land will amount to £15 per acre. Therefore
every shilling per bushel above 3s. 6d. will give 10 l-7th
per cent, on tlie capital invested. Suppose the price of
wheat to be 5s. 6d. per bushel, or 44s. per quarter (3s.
under Channel Islands average for the last seven years) ,
that will give 20 2-7th per cent, on tlie capital invested.
Suppose the present price of wheat to be 7s. per bush-
el, or 50s. per quarter, this will give a return of 351^
per cent, on the capital. This farm being alternate
years wheat, it gives 17f per cent, on the capital em-
ployed on the whole farm."

"expense of AN ACRE OF WHEAT, ON A FARM ON
THE COTSWOLD HILLS, OF THE AVERAGE CHA-
RACTER, ON TWO-YEAR OLD SEEDS.

£ s. d.
Two years' rent, at 17s. per acre; two years'
rates, poor, church, and road, at 3s. per

annum 2 0 0

Ploughing, harrowing, and drilling 1 0 0

Seed, 2J bushels, at 7s. 6d 0 18 9

Bird-keeping and hoeing 0 5 0

Reaping and harvesting 0 13 0

Threshing, winnowing, and taking out, at 8d.

per bushel, 20 bushels on the average .. 0 13 4

Wear and tear 0 3 0

5 13 1

Deduct straw, at value to consume at home. 15 0

£4. 8

Say £4. 10s. or per bushel. . 0 4

The capital invested in the land of this quality does
not exceed, if it comes up to 8^ per acre, evei^ 5d. in
price per bushel of excess over the sum of 4s. 6d. is a
fraction above five per cent, on the capital invested ;
say five per cent. Suppose the price of wheat to be 5s.
6d. per bushel, or 44s. per quarter (which is 3s. per
quarter under the average price in the Channel Islands
for the last seven years), it gives 11 per cent, on the
invested capital. Take the present price of wheat at
7s. per bushel, or 56s. per quarter, it gives a
return of 271 per cent, on the capital of 8^ invested ;
or, supposing that this farm is cultivated on the five-
course system, this gives 5^ per cent, on the whole cap-
ital invested on the whole farm."

" OUTLAY ON ACRE OF WHEAT ON TWO-YEAR-OLD
SEEDS ; RENT OF LAND IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
OF STOW AND NORTHLEACH, FROM 15s. TO 20s.
PER ACRE AVERAGE, 17s. 6d.

Two years' rent £"115 0

Two years' poor, church, and road rates . . 0 6 0

Ploughing, harrowing, and drilling 1 0 0

Two-and-a-half bushels of seed wheat at 7s. 0 17 6

Bird-keeping and hoeing 0 5 0

Reaping and harvesting, including carting,

stacking, thatching, &c 0 15 0

Threshing, winnowing, fetching into bam,
and deUvery at 8d. per bushel ; 20 bush-
els per acre on an average 0 13 4

Wear and tear 0 3 0

£5 14 10
Deduct value of straw 15 0

Or, 48. 6d. per bushel, ^4 9 10

THE 1- AllMER'S MAGAZINE

33

"oDtlav on an acre ok wheat on Tin; farm oc-
cupied nV , ON THE COT.-SWOLD HILLS ; LAND

ABOVE THE AVERAGE OF THE COTSWOLD HILLS
LAND, ON TWO YEAR-OLD SEEDS :

Two years' rent, at 25s. per annum ,£2 10 0

Rates for two years 0 5 !)

Ploughing, harrowing, and drilling 1 0 0

Seed, 2J bushels, at 7s. Gd 0 18 9

Bird-keeping and hoeing 0 5 0

Reaping and harvesting 0 15 0

Tlireshing, winnowing, and taking out at fid.
per bushel (allowing 30 bushels per acre

on tlie average) 1 0 0

Wear and tear 0 3 0

6 17 G
Deduct value of straw as 30s. per acre — the
value to consume on the premises 110 0

£5 7 6
which amounts to 3s. 6d. one-sLxth per busliel, say 3s.
Gd. per bushel. The capital invested in such land is
about, or rather under 10/. per acre. Every 6d. in
price per bushel above the sum of 3s. 6d. is 7 J percent,
upon the capital of 10/. invested. Suppose the price
of wheat to be 5s. Gd. per bushel, that is 3s. per quarter
less than the price in the Channel Islands on the ave-
rage of the last seven years, or 44s. per qxiarter, that
amounts to 30 per cent, on the invested capital. Or,
take the present price of wheat at 7s. per bushel, or
56s. per quarter, there is a return of 522 per cent.
Suppose this land to be cultivated upon the five-course
system it gives 10 J per cent, on the whole capital em-
ploj'ed on the w^hole farm. I think myself that for the
average produce of 30 bushels of wheat, the rent of
this land is put too low. My own opinion is that land
of this character, that on an average produces 30 bush-
els, is worth 5s. an acre more, which would increase
the price per bushel by 2d., which would bring the
bushel to 3s. 8d. Every 4d. additional would be 5 per
cent, on the capital. Suppose the price 5s. Gd., or 44s.
jicr quarter, that is 27 J per cent, on the capital. Take
the prices at 7s. per bushel, or 56s. per quarter, it pro-
duces a return of 50 per cent. vSuppose the land cul-
tivated on the five-course system, there is 10 per cent,
on the capital over the whole of the farm." I was
anxious to endeavour to show to you that upon that low
quality of land, which it is said must be thrown out of
cultivation if the corn-laws are repealed, that wheat
can be grown at a profit of 272 P^r cent, when wheat
is sold at 44s. the quarter. I hope and trust if any
persons are here who, in consequence of their being
told by our opponents that free trade would throw land
out of cultivation, entertained fears upon that point,
that these statements will set their minds at rest, and
that they will believe with me that nothing can cause
land to be thrown out of cultivation in England so long
as the manufacturers of England are able to beat the
manufacturers of the continent in the world's markets.

AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY.

By Profes.sor Brande, F.R.S,, &c.

Lecture IV.

Delivered at the Royal Institution, Feb. 17.

(From the Civil Ein/iiieerniid Archifeci'.s- Journal J

Pliosphoric acid, once considered unimportant,
is requisite for moL-t crops, but especially for
wheat and grass. It is generally added to the

soil in combination with lime, as bone dust, the
earthy part of bone consisting almost entirely of
phosphate of liine. Phosphorus, the l)ase of
phosphoric acid, is never found in a free state in
nature, ])eing obtained l)y distilling a mi-xture of
phosphoric acid and charcoal. It is a pale yellow
semi-trans])arent solid, remarkable for its easy
combustibility, luminous in the dark, owing to
its slowly l)urning. When set fire to and a tall
glass jar placed over it, flakes of a beautiful white
sul)stance are collected, which is ])hospho-
ric acid, the phosphorus having combined
with the oxygen of the air. These flakes will,
in a short time, abstract moisture from the
air, and become liquid. If this liquid be then
added to a solution of lime, phosphate of lime, or
bone earth, falls as a fine white insoluble powder.
When bones are burned, it is this which is left as
the white ash, the animal matter haAnng been
destroyed. But as phosphate of lime is soluble
in acids, the animal part may be obtained in a
separate state l)y digesting bone in weak mu-
riatic acid ; the bone remains in its original shape,
but is then as flexible as cartilage, the whole of
the earthy part being removed. In this state it is
that bones are employed to make animal glue and
portable soup. Formerly it was supposed that it
was to this part that the \'irtue of bone manure
was due ; but it is found that bones are nearly as
eflicient after the animal part has been destroyed,
as for instance, after they have been distilled for
the manufacture of hartshorn, or ammonia.
Since this has been clearly established there has
been great demand for phosphate, search has
been made to ascertain whether any large natural
su])j)ly of this substance could be discovered, as
it is frequently found in a mineral state. For
this purpose Dr. Daubeny made a pilgrimage to
Spain, and in Estramadura he found a large
quantity known as Phosphorite, from its giving
of a pale blue light M'hen heated ; but as there is
no water conveyance from thence, and the roads
are bad, the expense would be too great. It is
present in nearly every soil, and is even to be
found in chalk, as the following analysis of the
Brighton chalk will show.

100 of Brighton Chalk.
Carbonate of lime . . . 98'57

Carbonate of magnesia , . 0'38

Phosphate of lime . . . Oil

Oxides of iron and magnesia . 014

Alumina . , . . 0"l6

Silicia .... 0.64

100.00
In slate, phosphoric acid sometimes exists
combined with alumina, and occasionally the
surface of the slate is found covered \vith a
crystaline mass of phos})hate of allumina, or
wavellite, as mineralogists term it. When this
disintegrates, to form a clay soil, ths phosphoric
acid \vill get diffused, and thus become one of the
elements of the food of the plant. In the cluilk,
which is agreed by most geologists to be llie
debris of organic matter, the phos])lioric acid has,
no doubt, had its orij^in from the shells of some
of the lower animals. An interesting observation

34

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

has been made on tliis subject, viz., that the
shelly or bony structure of the lowest animals
consists wholly of carbonate of lime ; that as they
increase in complexity of structure, a little phos-
phate of time is found, and in that of the animals
highest in the scale of creation, phosphate has
entirely replaced the carbonate of lime. From
this fact, the absolute necessity for phosphoric
acid in the soil is evident ; for the growing ani-
mal, browsing in the field, is continually adding
phosphate of lime to his increasing bone ; from
whence can it come ? As he eats nothing but
plants, it must be in their structure, and analysis
proves it to be so : then, again, as the plant de-
rives all it contains from the earth, air, and water,
it must be in one or other, and the analysis of all
fertile soils shows that it is invariably present. These
remarks applpng to phosphoric acid, are appli-
cable to all the inorganic constituents of animals
or vegetables. But it is also rec[uisite that they
should be in a soluble state, or the plant cannot
take them into its circulation, and frequent dis-
appointment has arisen in the use of bone dust,
from there ha^-ing been nothing in the soil to
dissolve the phosphate of lime ; it is by some
imagined that plants excrete from their roots
acid substances to render soluble the substances
around them. Experiments have been made by
dissolving the phosphate in an acid previous to
mixing it vnth the soil, and very beneficial re-
sults have been obtained. The Duke of Rich-
mond found that a much larger crop of turnips
was thtis obtained, and some agriculturists have
stated that one pound of bone dust mixed with
acid is as efficacious as 61b. without. Tlie pro-
portions ad^^sable are, to take lOOlb. of bones,
and after breaking small, to add to them about
50 lb. of sulphuric or muriatic acid, they being
the cheapest, and about three cwt. of water, which
will give a solution of subphosphate of hme and
free phosphoric acid. In order to get it into a
convenient form for application, it is advisable to
sprinkle this liquid over some substance which
will absorb it, such as saw-dust ; if to this be
added some silicate of potash, a most fertilizing
agent is obtained. A manure which is now
being very extensively employed in this country,
and the demand for which is daily on the increase,
viz., guano, appears to owe its quahties principally
to the phosphate and other salts which it con-
tains. It is the excrement of sea birds, and is
obtained in immense quantity. The amount of
inorganic matter it contains may be ascertained
by bm-ning a known weight in a silver crucible,
and weighing the ash which remains.

The quantity of inorganic material requisite to
be added to the soil will depend upon two things,
the quantity that the plant absorbs, to form part
of its system, and also upon what part of the plant
is removed from the field, as it has already been
seen how greatly the various parts of a plant
differ in the quantity of their inorganic constitu-
ents. Hence is evident the importance of plough-
ing in all the parts of the plant not taken to
market, especially the leafy parts. It is even, in
sandy soils, foxmd ad>i:;a]jlj to burn the plants
which have grown there, such as heath and furze,

and to return the ashes, which, by this means,
in a few years render it fit for the growth of more
profitable crops. The great difference in the
quantity of the salts which various plants appro-
priate, will be rendered veiy evident by the two
following tables : —

9^T^'9^^^-o^

i G o "^ w

51: I ; i

3-

H-i V Ol

o o o

s

to

CO

O O --I

UX

ox

H- O «D

o o o

g

o

00 t;^ to

O t" O

to

o

!?=

CjTOiOW<Oitr<tr<000

03 td

W

W

w

M 5u

COMPOSITION OF

THREE

SOILS.

SUicia

Alumina

7767

445

515

83

212

153

24

68

56

4

247

9214

149

308

31

59

36

14

6

1

2

106

8465
50

Oxide of Iron

82

Oxides of Magnesia

Lime

Magnesia

3
13

7

Potash and Soda

Phosphoric acid

Sulphuric acid

2

13

1

Chlorine

3

Organic matter

1200

Loss. .....•■.•

9574
426

9926

74

9839
161

10,000

10,000

10,000

This will serve to explain why those plants
which contain but few of these salts are said to

THE FAUMEIVS MAGAZINE.

form good fallow crojis. It is remarkable, also, j leaving part of itself an a pernianent resicUnt in

the invariable proportion in which they are
I)resent in the same plant, although grown in a
different climate and in a different soil. Spren-
gel analyzed wheat from several districts, and
found them, in this respect, exactly to resemble
each other.

A question has arisen amongst vegetable
physiologists whether one substance usually pre-
sent in a plant, can be substituted by another, and
it has been found to take place in some few
instances. For instance, cases have occurred
where plants which visually have one alkali pre-
sent, when grown in a soil where that alkali is not
present, have been found to api)ropriate another,
but still presen"ing the same amount. Indeed,
some ])lants, when growing in circumstances
where they cannot obtain inorganic alkalis, will
positively form organic ones, in order to carry on
their functions ; such is said to be the origin of
the morphia, in poppies, to which organic alkali
the properties of opium are due. It is well
known that potatoes when stored up in a damp
cellar, \vill throw out shoots at a very great length.
Now, when these are analyzed, they ai'e found
to contain a vegetable alkali in great abundance,
to which the name of solanine has been given,
not an atom of which is ever to be found in the
Iilant in its natural state. It has, in fact, formed
this alkali from some of its other constituents, so
that its germinations may proceed.

The efficacy of common salt as manure is most
undoubted in many situations. To lands near
the seathere cannot be any necessity for adding it,
as the mnds, carrying the spray always give it a
top dressing of salt, and those near the shore
generally get too much. It is said by some to
render the silica soluble, but one undoubted be-
nefit it bestows is in killing the grubs and vermin
which infest some crops to so enormous an ex-
tent. It is present in eveiy soil. It is used in
great quantities for the manufacture of soda, and
distilled with sulphuric acid, yields muriatic acid.
The very large proportion of inorganic con-
stituents that some plants contain, is occasionally
rendered evident by accident. Thus hay, which
contains 90 per cent, of its weight, is frec^uently
found, when a rick has caught fire, to be converted
into a hard opaque glass, and a corn stack will
burn to a complete flint. In the case of hay, this
accident sometimes occurs, when it has been
stacked before it is dry, by the heat which is
evolved during the fermentation of its juices.
There is a very admirable arrangement in nature
for returning to the soil, every year the inorganic
substances which it requires for its growth, but
which it has not retained in its wood, and that is
the autumnal fall of the leaf, which, as has been
already seen, contains, of all other parts, by far
the greatest quantity of salts. Thus they serve
to go one perpetual round, now dissolved by the
water in the soil, and absorbed by the roots, now
flomng wth the sap through every ramification
of the tree, and at last forming part of the leaf, to
be on the approach of winter, again deposited on
the soil, to be again dissolved, absorbed, and
perform the same functions ; but in each circuit

the stem of the plant. Thus, then, we are led by
consideration of these and other circumstances,
to the only inference that can be drawn, that
these inorganic constituents, in small proi)ortion
to the other parts as they may be, are neverthe-
less vitally essential; that no substance found in
the ash of a plant can be considered as acciden-
tal ])ut as constitutional, without every one of
which be present in the soil, and in a fit state, it
is useless to expect the plant to show, when the
deficiency of the soil is known, what is requisite
to be added, so as to make it suit each respective
cro]).

But it is time to pay attention to the organic
part of the soil. This, which consists of the
vegetable mould formed from the decay of the
woody parts of the plants, is known by the name
of humus. It may be traced in various stages,
from the fii'm wood, to the yellow rotten wood,
then to a brown, and lastly, to a black earth,
which is almost charcoal. On the banks of a
stream, shaded by overhanging trees, the fallen
beams may frequently be seen in the medium
state, whilst at the bottom of the water, the dark
brown mud is the best instance of it in its final
state. When stirred it frequently gives oft" car-
bonic acid and carburetted hydrogen, arising from
the decomposition of the woody fibre, or erema-
causis, as it is the fashion to term it. There is
no doubt that the presence of this is beneficial
in the soil, although not to the extent that it was
formerly considered. As it is very slightly
soluble in water, it cannot yield much nourish-
ment to the plant, and it is doubtful, except by
the carbonic acid which it slowly evolves, whether
it is of any other than a mechanical advantage to
the soil. Indeed it is the opinion of many, that
so long as the plant can get its inorganic parts
from the soil, it can derive all its organic parts
from the atmosphere. Vegetable matter, however,
is found in all fertile soils, in the proportion of
from 10 to 20 percent. In boggy earth, it forms
from 60 to 70 per cent. For the growth of rice,
but little is required, for barley more, and for
wheat more; about 12 per cent, is advisable.
Water poured on good soil, should be very
slightly coloured; if deep brown, it wiU be barren,
possibly arising from the presence of an acid,
rendering the vegetable matter soluble : this must
be counteracted by lime or chalk.

Soils are classified and named according to the
proportion of their principal constituents ; thus
some consist of pure agricultural clay, of which
pipe clay is a good example, which consists of
from 50 to 60 of silica, the remainder being
alumina. TTiis when stirred up Avith water,
deposits no sand. Rivers, passing through clayey
soUs, carry with them an immense quantity,
taking weeks to deposit the whole, and in some
cases carrj'ing it a long way out to sea. ^\Tien
a clayey soil contains from^
5 to 20 per ct. of sand, it is called a strong clay.

clay loam,
loam.

sandy loam,
sandy soil.
2

30

40

40

70

70

90

90

36

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

^Mien chalk is present in from 5 to 20 per cent,
these are termed marls ; and are sandy, loamy,
or clayey, according to proportions. More than
20 per cent, forms a calcareous soil.

From 5 to 20 per cent, of humus constitutes a
vegetable soil, and from that to 70 per cent, a
peaty soil.

Lecture V.

Twenty years ago, when the agricultural chemist
was requested to analyze a soil, he would con-
sider he had done his duty when he had ascer-
tained the proportions of the four earths, and the
organic matter. Now, however, the case is widely
different, and it has become one of the most
complex operations, which can be jierformed only
by an experienced hand, and which it is of no
use for the farmer to attempt; for it is very
doubtful whether, if he became an expert chemist,
he would also be an expert agriculturist. Still,
however, the knowledge of the use of the various
tests set forth in these lectures ought to be pos-
sessed by every agriculturist ; they are soon ac-
quired, and will give very valuable information.

In order to classify soils, the usual mode of ex-
amination is as follows : — Weigh a certain quan-
tity of soil, diy in air, then reduce it to powder,
and dry it before a fire on paper, at as great a
heat as the paper will bear without charring, then
weigh it to ascertain the quantity of water lost ;
burn it in a crucible for the purpose of destroying
organic matter, and again weigh it ; then put in
dilute muriatic acid, about 1,000 grains of the
soil to a pint of water and two ounces of acid,
which will dissolve the saline ingredients, dry it
before a fire, and weigh it, then stir it up in a
considerable quantity of water, and whilst the
finest particles are suspended, pour off the water,
and by this means the clay will be separated.

A soil may have every ingredient requisite for
vegetation, and yet not be productive on account
of its not being in a proper mechanical condition,
and there are several particulars to be looked
to in this respect, such as density, division, reten-
tion of water, capiDary power, shrinkage, relation
to heat, &c. All these demand consideration.

A soil should not be too dense, as it then offers
too great a resistance to the growth of the plant,
retains water too firmly, and, consequently, is
always cold. The weight of a cubic foot of good
soil should be from 50 to 90 lbs. The state of
division of a soil should be tolerably fine, though
occasionally large masses are of use. It is the
custom to gather off the large stones from a field,
but during cold or dry winds they are of serAdce
by protecting the tender plants from the nipping
of the one or the parching of the other. The
state of cohesion of a soil should be between the
looseness of sand and the plasticity of clay.
This may be considerably modified by deep
ploughing, by tilling, but particularly by draining.
In veiy clayey lands, the best thing to do Avould
be to add sand, but as that would be generally
too expensive, the best substitute is drainage.
Tlie resistance to the plough varies veiy much
Recording to the nature of the soil. It has been

calculated that sand gives a resistance of about
4 lb. to the square foot, clayey ground about 8 lb.,
and a stiff clay about 25 lb.

Soils differ in nothing so much as their power
of imbibing and retaining water. It has been
found, by direct experiment, that exposed for
twelve hours in damp weather, l,000lb. dried sandy
soil gained 2lb. ; 1,000 lb. diy loam gained
21 lbs.; 1,000 lbs. dried clayed loam gained
25 lbs. ; and 1,000 lb. dry pure clay gained 37 lb.

According to some experiments of Sir H. DaAy,
the same quantity of a barren sandy soil gained
3lb. in twenty-four hours, whilst a fertile soil
gained 18 lb. This wiU give some idea of the
enormous quantity of moisture that would be
absorbed from a moist air folloAving a dry wind.
Mr. Solly has made some experiments on in-
creasing the imbibing power of dry soils, by adding
to them some very deliquescent substance ; for
this purpose he used chloride of calcium with
very good results. Connected with this is its re-
taining power. A quantity of water Avhich wotild
soak sand, would scarcely moisten dry clay.
They have been found to vary as follows : — 100 lb.
of sand retained 25 lb. of water; loam, 40 lb.;
chalk, 45 lb.; marl, 50 lb.; and agricultural clay,
70 lb. Tlie moister the land, of course the more
imperative it is to drain it well, as too much water
keeps a soil cold, and prevents the air from getting
to the plants.

Capillary attraction, or that power by which
liquids crall up small crevices, is exceedingly in-
fluential in agriculture, and is beneficial in two
ways ; 1 St, by keeping the surface in a proper
state of moisture, bringing up water from below,
as fast as it evaporates above. This action may
be illustrated by standing a lump of salt or other
porous substance on end in a plate filled with a
coloured liquid.. It takes place very rapidly by
using a tall glass cylinder, having a porous bot-
tom, filled with sand. The densest chalk that
can be procured, wiU, in this wa}% become
coloured several inches high in a few hours. In
horticulture it is frequently taken advantage of by
keeping a flower-pot in a saucer, into which water
is poured. The second important use of capillary
attraction is to bring up from the sub-soil a sup-
ply of those soluble substances of which the
removal of the crops is continually depriAang the
soil. This may be thought but trifling, but when
the immense amount of water evaporated is
taken into account, it will appear far from insigni-
ficant. After a continuance of dry weather, the
soil Avill frequently be covered Avith a preceptible
film of the salts thus brought up, which by the
first shower is diffused through the soil. In
sandy lands the fertihty depends upon this pro-
perty. In tropical climates, where evaporation is
so much greater, it is seen on a magnificent scale.
In the deserts of Peru, for instance, the nitrate of
soda thus annually brought to the surface is raked
oft", and exported in immense quantities, to be
used for manufacturing, and latterly for agricul-
tural purposes. In Africa, also, the neighbour-
hood of Tripoli thus fiunishes a s\ipply of a
variety of carbonate of soda. These facts induce
the intjuiry whether it is not advisable to save the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

37

drainage waters, and after evaporating, by some
means, to restore them to the soil, as dou])tless
they must contain these salts, which would be so
beneficial to the crops.

The shrinkage of soils in dry weather seems to
be in proportion to the clay or organic matter
present. Clays and peats in drying shrink one-
fifth of their bulk. This action is of great utility,
by increasing capillary action, and by forming
conduits, by which the superfious water may run
off. Of course this does not take place in sandy
soils.

The absorption of heat by the soil during sun-
shine, is A'ery great, sometimes raising its tempera-
ture 30° or 40" over that of the air. When the air
has been at 70^ or 80°, the soil has been observed,
during sunshine, at 100° or 120°. Black lands
will rise rather higher in temperature than those
of a lighter colour, but not so much so as might
have been imagined ; the greatest difference ob-
served having been 10°. When a chalk was ob-
served at 100°, a neighbouring black loam was
at 110°. The difference of absorption of heat by
different colours may be illustrated by placing
pieces of phosphorus on three pieces of tin, one
mth its own surface, one coloured white, and
the other coloured black, and placing a hot iron
ball between them at an equal distance, to repre-
sent the sun. The phosphoiois will be ignited
first on the black, next on the white, and lastly
on the metallic surface. Those soils which ab-
sorb the quickest, radiate the quickest, and conse-
quently would be coldest at night.

'ITie subject next claiming attention is the
atmosphere, and which here introduces an im-
portant division of the subject ; for as the soil has
been considered as being the source of the inor-
ganic part of plants, so the atmosphere is con-
sidered as yielding to the plant the whole of the
organic part. Startling as this statement may
appear, strong arguments will be brought forward
to prove its plausibility. The composition of the
atmosphere in 100 parts by measure is.
Nitrogen ....
Oxygen
Watery vapour (consisting of oxygen and

hydrogen)
Carbonic acid (consisting of oxygen and

carbon)

77-5

21
1.42

0.08

100-

Ammonia (consisting of nitrogen and

hydrogen.) a trace.

These are the invariable proportions of its con-
stituents, let the air be collected where it may, on
the top of a mountain or in the depth of a valley,
in Europe or in America. This extraordinary
uniformity may be accounted for by the property
of the diffusion of gases, by the action of
currents, the earth's motion, wnds, &c.

Nearly the whole of the organic part of plants
is composed of the four elements, carbon, hydro-
gen, oxygen, and nitrogen. As all these sub-
stances can be found in the soil, that was sup-
posed to be the source from whence the plant
derived them. But recent investigations have

as regards the inorganic matter, they greatly in-
crease the proportion of organic matter in the soil.
A fir plant, growing on a dry sandy soil, is con-
tinually enriching it with humus, by the fall of its
leaves and twigs. It is evident, then, that it must
derive the greater part, if not all, of its wood from
the air, and it is doubtful whether, for this pur-
pose, the great bulk of the air, the nitrogen and
oxygen, contribute any part, or whether it is not
due to the water, carbonic acid, and ammonia,
which, although present in so small a quantity,
yet, as will be shown in a future lecture, is suffi-
cient for the purpose. These may, by artificial
means, be removed from the air, the water and
ammonia by means of sulphuric acid, or chloride
of calcium, and the carbonic acid by lime ; and
although the difference could not be detected in
breathing or in the burning of combustibles, yet
it has been destroyed as regards plants, because
there is an entire absence of that which maintains
vegetable growth, and without which plants can-
not form their structures.

The proportion in which the nitrogen and
oxygen exist in the air can be ascertained by
abstracting the oxygen ; this can be done by
several means : if fine iron filings be powdered
over the inside of a glass vessel, and this stood
over water, the iron will combine Avith the oxygen,
or become rusted, and the water will rise in the
vessel, to take the place of the abstracted oxygen.
But it may be effected more rapidly by burning a
piece of phosphorus in a portion of air confined
over water ; the phosphoric acid produced, dis-
solves in water, leaving the nitrogen gas pure. If
the properties of this gas be then examined, it
will be found that it wUl neither burn nor support
combustion or life, that indeed, it is totally inert.
If it is wished to get oxygen gas pure, it cannot
be obtained from the air, as there is no means
known of removing the nitrogen. It maybe pro-
cured by heating substances which contain a great
quantity of it, and which will part with a portion
of it readily. Such is black oxide of manganese ;
which is commonly employed on account of
cheapness. For the sake of purity, chlorate of
potash is best, or a mixture of the two. The pro-
perties of the gas thus obtained are the opposite
of those of nitrogen, being very energetic, sup-
porting combustion most vividly, and hurrying
I respiration to fever and death. Iron and zinc
\vire, heated at one end, and introduced into this
gas, burned with great beauty, as do also charcoal
and sulphur. Phosphorus bums wth brilhancy,
such that the eye can scarcely bear. From this
it is evident that in the air it is the oxygen that
is the acting principle, and that the nitrogen serves
the office of detecting it, so as to make its action
on substances immersed in it sufficiently slow.

The next and following lecture will be devoted
to the consideration of the lesser, although as re-
gards plants, the more important components of
the atmosphere.

Management of a Dairy in Belgium. —

Dairy 19^ feet by 15^, for twenty-two cows; 10

shown that whilst vegetables impoverish the soil | feet by 8, for ten cows ; to be fitted up with stone

38

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

benches ; the utensils to be glazed brown earthen-
v/are ; a stove in the dairy from October to April.
Deposit the milk immediately on being milked
in the pans ; the milk to stand in them three
inches deep. Skim the milk once a day ; thus,
the morning's milking, in summer, mil stand
twenty-six hours — the evening's seventeen hours.
In winter, the morning's milking, twenty-four
hours ; the evening's milking thirty-six hours.
The milk of the shortest standing, after being
skimmed, to be put into clean pans and stand
tmtil next day — the cream off that to be kept for
kitchen use. Keep a separate pan for tea ; four
sets of pans will be requisite for summer ; five
sets for winter. The cream coolers must be
clean to a nicety. The cows must be milked to
the last drop, and gone round a second time, and
not hurried. In making butter, it must not be
churned too qviickly. The great art is to beat it
on a board until every drop of the butter-milk
is squeezed out, and it must be well washed in
cold spring-Avater, two or three times changed :
water before it is beaten. One ounce of salt is
fidly sufficient for each pound of butter. Cradle-
churns are very good. There should be twenty-
four pans for a dairy of three cows, each pan three
inches deep.

NORTON FARMERS' CLUB.

MONTHLY MEETING, MAY 6.

The monthly meeting of this prosperous and
useful institution was held at the Bagshawe
Arms, on Monday evening last; the Rev. H. H.
Pearson in the chair. The members present far
exceeded the number in attendance on any pre-
ceding occasion, and the liveliest interest was
shown in favour of the interesting objects the
club has in view. After the transaction of the
usual routine business, Mr. Tillotson, of
Beighton, briefly alluded to the advantages likely
to be derived from a closer and more intimate
acquaintance with the proceedings of the Royal
Agriciiltural Society of England, and concluded
by moving a resolution to the effect, that Mr.
Richart Booker, jun., should be enrolled as a
member of that society, on behalf of the club.
Mr. Hodgson, of Sheffield, seconded the resolu-
tion, which was carried unanimously. The mo-
tion which stood on the notice paper, that John-
son's Encyclopaedia should be purchased for the
use of the club, was -withdraAvn for the present. —
Mr. Robt. Linley reported the information he
had received from Messrs. Crosskill, of Bever-
ley, respecting the cost &c. of a liquid-manure
cart, with its apparatus. The prices for that article
were stated to be ISZ. and 251., subject to certain
discount, with extra charges for the additional
machinery, such as pumps, &c. The Rev.
Chairman drew the attention of the members
to the subject, and alluded to the fact that
a few members only had already entered
into a private subscription, amounting to about
lOl., and he called upon others who were favour-
able to the matter to put down their names.

Mr. Slack beheved that Mr. Bagshawe would
support the fund for purchasing a cart of the
above description, and he suggested the propriety
of the question standing over for the present,
awaiting that gentleman's return amongst them.
The Chairman then called upon Mr. James
Napier for his paper " On the Management and
Cidtivation of the Turnip Crop," and Mr. N.
proceeded to read as follows : —

Of all the various crops which demand the
attention of the farmer, few, if any, are more
valuable, and none more precariovis than the tur-
nip crop. It may, indeed, be considered (as
Cuthbert Johnson, Esq. expresses it) " the sheet-
anchor of light soil cidtivation, and the basis of
the alternate system of husbandry." In the few
brief remarks which, in accordance with my pro-
mise made at our last meeting, I have now the
pleasure of submitting to your notice, I purpose
confining myself to the system of cultivation
generally adopted in this neighbourhood — viz.,
the ridge-drilling, or Scotch method, inasmuch
as the old broadcast plan is, in a great measure,
nearly abandoned ; and, although drilling may be
attended with more trouble and expense, yet the
advantages it is generally allowed to possess over
broad-cast sowing, will, I think, more than coun-
terbalance the additional labour and outlay. In
support of this assertion, I would obsen'e — 1st,
That, in drilling, the seed is deposited so nearly
upon the manure, as to cause more immediate
vegetation, and, consequently, it affords a greater
likelihood of insuring a crop, than when in
broad-cast sowing : the manure and seed are
" each spread at random to take their chance of
faUing sufficiently near each other for the former
to benefit the latter." 2ndly. By the use of the
horse-hoe, you are enabled more effectually to
to clean your land, and at a cheaper rate than
under the old system. 3rdly. That seed can be
sown with more precision, as regards a proper
depth. And lastly, in the use of any of the
various newly introduced tillages, so esjjecially
suitable to drill husbandry, which, from their
powerful nature, require the application of so
small a quantity per acre, the manure, of whatever
kind it may be, can be deposited in the precise
situation wherein its agency will have the most
beneficial effect upon the crop. These, then,
being some of the advantages which the drill
system possesses, I will now proceed with a few
obsei-vations on that mode of turnip cultivation,
and in so doing, I purpose to arrange my remarks
under the following heads : viz., 1st. The pre-
paration of the soil. 2ndly. The variety and
quantity of manure usually employed. 3rdly.
The time of sovv-ing. 4thly. The various kinds
usually groA\Ti in this neighbourhood, and their
relative properties. And 5thly. The after-culture
of the crop. First, then, as regards the prepara-
tion of the soil. My opinion on this point is,
that, as soon as possible after the corn crop is
secured, it is desirable to pare the land, so as to
get below the couch or twitch grass, freeing it
from all weeds as far as possible. I woidd then
plough it deeply, leaving it in that condition
throughout the v/inter, whereby it becomes so

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

39

ameliorated by the action of the frost as to render
it more friable, thereby causing it to work much
more kindly in the spring. At that season, it
should be cross-ploughed as soon as it is dry
enough to bear the implements. Much, however,
must of course depend upon the state both of the
land and of the weather. If the twitch grass l)e
very abundant, I do no think it advdsable to
cross-plough too soon, as, by so doing, you break
the roots, thereby causing much greater difficulty
in the after cleaning of the land. The next opera-
tion is that of harro-Hang with the heavy or drag-
harrows, which should follow the cross-ploughing
as soon as i)racticable. After a thorough working
with the drag, the common harrows shoidd be
used, followed closely by the stone roller, so that,
by the alternation of ploughing, harrowing and
rolling, the soil may attain as great a degree of
l)ulverization as possible. You must bear in
mind that I am now presuming the weather to be
favourable for all these various operations, and
when the proper time is taken advantage of for the
performance of each of them, the work of pul-
verizing and cleaning the land will be fovmd far
less laborious than many would at first suppose.
On our stiff clays, however, it frequently happens
during a long continuance of dry weather, that
the soil becomes so exceedingly hard as to baffle
all attempts at reducing it to a proper degree of
fineness by the use of the stone roller and har-
rows alone. On such occasions, we must have
recourse to some more powerful implement to
effect the desired purpose, and therefore the vise
of the spike roller, or, which is still more effec-
tual, Crosskill's patent clod crusher, will be
attended with great advantage. In short, the
great aim of the turnip cultivator should be, so
to work his land as to attain the greatest possible
degree of pulverization, which the nature of the
soil and the state of the weather will allow. By
these means, aided, I should obsen-e, by thorough
draining and subsoiling, land of inferior quaUty
may produce crops, often very nearly equal to
those grown upon the best turnip land. After
the land has been well cleared from all twitch
grass, &c., and brought into a proper state of
fineness, I think it advisable to let it lie a few
days before so^nng, so as to admit of the vegeta-
tion of any seeds of weed-< which may be lying
dormant in the soil. 'ITie last process, preparatory
to sowing, will be that of ridging the land, and
the distance between the ridges, which, from my
own observation and the opinion of others, I can
venture to recommend, would be, for Swedes,
from 24 to 27 inches, and for whites, from 18 to
20 inches. On this point, there is much diversity
of opinion, but I think it is a generally admitted
fact, that the more air and light you afford to the
young plants in their growth, the more rapidly
they progress, and the greater the size they will
attain. The second particular we have to notice
is, the variety and quantity of manure usually
employed in turnip cultivation. First and fore-
most on the list stands farm-yard manure, not
only on account of its being in the possession of
every fanner, but also because, on hght, sandy,
or calcareous soils, when the decomposition of

vegetable matter takes place so rniiidly, M-ell
reduced and properly fermented dung is ahnost
indispensalile. I also think that when the crop k
intended to l)e drawn off, farm-yard manure will,
in all probaljility, be found more beneficial than
any lighter tillage; as, in such a case, we may
reasonably sujjpose there exists a greater necessity
for a lasting manure, than when the turnips are
eaten upon the land. The quantity to be applied
must necessarily be governed by circiunstances,
such as the quality and condition of the land, the
kind of turnips to be so%vn, &c. Swedes require
more manure than white turnips, and some
gro\\'ers will give them about half as much more ;
but this is so perfectly a matter of opinion, that it
is impossible to lay down any general rule on the
subject. The dressing usually given in our neigh-
bourhood averages from 12 to 15 tons per acre
for whites, and from 15 to 18 tons for Swedes.
Crushed bones are a very important manure,
and have now been used for several years with
great advantage in the cultivation of turnips.
The great proportion of phosphate of lime which
they contain, so justly essential — so absolutely
necessary for the healthy vegetation of plants —
renders them truly valuable to the agriculturist.
" There is, perhaps, no manure," says C. W.
Johnson, Esq., " of whose powers the chemical
explanation is more easy ; for, of the earthy and
purely animal matters of which bones are com-
posed, there is not a single particle which is not
a direct constituent or food of vegetables. Thus,
if carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen are found in the
abounding oil and cartilage of bones, they are
equally common — nay, ever present in all vege-
table matters ; and if carbonate of lime and phos-
phate of lime are almost equally common in
plants, they are still more universally present in
all bones." Tlie quantity usually apphed will
here again vary according to circvimstances and
opinion. I should, however, say that 10 cwt. of
bones, with eight or nine tons of good yard ma-
nure per acre, would be a veiy fair dressing.
Rape dust is also very often used as a fertilizer,
and is found to answer remarkably well for tur-
nips, its effects being very immediate and power-
ful. Lime is likewise a valuable dressing for
turnip land. The quantity per acre will of course
entirely depend upon the character of the lime
used. I have found four tons per acre, put
on after the second dressing, and harrowed
lightly in, to be attended with very beneficial
results; and I have also noticed that the suc-
ceeding crop of seeds is invariably much bet-
ter and more certain after the application of
lime to the turnip fallow. I will not now enter
into detail as to the merits of the various til-
lages so abundantly offered to the notice of the
agriculturist ; the value of many of them, such as
guano, sulphate of ammonia, the nitrates of soda
and of potash, &c., &c., having been satisfactorily
tested during the space of the last two or three
years. Suffice it to say, that most astonishing
crops have been produced by the use of them, of
guano in particular, and I think their value, if
more generally known, would insure their almost
universal adoption. Various composts, too, are

40

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

now manufactured, many of which are exceed-
ingly efficacious. I have seen some excellent
turnips grown in my own neighijoiuhood, upon a
compost made ])y a brother member in Sheffield,
and although I have not used it myself, and
therefore cannot give you any information of the
quantity necessary to dress an acre of land,
nor yet oft'er any opinion as to the best mode of
application, I have pleasure in bearing willing
testimony to its value as a powerful fertilizer.
One thing, howe\'er, shoidd always be borne in
mind, in the use of those new maniu-es. Many
of them ( I now speak of the ammoniacal ones in
jjarticular) are of so potent a nature as to be
injurious to vegetation if allowed to come into
contact with the seed. ITie failure of a crop has
often been attributed to the fault of the manure
employed, whereas, in most cases, if the truth
were known, the farmer himself is the culpable
party, inasmuch as his injudicious or excessive
application is the cause of the unlucky result.
The time of sowing, under favourable circum-
stances, should commence at or about the begin-
ning of May for Swedes, and should not, if
possible, be prolonged beyond the middle of the
month. For white turnips, I think the best time
is from the 20th to the end of June. The quantity
of seed sown per acre varies according to the
opinion of the grower. For my o^^'n i)ait, I am
an advocate for liberal sowing, and generally drill
about 2h lbs. of seed per acre. The various kinds
usually grown in this neighbourhood are — the
purple-topped Swede, the green-topped ditto, the
Scotch or Aberdeen yellow. Dale's hybrid, the
green globe, the white ditto, and the common
white. The new variety of purple Swede, intro-
duced by Mr. Skirving, of Liverpool, has been
grown somewhat extensi^'ely in this part of the
country, and appears to have given general satis-
faction. The green-topped Swede is not quite so
hardy as the preceding, and is also rather in-
ferior to it in solidity. ITie Scotch or Aberdeen
yellow is generally considered to be a very good
variety, being very hardy and highly nutritious.
In point of solidity, it is about 25 ])er cent,
heavier than the white globe. Dale's hybrid, a
cross between the green-topped Swede and the
white globe, is a highly esteemed variety, and
deservedly so. It takes its name from the intro-
ducer, Mr. Robert Dale, of Liberton, near Edin-
burgh. On good soils, it has a most luxuriant
growth, and will attain a large size. It grows
more rapidly than any other of the yellow variety,
is equally hardy and will keep well. The green
and white globe turnips, and also the common
white, are excellent for early use, but not being of
so solid a texture as the Swede or the hybrid,
they do not possess the property of keeping well.
As it is well known that when white turnips get
beyond a certain size, they speedily lose a great
portion of their nutritious perfection, it is there-
fore not advisable to allow them to stand too
long. The after-culture of the crop is the next
point for our consideration. When the young
])lants are of about three or four weeks' growth,
they should be then horse-hoed, and the weeds
destroyed. This operation is generally perfonned

twice before the crop is hand-hoed and singled,
and once or tmce afterwards, an interval of a
week or ten days occurring between the first and
second hoeing. The hand-hoe must then be
used, and should be immediately followed by a
careful singling. This operation is often per-
formed very inefficiently, and, when such is the
case, the crop invariably suffers, for, when the
young plants are heedlessly suffered to grow in
juxtaposition, the bulbs cannot posibly attain to a
large size, and they consequently become stunted
in appearance and deficient in weight. Tlie dis-
tance at which I Avould have the plants to stand
in the rows, should be from nine to twelve
inches. This will give sufficient I'oom for them
to grow luxuriantly ; and, as I haAC before ob-
served, the more light and air they have, the
better and the larger thej'^ will be. A laige weight
per acre can only be produced from large bulbs,
therefore, every means should be taken to attain
this desideratum. In conclusion, I wdU make
a few obsei-vations upon the insect enemies of the
turnip croj). The turnip fiy (or more properly
the flea-beetle), the black caterpillar, the wire-
worm, and the slug, are the most formidable, and
they not unfrequently commit terrible ra^'ages.
The fiy attacks the young plant when in its first or
seed leaf stage of growth, and will often destroy a
first, second, and even a third sowing. Many plans
have been adopted for its prevention, but all seem
to be of non-effect. The only method of lessen-
ing the chance of its destructive ravages is to sow
plenty of seed ; to use such manures as mU urge
the jjlants onward in their growth, so that they
may the sooner throw out the rough leaf, in which
stage they are out of harm's way ; and to keej)
the field free from the ketlock weed, which har-
bours and encourages the fly. Last year, I had
occasion to sow my Swedes a second time, owing
to this destructive insect; and I also found that the
second sowing would soon share the fate of the
former one, unless something could be devised to
check the ravages of the fly. Happening to have
a quantity of burnt gj'psum on hand, I thought I
would tiy whether, by sjirinkling it upon the
ridges, I could put a stop to the destruction. We
therefore took adA-antage of a dewy morning, and
sowed it along the ridges, at the rate of 2 cwt.
per acre. From that time, the fly entirely dis-
appeared from the crop, and I had a very good
yield of turnips. Whether the gj'psum imparted
a bitterness to the leaf, or otherwise, I must leave
for others better skilled in such matters to deter-
mine ; but happening, in the course of conversa-
tion with a large farmer in Notts, to name this cir-
cumstance, I was rather surprised to learn from him
that he had tried the same experiment \\dth a pre-
cisely similar result. The black caterpillar preys
upon the leaves in a more ad^'anced stage. A
top-dressing of some saline substance, or three
bushels of quicklime, a})plied early in the morn-
ing, is the best and most eftectual method of
destroying this pest, and also the slug. The
wire\\orm is a very formidable enemy to the tur-
nip crop. The only plan which can be adopted
as a preventive is, carefully to eradicate all weeds
and roots ; to keep the ground as clean as possi-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

41

])le by hoeing ; and to use some ammoniacal or
saline fertilizer, either in solution or otherwise,
which is known to be obnoxious to these destruc-
tive insects.

An instructive discussion followed the reading
of this paper, in which the Chairman, Mr. II. C.
Flory, Mr. Tillotson, Mr. Slack, Mr. Hodgson,
Mr. Napier, and others, took part. In conclu-
sion, Mr. Floky proposed a vote of thanks to
Mr. Napier, for his very able and lucid paper.
Mr. NAHiEKbrieflyacknowledged the compliment,
stating that nothing could atlbrd him greater
pleasure than that his humble services should be
thus appreciated by his brother members. Mr.
Flory gave notice of a motion, at the next
meeting, that one of the machines for analyzing
.soils should be purchased, for the use of the
institution. After a vote of thanks to the Chair-
man for his services on the occasion, the meet-
ing separated.

LE'ITERS FROM IRELAND.

BY THE EDITOR OF THE FIFTH AND SIXTH
EDITIONS OF " BAYLDON ON RENTS AND
TILLAGES," AND AUTHOR OF A TREATISE
ON MANURES AND GRASSES.

" .igrifultura nihil melius, nihil uberius, niliil liomino libero
dignius." — Cicero.

(The copyright of these letters is reserved by the
author.)

Letter II.

County of Wicklow. — April 29.

The county of Wicklow stretches along the
coast to the south of Dublin about thirty miles,
the average breadth being about twenty-five.
The diief cities are Wicklow, Arklow, Bray, and
Rathdrum. It is a very hilly country, being
completely divided into two districts — the high-
land, and the lowland. ITie highest hills rise
about 800 to 1,000 feet above low water level,
being known by the name of the sugar-loaves,
from three of them having conical tops, and re-
sembling that body in shape. They are mostly
very rocky, and thinly covered with earth and
heath, and in many places entirely with loose
fragments of stones. Along the sides of the
valleys, throughout the whole length of the coun-
try, the rocks are in many places abrupt and
precipitous, sometimes bare, and occasionally
clad with stunted wood, and, where loM^er, with
furze and grass. The vale of Ovoca, on the
south, presents some fine sceneiy ; some of the
hiUs being metallifterous, and are now ])artially
\vrought for copper, the main speculation having
failed many years ago, like many others in this
ill-fated country. Many of the lower hills are
wholly cultivated over the top, and others half-
way, the highest part affording pasture only.
The plantations are not numerous, and seem
much neglected.

Before quitting the county of Dublin, I visited
the farm of Mr. Sherrard, on the southern bor-

der ; which part is much finer and better culti-
vated than the northern portion of the county.
That gentleman farms in true style, on lands of
good quality, to the extent of 200 acres there,
having other farms in diH'erent jjarts of the
county. The farm lies on a southern slope,
rising from a valley to a hill of granite stone,
which attbrd materiids in great alnmdance, ior
roads, drains, and buildings. The farm
offices recently improved are large and commo-
dious, with a threshing mill, cow, and bullock
shed, yards, and piggery, built with the stone
above mentioned, in the most substantial man-
ner. The fann roads are made with the same
materials ; gate-post and wickets in the same
durable style. The lands have been drained
with broken stones at eighteen feet apart, two-
and-a-half to three feet deej), covered with good
turf, and then with earth. The open ditches are
all cleaned out, and the hedges trimmed in proper
order. The cultivation of the soil, which is a
deep loam, is very good ; lime, lying in a pow-
dered state in heaps on the land well wrought, was
being spread before the harrows, the plovighs
followed, and the land soon afterwards drilled
and planted with potatoes. Swedes would fol-
low. Winter vetches were ready for cutting —
six acres of beautiful lucerne was more than a
foot high — drilled beans were brairded luxu-
riantly, and the artificial grasses were very fine,
and the wheat and barley were very neatly drilled.
The reclaimed land is trenched to the depth of
eighteen inches, and limed and dunged for pota-
toes as the first crop, and then followed by grain
and pulse. The Leicester sheep are as good as
most in P^ngland, and the pigs are not often
equalled. They gain many prizes. The cattle
are a cross from the native and the short horn,
they being wrought in the plough for two years,
and then fed off. The horses and part of the
cattle are fed in the yard in summer on green
food, and the pigs are fed with steamed roots.
The steam is conveyed behind sLx wooden vats,
in a pipe, with a turncock for each vat, which
may thus be steamed separately; and the ex-
treme one is composed of three vessels placed
above each other, with ])erforated bottoms, to
steam small quantities of any substances. In
order to get the contents of the vats discharged,
a square door opens in front, and which is
screwed as tight as possible. Vats of cast iron
might be an improvement, with a bottom sloping
outwards to the door, in order to discharge the
contents the easier. Such an example will prove
of great benefit in any situation, and such a man,
as an example should be placed on every estate.
Entering the country at Bray, I found the
master of the hotel there in possession of a
breed of pigs among the best I had ever seen in
symmetry and shape, and had been imported
from England at considerable expense. The
boar and sow pigs are sold at two guineas each,
to the neighbouring gentlemen to improve the
present breed. At Powerscourt, which gives
title to a nobleman, very good short-horned cattle
are kept, and the pigs are also superior — every-
thing around that mansion is in a superior style ;

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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the cottages are neat — no mud cabins are to be
seen, and is a proof what can be done by action
and will. The park is very fine, and contains a
great quantity of old timber of various kinds,
and the whole demesne will amply repay the
traveller for the trouble of a visit.

The lov^land part of the country has a fair
sprinkling of gentlemen's seats, and of the
houses of the better farmers. In some places,
the viewH and scenery are ■v-ery beautiful. The
houses are neat and commodious, and in many
respects are tolerably well kept. The cottages
are now being built in an improved way
of stones and lime, and covered with slates;
bvit they have not yet reached the condition
of having chambers, or a second floor ; without
which, the proper accommodation is not
obtained in any house. The mud cottages
are whitened and generally thatched rather
neatly ; but in many places they are A^ery bad and
unfit for human habitations. In the town of
Arklow, whole ranges of mud-houses are found ;
and, being in it on a market-day, I looked at the
most poverty-struck scene that can be imagined
— houses, animals, and human beings, all appear-
ing in the same abject state. So long as the
erection of houses of any kind is left to the
means and ideas of the people in their present state,
no better condition can take place ; and not until
the proprietor has them built at his own expense,
or erected at the cost of others who are able to do
so in the proper way. It may be urged, that a
people Avith their means cannot inhabit or keep
better houses ; but, it is a step to lead them in
advance, and often forms an excuse. It is grati-
fying to know that improvements do take place,
though the pace be very slow.

The land along the sea coast and the valleys is
of fine quality, and diminishes gradually to near
the tops of the hills. Some choice spots of the
best quality let as high as £5 and £6 an acre ;
good land at 30s. and 40s. ; and then at difterent
figures down to a few shillings, 20s. being an
average for a great portion of it. More than
the half of the surface is in grass, of better or
worse quality, and lies an indefinite time. On
the arable lands, potatoes are the only crop used
— all the dung is applied for that purpose, as it
is the most saleable, and the use of others is un-
known. They are planted in lazy beds, or in
drills, and very imperfectly executed. On grass
lands, mowed by a slight furrow, they are planted
without dung in lazy beds, by the poor people,
at a rent of 40s. an acre — next year, mth dung,
at 80s. an acre : these lands are of inferior qua-
lity, and the returns are not lai-ge. The potatoes
appear to be of a bad kind, and much inferior to
the Devon and Scotch reds. The wheat, oats,
and barley, are sown on stitches of about 10 feet
in width ; and, after the land is harrowed, the
furrows are shovelled out, and the earth thrown
over the sown grain, it being supposed to in-
crease the produce. llie grain is built on
stands of stones, in ricks of a long form, and
thatched as in England. Flails are used in
threshing.

The farms vary in size from 10 acres to 200

arable ; and in the interior they are much larger,
consisting of several hundred acres of hUly pas-
ture. Leases are granted, in many cases, of 21
and 31 years, along with t\\'0 or three lives,
terminable by the years if the lives fall previous
to the expiration, and by the lives if they ovitlive
that term. On the estate of a nobleman, a farm
fell into the hands of a woman, who could not
vote for an M.P.; the proprietor named a person
whom she should many, or lose the farm, and
whom he knew would vote as he -wished : com-
pliance was necessary, and the poor fellow got a
farm. Leases do not altogether take away the
power on such occasions, but they are a step to
diminish it ; but here they are not regvdarly and
systematically granted.

The ploughs used are all of iron and of fair
workmanship — price 50s. to 60s. The carts are
of various sizes and constructions, all provided
with iron axles and drawn by one horse. There
are no waggons, two-horse carts, or wooden
axles to be seen. The horses are small, but very
active ; and though the land does not require
heavy horses, yet they might be improved by
being one size larger, without adding much to
the weight of leg or carcass. The cattle are
generally of the old bi'eed, sometimes crossed
with the short horn, while some specimens of the
latter are to be found in the hands of a few of the
leading gentlemen. The breed of sheep is white-
faced and indigenous, and exclusively used on
high lands — on better grounds it becomes a very
useful animal when crossed wth the Leicester ;
while the latter, in a pure state, are found in a
few hands only. Fat lambs, of a fair quahty,
are sent to Dublin at this season, where there are
salesmen, as in London, and who charge 6d. per
pound of money received for cattle and sheep, and
lOd.for pigs. The wool is of good quality, and the
native sheep may feed to 12 and 14 lbs. per
quarter. The pigs are good and of a useful size.

There is abundance of limestone gravel in the
country, but no limestone, which is brought coast-
wise from the north of Dublin and burnt in kilns,
and sold at about 5d. per bushel. The quantity
used cannot be great, for I observed only one
apphcation of lime through the whole length of
the country. In some places holes are dug in the
sides of dry banks and the limestones burnt in
them by means of turf mingled with some coals.
Calcined lime is much lighter of carriage than
the crude materials ; but, no doubt, in the pre-
sent case, the diflference in the prime cost in-
duces the mode of preparation.

The very sweet and palatable appearance of
the grasses in Ireland must have struck the most
careless observer, for, on every pasture, old or
new, the quality is sound and the verdure early
and luxuriant. The land lying mostly on a rocky,
or gravelly, or a deep alluvial bottom, aftbrds a
sound herbage, and that of the first quality is
capable of rearing and maintaining the best breed
of live stock in England ; while the secondary,
with proper improvements, will suflSciently
maintain a cross of the best, or a breed
of the second-rate quality. The best pastures
are very fine, not equal in quantity of pro-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

43

duce to the best in England, but in soundness and
quality equal to any in Britain. Some few fields
of artificial grasses are to be seen, which show the
same sweet quality — but they are badly managed,
being patched in the sowing, and the lands imper-
fectly wrought and cleaned even though of a loose
friable nature, for the strength of animal power
applied and the implements are wholly incapable
of reducing and jmlverizing a stubborn soil.
There are no turnips sown, except a spot or two
by some leading gentlemen — the farmers reckon-
ing the best lands too valuable to be applied to
that crop, and that the greater part would l)e stolen
by the poor people. But a crop of potatoes would
seem as liable to be stolen, are more valuable for
that purpose and more ready : but the turnip sys-
tem is yet far removed, and both the raising and
application of that and similar roots, will require a
time and means that have not yet been applied.

There is no greater want to be observed over
the whole extent of country than that of planta-
tions ; with very few exceptions, every hill may be
covered with trees, and the few trials that have
been made show the certainty of success. The
larch, spruce, and Scotch fir, grow well; and the oak
may l)e seen thri\-ing on the slopes of the rocky
hills. The hills afford a dry healthy bed, the
gorse and tall heath a useful shelter during the in-
fancy of the young tree. The planting of the hilly
grounds, and the judicious interspersion of woods
over the whole country, must form one of the pri-
mary improvements — there are large extents of
slojjes and banks where cultivation woidd be in-
conA^enient, and waiting the hand of the planter
and enclosing without any further trouble. But a
tree being planted is nowhere to be seen, and in
this and all other improvements, little or nothing
is doing : some leading gentlemen may be said to
be doing a httle ; but it is little, and compared
■with the extent, no better than a drop of water in
a bucket.

The fences are wholly neglected, not seeming to
have even one day's work bestowed on them. In
some places the hedges are good, but with no care ;
in others, a few thorn trees exist ; while the great-
er iiart are earthen mounds, clad with gorse in full
blossom. The whole arable country had been
subdivided at some former period, and the fields
are in most places very sizeable and weU shaped,
and equal in that respect to any simdar extent of
ground in Britain. Gorse seems to have been
planted intheplaceof thorns. The neglectthat pre-
vails on that point, and the many fields and grounds
to be seen covered with furze, and bearing marks
of former cultivation, would seem to indicate that
cultivation has retrograded since some former pe-
riod ; but such instances are to be seen in most
countries, except in the very fertile and improved
districts.

The whole extent of covintry, consisting of fine
loams mostly on a rocky bottom, presents a field
seldom to be met with, for the introduction and
successful execution of the green crop and artificial
grass system in the fullest extent. The part that
requires draining is equally well adapted for tur-
nips, and that operation may be cheaply executed
by reason of the low rate of labour, and the abun-

dance and readiness of materials. There are no
clay lands, and consequently no general wetness —
it arises from sjjrings and outbreaks from the allu-
vial or gravelly bottom. Bones and all the arti-
ficial manures would l)e attended with much suc-
cess, for every where the loamy soils ai'e warm
and kindly, and fully more suitable for turnijjs
than potatoes. Nature has done its part, and it
only remains for man to improA'e it. One or more
farms of the proper size, and none under 50 acres,
should be established by the proprietors, and duly
supplied v/ith the means to show the most im-
pro^-ed system in every respect, and continued and
persevered in till the purpose be estaldished, and
the things gain their ground. There are, no doubt,
many prejudices and difficulties to be overcome :
but none can properly exist where 1)oth the means
and the power are found, as in the case of the pro-
prietors of land, who if they had adopted this plan,
might have had every impr-ovement on their estates
which the present times afford. Never was there
a fairer field, and never was there greater need.
Many such attempts have overshot the mark, from
becoming a splendid amateurship ; others have
failed from want of continued support ; and not a
few have been upset by prejudice and overborne by
clamour, to which a ready compliance is too often
given. It is only from a determined and persever-
ing system that success can be expected, from an
adherence "per force" to the object in view, from
a resolute determination at all hazards to effect the
purpose. Some judgment is required in laying
down a system of proceeding — this has been whol-
ly neglected, while complaints have been lavished
in every quarter of the existence of misery and
wretchedness, and no means used to remove it.
Much time is required in any individual exertions
benefiting a system — but the sooner they are in-
troduced the better; and from them have proceed-
ed the improvements in every art, and the conse-
quent ameliorations in the condition of the human

Letter III.

County of Wexford, May 4.
The county of Wexford lies south of that of
Wicklow along the coast for about fifty miles, the
Ijreadth being twenty-five miles. It is less hilly
than Wicklow, but generally inferior in the quality
of the soil and in natural beauty. The chief towns
are Wexford, New Ross, Enniscorthy, and Ferns.
Wexford has some trade in export of provisions ;
and the chief import is coal from Whitehaven,
which sells at 14s. to I6s. a ton, according to
quality. Best beef and mutton fetch 6d. to 7d.
per pound; fresh butter lOd. to Is. per pound;
eggs, 4d. to 6d. per dozen; potatoes, Sjd. to 4d.
per stone. Fish are cheap, but so dirtUy
managed that an inspection is very offensive.
Very few butchers' shops are seen, and the gene-
ral quality of the meat is very inferior. The ex-
pense of travelling by the stage coaches is about
l4d. per mile, and by the stage cars about id.
All these vehicles are clumsy, and very dirtily kept
— horses, harness, coach, and managers, all show-
ing an inferiority in everything, but in the latter

44

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

managing the money concerns, in which a defi-
ciency seldom anywhere occurs. At the coach-
ing hotels the common charges are Is. 6d. for
breakfast, the same for bed and for dinner, the
latter being in some cases 2s. and 2s. 6d. ; the
charge for servants being 8d. and Is. per night,
or left to the generosity of the traveller. In most
cases the accommodation is not at all to be con-
demned ; though there frequently occurs a dirty
water, and a slattern chambermaid ; a bed with
torn curtains, and sheets with holes : a window
without blinds of any kind, and a door without a
lock ; one thing good, and another bad ; one
thing finished, and another left undone. This
carelessness and neglect seems to be general, and
everywhere prevalent — on the farm and in the
garden, in the sta])le and in the parlour.

The county seems to possess a smaller niunber
of gentlemen's seats than Wicklow, though there
are not wanting many respectable habitations of
small proprietors or farmers of capital ; and it is
most pleasing to observe that in these new erec-
tions vast improvements are made both in accom-
modation and in appearance. Many houses are
built on the cottage plan, with projecting roof,
and hipped ; and others with two stories and
gables ; and all covered with slates, and the walls
strongly dashed with lime, and occasionally
white-washed. I may have contracted a prejudice
in favour of the Elizabethan or old English style
of building ; but I always think that some form
of it adds much to external beauty, though I be-
lieve the square form of building is allowed to
afford more accommodation. In the building of
cottages I ever advocate to have chambers o\'er
the first floor, and I am glad to see it in some
places adopted ; if the present inhabitants cannot
occupy the room thus provided, the next gene-
ration may do so ; and, in such a country as Ire-
land, calculations must always be extended to
what it may be a hundred years hence. The
dwellings ofthe inferior farmers are thatched, and
in many places neat and white-washed ; and from
this character the habitations degenerate to the
mud-houses of the cottage-farmer and the cabin
of the labourer — scattered all over the country,
and mostly of a very wretched description. In
the better cottages of stone and slates much neg-
lect prevails — doors in want of paint, panes of
glass broken in the windows, and supplied with
boards and rags, or altogether open ; and, in the
inferior sort, the dunghill in front of the door is
seldom wanting, the pig and the children wallow-
ing in the mud, and the cabins almost vnthout a
door or windows. In several places, however,
neat gardens are to be seen, and an orchard in
some situations ; and near the towns the gentle-
men's seats and the villas show the usual plants
in luxuriant blossom. For these purposes neither
soil nor climate are wanting.

In the northern part of the county, where it
joins \vith Wicklow, and in some of the southern
parts, the soil is of inferior quahty, on a bottom
of white sandy clay, and sometimes on rock and
gravel ; the better class of land lies on gravel, or
rock, or a deep alluvium. As is mostly always
the case, the best cultivation and the larger farms

are found on the lands of superior quality ; and the
general size varies from four acres to two hundred
acres, and, in some cases, below and above these
figures. The former plant a few potatoes, and
sow some oats, and graze a cow ; and the latter
follow the same system, only on a larger scale.
The potatoes are planted equally in drills and on
lazy beds ; the former are most imperfectly done,
the land neither stirred, wrought, nor cleaned,
from want of the necessary power, and being
merely scratches in the earth, barely covering the
ground, and leaving a part of the soil in the
middle to be afterwards added to the drill. In
the whole county I saw only one proper forma-
tion of drills near Ross, done under the directions
of a Scotch agriculturist, whom the farming society
there have engaged to perambulate the estates
and farms to instruct the tenantiy. In the lazy-bed
system, the land is once ploughed, or partially
wrought ; the beds are sometimes marked by a
plough furrow, the dvmg spread on them, and the
earth thrown over the potato-sets from the tren-
ches, and, in most cases, the whole is performed
in the most awkward form imaginable. In both
modes the dung is much dried by many days' ex-
posure. On the largest farms it is customary to
lay down a quantity on many acres of land, and
then to driU and plant. Combined actiAdty and
energetic dis])atch are wholly unknown. This
exposure of the dung on the land, if the sets
are old cut, may occasion the disease that has yet
baffled all philosophical inquiry. Moisture is
essential to the potato, and should be secured in
the dung, the land, and in the plant.

The wheat is sown on ridges of six to ten feet
in width, and the earth from the furrows is thrown
over it, as before mentioned. I have not yet learned
if any decisive experiments have estabhshed the
superiority of that mode over common harrow-
ing ; it is probable that it rests, like many others,
on opinion without proof. The oats are sown in
the same way, and the barley on ridges of three
to eight feet in width, on the finest dry loams in
the kingdom, and without any water furrows, for
most certainly none are required. No operation
can possibly be more awkwardly or more
slovenly performed than these ploughings and
ridgings on lands that, in most cases, require no
ridging at all. There seems to be no idea of the
proper ridge or stitching, and in one case onlv
have I seen an attempt to use the wide ridge, and
to sow on the flat, the grain being drilled and
apparently ribbed, judging from the width of
the rows. The narrow ridging and ploughing
seems to be an old custom, as much ofthe inferior
pastures are in that form. For any wet lands in
Britain, a ridge of twelve feet in width is suffi-
ciently nari'ow, ifthejiloughman be expert to give
it the proper form ; a narrower Avidth only creates
unnecessary furrows.

The wheat, barley, and oats are of good qua-
lity; and yield, at an a^'erage, three quarters, four
quarters, and five quarters per acre, lire land is
sharp and early for barley, and the Avheat is of
the white variety. The ricks are set on stands of
stone in a round form, thatched, and with ropes of
straw round them, and fastened with pegs. The

THE PARMER'S MAGAZINE.

45

hay is built in large, \or\g ricks, with very long
roofs : it seems much dried and overmade, and
indifferent in quality.

In some places on the coast sea-weed is used as
a manure, but in general none is known but the
farm-yard dung. The names of other manures
are beginning to be kno^\^l to the leading cul-
tivators, and some bone-mills have been erected.
I visited one at Enniscorthy, and found it of the
most primitive construction ; two sets of crushers
driven by water, and dropping the bones on the
floor, which are aftenvards thrown against a wire
screen as gravel, in order to riddle and separate.
I recommended and explained the cylinder
jiierced with holes, which is now adopted in bone
mills, on the principle of the boulting wire-sieve
in flom- mills, which separates the bones into two
kinds, and throws off at the imder end the rough
pieces that required to be crushed again. The
machine used for sewing is for one drill with a
bone and seed coulter. I explained the modern
drop drills which seemed wholly unknown, even
by name. Guano has been tried in some few
instances, but in gardens and small spots only,
and with fair success mixed with earth and sown
broadcast. Bones are bought at 50s. per ton in a
raw state, and sold at 2s. Gd. per bushel. If a
quantity could be sold that jirice must pay weU.
Lime is used in some parts of the county, most on
the western side ; it is mostly mixed with soil and
spread on the potato land ; in a few cases only it
is laid on the land in heaps and spread before
drilhng. It should be well harrowed to procure
sufficient mixing.

The breed of horses is too small in size to
work any land, and are rendered weak by bad
feed and keeping. One animal may be seen
dramng a harrow and a drilling plough, and any
person may judge the degree of culti\^ation
the land can receive. The l)est pair I have seen
are unable to do the work sufficiently. The
breed of cattle is the old Irish, in the hands of
some proprietors, crossed Avith the short-horns, of
which last some few specimens may be seen.
But a long time must elapse before a tolerable
breed be obtained from such a source, the female
being so deficient. Great advances may be made
with very common elements, if the farmer would
only attend to the simple principle to breed from
the best ; but in the case of horses especially, they
generally breed from the worst. Some few
Leicester sheep or cross are seen and thrive welj
Wool sells at Is. per lb. The breed of pigs . '
generally good— middle sized and useful. I ^®
curious to see good and bad articles so mix^*^''
both being equally attainable.

ITie iron plough is almost universally used,
and of good form, being the best article in farm
use. A wooden one is rarely seen. The harrow
is \\ea\ry and clumsj% often single or banded, and
forms a strange contrast lying by the side ot the
plough, and suits the breed of animals, one good
and another bad. No waggon, two-horse cart,
or scarcely a bog cart are seen, the only vehicle
being a box about twelve or fifteen inches deep,
fitted as a cart to carry dung, lime, and stones,
with a side rail in the manner of a hay cart. Grain

in sacks is carried by being laid across, and hay
on the rails. Iron axles are universal.

The average rent of the land may l)e taken at
15s. to 25s. per acre, less or more according to
the quality of the soil and its locality ; meadows
and grazing fields near a town reaching 40s. and
50s. per acre, and the poorer soils, near the hills,
being under the lowest mentioned figure. Taxes
are moderate, 4s. per acre in many places covering
the whole sum, and no where amounting to much
more. The poors rate is yet very unsteady, vary-
ing from 5d. to lOd. per pound of valuation, and
two rates yearly ; the county cess to Is. to 2s.
per acre, and the tithe rent charge Is. to 3s.
To persons in the present circumstances, and
who follow the present modes of cultivation, any
rent and taxes must be oppressive ; a greater
amount always more set than a smaller one most
certainly ; but which does not seem extravagantly
so, under known means if made available. Farms
are entered to in May and in March, and in Sep-
tember and in November. Rents are paid half
yearly, and cottage rents often weekly.

Leases of land are given for 3 hves and 21 and
31 years ; and, in many cases, refused altogether.
Some go on for ever, or pay fines at certain
periods. On this point, the most essential to all
improvements, no clear or established system has
yet obtained. It is not so much as generally
supj)Osed from want of leases, that improvements
have not advanced ; they are as common and for
longer periods than in England.

The prices of day labour varies from Is. down
to 6d. per day, according to circumstances. In
some cases the labourer has potato land at a certain
price, and in others nothing but the bare money.
The cottages they inhabit vary in rent from 30s.
to 50s. ; the better sort tenanted by mechanics
and artisans to 3l. and 4/., according to size and
condition. Sometimes the cottage and garden
are included in the weekly wages, and often
nothing. It may easily be seen that these wages
can barely aflford an existence ; and, consequently,
potatoes are the chief article of food — two meals
a day with milk being a rarity, and oatmeal a still
greater. Great privations occur to a labourer ;
being known to work ten hours, the usual day's
length, without tasting food of any kind, constant
work being the great desire, at any wages to be
named. No living thing so fed can perform any
quantity of work ; the Irish gentlemen themselves
acknowledged that the wages are greatly insuffi-
cient ; but they never give more — no single indi-
vidual having yet had the courage to give his own
rate of wages, or to act in that respect on his own
footing of independence — a bad system is acknow-
ledged and continued. Masons get 3s. and 3s.
6d. a day ; a blacksmith charges 6d. to 8d. for
new shoes for a horse ; a servant girl gets 5/. and
6/. yearly in the best houses, and 3/. and 4/. in
the inferior ; an able-bodied man can be got to
lodge in the farm-house for the last-mentioned
sum.

I omitted to state that Mr. Shcrrard, whom I
mentioned, gives the farm labourers 4s. a week, a
cow's keej), and ])otato ground, having discov-
ered the great advantage of attaching the labourer

46

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

to the locality by the use of articles in produce,
a cow and a pig being indispensable to every la-
labourer with a family. And when thus suffici-
ently pro^'ided, they are much more comfortable
than starving and struggling in a farm of a few
acres.

In several parts of the county^ draining and
cutting of brooks is reqiiired : for the former,
the materials are abundant and the descent easy.
I observed only two attempts at draining, and it
had mtich better be let alone; for, in such execu-
tion, it can only bring disgrace on the system,
and the labour be wholly lost. Draining would
prove most effectual, as the wetness arises from
outbursts in the open porous bottom, and not
from a general spread humidity aboA'e or below.
I shall advert oftenandmore largely to this subject.

The quantity of artificial grasses is small ; and,
in general, badly managed : the land being im-
perfectly cultivated, and the clover seldom shows
a thick plant. The ray grass is more abundant,
but the produce is everywhere small. Colt's foot
and dandelion show the want of cleaning in
the ground ; and docks and thistles also abound.

The hills that are not cultivated over the top,
may, wth the exception of the highest and most
rocky and rugged, be well clothed %vith trees, but
with one exception near Ross, I observed not a
single attempt to plant a hill on any barren
ground. The country, being comparatively
open, shows very much the want of plantations ju-
diciously disposed in belts, clumps, or in larger
divisions — the few that have been planted grow
well, and the hills being drj^, gravelly, and rocky,
afford a healthy bed for the whole tribe of firs.
No country is furnished unless it contain a fair
portion of plantations ; and it may be considered
a universal rule that all places in cA'ery countiy
should be planted where cultivation cannot take ;
and, in high and cold latitudes, better land must
be planted for use and shelter, being one of the
first and greatest improvements. Field-gates
seem almost unknown ; a few of iron are hung
on stone pillars by tbe road-side ; but they are
rudely formed of upright flat bars ; and it is im-
possible to see a wooden gate of a decent or
commodious shape. A gate-post is nowhere
found. The land, without a single exception,
presents a universal application of tbe turnip and
grass system, being loamy and of various cjualities
certainly, but all adapted with the necessary
modes of management to show that system in the
full extent. Bones and every artificial manure
are finely applicable, and the means of altering
the system are only wanting, and of C[uickly
doubling the produce. At present, the half of
the country is not cultivated, and what is ploughed
is not cultivated to the half of the extent, most
of the land producing in a state of grass — a bite
to a few stan'ed animals. Even potato, the staple
article, is not understood for cattle, but for sale ;
and not a turnip is seen except in the hands of a
few leading men. Fences are clad with gorse
in place of thorns ; but, in the better lands, some
good hedges of thorns are found, and growing
very luxuriantly, and have grown up not from
any care bestowed, but by chance.

Letter IV.

Car low, May 1th.

The county of Carlow extends in length from North
to South about 30 miles, the greatest breadth being 18.
On the eastern side, it is divided from the counties of
Wicklow and Wexford by the range of Black moun-
tains, the highest in this part of the kingdom : on the
west, the river Earrow forms the division from ths
county of Kilkenny formerly the whole length ; on tha
north, it joinsthe county of Kildare ; and on the south, it
terminates in a point between the counties of Wicklow
and Kilkenny, and the Black mountains and the river
Barrow. This river admits heavy vessels to New Ross,
and steamers daily to and from Waterford ; and after-
wards affords, by means of a canal, a water communi-
cation by Carlow and Alby, to the main canal that runs
to Dublin. The situation is therefore very favoui-able
for importation and exportation — on the north to Dub-
lin , and on the south to the sea at Waterford. But
very little business seems doing in either way. The
chief towns are Carlow, Tullew, RathviUy, and Leigh-
lin Bridge. The general aspect of the country is very
fine, being well wooded and hedged ; the surface is
widely undulated, and all the rising grounds are culti-
vated over the top . The hedges are in a thriving state ,
and the hedge-row trees much improve the appearance
of the country. In the plantations, every tree seems to
grow well, the Scotch fir and larch in many places
shewing 18 to 30 inches of yearly growth. The beech
seems to like the soil. Of oaks, there are not many.
Some orchards have been planted and are in a very
thriving state, the ground below the trees being planted
with potatoes in the lazy bed system, probably more
convenient than horse labour. The wild cherry and
apple trees standing in the hedge rows, and now in full
blossom , add to the beauty of the scenery ; wliile every
dyke, ditch and meadow, being also clad with the earlier
plants, join in giving a most favourable opinion of the
country. The fields are large and open, and the fences
well drawn and judiciously disposed ia most instances
— in that respect, exceeding many of the best parts of
England. There is a good number of gentlemen's seats,
with considerable quantities of old and young timber
spread around and generally well arranged and kept.
When the county is examined, and viewed from an
eminence, there is probably no part of the united king-
dow that excels it in general appearance : even in sin-
gle qualities, not many, or a few only are very superior :
even in these, not many can compare with it.

On the sides of the rivers, there are many meadows
in a marshy state, wholly grazed by cattle, and pro-
ducing an herbage of medium quality. Great quanti-
ties of butter are made in the county, of good quality,
and well known in the public market. The arable lands
are of the first-rate loamy quality, lying mostly on a
bottom of deep alluvial gravel. As we approach the
eastern hilly side of the county, the land gets worse in
quality, and in some places becomes wet, on a bottom
of white sandy clay mixed with gravel. In many places,
draining is much wanted, for which there may easily
be found the proper declivity, by opening the brooks.
In almost every case, the outburst of the water may be
distinctly traced between the gravel bed and the clay,
forming as fine a field for successful draining as could
be wished. A great part of the land lies in a state of
pasture, very old or of a certain age, and only a part is
ploughed. The grass is not abundant, but maintains
sheep in a sound healthy state.

The arable lands are cviltivated wholly for potatoes,
very few turnips being sown except by some leading
individuals, as may be seen from the stalks in fall blos-
som now standing among the wheat and barley, and
which carelessness has not pulled up. The cultivation

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

iH

IS very deficient — the horses are not able to plough the
land, and the implements ai"e equally insufficient, with
the exception of the plough made of iron, and of good
shape and workmanship. The harrow is very rough
and of one piece, and the roll of wood or stone with a
loose frame, and often drawn by one horse. The land
being very loose and friable, is easily reduced; one cross
furrow seems the utmost that is given, and rolling and
even harrowing is sparingly applied. In one instance
only, I observed a few women i)icking weeds from a
fallow, but men and boys are frequently seen with mal-
lets, breaking the clods from want of rolling. Cast
iron roUs are much the best, and no cultivator should
want one, either on clay or turnip lands, in order to
reduce the former and consolidate the latter, for loosen-
mg and consolidation are alternately necessary. In
some i)laces, the drills are rolled after the potatoes are
planted, which ensures a regular brairding, and keeps
moisture in the land. The drill system seems better
understood in this county, though in two instances only
I observed that they were of the proper breadth and
depth, being generally much too narrow and too shal-
low. The ridging of land also is more practised, but
in very few cases approaching to mediocrity.

Equal portions of the potato crop are planted in
drills and on lazy beds, and whole fields of excellent
land may be seen in the latter form, done after
a partial fallowing, or on stubble, or on grass.
In many cases, the dung of some sort is laid on
the land with one light ploughing, the trenches
and the earth spread over the beds. The earliest
planted crops are now brairding, both on beds and in
drills, among a full crop of couch and coltsfoot. The
land, before being drilled, is green with weeds ; and the
drills receiving the dung are often in the same state, and
not unfrequently the land is drilled immediately from
the winter- furrow, and not a weed ever gathered from
it in any state. The dung is universally in a dry,
strawy state, from the home yards, where no atten-
tion is paid to preparation of any kind. Quantities
are laid on the land before being drilled, and then car-
ried and laid in the drills as the plough advances.
Many days' exposure reduces it to a very dry state,
and though I agree with the author of "British Hus-
bandry" that evaporation is not so hurtfid as repi'e-
sented, I yet like to see manure quickly and com-
pletely covered, and no dry straw to be seen. The
other manure used is from the cottars, being a mix-
ture of earths and pig-dung and other composts.
With such imperfect cultivation, the returns are stated
to be upwards of 300, and often 400, bushels an acre,
which shows the fitness of soil and cUraate for the po-
tato plant.

The wheat is sown, in this county, more in ridges,
with shovelled trenches ; in some places on the flat
ground ; and I observed one field, and another of
barley, sown iir rows in a manner very creditable to any
cultivation. From the width between the rows, and
the strength and number of the stems, I concluded the
work was done by ribbmg and broadcasting the seed,
as drill machines are not introduced. The oats are
almost universally sown on high beds or ridges, with
shovelled trenches, and the earth thrown over the seed
after being sown and harrowed.

Artificial grasses appear more frequently, being a
mixture of ray-grass and red clover, and sometimes
the yellow is added.

The returns of grain per acre, in Carlow, are stated
very high — 35 bushels of wheat, 40 of barley, and 40
to 50 of oats. But such accounts are not always cor-
rect.

In the lower part of the county, where it joins Kil-
kenny and Wexford, lime is much used as a manure,

applied either singly or mixed in composts. Great
quantities of stone are carried down the river Barrow
in boats, and discharged in places v.'here wanted, and
burnt in kilns built mostly with uncemented stones in
a very rude manner. In the north end of the county,
limestone-gravel is burnt in whole pieces, as it is
found, and used as lime. The limestone is of a slaty
form, and when burnt assumes a grey colour, both in
a fresh and an old state.

The breed of cattle in this county is better than in
many others, owing to an importation some time ago
of English cattle, and also from Ayrshire, by some
spirited individuals ; but the breeds, not being properly
selected and managed, have much degenerated, and
the original qualities disappeared. I saw a cow,
from the Durham and Ayrshire cross, that gave
34 quarts of milk in a day. Some pure animals are
in the hands of the leading gentlemen, and many of
the cows are large and useful animals. The sheep are
Leicester, or a cross, and in many cases good flocks
may be seen : the soil is most particularly adapted to
the nature of that animal. The pigs are almost uni-
versally good. At a mud cottage almost wanting in
door, window, or chimney, a sow and pigs may be
seen that would not disgrace any breeder in England.
Being fed on potatoes, the bacon must be inferior :
corn caimot be afforded ; and I believe that, after all
that has been said and written about steaming and
crushing, that grain in a dry state is the most profit-
able food, at least in finishing the fattening process.
It is curious that the same ideas that have selected the
pigs and the iron ploughs cannot introduce other im-
provements ; but we see this difference in every human
genius, and that the same ideas do not generally apply.

The fences are generally in better condition, having
more thorns and fewer gorse hedges, except towards
the hills, where they again appear. An improvement
may be made in building the latter, by usmg turf with
the grassy side outwards on the sides, and planting
the sets in two rows on the top, left 12 or 18 inches.
In the present mode, the sets are laid in three rows
along both the sides, where many die from want of
moisture. Few or no gates are seen, and a gate-post
of timber, either square or octangular, seems un-
known. A round pillar, or one stone, hanging an
iron gate, is occasionally seen on the side of the main
road, but any other is not used, or if one occurs, it is
of rude form and awkwardly hung.

The grass fields near towns are let for yearly grazing
at 31. per acre, and are calculated to maintam one
cow for that sum. The best arable lands bring about
40s. an acre, inferior 20s. to 30s., and down-
wards to 10s., according to quahty and situation. In
the best situations, 6s. or 7s. an acre wiU cover all
taxation ; in inferior places, about half that sum will
be sufficient. Hay was delivered last summer to the
coach contractor in Carlow at 25s. per ton. Wheat
sells, at present, at Is. Gd. per stone ; barley at Is. ; and
oats at 9d. — all of very fair quality. Best mutton
brings 6d. ; beef, 7d. per lb. Fresh butter, of good
quality, 9d. and lOd. ; and eggs 4d. per dozen.

Much land is held on long leases by middlemen,
and some extend for ever ; many take for twenty-one,
thirty-one years, and three lives ; a curious custom,
but like other customs not easily discontuiued. Any
lives are named, and lands are yet held by the life of
some of the royal family. Such confused and incor-
rect ideas show the utter want of system that has
almost universally prevailed in this kingdom ; m such
cases, subletting was not understood or guarded
against, and the consequences have been most perni-
cious. The leading proprietors now show an inclination
to let for twenty-one years, and some, for life ; thus re-

48

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ducing the period to a definite extent, and getting rid
gradually of the nomination of lives. Many farms
of all sizes are held by yearly tennre ; proprietors re-
fusing to grant them from political and religious
feelings. A proprietor in the county, and also in that
of Kildare, told me that he would not grant leases, for it
threw the power not into the hands of the people
themselves, but of their spiritual advisers. The
protestant blames the catholic, the catliolic blames the
protestant, and thus a means is withheld of furthering
the civilization and advancing the condition of the
human race. Such dissensions should be confined to
the object and not extended to others.

The most fastidious eye could not desire a finer field
for the display of agricultural skill and industry than
in the county of Carlow ; and when the present state
of husbandry is seen, and compared with similar
situations in other parts of Britain, a very natural
enquiry arises, what the proprietors and farmers have
been doing for fifty years past, and what they are
thinking of at this pi-esent day. While improvements
have been, and are yet rapidly progressing, nothing is
seen or heard there but complaints of a bad state of
things, and no means used to make it any better. If
the ordinary and available means had been used when
others used them, a very different state of things
might now have existed ; we might not now see
human beings debased and degraded to a condition, of
which imagination can scarcely conceive human nature
to be susceptible. The late Earl of Leicester often
declared that any landowner could put his estate into a
prosperous condition ; and though it may not be in tlie
power of every one to act on the magnificent scale
he did, yet of the truth of the observation there is no
doubt that every one can do it on a proportionate
scale. On my mentioning to a gentleman farmer in
Carlow that there seemed a total want of artificial ma-
nures on the fine loams they possessed, he declared
his willingness, and that of many others, to adojit
such methods on their being shown tliem, but that
they had no means of seeing them, and seldom of
hearing of them, and every person joined in the opi-
nion that the proper means were only wanting to the
complete introduction. On every estate of the iiroper
size, a farm of 200 acres of medium quality of land
should be forthwith commenced, and entrusted to the
management of the best educated and intelligent agri-
culturist to be found, and furnished with the necessary
means to shew every improvement that the soil and
situation admitted, and continued till the purpose be
completely effected. Great prejudice is every where
evinced against alterations and improvements ; but
experience has shewn that if prejudice be strong, it is
not insurmountable. The minor parts would soon be
copied, the minor would soon grow into the major,
and perseverance would quickly spread the best ani-
mals and implements that could be required. At pre-
sent, potatoes, the favourite crop of the country, is
never applied to feed animals, except in a few cases;
the accommodation in housing is useless for such pur-
poses, and even in the new buildings, the housing is
adopted to the tying of cattle, open yards and sheds
not having been introduced. The yards are made
without any concavity, and the dung lies in a dry
strawy state, and all moisture runs oft". The soil in
this county is beautifully fitted for the mixed system of
husbandry, turnips, and artificial grasses, cattle and
sheep, and for confining and feeding the latter animal
on the ground. No turnip farmer could desire finer
loams, or sweeter grasses, or drier walks for his sheep.
The size of the farms is larger than in other counties ;
but very few turnips are grown, and no mixed system
is practised. There are several large flour and corn

mills on the river Bavrow ; a bone mill could be
easily erected, and the water carriage I have m.en-
tioned, affords every facility of conveyance to the
county, both on the north and south. Labour is
abundant and cheap ; the peasantry are willing and
able to work ; and with such advantages as the county
presents, it is impossible to say to what extent im-
provements might be carried.

The field is fair, and the road open — and let not the
will be wanting.

DUTY ON FOREIGN WOOL.

The following remarks on the subject of the
duty on foreign wool, from the Bankers Circular,
will be ])erused with interest by our readers : —

" We have been requested to explain why the intro-
duction of foreign wool for consumption in England
rather benefits than injures the British wool-grower.
All short-stapled foreign wool that is worth more by
HO per cent, than the finest wool of the Southdown or
Ryland flocks is wholly out of the question of com-
petition, as much as silk or flax are ; and this, we be-
lieve, includes three-fourths in value of all the foreign
wool other than colonial consumed in England. Then
for the remaining one-fourth some more detailed
notice may be requisite. None of our short-wool
breeds furnish wool of a quality that can be worked
up with advantage without a mixture with wool of
softer quality grown in foreign countries. Ours is
harsh, and what clothiers call " brashy," and has not
sufficient of that oily soft quality which is absolutely
necessary to the felting or milling process, which alone
gives firmness to the texture of cloth. Without this
mixture with foreign, it must be used for inferior
fabrics in which closeness of texture is not required,
such as blankets and coarse flannels. Of this kind is
all the Southdown wool produced in Essex, Hertford-
shire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Dorsetshire, Hampshire,
Surrey, Sussex, &c. There is a small portion of
Southdown wool grown under the hills of Sussex and
Kent, and in Essex, of a softer quality ; but there can
be no doubt that the value of this small part is en-
hanced by admixture with foreign, which makes it
work up better, and also renders it adaptable to a
greater variety of purposes. This disposes of all the
short-stapled wool, except what has been brought
principally from Russia and Turkey, with occasional
small imports from South America and the East Indies,
and sold at low prices, subject to the lowest diity of
O^d. the pound. Wool. of this kind is worked up with
the " shorts" of the long-wool fleece grown upon the
head, neck, thighs, and belly of the new Leicester,
Kent, Lincoln, Cotswold, Devon, and Somersetshire
breeds of sheep. This coarser foreign is also mixed
in manufacture with the moor- wool of Westmoreland,
Scotland, &c., and, we believe, so far as it goes, it as-
sists the demand for all. It is also worthy of note that
the Belgian manufacturers approach, in their rivalry,
nearest to the English in these coarser goods. If by
a duty you debar the English manufacturers of the ad-
vantage of the admixture with coarse foreign wool,
you give a premium to the Belgian manufacturers,
who have access to a bastard kind of Lincoln wool,
grown in the marshes of the Netherlands, which would
mix well with the coarse wool of Russia, Smyrna,
Brazil, Sec.

" There is so very little condiing wool imported but
what comes from our own colonies, that it seems un-
necessary to bestow a word upon it. In general terms

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

49

it may be stated that there is no foreign combing wool
introduced that comes into competition with the wool
of the English long-woolled breeds of sheep. They
are nsed for different fabrics ; and you might as well
exclude silk, because, if a lady could not get a silk
gown, she must wear one of cotton or stuff (worsted).
English long-wool is used for Brussels carpets, book-
ings, moreen bed furniture, damask curtains, hosiery,
lastings, and the coarse stuff-goods sold at Bradford
and Halifax, for all of which we might almost assert
that not one pound of foreign combing wool has been
used. It is true that, since the improvement in comb-
ing and spinning machinery, shorter stapled wool has
been combed, and this has brought the teg wool and
some of the longer stapled wether wool of the South-
down breed into such use, for other fabrics than the
above. But these lighter and finer fabrics could hardly
be made at all, of a quality to attract customers, with-
out an admixture either in the combing or the spin-
ning, or the doubling, or the weaving, with the comb-
ing wool introduced from abroad — and almost wholly
from our own colonies. An entirely new description
of manufacture has spning up, or rather many manu-
factures, distinguished by various fine new names,
which are carried on extensively in the neighbourhood
of Huddersfield — where fifty years ago nothing but
cloth was made. These are dependent on foreign or
colonial combing wool, with which a very small part
of the finest that grows on our short-wool or half-
breed sheep may be worked up advantageously to
British growers, and which is certainly not one twen-
tieth part of the whole. Nearly all the rest of the
wool of those breeds which is combable is used alone
for hosiery."

THE NORTHAMPTONSHIRE FARMING
AND GRAZING SOCIETY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHAMPTON MERCURY.

Sir, — Feeling deeply interested in the prospects of
agriculture, you will not think me out of place in lay-
ing before you one or two matters of importance to
our interests, which I had not an opportunity of stat-
ing at the recent meeting of the Farming and Grazing
Society.

I cannot but congratulate the society on having had
a nobleman of so much weight and influence to preside
over us on that occasion. Especially is it pleasing to
us, who are striving and hoping for improvement, to
find the noble Marquis calling in the aid of science to
give fertility to his own estates. Science appears to be
the last expedient that farmers have to fall back upon,
whilst happily the abundance of its resources sheds a
brighter halo upon our pursuits than hitherto we have
known anything of. The readiness with which our
landlords meet us on these occasions is an earnest of
their willingness to render us every reasonable assist-
ance, whilst an appreciation of their kindness will be
manifested by doubling our exertions.

The first subject to which I wish to solicit the atten-
tion of landlords, is the following. So far as my know-
ledge extends, which is chiefly confined to the midland
counties, an outlay of two for one may be properly ex-
pended— two hands for one employed — two quarters of
corn produced where one is now. This bold assertion
may not meet the views of everyone, whilst many will
anticipate the detail of its operation. The obviousness
and practicability of the plan, however, must ulti-

mately be acknowledged by all ; and the necessity of it
claims universal assent. To eft'ect all this needs but
the hearty co-operation of landed proprietors. More
land must be ploughed up. I may here be met with
the just remark, that in many, too many instances, the
tenantry have not fanned the land already under tillage
in such a manner as to induce the landlord to give to
the farmer an extension of arable land. I admit it ;
but there is now abroad a spirit of enterprise and com-
petition which will not allow of a similar apathy.
Farming is becoming a science instead of an art. Em-
piricism is being removed by certainty of operation.

Let me picture the true state of the grazier at the
present time. Smithfieldis, as we all know, the ruling
market of this country ; the facility of communication
within the last two years sends such constant daily
supplies there, that the best meat has been brought
down from G|d. and 7d. to 5|d. per lb. Now, the
grazier cannot buy his store cattle on terms corres-
ponding to these prices. I have said he cannot do it.
It is a term which may appear anomalous, because it
may be supposed that if fat meat is lower, the store
cattle must be so. But it is not so ; and here lies the
whole gist of my argument. The western breeding
counties, from which our supplies here are principally
drawn, formerly lay at a great distance from the fat
market. They are now brought nearer ; and they are
naturally poor lands, but the plough has made them
more productive than our own, which are naturally
much better ; and instead of sending their cattle here
to be grazed, they are by the plough and house-feeding
made fat, and sent to market at once : and, if they do
come here, it is only because the graziers having land,
are compelled to buy them in general on equal terms
to such as are sent to Smithfield to slaughter, and when
they have got them, half of them have been so well
fed that the grass land wUl not improve them. So
that the grazier has care, trouble, risk, and expense,
but no remuneration. I am prepared to prove that
the cost of transit of beasts from Scotland, whence
nearly all the butchers in Northampton have lately
drawn their supplies, where the land is not generally
so good as ours, but where they raise fat beasts by the
aid of the plough and house-feeding, is more than
thousands of beasts in this country have paid to the
grazier from the cost price of buying in.

In Herefordshire and Shropshire, where the soiling
system is practised, two-year-old cattle are brought
here, and sold for IS/, per head, whilst nearly double
the time is required here by grass to make them of the
same value. Judge, therefore, of our disadvantages. I
may here be met again with the remark that it will
take a great deal of money to drain the land and erect
buildings. Happily it does, but this is no obstacle ;
men can be found on leasehold terms ready to make
this expenditure themselves, or who will paj^ good
interest for the money expended.

In Mr. Pusey's report he states, that in no county
where he has been have the poor been in so good a
condition as in Lincolnshire, and the plough is the
secret of this superiority. In conclusion, let me ex-
hort landlords to " Speed the Plough," and when they
have set it going on a greater scale, let them shrink
not from telling their tenantry that by negligence they
are injurmg themselves and their country too. Let
tillage be carried to double its present extent, and my
assertions will be proved. Other advantages will be
the employment of a double number of labourers ;
capital circulated in the same ratio, meat and corn will
be doubled ; and beside all this, an impulse will be
given to trade that wiU make our country glad ; the
merchant, the tradesman, and labourer will feel its re-
novating influence ; and our aristocracy will no longer

60

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

hear of hard times, bad legislation, or any other com-
plaint,

Lastly, let me exhort both landlords and tenants to
join in endeavouring to make the earth yield her in-
crease, and God, I have no doubt, will give us his
blessing. I am, Sir, yours,

Coton End. W. Shaw, Jun,

WHITFIELD EXAMPLE FARM.
OF GROWING WHEAT.

COST

The following letters in answer to Earl Ducie's
statement (which will be found on page 32 of
this number of the magazine,) at a late meeting
of the Anti-Corn-Law League at Covent Garden
Theatre, are extracted from the Mark Lane
Express.

Sir, — In your paper of last Monday week ^ou gave
a detailed account of the cost of growing wheat on
Whitfield Example Farm, and some others, as taken
from a speech of Lord Ducie's, at a meeting of the
League ; and you very properly called the attention of
your practical readers to it, and invited discussion
upon it.

I looked rather anxiously to this week's paper, to
see what practical men would say upon the subject,
but was disappointed in finding no notice taken either
of Lord Ducie's statement or your invitation for dis-
cussion.

Now I submit to you, Sir, that no reliance what-
ever can be placed on Lord Ducie's statement, as
there are many indirect charges arising out of the
general result of the other operations on the farm
which cannot well be estimated.

If Lord Ducie will show up in your columns (in the
same detailed way as he has done the cost of growing
wheat) the entire working of his farm at Whitfield
for three or four years, or even for two years, exhi-
biting the annual net profit, we shall then have matter
before us upon which we can rely.

If I understand right, it is the object of his lord-
ship to prove to the public that when farms are
weU managed, as is the case at his lordship's farm at
Whitfield, the profits are so large as to admit of a
considerable reduction in the value of agricultural pro-
duce, without unduly pressing upon the tenant.

If this be his lordship's object, I submit that he
should show to the public the general result, and not
pick out what I take to be the more profitable opera-
tion of growing wheat.

If Lord Ducie declines to show this (having volun-
teered his statement as to wheat), I think your
readers wiU have a right to conclude that his lordship
cannot make a case in support of his arguments,
and that therefore they are founded in fallacy.
I am, Sir, yours faithfully,

A Manufacturer.

June 13, 1844,

THE WHITFIELD FARM.

Sir, — Since I wrote to you last week, I have had
put into my hands a published account of Lord Ducie's
Whitfield Example Farm for the three years, ending
April, 1842.

By this account it appears that the farming capital
was 4069/, 6s. Hid. The farm had been in Lord

Ducie's hands three years, during ^rhich all the timber
and hedges were removed, and the land thorough
drained, roads made, buildings erected, &c. The first
two years rent was remitted in consideration of ' ' in-
juries done to the land in hauling away timber, &c.,"
and at the end of the three years, it appears that after
charging 10 per cent, per annum on the farmer's
capital, there remains a clear profit of 161/. 16s. 3^d.
on the three years' operation.

I perceive by the stock taking, that wheat was then
worth 56s., oats 24s., barley 28s., and beans 38s. per
quarter ; and prices were probably not much lower
than this on an average during the three years em-
braced by the report. Your practical readers can tell
better than I can the value of beef and mutton
throughout those years, but if my memory serves me
correctly, it was higher tlian at present.

Now this is Lord Duicie's own published statement of
the working of his " Example Farm," very properly
so called, for I doubt if there is a much better ex-
ample of farming, or one much more worthy to be
imitated in the United Kingdom.

This farm has been under the management of one of
the most experienced agriculturists of the day, who is
intimately acquainted with both Scotch and English
farming, scientifically as well as practically. This
gentleman has been steward to Lord Ducie, and his
father before him, for upwards of a quarter of a cen-
tury ; a pretty good proof, I submit, of his capability
of conducting a farm on the best principles, which
should prove an example to his Lordship's numerous
tenantry.

During the three years embraced in the report, the
permanent improvement of the farm, draining, road
making, building, &c., were carried on. Instead of
charging 4 per cent, per annum interest on this land-
lord's outlay from the commencement, it was agreed
to charge 5 percent, per annum beginning, in the third
year on money expended in the first, in the 4th year
on the expenditure of the second, and afterwards on
tlie whole ; this charge forms part of the rent.
The farm has been brought mto the highest state of
cultivation. It is open to the sun and air, furnished
with excellent roads, good and weU-situated buildings,
capital machinery, much of the land is subsoil
ploughed," and all of it in excellent condition, and the
very best implements and stock are chosen.

Here, then, we have a farm under the most favour-
able cu'cumstances, to which capital has been applied
without stint, under the management of Lord Ducie's
own steward, avowedly established for the purpose of
setting an " example " to his Lordship's tenantry and
others, and what is the result with the prices of 1839,
1840, 1841, and part of 1842 ?

Why 10 per cent, per annum on the farmer's
capital, and a clear profit in three years of 161/.
16s. 3id.

This, however, is supposed not to be the highest
result attainable, for the Report says: — "That the
whole of the farm not having been under cultivation
last year, and the year before, the result of these crops
could not fairly represent the probable average annual
return from the farm. Although the same is not
equally true of the present year, yet it is so in part ;
and the land is yet so far from being reduced to a per-
fect state of tilth and cultivation, that it would not
be fair to take even the return of the present year as an
average."

Now when we consider that the first two years' rent
is i-emitted, (a large remuneration), we may, I tliink,
allow for these cu'cumstances, and still ask where is the
margin for a great reduction of prices even in ihis first-
rate farmhig ? If there is little or no margin here,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

51

where is there any for tlie bulk of farmers, who possess
neither the capital of En.rl Ducie, nor, perhaps, the
knowledge and skill of his steward.

It will be perceived that my object in making these
observations is not to find fault with Whitfield Ex-
ample Farm, but merely to show that with the best
system of farming generally recognized, there is not,
as Lord Ducie wished to infer from his calculations on
the cost of growing wheat, any great margin for re-
duction in the prices of agricultural produce.

I understand Lord Ducie derives a large income, if
not the largest portion of his income, from property
in Manchester ; this may be his reason for joining the
League ; but if other interests do predominate, his
Lordship's knowledge of the state of British farming
should make him more cautious as to his public state-
ments at the meeting of the League.

Possibly Lord Ducie can show to your readers by
the subsequent working on this farm a very dillerent
result, proving that there is, nevertheless, a large
margin for reducing the value of agricultural produce ;
and if his Lordship can, and will do so, then it will be
admitted that he has proved his point as far as relates
to a high system of farming, though not as regards
the general average farming of the Kingdom. If his
Lordship cannot do this, the conclusion is obvious and
irresistible that his arguments ai-e not supported by
facts. I remain. Sir,

Your's very respectfully,
A Manufacturer.

WHITFIELD FARM.

Sir, — Permit me, through the medium of your
columns, most respectfully to request of the llight
Hon. Earl Ducie that he will publish, for the benefit
of agriculturists generally, THE secret, by which he
is enabled to grow wheat at 4s. 7d. jjer bushel. I
jave been practically engaged as a farmer for upwards
of thirty years, and have adopted, as far as is in my
power, every modern improvement, but still I am not
able to produce it much under double that sum. I
have visited Whitfield Farm, and I feel convinced,
from the strictest inquiries and the closest examina-
tion which I was able to give to the practice followed
there, that his Lordship does not produce his wheat
on that farm at much, if any, less than 10s. per bushel.
I readily admit, that very great credit is due, both to
his Lordship and to his able manager, Mr. Morton,
for the spirited manner in which the cultivation of that
farm is carried out ; but I believe that his Lordship
will find that he will receive a very small per centage
upon his outlay.

I append a statement, drawn from my own prac-
tice, of the expense of producing wheat, and shall feel
extremely obliged, either to the Noble Earl or to any
of your readers, to point out the means of producing
more in quantity at the same amount of outlay, or of
lessening my expenses without deteriorating the con-
dition of my land.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

June 17. One avho has help the Plough.

PS. — I some time since visited the farm of a great
iMi'RovER, Mr. J. J. Mechi. I have been much
amused by the perusal of his letters, describing those
improvements and the expected result?. Allow me
to ask Mr. M. the following question— Will the lohole
crop this year pay the tithe-rent charge, after deduct-
ing the seed .' I anxiously look for an answer.

O.W.P.

\st Year — Fallow and Green Crop.

8 Ploughinss and 4 Harrowings.. £3 10 Tares for

15 Tons Alanure 6 0 soiling, or

i Vc'iu's Kent 1 5 'Jurnipsfor

I Do. Rates and Tithe 0 12 feeding.. £4 0

10 per Cent, on Capital 1 0

Manual Labour 2 0 Balance... 10 7

£14 7 £14 7

2nd Year — Barley or Oats.

Balance £10 7 Five Quarler.s

1 Ploughing, Harrowing-j Rolling, &c. 0 14 JJavley at

i.;ent 1 5 325 £8 0

'-.ales and Tilhe 0 \i

10 per Cent, on Capital 1 0

Manual Labour 1 0 Balance 6 18

£14 18 £14 18

3rd Year — Clover, &fc.

Balance £6 18 By Clover,

Kent 1 5 for feed, or

Rates and Tithe 0 12 foddering £4 0

10 per Cent, on Capital 1 0

JIanual Labour 1 0 Balance G 15

£10 15 £10 15

4th Year — Wheat,

To Balance £6 15

Ploughing, Harrowing, Rolling, &c. 0 15 Four Qis of

Retit 1 5 Wheat at

hates and Tilhe 0 12 Gls.perqr.

10 per Cent, on Capital 1 0 or 7s. /^d.

Manual Labour 2 0 per bush. £12 6

£12 7
N.B, — Bones are frequently added to the manure
for turnips, and a dressing of rape-cake for wheat.

WHITFIELD FARM.

Sir,— In the Gloucester Journal of the 1st instant,
there is a speech of the Earl of Ducie, purporting to
have been made by his lordship at a meeting of the
Anti-Corn-Law League, in Covent Garden Theatre,
on the preceding Wednesday, wherein his lordship is
reported to have said that a free trade in corn will not
have the effect of throwing poor land out of cultiva-
tion. His lordship read to the meeting four different
statements, to show the expense of growing a bushel
of wheat, three of which statements applied exclu-
sively to the land on the Cotswold Hills, and are all
upon the same data. The following is a copy of one
of those calculations, the land being from 15s. to 20s.
per acre rent, averaging 1 7s. 6d.

Outlay on an Acre of Wheat, on two-year-old Seeds— Rent
of Lantil, in the neighbourhood of Stow and Northleach, from
15s. to 20s. per acre, average 17s. 6d.

£ s. d.

Two years' r.'nt - 1 15 0

Two years' poor, church, an-l road rates 0 6 0

Plouahing, harrowing, and drilling 1 0 0

T-wo and a- half bushels of seed wheat, at 7s 0 17 6

Bird-k'-eping and hoeing 0 5 0

Reaping and harvesting, including carting, stack-) o 15 0

ing, thatching, &c • • )

Thrashin?-, winnowing, fetcliing into barn, and de-"|

livery, at 8d. per bushel, 20 bushels per acre on ^ 0 13 4

an average )

Wear an 1 tear •' 0 3 0

5 14 10
Deduct value of straw .... 0 5 0

Or 4s. Gd. per bushel ^^ '-^ 1"

In the above statement his lordship has estimated
the produce at from one-fourth to one-fifth too much
on the average of seasons ; and the straw to be con-
sumed on the premises at two -thirds above its value,
and full double the value even to be sold ofi'. If Ms
lordship will take the trouble to amend his calculationa

E 2

52

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

upon those two items, he will find the cost of growing
a bushel of wheat so great as to throw the poor land
on the Cotswold Hills out of cultivation, should a free
trade in corn take place. James Kearsey,

Peter Mathews,
Cirencester, June 20. Daniel Trinder.

FARMERS VERSUS FREE TRADERS.

TO THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF DUCIE.

My Lord, — Your lordship may think I have taken
a liberty in thus addressing you ; but, after your lord-
ship's appearance as a performer on the metropolitan
boards, seeking for general applause and approbation,
I conceive myself justified in noticing your manner of
performing, as well as in correcting your mis-state-
ments.

Your lordship having joined that body of men who
are seeking and clamouring for the downfall of agricul-
ture (I mean the Anti- Corn-law League), has verified
the old Spanish adage, " Tell me who you are with,
and I will tell you what you are ;" or the old English
one, " You cannot touch pitch without being defiled ;"
for you appear in the most reckless manner to have
adopted the League's method of proceeding, viz., of
fearlessly making statements, unsupported by facts, or
greatly perverting them. I trust that, in justice to the
fai-mers of England, your lordship will at once publicly
admit that you have done so, or prove that I by this
letter, place myself in the position which, as it seems
to me, your lordship occupies.

Your lordship states, that on your example farm at
Whitfield (which I have had the pleasure of looking
over, and must say it does credit to your intelligent
agent, Mr. Morton), you can grow wheat (not charg-
ing for interest of capital employed) at 3s. 6d. per
bushel, or 28s. per qr. Supposing your statement to
be correct, how will your friend and patron, Mr. Cob-
den, reconcile these with his own, he having, on most
occasions, when addressing us farmers, freely and ho-
nestly admitted that we receive lower profits on the
employment of capital than any other class ? If, how-
ever, your lordship's statement be accurate, how enor-
mous must be our profits ! I say, Mr. Cobden has,
on most occasions, made these statements. I do not
say on all, for he has on all occasions so spoken and
argued, that columns might be filled with his contra-
dictory assertions. Allow me, then, my lord, to ask
if you have fairly and honestly put the public in pos-
session of the actual expenses incurred in producing a
quarter of wheat ?• If your lordshif) has not done so,
I pronounce you guilty of aiming a deadly blow and
great discouragement to the agricultural interest, by
means of false statements. True it is, you may say the
expenses of the year for the crop of wheat did not ex-
ceed the statement made by you ; but you are well
aware, or ought to have been well aware, that where
wheat is produced, either on the four course system,
or on that adopted at Whitfield by alternate years of
wheat, or on any other system, the wheat crop should
be charged with its proportion of the expenses of the
fallow for the green crop. I find, upon referring to
the printed statement of your agent, given to me by
him when at Whitfield, that your wheat always follows
either turnips, cole, carrots, mangold, potatoes, or clo-
ver, and never succeeds a pulse crop. I will, there-
fore, take the course of cropping laid down by your
lordship, as an example for us " either to shun or fol-
low," as your lordship stated
" At the play
The other day."

I find by the printed papsr alluded to that all the
clover and green crops are consumed on your farm.
It is what I have always done myself, and found no
great profit from — that is certain.

Had your lordship meant fairly and honestly to sup-
port the cause of free trade, by proving, as a practical
farmer {query about that), what you could grow
wheat for in England, the fairest way, and the only
fairway, of doing so, was to take the expenses of cul-
tivation on the four-course system — the one generally
adopted by good farmers, and not the expenses alone
on the wheat crop in the year in which it is produced.
All practical men must admit that the expenses of the
fallow or turnip crop should be equally divided over
the number of crops in rotation — or the expenses of
the four years should be added together. The balance
of the value of the crops produced in those four years,
after deducting costs, is the actual profit or interest of
money made. But as your lordship has taken your
statements from your own farm at Whitfield, I will
deal with them, because your lordship will be enabled
by your accounts to inform me what were the expences
of producing the green crop preceding wheat. I will,
for the sake of brevity, admit your figures to be cor-
rect as far as they go, but let us see what should have
been the actual cost of producing these thirty-three
bushels of wheat per acre — I mean what they must ac-
tually have cost your lordship. Suppose we take the
expenses of fallow for turnips or other green crops
from Bayldon's work on rent and tillages, page 56. I
am free to admit my own calculation on the expenses
of fallowing an acre for turnips, &c., is a trifle below
the amount stated by Bayldon, but I have taken his
in preference to my own, as his work is highly spoken
of. But your lordship will be able to inform me what
are your actual expenses in producing the green crop.
Bayldon says the cost will amount, without rent, tithe,
and taxes, to 9/. 14s. 2d. ; add to this your loi'dship's
own charge of 50s. per acre for rent, tithe, and taxes,
the total will be 12/. 4s. 2d. From this sum we must
deduct half the amount of the manure charged by
Bayldon, as well as by your lordship, at 5/. per acre.
From the sum of 12/. 4s. 2d., therefore, I deduct 50s.,
as your lordship has charged that in the cost of the
wheat crop.
This brings tlie expenses

down to £9 14 2 for fallow for turnips.

Your lordship's statement of

expenses for producing the

wheat crop 5 14 6

Total expenses of the two

years' crop £15 8 8

Now, my lord, I, as a practical tenant farmer, and
one who rises early and late takes rest, and yet find it
no easy task to obtain the bread of carefulness,
call upon your lordship, in the name of the much-
maligned and calumniated farmers of England,
to maintain or contradict the statements you have
made. I have my time so fully occupied that
I have but little to spare for paper warfare ; but I
cannot allow false statements like those made by your
lordship to be promulgated without proving how little
they are founded on truth.

Your lordship's friends, the Leaguers, may say, as
they oft have done of other tenant farmers, that I am a
land agent or lawyer. I am anxious to spare them
that trouble, by stating that I have been brought up
at the plough's tail, and am a tenant farmer, now oc-
cupying 1,700 acres of arable land, and growing an-
nually about 400 acres of wheat, which I do sincerely
wish cost me only 28s. per quarter to produce. For
your lordship's information, I beg to state that less
than Is. per bushel reduction in the price of com
grown by me annually would sweep away the amount

THE TARMER'S MAGAZINE.

53

of all the rent and tithe I have to pay. Your lord-
ship will perceive that Bayldon's estimate of the ex-
penses of fallowing an acre of land for green crops,
and your lordship's statement of the expenses upon
an acre of wheat for the current year, added together,

amount to the sura of c£'15 8 8

We will deduct from this sum the value of

the thirty-three bushels of wheat at 3s.

6d. per bushel 5 15 6

Thus leaving your lordship minus the sum oi£9 18 2

On your lordship falls the duty of reducing the ex-
penses of fallowing for turnips, &c. Allow me to state
that, from the above sum of 9/. 13s. 2d. your lord-
ship is fairly entitled to deduct the reduced expenses
on the wheat crop, when succeeding clover, which we
cannot grow oftener than once in eight years. And
until your lordship can, with truth and justice, sweep
away the whole of that amount, I must pronounce
the couclusions to which you have come unsound
and miscliievous. As I am aiLxious to assist your
lordship out of the dilemma in which you have placed
yourself, and to aid you in ascertaining the value of
your green crops, I beg to state that, growing an-
nually as I do about four hundred acres of turnips,
mangold, rape, or carrots, I will allow your lordship to
draw one-fourth of them from the land to be consumed
in the yards by bullocks, and give your lordship 1 ,000/.
per annum to keep constantly in my yards two hundred
bullocks fattening with oil cake and meal, each weigh-
ing, when fat, not less than from seventy to eighty
stone, of 141bs. to the stone.

But then, your lordship, as a practical farmer,
lauded by the League, will say, look at the value of the
three parts remaining on the land. If your lordship
will bargain to give your sheep, fed on my land, as
much corn and cake as I have done, you shall have
them for little or nothing. I hope and trust, that with
the assistance I have thus given your lordship, you
will have no difficulty in proving the value of green
crops to be consumed on the land, as we tenant far-
mers are justly compelled to do.

I have the honour to remain.

Your lordship's obedient servant,

Jtme lllh. Samuel Jonas.

CONDITION OF THE LABOURER.

Setting aside those feelings for his fellow man
which should animate the breast of every right-
minded member of the community, every day's ex-
perience affords additional proof of the necessity
of giving attention to the condition of the la-
bourer, of whate\'er denomination. We have
long since, and frequently, expressed our appre-
hensions in respect to the social condition of our
working population, daily increasing in numbers,
but without a corresponding increase in the sta-
])le means of existence — employment. To find
employment is a matter of primary importance,
and should demand the attention of the statesmen
of a great nation like this, not by jjroviding direct
employment, but by endeavouring to open the
channels of labour. Next to finding em-
ployment, the point of most importance is
that of endeavouring to elevate the working
man in the scale of humanity, by showing him
that if he displays, so far as his situation will

permit, the qualities which adorn man, in what-
ever rank or station, those whom. Providence
has placed in the superior grades of society wdll
hold out the hand of fellowship to him. We
know no mode by which this great object can be
better effected than by the establishment of so-
cieties for the encouragement of labourers of good
character, of which many exist, and which we
could wish to see estabhshed generally through-
out the kingdom. We have been led to these
remarks from having last week had the gratifica-
tion of attending the meeting of the West Sussex
Agricultural Association, held at Goodwood, and
of which his grace the Duke of Richmond is pre-
sident. Here the landlord, the tenant, and the
labourer, meet, and dine together in the same
room. Here the best feelings of human nature
are elicited in the wealthy and independent,
by bestowing rewards and commendation where
due; in the poor and lowly, by accepting with a
consciousness of deserving it the reward of integ-
rity, industry, and good conduct. It is impossi-
ble that any man, whatever his station, if he be
but possessed of reflection, can be present at the
meeting of the West Sussex Association without
having sentiments aroused in his breast which
will make him a better man and a better member
of society. To see a hundred individuals of the
labouring classes, male and female, varying
from eighty years of age to sixteen, who,
despite the difficulties and natural dependence of
their situation, have distinguished themselves by
acts of industry, perseverance, honesty, and af-
fection, which would command admiration in
persons enjoying independence, is indeed a grati-
fying sight. We are glad to find that the example
set by West Sussex has been adopted in the
eastern part of the country, and that an associa-
tion has been estabhshed there on the same plan.
Much as the pecuniary reward is an object of
importance to these poor men, we know, from
what we have learnt of the system, that they
esteem the permission of dining in the same
room with the landowners of the neighbourhood
and their own employers as a distinction and an
honour which stimulates them to good conduct.
We sincerely hope that a trial will be made in
other counties of the plan first introduced by his
grace the Duke of Richmond, and the committee
of the West Sussex Association, of permitting the
labourers to dine with them in the same room. A
gentleman who resides in Somersetshire, who
had heard of the West Sussex Association, and
of the good results, being sceptical, attended the
meeting, for the purpose of witnessing the pro-
ceedings; and we have much pleasure in being
enabled to state that, notwithstanding he went
to the meeting with rather strong prejudices, he
returned highly delighted and satisfied with the
result. We hope he will use his endeavours to
introduce the plan into his own neighbourhood,
and that others will visit the meeting next year
for the same purpose. — Mark Lane Eu^iress.

54

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF
ENGLAND.

[Report of the proceedings of the "Weekly Councils
May 13 and 29, concluded.]

The Right Hon. Earl Spencer, President, in the
chair.

Prize Essat/s. — Mr. Pusey, M.P., Chairman of the
Journal Committee, reported to the Council the unani-
mous decision of the Judges, in assigning the .Society's
Prize of bOl. for the best Essay on the Agriculture of
Chesliire to Mr. Wm. Palin, of Stapleford Hall, near
Chester; and the liberality of Mr. John Arkell, of
Hollow Farm, near Gloucester, who, in announcing
himself as the author of one of the highly-commended
Essays on the Discrimination of Soils, had presented
his Essay to the Society for whatever use the Journal
Committee might think proper to make of it, in pro-
moting the object of the Society.

Shreivsbury Meeting. — The stipulations entered
into by the authorities of Shrewsbury with the Secretary
of the Society, in reference to the condition of the reso-
lution at]the last Monthly Council, deciding on Shrews-
bury as the place of the annual country meeting of 1845,
were laid before the Council, and having been read
were unanimously adopted.

Dynamometer. — Mr. Clyburn, director of the Earl
of Ducie's iron-works, in Gloucestershire, addressed
to the Council a letter on the subject of the trial of
Dynamometers recommended by the Council, on the
report of the Judges of Implements at the Derby
meeting, in the autumn of last year, to be entrusted to
the Duke of Richmond, the Hon. Capt. Spencer, and
Mr. Jaques, with a request that after the successive
trials they had each made of the Dynamometers sent
to them, they would report to the Council their re-
spective merits when applied to the draught of agi-icul-
tural implements ; the instruments being submitted in
the first instance to Mr. Parkes, the consulting engi-
neer of the Society, for the purpose of having their
mechanical adjustments, and graduation of scale under
the strain of given successive weights, duly ascertained
previously to the trial. Mr. Clyburn stated that one
of his self-recording Dynamometers having been com-
pleted for the trial, was now forwarded to the Society,
with printed instructions for its use. The Dynamo-
meter sent by Mr. Clyburn would record a strain of
draught up to 12 cwt. Its principle of action being
self-recording, was different from that of other Dyna-
mometers, the box containing the instrument being
supported on wheels, which communicated, by their
axle a progressive revolution to the recording cylinder
within it as the draught proceeded, and its registration
was made continuously by the pencil moving over its
ruled surface ; the average amount of draught being
obtained by inspection of the indications thus obtained
of the momentary variations during any given time
and space. The Dynamometer of Messrs. Cottam
and Hallen had also been duly forwarded for the trial.
This instrument in its original form is described and
figured in Mr. Handley's paper on Wheel and Swing
Ploughs, (Journal i. 143), and its improvements de-
tailed by Mr. Pusey in his paper on the Draught of
Plough (Journal i. 219). Mr. Slaney having informed
the Council that he had tried a very simple and cheap
Dynamometer, made by Messrs. Drummond, of Stu'l-
ing, with very satisfactory results, the Council agreed
to recommend the purchase of this instrument, at the
next monthly meeting, for the purpose of adding it to
the others for trial. The Council resolved, that, as much
time and care would be required for the proposed in-
vestigation into the practical merits of these instru-
ments, and the estimate of their relative value accord-

ingly, the trial should be postponed until the autumn
of the present year.

Destrvction of Rats. — Captain Forbes, R.N.,
having called the attention of the Council to the damage
and loss sustained by farmers, in consequence of the
ravages eftccted by the common rat and other injurious
animals, Mr. Meyer addressed a letter to the Council
on this subject. He stated, that having for the last
twelve years devoted his attention to the study of the
natural history of the rat, as found in different coun-
tries of Europe, he had arrived at a complete know-
ledge of the sagacity, nature, and peculiar habits of
that destructive enimal, and of the preparations appli-
cable, under all the circumstances, which would lead
to its entire extirpation. He proposed to the Council,
that various farms infested with rats should be se-
lected for the trial of these preparations, in order that
he might have an opportunity of proving their prac-
tical value, and of entering afterwards into any gene-
ral arrangement with the Society or its members. He
had already extensive contracts with the principal
West India merchants for cleansing their estates and
plantations. He referred to the certificates then
submitted to the Council, in evidence of the successful
result of his proceedings at Buckingham Palace and
Gardens, Wuidsor Castle, and Frogmore Lodge, at
the Mansion House, Newgate, Macclesfield Work-
house, and at various other public and private estab-
lishments in this country ; and to those given to him
by the officers of the Royal Households of the Em-
peror of Russia, and the Kings of Prussia and Den-
mark. Colonel Challoner stated that, having received
from the Hon. Mr. Murray and other parties connected
with Her Majesty's Household, the most undeniable
evidence of the complete success of Mr. Meyer's ope-
rations, he had been induced to engage him for the pur-
pose of obtaining through his means the same exemption
at his own establishment at Portnall Park ; to which
an unusual influx of rats had been occasioned by Mr.
Meyer's successful dispersion of them from his neigh-
bours in that part of Surrey. At the succeeding Coun-
cil, Colonel Challoner, being called upon by the Pre-
sident to favour the members with a report on the
result of Mr. Meyer's operations at Portnall Park, he
stated to the meeting, that the appUcations had been
perfectly successful in his own case, as in that of
others ; that the rats never died in the house, the pe-
culiar effect of the preparation causing them to seek
the open air, without attempting to return to their for-
mer haunts ; its odour drivuig them away, while its
substance, if eaten, caused certain death. Colonel
Challoner suggested, that as there was a very general
complaint among farmers at the present time, of the
waste and consumption of produce effected by these
destructive animals, it would be satisfactory to many
members, whose premises were infested, to hear from
Mr. Meyer himself a statement on the subject. The
Council then granted leave accordingly, for Mr. Meyer
to attend the ensuing weekly meeting on the 29th of
May. Mr. Meyer, in his personal statement on that
day to the Council, explained the general effects of his
preparations, and the uniform success which had at-
tended their use. He had several of these prepara-
tions, which were applicable in rotation according to
circumstances, but not one of them contained a single
grain of arsenic or other poison, strongenough to produce
death in larger animals, in the quantities in which it
was employed. The expense of the ingredients was
very trifling ; and the ease v>'ith which estates or pre-
mises, of any extent, could be rendered free from rats,
constituted the difference between his own modeof ex-
tirpation and that of other parties who professed to
accomplish that object. There was, in fact, he be-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

56

lieved, no place entirely free from these animals for
any length of time together, and the process he em-
ployed was so simple that any farmer could follow it
out as efficiently as he could himself, on being made
acquainted with its principle. His cliief secret con-
sisted in the chemical nature of his compounds, and a
knowledge of their proper application, employed by
his father (a practical chemist in Germany) for thirty
years, and by himself for twelve years ; the peculiar
action of the poison affecting the respiration of the
animal and driving him from the house to seek the
fresh air, such access of fresh air into the lungs only
accelerating the fatal result. In a few days, any pre-
mises whatever could be thoroughly cleared of rats,
and would remain so for a period varying from nine to
fourteen months, according to circumstances. No
poultry would be injured by the preparations used,
and cats or dogs would be affected by only a temporary
sickness. The remedy not only drove away the rats,
but by its odour continued to have that eff"ect for seve-
ral months afterwards. It had the same influence over
water-rats as the common rats on land. On the mo-
tion of Lord Portman, seconded by the Marquis of
Downshire, the Council returned to Mr. Meyer their
thanks for the communication with which he had then
favoured them.

Analysis of Limestones and Marls. — Sir Humphrey
Davy, in his "Agricultural Chemistry," describes a
simple and exact mode by which a person unacquainted
with the minute details of analysis may ascertain, by
inspection, the volume of carbonic acid gas given out
bj' a limestone or mai'l, on the solution of a given por-
tion of it in muriatic acid, and thus deduce, with a
practical exactness sufficient for all ordinary purposes,
the quantity, to one-tenth of a grain, of carbonate of
lime which may be present in any particular soil. Dr.
Ure, having devoted much of his attention for many
years to a general simplification of the apparatus re-
quired by practical persons in the processes of parti-
cular pursuits connected more or less with chemical
science, attended the Council of the 29th of May, and
favoured the members with the inspection of an appa-
ratus similar in its object to that of Sir Humphrey
Davy, but slightly modified in its constitiction. In
order to prove its accuracy. Dr. Ure performed before
the Council an experiment with 100 grains of pounded
marble, explaining, at each step of the process, the
rationale of his proceeding. The equivalent amount
of carbonic acid was almost immediately shown by the
instrument. In reply to an inquiry by the President,
Dr. Ure stated that the apparatus was capable of
showing the presence and amount of the carbonate of
magnesia contained in the magnesian limestones, but
that a special scale would be required, and also a
subsequent testing of the acid solution. Dr. Ure
then presented to the Council six samples of real,
or normal guano, all of which had been the subjects of
his careful analysis. Guano being a substance under
going a slow but certain chemical change, the various
cargoes brought to this country were as various as the
conditions of time and climate could make them, and
had never been imported in the original or normal con-
dition in which the substances were voided by the sea™
fowls furnishing the supply, richly charged with uric
acid, the grand permanent pabulum of manui-e, which
would give fertility for years, but in a state of putre-
faction more or less advanced. Analyses spoke of
ammonia and other results of that decomposition, but
such compounds did not exist in the guano in its ori-
ginal state, as voided ; while in other examinations of
samples, it was found that all the uric acid and rich
animal matter had become changed by heat and mois-
ture, and all the azotised principle gone off in gas, no-

thing remaining but a carbonaceous residuum, of no
comparative value. He had already presented to the
Journal Committee a Paper, showing — 1st. These
changes of uric acid; 2nd. An account of guano in its
fresh, decayed, or spurious state ; 3rd, A detailed
view of the new methods of chemical research, which,
after a period of twenty years' research, he had now
brought to a practical result. The specimens of guano
he presented were the BoUviau, Chilian, Peruvian, and
African. He obtained the Bolivian from Bolivia
about a year and a half ago ; and because it gave no
indications of the presence of ammonia, the cargoes
were treated with perfect indifference by themerchants
who had been accustomed to the article in its decaying
state ; but he found, that although as dry as Irish snuff",
that invaluable guano was rich in uric acid and animal
matter, and capable of producing 22 per cent, of am-
monia on its decomposition as a manure. It was
highly valued by the natives, and they were so much
averse to its leaving the country, that genuine cargoes
were now difficult to obtain. — On the motion of the
Duke of Richmond, seconded by Mr. Pusey, M.P.,
the best thanks of the CouncU were voted to Dr. Ure
for the presents he had then submitted to the Society,
and for his kindness in making an experiment before
the CouncU.

Draining Tiles and Tools. — Mr. Slaney reported
to the Council the result of an inspection which had
been made by the Marquis of Downshire, the Hon.
Mr. Clive, and himself, of Mr. Clayton's new machine
for making pipe-tiles, at 21, Upper Park-place, Dor-
set-square. They were much struck with the simpli-
city, cheapness, and eff'ective operation of the machine
in question ; and particularly remarked the recent im-
provementin it, by which the clay, inits transit through
the cylinder to the die at the bottom, was made to pass
through a kind of sieve or strainer. This served to ar-
rest any small stones or hard substances, which would
otherwise have impeded the production of perfect pipes.
A force of 251bs. on the winch sufficed to communi-
cate, through the pinions and wheels, the requisite
pressure to the piston ; and so easy was the labour of
working the machine rendered by this multiplication of
power, that a woman might be employed for the pur-
pose. Mr. Clive thought that many clays might perhaps
be worked through this machine without pugging.
Mr. Pusey was of opinion that pipe-tiles were hkely
to come into general use, yet the members of the So-
ciety should exercise some caution in their proceed-
ings. He had ordered one of Mr. Clajrton's machines,
but first thought it wise to send up some of his clay
for trial, as he had two sorts. Neither of these clays
were found to be suitable for pipes. On the other
hand, the Speaker of the House of Commons had one
of the same machines in use, which produced excellent
pipes from his clay of the plastic kind. He particu-
larly desired to call Mr. Parkes's attention to those
points in the treatment of clays which bore on their
necessary preparation for pipe machines, as also on the
cost of burning pipes with coal. Mr. Pusey men-
tioned that he had heard from a Worcestershire far-
mer that pipes for drains had been successfully used
for a longer period than had hitherto been imagined ;
but he had also heard of a case in which drains, formed
of pipes and laid in a very soft soQ, had failed for want
of a method of joining them ; and he thought that in
soft and irregular subsoils a means of junction was de-
sirable. He had early suggested the employment of a
short piece of pipe of a larger size, into which the ends
of two smaller pipes might be inserted. Another me-
thod had been adopted by tapering one end of a pipe
two feet long, so that it entered the larger end of ano-
ther pipe ; and so satisfied was a farmer, neighbour to

66

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the party whose drains had failed, of the sufficiency of
this method, that he had ordered 100,000 of such
pipes. Colonel Challoner desired to know from Mr.
Parkes to what extent he considered the density of
pipes ought to be carried, as he and others gathered
from his previous remarks that Mr. Parkes attributed
a considerable part of their action to their porosity
and power of suction or absorption of water from the
soil. Mr. Parkes stated, that some misapprehension
of his meaning, on a former occasion, seemed to have
arisen as to the amount of the action performed by a
pipe in absorbing water from soil. The experiment al-
luded to related to the absorbing power of a pipe when
immersed in water, and was cited as furnishing proof
of porosity ; but, under the circumstances in which
pipes existed in drains, i. e., embedded in earth, he
conceived that, however wet the soil might be, a pipe
■would not be in a condition to absorb water so freely
as in the experiment mentioned. It was easy to show,
indeed it must be self-evident, that by far the great-
est proportion of the water of drainage entered the
couduit through the crevices between each pair of
pipes. Nevertheless, he considered a certain degree
of porosity to be a valuable property in a pipe, as the
continued absoi'ption of moisture must necessarily tend
,to harden the floor of a drain, and dry the soil in im-
mediate contact with the pipes, after the flow ceased ;
to this eff"ect alone he intended his previous remarks to
apply. It would be impossible to assign, theoretically,
what might be the best practical degrees of density a,nd
porosity to be given to such an article as a drain-
tile. It is probable that its durability, which
was very important, would depend on the quality
of the clay and its density combined. The old
Homan bricks made in this country were well known
to have possessed wonderful durability, and they
very dense compared with the more porous

and perishable modern English bricks. Yet, even the
Roman bricks absorbed water, and he thought it would
be very difficult, even were it desirable, to compress
clay into the shape of a small cylindric pipe so as to
Tender it uuabsorbent. In Mr. Clayton's machine, a
pressure of about 601bs. per square inch acted on the
surface of the clay in the cylinder, in order to express
the pipes with sufficient celerity ; and he had shown
in a former report to the Society, that the Kentish
pipes were denser than other machine-made tiles ; also
that those of the smallest bore and thinnest substance
were denser than the larger and thicker pipes. He
imagined that Mr. Clayton's machine would produce
them yet denser than these, as he employed greater
pressure and made them thinner than the old machine ;
but the density of a pipe would greatly depend on the
texture and fineness of the clay employed in its manu-
facture. With respect to the importance of some kind
of union between every pair of pipes, Mr. Parkes
agreed with Mr. Pusey that such an arrangement was
desirable for very soft bottoms, and absolutely neces-
sary, in order to adapt pipes as conduits in spouting
sands, &c. ; but he preferred, for such cases, the in-
serting an inch bore or other sized pipe, according to
the discharge required, a few inches into a full-length
pipe of a larger size, easily fitting, rather than the
using short pieces to form a joint. By the former
plan, a great length of pipes could be put together on
the surface, and then be let down into the prepared
trench, where they would repose on the whole length
and have the full bearing of the larger pipes, instead of
resting on short pieces. Such a chain of pipes could
never sink in places — the whole length must sink to-
gether, and equally, or not at all. Excepting, how-
ever, in veiy difficult cases, he did not think a joint
necessary, if the trench were correctly formed, as be-

fore explained. Simple means may be often used to
render a soft bottom firm. He instanced Mr. John
Taylor, of Mereworth, Kent, who, in draining some of
his land with pipes from 3 to 4 feet deep, met with
bottoms of soft boggy matter ; sods were forced down
into these soft places, and a firm bottom was secured,
on which to place the pipes. No failure or disturb-
ance had occurred in this work, and the drains ran
throughout the year, as they receive the water of
springs as well as rain. Clay, rammed down to the
bottom of trenches in soft soils, would often answer,
and make the work permanent. In reply to a ques-
tion from the President, iNlr. Parkes said that he had
referred, on a former occasion, to the elongation of a
pipe, when wet, compared with the same when dry.
He had found by nice measurement, that a small ex-
tension in length occurred when a perfectly dry pipe
was moistened ; he deemed it, therefore, of some con-
sequence to keep pipes quite dry until they were
placed in the drain, as the subsequent longitudinal
expansion in a line of pipes would act as a force
to keep their ends firmly pressed against each other,
provided they were originally well and closely
laid; and this force would contribute to prevent
a pipe from sinking, if a small fault should
occur in the floor of a drain underneath a pipe.
He had found that it required a considerable force to
dislocate or separate one pipe from another, when the
ends only thus butted one against another. In com-
pliance with Mr. Pusey's desire, he had collected a
good deal of information as regarded the preparation
of clay and the cost of burning pipes with coal. On
the latter subject he had found, from personal inquiry
of two highly respectable pipe-tile makers in Suffolk,
that from 3 to 32 cwt. of coal were required to bm-n
1,000 pipes 12 to 14 inches long, weighing from 2,500
to 3,0001bs. per 1,000; and Mr. Thomas Law
Hodges, of Hempsted Park, Cranbrook, Kent, had
recently informed him that his experienced potter,
Mr. Hatcher, states — " The nearest calculation I can
give, from experience, is that 1 ton of good coals will
be sufficient to burn 18,000 pipe-tiles of one-inch
bore or diameter ; and 500 common brushwood
faggots will produce the same effect." This was equal
to about one l-9th cwt. of coal per 1,000, and per
l,0001bs. weight, as the inch-pipes weighed about
lib. each. As regarded the prepai'atory operations
for rendering clays fit for being made into thin pipes,
their nature varied with that of the clay. He believed
there were few, if any, beds of clay to be met with
which were fit for use without passing through the
pug-mill, though he knew of pipe-tileries where wash-
ing was not found necessary. The washing of clay
was an excellent and cheap process, and was capable
of reducing hard as well as stony clays into a state fit
for the pipe-machine. It was to be seen at most of
the brick and tile-yards about London. The cost of
getting the clay and washing here was about 2s. per
1,000 bricks, weighing nearly 5,0001bs. ; or about
5d. per l,0001bs. of burned goods. This included the
pumping up of water, which was rarely necessary in
country tileries. He had found in Suffolk that
getting and washing cost about Gd. per 1,000 tiles,
weighing 2,5001bs. ; and Mr. Etheredge had in-
formed him of a case in which it cost him 7d. for
about 3,0001bs. The cost of washing was, therefore,
quite insignificant when reckoned on jjipes weighing
only IjOOOlbs. jier thousand, and that of the apparatus
would not exceed from 10/. to 15/. Mr. Slaney re-
marked, as regards the porosity of pipes and their
absorption of water, he was disposed to attribute a
greater action to them than did Mr. Parkes, the in-
genious author of that idea. At the same time, he

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51

would mention that another description of unglazed ! syphon than block-tin, on account of its transparency,
earthen pipe had been brought before the notice of i and the consequent facility aflbrded for ascertaining,
the Commission on the health of Towns, made in Scot- ! by simple inspection, the perfect freedom of the tube

land, which had been proved, he believed, to be ca
pable of sustaining a vertical column of water 60 feet
high without passing water through them. If he re-
collected rightly, the experiment had been conducted
by Mr. Smith, of Deauston, with a view of showing
the fitness of such pipes to convey water into towns.
Mr. Sainsbury, of Devizes, thinking that it did not
appear to be generally known that the pipe draining-
tiles were made m Wiltshire, presented four such tiles,
of different sizes, to the Society. These tiles varied in
internal diameter from 1 to 2j in., and in price from
21s. to 35s. per 1000. — The Rev. Thomas Cator pre-
sented a tile for the end of drains, having a transverse
section made almost through it, near one of its extremi-
ties, for the purpose of receiving an iron grating, more
or less raised as may be desired, to prevent the entrance
of rats or rabbits into drains. — Mr. William Moffat,
of Montpelier-street, Knightsb ridge, had leave to
exhibit his wood pattern for a drain-tile, intended to
possess great power of absorption and a channel for
the descending water, as well as a great saving in the
material of stone forfilling in the drains. — Mr. Hutchin-
son, of Ryall, Rutlandshire, presented three of the
principal tools used by him in the process of shallow
and deep draining, and manufactured by Messrs.
Dudley and Son, of Norbriggs, near Chestei"field.
Mr. Hutchinson had for a considerable time experienced
the advantage of implements such as those he then sub-
mitted to the Council both for strength and durability.

Milk Syphons and Pads. — Lord Camoys presented
to the Society, as requested by the Council, a specimen
of the block-tin syphon he had applied so advan-
tageously to the use of his dairy. This syphon is
formed of a tube 18. V inches long, and \ inch internal
diameter : it is bent in the form of a bow, and by
means of a pivot (formed of a portion of similar tubing)
2 inches long, soldered as the portion of a radius inside
the arc at its middle, it may be placed conveniently in
the socket of an upright cylindric stand, and thus
turned round in any direction. That portion of the
tubular arch of the syphon intended to be inserted
into the milk-pan, is only 9 inches long from the in-
sertion in the socket of the stand, and its curve is cir-
cular ; the other leg is 9§ inches long, and forms only
a slight elliptic curve from the same point of the stand,
so that its orifice is 1^- uich lower than that inserted in
tlie pan. On this part of the tube is inserted, at 2i
inches from the top of the bend, a small stop-cock of
block tin, with a small tapering mouth-piece of the
same metal. The end of the syphon intended to be
immersed in the milk has four very slight notches filed
in it for the purpose of allowing the milk to pass through
them sideways into the tube, when the end of it is
pressed close to the flat surface of the bottom of the
pan ; but to prove too minute as a passage for the
cream when the milk has all been drawn off. Lord
Camoys stated that he had half-a-dozen such syphons
in use for his own dairy at Stonor Park, and he
found them most convenient for drawing off the
milk, and draining every portion of it from the cream.
They were almost self-acting. The dairy-maid had
only to insert the tube, draw out the air with her mouth
through the stop-cock, and the current being thus es-
tablished, the syphons required no further attendance
for a quarter of an hour, when the dairy-maid on her
return found all the separation of the milk and cream
not only effected with the least possible trouble to her-
self, but with an exactness not to be attained even with
great care by the ordinary process of skimming. — The
President suggested glass as a better material for the

from any impurity on its inner surface. — Lord Camoys
had found no acidity form, or impurity collect, in the
block-tin tubes, which being pliable, might advan-
tageously be bent and moulded into any convenient
shape required ; and, by scalding in hot water, they
were kept perfectly sweet and clean. These syphons
were made by his lordship's tinman, at Henley-on-
Thames, at 5s. 6d. each, and the wooden stands cost
2s. each. Any tinman could make them, and Lord ■
Camoys would be much gratified to find, that a con-
trivance of which he only claimed the application, had
been useful to the members of the Society. — Sir John
W. Lubbock, Bart., informed the Council that he had
tried Lord Camoys's plan of skimming by a syphon,
and had found it to answer perfectly : he regarded it
as a most valuable suggestion. He thought the .Society
were also much indebted to Mr. Pellatt for the readi-
ness with which he undertook to manufacture the glass
milk-pans, of similar shape to those with which Cap-
tain Carr had favoured the Society, but of superior
glass, and at the lowest possible rate at which, under
the present restrictions, articles of such a material
could be produced. — Sir John Lubbock thought that
these milk-pans would eventually supersede all others ;
and he suggested whether it would not be well for the
Society to ascertain whether or not it is dangerous to
use lead vats for the milk, or even glazed earthenware,
as is stated in some works on the dairy ; as well as
the metallic churn lately introduced. He considered
that it would be an improvement in the shape of Mr.
Pellatt's pan, if, without much increase^of expense,
there was a cup at one end (like that in a venison-dish)
to take the last milk for the syphon to dip into. He
thought it probable that Mr. Pellatt, if it were sug-
gested to him, would also manufacture glass tubes for
syphons, to sell with the pans.

Tussac Grass. — Mr. Pusey, M.P., laid before the
Council the copy of a Despatch with which he had
been favoured by Lord Stanley, addressed to his Lord-
ship by General Moody, Governor of the Falkland
Islands, on the subject of the Tussac Grass of that
colony, which had attracted the attention of the So-
ciety. This document, after detailing various facts
connected with the cultivation of this Grass, and the
localities in the United Kingdom where it would pro-
bably become acclimatised, announced the collection
of a certain quantity of the seed in the Islands, and
its transmission to England. His Lordship stated,
through Mr. Pusey, that this supply of seed was
offered (at the price set upon it by the party who had
been at the expense of its collection) to the Society,
or to such party as they might nominate. — The Council
ordered their best thanks to be returned for this com-
munication ; and allowed Messrs. Thomas Gibbs and
Co., the Seedsmen to the Society, the option of be-
coming the purchasers of the supply of Tussac Seed,
thus placed at the disposal of the Society.

Natural Manures. — Professor Sewell presented to
the Council the following analysis, made for him by
his friend Dr. Spurgin, of the substance (resembling
mouldy peat) transmitted to the Society on the 1 7th
of April last, by Mr. Churchill of Colliton, near
Dorchester ; occurring in considerable quantities in a
sour Kimmeridge clay on his farm, and found to be an
excellent manure for his grass lands.

Silica

Organic Matter
Sulpliates of Lime

Oxide of Iron, &c.
Moisture

and Magnesia,

68

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

The Council returned to professor Sewell their best
thanks for the favour of this communication.

Kelp Ashes. — Dr. Burgess of Margaret Street,
Cavendish Square, presented a sample of a manure
which he thought might be worthy of the considera-
tion of the Society ; namely, the ash of the common
kelp of commerce. He thought this application would
be found ads'antageous on stiff clay soils deficient in
saline matter. It was very cheap, being delivered in
London by Messrs. Adam, White, and Co., of Leith,
at 3/. 10s. per ton. Dr. Burgess conceived that
although the kelp ash does not contain the volatile
alkali ammonia, or possess the animalized properties of
guano, it could not fail, on account of the potash
which constituted its most active lingredient, to be
useful on such soils, which he believed were always
benefited by the vegetable alkalies.

Moisture in Manures. — Mr. Davenport laid before
the Council an interesting communication he had re-
ceived from Mr. Bernays, of Manchester, on various
topics of interest connected with the progress of agri-
cultural improvement in the midland counties. Mr.
Hubbersty, of Wirksworth, in Derbyshire, had set
apart a portion of his land for the trial of experiments
with ten different manures : the soil had been analyzed,
and the produce when obtained in each case would be
separately weighed and also analyzed. Mr. Bernays
thought it worthy of remark, that although only one
slight shower had then fallen since the manures were
sown, the land manured with guano and charcoal had
not only equalled that on which the other manures
had been applied, but totally outstripped the portion
manured with farm-yard manure ; while the land to
which guano alone was applied had not at that time
kept pace with the farm-yard manure lot, in conse-
quence of the want of rain. Mr. Bernays thought
these facts were worthy of remark, inasmuch as the
beneficial effects of charcoal in dry weather, as a re-
tainer of moisture, and an absorbent also of gaseous
matter, as carbonic acid and ammonia, and other
gaseous matter, are clearly proved. Mr. Bernays did
not hesitate to say, that if the land, to which arti-
ficial manures were applied, were strown in dry wea-
ther, with a top-dressing of chloride of calcium, the
baneful effects of a drought would be unknown, and
the crops increase to a marvellous extent. The che-
mical substance thus recommended by Mr. Bernays
has long been known under the name of muriate of
lime, as one of the most deliquescent of our salts. It
may easily be obtained by the action of spirit of salts
on common chalk. When exposed to the atmosphere
it remains constantly damp ; and, by the French che-
mists of the last century, was regarded as a powerful
stimulant, when applied in a very dilute solution to
the growth of plants. Professor Solly, in his Agri-
cultural Lecture at the Royal Institution on the 19 th
of April last, i-efers to the deliquescent eff'ect of this
salt, and its communication of dampness to soils (on
the power of retaining water in their pores), when
diffused through them in very minute quantity by
means of a solution in water.

Guano. — Mr. Davenport also communicated the
results of his own experiments in Cheshire, with guano,
bones, gypsum, and farm-yard manure ; and the Rev.
Thomas Cator various analyses of guano, and the re-
sults of his experiments with that manure, tried along
with bone-dust, rape-dust, dove-manure, and fold-
m anure, on lands of different character, all of which
papers were referred to the Journal Committee. —
Mr. J. H. Sheppard, of Sperling-street, Liverpool,
informed the Council that he was preparing a treatise
on guano, containing 500 trials of its efficacy in com-

parison with farm-yard manure and bones, which, when
complete, he should offer for the acceptance of the
Society. He stated that such was the amount of adul-
teration in the article, that there had been sold in
Liverpool as guano double the quantity of genuine
guano that had actually been imported ; and he would,
therefore, advise no person to become a purchaser of
any of the varieties without having a previous analysis
made of the sample off"ered to him for sale. He re-
commended parties of agriculturists, who intended to
use guano next year, to become at once contractors
for the amount required, at £^6 per ton, the price at
which the genuine Ichaboe variety could now be se-
cured. Mr. Sheppard inclosed in his communication
a lithographic print of the Island of Ichaboe, on the
western coast of Africa, for the library of the Society.
Mr. George G. Cummings, of Mincing-lane, commu-
nicated, through the Marquis of Downshire, a state-
ment in reference to the African guano. He was about
to send out several vessels to the Island of Ichaboe,
which were expected to return to this country by the
first or second month of next year ; when all parties,
whose orders were received at the present time, would
be entitled to have it deUvered at £6 per ton. The
guano being obtained free of expense on the coast of
Africa, and the only charges attendant on the specu-
lation those of the collection, freight, &c., which last
year had amounted to from ,£"'5 to £7. The high price
of guano at the present moment, and the extensive
adulteration of it by fraudulent dealers, were great ob-
stacles to its purchase and efficiency. Messrs. Carson
and Gilgour, of Exchange -buildings, Liverpool, trans-
mitted to the Society a list of the various places in
diff'erent parts of the world where guano was likely to
be found. They conceived that it would occur pro-
bably on all islands of a volcanic nature, of good
quaUty ; but that beyond the limits of 28 degrees
north or south of the equator, its properties were
likely to be less valuable. The list comprised the lati-
tude and longitude of eighty distinct geographical
positions.

The following communications and presents were
received with the best thanks of the Council : — Mr.
Jonas Webb — a copy of the printed order of the
Privy Council in 1747, containing further rules,
orders, and regulations for more effectually prevent-
ing the spread of the distemper then imaging amongst
the horned cattle ; Colonel Rawstorne — a letter from
Mr. James Dixon on the subject of the present com-
plaint among cattle ; Mr. Henry Hudson, of Wick,
Worcestershire — a letter on the turnip-fly ; Mr.
Christopher Johnson, Lancaster — communications on
a grub in wheat ; Rev. T. Cator, Mr. Frederick
Manning, and Mr. Tweed— reports on the draught of
oxen ; Rev. John Barlow — invitation to agricultural
lectures at the Royal Institution ; Mr. Bates, of
Kirkleavington — on the appointment of Judges ; Lord
Western — an oil-painting of a Devon ox, by Mr. Vine
(an artist destitute of arms, but a most skilful painter,
and exact copyist from nature or art) ; Mr. Bigg — a
model of his sheep-dipping apparatus ; Mr. Henry
Overman— a model of his milk-trays (with an expla-
natory paper for the Journal Committee) ; Mr. Gra-
ham, of Bersted Lodge, Bognor — the model of an
implement for working among drilled turnips ; Mrs.
Le Jeune, of Romsey — wheat-ears of 1844 ; Mr.
Bernays — notice of the grass on which the Spanish
merino sheep are fed ; Mr. Fleetwood, 12, EastSuff"olk-
street, King's-cross — gratuitous off"er of sunflower
plants to members of the Society ; Mr. Comins,
South Molton — notice of his one-way or turn-over
plough ; Mr, John Read — notice of his garden and
fire-engines ; Mr. Abbot, of Gravesend— letters on

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

69

cheap periodicals ; proceedings of the Jamaica Agri-
cultural Society and the Royal Society of Agriculture
at Caen.

A weekly Council was held at the Society's House
in Hanover-square, on Wednesday, the 29th of
May ; present, the Right Hon. Earl Spencer, Presi-
dent, in the chair ; Duke of Richmond ; Marquis of
Dowiishire; Earl of Hillsborough; Lord Portman ;
Hon. R. H. Clive, M.P. ; R. Archbold, Esq., M.P. ;
J. Baines, Esq.; D. Barclay, Esq., M.P., J. Ray-
mond Barker, Esq. ; F. Burke, Esq. ; Rev. T. Cator ;
Col. Challoner; F. C. Cherry, Esq.; E. D. Daven-
port, Esq. ; B. Gibbs, Esq. ; T. B Glegg, Esq. ; II.
T. Grant, Esq.; E. Holland, Esq.; G. Jackson,
Esq.; Sir C. Lemon, Bart., M.P. ; Rev. T.Lewis;
Col. Macdouall; John Mott, Esq.; J. W. Lennox
Naper, Esq.; J. Newell, Esq.; T. Newman; Jos.
Parkes, Esq., C.E.; E. W. W. Pendarves, Esq.,
M.P. ; W, J. Pickin, Esq.; E. S. Chandos Pole,
Esq.; H.Price, Esq.; P. Pusey, Esq., M.P. ; Prof.
Sewell; W. Shaw, Esq.; R. A. Slaney, Esq.; Rev.
T. Slapp; J. Manners Sutton, Esq. ; T.Tweed, Esq.;
Dr. Ure; J. L. White, Esq.; G. Wilbraham, Esq.,
M.P.; and H. Wilson, Esq.

The reception and discussion of the numerous com-
munications laid before the meeting having taken
place, the Council adjourned to Wednesday, the 5th
of June.

A monthly Council was held at the Society's house
in Hanover-square, on Wednesday, the 5th of June ;
present, the Right Hon. Earl Sjiencer, President,
in the chair ; Duke of Richmond ; Marquis of Down-
shire ; Earl of Euston ; Earl of Ilchester ; Viscount
Torringtou ; Lord Camoys ; Hon. R. H. Clive, M.P. ;
Hon. G. H. Cavendish, M.P. ; H. Allen, Jun.,
Esq. ; R. Archbold, Esq., M.P. ; Colonel Austen,
T. Raymond Barker, Esq. ; Geo. Raymond Barker,
Esq. ; John Raymond Barker, Esq. ; T. W. Bram-
ston, Esq., M.P. ; F. Burke, Esq. ; R. H. Cheney,
Esq. ; R. Etwall, Esq., M.P. ; A. E. Fuller, Esq.,
M.P. ; B. Gibbs, Esq. ; S. Grantham, Esq. ; Sir John
Guest, Bart., M.P. ; John Hudson, Esq. ; R. H.
Hurst, Esq.,M.P. ; W. H. Hyett, Esq. ; G. Kim-
ber'ey, Esq. ; J. Kinder, Esq. ; Sir Francis Lawley,
Bart.; Sir C. Lemon, Bart, M.P. ; W. Miles, Esq.,
M.P. ; Colonel Pennant ; F. Pym, Esq. ; Professor
Sewell ; J. B. Simonds, Esq. ; T. II. S. E. Sotheron,
Esq., M.P. ; and W. R. C. Stansfield, Esq., M.P.

Finances. — Mr. Raymond Barker, Chairman of the
Finance Committee, presented to the Council the
monthly report of the examination of the accounts,
and the state of the Funds to the end of May. He
stated that £^200 having been already paid on account
of the Southampton Meeting, there remained in the
hands of the Bankers the balance of 800/. on account
of the Southampton subscription of 1000/. ; and a
balance of IGOO/. on the general account of the Society.
He had the satisfaction of announcing to the Council,
that in the course of ten days after the recent general
meetuig, no less than 500/. had been received for sub-
scriptions ; and, as that amount consisted chiefly of
arrears due to the Society — paid up probably from the
just representations of the claims of the Society upon
its members, made on that occasion — he entertained, in
common with the other members of the Finance Com-
mittee, a well-grounded trust that extreme legal mea-
sures, under the powers of the charter, might, in the
greater mmiber of cases, if not altogether, be obviated
by the continued and prompt payment of the remain-
ing arrears. Their duty to the Council, however,

imposed upon the Committee the painful necessity of
recommending immediate legal steps to be taken
against certain parties who were in arrear, and they
bad made the reiiuisite arrangements for such a process
accordingly. Tlie Council then unanimously adopted
and confirmed the report, and gave the requisite
authority for carrying out the recommendations it
contained.

Son t /lamp (on Meetinr/. — The Duke of Richmond,
Chairman of the General Southampton Committee,
presented the report of their proceedings. The whole
of the arrangements were in a most satisfactory state
of progress ; and tlie Committee received from Colonel
Henderson, tlie Mayor, and the authorities of South-
ampton generally, the most cordial and efficient co-
operation in completing the details on every point of
the business connected with the ensuing meeting.
Tiie numerous entries for the show, and the interest
connected with the occasion, gave a promise that the
meeting would be one of a most successful character.
Already it had been necessary to enlarge the plan of
the show-yard beyond the limits of that at Derby ;
it was still, however, found that more space for exhi-
bition was required, and the Committee then applied
to the Council for authority to enlarge the show-yard
for implements, by an extra quantity of 756 feet run
of shedding, and to purchase no less than 1500 iron
hurdles, eacli 0 feet long, for the cattle yard of Messrs.
Cottam and Hallen, the manufacturers and con-
tractors for that amount.

This Report was unanimously adopted.

On the motion of Mr. Miles, M.P., seconded by the
Duke of Richmond, Mr. A. Fletcher, of Millbrook,
Southampton, was unanimously ai)pointed the Auc-
tioneer of the Society for the Southampton Meeting.

The Council then adjourned to Wednesday, the 12th
of June.

A Weekly Coimcil was held at the Society's
House in Hanover-square, on Wednesday, the 12th
of June ; present, the Right Hon. Earl Spencer,
President in the chair ; Marquess of Downshire ; Earl
of Lovelace ; Lord Bridport ; Hon. Captain Spencer;
Hon. G. H. Cavendish, M.P. ; T. Alcock, Esq. ; J.
Arkwright, Esq. ; J. Baines, Esq. ; D. Barclay, Esq.,
M.P. ; T. R. Barker, Esq. ; G. R. Barker, Esq. ; J.
R. Barker, Esq. ; J. Benett, Esq., M.P. ; E. Bowly,
Esq. ; Sir A. B. de Capell Brooke, Bart. ; T. W.
Bramston, Esq., M.P. ; J. W. Brown, Esq. ; W. R.
Browne, Esq. ; F. Burke, Esq. ; Col. Challoner ; F. C.
Cherry, Esq. ; II. Colman, Esq. ; C. Cure, Esq. ; J.
Dean, Esq. ; J. H. H. Foley, Esq. ; A.E. Fuller, Esq.,
M.P. ; B. Gibbs, Esq. ; H. Gibbs, Esq. ; J. B. Glegg,
Esq. ; W. L. Gower, Esq. ; H. J. Grant, Esq. ; Sir
J. V. B. Johnstone, Bart., M.P. ; G. Kimberley,
Esq. ; J. Kinder, Esq. ; J. Kirsopp, Esq. ; J. H.
Langston, Esq., M.P. ; Colonel MacDouall ; W.
Miles, Esq., M.P. ; J. W. L. Naper, Esq. ; A.
Ogilvie, Esq. ; J. Parkes, Esq., C.E. ; E. Parkins,
Esq. ; E. W. 11. Pendarves, Esq., M.P. ; Col. Pen-
nant ; C. Pocock, Esq. ; Professor Sewell ; J. V.
Shelley, Esq. ; Rev. T. P. Slapp ; Rev. T. Staniforth;
W. R. C. Stansfield, Esq., M.P. ; T. E.Thomas,
Esq.; C. H. Turner, Esq. ; Sir H. Verney, Bart.;
and W. Whitmore, Esq.

Bye-Laws.— The President, on the part of the Bye-
Law Committee, laid before the Council the draught
of new Bye- Laws recommended for the considera-
tion of the Council.— On the motion of Mr. Raymond
Barker, the President was requested to direct a Special
Council to be held for the purpose of taking this Re-
port into consideration. The President then ordered

60

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

that such Special Council should be summoned for
Tuesday, the 16th of July, at one o'clock.

Agricultural College.— Ww Bowly and Mr. Brown
transmitted to the Council various documents con-
nected with the establishment of an Agricultural Col-
lege in the neighbourhood of Cirencester, on an example
farm in tlie oolitic district, including the country com-
monly called the Cotswold Hills, extending from Bath
to Chipping-Camden ; also including a great part of
Oxfordshire and North Wiltshire, part of Berkshire, &c.

The following were among the communications re-
ceived by the Council : a drawing and description of
the new double cheese-press, invented by Mr. James
Adams, jun., of Parks Cottage, Southwell ; a Treatise
on Adulterations in Artificial Manures, and a Chemical
Apparatus Chest, presented by Dr. Robinson ; and
the Journal of the Agricultural Society of Western
Australia. The Council then adjourned to Wednesday,
the 19th of June.

A weekly Council was held at the Society's House,
in Hanover Square, on Wednesday, the 19th of
June, present, the Rt. Hon. Earl Spencer, President,
in the chair ; Duke of Richmond ; Earl of Ilchester ;
EarlBeauchamp; Earl of Burlington; Earl of Lovelace,
Lord Bridport ; Hon. Col. Douglas Pennant, M.P. ;
Hon. Captain Spencer; Hon. G. H. Cavendish, M.P. ;
T. Alcock, Esq., M.P. ; R. Archbold, Esq., M.P. ;
J. Baines, Esq. ; D. Barclay, Esq., M.P. ; Thomas
Raymond Barker, Esq. ; J. R. Barker, Esq. ; J. Ben-
nett, Esq., M.P. ; H. Blanshard, Esq. ; Sir A. de
C. Broke, Bt. ; F. Burke, Esq. ; Dr. Calvert; Col.
Challoner ; H. Colman, Esq. ; J. Dean, Esq. ; J. E.
Denison, Esq., M.P. ; W. Ford, Esq. ; B. Forrester,
Esq. ; A. E. Fuller, Esq., M.P. ; W. Garnett, Esq. ;
B. Gibbs, Esq.; J. B. Glegg, Esq.; W. Fisher
Hobbs, Esq. ; Sir H. Hoskyns, Bt. ; Sir John John-
stone, Bt., M.P. ; Col. Le Couteur, Sir C. Lemon,
Bt., M.P. ; Col. MacDouall; J. L. Naper, Esq. ; Sir
John Ogilvie, Bt. ; A. Ogilvie, Esq. ; Jos. Parkes,
Esq., C.E. ; E. Parkins, Esq. ; E. W. Pendarves,
Esq., M.P. ; Sir Robert Price, Bt. ; H. Price, Esq. ;
J. Roddam, Esq. ; E. A. Sanford, Esq. ; Professor
Sewell ; J. V. Shelley, Esq. ; R. A. Slaney, Esq. ;
R. Spooner, Esq.; E. Thomas, Esq. ; T. Tweed, Esq. ;
and J. L. White, Esq.

The attention of the Council was called by Viscount
Howick, through Mr. Shelley, to the best mode of
collecting and pubUshing the numerous details con-
nected with draining, and the cheap production of the
most efiicient tiles for that purpose ; by Mr. Parkes, to
the improvements effecting in the Benenden Pipe-tile
Machine of Mr. Law Hodges, at the manufactory of
Messrs. Cottam and Hallen ; and by Messrs. Barrett,
Exall, and Andrews, of Reading, to their invention of
a new and cheap machine for the production of pipe-
tiles.

Dr. Playfair, consulting Chemist to the Society, an-
nounced to the Members the extensive arrangements
he had made at Manchester, for analyses of soils, at
rates of one half the amount of those he had formerly
transmitted to the Secretary for their reference. Mr.
Pellatt presented a new glass Milk-pan, with an inner
circular groove for the reception of the milk last left
in the pan, agreeably with the suggestion of Sir John
Lubbock ; and announced his engagement in perfect-
ing glass syphons for dairy use. Mr. Frere, C.E.,Bitton
Rectory, near Bristol, presented a small supply of
Neapolitan Skinless Barley which he had received by the
last Mediterranean Mail from a friend in Malta. The
Imperial Agricultural Society of Vienna and the
Royal Society of Agriculture at Caen, each presented

to the Library of the Society a set of their respective
volumes of transactions. The Royal Agricultural
Improvement Society of Ireland transmitted copies of
the prize sheets for their ensuing Show in Dublin ; and
Mr. Mechi, of Leadenhall Street, copies of the last
report on his Agricultural improvements in Essex.
Mr. Slaney presented Mr. Ford's new junction tiles,
made agreeably with a suggestion of Mr. Pusey. — For
all which communications and presents the Council
ordered their best thanks.

The Council then adjourned to Wednesday, the 2Cth
of June.

NEW MEMBERS.

The Right Hon. Lord Beaumont, of Carleton-hall,
near Selby, Yorkshire ; Col. Jas. Macdouall, 2nd Life
Guards ; John Boyd, Esq., of the Borough of
Southwark ; Francis Popham, Esq., of Littlecott, near
Hungerford, Berkshire, and William Bruce Stopford,
Esq., of Drayton, Northamptonshire, were elected
Governors.

Aldridge, James, Throop-farm, Christchurch, Hants
Apliu, Henry, Misterton, Crewkerne, Somerset
Beale, James, Canford, Wimborne, Dorset
Betts, William, Leicester
Boldero, H., Woolton House, Bedfoi'd
Buchan, Henry, Southampton
Charlton, Philip, Withyford Hall, Shrewsbury
Cousmaker, Lannay, Westwood, Farnham, Surrey
Curtois, Rev. R. G., D.D., Nile Terrace, Rochester,

Kent
Dj'ke, Geo. Potton, Christchurch, Hants
Edwards, Richard, Roby Hall, Liverpool
Ethelston, Rev. Charles W., Uplyme, Lyme Regis,

Dorset
Fennor, J.,Vernham, Andover, Hants
Fry, Robert, Tockington, Thornbury, Gloucester
Gatrell, William Verling, Lymington, Hants
Gower, Andrew W., Hook, near Hartford-bridge,

Hants
Graeme, W., Winchester
Hall, Edward Crompton Lloyd Hall, Emlyn Cottage,

Newcastle Emlyn, S. W.
Hart, Thos. Fred., Barham House, East Hoathley,

Hurst-Green, Sussex
Hodding, Edward Davis, Odstock, Salisbury
Hunter, Henry Lannoy, Beech-hill, Reading-
Knight, James, Southampton
Lacon, John E., Ormesby House, Great Yarmouth,

Norfolk
Leeke, Ralph, Longford-hall, Newport, Salop
Little, R. D., Sec. to the Agri. Soc, Chijopenham
Mackintosh, James, West Stratton, Winchester
Martin, .John, Evershot, Dorchester, Dorsetshire
Michel, Lieut. -Col., Devvlish House, Blandford, Dorset
Morison, John Alexander, M.D., Portclew, near

Pembroke
Parmiter, Samuel, High-street, Southampton
Parsons, G., Bursledon, Southampton
Phillips, John, Lordship Lane, Tottenham
Pittis, George, Wymoning, Portsmouth
Raphael, Lewis, Bushill Park, Edmonton
Rendall, George, Quarr-farm, Ryde, Isle of Wight
Roddam, William, Roddam, Wooller, Northumber-
land
Thoume, James, Guernsey
Trew, Thomas, Southampton
Vivian, George, Claverton Manor, Bath
Washbourn, William, Tillingdown, Tandridge, Surrey
Webb, William Lee, Southampton
Wroughton, Pliilip, Ibstone House, Stokenchurch,

Oxon

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

61

OBSERVATIONS ON THE MANAGEMENT

AND APPLICATION OF MANURES.

By a Practical Farmer.

(Continued.)

Whether the manure is taken to the field as it is
made, or stored in the vicinity of the farm buildings,
some judgment is necessary in tlie selection of the sito
for the purpose. When the former method is adopted,
the short time which the manure remains in the field
does not warrant the expenditure of lal)our in the pre-
paration of the situation which is so indispensable
when it is j)ermaneut. The circumstances to be taken
into account in selecting the situation of the manure
heap in such cases are such as facilitate the storing of
the hea)) on the field originally, and the application of
the manure afterwards to the land. As the cartage of
the maimre to the field takes place chiefly in the winter,
the situation will obviously be convenient to the en-
trance to the field to prevent injury to the laud by
carting over it during wet weather, and also to prevent
the excessive labour which the horses in such cases
sustain. The conveyance of the manure to the fields
during wet weather, is to be avoided as much as pos-
sible ; but such weather being frequently of long con-
tinuance, during the winter, this cannot always be
effected. The centre of the field is sometimes
selected as the site for the manure heap ; but this is
evidently done without previous consideration, as, in
addition to the labour and injury sustained by the land
in placing it in such a situation during the winter, the
heap thus placed interferes with the preparation of the
land for the crop, and also prevents the sowing or
planting of the crop from being carried on in the spring
with regularity. The headland of the field, and close
to the entrance gate, is obviously the proper place, as
the manure is deposited there with facility, without
any interference with the preparation of the land for
the crop, or with the sowing of the crop itself. In
this case the only part of the field interfered with is
the spice occupied by the heap, which, when the re-
mainder of the field is finished, is prepared either by
the plough or the spade, according to the extent of it,
and afterwards cropped unifoi'm with the surrounding
ground.

The situation of the heap at the homestead is of
more importance as it is, and for the same purpose
from year to year. It is not, perhaps, advisable that
it should be greatly hollowed, unless arrangements are
made for conveying any excess of fluid matters to a
proper place for their reception. Without a due sup-
ply of moisture, a proper degree of fermentation will
not take place in the manure ; yet, in the case of ani-
mals fed on nutritive food, a sufficient supply is always
present. In the process of fermentation, too much of
the lifjuid portion is separated from the stock of ma-
nure, which should be conveyed from it to be otherwise
disposed of, and to prevent its going to water. Plac-
ing the manure heap on an elevation is, however, still
more injudicious, as the most valuable parts of it
then escape, in all directions, forming a nuisance all
around, in which case it cannot afterwards be collected,
For the preservation of the liquid matters it is advis-
able that the surface should be slightly hollowed, and
that the soil should be perfectly retentive of moisture ;
otherwise, considerable loss may be sustained by absorp-
tion. In the lowest part a grating should be placed,
communicating with a sewer for the conveyance of the
urine to the reservoir or liquid manure tank ; and in
the event of moisture being at any time required in
the heap to facilitate fermentation, it can be easily
carried from the reservoir, and distributed over the

mass in such quantities as may be required. This can
oidy occur during the months of May or J unc, when it is
wished to prepare with despatch the recently made
dung for turnips. Evaporation being then actively
going forward, sufficient moisture may not remain in
the heap to insure fermentation taking place, in which
case it must be sujiplied from the urine tank, or if that
Ije empty, which is highly probable at that period of
the season, water from the horse-pond will answer the
required purpose.

Much diversity of opinion exists among farmers as
to the state in which farm-yard manure should be ap-
plied to the land ; but it is apparent that this can only
be ascertained with precision in connexion with the pe-
culiar purposes for which such application takes place.
Adhesive soils generally are most benefited by manures
slightly fermented : the increased bulk of the manure
in such cases serving to keep soils of this class more
open, w-hich eff'ect is still further increased by the
decomposition of the manure being viltimately
completed in the soil itself. The lighter class of soils,
on the contrary, require consolidation, and are more
benefited by the application of well fermented manures,
which have a greater tendency to impart that texture.
But the state in which the manure should be apjilied
is still more dependent on the crop than the soil, the
attention of the farmer being chiefly directed to obtain
the earliest results ; and in most cases the application
of unfermented manure being altogether inapplicable.
The application of manure in a recent state was re-
commended by Sir Humphrey Davy, on the ground of
the great loss sustained during fermentation by the
escape of the gaseous substances evolved, and which,
he contended, would be retained by the soil, if the
manure was applied in a recent state, or before fermen-
tation had taken place. Notwithstanding the high
authority on which that opinion was put forth,
and the admitted fact of the value of the exhalations
during fermentation, the practice of allowing this
process to take place to the fullest extent before apply-
ing the manure, was still maintained by the practical
farmers. However much of the fertilizing powers of
the manure may escape, by the evolution of gaseous
matters during fermentation, cases rarely occur in
practice in which the application of the manure in that
state could take place. The only case in which unfer-
mented manure could be applied is when the applica-
tion takes place before winter, and just before the first
ploughing is given to the land intended for a fallow
crop, but the practice of applying manure at that pe-
riod of the season is not by any means general ; and
every farmer is aware of the impossibility, even were
it expedient, to apply unfermented manure to any of
the various drill crops. Unfermented manure abounds
in portions of fresh litter, which make it difficult to
cover up properly in the soil at the period of the appli-
cation ; and it renders the after-working of the crop
still more difficult by coming into contact with the
implements of tillage, which drag manure in this state
from the drills, and frequently also portions of the
crop. Manure in this state also abounds in seeds of
weeds, grains of corn and other matters, the applica-
tion of which to the soil is most injurious ; as directly
counteracting the effects of the former for their ex-
termination ; but the vitality of them is completely
destroyed in the heap by fermentation.

Though admitting the loss sustained by manure in
fermentation, the practice of farmers has uniformly
been to allow it to be fully fermented before being ap-
plied. Much was evidently to be said for and against
either practice, however the general use of well-fer-
mented manure clearly showed that tliis was considered

62

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

to be the lesser evil. Further inquiry also showed the
nature of the substances lost in fermentation, and
this being ascertained, it became apparent that these
matters might be retained in tlie manure by the addi-
tion of other substances with which they might enter
into chemical combination. Tliis is an exceedingly
simple though beautiful illustration of the advantages
which may be expected to result from the labours of
the chemist being further directed to the assistance of
the farmer. The retention of the gaseous matters
evolved during fermentation by their formation into
new compounds as they are disengaged, removes the
objection which has been long urged against the use of
fermented manure. This department of the manage-
ment of manures shall be afterwards noticed when
we come to treat of the " waste manures."

In the management of farm-yard manure, it is
important to guard against its being much exposed to
the weather. The heap should be kept closely toge-
ther, and the daily additions from the houses regularly
l^laced on it, observing, as before remarked, that the
different kinds of manure should be thoroughly incor-
porated together to secure an equable degree of
fermentation taking place throughout. Should no
further addition be made to the heap for any consider-
able time before the application of the manure to the
land, it will be well to have the whole covered up with
earth, in which state it may be kept for a length of
time without sustaining injury. But although expo-
sure to the atmosphere is injurious, the access of
water from the roofs of the farm-buildings or other
sources is still more so, as directly carrying away
portions of the most important ingredients in the
heap. The retention of the fluid matters afterwards
but slightly takes away from the injurious effects of
superfluous moisture being admitted to the heap, as
there is no good reason why a portion of the fertilizing
matters of the manure, and those the most valuable,
are to be carried away to be separately applied, even
could that be done without any waste being sustained,
which certainly would not be the case.

When the manure is stored in the fields, the same
precautions are to be observed to guard against expo-
sure to the atmosphere. The successive layers, as
brought out, are therefore to be regularly spread over
the heap, and after the whole is finished, a covering of
earth from the adjacent head-land should be put in it.
The size of the heap may of course depend on the
quantity of manure on the farm, and the extent of the
fields to which it is to be applied ; but it is to be ob-
served that the heap increases only in length, the other
dimensions being stationary, and regulated by the
circumstances of the farm. The breadth of the heap,
for instance, should be in proportion to the number of
horses which are hkely to be loaded at the same time
in the spring, and the height should rarely exceed five
or six feet, both as regards economy in its formation
and facility in its decomposition afterwards.

Although manure should be well fermented before
being applied to the soil, yet in practice it is found to
be desirable that the farmer should have the regulation
of this process at his ovm command, and increase or
retard it, as may be necessary. In the process of fer-
mentation, whether of manures or other matters, the
pi'esence of atmospheric air is essential ; the oxygen
of which is absorbed, and new compounds, chiefly
carbonic acid gas, formed and disengaged. This is
famihar in the fermentation of malt liquors, in which
case the process is well known to be retarded, or
altogether stopped by the exclusion of air from the
vat, even after it has proceeded to a considerable
extent; and though not so readily apparent in the

not being there so much un4er control, the presence
of the oxygen of the atmosphere is not the less essen-
tial. Every farmer is aware of the superiority of
recently fermented dung over that in which the process
has been long finished, as in the case of manure more
than one year old. It is therefore advisable that the
precaution should be taken to apply it to the soil in
that state in which experience has shown it to be most
efficacious ; which is immediately after fermentation
has subsided, or even during the continuance of that
process, while the mass is still warm. No great length
of time is necessary to complete the fermentation of
the manure heap, after it has actively set in, a week
or ten days being generally sufficient, or perhaps two
weeks, if any considerable portion of earthy matters
be present ; so that it is obviously a desideratum with
the farmer to be able to prevent any degree of fermen-
tation taking place until the period arrives at which it
will be just completed before being requked to be
applied to the soil. This may be effected by the exclu-
sion of the atmosphere from the heap by compression,
as it is formed.

The presence of air and moisture have been seen to
be essential in the fermentation of manures, and it is
fortunate that the regulation of the supply of them is
within the reach of the farmer, so that he can hasten
or retard the process, as occasion may require. An
excess of moisture is, however, not less injurious than
an insufficient supply. When a mass of manure,
however rich it may be, has remained for any length
of time saturated with moisture, such a change does
it undergo, that afterwards by any management the
slightest degree of fermentation cannot be induced to
take place without the addition of fresh manure from
the stables, and even when the desired purpose is
effected in this manner, the manure will be found to
have materially suffered, and to have lost much of its
fertilizing properties. But when such excess of mois-
ture is present, the management of the manure must
have been grossly defective, especially as regards the
arrangements for economising the liquid portion of it.
Wliere an oiitlet is provided for the egress of super-
fluous moisture from the heap it wiU never be present ;
and in any case it wiU be found to result more from
the introduction of extraneous moisture than from
any excess of the liquid portion of the manure itself.
The cases in which injury is sustained by an excess
of moisture in the manure heap are perhaps more
numerous than those in which it is occasioned by a
deficiency of it. This, as already observed, is not
likely to occur unless during the summer months,
especially where the domestic animals are sui)plied
with a proper proportion of roots and other nutritious
food. On heavy clay farms, which are more suited to
the cultivation of grain than roots, the excess of
straw may be so great that its decomposition
cannot be very easily effected ; but here
the obvious remedy is the increase of root crops, which
is to be effected by the more general operations of
draining and deep tillage by which the constitution of
such soils become changed, and rendered suitable for
green crop husbandry. The production of an increased
quantity of root crops on the heavy soils of the coun-
try would enable a greater number of the domestic
animals to be maintained ; and this would cause an
increased consumption of straw as food, instead of
treading it down in the yards as manure, which is
exceedingly doubtful economy in any case. A very
large proportion of the finest soils in the country are
considered unsuited to the turnip husbandly on which
the most luxuriant crops of every kind of roots might
be produced by proper management ; and it does not

fermentation of manures, in consequence of the process require argument to show that the more general cul-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

63

tivation of this class of crops enables not only a supe-
rior kind but also a greater number of live stock to be
maintained, wliich, in its turn, is followed by an
increased degree of fertility in the soil from the more
copious and frequent applications of manure which
can thereby be made to it.

When manure is stored together in considerable
quantity, even when a sufficient supply of moisture is
not present, a sort of incipient degree of fermentation
wUl take place, which however will speedily exhaust
itself. The extent and rapidity with which this will
take place is regulated chiefly by the supply of stable
dung present in the heap, which it is well known
rapidly heats even when the moisture contained in it
is present only in small quantity. This kind of fer-
mentation is always injurious to the manure, and is
attended by this further disadvantage, that after it has
subsided it is extremely difficult to induce it again to
take place without the addition of a large portion of
fresh dung. The remedy in this case is obviously to
add a further supply of moisture — liquid manure if it
can be obtained. The liquid matters are to be added
gradually to the heap, so that they may be absorbed
as they are applied, and while the manure is being
turned over will be found a favourable opportunity for
this purpose.

Fermentation being further regulated by the facility
of access of the atmosphere to the mass, and this
being easily regulated by compression or placing the
materials loosely together, either course is adopted
according to circumstances. Heaps formed in the
autumn or early ])art of winter, and not intended for
application until the spring, may be advantageously
compressed by discharging the loads from the carts
on the heap itself. This is eff'ected by keeping one
end of the heap low, and gradually sloping ; and the
compression of the manure by this means prevents the
horses' feet or cart wheels from sinking in the heap,
the unloading on it being attended with much less
difficulty than could be imagined by those unaccus-
tomed to the work. This of course only has reference
to single horse carts, which the writer conceives to be
the best for carting through fields, and also only to
moderate loads, which i* is also conceived, in such
cases, are better calculated to effect the object in view
than any other — namely, that of the conveyance of
the greatest quantity of material with the least injury
to the animals of draught. The degree of compression
should be regulated by the quantity of the manure
itself, and the length of time which it is intended to
remain before being applied to the land. When it is
not Intended to remain long in the heap, no compres-
sion should be given for obvious reasons, but the mass
placed as loosely together as possible.

The mode of application of farm-yard dung is
different according to the object in view. Immediately
before bemg applied, it is at all times necessary that
it should be well turned over, once or oftener, and the
different portions of it thoroughly incorporated with
each other, to bring on the active state of fermentation
in which it is desirable that it should be applied. At
each turning the different parts of the manure should
be thoroughly incorporated together, and any lumps
which may be through it broken down, which not
only promotes fermentation in the heap, but also faci-
litates the equal dispersion of the manure along the
ground, on being apphed. Unless a considerable por-
tion of earthy matters are introduced into the heap,
one turning will be sufficient to induce the proper
degree of fermentation to take place ; but in the case
of composts, a second turning is necessary ; an interval
of ten days or a fortnight taking place between the
first and second turning, and a similar or longer inter-

val between the latter and the application of the manure
to the land.

The chief application of farm-yard manure is to the
raising of green crops, in which cases it is deposited
in the drills, and covered up by the plough. It is also
applied to fallows intended for wheat, being then
equally distributed over the surface, and covered by a
light ploughing immediately before sowing the seed ;
but the more general introduction of green crops and
other improvements in agriculture having rendered
this expensive preparation for wheat less necessary
than formerly, its application for this purpose is be-
coming annually more limited. Its effects as a top-
dressing to meadow -lands are also well known, though
being usually deficient in quantity for other purposes,
its application for this purpose, unless in the vicinity
of large towns, is not very extensive. As already re-
marked, this manure is suited for all soils and all
crops. When it is limited in quantity, and the porta-
ble manures are employed as auxiliaries, it should be
applied to the heavier soils of the farm, the effects of
the latter being greater on light soils, and the farm-
yard manure in the former case not only contributing
to the growth of the crops, but also mechanically
improving the texture of the soil. It may also be
advantageously used in combination with the por-
table manures, and this is perhaps the preferable prac-
tice. It differs from them in one important particular
— its not being adapted for application to the growing
crops, for which the portable manures are eminently
suited, and from this circumstance in many cases derive
much of their value.

The usual mode of applying manure to green crops,
is to deposit it in the drills immediately under the seeds,
but it is also occasionally spread over the surface of the
ground before the first ploughing in thepreparation ofthe
land in the autumn or beginning of winter. In this
case it becomes thoroughly incorporated with the soil
during the preparation which it undergoes for the croiJ.
This system has its advantages and its tUsadvantages.
It is no slight advantage to have the labour of the ap-
plication of the manure over in the spring, when the
operations of the farm are necessarily hurried, however
perfect the arrangements may be for this performance,
and adequate the force employed for the purpose.
The perfection of cultivation consists in the high de-
gree of pulverization attained as a preparation for the
various crops included under the denomination of
green-crops, and the maintenance of this highly pul-
verized state is not less necessary than its production,
in order that the resources of the soil may be de-
veloped to their fullest extent ; but every farmer is
aware of how much this is interfered with by the
cartage of the manure in the spring, which is of course
avoided by the method of application under notice.
Its effects on the crop have also been proved to be as
great in this case as in the more common method of
application in the spring, especially on the better class
of soils. It is no doubt a disadvantage that the ma-
nure is not immediately available in any considerable
quantity for the support of the young plants in the
first stages of their growth, although after having made
some progress the rootlets spread in all directions, and
every portion of the manure becomes available. A
combination with some of the portable manures is
here of service, as the appUcation of them in small
quantity at the time of sowing the crop will push for-
ward the young plants until the manure incorporated
with the soil becomes available.

On all the better class of soUs, therefore, es-
pecially when thorough draining has been employed to
remove all superfluous moisture, this method of ap-
plying farm-yard manure has many advantages. The

64

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

practice must, however, be altogether confined to
such soils, it being entirely unsuited to any other.
Little consideration is necessary to see the impropriety
of ajjplying manure to wet soils before winter, and in
the case of poor soils of every description it is better
that the manure should be applied in the largest avail-
able cpiantity immediately to the growing crops. It is
also only where a superior system of tillage is prac-
tised that the value of this method of applying manure
can be appreciated, as when a high degree of pulveri-
zation is not effected, the evils resulting from after
consolidatioir cannot be felt.

The quantity of farm-yard manure which should
be applied, depends on the state of the soil and the
crop for which it is intended. Under our still de-
fective system of cultivation it is believed, that its
effects are not fully developed, and a quantity larger in
proportion must be applied. Twenty tons to the acre
are considered an ample allowance throughout the best
cultivated districts of the country, while in others,
more than twice the quantity is applied. The inter-
vals of time at which the application takes place, should
be taken into account in ascertaining the quantity to
be applied, but more frequent ajiplications, and in
smaller quantities, would probably be fomid to answer
the intended purpose better than the system so gene-
rally followed. The object of the farmer should un-
doubtedly be directed to the production of early rather
than prospective results ; and it having been satisfac-
torily ascertained in the case of some of the portable
manures, that an increase in quantity beyond a certain
amount is productive of no beneficial effects to the
immediate crop, it is worth consideration how far the
same holds good in that of farm-yard manure, and
whether it would not be desirable to regulate the
quantity applied to the wants of the earlier crops, and
repeat the application at shorter intervals, as occasion
might require. This is the system pui'sued in Flanders,
where the management of manures is so well under-
stood, and so economically carried on.

P.S. On looking over some back numbers of the
Mark Lane Express, my attention has been attracted
to a letter from Mr. HiUyard, in which allusion is
made to a statement of mine in the first paper of this
series, and to which, had it not escaped me at the
period of its publication, I should have sooner re-
plied. I feel this explanation is only due to Mr.
Hillyard for my seeming neglect, in not noticing his
observations on an earlier occasion.

Every experienced farmer is aware of the great im-
portance of increasing the stock of manure produced
on the farm, and economising its application as much
as possible ; yet imder the most favourable circum-
stances the supply is always under what could be pro-
fitably applied, and to make up for such deficiency
the manure of cities and towns is eagerly sought
after w'herever it is within reach. Even supposing the
supply from this source to be able fully to meet the
wants of the agriculturist, the extent to which it can
be used is regulated by the distance to which it is to
be conveyed, which caimot exceed a few miles. This
objection applies only in a slight degree to the porta-
ble manures, and constitutes one of their most power-
ful recommendations, as a cart load of any of them
will be sufficient for several acres. Now, in pressing the
importance of the employment of these upon the attention
of the farming community, I did not mean thereby to
depreciate the value of the home supply, or to assert
that it was produced at the cost of 6/. or 8/. per acre,
which sums have reference only to the cost of apply-
ing stable and cow-house manure from towns ; and
•^fhere such is used, the cost of the application, in-

cluding the origuial cost of the manure and cartage,
will seldom be under the amount mentioned.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to state with any
degree of precision the amount v.hich the manure pro-
duced on the farm costs per acre, as this is entirely
regulated by the course of management adopted. In
many districts certain crops are introduced into the
rotation more with a view of affording a supply of
manure by their consumption, than of obtaining any
direct return from themselves ; and frequently the returns
from their consumption are not nearly so favourable as
those mentioned by Mr. Hillyard, though they are
under his average profits. The cultivated produce
of the country is no doubt capable of being vastly
increased by a more economical system of managing the
home supply of manure ; but even under the most
favourable circumstances, the portable manures may be
introduced to a greater or less extent with advantage, and
the cost of their application will rarely exceed 21. per
acre, while in most cases it will be considerably less.
Further details on this subject must be reserved for
succeeding papers.

{To be continued.)

FARMERS' CLUB-HOUSE.

39, Neav Bribge-Street, Blackfriars.

The monthly meeting of the committee was held here
on Monday last at 3 o'clock, present, J. Hudson, in the
chair, W. Shaw, R. 13. Smith, E. Lewis, G. Emery,
Jas. Smith, J. Beadel, Hy. Price, and Wm. Anderson.

The following gentlemen were elected memliers : —
Edney, C, Charlcott Farm, Whitchurch
Cock, Wm., Appledon, Kent
Wontner, Thomas, Snow Hill, Holborn

In consequence of the increase of members, and in
order to accommodate all in one room, the anniversaiy
dinner will take place at the " Crown and Sceptre,"
Greenwich, on the 1st of July.

We are rejoiced to find that the " Society for
the Improvement of the Condition of the La-
bouring Classes," formed at a meeting held at
Willis's Rooms, on the 11th May, is progressing.
The Committee, consisting of the following gen-
tlemen, with Lord Ashley as chairman, meets
weekly, and is actively engaged in making the
necessary preliminary arrangements : —

Committee : — The Right Hon. Lord Ashley, Chair-
man; the Rev. Edward Auriol ; Alexander Beattie,
Esq. ; Henry Blanshard, Esq. ; John Biidges, Esq. ;
J. I. Burn, Esq. ; E. Turst Carver, Esq. ; the Rev.
S. R. Cattley ; WOliam Clark, Esq. ; the Rev. Tho-
mas Dale ; Chai-les Dixon, Esq. ; Enoch Durant,
Esq. ; the rev. W. W. Ellis ; Alexander Gordon,
Esq. ; William Gregson, Esq. ; Edward P. Hathaway,
Esq. ; Charles P. Hoare, Esq. ; the Rev. E. Hollondj
Henry Kingscote, Esq. ; the Rev. A. Onslow ; the
Rev. H. O'Neile; the Rev. George H. Parker; J.
Dean Paul, Esq. ; Henry Roberts, Esq. ; the Rev.
Edward Scobell ; Robert B. Seeley, Esq. ; WilUam
Shaw, Esq. ; Benjamin Smith, Esq. ; Protheroe
Smith, Esq. ; J. M. Strachan, Esq. ; the Rev. R. S.
Tabor ; Richard E. Townsend, Esq. ; John Walpole,
Esq, ; J. D. Williams, Esq. ; F. L. Wollaston, Esq. ;
John Wood, Esq. ; the Rev. John Wright ; Dr. Holt
Yates,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.

JuxE 11. — The President in the Chair.

The paper was read by Mr. A. Angus Croll,
Assoc. Inst. C.E., " On the Purifying of Coal
Gas, and the AppUcation of the Products thereby
obtained to Agricultural and other Purposes."
The author commenced by stating that in London
alone the rental of the difl'erent gas companies
amounted to £G00,000 per annum ; but it ap-
peared, however, to be capable of much greater
extension than it had yet attained, as it might be
rendered much purer by the removal of ammonia,
which was the origin of the unpleasant odours
and unhealthy effluvia exhaled during its com-
bustion. This desirable object was now accom-
plished by means of Mr. Croll' s process, which
was simple, efficacious, and highly economical;
the process consisted in passing the gas through
a solution of sulphuric acid of the strength of
2^ lbs. of oU of vitriol to 100 gallons of water,
and, by a continuous supply of acid, so tiiat the
proper amount of free acid might be always
kept in the vessel, the whole of the ammonia in
the gas was abstracted, preventing the corrosive
effect of this impurity on the fittings and metres
through which it was transmitted, and rendering
the gas capable of being used in dwelling-houses,
and also enabling the gas companies to use dry
lime instead of wet lime purifiers, without pro-
ducing any nuisance on the opening of the vessels,
by which a considerable saving was effected,
while, at the same time, sulphate of ammonia of
great purity is obtained, and of such a strength
that the evaporation of one gallon produces 80
oz. of this valuable salt, instead of 14 oz., which
was the quantity rendered under the former pro-
cess. This process has been introduced at the
Chartered, the Imperial, and the Phoenix gas
establishments, from which several tons were
being produced weekly, independent of the pro-
vincial gas companies. The author concluded
his paper by showing the great advantage to
agriculture by the application of this produce to
the land, besides its extensive application to the
arts and manufactures; he stated that various
experiments upon an extensive scale had been
tried mth this manure, with great success ; one
example will suffice for giving an idea of its powers.
One half of a wheat field was manured Avith
sulphate of ammonia, at the rate of l^ cwt. to
the acre, and at a cost of £1 2s., the other half
with the ordinary manure. The latter produced
only 23f bushels of corn; but the former, under
the treatment of sulphate of ammonia, produced
32f bushels ; thus showing the immense advan-
tage derived from its application. The author
gave an extract from the Mark Lane Express of
the 27th May last, from which it appeared that
seeds of wheat steeped in svdphate of ammonia
on the 5th of July, had, by the 10th of August,
tillered into nine, ten, and eleven stems of nearly
equal vigour; while seeds of the same sample
unprepared, and sown at the same time, and in
the same soil, had not tillered into more than
two, three, and four stems. In the discussion

that ensued, in which Professor Grahame, Mr.
Cooper, and many members of the institution took
part, the advantages of the system were confirmed,
and the necessity for its extension insisted upon.
The various modes of purifying gas, and the
value of the i)roducts obtained for agricultural
purposes, were canvassed at length. It was
stated that seeds steejied for forty hours in a so-
lution of 1 lb. of sulphate of ammonia to one
gallon of water, sown in unmanured land, pro-
duced a heavy crop, and remained green during
a dry season, when every other kind of vegetation
became yellow and withered. Another remark-
able feature was, that faded flowers, when
plunged in a weak solution of sulphate of ammo-
nia, were in a shoi't time perfectly restored and
revivified; and that plants watered with it attained
extraordinary health and beauty. The great
loss resulting from the leakage of the gas through
the joints and the pores of the cast-iron pipes, was
incidentally mentioned, and it was stated that, in
some instances, it had amounted to from 25
to 75 per cent, of the total quantity produced.

REVIEW.

The Song of the British Farmer.

Composed by David Lee.

Purdaij, 48, High Holborii.

The follov.-ing song has been set to music, and
is well adapted for any fair compass of voice. It
is in three flats, and does not go higher than E.
The arrangement is very sweet, and does great
credit to the composer. The vignette is remark-
ably pretty. A British farmer is the prominent
figure ; in the back ground are his men cutting
the harvest : the homestead, near the village
church, is in the distance. We hope to see from
the spirited publisher many such really national
songs, and we may safely promise him support
from the fanners of England.

Song.

Here's a song for the British farmer bold,

With his golden grain and his cattle fold;

A loftier theme, perhaps, may be,

But here's power and wealth to his old roof tree.

The sailor may honour the rolhng seas.

The soldier may boast of his victories;

But they fight for the land, and stand or fall

For the tillage and plough that give health to all.

All titles and honour and "power must yield
To him who rules in the harvest field;
For kings of the soil are the good and brave.
Who till the land where the cornfields wave.
\Miose flocks are fed on the herbage green —
Whose countless herds in the vales are seen —
Whose home is content, and whose blessing is

health.
And whose labour gives to our isle its wealth.

es

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

GORSE AS FOOD FOR CATTLE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMERS' MAGAZINE.

Sir. — I perfectly agree with the ^\Titer who, in
your last number, signed himself a Subscriber,
on the value and cheapness of gorse or furze as
fodder for cattle, horses, and sheep ; and there-
fore write a few lines in corroboration. Working
horses do their work well fed with it mixed with
cut wheat straw, a quartern of oats per da)', and
an occasional handful of salt, from the 1st of
November to the end of March ; cows, for the
same period, may be maintained in good condition
with a heaped peck in the morning, and another
at night, well bruised, mixed with an equal
quantity of cut hay, and produce much and
excellent butter. Furze thrives in the poorest,
dry soils ; and the best mode of cultivating it is to
pare and bark the surface, give three pretty deep
ploughings and as many harrcwings ; sow four-
teen pounds per acre, broadcast ; no manure is
requisite, but it requires to be thickly sown ; the
quantity above mentioned is not too much. Early
in April is the proper time for sowing ; it should
be cut with a brier scythe the third year, and one-
third of the field every third year afterwards. A
machine M'orked by water-power, or by one
horse, which, in the same operation would cut
and bruise it almost to a pulj), is a desideratum :
a premium has, I think, been offered by the
Royal Agricultural Society, for an effective one at
a moderate price. Weather has no effect on
furze, except it be a severe and long continued
frost, and the situation be high and exposed.
I am. Sir, a constant reader,

Haverfordwest, June Sth. T. Eaton.

TALLOW

LONDON, June 6th. — In presenting my annual
statement, I have to notice the continuance of unusual
depression in our market. New sources for the sup.
ply of imported Tallow, coupled with increased pro-
duce of British Tallow, have (by rendering tlie means
of estimating supply more difficult) annulled the basis
of speculation, which has more or less influenced
prices of late years, and business for the past year has
not much exceeded the trade for actual consumption.
IVIy last year's statement laid the quantity of new
Tallow at U.'i.OOO casks ; the quantity brought down
was 119,748 casks ;, we may assume that it is likely to
be 120,000 casks this year. The average price of
Y.C. Tallow for the whole of the past year has been 41s.
4d. per cwt., against 46s. 6d. for the year preceding.
South America has furnished us with about 10,000
casks for two past years, and there is not any cause to
suppose that the supply of the current year will be
augmented. In British Tallow the past year has been
abundant. Town Tallow held at the lowest prices of
last summer, could only be sold in the winter at a loss;
improved breeding, feeding, and the use of steam for
transport, have no doubt increased our wealth in this
respect, by making cattle more productive, and mar-
kets more accessible. The import of foreign cattle
has been very inconsiderable, say about 1,500 head,
and a^fcinst this our export may be mentioned ; the
Buppliis at Smithfield have (contrary to opinion) been

as large this year as last; in beasts, the variation
is 2* per cent, less, in Sheep, 3i per cent. more.
North American Lard (so far as it is a substitute for
Tallow) has progressed but little in estimation during
the past year. It has now become requisite to notice
separately, Australia, as a quarter from whence Tal-
low may be expected in some quantity. Their papers
speak of an export of the article to the value of
355,000/. sterling ; but as it cannot be known at what
rate this valuation is made, or what proportion of it
may come to London, 8,000 casks are taken as the
probable supply from that quarter. They carry their
estimated yield of fat per head from then- cattle much
beyond our notion. This year the deliveries from the
London warehouses have again declined, but not more
than the United Kingdom (exclusive of London) has
taken additionally from Petersburg, direct. It
does not seem likely that consumption has de-
creased ; and assuming that to be correct, we
must conclude that the consumption of imported
Tallow is abridged by the expansion of
home grown. These premises lead to the couclusiou
that the means of producing Tallow of British Growth
have incre sed, and also that the supply of Imported
Tallow has become more diffuse and difficult to estimate
prospectively, but this year the trade have before them
a manageable stock aud supply in prospect, and very
moderate prices. Complaints of the quality of Tallow
have been transmitted to Petersburg, and there is full
reason to expect will be attended with beneficial effects
in that respect. Nicholas Soames.

A MEXICAN CART. — I have several times spoken
of Mexican carts— a more rude contrivance, take it all
in all, can scarcely be conceived. If in this country of
locomotives, railroad cars, and well-built stage-coaches,
the searcher after antiquarian relics and curiosities
should, by any chance, meet with a Mexican cart, he
v>'ould look upon it as the first, the original attempt of
man to construct a kind of wheel-carriage. Neither
iron nor steel, paint nor polish, spoke- shave nor plane,
is used in its fabrication — but give a Mexican a suffi-
ciency of brittle cotton-wood and raw hide, and he
has the materials ; give him but one of his own clumsy
and ill-contrived axes and an auger, and he has all the
tools he wants wherewith to furnish a cart. Out of
the first cutting of a cotton-wood, he hews an oblong
block, through the centre of which he bores and burns
a hole for the axletree ; he next digs, you cannot say
cuts, two pieces from the same tree, forming them into
segments of a circle, which he pins to the sides of the
aforesaid oblong mass by means of long wooden pegs.
The wheel is now finished. Should it not happen to be
rouad, it is of little consequence — it is near enough
that shape for all Mexican purposes. From the same
wood he next cuts his axletree and the body of his
cart, the latter fastened together by raw hide. Then
comes the tongue, also dug from the same source
whence came the wheels, and the vehicle is finished.
When in motion, the wheels stagger, wabble, and
wander about, apparently in every direction but the
right one, and as they slowly revolve upon their axle-
trees, the want of friendly grease is made painfully
manifest by the most distressing groans and screeches
— excruciating noises which can be heard for miles.
Should his journey be of but one or two days' du-
ration, the driver only carries one or two extra axle-
trees to guard against breakages ; if he is to be absent
a week, one-half of his load consists of those indis-
pensables, tl^e he never gets to his journey's end.—
Santa Fe Ea>>fdition,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

e?

AGRICULTURAL QUERIES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

Sir, — As there are doubtless many of your
younger readers, and perhaps some senior ones
too, to whom an answer to the following queries,
from some one of your excellent practical corres-
pondents, would be jiarticularly acceptable ; per-
haps you will have the goodness to insert them
in your valuable magazine. It is clear that the
prospects for farmers are anyching but cheering,
and it is equally clear, that it would be bad policy
to sit down in despair. We must bestir ourselves.
"We must, at the same time, reduce our expenses,
and increase our produce, if we would keep pace
with the spirit of the times. It appears to be a
settled question with all reasonable and thinking
men, that corn must be produced as cheap as pos-
sible; and if we do not or cannot produce it cheap
at home, we shall have free foreign competition
to stimulate us onwards. Therefore we must per-
force use every available resource for producing a
sufficient quantity of corn, to enable us to bring
it to market at the lowest possible cost to the
consumer. It is for reasons such as these, I am
about to put the following queries. A satisfactory
answer I presume will serve to elucidate a part of
the subject touched upon ; viz : — as far as relates
to the most economical method of preparing corn
for market.

1 . Would it answer to erect a steam engine
for the purpose of thrashing, winnowing, chafF-
cutting, corn-crushing, grinding, &c., on a farm,
say of 200 acres of arable and 100 pasture ?

2. What would be the difterence of expense,
per quarter, between thrashing, winnowing, &c.,
by steam and horse power, taking into consider-
ation the prime cost of each in the first instance,
and the comparative expense of working on aver-
age of years ?

3. In putting up a steam engine for the above
purposes, would it require any additional build-
ings to those generally found on a farm ; if any,
what buildings, and what would be the cost of
erection ?

4. To what other purposes is steam power
found to be particularly applicable on such a farm
(besides the above mentioned), and what is the
mode of application ?

Any information derived from the practical ex-
perience of those who have been accustomed to
the use of steam power to agricultural purposes,
either in its favour or against its employment,
would be exceedingly desirable, especially if com-
parative results are recorded. Hoping this will
not trespass too much on your space,

I remain. Sir, yours truly,
Oxfordshire, K. N.

May 30th, 1844.

Sir, — What is the result of applying gypsum to
manure heaps, recommended by Professor Henslow .'
We are all anxious to know : I have tried it unburnt,
and no good ; I have been told by first-rate chemists
it ought to be burnt, or it is of no use ; and I am also
told by a first-rate chemist that it is no use to fix the
ammonia ; for when applied burnt, it will immetliately

form into a cement, when it comes in contact with
moisture ; and so hard as to want breaking with a
sledge-hammer, and no use whatever to fix the ammo-
nia ; and when not burnt, it would take twelve months
to absorb the ammonia, and consequently the ammo-
nia will all have escaped before the gypsum could act,
being itself full of water. Who is right, and what is
right.' I consider myself, it is of no use, but want to
know what is the opinion of others who have tried it.

Also, does ashes bui-nt and made from the couch
and soil in the hedges, supply alkali suflicient to make
up the deficiency recpiired in guano, to drill in for
turnips.' Wood ashes I know will, but this we cannot
so easily get as we can ashes burnt from the outside
of the fields, full of couch ; and the soil in the very
fields we are going to drill our turnips in. I hope some
experienced agricultural chemist will answer these
questions, to settle the affair altogether. Must car-
bonate of soda be used? If so, and earth ashes will
not do, jiray let us know ; and whether ashes made of
the burnt earth are only recommended to mix with the
guano, only as our agent to get it drilled in better;
or whether, as I have said before, do they supply the
alkali required to make the guano perfect for turnips,
and what proportions of ashes to guano ; and you
will much oblige Your obedient servant,

Addis Jackson.

Orpington, Kent, May 28, 1844.

ANSWERS TO AGRICULTURAL QUERIES.

Sir. — In your last magazine appears a request
from a Cumberland Farmer, to be informed
which is the best way of destroying coltsfoot on a
holmy soil ; in reply to which, I have to say that
if a " holmy soil " means one suited to turnips, a
veiy certain way is to put it under that crop,
letting the drills, and also the turnips in them, be
sufficiently far apart to admit hand and horse-
hoes during the greater part of the season, and,
by their aid, to destroy the coltsfoot as often as it
reappears, which he vnW find it more and more
languid in doing, until finaUy it ceases to come :
but should it mean a soil too stift' for this root,
he may fallow it, and let a sight of the weed be a
signal for the plough ; and, as its leaves are its
lungs, he thus keeps it deprived of air until it
dies, which, when so treated, I have never seen
it fail to do ; and I am a practical farmer, and
your obedient servant, A Welshm.\.n.

Pembrokeshire, June 8th.

TO THE EDITOIl OF THE MARK LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — In answer to the question in your last, as to
the maker of the Horse Dibbling Machine, I beg to
say it is Mr. Wm. Newberry, Hook-Norton, Oxford-
shire.

The crops of last year planted with it, proved its
superiority as well in saving of seed as in produce ; and
in a report to the Royal Agricultural Society by J. H.
Langstone, Esq. , M.P. , Mr. Henry Fowler, and another
gentleman, its merits, founded on the e\ idence of facts,
are well set forth ; this report was published in the last
year's transactions. The crops of this season planted
with it also bear evidence of its utility.

jNIr. Newberry has been at a vast expense in bring-
ing his machine to its present state of perfection, and
his numerous friends will be highly pleased to see him
rewarded in the profit of a good sale.

Banbury, June 20M. Horticultor,

F 2

08

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

AGRICULTURAL INTELLIGENCE, FAIRS, &c.

NEWTON ST. CYRES FAIR was very well sup
plied, both as respects fat bullocks ami sheep. There
were also many dealers present. At the opening,
strong prices were asked for stock by the owners ; and
this, undoubtedly, was for a time a bar to business.
At length, however, these gave way — somewhat con-
siderable on bullocks, and on sheep not less than from
3s. to -is. per heiul, and then a good business was
done. Among the fat bullocks, Mr. James Tremlett,
of Court Barton, had a lot of very superior heifers,
two of which were bought by Mv. Wm. Cann, of
Newton and the Exeter Western Market, butcher, at
10s. per score, to be taken by weight. A third, an
extraordinarily prime article, was bought by Mr. Ed-
ward Batting, of Newton, butcher, at twelve shillings
per score — giving 5s. to luck, to be kept till Christ-
mas next 1 I Mr. Comer had three very good steers,
which were sold, as was understood, at about t)s. per
score. Heifer beef, of a fair description, fetched from
8s. 6d. to 9s. per score, and a few only remained un-
sold. There were a few cows and calves, but these on
slack sale. Of store bullocks but few were shown.
With respect to slice]), the best wethers fetched 4f d.
per lb. ; and ewes, of the fattest description, 4|d. per
lb. There was a very plentiful supply of lambs, but
not generally of the best description, and these sold at
from 5d. to S.Jd. per lb.

OSWESTRY FAIR.— There was a large supply of
sheep, and a tolerable attendance of buyers, particu-
larly from Birmingham, Dudley, Wolverharr.pton,
&c., who, however, were very shy in making pur-
chases. Choice wethers obtained .J.Ul. per lb., and
ewes 5d. Lambs of first-rate quality sold at 5^d. to
6d., but inferiors were scarcely able to rea:;h 5d. Pigs
also were much lower, and very few were sold. There
was a ^•cry small cattle fair on Wednesday, aiid as
prime beef was scarce it sold readily at bid. to 6d. ;
the same may be said of cows and calves. There
were plenty of stores, but owing to the want of pro-
vender they were a complete drug, and very few were
sold, even at a considerable reduction in value.

PENRITH FAIR.— A good number of animals
were shown. Calving cattle sold slowly, at lower
prices than at former fairs ; but the two-year-old bul-
locks were in great request, at advanced rates. The
few fat cattle showns old readily at from 25s. to 26s. 6d.
per stone, sinking the ofl'al.

RENFREW FAIR.— There was a good deal of in-
ferior stock exhibited, but there were some tine milch
cows in the market. Mr. James Robertson, Hall of
Neilstone, had one for which he asked 25/., but we
did not learn if he found a purchaser. Mr. William
Hamilton, farmer, Brownside, sold a very superior
milch Cow at 20/. Mr John Montgomery, cattle-
dealer, Gallogate, Glasgow, had, it was allowed, the
best lot, which were nearly all disposed of at fair
prices. The demand for inferior animals was far from
brisk, and, upon the whole, sales were not so lively
as we have seen at former fairs.

BRECHIN TRINITY MUIR FAIR.— Dealing
went on briskly among all sorts at an early hour at full
pi'ices. The best fat wedders brought about 5;ld. per
lb. to sink the oft'al, and were readily bought up ; top
price black-faced three-year-old wedders, 33s. ; lean
ones for feeding, 18s. per head. There was a fair show
of cattle on the ground, and much business done. All
kinds of beasts were wanted, but the sellers standing
oiit for very high rates, the sale of small grazing cat-
tle was very stiff. Two-year-old stots and queys
brought from 6/. to HI. — about 12 per cent, higher
than last year. Three-year-old Angus stots ranged

from 15/. to 17/. 5s. per head; two-year-old Angus
stots averaged 11/. lis., top price 1 1/. There being
more buyers than sellers, several lots left the ground
by 10 A.M. There were few Highland or Aberdeen-
shire on the !Muir.

BRIDGNORTH FAIR was attended by a full sup-
ply of all sorts of stock, which hung heavily on hand.
The cause was clearly shown by the expressions fre-
quently let fall in the course of the day—" You must
sell us keep as well as stock." There is no doubt
the continued drought has been the cause of much
disappointment in this neighbourhood.

BELTON FAIR was but thinly attended, both by
buyers and sellers. A good supply of stirks and yearl-
ings were in the fair, but few of them changed mas-
ters. The number of good horses was small, but a
magnton quantum of inferior nags were oft'ered for a
trifling sum each.

DOWN ST.MARYFAIR.— Thoughnot alargefair,
some bullocks of the tirst order were shown. Business
was dull, but the best Beef fetched 9s. 6d. per score.

DUNSE FAIR. — There was a very large supply of
fat cattle, su})erior, both in point of numbers and
quality, to what has been shown for some years. Fat
cattle met with a ready sale at from 5s. 6d. to 6s. 3d.
per stone, according to quality, and nearly all sold.
One large lot belonging to Mr. DLxon, of Peelwalls,
were much admired, and were sold at about 6s. 6d, per
stone. There were a few remarkably fine polled kyloes
from the Lothians. There was a demand for grazing
cattle, but few were in the market. Two year olds
brought from //. to 11/. There was rather a small
show of milch cows, in comparison with late markets ;
good ones sold readily at from 11/. to 14/. There was
a ftiir show of Sheep, for which the demand was not
brisk. Mutton may be quoted at from 4.id. to 5d.
per lb.

HELSTON FAIR.— The cattle exhibited were of a
very supei-ior description ; the sheep, especially, were
some of the finest we ever recollect seeing in this part
of the kingdom. We must not omit to mention save
ral remarkably fine jjigs, which proved that the atten-
tion paid to the breed of this very useful animal had
been eminently successful. There were also several
husbandry implements of a new description submitted
for inspection.

KIDDERMINSTER FAIR was but indifferently
supplied with cattle and sheep, with a moderate at-
tendance of buyers. There was, consequently, a very
dull sale, at prices ranging from 5d. to CM. The
horse fair exhibited a still worse appearance, and the
amount of business done was quite unimportant.

ABINGDON FAIR was completely surcharged
^\-ith all sorts of stock, particularly horses, very few of
which changed hands, independent of the limited
number that were fit for the London market; and
these commarided tolerably good prices. Of cows
little can be said as to prices ; the sorts though va-
rious, and many of each sort were, with rare excep-
tions, below mediocrity, having been evidently forced
on the market by the shortness of keep and the dis-
heartening prosjiect of winter fodder ; the hay crop
being considered almost a failure from the burnt-up
state of the spring corn, but little assistance can be
expected from the fodder. The same observations
apply to sheep, of which there was a glut, many
hundreds being also forced on the market from the
same cause, and thus depreciating their value ; for not
only is the hay fodder lost to them , but unless there is
a speedy alteration in the weather by an abundant fall
of rain, that most valuable of food, the Swedish turuips,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Ofli

will be an entire failure. These causes, to say nothing
of corn and cash — many fanners' last year's deficient
crop bein<i; now severely felt — made a sad dej)ression
in the sheep trade, and those that changed hands pro-
duced very i)Oor prices. Lamljs varied from lis. to
16s. per head ; whilst we saw a beautiful lot of half-
})red ewes in excellent condition sold at 27s. per head,
the owner of which informed us that it was the only
offer he had had. This is indeed a melancholy pros-
pect for the farmer.

THORNE FAIR. — The show of fat stock was
small, and realized from 6s. to 7s. per st. The miui-
ber of lean beasts was not so large as on former occa-
sions, and, on account of the dry weather whi(;h had
prevailed for so long a period previous to the fair,
causing a great deticency of pasturage, the j)rices were
very low. As an instance, sliowing how prices had
suffered from the late drought, we heard of a farmer in
this neighbourhood who sold rive beasts for two pounds
per head less than he was offered for them at Doncas-
ter April fair, (iood fresh heifers were in demand,
and realized enhanced prices. Though the su]iply of
cows and calves was small, they were difficult to dis-
pose of. Superior sorts of in-calvers were much in-
quired after. In the sheep fair a few lots of hogs ob-
tained about "t.^d. per lb. and two or three ))ens of a
poorer sort could not meet with customers. In horses
there was not much business ; those exhibited were of
a very inferior description.

TARBOLTON FAIR was a quick market for
young dairy stock ; but for other sorts there was little
demand.

TAUNTON ANNUAL TOWN FAIR.— The sup-
ply of stock was extremely short, not more than half
the usual quantity exhibited for sale. The few fat
beasts offered fetched from 9s. to 9s. Gd. per score ;
fat wethers 5d. per lb. ; and other sheep were quite
unsaleable. The long-continued drought, still so dis-
tressingly prevailing, deterred farmers fi-om bringing
in their cattle, on account of their impoverished con-
dition, occasioned by shortness of food, and deficiency
in many places of water also. The bare state of pas-
turage and diminished stock of fodder also led to a dis-
inclination to purchase. The show of horses was very
limited, very few of good character were on the ground;
but those for the plough, of which there were not many
serviceable ones, brought good prices.

COCKERMOUTH market on Monday was well

shears for Mr. Charles Hall, 3/. ; 2nd prize, Thoma
Sheppard, shears for David Barclay, Esq., 2/. ; 3rd
prize, William May, who shears for Mr. C. Hall, 1/,
1 Os. ; 1th prize, Thomes Scrivens, who shears for Mr. C.
Hal), ]/. ; .'jth prize, Henry Chitty, who shears for
Mr. Martin, 10s. Champion Class. — Prize.
George Parish, who shears for Mr. D. Maydwell, 3/. ;
Gratuities were awarded to Charles Turner, who shears
for Earl of Lovelace, and to Henry Crockford, who
shears for Sir E. Antrobus.

COLLOMPTON FARMERS' CLUB, 1814.—
Suiui.i/rs J OR Discus.-iioN. — July 6, August 3, and
September 7 : Implements of Husbandry. October
.") : Milch C^ows, their Breed and Management. No-
vember 2 : Draining (the different kinds of). Decem-
ber 7 : Flax and Hemp (the advantages of. Meetings
held on the first Saturday in every month.

ONGAR LABOURERS' FRIEND SOCIETY.—
A General Meetuig of the above Society was held on
Friday last, at the Town- Hall, Ongar, for the purpose
of arranging the prizes, &c. Raikes Currie, Esq.,
M.P., in the chair. There were also present — Capel
Cure, Esq. ; J. F. Wright, Esq. ; Rev. P. W. Ray,
Hon. Secretary ; Rev. G. Alder ; Rev. P. Beard ;
Messrs. T. and J. Stokes, Palmer, Hooper, Eliot,
Thomas Richardson, R. Cooper, Noble, &c., &c.
Several alterations in the former prizes were made,
and others added for the encouragement of schools,
benefit societies, &c. R. Currie, Esq., M.P., inti-
mated his intention to give a i)rize of a silver cup to
the renting farmer who shall have expended the
greatest sum in agricultural labour.

TO FREE LAND FROM MOSS. — I take the
liberty of asking you for your opinion as regards the
extirpation of moss in meadow-land, under the follow-
ing circumstances : — I farm about 150 acres in the
county Kilkenny, the soil of which consists principally
of a sandy loam. I came into the possession of it
about twenty j^ears ago, it then being in a very ex-
hausted state. I have however succeeded, in a great
measure, in restoring its fertility ; but there is one
part of it that appears likely to withstand all my en-
deavours. The soil of that particular part is a sandy
Inam, on a good limestone quarry, with two feet of
surface-soil. About ten years ago I broke it up, it
being much inclined to go to moss (having previously
always well treated it). In two years after I laid it
down, apparently in the best condition ; but the next

supplied with fat and lean stock, there being exposed ' year I perceived the moss had gained ground again,
for sale upwards of 100 fat sheep of the black-faced j I then gave it a good top-dressing of road-stuff,
and white-faced bi'eeds, for which there was a pretty mixed with earth and bog-mould, and a small portion

brisk demand, but at prices a little lower than those
we noticed some weeks past. The range was from 5d.
to 5fd. per lb. There were about 120 lean black-
faced sheep, 66 white faced hogs, and 60 head of Irish
cattle, for which the demand was only indifferent.
Fat cattle brought about 24 s. per stone ; fat calves
4id. to 5d. per lb. ; and pigs from 9s. to Pis. each.

of salt ; notwithstanding which, in the ensuing year
the moss had still increased. I then determined to
conquer it, if possible, by a more summary process.
I harrowed it six or seven times, and then put on it a
top-dressing of well-rotted farm-yard manure, about
80 loads to the Irish acre. I had a very good crop of
meadow the following year ; and I gave it another simi-
SURREY AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION.; lar top-dressing the year after. The moss then appeared
The meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday again, of a much stronger nature than hitherto. I

the 5th June, at Epsom, in the fair field. The fol-
lowing persons obtained prizes : — The best bull of any
age, Mr. William Towns, 3/. 3s. ; best two-year-old

then resolved to try a ditferent mode of treatment. I
purchased a sheep-net, and folded the sheep on it for
the two next winters, meadowing it in summer. This

heifer, David Barclay, Esq., 21. 2s. ; best cow of any , has succeeded almost as well as I expected ; but still,
age, Air. W. Towns, 21. 2s. ; best down Ram, David ! in some parts, the moss is as vigorous as ever, and I
Barclay, Esq., 3^ 3s. ; best pen of ten Down ewes, | have almost despaired of success. I would not wish
David Barclay, Esq., 21. 2s. ; best boar, the Earl of to break it up again for the purpose of taking any
Lovelace, 21. 2s. ; best sow, Mr. W. Butcher, 2/. 2s.; ' crops from it, being situated close to a pleasure-ground
best pen of ten Down ewe lambs, David Barclay, 3/. ! which I would not injure for .any consideration. Now,
3s. ; second best ditto. Earl of Lovelace, 21. 2s. ; I would like to know whether I could succeed by
best pen of ten two-tooth ditto, David Barclay, 3/. 3s.; burning it this summer, and immediately aften\-ards
second best ditto. Earl of Lovelace, 21. 2s. — Sheki» la)'ing down with the seeds j^ou recommend in your
Shearing M.\tch. — 1st prize, Hem-y Chilman, who j Gazette.— -7m/< Farmer's Gazette.

70

THE FABMER'S MAGAZINE.

AGRICULTURAL REPORTS.

GENERAL AGRICULTUUAL REPORT FOR
JUNE.

For a long series of years, we have not had oc-
casion to record so long a continuance of dry
weather as has been that experienced during the
past and two preceding months. As might,
therefore, be expected, the want of moisture has
been severely felt in most, if not in all, parts of
England, and proved, in many instances, highly
prejudicial to the interests of the agricultual body:
indeed, the general tenor of our accounts bears
testimony to that effect. Notwithstanding, how-
ever, that scarcly any rain fell up to the 25th, the
reports which have reached us from the large dis-
tricts, have been uniformly favourable as respects
the wheat crops ; indeed, we may pretty safely
venture to observe that, taken as a whole, they
were never looking finer, or more promising for a
yield. So far, therefore, matters are satisfactory ;
but, when we make reference to all spring corn,
we find cause for entertaining the anticipation
that a great -deficiency in the pi^jduce must be
inevitable. It is a well-known fact that many
extensive breadths of land, on which barley has
been sown, present the aspect of a barren com-
mon— not one-fourth of the grain having in
many cases genninated ; while in others, the
plants have a most miserable appearance. We
are happy in being able to report rather more
favourably of oats, the crop of which appears to
have suffered much less from the dry weather
than many parties have supposed ; but, as tc
beans and peas, no doubt can be entertained that
their produce will be very deficient There is no
question whatever that the fine showers — general
we believe in their extent — which have fallen
since the 25th, will be productive of essential
benefit to all spring corn ; but they arrived too
late to repair the damages already sustained.
The unfavourable prospects for a crop of barley,
oats, beans, and peas, together with the com-
paratively small supplies of last year's growth in
the hands of our farmers, have produced rather
large imports of those of foreign growth, and
some considerable portions have been released
for home consumption as they have come to hand ;
nevertheless, prices have been on the advance,

J:et, in our judgment, they have not assumed a
ligher range than the circumstances of supply
and demand have warranted. Considerable
speculation, for forward delivery, is still taking
place in barley, beans, and peas, the arrivals of
which, from the shipping ])orts up the Baltic
and elsewhere, will, no doubt, be extensive for
some months hence. "WTiether they will be pro-
ductive of much lower prices, is a matter solely
dependent upon the future state of the atmos-
phere.

As to the prospect for the range in the A-alue of
wheat, we may speak with some degree of confi-
dence. Farmers in general admit that the quan-
tities of that description of grain on most large

farms are nearly average ones for the season ;
besides which, the importers of foreign are pay-
ing the seventeen shillings duty on about two-
thirds of their present arrivals ; the crop is
looking well, and the stock in bond, moderate.
Circumstances are, therefore, against any rise of
importance in the quotations of wheat, which, by
the way, have, we consider, assumed a fair value.
This has been one of the most unfortunate
seasons for the hay harvest ever recollected. In
many parts, such has been the scarcity of grass,
the land has not been mowed at all ; while, when
that process has been adopted, the produce has
proved unusually hght. This shortness of keep
has consequently produced a series of unfavour-
able results to the grazing community, who, in
consequence, have been compelled to purchase
more than their ixsual supplies of artificial food,
and to send large numbers of both beasts and
sheep to the various markets, which, under other
circumstances, would have been kept back for
some time hence. Store stock has been a mere
drug, and receded considerably in price. The
extreme dryness of the atmosphere has, however,
been productive of benefit to the depastured in
preventing the spread of the epidemic amongst
the beasts, and the rot amongst the sheep;
indeed, we may safely observe that fewer cases of
disease have not been known for some years past,
than during the month just concluded.

The metropolitan and other markets have been
very scantily supplied ^vith both hay and straw,
owing to the before-mentioned causes, and prices,
in consequence, have had an upward tendency to
a considerable extent, especially as relates to
those of hay. Meadow qualities — which in the
early part of May with difliculty found buyers
at from £3 5s. to £3 10s. — have^advanced to £4
15s. and £5 ; while clover has risen, during the
month from £5 10s. to £7 per load. Straw,
though it is quite evident the produce this season
will be small, has not particijiated in so large an
advance ; yet it must be quoted from 4s. to 6s.
per load higher, with an actire inquiry.

No little curiosity has been again shown by the
community at large, as to the imports of live
stock from abroad, under the operation of the
new tariff.

In noticing this interesting and important
question, we cannot but express our surprise at
the ridiculously absurd statements which have
been going the rounds of a portion of the daily
and weekly journals, to the effect that such " im-
ports are decreasing," and that " the foreign gra-
ziers are paying no uttenfion whatever to the im-
provement of their stockfor the English markets."
This exhibits as much density of ignorance upon
the subject as can be well imagined. "We are not
about to admit that the arrivals have been such
as to create alarm for the moment ; but that they
have increased is more than evident. For in-
stancCj during the month of June, 1843, in con-
sequence, no doubt, of the miserably low prices

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

71

at which fat stock was selling at Smithfield and
our large pro\dncial cattle markets, the imports
into London were only tivo cows from Holland,
while, at the outports, they did not exceed 20
from Holland and vSpain. During the past month,
we have received into London about 90 oxen and
cows and 40 sheep from Rotterdam, and 20 beasts
from Vigo, in Spain; while at Hull about 16
beasts, and at Liverpool 10 oxen, have been re-
ceived, thereby giving a total importation for the
year of 450 beasts and 160 sheep. If this be not
an increase — what is ? But further, we have
every reason to know — and the large exports of
our finest animals partly confirms this statement
— that the continental graziers and flock-masters
are employing every eftbrt to improve their stock,
in order to compete with those of our own coun-
try. As an instance of the truth of our position,
we adduce the simple fact that we have handled
some beasts this month from Holland very far su-
perior to any which had hitherto come to hand
from that quarter. If, therefore, in so short a
time as that, during which the tarifF has been in
operation, so great an improvement, as we have
noticed, can be eflected in quality — what may be
the result in future years ? Apart, however,
from the imports of live animals, let us regard the
arrivals of foreign and colonial provisions. Al-
most eveiy vessel that now arrives in our docks
from the United States, Canada, and the Cape of
Good Hope, bring large quantities of cheese,
beef, lard, &c., M'hile we have actually to notice
an arrival of beef from Netv South Wales ; but
which, owing to the bad state in which it was
cured, has produced very low figures. Some ex-
ceedingly large parcels of American cheese have
found buyers at 35s. to 40s. ; tierce beef, 30s. to
40s.; do., for ships' use, 80s. to 90s. ; prime
mess, 65s. to 72s. 'd. ; and prime mess pork,
3Ss. to 52s. 6d. per cwt.

The corn trade has been very firm since our
last report, and prices, if we except those of wheat
ruling about stationaiy, have had an upward ten-
dency, while the suppUes have been but mode-
rate.

From Scotland our advices are somewhat satisfac-
tory. In most quarters some fine showers have fallen ;
indeed, the want of moisture has been in no instance
so much complained of as with us. The wheats are
looking well ; but reports do not speak very favour-
ably of spring corn. In most of the principal markets
the best kinds of grain have sold steadily, at full prices ;
but, in most other qualities, a very moderate amount
of business has been transacted.

In Ireland the rains appear to have been pretty
general, and to have imparted considerable vigour to
the crops. The supply of old wheat being small, that
article has been in demand at very full rates ; while
spring corn has advanced a trifle.

The following is our usual monthly statement
of the supplies and prices of fat stock exhi-
bited and sold in Smithfield Cattle Market. The
former have consisted of 13,290 beasts, 169,800 sheep,
and lambs, 1,840 calves, and 2,600 pigs; while the
latter have ruled at 2s. 2d. to 4s. for Beef, 2s. 4d. to 4s.
Mutton, 4s. 4d. to 5s. 4d. for Lamb, 3s. 2d. to 4s.
4d. for Veal, and Ss. to 4s. 2d. per 81bs. for Pork.
During the corresponding period in 1843, the account
stood thus :—

June, 1843.

Supplies.

Beasts 11 ,980

Sheep and Lambs 159,400

Calves 2,200

Pigs 2,800

Prices — per Bibs.

s. d. 8. d.

Beef. 2 10to4 0

Mutton 3 0 4 4

Lamb 4 2 5 4

Veal 3 0 4 6

Pork 3 0 4 0

Some fluctuation has occurred in the demand, yet
we may consider that for the finest qualities tolerably
steady, at about stationary prices ; but all other de-
scriptions have hung heavily on hand, and sold on
easier terms.

Up to Newgate and Leadenhall markets the arrivals
of slaughtered meat from Scotland and various distant
parts of England have been moderately good for the
time of year. The trade has ruled somewhat firm, and
the rates have been mostly supported. Beef sold at
from 2s. 2d. to 3s. 4d. ; Mutton, 2s. 4d. to 33. lOd. ;
Lamb, 4s. to 5s 4d. ; Veal, 3s. 2d. to 4s. 4d. ; and
Pork, 3s. to is. 2d. per 81bs. by the carcase.

DERBYSHIRE.

The universal topic with the farmers now is the dry-
ness of the season, and many, not without reason, begin
to be alarmed ; and the observation which is so frequently
elicited from us when laboring under any dire calamity,
" we never saw the like before," is very general. The
like before, however, we have seen, though not desir-
able. To-day I was in company with a person bordering
on eighty, who states, some fifty years ago verj' little rain
fell before October in one particular year (mai/ we neoer
e.vperience the like again). Scarce a shower has fallen
with us since the commencement of March, and, as a
natural consequence the ground is extremely parched.
On our best grazing districts the pastures will not
bear above one-third of the quantity of stock they would
under more favourable circumstances. The western and
northwestern parts of the county, which comprises the
Peak, alias High Peak, has suff"ered severely, and the
dairy-maid has lacked her quantity of milk : take the
county as a whole, the pastures are extremely bare, and
resemble in many instances in the distance fallow fields.
The hay crops will be extremely light, 10 cwt. to the
acre about an average, clover crops especially so,
where the ground was grazed with sheep in the spring,
and never got a cover. Hay has advanced in value,
and many holders of old hay will not sell, expecting
prices to range still higher ; but I do not expect any
further advance will take place, for this reason — old hay
was never more plentiful ; one-third of a crop to one-
fourth is still unconsumed, that will be a powerful bal-
ance : many fields of late sown barley and oats will have
to be, and has already been ploughed up, and again sown
with turnips. All late spring-sown corn is doing
wretchedly, and never can under the most favourable
future circumstances make a crop. On the other hand,
where the land was got to a fine tilth early in the
spring, and sown early so as to get a cover, the crops
are doing well, though by no means bulky. Wheat
has suff'ered the least, and with few exceptions will
make a crop, and I have no doubt, take it as a whole,
will be an average, though that much depends on the
future ; it is mostly in ear and is promising. Fallows
are in excellent order. In our turnip districts the

72^

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

process of sowing is drawing to a close ; accounts are ;
extremely conflicting as regards the plant. Tlie fly is j
much complained of, although I still think it never yet |
destroyed a plant ; this of course is my opinion, and I I
am aware not general ; I should like to see reasons to j
the contrary. A greater breadth never was put in, j
and artificial manures were never more used ; bones have
in consequence of the drought advanced in value, and
are becoming scarce at any price. I fancy farmers will
this year have enough of the far famed Guano : my
opinion (and I have tried it) is, it is all humbug, and
too easy of adulteration ever to benefit the farmer. The
cheapest way yet is to make manure at home. I have ex-
perimented with most of the nevffangled nostrums, and
find none equal to bones, rape-dust, and home made
manures ; sugar I believe, from various experiments I
have made, is a most powerful artificial manure which
can be applied, and I am certain nothing can start the
turnip plant like it, but the duty upon it excludes its use
for such purposes. Lean stock is with difficulty disposed
of, and really fat stock with difficulty met with. The
markets are well supplied with half meated things, to
make room for those at home : grazing must be a most

unprofitable affair this year, the scarcity of keep has
produced a declension in vjdue, and stock has improved
very little in condition. Corn markets are without
much variation worth notice. While I write, it thun-
ders in the distance ; I hope this day is the winding up
of the dry season.

Answer to Whitfield Example Farm State-
ment.— In 1842 ten acres of land of mine were
fallowed, heavily manured and limed, sown with
wlieat ; the wire worm destroyed the whole. In
the spring of 1843, I drilled oats on the same ground
and seeded it down with clovers ; the oats failed in
consequence of the wetness of the season. I ploughed
the ground over about midsummer, broke it down
and put in turnips, boning it heavily, but tlie
season was too far advanced to make a full crop.
These were eaten on the ground, and the land this spring
sown with oats and seeded again, and from the dry-
ness of the season will just find me seed again, or per-
haps a quarter to the acre. This field has in two years
been seeded six times, manured, limed, boned, and
brought forth nothing. Query, how much profit is
there ? Lord Ducie will perhaps tell me. — June 19.

CALENDAR OF HORTICULTURE.— JULY.

Retrospect. — The M'eather continues to attract
attention, but its effects are very various. In the
harsh, gritty loams we find \'egetables of the
cabbage family veiy poor and dry; seedhngs
can scarcely stir, and to sow, excepting in frames
or under some shelter where water is at hand,
must be all but useless. Potatoes of the early
sorts are looking well, but the late planted are
patchy, and some are not yet sown. Kidney-
beims, unless raised in pots, Avill not vegetate ;
and thus, after all the noble weather of February,
March, and April, the season will be late. A
little rain would have brought forward a most
abundant crop of early peas, and a profusion of
strawberries; but many of the latter cannot
swell. There is irregularity in the ap])les ; some
trees are loaded, others are destitute of fruit.
Pears appear numerous and capitally set ; peaches
are clean, excepting some mildew, and the fruit
is abundant ; cherries in great quantity.

In all probability rain will fall soon after turn
of days, and then the ground \vill be in fine con-
dition for sowing and planting.

We are now taught by experience to know the
real utiUty of ivater to gardens ; and, therefore,
recur to the subject of that great agent, in order
to induce everj' person who delights in horticul-
ture, and has the means at command, either to
introduce a rill of soft water or to prepare a foun-
tain and large recipient; or, finally, to form
brick-tanks in several parts of the garden, six or
seven feet deep, equally long, and half as wide ;
to be cemented with Parker's terrase. and covered
during frost. Every particle of the rain-water
from the dwelling, offices, sheds, glass erections,
&c., &c., might therein be collected and stored
for dry periods like the present. In Thanet, and
in some parts of Berkshire, tanks are com-
mencing ; but they are seldom made large
enough to prove of real utility. Five thousand

gallons of rain-water, handily situated, are not
too much for a garden of half an acre in a season
of drought like this, which has already extended
to nine consecutive weeks.
Weekly Operations in the Kitchen-
garden.

First week — Kidney -bearu of both sorts, sow
once more ; or if the dry weather continue, trans-
fer them to good ground, well watered, after
raising them in pots ; the roots must not be dis-
turbed. A few carrots, onions, for drawing young,
winter spinach, endive, and the last crop of
spring broccoli. These sowings will be of no avail
unless the earth be moist by rains, or made so by
previous watering, and covering during days, as
before directed — see p. 641, June.

The rest of the month'must be devoted to ope-
rations suitable to the existing weather :
thus cauliflowers, and especially brocoli plants for
spring use, are to be transplanted into ground
I'ich in manure ; and showery weather is to be
preferred : but the drought may continue, as it
did in 1818 and 1825, till September, and yet a
season must not be lost. In that case, the prudent
method will be to leave the ground undisturbed,
choosing the site of an early, or medium early,
potato-plot. Make holes along the centre of the
space, between the rows, M'ith a crow-bar, trind-
ling the soil, to loosen it a little, and give space
for the roots of the vegetables. Cut away the
long straggling roots, and insert each plant to
half the length of its stem, and fill eveiy hole
brim-full of water, into which a small hand of
guano, or some such powdery manure, may be
added, Avith excellent effect. We have seen a bed,
so planted, flourish farbetter than if the soU had
been digged at a season, when the little remain-
ing moisture would have been vaporised by un-
necessary exposure to a hot, droughty atmos-
phere.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

73

Endive and lettuce require rich and mellow
soil ; and it is always wse to provide a plot or
border of the sort, some weeks previously, as
then tlie ground need not be further distur])ed.

Celery, growing in trenches, must be watered
and earthed-up. Continue to plant to the end of
the month, but always in rich, black, vegetable
mould. The London market-gardeners effect
all their great works, by being in situations where
the mould is naturally a rich alhuial loam, near
the river, and small tributary rills, and rendered
annually still more rich by vast additions of ma-
nure. Country gardens cannot compete against
advantages so manifest, but were rills introduced
among plots, and the groimd constantly manured,
lettuces, endive, cauliflower, celery, onions, arti-
chokes, and most other vegetables would be pro-
duced in abundance, and of a quality little known
at present. Cottagers approach in a degree to
this rich tUlage, by collecting, at every opportu-
nity, road scrapings, with all the accompanying
manure which they can collect.

Sow a few turnips about the middle of the
month, and a crop of winter spinach; and after the
second week sow cabbage, for early coleworts,
the best of all greens.

Transplant strong, well-grown leeks ; the
ground should be rich : in it make round holes,
drop a httle powdeiy manure into each, place the
plant deep in the hole, adding some light rich
earth just to cover the i-oots, and fix it with water
poured into the hole, but do not bring the earth
round the green i)art, as it is the object to let the
leeks grow, and fill the holes.

Fruit Department.
Peach, Neclarine, and Apricot trees require re-
gulation, but »he time when, and tlic reasons uhi/,
ought to be considered. The trees, if lieahiiy, will
have produced a number of redundant slicols, wliicli
could not be properly trained ns nextycui's bearers.
First then, as respects these, llie shoots of the sprino
growth, situated near llie base of the present i'ruit-
bearing shoots, ouijht to be laid in so close to the
bearers, as to come in as successor? ; in this view
some persons tie the two logeiiier witii a soft bass-
shrcd, so as by a genile pressure to make the green
shoot take a similar direction ; this operation should
be completed by the middle of the month. As to
the displacement of redundancies, it cannot be too
soon effected wiih all those which can be wholly
obiuerated ; but if some portion is to be left, it
should be deferred till the wood be somewhat ripe,
otherwise a progeny of young shoots will break,
and require anotlier, and more difficult retrenchment.
Apple, pear, plum, and other espalier or wall
trees, require equally prudent management, as the
breast-wood must be firm, and somewhat ripe befoie
the knife is used to cut back for spurs.

Dwurf standards, particularly pears, are left to
form their own spurs, which, when formed, should
remain, the shoot beyond the fruitful bud being cut
entirely away.

Fig trees must be so trained as to expose their
new wood, and the embryo fruit to the sun and air ;
therefore, if there be too many branches, a nuinber of
the least fertile ought to be cut entirely away, to
give room to the younger fruit-bearing shoots.

Fines grow very rapidly; it is of consequence to
divest the trees o( useless wood only, permitting the
first shoot to be well exposed to light, when trained
agfiinst the walls. Too many leaves cannot be left
oil, provided that all be exposed to the sun, Clus-
ters shaded liy well- placed foliage are not thereby
retarded ; the siuifle keeps the berry from scaldin;/,
and the mass of foliage prepares the fluids wliich
feed the berries. Abeicrombie Ions ago aj^precialed
the just medium, and slated liial "the bunches of
urapes would be large and perfectly grown, and
every bunch become ripe more regularly, and soonei"
l)y tliree weeks than when the viaes are neglected
and permitted to be over-run with useless s!ioois.

We proi)Ose hereafler, to refer to the culture of
the vine on walls, chieHy for the purpose of the
vintage : out door grapts have failed so frequently
of late years — not one really fertile and inaluring
season hiving occurred since 1835 — that it may Le
desir.ible to legulaie ihe trees, so as to secure the
largest crop of fine green grapes by the end of
August, or first week of September.

Budding of fruit-trees, and al^^o of all other trees
or shrubs which admit of the operation, can be
performed in moist weather; but it will he hazard-
ous if the drought continue.

A fruit tree can be improved or deterioraled by
budding and grafting; tiius, experience has shewa
that the old nonpaieil is debilitated, or at least ad-
vances very little, u[)on the hawihornden apple, and
therefore a scion or bud usually advances rapidly
on a good crab stock.

Flower-garden and Shrubberies.

Begin to propagate gt?yiniitnis by cuttings in sand
and leaf mould ; they who possess the tank, noticed
in our last, will be at no loss to effect the rooting of
more plants. The taste of the day in respect to
show PelargoniuwK, claims as the chief points few
flowers in ihe truss, but they must he firm an;/ thick
in petal, regular in form, and distinctly tinted :
these essentials are effected by impregnation be-
tween two subjects of fine character, aided by sub-
sequent culture and appropriate soil.

The wonderful number of beautiful subjects wlildi
multiply upon us make it difficult to particularize;
but they who aim at growing in [)erfection, must
generally select only a few ciioice favourites ; for
few succeed who attempt indiscriminate culture.
The camellia, the Chinese azaleas, the gardenia, the
tribes of gisnerae, alone, would constitute all that
need be desired in the plant-house, to which may be
added the choicest vaiieties of pelargonium, in a
greenhouse devoted exclusively to their culture.

The parterre, and bedding. out system of open
ground floriculture, embraces all the scarlet, rose-
coloured, ai;d vai legated geraniums, most of the
fuchsias, all the \erbenas, petunias, anagallis,
cuticas, &c , &c., and above all, the multitudinous
rose. The last has suffi-red dreadfully this year
from aphis, for which no remedy has offered during
the extended drought, which, we are sorry to sa}',
bids fair to continue, since the piotracted thunder
which seemed to peivade every quarter of the
heavens on the 18ih June, produied merely a few
ligiit showers, and these followed by a rapidly
rising barometer.

June 19.

74

THE FAKMER'S MAGAZINE.

REVIEW OF THE CORN TRADE

DURING THE MONTH OF JUNE.

We commenced our last monthly article by
deploring the injurious effects of a drought of
seven or eight weeks' d\iration, and describing
the influence such a state of things had then
already had on the spring sown crops ; the wea-
ther which has since been experienced has been
of a character to increase the fears previously
entertained, indeed we may say that the appre-
hended mischief has by subsequent events turned
out too well founded, and that the want of suf-
ficient rain during the past month has rendered
that which was before only conjectural, certain.

The hay harvest, which has now been fairly
commenced, is likely to be the most deficient
gathered for years ; even in the most favoured
districts, the yield is described as less than half
an average, and on the high lands it will we fear
scarcely pay for cutting. Under these distressing
circumstances there can be no doubt that fodder
ot all descriptions will become exceedingly dear,
and in anticipation of such proving the case,
farmers have shown great anxiety to diminish
their stocks of cattle ; the markets have conse-
quently been so liberally supplied that the demand
has not sufficed to take off the quantity brought
forward, and prices have been considerably de-
pi'essed, to the serious loss of the agriculturists.

This is one of the first effects of the truly un-
seasonable weather which it has been our misfor-
tune to experience, and though the recent rains
may in some measure remedy the evil, still we
fear that as the year advances its injurious in-
fluences will be more and more felt.

The prospects as to the yield of the different
kinds of Lent corn, are, to say the least, very dis-
couraging. The want of an adequate supply of
moisture has prevented any imj)rovement taking
place in the appearance of the crops on even the
best soils, and on poor light lands each day which
has passed without rain has decreased the chances
of anything like an average produce rewarding the
farmer for his labour and anxiety. That barley
must fall materially short of the usual average
quantity grown is now universally admitted. The
impossibility of getting the seed sown on many
descriptions of soil in the spring, caused a
much less breadth of land to be employed than
was originally intended ; that sown early and
under the most auspicious circumstances can
hardly be expected to have wholly escaped injury,
whilst the later sown has come up unevenly, and
in many districts has altogether failed to germi-
nate. With these facts reiterated from all parts
of the country, it would be folly to expect anything
but a decidedly short crop of barley ; and when it
is further corsldered that the stocks of this grain in
the hands of the growers are extremely insignifi-
cant, and that a large proportion of the recent
abundant importation from abroad has already
past into consumption, we think su.lici^nt has
been said to prove that present prices are not

only likely to be maintained, but that there exists a
strong probabihty of a further advance occurring.
In our last number we strongly recommended
our agricultural friends not to be precipitate in
forcing sales of barley in the then dull state of the
trade ; this advice has turned out right, as the
value of the article has since rallied 2s. to 3s. per
quarter.

Many orders have of late been sent to the con-
tinent to buy this grain, and some further quantity
may therefore be expected to reach this country
previous to harvest, but we do not think it will be
so great as to occasion any material reaction in the
prices. The imports from abroad have, since the
navigation of the Baltic opened in spring, amount-
ed to between 200,000 and 300,000 qrs., most of
which has been cleared in at 5s. to 6s. duty, where-
by the revenue has been enriched some 50,000/.
or 60,000/. There is now comparatively little in
bond here, and with a prospect of lower duty than
the existing rate later in the year, further imme-
diate entries for consumption are not likely. The
averages have lately moved upwards, still any fall
in the duty of consequence cannot occur for some
time, probably not till after harvest, as there is
now scarcely any English of malting quality re-
maining, and grinding sorts sell at relatively low
rates.

The effects of the drought have been almost as
detrimental to oats in England, as to barley j but
the reports received from Scotland and Ireland
respecting this crop are not nearly so unfavour-
able.

We have now become so accustomed to look
to the last-named country for the bulk of our sup-
ply of oats, that the prospect of the pirobable
yield there has much more influence on prices
than what the result of the trifling quantity culti-
vated here can produce ; and as we have reason
to conclude that the Irish crop \vill be good,
and the intelligence from Scotland is also satisfac-
tory, we are not so confident of this grain main-
taining its present position. The very material
rise which its value has undergone is likely also to
induce imports from abroad; and as we are by no
means certain that the stocks in Ireland are in
so exhausted a state as the advices from thence
would lead us to believe, we should not be sur-
prised if supplies from that quarter should ere
long increase sufficiently to give a check to the
trade ; and, all circumstances considered, we
scarcely deem it prudent to calculate on present
])rices being supported for any length of time,
but the shortness of the hay crop must prevent
any decline of consequence. Beans and peas
ha\-e proljably suftered as severely from the
drought as either of the articles last named, and the
rates at which they have lately been selling are
3s. to 4s. per qr. higher than those current at the
close of May. The length of the bean plant is
in many parts of the countrj' scarce a foot, and

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

75

though they blossomed well the bloom did not
sit so favourably as could be desired ; it is there-
fore nearly certain that the produce must be
defective. Of old English beans there is still
we believe a fair quantity on hand, and in the
course of the next two months we shall probably
receive rather important arrivals from abroad.
The stock in bond in the kingdom amounted, on
the 5th inst., to 69,4-15 qrs., showing a small
increase since that day month, the prospect of
a fall in the duty having induced holders to allow
their property to remain vmder the Queen's locks.
The prices at which the article is now selling must
soon have a material influence on the averages,
and from present appearances a 6s. 6d. duty may
be reckoned on with safety; indeed, it is by no
means improbable that Foreign beans may be
admissible in the course of a few weeks consider-
ably below that rate. Under this impression a
good deal of speculation has been carried on in
Egy])tian (of which the stock in bond principally
consists) ; and this article, which was only worth
l6s. jier qr. three months ago, has lately realized
24s. to 25s. per qr. in the London and Liverpool
markets.

Peas ])eing more susceptible of injury than
beans, have suffered in a still greater degree ; the
hulm became dry and yellow before the pods were
well formed ; and though the showers which have
recently fallen in different parts of the country have
assisted to fill out the pods, there can be no doubt
that the crop will be both deficient in quantity
and defective in quality. In addition to the pros-
pect of an extremely short yield, we may mention
that the stocks of home-grown as well as foreign
in the kingdom are hghter than usual ; and the
rise which has occurred in quotations is likely
therefore to be more permanent than that which
has taken place in some other articles, unless
large supplies should reach us from the conti-
nent.

The averages are rising rapidly, and rather an
important fall in the duty is confidently antici-
pated by holders of bonded, who have conse-
quently risen their pretensions considerably, fair
boiling quahties from the Baltic having for some
time past been held at 30s. per qr. Contrary to
our usual custom, we have commenced our re-
marks with spring corn, the extraordinary wea-
ther experienced having had far more influence
on the Lent crops than on wheat. We have re-
served the brighter side of the picture ; and after
enumerating the injiu'ious effects of the drought,
endeavouring to guard on the one hand against
all exaggeration, and on the other to avoid raising
hopes by concealing from our readers what we
believe to be facts, we may now turn to that part
of oiu- duty which under existing circumstances
is certainly the more pleasing, viz, that of lay-
ing before our friends a fair account of the re-
ports which have reached us in regard to the pre-
sent aspect and probable yield of the ^A'heat crop.
To assert that the want of rain has not been felt
even by this the hardiest of grain, would be
stating an untruth, but it may be fairly questioned
whether our prospects are not on the whole brighter .
as far as wheat is concerned than at the corres- \

ponding period of last year. On hght poor
soils the plant is thin on the ground and
the straw short, but on good wheat lands
appearances are highly promising, and taking
the kingdom throughout we are disposed to think
aliout an average quantity will be produced. That
the harvest will be early is admitted on all hands,
the ear having made its appearance fully three
weeks sooner than in 1843. The bloom has, we
are informed, set favourably ; and though we hear
of short ears from some quarters, the majority of
the reports describe them as both long and well-
formed.

From present appearances we calculate that in
some of the most forward districts v.-heat wll be
ready for the sickle early in the third week of
July, and before we again have the pleasure of
addressing om- readers samples of the new pro-
duce will i)robably have been shown at Mark
I^ane. The close approach of harvest, and the
expectation that the result will be favourable, to-
gether with the continued arrival of foreign, have
prevented wheat participating in the advance
which has taken place in the value of all other
kinds of agricultural produce, and the trade has
throughout the month remained without excite-
ment ; at the same time a steady consumptive de-
mand has been experienced, which has enabled
sellers to realize fully as much money as could
previously have been obtained, and considering
that the price of wheat has remained nearly sta-
tionary, whilst those of barley, oats, beans, and
peas, having risen 3s. to 4s. per qr., there seems
more chance of an advance than a decline oc-
curring in prices.

The stocks of old wheat have hitherto held out
well, and up to the present period the markets in
the agricultural districts have been rather hbe-
rally supplied. Into London the arrivals of home
grown wheat have within the last few weeks been
large, still there has been no accumulation in the
hands of merchants, but we suspect that millers
are now better stocked than at any previous pe-
riod for some months past. The weekly receipts
of English wheat have been as follows : —

Week ending June 1. - 4,708 qrs.
„ S. - 4,155 „

15. - 9,051 „

_ . 22. - 6,768 „

When to these quantities are added the number
of quarters of foreign wheat entered for home
consumption, say 4,000 to 5,000 weekly, toge-
ther with good arrivals of flour coastwise, it will
be seen that the consumption of the metrojjolis
has been amply provided for. It may be re-
garded as indicative of a healthy state of trade,
that notwithstanding the extent of the supplies,
and the prevailing oj^nion that the forthcoming
harvest will prove satisfactory, jirices of the arti-
cle have been firmly maintained without anything
like speculation. Taking the averages as the cri-
terion of value, scarcely any alteration is shown;
the London returns being as follows : — 1st week
in June, 56s. lOd. ; second, 56s. 9d. ; third, 56s,
lOd. per qr. In this position of aftairs the slight-
est incident threatening to injure the crop on the
ground, such as heavy rain for several successive

76

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

days at any time next month, would suffice to
cause a rise in prices, and even if all should go on
well there seems little prospect of wheat receding
materially below its present value. The duty has,
as we in our last number predicted, remained
stationary at I7s., and unless such an occurrence
as we have just alluded to, namely, wet \\-eather
immediately before or at harvest time, should
give rise to speculation, there is little prospect of
foreign wheat being admitted at a lower rate.

The merchants on the continent have been
anxiously watching the course of events here ; and
the inducements to ship to Great Britain having
been small, the exports from the principal ports
in Europe have hitherto been comparatively un-
important; stocks have consequently accumulated;
and should it hereafter appear that this country
needs supplies, the continent could easily furnish
a million quarters. Storing charges being much
more moderate on the other side than with us,
holders are hkely to leave their wheat where it is,
until such time as it appears to be wanted ; and
whilst our wheat crop progresses favourably to
maturity, not above half the quantity named is
likely to find its way to this country. It will be
Been, therefore, that any unfounded rumours of
injury must tend, in the long run, to prejudice
the farmer, and can only favour the speculator.
The effect of such would be to give a temporaiy
rise to prices, producing sufficient effect on the
averages to occasion a fall in the dut)^ and
thereby encouraging the merchant abroad to inun-
date us with foreign supplies : these supplies would
arrive just at that period when the British farmer,
by being himself a seller, would be in precisely the
worse position to bear competition. It will be
well, therefore, for our agricultural friends, and
those who study their real interest, to discounte-
nance reports of probable deficiency, unless well
assured of their truth. The present corn laws
are surely hberal enough, and farmers must
guard against the manoeuvres which may be at-
tempted to work them to his injury. Whilst »ve
are on this point it may not be out of place to
show how quickly the Canadians have taken
advantage of the late legislative alteration in the
duties on wheat and flour. Recent advices from
Montreal, dated 27th May, inform us that 128,167
barrels of flour had already accumulated at that
port since the inland navigation had reopened,
showing an increase of more than a hundred per
cent, when compared with the stocks held there
at the corresponding period of 1S43. This is
only the commencement of the evil, from year to
year the cultivation of wheat will be extended in
America, A\'ith a view of the English markets; and
ere long, the siipphes furnished by the colonies
at a nominal duty must be seriously felt by the
home producer.

Whilst the operations in wheat have, as already
remarked, been almost exclusively confined to
the purchases made for actual consumption, a
considerable extent of speculation has been going
on in spring corn and pulse.

At the close of the month of May, the depres-
sion in the barley trade amounted to almost a pa-
nic, and good qualities of foreign, weighing 51 to

52lbs. per bushel, were then freely offering in the

London market at 27s. to 28s. per'qr. This did

not continue long, however ; the protracted

drought soon caused buyers to appear, and in a

j very few weeks the greater part of the immense

j foreign arrivals passed into the hands of the dis-

: tillers ; the pressure being thus taken off, prices

rallied rapidly, and similar descriptions to those

previously sold at under 28s., rose to 30s. to 31s.

I per qr. The showers which have fallen at ^'ari-

j ous times within the past fortnight have some-

' what damped the ardour of speculators, but no

reaction has hitherto occurred in prices. Pre-

j vious to the rise in the duty from (is. to 7s. (at

which latter point it still remains), G0,000 to

I 70,000 qrs. M'ere entered for home consumjrtion,

I making the total quantity duty paid since 5th

April, at this port, 120,000 qrs. Since then a

good many cargoes have come to hand from

abroad, which have been landed under the Queen's

locks in expectation of a low duty later in the

year.

The value of malt has risen in the same pro-
portion as that of barley, fine samjjles having 1)een
bought up eagerly at an advance of 2s. to 3s. per
qr., under an impression that whatever the result
of the barley crop may be as to quantity, the qua-
lity will not be kindly or suitable for the manu-
facture of good malt.

Oats had already begun to advance before the
present month commenced ; the upward tendency
continued until the 21st, when the appearance of
a change in the weather (rather copious showers
having fallen about that time), and a considerable
increase in the arrivals from Ireland and Scot-
land, imparted a decidedly dull tone to the trade.
Some influence has also been produced of late by
the certainty of an early importation of foreign; and
oil Monday last sellers became so anxious lo lealize,
and so lilile disposilion was at tlie same lime shown
by the principal dealers lo add lo iheir slocks, that
llie laller had a decided advanlage, finding it easy
to mnke purctiases Gd. lo Is. per qr. below tiie
highest point. Whether liiis decline will be perma-
nent or only temporary, will depend principally on
the result of the harvest in Ireland and ScolJynd ;
the accounts hiihcrlo leceived from bolh, m regard
lo the probable yeild, aie exceedingly conflicting; but
we are rather disposed to believe that the prospects
aie not altogether unfavourable. In England the
oat crop must be extremely short, which, together
witli tiie miserable result of llie hay harvest, must
have a [)0werfiil tendency to maintain prices.

The averages are gradually moving upwards, and
from present appearances we judge it probable that
the duty will fail lo 5s. ]ier qr. in three weeks' time,
but the chances of a further reduction are not great.
The purciiases of oats recently made abroad on
British account have been at high rales, and il
appears very questionable wliether profit can be
derived from the operations ; 12s. Gd, and 13<. per
qr. have been paid for 3G to 38 lbs. qualities ; freigiit,
insurance, and a js. duty, will therefore bring the
cost of the article rather above the value of such
descriptions in this country.

The rise in prices of beans hr^s been greater than
that which has taken place in quotations of any other

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

77

article ; really handsome qu?>lities having reached
403. per qr. and corresponding rales having been
paid for secondary descriptions, llie aver;)};cs have
consequently run up rapidly, and the duty l)as
already fallen to 7s. 6d. per qr. Holders of the
small quantity of bonded beans in llie port of Lon-
don (only about 20,000 qis.) have therefore risen
their pretensions considerably, and Egyptians, which
were obtainable at 20*. to 21s. per qr, under lock
early in die month, were subsequently sold at '25s.
per qr. Tlie late encouraging accounts from hence
are likely to lead to shipments both from the Baltic
and Mediterranean, and we may liierefoie calculate
on receiving rather huge foreign supplies later in the
year.

Though it is universally admitled that the pea
crop must have sufleied to the full as much from
the protracted drought, as that of either beans,
barley or oats, prices of the first named article have
scarcely risen to tiie sime extent as those of the
others. Wc are theiel'ore inclined to think that the
present value of peas is quite as likely to be sup-
ported as ]irices of Lent com, particularly as the
foreign shipments have not hitlieito been olniuch im-
portance. Good boilers in bend are at present worth
30s. per qr. in the Loudon market, and the quantity
under lock amounts tooiily 2,883 qrs. With respect
to the future range of duty, we are somewliat doubt-
ful ; but general opinion is in favour of its falling to
5s. 6d. per qr., and, considering that good while
boiling qualities have been selling for some time past
at -10s , and maple at o6s. to 37s. per qr., the
calculation is not unreasonable.

Before closing our remarks, we think it may
not be amiss to g'lte a slight sketch of the
position of the giain trade at tlie principal con-
tinental ports. We have already staled that
the stocks in the Baltic aie large, but this has
hitherto failed to influence holders, and prices have
not (as might have been expected) been at all
effected by the discouraging accounts from this
country. Tiie latest advices from Danzig inform us
thfct about 350,000 qrs. of wheal were laying in
waiehouse there, in addition lo which further sup-
plies were expected down the\'istula. The quality
of the Polish wheat, the growth of 1843, had proved
much better on coming to hand than had been
aniicipated, the finet kinds v\eighing CI to Gl^ lbs.
per bushel. A large fleet of vessels having arrived
out in search of cargoes about the middle of the
month, had imparled an active character to business,
and shipments to England on rather an extensive
scale were then in progress ; fine high mixed wlieat
had realized 37s. to 37s. 6d. ; and other descrip-
tions, prices varying from 32s. 6d. up to 36s. 6d.
per qr. free on board, according to weight, qualiiy,
and condition. Charters to London had been closed
at 3s. 4d. to 3s. 6d., at which rales sliips had found
ready employment. The total exports from thence,
fiom the opening of the navigation in spring to the
end of May, had amounted to 170,000qrs.; ofwhich,
liowever, a considerable proportion had gone to
Holland. Quality considered, Danzig is still
the cheapest port in the north of Europe for
the purchase of wheat, and the transactions at the
other places in the Baltic have consequently been
of minor importance. At Konigsberg, a moderate

extent of business hai been done in the article, but
the total exports from thence had, up to the begin-
ning of June, consisted ofoidy 43,480 qrs. Prices
Stem scarcely to have varied there, the latest quo-
tations being nearly the same as tho^e received
three weeks or a monih ago ; viz., 37s. 3d, for fine
high mixed, 35s. for mixed, and 23s, 9d. per
(piarter, free on board, for red. Spring corn, with
wliich that port is usually mucli better supplied than
Danlzig, had exciled a good deal of atieinion, and,
in addition to some rather extensive contra. ts for
barley and oais, several lots of beans and peas had
been bought up for shipment to Great Britain. At
those places from whence red wheat is principally
shipped, viz., Rostock, Stettin, Stralsund, &c.,
prices have lemained comparatively high, owing to
the stocks being generally in the hands of speculative
lioiders determined to watch events ere making ship-
ments; the exports have consequently been on a
modeiate scale, and good qualities have not receded
below 34^;. and 35s. per quaner, free on board*
Tiie qunnlity of wheat dispatched from Hamburg to
tlie English market has also been nnimportiint, but
quoiations have been supported there by occasioniil
orders received from France. Rather an extensive
business has been done there in barley and oats,
partly on the spot and partly contracts entered into
to ship from Danish and Swedish ports; early in
the month, good Danish barley was sold at 20s.,
and in some cases even a trifle below that figure,
but since then prices have rallied 2s. and 3s. per
qr., and for oats as much as 12s. to 13s. per qr.
has been paid.

From the south of Europe we rre not likely lo
receive supplies of wheal of magnitude for some
lime to come, the scarcity of the article in the
Italian slates and some parts of France having
caused its value to rule considerably higher at the
pnnci|)al ports in the Mediterranean than at those
of the Baltic; recently, however, some reaction has
been occasioned there by a plentiful fall of rain
having greatly impioved the appearance of the
growing crops. From Pvaples the export of wheat
has been temporarily prohibited, but the permission
10 import from other places free of duty has been
withdrawn. By the most recent accounts from
Leghorn, we learn that large supplies of wheat had
been received there from the Black Sea, the Danube,
and other quarters; which, with the anticipation of
a favourable and early harvest, and the want of an
ex|iort demand, had caused good Polish wheat,
weighing 62lbs. per bushel, to decline lo 33s. per
qr. free on board. At Venice prices had also re-
ceded since the commencement of the month, and at
Marseilles, on the 22nd insl., business in wheat was
extremely dull. Under these circumstances, it seems
probable tiial, if the harvest in tiie south should
prove favourable, and the accounts from hence con-
tinue discouraging, prices might, later in the year,
become so far depressed in that quarter, as to be
brought down to a level with those in the Baltic,
in winch case competition might arise, and more
wheat find its way to this country than is now
generally calculated on.

78

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

CURRENCY PER IMPERIAL MEASURE.

JUME 24.

Wheat, Essex and Kent, new, red 56 60 AVhite 68 60 04

Old, red 09 62 Do 60 63

Rye, old 80 36 New.... .^e —

Barley, Grinding, 30 82 Malting 34 86 Chevalier 86 37

Irish 3il Si Bere . . . 28 8i

Malt, Suflblk and Norfolk 60 62 Brown.. 58 60

Kingston and Ware 60 63 Chevalier 60 63

Oats, Yorksh.& Lincolnshire, feed 23 25 Potato.. 25 27

Youshall and Cork, black. . 22 23 Cork,white22 23

Dublin Hi 22 Westport 22 23

Waterford, white 21 22 Black.. 22 23

Newry...... 23 24

Galway 21 23

Scotch, feed ... 24 26 Potato.. 26 27

Clonmel 22 23 Limerick 21 24

Londonderry 23 23 Sligo .. 22 23

Beahs, Tick, new 86 33 Old, small 38 40

Peas, Grey 35 HO Blaple.. 3i 33

White 35 86 Boilers.. 36 38

6eed, Rape 27/. 28'. Irish. .22 . 20' per last.

Lin.seed. Baltic 30 38 Odessa 41

Mustard, white 7 10 brown 8 11 per bush.
FlOUK, Town-made - 50 Suflblk 40 42 per sk. of 280 lbs.

Stockton and Norfolk 40 Irish 42 44

FOREIGN GRAIN AND FLOUR IN BOND.

Wheat, Dantzic 42 44

Hamburg 40 42

Rostock 40 42

Barley 20 28

Oats, Brew 17 19 Feed... 15 17

Beans 19 24 28

Peas 28 SO

Flouk, American, per brl — 25 Baltic.. 24 25

COMPARATIVE PRICES OF GRAIN.

WKKKLY AV1;RaGKS by , AVERAGES from the corres-

the Imp. Qunr'er, from the ; pondinjj Gazette in the last

(jiiZ' tie. of Friday last, i year, Friday, June 23rd,

June 21st, 1844. ] 1843.

s. d. ! s. d.

Wheat 55 9 i Wheat 49 8

Bakley 81 10 I Barley 27 7

Oais 22 6 I Oats 18 9

1<YE.... 32 4 I Rye 81 2

Beans 86 11 ! Be.>ks 29 0

P1.AS 84 I ' PBA.S .. 30 11

IMPERIAL AVERAGES.

~ Week ending. "'" - « . - - _

May nth

l»lh

2 th

June 1st

8th

16th

AgiZTfpntK nvprit«:e of
tllf fix weeks which
reji'ulutee the duty.
Duties uBviiMe in
L.)[i<lon till Wed-
nrsdity next inclu-
Bive, and «t tlie Out-
ports till the arrival
of the mail of that
day from Londoi
Do. on triatii f
British iioRsessions
out of En rope. .

53 1

55 10

5.') 10

53 6

55 6

65 9

31 6
31 1
80 7

30 9

31 4
31 10

4 0 ' 0 6

Oats.

20 6

21 0
21 2
21 7

21 11

22 6

Ky

31
81
31
3t

i^3
32

e.
4

?

0

4

Beans.

82 6

33 »

83 11

34 10
.35 11
36 11

21 5

.32

5

34 7

8 0

10

6

8 6

a 0

1

6

« 0

STOCK OF GRAIN IN BOND IN LONDON
JUNE 5.

Wlieat. Barley. Oats. ISeans. Peas. Rye. Flout.

i|i». (|'S. q's. qr«. qr''. qts. cwt-.

111,-79 258,110 16.787 19,687 2,^^83 — 49,9-50

IN THE KINGDOM.

Wheat. Barley. Oats. Beans. Peas. Rye. Flour.

41l,:<i.9 45,523 66,649 69,445 34,774 - 196,0-5

PRICES OF SEEDS.
June 24.
Linseed, English, sowing 54 60

Baltic — — crushing 40 42 per qr.

Mediter. & Odessa 41 43

Carraway — — new .. 58 62 per cwt.

Coriander 15 20 per cwt.

Mustard, brown, new.... 17 20 white .10 13 p bush.

Trefoil — — old.. 12 26 new 23 80

PRICES OF HOPS.
BOROUGH, Monday, June 24.

There is not quite so much doing, as the advices
rom the plantations are more satisfactory.

MAIDSTONE, June 20.— The hop plant in this
and adjoining parishes is still looking healthy and free
from vermin, nor do they stand in need of so much
rain as those in Sussex and other parts. The rag-
stone is the source from which our hops derive mois-
ture, in the cracks of which the roots have been foimd
to the depth of twenty or thirty feet and more ; but
they are ever grateful for a few soft showers, which
would set the artificial manures that ha'/e been used
very abundantly, such as rape-dust, rags, and guano,
in motion. From the accounts from the Weald of
Kent and from Sussex it seems we are surrounded
by fly and lice, but our large parishes, Yalding, the
Farleighs, Barming, and Wrotham, still bring us
favourable accounts. The bine certainly never looked
more even, and apparently more fruit bearing at this
season of the year than it does now. The duty is
randomly stated — some think it ought to be under
100,000/., whilst others think it may pay 200,000/.
The only bets we have heard offered are at 145,000/.
even.

POTATO MARKET.
SOUTH WARK, WATERSIDE, June 24.
The weather the early part of the week was more
genial, and some slight showers fell in the immediate
vicinity of London ; some fine rains had also fallen
at some distance from the metropolis, which will prove
beneficial to the crops generally and to the green
crops in particular ; but at the close the heat was
excessive : these together have had a tendency to de-
press our market, and the best samples went off slowly
with some reduction on our last quotations, and the
inferior have been a complete drug, especially the
Perth reds, in consequence of the damage occasioned
by the dry rot. There are several parts of cargoes
left for the coming week, much against the inclination
of the holders. There was a few arrivals from Devon-
shire and Holland, and the supply appears more than
sufficient As the demand becomes very limited, this
market will shortly close for the season.

per ton. , per ton.

York Reds 80s. toioos. Jersey Bines 60s. 703.

Perth do 50s. 75s. Dutch Whites 603 0. s.

Late Devons do....95s. lOOs. ' Guernsey Blues .. 6". 703.

WOOL MARKETS.

LEEDS, June 21. — There has been more firmness
in this branch of trade this week, and a fair amount of
business has been done ; but prices are still consider-
ably below the rates at which fresh supplies can be ob-
tained from the country.

YORK, June 20. — There was not less than 500
sheets of wool brought to this day's market, yet the
buyers not being very numerous, caused rather a heavy
sale. A few lots were not disposed of. There is no
alteration in price worth noticing, from last week's
quotations.

CHELMSFORD WOOL FAIR.— The proceed-
ings of the day fully bore out the accounts we have
lately received of the improvement of trade in the
manufacturing districts, and the consequent demand
for wool, accompanied with a corresponding advance
in price. The supply of wool, however, was short
compared with that of last year ; on that occasion there
were 26,758 fleeces in bulk and sample in the fair, bu
this year there were only 7,473. There seemed every

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

70

disposition on the part of the buyers— Messrs. Johns,
Bell, C. and T. Legge, Unwin, Morren, Wells, and
Homersham — to do business, and we believe that every
fleece in the fair was sold before the close of the day,
at a fair advance upon last ye.ir's prices. We heard
of several cases in which Kent hoggets fetched 15d,,
and ewes 13d. ; half-bred Leicester and Down hog-
gets ranged from Hid. to l-ljd. ; and for sujjerior
hogget, on some occasions, 13d. The sheep-shearing
took place, as usual, on a stage in the High-street,
there being 17 competitors, and the work generally
was performed in that expeditious and clean manner
wluch elicited the commendations of those versed in
this branch of the art of husbandry.

LIVERPOOL, June 22.
Scotch. — There has been less doing in laid high-
land this week, though several sales are reported a
shade under late prices. We alter our quotations
accordingly. White Highland is less inquired for.
There is no good crops in the market ; a few small
sales of combing cheviot about our quotations.

s. <j. ». <i.
Laid Highland Wool, per 24 lbs .. 8 9 lo 9 3

"Uhite do. do 11 (i la 3

Laid Crossed do., unwashed.. 9 0 9 9

Do. do.. washed .... 10 0 11 6

Do. Cheviot d<>. unwashod ..9 6 1-2 0

Do. do.. washed .... 12 6 10 0

Do. White do 23 6 25 o

FoRKiGX. — The London sales having concluded
favourably, we have had a better feeling here this
week, and more doing. Our public sales are announced
for the 4th July. Four more vessels are expected.
Should they arrive in time our quantities will be in-
creased 4,000 bales

FOREIGN.

The market continues firm, and the reports from the
Continent are very favourable, a rise having occurred
in most of the German markets.

THE GERMAN WOOL FAIRS.— By advices
from Breslau to the 1st of June, we learn that the fair
which, by the calendar, was fixed for the 2nd of June,
might then be considered as virtually over. The quan-
tity brought to the fair was 53,000 centners, besides
3,000 ctr. of old wool, making in the whole about
58,000 ctr., of which only from 12,000 to 14,000 ctr.
remained unsold on the Istinst. The improved pros-
pects of the wool trade, the ready and profitable dis-
posal of manufactured goods, together with the repeal
of the English import duty on foreign wool, all com-
bined to give a spirit and eagerness for the purchase of
wools, which has resulted in an advance of from 8 to
10, and in some instances from 12 to 13 dollars upon
last year's prices, but the average may fairly be taken
at 3d. per lb. The wash generally was satisfactory ;
not indeed splendid, but such as not to deserve com-
plaint. The wool was mostly considered healthy, nei-
ther sickness nor famine appearins; much to have
pervaded the flocks. Further arrivals of Polish wools
were expected in the course of a few days, which, as
most of the buyers remained on the spot, it was
expected would command n ready sale. — Leeds Mer-
cury.

BRUSSELS, June 13. — The commercial accounts
from France, Germany, Hungary, in short from all the
wool growing countries, announces a rise of 7 to 12
per cent, in the ju-ice of that article. At the late fair
at Breslau (June 1) the buyers were so numerous that
the whole quantity in the market was sold before the
regular opening of the fair.

Advices of the 12th inst. from Stettin, mention that
wool had gone off there at 10 rix-dols. per cwt. ad-
vance, the supply was 20,000 cwt.

At Weimar, on the 10th June, the advance on wools
was stated to be no less than 25 to 30 per cent., com-
pared with last year. A large business was expected.

The Dresden market was also good, and a rise of 2
rix-dols. per stone was paid. The quantity in the
market was, however, not large.

Accounts from Landsberg, on the Weser (Germany),
dated the 8th instant, state that the market fur wool
was brisk, and that the average prices were 8 to
10 r. d. higher than last year, particular descriptions
having advanced even more. The washing is described
as being excellent. Supplies were still coming in, and
about 4,000 cwt. had been brought to the market.

At Dessau (Germany), up to the 8th of June, there
were 10,000 stone of wool on sale, nearly all of which
found buyers at 2 r. d. advance per stone in general,
compared with the former wool market. The washing
of the fleeces was excellent.

In the Posen market on the 5th June there were
not many foreign buyers, and no English had arrived
up to that date, when, however, the market had
scarcely begun. There were, nevertheless, a good
many purchases making by the native houses, some
believed to be on account of foreign firms. The qua-
lities at market were mostly middling. Prices were
called 12 rix-dollars higher than last year. There was
not a large supply of Wools from Poland, and what
was expected would most likely be of the inferior
sort.

LEEDS, June 21. — There has been a good demand
for most descriptions of foreign wool during the past
week, and sales to a considerable extent have been ef-
fected. In prices we are hardly able to discover any
variaticm, since the advance realized at the German
fairs has obviated any downward tendency of prices in
this market, which might have been expected from
the repeal of the English import duty.

PRICES OF MANURES.

Subjoined are the present prices of several sorts of
Manure : —

Hunt's Bone-dust, 173. per qr.
Hunt's Half-inch Bone, 15s.

per qr.
J, T. Hunt's Artificial Guano,

9/. per ton
Hunt's Stuft" Graves, 57. per ton
Rape Dust, 6/. to 6/. los. perton
Ra|)e Cake, 8/. per ton
RaRs, 4/. to 4/. 10s. per ton
Graves, 6/. lOs. per ton
Gypsum, at the waterside, S2s.

6d. per ton ; landed and

housed, 8-ts. to 4'Js. per ton,

according lo quantity
Agricultural Salt, 34s. per ton
Carbon, 12s. per qr.
Humus, 1-ls per qr.
Soap Ashes, lOs. per ton
Patent Disinfected Manure,

13s. 6d. per qr.
Highly Concentrated Manure,

80s. per qr.
Nitrate of Soda, 14s. 6d. to l.'is.

per cwt.
Nitrate Potash (saltpetre), S(is.

per cwt.
Petre Salt, 4s. per c\vt.
AVilley Dust, il. 4s. perton
The Urate of the London Ma-
nure Company, 4'.4s. per ton
Xew iristol Manure, 8s. per qr.
Hunt's new Fertilizer, 13s. 4d.

per qr
Preparation for Tumi]) Fly,

10s. 6d. per pakt., sufficient

for three acres

Chie fou, 21s. per ewt.

WolverhamptonConipost( Alex-
ander's), 12s perqr., suhject
to carriage to London, or
forwarded from Wolvtr-
liampton

Guano, 10/. !0s. perton; 128.
\»T cwt

Potter's -Artificial Guano, 129.
per cwt.

Muriate of Ammonia, 248. per
cwt.

Muriate of Lime, 12s. par cwt.

Clarice's Compost, ol. li-s. 6d.
per hhd., sufficient for tlUTC
acres

Alk.ilies, 28s and 42s. percAvt.

Soda Ash, 14s. to iGs.

Chloride Lime, 28s. per cwt.

Sulphuric! Acid, 2.|d. per lb.

Sulphur for Destroying Wonii
on Turnips, 10s. per cwt.

Suljihate Soda, 7s 6d. per cwt.

The Liverpool Abattoir Com-
pany's Animalized Manuring
Powder, 2< lOs. per ton

Manure Powder, iGs per qr.

Boast and Co.'s (Bow) Inor-
ganic Manures, from 6s. to
lis. per cwt., according to
crop

Boast's Guano, 91 93. per ton

Fother'jrill's Gvpsum, 35s. pel
ton.

Fothergill's Phosphate of Lime,
14s. per cwt.

60

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

PRICES or SHARES.

No. of

Div.

Shar»s

per Ann

6,300

l/ISspsl

e,.son

llsO.lpsIi

6,3il0

Is lid

9,500

2/ 2s p sli

10,000

15s 0(1

16,000

■i/lGi^psli

6,6 JO

S6,0U0

20,0no

56,000

6s

88,0iK>

88 Od

144,000

bl per ct

4,000

12,51)0

il per C

18,000

a/TsSd ps

18,000

iOs.'dp.s.

10,918

lOZper cl

11,918

lO/per cl

10,000

57s6d p c

25,000

71s6dps

25,000

2/15spst.

87,500

13.2dps.

10,500

16,000

6,000

8,000

5^1 pr ct

8,000

16,000

2,100

6,100

10/perct

7,968

10/percl

11,475

lOiperct

36,000

2/Ospsh

bl ppr ct

48,000

2s 6d

43,077

11, 136

51 pi-r ct

1,100

4125000/

10?pGr ct

64,450

tor. p ct

41,250

11 Us

40,200

3J.5sp'li

83,000

14sOd p s

7,000

13,000

4/7^6dps

13,(t00

87s6d p s

13,000

4s

30,000

12 18

10,000

3/8s psh

10,000

179

10,000

2s 4d

19,000

ds

16,000

anos

15,000

1/ 15s Od

22,600

1/138 4d

10,256

22 5s

3,186

16s

12,208

80.000

72,000

U 17s0d

2,600

9,600

40,000

7,000

51 per ct

1,000

H 153

1,800

152perct

66,000

7,500

6,700

10?perct

6,700

10/perct

Priceper
Share.

21§
93

79J a 8J

5ja g

oai
"J

109
102 a 1

iao|aii

77 a f
21J a 2

a 0

IRON RAILWAYS.

Birniinghaiii & Derby . . 100/ sli pd
Do. Thirds, iss. SJdis. 33^? sh 25/ pd

Do. Eights 1 i' pd

Do. and Gloucester ... lOOZ sh pd
Do. New, iss. rj dis. 25/ sh 17^/ pd
Bristol and Exeter .. 100/ sh 70/ pd
Do. and Gloucester .. 50/ sh 3ii/ pd

Caledonian 50/ sh 5/ pd

Chester and Birkenhead.. 50/ sh pd

Cliester and Holyhead o! pd

Cl iohester and Brighton . . .5' pd

Dublin and Cashel 50/ sh 2^/ pd

Eastern Counties 25/ sh 2.")/ pd

Ditto New 25/ sh 8/ 6s 8d pd|l3| a j

Ditto Extension.. C/18s4dsh 13s 4dpd 1 pni

Ertstcm Union .^0/ sh 5/ pd

Glasgow, Paisley & Ayrshire oO/sh pd
Edinburgh & Glasgow ,. 50/ sj pd
Ditto Qua terSIiares.... laj/sh pd

Ditto Registered 12^/ pd

Grand Junction 100/ sh pd

Ditto Half Shares 50/ sh pd

Ditto Quarter Shares .... 25/ sh pd
Great North of England . . 100/ sh pd

Great Western 100/ sh 75/ pd

Ditto Hair Shares 50/ sh pd

Ditto Fifths 20/ sh 12/ pd

Harwich (Braithwaite). .20/ sh 2/ pd

Ditto (Locke) 2^/ pd

Hastings, Eve, and Tenderden . . 25/

sh 3/ pd
Harrowgate and Knaresboro' . . . 25/

sli 3/ pd

Hull and Solby 50/shpd

Do. Quarter Shares .. 12^/ sh 6/ pd
Lancaster and Carlisle. .50/ sh 5/ pd

Leeds and Selby 100/shpd

Liverpool & Manchester ..lOO/sh pd

Ditto Half Shares 50/ sh pd

Ditto Quarter Shares . . 25/ sh pd
London and Brighton .... 50/ sh pd

Ditto Loan Notes lO/sh pd

London & Blackwall Av. 16/ 133 4d
London & Greenwich Av. 12/ 15s 4d
Preference or Privilege Av. 18/ 1 7s 2d
Ditto and Guildford Junction... 50/

sh 5/ pd
London & Birmingham . ... Stock
Ditto Now Quarter Shares ... 2/ pd

Ditto New Thirds :iil sh 2/ pd

London&South West. Av.41/6sl0d
Ditto Eighths .... 6/ os p sh 15s pd
London & Croydon . . Av. IS/ 1.5s Od

Do. Scrip, iss.50/dis 10/sIi 10/pd

Manchester & Leeds 100/ sli 70/ pd
Ditto New Shares .... 50/ sli 30/ pd

Ditto Quarter Shares 2/ pd

Manchester &Birming .. 70/ sli 40/ pd

Ditto Extension 70/ sh 7/ pd

Midland Counties 100/ sh pd

Do. J Shares, iss. 10 dis. 25/ sh 15/|)d

Ditto Fifths 20/ sh 2/ pd

North British 24/ pd

Norwicli and Brandon. . 2<^/ sh 2/ pd
Newcsll&Darlingt June. 25/ sh 2 1 / pd

North Midland 100/ sh pd

Do. iShares, iss. lOdis. 50/sh 40/pd
Ditto Thirds, iss. at 11/ 13s 4d dis.
21/ 13s 4d sh pd
Northern & Eastern . . 60/ sh 45/ pd
Do. Scrip .. iss. 5 dis. 50/ sh 15/ pd

Do. J Shares 12/ 10s sh pd

Paris and Orleans 20/ sh pd

Paris and Rouen 20/ sh 20/ pd

Preston & VVyre 60/ sh

Ditto, Second Pieference, 1842 ...
Rouen and Havre ....20/ sh 10/ pd
Shetfield, Ashton-under-Lyne, and

Manchester 100/ sh 82j/ pd

Ditto J Shares 6/ pd

Sheffield and Rotherhaui 25/ sh pd
Stockton and Darlington.. 100/ sh pd
South Eastern and Dover Ave-
rage 33/ 2s 4d
Ditto New, iss. 18 dis., 50/ sh 4/ pd

Trent Valley 20/ sh 2/ pd

Yarmouth and Norwich 20/sh 18/pd
York & North Midland ., 50/ sh pd
Ditto New Shares .... 26/Bh 25/pd 6OA a 1
Ditto Scarboro' Branch 2 J/ pd' lej

47i a 65
7-

7

19? a ^

219 a 20 1

3..i I

f*5 a i
•Siagpm. '

lOGJ a 6

20

a 5

22i a i
121 a 3

Shares.
16,000

15,000

7,500

20,000

5,000

8,000

1,000

20,000

4,000

40,000

60,000

40,000
20,000
4,000
10,000

10,000
10,000
21,500
10,000

20,000
20,000
10,000
00,000

4,000
10,000

2,000

10,000
6,000

11,000

12,000
8,600

10,000
1,.500

20,000

10,000
15,000
5,051
20,000
11,500

1,872
3,548

10,000
43,174

10,000
10,000
6,709
6,000
10,000
10,000

10,000
6,000

2,700
20,000

8,000
10,000

20,000

6,387
14,000

4,000
10,000

8/ per cl

6/ per ct

6/ per ct

5/ per ct
5/ per ct
6/ per ct
6/ per ct
6/ per ct

3/ per ci
8/ per ct
6/ per ci
2l8pr sh

fis per sli
14/ pr ct

6/ per cl

(>/ per ct
!0/perci
lO/perct
5/ per ct

U

3/ per ct

17s 6d

JOINT STOCK BANKS.

Agricultural and Commercial of

Ireland 25/ sh 10/ pd

Australasia 40/sh pd

Ditto New .. 40/pd

British N. Aiuerican 50/ sh 50/ pd

Ditto New 10/pd

Ceylon 25/ sh 20/ pd

County of Clone. Bnk. 100/sli 25/pd
Commt-rcial of London . . 200/ pd

Colonial 100/ sh 25/ pd

Ionian 25/ sh pd

London and Westm. 100/ sh 20/ pd
London Joint Stock .. 50/ sh 10/ pd

Metropolitan 25/ sh 7,y pd

Provincial of Ireland 100/ sh 25/pd

Ditto New 10/ sh pd

National of Ireland .. 50/ shl?^/ pd

National Provincial England 100/

sh 35/ pd

Ditto New 20/ 8h 10/ pd

Northamptonsh. Union 25/ sh 5/ pd

Gloucestershire 50/ sh 10/ pd

West of England and South Walei

District 20/ sh 12.1/ pd

Wilts and Dorset 15/ sh 7^/ pd

Union of Australia 25/ sh pd

Do. Do 2J/pd

Union of London .... 50/ sh 10/ pd

MINES.

Alten 15/slil3j/pd

Anglo Mexican, iss. 5/ p. 100/ sh pd

Ditto Subscriptiou 26/ pd

Bolanos 150/ sh pd

Ditto Scrip

Brazilian Imp. iss.d/p. 86/sh 21/pd

Do. Mocaubas & Cecaes United

25/ sh pd

Do. St. John Del Key .. 20/ sh 15Zpd

Cobre Copper 40/pd

Copiapo 20/ sli 13/ pd

Columbian iss. 6/ pm . . . 65/ sh pd

Ditto New lUshpd

General Mining 20/ sh pd

Great Wheal Martha 5/ 6h 2/ pd

Hibernian 60/ »h 10^/ pd

Imp. Slate Company .. 10/ sh 3/ pd

Mexican 60/ sh 59/ pd

10/perct Mining Comp. of Ireland 25/sh7/pd

10s p sh.Real del Monte, registered Av.

{ 63/ 10s 6d

jDitto Ditto unregistered

4/ per ctiDitto Red Debentures .. 73/ 15s pd

4/ per ct Ditto Black Ditto 71/ Os 3d pd

Ditto Red and Black ^..

jRhymney Iron 50/shpd

10/ p sh Santiago de Cuba . . 25/ sh 10/ pdj
[United Mexican, average 28/ 2s 8|di

MISCELLANEOUS.

1/ 4s Anglo Mexican Mint .... 10/ sh pd

1/1.53 lAustralian Agricult. 100/sh 30/ pd

e/ per ct|Australian Trust Comp. 100/sli35/pd,
I British Ameri. Land 50/sh35j/pd

6/ per ctiCanada 100/ sh 32^/ pd

5/ per cl Upper Canada Bonds

5/ per ct Ditto

4/ per ct|City Bonds

5/ per cl Comp. Copper Miners in England
j 100/ sh / pd

5/ per ctl
&;2/bs.JGeneral Revcr. &; Invest. lOO/sh pd

4iper ct Equit. Reversionary 100/3li70/pd

1/83 and
2s 6dbs|G9n. Steam Navigat. 15/ sh 11/ pd

10/ &bs.! Hudson's Bsy Stock .... 100/ sh pd

1/ 10s. j London Commercial Sale Rooms
Average 75/

6/ per ct, London Reversionary Int. 50/sh
I 17/ pd

'London Wood Paving Company
I 10/ sh 2/ pd

,. Mexican & S. American 10/ sh 7/ pd
jNew Bnmswick (Land) .... 75/ pd

5/ per ctiNew Zealand 25/ pd

i Ditto New 25/ sh 12i/ pd

7/ per ct I Peninsular & Orien Stefim 50/ sh pd
Ditto 60/ sh 40/pd

4j/perct Reversionary Int. Soc .. 100/ gh pd
Royal mail Steam 60/ pd

8/ per cl South Australian .... 25/ sh 20/ pd
South Metropolitan Cemetry 25/ pd
Thames Tunnel 60/ sh pd

6s Van Dieman's Land ., lOO/shSO/pd

Price.

n

26$ a 6}

26^ a e

*i

I9|

16}

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THE EAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

AUGUST, 1844.

No. 2.— Vol. X.J

[Second Series.

PLATE I.

PORTRAIT OF EDWARD STI LLINGFLEET CAYLEY, ESQ.. M.P.

PLATE IL

SHORT-HORNED YEARLING BULL,

Harlsonio, roan, calved on January 20, 1842, was bred by Mr. John Beetham, of West Harlsey ; and got by
the President (5458), dam Madcap by Bulmer (1760), grandam Maniac by Rockingham (2550), g. g. d. Lady
Marion by Fairfax (1023), g. g. g. d. Lady Mary by Honest John, alias Favourite (1030), g. g, g. g. d. Milkmaid by
Harpham (1098), g. g. g. g. g. d. by Percy (1312), g. g. g. g. g. g. d. Delicacy by Ketton (346), g. g. g. g. g. g. g. d.
by Expectation (247), g. g. g. g. g. g. g. g. d. by Magnum Bonum (2882), g. g. g, g. g. g. g. g. g. d.by Harry
Chapman's bull, g. g. g. g. g. g. g. g. g. g. d. by Ralph Grimston's bull, and g. g. g. g. g. g. g. g. g. g. g. d, by
a son of Dalton Duke — see Coates's Herd Book.

In 1842, Harlsonio had the first prize awarded to him as the best bull calf under twelve months' old, at the
following places, viz., Stockton, in the county of Durham, 5/. with a sweepstakes of 10s. each added to the pre-
mium, seven subscribers ; Wetherby, 21., being the first prize in the gentlemen's class ; and also at the Durham
County Agricultural Society's Show, held at Darlington in the same year, the sum of 5^. for the best calf, beating
twelve others. Also, in the year 1843, at the Billingham Agricultural Society's Show, the first prize of 21., with
a sweepstakes of 1/. each added to the premium, thirteen subscribers, beating twelve others — obtained 15/. At
Thirsk, the first prize for the best yearling in the same year, 5/., beating three others. At the Yorkshire Agri-
cultural Society's Show at Doncaster, 20/., beating sixteen others. At Northallerton, 5/., the first prize for the
yearling bull. At Wetherby, in the same year, the first prize of 10/., in the gentlemen's class for all ages ; and
at the same time and place, an extra prize of 5/., as the best bull of all ages, whether the property of a gentleman
or farmer, beating more than twenty others. Also, at the Durham County Agricultural Society's Show, in the
same year, the sum of 10/,, being the first prize for the best yearling bull.

MEMOIRS OF EDWARD STILLINGFLEET
CAYLEY, ESQ.

M.l', FOR THE NORTH RIDING OF YORKSHIRE,

( With a Portrait.)

Tlie great and deserved interest which the able
pamphlet of this gentleman, in defence of the Pro-
tection Societies, has excited throughout the
country, whatever may be thought of the merit of
the question, would render his memoirs at this
moment peculiarly acceptable, were there not other
and higher considerations for giving him a con-
spicuous niche in the temple of British agriculture.

That Mr. Cayley shoiJd have been especially
selected by the elite of the landed interest — by
the Dukes of Richmond, Buckingham, Norfolk,
Rutland, and Cleveland, numerous county mem-
bers and the representatives of agricvdtural
societies — as their champion and advocate,
speaks trumpet-tongued in his praise, and not
the less, we may add, in their own. An abler
\vriter than Mr. Cayley has rarely existed —
forcible yet temperate, logical yet lucid, per-
spicuous Avithout elaboration, rhetorical Avithout
intention, Mr. Cayley is admirably formed to ad-
vance any cause he undertakes, conciliating where
he cannot com^ince, pleasing though he may not

OLD SERIES.']

persuade. Eloquence, by an eminent writer, has
been beautifully described as apples of gold in
baskets of silver : such is the character of Mr.
Cayley's speeches and ^vritings, uniting as they
do the fortiter in re ^v'ith the suaviter in moth.

Mr. Cayley has \vritten more, perhaps, than
any other living member of parhament, on the
causes of agricultural distress and the best reme-
dies to be apphed for their abatement. So
severe and so long-continued have been the intel-
lectual efforts, that a frame originally of great
muscular power has nearly sunk beneath them,
and the soid that

" O'er informs its tenement of clay"

has, for nearly four years, given frequent notices
to quit, to the alarm of every one save the honour-
able member himself.

Mr. Cayley, in after years, will be mentioned as
one of those, few "country gentlemen," in these
degenerate times, who, uninfluenced hj ])arty and
unseduced by power, ever remained faithful to
the true interests of their constituents. All his
votes, speeches, and writings — nay, his very
omissions to vote for keeping this minister in
or turning that minister oxit — indicate his resolute
determination not to " give up to party what was
meant for mankind"; and for this he has received
G \No, 2.— FOL. XXI,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

his reward, not only in the respectful deference
paid to him by men of all parties in the state, but
also that reward which is next to virtue's
highest prize, the sunshine of the soul, viz., the
long-continued confidence of the unpurchased
and unpurchasable, the undaunted and truly high-
minded yeomen and dalesmen of North York-
shire. Let us hope that they may be long as
worthy of him, as he has long been worthy of them.

Edward S. Cayley was born on the 13th of
August, in the year 1802, at Newbold Hall, near
Market AVeighton, in the East Riding of York-
shire, and is descended from one of the nobles
that came in with the Conqueror. Before the
Concjuest the family were lords of Cailh, near
Rouen, in Nonnandy; and some of its members
were in the ranks of Wilham when he conquered
Harold, who made them large grants of land in
Berkshire, Norfolk, and Y^orkshire. They inter-
married with some of the principal nobihty floAving
from the sons and grandsons of the Conqueror.
In the reign of Henry the Fourth, Roger
de Cailli was one among twelve of the principal
nobihty who were hostages from the king to the
Count of Flanders for the fidfilment of a treaty.*
A member of the family De Preaux (a township
near Cailh, in Normandy), in a hunting expedi-
tion, after the battle of Ascalon, saved the hfe of
Richard the First from an ambuscade of Sara-
cens.f In the reign of Edward the First (1309)
Thomas de Cailli was summoned by writ to the
House of Peers. J Subsequently the estates of the
family in the county of Norfolk having descended
to heiresses, became, by marriage, the property
of other noble houses. The principal remaining
branch fixed their residence in Y''orkshire in the
sixteenth century, and in the civil wars two mem-
bers of it were killed while fighting on the side of
the king; for which Charles the Second, among
the few debts of gratitude he paid to the loyal,
gallant, and long-suffering friends of his father,
conferred on Mr. Wilham Cayley, of Brompton,
North Yorkshire, a patent of baronetcy, in 1661.
From Arthur, the third son of that gentleman, the
subject of this memoir is hneally descended.

Mr. E. S. Cayley is the only sundvor of five
children (one son and four daughters) of John
Cayley, Esq., of Low Hall, Brompton and Wy-
dale, who is still hving, and of Ehzabeth Sarah
Stillingfleet (who died in 1807), the heiress and
lineal descendant in the eldest Mne of the cele-
brated Edward Stilhngfleet, Bishop of Worcester,
author of Origines Sacrce and other standard
works in theology. It is a most singular circum-
stance that the father and mother of Mr. Cayley
were both deaf and dumb, and hence compara-
tively incapable of communicating the seeds of
knowledge to their highly talented son, who
seems to shine among the illustrious names of
those who have fought their way to intellectual
eminence in spite of extraordinary difficulties. It
is true that, by a wise dispensation of our common
Father, nature generally gives to those who are

* Vide Liber Niger Scaccarii,
t Vide Rapin.
I Vide Dugdale.

deprived of one sense the possession of the others
to a greater extent than their fellows. So might
it have been Avith the parents of Mr. Cayley —
they might have experienced the truth and the
consolation of that splendid burst of our sight-
less yet immortal bard of Eden : —
" He that hath light within his own clear breast.

May sit i'the centre, yet enjoy bright day."
Nevertheless, if it were so, the subject of this me-
moir was deprived of the tenderest and best of
parental preceptors by the death of his mother
while he was yet an infant.

At a veiy early age young Cayley was sent to
school — first to a private academy near Ripon, for
five years; afterwards, for a similar length of time,
to Rugby ; subsequently, to a private tutor for
two years, who prepared him for the University
of Oxford. He entered Brazenose College at 19
years of age.

Up to this period Mr. Cayley had given no in-
dications of a tendency towards intellectual pur-
suits, either at school or college. Though quick
in learning, he was slow in hking — he studied be-
cause it was a duty, not because it was a pleasure.
His aspirations were after the athletce of body, not
mind ; yet two leading traits in his character (an
old and favourite domestic of his father's is our
informant) thus early displayed themselves — his
gentleness and his ardour. He was considered
and called the tenderest-hearted boy in school ;
yet with all that gentleness of disposition which
shrinks from giving pain, and is so prominent a
characteristic of Mr. Cayley's speeches and writ-
ings, the ardour which essayed to be the top-
most in whatever he undertook made him distin-
guish himself in what he did like, viz., to beat all
the other boys at the school games. At cricket he
was the most successful batter of the day, having,
during a match at Oxford, scored 277 from his
own bat without being out : a feat never, we be-
heve, surpassed or equalled; for although Mr.
Ward, late M.P. for the city of London, is said
to have once scored 278, he was immediately af-
terwards bowled or caught out.

Mr. Cayley formed an early attachment to his
second-cousin Emma, the third daughter of Sir
George Cayley, Bart., whom he married at the
age of 21, and by whom he has three sons. If
the father of Mr. Cayley, from the natural defects
of which we have spoken, was less than ordinarily
capable of teaching his son the higher elements
of science and knowledge, the father-in-law more
than made up for the deficiency (supposing op-
portunities had existed), inasmuch as Sir George
is eminently distinguished for his pursuits and
proficiency in the great principles of science,
having himself taken out many patents for in-
ventions and improvements of great importance.
Mr. Cayley, however, up to the period of his
marriage, was bhnd to those pursuits of which
Cicero eloquently says — " H<bc studia, adolescen-
tiam aliint, senectutem oblectant, secimdas res
ornant, in adversis rebus perfugium prcebent, de-
lectant domi, non impediunt foras, perigrinantur,
rusticantur ;" the objects of his ardour being the
boat, the bat, and the chase, and hence he left
Alma Mater without seeking to win any enduring J

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

d8

mark of her approbation ; in other words he ne\-er
took or sought a degree — his time had not come.

But it did come — not in collegiate halls — not
amid learned professors — not with glittering prizes
— not for flattering distinctions — not in the temple
to learning raised by man, but in that far higher and
nobler temple formed by God : — the groves of
nature, the music of the woods, the verdure of
the fields, the glorious expanse of mountains, the
soft stillness of valleys; these to him were pre-
ceptors, professors, colleges, and prizes. As the
youth of Greece walked with Plato and con-
versed with Socrates in the vale of Tempe and
groves of Academus, so did the future member for
Yorkshire walk and tallt with the mighty dead
in the romantic and soul-inspiring scenery of
Wydale, whither with his young and blooming
bride, he had retired for a permanent residence.

Between the ages of 21 and 30 Mr. Cayley in
his quiet retreat devoted himself to a severe course
of those historical, economical, and philosophical
studies which have so eminently developed them-
selves in his subsequent speeches and writings.
He had connected himself with, and taken a
prominent part in promoting, the Yorkshire and
other agricultural societies, and his fame as a
speaker and writer had spread far and wide among
the dalesmen of his native county, to whom his
doors had ever been open and his counsel ever
ready. Being a magistrate, and Deputy-Lieu-
tenant of the North Riding, as well as a com-
missioner of several public trusts, he necessarily
engaged in a great deal of business ; while as a
practical farmer to a large extent, and principally
during the period of the great depression in agri-
culture, a mind so active, so searching, and so
logical, could not forbear to trace such depression
to its causes, both proximate and remote, and ren-
der him, beyond most other men, admirably fitted
to represent an agricultural constituency in par-
Mament : so thought the honest, faithful, and in-
dependent dalesmen around him. They recog-
nised in their young neighbour, for he was then
only 30, their " guide, philosopher, and friend" —
they called him forth from his beloved privacy,
and severe, though now dehghtful studies, to
represent them in the great council of the nation.
Notwithstanding a most formidable opposition, of
united Tories and Whigs, Lords Feversham and
Fitzwilliam, conducted with great perseverance and
backed with vast influence, the yeomen of the
hills and the valleys raUied in their might — the
spirit of freedom was among them, and it mastered
all arts, artifices, seductions, and intimidations.
Altars on every hiU were erected to the moun-
tain goddess by honest hearts burning with
enthusiasm. North Yorkshire was a miniature
Switzerland in the days of its glory, and the
young farmer a second TeU. Aristocracy had to
bow before the majesty of the people, and in the
first election under the reform act, Edward
Stillingfleet Cayley was proclaimed the
chosenof the people byamajorityof from400to500.

Another election took place two years after-
wards, when the Tory opponents of Mr. Cayley,
thmking that the enthusiasm had subsided,
ventured again to oppose him, They were

signally mistalien, and as signally defeated. The
spirit of freedom never dies : it may slumber — it
may sleep — it may be deceived by hollow protesta-
tions, and become for a time sick and disgusted ; —
it may be borne down by power and oppression,
and sullenly permit its oppressors to trample
upon it — yet there it is; the electric fluid is chained
in caves and caverns, it may be muttering only
in whispers, and flashing only at intervals, yet it
cannot be put out. The would-be domineering
influence of North Yorkshire struck the flint of
that rock in which it was pent \vith the steel of
opposition, and again it burst upon them with its
consuming brightness. Edward Stilhngfleet Cayley
a second time (in 1834) stood on the hustings
the chosen of the people by the still greater majority
of upwards of 700.

Opposition, fruitful only of defeat and disgrace,
ceased, after this decisive victory, to show its
diminished head. Mr. Cayley from that time to
this has held his seat without a contest.

Mr. Cayley' s chief labours in parUament have
been directed to the palliation of the suflferings
of the industrious and productive classes from the
change in the currency by what is called " Peels
BiU" of 1819; to protection to native agriculture
against foreign competition ; to the preservation of
the local registries of wlls and deeds, which
were threatened, in the new rage for centrahzation,
to be absorbed by the sharp practitioners and Jew
lawyers of London ; to an equitable settlement of
the much vexed and vexatious tithe question ; to
a proposal for a silver or conjoint standard of
value ; and, generally speaking, to secure fair pro-
fits and good wages to the industrious classes,
and especially protect them from all oppression.

Mr, Cayley's principal speeches in Parhament
are those on Mr. Attwood's motion on the distress
of the nation in 1833; on the introduction of a
bill drawn by himself for the estabhshment of
local registries in everj'^ county, similar to those of
Yorkshire and Middlesex (an admirable measure),
in opposition to Mr. Brougham's bill to establish
a central registration of deeds and wills in Lon-
don; on Lord John Russell's Tithe Bill; on his
own motion, that the House should take into con-
sideration the question of a silver standard of
currency; and on nearly every motion connected
with agricultural distress or protection, from 1833
to 1839, especially on Mr. ViUiers's motion, in
1839, for a change in the Corn Laws.

In addition to those splendid speeches which
sparkle with intelhgence and fehcity of illustra-
tion, Mr. Cayley engaged in much of the less pro-
minent, though more fatiguing, business of Par-
hament. For a great portion of its long-continued
sitting, Mr. Cayley was called upon by the other
distinguished members to act as Chairman of the
Committee on the Hand-loom Weavers; he sat
upon the Committees on Agricultural Distress in
1833 and 1836; and for days and weeks con-
ducted the greater part of the examination of the
witnesses, in which his practical knowledge of
farming and the intense study he had devoted to
the causes of depression, were often and power-
fully developed. His examination in chief of
Lords Ashburton, Radnor, and others, on the ef-

G 2

84

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

feet of the changes in the currency as leading
causes of the subsequent agricultural distress,
and which appears in the third volume of the
E\adence of the Agricultural Committee of 1836,
will not be soon forgotton by those who heard it ;
while his own evidence given as a witness before
a Select Committee of the House of Lords in 1836
may be consulted, and ought to be consulted, by
all who desire to understand how a gentleman,
distinguished alike as a farmer and a philosopher,
accounts for that terrible misery which, in cycles
of a few years, A-isits and desolates the home-
stead of the tenant and the cot of the labourer.

Out of Parhament Mr. Cayley has been equally
active. In 1835 he ^vrote the opening address of
the Agricultural Relief Society, and, as one of its
most distinguished ^nce-presidents, took such an
active and influential pai't in its proceedings as
to compel the ajjpointment of a Select Committee
of the House of Commons, in 1836 ; while in
1834 he conducted, and, in fact, edited, the Agri-
cultural and Industrial Magazine, which was en-
tirely devoted to tracing the causes and suggest-
ing the remedies of the national distress, and was
unanimously elected, or rather selected, by 21
brother legislators the Chairman of the Committee
which they formed to consider this great subject.

The great Parliamentary powers and services
of Mr. Cayley, pointed him out when his Grace
the Duke of Buckingham left the lower for the
upper house, as his successor in the leadership
of the coimtiy party in the House of Commons ;
and that prominent and most important position
brought with it a vast accession of cares, con-
/iultations, speeches and writings.

" What pitcher," says the old proverb, " goes
®ften to the well without being broken ?" The
Dody cannot long endure the incessant wear and
tear to which its subtle and active tenant exposes
it. In 1839, subdued by unremitting intellectual
labour, Mr. Cayley first felt that oppression of the
heart, with which ever since he has been afflicted.
His physicians have pronounced it incurable, and
prohibited all exertion under the penalty of
sentence of death ; nevertheless, the mind can
think when the body cannot act, and it will —
" E'en in our ashes live their wonted fires."
Unterrified by the possible results, Mr. Cayley
has, at this crisis, again come forward in de-
fence of his much loved agricultural classes ; and
this session witnessed the mind, vigorous as ever,
wielding those pohshed weapons of poUtical war-
fare, which, though fatal, are never venomous and
never foul.

In person, Mr. Cayley is tall and slender; a
finely formed Grecian head is an outward and vi-
sible sign of its intellectual occupant ; the face is
much worn, compared to what it once was, yet
the blandness of the expression is still there,
"fearing to wound, but not afraid to strike." Not-
Avithstanding the dicta of the most eminent phy-
sicians of the old school, we still hnger in the hope
that the comparative youth and originally mus-
cular elasticity of Mr. Cayley, \vill bring him
round, and the light that is now confined to the
closet will again shine forth in the arena of the
Imperial Parliament.

ROYAL FARMERS' AND GENERAL FIRE,
LIFE, AND HAIL-STORM INSURANCE
COMPANY.

.\NNUAL MEETING OF THE SHAREHOLERS.

On the 10th ult., a meeting of the Shareholders
of the Royal Farmers' Insurance Company was held
at the Freemason's Tavern, for the purpose of re-
ceiving the report of the Directors and the balance-
sheet for the past year, and for the transaction of
other business.

The meeting was first addressed by Mr. Shaav,
the Managing Director, who intimated that, in the
absence of the Chairman, Mr. Rogerson — who was
unfortunately labouring tmder severe indisposition
— he begged to propose that Mr. George Parker
Tuxford, who had since acted as Chairman of the
Board, should take the chair on the present oc-
casion,

Mr. George Parker Tuxford having been unani-
mously voted to the Chair —

Mr. Shaw proceeded to observe as follows : —
As a prehminary to the business of the day, I beg
to call your attention to the clause in the Deed, by
which it is provided that three of the Directors of
the Institution go out of office on this occasion,
and are eligible for re-election. The election may
take jjlace by show of hands, or by ballot ; end if
by ballot, it must be kept open from twelve o'clock
until four. In order, therefore, that the terms of
the Deed may be complied with in the event of a
ballot being demanded, I would suggest that you
should proceed to the election of Directors as the
first business. This being the first occasion of any
of the Directors going out of office, and all being
good men and true, we had some difficulty in de-
termining upon what principle they should go out ;
but, at length, we came to the determination that
if any did go out absolutely, it should be those
who had attended the board the smallest number
of times. The Directors now suggest that Mr.
Blackstone, Mr. Youatt, and Mr. Wilmot should
be balloted out; and they also recommend that
Mr. Blackstone and Mr. Youatt should be re-
elected, and that Mr. Pate, who was formerly a di-
rector, and who now offers himself, and is the
only candidate, should be elected in the place of
Mr. Wilmot, he having attended the meetings of
the Board a smaller number of times than any other
of the Directors.

The Chairman then put the question that the
election of Directors be now proceeded with, which
was carried unanimously.

The balloting papers having been handed to
the whole of the Shareholders present, Mr. Shaw
observed that it was necessary that each should
attach his signature to the paper.

Mr. Newman, who had just entered the
room, intimated that, not being present when the
directions had been given, he was somewhat at a
loss how to fill up the balloting paper. Was it a
selection of names, or the election that he had to
attend to ?

Mr. Shaw repeated the explanation given at
the commencement of the proceedings.

The balloting papers having been delivered tQ

I

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

85

the Chairman, two scrutineers were ai)pointed —
viz., Mr. Blanch and Mr. Lacey — who reported that
Mr. Blackstone, Mr. Yoiiatt, and Mr. Wihnot
were ballotted out.

Mr. Shaw stated that, according to the Deed of
Settlement, the election might take place by show
of hands ; and as no ballot was demanded, it would
be desirable to adopt that course.

Mr. Blanch then moved, and Mr. Jenkinson
seconded the motion, that Mr. Blackstone, Mr.
Youatt, and Mr. Pate, be elected Directors.

Carried unanimously.

Mr. Shaw said the next business was that of
proceeding to the election of auditors, in the room
of those who now went out of office in pursuance
of the terms of the deed of settlement. He proposed
that Mr. Samuel Boydell and Mr. John Ardron be
elected. Mr. Boydell resided in town, and Mr.
Ardron in the country, in Leicestershire ; and thus,
if he mightbe allowed the expression, the one would
represent the town and the other the country.

This motion, having been seconded by Mr. Pate,
was carried unanimously.

The Chairman then rose, and addressed the
meeting as follows : — Gentlemen — As Chairman
for the day, I have the honour to submit a few ob-
servations to you in reference to this institution,
upon the business of which we have here assembled.
It was well remarked by the present Premier —
while at the meeting of the Royal Agricultural So-
ciety of England, held at Cambridge — that it was
his glory and his boast that he was present at
the birth of that noble society; and. Gentlemen, it
is my glory that I was present at the formation of
the Royal Farmers' Insurance Company. The
rapid progress of this institution, and the
flattering auspices by which it has been fa-
\'Oured, are sufficient to show that all who have
been connected with it have nobly done their duty.
The gentleman to whom this extensive proprietary
owes its existence is one of eminent talents, and
well calculated to shape a course for the protection
of the agricultural community ; I mean Mr. North-
house, by whose energy and enterprise the repeal
of the duty on the insurance of farming stock
was obtained. Before this institution was es-
tablished, I had an interview with that gen-
tleman on the subject, being the first person
consulted in the undertaking by my respected
friend Mr. Joseph Rogerson, a gentleman, in my
opinion, eminently quahfied to fill the office he now
holds as Chairman of the Royal Farmers' Insurance
Institution. Mr. Northhouse explained to us
the great advantages likely to be derived by
the agricultural world from such an institution.
Commerce had its protection societies, the ship-
ping interest had its insurance offices; but
agriculture, the most essential of all, had neither
one nor the other that it could call its own. Mr.
Rogerson, possessing the advantages of printing
machinery and steam, as well as a large pro-
perty in the literature of agriculture, was at once
selected by the projector as the best man to
put his design in motion. With his charac-
teristic energy he set about the matter, and called
to his aid such efficient persons as were likely to
assist him in carrying out this great object. Wit-

ness Mr. Shaw, the late able Secretary of the Royal
Agricultural Society of England, and to whom
that society is indebted for its ]>irth— who was
called to his aid, and by his great industry and
perseverance contributed to the success of this in-
stitution. This remark may be open to criticism,
Init I maintain that it is to Mr. Shaw that the
Royal Agricultural Society of England owes its
existence, materially assisted by your Chairman,
Mr. Josej)h Rogerson. If yo\i look to the co-
lumns of the Mark Lane Express, you ^yill
there find that he advocated the formation
of such a society long before it was established,
and continually stated that unless the farmers of
England joined together for their mutual interest,
agriculture could not prosper. He has ever kept
in view the maxim, " Practice with Science," and
has always studiously avoided giving a political
bias to the articles which he has contributed
to that leading agricultural journal. It now
devolves upon me to refer to other Gentle-
men who have been called upon to carry out
the views of the projectors of this Company.
The oldest may be considered the late Mr.
Lacey, a gentleman well known in the parish of
St. Clement's, almost invariably presiding at the
board, as chairman, whenever any question
of an important and difficult nature had to be dis-
cussed. Mr. Lacey, however, is now no more. He
is sleeping with another of the directors of this
Institution — I mean the late Mr. Low, a gentleman
and a very considerable West India proprietor, who
took great interest in the success of this company.
Mr. Workman who has been a Director from its
foundation, is now unfortunately labouring under
severe indisposition, as well as Mr. Rogerson :
although the latter gentleman is suftering
severely in body, his intellectual facilities are, I
rejoice to add, as briUiant as ever. So far ^\dth
respect to some of those who were engaged in
the piimary formation of the Office. Mr.
Jaques, of Richmond, Yorkshire, is well known to
many of you ; he comes under the denomination
of a countiy director, and a man of high honor,
strict integritjf, and sound principle, and eminently
quahfied for the office he fills. I believe no country
gentleman has done more to promote the advance-
ment of agriculture than Mr. Jaques, who is a con-
siderable landed proprietor, and is the respected pre-
sident of the Richmondshire Agricultural Society.
Mr. Hudson, of Castle Acre, is known as a very
extensive practical farmer under Lord Leicester;
indeed, he holds the largest quantity of land of
any of his lordship's tenants. This gentleman
I have had the pleasure of meeting frequently
at the board, and I may add truly that I have
ever found him ready and \villing to render good
ser^^ce to the Institution. Mr. Clutton is also a
practical farmer and agent of the Earl Manvers,
in Nottinghamshire, and has contributed much to
the advancement of the business of the office. Mr.
Cooper has the confidence of a numerous hst of
friends in SuflFolk connected with the office ; of
these gentlemen I can say but little, not having had
so many opportunities aftbrded me of appreciating
them ; but of this I can speak confidently, when
they do attend they evince a desire to do their duty.

86

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Mr. Smeddle possesses from his talent and expe-
rience, the capability of promoting the interest of
the office which he now holds. Upon Mr. Youatt's
abilities I shall not superfluously enlarge, as they
must be so well known to you all as the author
of some of the most important works upon animated
nature ever published. He has succeeded in en-
larging upon the merits of the brute creation, and
pointed out certain interesting facts connected
therewith, of which we might otherwise have re-
mained in ignorance. His work upon " Humanity
to Brutes," which ought to have been the prize
essay, is a most admirable production, and has
commanded that amount of attention which its
merits so justly demand. He has, also, written
most successful treatises upon " Cattle," for the
Society for the DiflTusion of Useful Knowledge.
To him " The Horse" is indebted for the best book
that was ever written in his behalf; and "The
Sheep" has a debt of gratitude to pay for his inva-
luable services. He has just committed another work
to the press to add yet another laurel to his brow,
" A History of the Dog," which has been most
scientifically treated. "We could not by possibihty
have had a better man than Mr. Youatt, who has
been so long and so intimately acquainted with ve-
terinary science. I now beg to call your attention to
Mr. Blackstone — a gentleman with whom I have
been intimately acquainted for many years, and can
assure you that I know no man better quahfied for
his office. Mr, Wilmot, of whom I have seen very
little, is a man of talent and experience. He is the
respected agent of the Duke of Newcastle, and
doubtless weU known to many gentlemen present.
These, gentlemen, have therefore constituted the
board. I shall now refer more immediately to the
progress of this institution. It will be found that
It has been established very httle more than four
years the first policy being issued on the 25th of
March 1840. The Farmers', or rather, the Royal
Farmers' Insurance Company, has, I conceive,
advanced in a manner exceeding the most san-
guine expectations of all engaged in it. On re-
ference to the government returns, it will be
seen that, during the first year of its existence,
about £2,000 was paid for duties. In the follow-
ing year, it had increased to about £4,000 ; in the
succeeding one, to £6,000; last year it was
£8,000, as shown by the said returns ; and I have
no hesitation in declaring it ■wUl this year amount
to £10,000. It ■will, I am sure, be scarcely ne-
cessary for me to say that there is no glossing this
statement of affairs ; and that such a measure of
success was never before accomplished in the same
space of time by any other office in existence.
Much more, however, may yet be done, for it
must not be forgotten that there are numerous
streams for its subsistence — tributaries which have
made the great stream of business what it is, and
which must increase its value and importance.
Notwithstanding the immense amount of property
insured in the office, only 10 per cent, of your
capital has been called for, a fact which fuUy evi-
dences our success. Gentlemen, this observation
is not a mere chimera, or an effusion of the brain,
as on reading the report my friend on my right,
Mr, Shaw, will presently show you, There is yet

one point to which I must beg leave to direct
your particular attention — viz., the importance of
promoting to the utmost of your abihty. Life
Assurance ; it is a duty you owe yourselves, your
families, and as shareholders, your duty to the
office. AVhenever an opportunity is afforded, never
pass it without improving it. I believe there is
not a shareholder present Avho would have supposed
that by this time we should have had Ten Million
pounds' worth of property insured in our office ;
but when they know that such is positively the
case, I am confident they Avill not feel any hesita-
tion in looking upon us as in a most stable and
prosperous condition. We have been most careful
to have our rates of Life Assurance based upon
sound principles ; for, unless they were so, the
result would be prejudicial. As to our losses,
we have been certainly fortunate, for we find they
have not been greater than those of other offices
generaUj^ and not nearly so great as many of the
old estabUshments that might be mentioned.
(Cheers.) I hardly think it necessary to say more
in reference to our position, as the report will be now
read by Mr. Shaw, who will most gladly answer
any questions that may be put ; yet. Gentlemen, I
cannot sit down without again expressing my
gratification that I was at first identified with this
institution, and that I am now present with those
who were likewise the first at its formation, which
has unquestionably been for the interest of aU.
(Loud Cheers.)

Mr. Shaw then read the report.

The report having been read,

Mr. Shaw obser\fed that, as the item of pre-
liminary expenses might appear large, he begged
to observe that the directors had deemed it neces-
sary to be liberal at the onset, in order to esta-
bUsh an early business. If any of the share-
holders wished to see the details, they were ready
for inspection at the office : but it appeared to him,
that £15,000. was not too large an outlay to obtain
an income of £20,000 a year, the former sum
being less than one year's purchase. He had the
balance sheet for the past year before him, and
aU the other items and vouchers were at the office
for inspection. I saw, (continued Mr. Shaw,) a
short time since, statements of the preliminary
expenses of two London Joint Stock Banks. The
preliminary expenses of the one were £9,000 ; of the
other £50,000. Now, if you look at the fact that
we have 800 agents, and consider the expense con-
sequent upon their appointments, I think you will
agree with me, the amount is not too high. We
have now laid a good foundation, and I am san-
guine enough to hope that we shall increase
and prosper.

In reply to questions from various shareholders,
Mr. Shaw observed that the amount for printing,
might be £6,000 or £7,000. The next point
alluded to by the gentlemen present was the amount
for advertising, which Mr. Shaw set down at £1,000
per annum, and which was considered as moderate.
In reference to a remark respecting printing,
posting bills, &c.,

The Chairman observed that, if it were the
opinion of the meeting, that a general limit should

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

87

be put to such an outlay, he was confident the
Directors would immediately attend to it.

Mr. NoRTHHOUSE said : I beg to offer a few re-
marks upon the observations which have just fallen
from gentlemen around me. I happen to know
many connected with the press; indeed, I am
somewhat connected with it myself. As to
the outlay for advertisements for this institution,
I know, from experience, that it would have
cost, under the ordinary system, more than
double the amount set down in the Balance Sheet.
It must be understood that Mr. Rogerson, as Pro-
prietor of widely-circulated agricultural publica-
tions, and numerous other periodicals, as well as
by his extensi\T connection with the local press,
is enabled to get as many advertisements inserted
for 1,000/. as others could not do for 2,000/.
It is quite impossible to ensure the success of such
an Institution as this, without giving due pubUcity
through the medium of the Press. I am happy to
state these facts, because I feel assured that the
Society owes much to Mr. Rogerson for its splen-
did success. No Company that has ever come
under my observation has succeeded so well as this
Society ; and to show its decided success, I need
only refer to the observations which have fallen
from the Chairman. To its success may be partly
attributed a measure which I laid before Parliament
through my friend Mr. Handley, for repealing the
duty on farming stock, which, after considerable
trouble, was accomplished, never again, I trust, to
be enforced by the Legislature. There is another
circumstance, also, which has contributed to that
end — I mean the nmnbers of Members of Parha-
ment, as well as noblemen, who came forward and
gave their countenance to the Institution at a very
dead time, and at a time, too, when many bubbles
were afloat. You, therefore, have 100 Members of
Parhament and noblemen assisting you with their
names in carrjnng out the objects of the Office.
More than all, you haA'e the name of Royalty,
which shews that great interest is taken in its suc-
cess by the first personages in the realm — ■' Mea-
sures without men are," in my opinion, " useless."
An Institution like this, without such persons
associated with it, and without the advantage
of having so important an organ of communica-
cation as a leading agricultural journal oifered,
could not have been carried out. You have,
therefore, at your command, a honest and dis-
interested paper, as well as the Farmers' Mar/a-
zine, and the able assistance of Mr. Youatt, whose
name is so identified v/ith agriculture, by . his
numerous works on cattle. After I had seen
Mr. Rogerson, and proposed to him the for-
mation of this Society, and after I had ascer-
tained that my advice would be taken, I saw
Mr. Shaw, who had been the Secretary of the Royal
Agricultural Society of England. Seeing the knowledge
he possessed, and the perfect mastery he exhibited over
every matter of detail, I at once perceived that he would
be the best person to aid in carrying out my design. It
must be admitted that his has been a most arduous task,
for every document connected with the Society has vmder-
gone liis care and supervision. I have, therefore, been
much surprised that the advice which I took the liberty
of offering, respecting the amount of emolument to that
gentleman has not been before carried out, The busi-

ness of the office having increased, and Mr. Shaw's
salary as Managing Director remaining stationary, I
now beg to move that Mr. Shaw's salary be increased.

The Chairman begged to draw the attention of the
meeting to the report, as the subject immediately before
the meeting.

A Shareholder inquired whether the Government
return referred to the business from the commencement,
or for the year ending the 25th of March, 1843.

Mr. Shaw replied, for the latter period.

On the motion of Mr. Northhouse, seconded by
Mr. Jexkinson, the report was unanimously re-
ceived and adopted.

Mr. Northhouse next moved the following resolu-
tion pro forma : —

" That, in consideration of the extreme attention
and great success of the Managing Director of
this office, his salary be increased 200^. per an-
num.

Previous to the resolution being put from the chair,
l\Ir. Northhouse said — I know that the salariesof those
gentlemen who hold a similar position to Mr. Shaw, are
considerably larger than that paid by this institution .
Mr. Barber Beaumont, so long connected with the
County Fire Office, had a much larger salary.

The resolution, having been seconded by Mr. Smed-
DLE, was carried unanimously.

Mr. Shaw said, m offering my grateful thanks for
the motion to which you have just agreed, I cannot
but express my obligations for the observations made by
Mr. Northhouse. "The proposition has been made with,
out any previous knowledge on my part ; but it will
be a stimulus to me so to exert myself as to merit a con-
tinuance of your approbation. (Loud cheers).

Mr. Napper then moved that the balance sheets of
the years 1841, 1842, 1843, and 1844 be printed, and
sent to every shareholder. This motion having been
seconded by Mr. Gates,

Mr. Northhouse observed that he had had a little
experience in these matters, and begged to suggest
that it would be much better to confine the distribution
of such statements to those shareholders who might re=
quire them.

Mr. Shaw said, I hope' there is not the slightest feel-
ing on the part of those present, that the directors are
desirous of concealing anything from the shareholders ;
every thing is open to their inspection and examination,
but I must say I entirely concur in the suggestion made
by Mr. Northhouse.

Mr. Napper said — If there is any objection, I will
limit their issue to such as may apply for them. (Ap-
plause.)

The foUowmg amended] resolution was then put and
carried without dissent : —

"That a balance-sheet, comprising those of the
years 1841, 1842, 1843, and 1844, together with
the Report now presented, be printed and fur-
nished to every shareholder who may apply for
them."

Mr. Shaw then briefly detailed to a shareholder,
who was not in the room when the business commenced ,
the contents of the balance-sheet.

Mr. Napper : Is it competent to make any altera-
tion in the deed ? As I would suggest that a notice of
each meeting should be sent to the shareholders, besides
the insertion in the newspapers, as perhaps there may-
be many who never see a London paper. According to
the deed, I thought the place of meetuig was the prin-
cipal office.

Mr. Shaw. — The deed expressly says, " or some other
place" — the usual clause.

Mr. Northhouse. — Tliis is a point which, with all
deference to those present, ought to be settled at once.

88

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

I tliink that the gentleman should make a decided motion ;
but if the Directors are to give notice to every Share-
holder, the room vs'ould be filled with those who have no
right to be present.

A conversation here took place, to the effect that a
notice to all the shareholders would require an altera-
tion in the deed of settlement ; when

Mr. NoRTHHOusE observed, an alteration in the motion
i.s necessary. Persons who are not allowed to vote, would
find themselves, even though they attended, in a some-
what unpleasant position.

The Chairman. — The case is in the hands of the
general body of the shareholders, to whom no opposition
will be offered on the part of the Directors.

Mr. Napper then moved the following resolution,
which were carried unanimously : —

' ' That the Directors be requested, before all future
General Meetings, to send notice of the time and
place of holding the same to all shareholders
qualified to attend the same."

The Chairman having inquired if any other Share-
holder had any proposition to make,

Mr. Cawley rose and said, I have listened with very
great pleasure to the statements which have been laid
before the Meeting. I have heard enough to be con-
vinced that the Society is in a flourishing state. I
have fought hard for this institution — (cheers) — and
cannot but notice with very great pleasure that it has
a Royal title, which I was the first to suggest. Some
may say that Royal patronage is worth very little : but
I say it is worth a great deal. I would beg to suggest
that the names and addresses of the Directors be ap-
pended to the report, as I am sure the more we know
of those gentlemen the more we shall approve them.

The following resolution — which was moved by Mr.
Cawley, and seconded by Mr. G. W. Blanch — was then
put and carried : —

" That to the report of the meeting about to be sent
to the shareholders, the names and addresses of the
Directors be appended."

Mr. Caavley then said — I suggested a revision of the
agencies, and now I wish to inquire how many country
agencies are unsatisfactory to the Directors .'

Mr. Shaw. — Out of the 800, 100 may be unsatis-
factory.

Mr. Cawley. — I then take the liberty of suggesting
that every inquiry should be made whether it is idleness
that has caused this dissatisfaction ; because I would
have all work for the good of the Institution. I happen
to know one or two agencies where nothing has been
done. As for myself, at first I did very little ; but,
having set about my work in earnest, I soon got a
good business for the Office. I think, therefore, that
the Directors would have been well engaged in
looking after such Agents, and I move that these 100
be well looked after, as I think that something
ought to be done by every agent. Perhaps the hint will
be sufficient ; but I hold it a matter of much import-
ance.

Mr. Sh aw. — In answer to Mr. Cawley's observations,
I beg to observe, that we have the same object in con-
templation. The most effectual mode of weeding them
would be that of getting a person to revise the agencies :
but this could only be done at a considerable ex-
pense. Supposing, for instance, it occupiedonly one day
in visiting each place it would be an expensive matter.
We shall make it our duty to inquire into the position of
the agents, in order, if they are really idle, that they
may be superseded.

Mr. Napper suggested that, in the selection of
agents, reference might be made to the country
directors.

Mr. Shaw said, we have 170 county directors.

When we make a change in the agencies, we of course
always refer to such directors, in order to ascertain
whether our proposed new agents are such as may be of
use to us. Changes, however, have always some diffi-
culties. In many parts of the kingdom we have not
any county directors to refer to. We liad not at first
that choice which some of the old offices had ; but we
shall continue to select the best agents we can procure.

The Chairman : The appomtment of agents is a
matter to which great attention has been paid by the
directors. Parties in the country, when applied to, look
to the interest of their friends, whom, of course, they
have a desire to benefit. A case has come before me in
which a person was recommended to us as a proper and
most industrious agent, when, in point of fact, he was
not fit for such a duty. In my opinion, therefore, the
best course to adopt would be that of sending a gentle-
man into the country to visit the agents.

Several Shareholders expressed their approval of such
a course.

Mr. Passingham thought it better to leave the
matter in the hands of the directors.

The Chairman observed there was great difficulty in
the matter, for a person who had obtained even a little
business for the office, would not like that to be taken
from him.

Eventually, it appeared to be the wish of the share-
holders that the matter should be left in the hands of
the Directors.

Mr. Northhouse rose and said — I beg now to move
that the best thanks of this meeting be given to Mr.
Tuxford, for the talent and ability with which he has
discharged the duties of the chair.

This motion, having been seconded by several share-
holders, was carried amidst applause.

The Chairman. I rise to thank you for the very
kind manner you have been pleased to express yourselves
as to my conduct in the Chair. This is the first time I
have presided as Chairman at a public meeting ; should
I, on any future occasion, be called upon to occupy so
distinguished a position, I hope I shall perform the im-
portant duties of the office in a satisfactory manner, and,
in conclusion, I will merely observe in i'«ference to the
notice by a gentleman relative to publicity being given to
our proceedings, that it will be carried out, as I, for one,
cannot allow of any of our transactions being in any wise
concealed from the shareholders at large. Trusting that
I have faithfully discharged my duty as Chairman of this
meeting, I beg to thank you for your flattering expres-
sions of approbation.

The Chairman sat down amidst general ajiplause, and
the meeting immediately afterwards separated.

AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY.

TO**rHE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — Professor Liebig has, in his " Report on
the application of Chemistry to Agriculture," ren-
dered it extremely probable that the forms in which
plants receive the materials of their structure are
carbonic acid, ammonia, and certain sahne and
earthy substances \vhich chemical analysis has
shown that plants contain. Our own agricultural
chemists, as Professor Johnston and Dr. Dau-
beny, while expressing some doubt whether plants
do not i-eceive a part of their nourishment from
vegetable and animal compounds previous to their
being resolved by decay into the form of gas, agree
that it is only such substances as are capable of

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

80

furnishing carbonic acid and ammonia that can in
any other form furnish the food of plants. In his
first treatise. Professor Liebig endeavoured to prove
that, of the three prerequisities of fertiUty only
two were needed in any considerable quantity ;
that if ammonia and the salines were added to the
ground as manure, the plants would be enabled to
extract four-fifths of their carbon from the atmos-
phere and from the carbonic acid contained in rain.
He demonstrated also that a considerable portion
of ammonia was contained in the rain-water which
falls on the surface of the earth in the course of the
year. In his familiar " Letters on Chemistry and
Its connection with the Arts," he has carried his
theory still further, and has ventured to aflfirm that
both carbonic acid and anunonia are collected from
the atmosphere, and from the rain which falls from
it, in sufficient quantity for the use of the plant,
pro\'ided only that its saline ingredients be present
in the soil, and that manure containing ammonia
l)e furnished to sustain its growth until its leaves
and roots, by which it absorbs the nutriment from
air and water, are developed. According to Pro-
fessor Liebig, therefore, the saline constituents of
plants are not only essential, but they are almost, if
not altogether, the only essential ingredient in
manure. Our own chemists have not adopted this
doctrine in its whole extent ; they do not advise
farmers to neglect animal and vegetable compounds
as articles of manure. They still believe that a
considerable part of the ammonia, and of the car-
bonic acid too, must be added to the soil if we
would have it bear abundant crops. But they too,
no less than Professor Liebig, insist on the extreme
and essential importance of the presence of the
salines in the soil. They do not say that if the
salines be in the soil the land will be fertile, because
they hold that animal substances, or the products
of them, are equally needed, and vegetable sub-
stances, too, to provide carbon and nitrogen ; but
they do say that if the salines, or any one of them,
be absent or in deficient quantity the land wiU be
sterile. On all sides, we farmers are urged to try
this or that saline manure, or mixtures of various
salines ; and experiments are shown us where the
cost of one or another article has been greatly over-
paid in an increased yield from the land. Yet
other experiments are not wanting in which each
article in its turn has proved useless, noxious
even, or of so little use as to have been unprofita-
ble. There can be no doubt that it is good that
all the sahnes should be sixpplied to the soil ; but
it behoves the farmer to take care that he does not
add those which are already in excess or suffi-
ciency, and that along with them he adds whate\er
else is necessary to render the land fertile, and
that if he do use saline manures that he gets them
as economically as he can. In reading a little
book, which all farmers who desire to make their
rules of practice agree with the laws of science,
should read — Professor Johnston's " Elements of
Agricultui-al Chemistry and Geology" — I observed
some calculations of the quantities of sahnes con-
tained in crops, and the cost of supplpng them,
which appears to me to lead to conclusions diflferent
from those which I, and doubtless others, had
previously formed. I had thought that if it were

proved that the saline materials were the only or
the chief elements of the fertihty of the soil, it
woidd be more economical to supply the waste our
crops occasion by using saline manures instead
of those from the farm-yard. It was a new fact to
me that the saline matters contained in a given
quantity of manure would, if bought at the lowest
market, exceed in cost the whole of the manure.
Such, however, appears to be the fact. Professor
Johnston shows that the four crops of the common
Norfolk course, taking the wheat at 30 bushels, the
barley at 40 bushels, the turnips at 25 tons, and
the seeds at 2 tons, would contain rather more
than 12 cwt. of saline and earthy substances.
Little of this is contained in the grain, but nine-
teen-twentieths of the whole is in the straw, hay,
and turnips which are consumed on the farm, and
which return, or should return, all their salines to
the manure-heap. He calculates that to supply the
quantity of sahnes contained in the four crops,
there would be required about 17 cwt. of such
articles as are known in commerce, and that their
cost would be £8 7s. 6d. Opinions differ as to the
quantity of manure which is yielded by any quan-
tity of cattle food ; but on no calculation would the
two crops of straw, 50 cwt., the hay and clover 2
tons, and the 25 tons of turnips, yield more than
25 tons of farm-yard manure. At 5s. per ton,
therefore, the whole manure would be worth
£6 5s. ; while the saline matters it contained would,
if procured from other sources, be worth more
than £8. If the calculations of Professor John-
ston be accurate (of which there can be little
doubt), and if there be no cheaper way of procur-
ing the salines than has as yet been discovered, it
is manifestly unprofitable to substitute sahne
manures for those made on the farm, even if we
admit that it is the sahnes alone which are neces-
sary to fertihty. And if our own agricultural
chemists, as well as practical agriculturists, are
right in attributing to that part of the farm-yard
manure which is to yield carbonic acid and am-
monia, or some similar products to plants, a value
equal to that of the sahne, then it is of course still
less profitable to use salines alone. I am assuming
that the farm-yard manure made from the crops
does contain all the salines which the crops them-
selves contained, though from the httle attention
usually paid to the preservation of the urine of the
cattle, in which a great part of the most ^'aluable
sahnes are found, I am aware that much of them is
lost. But this should teach us not that farm-yard
manure is less valuable, but that we should make
it more so by preventing the loss of the urine.

lliough it is evident that the repairing the waste
of the salines cannot, as a general system, be pur-
sued by any other means than by returning back
to tlie land those which it has before produced, yet
it by no means follows that they are useless or un-
profitable when applied as si)ecific remedies for
special deficiencies in the soil, or for the require-
ments of j)articular crops. All I wish to press
upon the attention of farmers is, that it is only in
particular cases that they are admissible, and that
unless the peculiar deficiency of the soil be first
ascertained it is absiu-d to expect benefit from
sahne manures. Soils naturally contain various

90

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

proportions of the several salines which plants re-
quire. Some soils are deficient in them all, and
some in one or more of the number. All soils, too,
which have been long in cultivation, have of course
been gradually losing what the crops have borne
away and failed to return. And as the '(\'ant of
one of the necessary substances is as much a cause
of sterility as the want of them all, it is in our
power to supply these particular deficiencies at veiy
little cost, and thus produce as much effect as
though we had supplied a stock of all the required
substances. But when we have increased our
crops very greatly by means of one ingredient of
plants, as of gypsum, or lime, or phosphate of lime,
salt, &c., do not let us fall into the error of sup-
posing that the whole good effect has been pro-
duced by the article we have added, when it has in
reality been produced by the other elements of fer-
tihty which the land already possessed, and of
which the crop wiU have partly exhausted it. If
I have a piece of land which contains all the saline
ingredients of plants in sufficient quantity to pro-
duce abundant crops, I am yet obliged to supjjort
its condition by the constant addition of a manure,
which restores all the sahnes back to it. If I have
another piece of land which contains all the sahnes,
except perhaps one or two, I add these deficient
articles, and the land becomes productive; Init
does it, therefore, require less manure than the
field which required no particular addition of
salines ? It seems absurd to suppose such a thing,
and yet numbers of practical men have supposed
that gypsum or common salt would supply the
place of manure.

Saline manures, when used to repair a natural
or acquired defect in the soil, are exceedingly
valuable ; but their use should be altogether sub-
sidiary to the common manures of the farm. The
great difficulty is to ascertain the particvdar defi-
ciency of the soil which it is desired to perfect or
to renovate; the experiments upon one field or
farm cannot do more than ascertain the general
principle that sahne manures are sources of fertihty
when the particular soil or crop requires the sub-
stance we employ. This principle, experiments
have abundantly proved ; but what is wanted is,
that every farmer should know which of the sub-
stances is capable of producing benefit in the par-
ticular circumstances of his owti soil. Tliere
appears no way of ascertaining this point but by
an accurate chemical analysis of every variety of
soil on his farm. He might perhaps, if he knew
the exact course of cropping which had been pur-
sued on each field, be able to give a near conjecture
what substances had become deficient. Knowing
the substances contained in the crops carried off,
he would know partly what was wanting ; but first
he would not know what was the original wealth
or poverty of the soil as regarded each of the saline
ingredients ; nor, again, would he know how much
of what had been carried off had failed to be
returned in the manure in consequence of the
waste of the urine of cattle : or he might make
trial of different articles on smaU plots of his land,
and note accurately the effect on each. The result
would show in some measure the advisabihty of
extending the use of any successful article to the

whole field. But there are experiments recorded
which show us that the effect of a saline is
not always in accordance ■with the degree of defi-
ciency of it in the soil. The want of rain, or the
improper manner of its application, may render it
useless or injurious; not only one but two or
three of the salines may be deficient ; and if we do
not use mixtures of these, as well as each singly,
nothing is determined as to the power of salines to
repair the infertility of the land. Then it is not
easy to ascertain the precise effect of a manure on
a small spot of ground. All these hinderances
make the knowledge he would gain by experiments
fuU of uncertainty. But if he were careful to take
samples of the soil in such a manner as that they
should contain the same materials as formed the
average of the soil, and subject them to a strict
analysis by a competent chemist, he would at once
learn more than a course of experiments carried
through several seasons and on various crops could
teach him. After such an analysis it would, per-
haps, be better to make small experiments, for we
see that some soils which contain but a very small
])roportion of i a given substance yield enough to
the crops, while others, though richer in the same
substance, may yet receive benefit by having it
applied. But knowing what substances were
really deficient in the soil, he would require only to
try such articles as woiild supply what was wanted,
and he might condvict his experiments on a rather
larger scale, and with such care as to give more
precise residts.

The calculations I have quoted from Professor
Johnston's work seem to prove that we must look
only to the farm manure to repair the general defi-
ciency of the soil in salines, as well as to supply
the requisite quantity of animal and vegetable
manure. And if we apply salines with a view to
repair special deficiencies in the soil, it seems per-
fectly useless to expect much benefit from such
plans of experiment as are commonly pursued.
We might try on half-acres of land one or two
articles, or one or two mixtures of articles, year
after year, and yet it would only be by mere good
fortune that we chscovered the real cause of the
land's infertility. A chemical analysis of the soil,
followed bj' careful experiment, seem the only
way of arriving at any certain information ; and I
believe that every farmer who finds his land pro-
duce less than the kind of soil he cultivates ought
to grow, would find it to his interest to adopt these
means of discovering and remedying the cause of
its barrenness.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

A South Derbyshire Farmer.

Bin ton-on-Trent.

STRATFORD FARMERS' CLUB,

The following is an abstract of the paper read
by D. Galton, Esq., at the late meeting of the above
club, " on the cultivation of strong fand, and the
rotation of crops."— "The part of a farm intended
for a wheat fallow is usually ploughed the first
time very deep, early in the month of November,
and not afterwards till the following spring, when,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

n

as early as the weather will permit, it is ploughed
again, or what is called ploughed back ; in about
a month it receives a cross ploughing ; then the
cultivator, the harrows, and, lastly, the finishing
ploughing, or what is tei'med the landing up, which
completes the summer, or working part of this
expensive preparation, and which is, by some,
considered an unnecessary mode of culture. Now,
by adopting a proper rotation of cropping, and by
substituting a green crop between every corn or
white straw crop, to be consumed in yards, or
eaten off by cattle and sheep on the land, the
naked summer fallow might be rendered unneces-
sary, and a great saving effected both in horse
labour and money. The great difference in the
quality and description of the land situated in this
district, or within the limits of the Stratford Union,
is so great, that it makes it almost impossible
to lay down any general rule that could be ren-
dered applicable to farms which vary so much in
soil, situation, and aspect; but, supposing a farm
to consist of strong land, or what is generally
termed wheat and bean land, not calculated alto-
gether for turnips to be consumed upon it, though
capable of producing a fair crop of that or any
other root, if properly drained and cultivated ;
and here I would remark, that it would be useless
to attempt the cultivation of turnips upon strong
land which has not been thoroughly drained. I
would propose (in order to effect an improvement
in the land, and reduce the cost of cultivation,
by getting rid of the year's rent, and payments
attendant upon a summer fallow), the propriety of
substituting a turnip fallow in the place of a wheat
fallow, and proceed in the following manner. The
land intended to be sown with turnips (which
should follow a corn crop), should be ploughed
the first time, immediately after har\'est, to the
depth of eight or nine inches, then well harrowed
down, and cleansed by the cultivator, having the
weeds picked out by hand and destroyed, after
which it is trenched up by one plough, or, what is
better, by two ploughs, the last one following in
the same track as the preceding one, and forming
the land into ridges about thirty inches wide, which
completes the autumn cultivation, or preparation
of the land for a turnip crop. " The following
spring, the manure may be carted on at any con-
venient time (for the width of the cart wheels
being about sixty inches, and the drills thirty, the
horse walks in one furrow, and each wheel is in
another, without at all interfering with the ridges),
and spread in the furrows, immediately after which
the ridges or drills must be split by the plough to
cover up the dung. The land is then ready for
the seed, which may be put in at any convenient
time afterwards, but the earlier the better, if the
weather will permit ; and, when the crop has ar-
rived at maturity, it may be carted oti' to the
yards, or the grass land, in the same manner that
the dung was carted on, by which means the inju-
rious poaching will be avoided, which is at all
times so bad for land not calculated to carry
stock. By this method, the difficulty of raising a
crop of swedes will be much lessened upon strong
land, which is often rendered too dry by spring
working, which prevents the seed from germinat-

ing or sprouting, and the young plants from grow-
ing Angorously, and escaping the ravages of
the fly. As to the number of acres of turnips
that should be grown in each year, this must be
regulated by the size of the farm, the quantity of
stock kept, and the description of the succeeding
crops. Supposing the arable part of the farm to
consist of 200 acres, one half of which would be a
fair ])roportion to have in grain crops, the remain-
ing half should be apportioned for turnips, man-
gold ■wurtzel, carrots (or any other root which
would be suitable to the soil), or seed and vetches ;
using every endeavour to keep the land clean, and
free from weeds. By introducing such crops in
the rotation which, by their action upon the soil,
have the greatest tendency to improve it, and ren-
der it more friable, such as turnips, mangold
^vlu•tzel, vetches, beans or peas, clover, trefoil, and
Italian r^'e grass, I hope to effect some improve-
ment. I am aware that it would be impossible to
lay down any rotation of crops that would be suited
to all hea^-y soils ; therefore, such variations in the
mode of culture must be adopted by the occupier
as may aj)pearto him to be the most advantageous;
but my object is to obtain from hea^y soils, pro-
fitablj', that which has generally been obtained
from hght soils only. In the course I am about
to propose, I introduce the practice of intervening
a green crop between every crop of wheat, oats,
and barley; thereby bringing the rotation upon
a farm to a system, instead of that which is some-
times adopted ; namely, cropping a field two sea-
sons running with a white straw, because the field
happens to be in good heart, and then being
obliged to lay it down for some time to recover ;
the result of which cannot but be injurious to the
land, and, consequently, to its occupier.

The folloioing is the Rotation of 1st Course: —
1st, clover or vetches. 2nd, wheat. 3rd, beans
or peas. 4th, swedes, turnips, mangold, or carrots.
5th, barley or oats. 6th, rye grass and trefoil.
This ends the first course. I recommend rye grass
and trefoil mixed, to be substituted for red clover
each alternate cropping, by which means the land
would be in clover once every ten years.

2nd Course. — 1st, wheat. 2nd, beans or peas.
3rd, root crops, such as turnips, &c. 4th, bar-
ley or oats. 5th, red clover and vetches.

3rd Course. — 1st, beans and peas. 2nd, wheat.
3rd, roots. 4th, barley or oats. 5th, rye grass,
trefoil, vetches.

4th Course. — 1st, wheat. 2nd, beans or peas.
3i-d, turnips, roots. 4th, barley or oats. 5th, clover,
vetches. 5th course same as third; 6th as 4th,
and so on ; by alternately changing the first crop
of the rotation, it will cause a greater space of time
to intervene before the same description of crop
mil be replanted in each alternate course. By
this method every 200 acres of arable land would
produce each year 50 acres of wheat — 25 of beans
and peas — 25 of barley and oats; the other half
of the farm or 100 acres would be in seeds, vetches,
and root crops. The land vnll remain do^\^^ in
in seeds one year only, and as to the time of plant-
ing the various crops, this must be regulated by
the state of the weather, and other circumstances,"

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ON THE APPLICATION OF STEAM TO
AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES.

READ AT THE BURTON - ON-TRENT FARMERS'
CLUB, BY MR. JOHN LATHBURY, OF HORNING-
LOW, JUNE 27tH, 1844,

It is certain that eveiy year steam is becoming
more generally employed for agricultm-al purposes;
and, as we may reasonably conclude that this would
not be the case unless there was an increasing opi-
nion that its use is profitable, it behoves farmers
to inquire into the reasons for and against the prac-
tice of both steaming food and the employment of
steam power; there cannot, therefore, be a more
fitting subject for discussion in our society. I
have ventured to propose this subject to your at-
tention, but am well aware how much I shall need
your indulgence for its very imperfect treatment.
I shall attempt little more than to give you the re-
sult of my own experience as to the use of steam;
and shall trust myself -with very few remarks as to
its apphcation to circumstances different from those
of my own farm. The result on my own farm has,
I think, been decidedly profitable; and I do not
consider that mine is quite the most favourable
case for the use of steam.

The great expense of steam power is the first
outlay, and this needs not to be any greater for a
farm twice the size of my own ; the engine which I
have set up, would do a very great deal more work
than I do with it, and would, consequently, effect a
greater saving on a larger farm.

In estimating the expense of the machinery for
thrashing corn, and for the other purposes of grind-
ing or bruising corn, cutting hay and straw, and
steaming food, it would be difficult to separate the
items, and to show the saving on each. Perhaps
an engine, and thrashing machine attached, would
not pay for the outlay on such a farm as mine ; nor
would it pay to have an engine merely to grind
corn, and cut hay, and steam food; it is by com-
bining all these uses, that I think I have the means
of effecting a considerable saving.

I have a six-horse power engine which, with a
steaming apparatus attached, cost me (put down
free of expense, and kept in rejjair for six

months) £120

A thrashing machine and shafting - 25

A straw cutter - - - - - 14

A bean mill, &c. 10

A water cistern to hold 2,000 gallons, - 11

Making in the whole - - - £l80
I reckon interest on capital for this outlay at 5 per
cent., and at the rate of 7i per cent, per annum for
wear and tear, and repairs of machinery, which is
employed by me only six months, making the an-
nual cost of the machinery £15 15s, Od,

I find that the thrashing of corn on my farm has
taken 23^ days work of the machine. I act as
engineer myself, and I find, on an average, I re-
quire the labour of one man and four women each
thrashing day, and the coals consumed are half a
ton, which costs me 2s. 6d. I get slack at 5s.; and
as I take the best part for the use of the house, and
fetch it for the most part when I take in corn to

market, I think the carriage is made up to me in
the best coals which I pick out. Reckoning the
man's wages at Is, Sd, a-day, and the women at
8d., the whole cost of the 23^ days' work amounts
to £'8 Os. Id.

Then, I find that with the amount of stock I keep,
I require about 200 strikes of cut hay and straw a
day. I am enabled, with the labour of two men,
to cut and steam 700 strikes in two hours, and the
cost of coals is about Is. I reckon that 1 cut
and steam this quantity twice a week for twenty-
five weeks; and I allow 6d, each for the labour of
the men, two hours. The amount of this item of
the expense is therefore, the engine worked fifty
times at 2s. each time, or £5. The whole annual
cost of the machinery, and the labour of working
it is — £ s, d.

Interest, and wear and tear - - 1 5 1 5 0

Labour and coals in thrashing - 8 0 1

Do, do. cutting, steam-

ing, and grinding - - - 5 0 0

Making a total of - - 28 15 0
I proceed to show what return I get in the work
the machinery does me.

I have thrashed 1,026 strikes of

wheat, which, at 5d. per strike, is 21 8 4
804 strikes barley, which, at 2s. per

quarter, is - - - -1010
128 strikes oats, at Is, 8d, per

charter - - - - -140
352 strikes beans, at Is, 8d. - - 3 13 4

My thrashing would, therefore, have

cost me by hand - - - 36 6 8

In addition to any mere saving of expense in
thrashing, I think it will be allowed to be a great
advantage to be able to thrash corn quickly, and
thereby take the benefit of a better market than is
common.

It is no slight matter either to be able to lock up
the barns by daylight, and to avoid the peculation
which is too frequent,

I may add also, that the beer given to men thrash-
ing with the flail is in great measure saved. It ap-
pears stUl to be accounted doubtful, whether the
cutting and steaming the food of cattle be really
useful ; or, at any rate, whether it be so i)rofitable
as to cover the expense of the machinerj', and the
additional labour it makes necessary.

I have veiy little doubt about the matter myself;
and, I think, when it comes to be understood what
steaming does at food, and what kind of food it is
useful to prepare by steaming, that the practice
will become more general. A friend of mine, to
whom I apphed for information on this subject,
has favoured me with a few remarks on cutting and
steaming food, which, as they agree wth my o\^ti
experience, I will make use of instead of attempting
any observations of my own. He says, " If you
look at the experiments which are recorded in va-
rious periodicals, you at first see only the most con-
tradictory results; but afterwards, you will find
that their general tendency is to prove, that steam-
ing such food as is itself easily soluble is entirely
useless. Now, that the nature of the articles which
serve as the food of animals is better understood.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

93

we can see that the result which experience has led
to is precisely what might have been expected by any
one who had formed his conclusions from theory.
Food is not changed in its nature by cooking, or,
at all events, the chemical change it undergoes
does not make it fitter to become the nutriment of
animals. After cooking vegetables, the starch,
sugar, gum, gluten, &c. are still the same sub-
stances; and the only good effect of the process
of steaming is, to separate these soluble sub-
stances, and save the stomach of the animal a great
deal of trouble. It is accordingly found that no
benefit is attained by steaming green crops and
roots ; for. animals are able to divide these so
minutely in the process of mastication, that their
whole digestible substance is easily extracted in
the stomach. There is little doubt either that by
grinding corn, precisely the same result is attained
as though it were steamed or boiled. It is only
dry fodder — hay, clover, straw, &c. — that we should
expect to be increased in their nutritive qualities
by steaming.

" By steaming these articles they are brought
into something the same state as green food. By
mastication the animal is thus able to reduce them
into a state of more minute division, and a greater
quantity of their nutritious substance is exposed to
the action of the digestive fluid. It has been
proved, that besides the soluble matter which hay
and straw contain, animals are capable of digesting
a part of the woody fibre. But to effect the diges-
tion of the soluble part of the woody fibre, as well
as to extract all the other nutritious substances
from hay and straw, it is necessary that they should
be broken up into a very minute state,

" If hay and straw were torn up into minute
shreds, there is reason to believe that it would do
for these articles what grinding does for grain, and
that the steaming would be useless ; but it might
not he so well for the healthy action of the sto-
machs of animals to have the whole food in such a
state. By cutting hay and straw into small lengths
and afterwards steaming, enough is done to enable
the animal to complete their minute division by
mastication.

" There has been a A'ast deal of absurd expecta-
tion raised as to the increased value of food by
steaming. It has been thought that poor food
could be converted into rich by means of it ; and
when these expectations ended in disappointment,
steaming was condemned altogether and neglected.
But now it begins to be generally understood, that
the simple action of steaming is to enable animals
to extract rather more nutriment from the same
quantity of hay and straw, we shall not again be
tempted to vainly seek for any further benefit from
it. If by means of cutting and steaming we can
make a cow thrive as well on 4 cwt. of steamed
hay as it would do on 5 cwt. of raw hay, or, if by
the same means we can mix a third or a fourth of
straw with hay, and yet produce an equal effect,
we shall be amply repaid for the expense of steam-
ing. This, I beheve, we can do."

Though I did not receive the information I have
just quoted until after I had ceased to steam food,
and had turned my stock to grass, my practice has
been in exact accordance wth the opinion of my

correspondent. My simple object has l)een to make
my stock consume less hay, and to substitute straw
for some portion of more costly diet. In this I
have succeeded, and have got through the \vinter
with very considerably less hay than I otherAvise
should have done.

Indeed, I have only to find fault with myself for
having gone rather too far in saving my hay, I
have reason to think that I kept my dairy cows
rather too long on a diet with too much straw in it;
and that if I had attempted to save less in my hay-
stack, I should have gained more in the condition
of my beasts than I should have lost in hay. But
my error says nothing against the practice of steam-
ing, and I am now warned not to repeat it. The
simple question is, can we keep stock in as good
condition mth less food, or with less expensive
food by means of cutting and steaming, and is the
saving more than enough to repay the expense ? I
will endeavour to give an estimate as nearly as I
can of the saving of provender I have been enabled
to make. To have made the ex])eriment with ac-
curacy, I should have kept a part of my stock in
the common way; but this I did not, and I must,
therefore, judge of the condition of my stock while
eating steamed food as compared with what expe-
rience has taught me it would have been on raw
food. My stock consisted of

Dairy cows - - - 50
In-calf stirks - - - 10
Yearhng calves - - 18

Horses - - - - 12
In all 90 head of stock. For these, as I have said,
600 or 700 strikes of cut hay and straw mixed were
prepared twice a week. Up to the 14th of Febru-
ary, being about 18 weeks, I kept the whole of my
horned stock on hay one-third, ^vith straw two-
thirds. On this diet I cannot but say that my
dairy cows fell off in condition; and as they came
in early, I was decidedly wrong; to continue to give
hay so sparingly as long as I did.

After the 14th of February I mixed half hay and
half straw, and gave my cows a foddering of hay
night and morning. On this diet they began to
recover their condition ; and as my cows calved, I
added a pound of ground Unseed made into gruel
to the cut stuff each day. As long as the grass
grew I never remember my cows milking better
than they have done this spring ; and I therefore
consider, that, except as regards my keeping them
rather too long on only one-third hay and^straw,
I have been very successful in my practice of
steaming.

In the course of the winter I have eaten Avith my
stock about 60 tons of straw, mixed with 50 tons of
hay. I am convinced that by cutting and steaming
I have consumed 40 tons more straw in the place
of hay than I should have been able to do without
cutting and steaming. My actual saving of hay
has amounted to 40 tons. But I think if I had
consumed 10 tons more hay it would have been on
the whole better, because my stock would not have
fallen off in condition in the early part of the sea-
son. I think it fair, therefore, to calculate my
saving at what it ought to have been, and not at
what it has been, namely, 30 tons.

I reckon the consuming price of hay and clover

94

THE TARMER'S MAGAZINE.

to be 3/. 10s-. per ton, and the consuming price of
straw to be 25s. My saving, consequently, would
be the diflFerence between 30 tons of straw at 25s.
and 30 tons of hay at 3l. 10s., which is 671. 10s.
Supposing this calculation to be just, the whole
expense and return of my engine and apparatus
would stand thus : —

Total expense of machinery and work-
ing ... - £28 15 1

Value of thrashing done £36 6 8

Saving by steaming 67 10 0 — 103 16 8

Leaving a balance of - - £75 1 7
which I set down as my gain by the use of steam.
It is not one of the least advantages of steaming
fodder that mouldy hay and clover are rendered
equal to the soundest and best gathered. By means
of steaming, the cattle eat it as eagerly, and it loses
its tendency to derange their health. Perhaps in
some seasons this effect of steaming would alone
repay the expense ; and in every season there is
some part of our fodder injured in gathering. I
think that by uniting a steaming apparatus ^vith
the boiler of my steam engine, I can steam the
food much more quickly and economically than
with the small boiler which is commonly used. I
can throw so large a body of steam through the
food, that there is no need to close the top as in the
common apparatus ; the food is steamed in a very
much less time, and is, in the opinion of several
practical judges who have seen my apparatus at
work, much more effectually cooked than when the
process is slower ; and there is not only a savang in
labour but also a very considerable saving in coal,
as, when the engine has ceased working, there is
always sufficient steam in the boiler to complete
the steaming of the fodder,

I may also notice that the straw and hay cutter
I have is on a much more perfect principle than
any other which has yet been invented. It is that
made at the Earl of Ducie's works. It does its
work better, and requires less power to work it
than any other I have seen ; and it is by far less
liable to become deranged than others. One of its
merits, and not the least, is, that by a simple contri-
vance it grinds its own knives while it is at work ;
and it will give you some idea of the quantity of
work it is capable of doing when I say, that I have
more than once, in the presence of my neighbours,
caused it to cut the long length at the rate of 10
strikes a minute.

In calculating the advantage of steaming food,
I have reckoned the difference between the con-
suming price of hay and straw as it is usually
calculated. But I am clearly of opinion, that
hay costs us more and straw less than is com-
monly set down. In my opinion, the difference
between consuming the produce of our pas-
tures on the ground, and made into hay, is very
much greater than is commonly thought. I have
heard a very intelligent farmer — one whose expe-
rience has given him great opportunities of judging
the matter — declare, that he would rather make 4/.
by a beast fed on the summer's produce than he
would make 71. by a beast stalled in winter, and
fed from the gathered produce of the same land.
He thought the loss in labour in cutting the crop

and gathering it — the risk of spoiling — the labour
attending the care of the beasts — the labour of
taking the manure back to the land, and the cost
of the mamne itself, made as great a difference as
between 4/. and 71. I quite agree in this. Now,
if by means of steaming we are enabled to consume
our straw, which in any case must be gathered, we
are of course able to keep a much greater amount of
stock on our pastures in the summer. I believe
that we commonly ruin our grass lands by over-
mowing. They wUl, that is, the best lands will
bear an occasional mowing without return of ma-
nure ; and, so far as this, it is of course advantage-
ous to mow them, and lay the manure we make
from the produce upon our arable land. But as a
general rule, I think it would be better (if possi-
ble) to avoid mo\ving grass-land when we must
needs repair the waste by manure carried back.
Unless we can consume our straw to a profit, I do
not see how Avith a dairy farm we can avoid a large
mowth ; and it is for this reason that I think steam-
ing is so very advantageous. I have come to the
opinion that it is much better to make the arable
land support itself; to grow green crops more fre-
quently, so as to give it more manure, or else to
provide oil cake, or some other rich food which,
consumed with the straw, ^vill at once support the
condition of our cattle and enrich the manure. I
think the arable land will make the best return for
manure, and I think the grass land will pay best
when it is so managed that no manure is necessary,

I have thus, to the best of my ability, shewn
what I believe to be the advantage of the use of
steam on my farm, and I hope I may be enabled by
the suggestions of some present still to improve on
my plan.

In the subsequent discussion of the subject by
the Club it was remarked that, if Mr. Lathbury had
been himself at the expense of erecting the building
for his machinery, the quantity of thrashing his
farm furnished would not have repaid the yearly
charge arising from the first outlay, and that it was,
therefore, inexpedient for farmers generally to erect
steam engine thrashing machines, except upon farms
of very large extent. It was contended also, that
the thrashing of barley by machine lessened the
value of the sample in the market to a much greater
amount than it saved in labour. The machine piled
the grain so close that the difference in measure
between a parcel thrashed by the flail and by hand
was thought by several members to be one bushel
in ten, ITiis made the sample thrashed by ma-
chine heavier, notwithstanding which, Mr. Payne,
a considerable maltster, said he would prefer a
sample thrashed with the flail at 2s, per quarter
more money.

But few of the members had experience in the
steaming of food for cattle. Mr. Faulkner said, it
had been tried at Bretby, but had been abandoned,
because it was thought to be injurious to the health
of the cattle, Mr. John Greaves had used steamed
food for three winters ; had kept the same cows du-
ring that time, and had not seen the slightest injury
to the health of the cattle produced by its use. He
agreed with Mr. Lathbury that steaming was use-
less, except for dry fodder. He steamed all his
hay, but used nothing of his straw, except the chaff

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

96

for cattle food. He had no doubt but he saved a
considerable quantity of hay by steaming, though
he had made no exact experiment to prove the de-
Pfree of saving it eft'ected. He supposed straw would
be increased in its nutritive power by steaming ;
but as he had only a small apparatus, and cut all
his fodder by hand labour, the cost of the labour
would hardly be repaid bun, he thought, though it
might to Mr. Lathbury, who cut and steamed at so
much less expense. Besides, his system of keeping
cattle differed from Mr. Lathbury 's. He kept his
cattle on steamed hay, with grains and cabbage, or
turnips, or mangold the whole winter. He found
it more profitable to keep his stock well, and to take
care they were doing something to repay him for
their keep. Instead of letting his cows dry, and
putting them on a meagre diet for three months,
he milked them longer, and kept them on good
food the short time they were dry. Some discus-
sion ensued on the point, whether it diminished
the produce of the dairy in the spring to let the
condition of the cows fall off in the winter ? It was
contended by some members, that cows kept partly
or whoUy on straw, milked as well as those whose
condition was maintained at the point at which it was
when they left the grass in the autumn ; but it was
generally agreed that, though there was no advan-
tage in having cows fat, it was better to sustain
them in fair condition.

The club came to the resolution that steam power
might be advantageously applied on extensive farms
for thrashing corn, and for grinding grain, and
cutting fodder for cattle. The club expressed no
opinion on the question as to the benefit of steam-
ing food; but thanked Mr. Lathbury for the trou-
ble he had taken in furnishing them with informa-
tion on the subject.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S
MAGAZINE.

Sir, — You pubhshed in the May No. of your
magazine an anonymous disingenuous letter, pur-
porting to be wTitten by a "Farmer, and a member
of the Stewponey Farmers' Club," unfairly attack-
ing me, impugning the judgment and decision of
the Club to which he professes to belong, and also
censuring you for the commendation you thought
proper to make use of in introducing to your
readers the paper which is the subject of his at-
tack. If, Sir, it wiU be any consolation to you
under your severe chastisement, I can tell you that
you are suffering in good company, for, in cor-
roboration of the commendatory and unanimous
resolution that was passed at a considerable meet-
ing of the members of the Club at the time I read
my practical paper, I have since received numerous
approvals from some of the best and most intelli-
gent farmers as well as from gentlemen of high
standing in this neighbourhood.

Through the whole of your correspondent's
letter he has misapphed my statements and per-
verted my meaning — gi\dng them a general appli-
cation, whereas your readers, who will take the
trouble, will find I strongly qualify them, intend'

iny them only to apply to certain soils and particular
cro/js, which I as particularly described. My appU-
cation of lime and nitrate of soda {by way of experi-
ment) he attributes to ignorance, and is tolerably
liberal in imputing that qualification to practical
farmers yenerally. When solicited by the inde-
fatigable patron, and other members of the Stew-
poney Society, to undertake the task (which I most
willingly would have resigned to your more scien-
tific correspondent) of reading a paper on the sub-
ject of manures, I thought I should best consult
the interests of the society if I illustrated my
o])inions by practical tests, rather than by going to
the club, composed, as I knew it woiild be, of
farmers and other gentlemen capable of analysing
any theoretical or untested matter, which I should
be soriy to introduce to the intelligent members of
the Stewponey Farmers' Club — I say, when I had
undertaken the onorous duty, and feeling a desire
to contribute my humble mite towards carrying out
the object the Club has in view, I instituted the ex-
periments, with manures, which your theoretical
correspondent attributes to ignorance. I must
refer your readers to the paper itself for the re-
sults of those experiments, and follow your corres-
pondent in his remarks upon them. He complains
that I did not state how long it was since the land
was limed — your readers will find it distinctly
stated "6 years." Again, he says, with respect to
nitrate of soda, "Is it fair for Mr. Banton to con-
clude that because it failed upon two little strips of
land where he applied it, therefore it is unnecessary
elseivherel " Is it possible he could have read my
paper through? which your readers will find in
your April No., and I thus express myself — "I
consider nitrate of soda good and beneficial for a
top-dressing for wheat and barley, and it answers
well upon grass land, but its eflfects are not last-
ing." Your scientific correspondent also exults
in a discovery he fancies he has made, and says,
in allusion to my first essay, " The total expense
of hming (for wheat) is 3Z. 8s.; this dressing would
not require to be repeated under 5 years, dunng
that time the crops would be taken off"; the ex-
pense of lime being apportioned upon those four
crops would make the cost to the wheat I7s. It ap-
pears that the increase in the value of the crop was
21. 2s. 8d. Hence it is clear that instead of the hme
having been a loss of \l. 3s. 4d. (as Mr. Banton most
erroneously concludes), it was a clear gain of
\l. 5s. 8d." Was it indeed? To make it c/ear he
must give us a practical illustration how we may
grow four successive wheat crops in four successive
years upon the same land, aU equally productive,
from the single appUcation of 4 tons of lime per
acre ; or he must rather prove (as we here farm
upon the four-course system) that the three suc-
ceeding crops — turnips, barley, and clover, make
each their proportionate return for the lime dressing
applied to the loheat. I have proved that lime to a
turnip crop, upon the land in question, is injurious;
and your anonymous correspondent agrees mth
me, for he goes on to say — "Then, with respect to
the turnips in the second case, lime was a direct
loss J and what does that prove ? That Mr. Banton
applied lime to land that did not require it." Just
so ! that is vvhat I wished to prove, and I hope all

96

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

practical men, understand me; but we must not
lose sight of the l7s., the apportioned part of
liming upon the turnips, but carry it on to the
next crop, which makes the land still debtor for the
lime 51s., to be liquidated by the two remaining
crops to be grown — barley and clover. Will your
correspondent come down to the Stewponey
Farmers' Club, and proA-e to us that we receive a
benefit in those crops from a liming for wheat
equal to the above deficiency ? If he M'ould, it
would be more becoming a " member," and much
more beneficial to the club than anonymously
attacking one of its members unjustly in the pages
of your magazine. In the summaries to which
your correspondent refers, your practical readers
nill ha^-e observed that I have given only the
comparative profit or loss resulting from the dif-
ferent api)lications to the crops upon which they
were used, giving your numerous praclical readers
more credit for penetration than your scientific cor-
respondent would seem to allow them, leaving lliem
to judge for themselves whether it would best suit
their purpose to have in hand M. 5s. 4d. from the ap-
plication of guano to the wheat, and 3/. from the turnip
crop per acre, to go again to market with ; or whethe
they would prefer a distant and tincertain prospect
of gain, by expending 3l. 4s. per acre in lime, and
suffer a loss, the first year, by the application to
wheat of \l. 5s, 4d., and 3/. 6s.* when applied to
Swedes. I say I leave practical men to decide these
jjoints. I have particularly described the soil more
than once in the paper which your correspondent at-
tacks, upon which my experiments were made; but
lest 1 should be misunderstood again, I tell your
readers and particularly my assailant, tiiat the land
" is a light loamy soil, and the subsoil a gravelly sand
based on the led sandstone."

The reports of my experiments (which have all
been conducied under my own superintendence) I
loill vouch for. Sorry should I be to mislead one
practical man ; and 1 hope if none have been bene-
fited, none have sustained loss by my humble state-
ments and experiments which have been made public.

From my experiments with lime the results were to
be expected, when it is known that lime naturally
forms a component part of soils similar to those I
have experimented upon ; and when it is known, too,
that lime has been, till lately, the only artificial appli-
cation to such land, from time immemorial. Are
my statements astounding and my proofs questionable
when I assume that lime ceases noiv to be a profit-
able application to such soils? The quantity of lime
taken from the land by even a wheat crop is calcu-
lated at but ft/'ciw erf ?a'. per «c?'e ; and, allowing the
yearly exhaustion of lime to go on at that rate, a com-
mon and usual dressing, (in this neighbourhood 4 tons
per acre) would last for a considerable period, if the
land 7iatu7'ally did not possess lime. I have used
but little lime to my farm for a number of years, and I
find my crops not inferior to those upon land where
the pi-actice of liming is still continued at a consi-
derable cost. Farmers upon light soils, who have
been in the habit of liming, have a sufficient stock in
their land required for any crops they can grow for
years to come; particularly if, after autumnal loork-
ing their turnip fallows, they will plough them for

the lointer to the depth of 8 or 10 inches, or use the
subsoil plough, and not be alarmed if they turn up a
little sand or some other ingredient apparently not so
good as the surface soil. They will probably find at
that depth also no inconsiderable quantity of lime
which might have been paid for by their grand-
fathers.

All my experiments have been fairly conducted in
open fields ; and I assure my practical readers I have
bee7i unprejudiced, and have but fairly and faith-
fully reported, to the best of my ability, nature's
decisions ; and if, in so doing, I may be the means of
keeping the money in a single farmer's pocket that
would otherwise uselessly be expended in lime or ni-
trate of soda, or directed his attention to more sure
and less expensive manures ; I say, if I have achieved
this in this extensive and imjwrtant agricultural
district, composed principally of such a soil as I
have cleS'iribed, I will bear patiently the dreadful
judgment passed upon me by your unmerciful cor-
respondent. If he be what he professes, a " Farmer,
and a member of the Stewponey Farmers* Club," why
did he not meet me fairly in discussion, which I in-
vited, at the time? or why did he acquiesce in the
unanimous resolution then passed upon the paper he
wishes now to discredit? Let him prove before the
club, if he can, that my conclusions are false, not his ;
that my practice is defective, and his theory true.

I am sorry. Sir, that I have been compelled to tres-
pass upon your columns. Had I consulted my own
inclination alone, I should not have troubled you ;
but I thought I had a duty to perform, and I hope I
have performed it to the satisfaction of the respectable
members composing the Farmer's Club to which I
belong, as well as to the satisfaction of your in-
telligent readers ; but, for the credit of the Stewponey
Farmer's Club, I must beg of your readers not to be-
lieve that your anonymous correspondent is one of its
mend)ers, but take the trouble to read his letter and
my paper again ; and if they have not already disco-
vered, I doubt not they will now detect him, through
his flimsy web to be either an exasperated lime
vender, or an envious theoretical scribbler. The
body of inquiring English farmers, of the present day,
will listen with pleasure to the real friends and true
j^rofessors of the science of agriculture, but they
will tieat with merited contempt ilie man who intrudes
himself into their societies and clubs to "laugh at"
practice which he does not understand, and ridicule
practical men — himself possessing only the qualifica-
tions, perhaps, of a quack philosopher or a pragmati-
cal theorist. I am Sir, your obedient servant,

Dan. Banton.

* See summaries in my two essays.

MANAGEMENT OF YEARLINGS. — To those
who have the time to attend to it, we say, stable and tie
up your yearlings, both steers and heifers ; curry or card
them at least once a day, and if you can afford them a few
roots, so much the better. Such treatment makes young
cattle tame and docile, and you will have no trouble in
milking them when they have calves ; and if intended
for family cows, they may be made to eat all kinds of
slops and other rubbish from the kitchen. The steers
should also be broken after they are a year old ; and for
this purpose the farmer wants his small yokes, sleds,
chains, and whips — the latter to be used very sparingly.
Break steers well at this age, and there will be no trouble
in doing it when they become oxen.— T^e American
Agriculturist,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

97

AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, &c.

On Monday, July 1, a Meeting of the shareholders,
and others interested in this institution, was holden at
the King's Head Hotel, Cirencester, Earl Bathurst in
tlie chair, for the purpose of reporting the progress of
the Committee in the establishment of the College. The
report will be found in another column, and wDl be
read with lively satisfaction by the friends of the un-
dertaking, the consummation of whose wishes appears
now soon about to be realized. The society has now
resolved itself into a real and tangible shape, and im-
mediately commence operations.

Port Farm, within one mile of Cirencester, the
l)roperty of the Right Hon. Earl Bathurst, and in the
present occupation of Mr. Stevens, has been fixed
upon as the site for the example farm. In alluding to
this matter the noble ch lirman observed, that he very
much regretted that any individual should have cause
to complain at the arrangement entered into. The
great general good, however, which would accrue to
the community at large, induced him to make this
sacrifice of his feelings. They sliould remember how
desirable the object was they all had in view ; and also
bear in mind the individual about to be dispossessed
was fully competent to make purchases for himself,
and though he greatly deplored its necessity, yet he
was sure they would agree that he (his lordship) was
justified in the course he had adopted.

Mr. SoTHERON, in proposing the first resolution,
observed, that about sLx months ago he first heard
of this College, and he then thought it of so specula-
tive a nature that it would never have been carried
into eifect. He had, therefore, declined to share in
carrying it out ; for he objected to assist in the forma-
tion of a society which was not purely of a practical
nature. How often did they see benevolent designs
started without a foundation, and eventually leading
only to disappointment. Concerning the nature of
this College, however, he had been entirely brought to
the opinion that it was at once feasible and practically
xiseful to all classes of agriculturists, and he, therefore,
approved of it, and wished it might succeed. ( Cheers) .
To that nobleman who now filled the chair they were
much indebted for a lease of his farm as well as for
the supply of a portion of the necessary capital ; and
in thirty or forty years' time, when the College is well
founded, and the eyes of all Europe are turned towards
it. Low grateful would the country be to their noble
president for his valuable assistance. The main point
in this undertaking was to obtain a good system of
management by gentlemen who would not go through
their duties in a hurried manner, but to allow no detail
to be carried out without their sanction, by rules and
meetings. He had ventured to make these remarks
as he had lately taken some part in the formation of
an institution, which, though not altogether similar,
resembled the present in many respects, he alluded to
the Marlborough Proprietary College. He had here
seen what errors they might have fallen into during
the last years, had they not had a gentleman to con-
duct it who was well conversant with his duties, and
by whose exertions they had been enabled to keep their
expenditure within the limits of then- income. This
had convinced him of the necessity of a good system,
which could only be achieved by placing men of busi-
ness at the head of their affairs. (Cheers).

Mr. Holland seconded the first resolution, and
said he was impressed with precisely the same feelings
as Mr. Sotheron had stated he had felt when he first
heard of the formation of this Society. These im-
pressions, he was happy to say, however, he had now
got rid of, and he wished it success with all his heart.

(Cheers.) He felt convinced, that had it not been
for the assistance of the noble lord in the chair, they
would not have been able to start till after the winter.
He did not reside in the immediate neighbourhood,
but lived some way off; he believed, however, that
though the site of the building was here, the district
was to extend over the whole of the Cotswold range.
It would, therefore, meet with his warmest support.

Mr. C. Lawrence suggested that it should not be
called the " Cirencester Agricultural College," as it
was not intended to confine its effects to this locality.
After some conversation on tliis point, it was deter-
mined to leave the matter to be settled when the
charter was applied for.

In proposing the second resolution, Mr. James
Crowdy said, he had great pleasure in proposing it,
believing, as he did with the honourable gentleman
who had before spoken — Mr. Sotheron— that they
should place the affairs of the College in such hands
as would pay the strictest attention to business, and
such he believed the gentlemen to be who were named
in the resolution.

Dr. Daubeney being called on to second this reso-
lution, said he believed the names of the committee
included such gentlemen as were most likely to attend
to the minutise of the College, and he would, there-
fore cordially second it.

The Rev. J. M. Prower then read the third reso-
lution, and said that he was rather inexperienced in
affairs of this kind, but he felt confidence while they
had such men as he was about to propose as trustees.
He would with pleasure, therefore, beg leave to pro-
pose its adoption.

Mr. Kearsey seconded it.

Mr. A. Fewster, in moving the fourth resolution,
said it certainly was unnecessary to say anything on a
subject which was so plainly calculated to effect good.
It might, however, be as well for him to say some-
thing, as no other person in the same range of life as
himself had said anything. Though not much of an
agriculturist he was more especially connected with
agriculture, and in the habit of associating with them,
when he had heard it frequently remarked that this
mstitution had been got up by landlords, for their own
immediate advantage. For himself, however, he took
a different view of the matter ; he believed it to be got
up by the Almighty Power of Providence, who had
been pleased to place Adam in the Garden of Eden to
till and cultivate it, and who, in like manner, had de-
signed the agriculturists to dress and keep that larger
garden with which we are all interested. It would
hardly have been deemed possible that any person
could have been found to oppose so desirable an object
as this, though experience proved the contrary. One
objection he had heard was that it would train up
young persons to be a sort of dandy farmers, whom
landlords would not be very much inclined to have as
tenants ; and, indeed, if they did, they would get no
rent out of them. Another thought the establishment
of this college a dangerous matter, as tradesmen's sons
and other young persons would be so well mstructed
as to drive " us old codgers out of the market."
(Laughter.) These two objections, he thought, en-
tirely destroyed each other. It was preposterous to
believe that a person should be unable to cultivate the
soil because his mind was cultivated. He was ac-
quainted with the projectors of this college, and knew
their object to be to establish, not a theoretical institu-
tion, but one based on a sound practical foundation.
That there is a necessity for this college must be very
obvious to all. He gave agriculturists credit, as a
class, for being fully as industrious as any class
of the community, though at the same time he

H

98

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

must own there was a great lack of intelligence
amongst them. And why should not agriculturists
receive as good education as any other class of
the community ? 'Twould be productive of advantage
to the higher classes, because the landlord would reap
the benefit of a skilful application of a larger amount
of capital on his land. The farmer, however, will be
a greater gainer stiU by the college — 'twould be the
means of imparting a purer and more healthy tone of
moral feeling amongst their children. It was gratifying
to notice what a change had taken place in this respect
since he had first attended market, a period of thirty
years. Formerly the conversation at the market ordi-
naries was calculated to produce anything but a good
effect in the minds of those who partook in it. At
present, however, the conversation turns on the im-
provement of stock, and the better cultivation of their
farms, to advance which latter object was the intent of
this society. Farmers would thereby be brought into
more immediate contact than they generally are, and
would be enabled to combine science with practice.
The moral advantages, too, would not be confined to
this class alone, but would also extend to the indus-
trious labouring classes. The improvements in the
cultivation of the farms produced by this College, with
the means resulting therefrom, would be such that
there would be a very large increase in the number of
labourers employed in the cultivation of the soil at the
present time ; and what effect would this produce on
the manufacturers and the home market ? He made
these observations not without thought, for he was a
little agriculturist himself, and had seen the effect of
cultivation on some land under his own window. The
father of the present occupant of which knew not what
to do with it, it was so poor, and it is now growing
five quarters of spring wheat to the acre, and the tithe
charge for it is 5s. 6d. per acre, saying nothing of rent
and other charges.

The Rev. Thomas Maurice. — As a clergyman he
felt bound to support the interest of the labouring
classes more than any other, and he was convinced
that this College would benefit that class more than
any other by the increase in labour it would produce.
The following resolutions were unanimously carried :
First— Moved by T. H. S. Sothebon, Esq., M.P., and
seconded by Edward Holland, Esq.,
That it appearing by the Keport of the Committee appointed
at the last General Meeting that the establishment of an Insti-
tution for giving a scientific and practical education to young
persons intended for Agricultural pursuits, will receive ade-
quate support, Resolved — That the present Subscribers, and
those who may hereafter become Subscribers, until the whole
capital shall be subscribed for, constitute a company to be in-
corporated by Royal Charter, limiting individual responsibility,
for the establishment of such an Institution.

Second— Moved by James Cjbowdy, Esq., and seconded
by Dr. DAUBENny,
That the affairs of the Company shall be carried on by a
President, Vice President, and Committee of Management,
■which is hereby authorized to apply for a Charter, and to
arrange with Earl Bathurst the lease of the Farm ; to call in
Subscriptions, and to be invested with full powers to act in
other respects ; to consist of Eighteen Shareholders, Five to
form a quorum, and one-third of th3 number to go out an-
nually by rotation, but to be re-eligible ; and that the follow-
ing form the Committee : —
Earl Bathurst

Third— Moved by Rev. J. M. PiiowER, and seconded by
Mr. KBARSEy,
That Earl Bathurst, Earl Ducie, T. H. S. B. E. Sotheron,
Esq., and Edmund Holland, Esq., be the Trustees of the Insti-
tution.

Fourth— Moved by Mr. A. R. Fewsteb, and seconded by
Rev. T. Matrice,
That the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society of Eng-
land having given their sanction to the holding of a Meeting
during the Session at Southampton, for the purpose of making
the objects of this Institution more generally known amongst
Agriculturists — Resolved, that a meeting be held on the evening
of Tuesday, the 23rd instant, at Southanopton, and that the
Committee appoint a Deputation to call and attend such
Meeting.

Fifth— Moved by Mr. Edward Bowly, and seconded by
Mr. Charles Lawrence,
That Earl Bathurst be President, the Earl of Ducie Vice-
President, and Mr. Robert J. Brown Honorary Secretary, to be
Ex-offlcio Members of the Committee.
Sixth. — It was resolved unanimously.
That the thanks of this Meeting be given to Earl Bathurst,
for taking the CV.air.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE.

Tlie Committee report that in pursuance of the resolution in
tliat behalf passed at the General Meeting, they have by public
advertisement and otherwise, invited tenders of a suitable size
for the proposed College. They are happy to inform the Meet-
ing that they have received the offer of a Farm on Lease from
Earl Bathurst, which from its general character and situation
is, in their opinion, so well adapted for the purposes of the Insti-
tution, that they have no hesitation in recommending that an
application be immediately made to his Lordship for the terms
on which he would be willing to let the Farm. The Committee
have every reason to believe the terms would be entirely satis-
factory to the Subscribers. They have great satisfaction in
reporting further a very handsome ofifer on the part of Earl
Bathurst, to advance at very moderate interest, to be added to
the rent, one-half, not exceeding 2,000i., of the expense of the
necessary buildings.

This Farm now consists of about 400 acres of Arable, and 30
acres of Pasture Land, and is situated about one mile from
Cirencester, and accessible by two good turnpike-roads.

The Commitee are further enabled to report that the applica-
tion for a Charter has been so favourably received by Govern-
ment as to leave no doubt that one will be granted, provided
the Society consent, that any surplus of income, Rafter paying
dividends at the rate of 4 per cent, on the subscribed capital,
shall be applied to increase the efficiency of the Institution.

The Committee continues to receive such increasing support
and encouragement, that with the aid of the Fund for Building
offered by Earl Bathurst, they are of opinion tliat all necessary
steps for the establishment of the College may at once be safely
taken. (Signed) RAYMOND CRIPPS,

Chairman.

Cirencester, 1st July, 1844.

T. H. S. Sotheron, Esq., M.P.

Edmund Holland, Esq.

Sir M. H. Hicks Beach, Bart.

Raymond Cripps, Esq.

Rev. J. M. Prower

Mr. Henry Howell

Mr. Peter Matthews

Mr. T. Arkell

Dr. Daubeney

Charles Lawrence, Esq.
Rev. Thomas Maurice
Mr. Daniel Trinder
Mr. Edward Bowly
Mr. Edmund Buck
Mr. James Kearsey
Mr. Thomas Stone
Mr. Thomas C. Brown
Mr. Thomas lies.

ESSEX AGRICULTURAL PROTECTION
SOCIETY.

CHELMSFORD, July 5. — A meeting of this
society took place to-day at the Saracen's Head, pur-
suant to advertisement, to consider the propriety of
rendering some mark of grateful acknowledgment to
Mr. Baker, of Writtle, for his eminent services ren-
dered to agriculture and the county at large in the
formation and promotion of the Essex Agricultural
Protection Society, &c.

The meeting was well attended considering the stormy
state of the weather, the rain falling in torrents during
the time the meeting was in progress.

THE l^ARMEll'S MAGAZINE.

09

There were present C. T. Tower, Esq., of ^^'eal(l-
sliall; the Rev. J. Cox, Rev. C. T. James, J.
Fortescue, Esq., J. Oxley Parker, Messrs. O. Cojie-
land, J. Wood, C. Hurrell, and D. H. Clapham.

Mr. D. H. Clapham having been voted to the chair,
said, he willingly, yet unwillingly, complied with the
call to preside at that meeting — willingly, as having
this cause at heart ; yet unwillingly, as feeling his in-
abiUty to fill the office he had been nominated to with
satisfaction to himself, or to acquit himself creditably
in the presence of so many gentlemen of importance
and influence (cheers) . He was a manufacturer, and,
as such, he felt that his interest, and the interest of
every manufacturer in the kingdom, was dependant on
the prosperity of the agriculturist (cheers). He con-
sidered, therefore, that he, in common with every
individual connected with trade and commerce, as well
as agriculture, was bound in gratitude to come forward
on that occasion to testify the opinion they entertained
of the very able and talented manner in which Mr.
Baker had advanced and advocated the cause of protec-
tion of native industry. He concluded by requesting
Mr. Biddell to read some letters which he received on
the subject of their present meeting. The chairman
sat down amidst great ajjplause.

Mr. BiDDDLL read letters from many leading gentle-
men in the county, all of them expressing their admira-
tion of Mr. Baker's exertions in the cause of protection,
and testifying their willingness to subscribe to a testi-
monial of the valuable services he had rendered to the
country.

The Rev. Charles T. James, of Brentwood, said
they had met to-day not only to pay a debt of grati-
tude to Mr. Baker, but to discharge a jileasing duty
which they owed to themselves. Mr. Baker's efforts
in behalf of the agriculturists of this country demanded
from every one interested in the soil an acknowledg-
ment of his very eminent and energetic service on
their behalf. The protection societies had done much
to advance the welfare of the nation, and the prospe-
rity of the state. England and England's glory must
depend on England's people being a well-fed and a
happy people. Whatever may have been the result
of the protection movement, to Mr. Baker we must
ascribe that of maintaining the property of the tenant-
farmer and improving the condition of the farm
labourer. It was in that room in which he then ad-
dressed them that the movement had commenced,
which had traversed the land with an electric celerity,
arousing the energies of the tenant farmers, from
John o'Groat's to the Land's-Eud. The rev. gentle-
man concluded by moving the first resolution, which was
to the effect that some mark of public app/obation
should be voted to Mr. Baker, of Writtle, for his
energetic exertions in the cause of agricultural protec-
tion. Throughout his speech the rev. gentleman was
cheered and loudly applauded.

Mr. J. Wood seconded the resolution, and bore tes-
timony to the excellent character of Mr. Baker, and
considered that no other person in the county would
have succeeded in obtaining so great a share of public
confidence. He felt it to be a privilege and a pleasure
to second the resolution so eloquently proposed.

The Chairman put the resolution, which was
carried unanimously.

Mr. C. T. Tower felt he was only discharging his
duty to the agricultural community and the people at
large in attending there that day to forward the in-
terests of agriculture by bearing testimony to the value
of Mr. Baker's services in his able and energetic op-
position to the League, in their efforts to destroy the
agricultural interest. Mr. Baker had expended time
and talent iu maintaining the cause of the agricultu-

rists, and he considered that he was amply entitled to
some mark of their esteem and confidence. Mr.
Tower then gave a history of Mr. Baker's advocacy
of the agricultural interest up to the present time, and
concluded by moving that the subscription be limited
to a guinea each.

Mr. O. Parker briefly seconded the resolution.

A committee to carry the resolutions into effect
being nominated, thanks were voted to the chair-
man, who briefly responded.

A spirited subscription was then entered into.
The amount was not announced.

OX THE DIMINISHING MEANS OF THE
FARMERS TO EMPLOY LABOURERS.

[from the times.]

The farmer, however, is not without some excuse
for his thriftiness, and some ground of complamt.
His produce brings a lower and lower price, whilst
his rent and expenses continue the same. Without
entering into a corn-law argument, on which subject
your readers must have heard and read usque ad
nauseam, the facts of his complaint are deserving of
attention. I heard an old farmer the other day say
at Ixworth that he had work for eight or ten labourers
more on his farm, but he could not afford to employ
them with his wheat selling at 26s. a coomb. The
difference between this price of wheat and its price
two years ago (32s. a coomb) was more than double
his rent. I have made some inquiry into this, and I
give you the facts. Average land in Suffolk will grow
seven coombs of Wheat per acre — that is, three quar-
ters and a half. Land of this description lets at from
20s. to 24s. per acre. There is very little land, not
accommodation land, let for more. The difference
therefore in the price of the produce of an acre of
wheat at 52s. a quarter (the present price) and 64s.
(the price two years ago) is three-and-a-half times 12,
or 42s. per acre — ^just double the rent. It is not my
object to inquire whether this is the result of Sir Ro-
bert Peel's Corn-bill, as the farmers say it is, or
whether it is owing to various other circumstances ;
but the fact is still the same — there has been a dimi-
nution of the farmers' profits equal to double their
rent. Their rent remains the same ; the tithe rent-
charge has increased their burdens from Is. to 2s. an
acre ; and they have also the income-tax to pay in
addition, and lose by the cheapness in some of their
chief articles of produce — such as pork and cheese — in
consequence of the new tariff. A farmer at Ixworth
told me it was not now worth his while to fatten pigs
to sell at 4d. a pound. This has compelled them to
be niggard, and I am assured on the best authority
that very many of the small farmers in Suffolk and in
Norfolk, who have not the capital to meet this pres-
sure by enterprise and improvements and better cul-
tivation, are insolvent, and cannot, if they would,
employ more labourers. A shrewd remark was made
to me by one of the largest farmers in Newmarket,
whilst speaking of the superabundance of labourers.
"We have not too many men on a Monday morning,"
said he, " we have only too many on a Saturday
night ; it is the unemployed that do all the mischief,
and we cannot afford to employ them with corn at
52s., and our burdens the same as when it was selling
at 65s." I give you these statements as facts, and as
embodying the feelings of the farmers. Your readers
— corn-law, or anti-corn-law — will draw from them
what deductions they please.

H 2

100

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ISLE OF SHEPPY AGRICULTURAL
ASSOCIATION.

This popular and spirited society, which com-
menced its labours in 1835, on the principle " To
promote industry and reward merit," has recently
added another laurel to its fame, by the success
attending its Ninth Anniversary Sheep Shearing
Meeting on the 6th ultimo, when a field of 29
competitors assembled at Minster, in generous
contest for the premiums so liberally offered for
this branch of industry. To those acquainted
Avith the Isle of Sheppy, and possess a knowledge
of the many thousand sheep fed in the district,
of which 'a large proportion are annually sent to
Smithfield, to furnish the hospitable tables of the
good citizens of London, may readily appreciate
the benefits arising from the improvement of late
years in the style of shearing; the gain or loss of
a quarter of a pound per fleece making a differ-
ence in every 1000 sheep of upwards of one pack
of wool annually, an amount of importance to
the grazier, and equally advantageous to the ma-
nufacturer. The same reasoning will apply to
other branches of labour, and, doubtless, the sti-
mulant given by agricidtural societies through-
out the kingdom to skilful workmen, to i)ersons
of good character, and other meritorious quali-
ties, is annually increasing the national wealth —
raising the moral character of the agricultural
labourer — adding to the security of property, and
cementing in one bond of union the labourer,
tenant, landlord, and manufacturer. But our in-
tention was to furnish a report of a sheep shear-
ing meeting, and not Avrite a treatise on poUtical
economy; we return, therefore, to our subject,
offering first our humble tribute of praise to the
committee of management for their judicious ar-
itiugements and good taste in selecting a meadow
for the contest,, commanding a view which the
Isle of Wight alone can rival. The champion-
ship, or class 1, had 5 competitors, and from
each of them having previously obtained the
principal premium offered by the society, it is
proverbially a neck-and-neck affair, the present
proving no exception to the rule. The judges,
Messrs. J. Palmer, of Heme, near Canterbuiy, H.
Matson, of Kingsdown, near Sittingbourne, and
James Everest, of Stoke, near Rochester, were
long and anxiously engaged in the examination,
finally awarding the honour and £1 premium to
No. 1, James Whitehead, of Minster, shepherd to
Mr. F. Leese, who in nine years, it was stated,
had carried off six premiuins. In Class 2 were
16 candidates; the first, of £3, was awarded to
No. 21, James Lockyer, of Emly, shepherd to Mr.
C. Murton; the second, £2 to Henry Knowles,
of Eastchurch, shepherd to Mr. G. Wood; the
third, £1 to James Hodge, of Eastchurch, shep-
herd to Mr. J. Matson. With such a numerous
field the performance must be necessarily various;
yet the whole was highly creditable, and when
contrasted with the state of the art ten years
since, might with propriety be termed most ex-
cellent; but our duty, as impartial journalists,
compels us to acknowledge an improvement might
be made by several in this class, in their method

of winding the fleece, a point of deserved import-
ance to a district possessing the command of the
French market, and to which the greater part of
the Sheppy wool is consigned direct from the
grower. If evidence were needed to prove the
benefit of such meetings, the case of Lockyer,
the successful candidate, is an example. His
first jDubhc effort was made in 1838, and his work
remarkable for mediocrity; but imbibing the
spirit of emulation, he sharpened his shears, im-
proved his practice, has twice carried off minor
premiums, and now stands qualified to contest
next season the championship. In Class 3, for
boys between 14 and 16 years of age, were three
candidates ; the workmanship being equal and
of a superior order, £l being awarded to No. 22,
Thomas Carrier, Minster, in the employ of Mr.
J. Vinson; and 5s. to No. 24, Frederick Mantle,
Leysdown, in the employ of Mr. H. Pym. In
Class 4, for boys under 14 years of age, were five
competitors, who, although pigmies to look upon,
were giants in performance — the work of No. 29,
George Dodd, Eastchurch, in employ of Mr. J.
Matson, being characterised by the judges as
superior to any thing before seen in their ex-
tensive practice, to whom £1 was awarded, and
5s. to No. 26, William Hodge, in the same era-
ploy. It is a feature in the arrangements of this
association, to give the amount of the respective
premiums to boys in useful clothing, by an order
on some respectable tradesman, whose invoice of
the articles supplied is annually submitted to a
general meeting, whereby a security is obtained
that the outlay has been judiciously made ; and it
was subsequently stated by Mr. G. B. Chambers,
the Honorary Secretary, that the total sum paid to
youths under this head amounted to £18 15s. 6d.,
and that the total sum in premiums for Sheep
Shearing amounted to £l02 Is; a splendid evi-
dence of practical usefulness, deserving the atten-
tion of similar associations.

On the ground we observed several pens of
sheep, sent for inspection by members of the so-
ciety, and which contributed considerably to the
interest of the meeting. Amongst others, we no-
ticed two superior rams, belonging to Mr. J.
Matson, Eastchurch ; one a three-year-old — New
Oxford ; the other a two-year-old, from a cross
of the above with a Kentish ewe. The same
gentleman also sent five wether tegs, that were
much admired for frame and fleece. Mr. R.
Palmer, Minster, and Mr. Smithson, Sheerness,
hke'vvise exhibited rams of various ages, forming,
together, a selection veiy creditable to any local
association. The sheep for the match were sup-
plied, this and previous season, from the exten-
sive flock of Messrs. Hilton, Munn, and Co.,
Leysdown, who shear annually many thousands
of sheej}, and who are hberal patrons of the asso-
ciation. The supply next season \viU be furnished
by Mr. G. Wood, Eastchiu^ch, by which rotatory
system the different breeds are brought to the
farmer's attention, who in this " new generation"
are as remarkable for skill and an interprising
spirit as their forefathers were for ignorance and
strong attachment to existing habits.

At the close of the field operations, about fifty

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

101

gentlemen adjourned to the Waterloo Inn, to
"refresh the inward man." Wm. Augustus
Munn, Esq., of Ipsawley House, in the chair,
when, after the removal of the cloth, and the cus-
tomaiy royal toasts had been duly honoured, the
candidates were introduced to hear read the
award of the jvidges and receive their respective
premiums, the same being followed by the Se-
cretary proposing a bumper to the successful
and unsuccessful candidates, assuring them
briefl)^, that it gave infinite satisfaction to all
present to observe the spirit of honest rivalry
which had animated the day's proceedings ; and
the toast being accompanied with Kentish Fire,
was acknowledged by the candidates in a volley
which startled the nerves of many, llie health
of the judges followed, and was responded to by
Mr. Palmer, who, after alluding to the object of
their meeting, and the pleasure it would afford
him to be useful on similar occasions, replied to
some observations made to him by the Rev. H.
Hilton, relative to his trial of various artificial
manures ; and concluded an excellent address by
acknowledging that, although science was rapidly
advancing cultivation — equalizing soils and anni-
hilating distance, yet the result of his own ob-
servation was, to increase his respect for the
dung-cart, and to regard Mr. Good's breed of
sheep as equal to the best blood in England.

The President of the Association, De-la-Mark
Banks, Esq., was next given by the chair, and
succeeded by the Rev. H. Hilton warmly eulogiz-
ing the services of Mr. G. B. Chambers, the
Honorary Secretary, and proposing his health.

Mr. Chambers, in returning thanks, acknow-
leged the satisfaction it gave him, at the close of
his ninth year of official service, to receive such
a testimony of their good wUl. During that
period, the society had risen from 24 to 147
members; and, although from the state of his
health he frequently contemplated resignation,
yet his heart was so wedded to the cause, and
his mind so convinced of the local and national
importance of such societies, that he had hitherto
abstained from public allusion to it ; and his
present desire was, not by sudden resignation to
place the welfare of the society in jeopardy,
but by timely notice to stimulate some of his
younger friends to become cheerful labourers to
so good a cause, and thereby qualify themselves
for an office of great honour, yet of considerable
labour.

The health of the visitors followed, and was
responded to by Mr, Ashley, who admitted the
present was the first opportunity he had ever
had of witnessing a shearing match; and, al-
though connected all his life with wool in the
manufactured state, yet had no previous concep-
tion of the skill requisite to separate the fleece
from the sheep. The novelty of the scene had
afforded him unmingled satisfaction; and, hum-
ble though his judgment might be esteemed, he
could not mthold expressing his admiration at
the precision and neatness of the work generally,
and thought some of the candidates had arrived
at perfection in the art.
" The Woolstaplers present" followed in suc-

cession, and spoken to by Mr. Watson and Mr.
Higgins, Jun., both of Faversham, also acknow-
leging their partiahty to Sheppy wool, and willing-
ness to purchase at time's jirices ; and, although
no public sales were announced, yet many com-
munications passed between the parties inter-
ested, and prices were quoted from 14d. to 15d.
per pound.

After the toasts of Mr. Burford, "The Vice-
Chairman," "Mr. Venable, and the Commercial
Interest," " Mr. Matson and the Committee of
Taste," had been respectively drunk and re-
sponded to, the Chairman proposed " The
Ladies," and having a considerable distance to
travel before reaching home, apologized for retir-
ing at so early an hour.

Mr. Chambers being subsequently called to
the chair, toast and song succeeded each other
in animated succession, whereby the pleasure of
the day became extended into the cool of the
evening.

ON DRAINING AND DEEPENING THE
SOIL,

By John Sproule, Author of a "Treatise
ON Agriculture;" and of Prize Essays
ON Flax, Manures, &c., &c.

No, V.

The materials to be employed in fiUing the
drains now come under notice. In localities
where stones can be procured, they are by far the
best material which can be employed both as re-
gards permanence and adaptation for the desired
purpose. Circumstances will, however, determine
the respective values of the different materials ;
and it must be regarded as fortunate, that when
stones are procured with difficulty, clay for mak-
ing tiles is abundant, and vice versa.

The manner in which stones were fonnerly
employed in filling drains was exceedingly simple.
A middle size stone was placed on each side of
the bottom of the drain, and another being laid
across completed the arrangement. Such drains,
when placed deep, were obviously not calculated
to remove wetness proceeding from the retention
of svirface water. At present the improved prac-
tice is to reduce the stones to the size in which
they are used for repairing the public roads ; in
which state they are thrown promiscuously into
the drain, the only precaution necessary to ob-
serve being to guard against any earth being-
mixed through them, which would impede the
course of the water and destroy the drain. Where
the stones are abundant, and employed of larger
size, it ^vill be necessary to place them in the bot-
tom of the drain, lest a stone of corresponding
dimensions with the drain itself should be placed
right across it, and interfere with the course of
the current. In all cases the stones are to be
smoothly levelled on the top of the drain, that
none of them may be standing up to come after-
wards in contact \vith the plough. It is also
essentially necessary to observe that any loose
earth which may have collected in the bottom of

102

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the drain since it has been originally formed, is
carefully removed before placing the stones. The
interval between the opening and filling, it has
been before obserA^ed, should be as short as pos-
sible, other^\'ise considerable labour may be in-
cuiTed in clearing out the drain a second time.
If frost inten'enes this will especially be the case,
and frequently the removal of the mass of mortar
which thus accumulates is little short of that in
opening the drain originallj'. Even when only a
few days elapse, more or less matter will be pre-
sent for removal, according to the nature of the
soil in which the drain is formed.

As illustration by figure is usually more eflfective
in such cases as the present, than the most detailed
description, the accompanying sketch will serve to
convey a clear idea of the form
of such drains, as well as the
manner of filhng them. The
quantity of stones necessary
for filling any given length of
drains in this manner is easily
ascertained by calculation. The
drain being four inches broad
at bottom, nine inches at the
top of the stones, which being
one foot in depth, and fifty
feet in length, wU con-
tain a cubic yard of stones.
In this manner the quantity of stones required in
draining an acre of land is easily ascertained.

Reducing stones to the small size here recom-
mended has been frequently objected to, on the
supposed probabiUty of the interstices between
them soon becoming filled up with sediment,
which consequently would render the drains
ineflficient. It must, however, be kept in view
that larger stones can only be employed in larger
drains, and in such cases an increased quantity of
stones will be required for filling them. It is also
worthy of remark that no appreciable quantity of
sediment, under any circumstances, finds its way
into the drain, unless from an opening through
the soil, the water being in all cases completely
filtered before reaching the stones; even during
the heaviest rains the water in the drains will merely
have a slight milky tinge. Should any consider-
able quantity of sediment reach the drain, no mat-
ter what kind ofmaterials were used for filling it,
it would soon be choked up. But even where stones
are abundant, it will be found very equivocal man-
agement to use those of larger size than here re-
commended. It is well knoAvn that in most sub-
soils where a cut is made, the sides have a tendency
to fall in, even where they are not exposed to the
atmosphere; and this occurring to any consider-
able extent, in the case of covered drains, would
eflfectually intercept the course of the water. This
tendency of the sides to crumble down is still fur-
ther increased by the action of vermin, as rats
and mice ; through the instrumentahty of which
every drain they frequent is seen, sooner or later,
to be destroyed. Now, these contingencies are
effectually prevented by the use of small stones.
The sides of the drain are so equally and uniform-
ly pressed, that their falhng in is completely pre-
vented, and the small size of the materials used in

filling presents an effectual barrier to the ingi-ess
of vermin of any kind. This objection had fre-
quently been started by numerous parties whilst
inspecting the extensive operations of Mr. Smith,
at Deanston ; and to set all doubts on the subject
at rest, that gentleman frequently had parts of his
drains opened which had lieen in operation for
several years, the result of which was, that in no
case was a particle of sediment discovered. The
drains were, in fact, in all cases in precisely the
same condition as when first covered up.

In many situations throughout the county, stones
cannot be procured for filling drains without being
brought from a considerable distance, and at an
expense which could not be encountered. This
occurs, too, on the soils in greatest need of the spe-
cies of drainage now under consideration, namely,
the hea^'y clays ; but it is fortunate that the com-
position of the soil itself in such cases admits of
substitutes for stones, being formed of itself both
for building and drainage. The manufacture of
bricks from clay has been practised from a very
early period, and is famihar to every one ; but
converting it into tiles for draining is of more
modern origin. It is in fact only within the last
fifteen years or so that the use of tiles can be said
to have been general for filling drains. The
high price at which they were sold, imtil within a
comparatively recent peiiod, presented an almost
effectual barrier to their use.

The manufacture of tiles is not essentially differ-
ent from that of bricks, being formed of plastic
clay, moulded into the required shape, dried in
the air, and afterwards burned. The chief and
primary consideration is that the clay be of a
proper kind, as every one must have noticed the
great diversity in the quality of bricks, and the
unsuitableness of the inferior kinds to withstand
alternations of drought and moisture. Pure clay
does not, however, answer in the manufacture of
tiles, a certain proportion of silicious matter be-
ing a necessary ingredient; and, if not already
present, it must be supplied by artificial means.
When clay is moistened by the finger, and after-
wards rubbed until it gets smooth, sparkling par-
ticles of quartz should be apparent on holding it
in the light of the sun. The presence of these
indicates that silicious matter is abundant, which
can scarcely be contained in the mass in too
large quantity. AYhen clay does not present this
appearance, it is unsuited for making tiles.

To enter into the details of the manufacture of
tiles, would be foreign to our present purpose;
as it can never be undertaken by the mere farmer
with any chance of success; for, simple though
it be, expensive machineiy and considerable prac-
tical knowledge are necessary to carry on the
manufactvu-e with success. The particular state
of the materials during every part of the operation,
indeed, can only be ascertained by a jjerson having
experience in the matter; so that no directions
on the subject can make up for the want of pre-
paratory training. On most of the extensive
estates in Scotland, the proprietors have manufac-
tories for the purpose, and supply their tenantry
with them either gratis or at first cost pnce;
in the latter case, they of course lose nothing by

I

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

100

this arrangement ; and it presents a facility for
carrying on extensive draining operations through-
out their estates, which their enterprising tenants
are not slow in taking advantage of. The Duke
of Portland, the Marquess of Tweeddale, and
such other landlords as havegivenespecialencourage-
ment to the subject in Scotland, have abundantly
reaped the fniits of their exertions by the unex-
ampled improvement which has taken place in the
value of their estates. It is, in fact, highly
creditable to the proprietors of some of the largest
estates in that part of the island, that in their
anxiety to foster improvements, many of the
pecuUarities in the manufacture of tiles originated
with themselves. Tlie " concrete tile," for exam-
ple, which has lately attracted considerable atten-
tion, is well kno%vn to be the invention of Lord
James Hay, who has, for several years, directed
his attention to that subject. It is formed of lime
and sand, worked in the same manner as mortar
for building, and formed into a mould like the
common tile. Tlie concrete tile, however, requires
several months' drying before it can bear carting ;
but a few hours' setting frees it from all danger
of injury by rains. That concrete tiles can be
jiroduced, eminently suited for draining jjurposes,
no doubt can reasonably be entertained, judging
from the strength of lime mortar in buildings ;
when it is often found not inferior to brick or
stones, in resisting any attempts to break it or
reduce it into powder; but then, in order that the
concrete tile may possess this durability and hard-
ness, it will be necessary that the hme and sand
should be of the best description for their respec-
tive uses. Further, it is well known that many
varieties of lime and sand will, when combined,
fonn mortars and concretes of the hardest de-
scription, so long as they are kept from the action
of water ; while there are others which wiU harden
almost as much in water as out of it ; hence, great
judgment and discrimination are necessary in the
selection of materials for concrete tiles.*

^\^len tiles are used for filhng drains, soles
must, in most cases, be employed for the tiles to
rest on. The sole is merely a flat piece of the
same material as the tile, usually of the same length,
but an inch broader than the diameter of the tile.
This tile is merely a rectangular piece of earth,
about an inch in thickness, one foot in length,
formed into a semicircle, the diameter of which
varies according to the size of the tile which it is
wished to have. In placing the soles in the bottom
of the drain, a trowel should be at hand to remove
any irregularity which would prevent them from
resting properly ; and the workman proceeds
lapng tile and sole alternately until he has gone
along the whole of the drain. The tiles are pre-
viously placed along the side of the drain : and.

* The reader who is anxious for further infor-
mation on the " Manufacture of the Common
Draining Tile," is referred to the " Prize Essays and
Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural So-
ciety of Scotland," New Series, vol.vi. p.|ll. The ma-
nufacture of the Concrete Tile, as recommended by
Lord James Hay, will be found ver}'^ fully explained
in the same publication, vol. viii., p. 589.

in laying them down, they should have Ijeen so
arranged that he can reach to them with facility
as he jiroceeds with the work, which saves the
expense of an assistant to hand them to him. To
those unaccustomed to tile draining, it may appear
necessary that the tiles should be perforated, or
placed with short intervals between them on the
soles, to admit the water from the surrounding
soil ; but in practice this is not found to be the
case, as the water in all situations finds its way
into the conduit prepared for carrj'ing it off with-
out difficulty.

Tiles are now extensively used in draining ; still
an almost unconquerable prejudice prevails against
their use in districts in which they are little known;
but that such antipathy is mere prejudice is ap-
parent from the high estimation in which
they are held in those districts Avhere they
are most extensively employed.
Some porpous material is, how-
ever, necessary as a covering
for the tiles, to secure the ad-
mission of the water into
them ; and the draining, in
this case, need scarcely be
sunk so deep, as when stones
are emjjloyed for filling. Va-
rious matters are used for this
purpose ; as sand, gravel, shin- VM

gle, and even brushwood ; all of W//////m

which answer the purpose, the only condition
being that they shall be sufficiently porous to
admit moisture to pass through them. When
turf is used for fuel, the refuse or mould answers
well for the purpose, if it could be procured in
the required quantity, \\lien finished, a section
of the drain will appear as represented in the
figure.*

* "As to the comparative merits of stones and
tiles for filUng drains, I shall not risk an opinion ;
but my belief is that a drain filled with a quantity
of stones broken to pass through a two-and-a-half-
inch ring, sufficient to allow of more water-way
than absolutely necessary, the filling on no ac-
count to be wihin two inches of the deepest
subsoil ploughing, properly blinded at the top
wath small stones, gravel, or any other hard suTd-
stance, with a moderate fall, and where the soil
is hard with Httle sand, and not subject to back-
water, will last during a 999 years' lease, if moles
do not push the soil into it. A tile and sole drain
Avill last as long in spite of moles. The stone
drain has the advantage of exposing a larger
surface, and -svDl take in the water more rapidly.
Tiles are preferable where the land is flat. A tile
and sole wth a few inches of stones is the we 'plus
ultra of draining. I would recommend tUes to
landlords who give any assistance to their tenants
in draining, because they can scarcely make a bad
drain wth them. Many advocate stone-draining
because a great part of the expense, viz., the cart-
ing, falls on the tenant, and he will generally
rather work than pay ; but the consequences wiU
often be that finding the cartage oppressive,
he will often wink at the drainer's cutting too shal-
low, in order that he may consume fewer stones.

104

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Vaz'ious other matters besides stones and tiles
have been recommended for fining drains ; but,
being all temporary in their duration, they do not
seem desen-ing of any more lengthened notice
here. AMiere stones can be procured without
lengthened cartage, they will of course be employed
in preference to any thing else ; and in all other
cases tiles should be employed. Over a considera-
ble portion of the surface of the country, conside-
rable quantities of small stones are found on the
surface of the land, and interspersed through the
soil, which, if collected, would afford the most
valuable materials that coiild be employed; and,
for the most part, of sufficiently small size to render
them eligible for filling drains at once mthout any
pre\ious preparation.

No. VI.

Hitherto, the small or parallel drains of the
field have chiefly come under consideration, and
now attention is to be directed to the cross drains,
the execution of which is of equal or still greater
importance. The parallel drains collect the water,
which they convey to the cross or main drains,
by which it is again conveyed from the field. As
has been already observed, a main drain is to pass
along the bottom of the field, to receive the water
conveyed thither by the parallel drains; and it
must be placed so far from the fences as to be out
of the reach of the roots of trees, which, growing
through it, would soon destroy it. Being intended
for conveying a much larger quantity of water
than the other drains of the field, the main drains
must be made of a proportionably larger size.
They should range from two feet eight inches
to three feet in depth, according to the number
of drains opening into them, and the quantity of
water which they are likely to contain ; and they
should rarely be less than sLx inches wide at the
bottom.

When stones are employed for filhng these main
drains, the old plan of placing one on each side
of the drain, and a third as a covering, may be
adopted, taking care that a sufficient opening be
left for the water to pass along. The plan repre-
sented in the accompanying figure may, however,

and the drain will stop with his lease. The land-
lord should take the whole management of the
draining except the horse-labour ; and charge an
additional rent, regulated by the improvements,
by the former rent being high or low, and, per-
haps, by the duration of the lease, \vithout any
reference to the cost of draining. It does not
necessarily follow that the land requiring most
draining will make the most profitable return. The
tenant would be a great gainer though he were to
pay every additional grain of corn produced, as
he can work his farm wth fewer horses. I know
land when half the expense of draining has been
repaid in one season by the extra qixantity of bar-
ley or turnips." — Essay on Tile Draining, hy S. D.
Stirling Esq., of Glenbervie. Prize Essays and
Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural
Society of Scotland, New Series. Vol. vi., p. 100.

be employed ^vith still greater pro-
priety, as it insures a free passage
for the water ; and on hard sub-
soils the stone placed in the bottom
as a sole for the others, may be
dispensed ^vith, it being only used
to prevent the others from sinking, and to pre-
vent mud accumulating by the action of the cur-
rent on the bottom of the drain. It is also formed
\vith greater dispatch than the former, especially
where flat stones are available.

Tiles may be employed in main drains with
equal propriety as in the smaller drains. For this
purpose larger-sized tiles must be used, which
are easily procured ; and if the quantity of water
is large, a second row of tiles may be laid down,
or even a third : the latter, in this case, being
placed above the other two. The chief considera-
tion to he attended to, whether stones or tiles are
employed, is to secure the free passage of the water
from each of the small drains into the main drain
without obstruction.

The remaining part of the operations of the
drainer is easy; namely, the filling in of the
earth into the drains. No part of the drain which
has had the stones put into it should be left
uncovered over night, otherwise the action of
frost, should the operation be performed in the
winter or spring, may cause portions of the
sides of the drains to crumble down and get
interspersed through the stones. A slight cover-
ing of earth will, however, be sufficient to guard
against this, and the remainder may be filled in
when convenient. The precaution of placing
a sod, where it can be procured, over the stones,
or some other material calculated to prevent the
loose earth from getting among them, should
never be neglected. Various substances will
present themselves for this purpose ; but there is
none so convenient or so suitable as the scraw
or sod from the surface, when the land is in
grass. It must be I'ecollected that draining is an
expensive operation, and, if attempted at all,
should be performed eflfectively ; otherwise, the
whole expenditure may be little better than lost.
A slight covering of earth being placed over
the drains for protection, the remainder of the
fiUing-in may be done by the plough. In order,
therefore, that there may be no interruption to the
progress of the work, it will be necessary that the
earth taken out of the drains should have
been placed alternately to the right and left sides
of the drains in opening them, to suit the plough
in passing up and down the field, that it may not
in any case go along without a furrow, which it
would do every alternate turn if the earth had
been continuously placed on either the left hand
or right hand side of the drains throughout the
field. By this arrangement also eveiy alternate
space between the drains is left clear for the stones
or tiles, and for carting them forward. When all
the earth has been returned to the drain which had
been taken out of it, it will generally raise it above
the surface of the adjoining ground, M'hich is
necessary to make up for the subsidence of the
loose earth in the drain afterwards.

Before concluding this part of the subject, some

THE FABMER'S MAGAZINE.

105

allusion should perhaps be made to a system of
draining carried into operation in mountain dis-
tricts, and, in fact, generally in such situations
as afford a tough surface sod, and not affording
stones for fiUing the drains. In such cases, the
drains are marked out and opened for the first and
second spachng in the usual manner, with the
exception of the surface sod being retained whole,
to be afterwards employed in covering the drain.
In taking out the last spading, it is contrived by a
difference in the size of the spades, to have on
each side of the drain what is technically termed a
shoulder, sLx or eight inches from the bottom of
the drain; and on this the siu-face sod is placed,
the remainder of the drain being filled in the usual
manner. A shoulder on the sides of the drains is
not, however, in all cases necessary in this kind of
drainage. The drain may be formed gradually
sloping to a point in the bottom ; and the surface
sod being pressed down, is prevented by the con-
tracted dimensions of the drain at the bottom from
going nearer to it than six or eight inches distance,
as may be desired.

Regarding the merits of this system of draining,
few observations are necessary. Where stones
and tiles are procured with difiEculty, such suljsti-
tutes may be employed ; but the extent of surface
to be subjected to the operations of the drainer
must be very limited, when the adoption of the
system described can be justified. ^Vllere stones
cannot be procured, materials for the manufacture
of tiles ai'e seldom wanting ; and where more than
a few acres are to be drained, the manufacture
of tiles for the purpose shoidd be commenced, if
they cannot be othenvise procured. In a preced-
ing paper may be found the testimony of Mr.
Stirling, whose opinion is quoted from the Prize
Essays and Transactions of the Highland Society
of Scotland, as to the almost indefinite term
during which drains properly executed with either
stones or tiles are likely to last; but it does not
recpire any great foresight to predict the ter-
mination of action of drains formed in the manner
now described. It is, however, in high estimation
in some parts of the kingdom ; and this circum-
stance only justifies any allusion being made to it
here.

No. VII.

The several processes connected with the im-
portant preliminary operation of draining having
now been described, the consideration of the
effects and manner of performing the auxiliary ope-
ration of deepening the soil now presents itself.
Deep tillage is by no means a new discovery in
farming, the beneficial effects of it having been
long known ; but the same may be said of the ap-
plication of steam to economic purposes, its pro-
perties having been understood at a very early
period, but it was reser^^ed for the present genera-
tion to show the manner in which these properties
could be turned to account. In like manner,
although the advantages of depth of soil were ap-
preciated, it was not imtil lately that the operation
was brought into general practice. At the present
periodj however, it is attracting almost universal

attention, both as an auxiliary to the frequent
drain system, and in some cases by itself, as a
means of improving the soil withovit any previous
drainage. AMien the subject was first prominently
brought before the English farmers, by the evidence
of Mr. Smith, of Deanston, given before the Agri-
cultural Committee of 1836, the whole advantage
of that gentleman's system was attributed to deep-
ening the soil alone ; and the chairman of that
committee, the present Speaker of the House of
Commons, in a letter to his constituents, which at
that time attracted much attention, recom.mends
the use of the subsoil plough as an instriunent of
universal fertility. Though the use of the subsoil
plough has effected a great change in the practice
of agriculture, it is in connexion with j)revious
thorough drainage that this has been brought
about ; and in certain cases the use of that imple-
ment, or of any other method of deepening the soil
without previous drainage, is manifestlyinjurious.
Drainage is, of course, not required on all soils,
but every soil is improved by deepening it. The
peciUiar character of the soil, will, therefore, indi-
cate whether previous drainage is required. Where
the subsoil is a porous gravel, draining will not be
essential ; but in the case of subsoils of a clayey
nature, deep tillage will be injurious v^'ithout previ-
ous draining, as the means of retaining water are
thereby increased.

The advantages of depth of soil being admitted
by almost every cultivator, it cannot fail to excite
surprise that it is only within the last few years that
it has been generally brought into operation. The
evils both of moisture and drought are increased by
want of sufficient depth of soil. A few inches of
the siu-face only being pervious to moisture, it
quickly becomes saturated, and it as readily parts
with its moisture and becomes parched with
drought. Draining may, in some measure, remove
these evils ; but it never can do so effectually of
itself, as it is only at given intervals along the
surface that water can find its v,'ay into the drains,
without the aid of deep pulverization. Hence the
origin of placing the drains across the hill, instead
of up and down, wliich, imder the then system of
management, was certainly the best direction in
which they could be placed ; but now that deepen-
ing the soil is considered to be an essential auxihary
to successful draining, the water finds its way into
the drains by a different process, and a different
course of proceeding must be adopted to effect the
object in view.

DiflFerent methods are had recourse to for deep-
ening the soil, according to the situation, circum-
stances, and caprice of the operator. The most
simple plan which can be adopted is evidently
that employed in garden culture, in which case the
object is effected by the spade ; but although the
operation in this case is simple, it is expensive, and
cannot be carried into operation on any considera-
ble scale on that account alone. This is denomi-
nated trenchinx/, and i 5 performed as follows : — The
surface earth being r ;moved from a space at one
side of the field or pL )t of ground to be trenched,
about a foot and a hal'in breadth, it is spread over
the ground at a distai ice, or carried to the further
side of the field from tl lat in which the operation is

106

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

commenced. This will usually reach to the depth
of seven or eight inches. Another spading of earth
being taken from this space is similarly disposed of,
and a third if necessary, to insure a proper depth
being attained. An open trench is now formed to
tlie depth to which it is considered necessary to
extend, and the soil taken from it has been dis-
tributed evenly over the surface of the field.
Another space of eighteen inches broad is then
commenced, and the surface soil removed from it
and distributed as before ; after which the opera-
tion proceeds -snth regularity until all is gone over.
The subsoil is now removed from this second space
to the first one, and the surface soil of the third
space placed over it. AVhen all has been gone
over in this manner, the last dug space is to be
filled from the surrounding ground ; or where great
accuracy is required, the earth taken out of the first
space at the commencement of the operations
should have been laid aside for that purpose.
After being finished in this manner, it is apparent
that the surface and subsoil stiU maintain the same
relative position to each other, no portion of the lat-
ter having been brought to the top, and the whole
having been eflfectually loosened to the depth re-
quired. This, therefore, is an effective method of
deepening the soil, and is the system in use among
gardeners for that purpose ; but it is also an ex-
pensive one, and cannot be carried into operation
on a large scale. The expense of the operation is
much increased by preservin'^ the surface soil in its
original position, but in ilvi majority of cases the
subsoil cannot be brought to the surface with
impunity. The operations of draining and deepen-
ing the "soil in this manner may be carried forward
at the same time, the drains being formed as the
trenching goes foi"\varo, in which case the stones
met with in the latter operation will be advantage-
ously employed in filhng the drains, and the labour
in opening them will also be materially abridged.

The perfection of operations on the farm is to
assimilate them to those of the garden, but in the
former case the operations are to be carried on by
machinery rather than by manual labour. The in-
troduction of machinery into our gardens is evidently
impracticable, were it even desirable, on account of
the smallness of the extent of surface to be operated
on, as well as various other circumstances. On
similar grounds, machinery, generally speaking, is
unsuited to the cottager or small farmer in the
management of his land ; besides, the animal power
for working such machinery is not ■within his reach.
Hence the inapplicability of the subsoil plough in
such cases for the deepening of the soil. Six
horses are in most, if not in all, cases necessary
for carrying on the operation of subsoil ploughing;
and this power not being always available, other
methods must be had recourse to.

In the case of the cottage and small farm the
following wiU be found an effective method for
effecting the purpose, and is extensively employed
in Ireland : — The land intended to be operated on
is planted with potatoes in beds, about six feet wide,
including furrows. The furrows will be from
twelve to fourteen inches deep, and in these drains
are to be placed, in which case half the labour in
forming the drains is accompUshed in the cultiva-

tion of the crop. A drain in every second or third
furrow, according to the state of the soil, will be
sufficient; and the expense of performing the opera-
tion in this manner will not much exceed one half
of what it would otherwise be. The ensuing season
another crop of potatoes is again to be taken off
the land, reversing the furrows, according to the
usual practice, where the crop is cidtivated in
ridges or beds, making the furrow in the centre of
tlie former ridge. Little expense is incurred in
this manner ; and where the breadth of the ridge
and furrow does not exceed six feet, the whole
soil will have been loosened by the cultivation of
these two crops. Where the land is of inferior
quahty, the want of manure for a second crop of
potatoes seems an obstacle in the way of such
management; but now that a luxuriant crop of any
kind may be raised by means of the numerotis
portable manures at the command of the farmer,
this difficulty is easily surmounted. This system
is peculiarly applicable to soils abounding with
stones, which would render the action of the trench
or subsoil plough difficult, if not impracticable.
The stones are taken up during the tillage of the
crop, and are at hand for filhng the drains. It
may also be found convenient in such cases to form
the drains at double the required distance the first
season, in which case the stones turned up during
the cultivation of the second crop of potatoes will
also be available for filhng the drains ; and the
labour of draining and deepening the soil is thus
divided over two seasons.

The common plough is in all cases a powerful
agent for deepening the soil. In giving the first
ploughing before winter to land intended for green
crops, the common plough may be made to go
nine or ten inches deep, and the depth of the fur-
row may be still further increased by another
plough passing along the same furrow, and pene-
trating to the depth of three or four additional
inches. In this case the second plough must be
deprived of its mould-board, to enable it to pass
along with facility. Two ploughs must therefore be
at work in this case, as in that of the operation of
the subsoil plough, but then two horses in each
plough will be sufficient.

But no plan hitherto discovered for deepening
the soil effectually can at all bear a comparison with
that by the subsoil plough, invented by Mr. Smith,
of Deanston. It not only effectually deepens the
soil to the required depth, but also at the same
time pvdverizes it, without, howe^-er, bringing any
portion of the soil to the surface. This instrument
is now more or less known throughout every part
of the country ; but as it is one which should be
universally employed, it may not be altogether un-
interesting to present the reader ^vith a plan and
description of it here. The description is in the
words of its ingenious inventor.

"The subsoil plough here figured was designed
for the purpose of opening up retentive subsoils.
In the design two essential points are kept in view:
1, The construction of an implement that would
effectually open up the subsoil without bringing
any of it to the surface; and 2, To have it of the
easiest possible draught for the horses, while it was
of sufficient strength and weight to penetrate the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

107

hardest ground, and resist the shocks of the largest
stones.

" The extreme length of the plough is about
fifteen feet. From the socket at the point of the
beam to the first stile or upright, six feet ; thence
to the back of the second stile, nmeteen inches ;
thence to the outer end of holding handles, seven
feet; from the sole to the bottom of beam at stiles,
nineteen inches ; length of head or sole bar, thirty
inches ; from heel of sole to point of sock, forty-
six inches; broadest part of sock, eight inches.
The coulter is curved, and in order to prevent its
point being dinven from its place by stones, it is
inserted to the depth of an inch in a socket, A.
The lateral dimensions of the sole piece are two
inches square. This is covered on the bottom and
land side with a cast iron sole-piece to prevent
wear. The share goes on the head in the usual
way, and from its feather rises the spur piece B,
for the purpose of breaking the subsoil furrow.
When the subsoil consists of veiy firm clay, or
other hard or compact earth, the feather and
spur piece may be dispensed with, and a plain
wedge or spear-pointed share may be used. The
draft-bar C of ij inch round iron is attached to
the beam at the stiongeye D, and passing through
an eye in the upright needle E, is adjustable to
any height or lateral direction, being moveable to
the socket F, at the point of the beam, and can be
made fast at any point by a pinching screw worked
by the lever G. By the proper setting of the
draft rod, the direction of the power of the horses is
so regulated as to render the guiding of the plough
easy at any depth or width of furrow.

" Four ordinary farm horses are generally suf-
ficient to draw this plough in breaking up subsoil of
ordinary firmness ; but on very tough clays, or
very hard till, it maybe necessary to usesLx horses.
WTien four are used, they are yoked two and two
abreast by draft bars and chains, as shewn in the
figure.

" The main chain for the leading horses to pull
by is hung by hnks from the collaj-s of the near

horses to keep it from their legs, and the trace bars
of the leaders are kept close up to their hams by
cross straps over their quarters.

" When horses which have been accustomed to
work in pairs are first put to work in this plough,
they are apt to be a little restive, and do not at first
pull well together, and this is especially the case
where the subsoil is strong. The ploughman also
finds some difficulty in balancing the plough at
first ; and if he is not a man of quiet and firm
temper, the whole afl^air puts on the appearance of
an arduous and hopeless undertaking. A few hours,
or days, at most, however, of temperate perseverance,
will overcome all difficulties, and horses and men
mil work together with steadiness and eflFect. The
work is, indeed, in most cases severe, and the
horses are frequently warm and fatigued ; but to
insure good farming the work must be done, and
will amply repay all the trouble and expense."

In using the subsoil plough it is perhaps scarcely
necessary to obseiTC that a furrow slice is first taken
oiF by the common plough, in the track of which
the subsoil plough follows, merely loosening the
subsoil under the furrow slice just removed, with-
out bringing any portion of it to the surface. By
the combined action'of these ploughs a dejjth of from
fourteen to sixteen inches should be attained.
This operation should take place the season after the
draining has been completed, so that if the latter
has been performed while the land is in grass, the
subsoiling will appropriately take place in the en-
suing autumn after the removal of the corn crop,
when the land would otherwise be receiving the
first ploughing in preparing it for a green crop.

The important operations of draining and deepen-
ing the soil have now been considered at length.
So much attention has been attracted to the subject
within the last few years, that A-arious plans have
from time to time been brought forward for that
purpose, but they do not seem to be deser^dng of
notice here. In using either the subsoil or trench
plough it is to be observed that the direction of the
furrow slice should in all cases be at right angles
with that of the drains. Numerous channels are
thus formed for carrying the water from all parts
of the land to the drains; in fact, the tracks made
by the subsoil plough in the unmoved subsoil may
be regarded as so many small drains for carrjdng
the water into the drains of the field, and this
action completely prevents any water from flowing
over any considerable portion of the land. In this
respect the use of the plough is superior to that of
the spade, inasmuch as inequalities of surface in the
unmoved subsoil \v\\l be left by the spade, hon-ever
careful the work may have been pei-formed, and in
these water will be retained which \vill saturate the
incumbent soil.

But the most important question which has arisen
among practical men in relation to this subject isj

108

THE FABMER'S MAGAZINE.

as to the quantity of earth which should be brought
from the bottom to the surface, or whether any
portion at all should be brought up. The subsoil
is merely stirred up and broken by the action of
the subsoil plough, without any portion of it being
brought to the surface. This constitiUes a striking
feature in the use of that implement, and is one of
its chief advantages in the estimation of its inventor,
as well as in that of many others. The subsoil, it is
maintained, should not be brought to the surface
in large quantities, and not at all until it has been
loosened some time, after which it may gradually be
brought up, until, in time, the whole mass, so far
as the subsoil plough has penetrated, becomes
uniform in quality. Fresh portions of the subsoil
can, however, only be l)rought to the surface during
the preparation of the land for drill crops, which in
any case will not occur oftener than once in four
years, but more frequently only once in five, six, or
seven years j so that, according to this arrangement,
a long series of years would intervene before the
subsoil would become thoroughly incorporated
with the surface. This, accordingly, has been
brought forward as a strong objection to the use of
the subsoil jilough by many ])ractical men, who
assert that the subsoil should be immediately
brought to the surface and incorporated with it.
But in farming, as in everything else, men are
too apt to draw general conclusions from isolated
facts. A farmer having a good soil and subsoil,
the latter probably a combination of clay and lime-
stone gravel, finds that bringing it to the surface
improves his land and crops, which every one will
admit to be the case ; but then it does not follow
that the numerous class of inferior subsoils con-
taining salts of iron and other injurious substances,
would, on being brought to the surface, effect a
similar improvement. On the contrary, they would
produce absolute sterility until their noxious quah-
ties were corrected by exposure to the atmosphere,
or by the admixture of other substances, llie
fertile subsoUs, too, are not those most commonly
met with, so that the safe rule unquestionably is to
use caution in bringing any considerable quantity
of the under soil to the surface until its character is
with certainty ascertained. The relative advan-
tages of subsoil and trench ploughing can only
therefore be ascertained by a reference to the
peculiar cases in which they are to be used. Eveiy
gardener well knows the imjjropriety of bringing
up much of the subsoil, as being inimical to his
crops, and hence the universal practice in gardens
of the system of trenching previously described.
Exposure to the atmosphere, and the admixture of
correctors, such as lime, will, no doubt, improve
the under soil so as to render it a useful ingredient
in the composition of the upper stratum.

Draining and deepening the soil have here been
considered in connexion Avith each other. In fact,
no two operations in husbandry are more closely
connected. On all soils suffering from an excess
of moisture, and these constitute a numerous class
in this humid cHmate, the improvement effected by
their action almost exceeds belief.

LETTERS FROM IRELAND.

BY THE EDITOR OF THE FIFTH AND SIXTH
EDITIONS OF "BAYLDON ON RENTS AND
TILLAGES," AND AUTHOR OF A TREATISE
ON MANURES AND GRASSES.

" Agricultura nihil melius, nihil uberius, nihil homino libero
dignius." — Cicero,

(The copyright of these letters is reserved by the
author.)

Letter V.

Queen's County, May 11.

Queen's County extends in length about twenty-
five miles, the greatest breadth not exceeding the
same number. The chief towns are Maryborough,
Mountmelick, Montrath, Burros in Ossory, Ballen-
akill, and Durrow. The surface is mostly low,
there being no hUls of great height ; and the rising
grounds, with few exceptions, are cultivated over
the top. The hiUs are rocky, and of the same kind
as in Wicklow and Wexford. The northern part
of the county, which joins that of Kildare, is gene-
rally flat ; on going southAvard it becomes more
hilly, but none rises to any great height to the
borders of the county of Kilkenny. The land is of
very fine quahty in the northern part, and in
many parts to the east ; to the south the quality
decreases, but in no place to such a degree as to
forbid successful cultivation. The high grounds
are dry, and of most kindly quality ; the lower
afford good pasture, and the wet grounds are not
very numerous. The county affords many fine
ojjen views, exhibiting nature in a most delightful
form to the eye if not to the mind, blooming in
aspect if not in reflection.

This county contains a smaller number of gen-
tlemen's seats than some others, and also of the
habitations of the better farmers, and it conse-
quently shows the system of farming on a small
scale better than any other county I ha^'e yet seen.
The size is so low as 2 and 3 acres, few ex-
ceed 100; and 30 to 60 is reckoned the best size
for the circumstances of the country. The small
holders are labourers also, when they can obtain
employment; and a gentleman told me that he
could get forty labourers in a morning at any
wages he chose to offer — that tenpence a day was
never exceeded, however much was given under
that sum. The whole countiy, as far as the eye
can reach, is studded with habitations of mud walls
and thatched roofs; some of them in the most
A^Tctched state imaginable, and others a degree
neater and cleaner. The first bog, or peat moss, I
saw in Ireland occurred north of Maryborough,
and I observed two more on the south ; none of
them large, not exceeding half a mile to a mile
square. The herbage was the usual one in such
places, short and sour, and grazing sheep and
young cattle ; in some places the black peat was
devoid of any herbage. The cotton grass was less
abundant than I have obsen'ed in mosses. The
bog is cut for dried turf for fuel; the upper
half in depth being brown in colour and veiy
fibrous, and the under black and more decom-
posed. The flame is quick, and the ashes very

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

109

white. The small farmers and labourers crowd
their habitations around these bogs for the sake of
fuel, and they are, consequently, cultivated to the
very edge in their way of potatoes in lazy beds,
and oats in succession, another piece of land aftbrd-
ing some pasturage. The preparation of bog for
fuel is the employment of the farmers after potato
planting is finished, and it is carted to the neigh-
bouring towns for sale.

The system of cultivation in this county differs
little from those already mentioned — potatoes
being the chief crop, and are planted partly on
lazy beds and partly in drills. In two places only
I observed the driUing to be decently performed,
all others being mere attempts. The wheat is
mostly sown on nari'ow ridges, and occasionally on
the flat ground ; the oats in ridges, and the barley
on the flat groimd, of which latter grain not much
is used. The ridges with, shovelled trenches are
not so frequent as in the counties of Wicklow and
Wexford, but the ridging of land seems no better
understood ; in most places the land requires no
ridging at all. Wheat and barley are sometimes
seen in drills near a gentleman's seat, but generally
clumsily performed. The artificial grasses are
badly managed, though the native luxuriance shows
the fertiUty of the soU. In sowing artificial grasses,
a great improvement is performed by using the
sower of 15 or 16 feet in length, which scatters
them in a most equal manner, and with dispatch,
at the rate of 30 to 40 acres a day. Such a ma-
chine would suit the purpose of several farmers
jointly in Ireland ; and Mr. Dnimmond, seedsman,
in Dubhn, supplies the implements of good quality.
Mr. Grey, of Dilston, in Northumberland — a very
competent authority on all practical subjects — has
stated the advantages of that implement to be fully
the keep of a sheep per acre over hand-sowing ;
and, from experience, I fully concur in that opinion.
Most of the crops are foul with weeds, the land
being mostly ever)Tvhere imperfectly cultivated — a
cross furrow being all that is given in the spring,
and with harrowing and couching seldom per-
formed. There is no system, no combination, no
dispatch, in any quarter or in any operation that
can be M'itnessed ; even on the farms of the best
cultivators, dung is laid on many acres of a field
before it is covered, and it is spread and used in
the same dilatory manner. Potatoes are planted
on the winter furrow, green with couch, in lazy
beds, or ploughed a;!!!! one light furrow from
grass. Good land is thus mangled, and any degree
of production is a wonder.

The iron plough is mostly in use, but in this
county I observed the old wooden plough, with
mould-board of the same material. The harrows
are rude and clumsy. The rolls are few, and much
too light. A bog cart is rarely to be seen, the
place being supplied by a body of about 12 inches in
depth, diminishing forward, which carries loads of
bags and of loose materials ; and when the sides
are wholly wanting, crates of osiers are placed on
the car, in which all dung and lime are carried.
Even the best farmers use these crates, which
shows the slow processes that must go on in
emptymg dung on the field. One horse in a cart
IS universally used j iron-axles and no wood-axle

waggon or two-horse cart is seen. The loads are
little more than that of a wheel-barrow, from the
small degree of strength that is applied.

The best grass lands near towns let at £2 to £3
per acre ; best arable lands about 30s. ; and inferior
down to 10s. and under; general average, 15s. to
25s. ; poor's-rate, about lOd. yearly ; county cess,
from Is. to 2s. ; and the tithe rent-charge has been
permanently fixed very moderately, in many cases
not above Is. per acre ; all taxes not exceeding 4s.
or 5s., except on the better soils. Some proprietors
do not exact tithe rent from the Catholic tenantry,
and thus humour a prevaiUng feeling. Much of
the land is held by tenantry at will, and a rent as
high as 50s. an acre is imposed within two miles of
towns ; and if not paid, they must go out. There
seems no intermediate period between leases for
lives and 2 1 years, and, in fact, the granting them
would require much consideration.

Asses are much used in the labour of the cart,
and entire ones travel the covintry for the purpose
of propagation. I suppose the breed of work-
horses too small to labour on land effectually, but the
natives assert that they are proved to be superior
to any yet imported. I should think a great im-
provement might be made by the Cleveland, or
rather the Clydesdale, breed, which are found here
in a few bands. On the road, the Irish horses are
very active, wiry, and durable; but they are defi-
cient in form and symmetry, and a match is diffi-
cult.

The cattle are of the native breed, on good lands
a cross of better quality, while the leading farmers
show a fair animal or two of the short-horn cross.
Great advances must be made before any perfection
be attained in that department. The sheep are
Leicester or cross ; the native breed being white-
faced, and not a black-face to be seen. The pigs
are almost universally good, being a cross between
the Berks and the native ; and a lank-sided Irish
hog is now rarely seen. This improvement shows
what may be done in other matters, and that pre-
judice does give way.

Lime abounds in Queen's County, and is very
generally used in an unmixed state, and in com-
post. Tlie quantity applied in a pure state varies
from 80 to 120 bushels per acre ; in composts the
quantity is indefinite, and in either state apphed to
the potato land. Moss or peat is used by the
small farmers near the bogs, in mixing with dung
and other matters, and every cottage has its heap
of mixen in front of it to be appUed to the favourite
crop. Moss being an inert body, and in no state
of decomposition, is almost useless as a manure ;
and in the manure used here it can have no certain
effect, being dry and friable as sand. Burning
moss to ashes is a sure process, but reduces the
bulk so much that the labour is too great for the
quantity of ashes obtained. With mossy earths
the process is more certain, as shov.Ti in the case
of paring and burning. Artificial manures are un-
known. Bones and guano are being mentioned by
the leading gentlemen, and, where used, are re-
ported favourably. In using them, the present
improvements are not adopted, but the original
rude appUcation — as in bone mills and sowing ma-
chines—there is used the form of thirty years ago,

110

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

instead of the usage of the present day. This
seems a most unaccountable want in judgment, in
not adopting the most recent improvements, instead
of the rude originals.

There are no toU-gates on the turnpike roads in
the south of Ireland, so far as I have traversed it,
the main roads and parish roads being all upheld
by the county cess ; each barony being charge-
able for the expense within the district, and the
whole being under the superintendence of a county
surveyor, who is liable for all s])ecifications, con-
tracts, and executions, with a salary of £300 a year
in some cases, and one or two assistants, vith £80
or £100 a year each. Tlie roads are, in general,
very fine, the main road being provided with a side
path of convenient breadth, and the ditches and
openings clear. The material is ready and abvm-
dant — in river gravel, granite, and limestone,
everywhere accessible, and close by the roadside.
Tlie granite does not wear long, and is much in-
ferior to the blue hmestone, the granules of the
former being large and soft, and loosely compact.
The boulder stones of it are, in many places, so
large as to afford slabs of upwards of six feet in
length. This mode of upholding roads without
any toll gates is nearly the same with a method I
have long proposed, of each estate or parish making
and keeping in repair all the roads within the
boundary, and having a surveyor for as much ex-
tent as he could properly manage, each rate payer
to have a vote, and the decision of the county ma-
gistrates to be final. This plan is much preferable
to the method in England, of having a surveyor eveiy
year, who knows and cares nothing about the office.
The fairs in Ireland are also more conveniently
stated by the day of the month simply, than in
England and Scotland by the days referring to
other fau-s and to moveable feasts. An improve-
ment has been made in England by converting
the statute labour into money ; and a similar one
may be made by employing a professional
man, and in making the charge of the roads a
regular employment. In such cases the great
object is to make the thing simple and direct,
easily understood, and as easily managed ; for con-
fused concerns always tire in the execution, and,
consequently, are imperfectly performed. Tlie
management of the roads in England has long
formed a subject of complaint, and never yet
remedied ; and it is cvirious to observe how im-
provements will creep into different countries in
some things, while others are wholly neglected,
and often easier of execution.

Every provincial town and village in Ireland is
disfigured by a "mud" quarter of several lanes
running from the centre, and which contains the
])Oorer inhabitants of all denominations. I arrived
in Maryborough on a very wet day, the only rain
that has fallen for a month past, and now much
wanted for the crops of all kinds. Being now the
busiest season of potato planting, the lanes were
nearly blocked up with heaps of dung on both
sides; carried through the houses from behind,
and laid in readiness to be carried away. Every
sort of vehicle was in requisition — asses draw, boys
drive, and women fill the dung ; and on the wet
^ay I mentioned, I found old women driving the

cars, puddling in the mud, wthout a shoe or
stocking, or any covering for the head. Many of
the mud cottages are whitewashed, which only con-
trasts more strongly with the blackened faces of
the inmates. In the best towns and villages, many
of the houses'apiiear to be in " chancery ;" some
half built, and others standing without a roof;
some \vithout a gable, others Avithout door or
windows ; and human beings dwelling on the
ground floor, with no roof but a few fragments
of the second floor left over their heads. In the
country, the same dilapidations prevail ; old houses
falling do%vn, new ones not finished, and fences,
walls, and lands, aU in the same state of ruin and
neglect. In the towns, broken Avindows disfigure
many good houses. In the country, the gate lodges
at gentlemen seats are equally neglected ; and when
there is sometimes seen a good lodge, furnished
with garden, flowers, and trainers, the inmates are
dirty slattens. These are the habits of the people
which may require a full century to rise to an
equality with other parts of Britain. At every
place where the stage cars and coaches stop, there
is immediately assembled a crowd of idlers, in
many cases not less than from forty to fifty, of all
ages and sexes ; some assisting, some begging,
others sitting, and many staring idly ; and all of
them would seem to have some pension or annuity
to support the few rags they possess. At the door
of hotels, and at every public place, females of ad-
vanced age, or Avith children in their arms, sit for
whole day ; while many more crowd the streets, and
move from place to place, wherever a chance of
success in begging may occur. It is impossible to
conceive how and where so many idle persons can
procure even a diet of potatoes ; and it is more sur-
prising still, that among such a mass of starvation
and wretchedness, there are not more crimes and
thefts than have taken place. If a human being
be fed and clothed, little discontent will be ex-
pressed— if the first necessaries cannot be procured
by the utmost willingness and ability to perform
the exchange required for them, things have
reached a state that may not be long endured.
Those persons who write about man and the dif-
ferent states and stages of his existence, physical,
moral, and social, would do well to consider two
things, " cultivation of the earth, and the necessa-
ries of life," for they uphold or overturn all their
ideal fabrics. A generous and animating diet must
precede every other consideration, as it is the very
first and most important step in developing the
powers of the human race,

I witnessed a pig fair at Maryborough — quality
of the animals very good, and the average price
35s. per cwt. The pigs form the chief dependance
of the cottars and small farmers, and consequently,
man, wife, and child are interested in the sale, and
attend the fairs. A better opportunity could not
be found of seeing the condition of the peasantry,
the variety of dress and appearance. A full half
of the population are without shoes or stockings,
or any covering for the head ; while the clothes on
the body are in so many pieces that they are in dan-
ger of momentary separation. A long coat in the
form of a frock or great coat, and of a grey or blue
colour, is much used, and a blue cojit with side

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Ill

tails ; and a labourer may he seen in the fields,
and at all kinds of workj with a heavy, long coat
swnging at his side, and encumbering his motions
at every step. The jacket or neat short coat of
England and Scotland, seems wholly unknown.
The long coat appears to be a universal favoui'ite —
the other articles are equally coarse, and vary ac-
cording to the ability of the wearer. Females dress
in shawl or grey and blue cloak, and straw bon-
nets ; others draw the hood of the cloak over the
head to the brow, and from under it there often
appear a pair of sparkling eyes, and a head of
hair of the glossiest black. The dress of the higher
class differs little from other parts of the king-
dom. In the lower orders everything is inferior ;
and there seems a great want in making neat what
they possess. In the shops of the small towns and
villages, every article is of verj' inferior quality,
and very dirtily kept.

The charge per mile for stage travelling is id.
to Igd., and at the inns the charge for dinner is
Is. 6d.and2s., breakfast and teal 3. 6d.,andbedls.6d.
At the chief hotels in the covmtry towns ; the charge
is somewhat higher, the inferior one-third less, and
in both, the servants expect the highest allowance
in England. The waiters are equally acute in
getting 2s. 6d. for a dinner from a coach traveller,
and the coach ready before half finished, and his
oAvn gratuity also. One of these asked 6d. to
change a Bank of England note, a legal tender,
and another refused to change a sovereign as they
were all too light. Money produces many strange
occunences.

EAST CORNWALL EXPERIMENTAL CLUB
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF AGRICUL-
TURE.

' The first general meeting of the members of the
East Cornwall Experimental Club was held at the
White Hart, Launceston, on Tuesday, the 25th
June. Most of the large landed proprietors, clergy,
and respectable practical farmers of the district,
were present, comprising about fifty persons.

Edward Archer, Esq., of Trelask, commenced
the proceedings of the day, by reading a paper on
" The Defects in the System of Husbandry, as
practised in this district." The points to which
he particularly called the attention of the meeting
were, the most profitable size of farms, including
a consideration of the best mode of subdi\'iding
them, the length of tenure on which they were held,
the systems of cropping, the management of ma-
nures, the economy of labour, the best kind of im-
plements, &c. We do not give a fuU detail of his
address, interesting as it was, because, at the unani-
mous request of the meeting and consent of Mr.
Archer, it was agreed that it should be printed for
circulation ; we therefore shall see it in this form,
and have an opportunity of referring to it more ac-
curately. On concluding his address, which lasted
upwards of an hour, he was loudly cheered.

Most of the points noticed by Mr, Archer were
now discussed : those of a practical nature princi-
pally by the farmers ; those on tenures and cove-

nants were joined in by the landed proprietors, who
evinced a strong desire to ascertain the feehngs of
their tenantry on this important question.

In the course of discussion, Mr. Wills, of
South Petherwin, said he sincerely congratulated
his brother farmers on the formation of this society,
and the spirit in which it was founded. It was one,
he said, which struck at the root of a great exist-
ing evil. He did not know of any society, or
where an opportunity existed in which tenantry
might confer with their landlords and discuss ques-
tions of mutual interest — a want seriously felt by
both parties. He thought agriculture, and indeed
the i)ublic, suflfered much from the want of free yet
respectful intercourse between landlord and tenant.
Farmers, generally, were men of limited education,
and he spoke as a tenant and practical man when
he stated that he was sure their interest would be
benefited by this societj'-, including, as it did, men
of education and science. On most of the points
of practical bearing adverted to by Mr. Archer he
certainly did agree with him, and thought his ob-
servations calculated to do much good. He was
sorry he did not agree with many persons present
upon the subject of length of tenure of estates, for
he was in favour of a 21 years' lease.

The question of long leases was discussed with
great good feeling by landlords and tenants and the
professional men present, in which Mr. Phillips, of
Landeau, Mr. Charles Gurney, the Rev. Mr. Sim-
coe, Mr. Badcock, Mr. Darke, Rev. Mr. Rudall,
Mr. Parsons, Mr. Pethick, of North Hill, and
others took part.

The Rev. Mr. Simcoe, in his remarks, said there
should be a feeling between a landlord and his te-
nants similar to that between a father and his fa-
mily. He had endeavoured to create this feeling
amongst his tenantry in Northamptonshire and also
in this county, and had reason to hope that he had
succeeded. He did not consider the 21 years' lease
necessary.

After much discussion the President said he
thought as there seemed to be so great an interest
manifested on this question, it would be better to
name it expressly as a subject for discussion at
some future meeting, the more particularly as time
was passing away, and he knew many gentlemen
had come from a considerable distance to hear Mr.
Rodd's remarks on natural and artificial manures.
Francis Rodd, Esq., of Trebartha Hall, rose,
and was received with a warm expression of feel-
ing by the meeting. He expressed great satisfac-
tion at the formation of the society — one, in his opi-
nion, calculated to do much good, and to extend
the success of agricvdture in the country. He
pointed out a great number of inquiries necessary
to improvement, and which could only be made by
meetings such as these. He believed it and simi-
lar ones would be found productive of greater ad-
vantage to agriculture, than that arising from ordi-
nary annual meetings and exhibitions of cattle.
The animals exhibited were generally the pets of
the farm ; they were selected and fed for the occa-
sion wthout reference to expense. It was far more
important to promote discussions like the present,
and he thought much more valuable information
would be obtained, than from the after dinner

112

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

speeches at their annual cattle-shows. He should
always be happy to communicate any information
he might obtain either from his own experiments
or from other sources ; no doubt others would do
the same, and he should be the gainer. He would
now detail some experiments he had made on ma-
nures of different kinds. (Here Mr. Rodd gave an
interesting account of the results of a number of
experiments on various artificial and natural ma-
nures).

On sitting do^vn, several members rising at once,
the President said as he saw that so many gen-
tlemen were desirous of giving their opinions on
this important subject, he thought it had better
stand over for discussion at their next meeting ;
now that the day was nearly closed, there would not
be time to do it justice, he proposed that the fur-
ther discussion of the subject be adjourned to
their next meeting. This was agreed to.

The Rev. Mr. Simcoe rose, and said, before the
meeting separated, he had been requested to ask
the president to give them some information on the
subject of the application and action of " Gur-
neism," as it is called. No doubt the subject was
one of great moment ; he had himself seen the ex-
traordinary effect of its operation, and was con-
vinced any information on it would be valuable to
practical farmers.

The President said he should be happy to
communicate all he knew on the subject connected
■with the application of fibrous covering. The re-
sult of experiments made by himself and repeated
by others was so singular and unexpected that he
almost paused from giving them in detail, knoMdng
the scepticism generally felt towards the first prac-
tical application of facts, however well known they
might be ; still, he fully felt his responsibihty. He
was surrounded by men of the first position in the
county — men of high education, among whom he
noticed the senior wrangler of Cambridge ; others
who had taken high academical honours, and prac-
tical agriculturists of first-rate inteUigence and
respectability ; he trusted some, if not the major
part, woidd make experiments for themselves on
this singular subject, so as to be better enabled to
compare notes at their next meeting. It was ^vith
faith in that understanding that he would acquaint
them Avith all the practical information necessary
for the purpose, confining himself to this part
only, and suspending any further consideration of
the subject to another meeting, when they would
have more time and be in possession of facts
enabling them to judge of its value ; they might
then discuss it to greater advantage if they found
it worth while to do so. Fibrous covering, he said,
like everything else, required to be appUed in given
quantities ; if too much was laid on, it would, like
too large a dose of manure, destroy vegetation; and,
if too little, it would produce no very sensible ac-
tion ; this was a point of some importance, as an
experiment would fail from either of those causes.
He thought, judging from the result of experiment,
that about 20lbs. of long straw should be laid
equally over a customary land-yard or rood of
growing grass, either in a lay field or an after-grass.
Previously to the next meeting, he hoped they
would rake off the covering, and carefully notice

the effect produced in the growth of the herbage,
as compared to that in the other parts of the field ;
the nature and kind of grass should also be care-
fully examined. Before he sat down, it might be
well for him to say that about seven weeks since
he had covered half of afield of grass of three acres
in this manner, and that about a fortnight ago,
when examined, the increase had been found to be
at the rate of upwards of 3,000 lbs. per acre over
the other part of the field. At the same time the
straw was raked off, and laid in " rows" about 12
feet apart on the field ; 115 sheep were now put
into the field with a view to eat it down as quickly
as possible ; after they had been there about a week,
they were succeeded by 26 bullocks to eat off the
long grass remaining, and Avhich the sheep had
left ; the field was eaten as bare as possible. The
same straw was now again thrown over the same
portion of the field from which it had been raked
off; on inspection that morning, he had found the
action going on imder it as powerfully as on the
former occasion. He said he thought the sheep,
on first raking off the straw, were not so fond of the
g:ass as they were of that imcovered; but after 24
hours' exposure to the sun and air, he thought they
rather preferred it. He had upwards of 40 acres
now under operation, and, in consequence of it, he
had had grass when his neighbours had none. He
would consider it a personal favour if they would
make some experiments on this subject before their
next meeting.

In answer to questions from the members, Mr.
Gurney said, to those who might wish to make
comparative experiments in the way he was now
doing, he would say that the small branches of the
oak, birch, willow, or, in short, any brushwood
might be used. In answer to a question from the
Rev. Mr. Gibbons, he said he would recommend a
series of bars or rods to be laid about two inches
above the ground, in the direction of east and west,
another series north and south, also a third series
north and south, inchned at about 15° to the ho-
rizon.

SPARROWS. — The Perseverant of Limoges con-
tains a curious calculation of the damage to farmers in
France, which is annually caused by sparrows. It
estimates the consumption of corn of each sparrow at
one gallon ; and, reckonmg that there are ten millions of
these birds in France, makes the total loss amount to
more than nine millions of francs ; but, on the other
hand, it is supposed that the insects which they destroy
would occasion a much greater loss if these birds were
not in existence. As a proof of this, it is mentioned
that in the Palatinate the Government had ordered all
the sparrows to be killed, offering a premium upon
their heads ; but tlie ravages caused by insects when
the sparrows had disappeared were so great, that pre-
miums were offered for the importation of sparrows.

POTATOES.— The great extentof the growth of pota-
toes for the London market is shown by the circum-
stance of one gentleman in Essex having received from a
London dealer for his crop on the ground the sum
of ^^2,230.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

113

EARL DUCIE'S STATEMENTS OF THE
COST OF GROWING WHEAT.

Sir, — I hope to see in your next number a com-
plete answer to Lord Ducie's statements as to the
cost of growing wheat from some one of your
numerous correspondents who is better able than
I am to display the facts, which every farmer
knows, in such a manner as shall carry conviction
to those who are not well acquainted with agricul-
tural matters. As, however, the letters which you
published in your last number do not appear to me
thoroughly to meet Lord Ducie's statements, I
venture to send you the imperfect attempt of my
unpractised pen.

I shall begin by admitting freely that, as far as
they go, the calculations of Lord Ducie, and the
tenant-farmers whom he quotes, are not far from
correct; I dissent only from his estimate of the
value of straw. I myself grow my wheat, both on
turf and after fallow crop, at nearly as little ex-
pense as is set down in these statements. I cau"
not, nevertheless, grow wheat at 3s. 6d. j^ei"
bushel.

We have been told often enough that if this or
the other thing were amended— if rents were
lowered — if leases were granted — if farmers could
be made at once as enterprising and as prudent as
merchants or manufacturers — if they were to avail
themselves of the improvements which science and
art have lately placed within their reach — that under
these new conditions the price of agricultural pro-
duce might be lowered to the level of the continent
without injur}' to the profits of the farmer. But,
until now, no one has been hardy enough to affirm
that at this time while farmers are absolutely now
and then failing — while the aA'erage price is about
50s., wheat can be and actually is grown to
a profit at '28s. Let it be observed, that there
is no new method employed to produce this result,
and no greater skill than is ordinarily found among
common farmers. ^Vhat Lord Ducie and his
friends have done is done by eveiy one who grows
wheat on the same course and on the same kind
of soil as they. How comes it, then, that farmers
are not rich, if the inference Lord Ducie draws
from his statements be correct ?

The truth is — and it is surprising that any one
who knows a plough from the horse that draws it,
should be ignorant of the fact — that the expenses
of one particular crop do not all fall upon the year
in which it grows. Your correspondent, Mr.
Jonas, shows very justly that, in order to arriA^e at
a correct estimate of the profit of one crop, it is in-
dispensable to take into account the expenses and
the produce of the whole course. When he goes
on to show an account which makes a loss to the
farmer of at least £l per acre per annum on his
land, he, in my opinion, errs as preposterously on
one side as Lord Ducie does on the other. The
occupation of farming will, no doubt, return a fair
profit to those who pursue it with skill, industry,
and prudence ; but it will not, nor has it, returned
a i)rofit of 100 per cent.

In the beginning of his speech, Lord Ducie
seems aware of the fallacy he was about to per-
petrate. He says that it will perhaps be objected

to him, that he ought to have given a statement of
the expense and return of a course of arable cul-
ture. He meets the supposed objection by two
reasons : in the first place, he says, it would have
made no diflference if he had gone through the
whole course ; and, in the second, that he wished
to give the calculations of his farmer friends undi-
luted and unchanged. He admits, then, that if
the expenses of the other parts of the course should
absorb the great profit he shows on the wheat
crop, his conclusion that wheat can be grown at
28s. is unsound. He abides by the argument that
there is a farming profit on the rest of the course,
and that the profit of the wheat crop is a clear sur-
plus gain. Now, how does he prove his assertion,
that the remaining crops of the course yield a pro-
fit exclusive of the wheat ? First, he says it is so
upon his own model-farm : I may not dispute the
fact ; it may be a fact with Lord Ducie ; it is not
so \vith me. And I should hke to see how the pro-
fit is made by him, in order that I might imitate
his method on my ovm farm. I can grow wheat
as Lord Ducie grows it. The information he gives
on this point teaches me nothing ; but if he wU
instruct me how to do the other feat, on which he
gives no information, I shall, in common with aU.
farmers, be very thankful.

Secondly, he says that Mr. Gisborne is a clever
man; had a farm; grew no wheat; and reaped
a profit. We all know that Mr. Gisborne is a
clever man ; and though I am not disposed to con-
tradict the other propositions, I deny that they are
of the least importance to the argument of Lord
Ducie. If Lord Ducie himself, instead of growing
33 bushels of wheat, had chosen to grow barley or
oats, his land, supposing it equally adapted for
these crops, would have yielded 5^ to 6 quarters of
the former, or 6 to 7 of the latter. His profit
would have been pretty much the same, whether
he grew wheat or the other white crops. Mr. Gis-
borne grew oats and beans or barley as his remu-
nerating crop, just as others grow wheat. ITie
question is not whether a course of farming will
pay with oats or barley for the white crops, but it
is whether the fallow crops will pay without the
profit upon the intervening corn crop, be they what
they may. It matters not whether wheat, or bar-
ley, or oats be grown ; the argument is precisely
the same in either case.

Stated in its most simple form, the fallacy of
Lord Ducie is this : he has made his calculation of
the expense of growing wheat upon clean land;
whereas every farmer knows that the great part of
the expense of cultivating tillage-land is incurred
in clearing it from weed. He might just as fairly
estimate the expense of the wheat crop which
follows a dead fallow, and leavdng out the cost of
the tillage of the fallow, state the cost of grooving
wheat to be what the tillage of the year in which it
is grown amounts to. So, also, the gentlemen who
have furnished calculations of the growth of wheat
on turf have omitted to allow for the expense of
clearing the land, which must needs be eft'ected in.
some part or other of the course.

I take it for granted that in every good and pro-
fitable course of tillage there must be grown a crop
for cattle-food for every white crop that is grownt

114

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

In no other way can land maintain itself in condi-
tion. There must also be either a total fallow or a
fallow green crop at least eveiy fourth year ; for
else the land will be over-run with weeds. If the
extra expenses which the naked fallow or the fal-
low-crop cause be not paid by the produce of the
fallow crop itself, they must needs be set oft' against
the extra profit on the white crops.

Now let us examine into the profit of growing
green crops by means of tillage. I apjirehend
there is a vast deal of ignorance of the practical
part of agriculture displayed m the calculations
which are frequently put forth of the value of a
crop of clover, or tares, or cabbage, or tmnips, &c.
I cannot quite agree with Mr. Jonas, that turnips
are barely worth the manure made from the cattle
which eat them. I think all cattle-food is valuable
in itself; but I disagree as much with others who
calculate the value of turnips at 10s., 15s., or 20s.
per ton, according as they are more or less valua-
ble in the particular circumstances of the pei-sons
who consume them. One man consumes his
green or root-crop in one way, and places a large
value on it; and another man consumes it in
another way, and, like Mr. Jonas, thinks it worth
but httle. It is precisely the same witli a grass
crop ; but did it ever fall into the head of any one
to say that a good crop of grass was worth nothing,
or, on the other hand, to calculate its value in the
manner we often see that of other cattle crops cal-
culated ? The only rational way of establishing a
standard by which we may measure the value of
any crop of cattle-food, is, to find first the value
of that which grows spontaneously and requires
no assistance from the art of man. Eveiy thing
else should be compared with grass eaten by cat-
tle on the ground. To find the value of grass does
not seem to be veiy difficult, seeing that it is
bought in very large quantities all over the country,
and is paid for in the rent of the land. The rent
of grass land is, of course, what the fai-mer can
afford to pay for the produce, when he has de-
ducted his own profit and the expense and risk of
managing the cattle which eat it. The rent, there-
fore, expresses the nett value of the grass to the
farmer, I believe that if we assume grass land,
the rent, taxes, and rates of which are 50s. per
acre, to be capable of furnishing twenty weeks'
keep per acre to a milking or feeding beast, we
shall not be far from the average at which the
land is let. If this be so, and the principle I have
stated be the just one, then whatever other food
will furnish twenty weeks' of as good keep as grass
to a beast, is, in hke manner, worth 50s. nett.
2 tons of hay or clover are equal to twenty weeks'
keep, and would be worth 50s., or 7 tons of tm--
jiips are worth the same smn.

It seems on its first appearance that 25s. per ton
is below the value of hay ; but let it be borne in
mind that this is the ])rice less the extra risk and
expense of gathering the crop and the profit of the
farmer. Add these, and the price will be more
than 50s. per ton, which is, I am sure, as much as
the consviming price of hay shoidd, on an average,
be. In calculating the value of produce consumed
on the farm, I leave out these elements which go
to make up the value of it when sold off the farm.

Let it be admitted that the grass-keep of a beast
twenty weeks can be had for 50s., and I have no
fear that the most ingenious leaguer AviU be able to
controvert the principle I maintain, viz., that no
other cattle-food can be worth more than a quan-
tity of grass capable of producing an equal return
in the cattle is worth. Tlie value of meat and
cheese and butter in the market is measured by
the cost of producing them in pastui-e. If we pro-
duce them on arable land, we get no more for them,
thoxigh the food costs us much more. We sow
clover seed on the land. The seed costs us
money — the labour — something in addition, we
run the risk of a failure of a part or the whole.
On an average, an acre of seeds does not yield us a
larger amount of keep than an acre of pasture, for
which we pay an equal rent. Why then should
we value the seeds more higlily ? If clover were a
permanent plant as grass is, we should rent clover
land just as we rent grass land ; and buy at the
rate of 50s. for twenty weeks' keep. So it is with
turnips or any other crop. Tlie seed and the til-
lage costs a large svim ; but what do we get ? I
think 14 tons of turnips a good average on land
which is rented at 40s. These 14 tons of turnips
are equal to forty weeks' keep of a beast. It may
be said that the turnips and other root crops are
more A-aluable, because they are consumed in win-
ter, when provender is worth more. ITie objection
is worth nothing. The farmer consumes them,
and gets in return cheese and butter or meat ; but
these articles are no dearer, because they are pro-
duced in the winter. Tlie winter feeding is a
necessaiy loss to which the farmer must subject
himself, in order to maintain his stock, which are
to profit him at another period, or to make the
manure which his farm requires. The higher
price of gathered provender is wholly caused by
this necessity under which the farmer lies, of using
it in the wnter to a loss, when compared with what
he consumes on the ground in the summer-
Let any farmer, then, who is not biassed by poli-
tical opinions, value his fallow and seed crops on
the principle I contend for, and he wiU find that
there is a very considerable deficit in the profits
of these two years of the course, which must be
made up to him in the two corn crops wliich alter-
nate with them. If he does not find such a de-
ficit, I should like to know his secret for avoiding
it. I cannot give the actual cost on my own farm.
No one year would represent the average of ex-
pense and returns. But I know pretty well my
average profits, and the following account is a very
near approximation to the manner in which they
arise. I cultivate my land on the four-course
system, with occasional interruptions to meet
pecuhar seasons and circumstances. I reckon
my wheat to average 28 bushels and my barley
40, my turnips 14 tons; and I pay, with rent,
taxes, and rates, 50s. an acre for my land. I
shall allow nothing for the value of the straw con-
sumed on the ground, because I know of no way
of making it yield any return except in manure.
Cattle fed on it alone do not grow more valuable ;
and when it is mixed with other food, they only
renay the cost of that other food. If straw be
valuable as fodder, why is it recommended by the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

115

best authorities not to eat it with cattle, but to tread
it down ? On the other hand, I do not set down
the manure as a part of the expense of the crops,
because I reckon the vakie of the green crops at
what they are worth, exchisive of the manure made
from them. The manure the crops yield goes back
to the land.

I begin with the turnip fallow, which takes five
days' work per acre of a man and two horses to
work it, and lay in manure before sowing, at 10s.

per day £2 10 0

Labour in gathering weed - - 0 5 0

DrilUng, and rolling, and hoeing",

and singhng plants per acre - 0 10 0

Four times flat hoeing at 3s. - - 0 12 0

Four horse-hoeings of the crop at

Is. 6d 0 6 0

Gathering, carting, and storing 14

tons of turnips at Is. - - 0 14 0

Seed, 3s. ;■ wear and tear, 3s.- - 0 6 0

Rent, rates, and taxes - - - 2 10 0

Deduct value of 14 tons turnips,
tAvice 20 weeks' keep of a beast - 5

7 13 0

0 0

Carry loss to barley year - - 2 13 0
Ploughing, harrowing, and drilling

for barley - - - - 1 0 0

Bird-keeping and hoeing - - 0 5 0
Clover, or other seeds - - - 0 1 5 0
Seed barley 3 bushels at 4s. - - 0 12 0
Mowing, harvesting, stacking, &c. 0 6 0
Threshing and winnoAving forty

bushels at 2s. per quarter - - 0 10 0
Dehvery - - - . -080
Wear and tear - - - - 0 3 0
Rent and taxes - - - -2100

Deduct 5 quarters barley at 32s.

9 2
8 0

0
0

1 2

2 10

0
0

3 12

2 10

0
0

Carry to clo^'er crop
Rent and taxes -

Deduct value of seeds, 20 weeks'
keep of a beast - - . -

Carry to wheat crop - - - 1 2 0
Ploughing, harrowing, and drilling 10 0

Hoeing 050

Seed 2| bushels at 6s. 6d. - - 0 16 3
Reaping, harvesting, and stacking 0 14 0
Threshing and winno\ving 28 bushs.

at 5d 0 118

Dehvery 6s.; wear and tear 3s. -090
Rent and taxes - - - -2100

^ 7 11
Deduct 28 bushels wheat at 6s. 6d. 9 2 0

Surplus profit - - £l 14 1

If we add to this ll. I4s. id. a fair profit on the

cattle food consumed on the land, then the profit

on the four years \vill amount to rather more than

*1 per acre per annum, On the seeds I would allow

£1 per acre profit, the same as I would allow on an
acre of pasture ; and on the turnips £2 per acre,
because twice the amount of the produce of the seeds
is yielded by it. The whole profit of the four years
would thus be 41. 14s. id. ; and as the land would
require at least from £7 to £10 of capital to be
employed upon it, the return of profit is only from
about 12 to 15 per cent. I do not know how farm-
ing is to be carried on if a less profit than this is to
be allowed us; and this is all which the present
prices afford. Whether, if the duty on the impor-
tation of corn were lowered, or altogether abolished,
the price of corn here would sink, is a question on
which I vnH not here attempt to decide, though I
have, of course, an opinion on the matter. The
fears of the farmers may be vain ; but that part of
them which is jjossessed with the fear of a fall of
price, as the eflfect of the repeal of the corn laws,
mil not derive any courage from the assurance
of Lord Ducie, that they can grow wheat at half
the price it costs them now. Lord Spencer may
be right in his opinion that the continental price
will, in the event of the abolition of the duty on
corn, rise to the level of ours, instead of ours fall-
ing to the level of the Continent ; but, assuredly.
Lord Ducie is wrong in saying, that at present
rents and present rates of labour, the English
farmer can compete with the Continental price, or
that he would not be ruined, unless either his pre-
sent price be maintained or his present expenses
diminished.

I do not boast either long experience or great
authority. My name would add no weight to what
I have written. The argument and the facts I state
must be taken for what they are in themselves
worth ; but I beUeve I can support both, though I
am what I sign myself.

Your obedient servant.

Tyro.

Burton=on-Trent, IQthJuly, 1844,'

ON MOWING WHEAT— PLOUGHING
STUBBLE — HEDGEROWS AND
GAME. — EARL DUCIE'S STATE-
MENT.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMERS* MAGAZINE.

Sir, — The long continued drought has made it
certain that we shall have a much less quantity of
straw than usual this season, let the weather from
this time be of what complexion it may, and which
will render it necessary, in most cases, that the
farmer should leave as little of it in his fields as
possible : this circumstance vnU operate as a power-
ful recommendation to use the scythe in cutting his
wheat, in preference to the sickle. The former
instrument has been gaining ground for some years
past, and would have been more in advance still,
were it not for the opposition it encounters in many
quarters on the part of the landlords, on the
ground that it lessens the cover for game. It has
the double recommendation of being the most ex-
peditious, and the safest : a man to mow, his wife
to lay out, and a child to make the bands, will

I 2

116

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

finish an acre per daj', weather permitting ; and the
ears not being so closely bound together, if the
stocks even are rained through, a few hours \vind
soon puts them into condition again ; whilst a
shorn sheaf, if once wet through, will never dry
iinless loosed out again, and even then Avill retain
such a portion of dampness in the straw as will
imfit it to be thrashed till the following summer. I
admit the mown acre will cost more in leading and
thrashing, but the difference in price of reaping,
and the greater quantity of corn gained, will more
than compensate for it. This much is certain, that
the farmer will find occasion for all his ingenuity
in proAading fodder and fitter for his next winter's
stock : let him be unfettered to his heart's content.

There is another circumstance worthy of notice :
every practical farmer knows the value of an early
ploughed stubble, whether it be intended for a
spring crop, or turnips ; and the forthcoming har-
vest (unlike some former ones) is likely to be sufli-
ciently forward to admit of great jirogress being
made in that respect before wheat sowing com-
mences. But here again the farmer will be met, in
too many instances, and forbidden to do so tiU
after wheat sowing, in order that the game may
have time to pick up what the gleaners have left ;
he must therefore wait till it be well sodden by the
autumnal rains ere he begins ; and, in order that
he may not be soured too much by his denial, will
perhaps have a pamphlet presented to him, urging
the farmer to increased exertions in cultivating the
land, in which 'tis ten to one but an autumnal
working of the land intended for turnips the ensu-
ing spring is strongly recommended, — or a printed
speech deUvered by some theoretical orator, at
some aristocratic meeting — miscalled an agricultural
association — wherein it is endeavoured to be proved
that rent is a mere nominal proportion of the ex-
penses of a farm; founded on a calculation of the
share which rent bears to the value of a good crop
of wheat, instead of bringing the whole of the four
or five years' course into account; a mode of
reckoning which might easily prove that the far-
mer's profits must be enormous, since his crop of
ivheat does not cost him one-half what it makes.

I candidly avow to you, Mr. Editor, that I am
not one of those who take a gloomy prospective
view of agriculture ; true it is that the farmer has
great obstacles to surmount or remove before he
will have a fair field to exert himself upon, at the
head of which, I do not hesitate to assert, stand the
prejudices of the landowners ; but when I see such
men as Mr. Pusey stand out in bold relief, as im-
provers of the soil, on those principles which every
practical cultivator would rejoice to see universally
carried out, and which carry conviction along with
them, I do anything but despair, and hope to live
to see the time when the great landowners will per-
mittheland to bemade the most of; a consummation
which will render it a long time before that ruin to
which such awful allusions are made now-a-days
overtakes the fanner. But his tenure must be
certain, and the terms of it hberal ; the semi-feudal
system must undergo a great change ; the struggle
to keep as much of the soil out of cultivation as
possible, by means of hedgerow trees, covers, wide
hedgerows, and minute enclosures, must cease;

there must remain no ground for the caustic
remarks of future Colmans in that matter ; and the
practice of looking at the game and timber on an
estate as of the first importance, and the welfare of
the tenantry and the rights of the community as a
secondary consideration, must be reversed. There
is abundant evidence where the shoe pinches, if
that were wanting, in the cheers Avhich greeted Sir
Robert Peel's half-promise that the game on his
estates shall be somewhat lessened in number, and
in the obsei-vations which followed the pointed
speech of Mr. Richardson, at the meeting at Oak-
ham ; but it is such a delicate matter that scarcely a
tenant farmer has hitherto had the courage to speak
out, and, under present circumstances, he wovild run
too much risk by so doing, unless he were just
entered on a twenty-one years' lease. I believe,
however, that this evil will not be able to maintain
itself much longer in its present strength, and that
the county-rate will not be allowed to be apphed to
building prisons for offenders against the game-
laws ; but that those who send them there will be
obHged to maintain them at their o\vn expense. It is
beyond a doubt that those laws are a most proUfic
source of crime in the rural districts, and that
many a transported convict would have remained
an honest member of society, but for the temptation
held out to infringe on them, at a time when he
would have recoiled from the idea of being a direct
thief, till, in time, from one step to another, he
becomes capable of committing any crime what-
ever.

I have just cut open my magazine for July, and
find therein a statement from Earl Ducie, of the
actual cost of producing wheat on Whitfield farm,
and find it to be '28s. per quarter. I have no doubt
the noble Earl is correct, for he tells us to the frac-
tion of a day how long the 120 acres took to sow it.
Now then it is obvious that all the money received
above that sum is profit; therefore, as the price
actually realized would not be less than 56s., it fol-
lows that 500 quarters, multiphed by 28s., is equal
to 700^. annual profit from the farm on wheat alone.
It is matter of regret that his lordship did not
append thereto the profit on the potatoes, turnips,
seeds, and barley, grown on the said farm : we
should have had such a splendid sum in the Avhole
as annual profit, as, I will venture to assert, has no
parallel in the United Kingdom on any similar
number of acres. Speaking seriously, I would ask
Earl Ducie if the balance sheet of his farm — exam-
ple farm though it be — shows a net profit anything
hke the above ? if it does, he cannot do a more
acceptable ser^'ice to the agricultural world than per-
mit the whole year's routine of work, together \vith
the actual sums received and paid, to be pubhshed
— not in the gross, but in detail, after the manner
of a merchant's day book ; and if it does not, he has
assisted, either through ignorance or design, in
propagating falsehoods. Every farmer knows that
there is a considerable sum expended annually
in small matters which cannot be incluoed in any
estimate of the cost of working land ; that there are
times Avhen the regular labourers are not, strictly
speaking, profitably employed ; but when work is
scarce we have not yet learned to " throw them on
their own resources " — to cast them aside, hke one

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ii:

of his lordship's drags, till we want them again ;
but they are employed upon a variety of things
which, in point of necessity, might be dispensed
with, till the more important operations come to the
fore. His Lordship's farm, too, has every advan-
tage which a farm can have ; no trees, no old
hedges, new buildings, both fields and buildings
laid out in the most judicious manner, and most of
the land_/)'e.fA to tillage ; in short, no impediments
of any kind whatever. I hesitate not to tell his
Lordship that he will not be al)le to continue to
grow wheat every alternate year, after a few years,
unless he calls in much foreign help. Let his crop
look as promising as it may in spring, before har-
vest it will become weak strawed, and fall down
in every direction, leaving perhaps one-sixth stand-
ing upright, and the produce three sacks per acre
less than it would be if taken every fourth year.
In small enclosures, with trees in the hedges, not
more than eight acres in ten are available to fill the
bushel of the quantity which is nominally under
arable culture, and Mr. Morton seems to have been
fully aM'are of it when the farm was cleared for
cultivation. I dare say it would be interesting to
hundreds besides myself to know if Earl Ducie has
given his tenants around Whitfield an opportunity
of profiting by his example, by removing the trees
from their holdings ; or whether the fact of trees
being in their useless hedges be not an effectual
bar to their removal : if the latter, he thereby
places his tenants in the same predicament as
Sancho Panza experienced from those around him,
on the night when his island was supposed to be
attacked by the enemy.

Fearing your patience must be more than ex-
hausted, I remain, A Tenant Farmer.

July 4:th.

EARL DUCIE'S SPEECH AT COVENT
GARDEN THEATRE, IN FAVOUR OF
FREE TRADE IN CORN, MAY 29th, 1844.

TO THE AGRICULTURAL PROTECTION SOCIETY.

" Audi alteram partem."

Gentlemen, — I beg to say that, in thus for-
warding for your perusal some remarks on a
speech delivered by the noble Earl Ducie, May
29th, at one of the weekly meetings, held at
CovENT Garden Theatre, by the members of
The Anti-Corn-Law League, I have been
induced so to do, first, because the editor of the
Mark Lane Express seems to attach some import-
ance to the statements therein made ; for he says,
" if allowed to pass uncontroverted, they will j)ro-
duce more effect than a volume of argument unsup-
ported by practical experience y" and in the second
place, thus possibly the noble earl may be led to
revise the statements as reported, and should he
acknowledge them to be correct, that he may afford
the public further information ; as it never can be
the intention of a noble lord deeply to injure a
large and most industrious class of men, the small
occupiers, to mystify a question of vital import-
ance, nor to delude any portion of the community ;

to all of which the speech and calculations ha\'e a
direct tendency.

Earl Ducie presided at the meeting, the state-
ments were previously arranged, and he used them
for an express purpose ; the object of the address
was to prove,

1 . — ^'rhat 44s. per quarter for wheat is the lowest
pi-ice to be conceived in any state of free trade, be-
cause in the Channel Islands, wheat has averaged
47s. per quarter the last seven years.

2. — Thut the average cost of growing wheat in
England little exceeds 4s. per bushel.

3. — That at 44s. per quarter, which is 3s. under
the Channel Islands average, lands which produce
twenty bushels per acre only, and that 07ily once
in five years, will pay eleven per cent, on the in-
vested capital.

4. — That no land could, by any possibility, be
thrown out of cultivation by a free trade in corn.

In the opening of the speech, the report states
the noble earl to know something of the circum-
stances of the county of Gloucester, as he had been
eighteen years actively employed in agriculture,
and to have occupied within that period six dif-
ferent farms in three diflferent locahties in that
county ; and that the Cotswold Hills, a large part
of the light land, which the prophetic opponents of
the Anti-Corn-Law League say will be thro^vn out
of cultivation, are contained therein. The speech
contains, however, no proof that wheat must aver-
age 44s.; it is asserted that the Channel Islands have
averaged 47s. the last seven years ; we are there-
fore assured, that 44s. must be the lowest possible
average under the free trade system ; but why this
should be so taken for granted, no information is
given, beyond this statement.

To prove that light lands which give so much
employment, Avill not by any chance be thrown
out of cultivation by the efiect of free trade, four
sets of calculations are given, and also to show the
costs and profit on wheat growing ; the first from
his own farm, called the Whitfield Example
Farm, on which forty bushels per acre are pro-
duced every alternate year, the other from the
Cotswold HiUs, and the produce there is stated at
from twenty to thirty bushels per acre once in
FIVE YEARS. The Calculation for the Example
Farm is, however, made on the lower average of
thirty-three bushels. On examination of the last
tM'o of the calculations, it will be found that all
such hght lands as they describe must be farmed
at a loss, wheat at 44s. per quarter ; or in other

words, MUST GO out of CULTIVATION. It

will also be seen that the calculation from the
Example Farm is not what the noble earl gave
reasons to 'prove that it was and ought to be ; so
mLxed and complex is the nature of agricultural
operations : it is a doubly mixed calculation, but
proves that farm to be so far above par, that
it ought not to have been brought forward as
evidence on the occasion. The Earl Ducie foresaw
an objection to the calculations on the cost of
wheat growing, which he was about to read : there
was something wrong he felt ; and he endeavours
to meet this by saying, " to bring the proportionate
cost of ameliorating crops into the calculations,
would make scarcely any difference, and I have not

118

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

done so J it would also lead to the alteration of
figures: other crops, such as barley and oats,"
{win not, some parties imagine, these crops to be
amehorating), " can be grown to a profit without
wheat, and if not, the system of agriculture must be
exceedingly faulty ; the arrangement between land-
lord and tenant is not quite right, for it were absurd
to suppose that the losses upon all the other crops in
the rotation, are to be paid by the profits on tvheat j
thatwould, if it were possible, render the existing corn-
laws more absurd than they are at present .-" he said^
" he had other calculations sent him, and being
anxious to present them to his hearers fresh and un-
diluted as they came from the farmers, he wotdd not
alter figures." The noble earl mentioned a Mr.
Gisborne, from the Derby Hill side, as evidence
that other crops could be gro^vn to a profit without
wheat : this Mr. Gisborne grew no wheat, and
was said to think it a horrible thing to be taxed for
the benefit of those who grew wheat, which he could
not grow J he forgot that others were taxed for
barley and oats, and other crops which they could
not grow.

In giving the calculations it is right to remark
that they tvere not made for the occasion, and that the
one from Example Farm should be looked upon
as showing the result of some successful experi-
ments for the benefit of agriculture, so far as it is
valuable.

The calculations are as follows, are looked upon
as incontrovertible, and are making the round of the
Kingdom : —

Calculation No. I. From Example Farm,

Capital £15 per Acre Invested.

Dr.

Ploughing, drilling, cultivating, har-

; rowing, per acre .. .. .. £0 15 6

a J pecks seed per acre, at 7s. per

biishel 0 10 Of

Hoeing, per acre . . . . . . o 2 6

Harvest, per acre .. .. .. 0 12 9

Threshing and deliver}' of thirty-
three bushels, at 5d, per l)ushel

Labour, cost of thirty-three bushels
Rent, tithes, and taxes, per acre . .
Half dung of last year's crop per
acre

Total cost of thirty-three bushels . .
Profit per acre about 9 per cent. . .

Cr.

Produce — thirty-three bushels wheat,
at 5s. 6d. per bushel, or 44s. per
quarter £9

£2 0 9f
0 13 9

2

14

6f

2

10

0

2

10

0

7

14

61

1

1

6

£9

6

ui

1 6

The noble earl remarks of this calculation, that
having bought manure he has a right to sell
straw, and the value of the straw is supposed to
be £1 15s., and that sum is added to the value of
the produce, and gives a profit of about twenty per
cent, on the wheat crop, and reduces the cost of

the bushel from 4s. 7id., as is given by this calcu-
lation, to 3s. 6d., and it is also shown that at 56s.
per quarter, this crop of wheat would so pay
thirty-five-and-a-half per cent, on the invested
capital, although it shows only about the mo-
derate profit of nine-and-a-half per cent, with-
out the straw ; which never was, never is, never
can be, therefore never will be admitted to be sold
from farms as a source of profit, except in rare in-
stances, and by special agreement providing for an
equivalent return. The sale of straw to oneself, or
its value taken from one crop and added to the
cost of another, wiU not profit nor alter re-
sults in making up farming accounts at the
year's end ; but it would do this, it would render
necessary a valuation of all the different sorts of
dung dropped on it and elsewhere by different sorts
of animals : necessary also to consider the propor-
tionate value of the different sorts of food consumed
by them ; necessary also to add the cost of its col-
lection, its preparation, the filling it, carting it, the
spreading it to the debit of some account, and the
value of it to the credit of the different sources
whence it was derived ; this would render agricul-
tural accounts more diffuse than they are now. To
pursue this subject would lead in more deeply
than it is usual to go on occasions like the present,
but it must not be forgotten that it would occasion
a new office on a farm — a farm scavenger,
who, in looking out for himself, would say, I have
bought your straw, I have bought your dung, I
have bought also gypsum, salts, hme, guano,
ashes, I have dug and carted clay and peat, I have
made for you composts suited to your crops, I
have spread on your land ten good three horse
loads per acre, and the five pounds which you pro-
pose to place to the credit of my account, is not
half enough. But to return to the calculation.
Half the supposed value of the dung of last year's
crop is added to the cost of the wheat crop, and
wheat at 56s., the present price, a profit of thirty-
and-a-half per cent, is shown ; but as Example
Farm is an alternate year wheat farm, the sum is
divided between two years, and seventeen and
three quarters is given as the retvirn for the
entire capital employed, as the per centage per
annum. £2 10s. is charged for half the dung on
last year's crop, which it may be supposed was an
ameliorating one, therefore the objection, feared by
the noble earl, (a London audience would have
raised none,) that the omission of such a charge
would lead to, could not be made. A per centage
for wear and tear is somewhere included ; there is no
charge for superintendence, nor are rates of any sort
mentioned ; the farm is said to be an alternate year
wheat farm, has every year 1 20 acres of wheat on one
half, it may be concluded the other is summer-
tilled and cropped or cropped and not summer-
tilled, or it may have remained fallow, or it may
have had a throughout summer tillage without a
crop; it is difficult to come to any conclusion
respecting it. £2 10s. for half dung is charged to
the crop of last year on it, and half the profit of
the wheat crop is placed to the credit of the capital
employed on it, which the crop, if any, ought to
have paid. Thus is there a double mixing of the
accounts.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

119

Calculation No. II, from Cotswold Hills
Undiluted. Capital £lO per Acrk Ix-

VKSTED.

Dr.

Ploughing, drilling, harrowing, per

acre £1 0 0

Seed, two-and-a-half bushels ])er

acre, at 7s. 6d. per bushel . . 0

Hoeing and birdkeeping . . . . 0

Harvest, per acre . . . , . . 0

IS

15

Threshing and delivery of
bushels, at 8d. per bushel
Wear and tear

Two years' rent

Two years' rent and taxes

thirty

£2 18 9

Profit per acre

Cr.

£4

2

6

1

5

0

1

10

0

£6

17

6

1

7

6

£8

5

0

Produce, thirty bushels wheat, at 5s.

6d. per bushel 8 5 0

No manure is charged on this account, no straw
is sold, tithes are not named ; a profit of £1 7s. 6d.
per acre is shown, which is £13 15s. per cent, on
the capital invested for two years for this one crop.

Calculation No. III., from Cotswold

Hills, Undiluted. Capital £8 per Acre

Invested.

Dr.
Ploughing, harrowing, drilling, per

acre . .
Two and-a-half bushels seed, per

acre, at 7s. per bushel
Hoeing and bird-keeping, per acre
Harvest, per acre

Threshing and deliveiy of
bushels, at 8d. per bushel
Wear and tear, per acre

twenty

Two years' rent

Two years' poor, church, and road
rates

Cr.
Produce, twenty bushels per acre, at

5s. 6d

Loss

Calculation No. IV., from
Undiluted Hills.
Dr.

As nearly as may be the same as last

£1

0 0

0
0
0

17 G

5 0
13 0

£2

17 6

0
0

13 4
3 0

£3
1

13 10
15 0

0

6 0

£5

14 10

5
0

10 0
4 10

£5

14 10

Cotswold

£5

13 1

Cr.

Produce, twenty bushels
Loss

3 10 0
0 3 1

13 1

On these two last farms there is no charge for
manure, nor is straw sold ; on these neither tithes
nor taxes are mentioned, they show a loss, wheat at
44s. per quarter. The Cotswold HiU farms are
cultivated on the five year course it seems, and
wheat is grown only once in five years, no manure
is bought, but the wheat crop is charged with two
years' rent, because it is grown after two years
small seeds. The objections feared cannot be
raised against these calculations, for though not
charged with dung or tillage for the preceding
year, they are charged with the rent of that year
and some other like expences. Manure ought to
have been charged I think, for such soils as
these consume not only all natural, made by the
consumption of straw, Ijut the great bulk of all the
artificial made and imported. These calculations are
as sent by the farmers, and wear a genuine stamp,
Tlie noble earl in reading them said, " / take them,
indeed I hioiv them to be facts." The foregoing-
calculations are then divided by the noble earl to
show the bearing of costs on a bushel of wheat ;
but to make the jrrqfit on the invested capital, the
straiv on farms 2, 3, 4, is also valued, and the
amount is placed on the credit side of the account,
as if so much cash had been taken.

Calculation No. I. gives £2 14s. 6fd. as the
cost, per acre, of thirty-three bushels of wheat de-
livered there; the cost of a bushel is Is. 7 2^. with-
out rent, tithe, taxes, or manure.

Dr.

Cost of one bushel of wheat
Rent, tithes, taxes . .
Proportion for manure

0 1 n

0 1 G
0 1 G

0 4 7k
Proportionate profit on £15, the in-
vested capital . . . . . . 0 2 0

£0 G 7i

Cr.
One bushel of wheat, at minimum
value . . > « . . . .
Proportion for straw , ,

G

G 7i

In this calculation, by the sale of straw, ^vhich
is valued at 35s. on the thirty-three bushels of
wheat, the cost of the bushel is reduced from 4s.
7hd. to 3s. 6d., all expences added, fractions are
omitted by the noble earl, the profit therefore on
the invested capital of £15 per acre appears to be
twenty per cent.

Calculation No. II., from the best part of the
Cotswold Hills, gives £'4 2s. Gd. as the cost of
growing thirtj' bushels of ^vheat on an acre of
land, including the delivery ; therefore, the cost of

120

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

one bushel is 2s. 9d,, without rent, or rates, or
taxes.

Dr.
Cost of one bushel of wheat . . 0 2 9

Proportion of two years' rent, lOd. 0 0 9
Proportion of two years' rates and

taxes . . . . . . . . 0 10

Proportionate profit on £10 the in-
vested capital . .

0
0

4 6
2 0

0

6 6

Cr.

One bushel of wheat at minimum

value
Proportion for straw, valued at 30s.

the thirty bushels

0 5 6

0 1 0

£0 6 6

This straw diluted calculation renders the cost
of the bushel from 4s, 6d. to 3s. 6d., according to
the report i the profit, therefore, on the invested
capital of £10 per acre, is thirty per cent.

Calculations 3, 4, also from the Cotswold Hills,
give an average of £3 13s. lOd., as the cost of
growing twenty bushels of wheat on an acre of
land, including delivery also ; therefore, the cost of
one bushel is 3s. 8d., without rent or rates.

Dr.

Cost of one bushel of wheat
Proportion of two years' rent
Proportion of two years' rates

Profit on £8, the invested capital . .

0
0
0

3
1
0

8^
9

£0
0

5
1

9
0

£0

6

9

0

5

6

0

1

3

£0

6

9

Cr.

One bushel of wheat at minimum

value
Proportion for straw valued at 25s.

the twenty bushels of wheat

These two straw diluted calculations give 4s. 6d.
as the cost of a bushel of wheat on the inferior
soils of Cotswold, and according to the report
eleven per cent, only on the invested capital, taken
at £8 per acre by the noble earl, but he says that
that sum is too much. The noble earl said, he
did not inform the parties from whom these state-
ments were sent, for what purpose they were to be
used; and he says, that he received No H. from a
gentleman's servant, who mshed to make a show
of profit. Earl Ducie, thinking the rent too low,
makes a new calculation, adds 5s. per acre to the
rent, thus increasing the cost of every bushel 2d. ;
by the same rule the profit on every bushel is re-
duced from 2s. to Is. lOd., and the interest on the
capital invested is thereby reduced from the thirty
per cent., as shown in the calculation, to twenty-

seven-and-a-half. The reason given for this is
not satisfactory, the rent appears low at first sight,
but the enormous charge of £1 lOs. rates and
taxes, ought not to be overlooked. The addition
to the rent was certainly not made to prove the
AXIOM noticed by the noble earl, that " the poorer
the land, in every degree, the less valuable," for
this reduction of profit on a farm much less
valuable than Example Farm, though it shows,
as compared, that 2d. less is gained by a bushel of
wheat, and also shows that twenty- seven-and-a-half
per cent, is the profit on the invested capital, in-
stead of thirty, as sho\vn by the calcvilation, never-
theless, gives a return of seven-and-a-half per cent,
more than the noble earl's return for the Example
Farm ; neither does this raising of rent render the
proportion between these four farms just as com-
jjared with the produce ; it is unnecessary to ascer-
tain what they should be, but not so to deprecate
any hint at raising rents on such farms as 2, 3, 4,
much better to have redviced the rate charged on
Example Farm. Calculations, 3, 4, show where
" the shoe will pinch." By these, it is evident,
that notwithstanding the low rate of rent, as com-
pared with that of Example Farm, two years' rent
and rates amounting to the small sum of £2 Is.
only, a bushel of wheat will cost 5s. 9d., and to
secure the profit named, all the straw must be sold,
not consumed on the farm. No one can get profit
by selling to himself; and to get the profit of
eleven per cent., straw to the amount of 25s. per
acre must be disposed of to some other party, and
the CASH TAKEN. But aCotswold farmer would say,
a wheat crop requires a sacrifice, and my clover has
remained two years, by which I have lost a crop of
corn or pulse, and clover the second year rarely
coming to the scythe, is of little value, but I set
that against some expences on the land I have
not charged ; I should lay some manure on, in addi-
tion to the dropping of stock, but by my wheat crop
I shall lose 4s. lOd. per acre, as I have shown by
the above calculation, wheat at 44s. per quarter;
therefore, I must sell my straw as you propose, or
sink. It is impossible to buy manure, unless
wheat sell for more than 44s.; but if I can sell
my straw at the price, by your calculation I shall
realize but eleven j^er cent, on my wheat crop,
which would but just enable me to Uve, were my land
all wheat every year and no risk, and my farm as
large as I suppose your Example Farm to be, 240
acres ; my income would be then only £21 1 4s. per
annum. I can on my fann, wheat at the present
price, aftbrd no extra labour ; I work as a labourer
myself, as I have a large family to maintain. This
would be the argument of every small occupier
corresponding with the Earl Ducie, {there is some
discrepancy in the earl's calculations). Looking a
little closer to the calculations, the nature of the
objection feared by the noble earl wU be seen ; the
CALCULATIONS AS GIVEN DO NOT APPLY as in-
tended, they were not made for the occasion, there-
fore no stretching or twisting would make them
fit ; but although they were useless for the purpose
intended, they, on examination, prove the difficulty
in using such calculations with any particular ob-
ject in view. Looking to the items from the books
of Example Farm, (and how rarely are accounts

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

121

even where books are kept what one would ^vish to
find them — this arises from the mixed and com-
pUcated nature of most of agricultural operations,
and not from the inability of the bookkeeper, to
whom sufficient time for such a purpose is rarely
allowed) we find rent, tithes, and taxes lumped
together, no rates are mentioned, labour is charged
at a very low rate, and no wheat crop, except for
the half dung on the last year's crop, beyond the
actual labour demanded to produce and dehver the
same at market ; nothing for anything extra ; the
farm must Ije all clear land and without waste ;
no hedges, roads, or drains ; and as 100 days
could scarcely be taken up by the piece work as
charged, the crop can take care of itself 265 days
every year, and labour and capital require neither
direction nor superintendence. On No. 2, we
find tithes are not mentioned at all, but the enor-
mous sum of £1 10s. is charged for rates and
taxes. This is the farm on which the noble earl
raised the rent. On Nos. 3 and 4, neither tithes
nor taxes are named ; but it will be found that
calculations 2, 3, 4, tally remarkably in all out-
goings which come within the management of oc-
cupiers generally ; it wiU also be seen that calcula-
tions 2, 3, 4, separate the rent from other charges ;
on Example Farm, rent, tithes, and taxes are
lumped together. No. 2 shows a greater profit
than Example Farm, which grows the most corn ;
then it mil also be seen that the noble earl values
the straw from Nos. 3 and 4, where only twenty
bushels are grown per acre, at 3d. per bushel
more than he has valued on No. 2, where thirty
bushels are grown ; and l^d. per bushel more than
on Example Farm, where forty bushels are
usually produced ; not that any one will doubt the
greater value of the straws, but as the straw is
valued to be consumed on the farm, the greater
vnW be the cost of manure, which is to be valued
also; and though these calculations contain no
charge for manure, the greater value of the straw
was requisite to be brought into the account to
show a profit on the capital invested ; the No. 1
calculation proves also, that the Example Farm
is too far above pai', and it ought not to have been
used on an occasion when the effect of the abolition
of all corn laws on light lands was to be the sub-
ject of discussion.

The noble earl gives reasons to prove that the
calculations were, and ought to be immixed, but
no reason for the introduction of that from Ex-
ample Farm. The farm was, perhaps, well-
known to the audience as of the same class as the
others, from which the other calculations were sent,
and brought forward as a proof of the effect of
high farming. The calculation is not, however, in
conformity with the principle laid down at the
meeting any more than the others ; the cost, or
part of the cost of ameliorating crops is included,
and this was not to be. The noble earl also
stated that any charge for the propoitionate
cost of ameliorating crops would make
scarcely any difference, when by this very
calculation the price of a bushel of wheat is in-
creased Is. Gd. thereby, or about forty -three per
cent, only : such charges are the foundations of all
the other calculations. Then viewing the calcula-

tions as they bear on the main question, they
prove 4s. lOAd. to be the cost of a bushel of wheat,
taking the foiu- farms from which they came, as an
average of light lands ; and as Whitfield Farm,
the Example Farm, can better spare straw than
any other, allowing the value of that straw to be
placed to the audit of the account. By taking the
double rent on 2, 3, 4, as the charge for an ame-
liorating crop, the items \\\mn the four farms will
tally tolerably in character ; they prove 4s. lO^d. to
be the cost of a bushel of wheat, which gives only
£3 19s. per cent, per annum for the average cap-
ital, £10 5s. invested in the four farms ; but if Nos.
2, 3, 4 are taken alone with this average capital of
£8 13s. 4d., the bushel costs 5s. 4d., and the re-
turn is only£l 2s. 4|d. percent, per annum ; and will
any one say that in a concern of so much risk as
farming is carried on %vith, that here is induce-
ment for investment to keep such soils in cultiva-
tion ?

These calculations, as laid before the meeting,
did not prove what it was intended they should
prove, for that purpose they were utterly useless ;
but they prove that in taking averages a profit may
be shown over a whole district, when by an ex-
amination of particulars it will he found that the
capital employed over half, is in the road to anni-
hilation. But these calculations prove, if they may
be said to prove anything, that the light lands can
only be kept in cultivation, wheat at 44s., by a
participation in the profits with better soils ; but
that the whole agricultural community is to be
formed into a joint-stock company, I have never
heard that it is the intention of the Anti- Corn-
Law League to propose. To draw conclusions
from averages in the present state of affairs, must
lead to disappointment ; it is usual for travellers
to treat of extremes as well as averages, or their
tales would never be read. The average tempera-
ture of the city of New York, United States, is
about that of London, but no one imagines the
climates to be similar. No ; the extremes have been
published and dwelt upon : extremes destroy most
speedily, and the extremes by which corn averages
are obtained are more necessary to be laid before
the public than any average. Taking the Cots-
wold Farms separately, the best gives a return of
seven-and-a-half per cent, per annum on the in-
vested capital, the others then show a loss of 4s.
on a capital invested two years, besides all the in-
terest capital pays on secvirity : if five per cent.,
here is a loss of five and one-tenth per cent, per
annum on capital invested without security. I
conceive it would be in vain to tell these parties
that they are to be contented and remain on farms 3
and 4, they would rather change places with their
more fortunate neighbours, or they would invest
their means elsewhere, and such farms as 3 and 4
at any rate would go out of cultivation.

In treating of the return of capital, it ought to
be borne in mind that an investment in a farm
differs widely from any made in merchandize ; in
in the latter, capital may be i-eturned very often,
a bad bargain may be cleared out speedily and a
new investment made, the return may be large
compared with the capital employed ; in a farm it is
the very Reverse of this ; even on Example Farm, the

122

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

capital invested is not returned by the wheat crop
in twelve months : the produce taken at forty
bushels, and at 7s. the bushel. In agriculture the
return must be small compared with the capital,
and seasons miist be waited for ; a five per cent,
will scarcely employ a labourer on fifty acres.

By the calculation given from Example Farm,
it is perfectly clear that had the noble lord confined
it to the terras laid down, the cost of a bushel of
wheat could have been proved on it to be only 2s.,
as that farm could better spare straw than Cots-
wold HiUs ; but it is questionable even at that price
whether the noble lord would be able to set free
trade at defiance. Before the lowest possible con-
ceivable price (the noble earl's words) can be much
known about, something more must be learned of
central Europe, not only at what price wheat can
be produced, but whether wheat is ever sold at less
than the cost price. Jacob reports that it is, and in
his report it will be found that wheat was sold in
Warsaw, (I think it was in 1822,) at 14s. 9d. per
quarter. The freight to London might be 5s.,
from Dantzic it is frequently as low as 2s. per
quarter. Why then the noble earl should have
taken the average of the Channel Islands as a
criterion for this country under the free trade system
is hard to conceive ; and when it is known that
they are insignificant Islands on the coast of France,
in extent and population not equal to Rutlandshire,
it is the more marvellous; the circumstances of
such a place cannot be taken as a rule for legisla-
tion in this mighty empire ; as well woiild it be to
judge the solar heat In/ the rays from the

MOON.

As merchandize, the corn of the v^^orld is
free to enter the port of London, and aU other
parts, and to be reshipped at pleasure, the only re-
striction is as to the terms on which it may be
brought on the market for home consumption ; but
if, on the abolition of aU corn laws, 47s., the aver-
age of the Channel Islands, is to be maintained, and
the agricultural interest have nothing to fear, it re-
mains for the noble earl to inform the pubUc what
the manufacturer or any of the community can
gain; and for w^hat all the agitation
lecturing and hubbub has been carried on ;
wheat having been during the seven years fre-
quently much lower than 47s,, the Channel Islands
average.

The noble earl had misgivings as to the calcula-
tions, and although they did not all tally in their
items they have been useful. But, to the

GRAND aUESTION aS brought BEFORE THE

PUBLIC by Earl Ducie, they do not apply
as intended. If they do, then is the corn

LAW aUESTION A QUESTION OF STRAVV^, and

the straw is to be sold from all light lands, and to
realize the sum set down in the calculation by the
noble earl as its value, or all the light lands must
go out of cultivation, wheat at 445. per quarter.
Before any just estimate can be generally made of
the cost of wheat growing on Example Farm, a
very detailed account must be published of
the alternate year's wheat system; the rule
by which capital invested is estimated, the
mode of applying manure, and the per centage
necessary to repay the occupier, Should the noble

earl think fit to lay all the information at his com-
mand before the public on these subjects, much
good may arise.

In concluding this long comment on the noble
earl's speech and statements, I beg to observe that
I have not seen the Mark Lane Express, nor do I know
that the subject has or has not been further noticed ;
I have, however, thus strung together some of the
objections which occurred to me in reading them
over in an old country paper, in which was also the
extract from the Mark Lane Express quoted at the
commencement. I have done this in the earnest
hope that truth may prevail, and that by every
discussion, the subject may be cleared of some of
the mystification by which it has been so long sur-
roixnded. I am Gentlemen, your humble Sei-vant,

J. C. B.

WHITFIELD FARM.

TO THE F.DIT0R OF THE MARK LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — I have before me Lord Ducie's speech at
Covent Garden as reported in the League paper, June 1,
No. 36. I have also before me Mr, John Morton's
book (entitled " Morton on Soils"), in which T find
an account of the proceedings at Whitfield Example
Farm. Mr. Morton is the gentleman who has planned,
superintended, and carried out, the improvements
made upon that farm, and who has had the entire
practical management and farming of the same. In
confirmation of which, I shall quote from the League
paper, No. 39, June 22nd, page 631. It says, " Does
not this ignoramus know that Mr. Morton, his Lord-
ship's manager of Whitfield Farm, has published
a very full and complete account, &e." ? Well then,
letus compare Lord Ducie's statement with Mr. Mor-
ton's, and see how they will correspond.

Lord Ducie.
To 186J days of a man and two horses, plougliing, £ s. J,

cultivating (i.e.), working with cultivator, drilling

and harrowing 120acres, at 10s. perdiein 93 2 0

To 1733 bustiels of seed wheat, at 7s. per bushel.... 60 14 6

To hoeing 120 acres at 2s. 6d. per acre 15 0 0

To cutting, binding, and stocking, 120 acres, at 8s... 48 0 0
To pitching to carts and ricks, builJing and leading,

at 2s. 4d. per acre 14 0 0

To 72 days of one-horse cart and boy, to hand tlie

j/roduce from the field to rick-yards, at 4s, 6d.

per diem 10 2 0

(That amounts altogether, for harvesting and bring-
ing home to the yards, and thatchi:*g, to 14s. lOd.
per acre.)
To threshing and winnowing, and taking outSOO qrs.,

at 2s. per quarter 50 0 0

To marketing 500 qrs., at 3 quarters per cart, 50 days

of a man with 2 horses and carts, at 10s, and for

expenses 2s,, 50 at 10s.. 30 0 0

£326 19 0
Mr, Morton, Page 290,
To 136 days, 1 man and two horses, ploughing, dril-
ling, &c,, 120 acres, at iOs £68 0 0

To 300 bushel* of seed wheat at 7s, per bushel, lieing

2j bushels per acre 105 0 0

To hoeing 120 acres at 6s. per acre 86 0 0

To harvesting 120 acres, at 10s. per acre CO 0 0

To carting home, 1 man and 2 horses, for 32 days, at

I'is.perdiem 16 0 0

To tlireshing 500 qrs., at 2s. 6d perqr 62 10 0

To carting to mnrket 500 quarters, 1 man and 2 horses,

96 days, at 10s. per diem 48 0 0

£395 10 0
N.B. Thatching not included (charged in Lord
Ducie's account at 4s. 6d. per acre) 27 0 0

£432 10 0
£326 19 0

Difference. I, ., iiM. •iii«<£95 U 0

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

183

You will observe Mr. Morton only makes his state-
ment upon 15 acres of wheat; but multiply that by
8, and you will arrive at the statement I have made, to
suit his liOrdship's 120 acres. How are we to account
for, or at all reconcile the great difference here shown
in the calculations of Lord Ducie and of his superin-
tending practical agent, Mr. J. Morton ? Mr. Mor-
ton's book was published in 1843. Lord Ducie made
his speech in 1844. .Surely there has been no decrease
of wages, or other expenses, during the interval.
Lord Ducie says, 186f days' work of one man and
two horses is sufficient to cultivate and plant and
take to market 120 acres of wheat. Mr. Morton
says it will require one man and two horses 2G4 days
to accomplish it ! His Lordship says 173f bushels of
wheat are sufficient to sow 1 20 acres ; Mr. Morton
says it will require 300 bushels. Should his Lordship
be correct, Mr. Morton is certainly inexcusable in
publishing a book so calculated to mislead the public.
I cannot, however, avoid thinking his Lordship
relied upon information derived from the League ; it
savours of Almondshury much more than of Mr. J.
Morton. Some of those gentry have shewn them-
selves by no means squeamish or over-particular as to
facts. See Mr. G. G. Day's letter to Mr. Cobden,
which I believe remains unanswered to this time. If
his Lordship is not quite sure ; if he has not figures
and statements of Mr. Morton to bear him out (who I pre-
sume has the keeping of those books to which his Lord-
ship referred), then I do think Lord Ducie owes it to him-
self, to the public, and more especially to the tenant
farmers, to correct whatever may be inaccurate in his
speech at Covent Garden. Justice evidently requires
this proceeding. I beg his Lordship to remember
his assertions are opposed to the publications of the
best writers we have upon agriculture ; and to the
statements of our best practical agriculturists. They
are equally opposed to his own acts. If the farmers
are so flourishing, why did his Lordship return 10
per cent, to his tenants at his last audit ? Look at the
condition of the farmers this year, and the probable
loss they will sustain from the operation of the season.
Could good farming prevent this ? If the farmers
should not possess sufficient capital to sustain him
without inconvenience through such a trial, is he to be
twitted with his poverty ? I do sincerely hope Lord
Ducie will see the mischievous tendency of his state-
ment, and candidly come forward and avow the mistake
he has made. As his Lordship has made the Whit-
field example Farm by his speech a public affair, I
respectfully suggest that the books of accounts relating
to that farm should be open to the public, especially
the farmers, and that every facility should be afforded
them of understanding those accounts and of clearly
ascertaining the facts of the case. I cannot allow
this opportunity to escape of expressing my sense of
the great ability, judgment, and skill displayed by Mr.
Morton in the improvements effected upon the farm,
and in his excellent management of it. I also think
the public are much indebted to his Lordship for his
spirited conduct in supplying the means to enable
Mr. Morton to carry out his excellent plans which are
80 likely to benefit the country. I therefore do feel
much vexed that his Lordship should put forth any
statement calculated to throw discredit upon that
undertaking, or do anything tending to discourage the
pursuit of agriculture, of which he appears so fond
by joining in the senseless clamour of the League.
I am, Sir, yours respectfully,

R. L. TOWNSEND.

EARL DUCIE'S STATEMENT.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK LANE BXPRE83.

Sir,— On June the 11th, I took the liberty of ad-
dressing, throufjli the Morniiig Post, The Mark Lane
Express, and the Farmers' Journal, a letter to Lord
Ducie, on the extraordinary statement he had made,
that on his Example Farm at Whitfield, he could
grow wheat at 28s. per qr. ; and findini; that the
Lengue made such a mighty fuss about this false state-
ment of his Lordship, stating that farmers could, if
they would farm with sufficient capital, grow wheat at
3s. Gd. per bushel, and challenging week after week
any practical farmer to contradict it, finding none of
my brother farmers took the matter up, I was induced
to do so. I have anxiously sought in the above papers
and the League, for an answer from his Lordship,
stating honestly and openly that he had committed an
error in not charging the wheat crop the expenses of
the green crop preceding it; but to my surprise no
notice has been taken by him or his agent, not only of
mine, but of the many statements that have been
made contradicting his Lordship. I suppose the Noble
Earl may consider that it would be below his dignity
as a peer of the realm to enter into anything like a
paper controversy with a bond fide tenant farmer; but
surely the dignity of the noble peer would be much
better sustained by proving that he had commitled no
mistake, made no false statements, than by allowing
these charges to go uncontradicted, silently leaving
the world to judge as to the truth or falsehood of the
statements he has made.

In the League paper, of July 13th, No. 42, I find
the subject handled by the editor or some other person,
and attacking my statements of the.expenses of fallow
for turnips, as "absurd, and a simple falsehood." I
knew, had I put down my own expenses of fallow for
turnips, mangle, &c., that I should have been
charged with making an extravagant statement, and
that to have grown wheat at 3s. Gd. per bushel, I must
have lessened my expenses. This induced me to refer
to a good, unquestionable authority. I took Bayldon
on " Rent and Tillages," being a work highly spoken
of; yet at the same time admitted my expenses for
fallow was below Bayldon's, A iew days back I ob-
tained Mr. Morton's work on soils, in the appendix of
which is a statement of the expenses on the Whitfield
Farm. I have hastily gone over it, and have extracted
from it the expenses therein charged for fallow for
sweed turnips and mangle. These sums I beg leave
to place before the public, leaving them to form their
own calculations of the cost price of wheat grown by
his Lordship . —

At page 274, "Expenses of fallowing 15 acres of
heavy clay land, half for swedes, and half mangle:" —

£ s. d.
93 days, a man and two horses, ploughing, dressing-,
&c., for which no charge is made, we will put it at

8s. per day 37 4 0

Bones and rape-cake 52 17 6

Seed 3 15 0

Hand-hoeing, at 6s. per acre 4 10 0

Expenses of pulling and housing mangle 3 5 0

15 Load of dung per acre, at 6s. 8d. per load, which

is the sum stated by his Lordship 75 0 0

Mr. Morton lias made no charge for turning, filling,
and spreading dung, which we could not fairly put
at less than 4s. per acre 0 0 0

£175 11 6
At page 284, Mr. Morton charges for fallowing
fifteen acres of silicious sandy soil the same amount;
so that I feel I am justified in supposing them about
correct. To this we should add 50s. per acre for rent,
tithe, and taxes, as stated by Lord Ducie ; but as his
Lordship charged the wheat crop with half the value

124

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

of the dung, viz., 508. per acre, we will let the above
account stand. This will make the expense per acre,
III. 14s. Id. I think Mr. Morton should have charged
more per acre for fallowing the clay land, than the
sandy soil ; and I am at a loss to understand how his
agent can get his land in order for mangle and
swedes, without giving more than two clean earths.
I very seldom give less than four. " Aye," tlie League
will say, " another proof of bad farming of this mono-
polist farmer." As harvest is approaching, and I
shall have no leisure time for letter wriliutr, I have
placed these two accounts of expenses for fallow for
green crops before the public, leaving the writer of
the article in the League, his Lordship, and his agent,
to fight out the battle ; for, of course, the observations
contained in the League as to my statement of ex-
penses for fallowing, amounting to 91. 18s. 2d. per acre,
being an " absurd and simple falsehood," will equally
apply to his Lordship's agent, Mr. Morton, as to Mr.
Bayldon ; for Mr. Morton makes the expense per acre
amount to 11/. 14s. Id. per acre, I am inclined to
think his Lordship's friends, the League, will, with
that gentlemanly and courteous language generally
used by them, call the latter statement not a " simple
falsehood," but a wilful and deliberate lie. But to aid
in saving Lord Ducie and his respectable agent from
their friends, 1 say it is no lie, but a plain statement
of facts.

As no doubt Lord Ducie has but little leisure time,
and perhaps less inclination to take up this question, I
will take upon myself to spare his Lordship the trouble,
and inform my brother farmers that the wheat grown
on this Example Farm, succeeding swedes and mangle,
instead of costing his Lordship 3s, 6d. per bushel to
produce, actually costs his Lordship 10s. lOd. per
bushel : —

£ s. d.

Expenses of fallow per acre 11 14 1

Expenses of wheat 5 14 6

£17 8 7

I am free to admit that the only fair and honest way
of getting at the actual cost price of wheat to produce,
can only be done by taking the whole number of years;
if on the four, five, six, or eight course system. I con-
sider that we tenant farmers can grow wheat so as to
be fairly remunerated for our skill and capital at 7s.
per bushel, but at not less than that sum.

It may not be generally known that the Whitfield
Farm is, the greater part of it, newly broke up grass land,
with all its virgin strength unimpaired ; therefore, the
produce of such land is not a fair criterion to judge by.
In my former letter I made his Lordship an offer of
1,000/. per annum, to keep constantly in my yards
200 bullocks, fatting with oil-cake and corn, weigh-
ing when fat not less than 70 to 80 stone, long weight,
and allow liim to draw one-fourth of my turnip crop.
Now, as his Lordship has not accepted my offer, and
the League appear to consider the green crops of great
value, I will enter into a similar arrangement with that
body ; the quantity of cake and meal per day to be
settled when the agreement is entered into. They will
thus, after a few years' experience, be able to discover
the value of green crops to be consumed on the pre-
mises, and be more clearly convinced on that subject
than by my writing a hundred letters on the question.

The League, thinking to gag me and prevent the
honest expression of my opinion, ask, '' How many
bushels of wheat above 20 do I grow per acre if I em-
ploy 151. per acre capital, or even lOl. ; and that they
would venture a wager I do not employ 5^. per acre
capital. That I have a farm three or four times too
big for my means. That I am, in fact, a poor farmer,
half cultivating my land, with scanty returns, relying

chiefly upon high prices for profit." Do they call this
argument "! Is this the way to carry conviction to the
minds of my brother farmers ? It would not be proper
for me to say I have not three or four times too much
land for my means. The League states that I have !
they, of course, must be better judges than I am. But
will they allow me to state a fact, and which they can-
not yet be acquainted with, viz., that I last year ex-
pended 2,949Z. 7s. 8d. in the purchase of artificial
manures, and for corn and cake for my sheep and
cattle? This will, I trust, prove to the League and my
brother farmers that I am not a very bad poor
farmer.

I believe Lord Ducie states that he employs 151, per
acre capital, but I think a portion of this capital was
required in the same way I once knew a large land-
owner situated, who took a large farm into his
own hands. The circumstances were these ; — A
new valuation was put on the farm, the old tenant
left it. Several looked at it and declined to hire.
The landlord put a farming bailiff in, and farroed
it well. It was in a very good state of cultiva-
tion when left by the old tenant. A friend of mine,
who knew the circumstances, asked the land agent
how they got on ? " Oh ! very well indeed, we get
the rent as fixed by me, and 5/. per cent, for the
capital employed." In a few years, however, the farm
was let ; my friend again asked the agent why this
was done ? " Oh !" says he, " it was true we got the
rent, and 5/. per cent, interest on capital, but we had
every year to increase the amount of capital equal in
amount to the rent and interest as before paid."

I would take this opportunity of asking these
clamourers for free-trade in corn, if they would like to
be called upon to make malt in England paying 20s.
per qr. duty to the Government, and that foreign
malt should be allowed to be brought in duty free ?
because such, I contend, in consequence of the great
amount of taxation in England, is the situation of the
tenant farmers of the United Kingdom.

Ickleton, July 17. Samuel Jonas.

EARL DUCIE'S STATEMENT.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MAKE LANE EXPRESS*

Sir, — My attention was only drawn at the end of last
week to a letter published in your journed, signed by
" Messrs. Trinder, Mathews, and Kearsley ;" and also
to a letter signed " R. L. Townsend."

With regard to the first, it has continually struck me
that the question of the corn-laws cannot be so much a
tenant's question asmany wouldwish it to be thought; be-
cause I find, on almost all occasions, that the foremost to
uphold the existing corn-laws are the la7id agents and the
land valuers. Such is the fact. I will not stop here
to enquire into the cause ; it is sufficiently obvious. The
three gentlemen whose names are appended to this letter
are all engaged, more or less, in those avocations.

They object to the value I have put on the wheat-
straw. That is generally thought worth, at the least,
25s. per ton, to consume at home. I myself should put it
at30s.,andshouldbe glad to take any quantity at a higher
price for the use of my farm only. However, if they
like to reduce its value to one -third of the price I put on
it, it will make but little difference in the balance-sheet ;
for, of course, under this valuation of the straw, they
can only charge the manure to the turnip and barley
crop at one-third of the sum that others do who put a
pi"oper value on their straw. With regard to the objec-
tion made to the quantity of produce, I am i nclined to

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

125

think that my informant is likely to be quite as right as
those gentlemen ; and were I at liberty to mention his
name, there is no one who would doubt for a moment as
to whose opinion was most to be relied on.

However, letthat be asitmay, Istillmaintainmyprevious
opinion that, under a free trade in corn , not one acre of the
Cotswold Hills would be thrown out of cultivation ; and
in this I am suppoi-ted by the opinions of some of the
most practical men of the district. Moreover, I am
satisfied that the agricultural labourers would be too
glad, under any circumstances, to take any part of the
Cotsivold Hills, at a higher rent than is paid by the
farmers.

Now for the letter signed " R. L. Townsend." On
its style I shall make no remark, except that it is most
strictly in keeping with the best protection patterns ;
but, as regards the substance, I must say that it proves
its author to be either most carelessly or most wilfully
ignorant. He quotes from a work by Mr. John Morton,
published in 1843, thereby leading the public to suppose
that it was Mr. Morton's Whitfield Farm report for
1843. He quotes from page 290 of the appendix to
" Morton on SoUs." Now, if he had taken the trouble
to look at that which was before him, he would have
found that he was looking at a reprint of the report
originally made to my father and myself in the year
1838, as to the probable results of the meditated im-
provements on Whitfield Farm, in which, as was right,
Mr. Morton stated the pi'obable expenses as high, and
the probable returns as low, as possible.

The whole of the statement in page 290 is purely pro-
plietic ; the whole of the statement I made was
taken from my books, and is z.fact. I am, however,
glad to have an opportunity of showing, by the difference
between my expenses and Mr. Morton's estimates
(founded upon the practice of the period) that we have
been progressing in agricultural economy. If you will
look to Mr. Townsend's statement, you will find that the
first difference between the facts and the prophecy
appears in the charge for ' ' ploughing, &c. , " and amounts
to 38/. in round numbers. Now, at the time of the pro-
phecy, we were not aware of the valuable properties of
the Uley cultivator. We have since found that, by
twice working the land that has borne roots with that
implement, we are able to dispense with the plough, and
the work is done at one-half the expense of one plough-
ing. This, added to the unexpected and increasing
friability of the soil, is sufiicient to account for the
difference between the fact and the prophecy. The
next point of difference is the charge for seed- wheat,
amounting to about 44/. The prophecy charged for the
amount usually sown at that time ; but experience has
taught not only myself, but every intelligent agricultu-
rist, that a smaller quantity of seed will produce a better
crop on all soils, and that an enormous annual loss has
accrued to the country from the erroneous use of too
much seed wheat. If Mr. Townsend will take the trouble
to travel to Whitfield, I will undertake to show
him a better crop of wheat than is often produced at the
expense of a double quantity of seed.

There are three other items in which there is a differ-
ence between the fact and the prophecy ; and on those
points (to shorten this letter), when Mr. Townsend
comes to mspect my books, Mr. Morton will inform him
how completely he admits the errors of his prospective
calculation. I say this, as, of course, as a gentleman,
Mr. Townsend cannot delay coming to inspect my
accounts ; and, if he finds 1 am correct, he can have no
alternative but to withdraw his attack on me as publicly
as it has been made.

I remain, your obedient servant,
Tortworth, July 8. Ducie.

My Lord, — In reference to the subject of our con-
versation this morning, I have to inform your lordship
that your statement of the expense of cultivating, har-
vesting, and marketing 120 acres of wheat on Whitfield
Example Farm is accurately founded ; partly — i. e., the
last six last items — upon the expenses connected with the
wheat crops in previous years; and, partly — i. e., the
two first items — on the expenses which had already been
incurred on the wheat crop of the present year. I may
add that I think your lordship has put the produce too
low, whether we judge by the crops of past years or by
the prospects of the present.

I have the honour to be, my Lord,

Your faithful servant,

John Morton.

To the Right Hon. the Earl Ducie.

Whitfield, July 10.

WHITFIELD FARM.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — I observe, in the Gloucestershire Chronicle of
the 13th July, a letter signed " Ducie," in which his
lordship says — "Now for the letter signed ' R. L.
Townsend.' On its style I shall make no remark, ex-
cept that it is most strictly in keeping with the best
protection patterns ; but, as regards the substance, I
must say it proves its author to be either most carelessly
or most wilfully ignorant. He quotes from a work by
Mr. J. Morton, published in 1843, thereby leading the
public to suppose that it was ]Mr. Morton's WMtfield
Farm report of 1843. He quotes from page 290 of the
appendix to ' Morton on Soils.' Now, if he had taken
the trouble to look at that which was before him, he
would have found that he was looking at a reprint of
the report originally made to my father and myself in
the year 1838, as to the probable results of the medi-
tated improvements on Whitfield Farm, in which, as
was right, Mr. Morton stated the probable expenses as
high, and the probable returns as low, as possible."

With all due deference to his lordship, I conceive this
properly applies to the editor of the League paper, and
not to myself. If his lordship will re-peruse my letter
of the 6th inst., he will find the following — " In confir-
mation of which, I shall quote from the League paper
No. 39, June 22nd, page 631. It says — ' Does not this
ignoramus know that Mr. Morton, his lordship's
manager, has published a very full and correct account,
&c. ' " Neither his lordship nor Mr. Morton contra-
dicted this assertion or cavilled at the reference ; I had,
therefore, clearly a right to suppose it was correct. It
is to be regretted Mr. Morton did not add an appendix
of the altered state oi \h& prices of labour , Sec, when he
re-published his book in 1843. Lord Ducie has pointed
out the error into which the editor of the League fell,
and shows the statements in Mr. Morton's book are only
prophetic and imaginary. This being the case, I am
bound to admit that the League paper is not to be relied
upon, and that Mr. Morton's book fails as an authority.
I cannot, however, perceive why the price charged by
Mr. Morton, in his " Book for Hoeing and Thrashing,"
in 1838, should be altered in 1843. From all I can
learn, it is the usual price now paid by good farmers.
His lordship will perceive I have corrected in my second
letter (of the 13th inst.) the error I made in the number
of days for ploughing, cultivating, &c. Lord Ducie
charges for 186f days; Mr. Morton, in his prophetic
book, charges for only 136 days. Therefore — although
I fully admit the excellence of the Uley cultivator —
yet it is evidently not demonstrated in this business, vja-

12d

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

less, indeed, we conclude that Mr. Morton was favoured
with a vision of it, and worked more with it in ^^ his
imaffination" than his lordship in reality. I do not
consider it at all necessary to accept his lordship's invi-
tation to Whitfield Farm, for the purpose of inspecting
his farm books, I am not a practical farmer, and,
therefore, not competent to enter into any discussion
with Mr. Morton upon the subject of the charges en-
tered in his lordship's accounts. The only remark I
shall, therefore, offer upon the subject of Lord Ducie's
statement at Covent Garden, is that it materially differs
from whatever I have either read or heard upon the sub-
ject of agriculture.

I am, Sir, yours respectfully,

July 15. R. L. ToWrNSEND.

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF
ENGLAND.

A Special Council, for the purpose of taking
the Prizes for next year into final consideration,
agreeably with the bye-laws, and appointing the Judges
for the Society's ensuing Show of Stock, Implements,
&c., at Southampton, in July next, was held at the
Society's house in Hanover-square, on Wednesday,
the 26th of June ; present, the Right Hon. Earl
Spencer, President, in the chair ; Duke of Richmond ;
Marquis of Downshire ; Earl of Ilchester ; Earl
of Lisburne ; Viscount Torrington ; Hon. Colonel
Douglas Pennant, M.P. ; Hon. R. H. Clive, M.P. ;
Hon. G. H. Cavendish, M.P. ; Thomas Raymond
Barker, Esq. ; John Raymond Barker, Esq. ; John
Benett, Esq., M.P. ; T. W. Bramston, Esq., M.P. ;
W. R. Browne, Esq. ; F. Burke Esq. ; Colonel
Challoner; H. C. Crompton, Esq., M.P. ; T. Cotes,
Esq. ; J. H. H. Foley, Esq. ; B. Gibbs, Esq. ; S.
Grantham, Esq.; W. Fisher Hobbs, Esq.; E.Holland,
Esq.; Sir John Johnstone, Bart., M.P. ; S. Jones, Esq.;
J. Kinder, Esq. ; Sir Francis Lawley, Bart. ; WiUiam
Miles, Esq., M.P, ; Sir Charles Morgan, Bart. ; E,
W. W. Pendarves, Esq. ; E. S. Chandos Pole, Esq. ;
Professor Sewell ; William Shaw, Esq. ; R. A. Sla-
ney, Esq. ; J. Spencer Stanhope, Esq. ; W, R. C.
Stansfield, Esq., M. P. ; W. Bruce Stopford, Esq. ;
and Vincent Stuckey, Esq.

The Council finally arranged the Prize Sheet for the
Shrewsbury Meeting, in 1845 ; introducing new prizes
for a Bull Calf under each of the divisions of Short-
homed, Hereford, and Devon Cattle ; additional
prizes for Horses ; a new class for prizes for Sheep best
adapted to a mountain district ; a prize for Oats,
in addition to those for Seed-Wheat and Barley ; and
prizes for Cheese made within the range of the counties
of Anglesea, Carnarvon, Merioneth, Montgomery,
Denbigh, Flint, Chester, Salop, and Stafford, consti-
tuting the district in which the Meeting at Shrewsbury,
in 1845, will be held. — Those Members of Council who
intend to be exhibitors at the Southampton Meeting
then left the room, when the remaming Members pro-
ceeded to the appointment of Judges for the various
departments of the Show on that occasion.

Fall of Rain. — The President, at the conclusion of
the business of the Council, communicated to the
Members present the following interesting statement
of results connected with the fall of rain dui'uig the
present and the last 14 years.

" Rain which fell on my farm at Chapel-Brampton,
Northamptonshire, during the spring and summer
months of the undermentioned years :—

March,

April, and May.

June, July, and

August.

Inches.

Inches.

1830

5-90

1830

7-79

1831

3-71

1831

7-34

1832

4-52

1832

7-91

1833

3-27

1833

6-73

1834

1-74

1834

9-34

1835

6-39

1835

3-36

1836

5-27

1836

4-32

1837

3-13

1837

6-81

1838

4-32

1838

6-52

1839

3-32

1839

8-96

1840

2-80

1840

4-88

1841

2-87

1841

11-10

1842

4-49

1842

6-45

1843

611

1843

5-74

1844

1-56

1844

p

Average

of 14 years 4-13

Average of 14 yea

•s 6-94

Average of spring"

Average of

months when
less than 3

' 2-70

correspond-
ing summer

. 8-44

inches

feU ..J

months . . . • .

Average

of spring'

Average of

■"

months when

. 5-91

con-espond-

> 5-30

more

tnan o

ing summer

inches fell . . _

months . . . • .

The smallest quantity of rain which fell since 1830
inclusive, previous to 1844, in April and May, was
1-35 inch. This year there has only fallen during
those two months 0'28 inch.

(Signed) " Spencer."

A Monthly Council was held at the Society's House,
in Hanover-square, on Wednesday, the 3rd of
July ; present. His Grace the Duke of Richmond,
K.G., in the chair; Marquis of Downshii-e ; Earl
Beauchamp ; Viscount Torrington ; Lord Camoys ;
Lord Hatherton ; Colonel Austen ; Thomas Raymond
Barker, Esq. ; John R. Barker, Esq. ; George R.
Barker, Esq, ; J. Benett, Esq,, M,P. ; S, Bennett,
Esq.; T. W. Bramston, Esq., M.P. ; W. R. Browne,
Esq, ; F, Burke, Esq, ; Colonel Challoner ; F. C.
Cherry ; H. Colman, Esq. ; E. D. Davenport, Esq. j
T. H. H. Foley, Esq.; Capt, Forbes, R.N,; B.
Gibbs, Esq. ; W. Fisher Hobbs, Esq. ; Sir John
Johnstone, Bart, M.P. ; Rev. E. C. Keene ; J. Kin-
der, Esq. ; Sir F. Lawley, Bart. ; Sir C. Lemon, Bart,,
M,P, ; Colonel Mac DouaU; J, W, L, Naper, Esq.;
Su- R, Price, Bart. ; W. Shaw, Esq. ; W. R. C.
Stansfield, Esq., M.P. ; and V. Stuckey, Esq.

Finances. — Mr, Raymond Barker, Chairman of the
Finance Committee, laid before the Council the
monthly Report of the Committee on the state of the
Funds of the Society ; from which it appeared that at
the end of last month, the amount of invested capital
was 7,700/., and the current cash balance in the hands
of the bankers at the same date 3,457/. Mr. Barker
explained to the Council, that this balance included
800/. on account of the Southampton Subscription, of
which the committee had recommended a further
sum of 500/. to be paid to meet the expenses
already incurred in making the requisite prepai-ations
for the ensuing country meeting at that place ; leaving
200/. of the subscription of 1,000/. origmaUy re-
mitted from Southampton, still remaining in the
banker's hands and available for further claims on
that account.

Colonel Challoner, Capt. Forbes, Mr. Benett,
M.P., and Mr, S, Bennett favoured the Council with

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

127

the result of their trials to effect the extirpation of
rats from their respective premises ; Colonel Challoner
taking that opportunity of correcting a misap-
prehension of his statement at a former meeting as to
the extent of his experience of Mr. Meyer's prepara-
tions. At that time his application of those prepara-
tions had been limited to a broad holly hedge in his
flower-garden, where they were found to be perfectly
successful. Mr. Manning, contractor of the Society's
works at Southampton, addressed a letter to the Presi-
dent in reference to the site of the Pavilion ; Messrs.
Drummond of Stirling, and Messrs. Morton of Edin-
burgh, replied to the enquiries of the Council on the
subject of Braby's Draught Machine. The Rev. C. J.
James, of Brentwood Rectory, called the attention of
the Council to the condition of agricultural labourers,
and the intentions of the Comn>ittee appointed to
I'eport to the Council on that subject ; and the High-
land and Agricultural Society of Scotland announced
the reservation of tickets for members of the Royal
Agricultural Societies of England and Ireland who
might be induced to attend the ensuing meeting at
Glasgow. The Marquis of Downshire invited the at-
tendance of members at the ensuing meeting of the
Royal Agricultural Improvement Society of Ireland
at DubUn, where the authorities were prepared to
receive them with every attention. Mr. Brandreth Gibbs
presented copies of the Prize Sheet for the December
Show of the Smithfield Club.

The Council then adjourned to Wednesday, the 10th
of July.

At a weekly council held at the Society's house in
Hanover Square, on Wednesday, the 10th of July,
present. His Grace the Duke of Richmond, K.G., in
the chair ; Lord Bridport ; Hon. George Agar ; Hon.
George H. Cavendish, M.P. ; R. Archbold, Esq., M.P. ;
C. H. Baldock, Esq.; David Barclay, Esq., M.P. ;
Thomas Raymond Barker, Esq. ; John R. Barker,
Esq. ; J. Benet, Esq., M.P. ; Henry Blackett, Esq. ;
W. R. Browne, Esq.; F. Burke, Esq.; Dr. Calvert;
Rev. Thomas Cator ; Cal.ChaUoner ; F. C. Cherry, Esq. ;
Layton Cooke, Esq. ; George Cottam, Esq. ; Jas. Dean,
Esq. ; J. Evelyn Denison, Esq., M.P. ; Ralph Etwall'
Esq., M.P. ; H. Gibbs, Esq. ; J. B. Glegg, Esq. ;
Col. Henderson (Mayor of Southampton) ; E. Holland,
Esq.; Sir John V. B. Johnstone, Bart., M.P. ; T.
Jones, Esq. ; J. Kinder, Esq. ; Jas. Marmont, Esq. ;
Col. Mac Douall ; E. Parkins, Esq. E. W. W Pendarves,
Esq., M.P. ; E. S. Chandos Pole, Esq. ; H. Price,
Esq. ; J. Roddam, Esq. ; J. Scales, Esq. ; Prof. Sewell ;
J. Villiers Shelley, Esq. ; R. A. Slaney, Esq. ; T. H.
B. Sotheron, Esq., M.P. ; W. Bruce Stopford, Esq. ;
and Thos. Tweed, Esq.

Pipe-tile Machine. — Mr. Cottam of Winsley Street,
Oxford Street, favoured the Council with a report on
the latest improvements effected in the Beneden Ma-
chine of Mr. Hatcher, for the production of cylindric
draining tiles. This machine in its present state consists
of a frame-work supported on wheels ; one third of its
length being appropriated to the platform of the machine,
for the manufacture of the tiles, and the remainder to
the apparatus of the endless web, for supporting the pipes
as they are formed, and convey mg them to the hands of
the boys stationed to receive them. On a level with this
endless web, and between two upright posts, is placed
a square ,iron box, which forms the bottom of the ma-
chme. It is open at the top, and at that side in its
front, which adjouis the endless web. This box is
always full of clay : the iron gratuig which acts the part
of a sieve or screenerof the clay, bemg placed on the top of
the box ; and the required dies, or plates of iron with

apertures for the shape of tile required, secured in front.
On this box, thus arranged, is placed a cylinder filled
with clay from the pug-mill ; and the piston being in-
serted, and forced down steadily by means of a winch
working a couple of toothed wheels, the clay is driven
under great pressure through the iron grating into the
square box, and thence out of the box, through the
apertures which constitute the pattern-dies of the tiles,
which as they issue continuously from the machine, are
conveyed along the endless web set in simultaneous mo-
tion with the piston, by a connexion with the same
winch and a couple of rollers. As one cylinder becomes
emptied, another is ready to replace it. A boy is
stationed at each side of the endless web, and measures
off the tiles, piling them alongside the machine,
which, as the work proceeds, is moved from time to
time forward out of the way, by means of the wheels on
which it is supported. Mr. Cottam explained to the
Council the various improvements effected in the action
of the piston, the insertion of the die-plates, the ma-
terial best adapted for the endless web, and the mode
adopted for keeping it in proper tention ; the apparatus
for measuring and cutting off the tiles ; the advantages
possessed by the cylindric shape of the tiles, for arrang-
ing them both for the purpose of drying and burning
equably, the rate of charge for labour, fuel, &c. ; the
number of tiles produced per day, &c., &c. He sub-
mitted to the inspection of the Council a model of the
machine, and one of the cutters for measuring off the
tiles. This apparatus Mr. Cottam described as one of
the most ingenious and efficient contrivances he had
ever met with for accomplishing its purpose by the most
simple means. Previously to its use, the tiles were cut off
by a wire without measurement ; the consequence of which
was that they were not only of unequal length, but in-
jured by the pressure of the hands on then- sides on
being conveyed away from the machine. It consists of
a wooden roller, secured firmly by a screw at one end
to a plate of iron ; to this iron plate an iron bar is se-
cured, which runs parallel three or four inches above the
roller, and serves the purpose of a handle for the boy,
as well as a support for the cutting -wire, which moves
in a frame and socket up and down in front of the
roller. The boy takes the apparatus by the handle, and
inserts the roller inside the pipe-tiling up to its hilt at
the iron plate ; he then draws the cutting-wire, when
the pipe-tile is perfectly severed and remains loose
on the roller, from which he at once allows it to glide off
into its proper place, without injury or loss of time. Mr.
Cottam stated that the cost of the machine complete would
be 2ol. ; and for the inspection of such members of the
Society as felt an interest in the subject, he had made
arrangements at his manufactoi"y in Winsley-street (op-
posite the Pantheon, Oxford-street) to have the machine
at work daily from 12 to 3 o'clock.

Assuming one man, one youth, and two boys to be
employed at the machine (includmg pug work), with one
man at thekUn, and the price of coals to be 25s. per
ton, the following results would be obtained by calcula-
tion from the data laid by Mr. Cottam before the
Council on this occasion :

Diameter of

Number that can be made

Cost per

Tiles.

in

a day of 10 hours.

Thousand.

1 inch

11,000

4s. 6d.

\\ inch

8,000

5s. 6d.

If inch

5,800

6s. Od.

2 inches

4,000

7s. 3d.

21 inches

3,000

8s. 6d.

Mr. Denison, M.P., remarked, that when it was taken
into consideration how many points there were in the
new system of tile making which this machine would
affect xa. reference to the cost of production, it could not

128

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

be doubted that in the progress of the experience to be
gained, it would be found, that in the less amount of clay
required, the consequent reduction in fuel for burning,
and the local advantage of coals to be obtained in so
many parts of the kingdom at a less rate than that of 25s.
as assumed in the present inquiiy, there would be every
reason to believe that tiles might be made by means of
this machine at a still lower cost even than that which was
atpresent deducible from the facts laid before the Council.
Mr. Denison then proceeded to give the Council an
iuteresting narrative of the history of the ingenious in-
ventor of the presenttile-machine ; and as he had liberally
given up (at the patriotic suggestion of his patron Mr.
Law Hodges) all patent right in reference to its manu-
facture, a privilege probably equivalent to a premium
of no less than i-"3,000, he trusted that all members of
the Society, who intended to purchase the machine would
obtain it at head-quarters of the inventor's accredited
agents, Messrs. Cottam and Hallen, both in reference to
his own peculiar claims on the consideration of the pro-
moters of agricultural improvement, and to the desirable-
ness that no parties should experience disappointment
by the purchase and employment of an inferior machine :
he thought such a choice in their selection would not
only be fair to the inventor, but a slight return to him
in remuneration for the benefits he will have conferred
on those persons who are so unfortunate as to have land
which requires draining.

The Duke of Richmond then proposed the best thanks
of the Council to be given to Mr. Cottam, for his kind-
ness in explaining to the members the construction of
this machine ; which were carried unanimously.

Southampton Meeting. — The Mayor of Southampton
has communicated to the Society the rates at which it
has been determined to limit the prices for lodgings at
Southampton during the ensuing meeting ; on which
occasion no beds would be charged more than half-a-
guinea per night under any circumstances, while others
would range at prices considerably lower, according to
situation and condition. Every facility would be given
to promote the comfort of the numerous visitors ex-
pected on that occasion.

A weekly Council was held at the Society's house in
Hanover-square, on Wednesday, the 17th of July;
present, the Right Hon. Earl Spencer, President, in the
chair ; Duke of Richmond ; Earl of Essex ; Viscount
Hill; Hon. R. H. Clive, M.P. ; Hon. G. H. Caven-
dish, M.P. ; R. Archbold, Esq., M.P. ; J. Raines,
Esq. ; Thos. Raymond Barker, Esq. ; John R. Barker,
Esq. ; S. Bennett, Esq. ; J. I. Briscoe, Esq. ; Sir Ar-
thur de C. Broke, Bart. ; E. Buller, Esq., M.P. ;
French Burke, Esq. ; Dr. Calvert ; Rev. Thos. Cator ;
Colonel Challoner ; F. C. Cherry, Esq. ; E. Dirett, Esq.,
M.P.; T. B. Evans, Esq.; W. Y. Freebody, Esq.;
Sir John Stuart Forbes, Bart. ; W, Fisher Hobbs,
Esq. ; J. Kinder, Esq. ; W. Miles, Esq., M.P. ; E. M.
Mundy, Esq. ; A. Ogilvie, Esq. ; E. W. W. Pendarves,
Esq., M.P, ; E. S. Chandos Pole, Esq. ; Sir Robert
Price, Bart. ; H. Price, Esq. ; Philip Pusey, Esq.,
M.P. ; Prof. Sewell ; W. Shaw, Esq. ; R. B. Sheridan,
Esq. ; E. Thomas, Esq. ; J. Towers, Esq. ; and T.
Tweed, Esq.

Destruction of Rats, — Dr. Ure, F.R.S., com-
municated through Mr. Pusey, M.P., the following
results of his experiments on the best mode of preparing
phosphorus as a poison for rats : — " In the Journal of the
Roycil Agricultural Society there was pubhshed, several
months ago, a prescription for preparing a poison for
the above purpose, by an English gentleman resident in
Germany. That preparation consisted essentially of
phosphorus mixed with flour and sugar. It has been
tried by a friend of mine iu Derbyshire, who has a most

extensive farm, and found to answer the purpose well ;
but there is a great difficulty in preparing it, from the
insolubility and even immiscibility of phosphorus in
water, attended with no little danger of fire. The pro-
cess I have found to succeed perfectly is as follows : —
Melt hog's-lard in a bottle plunged in water heated to
about 150° F. ; introduce into it half an ounce of phos-
phorus for every pound of lard, then add a pint of
proof-spirit or whiskey ; cork the bottle firmly after its
contents have been heated to 150°, taking it at the same
time out of the water-bath, and agitate smartly till the
phosphorus becomes uniformly diffused, forming a milky-
looking liquid. This mixture being cooled, with occa-
sional agitation at first, will afford a white compound of
phosphorus and lard, from which the spirit spontaneously
separates, and may be poured off to be used again, for
none of it enters into the combination ; but it merely
serves to comminute the phosphorus, and to diffuse it in
very fine particles through the lard. This fatty com-
pound, on being warmed very gently, maybe poured out
into a mixture of wheat-flour and sugar incorporated
therewith, and then flavoured with oil of rhodium, or
not, at pleasure. The flavour may be varied with oil of
aniseed, &c. This dough being made into pellets, is to
be laid in rat-holes. By its luminousness in the dark,
it attracts their notice, and being agreeable to their
palates and noses, it is readily eaten, and proves certainly
fatal. They soon are seen issuing from their lurking
places to seek for water to quench their burning thirst
and bowels ; and they commonly die near the water.
They continue to eat it as long as it is offered to them,
without being deterred by the fate of their fellows, as is
known to be the case with arsenical doses. My friend in
Derbyshire bought a pot of Mr. Meyer's rat-poison,
and found it to be an analogous phosphoric preparation .
The present mode of preparing it is the result of my own
experiments, made with the view of diflfusing phosphorus
through a mass of flour and sugar, &c., without the risk
of fire." — The paper in the Society's Journal, referred
to by Dr. Ure, will be found in the third volume, page
428, and was communicated to the Society by Captain
Stanley Carr, of Tiischenbeck, near Liibeck, in the
Duchy of Lauenburg. It may be an easy guide for those
members of the Society who are desirous of following
Dr. Ure's prescription, and may not have a thermometer
at hand, to know that a temperature of 150° of Fah-
renheit is equivalent to a degree of heat mid-way between
that at which (according to Schiibler) white of- egg
coagulates and white wax melts.

Mr. Miles, M.P., stated the success with which Cap-
tain Carr's remedy for destroying rats had been tried by
himself and others, in Somersetshire, and the extra-
ordinary manner in which the rats came to eat it.

NEW MEMBERS.

Viscount Alford, of Carlton Terrace, 'London, and
Ralph Creyke, Esq., of RawcUfFe Hall, near Selby,
Yorkshire, were elected Governors.

Adams, Samuel, Ware, Herts

Aitchison, Capt. R., Bartley Manor House, Eling,

Southampton
Aldridge, William, Southampton
Andrews, Richard, Above-Bar, Southampton
Apperley, W. H., Hereford
Ashhurst, John Henry, Waterstock, Oxford
Atherley, George, jun., Southampton
Atkinson, John, Charlton, Salisbury
Baily, Edward, Martyrs-Worthy, Winchester
Baker, Major T. R., Wivley Court, Plymouth
Beadon, Rev. Frederick, North Stoneham Rectory,

Southampton

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

129

Beste, J. Richard, Botleigh Grange, Southampton
Biddle, Waring, Long Ham, Wimborue, Dorset
Biel, William, St. Leonard's Farm, Beaulieu, South-
ampton
Binsted, Henry, Wicor Farm, Wareham, Hants
Bird, J. A., Park Cottage, Brixton, Surrey
Blackford, Lady Isabella, Osborne, Isle of Wight
Blunt, Rev. Walter, Longstock, Stockbridge, Hants
Bourne, Right Hon. W. Sturges, Upper Brook-street,

London
Bourne, Henry Titus, Alford, Lincolnshire
Bowser, Richard, Bishop-Auckland, Durham
Bowser, William, Tunstall, Hartlepool, Durham
Bridger, James Weddal, Belmont, Cliigwell, Esse\
Brooke, Sir Arthur B. de Capell, Bart., Oakley, Ket-
tering, Northamptonshire
Brookes, William, Elmtree, Tetbury, Glouc.
Brough, John, Shaw Farm, Overton, jNIarlborough
Bull, Alban, Hanwell, Banbury, Oxon
Burness, James, Gt, Cornhill, London
Bursey, Jolni, Milton, Christchurch, Hants
Butler, Hon. Sir Edward, Chilworth, Southampton
Carson, William, Seaforth, near Liverpool
Cartwright, George, Lyme-Regis, Dorset
Chapman, Thos. Sands, Aston Clinton, Tring, Herts
Charteris, Hon. Francis, Armisfield, Haddington, N.B.
Coe, Robert, TQney, Lyim, Norfolk
Craven, Henry, Wickham Hall, Bromley, Kent
Crawhall, William, Stagshaw Close, Hexham, Nor-
thumberland
Crawhall, Isaac, White House, Stanhope, Bishop-
Auckland, Durham
Crawter, Thomas, Cobham, Surrey
Crawter, Henry, 7, Southampton Buildings, Chancery-
lane
Crouch, John, Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Currie, James, Hillside, King's- Langley, Herts
Dickinson, Edmund Henry, Kingweston, Somersetshire
Dobree, Harry, President of the Agricultural Society,

Guernsey
Driver, Rolles, Southampton

Edgell, Richard Wyatt, Milton-place, Egham, Surrey
Edwards, Henry, Winchester
Elliott, Thos. Christopher, Southampton
Elliott, John, Chichester, Sussex
Ellis, Charles, Franklands, Burgess-Hill, Sussex
Elton, Sir Edward Marwood, Bart., Widworthy-

Court, Honiton, Devon
Farquharson, Henry James, Langton, Blandford, Dor-
set
Fowler, Michael, Little Bushy Farm, Stanmore, Mid-
dlesex
Gale, Rich. Christopher, Winchester
Garalen, Wm. Hornsey, Hayne House, Tiverton, Devon
Gater, George Henry, Westend, Southampton
Gawner, Francis, Coombe Wood, Kingston, Surrey
Gibson, Robert, Bagshot, Surrey
Girdlestone, Rev. H., Salisbury
Gough, Edward, Gravel-hill, Shrewsbury
Grey, Thomas Robinson, Norton, Stockton-on-Tees,

Durham
Halsey, Rev. J. F. Moore, Gaddesden-park, Hemel-

Hempsted, Herts
Harding, Stephen Toghill, Stinsford Farm, Dorchester,

Dorset
Harfield, Robert, Southampton

Harvey, William Francis, Purbrook Heath, Portsmouth
Henderson, Richard, Langley Ford, Wooler, Northum-
berland
Herring, T. B., Finchley, Middlesex
Hony, Rev. W. E., Baverstock Rectory, SaUsbury
Huddleston, Thomas, Stedcombe House, CoUiton,
Devon

Ingram, H. F. INIeyuell, Hodness, Rugeley, Staffs.

Kingsford, John, Esher, Surrey

Knight, John Harvey, High street, Southampton

Jacob, Jacob, St. Cross, Winchester

James, Charles, Stratford, Salisbury

Jenkins, John, Jun., Caerleon, Newport, Monmouthshire

Lankester, Joseph, Southampton

Lankester, William, Southampton

Lewis, Anthony Mist, Nether- Wallop, Andover

Lowson, Newby, Wilton-le-Wear, Bishop-Auckland,

Durham
Malmesbury, Earl of. Heron Court, Christchurch,

Hants
Marshall, John Latimers, Chesham, Bucks
Mellor, John, Little Aston, Lichfield, Staffordshire
Miles, John, Wexcombe, Great Bedwin, Wilts
Mitchell, John, 5, Hawley Road, Kentish Town
Mitford, Charles, Pittshill, Petworth, Sussex
]Morice, George, Eling, Southampton
Olivier, Col. H. S., INIanor House, PoUemc, Devices
Olliver, George, Kingston, Arundel, Sussex
Padwick, Wm. Fred., Manor House, Hayling, Hants
Page, James, Mertou, Surrey
Pain, George, Salisbuiy

Parsons, John, 5, Anglesey Place, Southampton
Phelps, John Bryant, Monkton, Dorchester, Dorset
Pilgrim, Charles II., Kingsfield, Southampton
Pilgrim, Charles, Kingsfield, Southampton
Piuhorn, Humphrey, Fordingbridge, Hants
I Pink, Rickard, Hambledon, Horndean, Hants
Pink, Charles, Hambledon, Horndean, Hants
Piatt, Henry, Pi-iestly Farm, Flitwick, Ampthill, Bed*
Price, Charles, M.D., Brighton
Prosser, George, Elvastou Farm, Harewood, Ross,

Herefordshire
Quicke, Rev. Andrew, Winchester
Raymond, Henry Archer, Harrow Weald House,

Harrow, Middlesex
Rayne, Robert, Flatt's Farm, Bishop- Auckland, Dur-
ham
Reed, Thomas, Warksworth Barns, Alnwick, Northum-
berland.
Richardson, William, Southampton
Robson, John, East Kielder, Hexham, Northumberland
Roud, Francis, Trebartha Hall, Launceston, Cornwall
Rowe, William North, Cove, Tiverton, Devon
Sainsbury, George Taylor, Devizes, Wilts
Seamark, Richard, Mount St. Alban's, Caerleon,

Monmouthshire
Sewell, Robt. Burleigh, Newport, Isle of Wight
Shuttleworth, George Edmund, Tottenham Green,

Middlesex
Stone, William, Stonebridge, Framfield, Cuckfield,

Sussex
Streeter, William, Sanderstead, Croydon, Surrey
Symons, Thomas, Coryton, Launceston, Coi'nwall
Tatham, Thos. James, 27, Bedford-place, Russell-square
Templemore, Lord, Dunroby Park, Co. Wexford, Ire-
land
Thompson, Thomas, St. Mary-street, Southampton
Tice, William, Sopley, Ringwoocl, Hants
Trudgen, Henry Hodge, Trevilley, Penzance, Cornwall
Vansittart, Captain Robert (Coldstream Guards), II,

Halkin-street West, Belgrave-square
Vivian, Lord, Glynn, Lostwithiel, Cornwall
Voss, William, West-Bunknowle, Corfe-castle, Dorset
Waddington, John Thomas (High Sheriff, Hants.),

Twyford Lodge, Winchester
Waddington, John II., Langrish, Petersfield, Hants
Williams, Herbert, Stinsford House, Dorchester, Dorset
Willis, Joseph, jun., Bunknowle, Corfe-Castle, Dorset
Winnington, Sir Thomas, Bart., Stanford Court, Wor-
cester

K

130

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

A LIST OF THE VARIOUS AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, MACHINES,
AND OTHER ARTICLES FOR FARM PURPOSES, MANURES, SEEDS,
ROOTS, &c., EXHIBITED AT THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY'S
SHOW, AT SOUTHAMPTON, JULY 23rd, 24th, and 2.5th, 1844.

Stand No. 1. — Mr. James Wilmot Newberry,
of Hook Norton, near Chipping Norton, Oxon.
Article No. 1, a four-rowed dibbling machine, in-
vented and improved by Saunder and Newberry, of
Hook Norton and Bloxham ; manufactured by the ex-
hibiter, and by Earl Ducie, at Uley, Gloucestershire.
This machine gained a 10/. prize at Liverpool, when in
the hands of the late Mr. Wedlake, of Hornchurch.

Stand No, 2. — Mr. Benjamin Edgington, of 2,
Duke-street, Southwark.
Article No. 1, a rick cloth, invented, improved and
manufactured by the exhibiter. 2, a marqxiee, invented,
improved and manufactured by the exhibiter. 3, a
round wall tent, invented, improved and manufactured
by the exhibiter. 4 , a bell tent, invented, improved and
manufactured by the exhibiter. 5, a waggon cloth, in-
Tented, improved and manufactured by the exhibiter.

Stand No. 3. — Mr, Thomas Bigg, of 15, Craw-
ford-street, Portman-square, London.
Article No. 1, a sheep dipping apparatus, invented
by the exhibiter, and manufactured by Robert Wade, of
113, Crawford-street, London. Price ^£"4 l.^s.

Stand No. 4, — Mr. John Gillett, of Brailes, near
Shipston-on-Stour,

Article No. 1, a patent rick ventilator, invented,
improved, and manufactured by the exhibiter. 2, a
model of the above (with box of hay for trying the im-
plement), invented, improved and manufactured by the
exhibiter. Price £S 3s.

Stand No. 5.— Mr, William Ford, of Lawn End,
South Lambeth, London.

Article No. i. (new implement), a drain tile and
pipe machine, invented, improved and manufactured by
the exhibiter.

It requires one man to fill the cylinder ; one man to
turn the wheel, or work the machine ; and three chil-
dren to take the pipes or tiles to dry. Making from
4,000 to 5,000 per day.— price ^13 13s.

No. 2. — (new implement), a machine for Hanging
pipe or pipe tile, invented and manufactured by the
exhibiter.

It makes a perfect flang or socket, so that one pipe
will fit into the other, without any variation in the bore
of the pipe, rendering the pipe peculiarly applicable for
the drainage of sandy or other loose soils, conveyance of
sprbg water, &c., and rendering the pipes dependant
upon each others, the conduit is perfect.— Price £1 10s.

Stand No. G. — Mr. Thomas Coombs, of Nether
Wallop, near Andover, Southampton.
.4.rticle No. 1, a universal corn and turnip drill, in-
vented by the exhibiter, and mamifactxired by Mr.
Henry Barnes, of Nether Wallop, Hants. 2, a drop
drill, on an entirely new principle in agriculture ; in-
vented by the exhibiter, and manufactured by Mr.
Henry Barnes, of Nether Wallop, Hants,

Stand No, 7.— Messrs. F, M'Neil and Co., of the
Patent Felt Works, Lamb's-buildings, Bunhill-
row, London.
Article No. 1, several rolls of improved patent as-

phalted felt for roofing, invented by T. R. Williams, im-
proved and manufactured by the exhibiters. 2, several
models, showing the manner in which the felt should be
applied.

Stand No. 8. — Messrs. Phillips, Hayward, and
Co., of Bristol.
Article No. 1, (new implement), a machine for reap-
ing, invented by Charles Phillips, of Bristol, and manu-
factured by the exhibiters. 2, (new implement), a tur-
nip-cutting machine, invented and improved by Charles
Phillips, of Bristol, and manufactured by the exhibiters.
3, (new implement), a turnip-cutting machine, invented
and improved by Charles Phillips, of Bristol, and
raaimfactured by the exhibiters. 4, turnip -cutting ma-
chine, invented and improved by Charles Phillips, of
Bristol, and manufactured by the exhibiters.

Stand No. 9. — Mr. James Comins, of South

Molton, Devon,
Article Ko. 1, a plough adapted to light land, in-
vented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibiter.
2, a plough adapted to light land, invented and manu-
factured by the exhibiter, 3, (new implement), a one-
way or turn-over plough, invented and manufactured by
the exhibiter, 4, (new implement), a subsoil plough,
invented and manufactured by the exhibiter.

Stand No. 10. — Mr. David Harkes, of Mere, near
Knutsford, Cheshire.
Article No. 1, a draining plough, invented, improved
and manufactured by the exhibiter. 2, a plough for
heavy land, manufactured by the exhibiter. 3, a lever
wheel plough for light land, invented and manufactured
by the exhibiter. 4, a parallel expanding horse hoe, in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiter. 5, (new
implement), a churn, invented by Mr. George Brown,
of Capesthom, and manufactured by the exhibiter.

Stand No. 11. — Mr. Abraham Tickers, of Man-
chester.

Article No. 1. — (new implement), a machine for cut-
ting hay or straw, and crushing oats at the same time,
invented and manufactured by the exhibiter.
This machine having an additional moving power, can

be worked by one man , and will cut thirty or forty biishels

of chaff per hour, and at the same time crash oats or

beans. — Price £9.

2, an improved chaff cutter, improved and manufactured
by the exhibiter.

The improvement consists in its requiring less power
to work it, having fewer wheels to raise the rollers;
being fitted on an iron frame, works steadier, and occu-
pies less room. — Price £-1.

3, an improved cheese press, invented and manufactured
by the exhibiter.

The rack in this press is made with a convex back,
and it is fitted with turned iron pillars and sockets, so
that it presses on all sides of the cheese equally ; with a
weight on the lever, which is self-actmg, it will give a
pressure of two tons, — Price £Z.
i, a self-acting churning apparatus, invented and mana«

factured by the exhibiter.— Price £i.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

131

5, an improved hay-making machine, invented and ma-
nufactured by the exhibiter.

This machine is so constructed, that the motion can
be reversed in a few minutes, and being all nearly made of
wrought-iron, not liable to be out of order. — Price i^l2.

Stand No. 12. — Mrs. Mary Cartmell, of 34,
London-road, Liverpool.

Article No. 1, a four-knife hay and straw cutter, for
hand or power, invented by Cartmell and Co., of Liver-
pool, improved and manufactured by the exhibiter. 2,
a [three-knife hay and straw cutter, invented by the late
William Cartmell, and manufactured by the exhibiter.
3, an oil-cake crusher, newly improved, and manufac-
tured by the exhibiter. 4, a grain bruiser, invented by
Cartmell and Co., manufactured by the exhibiter.
Received the Royal Agricultural Society's prize of
£i. at the Liverpool meeting at 1841. 5, a grain bruiser,
invented by Cartmell and Co., manufactured by the ex-
liibiter.

Stand No. 13. — Mr, Thomas Reeves, of Drox-
ford, near Fai-eham, Hants.
Article No. 1, (new implement), a thrashing machine,
improved and manufactured by the exhibiter.

Stand No, 14. — Messrs. Barrett, Exall, and
Andrews, of Reading.
Article No. 1. — a double furrow plough, invented and
manufactured by the exhibiters. 2, an universal plough,
invented and manufactured by the exhibiters. 3, an
improved subsoil plough, invented by W. Exall, of
Reading, and manufactured by the exhibiters. 4, an
earthing-up or potato plough, manufactured by the ex-
hibiters. 5, a Norfolk or two-wheel and swing ijlough,
invented and manufactured by the exhibiters. 6, two-
wheel plough, invented and manufactured by the ex-
hibiters. 7, a two-wheel plough, invented and manu-
factured by the exhibiters. 8, a two-wheel plough, in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiters. 9, a light
two-wheel plough, invented and manufactured by the
exhibiters. 10, a very light two-wheel plough, invented
and manufactured by the exhibiters. 11, a very strong
two -wheel iron plough, invented and manufactured by
the exhibiters. 12, a very strong one-wheel plough, in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiters. 13, a
strong one-wheel plough, invented and manufactured by
the exhibiters. 14, a strong one-wheel plough, invented and
manufactured by the exhibiters. 15, a one-wheel plough,
invented and manufactured by the exhibiters. 16, a very
light one -wheel plough, invented and manufactured by the
exhibiters, and improved by Mr. Henry J, Hannam, of
Burcott, near Wallingford. 17, a very light one-wheel
plough, invented and manufactured by the exhibiters,
and improved by Mr. Henry J. Hannam, of Burcott,
near Wallingford. 18, a strong iron one-wheel and
swuig plough, invented and manufactured by the ex-
hibiters. 19, a very strong swing plough, invented and
manufactured by the exhibiters. 20, a rather lighter
but strong swing plough, invented and manufactured by
the exhibiters. 21, a lighter swing plough, invented
and manufactured by the exhibiters. 22, a light swing
plough, invented and mamxfactured by the exhibiters.
23, a very light swing plough, invented and manufac-
tured by the exhibiters. 24, a strong iron swing
plough, manufactured by the exhibiters. 25, a one-
wheel D. P. plough, invented and manufactured by the
exhibiters. 26, an improved iron field roller, invented
and manufactured by the exhibiters. 27, an improved
iron field roller, mvented and manufactured by the ex-
hibiters. 28, an improved iron field roller, invented and
manufactured by the exhibiters. 29, a two-wheel land
presser, manufactured by the exhibiters. 30, a two.

wheel land presser, manufactured by the exhibiters. 31,
a cast iron hog trough, manufactured by the exhibiters,
32, cast iron horse water-trough, manufactured by the
exhibiters. 33, a double-handed Berkshire chaff cutter,
manufactured by the exhibiters. 34, (new implement),
a newly improved small chaff cutting machine, improved
by W. ExaJl, of Kates Grove L'on Works, and manu-
factured by the exhibiters. 35, (new implement), a
newly improved medium-sizedchaft' cutting machine, im-
proved by Wm, Exall, of Kates Grove Iron
Works, and manufactured by the exhibiters. 36, (new
implement), a large-sized hand-power chaff machine,
improved by Wm. Exall, of Kates Grove Iron Works,
and manufactured by the exhibiters. 37, (new imple-
ment), a full-sized hand-power chaff machine, improved
by Wm. Exall, of Kates Grove Iron Works, and ma-
nufactured by the exhibiters. 38, (new implement), an
improved triple lever scarifier, or cat's-claw drag, im-
proved by Wm. Exall, of Kates Grove Iron Works, and
manufactured by the exhibiters. 39, (new implement),
a pipe and general tile making machine, invented by Wm.
Exall, of Reading, and manufactured by the exhibiters. 40,
a gorse cutting and bruising machine, invented and manu-
factured by the exhibiters, and improved by Wm. Exall,
of Reading. 41, a com cleaner or blower, manufactured
by the exhibiters. 42, a machine for breaking oil cake,
improved and manufactured by the exhibiters. 43,
(new implement), a machine for breaking oil cake, in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiters. 44, a malt
and oat crusher, improved and manufactured by the ex-
hibiters. 45, post bean splitting miU, manufactured by
the exhibiters. 46, turnip and grass seed sowing machine,
invented by J. Bennett, of Famham, and manufactured
by the exhibiters. 47, three-rowed general one-horse
drill, invented by W. Chambers, of Reading, improved
and manufactured by tlie exhibiters. 48, (new imple-
ment), patent hand-thrashing machine, invented by Wm.
Exall, of Reading, and manufactured by the exhibiters.
49, (new implement), a one-horse power thrashing ma-
chine, invented by Wm. Exall, of Reading, and manu-
factured by the exhibiters. 50, (new implement), a two-
horse power thrashing machine, invented by Wm.
Exall, of Reading, and manufactured by the exhibiters.
51, (new implement), a four-horse power thrashing ma-
chine, invented by Wm. Exall, of Reading, and manu-
factured by the exhibiters. 52, a patent duplex com
mill, invented by Luke Hebert, of Dover, and
manufactured by the exhibiters. 53, an expanding
horse hoe, manufactured by the exhibiters. 54, (new
implement), a new drill plough, invented by Wm.
Exall, of Reading, and manufactured by the exlubiters.
55, a two-wheel swing plough, invented and manu-
factured by the exhibiters. 50, a two-wheel Berkshire
plough, invented and manufactured by the exhibiters.
57, a D. P. one-wheel plough, invented and manu-
factured by the exhibiters. 58, a two-wheel Berkshire
plough, invented and manufactured by the exhibiters.
59, a strong one-wheel plough, invented and manu-
factured by the exhibiters. 60, a registered expanding
harrow, invented by Wm. Exall, of Reading, and ma-
nufactured by the exhibiters. 61, a registered expand-
ing grass haiTow, invented by Wm. Exall, of Reading,
and manufactured by the exhibiters. 62, a potato or
furrowing-up plough, improved and mauufactmed by
the exhibiters. 63, a one-wheel half-share plough,
manufactured by the exhibiters. 64, boxes, baskets,
&c., containing parts of machinery, shares, wearing
parts of plough, tools, boards, &c.

Stand No. 15. — Mr. Peach Napier, of Mousehole
Foundry, Millbrook, near Southampton.
Article No. 1, a portable three-horse power thrash-
ing machine, improved and manufactured by the exhi-

K 2

182

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

biter. 2, a hand tlira*hiug machine, improved and ma-
nufactured by the exhibiter. 3, a corn crusher, ma-
nufactured by the exhibiter. 4, an oilcake crusher,
manufactured by the exhibiter. 5, an expanding horse
hoe and earthing plough, manufactured by the exhi-
biter.

Stand No. 16. — Mr. Freeman Roe, of the Strand,
London.
Article No. 1, a liquid manure pump, manufactured
by the exhibiter. 2, a force or lift pump, improved
and manufactured by the exhibiter. 3, a deep well
engine, improved and manufactured by the exhibiter.
4, a garden engine, improved and manufactured by the
exhibiter. 5, a fire pump, invented by William Beet-
son, of St. Luke's, London, improved and manufac-
tured by the exhibiter. 6, a water ram, invented by
Mongolfier, of France; improved by the late W. Row-
ley, of Howland-street, London, and manufactured by
the exhibiter. 7, an iron fountain bason, manufactured
by the exhibiter. 8, a boiler and hot water apparatus,
manufactured by the exhibiter. 9, a bath, manufac-
tured by the exhibiter. 10, a iilterer. 11, a garden
syringe, manufactuied bj' the exhibiter.

Stand No. 17. — ^Ir. William Smart, of Rainham,
near Sittingbourne, Kent.
Article No. 1, turnrest plough, improved by the ex-
hibiter, and manufactured by Joseph Simmons, of
Kainliam.

Stand No. 18. — !Mr. Thomas Teago, of Peasenhall,
near Yoxford, Suffolk.
Article No. 1, (new implement) a drill, with roll and
pressing coulters, invented and manufactured by the
exhibiter. 2, a set of new wedge draining tools, for
draining clay soils, invented and marmfactured by the
exhibiter. 3, a set of new bush draining tools, in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiter.

Stand No. 19. — Mr. John Bowers, of Westdean

House, near Chichester.
Article No. 1, a horse wheat and turnip hoe, invented

by the Rev. L. Vernon Harcourt, of Westdean House,

improved by the exhibiter, and manufactured by

John Pratt Smith, of Westdean.

The horse wheat and turnip hoe is worked by one
horse, and led by a boy, and a man to guide the in-
strument in the drilled wheat ; it will move the soil
from one to two-and-half inches deep, and will do
from two to three acres a day, according to the width,
the wheat is drilled fi-om six to nine inches apart in
the rows. By changing the wheat hoes, and placing
two hoes about seven inches wide, there is no doubt it
will answer the same purpose for hoeing the drilled
turnips. — Price £2 15s.

Stand No. 20. — Mr. John Bruce, of Tiddington,
near Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire.
Article No. 1, a patent subsoil plough, invented,
improved, and manufactured by the exhibiter, 2 (new
Implement), a patent scarifier, invented and manu-
factured by the exhibiter. 3 (new implement), a skim
plough, invented, improved, and manufactured by the
exhibiter.

Stand No. 21 . — Mr. Jos. Bayley Haines, of Win-
terton House, Hythe, Southampton.
Article No. 1 (new implement), a new horse-hoe,
pcarifier, broad- share, stubble -paring, or turfing in-
etruinent; invented by the exhibiter, and manufac-
tured by Joseph Seaman, of Dibden, Hants, wheel-
wright.

Stand No. 22.— Mr. Edward Hill, of Brierly HUl

Iron Works, near Dudley, Worcestershire.
Article No. 1, an iron two-wheel pulverizing plough,

with skim coulter, invented by William Mason (late

of V^^arwickshire), of Brierly Hill Iron Works, and

manufactured by the exhibiter.

It is constructed for strong clay lauds, and will work
with a team of horses or G. O. The draught is ex-
ceedingly light, and the mould moard is made to set
wider or narrower, as required. The pulverizing knives
attached to the mould board will be found particularly
useful for breaking up old pastures, strong soils, or
land that requires harrowing and bringing to a fine
tilth. Price £4 4s.

This plough obtained a prize of £10 at the Bristol
Meeting of the Society in 1842.

2, an iron two-wheel pulverizing plough, invented by
William Mason, of Brierly Hill Iron Works, and
manufactured by the exhibiter.

This plough has the same qualifications as No. 1, but
is constructed for a lighter soil. Price £4 4s.

3, an iron swing or G. O. plough, invented and manu-
factured by the exhibiter.

This plough is an exceedingly light-draughted im-
plement, turns a beautiful furrow, and is constructed
with remarkable simplicity. Price £3 lOs.

4, an iron double- furrow plough, invented and mauu«
factured by the exhibiter.

This plough has the same qualifications as article 3.

Price £6.

5 (new implement), an iron paring or skim plough, in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiter.
This implement is admirably adapted for paring

land at any required depth, or for skimming stubbles,

fcc, and will be found exceedingly useful for many

other purposes. Price £3 10s.

6, an iron skim, invented by Mr. J. A. Stokes, of Har-

vington, near Evesham; improved and manufactured

by the exhibiter.

It is admirably adapted for skimming stubbles after
harvest, and will work from one to eight inches deep.
It will work four acres per day, and is used by many
farmers for working fallows in preference to the plough.
The improvement consists in a simple arrangement at
the front part, so that the implement raises itself out
of the ground, and sets in again at the turnings. Price
£4 4s.

This implement was'exhibited at the Society's Meet-
ing at Derby, July, 1843, and received a prize of £3.

7 (new implement), an iron cultivator or skim, in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiter.

This implement has the same qualifications as No.
6, and may also be used as a cultivator. Price £6.

8 (new implement), an iron scarifier, invented and ma-
nufactured by the exhibiter.

This implement consists of a strong wrought-irou
frame, supported by three wheels. It has three sets
of feet, or teeth, so that it may be used as a cultiva-
tor, or scarifier, or for harrowing-in grain. Price £10
10s.
9, an expanding horse hoe, invented and manufactured

by the exhibiter.

A simple and eflective instrument for hoeing tur-
nips or potatoes. Price £3 3s.

10 (new implement), a set of wrought iron harrows, in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiter.
These harrows are in four parts, each of which parts

will work independent of the other, for one, two, three,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

133

or four horses. They are so constructed as not to leave
a particle of soil unmoved. Price £5 Ss.
11, a wrought iron barley roll, invented and manufac-
tured by the exhibiter.

This roll, which is 7 feet long by 2 feet diameter, is
made in two parts. It is admirably adapted for light
soils, and is exceedingly light draughted. It is made
of wrought iron, and is not so liable to clog' as wood,
or to break as cast iron ones. Tlie shafts are wood. —
Price £8.

13 (new implement), a portable iron sheep feeder, with
trough and rack, invented and manufactured by the
exhibiter. Price £2 2s.

13, an iron sheep rack, invented and manufactured by
the exhibiter.

It has a roof with spouting to protect the hay, &c.,
and a trough at the bottom for oilcake or salt, &c. It
stands upon four wheels, so that it may be easily drawn
from one field to another. Price £6 10s.

This article was exhibited at the Society's Meeting
at Derby, July, 1843, and was awarded a silver medal.

14, a wrought iron cow crib, invented and manufac-
tured by the exhibiter.

It has an iron roof, and the place for hay, &c., is also

made with sheet iron, so that turnips, &c., can be

placed in if necessary. Price £4 4s.
This article was exhibited at the Society's Meeting

at Derby, July, 1843, and was awarded a silver medal.

15 (new implement), an iron hurdle, for folding sheep
on turnips; invented and manufactured by the exhi-
biter. Price 3s. 6d.

10, three sheep-folding hurdles, invented and manu-
factured by the exhibiter. Prices : No. 1, 3s. Gd.;
No. 2, 3s. 9d. ; No. 3, 4s.

17, three sheep hurdles for fencing, invented and ma-
nufactured by the exhibiter. Prices : No. 1, 3s. 3d. j
No. 2, 3s. 6d. ; No. 3, 4s.

18, three cattle hurdles for fencing, manufactured by
the exhibiter. Prices: No. 1, 4s. 2d.; No. 2, 4s.
Od.; No. 3, 4s. 9d.

19, three ox hurdles, for fences, manufactured by the
exhibiter. Prices: No. 1, 5s. 6d.; No. 2, 5s. 9d. ;
No. 3, 63.

20, three new descriptions of running sheep fences, ma-
nufactured by the exhibiter. Prices, per yard ; No.
1,1s. 9d.; No. 2, 2s.; No. 3, 2s. 2d.

21, three new descriptions of running cattle fences,
manufactured by the exhibiter. Prices, per yard :
No. 1,2s. 3d.; No. 2, 2s. 5d. : No, 3, 2s. 7d.

22, three new descriptions of ox fences (running), ma-
nufactured by the exhibiter. Prices, per yard : No.
1, 2s. 9d. ; No. 2, 3s. ; No. 3, 3s. 3d.

23, three new descriptions of running deer fences, ma-
nufactured by the exhibiter. Prices, per yard : No.
1, 3s. 9d. ; No. 2, 4s.; No. 3, 4s. 6d.

24, three descriptions of rabbit-proof fences, manufac-
tured by the exhibiter. Prices, per yard: No. 1, 2s.
9d. ; No. 2,33.; No. 3, 3s, 6d.

25, three descriptions of strained wire fences, manufac-
tured by the exhibiter. Price, from 6d, to 23. 6d.
per yard,

26, three descriptions of iron tree guards, manufac-
tured by the exhibiter. Prices: No. 1, 10s.; No,
2,15s.; No. 3, L5s,

27, a wrought iron farmer's field gate and posts, in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiter. Price
£1 12s.

This gate was exhibited at the Society's Meeting at
Derby, in July, 1843, and was awarded a silver medal,

28, a strong wrought iron field gate, manufactured by
the exhibiter. Price £1 6s.

Stand No. 23. — Messrs. Jas. Ward and Wm. Col-
bourne, of Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire.
Article No. 1 (iiew implement), a guillotine chaff

machine, invented and manufactured by the exhibiters.

2 (new article), a self-adjusting ventilator, invented by

James Ward, and manufactured by the exhibiters.

Stand No. 24. — Mr. Thomas Jenner, of Cowdoay

Park, Eastbourne, near Petworth, Sussex,
Article No. 1, a tickle plough, with additions, in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiter.
Improvements added by the inventor, — A double
plough, abroad share,and skim-coulter — best adapted
for light soils. Advantages of the additions.— The dou-
ble plough is unparalleled by any yet invented for pre-
paring stubbles and layers for beans, peas, turnips, &c.
It also destroys couch in the ground without extract-
ing it, performing this operation with great adrantasfe
and little expense, placing the head or crown at the
bottom ; thus causing decomposition with the stubble,
and forming nutriment for the succeeding crop of corn
or turnips. As a pulverizer nothing can surpass the
above instrument; by its cutting the furrow in two,
much less labour is required than that performed by a
common plough, and a season is thus more readily pre-
pared for barley and turnips, a consideration of the
greatest importance to the farmer in dry weather.
Price £5 10s.

2 (new implement), a drag rake for hay and corn, in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiter.
This rake possesses very great advantages over ita
predecessors, surpassing any yet invented ; it draws
light, and with it a person may do the same quantity
of work in less time, and with much less labour than
those in common use. It possesses an additional ad-
vantage in facility for emptying. Price lOs.

Stand No. 25. — Mr. John Twist, of Bridgeto^vn,
near Stratford-on-Avon, Warmckshire.
Article No. 1 (new implement), a cultivator, or skim
plough, for paring stubbles, &c., &.c. ; invented and
manufactured by the exhibiter. 2 (new implement), a
surface and subsoil plough, invented and manufactured
by the exhibiter.

Stand No, 26. — Mr. Wm. Cambridge, of Market
Lavington, near Devizes, Wilts.
Article No. 1 (new implement), a six horse portable
steam engine, on four wheels, with shafts complete for
travelling; invented and manufactured by the exhibi-
ter. 2 (new implement), a portable flour mill and
dressing apparatus, invented and manufactured by the
exhibiter. 3, a thrashing part, commonly called bolt-
ing or batting machine; improved and manufactured
by the exhibiter. 4 (new implement), a three and a
half horse- power portable steam engine, with shafts
complete for travelling; invented and manufactured
by the exhibiter. 5, a thrashing machine (patent), in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiter, 6 (new
implement), a patent four-horse portable thrashing-
machine; invented and manufactured by the exhibi-
ter, 7 (new implement), a patent hand thrashing ma-
chine, invented and manufactured by the exhibiter, 8
(new implement), a patent double acting chaff cutter,
invented and manufactured by the exhibiter. 9 (new
implement), a patent wheel roller or clod crusher, in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiter. 10, a chaff
cutter, improved and manufactured by the exhibiter,
11, a set of iron drags, invented, improved, and manu-
factured by the exhibiter. 12, a set of harrows, in-
vented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibiter.

134

THE FABMER'S MAGAZINE.

13, a field roller, manufactured by the exhibiter. 14, a
three wheel land presser, manufactured by the. exhibi-
ter. 16, a seed machine, manufactured by the exhibi-
ter. 16, a broad cast or seeding machine, manufactured
by the exhibiter. 17, an oilcake crushing machine,
manufactured by the exhibiter. 18, a nine furrow corn,
seed, and manure drill, improved and manufactured by
the exhibiter. 19, a twelve coulter corn, seed, and
manure drill. 20, a winnowing machine, invented by
Mr. Couch, of Harleston, Northampton, and improved
and manufactured by the exhibiter. 21, a winnowing
machine, manufactured by the exhibiter. 22, two
wheel plough, improved and manufactured by the
exhibiter. 23, a one wheel plough, improved and ma-
nufactured by the exhibiter. 24 (new implement), a
seven share scarifier, invented and manufactured by the
exhibiter. 25 (new implement), a nine share scarifier,
invented and manufactured by the exhibiter.

Stand No. 27. — Mr. Benjamin Coombs Porter, of
Beaminster, Dorsetshire.

Article No. 1 (a partly new implement), a furze or
gorze cutting and bruising machine, invented and ma-
nufactured by the exhibiter. 2, a portable three-horse
thrashing machine, improved and manufactured by the
exhibiter. 3, an iron skim coulter plough, invented
and manufactured by the exhibiter. 4, an iron skim
coulter plough, two wheels, invented and manufac-
tured by the exhibiter. 5, a drill for corn, seeds, and
manure, manufactured by the exhibiter.
Stand No. 28. — Mr. William Bigg, of Banbuiy,
Oxfordshire.

Article No. 1 (new implement), a machine for
dipping sheep, invented and manufactured by the ex
bibiter.

Stand No. 29. — Mr. John Wright, of Ongar, Es-
sex.

Article No. 1, a stack preserver, invented, improved,
and manufactured by the exhibiter.
Stand No. 30.— The Hon. P. J. Locke King, Wo
burn Park, Ham Court, Chertsey, Surrey.

Article No. 1, a plough, invented by William Mason,
of Brierly Hill, Improved by Messrs. Browne and
Stokes, of Warwick and Gloucestershire, and manu
factured by Hill and Mason, of Brierly Hill, near Dud-
ley. This plough gained a prize of £10 at the Bristol
Meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society. 2 (new
implement), a plough, best adapted to heavy land,
invented by John Stokes, of Ham Court, Chertsey,
and manufactured by Isaac Blackburn, of the Mi-
nories, London, 3, a scarifier, improved and ma-
nufactured by John Stokes. 4, a chafi^ cutter, in
vented and manufactured by Powell, of Evesham, Wor
cestershire. 5, a sheep trough, invented and manu
factured by John Stokes, of Ham Court. 6 (new im
plement), a set of hoes, for hoeing wheat. 7, a
timber truck, invented and manufactured by the ex-
hibiter.

Stand No. 31. — Mr. Edmund Moody, jim., of
Maiden Bradley, near Mere, Wilts.

Article No. 1, a chafl^" cutter, improved and manu-
factured by the exhibiter. 2, a chaff cutter, improved
and manufactured by the exhibiter. 3 (new imple-
ment), a chaff cutter, invented and manufactured by
the exhibiter. 4, a root grater, invented by Edmund
Moody, sen., and manufactured by the exhibiter.

Stand No. 32. — Mr. William Henry Yingo, of
Penzance, Cornwall.
Article No. 1 (new implement), a seed depositing or
planting machine, invented and manufactured by the
exhibiter.

Stand No. 33. — Mr. James Woodbourne, Kings-
ley, near Alton, Hampshire.
Article No. 1, a ten coulter drill, for general pur-
poses, invented and manufactured by the exhibiter. 2,
a two horse power thrashing machine, invented and
manufactured by the exhibiter. 3, a seven row frame
drill, for general purposes, invented and manufactured
by the exhibiter. 4, a light land scarifier and horse
hoe combined, invented and manufactured by the ex-
hibiter. 5, an improved winnowing machine and
blower combined, invented and manufactured by the
exhibiter.

Stand No. 34. — Mr. Hugh Carson, of War-
minster, Wiltshire.
Article No. 1, a scarifier, invented and manufac-
tured by the exhibiter. 2, (new implement) a sub-
pulverizer, invented and manufactured by the exhibi-
ter. This plough obtained a premium of £10 at the
Royal Agricultural Society of England's meeting at
Derby, 1843. 3, (new implement) a scarifier, sub-
pulverizer, and sub-drainer united, invented and manu-
factured by the exhibiter. 4, a one-horse turnip-seed
and manure-drill, improved and manufactured by the
exhibiter. 5, a chaff cutter, improved and manufac-
tured by the exhibiter. 6, a chaff machine without
lifting mouth, improved and manufactured by the ex-
hibiter. 7, a four-knife chaft' machine, improved and
manufactured by the exhibiter. 8, a double lever and
screw cheese press, improved and manufactured by
the exhibiter. 9, a single cheese press, improved and
manufactured by the exhibiter. 10, a double cheese
press, with single lever, and rack and pinion, invented
and manufactured by the exhibiter. 11, a single
cheese press, with single lever, and rack and pinion,
invented and manufactured by the exhibiter. 12, a
wrought iron swing plough, improved and manufac-
tured by the exhibiter. 13, a wrought iron one-wheel
plough, improved and manufactured by the exhibiter.
14, a one-wheel plough, invented and manufactured by
the exhibiter. 15, a one-wheel plough, improved and
manufactured by the exhibiter. 16, a light double fur-
row plough for drilling, invented and manufactured
by the exhibiter. 17, a double furrow plough and
horse hoe, improved and manufactured by the ex-
hibiter. 17, a pair of rhomboidal harrows, improved
and manufactured by the exhibiter.

St.\nd No. 35. — Mr. John Henry Charnock, of
Wakefield, Yorkshire.
Article No. 1, a hand machine for making drain-
ing tiles and pipes, invented by the exhibiter, and
manufactured by Messrs. Bradley and Craven, of
Wakefield. 2, a machine for making bricks, invented
by the exhibiter, and manufactured by Messrs. Brad-
ley and Craven, of Wakefield.

Stand No. 36. — Mr. J. Bailey Denton, of Gray's
Inn, London, and Southampton.
Article No. 1, a map in relief of an estate with in-
struments ; invented, surveyed, and modelled by the
exhibiter. 2, (new implement) a workman's level for
draining, sewering, and all works requiring regularity
of fall ; invented by the exhibiter ; made under the
superintendance of Wm. Roberts, land surveyor, 8,
Edward-street, Hampstead-road, London. 3, (new
machine) a drain-tile and pipe machine ; invented
and and patented by the exhibiter, and manufactured
by Edward P. Smith, Engineer, of Southampton.

Stand No, 37. — Mr. Charles Clark, of Romsey,
Hants,
Article, No. 1, a one wheel plough, invented, im-
proved, and manufactured by the exhibiter. 2, (nevf

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

135

implement) a one-wheel plough, invented and manu-
factured by the exhibiter. 3, (new implement) a one-
wheel plough, invented and manufactured by the ex-
hibiter.

Stand No. 38. — Mr. Richard Edmunds, of Ban-
bury, Oxon.
Article No. 1, an improved chafF machine, improved
and manufactured by tlie exhibiter. 2, (new imple-
ment) a patent land presser and drill, with manure
box, invented by R. Edmunds, of Banbury, and T.
Huckvalc, of Chipping-Norlon ; improved and manu-
factured by the exhibiter. 3, a patent rick ventilator,
invented by John Gillett, of Brailes, and manufactured
by R. Edmunds and Sons.

Stand No. 39. — Mr. James Gardiner, of Banbury,
Oxfordshire.
Article No. 1, a patent turnip cutter. Invented and
manufactured by the exhibiter. 2, (new implement)
a patent chaff machine, invented and manufactured by
the exhibiter.

Stand No. 40. — Mr. John Howard, of Bedford.
Article No. 1, a patent iron plough, with wheels
marked J. A. 17 ; invented by William Armstrong, of
Hawnes, and James Howard, of Bedford, and manu-
factured by the exhibiter. 2, a patent iron plough,
with wheels, marked J. A. 31 ; invented by William
Armstrong, of Hawnes, and James Howard, of Bed-
ford, and manufactured by the exhibiter. 3, a patent
iron plough, with wheels, marked J. A. 32; invented
by William Armstrong, of Hawnes, and James
Howard, of Bedford, and manufactured by the
exhibiter. 4, a patent iron plough, marked
J. A. 31 ; invented by William Armstrong, of Hawnes,
and James Howard, of Bedford, and manufac-
tured by the exhibiter. o, a patent iron plough
marked J. A. ; invented by William Armstrong, of
Hawnes, and James Howard, of Bedford, and manu-
factured by the exhibiter. G, a patent iron
swing plough, marked J. A.; invented by AVilHam
Armstrong, of Hawnes, and James Howard, of Bed-
ford, and manufactured by the exhibiter. 7, a patent
iron plough, with wheels, marked J. H. ; invented by
William Armstrong, of Hawnes, and James Howard,
of Bedford, and manufactured by the exhibiter. 8, a
patent plough, with wheels, marked J. E. ; invented
by William Armstrong, of Hawnes, and James Howard,
of Bedford, and manufactured by the exhibiter. 9, a
patent plough, with a sliding foot, marked H. F. ; in-
vented by William Armstrong, of Hawnes, and James
Howard, of Bedford, and manufactured by the exhi-
biter. 10, a patent plough, with two wheels, marked
H. W. ; invented by James Howard, of Bedford, and
manufactured by the exhibiter. 11, a set of patent
four-beam iron harrows, invented by William Arm-
strong, of Hawnes, and manufactured by the exhibiter.
12, a set of patent four-beam iron harrows, invented
by William Armstrong, of Hawnes, and manufactured
by the exhibiter. 13, a set of patent four-beam
harrows, invented by William Armstrong, of Hawnes,
and manufactured by the exhibiter. 14, a set of
patent four-beam iron harrows, iuventcd by William
Armstrong, of Hawnes, and manufactured by the
exhibiter. 15, a set of patent iron harrows, invented
by William Armstrong, of Hawnes, and manufactured
by the exhibiter. 16, a set of patent iron harrows, in-
vented by William A rmstrong, of Hawnes,and manufac-
tured by theexhibiter. 17, a pair ofpatent drag harrows,
invented by William Armstrong, of Hawnes, and ma-
nufactured by the exhibiter. 18, a cultivator or
scarifier, invented by James Howard, of Bedford, and
manufactured by the exhibiter. 19, a horse hoe, in-

vented by James Howard, of Bedford, and manufac-
tured by theexhibiter. 20, an assortment of plough
metal, &c. ;

Stand No. 4 1.— Mr. Frederick W. Etheredge, of
11, Furnivals' Inn, London.
Article No. 1, (new implement) a tile machine, in-
vented by the exhibiter, and manufactured by
Messrs. Ransomc, of Ipswich, Suffolk. 2, Cnew im-
plement^ a tile machine invented by theexhibiter, and
manufactured by Messrs. Ransome, of Ipswich, Suffolk.
3, ("new implement^ a tile and brick machine, invented
by the exhibiter, and manufactured by Messrs. Ran-
some, of Ipswich, Suffolk. 4 (new implement), a tile
machine, invented by the exhibiter, and manufactured
by Messrs. Ransome, of Ipswich, Suffolk. 5 (new
implement), a brick machine, invented by George
Trecn, of Ashford, Kent, improved and manufactured
by Samuel John Knight, of Maidstone.

Stand No. 42. — Mr. Andrew W. Gower, of Hook,

Hartfordbridge, Hampshire.
Article No. 1, a new, corn, seed, and manure drill for

general purposes ; invented partly by the late Mr.

Smyth, of Peasenhall, Suffolk, and partly by A.

W. Gower; manufactured by theexhibiter.

This drill has fourteen rows for corn and manure ;
seven extra rows of very large levers, coulters, and
pipes to drill in manure with turnip seed ; hinder ap-
paratus to conduct the seed in rows behind upon the
top of the manure ; au extra seed-box to put in the
place of the corn-box made upon a small scale, that
the manure-box may hold more manure when drilling
turnips. There are three dividing boxes, one for four-
teen rows, one for seven rows, and one for six rows.
This drill has two stirrers for the manure, to be used
when required. — Price £50.

2. A new manure and seed drill, invented and manu-
factured by the exhibiter.

This drill has seven rows for manure and turnips ;
three dividing boxes ; five, six, and seven rows, to
drill at different widths ; binder apparatus for seeds,
to drill the seeds behind upon the top of the manure;
two stirrers for the manure, when required. --Price £34.

3. A new seveuteen-rowed corn drill, invented by the
late Mr. Smyth, of Peasenhall, Suffolk; improved
and manufactured by the exhibiter.

This drill is made with the rows close together; not
more than 4 or 4j inches from centre to centre of each
coulter, which has been much called for lately for
barley drilling. Some of the rows can be taken out,
and the others divided to regular widths, that any
width rows may be drilled with it. It has all the
recent improvements for drilling in the best style.
Stand No. 43. — Mr. James Kirkwood, of Tranent,
East Lothian.

Article, No. 1, a swing plough for heavy land, in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiter. 2 (new
implement), a swing plough for light land, invented
and manufactured by the exhibiter. 3 (new implement),
a skeleton plough, invented and manufactured by the
exhibiter. 4 (new implement), a scarifier, invented by
Mr. Jas. Turnbull, of Ilowdon, East Lothian, and manu-
factured by the exhibiter. 5, a scarifier or grubber, in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiter. 6, a scarifier
or grubber, invented and manufactured by theexhibiter.
7, a pair of seed-harrows, invented and manufactured by
theexhibiter. 8, a drill grubber and furrowing-up body,
invented and manufactured by the exhibiter. 9 (new
implement), a machine for raking and cleaning gravel
walks, invented and manufactured by the exhibiter.
10, a pairing plough and harrow attached, invented
and manufactured by the cxliibiter.

130

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Stand No. 44. — Mr. Samuel John Knight, of
Maidstone, Kent.
Article No. 1, a working model (one-eiglith full
size) of S. J. Knight's new patent hop and malt kiln,
Invented and manufactured by the cxhibiter. 2, a
patent hand thrashing-machine, invented by Joseph
Barling, of Maidstone, Kent, and manufactured by the
exhibiter. Tliis machine obtained a £5 prize at the
Boyal Agricultural Society's show at Bristol. — Price
£24.

Stand Xo. 45. — Mr. Joel Mansfield, of Sherborne,
Dorsetshire.
Article No. 1 , a winnowing machine, improved and
manufactured by the exhibiter. 2, a winnowing ma-
chine, improved and manufactured by the exhibiter.
3, a winnowing machine, improved and manufactured
by the exhibiter. 5, a barley hummeller, improved
and manufactured by the exhibiter.

St.^nd No. 46. — Mr. Zach. Parkes, of Birmingham.
Article No. 1 (new implement), a steel band flour mill,

which grinds and dresses at one operation, invented

by the exhibiter, and manufactured by Messrs. Z.

and E. Parkes, Birmingham.

A steel-toothed cutter, approximating in shape to
the frustum of a cone, working inside of a similarly
toothed box or case, which conforms, with little devia-
tion, to the sliape of the cutter. The dressing appa-
ratus is placed beneath the mill, with which it is con-
neeted by means of a gut band passing over the fly-
wheel to a inilley on the shaft of the dressing machine :
more durable and less liable to get out of order than
any other hand-mill, and, what is of more importance
for the public, much simpler in its construction and
management. — Price £10 lOs.
Article No. 2. A portable bean-splitting mill, on a

cast-iron frame, invented by the laie Zachariah

Parkes, of Birmingham, improved by the exhibiter.

and manufactured by Messrs. Z. and R. Parkes,

of Birmingham

A steel tooth roller, or cylinder, working against a
toothed plate. It is usually fixed upon a stationary
post, but now adapted to be moved from place to
place, being fixed upon a cast iron frame. It works
with great ease and despatch, and is very simple and
durable. — Price £3. Ss.

Stand No. 47. — Mr. G. Parsons, of West Lam-
brook, South Petherton, Somersetshire.

Article, No 1, a stack cover, to supersede thatching, in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiter.
This article gained a medal at the Derby meeting of

the Royal Agricultural Society of England.— Price £8.

2, a stack cover, of a different shape from the
above, invented and manufactured by the exhibiter.
Pride £12.

Stand No. 48.— Mr. Richard Hornsby, of Spit-
tlegate, Grantham, Lincolnshire,
Articles No. 1, a one-row ridge drill, invented,
improved, and manufactured by the exhibiter. 2, a
two-row ridge drill upon rollers, invented, improved,
and manufactured by the exhibiter, 3, a two-row
ridge turnip drill invented by Mr. Cartwright, im-
proved and manufactured by the exhibiter, 4, a one-
row ridge drop drill, invented, improved, and manu-
factured by the exhibiter, 5, a twelve-coulter corn and
seed drill, witli iron lever and two barrels, invented
improved, and manufactured by the exhibiter. 6, a
twelve-coulter drill machine, for corn and general
purposes; invented, improved, and manufactured by
the exhibiter. 7, a ten-coulter drill m&chine, for corn

and general purposes ; invented by Mr, Cartwright, im-
proved and manufactured by the exhibiter. 8, a cart
with drill attached, invented, improved, and manu-
factured by the exhibiter. 9, a two-row drill presser,
invented, improved, and manirfactured by the exhibiter

10, an expanding horse hoe, invented, improved, and
manufactured by the exhibiter. 11, a corn dressing
machine, invented, improved, and manufactured by
the exhibiter, 12, a cake crusher, invented, improved,
and manufactured by the exhibiter.

Stand No. 49.— The Hon M. W. B. Nugent, of
Higham Grange, near Hinckley, Leicestershire.
Article No, 1, a two-horse three-wheel plough, in-
vented by Edward Brayton, of Dykesfield, improved
and manufactured by Thomas West, of Higham-on-
the-Hill, Leicestershire. 2, a two-row turnip and
manure drill, invented by Thomas West, of Iligham-
on-the-Hill, improved by the exhibiter, and manufac-
tured by Thomas West. 3, a one-row turnip and ma-
nure drop and ridge drill, invented by Thomas West,
of Higham-on-the-Hill, improved by the exhibiter, and
manufactured by Thomas West, 4 (new implement^,
a two-row turnip and manure drop and ridge drill, in-
vented, improved and manufactured by Thomas West,
of Higham-on-the-IIill, Leicestershire,

Stand No. 50. — Messrs, James and Edward
Plenty, of Newbury.
Article No, 1 , (new implement), a four-horse thrash-
ing machine, portable, invented and manufactured by
the exhibiters. 2, a parallel feeder, or inside work to
machine No, 1, improved and manufactured by the ex-
hibiters. 3, a three-horse power thrashing-machine,
invented and manufactured by the exhibiters, 4, a
hand thrashing-machine, invented and manufactured
by the exhibiters, 5, a winnowing machine, improved
and manufactured by the exhibiters, G (new imple-
ment), a plough, with turnip-drill attached, invented
and manufactured by the exhibiters, 7 (new imple-
ment), a chaff-sifter, invented and manufactured by
the exhibiters, 8, an o d Hampshire plough, invented
by the late W, Plenty, of Newbury (for which a patent
was grantfd in the year 1800), improved and manufac-
tured by the exhibiters. 9, a plough, invented and
manufactured by the exhibiters. 10, a one-wheel
plough, invented and manufactured by the exhibiters.

1 1, a swing plough, invented and manufactured by the
exhibiters.

Stand No 51. — Mr. W. Coleman Selby, of Lew-
isham, Kent.
Article No. 1 (new implement), a scarifying horse
hoe, invented by the exhibiter, and manufactured by
Thomas Hockley, of Lewisham, Kent.

Stand No. 52. — Messrs. Sharp and Fluder, timber
merchants, of Romsey, Southampton.
Article No, 1, a specimen of wood pavement, for
floors of barns, stables, and general farm buildings;
invented by Count de Lisle, of London, and manu-
factured by the exhibiters.

Stand No, 53. — Mr. John Caborn, of Denton,
Grantham, Lincolnshire.
Article No, 1, a land presser, invented and manu-
factured by the exhibiter.

Stand No. 54. — Mr. Joshua Cooch, of Harleston,
near Northampton,
Article No, 1, a corn dressing or winnowing ma-
chine, invented, improved, and manufactured by the
exhibiter. 2, a small model of the above winnowing
I machine, manufactured by the exhibiter, S, a newly

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

137

invented barley hummeller, invented, improved, and j
manufactured by the exhibiter.
Stand Xo. 55. — Messrs. Sims and Brown, of
ToUard Royal, Dorsetshire.
Article No. 1, a four-horse waggon, with double
shafts, six-inch wheels, and patent axles and oil-boxes ;
invented and manufactured by the exhibiters. 2, a
three-horse waggon, with iron naves to the wheels and
oil-boxes; invented and manufactured by the exhibi-
ters. 3, a two-horse waggon, with iron naves to the
wheels, and oil-boxes and double shafts ; invented and
manufactured by the exhibiters. 4, a two-horse
waggon, with single shafts; invented and manufac-
tured by the exhibiters. 5, a Scotch eart, with iron
naves to the wheels, and iron bottom ; invented and
manufactured by the exhibiters. 6, a manure cart,
with iron naves to the wheels, and iron bottom ; in-
vented and manufactured by tlie exhibiters. 7, a scari-
fier, with steel shares nine inches broad ; invented and
manufactured by the exhibiters. 8, a scarifier, invented
by Bidden, and improved by Ransoms. 9, a hay-
making machine ; invented and manufactured by the
exhibiters. 10, a thrashing machine, of four-horse
power, portable; invented and manufactured by the
exhibiters, 11, a one-horse hoe, steel knifes ; inven-
ted by R. Garrett, and manufactured by the exhibiters.
12, a set of wood harrows, manufactured by the exhi-
biters, 13, a set of iron harrows, manufactured by the
exhibiters. 14, a cast iron field roller, or clod crusher ;
invented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibi-
ters, 15, a subsoil plough, manufactured by the ex-
hibiters. 16, a turnrest plough, manufactured by the
exhibiters. 17, a universal ridge plough, manufactured
by the exhibiters. 18, a Rutland plough, manufac-
tured by the exhibiters. 19, a swing plough, marked
No. 8, steel breast ; manufactured by the exhibiters.
20, a jjlough, fitted with two wheels, marked No. 11,
steel breast ; manufactured by the exhibiters. 21, a
plough, fitted with two wheels, marked No, 11, steel
breast ; manufactured by the exiiibiters. 22, a ]>Iough,
fitted with one wheel and steel breast, marked No. 12 ;
manufactured by the exhibiters. 23, a ploush, fitted
up with one wheel and steel breast, marked No. 5; ma-
nufactured by the exhibiters. 24, a plough, fitted with
one wheel and steel breast, marked No. 10 ; manufac-
tured by the exhibiters. 25, a plough, fitted with one
wheel, steel breast, and screen coulter, marked No. 8 ;
manufactured by the exhibiters. 26, a plough, fitted
with two wheels, steel breast, and screen coulter,
marked T. B. ; manufactured by the exhibiters. 27,
a plough, fitted with two wheels and steel shares, for
hoeing; manufactured by the exhibiters. 28, a plough,
fitted with two wheels, steel shares, and shafts, for
hoeing; manufactured by the exhibiters. 29, an iron
plough, trussed beam, and steel breast, marked Y. D, ;
invented by Ransome, and manufactured by the exhi-
biters. 30, an iron trussed beam plough, fitted with two
wheels, steel breast, and screen coulter, marked Y.D, ;
invented by Ransome, and manufactured by the exhi-
biters. 31, an iron trussed beam plough, fitted with
two wheels and steel breast, marked Y, D. ; invented
and manufactured by the exhibiters. 32, an iron
trussed beam swing jjlough, and steel breast, marked
Y,D.; invented by Ransome, and manufactured by
the exhibiters.

Stand No. 5G.— Mr, James Smith, of 27, South-
gate-street, Gloucester,
Article No, 1 (new implement), a machine for
making draining tiles and pipes for agricultural pur-
poses ; invented by Jarnes Henry Eglington, of Glou-
cester, and manufactured by the exhibiter, 2 (new
implement), a two-horse power thrashing machine, in-

vented and manufactured by the exhibiter. 3, a chaff
cutter, large size for horse or hand labour ; invented
and manufactured by the exhibiter, and improved
since the last Derby meeting, 4, a chaff cutter, small
size; invented and manufactured by the exhibiter. 6
(new implement), a chafi'cutter and corn crusher com-
bined, invented and manufactured by the exhibiter. 0,
a double cheese press, invented, improved, and manu-
factured by the exhibiter. 7, a corn crusher, invented
and manufactured by the exliibiter. 8, a bean and oat
splitter, invented and manufactured by tlie exhibitor.
9 (new implement), a broad shares for paring stubbles,
invented and manufactured by the exhibiter. 10, a
stand of models.

Stand No. 57. — Mr. William Tasker and George
Fowle, of Waterloo Iron Works, Andover,
Hants.
Article No, 1 (new implement), a strong two-wheel
plough, invented and manufactured by the exhi-
biters.

The new D plough, adapted to heavy land. The
frame and land of this plough are made flush with the
beam, carrying the eye in a direct line with the point
of the share. It has a skim coulter, with shifting
cast points, which may be entirely removed when not
wanted. Price £3 1 4s,

2 (new implement), an iron plough, invented and
manufactured by the exhibiters.
The new D 2 plough. This plough is made entirely

of iron, and is suitable for light or heavy ploughing,
and may be used as a one-wheel or swing plough.
Price £5,

3 (new implement), a one-wheel or swing plough, in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiters.
The new D 3 plough. This plough may be used

as a one-wheel or swing plough, and is made upon the
principle of the D plough (article No. 1), viz. : with
flush frame and land, in a line with the point of tlie
share, and maybe worked with or without tlie skira
coulter. Price £3 33.

4, a strong one-wheel plough, invented by Messrs. C.
and H. Tickell, of Millbrook, near Southampton,
improved and manufactured by the exhibitors.
A strong one-wheel plough, No. 2, adapted for light

or heavy land ; may be used also as a swing plough,
and, if required, can have the skim coulter attuched.
This plough is in general use in the south western parts
of Hamsphire, Price £2 15s,

5, a strong two-wheel ploush, invented by Messrs, C.
and H. Tickell, of Millbrook, near Southampton,
improved and manufiictured by the exhibiters.
A two -wheel plough. No. 3, with screw head;

adapted for heavy or light ploughing, and in general
use in every part of Hampshire, and to a great extent
in the adjoining counties. Price £3 5s.
G, a light one-wheel plough, invented and manufactured

by the exhibiters,

A light one-wheel plough, with skim coulter and
steel turnfurrow, suitable for light land. Price £3 6s.

7, a subsoil plough, manufactured by the exhibiters.
This plough is adapted for deep or strong land, and

is regulated by a screw at the head ; tlie figures on
the side of the frame showing the depth it is working.
Price £5,

8, a basket of case-hardened shares, invented and
manufactured by the exhibiters,
A basket of case-hardened shares for the different

ploughs in general use, including broad fin shares for
paring stubbles, &c. ; properly tempered, by which
they are rendered far more durable, and not liable to
wear out of ground,

188

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

9 (new implement), a horse hoe or seven-share scariHer,
invented and manufactured by the exhibiters.
This implement is intended to clean the whole
ground, or with four hoes to go between drills. It has
wide steel feet fitted on wrought iron legs, and can be
altered to suit drills of any width. Price ^£7.

10, a newly invented field roller, invented and manu-
factured by the exhibiters.

This implement is made in four cylinders, which
allows it to give way according to the surface of the
land. The frame is made of iron, rendering it not
liable to decay. The spindle works in case hardened
boxes. Price £10.

11, a three-wheel land presser, invented and manu-
factured by the exhibiters.

This valuable implement is in general use throughout
Hampshire and the surrounding counties, is made with
iron frame, 3 feet wheels ; can be altered in width by
pressing, and is a great preventive to the injurious
effects of the wire worm. Price £7 10s.

12, a broad cast machine, invented and manufactured
by the exhibiters.

The broad cast machine is an useful implement,
intended to sow every description of grain, can be
regulated to any quantity. It is drawn by one light
horse, and has sown this year 19 acres per dav. Price
£8 83.

13, a clod crusher, Croskill's patent; invented by W.
Croskill, of Beverley, and manufactured by the
exhibiters.

Under licence from the patentees. See the report
of the Royal Agricultural Society for 1843. Price, 6
feet long, £20.

14, (new implement), a lever drill for manure and tur-
nips, invented and manufactured by the exhibiters.
This implement is fitted on iron carriage wheels ;

will dry any quantity, and is on the most simple con-
struction. Price £18.

16 (new implement), a presser drill, invented and
maniifactured by the exhibiters.

A new presser drill, which is strongly recommended
as simple in its construction, and of the greatest ad-
vantage on light laud. Price £26.

16, a horse power chaff machine, invented and manu-
factured by the exhibiters.

This chaff machine is fitted without any crank,
worm, or ratchet wheel, and is one of the most powerful
and effective machines ever used. It cuts two lengths,
and has cut four tons of hay in eight hours to the
shortest length. It may be attached to any horse
power or machinery. Price £18. Gear work for it
£15.

17 (new implement), a portable four-horse thrashing
machine, invented and manufactured by the exhi-
biters.

The frame and gear work of this machine being
constructed wholly of iron, is not liable to decay from
exposure to the rain and damp. It is worked on the
carriage wheels, and consequently may be easily
removed, and fixed without any trouble. The arrange-
ment is very compact, and takes but little room. To
remove complaints against the gear work for driving
the machine being exposed, and which is the cause of
so many accidents, T. and F. have covered the gear
work of this machine with iron. Price £50.

18 (new implement), a hand power thrashing machine,
invented and manufactured by the exhibiters.

This machine is worked by four men, and is very
effective in its operations. Being fitted with wood
gear, removes to a great degree two complaints against
IrnnU power machines in general, viz, : the great noise

they make when in work, and the continual wearing
out of the small drum nut. Price £15.

19, a winnowing machine, invented by Scoular and
Co., of Haddington, Scotland, improved and manu-
factured by the exhibiters.

This is a very simple and effective implement.
Price £10.

20, a barley hummellei', manufactured by the exhi-
biters.

This is a very excellent machine : intended to take
the tail from barley. It is admitted by a regulator at
one end into the barrel, in which revolves an horizontal
spindle with blunt knife blades, standing at right angles
to it. The speed can be regulated at pleasure, and the
barrel being slightly inclined, the barley works from
one end to the other, where it is allowed regularly to
escape, beautifully bright and tailless. Price
£5 10s.
21 (new implement), a bean and oat bruiser, invented

and manufactured by the exhibiters.

'ibis bruiser is of the very best construction, and is
very simple. It is adapted for crushing or bruising
beans, peas, oats, and malt ; is easily regulated, and
altered for the different sizes and sorts of grain. Price
£7.

22, a malt bruiser, invented and manufactured by the
exhibiters.

This bruiser is intended for malt alone, and is highly
approved of. Price ,€6 10s.

23, a turnip cutter, Gardner's patent; invented by
James Gardner, of Banbury, and manufactured by
the exhibiters, under license from the patentee.
This is the most simple and best constructed cutter

made. Price £5 10s.

24, a turnip and grass seed machine, invented by the
late Mr. Bennett, of Farnham, improved and mauu.
factured by the exhibiters.

This implement has borne the test of time, and is
still considered one of the most valuable in use. Price
£3 10s.

25, a set of iron machinery for drawing water, invented
and manufactured by the exliibiters.

Adapted to wells of any depth from 10 to 100 yards.
It is very simple and durable in its construction, and
not liable to get out of repair if exposed to the weather,
being all of iron. By this invention two buckets,
holding 10 or 12 gallons each, are worked alternately
by chain over a pully-wheel, and the labour and speed
regulated by a spur wheel and pinion, which is a great
saving of time and labour compared with the ordinary
method of drawing water. As the buckets come up
they are emptied into the iron cistern by a self-acting
apparatus, without any farther assistance. One person
can with ease and expedition draw water at a well
200 feet deep. T. and F. having manufactured the
above for many years, can with confidence refer to
gentlemen in Hampshire, Wiltshire, and Dorsetshire,
who have the machinery in constant use. Price at
the manufactory : — For drawing apparatus, including
two buckets and 25 yards best warranted chain, £15 ;
do., with 50 yards of chain, £17 10s.; do., with 75
yards of chain, £20 ; do., with 100 yards of chain,
£•22 10s. If a cistern is required with the above, in-
cluding the self acting apparatus fitted complete, that
would be £4 10s. extra.

26 (new implement), a light lever drill for turnips
without manure, invented and manufactured by the
exhibiters.
A light lever drill for drilling turnips after the

manure has been deposited on the ground. Price

^8 10s.

I

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

139

Stated No. 58.— Mr. Stephen Hooper, 45, Fleet-
street, London.
Article No. 1, a drill for general purposes, invented
and manufactured by William Irving, of Regent-street,
Lambeth.

Stand No. 59. — Mrs. Mary Wedlake, of the

Original Foundry, Hornchiirch, near Romford,

Essex.
Article No. 1, a patent double-acting hay-making

machine, invented and improved by the late Mr.

Thomas Wedlake, of Hornchurch, manufactured by

the exhibiter.

This machine acts both ways. In the first process
of tedding or making of hay it goes across the swarths,
turning the grass in the usual manner; after this is
done, and it has laid a little time, the motion can be
reversed, and it will then throw it out behind, leaving
it remarkably loose and light, so that the air can
operate upon it much quicker than it does on the flat.
Price £U 14s.

This implement obtained a silver medal at the Derby
show, 1843.

2, a horse power chaff cutting engine, on the most im-
proved construction, improved and manufactured by
the exhibiter.

This machine is fitted up with side-connecting shaft
and clutches, with rigger to connect it to any moving
power, and likewise to disengage the same. Price
£14 14s.

3, a machine for breaking the hard American oilcake,
improved and manufactured by the exhibiter.

This machine is fitted on a principle of four sets of
wrought-iron teeth. In the first process it crushes the
cake in large pieces for the use of bullocks ; by re-
versing a plate, the pieces fall on another set of teeth,
which breaks the cake in smaller pieces for sheep.
Price £12 10s.

4, a machine for bruising oats, malt, and all descrip-
tions of grain, improved and manufactured by the
exhibiter.

This machine is fitted with plain turned cylinders
of dififerent diameters, which in practice is proved to
be preferable to the fluted ones. Price £10.

5, a dressing machine on an improved construction,
improved and manufactured by the exhibiter.

In this machine, by using a parallel action of the
bottom screen, the corn is retained longer, by which
means it is screened perfectly. By the introduction
of a fluted roller at the top, the feed is much quicker
than with the use of the riddles. Price £9.

Stand, No. 60. — Mr. Daniel Coombs, of
ShiptOD, Burford, Oxfordshire.

Article No. 1, An improved Oxfordshire waggon, for
general agricultural purposes of road and field ; invented
and manufactured by the exhibiter. A prize of £5.
awarded at the Derby Meeting. 2, a light spring
waggon, for general purposes of road and field ; ma-
nufactured by the exhibiter. 3, a winnowing machine ;
invented and manufactured by the exhibiter. 4, a hay-
making or tedding machine; manufactured by the
exhibiter. 5, (new implement) a lever harrow ; in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiter.

Stand, No. 61.— The Earl of Ducie, Tortworth-
court, Wootton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire.
Articles No. 1, an iron swing plough, improved and
manufactured by Richard Clyburn, of Uley, near
Dursley. This plough obtained a prize of £5 at the
Royal Agricultural Society's meeting at Bristol. 2, a
subsoil plough ; invented by Mr. Smith, of Deanston,
and manufactured by Richard Clyburn, of Ulev, near

Dursley. 3, (new implement) a Dynamometer; in-
vented and manufactured by Richard Clyburn, of Uley,
near Dursley. 4, subpulverizer ; invented by the Hon'.
M. W. B. Nugent, of Higham Grange, Hinkley, Lei-
cestershire ; improved by John Morton, of Whitfield
Example Farm ; and manufactured by Richard Cly-
burn, of Uley, near Dursley. 5, (new implement)' a
five-tine fixed horse hoe; improved and manufactured
by Richard Clyburn, of Uley, near Dursley. 0, a
parallel expanding horse hoe, with five hoes and fire
tines ; invented by John Morton, of Whitfield Example
Farm, and manufactured by Richard Clyburn, of Uley,
near Dursley. 7, a parallel expanding horse hoe, with
three hoes and three tines ; invented by John Morton,
of Whitfield Example Farm, and manufactured by
Richard Clyburn, of Uley, near Dursley. 8, (new im-
plement^ a Richmond cart; invented and manufac-
tured by Richard Clyburn, of Uley, near Dursley. 9,
a Scotch cart, manufactured by Richard Clyburn, of
Uley, near Dursley. 10, a single-row turnip and
manure drill ; manufactured by Richard Clyburn, of
Uley, near Dursley. 11, (new tool) a set of improved
screw spanners or wrenches ; invented and manufac-
tured by Richard Clyburn, of Uley, near Dursley. 12,
a cultivator, or scarifier, with five tines ; invented by
John Morton, of Whitfield Example Farm, and im-
proved and manufactured by Richard Clyburn, of Uley,
near Dursley. 13, a cultivator, or scarifier, with seven
tines ; invented and improved by the parties above
named, and constructed upon precisely tlie same
principle. 14, a wrought-iron cultivator, or scarifier,
with five tines ; invented and improved by the parties
above named, and constructed upon precisely the same
principle. 15, a patent chaft' cutter, with two spiral
knives ; invented by the Earl of Ducio, R. Clyburn,
and E. Budding, of Tortworth, Uley, and Dursley, and
manufactured by Richard Clyburn, of Uley, near
Dursley. 16, a patent chaff cutter, with two spiral
knives ; invented and manufactured by the parties
above named. It is constructed upon precisely the
same principle as No. 15. 17, a patent chaff cutter,
with two spiralknives ; invented and manufactured by
the parties above named. It is constructed on the
very same principles as No. 15. 18, a corn crusher;
invented by George Parsons and R. Clyburn, of West
Lambrook and Uley, and manufactured by Richard
Clyburn, of Uley, near Dursley. This machine gained
a medal at the Royal Agricultural Society's meeting
held at Derby, 1843. 19, a corn meter; invented by
John Morton, of Whitfield Example Farm, and manu-
factured by Richard Clyburn, of Uley, near Dursley.
This machine gained a medal at the Royal Agricultural
Society's meeting held at Derby, 1843. 20, (new im-
plement) an improved cart axle, with cast-iron naves ;
improved and manufactured by Richard Clyburn, of
Uley, near Dursley. 21, (new implement) a patent
thrashing machine ; invented by G. Parsons and R.
Clyburn, of West Lambrook and Uley, and manufac-
tured by Richard Clyburn, of Uley, near Dursley. 22,
(new implement^ a patent winnowing machine ; in-
vented by George Parsons and Richard Clyburn, of
West Lambrook and Uley, and manufactured by
Richard Clyburn, of Uley, near Dursley.
Stand No. 62. — Mr. Richard Smith, of Upper

Hall, Hampton Lovell, near Droitwich, Leices-

tershke.

Article No. 1, (new implement) a seed dibble, in-
vented and manufactured by and under the direction
of the exhibiter.
Stand No. G3. — Messrs. Cottam and Hallen,

Winsley-street, London.
Article No. l,a cycloidal tooth grubber, with seven

140

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

tines and three wheels, invented by George Cot-

tam, Winslej'-street, and manufactured by tlie ex-

hibiters.

In this grubber, the defects so frequently complained
of are carefully avoided. The wheels are large, the
teeth are of the best form for raising the couch to the
surface, and freeing themselves of it when there, and
being fixed on the outside of the frame, can be most
readily cleansed of any substance which may adhere to
them. The front wheel is constructed with parallel
motion side bars, so as to admit of the machine being
most readily turned in a very small space. The points
of the tines are protected by either duck feet, or chisel-
pointed shares, as may be required. — £11 lis.

Obtained a prize of £5. at the Bristol Meeting.

2, a cycloidal tooth grubber, with five tines and
three wheels, invented by George Cottam, of Wins-
ley-street, and manufactured by the exhibiters.
This is a smaller description of the implement. —

Price £8 8s.
Obtained £5 at Bristol.

3, a wrought iron skim, improved by G. Cottam, of
Winsley-street, and manufactured by the exhibiters.
This is an extremely simple and useful implement

for paring stubbles after harvest, &c. — Price £4 10s.

4 (new implement), a universal cultivator, invented
by G. Cottam, of Winsley-street, and manufactured
by the exhibiters.

This machine consists of a strong wrought iron
frame, supported by wheels, to which may be attached
apparatus to form a cultivator subsoil plough, sub-
turf ditto, banking plough, or common ditto, &c. —
Price £18 18s.

5 (new implement), a wrought iron skim double
mouldboard plough and horse hoe, in one machine,
invented by G. Cottam, of AVinsley-street, and ma-
nufactured by the exhibiters.

This implement may be used as a skim, under-cutting
a width of 20 inches, from 2 to 5 in depth. As a pair
of double mould-board ploughs for forming ridges for
turnips, &c., from 18 to 28 apart, or as a horse hoe for
roots on the ridge culture, or on the flat, covering a
width of 2 feet.— Price £12.

6 (new implement), a wrought iron plough, invented
by G. Cottam, Winsley-street, and manufactured by
the exhibiters.

This plough, which is intended for light land, is made
on the truss principle, introduced by the late Mr. Fin-
layson in his heath ploughs ; in addition to which, it
has a novel method of fixing the coulter, which is
placed between the sides of the beam, and works on a
ball and socket, or universal joint, by the application
of which, the coulter has a motion in every direction
in which it can be required to be set, as well as facilities
for raising, lowering, or taking it out altogether. The
coulter can be fixed instantaneously in any position, by
tightening only one screw. — Price £5.

7 (new implement), a wrought iron plough, invented
by G. Cottam, of Winsley-street, and manufactured
by the exhibiters.

This plough is intended for heavier purposes than
No. C, and is made in the same manner. — Price £5 15s.

8 (new implement), a wrought iron plough, invented
by G. Cottam, of Winsley-street, and manufactured
by the exhibiters.

Of the same description as Nos. G and 7, and in-
tended for general purposes. — Price £5 10s.
9, a wrought iron plough, invented by Mr. A. F.

Campbell, of Norwich, and manufactured by the

exhibiters.

This plough has a conical wheel in the body, which
takes the weight off the bottom of the plough, as well

as the friction off the laud side. The share and coulter
are formed of thin blades of steel, kept in a state of ten-
sion, and are therefore always sharp. — Price £8 18s Gd.

10, a subsoil plough, invented by Mr. James Smith, of
Deanston, and manufactured by the exhibiters.
Tills plough is made wholly of wrought iron, and is

suitable for subsoiling to any depth to 18 inches. —
Price £8 8s.

11, a wrought iron horse hoe and moulding plough,
with trussed beam, invented by G. Cottam, of
London, and manufactured by the exhibiters.

The construction of the beam of the plough is similar
to Nos. 6, 7, and 8. It may be either used as a
moulding up plough for potatoes, or other root crops,
or by removing the mouldboards may be used as a
horse hoe for hoeing betvreen ridges, &c. — Price £3 5s.

12, a horse hoe and moulding plough, improved by G.
Cottam, of Winsley-street, and manufactured by the
exhibiters.

This plough is the same in its working parts as
No. 11, but with wooden handles and beam. —
Price £4 4s.

13, a horse hoe, improved by G. Cottam, of AVinsley-
street, and manufactured by the exhibiters.

This hoe is furnished with ducksfeet tines and
chisel points, for hoeing between ridges or on the
flat.— Price £3 3s.

14, a set of wrought iron Whipple trees, manufactured
by the exhibiters.

These trees are made wholly of wrought iron, and
are much more durable than those in general use. —
Price £1.

15, a serrated chain harrow, invented by Mr. J. Smith,
of Deanston, improved by G. Cottam, of Winsley-
street, and manufactured by the exhibiters.

This harrow consists of a number of serrated iron
discs, interwoven and linked together by iron rods,
tlie whole forming a surface of 25 superficial feet,
interspersed with nearly 400 points or discs. In this
action, this harrow is totally dissimilar from any im-
plement of the kind hitherto made ; from the large
number of its discs, and their revolving motion, it
cannot collect the couch, or drive the clods before it,
or into the furrow (as in the common harrow), but
allows them to pass under it when the serrated edges
of the discs saw and pulverize them. From its extreme
pliability, it follows all the inequalities of the ground,
rendering a second harrowing unnecessary. — Price
£5 15s.

Obtained a silver medal at Derby.

16, a serrated chain harrow for grass land or seed,
invented by Mr. James Smith, of Deanston, improved
by G. Cottam, of Winsley-street, and manufactured
by the exhibiters.

This harrow is of the same description as the last,
but with smaller discs suitable for harrowing grass
land, or harrowing in seed. — Price £4 15s.

Obtained the silver medal at Derbj'.
17 (new implement), a clod crusher, invented by G.

Cottam, of Winsley-street, and manufactured by the

exhibiters.

This clod crusher consists of a number of cast bars
set round the rim of two crosses in such positions as to
present points at intervals of every four square inches.
From its peculiar construction, it cannot possibly clog,
but will cleanse itself. — Price £18 18s.
18, a seed and manure drill for one row, improved by

G Cottam, of Winsley-street, and manufactured by

the exhibiters.

This drill consists of a hopper for seed, and a second
one for any kind of pulverized manure, which are both

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

HI

delivered into tins by cups. There is a closer fixed
between the two coulters, for the purpose of closing
the earth over the manure, to prevent the seed being
mixed with it, which is necessary in using tlie stronger
manures. — Price £7 7s.

19, a seed and manure drill for two rows, invented by
G. Cottam, of Winsley-street, and manufactured by
the exhibiters.

This drill is intended for sowing turnips or mangold
wurrel on the ridge or flat, and is made to regulate
from 18 to 26 inches apart in the rows, with two
concave rollers in front, and a small parallel roller
behind. — Price £16 IGs.

20, a two-row dibble, invented by G. Cottam, of
Winsley-street, and manufactured by the exhibiters.
This machine is used for furrowing the holes in

which to deposit wheat, mangoM wurzel, and other
seeds. It consists of two wheels with the tires of them
made in two separate rings, between which the shanks
of the dibbles are fixed at any distance from 4 inches
apart. The wheels can also be slided along the bar to
any width from 4 to 36 inches between the rows. —
Price £8 18s. Gd.
Obtained a prize of £2 at the Derby Meeting.

21, a four-horse power thrashing machine, manufac-
tured by the exhibiters.

This thrashing machine is of the simplest description,
and least likely to get out of order, at the same time
that it accomplishes its work without distressing the
horses so much as those in general use. — Price £5<5.
22 (new implement), an iron-framed saw table, in-
vented by G. Cottara, of Winsley-street, and
manufactured by the exhibiters.
By the use of this saw table, timber may be cut to
any width, or with any angle suitable for weather
boarding, or park fencing : this is effected by a novel
adjustment of the guide; it is furnished also with
augers, and an adjusting table or guide to insure its
boring holes for fencing, &c., at any required place.
It may be worked by the driving part of a four-horse
thrashing machine. — Price £30.
23, a field roller, manufactured by the exhibiters.

The cylinders of this roller are in two parts, to give
every facility in turning it, and the bearings in the
crosses can be removed and replaced with new ones,
when worn out. — Price £18.

24 (new implement), a wrought iron turnip roller,
mvented by G. Cottam, of Winsley-street, and ma-
nufactured by the exhibiters.

The cylinders of this roller are made of wrought iron,
which gives a much lighter roller for turnip husbandry ;
at the same time, it is a much more effective and
durable roller than the old wooden one. — Price £5.

25, a vertical turnip cutter, invented by G. Cottam, of
- Winsley-street, and manufactured by the exhibiters.

A turnip cutter for sheep or oxen ; by removing the
cross-knives, the turnips will be only sliced, but not
cross-cut. — Price ^^4 4s.

26, a cylindrical turnip cutter, invented by Bailey, of
Leicester, and manufactured by the exhibiters.

• This turnip-cutter has knives for slicing, and cross-
knives for cutting the turnips smaller, fixed on the
periphery of the cylinder.— Price £5.

27, a set of tools for forming concrete drains and tiles,
invented by Lord James Hay, and manufactured by
the exhibiters.

These tools consist of a filling box for depositing the
requisite quantity of concrete in the intended drain
plough for forming the concrete into a drain, mould
for making flat tiles, and cores for making circular

tiles, together with all the necessary apparatus for
forming concrete drains in the ground. — Price £10 10s.

28, a tile machine for forming circular or pi|)c tiles,
invented by G. Cottam, of Winsley-street, and ma-
nufactured by the exhibiters.

This machine consists of a cylinder, into which the
clay is put, and IVom out of which it is forced by a
plunger or piston, through dies or plates of tlie proper
form required at the bottom of the cylinder. — Pi ice
£8 8s.

29, a set of tools for digging drains, manufactured by
the exhibiters.

These tools consist of three assorted spades, of dif-
ferent widths and lengths, and a swans-neck for
cleaning out the drain when formed. — Price £1.

30, an iron portable forge, manufactured by the ex-
hibiters.

This forge has the requisite bellows, &c., to be used
in the open air, or fixed as may be required. — Price
£5 5s.

31, a chaft" cutting machine, invented by G. Cottam,
of Winsley-street, and manufactured by theexhibiters.
This machine is adapted to cut several lengths of

straw, and may be worked by two men, or by one
horse. — Price £10 10s.

32, a chafi" cutting machine, manufactured by the ex-
hibiters.

Of a simple description, suitable for the use of a
strong lad for one or two horses feeding. — Price £5 5s.

33, a chaff" cutting machine, manufactured by the
exhibiters.

Of a similar description to those above, Nos. 31 and
35, but larger than the latter. — Price £8 8s.

34, a waggon jack, manufactured by the exhibiters.
For raising waggons for oiling the wheels, or other

repairs. — Price £2.

35, a timber jack, manufactured by the exhibiters.

Of great use in loading or moving timber, &c. — Price
£3 15s.

36, a brass-nutted screw jack, manufactured by the
exhibiters.

These jacks are of great power where any heavy
weights have to be raised. — Price £2 5s.

37, a bruising machine for grain, manufactured by the
exhibiters.

This machine consists of one plain and one fluted
roller, which may be regulated to bruise any kind of
grain for food for cattle, horses, &c., or for brewing. —
Price £8 8s.

38, a bruising machine for grain, manufactured by the
exhibiters.

A smaller description of jVo. 37. — Price £5 5s.

39, an oil cakebreaker, manufactured by theexhibiters.
This machine has two rollers for breaking cake for
cattle, sheep, &c., or for manure. — Price £8 8s.

40, a cattle weighing machine, invented by G. Cottam,
of Winsley-street, and manufactured by the exhi-
biters.

This machine is adapted for weighing every descrip-
tion of live stock, and may also be used for other
descriptions of farm produce. — Price £15 15s.

41, a sheep weighing machine, invented by G. Cottam,
of Winsley-street, and manufactured by the exhi'
biters.

A smaller description of the same kind of machines
as No. 40.— Price £7.

Obtained a prize of £3 at the Liverpool Meeting.

42, a weighing machine for sacks, manufactured by the
exhibiters, ^^.,
This machine will weigh up to 5 cwt.— Price £3.

142

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

43, a sack weighing machine, manufactured by the
exhibiters.

A machine of a similar description as No. 42, but
witli an iron instead of a wooden frame, and wheels
and handles for portability. — Price £3 lOs.

44, a double sack weighing machine, manufactured by
the exhibiters.

This machine has four scaleboards, one of j such a
height as to take a sack or weight from a man's
shoulder, the other close to the ground for heavier
weights. — Price £4 10s.

45, a wrought iron sack truck, invented by G. Cottam,
of Winsley-street, and manufactured by the exhi-
terg.

This is an extremely light, strong, and serviceable
description of truck for granaries, barns, &c. — Price

£ll9.

46, a dynamometer, or draught guager, invented by
G. Cottam, of Winsley-street, and manufactured by
the exhibiters.

In this instrument, the great defect so long com-
plained of in those of the old construction, namely, the
vibration of the pointer, is materially obviated by the
introduction of the oil vessel and piston. — Price £7.

Obtained a prize of £5 at the Bristol meeting.

47, an odometer, or land measurer, invented by G.
Cottam, of Winsley-street, and manufactured by the
exhibiters.

This little instrument, which is constructed wholly of
metal, will be found of essential service on an estate,
in measuring for roads, fencing, or drains, it being
much smaller, stronger, more compact and simple than
anything of the kind hitherto made. — Price £4 4s.

48, an egg hatching machine, invented by Mr. Charles
Appleyard, and manufactured by the exhibiters.
Tliis machine consists of a boiler heated by a small

lamp, which will burn fifteen hours without atten-
dance ; the heat is controlled by a self-acting regula-
tor. This machine will contain 80 hens' eggs, or more
of smaller birds. — Price £14 14s.
49 (npw implement), a poultry feeding machine, in-
vented by Mr. A.. Bollenot, of Manchester-square,
and manufactured by the exhibiters.
With this machine the food for poultry is forced
down a tube inserted in the throat of the fowl, by which
it is fed with far less pain than in the ordinary way of
cramming. — Price £7 7s.

50, a salting machine, invented by Carson, of York-
street, and manufactured by the exhibiters.
This machine consists of a small force pump for
injecting brine into meat instantaneously. — Price
£1 12s. 6d.

61, a metallic churn, with pan for hot or cold water,
invented by Johnson, and manufactured by the ex-
hibiters.

By the use of these churns, butter may be made
much quicker than by any other description of churn,
as the temperature at which butter is most readily
made (viz. 60°) can always be commanded.

The above size is for 21bs. of butter. — Price 18s.
Thermometer, Is. 9d.

62, a metallic churn with pan, invented by Johnson,
and manufactured by the exhibiters.

Tliis churn is of the same description as No. 51, but
for 71bs. of butter. — Price £1 6s. Thermometer, 1 s. 9d.

53, a metallic churn and pan, invented by Johnson,
and manufactured by the exhibiters.

Of the same description as Nos. 61 and 52, but for
141bs. of butter. — Price £1 15. Thermometer, Is. 9d.

54, a metallic churn and pan, invented by Johnson,
and manufactured by the exhibiters.

1

Of the same description as Nos. 61, 52, and 53, but
for 28 lbs. of butter.— Price £2 2s. Thermometer,
Is. 9d.

55, a metal churn and pan, invented by Johnson, im-
proved by G. Cottam, of Winsley-street, and manu-
factured by the exhibiters.
This is of the same description as Nos. 51, 52, 53,

and 54, but is fitted with wooden stand and fly-wheel.
— Price £4 10s. Thermometer, Is. 9d.

56, a wrought and cast iron rick stand, invented by G.
Cottam, of Winsley-street, and manufactured by the
exhibiters.
This stand will contain a stack, 18 feet by 27 feet.—

Price £16 10s.

57, a rick stand, or rick post, invented by G. Cottam,
of Winsley-street, and manufactured by the ex-
hibiters.
These rick stands may be either used with wooden

or iron tops. — Price 73.

58, a cast iron rick stand or post, invented by G.

Cottam, of Winsley-street, and manufactured by the

exhibiters.

This is a much stronger description of No. 67, in-
tended as a centre post in round ricks. — Price £1 Is.

59, a welded iron field gate, manufactured by the
exhibiters.
In this gate the whole of the joints are welded

together, and not riveted ; the iron of which it is
made is rolled in the shape of the letter T, the
strongest form which the same amount of iron cau
give. — Price 193. 6d. Hangings, 3s. 6d.

60, a sheep hurdle of wrought iron, manufactured by
the exhibiters.
These hurdles have five bars, are 3 feet high out of

the ground, and weigh, on the average, 36 lbs. each.—
Price 4s. 2cl. Bolts and nuts. Id.

61, a wrought iron sheep hurdle, 6 feet long, manufac*
tured by the exhibiters.
Of the same description as No. 60, but with | top

bar ; average weight, 38 lbs. — Price 48. 6d. Bolts and
nuts. Id.

62, a wrought iron light cattle hurdle, 6 feet long,
manufactured by the exhibiters.
These hurdles are 3 feet 6 out of the ground ; average

weight, 42 lbs. — Price 4s. lOd. Bolts and nuts, Id.

63, a wrought iron strong cattle hurdle, manufactured
by the exhibiters.
These hurdles are of the same height as Ifo. 62 ;

average weight, 451bs. — Price 58.2d. Bolts and nuts. Id.

64, a wrough iron ox hurdle, 6 feet long, manufactured
by the exhibiters.
These hurdles have five bars, and are 4 ft. high,

weighing, on the average, 60 lbs. — Price 6s 6d. Bolts

and nuts. Id.

6a, a wrought iron ox hurdle, 6 feet long, manufae*

by the exhibiters.

These hurdles have six bars ; average weight, 66 lbs.
Price 7s.

66, a wrought iron wheelbarrow, manufactured by the
exhibiters.
These harrows are made in the strongest manner,

and will be found more durable and serviceable than
wooden ones. — Price £1 8s.

67, a liquid manure pump, manufactured by the exhi-
biters.
These pumps are so constructed, as to prevent the

possibility of their clogging by any straws, and which
may be in the manure tank. — Price £3 15s.

68, a cast iron stable pump, twoand-half inch bore,
manufactured by the exhibiters.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

143

Those pumps are filted in tbc best and strongest
manner. — Price £"2. Flange pijie, per yard, 3s.

69, a cast iron stable pump, three inch bore, manu- j
factured by the exhibiters. '
Of the same description as No. G8. — Price £-2 os.

Suction pipe, per yard, 3s. 9d.

70, a cast iron pump, three-and-hali' inch bore, manu-
factured by tlie exhibiters.

Of the same description as Nos. 68 and GO. — Price
£2 10s. Flange pipe, per yard, js.

71, a wrought iron hay rack, manufactured by the
exhibiters.

These rakes are 3 ft. long. — Price 6s 6d.
7"2, a cast iron manger, manufactured by the exhibiters.
This manger is 3 ft. long. — Price 10s.

73, a cast iron pig trough, manufactured by the
exhibiters.

This pig trough is 2 ft. 6 in. long, and has a circular
bottom, instead of the old angular one. — Price 7s G<1.

74, a cast iron pig trough, manufactured by the
exhibiters.

This trough is 3 ft. 6 in. long, and of the same descrip-
tion as No. 73. — Price 10s Gd.

75, a complete set of garden tools, manufactured by
the exhibiters.

Consisting of garden roller, hand glass frames, dahlia
stakes of assorted sizes, hoes, rakes, watering pot,
syringes for hot-houses, kc. — Price £10 10s.

76, a rack and manger for stall feeding, manufactured
by the exhibiters.

A rack and manger ia one, and on the same level. —
Price £1 10s.

77, a garden syringe, manufactured by the exhibiters.
This syringe is made so extremely portable, as to be

used by ladies or invalids. — Price 9s Gd.

78, an oil cake crusher, manufactured by tbeexhibiter.
This machine has two plates to break the cake for

sheep or cattle. — Price £3 3s.

Stand Xo. G4. — Mr. Alexander Dean, of Binning-

liam, Wanvick.
Articles \o. 1, a portable steam engine, of four-horse
power, complete with shafts and wheels for travel-
, ling ; invented and manufactured by the exhibiter.

This engine is exceedingly simple, safe, durable, and
efficient, and admirably adapted lor agricultural pur-
poses. It may be styled a double eu'^ine, being mount-
ed with two steam cylinders, thereby dispensing with
the heavy fly-wheel, and rendering it much more port-
able, and easily drawn by two horses. Its power is
sufficient for driving several machines, such as chaff
cutters, corn crushers, turnip cutters, cake breakers,
bone mills, ice, at the same time; and when employed
in thrashing, with an adequate machme, it will be found
equal to six or eight horses. The working parts of
this engine mav be enclosed in iron at an extra charge
of £o.— Price £140.

«, a portable steam engine of two horse power,
complete with shafts and wheels for travelling ; in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiter.
This engine will be found to answer the purposes of
many farmers full as well as one of greater power,
being equal to the performance of much more work
iu cutting chatF and turuips, bruising corn, grinding,
tc, than is required to be done upon farms of mode-
rate extent; and when emploved in thrashing, it has
been declared by many farmers to be equal to four
horses. It is more portable than engines of larger
power, and is drawn with ease by one horse. The
three horse power engine of this description is also an
exceedingly useful farmers' engine, and calculated to

drive the usual four horse thrashing machines to much
greater advantage than by animal power. Two horse
power, price £80; three horse do., £110.

N.B. — These steam engines being exceedingly simple
and free from complicated movements, are easily ma-
naged, and not liable to get out of order. They arc
fitted with superior metallic pistons, thus obviating
the trouble of packing, and the risk attending its being
improperly performed by inexperienced hands ; and
with metal slide valves, in lieu of steam taps, which
are continually out of repair, they will be fouud much
more durable and efficient than engines with vibrating
or oscilloting cylinders, and are warranted equal to the
power stated. The jfixed steam engines, which in
many instances will be found more profitably useful
than poriable engines, inasmuch as where the barn is
adjoining to a convenient building for fixing the chaff
and turnip cutter, corn and cake crushers, bone mill,
flour mill, cider mill, and other useful machinery, the
same engine may be made to thrash the corn, and to
drive any number of the smaller machines, without
removing either the engine or any one of the machines;
whilst the steam from the engine boiler may furnish
the necessary supply to the apparatus for steaming
and cooking. X fixed engine is managed with less
trouble than any description o^ portable engine, owing to
it and the machines it is intended to work always re-
maining in the proper situation for connecting to each
other ; it is also, when placed within an engine-house,
more easily kept clean, and attended with much less
trouble ; and the prices are so much lower than those
of portable engines as to bring the 9ne within the reach
of many farmers who would not feel disposed to go to
the expense of the other,
3, a thrashing machine, adapted to the power of six

horses, and to steam engines of about four horse

power; invented, improved, and manufactured by

the exhibiter.

This machine Is worked to great advantage by the
preceding four horse steam-engine ; and being exceed-
ingly strong and well secured in all its parts, it may
be driven without injury at an immense speed: it will
thrash clean without bruising the grain, aud delivers
the straw in excellent condition. The fluted ribs and
i the rings of the concave being made of icrought in-
I stead of cast iron, are not liable to be broken by stones.
I Price £30.
' 4, a thashing machine of two horse power, improved

and manufactured by the exhibiter.

; This machine thrashes all kinds of grain remarkably

; clean and well, and is much esteemed for thrashing

barley for malting; it is equally substantial with the

I above machine, and is well adapted to the following

horse engine ; and when worked by Dean's fixed and

portable two horse steam engines, is considered equal

to the performance of four horses. Price £tG.

5, a horse engine, or horse work, for one or two horses,

adapted for driving one, two, or three separate ma-
; chines at the same time ; improved and manufac-
\ tured by the exhibiter.

This horse work is made with every regard to dura-
bility and easy working, to which end the driving teeth
are composed of eight segments, any of which, when
worn or accidentally broken, may be readily replaced
at a trifling expense: they are screwed upon a large
dumb wheel, the upper face of which is turned trueiu
a lathe on the part acted upon by the friction pulley.
A very important improvement has been made in this
machinery since last year, which, though simple in ap-
pearance," will be found to effect a very considerable
saving iu the friction, and consequent wear and loss of
power so generally complained of, arising from the ex-
treme difficulty in preserving a perfect line and level

144

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

between the uiaia or driviug shaft, and the journeys
}n which its two ends revolve ; for, even when put
down with the nicest accuracy, the heavy and sudden
snatches of the horses could not fail to shift some part
of the machinery, so as to alter the bearings of the
journeys, thereby causing them to (wist and work
tight, and producing h sort of tremor in the whole
machinery. This defect is obviated by the universal
joint at each end of the main or first shaft, which al-
lows the spindles to work freely, and without uneven
pressure upon the wheels, even though the shaft be
several inches out of the correct line or level. By this
arrancrement the removal and refixing of the machi-
nery is also much facilitated, and may be done by any
farm labourer, as, by merely drawing the pins of the
universal joints, the shafts and frame-works are de-
tached without dlstnrbing a single journey. The jjrin-
ciple upon which this horse work is constructed is
equally adapted for four, six, and eight horse engines,
and admits of pulleys for driving any re qidred num-
ber of machines. Price, with driving wheel in seg-
ments, £15 ; wilh wheel and teeth cast together in
solid, £1'2.

6 (new implement), a chafl' cutter upon strong iron
frame, suitable for one or two men, and for steam or
horse power ; invented, improved, and manufac-
tured by the exhibiter.

( Private mark, No. 2.)
This machine has two knives, and cuts three diti'e-
rent lengths of chaff. It is mounted with a steel face,
and fitted with a rising roller and vibrating pressure
block, which keep the materials closely pressed whilst
the cut is taken, and by rising immediately after al-
lows the straw to advance freely, and is consequently
not liable to choke. Its merit is in tbe combination of
these properties with a smoothness of motion and a
simplicity and strength of machinery which admit of
being driven by steam power at an immense speed
without injury to the working parts. Price £8 10s.

7 (new implement), a chaff cutter upon strong iron
frame, to be worked by hand; invented and manu-
factured by the exhibiter.

(Private mark, No. 1.)
This is a useful machine for gentlemen's stables : it
does its work in a superior manner, and being of very
substantial make, it is not so liable to get out of order.
Price £5.

8, a hand corn crusher, for bruising or crushing oats,
beans, malt, Indian corn, barley, &c.; invented and
manufactured by the exhibiter.

(Private mark, No. 44.)
This machine is manufactured in a manner to insure
its durability, general utility, and easy working : it
requires no skill in adjusting to any kind of grain, and
the feed may be regulated to suit the power applied to
work it. Price £Z 15s.

9, a corn crusher, similar to the above, but larger size,
suitable for one or two men, and with pulley for at-
taching to steam or horse power ; invented and
manufactured by the exhibiter.

(Private mark. No. 48.)
Price, without pulley to attach to power, £6 ; witli
pulley, £G 5s.

10 (new implement), a very powerful machine for
crushing barley, linseed, oats, beans, Indian corn,
and for lolHng malt, &c. ; invented and manufac-
tured by the exhibiter.

(Private mark, No. 50.)
This machine is calculated to crush a very large
quantity in a given time. The rolls are turned true,
and cut by machinery to suit all sorts of grain ; and
the possibility of clogging, when used for crushing
barley, linseed, or seeds of a moist or oily nature, is

effectually prevented. It will enable the farmer to
crush at once sufficient grain to last for a time, instead
of having a mill constantly at work, and will be found
a very efficient malt mill for brewers and maltsters.
It is furnished with a screen between the hopper and
rolls, and with handles and pulleys to suit either manual
or steam power. Pi-ice £15.

11, a mill for splitting beans, invented and manufac-
tured by the exliibiter.

(Private mark. No. 38.)
This mill is manufactured in a manner very superior
to the ordinary bean mills, and mounted with turned
spindles and brass journeys ujion strong iron frames.
Price £4 5s.

12 (new implement), a machine for crushing and
grinding oilcake, and breaking up turnips, potatoes,
&c., as food for cattle; adapted for hand, horse, or
steam power ; invented and manufactured by the
exhibiter. Price £9.

13 (new implement), a powerful bone mill for breaking
up bones to sizes suitable for drilling ; invented and
manufactured by the exhibiter.

This machine being of great strength, and the cut-
ting parts entirely of best steel, it is very efficient and
durable, and fitted with a self-acting screen for sepa-
rating the different sizes of crushed bones. Price
£40.

14 (new implement), a mill for grinding bones after
they have been crushed by the preceding machine,
for the purpose of reducing them to fine dust ; in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiter. Price
£12.

15, the Bretforton cider mill, suitable for one or two
horses, hand power, &c. ; invented by Mr. James
Ashwin, of Bretforton, Worcestershire, and manu-
factured exclusively by the exhibiter.
This mill gained the Society's silver medal last year,
at the Derby meeting. Turnips and potatoes, reduced
to a pulp by this mill, and mixed with chaff, bruised
corn, or meal, will be found excellent food for cattle,
sheep, and swine. Price ,£'15 ; smaller size, .£lO.
(Private mark, No. 91.)

16 (new implement), a patent pulping or grating mill,
for grinding fruit for cider, wines, &c., and for re-
ducing to a pulp turnips, potatoes, and other roots
and vegetables as food for cattle ; and for making
arrow-root, starch, &c. (registered); invented and
manufactured by the exhibiter.

It having been suggested in the Society's Report
(vol. iv. part ii. p. 489), in commenting upon the
merits of the preceding Bretforton cider mill, that the
saccharine matter was much better evolved, and the
pips in a great measure reduced, by grating, than by
the old rolling mill hitherto used for cider-making,
this mill has been constructed so as to carry out the
grating principle in the highest perfection, all descrip-
tisns of moist fruit or roots being reduced by it to fine
smooth and soft pulp, of the consistence of rich
cream, which is not only highly approved of by cider
makers, but is of essential value in the manufacture of
arrow-root, starch, &c., &c. This machine is adapted
to one or two men, and to horse or steam power. Price
£U.

17 (new implement), a portable circular sawing mill,
with parallel rising apparatus for morticing, boring,
&;c., adapted to horse, steam, or water power ; in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiter.

This machine is made portable for placing in plant-
ations, or any required situation and its general appli-
cability to various descriptions of sawing, boring, mor-
ticing, &c., renders it of great value on farms and
estates where timber is abundant. The improved

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

U5

vising bench for morticing will eftect a considerable
saving of labour in preparing posts and rails for fencing,
&c. Price £20.

18, a patent liquid manure cart, with wrought- iron
tank, to contain 250 gallons; invented and manufsic-
tured by the exhibiter.

Hitherto the tanks of liquid manure carts have been
made either of wood, which is soon decayed, and if not
inconstant use would scarcely contain fluids; or of
cast-iron, which is necessarily very heavy, and even
then extremely liable to crack with any smart blow.
To remedy these defects, the tank of the above cart is
made of boilers' plate iron, with a perforated iron par-
tition, which adds to the strength, and prevents the
sudden surge in passing over rising or falling ground.
The cart is got up in a neat and substantial manner,
with a strong and efficient pump, leather pipe, spread-
ing board, &c., and mounted upon wheels nine inches
broad, for the better travelling upon the land. Price
i?30.

19 (new implement), a patent fire engine, combining
great efficiency with extreme portability ; invented
and manufactured by the exhibiter. Price jfoO.
-0, a set of plans for systematic and economical ar-
rangements of machinery for grinding, crushing,
and bruising grain, cutting chaff and turnips, with
apparatus for steaming &c., &c.,in combination with
fixed steam engines, horse engines, &c. ; invented by
the exhibiter.

21, a patent hand dressing machine, for dressing flour
and other pulverized substances, invented and manu-

- -.factured by the exhibiter.

(Private mark, No. 20.)
Price ^2 10s.

22, a patent portable hand mill, for grinding and dres-
sing wheat ; invented and manufactured by the ex-
hibiter.

(Private mark, Islo. 2,)

Price, with two handles, £Q 4s.
23 (new implement), a portable steam mill for grinding

wheat, &c., with patent draining machme; invented

and manufactured by the exhibiter.
... (Private mark. No. 4.)

■t. Price £^.

24, a French bur-stone hand mill for grinding wheat,
&c. ; invented and manufactured by the exhibiter.

(Private mark, No. 115.)
Price, with two handles, ^'10 5s.

25, a portable corn mill, with French bur-stones, for
horse or engine jiower ; invented and manufactured
by the exhibiter.

(Private mark, No. 353.)
Price, with French bur-stones .... £2Q

Do. grey do 20

26 (new implement), a wrought-iron cart for collecting
night-soil, ashes, &c.,&c., invented and manufactured
by the exhibiter.

This cart is constructed with a tank to hold a very
large quantity of night-soil or other liquid manure,
with sides above the top of the tank, which form a
commodious cart-body ; adapted for carrying ashes,
rubbish, &c,, &;c. It will be found exceedingly useful
to farmers residing near large towns. Price ^'35.

Stand No. 65. — Mr. Ricliard Garrett, Leiston
Works, Saxmundham, Suffolk.

Article No. 1, a stand of models, manufactured by the
exhibiter.

2. A drill for general purposes, invented and manufac-
tured by the exhibiter.
Several important improvements have been made,

which more especially refer to its manuring and seed-
sowing purposes, and combines the utmost economy
with complete efficacy. The general utility of this im-
plement is to perform, in one process, manuring com
and grass-seeding, which is accomplished in the follow-
ing manner : —

Corn and manure may be deposited together down
the same conductors, or through separate coulters,
rakes being provided to cover the manure with mould
upon which the seed is deposited. The seed engine ac-
companying this drill is adapted to sow at the same
time with spring corn and manure, or may be used as a
separate implement for grass seeds, broad cast, or tur-
nips, and mangold wurzel in rows, either with or with-
out manure.

The following are important additions in the construc-
tion of this improved drill, viz. : a double-action stirer
is introduced into the manure department, having a per-
pendicular and also a revolving movement, by means of
which, the manure which in the drills hitherto in use
has frequently clogged and hung back in the manure
box, so much so as to require the attendance of a man
to prevent it, is in this constantly disturbed and pressed
forward into the departments for the depositing barrel,
and causing an equal distribution in exact quantities of
the most difficult, coarse, or badly-prepared manures.

In the working of the seed-sowing engine, as before
constructed, the difficulty which has hitherto presented
itself of mixing together the heavier with the lighter
seeds, the heavier have, by the motion of the engine,
been shaken to the bottom of the box ; being thereby
sown in very unequal proportions. To remedy this, the
small heavy seeds, such as clover, trefoil, &c., are de-
livered from cups ; while the Ughter grass-seeds, such
as rye-grass, &c., are by the same operation brushed
out of a separate apartment of the box, dowir the same
conductors with the other seed ; this easy and simple
method, whereby the required quantities of each seed
are nicely mixed, and evenly sown all over the land,
deserves particular attention, and is regulated by merely
turning the screw at the end of the box for rye grass,
and changing wheels on the cup -barrel for clover, &c.

To accommodate the drill to suit any kinds of land,
however hilly, an improved and simple apparatus is
provided, so that though the deposit of the seed in gomg
up or down hill be ever so irregular (which is always the
case to some extent), the man in attendance (without
stopping the drill or altering the course of the horses) is
enabled, by merely pressing down one handle and rais-
ing another, to alter the gear of the wheels, and put on a
slower or faster speed, as may be required ; this is
effected by a wheel on each end of the dehvering barrel,
one of larger dimensions than the other, so that if the
drill is getting on a certain quantity when going up hill,
by altering the gear when going down, the quantity de-
posited is rendered precisely the same ; whereas, if the
barrel always worked from one-sized wheel, whether go-
ing up or down hill, the quantities of seed delivered
would be found very irregular ; this is of infinite impor-
tance to heavy land farmers, and should claim their par-
ticular attention.

It is well known that the rows, to be properly horsc-
hoed, should be as near parallel as possible ; and not
only this, but that they should be the same distance ajiart
one from another. To eftect this, the coulter should be
set only a little out of the straight line, to prevent the
alterations or movements of the horse affecting the posi-
tion of the rows ; but, as it is found indispensable to
set the coulters one before the other, or afore or aft
alternately, in order to allow large clods and stones to
pass between them, it should be borne in mind that the
carrying out this plan to any great extent is extremely

146

THE TARMER'S MAGAZINE.

detrimeutal to the working of the hoe, masmuch as the
farther the hind drill coulter is from the foi-e one, the
more irregular will the rows be deposited : this is found
principally the case on side hills, when the horse not
working parallel with the drill wheels causes the coulter
furthest off the centre of the lever joint to form a greater
curve than the nearer one, thereby rendering two rows
close together, and two at a greater distance all the drill
through. It would naturally appear, that the further
one coulter was behind the other, the better it would be
for the working of the drill.

In addition to the above improvements, the ma-
chinery for dropping manure and seed at intervals, for
the turnip root crop, as described in drill for that par-
ticular purpose, may also be added to this, making it
perfectly complete for every purpose. — Price £36 15s.

This drill received the Prizes of the Royal Agricul-
tural Society of England, at Cambridge, 1840, ^10 ; at
Liverpool, 1841, ,£10.; at Derby, 1843, £30.

3, a drill for turnips, mangold wurzel, and other seeds,
with manure ; invented and manufactured by the ex-
hibiter.

These drills may be used to suit all methods of culti-
vation, being made to work with any number of levers,
having axletrees to slip, so as to alter the sizes to the
different widths of ploughing, and parallel swing steer-
ages, enabling the man in attendance to guide the coul-
ters, without depending on the driving of the horses.
On stetch or broad work, the rows of seed may be de-
posited to twelve inches to any other wider space. In
these drills the turnip and mangold wurzel seeds are
taken up separately by the cups, but deposited together
down the conductors, so as to prevent any unequal
mixture of the seeds ; the novelties and improvements
in the manuring machinery are precisely the same as in
Drill 36 A.— Price £22.

4, a two-row lever ridge driU for turnips and manure,
invented and manufactured by the exhibiter.

This two-coulter lever drill is intended for ridge
ploughing, having the same improvements and advan-
tages in the manure department as drill for general pur-
poses, with a further advantage which cannot be accom-
plished in that drill, viz. . the screws which alter the
slip to regulate the quantity of manure are placed, in
this arrangement, directly under the management of the
attendant who follows the drill, and may be altered
while the implement is proceeding in its work, admit-
ting larger or smaller quantities, as may be required on
hilly lands, or various qualities of soil. In order
to accommodate this implement to irregular ploughed
ridges, a pair of rollers are attached to a fore-carriage,
so as to form and press the land properly for the de-
posit of the manure and seed ; and what has hitherto
been found a difficulty of keeping the depositing coulters
on the tops of the ridges, is remedied in this, by each
lever being easily made to move wider or narrower, in-
dependently of the other, by a parallel movement, so
that the seed coulter advances in the exact line of the
manure coulter.

The rakes add greatly to the effective working of the
drill, those foremost filling up the channel left by the
large manure coulters, and thus permitting the seed
coulter to make its work in fresh stirred mould directly
above the manure, and the latter rakes will sufficiently
cover the seed, leaving a slight dip for retaining the
smallest quantity of moisture. — Price £18.

This drill received the Prize of the Royal Agricultural
Society of England at Bristol, 1842, £20.

5, a patent drop drill, invented and manufactured by the
exhibiter.

The merits of this drill are important in economizing
expensive manures, as one-third of the quantity gene-

rally used will now suffice for the crop : by this novel
and effectual contrivance of dropping the seed and ma-
nure in heaps, at intervals, every plant is nourished
with its full proportion of the manure.

Formerly no drills were made but what deposited in a
continual stream, or dropped the seed and manure out
of the pipes together, mixed in one heap, so that when
strong manures were used they were almost certain to
spoil the germ of the seed and prevent its vegetating ;
thus offering at once a great and fatal objection to their
use. To remedy this the present patent has been taken
out, and is for correctly dropping the manure and seed
separately at any required intervals, so that in one pro-
cess the manure is dropt at intervals at any required
depth below the seed, and covered with mould ; then
follows the seed conductor, and lodges in any minute
quantity patches directly above the manure, leaving a
small portion of mould between them ; the seed is also
covered with a chain harrow provided for that purpose.
—Price £"24 53.

(Private mark. No. 39, A.)

6, a thirteen- row lever drill for all purposes of seed
and corn, improved and manufactured by the ex-
hibiter.

A thirteen- row lever drill suitable for all purposes of
seed and corn, and well adapted for hilly lands. The
principle of the seed engine is to sow clover and rye-
grass seeds with the barley, in same manner as described
in drill for general purposes, each seed being kept sepa-
rate : or by removing the corn box entirely, the seed
box may be put upon the same centres, and used as a
drill for turnips, or clover seeds only. — Price £H 10s.
(Private mark, No. 12.)

7, a drill for turnips and mangold wurzel, convertible
into an engine for sowing clover and rye ; improved
and manufactured by the exhibiter.

A drill for turnips and mangold wurzel, convertible
also into an engine for sowing clover, rye-grass, and
other seeds broadcast. This implement is made with
levels to suit the irregularity of the land in drilling tur-
nips, &c. ; and is so constructed, that any quantity of
seed may be deposited at any required width. By sub-
stituting the seed pipes for the levers, the clover and
rye-grass are sown in the same manner as described in
drill for " general purposes." The machine is particu-
larly light, and veiy low, so that a lad with one horse
and pair of reins are sufficient to work it. — Price
i,'15 15s.

8, a lever drill for all pui-poses of corn, improved and
manufactured by the exhibiter.

A ten-row lever drill for all purposes of com, with
wood levers. This drill is remarkable for its simplicity
of construction and effectiveness in operation, two horses
being sufficient to drill eight acres per day. It is par-
ticularly adapted to hilly lands, being made to de-
posit the seed regularly when going up or down hill ;
the wheels at each end of the delivering barrel which re-
gulate the quantity of seed, having different numbers of
cogs, so that by using the one motion when going up,
and the other when going down hill, the quantities
delivered are rendered the same ; this alteration of speeds
is effected instantly by depressing one handle and raising
another, both at one end of the drill. Iron cells are
also made to these drills, whereby a much easier and
simpler method of regulating the quantity of seed de-
livered and the cog wheels, when going up or down hill,
is required.— -Price £23 5s.

(Private mark. No. 9.)

9, a patent horse hoe, invented and manufactured by the i
exhibiter.

This implement is so complete in itself, as to be Mij

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

147

suited to all methods of drill cultivation, whether broad,
stetch, or ridge ploughing ; and is adapted to hoeing
corn of all sorts, as well as roots. The peculiar advan-
tages of this implement are as follows : —

It may be increased or diminished in size to suit all
lands or methods of planting ; the axletree being move-
able at both ends, either wheels may be expanded or
contracted, so as always to be kept between the rows of
plants.

The shafts are readily altered and put to any part of
the frame, so that the horses may either walk in the fur-
row, or in any direction to avoid injury to the crop.
Each hoe works on a lever independent of the others, so
that no part of the surface to be cut, however uneven,
can escape ; and, in order to accommodate this imple-
ment for the consolidated earth of the wheat crop, and
also the more loosened top of spring corn, roots, &c.,
the hoes are pressed in by different weights being hung
upon the ends of each lever, and adjusted by keys or
chains, to prevent them going beyond the proper depth.
What has hitherto been an insuperable objection to the
general use of the horse hoe is overruled in this, by the
novel and easy method of steering, so that the hoes may
be guided to the greatest ^nicety, doing every exe-
cution among the weeds without injury to the
crop. This implement is so constructed that the
hoes may be set from seven inches to any wider
space. For the piirpose of hoeing all kinds of corn, the
inverted hoes only are preferred ; but for root crops,
where the rows of plants are wider (say 16 inches or
more), an extra hoe of a semi-circular form is placed
on a separate lever, working between and in advance of
the two inverted hoes, for the more effectually cutting
all the land, however uneven the surface, by the three
separate hoes working independently of each other be-
tween the rows. The hoes are of peculiar, improved
manufacture, the blades being of steel, and made sepa-
rate, and attached to a socket handle in a simple and
easy yet effectual manner, so that any husbandman may
replace them ; and being -manufactured by the patentees
at an exceeding low price, no difficulty can arise in re-
placing those parts subject to wear. In order to set
the hoes in a proper cutting position for either flat or
stetch ploughing, and so as thoroughly to cut either
hard or soft ground, the levers are put in a more or less
oblique position, causing the cutting edges of the hoes
to be more or less inclining downwards, by raising or
lowering the jointed irons to which the forward ends of
the levers are suspended and swing, which is done by
merely moving the pin which rests upon the frame into
different holes. — Price £-16.

Received the Prizes of the Royal Agricultural Society
of England, at Liverpool, 1841, i.'5. ; at Bristol, 1842,
£h. ; at Derby, 1843, a Silver Medal.

10, a patent horse hoe, invented and manufactured by
the exhibiter.

Garrett's patent horse hoe, same as above ; but set
for hoeing a different crop. — Price £\%.
(Private mark. No. 9.)

11, a four-horse power thi-ashing machine, invented and
manufactured by the exhibiter.

It is peculiar for its accelerative power, nicety of
work, and saving of horse labour ; for by allowing the
draught horses to walk their ovra natural slow pace of
two miles per hour (which is about three rounds per
minute), it will thrash perfectly clean any kind of corn,
with four horses, as much as sixty imperial bushels per
hour, without injuring the kernels or breaking the straw
to pieces; and, by merely substituting another concave,
■which is provided to surround the drum, with only one
or two horses, will effectually draw clover, suckling, or
any other small seeds.

It is so portable, that two men may set it down or

take it up in half an hour, and two horses will remove
it easily from place to place. The most recent improve-
ments which the manufacturers have made in this ma-
chine, are as follows : — The iron-rimmed horse-wheel
turned perfectly true in the lathe, on both sides, to ad-
mit of toothed segments of eight, so that when the teeth
are worn or accidentally broken, one or any number of
parts may be replaced by the attendant of the machine,
without a mechanic. The drum is made entirely of
iron, with five beaters, peculiarly formed of wrought
iron, extremely light and strong, occupying less than
the space of four wood beaters, thus giving one-fifch
more thrashing power, without increased speedor friction ;
and the concave which surrounds the drum, being also
of wrought iron ribbed plates, are much less liable of
breaking, and are more readily repaired.

There is a bridge or cover for the leading bar, that
the horses may step over without a possibility of injury ;
and being moveable, and attached only to the horse-
frame with hooks, this addition is particularly essential
when the barn floor, upon which the thrashing power
stands, lies higher than the horse walk. Another ad-
vantage is, a stage to fix perpendicularly upon the
thrashing power, so as to keep all loose ears of corn
from falling amongst the thrashed com or straw. An
arrangement is also made for attaching the leading bar
to either side of the thrashing power, so as it may be
worked with equal convenience from either side of the
barn or stack. The instrument for loading and unload-
ing is a lever-purchase, readily applied and managed
by one man, and extremely portable. — Price, complete,
£61 7s.

12, a bolting thrashing machine, impi'oved and manu=
factured by the exhibiter.

This machine is so perfectly constnicted for thrash«
ing wheat, without either bending, bruising, or in any
degree injuring the straw, as to render it of the most
essential importance to agriculturists residing near large
towns where their straw is sold, or when it is required
perfectly straight and regular for very particular pur-
poses. The machinery of the barn part of this imple-
ment is made suitable for being driven by any of R. G.
and Son's horse thrashing powers, and may be worked
to advantage with three or four horses. — Price of three-
horse power machine, complete, £52 12s,

13, a patent chaff-cutter, improved and manufactured
by the exhibiter.

There are many novel and important improvements in
these engines. The general defect in all chaff-cutting
engines (that of choking by a portion of the feed turn-
ing round with the rollers, instead of going forward to
meet the cut), is effectually remedied in this machine.
The cause of this choking is to be attributed mainly to
the rollers constantly drawing the feed forward when
the knives are making the cut, so that the feed cannot
get out because the knife is passing before the mouth ;
consequently causing unnecessary strain and friction to
the engine, as well as labour to turn it. To remedy
this apparent defect, the feed is drawn forward only at
intervals between the two knives, so that while the knife
is operating on the feed, the rollers cease to turn, the
feed resting till the knife has passed and made its cut ;
the feed is then instantly drawn forward and rests again
before the next knife comes upon it.

The next important feature which recommends this
engine is, the mouth accommodating itself to the thick-
ness of the feed ; the pressiu-e plate and upper roller,
both moving perpendicularly, are pressed down upon
the feed by a weighted lever, which properly and con-
stantly pressing that portion of the hay or straw which
is receiving the cut, whether thin or thick, causes it to
make good and regular chaff.

It will also cut five different lengths of chaff, viz. : ^,

L 2

148

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

i, I, ^, and f iiich, by simply shifting the bolt which
fastens the connecting rod to the beam, which works the
palls on the ratchet wheels ; and No. 61, A., is
made with a strong double iron frame, for the
arms upon which the knives are fixed to work inside
between two centres, running in brass wears, and a
heavy fly-wheel, 56 inches in diameter outside the frame,
intended for one or two horses, or may, by feeding thin,
be used by hand power, for which a crank is provided ;
with one horse it will cut 150 to 250 bushels of fodder
per hour. — Price £10 10s.

14, a patent chaflf cutter, improved and manufactured
by the exhibiter.

No. 61, B., on same principle as above, with a sin-
gle iron frame and heavy fly-wheel, with centres running
in brass wears, having a second crank by the side, so
that two men, or a man and lad, may occasionally work
at it. It will cut from 40 to 80 bushels of fodder per
day.— Price £8 8s.

15, a chafi" cutting engine, improved and manufactured
by the exhibiter.

Chaff cutting engine, 9j inch wheel motion for cutting
fodder for cattle, to be worked by one or two men, as
occasion may require. The propelling rollers and press
are so constructed as to act with equal pressui'e upon
any irregular thickness of feed between 1 J and 3 inches,
and is easily altered to cut diflferent lengths of chaff. —
Price £7 7s.

(Private mark, No. 59.)

16, a chaff cutting engine, improved and manufactured
by the exhibiter.

Chaff cutting engine, cutting one length, suited to
gentlemen's, stables, or small establishments ; this en-
gine will cut from 15 to 20 bushels per hour, and is
strongly recommended as being a most effective imple-
ment, and not liable to get out of order. — Price £4 15s.
Private mark. No. CI.

17, a bean, pea, malt, and barley crusher, improved
and manufactured by the exhibiter.

Bean, pea, malt, and barley crushers ; the mills are
particularly recommended for either of the above pur-
poses, being both effectual and quick in operation, and
easy to work. The rollers are of steel, cut with ribs,
and are, by an excellent contrivance, kept parallel with
the spiral cut plate against which they work ; the bar-
rel and plate may be set at any distance from each
other, as circumstances may require, to grind fine or
coarse for horses, bullocks, or sheep.

No. 58"20 on wood frame, with wrought case, har-
dened barrel and plates, adapted for horse or hand
labour. — Price, complete with ban-el and plates for
malt and barley, £9 9s.

18, a bean, pea, malt and barley crusher, improved
and manufactured by the exhibiter.

No. 58, on iron frame, with case-hardened barrel
and plates, and heavy fly-wheel for hand labour ; with
barrel and plates for malt or barley. — Price, complete,
£6.

19, a rape and linseed cake crusher, improved and
manufactured by the exhibiter.

Rape and linseed cake crusher, on wood frame, with
heavy fly-wheel, adapted to breaking very thick and
large foreign cakes. — Price £8 8s.

20, a rape and linseed cake crusher, improved and
manufactured by the exhibiter.

Rape and linseed cake crusher, to break fine for
manure, or coarse for feeding cattle. This implement
is made with two sets of working barrels for breaking
the cake into pieces for cattle or sheep, or powder for
manure J the barrels are regulated, as may be required,
by two pairs of screws.— Price £6 IGs. 6d.

Received the prizes of the Royal Agricultural So-
ciety of England at Cambridge, 1840, £5.; Liverpool,
1841, £5.; Bristol, 1842, £3.

21, a linseed cake crusher, improved and manufactured M
by the exhibiter. ^
Linseed cake crusher, same principle as above, but

made with one pair of barrels only, to break cake into
any size pieces for cattle or sheep. — Price £4 4s. «

Private mark. No. 67, B. ■

22, a universal swing plough, double handles; im-
proved by W. Warren, of Aldringham, and manu-
factured by the exhibiter.

Universal swing plough, with a novel adaptation of
wheels, rendering it suitable for all kinds of soil. Its
recommendations are obviously important : —

First — Lightness of draught.

Second — Simplicity of construction, with ready mode
of alteration for different kinds of work, and, conse-
quently, easily and nicely managed, so as to perform
its important operations in a seperior manner. It may
also be drawn from field to field on the roads, without
a slade.

Thirdly — Its durability and smallness of cost, with
little expense to keep the wearing parts in repair. —
Price, with double handles, ^3 10s.

Private mark, A. B. E.

23, a universal swing plough, single handle, improved
by ^y. Warren, of Aldringham, manufactured by the
exhibiter.

Same construction as No. 22.— Price £3 7s. 7d.

24, an iron universal swing plough, improved by W.
Warren, of Aldringham, and manufactured by the
exhibiter.
Same construction as No. 23, but with iron beam and

handles. — Price £o 5s.

25, a rackheath subsoil plough, with wheels at head,
improved and manufactured by the exhibiter. — Price
£5 5s.

20, a barley aveler or hummelling machine, improved

and manufactured by the exhibiter.

This is a most efficient machine for rubbing the
horns and avels off barley, and screening away all
loose rubbish from the corn, leaving the kernels clean
and the sample perfect.

It is used by one man turning the crank, or may be
attached to any horse power machinery, and used to
great advantage with one horse. — Price £3.
Private mark, No. 54, A.

27, a hay-making machine, improved and manufac-
tured by the exhibiter.
This implement has lately undergone considerable

improvements. It combines both effectiveness and
durability; the teeth (which are of wrought iron) are
made to turn down when not at work, and the revolving
cylinder may be set nearer or further from the ground
as circumstances may require. The greater part of the
implement being made of iron, it is less liable to get
out of order from exposure to the cold. — Price ^"'U.

28, a patent lever drag rake, improved and manufac-
tured by the exhibiter.
This implement is for raking barley and other corn

stubbles, also cut grass after it is strewn in the process
of making hay. Each tooth works independently on a
separate lever, so as to fall to the irregularities of the
surface ; and the oblique direction of the teeth is altered
by rising or lowering the ends of the levers, so that the
teeth may rake lightly or heavily, as the quality of
work or nature of the surface may require. There is
also attached a simple lever purchase, so as to enable
a lad to raise the teeth without stopping the progr^^s.p.f

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

140

the implement, to relieve them of their load, and leave
it neatly raked up in rows. — Price £7 7s.

29, a patent lever couch rake, improved and manufac-
tured by the exhibiter.

Patent lever drag rake, on same principle as the
foregoing, but made straight, with 48 inch wheels, and
30 inch teeth, for raking heavy crops of meadow hay
and couch grass. — Price £10 10s.

30, a patent clod crusher, improved and manufactured
Ijy the exhibiter.

This implement, as improved by the manufacturers
and patentees, is rendered most valuable for crushing
clods on heavy lands, and when every other implement
is useless in dry weather. This will be found all-efficient
in preparing fallow lands for the root crops ; also most
essential in pidvorizing lands and raising mould for the
barley seed. It is recommended by the most expe-
rienced agriculturists who have tried it, as the most
desirable implement for preparing clover lands for
wheat, for rolling it once or twice over the land after
it is ploughed, and when dry, as it presses down
throughly the flag, and raises an inch or more mould
on the top for the deposit of seed. By the patent
improved method of heigbtening or lowering the car-
riage wheels, any degree of pressure may be obtained ;
and the difficulty in those made by others of removing
it from field to field, or on common roads, is com-
pletely remedied in this. — Price, No. 75, with 30 inch
cylinders, £17 17s.

31, a jointed iron field roll, improved and manufac-
tured by the exhibiter.

Tliis implement is made to accommodate itself to
any shaped lands, and may be weighted with stones,
Sec, to render it effective for every purpose of a farm;
its centres being so constructed as to retain the oil,
rendering it very easy in draught and less liable to
wear. — Price £9 9s.

32, a patent stack stand, all wrought iron, invented
by J. Springall, of Ipswich, and manufactured by
the exhibiter.

This wrought iron rick stand is not the only effectual
and never-failing protection against rats and mice, but
the most economical and durable that the farmer can
possess.— Price £"10 10s.

Stand No. 66. — Mr. Joseph Cook Grant, of
Stamford.
Article No. I, a Grant's patent lever horse rake,
for hay, corn, stubble, couch, or twitch, Sec; invented,
improved, and manufactured by the exhibiter. Gained
the prize at the Royal Agricultural Society of Eng-
land's exhibition at Liverpool ; the best implement
exhibited at the Highland Society's show at Berwick ;
ditto at the Royal Society of England's exhibition at
Bristol J ditto at the Royal Irish Society's show at
Dublin. 2, a Grant's iron patent lever horse rake ;
invented, improved and manufactured by the exhibiter.
3, a Grant's patent steerage lever horse hoe ; invented,
improved, and manufactured by the exhibiter. This
horse hoe gained a silver medal, at the Royal Agricul-
tural Society's show at Derby, July 12, 1843. 4, a pair
of Grant's patent lever self-cleauiug harrows; invented,
improved, and manufactured by the exhibiter. 5, an
improved two knife chaff inachine; invented, improved,
and manufactured by the exhibiter. 6, an improved
hay-making or tedding machine ; improved and manu-
factured by the exhibiter. 7, a garden drill ; invented,
improved and manufactured by the exhibiter. 8, an
improved turnip, mangel-wurzel, and manure drill;
improved and manufactured by the exhibiter. 9, a
horse hoe and moulding plough ; invented, improved,
and manufactured by the exhibiter. 10, an improved
double action linseed and rape cake mill ; improved

and manufactured by the exhibiter. 11, a macliine fur
paring stubbles and scarifying land ; invented and
manufactured by the exhibiter. 12, a two furrowed
land presser, with drill attached ; improved and mnnu-
factured by the exhibiter. 13, a number of model?.

Stand No. 67. — Messrs. Jos. Hall and Co., Cam-
bridge.
Article No. 1 (new implement), a scarifier, invented

and improved by Joseph Hall, and manufactured by

the exhibiters.

This implement is constructed principally of wrought
iron. The tines are secured to cast iron eyes, which
are fitted on a wrought iron bar, and regulated by
means of parallel rods and a vibrating screw, to any
required depth in the soil. It is improved in its
general construction. Price £11 lis.

2 (new implement), a crusher, invented and improved
by Joseph Hall, and manufactured by the exhibiters.
A number of moveable knives are so arranged as to

compose a screw. It is improved in its general con-
struction, but more particularly in the form of the
knife ; suited for dibbling barley, and is also intended
as a grass renovator. Width about 7 feet, diameter 2
feet 8' inches. Price £22.

3 (new implement), a trefoil and cloverseed drawing
machine, invented by Constable, in Hall and Go's
employ, improved by Joseph Hall, and manufac-
tured by the exhibiters.

The principal working parts of this machine are the
drum and cylinder. The interior of the drum con-
sists of a series of ribs composing a diminishing screw,
in which works a cylinder at right angles with the
screw, by means of which the seed is drawn in a gra-
duated manner from one end of the drum to the other.
It does not injure either the seed or the chaff", and will
draw 48, 60, and up to 100 bushels of trefoil in 10
hours, and from 30 to 40 bushels of cloversted per
day. It can readily be attached to and worked by any
power not less than four horses. Machine, £40 ;
horse works, £'40. — Price £80.

4 (new Implement), a dibbling machine, invented by
Joseph Hall, and manufactured by the exhibiters.

A number of rods are secured to an eccentric, which
contracts or expands the radius so as to set the
dibblers to anj'^ required distance apart. Price £1. lOs.

5 (new implement), a hand hoe, invented by Joseph
Hall, and manufactured by the exhibitors.

A hoe is secured to parallel rods, which are attached
to a pole supported by a wheel. In its work the hoe is
regulated in the same manner as a drill coulter. Price
15s.

Stand No. 68. — Mr. James Masterson, Colling-
bourne Kingston, Marlborough, Wilts.
Article No. 1, a thirteen-coulter corn drill, invented
by the Rev. Mr. Cook, of Norfolk, improved and maHu=
factured by the exhibiter.

Stand No. 69. — Mr. James Richmond, of Salford,
Lancashire.
Article No. 1, (new implement), an improved chaff
machine ; invented, improved, and manufactured by
the exhibiter. 2 (new implement), an improved chaff
machine; invented, improved, and manufactured by
the exhibiter. 3, a small mill for kibbling beans,
oats. Sec. ; invented, improved, and manufactured by
the exhibiter. 4, a large mill, for kibbling beans,
oats, &c. ; invented, improved, and manufactured by
the exhibiter. 5, a large mill, for kibbling beans,
oats, &c. ; invented, improved, and manufactured by
the exhibiter. 6, an improved steaming apparatus, for
roots, &c. ; invented, improved, and manufactured by

160

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the exhibiter. A prize of £5 was awarded at the
Derby show for the above. 7, au improved steaming
apparatus, for roots, &c.; invented, improved, and
manufactured by the exliibiter. 8 (new implement),
an improved machine for washing vegetables; in-
vetited, improved, and manufactured by the exhibiter.
9 (new implement), an improved churn ; invented, im-
proved, and manufactured by the exhibiter.

Stand No. 70. — Messrs. Sanders, Williams, and
Taylor, of Bedford.
Artif le No. 1 (new implement), a two wheel wrought
iron ploujih, with patent coulter, marked J. C. ; in-
Tented and manufactured by the exhibiters. 2 (new
implement), a two wheel wrought iron plough, with
patent coulter, marked W. S. ; invented and manufac-
tured by the exhibiters. 3, a set of patent diagonal iron
harrows; invented by Samuel Taylor, of Cotton End,
Bedford, and manufactured by the exhibiters. A prize
awarded at Derby for this implement, j£5. 4, a set of
strong iron harrows, as above, for three horses ; in-
vented by Samuel Taylor of Cotton End, and manu-
factured by the exhibiters. d, a set of light seed
harrows, as above, for one horse ; invented by Samuel
Taylor, of Cotton End, and manufactured by the
exhibiters. 6, a patent horse drag; invented by
Samuel Titylor, of Cotton End, and manufactured by
the exhibiters. 7 (new implement), a wrought iron
scarifier; invented and manufactured by the exhibiters.

Stand No. 71. — Mr. George Stacey, of Uxbridge,
Middlesex.
Article No. 1 (new implement), a surface draining
plough, invented and manufactured by the exhibiter.
2, a broiid share or stubble plough ; improved and
manufactured by the exhibiter. 3, a hand thrashing
machine ; improved and manufactured by the exhibiter.
4, a chaflf engine; improved and manufactured by the
exhibiter. 6, a chaff engine ; improved and manu-
factured by the exhibiter.

Stand No. 72. — Messrs. R. Wedlake and C.
Thompson, of Romford, Essex.

Article No. 1 , a plough, suitable for heavy lands ; im-
proved and manufactured by the exhibiters. Price
£3. 6s.

2, a plough, suitable for light land; improved and
manufactured by the exhibiters. Price £3. 3s.

8, a hay-making machine; manufactured by the exhi-
biters.
This machine has a double cylinder, and the motion

is easily reversed by an additional pinion, so that it

can be worked forwards and backwards. In very

heavy crops it is worked backwards, and lays the hay

lisrht on the ground, similar to winnowing. Price

£13 13s.

4, a winnowing machine; improved and manufactured
by the exhit)iters. Price £8.

6, a chaff cutter; manufactured by the exhibiters
Price £7 7s.

6, a broadcast seed machine, 8 feet 6 inches long •
manufactured by the exhibiters.
This machine will sow turnip seed, rye, grass, clover

seed, &e., and is made of different lengths, to suit the

lands ; the box is put on a frame, and wheeled similar

to a barrow. Price £3.

7 (new implement), an oilcake breaking machine; in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiters.
This inaeliine will break any description of cake,

either foreign or English, suitable for beasts or sheep,

and will pulverize it for manure. Price £2 12s,

8, a scarifier, with three hoes ; manufactured by the
exhibiters. Price £18.

9, a horse hay rake; improved and manufactured by
the exhibiters. Price £7.

10, a turnip drill, to sow on bouts; manufactured by
the exhibiters. Price £7.

11, a subsoil plough ; manufactured by the exhibiters.
Price £5.

12, oat bruising machine ; manufactured by the ex-
hibiters. Price £5.

13, a scarifier, with twelve or fifteen hoes; manu-
factured by the exhibiters. Price £16 16s.

Stand No. 73. — Mr. Joseph Simmons, of Sitting-
bourne, Kent.
Article No. I, a turnrest plough; improved by
William Smart, of Rainham, and manufactured by the
exhibiter.

Stand No. 74. — Mr. James Smyth, of PeasenhaU,
Yoxford, Suffolk.
Article No. 1, a fifteen coulter corn and seed drill,
the rows at six inches apart, more or less; invented by
Smyth and Son, and improved and manufactured by
the exhibiter. 2, a thirteen coulter corn and seed drill,
adapted for hilly countries, rows at six inches apart,
more or less; invented by Smyth and Sons, improved
and manufactured by theexhibiter. 3, a twelve coulter
corn, seed, and manure drill, for general purposes ;
invented by Smyth and Sons, improved and manufac-
tured by the exhibiter. 4 (new implement), a two
coulter patent drop drill, for seeds and manure ; in-
vented by Smyth and Sons, improved and manufac-
tured by the exhibiter. 5, a two or three rowed ma-
nure and seed ridge, or broadwork drill ; invented and
manufactured by the exhibiter. 6, a nine coulter corn
and seed drill, adapted for hilly countries, at six inches
apart, more or less ; invented by Smyth and Sons,
improved and manufactured by the exhibiter. 7, a
twelve coulter corn and seed drill, at six inches apart,
more or less ; invented by Smyth and Sons, improved
and manufactured by the exhibiter. 8, a clover, rye
grass, and turnip seed barrow ; invented, improved,
and manufactured by the exhibiter.

Stand No. 75. — Mr. William Wood, of Knuts-
ford, Cheshire.
Article No. 1, a swing plough, for heavy land ;
invented and manufactured by the exhibiter. 2, a
swing plough, adapted for light land ; invented and
manufactured by the exhibiter. 3, a drill presser, on
double swing plough, with harrows attached ; invented
and manufactured by the exhibiter. 4, a scarifier, or
one horse hoe, invented by Thomas Wood, and manu-
factured by the exhibiter. 5, a scarifier, or one horse
hoe ; invented and manufactured by the exhibiter. 6, a
scarifier, or one horse hoe; invented by Thomas Wood,
of Knutsford, and manufactured by the exhibiter. 7, a
scarifier, or one horse hoe ; invented and manufactured
by the exhibiter. 8, a churning apparatus, with churn
attached; invented by Thomas Wood, of Knutsford,
and manufactured by the exhibiter. 9 (new imple-
ment), a churning apparatus, with churn attached ;
invented and manufactured by the exhibiter. 10, a
pair of iron harrows ; invented by Thomas Wood, of
Knutsford, and manufactured by the exliibiter. 11,
(new implement), a portable smith's forge ; invented
and manufactured by the exhibiter.

Stand No, 76. — Mr. Edward Cockey, of Frome,
Somersetshire,
Article No. 1, a chaff cutter, invented and manu-
factured by the exhibiter. 2, a chaff cutter, improved
and manufactured by the exhibiter. 3, a chaff cutter,
improved and manufactured by the exliibiter.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

161

Stand No. 77. — Mr. H. G. James, 44, Fish-street
Hill, London, Middlesex,
Article No. 1, a weighing machine for cattle, in-
vented by Monsieur George, of Paris, improved and
manufactured by the exhibiter. 2 (new implement), a
twenty liundrod-weight weighing-machine, invented
and manufactured by the exhibiter. 3 (new imple-
ment), a ten hundred-weight weighing-machine, in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiter. 4 (new
implement), a five hundred-weight weighing-machine,
invented and manufactured by the exhibiter. 5 (new
implement), a five hundred weight weighing-macliine,
with moveable scale-boards, invented and manufac-
tured by the exhibiter. 6 (new implement), a three
hundred-weight weighing-machine, invented and ma-
nufactured by the exhibiter. 7 (new implement), a
three Imndred-weight pedestal or table weighing-
machine, invented and manufactured by the exhibiter.
8, a five liundred-weight dial weighing-macliine, in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiter. 9 (new
implement) a two ton weighing-crane, invented and
manufactured by tlie exhibiter. 10 (new implement),
a patent self-cupping percussion gun, invented by Mr.
Martin, improved and manufactured by Mr. Hett, of
London.

Stand No. 7B. — Mr. Barnabas Urrj', Newport,
Isle of Wight.
Article No. l,a four-horse power portable thrash-
ing-machine, the outer works originally invented, im-
proved, and manufactured by the exhibiter. 2, a two
horse power portable thrashing-machine, invented,
improved, and manufactured by the exliibiter. 3, a
two-men power hand thrashing-machine, invented,
improved, and manufactured by the exhibiter. 4 (new
implement), a drill machine, full size, invented and
manufactured by the exhibiter. 5 (new implement), a
drill presser, invented and manufactured by the exhi-
biter. 6 (new implement), a drill presser, invented and
manufactured by the exhibiter. 7, a three-knife chaff-
cutting machine, improved and manufactured by the
exhibiter.

Stand No. 79. — Mr. Richard Stratton, of Bristol.
Article No. 1 (new implement), an equirotal farm
waggon, invented and manufactured by the exhibiter.
2, an equirotal spring waggon, invented and manufac-
tured by the exhibiter. 3, a tipping waggon, witli
double shafts, to go single if required, with 3j inch
wheels ; invented and manufactured by the exhibiter.

4, a Berkshire waggon, manufactured by the exhibiter.

5, a narrow-wheeled hoop waggon, manufactured by
tlie exhibiter. 6, a straight-raved waggon, with broad
wheels ; manufactured by the exhibiter. 7, Hannam's
harvest cart, with alterations; invented by Mr. J.
Hannam, of Burcot, Oxon, and manufactured by the
exliibiter. 8, a one-horse agricultural cart, invented
and manufactured by the exhibiter. 9, a strong agri-
cultural cart, invented and manufactured by the
exhibiter. 10, an agricultural spring cart, invented and
manufactured by the exhibiter. 11, an agricultural
spring cart, with cranked axle ; invented and manu-
factured by the e.xhibiter. 12, a one-horse Scotch
cart, manufactured by the exhibiter. 13, a strong
Scotch cart, improved and manufactured by the exhi-
biter. 14, a cranked-axle tipping manure cart, with
liquid manure cask to fit; invented and manufactured
by the exhibiter. 15, a liquid manure cask carriage,
improved and manufactured by the exhibiter. IG (new
implement), a portable iron liquid manure pump and
stand, invented and manufactured by the exhibiter.
17 (new implement), a break waggon, invented and
manufactured by the exhibiter. 18, a cranked-axle
Coburg cart, improved and manufactured by the

exhibiter. 19, a Coburg cart, Improved and manu-
factured by the exhibiter. 20, an open spring chaise
cart, improved and manufactured by the exhibiter.
21, a plough for light land, improved and tnanufac-
turcd by the exhibiter. 22, a plough for heavy Innd,
improved and manufactured by the exhibiter. 23, a
plough for heavy land, improved and manufactured
by the exhibiter. 24, a double-mould ridging and
hoeing plough, manufactureil by the exhibiter. 25, a
wrought iron scarifier, manufactured by the exhibiter.
26, a set of rhomboidal iron harrows, manufactured by
the exhibiter. 27, a set of iron rhomboiilal harrows,
manufactured by the exliibitor. 28, a set of rhom-
boidal iion drag harrows, manufactured by the ex-
hibiter. 29, a metallic churn, invented by W. J.
Gingell,of Bristol, and manufactured by the exhibiter.
30, a revolving couch-extractor, invented and manu-
factured by the exhibiter. 31, a turnip and manure
drill, improved and manufactured by the exhibiter. 32,
a seed and manure drill, as above, but to sow either
turnip, mangel wurzel, or carrot seed ; manufactured
by the exhibiter. 33, a three-furrow corn, bean, and
pea drill; manufactured by the exhibiter. 34. a dib-
bling machine, invented by Mr. W. Miles, M.P., of
Kingswestou, and manufactured by the exhibiter. 3.1,
an expanding horse hoe, for drilled crops; improved
and manufactured by the exhibiter. 36, an expand-
ing horse hoe for drilled crops, without wheel ; ma-
nufactured by the exhibiter. 37, a liaht parallel
expanding iron horse hoe, with wheel ; invented and
manufactured by the exhibiter. 38, a light horse hoe
for corn, &c., invented by the Rev. L. Vernon Harcourt,
of West Dean House, Chichester, and manufactured by
the exhibiter. 39, a double -barrel iron field roller, 16
inches diameter; manufactured by the exhibiter. 40,
a double- barrel iron field roller, 20 inches diatneter;
manufactured by the exhibiter. 41, a Scotch reaping
cradle scythe, manufactured for the exhibiter by I.
Tyzack, of Birmingham. 42, an im|)roved hay-making
machine, invented and manufactured by J. Sweetmsin,
of Bristol. 43, an improved revolving horse-rake,
invented and manufactured by the exhibiter. 44, Fry's
new thrashing floor (registered according to act of
Parliament), invented by Mr. Robert Fry, of Pock-
lington, near Bristol, and manufactured by the exhi-
biter. 45, Fry's new thrashing floor, for garden and
other small seeds (registered according to act of Par-
liament) ; invented by Mr. Robert Fry, of Pocklinston,
and manufactured by the exhibiter. 46, Fry's bone-
breaking machine (registered according to act of Par-
liament), invented by Mr. Robert Fry, of Pocklingtnn.
47, a winnowing machine, manufactured by the exhi-
biter. 48, a winnowing machine, manufactured by tlie
exhibiter. 49, a Boston blower, manufactured by the
exhibiter. 50, a large size 2-knife chaff engine, im-
proved and manufactured by the exhibiter. 51, a
small 2-knife chaff" engine, manufactured by the exlii-
biter. 52, an oat crusher, with feed-roller; improved
and manufactured by the exhibiter. 53, an oat and
bean crusher, with feed-rollers; improved and iiihuu-
factured by the exhibiter. 54, an improved bean-
splitter, manufactured by the exhibiter. 55, an iron
navy wheelbarrow, manufactured by the exhibiter.
56, an iron garden wheelbarrow, manufactured by the
exhibiter. 57, a sheet-iron bucket, manufactured by
the exhibiter. 58, a lever cheese press, invented by
W. J. Gingell, of Bristol, and manufactured by the
exhibiter. 59, a double cheese press, invented by VV.
J. Gingell, of Bristol, and manufactured by the exhi.
biter. 60 (new implement), an imperial revolving and
registering corn meter (patent), invented and manu-
factured by W. J. Gingell, inspector of weights and
measures, of Bristol.

152

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Stand No. 80.— Mr. Wm. Crosskill, of the Bever-
ley Iron Works, near Hull.
Articles No. 1 (improved implement), a patent clod
crusher roller; invented, improved, and manufac-
tured by tlie exliibitcr.

The patent clod crusher roller consists of a series of
cast metal rings or roller parts placed upon a round
axle, and acting independently of each other, thereby
producing a self-cleaning movement. The roller parts
are 2 feet 6 inclies in diameter, with indented surfaces,
and a series of inner teeth placed at a particular angle
to the centre of nxle, producing a peculiar action in
crushing the hardest clods, pulverizing the roughest
land, compressing or giving a firm bottom to light
soils, pressing new sown lands, and for rolling corn
plants, without the slightest injury to the tender
blades, but effecting a pressure eo,uivalent to resetting
the j)lants after they have been turned out by frost or
winds, and in all cases leaving a fine uneven surface
mould to be acted upon by sunshine and moisture.

This description of the patent clod crusher refers to
its mechanical construction ; it is equally adapted and
applied to each and all of the several hereinafter men-
tioned purposes, for the practical result of which see
"Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of Eng-
land," vol. iv. part ii. pp. 561 to 581, containing the
report. When the clod crusher is taken to the field,
a hole is dug under each travelling wheel until the
roller parts rest upon the ground, then take off the
road wheels ; use the same method to get them on
when required. Size, 6 feet six inches wide, with
double shafts, weighing 28 cwt. Delivered in Hull,
with travelling wheels complete, price £22.
2 (improved implement), a patent clod crusher roller;

invented, improved, and manufactured by the ex-

hibitcr.

For rolling strong fallow lands, and crushing the
hardest clods in the drycst seasons. Its peculiar
action penetrates and breaks np the hardest clods,
pulverizing them into a fine mould when, in many
cases, from the nature of the land, the dryness of the
season, and inefficiency of all other implements, it
would be impossible to prepare the land without the
clod -crusher. It has the great advantage of making
sure of a sowing season in the dryest weather, and
preparing the roughest lands for the reception of the
finest of all fine seeds. It is worked by three horses
abreast, and effects an immense saving of the horse
power and labour required by any other means. Bv
once rolling it gives a fineness of surface far surpassing
what is produced by the spike-roller or any other im-
plement ; it is then equal to once harrowing. Size, G
feet fi inches wide, with single shafts, weighing 27 cwt.
Delivered in Hull, with travelling wheels complete,
price ^'21.
n (improved implement), a patent clod crusher roller;

invented, improved, and manufactured by the ex-

hibiter.

For strong land farms to roll corn as soon as sown,
and upon lands sown late in the year which are cloddy
in the spring; it is then equal to once hoeing. By its
peculiar action it does not injure in the slightest degree
the tender blades of the corn plants ; upon strong
soils it penetrates the clods, presses the mould around
the roots, and leaves a fine uneven su'-face at top. By
extensive application it is now considered indispensable
by many farmers. In the first instance it was tried
by rolling one part and leaving the other part of the
field unrolled, the part rolled producing a finer and
stronger plant, and yielding considerably more grain
than where the stone or iron rollers have been applied.
Size, 6 feet wide, with single shafts, weighing 25 cwt.

Delivered in Hull, with travelling wheels complete,
Price i,'19 10s.

4 (improved implement) , a patent clod crusher roller ;
invented, improved, and manufactured by the ex-
liibiter.

For light land farms: for rolling corn upon light
lands soon as sown, and in the spring after frost. It
is found to answer much better than the tedious ope-
ration of pressers upon some liglit soils, where it gives
a suitable degree of firmness and tenacity, without
leaving a smooth surface, and prevents the laud from
scarping, as so frequently occurs in using plain rollers
upon light soils. Size, 5 feet 6 inches, with single
shafts, weighing 23 cwt. Delivered in Hull, with tra-
velling wheels complete, price £l8.

5 (improved implement), a patent clod crusher roller;
invented, improved, and manufactured by the ex-
hibiter.

For rolling land infested by wireworm and grub, for
proof of which see practical report before alluded to.
By the novel and peculiar pressure of the indented
surface of this heavy implement, the soil is so far com-
pressed around the roots of the plants, as to prevent
the free working of the wireworm ; tlms the plant
makes fresh growth, and recovers before a second at-
tack can be made to injure it. Where the roller has
been in use a few years upon some farms, the wire-
worm is rapidly disappearing. Size, 5 feet wide, with
single shafts, adapted for small fields, and worked by
two horses. Delivered in Hull, with travelling wheels
complete, price i?16 10s.

6 (improved implement), a patent clod crusher roller ;
invented, improved, and manufactured by the ex-
hibiter.

For improving grass lands. It is found to be an ex-
cellent implement for rolling after compost upon ffrass
lands, where it pulverizes and presses the same to the
roots of the grass. It is found of great utility upon
moss-grown lands and upon worms in meadow lands ;
a plain roller is afterwards used ; the improvement in
the grass is soon observed. Size, 4 feet 6 inches wide,
with single shafts. Delivered in Hull, with travelling
wheels complete, price ^15.

7 (improved implement), a patent clod crusher roller;

invented, improved, and manufactured by the ex-

hibiter.

For rolling between the rows of potatoes, &c., it is
found to do what could not otherwise be equally effected
(near Goole, in Yorkshire), in breaking, pressing, and
leaving an uneven or harrowed-like surface between
the rows, when the potatoes are grown several inches
of ground. For working between three or more rows
at once rolling, the required number of roller parts
are taken o&', and iron bushes fill up the spaces re-
quired, so that no injury is done to the growing plants.
Size, four feet wide, with single shafts for one horse.
Delivered in Hull, with travelling wheels complete,
price £ld 10s.

8 (new implement), a patent clod crusher roller ;
invented, improved, and manufactured by the ex-
hibiter.

For rolling ridge- work, and adapted for small fields.
It is equally useful for each and all of the before men-
tioned seven different purposes. Size, 3 feet 6 inches
wide, with single shafts for one horse. Delivered in
Hull, with travelling wheels complete, price iC'll.

9 (new implement), a liquid manure cart (small size);
invented, improved, and manufactured by the ex-
hibiter.

The body of this cart is made of cast-iron, and will
contain 100 gallons; it is fitted with a brass valve and

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

153

iron lever rod ; the body of the cart is mounted upon
patent wheels, 4 feet G inches high. The improved
spread-board is adapted for watering broadcast either
level or uneven lands ; by simple contrivances the
liquid is regulated to spread equally upon the surface,
and has also an improved apparatus for watering two
rows of turnips, potatoes, &;c., any required width.
The iron lever rod is attached to the shaft and fitted to
the brass lever valve ; by this rod the driver can in-
stantly increase or decrease the qiumtity of liquid re-
quired for different parts of a field without stopping
the horse. An addition may he had of a perforated
iron partition, if required, across the cart, to prevent
the surge of the liquid upon uneven lands. Price
of cart, £U 12s.

The patent portable iron pump, fitted in a grooved
recess at the end of the cart, may be easily taken in and
out. It is fitted with brass boxes, and cannot choke
or get out of order, with seven feet of flexible leather
pipe and three feet of copper tube attached by a brass
union joint. Price of pump, extra, £o 12s.

10 (improved implement), a liquid manure cart ;
invented, improved, and manufactured by the ex-
hibitcr.

The body of this cart is made of cast-iron, and will
contain 200 gallons ; it is mounted upon high patent
wheels 5 feet G inches diameter ; in other parts it is
fitted up with improvements as above described in No.

9. Price £18; if with patent pump, extra, £1.

This cart gained an honorary reward at the Cambridge
meeting.

1 1 (improved implement), a fixed liquid manure iron
pump, with 12 feet of iron pipe and ball at the end ;
invented by Beare, of London, improved and manu-
factured by the exhibiter.

It is a strong, upright pump, with a strong flange
cast on the bottom to draw on a plank for a liquid
manure tank. It is fitted expressly for liquid manure,
and does not choke when the liquid is nearly as thick
as puddle. It is also adapted for a well. Price
£^ 10s.

12 (improved implement), a portable manure drill for
sowing broadcast, soot, lime, salt, guano, &c. ; in-
vented, improved, and manufactured by the ex-
hibiter.

It will contain eight bushels of manure, is G feet
wide, and will sow the manure over the number of
acres per day, in proportion to the speed of the horse.
The quantity to be sown is regulated by the position of
the drill box and the extra cog wheels ; by placing the
drill in a vertical or horizontal position, the quantity is
increased or decreased to any number of bushels per
acre. Price i?12 12s.

This implement received a prize at Bristol.

13 (improved implement), a two-row presser and drills
improvpd and manufactured by the exhibiter.

For seeds and manure. Its use for the wheat season
is practised upon the Yorkshire wolds as follows : —
With two horses, one man to attend to the drill, fol-
lowing two ploughs ; the two pressers arc set so as to
press the edge of each furrow, which forms a solid
bottom, and prevents the seeds being deposited too
deep ; there is a saving of one-fourth the seed by this
practice ; it is a preventive against the seeds turning
out by the frost, and renders the corn in a good state
for horse hoeing. For spring corn either upon turnip
or seed land the same process and result as to the
pressing, with the addition of drilling the manure, such
as bones, rape-dust, or any other portable manure, along
with the seed. Price £12 lOs. ; two-row presser, price
£6 10s.; do., with drill, £-'16 159.

14 (improved implement), a turnip and manure drill;
improved and manufactured by the exhibiter.

This drill is provided with rollers before and behind.
The quantity of manure to be sown is regulated by the
position of the drill, which is shifted either vertically
or horizontally. The seeds are placed in a box, and
the quantity to be sown regulated by a brass slide re-
ceiver, which is increased or decreased by use of a key.
Price £8 10s.

15 (improved implement), a turnip and manure drill ;
improved and manufactured by the exhibiter.

The iron lever on the side of the drill is to throw the
wheels in or out of work. This drill will sow from
twenty to forty bushels of bones or other pulverized
manure per acre, as wanted, with the same cups : by
drawing the box with the iron lever fixed to it to the
hindermost part of the drill, it sows more, and by
moving it forward, less. The slide in the box is also
drawn up or down, to assist in depositing the quantity
required.
With wheel fixed upon the 'Will sow per acre — rows 24

end of seed-cup shaft. inches apart.

29 cogs If lbs.

27 cogs 2 lbs.

25 cogs r 2^ lbs.

23 cogs 2§ lbs.

21 cogs 2| lbs.

Price, one-row drill, i.'6l0s. ; do., two-row drill,
£9 10s.

16 (improved implement), a potato steamer and appa-
ratus ; invented, improved, and manufactured by the
exhibiter.

This new invention is upon a very simple, but most
effective principle; a boy may attend to it without the
least danger of accident. It possesses the advantage
of durability. The same furnace or boiler can be used
as a washing or brewing copper, without any extra ex-
pense. The apparatus is suspended to an iron bar,
upon which it rides on two wheels, and is raised above
the boiler by pressing down the handle; the steamer
hangs upon two pivots in the iron bow, and admits of
its turning over to empty the steamed potatoes. Price
i'4 17s.Gd.

The steamer with improved apparatus, cross-bar,
boiler, and furnace-grate, doors and frame, all com-
plete— to steam 2| bushels, £i 17s. 6d., up to 10
bushels, £"10.

17, improved potato washer; invented and improved

by the exhibiter.

It is made portable, with two wheels and handles to
remove it; the ends of the washer are of cast-iron,
neatly fitted. The barrel is raised out of the washing
vessel by a worm and wheel, thereby requiring a small
space to work it in. Price £i 10s.

11, a circular iron pig trough; manufactured by the

exhibiter.

With eight revolving partitions — for economy from
waste of food, and a preventive of quarrelling when the
pigs are feeding. Pric £1 Is.

1 9 (new implement), a circular iron dog or sheep trough ;
invented, impioved, and manufactured by the exhi>
biter.

With eight revolving partitions — for economy of food,
Sec. Price 15s.

20 (improved implement), a portable four horse thrash-
ing machine ; improved and manufactured by the ex-
hibiter.

This machine thrashed 40 to 45 qrs. of wheat per
day, and 50 to GO qrs. of oats per day, in 1842. This
improved, simple, powerful, and cheap portable ma-
chine takes less horse power, and is warranted to thrash

154

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

as much corn as any machine. The thrashing part is
improved by a new mode of adjusting the concave to
the drum, which is effected by four grooved plates
fixed outside, being more ready to adjust, and so fixed
thiit the concave cannot begot too near the drum, thereby
removing the principal cause of breakage in all thrashing
machines. Price, with travelling wheels, feeding table,
blocks, ropes, &c., complete, £45.

21 (new implement), a four-knife straw cutter ; in-
vented, improved, and manufactured by the ex-
hi biter.

To be worked by one horse or two men. Price
£\0 10s.

22 (improved implement), a five-knife straw cutter;
improved and manufactured by the exhibiter.
Worked by two horses or steam power; warranted

to cut 200 bushels per hour. It is made portable, and
can be worked by the horse-part of the portable thrash-
ing machine, or it can be attached to a fixture thrasliing
maciiine, and driven by a strap. Price ^"15 15s.

23 (new implement), a pair of new patent wheels for
agricultural carriages; invented, improved, patented,
and manufactured by the exhibiter.

By the invention of macliinery, driven by steam-
engine, these wheels are consequently made better,
firmer, and more true, than when made by hand. The
naves are made of iron, cast upon steel pins and turned
true, and fitted to case-hardened turned arms, and
wrought iron axle. The spokes are of well seasoned
English oak, turned and fitted with double shoulders
into the felloes. The ash felloes are finished and fitted
by machinery, and the hoop tire is also fitted and
hooped by machinery.

The following sixteen pair of patent wheels and iron
axles are adapted for various carriages : —

One pair of one-horse light cart wheels, 4 feet 6
inches high, hoop tire 2 by } inch, with wrought iron
axle tree complete. Price £o.

This implement obtained a medal at Derby.

24 (new implement), a pair of patent wheels, con-
structed same as No. 23, invented, improved and ma-
nufactured by the exhibiter.

One pair of one-horse light cart wheels, 4 feet C
inches high, hoop tire 2 by J inch, with axle-tree com-
plete, with patent axle and oil-boxes. Price £6 5s.

This implement obtained a medal at Derby.

25 (new implement), a pair of patent wheels and iron
axles, invented, improved and manufactured by the
exhibiter.

One pair of one-horse light cart wheels 4 feet 6
inches, hoop tire 4 by ^ inch, with axle-tree complete.
Well adapted for liquid manure carts to run upon grass
lands. Price £5 10s.

26 (new implement), a pair of patent wheels and iron
axles, invented, improved and manufactured by the
exhibiter.

One pair of one-horse light cart wheels 4 feet 6
inches high, hoop tire 4 by j inch, with patent axle
and oil-boxes Well adapted for liquid manure carts to
run on grass lands. Price ^^6 15s.

27 (new implement), a pair of patent wheels and iron
axles, invented, improved and manufactured by the
exhibiter.

One pair of strons: one-horse cart wheels, 4 feet 6 inches
high, hoop tire 2^ by f inch, with axle-tree complete.
For farm work, aiid particularly for road purposes.
Price £5 10s.

28 (new implement), a pair of patent wheels and iron
axles, invented, improved and manufactured by the
exhibiter.

One pair of strong one-horse cart wheels, 4 feet 6

inches high, hoop tu'e 2i by f inch, with patent axle
and oil-boxes complete. Well adapted for road pur-
poses, and applicable to spring carts which may also be
required for market carts. Price £6 15s.

29 (new implement), a pair of patent wheels and iron
axles, invented, improved and manufactured by the
exhibiter.

One pair of strong one-horse cart wheels, 4 feet 6
inches high, hoop tire 4^ by f inches, with axle-tree
complete. For general work upon the farm — the broad
wheels will not cut into the land so deeply as the narrow
wheels. Price £& 10s.

30 (new implement), a pair of patent wheels and iron
axles, invented, improved and manufactured by the
exhibiter.

One pair of strong one-horse cart wheels, 4 feet 6
inches high, hoop tire 4| by f inches, with patent axle
and oil-boxes. For farm purposes or for town work
where one-horse carts are required. Price £7 5s.

31 (new implement), a pair of patent wheels and iron
axles, invented, improved and manufactured by the
exhibiter.

One pair of strong two-horse cart wheels, 5 feet high,
hoop tire 5 by ^ inches, with iron axle-tree complete.
For farm purposes when one-horse carts are not pre-
ferred. Price £10 10s.

32 (new implement), a pair of patent wheels and iron
axels, invented, improved and manufactured by the
exhibiter.

One pair of strong two-horse cart wheels, 5 feet high,
hoop tire 5 by f inches, with patent axle and oil-boxes.
For town trade and farm work, where one-horse carts
are not preferred. Price £'12.

33 (new implement) , a pair of patent wheels and iron
axles, invented, improved and manufactured by the
exhibiter.

One pair of stroiig two-horse cart wheels, 5 feet high,
hoop tire 6 by f inches, with iron axles-tree complete.
For heavy two-horse loads upon the farm. Price £\2
10s.

34 (new implement), a pair patent wheels and iron
axles, invented, improved and manufactured by the
exhibiters.

One pair of strong two-horse cart wheels, 5 feet high,
hoop tire 6 by f inches, with patent axle and oil-boxes.
For town trade heavy two-horse loads. Price £14.

35 (new implement), a pair of patent wheels and iron
axles, invented, improved and manufactured by the
exhibiter.

One pair of strong two-horse cart wheels, 5 feet
high, hoop tire 6 by 1 inches, with iron axle-tree com-
plete. For town trade veiy heavy two-horse loadB.
Price £14 10s.

36 (new implement), a pair of patent wheels and iron
axles, invented, improved [and manufactured by the
exhibiter.

One pair of strong two-horse cart wheels, 5 feet high,
hoop tire 6 by 1 inches, with patent axle and oil- boxes.
For heavy two-horse loads, town trade. Price £16-

37 (new implement), a pair of patent wheels, and
iron axles, invented, improved and manufactured by
the exhibiter.

One pair of London pattern one-horse strong made
light cart wheels, 5 feet high, hoop tire 3 by J inches,
with iron axle-tree complete. Well adapted for road
and town trade where speed is requisite. Price £7.

38 (new implement), a pair of patent wheels and iron
axles, invented, improved and manufactxtred by the
exhibiter.

One pair of London pattern one-horse strong made
light cart wheels, 5 feet high, hoop tire 3 by f inches,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

155

with patent axle and oil-boxes. Recommended for
town trade. Price £8 10s.

39 (improved implement), a one-horse cart, improved
and manufactured by the exhibiter.

Mounted upon new patent wheels and iron axles,
hoop tire 2 by ^ inches. A light cart for sundry work.
Price ^9.

40 (improved implement), a one horse cart, improved
and manufactured by the exhibiters.

Mounted upon patent wheels and iron axles, hoop tire
2i by f inches, with light slated sides. One-horse car
effected a saving of nearly one-half the horse-power re-
quired. Price i,'10 10s. ; with shelvings for harvest
cart, extra, £2 10s. to ^£"'3.

41 (improved implement), a one-horse spring cart,
improved and manufactured by the exhibiter.
Mounted upon patent wheels and iron axles, with

hoop tire 2j by f inches, and patent axle and oil-boxes,
with portable waterproof cover and seat, with shelvings,
for harvest works, and fitted with Thatcher's patent
break. 1

Price of cart, plain. . .. .. 10 10

Springs, extra . . . . . . .3 0

Patf nt break, extra. . . . . . 2 10

Patent axle and oil-boxes, extra . . 15

Waterproof portable cover and seat 1 10

Shelvings for harvest cart, extra . . 3 0

This one-horse cart is adapted for the general pur-
poses of farm -work, and it is particularly useful when
one cart is required for several purposes. By removing the
sideboards and fixing the com shelvings, it is a good
harvest or hay cart ; by removing the shelvings and
fixing a seat and portable cover, it is a good market or
travelling cart. Price i,^21.

42 (improved implement), a one-horse strong cart,
improved and manufactured by the exhibiter.
Mounted upon patent wheels and iron axles, with

hoop tire 2^ by f inch, with strong plank sides. M'^ell
adapted for road and farm purposes, for carrying heavy
one-horse loads of coal, stone, corn, manure, &c. They
have been used in Yorkshire to take ten quarters of
oats with one horse, and deliver them ten to twelve
miles, and with equal ease five quarters of wheat. The
bodies of the carts are made larger than Scotch carts,
with the iron T-ork more complete in several parts, com-
bining great strength with lightness and ease of draught.
Price £^0 10s.

43 (improved implement), a one-horse cart, improved
and manufactured by the exhibiter.

Mounted on patent wheels, with hoop tire of light
wheels 4 by 5 inches. This cart is well adapted for
light farm work. Price ^^10 10s.

44 (improved implement), a one-horse cart, improved
and manufactured by the exhibiter.

Mounted on patent wheels, hoop tire 4J by f inch.
The body of this cart is made with light slatted sides.
Well adapted for constant farm work, and may be ad-
vantageously used with shelvings for harvest work or as
a hay cart. Price £"12 12s.

45 (improved implement), a one-horse cart, improved
and manufactured by the exhibiter.

Mounted on patent wheels, hoop tire 4^ by f inches,
with strong plank sides. This strong broad-wheeled
cart is particularly adapted for heavy one-horse loads
of corn, coal, stone, &c., upon the road or farm.
Price i.a2 12s.

46 (improved implement), a one-horse cart, improved
and manufactured by the exhibiter.

Mounted on patent wheels, hoop tire 4^ by f inches,
with solid plank sides, also patent axle and oil-boxes.
This cart is applicable for the heaviest description of

work upon road or farm, with comparative ease of
draught to the horse. Price £li 17s.

47 (improved implement), a strong two-horse cart, im-
proved and manufactured by the exhibiter.
Mounted on patent wheels, hoop tire 5 by ^ inches.

This cart is well adapted for farm purposes, where one
horse carts are not preferred. Price £21.

48 (improved implement), a strong two-horse cart,
improved and manufactured by the exhibiter.
Mounted on patent wheels, hoop tire 5 by f inches,

also patent axle and oil-boxes. This cart is well
adapted for road or farm purposes, and for town trade,
for bricks, coals, stone, &c. Price i?22 10s.
49, (new implement), a plain two-horse cart, invented

by Wm. Torr, of Riby, improved and manufactured

by the exhibiter.

This cart is made veiy plain and strong, with broad
range instead of sideboards. The body of the cart is
broad and short, so as to concentrate the weight as near
upon the axle as possible ; the sides are low so as not to
hold more than two tons of gravel or solid matter of any
kind when filled square with the sides, but at the utmost
not to hold more than 2 J tons when heaped up ; the
cube contents is 30 feet. By being thus particular to
size, prevents the possibility of the cart being over-
loaded, which is always an injury both to horse and car-
riage. The wheels are 4» tire. Price £12 12s.

50 (new implement), a plain one-horse cart, invented
by Wm. Torr, of Riby, improved and manufactured
by the exhibiter.

This cart is made the same in every respect, but as to
tire, as the above two-horse carts. The cube contents
of the body is 22 feet, and will hold about 30 cwt. of
gravel, stone, or hard matter. These two carts at one
view show the advantage of one-horse over two-horse
carts, for with two single carts 60 cwt. is moved, whereas
by one cart and two horses only 50 is moved. The tire
of wheels, 3 inches. Price £10 10s.

51 (new implement), an improved sporting cart, and
well adapted for a market cart, invented, improved,
patented, and manufactured by John Oxley, of
Beverley.

The improvement consists of a simple contrivance to
move and adjust the body of the cart over the axle,
thereby causing the horse to have the same weight on
his back with either two, three, or four persons in the
cart. This movement is effected by the body being
firmly fixed upon four strong iron supports, which slide
in the frame of the carriage part, and is regulated by a
neat hand screw requiring no key ; and attached is an in-
dex, showing that when the point is at No. 1, it is ad-
justed proper for one or two persons to ride ; when at No.
2, for three ; and at No. 3, for four persons to ride.
The cart is made very strong, and yet only weighs 30
stone. Warranted twelve months. The cart is exempt
from dutj'. Price £21.

52 (new implement), a two-horse spring waggon upon
springs, invented by Wm. Torr, of Riby, and manu-
factured by the exhibiter.

This waggon is constructed with light broad body with
solid rungs, adapted for carrying 2^ tons of corn in bags
and to load well with hay and corn. It is fitted upon
springs and iron axles, with Croskill's patent wheels
made with oil-boxes, and othenvise adapted for speed ;
may be trotted to market at the rate of four to five miles
per hour with ease. This waggon is well adapted for
carrying out the system of working horses generally to-
gether in pairs to the various implements on the farm, as a
plough, harrow, roller, drill, &c. This waggon will success-
fully compete with one horse cartsin carrying harv'est, par-
ticularly on large farms where the distance is great, on
accovint of speed. Price £42,

156

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

53 (new implement), a fixture iron pig trough, invented
by Wm. Torr, of Riby, and manufactured by the ex-
hibiter.

Made with a cast iron long trough, with two upright
ends, upon which is suspended an iron shutter that is
moved out and held by a simple catch when the inside
pigs are feeding, and removed when the outside pigs are
to be fed. This trough is constructed so as to fix firmly
in the wall of the pigsty, and to afford a facility to feed
the store pigs on the outside as well as those inside the
sty. Price ^2,

54 (new implement), a flour mill, invented by Luke
Hebert, London, improved and patented by himself,
and manufactured by the exhibiter and Messrs. Ran-
some, of Ipswich.

Price J'S 8s.

Stand No. 81. — Mr. Thomas Hunter, of Ulceby,
Barrow-on-Humber.
Article No. 1, a corn and turnip drill for general
purposes, invented by Mr. Cartwright, of Ulceby, and
improved and manufactured by the exhibiter. 2, a two-
row drill for turnips on ridges with manure, invented by
Mr. Cartw right, of Ulceby, improved and manufactured by
the exhibiter. 3, a one-row ridge drill, for turnips,
with manure, invented by Mr. Cartwright, of Ulceby,
and improved and manufactured by the exhibiter.

St.^.nd No. 82. — Mr. Edward Parmiter, of Beau-
lieu, near Southampton, Hants.
Article No. 1 (new Implement), a winnowing ma-
chine, with barley humbler attached, invented by the
exhibiter, and manufactured by Peach Napier, of Shirley
Mills.

Stand No. 83. — Mr. James Spencer, of Hopton,
near Wirksworth, Derbyshire.
Articles No. 1, a chaff cutter for horse or hand work,
improved and manufactured by the exhibiter. 2, an oat
and bean mill, improved and manufactured by the ex-
hibiter.

Stand No. 84. — Messrs. J. R. and A. Ransome,
of Ipswich, Suffolk.
J. R. and A. Ransome have recently patented some
improvements in the construction of ploughs, of which
various specimens are exhibited. The beams are made
with wrought iron, on what is mechanically termed the
"truss principle," which connecting the two sides
firmly together gives strength, so as not to bend or
give way to a resisting force, on wliichever side applied.
The coulter fastening is on a new principle, affording
facilities for quickly placing the coulter in any required
position. In some of the varieties of ploughs, a con-
trivance is adopted for giving the share more or less
"pitch," and directing its point more or less " to land "
In ploughs made upon the above principle, the advan-
tage of combining lightness of weight with adequate
strength is completely effected, and they are rendered
more durable. The late dry season has afforded an
opportunity of successfully testing their strength upon
lands on which plough beams made in the ordinary way
could not bear the strain. At the price annexed to
each plough, it will be delivered to Hay's Wharf, London
or to Hull — and a discount of five per cent, will be
allowed for cash on delivery.

Article No. 1, a very strong plough, marked YC, with
one wheel, adapted for four or six horses. The parts
are so arranged as to admit of the whole being packed
in a small compass for exportation, £b. 12s. If
with a furrow wheel and adjustments in addition to
the land wheel, extra, 14s.
2, a very strong plough, marked YD., adapted for two or

four horses, £"4. (The mouldboard and share are made
either of cast iron or steel.) If with the addition of
one wheel and its adjustments, extra 7s. ; do. do. two
wheels, do. £l. ; if with steel mouldboard and steel
share, do. 12s.

3, a light plough, marked YE (sometimes used with
one horse, but more frequently withapaii-), ^3. 10s. ;
if with the addition of one wheel and its adjustments,
extra 7s. ; do. do. two wheels, do. £l ; if with steel
mouldboard and share, do. 12s.

4, a light swing plough, marked YJ, adapted for a pair
of horses. The handles of this plough are made to re-
move for the purpose of close packing for exportation,
^""3 38.; if with the addition of one wheel audits
adjustments, extra, 7s. ; do. do. two wheels, do ^^1 Is.

5, a strong plough, marked YK, adapted for either two
or four horses " at length," as used on strong clay
lands in Derbyshire and adjoining counties, £4 4s. ;
if with the addition of one wheel and its adjustments,
extra 8s.; do. do. two wheels, do. ^1 Is.; if with
steel mouldboard and shai-e, do. 12s.

6, improved Rutland plough, marked YL, adapted for a
pair of horses. This, in addition to the improved
coulter and fastenings, has a plan for altering the
position of the share, £3 17s. ; if with the addition of
one wheel and its adjustments, extra 7s. ; do. do.
two wheels, do. £1 ; if with steel mouldboard and
share, do. 12s.

Note. — The plough YL obtained the award of the
Judges for the best plough for general purposes (open
to all England) at the meeting of the Richmond Agri-
cultural Society, Yorkshire, and at the meeting of the
East Suffolk Agricultiiral Society, 1843.

7, a plough, marked YM, for a pair of horses, ^4 ; if
with the addition of one wheel and its adjustments,
extra 7s.; do. do. two wheels, do. ^1.; if with
steel mouldboard and share, do. 12s.

Note. — The mouldboard and landside of this plough
were planned under the direction of Bryan MUling-
ton, of Asgarby, Lincolnshire.

8, a strong plough, marked YN, adapted for two or
four horses, with mouldboard for tenacious soils, ^4.
4s. ; if with the addition of one wheel and its adjust-
ments, extra 8s. ; do. do. with two wheels, do. £l Is. ;
if with steel mouldboard and share, do. 12s.; this
plough is used in Yorksliire and other northern
counties.

9, the same as No. 8, only with a deeper mouldboard
for deep ploughing.

10, a strong plough, marked YO, for deep ploughing in
tenacious land, £i. 4s. ; if with the addition of one
wheel and its adjustments, extra 8s. ; do. do. with
two wheels, do. i^^l Is. ; if with steel mouldboard and
share, do. 12s.

11, a plough for mixed soils, marked YP, £S 10s. ; if
with the addition of one wheel and its adjustments,
extra 7s. ; do. do. with two wheels, do. £1.

12, a turnrest swing plough, marked YG. This plough
is made with shifting mouldboards, in order to turn
the furrows to the right or left, so as to leave them
lying in one direction. It is used as a Kent turnrest;
plough. ^6 10s.

13, Clarke's universal ridge plough.— This is adapted
to the several purposes of ridge culture, and by an
easy transition of shape, which is accomplished in a
simple manner, it becomes —

First — A double tom, or ridge plough, for opening or
closing the soil in ridge work, for setting out lands
for common ploughing, or opening the surface drams.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

157

Second — A niouldiug plough, to be used in moulding
up root crops, peas, or beans.

Third — A horse hoe or cleaning plough, with curved
coulters for cleaning the sides of ridges, or with flat
hoes for brook work.

Fourtli — A skeleton or broad share plough, to which
shares with rising prongs may be attached for the
purpose of clearing land from weeds and rubbish.

Price of the universal plough, including the fittings
for the double torn plough, do. for moulding plough,
do. for horse hoe plough, do. for skeleton plough, two
hoes, stalks and wedges for do., one broad share with
prongs, one single whig do. do., £ii 6s. — Note. —
Other shares have been made since the above, viz., the
0, 15, and 24 inch, and when required, will be charged
extra.

14, subsoil plough, called the rackheatli plough, the
invention of Sir Edward Stracey, Bart., £5 15s. Gd.;
if with apparatus for subsoiling grass lands, extra
£lls.

15, subsoil plough, similar to the above, only made
stronger, to be used with the Kent and Sussex gal-
lowses and wheels, £7 73.

16, Lowcock's patent plough. This plough is tor the
purpose of turning and laying the furrows all at the
same angle, and in the same direction, to the right
or left alternately, as it passes up or down the field ;
thus combining the properties of the turn rest plough,
with the advantage of retaining the curved form of
mouldboard, as used upon the most approved single
ploughs, £6 6s.

17, improved Kent turnrest plough, marked WSR.,
made at the suggestion of Wm. Smart, of Rainham,
Kent, £8 8s,

18, Rutland plough, marked NL, £4 49.

19, light land plough, marked FF, £3 ; if with one
wheel at head, and its adjustments, extra 78.; do.,
two do., extra £1.

20, patent wrought iron trussed whippletrees. These
combine the essential points of strength, with light-
ness and durability, not attainable in any other form
or material. Pair of whippletrees and pomeltrec,
18s. per set.

21, Biddell's scarifier. No. 2 size. This is a very pow-
erful implement for the purpose of cultivating land
under a variety of circumstances, and bringing it
into a proper state of tilth much more eflTectually
and at less expense than can be done by the means
generally employed for that purpose. It is now so
well known by agriculturists generally that a further
description is unnecessary. With a set of chisel
points, £14 I4s. j chisel points, 10s. per doz. ; hoes,
3 and 4 inch wide, lis. per do. ; do., 9 inch wide,
139. per do. ; tines, 4s. Cd. each.

22, Biddell's patent improved wrought iron scarifier.
This implement is made principally of wrought iron,
and from its improved construction the tines may be
shifted to different distances apart, and thus be rea-
dily adapted to the varying modes of tillage. The
tines are made of wrought iron, and the same points
are used as on the one described at No. 21, £21.

23, Biddell's patent improved scarifier, with cast iron
frame, and wrought iron tines, £18 18s.

24, Biddell's patent corn gatherer. This is an imple-
ment of novel construction and unquestionable
utility. It will enable a company of harvest-men
to begin loading when the corn is dry, without the
usual delay, while corn is being raked into heaps, or
as they are called in Suffolk " shocks" for pitching.
In the busy time of harvest it saves manual labour,

not only in gathering up swathes (without stopping
the horse), but the corn when so gathered being
compressed, may more readily be pitched, and a
greater quantity be loaded upon a waggon and got
into the same barn-room than if raked together ui
the usual way.

Implements hitherto made for the above purpose,
have been diflicultto unload, even with the applica-
tion of great strength to lift them over the gathered
heaps.

The patent gatherer now exhibited is for gathering
one swathe of corn at a time, and has the advantage
of leaving its load at the will of the attendant, with-
out being lifted up. One of three rows of tines al-
ternately begins to gather the swathe as soon as the
previous row has finished its heap, the size of which
may be regulated as required for one or two forks
full. Prices from £14 to £18.

25, a complete set of horse work in an iron framing,
adapted to apply horse power to machinery, within
the circle in which the horse walks. Upon the fram-
ing is placed a patent chaff engine, with four knives
— a mill to grind beans — and one to crush linseed.
This set of horse work has been designed to furnish
the means of using machinerj', independent of any
attachment to buildings, and the shafts are arranged
so that other machinery may be applied, if required,
as a thrashing machine, &c. Each part may be had
separately, viz.: —

£.- s.
Horse work, as shown, adapted for one horse. . 25 0

Patent chaff engine, with four knives 11 10

A bean mill, large size 12 0

A linseed crusher lo 0

Total as exhibited £58 10

Price of an additional shaft and yoke to apply two
horses, £3.

26, a patent chaft' engine, marked B, £15 15s,

27, do., marked E, £11 lis.

28, do., marked D, £12 12s.

29, do., marked No. G, £9 9s.

30, do., marked No. 14, £6 14s. 6d.

For full particulars of the construction and capabilities
of the chaff engines, reference must be had to J. R.
and A. Ransome's general catalogue, which contains
a particular account of these and other agricultural
machines of their manufacture, and may be had at
their stand in the shew yard, or afterwards on appli-
cation by letter to them at Ipswich.

31, Etheredge's patent tile machine, with improve-
ments.

32, patent tile machine to be worked by hand.

Stand No. 85.— Mr. Wm. Bullock Webster, of

Hounsdown, near SouthamiJton.
Article No. 1, a level for the purpose of draining, &c.,

&c., invented by the exhibiter.

This level is formed of an oaken rectangular rod,
turning upon an axis placed at the middle of its lower
surface : and by means of a plate and screw, secured
firmly at a horizontal level, on any given inclination
on its upper surface, immediately above the centre of
motion, is placed a small spirit level ; and at each end
of the rod an upright plate of brass containing the cross
wires. At the end nearest the observer is placed an
additional sight, moveable by means of a screw within
a graduated groove, which indicates, by the value of
its division, not only the line of horizontal level, but
the rise and fall of distant objects above or below the
place of observation. This instrument has the advau-.

158

THE FARMER^S MAGAZINE.

tage of cheapuess, great simplicity, and requires no se-
cond person to use it, in addition to its capability of
giving, by inspection, the rise and fall of land intended
to be drained. Price £2.

2, a set of draining tools, suited to various soils, in-
vented by different persons, and improved by the
exhibiter. Price £1.

Stand No. 86. — Mr. Edward Jannan Lance, of
Frimley, near Bagsliot.
Article No. 1 (new implement), a hand seed drill-
ing machine, for using pulverized humus manures at
the same time with any seed, invented and manufac-
tured by the exhibiter. 2, a hand seed machine for
one row of turnips or small seed, invented by J. Ben-
nett, of Farnham, and improved and manufactured by
the exhibiter. 3 (new implement), a hand seed drill-
ing machine, similar to No. 1, with the addition of an
iron in front to draw a drill, invented and manufac-
tured by the exhibiter. 4 (new implement), a rhom-
boidal harrow, made with wood, invented and manu-
factured by the exhibiter. 5 (new implement), a tri-
angular harrow, made witli wood, invented and
manufactured by the exhibiter. 6 (new implement),
a lumd wheat and turnip drilling machine, for three
seams, invented and manufactured by Stephen Howard,
ofCobham, farm labourer. 7, a lever with a jagged
mouth, for drawing hop-poles, &c., invented by Mr.
Knowles, of Thursley, Surrey. 8, a hand drilling and
manure depositingr machine, invented and manufac-
tured by James Woodbourne. of Kingsley, Hants. 9,
a collection of agricultural soils, arranged geologically
from London to Cornwall and to North Britain, in-
vented by the exhibiter, a manure dealer and surveyor.
10, specimens of geological formations (rocks and
soils), on which tlie five previous meetings of the Royal
Agricultural Society have been held, with also that of
Southampton. 11, specimens of Lance's granulated
humus and carbon manures; the ammonia of human
foeees, having been converted into fixed salts, and other
pulverized fertilizers calculated for deposition by the
driU. 12, several specimens of diseased corn, made
defective on purpose for the agricultural show, as vi-
biio tritici,ergot of rye, ^-c, as explained in his agri-
cultural publications. 13, specimens ofluxuriant corn
roots grown in the poorest sands of Bagshot, being the
effects of culture and appropriate adaptation of ma-
nures to wheat, rye, barley, oats, flax, &c., in accord-
ance with exhibiter's essay on the food of plants. 14,
agricultural bonks of exhibiter's own writing, viz. : —
*' The Gulden Farmer:" embracing the sciences of geo-
logy, chemistry, and botany, with the practice of farm-
ing. " The Scientific Hop Farmer;" uniting science
with practice. An essay on " The Food of Plants, and
Diill husbandry of Turnips;" or, "The 'Theory and
Practice of Farming' in a small compass." An agri-
cultural, geological, and antiquarian journey from the
show at Bristol, through South Wales and South Ire-
land, to the agricultural Show at Cork, in July, 1842,
detailing experiments with manures in South Wales.
And other agricultural works. 15, a representation of
thick sowing.

Stand No. 87. — Mr. Thomas Taylor, of Banbury,
Oxfordshire.
Article No. 1, a patent saddle, invented and manu-
factured by the exhibiter. 2. a patent saddle, invented
and manufactured by the exhibiter. 3, a registered
bit, invented by the exhibiter.

Stand No. 88. — Mr. George Bruce, Liverpool.

Article No. 1, a specimen of black japan varnish,

invented and manufactured by the exhibiter, 9, a

specimen of blue japan varnish, invented and manu-
factured by the exhibiter. 3, a specimen of red var-
nish, invented and manufactured by the exhibiter. 4,
a specimen of green varnish, invented and manufac-
tured by the exhibiter.

Stand No. 89. — Mr. James Pearce, Andover,

Hants.

Article No. 1 (new implement), a new patent back-
band and tugs, invented and manufactured by the ex-
hibiter. 2 (new implement), a new patent backhand
and tugs, invented and manufactured by the exhibiter.
3 (new implement), a new patent backhand and tugs,
invented and manufactured by the exhibiter. 4 (new
implement), a new patent backhand and tugs, invented
and manufactured by the exhibiter.

Stand No. 90. — Mr. John Elliott, of Chichester.

Article No. l,a model lime kiln, invented by the ex-
hibiter.

Stand No. 91. — George Gibbs, and Co., Seeds-
men to the Agricultural Society of Belgium,
&c., 26, DoM'n-street, Piccadilly London.

Samples of the most approved permanent grass seeds ;
a collection of dried specimens of British and other
grasses, specifying the sorts adapted to various soils,
&c. ; samples of the mixtures of grass seeds, as they
are prepared for certain soils, &c. The charge per
acre is 32s., allowing 2 bush. 121bs. to each acre ; Le
Couteur's Belle-Vue, Talavera wheat ; do., white
variety, No. 8 in his list ; Russell's white wheat, an ex-
cellent variety ; chedum white ; Eley's white gigantic ;
Chevalier white ; eclipse white ; marygold brown wheat ;
Chevalier brown do. ; matchless rivet ; red syer ; red
burwell ; red cluster ; thirty-two varieties of wheat in
ear and straw ; Annat barley ; providence barley ; Mol-
davian do. ; long-eared Nottingham do. ; Thanet do. ;
Kintbury skinless do. ; winter do. ; specimens of the
above in ear and straw ; Scotch potato oats ; Houptoun
do. ; Tartarian do. ; brown French do. ; black Lincoln ;
true purple-top Swede turnip seed, G. G. ; true green
crown do., G. G. ; Ashcroft large Swede, an excellent
variety; Matson's purple-top Swede; Skirving's Liver-
pool Swede ; Laing's Swede ; Oxfordshire purple-top
Swede ; G. Gibbs's yellow hybrid turnip seed ; purple
crown hybrid do. ; Scotch yellow bullock do. ; green,
red, and white globe turnips ; large white Belgian
carrot ; pale yellow do. ; large Altringham carrot ; large
Jersey parsnip ; long red mangold wurzel ; yellow or
orange globe do. ; red globe do. ; sugar beet or white
mangold do. ; Italian rye grass ; evergreen perennial
do. ; dwarf rape or cole seed ; furze or gauze ; broom ;
dwarf perennial red clover of the meadows ; large white
variety of white clover ; trifolium minus ; alsike hybrid
clover ; Bokhara clover ; lucerne ; sainfoin ; burnet ;
chicory ; sheep's parsley ; purple kohl rabi ; thousand-
head cabbage ; roots of mangold wurzel, turnips, and
carrots.

Stand No. 92.— Mr. Edward C. S. Blake, of
Southampton, Hampshire.

Article No. 1 (new implement), a model of an agricul-
tural college.

This model was designed and executed by Mr. Edward
C. S. Blake, architect, Southampton, at the suggestion
of Mr. J. B. Denton, with a view to its establishment in
the North of England. It is now exhibited, in order to
attract attention to the utility of like institutions in
other parts of the kingdom, by the architect ; size of ,
model, 3 feet 6 by 3 feet.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

159

Stand No. 93.— Mr. John Read, of 35, Regent
Circus, Piccadilly, London.

Article No. 1 (new implement), an improved patent
turnwrest plough, for lieavy land, with mole or sub-
soil share attached ; invented, improved, and manu-
factured by the exhibiter. Price £6 15s.

2 (new implement), an improved patent turnrest plough,
for light land ; invented, improved, and manufactured
by the exhibiter. Price £i 10s.

3 Caew implement^, a patent subsoil pulverizer, in-
vented and manufactured by the exhibiter. Price
£■1 10s.

4, a patent fire engine, invented and manufactured by
the exhibiter. Price £36.

5, a patent fire and garden engine, invented and manu-
factured by the exhibiter. Price ^^18 18s.

6, agricultural and horticultural machines of various
descriptions, invented and manufactured by the ex-
hibiter.

Patent veterinary injecting instrument, with tubes for
relieving hoven or choked cattle, sheep, &c. A set com-
plete, price £6 4s.

Garden watering machines and syringes of various de-
scriptions and prices.

Stand No. 94. — Messrs. Putland and Woods, of

60, Crown-street, Finsbury-square, London.
Article No. 1, reins for riding and driving Ca. patent

articlej, invented and improved by John Read and

Co., of Regent-Circus, and manufactixred by the ex-

hibiters.

Reins to ride or drive at the easy part of the bit, with
a check-rein attached to the powerful part, which in-
stantly comes into use when the rein is pulled hard.

Stand No. 95. — Mr. Henry Clayton, of Upper

Park-place, St. Marylebone, Middlese.x.
Article No. 1, a pipe or tube draining tUe and other tile
making machine fa patent machinej , inventor not
known, improved and manufactured by the ex-
hibiter.

An improved hard-working machine for the manu-
facture of the " drain pipe or tube tiles" fand the gene-
ral description of other tiles^ upon Mr. J. Read's
telescope plan.

Stand No. 96. — Mr. W. Augustus Munn, of
Throwley House, Feversham, Kent.

Article No. 1, a bar and frame bee hive, invented by
the exhibiter, manufactured by Mr. S. Lyon, car-
penter, &c., of Chalk Well, near Sittingbounie,
Kent.

Stand No. 97. — Thomas Gibbs and Co., the
seedsmen, by appointment, to the " Royal Agri-
cultural Society of England ;" and to the Honour-
able Board of Agriculture of England and Sweden;
corner of Half-Moon-street, Piccadilly, London.

Grass Seeds. — Agrostis stolonifera, agrostis capil-
laris, agrostis alba, agrostis spica venti, aira canescens,
aira coespitosalutescens, aira flexuosa, alopecurus agres-
tis, sdopecurus nigricans, alopecunis geniculatus, alo-
pecus pratensis, arundo arenaria. anthoxanthum, odora-
tum, bromus pratensis, bromus arvensis, bromus mollis,
bromus histachyos, bromus pennatus, bromus rubens,
briza media, cynosurus cristatus, dactylis glomerata,
festuca fluitans, festuca tenuifolia, festuca ovina, festuca
heterophylla, festuca elatior, festuca sylvatica, fustuca

rubra, festuca loliacea, holcus avenaceus, lohum mul-
tiflorum, lolium multiflorum submuticum, lolium
Bretagne, lolium arvense, lolium tumulentum, loHum
perenne var, lolium Italicum, mellium effesum, melica
ciliata, melica altissima, molinii coerulea, panicum
Germanicum, panicum meliaceum rubrum, panicum
Italicum, panicum meliaceum glauca, j)anicum melia-
ceum album, panicum meliaceum nigrum, poa aqua-
tica, poa distans, poa compressa, poa flexuosa, poa
annua, poa nemoralis, poa nervata, poa fertilis, poa
pretensis, poa trivialis, madia sativa, bunias orientalis,
lotus corniculatus major, lotus corniculatus, ervum
monanthos, melelotus officinalis.

Turnips. — Gibbs's fine purple-top Swedish turnip,
combining small top and beauty of form ; Gibbs's fine
green-top Swedish turnip ; Gibbs's large green-top
yellow hybrid turnip, a useful turnip to sow next after
Swedes ; Gibbs's large red-top yellow hybrid turnip,
do. do. ; green globe turnip ; white globe do. ; red do.
do. ; green tankard turnip ; white do. ; red do. ; early
stubble do.

Mangold Wurzels. — Long red mangold wurzel,
producing heavy crops ; yellow globe do., highly ap-
proved for shallow ends ; red globe do. do. do. ; long
yellow do.

Carrots. — Large white Flemish carrot, producing
extraordinary crops ; large Belgium do. ; Altringham
carrot ; early horn carrot : long orange carrot.

Wheats. — Flander's wheat, Hunter's wheat, Belle-
Vue Talavera wheat, white Hungarian wheat, Hikling's
wheat, Tonselle wheat, Fellemburgh wheat, Picton
wheat, Paris winter wheat, Cressy wheat, common
March wheat, Saumur wheat. Chili wheat, Tunstall
wheat, Odessa wheat, Indian wheat, Chinese wheat,
Naples white Richell wheat, Whittington wheat,
Grant's wheat, Massalarge wheat, Marianople wheat,
red March wheat, golden drop wheat, early striped chaff
wheat, Lammas wheat, red Mancha wheat, blood-red
wheat, red Province Tonsell wheat, red Caucassian
wheat, Sicilian wheat, Cretan wheat.

Miscellaneous. — Sainfoin, red clover, chicory,
burnet, spurry, rib grass, astragalus boeticus, trifolium
hybridum, or alsike, trifolium medium, trifolium repens,
medicago sativa, achellea mellifolium, trifolum fiUifor-
mis, Gibbs's large drumhead cattle cabbage, large green
Kohl Rabi, large purple Kohl Kabi, rape or cole-seed.

SEED WHEAT.

Mr. C. Gater, of Swathling Farm, near Southampton,
14 bushels of Jersey Dantzic or brown Hull Dantzic
white wheat.

Mr. C. Gater, do. do., 14 bushels of Brittany or
Breedon white wheat.

Mr. John Brown, of Compton, near East Ilsley, 14
bushels Burrill red wheat.

Mr. Wm. Fisher Hobbs, of Marks Hall, Coggeshall,
Essex, 14 bushels marygold redwhea^.

EXTRA STOCK WHEAT.

Col. Le, Couteur, of Belle Vue, near Jersey, a collec-
tion of wheats classified — some mummy, Cluli, and other
varieties.

SEED BARLEY.

Mr. E. D, Hodding, of Odstock, near Salisbury,
Wilts, 14 bushels of Leghorn barley.

Colonel Le Couteur, of Bell Vue, St. Aubin, Jersey,
14 bushels of skinless barley.

160

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

AWARD OF THE JUDGES OF IMPLEMENTS.

SOUTHAMPTON, 1844.

PRIZES.

AWARD.
Prize.

No. of No. of
Stand. Article.

Name of Person to wliom
Prize is awarded.

Ten pounds and silver medal . . 84

Ten pounds and silver medal . . 84

Twenty pounds and silver medal 65

Ten pounds and silver medal . . 74

Ten pounds and silver medal . . 61

Ten pounds and silver medal . . 61

Twenty pounds and silver medal 84

Five pounds 70

Fifteen pounds and silver medal 60

Ten pounds and silver medal . . 48

Five pounds 10

6 Messrs. J. R. and A. Ransome

6 Messrs. J. R. and A. Ransome

2 Mr. Rd. Garrett

5 Mr. James Smyth

3 EailDucie

lb Earl Ducie

32 Messrs . J . R. and A. Ransome

3 Messrs. Sanders, Williams,

and Taylor

1 Mr. D. Coombs

9 Mr. Hornsby

5 Mr. David Harkes

MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES.

Kind of Implement or
Article.

Heavy land plough

Light land plough

Drill for general purposes.

Turnip drill, depositing manure with

the seed
The Uley cultivator
Patent chaff cutter
Hand-draining tile and pipe machine

Set of patent harrows
Oxfordshire waggon
Drill presser
Churn

Five pounds 10 4

Ten pounds 93 3

Twenty pounds 84 4

Five pounds 20 3

Five pounds 84 16

Silver medal 65 10

Silver medal 79 38

Five pounds 48 12

Five pounds 26 1

SUver medal 22 20

SUver medal 89 3

Silver medal 54 3

Silver medal 64 24

Silver medal 65 32

Five pounds 38 1

Five pounds 77 4

Two pounds 79 46

Two pounds 22 14

Thirty pounds 84 25

Mr. David Harkes
Mr. John Reid . . . .
Mr. Crosskill ....
Mr. John Bruce . . .
Messrs. Ransome.

Mr. Garrett

Mr. Stratton .

Mr. Hornsby

Mr. Cambridge. . . ,

Mr. Hill .

Mr. Pearce

Mr. Cooch

Ml . Deane

Mr. Garrett

Mr. Gardner ... ..
Messrs. James . . . ■

Mr. Stratton

Mr. HiU

Messrs. Ransome.

Silver medal 57 25 Messrs. Tasker and Fowle .

Silver medal.
Five pounds .

61
67

11 Earl Ducie

3 Messrs. Joseph Hall and Co.

Five pounds 44

Five pomids ..!......» 93

Five pounds 79

Silver medal 79

Silver medal 61

Silver medal •«.••• 79

1 Mr. J- Knight

4 Mr. John Read

14 Mr. Richard Stratton.

7 Mr. Richard Stratton

8 Earl Ducie

11 Mr. Richard Stratton

Expanding horse-hoe

Subsoil pulverizer

Clod-crusher

Skim plough

Locock's patent plough

Patent horse-hoe

Gingell's cheese press

Cake crusher

Steam engine

Sheej) fencing

Backhand tug

Barley hummeler

French burr-stone hand-mill

Springall's stack stand

Turnip cutter

George's weighing machine

Fry's bone breaker

Cow crib

Set of horse works with bean-split-
ter, linseed crusher, chaff cutter,
&c.

Set of iron machinery for drawing
water

Set of screw spanners

Constable's trefoil and clover draw =
ing machine

New patent hop and malt kiln

Patent fire engine

Water cart

Harvest cart

Richmond cart

Agricultural spring cart

TPIE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

101

ROYAL AGRTCULTURxVL SOCIETY OE ENGLAND.
MEETING AT SOUTPIAMPTON.

Another great era has occurred in the agricultu-
ral world in the past week — a week which has
]u-oved fertile in pleasurable reminiscences ; a
week in which we have had the inexpressible satis-
tiictiou of giving to, and receiving from, tlie Bri-
tish yeomen — the honest propellers and supporters
of England's greatness, her agriculture — the most
hearty, the most lieartfelt congratulations that we
liiive been again permitted to meet together to
celebrate another annual meeting of the Royal
Agricultural Society of England. Without wisli-
ing to be ])rolix in our introductory notice,
we cannot refrain from taking a slight glance
at tlie past ])rogress and present position of
this truly national, this liighly important Societ5%
Looking, then, to the period of its formation, we
lionestly confess — assured, as we are, tliat all our
leaders will join us in the opinion — that its pro-
gress has been such, that its position is now
jjhiced on so firm, on so solid a basis, as to pro-
dace in the minds of many no little astonishment.
Tlranks, then, to the increasing exertions of its

M.F., Colonel Challoner, Sir T. U. Acland, U.V.'
Colonel Wyndham, Sir J. B. Mill, Bart., Sir C. Taylor-
Sir John and Lady Easthope, Mr. R. Palmer, M.P.»
Mr. Miles, MA'., H. C. Compton, Esq., M.P.'
Mr. Raymond Barker, Dr. Wilson, Captain Wpid-
ham, &c., &c.

The business of the day may be said to have been
commenced by the opening of

THE IMPLEMENT YARD

to the public at eight o'clock. The portion of the
ground apropriated to the implements was about half of
the whole inclosure, which was much larger than
on any previous occasion ; hence, as may be in-
ferred, the most ample accommodation was pro-
vided for the various exhibitors, and a good oppor-
tunity given to the visitors to inspect the ploughs, &c.
Tliis l;u-ge square was occupied by open sheds, arranged
inparallellines, and beneath the implements properly
numbered and deposited. Viewing these sheds from
any part, a most pleasing effect was produced ; indeed,
everything had a most pleasing, most unique appearance.

1 „ , xi - 1 , ., ^^^ to the various implements of husbandry, we may

.upporters, Avhose numbers, thoug-h not quite so venture to observe that a greater displav of human inge-
numerous as the particles of sand upon tiie sea nuity and skill was never before seen: For instance,
■-hore, have swelled to those exceeding by far the | there were nearly lifty specimens of various kinds of
expectations of even the most sanguine. Care- . carts, upwards of sixty of chaff, hay, and straw cutters,
fully — aye, most studiously, divested of all politi- j several varieties of churns and cheese pressers, between
cal bias — the improvement of agriculture, in the ! thirty and forty species of crushers, about 1 00 different
strictest sense of the word, being the ereat object { l^hids of drills, thirty or forty kinds of harrows, and
in view— noblemen and gentlemen of all opinions plo"gbs to be reckoned by hundreds. Then there were
■ ■ ■ ■ ' -- - - pumps, racks, rollers, scarifiers, sowing machines, steam

engines, troughs, wheels, weighing machines, winnow-
ing machines, dressing machines, and machines and
agricultural implements ad infinitum ; so that one
might soon have become " muddled," ere he had half
gone through this extraordinary exhibition, or compre-
bended a fiftieth part of the ingenious inventions which
weresubraitted to his notice. As might, therefore, be ima-
gined, the judges — with whose decision every one was
well pleased — had a most arduous task to perform ; but
the great centre from which may, henceforth, j justice has, we are happy to say, been most fairly meted

]ia\e joined together to accomplisli that im-
portant end. Who is there, then, but will
hereafter revert Avith pride and satisfaction
to this union? Who is there, then, that
does not at once see that it is demonstrative of
a future improvement of that science — though a
primitive one — the agriculture of the united king-
dom ? That such a Society has now become
indispensable, is evident; and tliat it is now

be directed human energy and skill, by the
chemical and mechanical appliances of modern
times to agricultural improvement is equally ap-
parent. Some may, perchance, be disposed to
consider these observations superfluous ; but Ave
conceive it to be the duty of every person, what-
ever may be his station in society, to endeavour

out to all, as will be seen on reference to the list of the
awards, which will be found in page 8 of the " Supple-
ment."

As for the novelties in this exhibition, there were but
few calling for any special observation. There is one
point, howe\-er, worthy, at such a period, of particular
notice— we mean the great improvement apparent in the
tile draining machines. The comparative low price at

by all means, hoAvever humble, to support and carry which those tiles can now be produced, must prove a

out the principles of such a Society as that noAv
j claiming our attention.

THE FIRST DAY'S PROCEEDINGS.
TUESDAY.

x\.mougst the arrivals to day, were his Grace the
Duke of Richmond, Lord and Lady Palmerston, the
Duke of Devonshire, the Duke of Beaufort, the Marquis
of Downshire, the Marquis of Exeter, the Marquis of
Granby, Earl Ducie, Earl Spencer, Lord Normanton,
Lord Bolingbroke, Viscount Sandon, Lord Clements,
Colonel Clive, M.P., Sir H. Webster, R. Etwall, Esq.,

great boon to the agricidturists at large ; bring spots into
cultivation over which, otherwise, no ploughshare would,
perchance, ever pass ; and hence increase the cultivation
of the soil. Although there were others in the yard of a
very high character, the most simidy constructed was
that brought forward by the Messrs. Ransome of
Ipswich, and to which was awarded £2Q, and a silver
medal. We cannot praise this machine (worked bv
hand-labour) too highly, for it was decidedly the most
unique and useful we ever witnessed. It is the inven-
tion of Mr. Etheridge. The attendance of visitors in this
portion of the yard, to-day, was not very large, owing to

102

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

THE PUBLIC EXHIBITION OF THE WORKING

OF THE IMPLEMENTS
being appointed to takeplace on the farmof Mr. C. Gater,
of Swathling, such being the most interesting point
of attraction ; every vehicle was put in requisition to con-
vey company to that place — the road from Southampton
to the ground being literally thronged with carriages,
&c., conveying the curious and interested to the place of
destination, situate about four miles out of Southampton.
It is estimated that upwards of 12,000 persons attended
this trial.

The judges on this occasion conducted the proceedings
most impartially, and in a manner which gave general
satisfaction.

The field selected was a level of considerable extent, a
clover ley, and adjoining the railway. The ground was
not in good order for working, in consequence of its
being unusually hard from the long drought. Precisely
at 12 o'clock the ploughing-match commenced. There
were 16 ploughs started, among which were two speci-
mensof American ploughs presentedby ProfessorColman.
The contrast between the working of these trans-atlan-
tic ploughs and the English ones was most striking, and
was the most perfect practical refutation to the self-con-
gratulatory remarks of Daniel Webster, who, on his re-
turn from England, stated that he had not seen any im-
plement in England worthy of comparison with those of
America. We particularly exammed the work of these
ploughs, and compared with the level and accurate fur-
rows made by the English plough, which appeared as
though cut out by a plane, were coarse, rough, and ir-
regular. The work of the competing ploughs, with the
two exceptions we have alluded to, was generally good,
especially so, considering the state of the soil. One of
the ploughs was a new implement made by Messrs. J.
R. and A. Ransome, having a moveable nose-
piece, which adjusted the pitch of the share either
to take more or less hold of the ground, or laterally
to give it an inclination more or less toward
the land. This plough won the prize of ten
pounds and a silver medal, in competing with the others
as a heavy land plough ; and also won the prize of ten
pounds and a silver medal in its competition on the light
land. Another of the ploughs was also a new implement
by the same exhibiters, the peculiar feature of which is
that the mould board of this plough is adapted for turn-
ing furrows four and a half inches deep, and nine inches
wide so as to leave the angle of the furrow slice precisely
at 45 degrees. Another plough, fitted for deep and te-
nacious land, was brought forward by the same exhibi-
ters, and elicited great approbation. Mr. Locock's pa-
tent plough — also shown by the Messrs. Ransome — was
a most excellent machine, and did its work remarkably
well. A prize of £b was gained for it. The other im-
plements tried were a two -wheel pulverizing plough, in-
vented by Mr. Wm. Mason, for light soil ; a one wheel
or swing plough, by Messrs. Tasker and Fowle, of Wa-
terloo Iron Works, Andover ; an iron swing plough, by
the Earl of Ducie, which obtained a prize of £5 at the
Royal Agricultural Society's meeting at Bristol. A two
wheel wrought iron plough, with patent coulter, by
Messrs. Sanders, Williams, and Taylor, of Bedford,
worked by two horses. A one wheel plough, by Mr.
Hugh Carson, of Warminster ; a patent iron plough, for
sand and other light land ; an iron plough, trussed beam,
and steel breast, invented by Ransome, and manufactured
by Messrs. Sims and Brown, of Tollard Royal, Dorset-
shire ; a one wheel plough, invented by the exhibiters,
Messrs. Barratt, Exall, and Andrews, of Reading, fitted
with an open turn-furrow for ploughing loamy and other
adhesive soils.

The trial, in which the above implements were used,
passed off toleiably well. At its conclusion, the other

implements on the ground, consisting of drills, harrows,
clod-crushers, and numerous other articles, were tried
in an adjoining field, and all excited general attention.
This trial being over, the crowds of visitors betook
themselves some to the implement yard, others direct to
the town by the most available means. This closed the
first day's proceedings.

SECOND DAY.— WEDNESDAY.

An immense influx of visitors took place to-day, by
special trains from London, Gosport,&c., while a great
number of persons came over from the Isle of Wight,
and other places, by steamers, to witness the meeting.
Amongst the early visitors was His Royal Highness
the Duke of Cambridge, who arrived from the Nine
Elms in less than two hours, by a mixed special train.
His Royal Highness (who, we are informed, stated to
the secretary of the society that he had never travelled
so rapidly and pleasantly in his life) was, by his own
desire, met privately at the railway station by Col.
Henderson, the Mayor of Southampton; but never-
theless, the arrival was announced by a salute from
the batteries. Ilis Royal Highness proceeded imme-
diately in the Mayor's carriage to his worship's resi-
dence, where he breakfasted, soon after which he
proceeded to the show-yard to inspect the exhibition of
implements. His Royal Highness was received at the
yard by the stewards, and was accompanied by them
and the Duke of Richmond, and Earl Spencer, through
the exhibition of implements, at which he expressed
great satisfaction. His Royal Highness was after-
wards, by courtesy, shown the cattle. From thence
His Royal Highness proceeded to the bazaar, which
had been opened for the benefit of the Southampton
Infirmary.

In the early part of the day, the number of visitors
in the yard was not very numerous; but towards the
afternoon it was exceedingly large.

This morning, the judges were occupied in examining
the stock and awarding the prizes, a list of which will
be found elsewhere.

Without the show-yard, all was gaiety, in one point of
view. A number of booths, sheds, and other temporary
erections had sprung up, in which eatables and drink-
ables, at rather over half-a-crown a inouthjul, were
to be had.

Our next point of attraction was the Freemason's
Hall, where a meeting was held at two o'clock, for the
purpose of establishing

AN AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.

Owing to most of the agricultural visitors being
engaged at the implement -yard, the attendance was
not very large, yet it was one of great respectability.
We noticed there the Duke of Richmond, Lord
Ducie, Mr. Pusey, M.P., Mr. Estcourt, M.P. (Oxford),
Professor Playfair, Dr. Buckland, Dr. Daubeny, kc.

The chair was taken by Mr. Pusey, who briefly
stated the object of the meeting, and pointed out the
advantage that would accrue to the agriculturistsfrom
the establishing such a college. The project had been
taken up by many of the leading agriculturists, not
only in the immediate district in which it was intended
to establish the college, but in other and distant coun-
ties. Lord Bathurst had, in addition to providing a
suitable farm of 400 acres on which the college and
other buildings were to be erected, advanced 2000/. in
furtherance of the object. (Cheers.)

The Duke of Richmond, in rising to propose
the first resolution said — That he appeared before
them not as a member of the Royal Agricultural So-
ciety, for the rules of that society precluded the
members from interfering in anything it>ut the imme-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

163

diate object for which they periodically met, but he
stood before them as a country grentleman anxious to
promote an object so laudable, and so beneficial to the
ajjriciilturists of tlic kingdom. (Cheers.) They must
all regret that tiieir early education had not given
them the advantage of the knowledge of chemistry as
practically adapted to agricultural purposes. He had
declined to take shares in that society, upon the
principle that every shareholder should have time to
attend to the details of the society, to which he put
his name, so that by so doing he might not mislead
others to add tlieir names upon the faith of seeing his
name, and tliereby supposing he would attend to its
practical operations. He would avoid that evil, as he
was aware that his many other avocations would
prevent him from giving sufficient attention to the
details. He, however, so highly approved of the
society, that, although he could not become a sub-
scriber, for the reasons he had stated, yet he most
gladly gave a donation to promote its estahli!<hment
(Henr, Jienr.) He would not have the committee be
too sanguine of making any profit from the farm.
He was a farmer himself, and he was aware that
farming was not so prosperous as most other pursuits.
He was of opinion that schools of agriculture were
much wanted in the country, and he had great plea-
sure in proposing the first resolution, whicli was as
follows: —

*' That schools of agriculture are much wanted in
this country, in which a knowledge of the sciences,
now admitted to be essfntial to the successful pur-
suit of agriculture, may be learned in connection
with the practical working of a farm on the most
approvetl principles."

Dr. Playfair having briefly seconded the above re-
solution, it was carried ne7n. con.

Mr. EsTcouRT, in proposing the next resolution,
said — I gladly avail myself of joining in a meeting that
has such important objects in view, and, in common
with many other persons, have long deplored the want
of a proper establishment for the education of the agri-
cultural population in pursuits adapted to their after
life. A most important fact has been developed, and
published by the agriculturists themselves, that the de-
sire to establish a college has originated from a farmers'
club. The object of this meeting has my most cordial
support, and I beg to move the following resolution : —
" That the plan for the establishment of an agricul-
tural college near Cirencester, explained by the de-
puties attending this meeting, is calculated to effect
the desirable object."
, This resolution was seconded by Mr. Nelson Goddard,
and carried.

The next resolution was to have been proposed by
Lord Spencer, but the Duke of Richmond explained to
the meeting that that nobleman was unavoidably absent
in consequence of being in attendance on his Royal
Highness the Duke of Cambridge, who was inspecting
the show yard.

Dr. BucKLAND, in the absence of Lord Spencer,
moved the next resolution : —

' ' That this meeting warmly recommends the agricul-
tural community to give every support and encou-
ragement to the establishment of this college,
W'hich they regard as the first step in the right
direction for training up the rismg generation of
farmers upon a sound foundation ; and they would
especially urge on farmers generally the importance
,. of securing to their children intended for the same
,. occupation, the great advantages to be derived from
the kind of education provided by such an institu-
tion."
Mr. Ile briefly seconded the above.

The Duke of Richmond proposed, and Dr. Daubcny
seconded, a vote of thanks to Mr. Pusey for the service
he had rendered to the agriculturists generally, and for
his conduct in the chair.

Mr. Pusey briefly replied, and congratulated the
meeting upon the object they had in contemplation being
fully carried out, when they saw the noblemen present,
and the member for the University of Oxford, as well
as two of its distinguished professors, come forward to
take them by the hand.

Shortly after the above meeting had been concluded,
the company began to arrive at the Victoria Archery
Rooms, to the

DINNER OF THE COUNCIL,

for which the whole of the tickets, 350, had been dis-
posed of. The chair was taken by Earl Spencer, the
President of the Society. The noble chairman was sup-
ported on liis right by His Grace the Duke of Rich-
mond, and on hii left by His Grace the Duke of Lein-
ster. Amongst the noblemen and personages of distinc-
tion present, we observed the Marquis of Downshire,
Earl Somers, Earl of Essex, Earl Rodney, Earl of Hard-
wicke, Earl of Scarborough, Earl Ducie, Earl of Eg-
mont, Viscount Sandon, Lord Ashburton, Lord Ha-
therton. Lord Camoys, Lord De Lisle, Lord Lilford,
Sir C. Lemon, Bart. ; Sir John Ogilby ; Sir C. Bur-
rell, Bart.; Sir J. L. Goldsmid, Bart. ; Sir T. D. Ac-
land, Bart., M.P. ; Sir C. Marsden, Bart.; Sir W.
Heathcote, Bart., M.P. ; Sir Henry Titchbourne, Bart. ;
Sir R. Price ; the Right Hon. Sturgess Bourne ; the Right
Hon. W. A'Court Holmes, M.P. ; Mr. Hayter, M.P. ;
Mr. Estcourt, M.P. ; Mr. R. Etwall, M.P. ; Mr. R.
Palmer, M.P. ; Mr. G. W. Hope, M.P. ; Mr. Handley,
Mr. W. Long, M.P. ; Mr. Branston, M.P. ; Colonel
Henderson (Mayor of Southampton) ; P. Breton, Esq. ;
Mr. G. C. Couithorpe ; Dr. Buckland : Dr. Daubeny ;
Professor Playfair ; Mr. Stephen Mills ; Mr. Napper,
Meath ; Mr. Hillyer, Northampton; J. Guille, Esq.,
Bailiff of Guernsey ; Colonel Le Breton, and Harry
Dobree, Esq., of Guernsey.

The supply of wines and provisions — under the direc-
tion of the Messrs. Bathe and Breach, of the London
Tavern — were excellent. The whole arrangements re-
flected great credit upon the stewards, who afforded
every accommodation that could be required either by
the general company or the gentlemen of the press.

The cloth having been withdrawn.

The noble Chairman rose and said : On all occa«
sions the toast I am about to propose has been received
with the most cordial feelings, but, considering the
peculiar position of her Majesty, I am sm"e it will, if
possible, be received with even greater enthusiasm. I,
therefore, propose to you " The Health of her Majesty
the Queen, with three times three." (Loud cheers.J

Drank with aU the honours, and with the greatest en-
thusiasm.

The noble Chairman then proposed " The Health
of the Queen Dowager, Prince Albert, the Prince of
Wales, and the rest of the Royal Family" (loud cheersj .
In this toast it would be remembered were included two
members of the society (cheers). He would take this
opportunity of apologising for an irregularity of which
he had been guilty. His Royal Highness the Duke of
Cambridge had visited them that day, but was obliged
to return in the evening. His Royal Highness was ex-
tremely desirous of seeing the cattle-yard. He was
aware, however, that by the strict rule of the society he
could not do so that day ; but the stewards felt that
they could not deprive his Royal Highness of the great
pleasure he would derive from this pait of the exhibit
tion ; and they, therefore, waived the rule in his favour,
but only with respect to him individually. He hoped

164

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

they would excuse this breach of their rules, which was
the only one wluch had occurred, or would be permi'jted
(loud cheers.)
This toast having been duly honoured,
Lord AsHBURTON said, as an inhabitant of the coun-
ty and a proprietor of the soil, he had been requested
to propose as a toast " The Professors of Science."
If their ancestors had been told of their connectmg
agriculture with the inventions and researches of
science, they would have regarded them as out of
their minds ; but no man who could witness the modern
improvements which had taken place in agriculture
could be surprised that one of the earliest toasts at such
a meeting was the health of those to whom the agricul-
turists of the present day were so much indebted. It
has been justly observed that two of the most remarka-
ble implements to which, from the earliest ages, man
was most indebted, the ship and the plough, were those
respecting the construction of which there was still the
most difference of opinion. Nevertheless, he was sure
the application of science and industry to both, and
especially to the latter, must be productive of the
greatest national prosperity. It was this which had
given dignity to the cultivator of the soil, and their gra-
titude was, therefore, due to men of science, and espe-
cially to their noble chairman (loud cheers) , one of its
most distinguished professors and ornaments. He
would, therefore, propose to them as a toast, " The
Professors of Science."

This toast was received with very great applause by
the company.

Dr. BucKLAND said — My Lord Spencer, and gentle-
men : I beg to thank you in my own name and that of
my brother professors, for the honour which has just
been done to us. I do not know whether there be any-
thing more that I can do for you than by giving you every
information in my power respecting the soil in which you,
as well as myself, are so much interested. The capa-
bilities of the soil of this county are not to be surpassed
by those of any other county in England. The appli-
cation of natural manures, (continued the learned profes-
sor) which were far superior to artificial ones, in the
case of tho iisands on thousands of acres, at an expense
of from 5/. to 10/. per acre, would transfer much of the
land in this kingdom from barren heath to the richest
state of fertility. Colonel Challoner had told him that
within a few years he had effected this to a great extent
on Bagshot Heath, and he saw its effects but yesterday
between Bagshot and Reading in fine fields of barley on
the property of the Duke of Wellington which a short
time ago were comparatively worthless, ft was in the
power of every gentleman present to imitate these ex-
amples. Among the best of natural manures was guano
(hear, hear). He had in his possession a map of the
world exhibiting the guano islands. It was published
at Liverpool, and was well worthy of attention. He
was informed there were now at sea, in search of guano ,
COO vessels, capable of carrying 60,000 tons. He
wished to say one word as to the application of this ma-
nure. The present year had proved most unfavourable
for its trial, and, therefore, he begged all who had tried
it this year to let their present experiment go for nothing,
^luch caution was required in its purchase, since there was
much temptation to adulterate it. The only security he
had found was to purchase it of persons of established
reputation, or to send samples to be analyzed and reported
on to Dr. Playfair. He woiild exhort them, with these
precautions, to try this manure in the ensuing year.
They must not expect its effects to last more than a year
on account of its volatility. All I can say, (said Dr.
Biickland, in conclusion,) is, try it this year, and if it
pays try it again next (cheers). Again thanking you
fill for the honour you have done us, I must now resume

my seat. — The learned professor sat down amidst very
great cheering.

The noble Chairman then rose and read the follow-
ing award of prizes : —

SHORT-HORNS.

Judges.— Mr. Hugh Watson, of Keillor, near Angus.
Mr. W. ToRR, of Riby, near Caistor.
Mr. Charles Stokes, of Kingston, near Keg-
worth.

CLASS I.— The first prize of 30 sovereigns for the best
bull calved previously to the 1st of January, 1842, is
adjudged to No. 4, viz ', to IMr. John Cooper, of Benkwood
Thengeston, Notts, for his 3 years 1 month and 13 days
old short -horned bull, bred by himself.

The second prize of 15 sovereiprns in class 1 is adjudged
to No. 9, viz., to Mr. Hayter, M.P., of Wells, Somerset,
for his 2 years and ten months old sliort-horned bull, bred
by Mr. H. Unsworth, of Blackrod, Lancashire.

CLASS II.— The piize of 20 sovereitrns for the best
bull cdved since the 1ft of January, 1842, i« adjudged to
No. 31, viz., to Mr. W. Foulds, of Kirklinffton, Southwell,
Notts, lor his 2 years 3 months and 22 dwys old jtiorl-
horned bull, bred by Mr- R. Milward, of He.ijgrove Park,
Southwell.

CLASS HI. -The prize of 15 sovereigns for the best
cow in milk is adjudged to No. 4?, viz., to Mr. J. Booth,
of Killerby, Catterick, Yorkshire, lor hi* 3 years 2 months
and 5 days old short-horned cow, bred by himself-

CLASS IV. — The prize of 15 sovcMtigns for the best in-
calf heifer, not exceeding' 3 years old, is adjudged to No.
53, viz., to his Grace the Duke of Devonshire, of Chats-
worth, Derbyshire, for his 2 years and 5 months old
short-horned heifer, bred by Mr. H. Watson, of Walker-
ingham, near Bawtry;

CLASS v.— The prize of 10 sovereigns for the best
yearling lieifer is adjudged to No. 54, viz , to Mr. R.
Booth, of Wallerby, near Northallerton, for his 1 year 2
months and 3 weeks old short-horned heifer, bred by him-
self.

Commendations.— The judges highly commend No.
48, viz., Rlr. John Forrest's 4 years 2 monihs and 25 day*
old short-horned cow.

Also commend No. 51, Mr. John Booth's 2 years 6
months and 1 week old short-horned in-calf heifer.

HERE FORDS.

Judges.— The Rev. J. Smvthies, of Gray Friars, Col-
chester.
]\Ir. James Peake, of Hanwood, near Ross.
Mr. J. Ashdown, of Uppington, Shrewsbury.

CLASS I.— The first prize of 30 sovereigns for the best
bull caKed previously to the 1st January, 1842, is adjudffed
to No. 70, viz., to Mr. W- Perry, of Monkland, Leo-
minster, for his 2 years 7 mon'hs and 28 days old Hereford
bull, bred by himself.

The second prize of 15 sovereigns in class 1 is adjudged
to No. 67, viz., to Mr. George Brown, of Avebury,
Marlborough. Wilts, for his 2 years and? months old Here-
1 ford bull, bred by himself.

CLASS II.— The prize of 20 sovereigns for the best bull
calved since the 1st January, 1842, and more than I year
old, is adjudged to No. 74, viz., to Mr. J. N. Carpenter,
of Eardisland, near Leominster, for his 1 year 8 mouths
3 weeks and 4 days old Hereford bull, bred by himself.

CLASS III. — The prize of 15 sovereigns for the best
cow in milk, is adjudged to No. 82, viz., to Mr. G- Drake,
of Manor Farm, East Tytherley, for his 8 years and 10
months old Hereford oow, bred by the late Mr. John Price,
of Poole House.

CLASS IV. — The prize of 15 sovereigns for the best
in-calf heifer, not exceeding 3 years old, is adjudged to
No. 85, viz., to Mr. J. N. Carpenter, of Eardisland, near
Leominster, for his 2 years 8 months and 18 days old Here-
ford in-calf heifer, bred by himself.

CLASS v.— The prize of 10 sovereigns for the best
yearling he-feris adjudged to No. 98, viz., to Mr. J. Wal-
ker, of Burton, near Worcester, for his 1 year and 8
months old Hereford heifer, bred by Mr. C. Walker.

Commendation, — The judges highly commend No.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

165

77, viz,, Mr. Hobbs's 2 years 4 months 9 weeks and 2
days old Hereford bull.

DEVONS.

JpDcES.— Mr. John Hudson, of Castle Acre, near Swaft-
ham.
Mr. Joseph Druce, of Ensham, near Oxford-
Mr. Edward FRjiNKLiN, of Ascot, near Ben-
son, Oxon.

CLASS I.— The first prize of 30 sovereigns for the bes^t
bull, calved previously to the 1st of January, 1842, is ad-
judged to No. 103, viz , to Mr. Georg-e Turner, of Barton,
ntai" Exeter, for his 2 years and 8 months old Devon bull,
bied by himself.

The second prize of 15 sovereigns, in class l, is adjudged
to No. 101, viz., to Mr. Thomas Nurcombe, of llopcolt
Fnrm, Minebead, lor his 4 years and 9 months old Devon
bull, bred by himself.

CLASS II.— The prize of 20 sovereigns for the best bull,
calved siuce the 1st of Jan., 1842, and more than one year
old, is adjudged to No. 109, viz., to Mr. T. Reynolds, of
Raddon Court, Thoverton, Exeter, for hi* 2 years and 5
months old Devon bull, bred by Mr. Amos Parsons, of
Lilton, Devon.

CLASS III.— The prize of ISsovereignsforthe best cow
in milk, is adjudged to No. 112, viz., to Mr. George
Turner, of Barion, near Exeter, for liis 6 years and 2
months old Devon cow, bred by himself.

CLASS IV- — The prize of 15 sovereigns for tbe best
in-calf heifer, not exceeding 3 years old, is adjudged to No.
1 18, viz,, to Mr. G. Turner, for his 2 years and 2 months
old Devon heifer, bred by himself.

CLASS V. — The prize of 10 sovereigns for the best
yearling heiler, is adjudged to No. 119, viz., to Mr. James
Hole, of Knowle, near Dunster, Somerset, for his 1 year?
months and 2 days old Devon heifer, bred by himself.

Commendation.— The Judges highly commend No. 102,
viz.. I he Rigbt Hon. Lord Portman's 5 years and 2 months
old Devon bull.

CATTLE OF THE CHANNEL ISL.iNDS BREED.
- jJoDGES. — Mr. VV. R. Browne, of Davenportslreet, Bays-
water.
Mr. J. CLAYDEN.of Littlebury, Saffron Walden,
Mr. M. GiBANT, of Main Land, St. Lawrence,
Jersey.

CLASS I. — The prize of 15 sovereigns for the best bull
calved previously to the 1st of January, 1843, is adjudged
to No. 164, viz.. to the Rev. W. J. G. Phillips, of Eling
Vicarage, near Southampton, for his 2 years 4 months old
bull, bred by himself.

CLASS Il.~The prize of 10 sovereigns for the best bull
calved since the 1st of January, 1843, and more than 1
year old, is adjudged to No. 168, viz., to Mr. W. Wool-
cock, of St. Peter's Parivh, Hants, for his I year 5 months
old Jersey bull, bred by Col. Le Couteur, of Belle Vue,
Jersev.

CLASS III.— The prize of 10 sovereigns for the best
cow in milk is adjudged to No. 174, viz., to Mr. C. VV.
Robin, of Peiit Minage, St. Helier, Jersey, for his 2 years
§ months old Jersey cow, bred by Mr. John Hoeguard,of
.Grouville, Jer.sey.

., CLASS IV.— The prize of 10 sovereiirns for the best
Jn-calf heifer, not exceeding 2 years old. No stock shown
for this prize.

CLASS v.— The prize of 7 sovereigns for the best year-
linj? iieifer i« adjudged to No. 179, viz., to Mr. J. Hume,
ot the Beau Regard, Parish of St. Helier's, Jersey, for his

1 year 1 month and 10 days old Jersey heifer, bred by
Major Bridgeham, of the Grove, St. Lawrence, Jersey.

' Commendations.— The Judges highly commend No.

166, viz., Col. Le Couteur's 1 year and 5 months old bull.

. They also commend No. 160, viz., Mr. W. B. Gater's

2 years and 5 weeks old bull.

AUo No. 175, viz., Mr. John Rougier's 4 years and 8
months old Jersey cow.

CATTLE OF ANY BREED OR CROSS,

Not qualified to compete as Short-horns, Ilerefords, Devons,
oVi or Channel Islands Breed.

3 81fi31(

Judges. — Mr. J. Hall, of Wiseton, Bawtry.

Mr.N. Smith, of Martley, Worcestershire.
Mr. H. Pali REY, of Upton-on-Severn.

CLASS I — The first prize of 30 sovereigns for the best
bull calved previously to the 1st of Junuary, 1842, is ad-
judged to No. 123, viz-, to Mr. W. Brine, of Tolpud'lle,
near Dorchester, for his 4 years 5 months old long-horn
bull, bred by the late Mr. T. Wyatt, of Hanwell Park,
Banbury, Oxon.

The second prize of 15 sovereigns in class 1 is adjud^red
to No. 125, viz., to Mr. Thomas .fenner, of Cowdray Park
Farm, near Petworth, Sussex, for his 3 years 4 months old
Sussex bull, bred by himself.

CLASS II.— The prize of 20 sovereigns for the best bull
calved since the 1st of January, 1842, and more than 1 year
old, is adjudged to No. 129, viz., to Mr. Thomas Dowden,
of Mitcheldever, Andover Road, for his 2 years 2 months
old bull, of the Hereford and Durham cross, bred by
himself.

CLASS III.— The prize of 15 sovereigns for the best
cow in milk is adjudged to No. 141, viz., to the Hon. M.
W, Nugent, of Higham Grange, Hinchley, for his 10 yetirs
2 months old Leicester cow, bred by Mr. Ball, of Smow-
ford Lodge, Long Ickington.

CLASS IV.— The prize of 15 sovereigns for the best iu-
calf heifer, not exceeding 3 years old, is adjudged to No.
125, his Grace the Duke of Buckingham's 2 years 10
months old long-horned heifer.

CLASS v.— The prize of 10 sovereigns for the best
yearhog heifer is adjudged to No. 152, viz., to Mr. W. J.
Calhoun, of Binderton, near Chichester, for his 1 year 3
months old heiler of the short-horn and Hereford cross.

Commendations. — The Judges commend No. 1'28, Mr.
J. Allsopp's 1 year 20 days old short-horn and Devon
cross bull.

SHEEP-LEICESTERS.
Judge?.— Mr. Thomas Metcalf, Harleston, near North-
ampton.
Mr. H. Bateman, Asthally, Witney, Oxon.
Major Browne, Welbourne, Grantham.

CLASS I.— The first prize of 30 .sovereigns for the best
shearling ram is adjudged to No. 237, viz., to Mr. John G.
Watkins, of Woodfield, Ombersley, Stourport, for his 17
months Leicester ram, bred by himself.

The second prize of 15 sovereigns in class 1, is adjudged
to No. 226, viz., to Mr. Thomas E. Pawlett, of Beeston,
near Biggleswade, Beds, for his 15 months old Leicester
ram, bred by himself.

CLASS II.— The first prize of 30 sovereigns for the best
ram of any age above 2 years old, is adjudged to No. 252,
viz., to Mr. Thomas E. Paulett, for his 28 months old Lei-
cester ram, bred by himself.

The second prize of 15 sovereigns in cla^s 2, is adjudged
to No. 255. viz., to Mr. Thomas E. Paulett, for his 40
months old Leicester ram, bred by himself.

CLASS III.— The first prize of 10 sovereigns for the
best pen of 5 shearling ewes is adjudged to No. 265, viz ,
to Mr. John G. Watkins, of Woodfield, Ombersley, for his
16 months old Leicester ewes, bred by himself.

The second prize of 5 sovereigns in class 3, is adjudged
to 261, viz., to Mr. John Beasley, of Chapel Brampton,
near Northampton, for his 16 months old Leicester ewes,
bred by himself.

SOUTHDOWNS.
Judges.— Mr. Thomas Weall, of Woodcote Lodge,
Croydon.
Mr. R. E.MERY, of Harston Place, Storrinsrton.
The Hon. Wm. Gage, of Westbury, Bishop's
Waltham.
CLASS I.— The first prize of 30 sovereigns, for the
best shearling ram, is adjudged to No. 311; viz., to Mr.
Jonas Webb, of Babraham, near Cambridge, for his 16
months old Southdown ram, bred by himself.

The second prize of 15 sovereigns, in class I., U ad-
judged to No. 297 ; viz., to his Grace the Duke of Rich-
mond, of Goodwood, for his 16 months old Southdown
ram, bred by his Grace.

CLASS XL- The first prize of 30 sovereigns for the
best ram of any age above 2 years old ia adjudged to No,

166

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

321 ; viz., to Mr, J. Bfaven. jun., of Gore Farm, Market
1 avJDtrtoo, for his 62 momhs old Soulhdown ram, bred by
bimselt.

^ The second prize of 15 sovereipns^ in cla^s II., is ad-
judged to No, 328 ; viz , to Mr. Granthfim, of Sioneham,
near Lenes, for his 28 months old Southdowa ram, bred
by himself.

CLASS ITT.— The first prize of 10 sovereiffns, for the
best pen of fite s-hearlioE; ewes i« adjudged to No. 34B;
viz , lo hist G.ace the Duke of Richmond, of Goodwood,
for his 16 month* old Southdown ewes, bred by his Gace.

The second prize of 5 sovereigns, in cIhvs III., i^ a I-
j'ldged to No. 347; viz., to Mr. D. Barclay, MP., of
Eastwjck Purls, Leatherhead. for his 17 months old South
down ewes, bred by himst-if.

LONG-VVOOLT.ED SHEEP.

t^ot qualified to compete as Leicesters.
Judges — Mr. W. Gillett. ot South Lemh, Witney,
ftlr. JoFiN Elliott, of Chapel Btampton.
Mr. W. Anderson, ot Oakley, near Bedford.

CLASS I — The first pri^e of 30 sovereigns for the best
fhearling ram is adjudged to No. 363, viz., to Mr. C.
L^rjre, of Rroadwell, Burford, Oxon, for his 16 months
old new O.xfordshire ran?i, bred by him<elf.

The second prize of 15 sovereigns in cl iss 1, is adjudged
to No. 365. viz , to Mr. C. Larpe, for his 16 months old
new Oxfordshire ram, l)re^ by himself.

CLAS.S II — The fir.*t prize of :10 sovereisrn*, for the best
ram ot any age above 2 years old, is adjudged lo No. 370.
*^z., to Mr. E Handy, of Se-venhampion, Andoversford.
Glonce'.tershire, for his 40 months old improved Cotswold
ram, bred by him«elf.

J he seeond prize of 15 sovereign* in cla*s 2, is adjudced
to ^o. 374, viz., to Mr. E. Smirh, of Charlbury, near En-
stone, Oxon, lor his 52 months old Oxfordshire ram, bred
by himself.

CLASS III. — The first prize of 10 sovereigns, for the
best pen of five shearling ewe«, is arlju'lged to No. 380,
viz., to Mr. E. Smith, of Charlbury, Enstone, Oxon, for
his — months' old Oxfordshire ewes, bred by himself.

The si-rouil prize ot 5 si vereij^ns, in class 3. is ailjulged
to No. 377, viz., to Mr. James Lin'on, of Hemmingford
Abbotts St. Ives, Hunts, for his 16 mooths old Lincoln
and Leicester cross bred ewes, bred by himself.

Commendation.— The Jadyes Cfmmend No. 371, viz.,
M"- K. Hanly's 40 months old Coiswold ram.

No 357, Mr. E Handy's 17 months old improved
Cotswold ram.

SHORT- WOOLLED SHEEP,

Not qualified to compete as Southdowns.
JtTDOES.— Mr. J. Chapman, 29, Parii. street, Dorset-
squHre.
Mr. J. Harris, of Hinton, Abingdon.
Mr. T. Morris, of Ranscombe Lewes.

CLASS L— Ttie prize of 20 sovereigns for the best
sbearhng ram. — The judges withhold the prize for want of
meni.

CLASS II. The prize of 20 sovereigns for the bet
ram of imv age above 2 years old is adjudged to No. 404,
VIZ , to Mr. Thomas Hu'ton, of Up'on Gray, Odiham,
Hants, tor his 29 moaihi old Hampshire down ram, bred
by himself.

CLASS III. — The prize of 10 sovereigns for the best
pen of Hve shearlinsr ewes is adjuilsed to No. 418, viz , to
Mr. W. Humfr y, of Cha Idleworth, Newbury, fcr his 18
mnnthi old Berkshire short woolied ewes, bred by him-
sel'.

Commendations.— The Judges commend No. 408, viz.
Mr. John Pope'j,3 months old Dorset horned ram.

No. 409, VIZ., Mr. John Pope's 31 months old Dorset
horned ram.

No. 410, viz , Mr. J. Rawlence's 30 months old Hamp-
shire down ram.

No. 411, viz., Mr. J. Rawlence's 42 months old Hamp-
shire down ram.

The Judges very highly commend No. 417, viz., Mr.
Thomas Godwin's Ifi^^ months Hampshire down ewes.

Ti.ey commend No. 423, viz., Mr. John Pope's short
woolied ewes 19 months old.

They also commend Class 2 generally.

They also commend No. 413, Mr. John Shrimpton's 30
months old short-wooUed ram.

PIGS.

Judges.— Mr. John Farncomb, 5, Patriot Place,
Brighton.
Mr. .Tesse Kemp, of Utierby Grove, Louth.
Mr R.J. Wiley, ol Hornby, near Catterick.

Class I. — The first prize of 10 sovereigns (or the best
boar of a large breed, is adjudsed to No- 432, viz., to Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Thornhiil.of New Park, L\ndhur«t, Hants,
for his 36 weeks old boar, bred by Mr, W. P. Thornbill,
of Stanton, near Bakewell, Derby.

The second prize of 5 sovereigns for the second best
boar of a larg-e breed, in class I, is adjudged to No. 431,
viz., to Mr. Pusey, M.P., of Pusey, near Faningdon, 'or
his two years and 1 month old Berkshire boar, bred by Mr.
Joh'i Harris, ot Hinton.

Class II. — The first prize of 10 sovereigns for the best
boar of a small breed, is adjudged to No. 447, viz , to Mr.
VV. F. Hobbs, of Marks Hall, near Kelvedon, Essex, for
his 10 n^oothsold improved Essex boar, bred by himself.

The second prize of 5 sovereigns for the second best
boarofasmall breed, in class 2, is adjudcred to No. 444,
VIZ., to Mr. T. M. Goodlake, of Wadley House, near Kar-
r-nffdon, for hi» 1 year 2 months old boar, ol the Wadley
breed, bred by himself.

Class III. — The prize of 10 sovereisrns for the best sow
of a larg-e breed is adjudsred to No. 461 , viz , to Mr. Pusey,
M. P., of Pusey, Farrinffdon, lor his 1 year 8 months old
Berkshire sow, bred by Mr. J. Blandy, of Kingston,
Berks.

Claos IV. — The prize of 10 sovereigns for tiie best sow
of a small breed, is adjudged to No. 467, viz., to Mr. A. P.
Falconer, of Beacon Hordle, Christchurch, Hants, for his
1 1 months 3 weeks old Yorkshire sow*, bred by Mr. J. VV.
Nutt, near York.

Class v.— 'I'he prize of 10 sovereigns for the best pen of
three breeding sows is aHjud'-'ed to No. 484, viz., to J.
Howne, of South Bestwall, Wareham, Dorset, for hi* 34
weeks old Dorset sows, bred by himself. The siie of these
pigs was bred by Mr. W. Fisher Hobbs, of iVJaik's Hall,
Essex.

Commendations.— The Judges highly commend No.
448. viz , Mr. Hobb's 13 months old improved Essex lioar.

Also, No. 483, viz., Mr. Hobbs's 37 weeks 3 days old
improved Essex sows.

They also commend class 2 generally.

EXTRA STOCK.— BEAST.

The Judges award 7Z. to No. 491, tiz, to Air. Michael
Goodsill, of Eveliih Manor, near Sliiffnall, for his 5 years
1 month old cow of the Indian and French cross breed.

Also, 2(. lo No. 500, VIZ., to Mr. G<ior^■e Drake, of
Manor Farm, East Tytherley, for his 10 months old pure
Hereford bull calf.

Also, 1/. to No. 502, viz., to Mr. G.Drake, for his 6
months 3 days old cow calf.

LONG WOOLLED SHEEP.

The Judges award 10^ to No. 542, viz., to Mr.C Larg-e,
of Broadwell, Burford, Oxon, for his 4 years 4 months old
new Oxfordshire ewe.

SHORT WOOLLED SHEEP.

The Judges award 41. to No. 526, viz.. to Mr. T. B.
Northeast, of Tedworth, Marlborouxh, Wilts, lor his 3
years and 5 months old Southdown ram.

21. to No. 527, viz., to Mr. f. B. Northeast, for his 3
years 5 months old Soulhdown ram.

41. to No. 530, viz , to Mr. W. Sainsbury, for his 3 years
7 months old Southdown ram.

PIGS.

The Judges award 2l.to No. 571, viz., to Mr. Hobbs,

Markshall, for his 8 months old improved Essex boar.

Also, 21. to No. 572, viz., to Mr. Hobbs, for his 7
months old improved E'ssex boar.

Also, U. to No. 574, viz., to Mr. \V. J. Calhoun, of
Binderton, Chichester, for his 10 months old Sussex
sow.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

167

AUo, 3^. to No. 575, viz., to Mr. Hobbs, for his 9 months
old improved £f sex sow.

HORSES,

The Judges award 5/ to No- 564, viz., to Mr. R. Curti?,
of Basiogrst'ike, for hi* 4 years 2 months old stallion.

AUo, 51. to No. 566, viz., to Mr. John Tlionias Glass-
pool, ot Southampton, for his 2 years 3 months old three-
par^s hred mare.

The above list having been read, the noble Chairman
proposed ' ' The health of the Successful Candidates in
Cattle," which was i-eceived with great applause.

Mr. Hayter, M.P, — who expressed himself greatly
satisfied with the awards— said it would have afforded
him more real satisfaction had he been more successful ;
but he would persevere, and try his fortune another
year (cheers). He had borne in mind the advice of the
noble chairman in the breeding of stock, to look to the
blood and the sire, and he should certainly contrive to
do so, in the hope of future and still greater triumphs
(cheers) .

The next toast given from the chair was * ' The health
of the Successful Competitors in Sheep."

To this toast the Duke of Richmond replied, and
was received with applause which lasted for several
minutes. His Grace said he rose to return thanks as
the winner of the second prize awarded to the rams, and
the first awarded to the ewes. He felt deeply gratified
for the manner in which his name had been received.
He had competed ou many occasions : on some he had
won, on others he had been well beaten. He knew on
the present occasion that he had some good sheep, but
had not ventured to suppose he could be the winner in
that county, which for the breeding of sheep was acknow-
ledged to be the best in the universe. This was a great
honour, and he was proud of it, especially since he knew
that when the judges looked at the sheep they did not
know to whom they belonged, or what county they came
from (cheers). He wished here to allude to a report
that had gone abroad that some of his cattle had been
poisoned. Now, gratified as he was at the success of
his stock, he felt much more interested in the character
of the labourers of his native county (cheers). He
would rather sacrifice any success of this kind, than that
their character should be impeached (cheers) ; he begged,
therefore, to assure them, that although some of his
cattle had died, there was not the slightest suspicion
that any unfair play had been attempted towards them
(cheers). He was afraid they were apt to make their
animals intended for exhibition a little too fast, and he be-
lieved that in consequence of this the animals alluded to
had died from inflammation (Aear, Aear). He hoped
they would not think he was trespassing upon their
attention if he took the opportunity of urging upon
them the claims of their agricultural labourers (hear
hear). He strongly recommended every landowner
present (as he knew it was the desire of all of them) to
ameliorate the condition of this most valuable class ot
society (cheers). He assured them the greatest advan-
tages had resulted from giving rewards to meritorious
labourers (hear). He was proud also to say that his
county (Sussex^ was the first in which the meritorious
labourers, who were the successful candidates at the
meetings of their societies, were asked to sit down with
them to dinner and partake of their hospitality, thereby
being induced to look upon their masters as friends who
were really interested in their welfareand prosperity (/owrf
cheers). He would recommend the gentlemen of this
county to do the same, and he was sure that, like their
friends in other counties, they would derive great advan-
tages from it (hear, hear). He had tried it, and, being
one of those who thought experience better than theory,
he hoped it would be tried in every part of the country.
[The noble duke sat down amid loud and long-protracted
approbation.]

" The health of the Successful Candidates for the
Pigs" was next proposed, and to which Mr. Pusey
briefly replied.

The iVobie Chairman, in proposing "The health
of theexhibiters of agricultural implements," intimHted.
that he was justified in saying that no such exliibition
had ever before been presented to the ])ublic. lie had
said this last year, at Derby, and had said it truly;
but he was happy to say that even that was surpassed
by the present exhibition. (Loud cheers.) As for the
manures, as mentioned by Dr. Buckland, he (Lord
Spencer ) had great faith in them, great faith in
geology for benefiting agriculture ; but he assured
them he had much greater faith in the improvement of
Implements. (Cheers.) He therefore proposed " The
health of the implement exhibiters." (Loud cheers.)

Mr, CoTTAM returned thanks, and alluded to the
great exertions of his class for the benefit of Agricul-
ture, He knew one who had expended 600Z. to im-
prove a drop drill ; another who had spent upwards of
2,O0OZ. to perfect a plough ; and he assured them tliey
would not rest until they had brought their art to per-
fection. Mr. Cottam concluded by warmly returning
thanks to the council for their courtesy and im-
partiality,

Mr. Handley, in the course of a short speech, gave
"The health of the stewards of the yard.'' (Avplnuse.)

Mr. Miles, M. P., returned thanks. He assured them
the stewards had done the best they could, and he
believed they had been more successful in the trials on
the present than on any former occasion {htnr, hear).
The present exhibition had been distinguished by the
mgenuity displayed in the construction of implements,
but he must urge upon the inventors to be especially
careful to seek after simplicity {hear, hear). At the
present day, cheapness was of the utmost importance
{hear, hear). He had been especially pleased on this
account with a plough adapted to light and heavy lands
(Messrs. Ransome's),so thatthesameplough which had
gained the premium in the one, had been so improved as
to be found of equal efficacy in the other ; and now stood
with a double medal upon it, being the best in light
and the best in heavy [hear, hear). The Hon. Gentle-
man repeated his thanks for the honour done to the
stewards, and concluded an animated speech amid
much approbation.

The Marquis of Downshike next gave " The
health of all the judges.'' This toast was received with
very great applause.

Sir W, Heathcote, M.P. , then proposed "The
health of Earl Spencer, the president of the society "
(^tremendous applause.)

The Noble Chairman, in returning thanks, said
the mode in which they had received the proposition
to drink his health had quite overpowered him. To
attain such an honour was a worthy object of ambition :
but he would not detain them on personal topics. This
society had been in existence some time, and had held
its meetings in every part of Enjjland. With respect
to the present he had not been sanguine as to the show
of stock, but he had been sanguine as to the exliibi-
tion of implements, and he had not been disappointed.
With respect to the stock, not having seen them, he
could say nothing; but he hoped they would find they
had every reason to be satisfied, and if so, their triumph
would be complete indeed (loud cheers). The Noble
Earl then proposed " The health of the Earl of Hard-
wicke.''

The Earl of Hardavicke, having briefly replied,
and having thanked the company for the honour con-
ferred upon him, the meeting separated.

THIRD DAY.— (THURSDAY.)

This was what may be termed the *' Great Day" of

168

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the meeting, and as such produced an immense influx of
visitors into the town, from the neighbourhood
as well as from the Great Metropolis, the numerous
trains from thence being literally crammed with pas-
sengers, upwards of 13,000 having arrived per railway-
alone ! Such was the anxiety manifested to see the
exhibition, that one of the trains, composed of sixteen
carriages, from the Nine Elms, actually brought down
no less than forty ladies on the roofs of the carriages.
The morning dawned with numerous flying clouds, which
continued in the atmosphere until nearly eleven o'clock,
forming an invaluable protection from the almost in-
supportable heat felt on the previous day. After the
above hour, however, it became veiy hot ; yet it did
not appear to detract in the least from the eagerness of
the sight seekers, or the general cheerfulness of the
scene ; indeed, we scarcely ever recollect a similar occa-
sion in which the hours flew so pleasantly. The arrange-
ments in the yard were extremely good. The hording,
which on the previous day separated the implements from
the stock, was now removed, and the whole area opened
to the public at 2s. Gd. each person, up to one o'clock,
after which hour the charge was reduced to Is. each.
At six o'clock the doors were opened, and by
half-past six upwards of 1,000 persons were
within the yard. From that hour to tlie close
of the day, one continuous stream of vehicles and
pedestrians vrere en route from Southampton to Ports-
wood, and vice versa. Notwithstanding this astounding
traflic — for astounding our readers will consider it, if
they carry in their eye a vast mass of per.-ions
moving to and fro — no accidents worthy of notice oc-
curred. The congregation was immense to mus-
ter in one town ; but was merely temporary,
many who came in the morning departing in tlie
evening : while the mystei-y as to where it came from,
will be readily solved, by stating that, in addition to the
arrivals per rail by extra trains, steamers came in, not
only from the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth, completely
ci'ammed, but we had numerous ones from Devonshire,
Somersetshire, Sussex, the Channel Islands, France, and
Belgium, chiefly by hired steam boats : indeed, we
never before observed so large a number of foreigners at
any previous meeting aswas the case to-day, who evinced
very considerable interest, not only at the exhibition
of the stock in particular, but hkewise that of the
horses and implements : while we learn that numerous
purchases of each were efi'ected for shipment abroad.
One of the most ludicrous sights we ever witnessed, was
the arrival in the course of the morning, of nearly
twenty large barges, for want of other conveyances,
from along the coast ; which, as might be imagined, did
not •' reach port" quite so easily or so quickly as the
various packets. However, as time did not appear to be
an object with such visitors, the delay was not of the
most vital importance to them. Another singular sight
was that of the immense number of gigs, farmers' carts,
and country waggons, laden with agriculturists and
agricultural labourers, pouring in from all quarters ; and
which, when their occupants had been set down, com-
pletely lined the various streets.

There is one circumstance which here desen'es to be
recorded, viz., the general holiday given to the farm la-
bourers in the neighbourhood of Southampton, in order
that they might have an oj>portunity of witnessing this
great triumph of their science. This example will, we
hope, be followed at places where future meetings of this
Society will be held.

THE EXHIBITION OF STOCK.
It has been remarked that the Judges for the prize
animals must have had a most arduous duty to perform
in adjudging the awards. From tliis, however, we beg

to dift'er, simply from the fact that the various points of
the animals were so well defined — we are here speaking
of the beasts in particular — that no such great difficulty
could well have occurred to the practical gentlemen ap-
pointed by the Society as Judges. Primarily speaking,
we may observe that the number oP beasts, sheep, and
pigs was not so numerous as we witnessed at Derby ;
while, with some few exceptions, v,'hich we shall pre-
sently notice, the general quality exhibited a falling ofi",
compared with former shows. This, however, may, in
some measure, be accoimted for by the position of the
town having determined numbers of graziers to with-
hold their stock this year, from the immense distance
which it would have to travel. We all know that it is
no easy matter to transport, without considerable anxiety,
bulky animals, whatever may be the expense incurred,
and whatever care may be taken, with that facility as
those in a half fat state. A most nnfortunate accident
occurred to a most beautiful ox, which the owner had
Intended for the show. Previously to its starting from
Aylesbury by the rail, a considerable quantity of loose
straw had been placed at the bottom of the van, and
which, by some means or other not satisfactorily ex-
plained, caught tire, and severely burned the poor ani-
mal ; so much so that the owner was compelled to have
it taken home again.

The proximity of Southampton to the Channel Is-
lands put, of course, many, if not most parties, on the
qui vice to inspect the animals wluch were expected
thence ; indeed, this seemed for a time one of the
principal points of attraction. Although there was no-
thing very extraordinary amongst the Channel Islands
cattle, we may, nevertheless, observe that it came quite
up to our ex])ectations, and evidences the fact that, at
no very distant day — notwithstanding the diminutive
size of the beasts— further improvements will be ef-
fected. It will be seen, on reference to our statement of
the award of j)rizes, that the Rev. Mr. Phillips, of
Ealing, near Southampton, carried off the prize of 15/.,
in the first class for these animals, as the owner of the
best bull calved previously to the 1st of January, 1843.
This was certainly a most useful animal, and eUcited the
special approval of the visitors, as also did the pure Jersey
cow, brought forward by Mr. George Aubin, of Franche-
ville, St. Helier, Jersey, and to which was awarded a pre-
mium of 10/. The competition, though the number of
the animals of the Channel Islands breed was by no
means large, was, we consider, a good one. There was
one feature connected witli this class, which appeared
to cause no little disappointment amongst the owners of
some of the stock brought forward. We allude to the
circumstance of cattle above two years and six montlis
old not being allowed to enter for competition.

With respect to the cattle produced in our own dis-
tricts, we may observe that in class 1, some very good
short horns, both as regards weight and symmetry, more,
perhaps, as respects the former were shown. There was no-
thing very remarkable among the Herefords, if we except
the bnll, the property of Mr. W. Perry, of Monkland, near
Leominster, and to which was awarded the first prize of
30/. There was a very fair sprinkling of Devons, there
being ten bulls, six cows, three in-calf heifers, and four
yearling heifers exhibited. Mr. George Turner, of Bar-
ton, near Exeter, carried oft' the prize of 30/., with a
very superior animal. Although the show of beasts was
not, as we have before remarked, so excellent in every
particular as we have before witnessed, there was much
in it to commend, and we have not the least hesitation
in saying that it reflected the highest credit upon the
owners. We are hajipy to observe scarcely any appear-
ance of disease was noticed amongst any of the beasts or
sheep ; hence, in this particular, they came to hand in
good condition.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

169

riie number of horses in the yard was small, viz., 38.
Tiiough several of them were most beautiful creatures,
and of a very high order, they tlid not quite come up to
our expectations.

We now come to the sheep, and here we find little
difficulty in givintr our opinion. As usual, however,
stood Mr, Jonas \\^ebb at the " top of the poll ;" that
gentleman having secured the first prize, as the owner
of the best shearling South Down ram ; his Grace the
Duke of Richmond carrying off the second. The show
of sheep, taken as a whole, was a good one : but the
numbers were not quite so large as usual. Mr. Gran-
tham, of Stoneham, near Lewes, Sussex, was a success-
ful competitor in the same class, with a most perfect
animal. Thus, it will be observed, have three of
the most successful breeders the world has ever known
been successful with the same description of sheep. Of
a truth it may be said, they run each other sharply
indeed. May the race still continue, because we are
convinced it will prove of essential benefit, not only to
England, but to the world at large.

The numbers of pigs were not large, yet many of
them were most valuable ; and exhibited points of great
weight and excellence, both as regards the Berkshire and
Essex breeds.

The awards for the best horses are as under : —
HORSES.
Ji'noES, — Mr, \V. F. Karkeek, of Truro, Cornwall.

Mr, Chari.es Bowman, of Grealford, Bourne
Mr. William Day, of Ensham, near Oxfoid.

CLASS I.— The fir^t prize of 30 sovereigns for
the best stallion tor agricultural purposes, of 4 years old
and upwards, is atljU'l<red to No. 183, viz., to Mr, ThoniMS
Catlin, of Butley, Suftolk, for hi^ 4 yeiirs old stallion,
bred by Mr. Moses Crisp, of Litheringhara, Suffolk.

The second prize of 20 sovere igos in cIhss 1 ii adjudtred
to No, 19?, viz., to the Right Hon. the Earl of St. Ger-
mans, of St. Germans, Cornwall, for \m lordship's aged
stallion.

CLASS IL — The prize of 15 sovereigns for the best 2
year old stallion foaled since the 1st of J:inuary, 1842, is
adjudged to No. 19P, viz..io the Right Hon. LordSt..Tohn,
of Melchbourne Park, Kimbolton, for the 2 years 2 weeks
old "tallion, bred by hi? lordship.

CLASS III.— The fim prize of 20 sovereifrns for the
best inqre and foal lor asfiicultural purposes is adjudg'ed to
No. 201, viz., to Mr, William Fowie, of Market Laving-
ton, near Devizes, for his cart mare and foal.

The second prize of 10 soven-igns in class 3 is aitjudged
to No. 206, viz., to Mr. G. W. Roberts, of King's Wal-
den, near Hitcheii, for his cart mare and fo:il.

CLASS IV.— The prize of 10 sovereigns for the best 2
years old filly for agricultural purposes is adjudged to
No. 209, viz., to Mr. VVilham FowIe, of Mnrket Laving-
ton, near Devizes, for his filly, bred by Mr. Richurd Dain-
tree, of Heoiminirford Abbotts.

Cr^A>S V, — The prize of 30 sovereigns for the best
thorough bred si.illion is adjudged to No, 211, viz., to
Mr. liichard Curtis, of Basingstoke, for his 5 year old
stallion.

THE DINNER IN THE PAVILION,
took place at four o'clock. The temporary building for
the occasion was erected in the Fairfield, above bar; and
a more eligible spot could not have been selected, so
easy was it of access to those who intended to be i)re-
sent. According to arrangement, the number of tickets
issued did not exceed 1,200. The building, though it
did not exhibit quite so gay air appearance as we wit-
nessed at Cambridge and elsewhere, was very compact,
being supported by cast-iron rods and girders, and
roofed in with oilcloth. 'l.lie whole of the seats and
tables were ranged on a level, instead of, as on former
occasions, being elevated above the rest. On either side
•were tables raised, at which were seated Earl Spencer
as the president, and the Duke of Richmond as vice-
president of the Society, supported by the most distin-

guished guests. From two large stained glass windows
light was obtained ; and over the president's table was
erected a gallery for ladies, capable of accommodatiii"-
200, and for whom refreshments were provided.
Amongst the ladies present we observed Ladies Port-
man, Palmerston, Mill, Gertrude Stanley, Caroline
Berkeley, Easthopc, Rodney, and Ilardwicke ; Mrs.
and the Misses Comjiton, the Misses Stanley, Mrs,
Chamberlayne, Mrs. Farcpdiarson, Mrs. Duncombe
Sliafto, Mrs. Eyre, Mrs. Webber, Mrs. Seymer, and
Mrs. Howard. The stewards, Mr. R. Etwall, M.P.,
and Mr. Chamberlayne, were unremitting in their atten-
tions to the fair occupants of the gallery.

As to the dinner itself, it was very indifferent, and
reflected no credit on the contractor.

Among the gentlemen ])resent we may mention, the
Duke of Leinster, the Marquis of Downshire, the Earl
of Carnarvon, Viscount Palmerston, the Earl of Chi-
chester, the Earl of March, Earl St. Vmcent, Lord
Hatherton, Lord Portland, Lord Worsley, Lord
Grosvenor, Sir John Easthope, Bart., M.P. ; Colonel
Challoner, the ChevaUer Bunsen, Mr. P. Pusey, M.P. ;
Mr. Ilayter, M.P. ; Mr. Shelley, Colonel le Cou-
teur. Dr. Buckland, Mr. Benet, M.P. ; Mr. Cow-
per, M.P. ; Earl Fortescue, Earl of Scarborough, Earl
of Egmont, Lord Ashburton, Lord Portman, Colonel
Henderson (Mayor of Southampton) ; tlie Warden of
Winchester ; Viscount Torrington, Dr. Playfair, Mr.
Colman, Lord Harcourt, Mr. Compton, M.P. ; Earl of
Essex, Lord Camoys, Earl Delawarr, Baron Mallet,
Earl of Ilchester, Alscount Ingestre, Mr, Hope, M,P. ;
Mr, David Barclay, M,P. ; Mr. Hudson, Mr. T. King,
Mr, E. E. A. Sandford, Mr. W. Shaw, Col. T. Austen,
Mr. G. Kimberley, Mr. Miles, M.P. ; Mr. Stansfield,
M.P. ; Mr. Slanev, Mr. W. Fisher Hobbs, Mr. Blan-
chard, Mr. T. R. Barker, Sir Charles Lemon, INI.P. ;
]Mr. E. S. Chandos Pole, Sir Francis Law ley, Mr. Ell-
man, Mr. Kinder, Sir Robert Price, Mr. Stokes, Mr.
E. Antrobus, M.P. ; Mr. M. Phillips, M.P. ; Right
Hon. F. T. Baring, M.P., &c.

The following gentlemen acted as stewards : — The
Hon. R. H. Clive, M.P. ; David Barclay, Esq., M.P. ;
John Hudson, Esq. ; Samuel Jonas, Esq. ; Fielder
King, Esq. ; E. A. Sanford, Esq.; William Shaw, Esq. ;
R. A. Slaney, Esq. ; Henry Blanshard, Esq. ; Colonel
Challoner ; William Fisher Hobbs, Esq. ; Sir Charles
Lemon, Bart., M.P. ; E. S. Chandos Pole, Esq. ; Wil-
liam Goodenough Ilayter, Esq., M.P. ; George Kim-
berley, P]sq. ; J. Villiers Shelley, Esq. ; W. R. C.
Stansfield, Esq., M.P. ; Colonel Thomas Austen ; Sir
John y. B. Johnstone, Bart., M.P. ; William Miles,
Esq., M.P. ; Francis Pym, Esq.; Thomas Raymond
Barker, Esq. ; Samuel Bennett, Esq. ; WUliam Henry
Hyett, Esq. ; Sir Francis Lawley, Bart. ; John Ellman,
Esq. ; John Kinder, Esq. ; Sir Robert Price, Bart. ;
and Charles Stokes, Esq.

The cloth having been removed.
The Noble Chairman rose to give the first toast,
which was ' ' The health of Her Majesty the Queen. ' ' Sure
as he (the Chairman) was that nothing was required from
him in the shape of prefatory remarks, he should merely
call upon the company to gi\e the health of her most
Gi-acious Majesty with three times three, which he was
sure would be drunk most cordially.

The toast was drunk with the utmost enthusiasm ;
three times three being given with great ett'ect.

The President again rose and said — You all know
how much the country owes to her Majesty the Queen
Dowager (lond cheers) ever since she has resided in
this country. You are all aware of her extensive
charities and general kindness fapplause). As to his
Royal Highness Prince Albert (cheers), his conduct has
been such as to ensure him the highest degree of public

170

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

approbation ; and in liis domestic circle he has set an
example which all may follow advantageously floud
cheers). That Albert, Prince of Wales, may become a
worthy scion of such a parent, we must all earnestly
hope. There is, also, a member of the Royal Family
one amongst us, who has taken the warmest interest in
our proceedings, and who has come down from London
on purpose to visit our show : I allude to his Royal
Highness the Duke of Cambridge, who, I am enabled to
say, would have been present at our dinner to day, if
previous engagements had not prevented him. I am
sure you will drink, with great enthusiasm, "The health
of her Majesty, the Queen Dowager, his Royal High-
ness Prince Albert, his Royal Highness Albert, Prince
of Wales, and the rest of the Royal Family." (Great
cheering.)

This toast was given with three times three and great
applause.

The Earl of Carnarvon then rose and spoke as
follows :— I feel it a high honour to be entrusted to the
toast assigned to me. At the same time it would have
been almost painful, if I were not assured that a host of
voices would at once respond to the toast, and that the
heart of every man would beat but with one pulse, when
I propose " Success to the Royal Agricultural Society."
(Great cheering.) I thank you most cordially for
these cheers, for they give me spirit to proceed, and
shew me that your feelings and wishes are centred in the
advancement of agriculture. Such a body of my
countrymen as I see before me would move me deeply
in any town of the kingdom ; but I may be permitted
to say that, as a native of Hampshire, identified heart
and soul with her agriculture, the present is to me
a glorious and inspiring sight to behold the concentration
of the intelligence of the agriculture of this mighty king-
dom, collected as it has been for the last few days
within the precints of my native and cherished county.
I congratulate my fellow countrymen on such a gather-
ing of landlords and occupiers and yeomen, united by
so many kindly ties. The principle of travelling which
has been adopted by the framers of this Society is one
based on very wise grounds. The holding these meet-
ings in different districts of the country has proved a
great stimulus to agriculture, and has brought together
into one focus, not only those who may be inclined to
travel for some distance to behold such a glorious and
heart- stirring sight as this ; but, also, those who can
afford to travel a moderate distance from their homes
(hear, hear). It is a stimulus alike to landlords, to
tenants, and, by bringing home the wonders of agricul-
tural science to their very doors, it excited thought and
inquiry in the breast of the most humble tiller of the soil.
The exhibitions to which you have all been witness are
as magnificent a display of power and persever-
ance, combined with sagacious thought, as, perhaps, the
world ever saw ; indeed, I doubt much whether such an
exhibition, practically tested as it has been, has ever yet
been witnessed in the histoi-y of the world (great cheer-
ing) . You all know that the experience of any single
neighbourhood is extremely limited, and all parties have
imagined that their own local knowledge has been the
best. It has frequently happened that the man who
has returned to his home a disappointed competitor,
has, eventually, been improved by his defeat. He felt,
for the first time, that other means had been successfully
tried which he had not previously thought of resorting
to. He then looked more narrowly into the subject ;
and perhaps, in the hour of defeat, speculated on the
adoption of improved future plans. He thus gradually
rises in the acquirement of that knowledge which must
be calculated to improve his position, and place him in
that estimation which a British farmer is entitled to hold
nmongst his countrymen (cheers). The British agricuU

turists, as a body, only require a greater shape of tkat
diversified knowledge which this Society is pouring
down like a flood of light, and the interchange
of opinion between practical and scientific men,
as a tendency to the improvement of all. Every improve,
ment introduced in agriculture is diminishing the cost cf
cultivation to the farmer, and thus adds not only to ths
wealth of the agriculturist, but also to the resources cf
the state. Who is the labourers' best friend ? The
English farmer. He who knows that labour skilfully
directed, leads to the prosperity of both, for the prospe-
rity of the farmer must improve the condition of the la-
bourer, upon whose faithful services the agriculturists
and all other classes of society are dependant. All are
bound together by one magic charm (cheers). I have
sometimes heard that the employment of machinery is
injurious to the welfare of the labouring population. I
do not believe it. The farmer who uses machinery is
often enabled to employ a larger quantity of labour in
other occupations, and thus benefits himself, benefits the
labourer, and benefits the country generally, by increas-
ing the amount of human subsistence (applause) . I am
one of those who think that it is diflScult to calculate
upon the great development of the resources of the coun-
try which may be effected by the improvement of agri-
culture in a few years by the process of draining, by a
proper attention to the rotation of crops, by a due ad-
mixture of soils, and by a good system of manuring, as
well as a generally improved management. I believe
that the productions of this country, by such plans, may
he enormously increased (applause). By this incr rased
production, the agriculturists of this country may prac-
tically, as far as the subsistence of man and beast is con-
cerned, greatly extend the limits of their restricted ter-
ritory, and may, possibly, at no distant day, solve the
great question of this time, by producing grain enough
for the consumption of the iiihabitants of the United
Kingdom, though every twenty- four hours may add a
very large number to the population (loud cheers).
When I now look upon the effects of thorough-draining,
the value of studying the different soils, and by a good
adaptation of the peculiarities of each, I feel that I am
saying that which will be brought to bear. While dwell-
ing upon the agricultural wonders which have been
worked indifferent parts of England, with which, by the
way, I am not particularly acquainted — when to go no
further than the Hampshire hills, I perceive the produce
of wheat has been prodigiously increased by chalking —
when I see the efi'ects of draining in raising the value of
land, and when I take into consideration the gallant spirit
of enterprise which has ransacked the whole foreign
world for further aids to British agriculture — when that
enterprise has sent our vessels to the shores of Africa
and the islands of the Pacific for the hoarded manure of
ages, I feel that we possess the means of a greatly in-
creased production. There is, however, much to be done
in different parts of the country : there are even now
places where the practice of hoeing turnips has not yet
been followed. (Hear.) There is still a conflict going on
between the old modes of husbandry and better prin-
ciples ; but the Directors of this Society have adopted
the best method to dissipate the clouds which have so
long overhung national agriculture, by successfully
visiting every part of the country, and by attracting
within their influence the whole length and breadth of
the land. (Applause.) It is, however, essential to
the complete success of their scheme, that they should
put out the whole of their mental and physical energies
in the pursuit of agriculture, without which the agricul-
tural body will not be one to give birth to those great
results to which I have referred, and which I confidently
anticipate. I will only further add, that my hopes are
muoh strengthened, when I consider the high moral cha-

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171

racter of those in the country who have formed this in-
stitution— (cheers) — of those who are at its head, and
who are leading you on to conquest far more durable
and valuable than the conquests of war. I need not
name those gentlemen, many of whom are now around
me — I need not name the noble President and the noble
Duke in tlie vice chair, as instances of that high moral
character. (Great cheering.) Though this Society
may not be exempt from all the errors of human institu-
tions, I think there is less wrong in it than most other
societies. In this Institution we are unvexed by po-
litical or personal differences ; its energies are directed
solely, continuously, and peaceably to the one great ob-
ject— the improvement of the soil, and the consequently
ameliorated condition of man ; hence I sincerely trust and
believe, that every year which adds to the existence of
this Society will add to its strength, usefulness, and
popularity. In acknowledging the benefit which I think
it has already conferred upon us, and in anticipation of
those which I think it will confer, I call on you now to
drink with flowing bumpers and overflowing hearts
— " Success to the Royal Agricultural Society." — This
toast was received with great applause.

The noble Chairman then rose, and said, it was
intended by the Council that the next toast should have
been given by the Duke of Cleveland ; but who, I am
$orry to say, is absent. I regret that the duke is not
present, but I do not regret to give a toast which he
would have proposed, and which I am sure you will
receive with great pleasure. Should I have any vanity
about speaking, should I have thought that I could now
obtain fame as an orator, I should be sorry to have fol-
lowed so immediately the very eloquent speech of the
noble earl who has just sat down (hear, hear) ; but I
can only speak to you as a plain Englishman {loud
cheers,) ; and as such I v/ould say that the Royal Agricul-
tural Society must be of the greatest benefit to England ;
but we are not so selfish as to wish to confine its benefits
to our own country. We are always highly pleased at
the presence of distinguished foreigners ; it is a grati-
fication to find that they take so strong an interest in
English agriculture. We have, also, the satisfaction of
believing that our foreign visitors may learn 'Something
which may prove advantageous to their own nation. I
have, therefore, great pleasure in proposing the health
of the foreign ministers ; but I find that, on this occa-
sion, we are only honoured by the presence of one of
those distinguished individuals, the Chevalier Bunsen,
whose health, together with that of his colleagues, I
now beg leave to drink.

The Prussiax Minister, the Chevalier Bunsen,
rose to return thanks, and was received with great
cheering. He said, I feel indeed deeply touched by the
honour you have done me ; and, in my own mind, and
that of my colleagues, I thank you for the honour done
to the foreign ministers, for the kind invitations which
you have sent to attend your meetings, and for the op-
portunity of viewing the stupendous specimens of your
ingenuity and skill, which I have beheld on this and in
the preceding days (applause) . Having said thus much,
I ought, perhaps, to sit down (No, no) ,- but, with your
permission, I will add a few word^ (hear, hear, hear).
I have a most Uvely I'emembrance of the kind manner in
which you received me at Oxford, five years ago, when
I first came over to this country, and I was not a little
pleased, on my recall, to hear from my native land that,
on the threshold of my own house, I find myself
welcomed by invitation to be present at this meeting ;
and I assure you that the kindness with which you have
received me will never vanish from my heart as long as
I live. I am, indeed, thankful to receive such a wel-
come from the inhabitants of a country which, next my
own, is the nearest and dearest to my heart (loud cheers) .

Allow me to say that, during all the years I have resided
here, I have taken the deepest interest in the rising pro-
gress of this society (hear). It is needless, then, to
explain all the reasons why I have taken that deep in-
terest ; for it is evident that the prosperity of English
agriculture will stimulate the progress of that science in
my own and in other countries (hear, hear) . I will now
say a few words on the general interest which attaches to
the prosperity and operations of your society. There
are many things most striking to foreigners wlio for the
first time have visited this country, and who are en-
deavouring to investigate the history of the rise and
progress of the unparalleled power and greatness of Eng.
land ; but I know nothing more striking than that which
I now see around me. That country must be blessed
and happy for many years which has the good fortune to
possess nobles and statesmen who consider it their
greatest pride and their highest pleasure to occupy their
leisure for the improvement of agriculture and for the
happiness of the cultivators of the soil ('/oj«i cAeers J ;
not, as in some other lands, confining themselves to
gaudy palaces and the pursuits of dissipation, but mixing
— both publicly and privately — with the active business
of life. The manner in which the retired soldier in this
country turns his sword into a plough-share is an ex-
ample of the highest admiration ; and the honours which
he has won from the soil are not, in reality, less glorious
or less valuable to his country than those he has won in
the fields oi ysar (cheers) . It has often struck ms —
when I have read of the ceremony which the Emperor
of China performed as the first act of his reign— th it
of turning over the first sod with a golden plough-share,
that it is an act worthy of the monarch of one of the
largest emjjires of the world, and is beautifully sym-
bolical of the great truth that the promotion of agricul-
ture ought to be the first care and solicitude of every
good and wise government (loud applause.) Is it not an
encouraging spectacle to see a society like this setting
such an example for the rest of the world to follow ?—
an example which, in Prussia, we, of the good old
Saxon blood, are trying to follow (cheers. ) We delight,
in times of peace, in our homes and our domestic fire-
sides ; and we know no men whose energetic minds and
bodies are more calculated to maintain peace than the
agriculturists. Thirty years ago, the agriculturists of
Prussia and those of England sealed that peace of
which we are now reaping the fruits with their blood on
the plains of Waterloo (cheers.) No rational man will
attempt to disturb that peace ; but, should such a thing
ever be attempted, I am sure there are forty or fifty
millions on this and the other side of the water ready to
prevent it. 1 a^ree with the old fable respecting armed
men coming out of the agricultural world. In my own
country, we have a society like the present, whose
object is to increase the art of managing the soil. We
do not recommend any agricultural experiment that has
not had the test of a corresponding theory. It is held
as a law in agriculture as well as in politics, that no re-
form is good except it is based on experience {loud
cheers). My royal master, the King of Prussia (great
cheering) , who visited this country a few years ago to
attend the baptism of the infant Prince of Wales — who,
I trust, may be preserved many years to fulfil the
duties he will, under divine Providence, here*
after be called upon to undertake in the
Government of this country. At that period
bis majesty visited EtotT. and expressed his ad-
miration when looking- from one of the old
gothic windows of the college there, and ex-
claimed, " Blessed is the country where the old is
ever new, and Vihcrc the new is ever entwined with
the old." {Applause). 'I'he Government of Prussia is
taking great care to improve the condition of the

m^

THE FARMER'S

E.

farming population, and to bring to bear, for the bene-
fit of all, every known practical improvement in
agriculture. Some weeks ago, I was at Hamburg,
where I dined with a friend, and amongst the good
dishes on the table was an excellent leg of mutton — a
particularly good thing. I said, to i)ay a compliment
to my host, that the leg of mutton was as good a one
as ever I had tasted in England. " Why not ?" said
my entertainer, " for it came from England, and it is
cheaper and better than I could have purchased it at
Hamburgh." (Hear, hear). Therefoie, you will
perceive that English mutton is to be had at a less
price in Hamburgh than the native produce. I must
now conclude by wishing prosperity to this societj',
and to tlie agriculturists of England generally. (The
Chevalier sat down amidst loud and long-continued
cheering).

Lord Palmerston was the next speaker. In
proposing, said his lordship, the next toast,
I do so under great disadvantage ; for, in
following the interesting speech of the Chevalier
Bunsen, minister to the king of Prussia,
whose language is such that, unless we had been in-
formed that he is a foreigner, not one of us would have
beUeved that he was not only one of the ancient Saxons,
but also one of those Saxons who now inhabited the
island in which we are now living. I have long had the
honour of knowing him in pohtical and private hfe, and
I know that he possesses all the best qualities of an Eng-
lishman, and all the best qualities of those belonging to
his own nation. The toast which I wish to propose is —
" Prosperity to agriculture, manufactures, and com-
merce"— the three great supporters of the prosperity
and power of this mighty empire. These three branches
are inseparately dependent upon each other, and en-
twined together. In the infancy of the State, agricul-
ture was first established ; that gave employment to
commerce, and commerce to manufactures. Agriculture
has risen from its plain and primitive condition till it has
assumed the proud and pre-emment position it now oc-
cupies in this great country (cheers ). There is, indeed,
no country in the world, I might venture to affirm, in
which these three great sources of national prosperity
stand forward in such bold and pre-eminent relief. Our
commerce sends our merchant ships to the most distant
parts of the ocean ; our commerce is wafted on every
wave that washes the remotest shores of the habitable
globe ; our manufactures supply the wants and wishes
of the greater part of the limnan race ; and our com-
merce, with our manufactures, has accumulated the
wealtli which furnishes the means of development to our
agriculture, without which the resources of the soil
could not be fully developed, whilst it brings to the peo-
ple of this country the productions of the remotest cor-
ners of the world ; our manufactures keep daily bringing
increased numbers of people to consume the produce of
our agriculture, thereby increasing the value of the land,
and giving the crowning reward to the industry of the
tillers of the soil (cheers). Commerce, indeed, stands
distinguished both fro)n agriculture and manufactures,
because the functions of commerce are distributive, and
not creative ; agriculture and manufactures are both of
them creative pursuits — they difter more in name and de-
gree than in reality and principle. The manufacturer
and the agriculturist have both enlisted in their service
the laws and powers of nature, and both are dependent
for their exertions on the skill and ingenuity of the me-
chanic (cheers). And I might venture to say tliat if one
of those agriculturists who lived a century and a half ago
could rise to-day from his grave, and witness the mag-
nificent display of mechanical skill which is to be seen
in the show-yards of this town, it would be difficult
to persuade him that the great and expensive speci-

mens of the results of human industry there brought
together did not belong to the manufacturers of several
large towns, instead of being implements of agri-
culture (Iiear hear). Whenever it had been the
misfortune of this country to be compelled, either for the
defence of its interests, or in vindication of its honour,
to draw the sword and engage in the calamities of war,
the result has been to record in the pages of history
the triumphs and glories of British arms (cheers).
That result must ever be the consequence of the uncon-
querable energy and untiring perseverance of tiie inex-
haustible resources of the national character; but I
trust the day is far distant indeed when it may be our
unfortunate lot — for so I must consider it whatever the
result may be — I trust the day may be far distant
when it will be again our lot to be compelled, by the
aggression of any foreign state, to add another chapter
to the military and naval glories of Great Britain
(cheers). Meanwhile let us employ our national ener-
gies in attaining the distinction, which is far superior
in point of ad vantage, and by no means inferior in point of
honour, that we may rise to still greater pre-eminence in
the arts of peace; and among those arts of peace, what
is there more deserving to be cultivated by a great and
free people like our own, than an instructive and en-
lightened agriculture ? An instructive and enlightened
agriculture is the best foundation for a high, exalted,
Stirling, national character, and is the surest
basis for a permanent national prosperity. To promote
it has been the object for which this great national as-
sociation has I)een formed ; that is the object for the
attainment of which it has laboured with most exem-
plary perseverance and astonishing success ; and on
that account I may venture to say there never was an
association, found in a great empirewhich moredeserved
the good opinion and support of the rest of the country
than this, and the self-satisfied feeling which must he
shared by all wlio have tlie honour to belong to it. I
now propose " Agriculture, manufactures, and com-
merce." The toast was drunk with loud applause.

Lord PoRTM.vx said — If it was difficult for the
speaker who has preceded me in addressing this meet-
ing, how much more difficult must it be for me, un-
accustomed as I am to address such a large assembly !
I stand before you as a brother farmer, to tell you some
of the reasons why we should combine with our practice
science. That is our only chance (hear, hear). I am
not going to tell you of the excellence of geological
knowledge, or to speak about the minute details of hy-
draulics—which those connected with tile- draining might
like to hear — or to enlarge on more important topics ;
but I will remind you, that without experience no man
can expect to be a tip-top farmer. When you get a
knowledge of the princijiles of science, I advise you to
apply it patiently. It is a matter that requires not one
season or one crop, but man)'' years and many succes-
sive crops. The work of the agriculturists requires
many years of attention to minute details. If you were
to profit by the works of men of science, yoii must have
truthful and accurate reports (hear, hear). I have
tried experiments ; but it would be of no use if I told
you the i-esults of my experiments, unless I also told you
what my soil is, what manures are available, what the
supply and price of labour is, and so on (hear, hear).
You have now at the present time the advantage of a
long series of practical experiments, and you have, also,
the aid of excellent geologists, chemists, and machinists,
many of whom are present. Well, then, you must trj'
to improve your stock, you must try to improve
your tillage, and, if necessary, you must try to
improve your tenure (loud cheering), and, above
all, you must try to improve the condition of your
labourers (great cheering) , Yours is not a business of

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173

legerdeniaiu : it requires time. You cannot improve
your stock nor your land in a day, nor in less than years.
Beware, then , of those quacks who tell you that they
could improve the condition of the labouring classes in
a day, by some sudden remedy (hear, hear). It re-
quires a system of instruction, and a system of great and
gradual improvement in every respect (hear, hear) . I
congratulate you on your glorious meeting at Southamp-
ton. We evidently improve year by year ; and I will
now conclude by giving a toast, which is the motto of
our society — " Practice with Science."

Pi'ofessor Playfair, in rising to respond to the
toast, was received with considerable ajiplause. The
learned professor, however, was not very audible to the
company. He dwelt, at some length, upon the doubts
which existed some years since whether science would
be i-eally beneficial to practice. Proofs, however,
had been recently given that, when practice had
been united with science, it had proved most
successful. The use of guano, continued the
learned professor, had been a striking exemplification of
this ; for within the last five years there had been used
in England 37,000 tons of that valuable manure ; and
there was now a fleet of not less than CO, 000 tons on
the sea, bringing hither that valuable manure. The
speaker alluded, at some length, to the frauds practised
by some of the manure sellers, and assured the farmers
present that they did not get 10 tons of genuine
manure for the 100 tons they paid for. (No, no, and
cheers). He urged them to obtain at least suflicient
Bcieutific knowledge, in order that the farmers might be
able to test their manures, and expi'essed his satisfaction
to find the services of scientific men were so amply ap-
preciated by the practical men present, and he assured
them that it would be a powerful stimulus to the exer-
tions of himself and his professional brethren (cheers).

The Earl of Hardwicke next rose, and said : 1 am
delighted to find myself again in this county, in which 1
have passed some of the happiest years of my life. You
are all aware of the assistance we have received from the
governing authorities of this most ancient town — equally
celebrated for its loyalty and its regard for the rights of
the people. The present Mayor is a most distinguished
gentleman, eminent in one of the most scientific pro-
fessions of the day, and who has gained laurels as a
soldier which he is determined not to forfeit as a civilian.
(cheem). We have the pleasure of seeing around us
men of all shades of political opinion, who are here
united for one common object ; and 1 take this oppor-
■itunity of saying that, in my opinion, we are under the
deepest obligation to our noble President, Earl Spencei',
.for having come to the manly resolution of refusing to
yield to t!ie demands of those who could have but
little understood the nature and constitution of this
society, when they called upon him to resign his pre-
sent position because he difiered from them on a poli-
tical question. {Applause). O, what a state would
this country be reduced to, if there were no resting-
place from political party or strife, no neutral ground
where we could meet for the common good of our
country ! {Hear, hear). That neutral ground you
have now got in tliis society — a ground where no poli-
tical anomalies are allowed to intrude ; and we are
deeply obliged to Lord Spencer for having had the
MiauUncss to enforce, by his determination, the spirit of
the laws of the society ; thus setting the question at
rest for ever, and sealing the destination of the society
as alasting and enduring institution for the public good.
{Cheers). I have now to express a hope that the pro-
gress which has been made by the society from the liegin-

anrt Corporation of Southampton, the noble lord sat
down amidst loud cheering.

Colonel IIkxdeuson (the Mayor of Southampton),
briefly replied to the toast. lie said that, when it
was first announced to the corporaticm and the inha-
bitants of Southampton that the meeting- of the Royal
Agricultural Society was to be held in that place,
there was but one feeling — an unanimous desire to give
satisfaction to all who might come to the meeting.
The corporation having met, and placed power
and funds at his (Colonel Henderson's) dis-
posal, and the inhabitants having met in i)ublic for the
purpose of affording every facilitj^ in the endeavour
to receive and entertain the society in the best man-
ner, all he ("Col. Henderson) could say was, that if
anytliing had gowe wrong, the blame must be at-
tached to him alone. If, on the contrary, the society
were satisfied with the reception they had experienced,
the praise was due not to him, but to the corporation
and the inhabitants of the town. In their name and
in his own, he begged to return thanks for the honour
conferred; and, if the society were satisfied with their
visit, perhaps they would again try the town at some
future period, when every endeavour would be made
to give equal satisfaction. {Cheers).

]\Ir. PusEY, M.P., was the next speaker, and thus
addressed the meeting: — If I were allowed to enter
nto the private character of the noble lord whose
health I am about to propose, I should have a most
pleasing task. It is not upon his private character,
however, but as the pi'esident of this society I shall
dwell. The noble lord to whom I allude was the
founder and creator of this noble association ; and
upon those grounds I call upon you to drink his
health. (Cheers). While you regard the British
farmer six years ago, you look back upon him as
a prejudiced man, but now the farmer yields to no
one in the ardour with which he carries out improve-
ments ; while I am gratified to perceive this, I, at the
same time, would warn you not to adopt sugi^estions
too readily. What I would strongly recommend, is
the cultivation of a thorough understanding between
landlord and tenant, so that where improvements are
necessary in draining, building, and, even where the
breaking up of grass land is necessary, they may be
fully carried out. Whatever the society has done is
due to Lord Spencer, its parent and founder,
who had not been a mere idle patron, lending
his name, however high, but has been a work-
ing and an active member of the society. His
lordship has held the highest situation in the House
of Commons, from which he withdrew voluntarily,
but has since shown no indolence or lassitude in the
service of the British farmer. I saw his lordship early
in our show-yard, placing our bulls, sheep, and pigs
{laughter and cheers) ; and no individual belonging to
the society exerted himself more to carry out the great
object of the improvement of agriculture, than his
lordship has done. I am sure you will all join with
me in drinking the " Health of Lord Spencer," who,
for the second time, is taking leave of you as your
Chairman. Let us all, therefore, wish him every pros-
perity, and a long life. {Great applause.)

Earl Spencer, who on rising was received with
unbounded applause, said — In returning thanks for
the honour you have done me, I am unable to say
what I feel I ought. Mr. Pusey has, I think, said
too much in saying that I am the founder of this So-
ciety. I was not the only founder, although I un-
doubtedly was the first who in public made the pro-

iiing may receive no interruption from causes foreign to 'position to establish it; but the Duke ot Richmond

the principles which prevailed in the establishment of t and myself (cheers) both agreeing that such a society

jlhis institution. After proposing as a toast the Mayor ! would be of the greatest possible advantage to the

IW

THE FARMEB'S MAGAZINE.

country, we came to the determination of proposing
the subject at the Smithfield Club. I did so, and it
was received as it ought to have been by the Englisli
farmers wlio were present on that occasion. Mr
Handley then published a pamphlet, recommending
the owners and occupiers of land to support the so-
ciety. Therefore, were I to say that I was the first
who founded it, and if I were to say that the Duke of
Richmond and myself were the first founders, I should
do wrong, I must include with the founders of the
society the name of Mr. Handley. (Cheers.)
" Founders," I think, is a wrong term— I would ra-
ther say " suggesters of the plan ;" for it was sug-
gested by us, and taken up by the people at large.
From the very commencement of the society we have
had a large accession of members up to the present
day : we have united the whole of England and
Wales, and have had a great accession from the other parts
of the kingdom. I do not claim any merit for having
exerted myself since the Society has been established in
promoting its objects. There is nothing I look for —
nothing I wish — more than the success of the Society.
I do not put in a claim as its founder, but I admit I feel
a parental fondness for it ; and any exertion I could
make, or anything I could do to promote its success, you
may depend upon it I would do it. I want no thanks
for all this, for it is my own pleasure I promote in
exerting myself for your success. I do not want your
thanks, then, although I am much obliged to you for
them : but I am ready to exert myself for your success,
whether I receive your thanks or not. I beUeve the suc-
cess of the Society will be of great benefit to my fellow-
countrymen at large, and that it will improve agriculture
to the greatest possible extent. Our motto is " Science
with Practice ;" but I should be glad to have half of it —
viz., good practice, throughout the counti-y ; because,
though I am aware that the practice in many parts has
been improved by science, there are other parts where
the practice has not been improved at all. (Hear, hear.)
Our first object is to have good practical farming
throughout the country. In many districts, the farming
is veiy good ; but in many others, I am soriy to say, it
is very bad. Wherever we have been hitherto, we have
seen many things that may be improved ; but I hope
that the meeting together of so many intelligent farmers
has diff'used some knowledge in the districts they have
visited. I hope those I am addressing are all good in prac-
tice. If that is the case, I hope they will take every ad-
vantage of the scientific improvements that may have been
suggested to them. I advise you all to try with caution
those things which are likely to succeed, and not expend
large sums of money in things which you do not know
whether they will succeed or not. (Hear.) If you
find your experiments succeed, then you should go into
the matter gallantly and well. I must now conclude by
saying that, in whatever situation I may be placed, you
will always have my best endeavours for the good of the
Society, and the improvement of the agriculture of the
country. (Loud cheers).

Mr. J. V. Shelley was the next speaker. He rose,
he said, to propose "The Ladies." It is, said Mr.
Shelley, a toast which, I am sure, will be well received,
wherever it is proposed, but more especially in a com-
pany of British farmers. (Cheers.) Perhaps some of
you have never before until now had an opportunity of
seeing the beauties of Southampton and its neighbour-
hood. Should such be the case, I beg to direct your
attention to the gallery. (Loud cheers) These cheers
prove that you will not leave the pavilion without having
a deep impression made upon you by the beauties of this
neighbourhood. I will not detain you longer, because
I know that you are one and all anxious to prove to the
ladies thatyou properly appreciate the worth, the purity,

and the domestic virtues of the women of England.
(Great cheering.) Drank with nine-times-nine.

The Earl of Chichester was the next speaker, and
was received with great applause. The noble lord thus
spoke : — A duty, a most pleasing one, has been im-
posed upon me, that of proposing " The agricultural
labourei's." (Great cheering.) I am confident, how-
ever, that the toast will be received by you with the
greatest satisfaction. The object of the Council, m pro-
posing this toast, is to declare to the world that, al-
though the affairs of this society are only in an indirect
way conducive to the comfort and happiness of the
labourers, they yet feel deeply impressed with the im-
portance of their comfort and happiness, and I confi-
dently rely upon your sympathy with the toast which I
have now to submit to you. (Applause.) I know that
those who have taken the most active part in the
management of this society are those whose personal
exertions have proved that they have had the interests
of the labourers at heart. Even my noble friend near
me (Lord Portman) could not, in the fulness of his
heart, help trespassing on ground which had been as-
signed to his successors ; and when my noble friend
alluded to the great importance of ameliorating the con-
dition of the labourers, the cheers of the audience showed
that liis recommendation was not addressed to inatten-
tive ears. (Hear, hear, hear.) Doubtless, much has
yet to be done in improving the condition of the la-
bourers ; and I tnist that, in carrying out this great ob-
ject, you wiU not fail to avail yourselves of past expe-
perience, or what I may call the common sense of man-
kind. Foi'tunately, the principles before you to guide
you in your object, are a sure test of the philosophy
which ought to govern human conduct. (Cheers.) I
have now to urge upon you the importance of securing
in your neighbourhood an honest and industrious popu-
lation, and I call upon you all to put your shoulders to
the wheel, to use your individual efforts within your
own localities, to improve the condition and contribute
to the happiness of the most valuable portion of the
agricultural community.

The Noble Earl sat down amidst very general ap-
plause, and the toast was drunk with the greatest
enthusiasm.

The Noble Ciiaibmax then said — Notwithstanding
our present flourishing condition as a Society, we have
not the honour of being first in the field. That honour
is due to the Royal Highland Society of Scotland.
{Hear, hear.) I trust, however, that you have proved
yourselves duly emulous of the fame acquired by that
Society. We have been followed by a similar Institu-
tion in Ireland — the Irish Agricultural Improvement
Society. In the success of those two Societies we must
all necessarily feel the deepest interest, and I therefore
propose to you with confidence the toast of " Pros-
perity to those two Societies." {Great cheering.)

The Duke of Leinster: As the President of the
Royal Agricultural Improvement Society of Ireland, I
beg to return you my most sincere thanks. I consider
myself most fortunate in being in this country at the
present moment, and in being enabled to attend this
Meeting. I can assure you that il has been a most
gratifying sight to me; the more especially as, on the
14th of next month, it will be my duty to preside at
the Meeting of the Irish Society in Dublin. The Irish
Society is most anxious to follow your good example.
In Ireland these good steps will, no doubt, be followed ;
and I hope that, by the published reports, Ireland will
not be disgraced by so doing. {Cheers.) Moreover, I
assure you that, if any of you will honour us by attend-
ing there, you will see a fine country, a fine people,
and you will have a hearty welcome. {Loud ap'
plame.)

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

IIS

Barl Spencer again rose and said — It has not
been the habit of the Society to drink success
to any particular district in which our Meetings
have as yet been held ; but I think that, upon tlie
present occasion, we are placed under peculiar cir-
cumstances, which appears to me to justify this
deviation from our usual practice. The agriculturists
of England have been visited by those residing in the
Channel Islands. The former have to-day seen some
of the specimens of the stock produced by the latter,
who have not the advantage of climate, or the
fecility of ordinary farming. The cows of those
islands produce the richest rnilk. I myself have
attended to the production of their stock, and while I
do not pretend to say that you ought to adopt the Chan-
nel Islands cattle as your example, I yet believe that a
dairy farm would be improved by a few of the breed.
The Alderney stock is not calculated to make a good
figure before a butcher, yet the butcher has generally
found that this stock has improved faster than any
other. I shall now conclude, by proposing " Colonel
Le Couteur, and success to the agriculturists of the
Channel Islands." (Loud cheers).

Colonel Le Couteur rose to reply. He said:
Connected as the Channel Islands are with this coun-
try, the inhabitants of those islands, when they heard
of the prosperity of any part of the country, but more
particularly of that of Southampton, have always
been glad. The example which has now been set
will, I have every reason to believe, be foll®wed by
the inhabitants of the Channel Islands, vifter thank-
ing the company for the honour conferred. Colonel Le
Couteur resumed his seat amidst loud applause.

The noble Chairman now rose to give the " Health
of the Duke of Richmond." (Great cheering). 1
will not, said the noble earl, attempt at this late hour
to make a speech, but there are toasts to propose
which I am sure will meet with the approbation of the
company. (Cheers). In proposing the health of my
noble friend the Duke of Richmond — (loud and long-
continued applause) — your president for the next year,
I am sure you will drink it with the highest degree of
cordiality. I have before told you that the noble Duke
has taken a most active part in the formation of this
Society ; but I need not tell you besides that his cha-
racter and conduct has been such, during the whole
course of his life, as to obtain the respect of his fellow
couutiymen (Loud cheers). When the Council of the
Society elected the Duke of Richmond as the President
for the next year, they elected a man of whom it was
impossible that any person could disapprove. I there-
fore give you the " Health of the Duke of Richmond,
your President elect."

A most tremendous outburst of applause followed
this toast, and which continued for nearly ten minutes.
The cheering having subsided,

The Duke of Richmond — whose rising was the signal
for another enthusiastic demonstration of applause — thus
addressed the meetuig : — I feel much obliged to you for
the enthusiastic manner in which you have been pleased
to receive me on the present occasion. It is an honour
and a reward far exceeding any merit T can presume to
lay claim to (Loud cries of No, no). I can but feebly,
indeed, express the sentiments which animate me on the
present occasion, on finding myself so warmly greeted,
and so favourably received by the members of this So-
ciety, with whom it has been my greatest pride and
satisfaction to act in furtherance of the great and most
important national object which we have all in view —
the improvement of the agriculture of our native land
(applause) — of that agriculture on which, permit me to
say, depends the prosperity of the empire and the wel-
fare of all claeses of our fellow subjects (Cheers).

You well know in this great meeting, which I have now
the honour to address, that my early days were not
passed in agriculture, but in the service of my country.
I then learnt — and I hope I have acted upon it ever since
— the great advantage of the middle and labouring classes
of the empire (Cheers). The happiness of those classes
ever has been, and ever will continue to be, an object of
the most anxious solicitude, and the deepest interest
to us all. I rise as your Vice-President, and it would
not be proper for me to detain you now, though I hope
you are all enabled to hear me, and I am quite satisfied
there are few here who do not (loud cheers). May I,
however, claim the privilege of one, who feels that the
agriculture of this country is of the greatest importance,
to say a few words on what has passed here to-night.
I quite agree with the representative of the King of
Prussia in all he has stated as to its value to a country,
and, as an old soldier, I perhaps might, also, have felt
that there was a time during the battle of Waterloo
when I looked upon the Prussians as most welcome allies
Clo2id cheers). I have, however, always felt the advan-
tages which we must derive from peace, and I think that
in peace alone agriculture can flourish (hear). But it
might not be amiss for foreign nations to remember
that the advantages of agricultural pursuits are not con-
fined to peace, for it was agriculture which furnished the
brave troops who gathei ed victory under the Duke of Wel-
lington (great applause) ; and should, unfortunately, the
country ever again require my services, I should wish
for no better command than that of the agriculturists of
this country (cheers). Something has fallen to-day from
noblemen and gentlemen at the high table, as to the tenure
between landlord and tenant (hear hear). I will not
say what my opinion is, but I will tell you to ask my
tenantry who reside not far from here. This, however,
I will say, let us pass no legislative enactments, but
let us always consider that the interests of the landlord
and of the tenant are one and the same (great cheer,
ing). I will not appeal to the tenantry, but I will ap-
peal to the landowners now present, whether it
is not better that this subject should not be
discussed at great public meetings, but that we should,
in all our transactions, remember the great principle
which we are enjoined to obey, whether we are tenants
or landowners, or labourers, that of doing unto others
as we wish others should do unto us (applause). These
are the principles which I advocate, and I appeal to
my own neighbourhood— and I am proud of stating it
here — when I do appear in the neighbourhood of rny
native county, I challenge inquiry whether I do
not practice what I preach (cheers). Put your confi-
dence fearlessly in those whose interests are the same
as your own, and whose prosperity and comfort are
essential to the well-being of society at large. As a
landlord, I declare upon my conscience that I require
nothing fi'om a tenant which I should not be happy
to give under the same circumstances. In conclusion,
I beg to express to you my most heartfelt
gratitude for the compliment which the farmers of
England have paid me whenever it has been my good
fortune to meet them ; and, allow me to say, it is doubly
gratifying to my feelings as emanating from a body of
men with whom I take every opportunity of mixing,
and for whom I entertam the most sincere feelings of
regard and respect. Take, then, gentlemen, my best
wishes for your happiness, and that of yours. That you
may receive the reward for the capital you have ex-
pended (hear, hear), for the skill, the labour, the per-
severance which you have exhibited, and for the anxieties
which I know well you have had to encounter, is the fer-
vent prayer of the individual who now addresses you ;
to thank you again and again for the generous confidence
you have reposed in him— confidence, believe me, which

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

he hopes, trusts, and firmly believes, no conduct of his
vrill ever give you cause for a moment's regret. { Cheers.)
I thank you — I accept of the office of your President
with pride and satisfaction. I owe a deep debt of grati-
tude to the farmers of the country, and you have a right
to any humble services of mine. I )iride )n\sclf in
rendering them ; and, in sitting down now, and again
thanking you for the honour conferred upon me, and
which no language of mine can sufficiently express, I
hope that I shall never be at a meetmg where any con-
duct of mine shall induce you to give me a less favoura-
ble reception. The noble" Duke sat down amidst very
great applause.

The whole of the toasts having been given, the Chair-
man rose, and the company separated.

FOURTH DAY.— FRIDAY.
The principal feature at Southampton to-day was the
holding of

THE GENERAL MEETING.
At 12 o'clock the general meeting of the Agricultural
Society took place at the Victoria Aichery-rooms. Tlie
attendance was not very numerous, but there v.ere
many distinguished persons present ; among them were,
besides Earl Spencer, his Grace the Duke of Richmoud,
the Marquis of Downshire, Mr. Handley, M.P., ]\Ir. P.
Pusev, M.P., INIr. G. Kimberley, Mr. J. Kinder,
Colonel Challoner, Mr. H. Gibbs, Mr. J. Delgairns, the
Hon. Mr. "Wilson, SirR. Price, M.P., :Mr. M. Munday,
Mr. C. Brown, jMr. \V. Brown, Colonel Le Couteur,
Professor Sewell, and Mr. Holbeacli.

Earl Spexckr took the chair at 12 o'clock and pro-
ceeded to open the business of the meeting. He said,
that according to the charter of the society, two meet-
ings were to be held every year m London, and one in
the country. This, as they were aware, was the
general meeting for the country, and he would be happy
to hear any suggestions from the gentlemen present as to
the proceedings of the day.

The Duke of Richmond rose to propose that the
thanks of the society should be given to the Mayor and
Corporation in Southampton, for the readiness which
they had shown to meet the wishes of the society, and to
do all in their power to further its objects.

Mr. Shelley seconded the resolution, which was
carried unanimously.

Mr. Shelley then proposed the next resolution,
which was one of thanks to Mr. Gater, upon whose
land the light implements had been tried, for the exertion
he had bestowed on the preparation of the light land.
To all suggestions that had been made to Mr. Gator he
had paid the greatest and readiest attention, and the conse-
quence of his exertions and his attention had been the
excellent trial which took place. A similar vote of
thanks was proposed to ^Ir. Spooner, of Ealing Farm,
owner of the land on which the hea^'J' implements were
tried.
The resolutions were seconded and carried unanimously.
The Marquis of Dov\'xshire then rose to propose
that the thanks of the society be given to Earl Spencer
for the ability with which he had presided over the meetings
of the society during the whole of his presidency. He I
had no doubt that the great prosperity which the society [
had attained was to be attributed mainly to the great j
interest evinced in its proceedmgs by the noble Earl, j
the zeal he had exhibited in carrying out its objects, and j
the great personal trouble and inconvenience to which he
had put himself, in order to give effect to its proceedings
(cheers). The noble Marquis concluded by proposing !
a vote of thanks.

Sir R. Price seconded the motion, and begged to
express his cordial concurrence in all that had fallen
from the noble marquis.

The motion was carried by acclamation.

Earl Spe.vcer begged to return the meeting his best
thanks for the vote to which they had come. It had
most undoubtedly been his earnest wish to promote to
the utmost of his power the interests of the society.
He had attended as far as he possibly could all the
meetings of the society ; but, leading as he did the life
of a country gentleman, and consequently living in the
country, he could not attend all the meetings. He be-
lieved, however, that he had attended all that were of
importance, and generally all the meetings of the Coim-
cil (cheers). He could assure them that in retiring
from the presidency of the society, it was not liis inten-
tion to relax any efforts he had hitherto been able to
make on behalf of the society. He should still continue
to give them any benefit that could be derived from his
best exertions (cheers). They must allow hhn to add
the expression of liis gratification that the society iu
general, and this annual meeting in particular, had been
so successful (cheers).

Colonel Challoner said, that although the Comicil
did not recognize local committees, it would be highly
indecorous wei-e they to pass over the exertions of tliose
gentlemen coiuiected with the town and county of South-
anijiton, who had so generously lent them their assistance
on the present occasion. An especial tribute was due
from them to Mr. ^layes, the late Mayor of the borough,
who during his mayoralty liad attended the meeting of
the society at Derby, with a view to acquire information,
and to make every necessary arrangement for the meet-
ing of the society this year. To that gentleman and to
the other residents of Southampton, who had done so
much to render the present meeting agreeable and suc-
cessful, he had gi-eat pleasure in proposing to the com-
mittee that they should return their most grateful ac-
knowledgments (cheers) .

The Marquis of Downshire seconded the motion,
which was carried amid acclamation.

]Mr. Mauleverer then suggested to the society the
desirability of making some alteration in the character
of the prizes to be awarded at the next meeting. Ou
the suggestion of the noble chairman, however, he did
not insist upon going into the subject, but intimated
that he would lay his suggestions before the Council,
with a view to their giving them attentive consideration.

The Duke of Richmond then moved the thanks of
the society to the chairman and board of directors of
the South Western Railway for the assistance they had
given in bringing the cattle to the show, and for the
liberality tliey had evinced in reducing then' charges to
meet the occasion.

Mr. Shelley having seconded the motion, it was
also unanimously cai'ried ; and the meeting broke up.

THE SALE OF STOCK.

The sale commenced in the show-yard at ten o'clock,
under the auspices of Mr. A. Fletcher, of Millbrook.

A great number of persons were present at the sale,
not less, indeed, than 2,000. Several of the lots fetched
high prices, and excited keen comjietition, but many
others were bought in.

Mr. John Cooper's short horned bull fetched 100/.,
three years old and upwards.

Mr. John Herbert's short homed buU, four years and
three months old — 60/.

Mr. H. L. Maw's short horned bull, two years and
eight months old — 63/.

Mr. C. H. Sidebotham's pure short horned bull, two
years and eight months old — 145/.

Some other bulls of the same breed fetched prices
varying from 50/. to 100/.

The short horned cow of the Rev. T. Cator brought
thirty-five guineas ; and another cow belonging to the
same geixtleman 36/.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

177

A short horned heifer, of the Duke of Devonshu-c's,
two years and six months old — 62 guineas.

Sir C. Morgan's fine short-horned yearling heifer —
501.

Amongst the Ilerefords, a bull of W. F. Hobbs sold
for 50 guineas.

A Channel Islands bull, belonging to Mr. W. G.
Phillips, Eling Vicarage, two years and four months
old, realized 291. 8s.

A pure Jersey milch cow belonging to Mr. M. Fowler,
of Stanmore— 30/.

One of the same breed, bred by Colonel le Couteur
—26/.

Mr. Robins's cow of the same breed realized 29/.,
and others were sold at about the same rates.

A thorough-bred stallion of the Duke of Richmond's
fetched only 37^, but was evidently of much higher
value. It was probably bought in.

The south-down rams sold generally for good prices
varying from 36/. to 10/.

Mr. J. M. Goodlake's ram was the one that obtained
the highest price. Very few sold for less than 20/.

Amongst the long -wools, a Cotswold ram, belonging
to Mr. E. Handy, brought 21/.

A pen of five shearling Lincoln and Leicester ewes,
sixteen months old, bred by Mr. James Linton, realized
the sum of 50/.

Thus has ended one of the most interesting meet-
ings ever held.

FARMERS' CLUB-HOUSE.

The Monthly Meeting of the Committee was held
on Monday, July 1, at 3 o'clock. Present : — W. Shaw,
in the Chair ; G. Emery, W. R. Browne, J. Beadel,
E. Lewis, J. Hudson, R. Baker, T. Knight, Jas.
Smith, W. Hutley, R. B. Smith, W. Purser, and H.
Price.

The following gentlemen were elected members :—
Rev. J. B. Warren, Colchester
Saml. M. Smith, Norwood
J. W. Williams, Caernarvon
H. J. Smith, Gloucester
Wm. ArkcoU, Westham
J. Bass Oliver, Raymond Buildings.

This being the day appointed for the Anniver-
■ary Dinner, the members of the Club with their friends
I to the number of about 70 dined at the Crown and
Sceptre, Greenwich, at which House it was fixed
to take place as belonging to the same proprietor
as the Club-House, and aff"ording the opportunity
of all dining together in the same room. Mr. Shaw
acted as Chaii'man, and Mr. Knight, of Edmonton,
as Vice- Chairman. Amongst the members present
were Messrs. J. Hudson, Castleacre ; R. Baker,
Writtle; W.Anderson, Oakley; J. Beadel, Witham ;
W. R. Browne, R. Dixon, East Peckham ; G.
Emery, the Grange, Banwell ; W. Hutley, Witham;
C. Lattimore, Binley Hall; JE. Lewis, Huntmgford,
Bury; J.Oakley, Frindsbury; J. Osborne, Leighton
Buzzard ; H. Price, Hartlop ; W. Purser, Couple ;
E. Purser, Bridge-street ; W. Smeddle, Ordnance
Office; J. Tilden, Ifield Court; J. Tyler, Layton ;
Jonas Webb, Babraham ; W. Bell, Bucklersbury ;
J. Carter, South Molton-street ; J. Smith, Deanston ;
J. B. Oliver, Gray's Inn; W. Campbell, Great
Portland-street, &c., &c.

The announcement by the Chairman, that the num-
ber of members had reached nearly 400, at this the
end of the first twelve months from the establishment
of the Club House, was received with much applause,

as was also the declaration of the Committee to
make the necessary arrangements for having monthly
discussions upon agricultural subjects. The evening
was spent ui the greatest harmony. The Chairman
suggested that every member of the Club, whether
present or absent, should exert himself to add one to
the number before the next anniversary, in which case
the Club-House would be so firmly based as to secure
the carrying out all the objects contemplated ; and if wc
may judge from the manner in which the suggestion
was received, we have little doubt that it will be carried
out.

AGRICULTURAL SUGGESTIONS.

We have now passed the middle of July, and
in this third week may fairly make some observa-
tions on the weather of tlie month, which is con-
sidered, and justly so, the rainy season of our
British cUmate; the only one indeed that can be
in any degree rehed on. So far as JiUy has pro-
ceeded, there are, perhaps, few of our experienced
readers who will dissent from the opinion, that it
has been one of the finest and most benign.

But what are its effects upon the crops ? This
is the inquiry which has led to the few observa-
tions which are now presented to the consideration
of our agricultural friends.

The weather of March was exceedingly different
in different localities. In Berkshire, 28 miles west
of the metropolis, rains fell copiously and with
short intermissions till Lady-day (the 25th),
Then the weather became fine, and so it continued
till July 1, there not being, through that long
period, twelve liours of effectual rain. In North-
amptonshire, the dry weather set in three weeks
earlier, and became so distressing, that a corres-
pondent assured me, the graziers had been reduced
to the necessity of feeding their suffering cattle
upon such green boughs as they could procure.
The period of the equinox — March 20, had given
promise of a fine summer; the wind veered to
nortli by the west about noon, at the time when
the sun entered Aries, and it became north-easterly
before 6 p.m. A struggle, with some alternations,
continued during three or four successive days,
wliich terminated in the final establishment of
that very singular drought which most persons have
^dewed as unprecedented.

Now it so happened that numbers of farmers
were prevented, by the wet and heavy state of the
ground, from sowing large breadths of barley.
Some of my neighbours were in this predicament ;
they delayed the final ploughing till April, and
then the land became hard bound in a few days.
The plough tore up actual clods, hard as brick earth,
and these, by reiterated harromngs, were reduced
in some degree. Tlie earlier sown seeds vegetated
nicely, and the plants are now turning off evenly,
with every prospect of a good yield. Of the late
so\vings, a jjortion of the seeds had been properly
steeped in a solution of Mr. Campbell's sahne pre-
paration for barley, and so^^'n on chstinct lifts or
stiches. Two thirds of the seeds, medicated or
unsteeped, failed to vegetate ; the plants that did
rise struggled on, and were poor stunted things
when they came into ear, and remained such on

N

IfS

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the Ist of July. The first copious rain softened,
the ground ; the showers which followed rendered
the surface moist, and at length a new race of
plants made its appearance.

I regret exceedingly that the experiments with
Campbell's steep should have met with a check at
a period when it became interesting to estabhsh
or impugn the vahdity of that zealous agriculturist's
statements. However, so far as circumstances
have permitted me to arrive at any conclusion,
I think the medicated seeds that first sprouted sent
up plants which are of a rather richer tint, and appear
to tiller more abundantly than those that were not
steeped. In the course of another month, a more
correct estimate may be foi-med; as the newly
developed plants will then be in rapid progi-ess.

From what has been stated, and in consequence
of the great loss of time sustained, it must be evi-
dent that early so\Adng, so far as practicable, is of
very great consequence.

Early Spring Sowing should be im-
pressed as the RULE to which, indeed, ex-
ceptions may be claimed; but still, the farmer
shoixld be alive to his own interests; and
these, he must be aware, have been compromised
during the present year. I blame not where na-
ture has constrained a departure from the rule ;
but I am perfectly assured that too many are, and
have generally been, supine ; neglecting their op-
portunities, and finding themselves losers in the
results, as an inevitable consequence. What has
been said of barley, applies equally to the late
sown spring wheat ; it has suffered much from the
aridity of April and May; and so also have many
of the garden vegetables.

A question was pvit some days since by a gentle-
man not now practical, but long acquainted wth
agiiculture,!" whether turnips could be transplanted
with any good results r" We frequently observe
in a field almost entirely devastated by the fly
(beetle), close patches of young plants, evidently the
products of seed spilt on the ground : these remain
safe, having passed into the rough leaf.

Swedei;, I know by experience, will transplant,
and produce capital bulbs ; by analogj'-, it may be
inferred that the white turnips would succeed. But
showers, moist groimd, and well timed planting
would be required ; and it now remains a question,
to be solved only by experience, whether it would
be worth while to try transi)lantation, circumstances
being favourable, against the risk of second or
even third sowings; both of which would be
equally exposed to the rapacity of the insects.

I leave the inquiry, as it was made, hoping that
these remarks ■will so far attract attention as to
lead to a few careful experiments.

J. Towers, M. R. A. Soc. of England, &c
July 19.

HOP DUTY CALCULATIONS.

At this period of the Hop Season, when betting may
be considered to have fairly commenced, the following
tables will be found interesting :—

Table, showing very nearly the average consumption
of Hops per annum for the last 30 years, in old duty : —

Average growth

Old Duty.

per year.

Years.

Acres.

£ s.

A.

cwt.

qrs. lbs.

1813 ..

39,521

131,482 9

3

. 6

3 154

1814 ..

40,575

110,292 6

2

. 7

0 17f

1815 ..

42,150

123,878 16

3

. 6

0 9i

1816 ..

44,219

46,302 15

9^

2

0 19i

1817 ..

46,293

66,522 2

6

.'. 2

3 25^

1818 ..

48,593

199,465 13

6

. 8

1 27J

1819 ..

51,014

242,076 2

2i

. 9

3 8i

1820 ..

50,048

.. 138,330 9

6i

. 5

2 25

1821 ..

45,662

154,609 10

8

.. 7

0 u

1822 ..

43,766

203,724 4

n

.. 9

2 15i

1823 ..

41,458

26,058 11

H

.. 1

1 5|

1824 ..

43,419

.. 148,832 0

Oi

.. 7

0 11

1825 ..

46,718

24,317 0

m

.. 1

0 8f

1826 ..

50,471

.. 269,331 0

n

.. 11

0 bh

1827 ..

49,485

140,848 4

2i-

.. 5

3 14f

1828 ..

48,365

172,027 10

m

.. 7

1 12

1829 ..

46,135

38,398 10

H

.. 1

2 25

1830 ..

46,726

88,027 8

n

.. 3

3 17i

1831 ..

47,129

.. 174,864 10

If

.. 7

2 20i

1832 ..

47,101

139,018 4

H

.. 6

0 12f

1833 ..

49,187

.. 156,905 7

0

.. 6

2 11

1834 ..

51,273

189,713 14

2i

.. 7

2 m

1835 ..

53,816

.. 235,207 2

llf

.. 9

0 5

1836 ..

55,422

200,332 12 llf

.. 7

1 26

1837 ..

56,323

.. 178,578 3

m

.. 6

2 6|

1838 .

55,045

.. 171,556 8

10

.. 6

1 22

1839 .

52,305

205,556 13

7

.. 8

0 151

1840 ..

44,085

34,091 16

n

.. 1

2 8

1841 ..

45,769

146,159 1

6

.. 6

2 11

1842 .

43,720
)ld Duty

.. 169,776 6

0

.. 8
of 30 3

0 4

Total (

.. ^4,356,284 19

~7i

rears.

Divided

bv 30

is

equal

to . . . .

.. igl45,209 9

6f

av. per

aunnm.

Average number of acres for 30 years, 47,493.
Average growth per acre for 30 years, 6 cwts. 1 qr.
91bs. per acre.

Table showing what may be considei'ed very nearly the
average consumption of hops per annum for the last
10 years, in old duty ;—

I'ears.

Acres.

Old Dutv.

£ s. d.

1833 .

. 49,187 ..

156,903 7 0

1834 .

. 51,273 ..

189,713 14 2i

1835 .

. 53,816 .

235,207 2 llf

1836 .

. 55,422 . .

200,332 12 llf

1837 .

. 56,323 .

178,578 3 lOi

1838 .

. 55,045 .

171,556 8 10

1839 .

. 52,305 .

205,556 13 7

1840 .

. 44,085 .

, 34,091 16 If

1841 .

. 45,769 .

146,159 1 6

1842 .

. 43,720 .

169,776 6 0

Total old duty of last 10 years.i"l, 687,877 7 1

Divided by 10 is equal to. . 1 r.,r^a tq? i -i qi
Av.perann.forlastlOyears.J *^"*''"*' ^* ^^

Average number of acres for the last 10 years . 50,694
Number of acres in 1842, from the Parlia-1 <o -.nn.

mentary Returns dated March 24, 1843
Shows a reduction of

6,974

Average growth per acre last ten years, 6 cwts. 3 qra«
151bs.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

i?e

OLD HOP DUTY FOR 1843.

£, s. d. Of a fartliini;

Rochester 50,452 15 5^ 1 6-20ths.

CanterbuiT 32,916 8 3^ 16.20ths.

Sussex 44,601 6 11} 4.20ths.

Worcester 7,827 15 5^ 4-20ths.

Farnham 4,708 15 0} 12-20ths.

Kingdom 2,924 10 9| 8.20ths.

jei33,431 11 Of

Sam. Plimi'ton, juu.

AGRICULTURAL QUERIES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — I shall feel particularly obliged to your "West
Norfolk" correspondent, or any other experienced culti-
vator of lucerne, to inform me, through the medium of
your valuable paper, as follows : What is the best mode
of cultivating the plant ? When is the best time to sow ?
By broad-cast or drill ? Where is the best seed to be
procured ? Wliat kind of soil and manure is best
adapted ? What is the appearance of the crop when
ready to cut for green fodder, and likewise for hay ?
As I keep a number of horses, and find it difficult to
procure green crops for the summer months in my own
locality, and having but a small farm, it is a matter of
importance to me to get three or four crops annually,

A CoPvX Miller.

" W. T." would feel obliged if Mr. Palfrey would in-
form him if a long roof in an exposed situation would
be in greater danger of attractmg lightning if it was
painted white.

A correspondent inquires whether gypsum would do
any good to mangel seed if put in the ground with seed,
the seed being steeped in water.

ANSWER TO AGRICULTURAL QUERY.

LUCERNE.

Sir, — In reply to " a Corn Miller," as to the best
plan of producing good lucerne, I would recommend the
following : — Select a dry piece of land, either rather
light or good mixed soil, but not stony, strong, or
clayey, certainly not the least inclined to be wet or
springy, with either a sand or chalk subsoil — the latter
is preferable ; let it be made perfectly clean, especially
from couch-grass, and deeply ploughed, but if on a
small scale, I would say by all means have it dug by
spade, or, which is far preferable, with a four-pronged
carrot fork (prongs 16 inches long and a little flattened),
digging in plenty of good rotten farm-yard manure.
When the ground is ready for the seed, open drills with
a hoe 17 or 18 inches apai-t, and not more than 1^ or 2
inches deep ; then put the seed in a glass wine-bottle
with one or t<^Q quills stuck in with the cork (which is
cut on the sides to admit the quills) ; this will deposit the
seed more regularly than by hand into the drills, which
are then raked over ; about 241bs. of seed per acre is suf-
ficient, which can be procured of Messrs. Gibbs, of Lou-
don, or of any respectable seed merchant, at lid. or Is.
per lb. I consider May the best time for sowing, but if
the ground is not too dry for the seed to vegetate, any
time before the middle of August will do; but if the land

is not perfectly clean, let the sowing be put oft till the
spring, and without a crop of corn. It is fit to cut for a
first crop of hay generally from the 20th to the 28th of
May, the second year after sowing (this year it was a
fortnight earlier) , and for a second crop when it comes
into blossom ; it takes a longer time making into hay
than grass, as it is better only turned, not shaken out,
otherwise much leaf is lost. The crop must be well
manured every year in January, February, or beginning
of March, and the ground between the drills kept per-
fectly free from weeds by hoeing in dry weather, and
picking the grass out of the drills where the hoe would
cut off many of the plants. The grand secret in grow-
ing lucerne, I am persuaded, is in keeping it clean, and,
when kept so, no green crop can bear any comparison in
value ; it is very far superior to tares. I have now a
third crop fit to cut, 26 inches high, on the same ground
I cut for hay only five weeks since. No lime must be
used for manure. I am inclined to think guano mixed
with farm-yard manure would answer well. If the quan-
tity to be laid down be more than one acre, the plough
and drill must be used, in which case it should be put in
not more than 2 inches deep.

I am, sir, yours most respectfully,
July 16. West Norfolk.

EXPERIMENTS IN CHEESE-MAKING.— After

the annual cattle show of the Ardrossan Farmers' So-
ciety, a number of the members of the society dined to-
gether in the Eglinton Arms Inn, Irvine ; Captain Mont-
gomerie, of GiflFeu, in the chair. In the course of the
evening the chairman stated it would be in the recollec-
tion of the members present, that when making some
remarks on the quality of rennet, at the meeting of the
society in November last, he had observed in the trans-
actions of the Highland Society, attached to the first
number of the new series of the ' ' Journal of Agricul-
ture," among some experiments on milk by Professor
Traill, that he found sulphuric acid produced a much
larger proportion of curd than rennet ; and that though
late in the season, he (the Chairman) would try the ex-
periment on a larger scale, communicate the results, and
submit the produce to be tested by the society, which he
now did, placmg upon the table two small cheeses — the
one made with sulphuric acid, the other with rennet.
These cheeses, he stated, were made under his own in-
spection, of equal quantities of milk, and on the morn-
ing of two following days the curd was produced by the
acid about seven minutes sooner than by the rennet, and
that of the former much more solid than the latter. The
proportion of acid used was that pointed out by Profes-
sor Traill, viz., 40 drops to a tea-spoonful of rennet;
but the result he had not found the same — on the 28th
of December there was a difterence in the weight of 11
ounces in favour of the cheese made by the rennet, and
the same difference existed when weighed previous to
sitting down to dimier. The rennet he could answer for
being of excellent quality ; of the acid he was not a judge,
but had bought it as being so. He then cut up both
cheeses, when that made by the acid was found to have a
very vmpleasant taste, in the opinion of some gentlemen,
to an extent that must preclude the use of it, though a
few were of a different opinion.

EXTRAORDINARY AGRICULTURAL PER-
FORMANCE.—A short time ago Mr. John Hardy, a
managing farmer to Sir Francis Darwin, Sydnope, near
Matlock, rolled, in a very workman-like manner, two
statute acres of oats, in the short space of one hour and
ten minutes. The breadth of the roller was four feet
six inches.

N 2

180

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

CALENDAR OF HORTICULTURE.— AUGUST.

1. Retrospect. — Various localities have experienced
weallier of a very different cliaracter. In some places
abundance of tlie finest rain fell on the 25lh of June,
to the east and north east of London ; yet, on the
same day, 30 miles west, scarcely a shower of an
hour's duration occurred. But on or about the 1st
of July, a protracted thunder storm had produced a
general and decided change ; and wonderful have
been the results. The ground, warmed as it had been
by a powerful sun for months, was brought to the
condition of a hot-bed, and everywhere vegetation
revels in luxuriance.

Our instruments, unless duly combined, mislead
us — the barometer indicates the weight or density of
the atmosphere, and the thermometer the existing de-
gree of heat in certain exposures ; but the weatiier very
frequently does not accord with the rise or fall of the
former, and unless it be compared with a good hy-
grometer, or measure of atmospheric moisture, ihe
instrument may be, as it frequently is, condemned as
useless. The three, taken together, are found in many
instances to furnish a pretty accurate prognostic.
Still, electric conditions are induced whicii no one
can foresee, no machinery indicate, and therefore we,
in our variable climate, experience mutations that
appear to be inappreciable.

July however may, in general, be deemed the rainy
season of the year, and in the present instance it has
proved most benign ; the quantity of rain fallen to the
period when we commenced this article has been
sufficient for every purpose of horticulture, without
any redundance, and seasonable operations can be
readily performed.

2. The ugeney of light is of vital importance to
vegetation. It is, beyond a reasonable question, the
source of heat ; being the more direct manifestation of
that etherial essence which, for want of a belter term,
we call electricity.

The sun is the source, and his beams induce all
those phenomena of electro-chemical disturbances
which develop heat, within and upon the surface of
the eartl). Electricity, instead of being slighted and
overlooked, is now regarded as the interpreter of the
true science of induction. We yet, however, are only
arrived at the threshold — light has begun to dawn,
discoveries have been made, which have been at once
rendered available to the purposes of man, and thus we
begin to make advances.

Glass has hitherto been the medium through which
light has been introduced wiihin forcing-houses of
every description ; but all have lamented not only its
desttuctabiliiy, and the consequent expense attendant
upon so brittle a material, but also the many casualties
that result from its imperfections. It is a refracting
medium, and if one thermometer be suspended on an
open wall, over which a glazed sash is placed, and
another placed close to, but not under the sash, it
will be seen that the direct ray of the sun will raise
ihe mercury of the latter instrument several degrees
higlier than that of the former. Glass, therefore, does
rot inciease heat, but it prevents, or rather retards the
escape of that which may have passed into a forcing-
house. But glass scalds and burns fruit and foliage;

it causes the drawing up of plants placed much below
it. Now, a diflused light, admitted equably into
any erection, without a rf/rec^ ray, is found, in many
instances, to produce every effect, without accident ;
and thus, if a transparent medium or fabric could be
discovered which would introduce light and retain
its qualities, we verily believe that nine-tenths of
the burning, shrivelling, and scalding of grapes, the
blistering of leaves, and the predominance of acarus,
and other pests of our erections, would be obviated.
Attempts have been made, and much good has been
eflected, but improvements are required, and these,
we understand, are in progress ; but we refrain from
further remarks till enabled to communicate some-
thing more definite, only observing that, in addition
to the advantages of more equal and permanent heat,
that of a saving of half the expense would be insured.

Vegetable Department.

3. First week — Cabbage-seed sow for the main
spring supply. There are so many fine varieties that
it is difficult to make a preference. The nonpareil
and incomparable have lately been exhibited with
great success ; but all are not suitable to every soil.
This, however, is the general season of sowing, and it
is quite certain that if any plant is to be transplanted
prior to, and to stand the winter, it ought to be grown
rapidly, and acquire strength early; this rule is im-
portant. Sow winter spinach, endive lettuces, salads,
and, as the late lains have brought the land into so
healthful a temperament, a trial may be made with a
few more scarlet runners. Artichokes wei"e wonder-
fully retarded during the parching months of spring ;
hence the few strong suckers lately produced might
have a chance to succeed now, if transplanted in rich
rrrellow ground, and watered two or three times.

Transplant the last spring broccoli — the ground
should be in very good heart, and if no other vacancy
occurs, the plants can be set by the dibble between
potato tows, which will be dug in September ; this
digging will be sufficient, provided it be well done.
Other operations of weeding, hoeing, digging, and
earthrng up can be performed at any convenient time.
The ground must be kept clean now, otherwise weeds
will increase apace, and perplex the gardener.

Fourth week. — Sow cauliflower seed for the spring
crop. Plant slips of all the sweet pot-herbs in beds
separately; it is always convenient to have th} me,
basM, savory, marjoram, sage, and the like, in one
neat bed; they thus become more convenient for
kitchen use. Parsley for next year may now be sown
or transplanted.

Fruit Garden.

4. Protect by nets, by suspending bottles of sweet
liquor, or other approved means, the ripening wall
fruit. Ants are a great nuisance. We hear that a
cream, made with chalk or whitening and water,
painted on slates or flat tiles, laid near spots where the
ants resort, will, at least, prevent their approaches ;
the acid of the ant {formic acid) must act upon the
chalk, and by creating effervescence, prove repulsive
or disgusting ; this appears the only rationale, The

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

181

fruit must be exposed to the sun, and all the retained
shoots trained in nice open order.

Vines are forward. Keep lliem constantly well
regulated, and put all the prunings near the roots,
under the soil, on the self-manuring principle. Fig
trees should also be early trained, and every young
germ of fig nipped off, to cause the produciion of
other fruit, which will be less forward, and stand the
winter better. Do this soon.

Apple trees. — Dwarfs and espaliers are regulated
during ihe month. When the breast, or other pro-
jecting wood, is pretty ripe, it should be cut back to
■within four or five eyes, thereby to produce at the
base of each spurs of fruitful buds. Fears are too
muith pruned : it is better to let tliem form spurs by
maturity, and then to cut back to the fruit bud.

Strawberries, — The well-rooted strong runners can
now be transplanted into beds, or long rows; pro-
vided the ground be deeply digged and manured.
The British Queen is freakish and goes off, unless the
soil be a fine loam, mellow, and of nice temperament.
It is best to have the runners in pots, prepared as
for forcing, and transfer-red, balls entire, two feet apart.
The FJtuns succeed freely a foot apart; but all require
moist ground, or repeated waterings.

Make cuttings of the best currants; place the
strong wood, deprived of the lower eyes, all but one,
three inches deep, in a very shady situation ; give
Water, and they will take root soon.

Forcing Departments,

Peaches in late houses or pits ripen early in the
month, and are of excellent quality about three or
four weeks before those on the open wall. Protect
them from wasps, and give all the air possible to
produce colour.

Vines in the late vinery will require a little artificial
heat, a perfectly dry house, and abundance of air;
especially towards the end of the month, and in
showery weather. Where wasps abound, it is prudent
to stretch a length of light canvas over the lights, so
far as it is usual to draw them down; otherwise, the
berries become sadly mutilated.

5. Remarks upon glazed erections. — We do not
in the present article enlarge upon the medium of

light ; but there are very great improvements in pro-
gress with respect to the structure of fruit and flower
houses, which require a few observations. Heat, and
the methods of admitting air, are important considera-
tions. The new tank system is an excellent improve-
ment, provided the furnace be simple in its structure.
We know that houses may be commanded to the
extent of 100 gallons of water, by a small copper
boiler, which is heated by means of a little sea-coal,
coke (not Bath), placed within a central cylinder.
Three or four pounds for boiler and its two pipes,
will effect as much as twelve pounds laid out upon a
complicated apparatus. A well constructed tank
comprises all the appliances of the most complete
bottom heat, by which pines, melons, and cucumbers
can be raised and grown without half the danger of
insects which attended the old methods, to say
nothing of the regular degree of heat that can ba
constantly maintained. Flowering plants may be
thereby propagated freely, and stoves regulated to a
proper degree of heat ; because after passmg through
the channels of the tank, the hot water flows through
cemented gutters in any direction which the gardener
can require.

The heat of the house is retained with much
more precision by glazing with Drake and Co.'s new
strong glass, laid in the sashes in long strips, placed
end to end without laps ; the straight, well cut edges,
matching each other, and being rendered air-tight by
introducing a mere scale of soft putty. This glass is
of great strength, and, we hear, resists hail very
effectually. The sashes should be fixed by a few
screws. Air, in this case, can be admitted in front,
by sashes fixed with hinges; and at the back of com-
mon houses, by wooden traps, slides, or hinged
shutters. In double, or span-roof erections, the front
and back upright sashes can be made to open in the
same manner. The air is thus at the command of
the gardener, rain is excluded, and much danger of
breakage obviated.

In heating forcing pits, we see every reason to
recommend the earthenware tubes, secured first by
white lead putty, and then by a rib of Parker's
cement, in preference to the heavy and expensive iron
pipes which were, till lately, employed by every one

AGRICULTURAL REPORTS.

GENERAL AGRICULTURAL REPORT FOR
JULY.

Tliis has decidedly proved one of the most im-
portant months for the growing crops experienced
during the whole of the year, from the fact of its
having, with some degree of accuracy, determined
the productive qualities of most kinds of the soil's
produce. Notwithstanding the fine rains which
fell ill the latter end of June and in the first week
in this month, the impression was pretty general
that they had arrived too late to improve to any
extent the acreable yield of spring corn. The reverse,
however, appears to have been the case, for we can-
didly admit, that we never witnessed such a won-
derful, nay, almost magical improvement, not only

in barley, but also in oats, beans, and peas, as bra
taken place in all parts of England since the date
of our last report ; and, unquestionably, such are
the views of that antiquated person — " the oldest
man living." It will, no doubt, have been observed
that the accounts which we have, from time to time,
laid before our readers respecting the wheat crops
have been uniformly cheering; indeed, throughout
that period, when the drought was so much com-
plained of, scarcely any fears were entertained as
to the forthcoming produce. That the abundant
moisture, aided by fine forcing heat, has caused an
improvement therein, not a doubt can be enter-
tained ; and it is now tolerably well ascertained
that very heavy crops may be looked forward to.
The early sown barleys have progressed satisfac-

182

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

torily. It is true, the straw is short, but the ears
are heavy, and likely to turn out well. Tliose later
sown, however, are still looking thin, and the yield
will, we fear, prove deficient ; still, we give it as
our opinion that for the whole country it will
amount to nearly an average. Oats, except on
very light soils, have gone on well ; and the same
observations may be appUed to beans and peas,
yet we are not very sanguine in our expectations
of an average crop.

In nearly the whole of our forward districts, such
has been the rapidity with which the crops have
ripened, that harvest work was commenced as
early as the 15th, while by the 23th the carting
of wheat took place in parts of Devonshire mth
the grain in the most admirable order. Since the
date last mentioned, large breadths of wheat,
barley, and oats have fallen beneath the sickle.
From these remarks it will at once be perceived
that the season is a very forward one, and, should
the weather continue fine, there is eveiy prospect
of a conclusion of harvest work being arrived at
somewhat earher than in the general run of years.

The above combination of circumstances has, as
might be expected, had a most depressing inflvi-
ence upon the corn trade, not only at Mark-lane,
but throughout the various country markets, and
which has resulted in a considerable abatement in
the quotations of all kinds of grain. Prospectively
speaking, there appears every reason to expect
further depressed rates.

Under the new tariff the importations of live
stock during the month have been far from exten-
eive — they ha^ving amounted to about seventy oxen
and cows from Hamburg, Rotterdam, and Vigo.
Amongst these arrivals a few well made-up beasts
have been noticed ; but, generally speaking, the
qxiality has proved very inferior. From advices
which have lately come to hand, we learn that very
great exertions, by an improved system of feeding,
are being made to supply John. Bull with beef and
mutton "to his liking," and in which, Ave feel
tolerably weU assured, they avtU eventually succeed.
From aU quarters, but more particularly from
America, immense supplies of provisions — such as
beef, pork, hams, bacon, cheese, &c. — have been
received; and as their quality has improved, so has
demand and value. The inhabitants of our colonies
in New South Wales are actively preparing to send
us provisions, for we have lately inspected beef
from Sydney of very fine quality, though from the
bad method by which it was cured, it came to
hand out of condition, and, consequently, pro-
duced very low prices.

The lightness of the first crop of hay has caused
the hay trade in London to rule very active, at an
advance of from 5s. to 15s. per load; but as the
second crop is fully expected to be a hea\y one, we
do not think the present value will be maintained.
Straw, which advanced a trifle in the month's
early part, has fallen to its old point.

In Scotland — where the weather has proved sea-
sonably fine — the crops have made very consider-
able progress towards maturity. The demand for
all kinds of corn has ruled somewhat inactive, and
prices have not been supported.

Throughout Ireland, the stocks of wheat and

barley have become nearly exhausted: hence the
supplies offering have been very limited. The ex-
ports of oats to England have been liberal.

The following is our usual statement of the sup-
plies and prices of fat stock exhibited and sold in
Smithfield cattle market during the month ; the
former have been as under : —

Beasts 12,010

Sheep and lambs 159,290

Calves 2,041

Pigs 1,863

The above must be considered fuU average time-
of-year supplies of beasts, calves, and pigs ; but,
compared Avith those of sheep exhibited in July
1843, a falling off is observed of about 7,000.
Comparatively speaking, the stock has come to
hand in excellent condition — scarcely a single in-
stance of either foot-rot or epidemic having been
noticed. For most kinds of prime stock the demand
has i-uled tolerably steady, at fuU prices ; but the
sale for all other qualities has ruled^ inactive. The
keeping up of prices must, in a great measure, be
attributed to the hmited arrivals of slaughtered
meat up to Newgate and LeadenhaU markets
from A^arious parts of the country. The general
quotations have ruled thus : —

Per 8lbs. to sink the offals.

s. d. 8. d.

Beef, from 2 4 to 4 0

Mutton 2 6 to 4 0

Lamb 4 0 to 5 0

Veal 3 0 to 4 0

Pork 2 8 to 4 0

Although the dead markets have been by no
means heavily supphed Avith any kind of meat, the
trade has ruled inactive, on the following terms : —
Per 8lbs. by the carcass.

s. d. s. d.

Beef, from 2 2 to 3 4

Mutton 2 4 to 3 8

Lamb 4 0 to 5 0

Veal 3 0 to 4 0

Pork 2 4 to 4 0

A. STATEMENT and COMPARISON of the SUPPLIES and
PRICES of FAT STOCK, exhibited and sold in Smithfield
Cattle Market, on Monday, July 31, 1843, and Monday,
July 29, 18U.

Per Slbs. to sink the offals.

July 31, 1843.

8. d. 8. d.

Coarse and inferior Beasts 3 10 to 3 4

Second quality do 3 6

Prime large Oxen 3 8

Prime Scots, &c 4 0

Coarse and Inferior Sheep 3 2

Second quality do 3 6

Prime coarse woolled do 3 10

Prime Southdown do 4 2

Lambs ,. 4 0

Large coarse Calves 3 6

Prime small do 4 0

Large Hogs 3 0

Neat small Porkers 3 8

3 8

3 10

4 2
3 4

3 8

4 0
4 4
6 0

3 10

4 4

3 6

4 0

July 29, 1844.
s. d. 9. d.
, 2 6 to a 10
.3034

3 6
3 10

2 8

3 0
S 6
3 10
3 10
8 0
8 10
3 0
3 8

ESSEX.
Harvest rapidly comes forward, and has already com-
menced in the more early parts of our county. A very
general commencement will take place the early part of
the ensuing week ; and had it not been for the severe
stormy and windy weather to which our crops were
exposed on the 14th inst., a more beautiful appearance
could not possibly have cheered the heart of the grower.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

183

The wheat previous was as level and upright and as free
from blight or injuiy as could be desired ; but the
greater part has now been snarled about, we should say
not so much to the injury of the crop as inconvenience
to the reaper. The beautifully fine weather we have
since had has caused the wheat to be ripening oil' into as
beautifully a golden colo-ur as can possibly be desired.
Our opmion is, that a crop equal in quantity, though
far superior in quality, will characterize the forthcoming
. harvest, the weather continuing favourable. But as
regards other descriptions of grain (witli, perhaps, the
exception of barley), no great crop can be expected.
Oats tvill be a short crop, beans and peas early sown
equally so, though the latter sown ones are better. The
intensely dry weather now prevailing with wind east-
ward, will be against second crops of grasses, aiul we
are much mistaken if anything like a crop of cloverseed
will be foithcoming. Where it was at all scorched,
great irregularity prevails in the growth of the plant ;
and in some places it is already again burning off.
Mangel is a failure. Swede turnips must be very
backward, and wireworm is prevalent amongst the
plant. Corn markets descend in fearful rapidity. The
gloomiest forebodings cast their shadows before the
path of the farmer ; for the last three years he has had
to contend with his unsurmountable difficulties, liability
after liability have so far accumulated that in many cases
the crops of 1844 will have to be immediately sold to
pay off the debts contracted in '42 and '43 ; and we state
our unqualified opinion that it is many, very many years
since the agricultural interest vs as so utterly prostrated
as in the present. Heaven alone knows what will be
the result. — Juhj 24th.

BEDFORDSHIRE.
We are just upon the edge of harvest. In the for-
ward districts reaping has partially commenced, and
will become general about the 1st of August. The wheBt
still promises well, both as to yield and sample, and if
it should be well got in, will be very properly regarded
by all right minded men a great national benefit.
The drought broke up pretty generally about the
third week in June ; there were partial showers before
that time, but no general rain ; and even up to the pre-
sent period, the earth has hardly received a thorough
saturation ; a few hot days seem to make the land very
thirsty. Turnips have planted well for the most part,
but the early sown ones, where the seed lay so long in
the ground, make very little progress, and it will be
scarcely possible to get them all hoed out in time to
commence reaping. Mangel wurzel is nearly a total
failure this year ; some few, however, of our farmers
have saved the plants which have vegetated since the
rain, but we think with little chance of success. The
spring cropping will certainly be found very deficient);
barley, which vegetated in season (excepting upon the
very coolest and richest soils) is anything but a heavy
crop ; while on the dry cloddy lands the stem is weak
and hairy, and never can be very productive ; and as to
that which only partially vegetated, it is a most un-
sightly wretched concern. In this county not much
more than half the gro\\ing crop can be fit for malting
purposes, certainly not over two-thirds. Oats are also
much below an average. Beans are short in the stem,
and not generally good ; while peas (with but few in-
stances to the contrary) are a fair crop, and remarkably
well podded. The loss of more than one half (nearly
two-thirds) of the hay crop, will be severely felt, and
has already operated very unfavourably to the labouring
people. For the last two months, there have been many
out of work, and we fear as the quantity of straw will
be much under an average of years, there will be less
thrashing, and, consequently, some difficulty in finding

employment for the poor m the rural districts. This is
now (among all sensible and public spirited men) the
all-absorbing subject, what is to be done to secure em-
ployment for our vastly increasing population ? The
monstrous proposition of curing the evil by
admitting foreign grain free, wherever it can be pro-
duced cheapest, and thereby let our able and industrious
peasantry stand by, or be cooped up in workhouses, is
now we hope pretty well abandoned, except by some
designing agitators, aided by two or three crotchety
lords, who, in pandering to the senseless and revolu-
tionary cry of cheap bread, have gained themselves no
very enviable popularity. The question however still
recui's — how are we to employ, feed, keep, quiet and
happy, our rapidly growing village population ? We
answer once for all, by giving greater security to the
employer ; extending the system of cottage allot-
ment ; and sweeping away every vestige of our accursed
game laws, that foulest blot on British legislation.

SOMERSETSHIRE.

Wheat cutting in the earliest districts commenced
about the middle of last week ; nearly half the hands
were put on in early districts this week, and except
the late sown hills and moors, it will be general next
week. Some of the strong lands, where it was very
heavy, the wheat is much laid ; on the shallow soils, and
on moor land, the ears are very small ; but, excepting
smut, the corn is generally well spoken of, and an aver-
age may be fully estimated. They are cutting it full
early ; the very warm sunny days have hastened the
operation. As well as making the wheat look riper than
the berry has proved to be, the straw is very unequal.
Winter beans, vetches, and peas are also in process of
securing. The crops of the former are better than last
year ; vetches well kidded, the early ones ; but the late
ones are a failure. Oats and early barley will soon be
ready. We had some rain yesterday. To-day it is clear
and windy. — 25ih of 1th Month.

NORTHLEACH RAM SALE,

To say the least, Mr. Hewer maintains that eminent
position as a breeder to which his untiring zeal entitles
him, and it must have been a source of gratification to
him at seeing so many gentlemen from the various long-
wooUed breeding counties, including one from the Sister
Isle, in attendance on the 17thinst., all of whom we
were informed became purchasers.

After partaking of an excellent repast provided on a
very liberal scale, in which Miss Hewer's attention to the
comfort of her brother's guests shone conspicuously, the
company repaired to the close where the sheep were
penned, and without loss of time, our eminent auction-
eers, Messrs. Lyne and Cother, commenced business by
a few pertinent remarks made by Mr. Lpie. Four
splendid shearhogs, to be let for the season, were first
brought forward, and very quickly disposed of ; then
followed forty others (vegetable fed), for which a spirited
competition was kept up, and we are indebted to the
auctioneers for the amount made, which exceeds £\\
per head for the forty -four sheep let and sold, the ten
highest prized ones averaging above 21/. each.

We must not omit to state that Mr. Hewer treated the
company with a sight of a shearhog which he retained
for his use, possessing such qualities as induced several
oft'ers to be made for him, at from 70 to 80 guineas, and
it was said by many persons present, that he would have
realized a round hundred had he been brought to the
hammer ; such is the high estimation in which our re-
spected neighbour's flock stands.

184

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

REVIEW OF THE CORN TRADE

DURING THE MONTH OF JULY.

Since we last addressed our readers, a most de-
lightful change has taken place in the general ap-
pearance of the country, and the apprehensions of
scarcity, then too Avell founded, have happily in a
great measure been allayed. The copious showers
which have fallen at short intervals since the 25th
June (the day on which we were first favoured
with rain, after a three months' drought), and the
generally genial temperature experienced since
then, have been productive of the utmost benefit
to vegetation, and have in a great measure re-
paired the mischief done by the previous dry
weather.

For the first hay crop the supply of moisture
came too late ; and a lighter or more unsatisfac-
tory produce has not been carted for years. We
trust that the farmer may in some measure be
recompensed for the disappointment by a good
second crop, of wliich present appearances hold
out fair promise. Clover has improved in a
most surprising manner Avithin the past three
weeks, and fields which were then almost bare
now exhibit a comparatively luxuriant growth.
The crops of most other articles employed as
fodder have undergone the same beneficial al-
teration, whilst the change in the aspect of
mangold wurtzel is really astonishing. Under
these circumstances, Ave are inclined to think that
food for cattle will not, after all, be so scarce and
dear as there appeared at one time reason to fear.

The combination of moisture and warmth has
been equally propitious to the autumn and spring-
sown crops of grain. Wheat, which even when
our prospects Avere the most discouraging retained
a look of health indicating a fair yield, has noAV
assumed the golden tint in all the southern parts
of the island. Its advance to maturity has been
more or less delayed by the state of the atmos-
phere, the sini haA'ing, during the greater part of
the month, been a good deal obscured by clouds ;
but the circumstance, though it has retarded the
harvest a Aveek or ten days, has been highly fa-
vourable, inasmuch as the ear has had time to fill
out, and, by ripening gradually, is likely to come
to the sickle much more heavy and plump than it
could possibly have done had the heat been more
intense. The reports from all the principal Avheat-
groAving counties agree in describing the ears as
long and Avell-fiUed, and there are fcAver com-
plaints of mildcAV, rust, &c., than has been the
case in any previous season for some years past.
The heavy rain and high Avinds experienced about
the middle of the month lodged some of the
Aveighty crops, but we do not apprehend that any
mischief Avill result, unless there should be a return
of similar weather before the harvest (Avhich is on
the eve of being generally commenced) can be
brought to a close.

With regard to the probable yield of Avheat,

practical men, well qualified to give an opinion,
and in Avhose judgment Ave have great confidence,
estimate it at over an usual average both in quan-
tity and quality. So general has the conviction
become of late that there will be no deficiency,
that parties holding stocks of old haA'e shown a
decided inclination to realize, under an impression
that the abundance of the forthcoming crop must
cause prices to rule Ioav after harvest. How far
this view of the subject may prove correct, must
depend principally upon the Aveather during the
next month. With a propitious period for the in-
gathering, Ave are fully inclined to believe the
produce Avould exceed any harvested of late years ;
and as the present value of the article, though
moderate, is still scA'eral shillings per quarter
higher than it Avas at the corresponding period last
season, a decline to that extent, or even perhaps
somewhat greater, does not seem improbable. So
long as loAV prices are the result of an abundance
of native production, every member of the com-
munity is benefited by the circumstance ; but
Avhen brought about by foreign importations, a
large class must inevitably be injured thereby.

Up to the present time the arrivals of Avheat
from abroad have not been on so extensive a scale
as appeared at one time probable, the diflSculty of
tampering Avith the aA^erages so as to insure a loAV
rate of duty having rendered speculators cautious
in their operations.

The duty has for several months remained sta-
tionary at 17s. per quarter, at Avhich rate, how-
ever, 50,000 quarters have been entered for
consumption since the 19th of April in London, and
probably about the same quantity at the out-ports.
The stock in bond noAV in the kingdom may be
estimated at rather over 600,000 quarters. What
course the holders of this quantity will pursue,
should it hereafter become evident that the duty
must rise (Avhich is by no means unlikely in the
presentposition of affairs), remains to be proved ; but
we haA-e little doubt that a large proportion would,
under such circumstances, be released.

Though the favourable Aveather experienced
during the latter part of June and the Avhole of
this month has Avorked a great improvement in the
crops of Lent-sown corn, still it is admitted on all
hands that the injurious effects of the previous pro-
tracted drought were of too serious a nature to be
more than partially remedied. The rain came too
late in the season to allow of the ground originally
intended for barley (of Avhich there Avere thousands
of acres not soAvn at the proper period, for want of
the necessary supply of moisture) being afterwards
devoted to the purpose of growing this grain,
though we believe the experiment has here and
there been tried. We have heard that some farm-
ers have put their seed in this year as late as the
middle of June ; it is needless to say the result must

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

185

at the best, be doubtful. Of that portion sown at
the usual time, on good soils, some pieces are likely
to yield very well ; but by far the greater breadth
came up unevenly, and in many instances the seed
failed altogether to germinate ; making every
allowance, therefore, tor the acknowledged im-
provement wrought in the appearanae of the crop
generally within tlie last few weeks, there is,
nevertheless, reason to doubt the produce being-
otherwise than deficient. Should we be right in
this conclusion, prices of barley may be expected
to rule relatively high in comparison Avith those of
wheat, as in addition to the probability of a de-
fective yield, the fact of the old stocks being com-
pletely exhausted is undeniable. At the same
time it is by no means unlikely that a temporary
depression in the value of the article may occur,
in consequence of the quantity now in bond, and
that which may still arrive from abroad being-
entered for consumption at a low duty ; indeed the
certainty of this event taking place about the time
that the first supplies of new may be looked for,
has already had sufficient influence to reduce quo-
tations to some extent.

Oats have, we think, been benefited more than
barley by the genial showers and other propitious
atmospherical vicissitudes ; the heavy rains at the
close of June, followed by subsequent warmth,
caused the plant to tiller out at the roots, and throw
up fresh and vigorous shoots, which in due time
developed long and well-filled ears ; and in view-
ing the same fields which six weeks ago wore a
most miserable aspect, the change apparent is truly
surprising. Under these circumstances, and con-
cluding that a similar process has been going on
in the fertile fields of the Sister Isle, we are in-
clined to think that though the produce of England
may not come up to an average, that the total
yield of oats of the United Kingdom Avill not fall
far short. In Scotland the crops of this article,
as well as those of barley, are said to have sufliered
lately, particularly along the unsheltered parts of
the coast, by the prevalence of keen easterly
winds ; but from the interior and the western por-
tions of the country the reports are by no means
discouraging.

Beans and peas, especially where late sown,
have materially improved within the last month ;
still we greatly doubt whether either will reach an
usual average.

With the foi'egoing sliort notice of the ap-
pearance of the difterent crops at a period when
harvest is about to be commenced, we shall pro-
ceed to take a retrospective view of the
{)rincipal events which have occurred since our
ast in the corn trade. As the operations and
changes at Mark Lane have, as usual, been pretty
closely followed at most of the other leading mar-
kets, we shall chiefly confine ourselves to describ-
ing the fluctuations which have there taken place.
Under the combined influence of highly auspicious
weather for the forthcoming crop, rather liberal
arrivals of wheat of home growth, and not unim-
portant supplies of foreign, it may reasonal)ly be
conceived that no inclmation has been felt to enter
into speculative investments ; the business done has
consequently been of an entirely legitimate cha-

racter, the millers having been the only buyers.
With adequate weekly supplies to meet the weekly
consumption, and an evident aversion on the part
of purchasers to take more than they required for im-
mediate use, prices have gradually receded, and quo-
tations are, at the close of the month, 5s. per qr.
below what they were at the commencement.

On the first day of July the downward move-
ment began, and each succeeding ]Monday wheat
has fallen Is. per quarter in the London market,
which decline has speedily been followed by a
similar abatement at the difterent provincial towns ;
and, taking the kingdom collectively, the value of
the article must be considered 4s. to os. per quarter
below what it was four weeks ago, whilst present
appearances are indicative of a still further re-
duction. The turn which prices have taken was
altogether unexpected ; the cause is, however,
obvious enough: after three months' drought, the
crops of spring-sown corn were regarded as likely
to be exceedingly short ; and it was very generally
calculated that whenever a change did'tn^e place,
an excess of rain would probably follow so long a
spell of dry weather, and that the alteration from
one extreme to the other Avould prove highly
trying to the growing wheat. Merchants and
others were therefore more inclined to invest than
to press sales of this article, until the splendid
weather in July happily dispelled the fears and
doubts : the result was as great a desire to get out
of old stocks as was before shown to hold, and the
consumptive demand having proved inadequate to
take off the whole brought forward for sale, a
gradual depreciation in prices has ensued. Whe-
ther this decline will be permanent or prove
only temporary, still depends on atmospherical
changes. A few days' heavy rain, whilst the bulk
of the crop remains abroad, would give a totally
difterent aspect to affairs ; but with a favourable
period for hai-vesting, the retrograde movement is
likely to continue.

The averages have not yet been much influenced
by the late fall in prices, and the duty has hitherto
remained stationary ; this cannot, however, be of
long continuance, unless inauspicious weather
should give rise to speculation.

The value of foreign wheat has not declined to
the same extent as English, holders having hitherto
refrained from pressing their granaried parcels on
the market ; some of the fresh arrivals have, how-
ever, been oftered lately at low terms from on board
ship, say 51s. to 53s. per quarter for fine qualities
from Rostock, and 53s. to 55s. per quarter for
very good Danzig. The quantity on which duty
has been paid at the port of London has for some
time past averaged about 4,000 quarters per week,
and this constant supply of foreign has greatly
interfered with the sale of that of home growth.

The stock of wheat in bond in the kingdom has,
in consequence of part of the arrivals from abroad
being entered from time to time, not increased
very rapidly ; still we estimate that above
600,000 qrs. are now on the spot, ready to be
thrown on the markets at any moment it may
appear advisable to the holders to adopt that
course. Whether the high duty of 1 7s. per quarter
will be generally paid in case the averages fall

186

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

sufficient to render a further rise sure, may, as
before remarked, be questioned ; but there is no
doubt that many holders Avould rather cuter at
that rate than run the risk of afterwards having
to pay •20s. per quarter ; but t^onie will trust to the
chapter of accidents, particularly as it is still
deemed probable that France nmy perhaps ref|uire
foreign supplies, and a vent be thus afforded by
shipments from here to that country.

The dull state of the wheat trade has had con-
siderable influence on business in flour. The
Avant of water put a stop to the mills in many parts
of the country till about the middle of the month,
and we had therefore for some weeks short arrivals
coastwise, wlicreby the possessors of steam power
in the neighbourhood of the metropolis derived a
decided advantage. Lately, however, good sup-
plies have come torward from the east coast, and
having besides received some quantity from Is^orth
America, the town millers have been obliged to
give way in their pretensions.

The bonus given to the colonies by tlie Canadian
corn bill has already caused an increase in the
importations from thence : the principal part of the
supplies has liitherto gone to Liverpool ; and in
the space of one week (from the 12th to the 18th
inst.) no less than 22,000 barrels arrived there,
besides 16,000 barrels from the United States. By
the most recent accounts from Montreal, -we
learn that shipments to Great Britain were then in
active progress, and it was estimated that between
200,000 to 300,000 barrels would during the sea-
son be exported from thence.

So long as the dry weather continued, an incli-
nation prevailed to make speculative purchases of
the different kinds of spring corn, and barley
met with its full share of attention : but no sooner
did a change occur, than the parties previously
anxious to buy became equally desirous of dis-
posing of their recent bargains, and a large num-
ber of foreign cargoes not yet arrived were offered
for re-sale.

Stocks of English barley are unquestionably
very nearly exhausted, and the weekly supplies
into London have for some time past averaged
only a few hundred quarters. This being the
case, and the prospects for the new crop, though
much improved, being still far from flattering, we
are rather inclined to think that the existing de-
pression will not be of very long continuance.
The value of fine qualities of English, fit for
malting p\u-poses, has, owing to their extreme
scarcity, been nearly supported at Mark-lane, as
well as in other parts of the kingdom ; but duty-
paid foreign barley has generally receded Is. to
2s. per quarter in price. Parcels in bond, or car-
goes still to arrive, have also been offered on some-
what easier rates, though the duty has meanwhile
been falling from week to week. The i)robability
of the article being admissible at a still lower rate
has prevented an^ quantity being entered for con-
sumption ; and since the release of 200,000 to
300,000 quarters in the spring of the present year,
the stock under the Queen's locks has again accu-
mulated, there being at the present period, pro-
bably, 100,000 quarters in the kingdom, of which
about one-half is held at the port of London. The

duty is now 5s. per quarter, and is likely to fall
to 4s. in the course of a fortnight, and perhaps
still lower, should the first supplies of the new crop
be taken at high prices by our maltsters.

The value of malt has fluctuated in proportion
as appearances have become more favourable for
the growing barley crop. During the continuance
of the drought, fine qualities were sold in London
as high as 68s. per quarter ; this price, however,
was not long maintained, and good samples have
lately been selling 3s. to 4s. per quarter below
that rate. The stocks of old are supposed to be
light ; and, as it is tolerably certain that only a
small proportion of the forthcoming barley will be
of suitable quality to make superior malt, no ma-
terial reduction from present quotations can be ex-
pected.

In direct opposition to what the advices from
Ireland wore calculated to impress (the reports
fi'om thence having for months past been to the
eftect that little assistance, as regarded supplies of
Oats, could be looked for from that quarter), we
have all along maintained that the Irish merchants
had still heavy stocks on hand, which would find
their way to this side of the channel so soon as
prices became high enough to satisfy shippers.
Subsequent events have pi'oved that our opinion
on this point was not ill-founded, the arrivals
from Ireland into the port of London alone having
during the last four weeks amounted to the enor-
mous quantity of 73,000 quarters. In addition
to this supply, fair receipts have come to hand
from our own coast, with more than was calcu-
lated on from Scotland and abroad. Under these
circumstances, and with highly favourable weather
for improving the growing crops of grass, clover,
and other articles, the scarcity or abundance of
which tend greatly to influence the consumption
of oats, a species of panic has prevailed in the
trade. From week to Aveek prices have given
way, till the best qualities of Irish, which in June
were worth 23s. to 24s., had receded to 21s. per
quarter; and a similar abatement had taken place
on other descriptions. When prices had arrived at
this point, which occurred about the middle of the
month, the dealers began to manifest some dispo-
sition to increase their stocks, and since then a
steady demand has been experienced without any
further change. The rapid fall in prices above
noticed prevented the expected decline in the duty
to 5s. per quarter, and the entries of foreign liave
consequently been on a rather moderate scale.

The speculations which were entered into in
May and June in beans are likely to prove far
from remunerating, the value of the article having
fallen of late quite as fast as it had previously ad-
vanced ; the decline from the highest point may
be estimated at fully 5s. per qr., and even at this
abatement sellers have found it diflicult to realize.
Though the duty has come down to a low point
(5s. 6d.), and may yet recede another Is., holders
of bonded Egyptians are not likely to do so well
as appeared at one time probable ; the same qua-
lities which changed hands whilst the dry weather
lasted at 25s. per qr., might at present be secured
at about 21s., and Baltic sorts have receded in the
like proportion.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

187

Peas also felt the influeuce of the change which
the weather nnderwentat the close of June, though
not to the same extent as the article last named.
The absolute scarcity of English has prevented any
very marked fall in prices of good white boilers,
and the fii-st parcel of new exhibited at Mark
Lane, a sample of good quality groAvn in Essex,
but harvested rather too hastily, brought forward
on the 22nd, fetched 42s. per (jr. Foreign Peas,
as well free as in bond, have receded in price Is.
to 2s. per qr. during the month ; and on grey and
maple, of home growtli, the decline has amounted
to 2s. to 3s. per qr. The averages are nevertheless
still high, the last general weekly return for the
kingdom, published on Thursday the 25th, be-
ing 37s. 3d. per qr. As yet the duty has not fallen
below 7s. 6d. per qr., but there is every appear-
ance of its being Is. or perhaps 2s. per qr. lower
in the course of a few weeks.

Before concluding our article, we shall, as usual,
devote a portion of our space to the purpose of
laying before our readers the substance of our fo-
reign advices. Until very recently prices of wheat
remained steady at the principal ports in the Bal-
tic, the discouraging accounts from this country
having less effect than usual on quotations abroad.
By the latest accounts from Danzig, it appears,
however, that holders of wheat had at length be-
gun to lose confidence, and though still unwilling to
submit to any material decline, an anxiety to realize
had succeeded the previous general disposition to
hold. The shipments from thence had not been on
(^uite so extensive a scale as they might have been,
had the letters from Great Britain been of a more en-
couraging character, and fully 400,000 qrs. re-
mained in granary on the 16th of June. Supplies
from Upper Poland had, in the early part of the
season, been much retarded by the want of suffi-
eient water in the rivers to float down the barges ;
this obstacle had subsequently been removed by
copious rain, and large quantities were conse-
((uently coming forward. Of the more recently
received supplies, the greater part had proved of
middling and ordinary quality, the humidity of
the atmosphere having affected the condition ; such
descriptions had, therefore, been offering at com-
paratively low rates, say from 31s. up to 34s. per
qr., whilst for really fine high mixed samples 36s.
to 37s. per qr. had been obtained.

Harvest operations were not expected to commence
till early in August, either in Prussia or Poland, the
want of genial warmth having kept the crops back-
ward ; with this exception, liowever, the prospects
were considered favourable, and from all we have
hitherto been able to learn respecting the probable
yield of wheat in the northern countries of Europe,
we are inclined to think the produce will be satisfac-
tory. Prices of wheat having, during ihe greater part
of the spring and summer, been relatively lower at
Danzig \han at any other port in that quarter, com-
paratively liitle business has been done at Konigs-
berg, Siettin, &c. ; nor have tlie transactions been
nearly so imporiant at those places from which red
wheat is usually shipped — such as Rostock, Stral-
sund, &c., as at the first named port.

The stocks of wheat of last year's growth still held
on the continent are, on the whole, rather large, and

the prospects for the forthcoming crops generally
good ; it is not improbable, therefore, that a con-
siderable quantity uiay yet be imported into this
country before the close of the navigation in the face
of an abundant harvest here, and the consequent
chance of a 20s. duty.

What a position, then, would our farmers have been
reduced, had the clamour of the League been listened
to ! That it would be impossible to compete witii the
foreign grower with a free trade in corn, is amply
proved by the fact that large quantities of wheat have
been entered for consumption during the last three
mouths, paying 17s. ; and we doubt not that supplies
will continue to reach this country, even should ihe
rale of duly rise to the maximum.

The advices from the principal wheat-growing
countries in the south of Europe inform us that the
harve&t had been brought to a successful conclusion.
The yield of wheat in Italy, Tuscany, and neighbour-
ing slates, is described as good, and the qnalily un-
commonly fine; still prices are not likely to come
down so low at the shipping ports in the Mediterra-
nean as to compete with the B.dlic, and it is from the
latter quarter and from America ti)at the British agri-
culturist has most to fear. With regard to the crops
on the other side of the Atlantic, the reports are unani-
mous in stating that the produce of vviieat will, in all
probability, be extremely large, as well in the United
Stales as in Canada. The accounts brought by the
last American steamer inform us that new wheat from
North Carolina had arrived at New York on the 26th
June, the earliest period of such an occurrence on
record; this parcel consisted of 2,000 bushels, and
was of uncommon fine quality. Letters from Mon-
treal state that an early and plentiful harvest was ex-
pected in both Upper and Lower Canada, which,
together with very large arrivals at that port, had
caused the article to become excessively dull of sale,
at 25s. to 25s. 6d. per brl. The arrivals since the
opening of the inland navigation had exceeded
300,000 brls. ; being three times the quantity received
at the corresponding period of last year. This is a
pretty good proof that the new Canada corn bill has
already stimulated the colonists to make exertions,
and that they are fully determined to profit by the
new bill. Considerable shipments of Hour and wheat
had already taken place, about 140,000 barrels of the
former and 136,248 bushels of the latter, having been
despatched from Montreal and Quebec to Liverpool,
London, and the Clyde.

IMPERIAL AVERAGES.

"Week endin"

June 15th..

22nd..

29th . .
Julv 6th

Wheat., Barlej-. Oats. ; Rye. Beans., Peas.

55 9
55 8
55 9

55 8

1.3th I 54 10

20th I 54 1

Agrg^regate a^verag^e o
the six weeks which
regulates the duty.

Duties paj'able in
London tiU Wed-
nesday next inclu-
sive, and at tlie Out-
ports tin the arrival
ot" the mail of that
day from London .

Do. on graiu from
British posseesiong
out of Europe

81 10
."52 8
84 0
84 6
34 10
34 5

33 8

22 6

22 8

22 9

22 U

22 3

21 5

22 5

6 0
2 0

32 4 86 n 84 1

34 2 37 10[ 86 2

85 0 88 Oj SO 1

85 0' 88 21 3(5 6

37 3

37 3

sa 1

6 6
2 9

34 2

37 8

30 4

37 7

34 6

37 8

8 0

6 0

1 6

8 0

188

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

CURRENCY PER IMPERIAL MEASURE.

July 20.

Wheat, Essex and Kent, new, red 48 50

Old, red 48 50

Rye, old 80 84

Barley, Grinding, 28 30 Malting 32 34

Irish 26 28

Malt, Suffolk and Norfolk 58 60

Kingston and Ware....... 60 —

Oats, Yorksh.& Lincolnshire, feed 20 22

Youghall and Cork, black.. 19 —

Dublin 19 20

Waterford, white 19 20

Newry 21 22

Galway 17 18

Scotch, feed 21 22

Clonmel 19 20 21

Londonderry 19 23

Beans, Tick, new 32 85

Peas, Grey 32 84

White 85 "-

Sbbd, Rape 27?. 2dl

Linseed, naltic. 30 38

Mustard, while 6 7 brown 8 11 per bush.

TlOVR, Town-made -- 50 Suffolk 40 42 per sk. of 2801bg.
Stockton and Norfolk 40 Irish 42 44

FOREIGN GRAIN AND FLOUR IX BOND.

Wheat, Dantzlc 3S

Hamburg 33

Rostock 86

BaRL£Y 23

Oats, Brew 16

Beans —

Peas 23

Flotjb, American, per brl —

Wliite 50 52 54

Do 50 52

New.... b6 —

Chevalier 35 —

Bere ... 26 —

Brown.. 56 58

Chevalier 60 —

Potato.. 23 24

Cork,whifel9 20

Westport 19 20

Black .. 19 20

Potato . . 23 24
Limerickl9 20 21
Sligo 19 20 22
Old, small 36 .<i8
Maple . . 84 35
Boilers.. 36 88

Irish . . 221. 36i. per last.

Odessa 41

40

24
17
24
28
25

Feed

14 15

Baltic ..24 25

COMPARATIVE PRICES OF GRAIN.

WEEKLY AVERAGES by
thelmp.Quarter, from the
Gazette,' of Friday last,
July 26th, 1844.

Whbat 54

Bahley 34

Oats 21

Byb 36

Beans 87

PiJAS 87

AVERAGES from the corres-
ponding Gazette in the last
year, Friday, July 28th,
1843.

s. d.

Wheat 57 7

Barley 31 2

Oats 21 0

Rye 36 2

Beans 31 1

Peas 33 9

Account shewing the Quantities of Corn, Grain, Meal,
and Flour imported into the United Kingdom, ir
the month ended the 5th July, 1844; the Quantities
upon which Duties have been paid for Home Con-
sumption during the same month, and the Quantities
remaining in Warehouse at the close thereof.

Quantity .Quantity en- Quantity
imported,

Species of Grain.

Wheat, ffrom
Possessions . . . .

Barley, do

Oats, do

Peas, from do... .
Wheat, foreign ..

Barley, do

Oats, do

Rye, do

Peas, do

Beans, do

Indian Corn, do..
Buck Wheat, do.

Flour and Meal from..

British Possessions. . . .

Flour &; .Aleal, foreign..

Quantity en-
tered for
consumption,

qrs. bush,
3032 6

1001 6

221762 2

38258 4

29150 0

253 2

10340 6

13976 1

la07 7

81 4

cwts. qrs.lbs,

2566) 2 25
3768 1 3

qrs. bush.
8032 0

701 4

77940 1

8229 2

23578 4

£28 6

1567 0

4980 6

51 0

31 4

cwts. qrs. lbs.

remammg in
warehouse.

qrs. bu.sh.
119 2

360

549105

72839

60236

6790

4025-,i

76057

2024

cwts. qrs.lbs

27119 2 14 2647 3 24
675 0 20,189457 1 19

PRICES OF SEEDS.

July 29.
Rather more business was done in Seeds this morn-
ing. Rape of this year's growth, though still much neg-
lected, could hardly be bought on as easy terms as on

this day se'nnight. The quality of the samples was very
various, some being exceedingly bad, whilst other par-
cels were altogether as fine. Carraway Seed met with
more inquiry, and 'fine qualities realized 50s. to 52s.
per cwt. Canary Seed continued dull, and was again
the turn cheaper. In Tares there was little passing, and
we have no change to notice in prices of other articles.

60

— crushing 40
43

46 new .. 44

18 per cwt.
16 white.. 7

— old.. 12 26
23;. per last.

42 per qr.

52 per cwt.

10 p. buili.
new 83 30

Linseed, English, sowing 54

Baltic —

Mediter. & Odessa 41

Carraway 44

Coriander 15

Mustard, brown, {new.... 10

Trefoil —

Rapeseed, English, new . . 2il

Linseed Cakes, English. .9i. 159. to lOi. 10s. per 1000

Do. Foreign.. 6/. 153. to 71. per ton.

Large, foreign .... — —

Hempseed 35 38 per qr.

Rye Grass, English — — Scotch — — nominal

Tares, Winter 7s. Od. to 8s. Od.

Tares, old ... . — — new — — per qr.
Canary, fine 52 54 per qr.

PRICES OF HOPS.
BOROUGH, Monday, July 29.
There is nothing of interest to report of the Hop mar-
ket, which has been steady ; but the general accounts
from the Plantations are more favourable, although from
parts of Worcester, Sussex, and Mid-Kent, they admit
of improvement. The inquiry is not brisk, though pre-
vious rates are generally quoted : — Sussex, 120s. to
130s.; Wealds, 128s. to 135s. per cwt. Duty ^145,000,
and very little betting.

WOOL MARKETS.
BRITISH.

LEEDS, July 26.— Sales of Combing and Clothing
Wools progress steadily, and to a moderate extent.
Prices are very firm, and tending upwards, but still are
not such as to allow a profit on the rates asked by the
growers for the new clip.

WAKEFIELD, July 26.— To meet the advance in
all growing districts, higher prices are sought by the
staplers, which consumers are not yet disposed to pay,
consequently there has been little done : at old prices a
large business would have been done. The demand
keeps good for all short Wools, and stocks are light in
the market.

YORK, July 25. — There was not much business
doing this day, the show of Wool being very small, and
the buyers few in number. Prices were as follows : —
Good lots of Hog and Ewe, 14s., 14s. 6d. to 15s. ; Locks
and Cots, 9s. 6d. to lis. per stone. For Moor Wool
there appeared a dull sale, at 7s. to 7s. 6d. The buyers
and sellers have determined to attend once a fortnight
for the remainder of the present season.

HULL, July 23. — As usual, we had more buyers
than sellers, the supply being moderate, and a brisk de-
mand, at 27s. to 28s. per tod ; one or two parcels 6d.
higher.

TYNDRUjM lamb and wool fair was
■well attended by dealers from the south. Black-faced
wether lambs sold at ten per cent, above last year—
viz., from 6s. 6d. to 8s. per score. The top lot
brought 8s. each. Few sales were effected among
wethers or ewes, but prices were thirty per cent liigher.
Wool was in excellent demand, and sold from fifteen to
twenty per cent, higher than last year. The stock
growers are all in spirits.

LIVERPOOL, July 27.
Scotch. — The demand for laid Highland continues
moderate from the trade for immediate wants, \\Tiite

THE TARMEll'S MAGAZINE.

189

Highland is still tcarce : one or two small parcels of
uew crossed wool have come (o hand, and, being scarce,
have commanded full prices. Cheviots are only in mode-
rate demand, at about our quotations.

s. a. 8. d.
Laid Highland Wool, per 24 lbs .... 8 0 to 9 0

■U'liite do. do 11 « 12 0

Laid Crossed do., unwashed. ... 9 8 10 6

Do. do.. washed 10 0 12 6

Do. Cheviot do. unwashed .... 9 6 12 0

Do. do., washed 14 0 17 9

White Do. do 23 0 25 o

Foreign. — The sales progress satisfactorily in Lon-
don, and although we have few transactions to report
here, the feeling is better.

FOREIGN.

CITY, July 29.— The imports of wool into Lon-
don last week were 6,924 bales, of which 5,592
bales were from Sydney, 973 from Van Diemen's Land,
and 359 from Germany.

The wool sales at the Hall of Commerce will be car-
ried on longer than was expected, as it is now said that
they will last until the 7th or 8th of next month. The
attendance is very good, and the biddings have been
livelier, although the quantity to be oftered has been in-
creased by further arrivals. The following is the order
of the daily sales since our last : —

On Monday Messrs. Simes and Co. put up 1,751
bales, of which 490 bales wei-e Australian Agricultural
Company's, and sold at Is. O^d. to 2s. 2d., most of it
realizing very advanced rates ; 848 bales were Austra-
lian of private importation, and went at Is. 5d. to Is.
ll^d. for sheep's, at Is. 4id. to Is. 7d. for skiu, at 9Jd.
for greasy, and at Is. i^d, to to Is. 9d. for lambs' ; 413
bales were Port Philip, and realized Is. 4(1. to Is. 8d.
for sheep's, 9d. to lOd. for greasy samples, and Is.
6Jd. to Is. 9^d. per lb. for lambs'.

The sale of Tuesday was by Messrs. Simes and Co.,
and consisted of 1,544 bales of wool, and 1,656 sheep-
skms with wool. There were 1,395 bales of Australian,
which sold at Is. 4^d. to 2s. Ojd. for washed sheep's,
at Is. 7jd. for lambs', at lOd. to Is. for greasy, at Is.
lid. for hand-washed, at Is. 6^d. to Is. 72d. for skin ;
149 bales Van Diemen's Land sheep's realized Is. 7d.
to Is. 9d., and lambs' Is. 4d. to to 2s. 2d. per lb., and
the skins with wool sold at Is. 4d. to Is. 8^d. per lb.

On Wednesday Messrs. Southey and Son offered
1,359 bales, 158 being foreign. The rest was colonial,
▼iz., 589 bales Van Diemen's Land, which sold at Is.
6d. to Is. ll^d. for sheep's, at Is. 6.^d. for hand-
washed, at lOd. for greasy, and at Is. 8d. to 2s. 5d. for
lambs' ; 406 bales were Australian, sheep's sellmg at
Is. 6d. to Is. lid. ; and 189 bales Port Philip sold at
Is. 6d. to Is. 7Jd. for sheep's, at Is. SJd. to Is. lOd.
for lambs' ; and 17 bales South Australian lambs' skin
at Is. 3d. to Is. 5d. per lb.

On the same day Mr. Richard Dutton put up 315
bales, viz., 82 bales Van Diemen's, which sold at Is.
6d. to Is. 7d. for clean sheep's, and Is. old. for lambs' ;
and 63 bales Cape, at Is. 6d. to Is. 9d. for sheep's, and
Is. 6id. for lambs'. The rest was Odessa, Buenos
Ayres, and sundries.

• On Thursday, Messrs. Marsh and Edenborough had a
sale of 1,277 bales, of which 729 bales were AustraUan,
and sold at Is. 5id. to 2s. OJd. for washed sheep's ; at
9id. to lOd. for greasy, and Is. 4!d. for handwashed;
335 bales Van Dieman's sold at Is. 6d. to Is. 9d. for
clean, and Is. O^d. for greasy ; 46 bales of Port Phihp,
at Is. 6d. to Is. 8d. for sheep's washed, and 167 bales
Cape, at Is. 4d. to Is. 8d. for sheep's, 9d. to lOd. for
greasy, and Is, 4id. to Is. 8d. for lambs.'
There were two auctions on Friday. Messrs. Simes

and Co. offered 1561 bales, including 564 bales of Aus-
tralian, which sold at Is. 8id. to 2s. 2 Jd. for sheep's,
and Is. 7jd. to Is. 8d. for lambs' ; 608 bales Van Die-
man's Land, at Is. 7id. to Is. SJdfor sheep's, 7id. for
greasy, and 2s. 1 id. to 2s. 5d. for lambs' ; 335 bales Port
Philip went at Is. OJd to Is. 9d. for sheep's clean, and
at Is. 6id. to Is. 10|d. for lambs' ; and 54 bales South
AustraUan, at Is. 4,^d. to Is. 6id. for lambs', and Is.
5Jd. to Is. 6d. for sheep's.

Messrs. Lord and Hall put up 502 bales, of which
207 bales were Australian, and sold at Is, 6^d. to Is.
lOJd. for washed sheep's, at Is. O^d. for slipe, and at
Is. 8Jd. to Is. 9d. for lambs' ; 84 bales Van Diemen's,
at Is. 72d. to Is. lOid. for sheep's, clean, and Is. lOd.
to Is. Hid. for combing; 62 bales Port Philip at Is.
7d. to Is. Sad. for sheep's, and Is. 8d. for lambs' ; and
49 bales Cape, at Is. i^d. to Is. 7d. for sheep's, and
Is. 5d. for lambs'.

On Saturday, Messrs. Marsh and Edenborough put
up 725 bales, 647 of wliich were Australian, and sold
at Is. 72d. to 2s. O^d., for sheep's. Is. 7d. for Hand-
washed, and Is. 5d. to Is. 8^d for lambs', and 78 Van
Diemens at Is. 6d. to Is. 9ad. for sheep's, and Is. lOd.
to Is. lOjd. for lambs'.

LEEDS, July 26. — We have no material change to
report in the foreign Wool trade this week. Tlie de-
mand continues brisk, and the amount of sales effected
has been considerable. Prices, too, ai'e buoyant, mtha
tendency upwards.

IMPORTS OF WOOL.—Quantity of Wool entered
at Hull for home consumption during the week
ending July 18 ; —

From Hamburg 072,903 lbs.

Aalborg...... 80 "

ZwoUe 1,620 "

Naples 5,000 "

Petersburgh 108,u47 "

Antwerp 4,<:00 "

Copenhagen 38,966 "

Palermo 1,680 "

Gallipoli 1,200 "

PRICES OF MANURES.
Subjoined are the present prices of several sorts of
Manure : —

Hunt's Bonc-dubt, 1 7s. per qr.
Hunt's Half-inch Bone, 15s.

per qr.
J, T. Hunt's Artilicial Guano,

01. per ton
Hunt's Stufl' Graves, 51. per ton
Rape Dust, 6^ to 6/. 10s. per ton
Rape Cake, 6f. per ton
Rags, 4/. to 4/. 10s. per ton
Graves, 61. 10s. per ton
Gypsum, at the waterside, 82s.

6d. per ton ; landed and

housed, 33s. to 42s. per ton,

according to quantity
Agricultural Salt, 34s. per ton
Carbon, 12s. per qr.
Humus, 14s. per qr.
Soap Ashes, 10s. per ton
Patent Disinfected JIanurc,

13s. 6d. per qr.
Highly Concentrated Manure,

30s. per qr.
Nitrate of Soda, 14s. 6d. to 15s.

per cwt.
Nitrate Potash (saltpetre), 26».

per cwt.
Petre Salt, 4s. per cwt.
Willey Dust, il. 4s. per ton
The Urate of the London Ma-
nure Company, 4/.4s. per ton
New Bristol Manure, 8s. per qr.
Hunt's new Fertilizer, IBs. 4d.

per qr.
Preparation for Turni)) Fly,

10s. 6d. per pakt., sufficient

for three acres

Chiefou, 2l3. per cwt.

Wol verhamptonCompost( Alex -
ander's), 12s. perqr., subject
to carriage to London, or
foi-fl-arded from Wolver-
hampton

Guano, 10/. 10s. per ton; 12g,
per cwt.

Potter's xVrtiflcial Guano, 12>.
per cwt.

Muriate of Ammonia, 246. per
cwt.

Muriate of Lime, 12s. per cwt.

Clarke's Compost, SI. iZs. 6d.
per hhd., sufficient for three
acres

Alkalies, 28s. and 42s. per cwt.

Soda Ash, 146. to 16s.

Chloride Lime, 28s. per cwt.

Sulphuric Acid, 2.id. per lb.

Sulphur for Destroying Werm
on Turnips, IGs. per cwt.

Sulphate Soda, 7s. 6d. per cwt.

The Liverpool Abattoir Com-
pany's Animalized Manuring
Powder, 21. 10s. per ton

Manure Powder, Ids. per qr.

Boast and Co.'s (Bow) Inor*
ganic Manures, from 0s. to
lis. per cwt., according to
crop

Boast's Guano, 8/. Os. per ton

Fotliergill's Gnwura, 35s. pel
ton,

Fothergill'sPliosphate of Lime^
14s. per cwt.

190

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

PRICES OF SHARES.

No. of
Shares .

6,800
9,500
10,000
16,000
6,610
36,000

20,0(10
66,000
88,0110
144,000
4,000
12,500
18,000
18,000

10,918
11,918

10,000

25,000
25,000
87,500
10,500

16,000

6,000

8,000
8,000
16,000
6,100
7,968
11,475
36,000

48,000

48,077

11,136

1,100

4125000/
54,450
41,250
46,200

38,000
7,000
13,000
18,000
13,000
80,000

10,000
10,000

10,000

15,000
15,000
22,500

10,256
3,136

12,208

80,000

72,000

2,600

0,600

40,000

7,000

1,000

1,500

50,000

7,500
6,700
6,700

Div.

per Ann.

cnsspsh

2/ 23 )) si
158 Od
■.i/l6bpsh

6s

8s Od
bl per ct

■21 per ct
2i7sCd ps
i0s;;dp.5.

lO^percl
10/perct

57s6d p c

71s6dpp
2/15spsl
13>2dps.

0^1 pr ct

lOZperct
lOZperct
lOiperct
2lOs psli
61 per ct
2s Od

51 pc-r ct

lO/per ct
\0l p ct
U 14s

3i5spsli

14s0d p s

4i7s6dps
37£Cdps

iUs psli
•3s 4d

6s

snos

U 15s Od
in3s4d

ill 5s
15s

U 17s0d

\5l per ct

inss

15/perct

lOipprct
lOZperct

Priceper
Share.

lOIAalOl

136 a. 6
84.J a 3^
24a a J

60 a n

IRON RAILWAYS.

Birmingharn & Derby Stock

Do. and Gloucester 100^ sh pd

Do. New, iss. 7J dis. .. 251 sh nil pd
Bristol and Exeter .... 1001 sh 70Z pd
Do. and Gloucester .... 501 sh SfU pd

Caledonian 501 sh 51 pd

Chester and Birkenhead ... 50Z sh pd

Chester and Holyhead 5,' pd

Chichester and Brighton 5? pd -.5 a :

Dublin and Cashel 502 sh 2^1 pd 5 a J

Eastern Counties 25J sh 23i pd

Ditto New 252 sh 8/ 6s 8d pd

Ditto Extension. .62 13s 4d sh 13s 4d pd

Eastern Union 502 sh 52 pd

Glasgow, Paisley & Ayrshire . .5028h pd
Edinburgh & Glasgow .... 502 sh pd

Ditto Qua'ter Shares 12J2 sh pd

Ditto Registered.. ,.^ 12^2 pd

Grand Junction 1002 sh pd

Ditto Half Shares 502 sh pd

Ditto Quarter Shares 262 sh pd

Great North of England .... 1002 sh pd

Ditto New 402 sh 52 pd

Great Western 1002 sh 752 pd

Ditto Half Shares 502 sh pd

Ditto Fifths 202 sh 122 pd

Harwich (Braithwaite). . . .202 sh 22 pd

Ditto (Locke) 2^2 pd

Hastings, Bye, and Tenderden . . . 252

sh 32 pd
Harrowgate and Knaresboro'. . ,

sh 32 pd

Hull and Selby 602sh pd

Do. Quarter Shares.... 12^2 sh fi2 pd
Lancaster and Carlisle, . , .502 sh 52 pd
Liverpool & Manchester. . . .1002 sh pd

Ditto Half Shares 502 sh pd

Ditto Quarter Shares .... 252 sh pd

London and Brighton 502 sh pd

Ditto Loan Notes 102 sh pd

London & Blackwall . . Av. 102 13s 4d
London & Greenwich .. Av. 122 15s 4d
Preferenceor Privilege.. Av. 182 )7s2d
Ditto and Guildford Junction 50/

sh 52 pd
London & Birmingham ....... Stock

Ditto New Quarter Shares 22 pd

Ditto New Thirds 322 sh 22 pd

London &; South West... Av. 412 6s lOd

Ditto Eighths 62 5s p sh 15s pd

London & Croydon .... Av. 1S2 158 9d

Do. Scrip, iss.502dis 102sli 102pd

Manchester & Leeds . . 1002 sh 702 pd

Ditto New Shares 502 sh 802 pd

Ditto Quarter Shares 22 pd

Manchester & Birming.. 702sh402pd

Ditto Extension 702 sh 72 pd

Midland Stock

Ditto Fifths 202 sh 22 pd

North British 2^2 pd

Norwich and Brandon. . . .2^1 sh 42 pd
Newcstl&DarlingtJunc...252sh2I2pd

North Midland 1002 sh pd

Do. ^Shares, iss. lOdis. ..502sh 402 pd
Ditto Thirds, iss. at 112 1.3s 4d dis
212 13s 4d sh pd
Northern & Eastern .... 502 sh 452 pd
Do. Scrip . . iss. 5 dis. . .502 sh 152 pd

Do. i Shares 122 lOs sh pd

Paris and Orleans 202 sh pd

Paris and Rouen 902 sli 202 pd

Preston & Wy re 502 sli

Ditto, Second Piefercnce, 1812

Rouen and Havre 202 sh 102 pd

Sheffield, Ashtou-under-Lyne, and

Manchester 1002 sh 82J2 pd

Ditto i Shores 62 pd

Sheffield and Rotherham . , 252 sh pd
Stockton and Darlington . . . 1002 sh pd

South Eastern and Dover Ave

rage 882 2s 4d
Ditto New, iss. 18 dis. . . 502 sli 42 pd

Trent Valley 202 sh 22 pd

Yarmouth and Norwich 202 sh 182 pd
York & North Midland .... 502 sh pd

Ditto Now Shares 252 sh 252 pd

Ditto Scnrboro' Branch 3J2 pd

<i

48J a f
I2i

7| a J
7| a ^
20i a f

'30a28^
27iai
38 a J
H6J a 6
3i pm.
18 a J

114 a 20

54je.new
102 a 1

II J a i
394 a sa

59^

243 a J
I6| a J
884ex-d.
88| a J

37 J a eh
12 a IlJ

28Jo.new
108 a 0
54* a i
2l| a j

15,000

15,000

7,500

20,000

5,000
8,000
1,000
20,000
4,000
40,000
60,000

40,000

20,000

4,000

10,000

10,000
10,000
21,500
10,000

20,000
20,000
10,000
60,000

4,000
10,000
15,000

2,000

10,000
6,000

11,000

12,000
8,500

10,000
1,500

20,000

10,000
16,000
5,051
20,000
11,500

1,872
3,548

10,000
43,174

10,000
10,000
5,709
6,000
10,000
10,000

10,000
5,000

2,700
20,000

8,000
10,000

20,000

5,387
14,000

4,000
10,000

82 per ct

62 per ct

62 per ct

52 per ct
52 per ct
62 per ct
62 per ct
62 per ct

82 per ct
82 per ct
62 per ct
21s pr sh

6s per sli
142 pr ct

62 per ct

62 per ct
102perct
I02perct
52 per ct

12

32 per ct

173 6d

102 per ct

JOINT STOCK BANKS.

Agricultural and Commercial of
Ireland 252 sh 102 pd

Australasia 402 sh pd

Ditto New 402 pd

British North American ..502sh 502pd

Ditto New 102 pd

Ceylon 252 sh 202 pd

County of Glouc.Bank...l002sh 252pd

Commercial of London 2002 pd

Colonial 1002 sh 252 pd

Ionian 252 sh pd

London and Westm. ..1002 sh 202 pd
London Joint Stock .... 502 sh 102 pd

Metropolitan 252 sh 7^/ pd

Provincial of Ireland .... 1002 sh 252 pd

Ditto New 102sh pd

National of Ireland 602 shl7^2 pd

National Provincial England 1002
sh 352 pd

Ditto New 202 sh 102 pd

Northamptonsh. Union ..252 sh 52 pd

Gloucestershire 502 sh 102 pd

West of England and South Wales

District 202 sh 12J2 pd

Wilts and Dorset 152 sh 7.i2 pd

Union of Australia 252 sh pd

Do. Do 2J2pd

Union of London 502 sh 102 pd

MINES.

Alten 152 sh 13i2 pd

Anglo Mexican, iss. 52 p. 1002 sh pd

Ditto Subscription 252 pd

AsturianAliningComp....202 sh 22 pd

Bolanos 1502 sh pd

Ditto Scrip

Brazilian Imp. iss. 52 p. 352 sh 212 pd
Do.Mocaubas&Cecaes United 252 sh pd
Do. St. John Del Rey .... 202 sh 152pd

Cobre Copper 402 pe

Copiapo 202 sh 132 pd

Columbian iss. 52 pri 552 sh pd

Ditto New 112shpd

General Mining 202 sh pd

Great Wheal Martha 52 sh 22 pd

Hibernian 602 sh 10J2 pd

Imp. Slate Company .... 102 sh 82 pd

Mexican 602 sh 592 pd

Mining Comp. of Ireland 252 sh 72 pd

10s p shlReal del Monte, registered Av
I 632 10s 6d
Ditto Ditto unregistered

42 per ct Ditto Red Debentures .... 782 153 pd

42 per ct'Ditto Black Ditto 712 63 3d pd

Ditto Red and Black

Rhymney Iron 502 sh pd

102 p sh Santiago de Cuba .... 252 sh 102 pd
} United Mexican, average 282 2s SJd

MISCELLANEOUS.

25f a 6i

2,i

l^i

124

12 4s
12 15s
02 per ct

62 per ct
52 per ct
52 per ct
42 per ct
52 per ct

52 per ct
&22bs.
4J per ct
12 8s and
2s 6d bs
102 &bs
12 10s.

Anglo Mexican Mint 102 sh pd

Australian Agricult. ... 1002 sh 302 pd
Australian Trust Comp.. 1002sh352pd
British Ameri. Land . . 502 sh 85^/ pd

Canada 1002 sh 82^2 pd

Upper Canada Bonds

Ditto

City Bonds

Comp. Copper Miners in England
1002 sh 2 pd

General Rever.& Invest... 1002sh pd
Equit. Reversionary .. 1002 sh 752 pd

Gen. Steam Navigat 152 sh 142 pd

Hudson's Bay Stock 1002 sh pd

London Commercial Sale Rooms
Av. 752

52 per ct London Reversionary Int. 502 sh

172 pd

London Wood Paving Company

102 sh 22 pd

Mexican & S. American . . 102 sh 72 pd

New Brunswick (Land) 752 pd

2 per ct New Zealand 252 pd

Ditto New 252 sh 12^2 pd

72 per ct Peninsular & Orien Steam. . 502 sh pd 634
Ditto 502 sh 402 pd

4J2ppr ct Reversionary Int. Soo .... 1002 sh pd 104
Roya IJMail Steam 602 pd 28

62 per ctjSoutli Anstralian 252 sh 20/ pd

Soutli Metropolitan Ceuietry.. 252 pd
Thames Tunnel 502 eIi pd

6s I Van Diemau's Land .... 1002sh 202 pd

26 ei-d.

lih

104
104

77

Printed b/ Joseph Rogerson, 84, Norfolk- street, Strand, London.

5J

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1

1

THE PAEMEE'S MAGAZi:^rE.

SEPTEMBER, 1844.

No. 3.— Vol. X.]

[Second Series.

PLATE 1.

IMPROVED ESSEX BOAR.

Tlie Boar represented in our first plate was bred by William Fisher Hobbs, Esq., of Marks Hall
Coggleshall, and is of his unproved Essex breed. It obtained a prize of 10 sovs. at the meetinrr of the
Royal Agricultural Society, held at Derljy, in July, 1S43, as the best Boar of the small breed. Mr.
nobb s breed of pigs have deseiTedly obtained a very high reputation.

PLATE IL

ORLANDO; WINNER OF THE Derby,

Orlando, a bay colt, was bred by Colonel Peel, in 1841, and is by Touchstone, out of Vulture bv Lan-
gar her dam Kite, by Bustard (son of Castrel), out of Olympia, by Sir Oliver, Scotilla, by Anvil
Vulture, the dam of Orlando, was bred by Mr. Allanson, in 1833, in whose colours she appeared for the
hrst two seasons of her career on the turf, and with very great success, winning every thing she started
lor Ijut the St. Leger and a two-year-old stake ; ia 1837 she became the jjroperty of Colonel Peel, who
matched her against Grey Momus for a thousand, one of the heaviest betting matches of late years and
in which we need scarcely add, the mare proved the lietter horse.

In 1S43 Orlando started fivetimes, and won four :-nie July Stakes, value clear, £580; match at

IZT f' ^'f ' '^''/"^^' ^'""^'f' f:''^?''-' ^^^'^^ '-^^ Goodwood, £125. In 1844 he has started five
times, and won hve :— the Tuesday s Riddlesworth, £1,400 ; stake at Newmarket, £300 ; do., £250 ; the
Derby, £4,2oO; the Dinner Produce, £850.— Total, £10,555.

ON THE USES AND ABUSES OF AGRI-
CULTURAL CHEMISTRY.

WITH SOME OBSERVATION.S ON THE PRACTI-
CAL KNOWLEPGE INDISPEN.SABLE TO THE
CARRYING OUT ANY GREAT IMPROVEMENT
ON LAND.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FAHMEIl'S MAGAZINE.

Sir,— Very much has within the last few years
been written and said on chemistry, as being indis-
pensable to the practical man, in order to prosper
and profitably pursue his caUing. Many doubt-
ful theories and some absurd speculations have
become almost current coin, and many of the best
practical men have been written as stupid, because
they have shown some unwillingness to acknow-
ledge mere theorists as the best masters of the
larming art ; perhaps the case is, Sir Roger like,

OLD SERIES.}

j something may be said on both sides. Be this as
it may, perhaps a few lines from one who has dab-
bled a little in chemistry, and at the same time, a
rather varied and extensive experience in farming
operations, may not be altogether without a value
in these inquiring and stirring times.

Chemistry, or at least a knowledge of its leading
principles, is of great use to the practical man.
This knowledge, however, he must possess within
himself; it is not very difficult of attainment by a
general reader, neither can this or any acquire-
ment Ije duly appreciated or profitable ' if we are
always to take it at second hand, that is, when Pro-
fessor Johnson, or any other professor, says so
and so.

By one school of theorists it is now contended
that a farmer has only to get his soil analyzed, and
thereby have its constitutional defects shown; go
o [No, 3.— VOL. XXL

192

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

he will know to a certainty what to cultivate, how
10 cultivate, and what help to apply as manure :
proceeding in this way, he is told, that he may be
quite confident as to results. This, Mr, Editor, is
what I call an abuse of chemistry ; and, in my
opinion, such doctrine coming, as we know, from
particular parties, has done some damage in the
practical world, which only sober writing can repair.
If the great operation in the field could be car-
ried on like commercial industry, under covered
roofs — if moisture, dryness, and tempera-
ture were completely at the command of a
farmer, then there may be correctness in the cer-
tain expectations above alluded to ; but, dependant
as we are, and siibservient to the alterations of the
weather, we can only make the best provision for
unavoidable contingencies ; after this is done, we
may fail.

Suppose two fields, situated in the same locality,
but di tiering most materially in degree of constituent
material, be cultivated exactly in the same way as to
preparation and manure, and sown for a hke crop,
it would depend very much on the character of the
season, whether there be any decisive or even per-
ceptive difference in the yield ; whether of grain,
grass, or bulbous roots; in fact, supposing the
season to have been temperate, neither remark-
able for heat, moisture, or dryness, the produce will
be near the same in every respect. But under
contrary circumstances of a dry season, the more
tenacious land will do best ; and with abundance
of moisture, that which is most loose and friable.
These, Mr. Editor, are facts known to practical
men : can any analysis provide for them ?

Draining is now a subject deservedly command-
ing mtich attention ; writers, however, recommend
their own practice for general adoption; each may
be correct according to his own particular circum-
elances. Scm.e say 18 feet, others 20 to 24, or
even 30 feet distance for drains. Last year I used
about 100,000 tiles in drains only 12 feet apart; the
land operated upon is tenacious soil on impervious
clay ; no water in it, only such as falls immediately
from above. My drains were cut 22 inches deep.
The tiles laid on soles of broken blue slate. I
carted off the whole of the clay, or subsoil, and
immediately on the tile put a covering eight inches
thick of coarse ashes. I am now draining some
land not quite so tenacious as in the instance
last noticed, with drains 15 feet apart, 24 inches
deep, and ashes not being convenient, I use tan-
ners' bark. The land in both cases is wanted for
permanent pasture for a dairy stock, and is highly
manured; it is, therefore, the more necessary to have
the surface immediately freed from all heavy rains.
My system I expect will be condemned by those
amateurs who say that tile drains with clay puddled
over them are the perfection of the art. At the
late meeting of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society,
a gentleman recommended jmddling clay over the
drains laid in clay land ; this system, he says, he
commenced in 1842. Now, I have been draining
clay and other soils for the last twenty years, and
have mostly employed from twenty to forty men in
these operations, or other work connected there-
with j and if experience has not been thrown away

in my case, puddhng is the most absurd practice I
ever saw recommended.

The reclamation of waste land, draining, and
other permanent improvements, in most cases, are
expensive proceedings, and many gentlemen anxi-
oiis for improvement on their own properties,
lightly take up the subject, by reading all the ac-
counts of trifling experiments made by parties who
can write \vith more plausibility than practice on
any farming operation, and nothing is more easy
than to make some gentlemen believe that great
improvements might be effected at a little cost.
This, however, has only been done as yet under very
pecuUar circumstances, and is of rare occurrence.

Knowledge derived from extensive and varied
practice, is indispensable to the satisfactory carry-
ing out every great agricultural undertaking. I
have known some gentlemen who can write and
detail what is really correct to be done, but at the
same time could not even direct properly to the
carrying out of their own ideas. It is not long
since I inspected part of a large property, the
owner of which has written a little useful book on
farming and improvement; but in the actual
direction of labour to carry out his own recom-
mendations or principles, I never saw one more at
fault, or more futile. This brought to my mind
the story of gentlemen in London giving lec-
tures on surgical operations, when at the same time
they themselves had never handled a fractured hmb.

The Royal Agricultural Society of England es-
tablished for the most beneficent of purposes, and
has already done a great — indeed, an incalculable
?mount of good, is, nevertheless, still deficient in
its practical direction. I am led to this observa-
tion from the fact of its offering a 20 sovereigns
premium for an account of the best method of re-
claiming heath land ; and this, without any refer-
ence to any description of heath land, when it is
well known that there are three sorts of
heath land, all differing most materially in their
character, and consequently in the management re-
quired to reclaim them, viz., hilly and stony
heaths, sandy heaths, peat-bog heaths.
I am, sir, yours respectfully,

A Lancashire Agricultukist.
Near Manchester.

ON GERMAN FARMING, AND M. VON
THAER'S SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURE.

BY CUTHBERT W. JOHNSON, ESQ., F.R.S.

In a preceding page of this valuable magazine
(vol. IX, p. 572), I have given a few notices of "The
Principles of Agriculture" of M. Von ITiaer. This
work, edited by Mr. Shaw and the author of this
paper, will, in a few days, appear for the first time
in an English dress ; to this translation will be pre-
fixed a biographical sketch of M. Von Thaer, from
whence we learn that that great and scientific far-
mer, to whom the agriculture of Germany is so
deeply indebted, was born at Celle, a neat little
Hanoverian town, in May, 1752. His biographer
had many materials for his task since Thaer

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

/

103

scribbled, it appears, his own memoirs in a rapid
and ingenuous sketch which he left amongst his
papers, and to these and a letter addressed to his
future wife, headed "My Life, and Confessions for
Philhpine," many little anecdotes and interesting
details are derived, relating to his days of boyhood.
Educated for the profession of medicine at the uni-
versity of Gottingen, he returned full of the ardour
of youth to his native town. His reception by the
old medical practitioners of Celle, as described by
himself, pretty closely resembled the sjjirit with
which former generations of farmers, would have
viewed the efforts of a scientific interloper to im-
prove the agriculture of the district they tenanted.
Von Thaer tells us that the physicians in Celle
were, in their practice, fifteen years behind their
brethren of Gottingen. They had heard, it is true,
of a new style of practice, but this they regarded
in fact as a mere chimera. When he ventured to
say a word or two, they did not understand him ;
when he appealed to even great authorities, they
were ignorant of them ; when he spoke of his own
practical experience, they, remembering his youth,
looked at him from head to foot, and sarcastically
remarked, " Well, well, experience will come in
time ; but " when by chance," he adds, " I ven-
tured to make some proposal, they turned round
and wondered where they should find room enough
in the church-yards to buiy my patients." The
genius of Von Thaer, however, finally bore down
all the obstacles which prejudice, envT-, and malice
could throw in his way ; he rose rapidly to the head
of his profession, became physician to the court of
Hanover, but never appears to have thoroughly re-
lished the practice of medicine, and this distaste
gradually increased ; he had always, too, a love of
plants; he therefore, soon after his marriage, built
a cottage in a garden near the tov\'n of Celle, and
began to cultivate his ground with a success that
increased his zeal for gardening and for agricul-
ture. " Thaer's flower garden," says his biogra-
pher, " soon became the admiration of the inhabi-
tants of Celle ; but when he began to lay out plan-
tations and orchards, to cultivate field crops and
vegetables, the surrounding farmers were astonished
at the science and the success he displayed in the
art of cultivation. But Thaer was not the man to
stop here. He now seriously contemplated the im-
provement of agriculture, purchased a considerable
tract of land, and began to farm wth the utmost
ardour. He had not yet, however, abandoned his
medical practice ; he was daily seen, it seems, when
coming home from his medical visits, running to
the plough, or occupying himself in his fields, or-
chards, or gardens. And this increasing devotion
to agriculture was not materially retarded by even
his appointment in 1796, as physician to George
HI. for Hanover.

In the year 1800, he published a new edition of
Bergen's work on the improvement of the breed of
cattle, and suggested many great improvements in
this important branch of agriculture. Von Thaer
early saw very clearly that it was of vast importance
to produce a better supply of winter food for the
use of Uve stock than Germany then yielded ; he
advocated— he practised, therefore, a system of
staU-feeding ; cultivated in improved modes clover.

carrots, cabbages, and c^her now common green
crops ; warmly defended against all assailants the
value of potatoes as the winter food of stock.

He now published an account of the agriculture
of England, a country he delighted to visit, and
from whence he obtained many of his agricultural
implements. He received also the thanks of the
English Board of Agriculture, and became known
as a distinguished agriculturist throughout Europe.
Hence his correspondence was sought, his works
were studied everywhere ; and yet, perhaps na-
turally, although laughably enough, the farmers
who were his immediate neighbours called him the
English farmer, and his farm a mere toy to play
with : still, in^^spite of his wise neighbours' opinions
of his farm, visitors of distinction soon flocked to
him from all parts, anxious to see his establish-
ments, and to visit the school he formed at Celle
for the study of agriculture.

In 1803, however, the French occupied Hanover,
and although even the French marshals respected
and protected Von Thaer, yet he felt his situation
insecure ; he reluctantly accepted, therefore, an in-
vitation from the great Prussian Minister, Prince
Hardenburg, to reside in Prussia. The induce-
ments held out were — 1, a grant of four hundred
acres of land near Berlin ; 2, his nomination as a
member of the academy of sciences ; 3, the protec-
tion and encouragement of his agricultural
academy : 4, entire liberty of the press as regarded
an agricultural journal which he published; 5,
liberty to practise as a physician ; 6, the appoint-
ment to be a Privy Counsellor.

Von Thaer at last accepted these tempting offers,
and setting out for Berlin in June, 1804, took pos-
session of the four hundred acres granted him by
the wisdom of the king, and immediately exchanged
it for the estate of Moglin, and added to it a large
farm called Konigshof, not far off. This property
is situated in the mittel mark, about five German
miles from Berlin, and was speedily brought by
the genius of Von Thaer into the highest state of
cultivation, although, in the early part of his resi-
dence at Moglin he had to encounter a series of
very untoward circumstances. For instance, the
rot nearly destroyed his flock of sheep — public ca-
lamities of all kinds devastated and nearly ruined
Prussia. His agricultural academy was erected in
1806, and was to have been opened in that year,
but the battle of Jena and its consequences ren-
dered this impossible. In 1807, however, it com-
menced with twenty pupils, a number which yearly
increased as long as Von Thaer lived to direct it.
He now became honourably known throughout the
continent — the sovereigns of Russia, Prussia,
Saxony, Hanover, Bavaria, and Wirtemberg, sent
him their orders of knighthood ; distinguished tra-
vellers from all parts of Europe visited him. His
efforts were productive of the greatest advantage to
the agriculture of the continent, for he not only
enlightened his countrymen by his example and
practice, but he published, in a variety of useful
works, the results of his agricultural observations.
It is with his system of agriculture— published in
four volumes — with which I am chiefly concerned
in this paper, for it is in it that Von Thaer has re-
corded the valuable agricultural observations made

o 2

194

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

during a long scientific career (he died in 1828, in
the 76th year of his age). In every section of that
work the farmer will find abundant materials for
reflection, for Von Tliaer looked at agriculture in
its true hght, and ^vith the eyes of science and of
practice. It is not difiicult to select from the de-
tails his great work affords, an abundance of mat-
ters interesting to the EngUsh farmer. Take, for in-
stance (and I dip almost at random), a portion only
of his obsers'ations "on Ploughing," vol. ii, p. 102
— where he says (and his observations are highly in-
teresting, if only viewed as bearing upon the ques-
tions of thick and thin sowing, to which the Eng-
lish farmer's attention has recently been so ably
directed by Mr. Hewitt Davis) —

" Every attentive observer must admit the mani-
fest superiority of deep over shallow soils. The
depth to which the roots of plants will penetrate
when they meet with a fertile soil, varies according
to the nature of these plants. There are some, the
roots of which have been traced to a depth of fif-
teen, twenty, and even thii'ty feet ; as, for example,
sainfoin and lucerne. Red clover will push its
roots to a depth of nearly three feet ; and several
other plants of common gro'wth probably penetrate
even to a greater depth, when, instead of encoun-
tering obstacles, they meet with a loose, fertile soil.
I have pulled carrots two feet and a half in length,
the tap root of which was probably another foot
long. But as land is chiefly devoted to the culti-
vation of various kinds of grain, its value ceases
to increase beyond the depth attained by the roots
of cereals ; at least to a similar extent.

"The unassisted eye will frequently enable us
to trace the roots of corn to a depth of eight inches ;
and, with the aid of a magnifying glass, we can
distinctly see that these I'oots have been broken ofl^,
and some portion of them still left in the ground.
I have myself seen corn grown on the shoulders of
"idges, with roots twelve inches long ; but I do
not think they would have attained this length
anywhere excepting on the shoulders of the ridges,
where the influence of the atmosphere is suflSciently
powerful to encourage their growth : they would
never have penetrated so far on a flat soil, even had
it been equally rich. The seed, when sown, is
usually placed about two inches below the surface
of the soil; ccnsequently, the roots which we can
see are six inches long, and it is more than pro-
bable that the fine extremities of their fibres extend
to a depth of at least twelve inches. Hence it ap-
pears that we may consider twelve inches to be the
proper average depth for a soil adapted to corn,
and admit it as a principle," that the plants penetrate
thus far, where they find the earth sufiiciently loose
and friable. AATiere the plants are sown very
closely to each other, their roots are still more dis-
posed to penetrate into the ground. AVherever we
have the opportunity of observing, we shall see
that the roots avoid each other, and put forth
their largest shoots in those places where they wll
not interfere with others : this is most perceptible
in plants growing in water, because we have more
opportunity of observing the direction of the roots
there. When, therefore, a plant is prevented by
those around it from extending its roots in a lateral
direction, it pushes them downwards, pronded

that instead of encountering obstacles, it meets
with a loose soil well impregnated with nutritive
matter. But if, on the contrary, the root encoun-
ters a hard or sterile substance, it extends itself
on all sides ; and, in this case, when the plants are
very close together, their roots form a thick and
knotty tissue, dispute with each other for room
and nutriment, the weakest give way before those
which possess more vigour, and, however advanced
in their vegetation, are weakened, or latterly perish.
The deeper a soil is, the nearer together can plants
be made to grow in it, without injuring each other ;
and the greater number of them will attain to per-
fection. No attentive observer can avoid remark-
ing the wide difference which exists between deep
and shallow soils. It appears in proportionate
degrees in soils of four, six, eight, or twelve inches
in depth; provided that such soils are equally im-
pregnated with humus throughout their whole
extent. If it were possible to conceive that each
grain of corn bears a plant, we ought to be able to
sow land having a layer of vegetable soil eight
inches in thickness twice as closely as we could one
Avhich had only four inches depth, and obtain a
double crop from it. In this manner the value of
the soil would be determined by a multiplication
of its surface by its depth.

"But we must not, however, venture to carry out
this principle to its fullest extent, because the in-
fluences of the atmosphere always give to extent of
surface an advantage over depth; in fact, if we take
a cubic foot of earth, and divide it into a space of
two square feet, the latter will always bear a greater
number of plants than could possibly grow on the
former. No impartial observer who has had any
experience in this matter, will, however, venture to
dispute the fact that de])th of land has a great in-
fluence over its value. In order not to exceed the
bounds of truth, I shall lay it down as a principle
that this value is increased eight per cent, by every
additional inch of depth which the soil acquires
from six to ten inches, and diminished in equal
proportion from six to three inches.

" But deep soils have likewise another advantage ;
they suffer much less from drought and from
moisture than those in which the layer of vege-
table earth is more shallow. AMren the weather
is wet, and a great deal of rain falls, the water
sinks into a loose soil, impregnated with humus as
low as the vegetable layer extends. Such a soil
absorbs a quantity of moisture proportionate to its
depth before it suffers any to return to the surface.
This is the reason why garden ground, which is
well tilled mth spade labour, never suffers from
excess of humidity even when the surface of
shallower soils would be drenched with moisture ; so
long as the water does not ebb back to the surface
of the soil, it does little or no harm to the plants.
Deep lands retain the moisture which they have
absorbed for a considerable period, and communi-
cate it to the surface when that becomes parched
and dried up. Nor is this advantage confined to
tlie extent to which the roots of the jjlants reach ;
I am well convinced of this from having noticed
that during a long period of dry weather, a crop of
cereals growing on land that had some years before
been dug up to a depth of three feet, suffered much

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

195

less than another which grew on a soil only a foot
and a half deep, although both these soils had re-
ceived exactly the same amount of cultivation and
preparation.

" Nor is this all : crops of grain growing on
deep soils suffer much less from sudden changes
of temperature, from drought, or from heat ; be-
cause their roots, being able to penetrate further,
are less subject to the action of these influences
than they would be if nearer to the surface. Du-
ring excessively hot or very dry weather, it is
evident that the plants are much fresher in deep
than in shallow soils ; in fact, they invariably
perish in the latter.

" Lastly, it has been everywhere remarked that
corn growing on deep soils is much less liable to
be laid, even when very luxuriant in vegetation ;
this is, doubtless, owing to the greater degree of
strength which the depth of the roots gives to the
lower part of the stalk, a strength which corn
growing on shallow soils never can attain, because
then the fresh shoots put forth by plants growing
closely together cannot find sufficient nutriment
to enable them to attain their full vigour. Nor
is it to cereals alone that this depth of soil is
beneficial; it is not less favourable to the culti-
vation of plants the roots of which penetrate
deeper into the soil, and seek their nourishment
beyond the level occupied by the roots of corn.
This is the reason why a deeper soil than is ab-
solutely necessary for the cultivation of cereals is
always desirable, although the value added by this
increase of depth does not increase so rapidly as
in the layer which suflBces for the roots of corn."*

* " The chemical effect of pulverizing and
breaking up a subsoil is certainly advantageous to
the plant in two ways, besides others with which
we are very likely at present unacquainted ; first,
it renders the soil penetrable to a much greater
depth by the roots or minute fibres of the plant,
and consequently renders more available any de-
composing matters or earthy ingredients which
that substratum may contain; and, secondly, it
renders the soil much more freely permeable by
the atmosphere, rendering in consequence a greatly
increased supply not only of oxygen gas to the
roots of the plants, but also yielding more moisture
not only from the soil, but from the atmospheric
air ; which moisture, let it be remembered by the
cultivator, is in all weathers as incessantly ab-
sorbing by the soil as it is imiversally contained
in the atmosphere, abounding most in the latter
in the very periods when it is most needed by the
plants, that is, in the warmest and driest weather.
It is, perhaps, needless to prove that the roots of
commonly cultivated plants will penetrate, under
favourable circumstances, a much greater depth
into the soil in search of moisture than they can,
from the resistance of the case-hardened subsoil,
commonly attain. Thus the roots of the wheat-
plant, in loose, deep soils, have been found to
descend to a depth of two or three feet, or even
more ; and it is evident that, if plants are princi-
pally sustained in dry weather by the atmospheric
aqueous vapour absorbed by the soil, that that
supply of water must be necessarily increased, by

I could readily lengthen these quotations from
M. Von Thaer's book, and I may at no distant
period resume the review ; but the portion I have
already given will afford the accomplished farmer
a fair specimen of the manner in which the great
German agriculturist has performed his valuable
labours.

APPLICATION OF CHEMISTRY TO AGRI-
CULTURE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE

Sir, — The jjerusal of a communication from "A
South Derbyshire Farmer," in your number for
this month, has afforded me very great pleasure.
It is exceedmgly gratifying to those who, from re-
flection, are convinced of the absolute necessity of
an acquaintance with the principles of chemistry
for successful farming, to see such sovmd views en-
tertained and promulgated. I am a manufacturing
chemist, and for a long time have paid much atten-
tion to the application of chemistry to agriculture.
On occasions, I have addressed meetings of farmers,
and have always endeavoured to impress upon their
minds the paramount importance of chemistry to
them ; in fact, I have felt no hesitation in asserting
that there is no occupation so completely a chemi-
cal one as farming.

Great men have laboured in this field, and the
greatest unquestionably is Liebig ; for perseverance
in study, and lucid simplicity in explanation, he is
unrivalled. Moreover, his great fundamental prin-
ciple— that by which he proves the dependence and

enabling the atmospheric vapour and gases, as well
as the roots of plants, to attain to a greater depth ;
for the interior of a well-pulverized soil, be it re-
membered, continues steadily to absorb this essen-
tial food of vegetables, even when the surface of
the earth is dr}'ing in the sun. And by facilitating
the admission of air to the soil another advantage
is obtained, that of increasing its temperature. The
earths are naturally bad conductors of heat, es-
pecially downwards ; thus it is well known that at
the siege of Gibraltar the red-hot balls employed
by the garrison were readily carried from the
furnaces to the batteries in wooden barrows, whose
bottoms were merely covered with earth. Davy
proved the superior rapidity with which a loose,
black soil was heated compared with a chalky soil,
by placing equal portions of each in the sunshine;
the first was heated in an hour from 65° to 88°,
while the chalk was only heated to 69'^ (Elem. of
Ayri. Chem. p. 178). This trial, however, must
not be regarded as absolutely conclusive, since
the surface of the black soils naturally increases
more rapidly in temperature when exposed to the
direct rays of the sun than those of a lighter
colour. A free access of air to all soils also adds
to their fertihty, by promoting the decomposition
of the excretory matters of plants, which otherwise
would remain for a longer period, to the annoyance
of plants of the same species." — Farmer's E^icy-
clopcedia.

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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the mutual support of animal and vegetable life on
each other — is so truly sublime, so completely in
accordance with, and exemplificatory of, that simple
and perfect system by which the Almighty and
aU-wise Creator governs the universe, that should
ever subsequent evidence compel us, on conviction,
to abandon his views as erroneous, all who have
attended to them will do so with sorrow.

Alluding to this truly great philosopher, your
able correspondent says — " According to Professor
Liebig, therefore, the saline constituents of plants
are not only essential, but they are almost, if not
altogether, theonlyessentialing edientsin manure."
Now, strictly speaking, such may be inferred from
Liebig's words ; but as I feel confident such really
is not his opinion, and as such a belief, if promul-
gated, will unquestionably tend to mislead men of
less intelligence than your correspondent, I wiU
venture to endeavour to interest your readers by a
few observations on manures, and the best mode of
application. Reflection has convinced me of the
importance of persuading farmers to consider the
culpable waste constantly in operation of the ma-
nures resulting from their farms ; and, without
wishing for a moment to detract from the great im-
portance of artificial manures, I venture to assert
that an intelligent farmer— -hy a proper economy
and application of the residuary matters from his
farm — may materially lessen the necessity of their
use. A very general feeling exists in the public
mind that, by the application of just principles to
agricultural pursuits, the soil of this country may
be rendered much more productive. That this great
national benefit may be brought about I have no
doubt, and I really and conscientiously beheve, in
a great measure, by a more eflScient application of
the residuary matters produced on every farm.
Plants are composed of carbon, the elements of
water (oxygen and hydrogen), certain saline
matters, and ammonia. There appears but little
doubt that the carbon is obtained from the decom-
position of the carbonic acid constantly produced
in the processes of animal respiration and combus-
tion. The supply of ammonia is, from the nature
of that compound, very uncertain ; and when it is
considered that every vegetable contains more or
less of it,' and that, although all the other compo-
nents be present in abundance and this invariably
essential one be deficient, the growth of the plant
will be retarded, it will be evident how absolutely
necessary it is that farmers should adopt every
possible plan to prevent the escape of this real
essence of fertility and subtle source of riches.

This is the most elFectually done by the system
of liquid manures j this is ob^aously the most cor-
rect mode of application. I know many very in-
telligent agriculturists who are fully convinced of
the great advantage of applying manures in this
state, but who say that there is a great deficiency
in mechanical means for its distribution. This may
be the case, and I believe is ; but I feel sure that —
as in all other cases — ingenuity would soon be found
to remedy the evil, when once the great advantages
of this mode of application become generally
understood. As I before said, every means should
be adopted by the farmer to fix and secure that
essence of fertility, ammonia; whereas, by the

system generally adopted, every facility is afforded
for its escape. The bulk of ammonia arising from
the excrements of animals is contained in the urine,
which, of course, should be preserved with the
most jealous care ; and yet how sadly this matter
is neglected ! Every stable, or other apart-
ment, should have the floor constructed so as
to aflford the best means for instant separation of
the urine from the litter, which should be conducted
by a gutter into a cask or cistern, in which has been
previously placed a weak solution of sulphuric
acid, or, if not easily obtainable, gypsum. By this
means the volatile salts are fixed. Dishes, con-
taining sulphuric acid, should be placed on shelves
in every stable, &c., to attract the ammonia always
largely dispersed in such apartments ; or gypsum
should be strewed on the floor.

The method of forming dung-heaps is sadly at
variance with just principles. They should always
be formed on an inclined plane, so as to permit
a free escape of all liquid matters, which should
be collected and heated in the same manner
as that produced in stables, &c. It is im-
possible to pay too much attention to this import-
ant subject; and the indifference generally mani-
fested is culpable in the extreme. It is taking this
view of the case, and knowing that, by the slovenly
system so very generally in use, all the volatile and
soluble matters are dissipated and lost, the illus-
trious Liebig expresses the opinion alluded to by
your intelhgent correspondent, " A South Derby-
shire Farmer."

About twelve months since, I visited a farmer of
great intelligence, a few miles from this, and pointed
out to him all these sad wastes ; among other
things, where, in a meadow in which twelve cows
were fed, mentioned the great impropriety of per-
mitting the droppings from the cows to remain on
the grass as they fell, by which reason no incon-
siderable portion of the field was thrown out of
use for two years ; for, of course, the space covered
grew nothing until the action of the weather had
completely dispersed the dung, and then the next
year, so excessive had been the fertilizing principle
to that one spot, that the grass grew so rank the
animals would not eat it. He adopted my sugges-
tion, which was that he should have all the drop-
pings collected daily, and well mixed up with a
large quantity of water, and in that state laid on
the meadow : by which means all the volatile and
soluble matters are dissolved and retained by the
water, and sink at once to the roots, again to per-
form their duties ; and the inorganic matters are
also returned in even proportions. My friend found
— as I assured him would be the case — such great
success attend this experiment, that he has carried
it out generally ; and in all cases uses as much
pains to prevent the loss of his liquid manures as
he would do his strong ale.

I consider it is conferring great benefit to far-
mers by giving them these suggestions, and en-
deavouring to convince them of the close connec-
tion which exists between chemistry and successful
farming.

No doubt guano and other artificial manures are
highly beneficial ; but farmers should begin to
know that, by a judicious use of the matters pro-

THE FAKMER'S MAGAZINE.

197

duced on their farms, the necessity for their use
may be considerably diminished.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
W. Maddick, Jun.
Manchester, August 17, 1844.

ON TREE PLANTING.
Article I.

It is difficult to advance any novel ideas upon the
subject of planting — a subject which has claimed and
exhausted the speculations of numerous writers,
theoretical and practical, during more than a cen-
tury. Were the evidence of results to be taken as de-
cisive, we might pretty safely appeal to Wotton, in
Surrey, the family estate of the descendants of the
celebrated Evelyn. There trees of noble dimen-
sions continue to flourish, evincing that the work
of planting was ably performed in the first instance,
and that nature had powerfully seconded the eflSbrts
of the planters. The chief work of this estimable
man is the " Sylva," a discourse on forest trees,
written to encourage planting, both as a matter of
national interest and of private speculation.

The remarks which will form the subject of the
series now commenced, will not, however, be res-
tricted to forest-trees; they will embrace general
principles andpractice, and although little of novelty
may appear, there is ample room to appeal to causes,
and to elucidate, by the aid of physical science, those
results which had formerly been observed only, but
never explained. That science itself is still in its
infancy ; the light indeed has dawned, and promises
to be eftulgent; but its discoveries are questioned,
its theories disputed, and men continue to cavil at
that which they can neither understand nor appre-
ciate. We must therefore be content to wait the
maturing hand of time, and be very cautious in
asserting, before we are fully qualified to prove.

Principles. These are of very great importance;
but it should appear that, till very lately, they have
been little thought of by nearly every person who has
attempted to raise plantations. It is, or ought to
be, the object of every one who plants at all,
whether a simple shrub, a fruit-tree, an orchard,
a park, or forest, to provide for the success and
speedier growth of that which he commits to the soil.
But take the kingdom throughout, look at the plan-
tations everywhere, and it will appear (with some gra-
tifying exceptions) as if the planter had thought it
quite sufficient to thrust a tree into the soil with
the least possible trouble, and then to leave it to the
fostering care of the elements.

There are two methods by which trees are planted,
and each has had its strenuous advocates. The
first is that commonly adopted, which economises
time and labour in the first instance, at the risk of
ver)' questionable results ; it consists in merely
digging holes large enough to admit the roots, put-
ting the trees inco theseholes, and then lea\ing them
to struggle on as best they can ; this method has
been contemptuously called the "hole-digging"

8y oLcTIl*

The second method, which, though practised by

some persons upon principles derived from science
or reflection, was little thought of by planters in
general. It appears that its staunchest supporter,
and first able advocate, was a gentleman of the name
of Withers, a solicitor at Holt, Norfolk, who, in 1827,
addressed " A Memoir on Planting" to the Society
for the Encouragement of Manufactures and Com-
merce. It implies, as essential to the success of
every plantation, and to some extent also, to every
individual tree, a thorough trenching and commi-
nution of the land. The following passage com-
prises the particulars of an early experiment which
led to the adoption of the trenching system.

In the year ISll, Mr. Withers planted a piece of
land of about five acres, covered with heath and
whins (furze-bushes) causing large holes to be dug,
in which Scotch firs and an assortment of deciduous
trees were planted. The firs succeeded pretty
well, but the other trees made no progress, and
although vacancies were yearly filled up, nearly all
the trees, with the exception of the Scotch fir, were
dead, or in a dying state. The ground was then
trenched throughout, and the vacancies filled up
with oak, ash, chesnut, elm, &c. ; and the surface
from that time was kept regularly hoed, and free
from weeds. The consequence of this treatment was,
that the deciduous trees made a growth so i-apid,
that Mr. Withers was enabled to clear away the
greater uart of the firs. One mountain-ash, which
had escaped in the first instance, gave a decided
proof of the advantages of trenching and cleaning
the land.

" This tree," he adds, " had barely kept alive, not
making more than two or three inches of wood in
a year ; but in the year following the treni:hing it
threw out two leading shoots, the smallest of which I
cut ofl:' at the Michaelmas following, when it
measured six feet two inches — the growth of one
year." (Mem. j9. 56.)

That trenching has a decided effect upon the
early estabhshment and gronlh of trees, experience
presents us with ample proof. I myself never lost
a tree which I planted in 1830 and 1831, when
every foot of land was trenched twenty inches, or
two feet deep, in field and garden, at whatever
season of autumn, winter, or early spring, the roots
were admitted to ground so finely comminuted.
But I lost the first apple I planted under most
favourable circumstances inOctober, 1841,butwhich
was inserted in a hole opened by the spade : it was
made in a border between two currant bushes, and
in front of a row of asparagus, which could not
therefore be disturbed. I also had occasion to
move, in Nov. last, some dozen of apple and
pear dwarfs — rather too large perhaps, but certainly
not much so ; and here, again, holes, and large
ones too, were made by a strong man, quite broad
and deep enough for the roots : this was done in an
orchard pasture, which could not be much dis-
turbed. Yet, although each individual tree was
moved, and reset within a quarter of an hour, and
was securely staked, enjojnng eveiy advantage of
the mild winter, and profuse rains of February and
March, scarcely a sign of life can now be perceived
in any one of them ! How are we to account for
these opposing facts ?

Liebig and other analytic chemists assert that

198

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

loams abound mth carbonate of potash and carbo-
nate of lime ; the ashes of '.vood oifer proofs de-
monstrative that a large quantity of the same salts
exist therein. There is not any potash in the air ;
it cannot, therefore, be introduced by the fohage.
But there is abundance in the earth ; therefore,
from the latter source must trees obtain that vast
quantity of vegetable alkali which is obtained from
their ashes. But potash can be, and is, dissolved
by rains ; and is, therefore, either taken up by the
roots of vegetables, or caiTied down into the sub-
soils.

^Vhen land is under crop, or grass, and a tree is
planted in a hole, the potash, in all probability,
exists in very diminished quantity ; but by deep
trenching, new soil is Ijrought into action, and a
blending intermixture of all the saline, earthy, and
putrescent constituents is eft'ected by tlie operation.
Trees, therefore, labour under great disadvantages
when their roots are forced into a hole, and sur-
rounded by the eftete and impoverished earth that
had been taken out from so small a space ; and we
need not be surprised if they make A'ery poor ad-
vances in a soil deprived of some essential ingre-
dients. Thus, in an orchard close at hand, I observe
trees that I know were ])lanted in holes aljove
twelve }'ears ago, which long remained torpid, and
are even now very insignificant.

It becomes, thei'efore, wretched economy to spare
labour at first; because, if a tree do not start off
well, it cannot prosper, unless, at some future time,
remedial measures be resorted to, which will de-
mand more labour and attention than could have
been exerted by a preliminary preparation of the
staple soil.

This pi elimhiary preparation com})rises the fol-
lowing rules, which experience appears to
justify :— -

PLA.NTING.

1 . If the plot be under grass or turf, lift it in
regailar turves and open trenches, at least eighteen
inches deep, turning all the turves reversed into
the bottom of the trench, over which a little salt or
saltpetre may be sprinkled. On these tun-es the
Boil of the next trench is to be placed, pulverising
and blending it minutely. Appropriate manure —
as bones, farm-yard muck, guano, &c. — may well
be introduced, subject, however, to the condition
indica'ed by the analysis of the earth.

2. If the latter be a good sound loam to the re-
quired depth, it should be comminuted equally ;
but at whatever depth a poor or indifferent subsoil
be met with, it ought to be retained at the bottom,
materials of melioration being incorporated before
the good Roil is deposited above it.

3. As the best season of planting is the autumn,
just after the fall of the leaf, the preparation of the
land ought to be made some weeks in advance, to
allow time for a proper settlement and consolida-
tion.

4. For small or isolated portions, adapted to one
or a few trees, a breadth of ground should be
trenched fully equal to the contemplated extent of
the roots.

5. In the preparation of a good garden, the
whole of the area ought thus to be laborated, and
measures adopted effectually to drain off stagnant

water. Into such soil any tree may be introduced
while the garden is fresh. After long cropping,
howevei-, although the earth will always retain
marks of its first trenching, and be pulverisable to
that depth with comparati\-e facility, yet its salts
are liable to exhaustion ; therefore, in planting a
tree, it will be prudent to retrench the site, and to
introduce a good quantity of maiden, turfy loam.
But, in a garden, trees are bad accessories : v\'e
would transfer them to the orchard, vv'ith the excep-
tion of those against the wall ; and these, indeed,
are liable to deteriorate, and are, as is easily proved,
restored to pristine vigour by a cautious and yet free
addition of sound new loam ; which fact yields a
proof that some principle had been abstracted from
the earth that common manure failed to supplv.

J. t.

REMARKS ON IRRIGATION.

BY GEORGE KING, CIVIL ENGINEER, SOUTHAM,
WARWICKSHIRE.

By way of prefacing the remarlcs I am about to sub-
mit, perhaps I ought to jioint out the benefits that
would arise to the agricultural community, by devising
means of employing the poor labourers in seasons of
distre.-s and scarcity of labour, v.hen thousands of
able-bodied men are consigned to the Union Work-
houses, being compelled to break up their little homes,
with all their comforts and social ties (for no fault of
their own), rendering them, whatever their previous
feeling may have been, discontented, broken- spirited,
despairng, and miserable. Proprietors and occupiers of
land, therefore, who will adopt means of employing the
poor at such seasons, and avert such an alternative, will
at least be entitled to the thanks if not the gratitude
of the labouring community. It is not my purpose,
however, in tliis instance, to dilate upon the advantages
of giving full employment to the labourer ; the landed
interest will, I trust, be sufficiently alive to its impor-
tance, where labour can be employed to a large profit.

It is, I believe, an acknowledged fact, that money
judiciously laid out in the improvement of land is more
certain of making a profitable return than money
invested in any other way ; still, a rack-renting tenant
is not the party who can be expected to invest money in
an improvement that would double the value of his
landlord's property, and, at the same time, render him
liable to a proportionate increase of rent upon his own
improvement. The landlord is the party whose great
interest it is, in all cases, to adopt improvements upon a
large and permanent scale (such for instance as irriga-
tion), and charge the tenant a rent proportionate to the
advantages he derives from it. The landlord thus
accomplishes the following objects : he effects a great
improvement upon his estates, which will pay him
abundant interest for his outlay ; lie increases his rent-
roll ; he decreases the burthens upon the land ; and he
confers a benefit upon the labourers, by finding them
employment. I trust the advantages thus briefly alluded
to will be sufficient to draw the attention of the pro-
prietors of land to the important subject of irrigation,
wlJch I shall endeavour to point out in the following
remarks.

The advantages to be derived from irrigation are nu-
merous : land which can be irrigated at pleasure never
requires manure, is always sure of growing a crop, nay,
in most instances, two crops in a season ; the grass is
genertilLy near a month earlier than other laud ; green

THE FABMER'S MAGAZINE.

199

food can be insured in the driest season ; and the land
being irrigated at pleasure, can be laid dry at pleasure,
thereby rendering it available either for mowing or
grazing. One acre of such land, in a season like the
present, would be worth ten acres where irrigation can-
not be applied. Nor do the advantages end here : mea-
dows where irrigation cannot or has not been applied,
generally absorb a great portion of the manure made
upon a farm, which would thereby be spared for some
other part of it ; nay, more, the irrigated meadows, by
growing so much more crop, would feed instead of rob
the rest of the farm, and the hay be always improved
in quality thereby, as the grass growing so rapidly
requires cutting young, and is therefore so much fuller of
saccharine matter, the real stamina of the hay for fatting
cattle and other purposes. It is also, I believe, an
acknowledged rule, that the better the food an animal
lives upon, the better the manure produced from it.
Another advantage to be derived from irrigated meadows
is, so much more bulk being grown, a less quantity of
ground is required for mowing, and upon a farm where
but little grass land exists, this must be a very great ad-
vantage.

The different modes of irrigation vary according to
circumstances, location, situation. Sec. In Gloucester-
shire, particularly about Bourton on the Water, where
the meadows are very flat, approximating to a dead
level, the plan adopted is to lay the meadow in beds,
somewhat similar to ridge and furrow, with a trench
along the ridge on a level from end to end, into which
the water is conveyed, and out of which it flows over
the sides of the bed into a trench along the furrow,
which carries it away at the opposite end of the meadow
to where it enters, not allowing the water to stagnate on
the land, which is in all cases injurious.

In other situations where the land is not so flat, the
water is conveyed to the upper part of the meadow, or
opposite side to the watercourse, towards which it is
artificially laid upon a gentle incline ; the water is car-
ried the whole width of the meadow by means of a
feeder, which empties itself by numerous openings into a
large trench, which overflows from end to end, covering
the entire surface of the meadow at once, imtil it falls
into the watercourse at the bottom. The best meadows
I have ever seen of this description are verging upon the
town of Brackley in Northamptonshiie belonging to the
Hon. Evelyn Pierpoint, of Evenly ; they have been
made about fifteen years, upon a spot which was pre-
viously very indifferent, if not bad land ; they are per-
haps as complete meadows of that kind as any in the
kingdom — eighty or ninety acres growing two crops of hay
in a season ; the first crop is got in May, the second the
latter end of July. Six weeks is sometimes sufficient
for a crop to grow- : they are a complete model, and
well worthy a visit from any one interested on the
subject.

Another plan, very much adopted in Wiltshire, Berk-
shire, Dorset, Devon, and indeed all the West of Eng-
land, where the land is more hilly, and natural meadows
more rare, is to convey the water along the sides of the
slopes adjoining the streams a considerable distance,
until it attains a great elevation, by means of a con-
ductor, or feeder, in which, in some instances, the
several farmers whose land it may happen to cross, have
a common right ; it is then spread over the slopes by
means of trenches cut along upon a level, the water flow-
ing from one trench to another until it arrives at
the bottom of the piece intended to be irrigated,
every succeeding trench spreading it equally
over the intervening space, whence it flows to
some other part, or, if not required for further irriga-
tion, into its old course. la Wiltshire particulariy,
where such immense flocks of sheep are kept, the farm^

ers are too much alive to the Importance of irrigation to
suffer a particle of available land to escape ; to them it
is invaluable for ewes and lambs in the spring, their
natural pastures being very late. There is an erroneous
opinion amongst some people that muddy water must be
the best for irrigation, on account of the sediment left,
as in the case of a flood ; now exactly the reverse of that
is the fact ; the water cannot be too clear : the sediment
adheres to and damages the herbage. In the Wiltshire
streams the vrater is clear as crystal.

Having pointed out the advantages to be derived from
irrigation, and the different modes of applying it, I will
endeavour to shew the numerous situations in which it
may be adopted to very great advantage ; indeed, I ima-
gine there is no land where water lies contiguous to it,
but may be easily irrigated by one means or other.

There is scarcely a nobleman's or gentleman's domain
but has its large ornamental sheet of water, embanked
perhaps considerably higher than the adjoining land, at
least in one direction ; consisting, in many instances, of
scores, nay, hundreds of acres, belonging to the same
gentleman, that might be irrigated by thesurplus water ;
thereby rendering what was only designed for ornament
infinitely more valuable than the space it covers if
drained and converted into land. Yet, strange to say,
there is not one instance in fifty where advantage is
taken of irrigating land so situated ; although the prin-
cipal expense — namely, collecting and raising the water
to a sufficient height — has been previously incurred, and
so little remains to be done but to reap the advantages
already possessed.

There are numerous situations where meadows ai'e
not irrigated naturally, yet where nature has formed the
ground for artificial irrigation, and where streams of
water might easily be carried to situations sufficiently
elevated to irrigate vast tracts to very great advantage ;
in some instances the land so situated perhaps belongs to
several individuals, but their combined interest in pro-
portion to the number of available acres each proprietor
poss3sses might remove the barrier lying in the way of
any one of them undertaking the work individually.

There are other situations where large tracts of land
are lying contiguous to a good stream of water, but too
elevated to be susceptible of irrigation by any of the
modes mentioned ; the only plan that appears to offer
itself in a simple form for land so situate, is to raise the
water to the required level. Should it be a running
stream of adequate power to work a Persian wheel, or a
Blair Drummond wheel, sufficient water for irrigation
might be raised to a height of several feet. (The
wheel at Blair Drummond, near Stirling, in Scotland,
is 28 feet in diameter and 10 feet broad, and makes
nearly four revolutions in a minute, in which it raises 40
hogsheads of water to a level of 17 feet.) Nor is it
irrigation alone to which a wheel of this description
could be made subservient. Should a gentleman wish to
have a sheet of water, or an artificial stream nearer to
his house, or in a more conspicuous or convenient situa-
tion than the water-course may happen to be, he may
accomplish his object by the simple action of this one
wheel ; and, having raised and stored the water, he may
at any time irrigate all his land lying below that level ;
and should his neighbour, whose lands may happen to
lie further dov>'n, wish to avail himself of the oppor-
tunity thus afforded, he may rent the privilege of irri-
gating (under certain restrictions) at so much per acre
irrigated.

Should the land be still too elevated to admit of the
adoption of this plan of irrigation, a force-pump of
sufficient size to throw the required quantity of water
to any height, might be worked by the common water-
wheel. Gentlemen's ornamental waters are peculiarly
adapted for this, ais the embankments iu many cases are

soo

THE FAKMER'S MAGAZINE.

sufficiently high for the application of an overshot wheel,
which is worked with so little water (I have seen an
overshot-wheel of eight-horse power worked by the
water which ran through a pipe of six inches bore). It
is not irrigation alone to which a water-power thus ob-
tained might be applied : the house, gardens, reservoirs,
fountains, ike, might be constantly supplied with water;
saw-mills to cut timber for the use of the estate, a
flour-mill, thrashing-machine, &c. &c., might be used in
turn, as occasion required.

Nor is it a water-power exclusively that could be
applied for such objects ; where that is not available,
a small steam-engine would be equally applicable.

In most cases irrigation is too expensive an operation
for a rack-renter of land to undertake, unless he has a
long lease, or other peculiar advantages in his holding ;
and even then it can be only partially done on perhaps
one isolated spot, as the land available for irrigation may
be in the occupation of different parties, whose lands
may intersect each other ; or it may happen to be all
occupied by one party, to the great disadvantage of the
estate. In every case, therefore, it is better for the
landlord to undertake the irrigation of all the available
land, and divide it in proportionate quantities, accord-
ing to tlje requirements of each farm, to the manifest
benefit of all. The farmers would willingly pay an
extra rent in proportion to the outlay of capital, or
rather to the benefit derived from it. Should the land
belong to different proprietors, each one might have the
right of drawing water from one common feeder, from
having borne his proportion of the expense of making
it ; the different meadows being so contrived as to be
irrigated or not, at pleasure.

The expense of irrigating a tract of land depends
much upon the natural facilities the situation may afford,
and upon the plan of carrying it into effect. On very
flat land doubtless the best plan is the Gloucestershire
one ; although rather expensive, it amply repays the
outlay ; and where a gentleman wishes to have as com-
plete a set of meadows as it is possible to make (near
his own house for instance) regardless of a little expense
in the first outlay, it is equally certain the plan of themea-
dows near Brackley is the most complete ; but it has
doubtless been effected at a considerable expense, as a
great portion of the ground required levelHng for that
particular plan ; it, however, possessed great advantages,
as no trenches are required. I do not suppose for a
moment, but that every pound expended in the first in-
stance has been amply repaid to the proprietor, by the
immense increase in the crops grown (perhaps in some
seasons near four tons of hay to an acre, from the two
mowings), as well as having the satisfaction of possess-
ing as fine meadows as any in England, near his own
house, brought there as if by magic. But there is no
doubt the most economic plan is the Wiltshire and West
of England one, for after the water is conducted to the
most elevated part, 1 do not suppose the cost of laying
it over a meadow is much more than a good dressing of
dung, and when once done, the trenches will stand good
for each succeeding season of irrigation, requiring only
a little cleaning out in the autumn, whei-e stoppages or
obstructions may have got into them ; and should a gen-
tleman dislike the appearance of trenches in the first in-
stance, it is very easy to turn back the turf and reduce
the sides, so as to make them invisible in glancing the
eye over the field : the soil produced from the trenches
would be valuable either for a compost, or for dressing
arable land. In meadows which i-un nearly level with a
fall one way, the trenches may be kept straight, and at
equal distances, so as to cut the ground into convenient
breadths for the operations of haymaking, such as getting
the hay into rows for turning, carrying, &c. ; but where
the laud is very uneven, the trenches must necessarily be

as crooked as the ground is uneven, in order to keep
them upon the level, and to convey the water equally
over an uneven surface. Trenches four to six inches
deep are quite sufficient to answer the purpose of irriga-
tion ; but meadows of this description will require cross
trenches, about two inches deeper than the floating
trenches, to draw off the stagnant water when the ground
is not irrigated, which of course will require stopping
below where they intersect the floating trenches when
the water is laid on.

The period for irrigation should commence as soon as
the grass is eaten off" in the autumn, say a fortnight or
three weeks after Michaelmas ; and should there not be
a sufficiency of water to iri-igate a whole meadow at
once, divide it into four portions, and let the water re-
main on one part at a time, about five days, after which
turn it on the next, and the next, alternately five days
each, when the first part will be ready again : the same
plan must be observed if there is ever so abundant a sup-
ply of water, or ever so many meadows under irrigation ;
the water must not be on the land more than five days
in twenty, and as tlie spring advances and the grass
grows, it ought not to remain on the land more than two
or three days at a time, or be on oftener than once a
fortnight. Great care must be taken to remove all the
stops, in order to drain off the stagnant water, the
trenches acting as drains when the meadow is not irri-
gated. Should any part be required for stocking, care
must be taken to have the ground thoroughly dry before
the stock is put in ; and when shut up again for mowing,
the water must be again put on.

Where a gentleman is fortunate enough to have a con-
siderable quantity of land under irrigation, I would re-
commend his employing a man as water conservator, who
should have the entire management of the irrigation,
changing the water from field as occasion required, see-
ing that it was properly drained off from other fields,
keeping the trenches clear, &c. ; and suppose he had the
management of a hundred acres, and received 15s. per
week for the twenty-six weeks employed at this work,
the cost would not exceed 4s. per acre ; and should any
of the water meadows be let out to tenants, each one
would have to pay his 4s. per acre for having his irriga-
tion attended to, witli the satisfaction of knowing that
it would not be improperly or imperfectly done, as
might be the case if left to his own men. I would wish
particularly to press the adoption of this plan, as, per-
haps, otherwise, different parties might all want the
water on the same days, and other days it might be
wasted ; and again, when a gentleman has been at the
expense of making water meadows, the inattention or
unskilfulness of an occupier might render the outlay
nugatory.

Much may be advanced by different parties about the
qualities of water for irrigation ; and where a gentleman
has any misgivings upon that subject, it might be
well for his own satisfaction to have it analyzed ; but I
have seen waters applied, apparently so directly opposite
in their qualities, that I am inclined to think (excepting
mineral waters) cases are very rare where meadows
would not be greatly benefited by irrigation. It may
be a question, where failures are said to have existed,
whether they might not arise from qualities contained in
the land, rather than in the water, as a greater variety
in its component parts is likely to exist ; but a much
more probable cause of failure may, perhaps, be attri-
butable to a want of thorough drainage, the land in that
case being more impelled to throw up water than absorb
it. It is equally probable that the water may have lain
upon the land in a stagnant state, or have been kept on
too long at a time, and not repeated at proper intervals.
I know an instance where a farmer trenched a patch of
land early in the spring of 1843, and laid on the water,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

201

in which state he suffered it to remain *z> weeks ; it was
then turned off, and left with the remaining part of the
field for mowing ; the result was (as might be expected
in such a wet cold season as that) the land was so chilled
it did not recover for some time, consequently he again
filled up the trenches and called it a failure.

In irrigated meadows the hay requires much more
making than upland hay, indeed, near double the time
is required in the field, otherwise the hay will be spoiled
by overheating (if not fired) : after it appears well made,
it would be best set up into large wincocks of about a
ton each, and let it remain some days before it is put
into the stack. George King.

—(See advertisement.)

EXPERIMENT ON WINTER FALLOW AND
SUBSOIL PLOUGHING MADE AT POL-
MAISE LAST WINTER.

This experiment was tried upon four fields, in all
about forty acres, consisting of drilled bean stubble, and
oat stubble. The method adopted was the following : —
Immediately after harvest, the fields were ploughed
across, in drills, by furrows from nine to ten inches deep,
laid together, and the subsoil plough passed once between
the drills seven or eight inches deep, the horses in the
subsoil plough being yoked one before the other, to
avoid treading on the ground subsoiled. During the dry
winter weather the drills were reversed, and the subsoil
ploughing between the drills was repeated as far as the
season would allow it to be overtaken. By this plan of
working, the ground was kept comparatively much
drier, and a much larger surface exposed to the action of
the atmosphere, than is attained by the common method
of winter ploughing, and the beneficial effects were evi-
dent even during the winter, from the ridges appearing
drier and white, long before ground ploughed in the
common way. Besides, the constant scouring by the
winter rains, so detrimental to clay and tilly ground,
was in a great measure avoided, and the spring work
rendered comparatively light and easy. At seed time,
the ridges wei'e ploughed up and down in the usual way
with a light furrow, which was also the seed furrow, of
course across the drills, but the drills were never har-
rowed down nor interfered with, the action of the plough
carrying forward enough of earth to fill up the hollows
in the drills, and no more was ploughed in a day than
could be sown and harrowed. In this way the rest of
the field was left in the drills, and therefore less likely
to be injured by the heavy rains of last spring. Part of
the ground was sown broadcast, and part drilled by a
single horse plough, with a drill barrow placed between
the stilts of the plough, the single horse plough crossing
the drills as in the broadcast, without being harrowed
down. By this method the ground was rendered so fine,
from not being so deeply ploughed, that the grass seeds
required only to be bush harrowed, and in this way the
spring labour was rendered very light indeed. Not-
withstanding the heavy rains of last spring, the barley
sowing was made very easy by this method of winter
fallowing, and the same advantages were obtained in the
turnip ground which had been similarly treated. The
crop of barley produced on the ground prepared as above,
was a third more in bulk than that after turnip ground
treated in the usual way — the one being thirty-five
threaves, and the other forty-eight threaves per acre.
The drilled barley and the broadcast were nearly the
same -if anything the drilled being more productive.

In the turnip field the following mode was adopted : —
The winter drills were once ploughed across, and after

being harrowed and rolled, the ground was immediately
drilled up for receiving the dung ; the rest of the field
remaining in the winter drills, and thereby not suflering
from the severe rains of last spring. A specimen of the
turnip may be seen in Messrs. Drummond's Museum.

It may be useful to mention, that by taking the mould
board of a common plough, it can be used as a subsoil
plough.

WINTER FALLOW.

Copy Extract of Letter, dated February, 1844,
FROM Professor Johnston, to William Murray,
Esa., of Polmaise : —

" I will state briefly the several ways in which laying
the land up in drills, and subsoiling, as you have done,
is likely to be beneficial : — 1 . The drilling up the land
dries it more thoroughly, by allowing the winds to act
upon it, and thus causing a larger amount of evapora-
tion. It will, in fact, almost double the surface, and in
an equal degree allow the escape of watery vapour, by
evaporation into the air. 2. The mode of subsoiling
between the drills, and allowing it to stand tlius some
time before the drills are split up, makes the action of
the subsoil plough more effectual. The land does not so
easily run together again, when not covered up imme-
diately, as in the ordinary method of subsoiling. The
air also penetrates more completely into the fissure
caused by the plough, and more effectually mellows and
changes the subsoil, so as to render it innoxious to the
roots of the plants. 3. The same good effect is produced
upon the upper soil which is left in drills — the surface
exposed to the air being nearly doubled ; the mellowing
effect of the winter's frost, and the other salutary influ-
ences of the air, which I need not specify, are expe-
rienced by it in double measure. These same influences
are prolonged, also, by the system of leaving the drills
untouched, when the land is ploughed across in sowing
the seed, the air being admitted everywhere into the
loosened soil while the plant is growing. 4. This mode
of laying up in drills will, no doubt, as you say, if any
frost come in winter at all, aid in the destruction of in-
sects of various kinds. 5. These benefits would follow
from the use of this method, on a soil not difficult to
drain, or which was already pretty well drained ; but
they will be greatly more observable when the land is
imperfectly drained ; when it is newly drained, and the
drains have not yet had time to act ; or on stiff soils in
which the water is inclined to linger long, even when
drains are put in at proper depths and in sufficient num-
bers ; especially in wet winters and springs, when heavy
clay or tilly lands lie wet for a length of time, will the
advantages of this method become more distinctly per-
ceptible. Whatever process, indeed, draws the water
from a large portion of the soil to a greater depth, or
lower level, will, in an equal degree, render the subsoil
wholesome and capable of sustaining and feeding the
roots of plants on any soil."

Mr. Bencraft's Patent Hames. — Our
esteemed townsman, Mr. Bencraft, who has ac-
quired no mean celebrity from the invention of his
])atent saddle, to the merits of which the highest
testimonials have been furnished, has done another
excellent service to the cause of humanity by the
construction of a patent hames, the value of which
consists in the facihty by which it will infaUibly

202

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

prevent the gallinpf and peeling of horses' shoulders,
a cause of suffering, perhaps, more common and
more distressing than any other to which this noble
animal is liable. No one who has witnessed — and
who has not ? —the tortures inflicted on coach and
van horses by being compelled to work with their
necks almost a complete wound, either from a na-
tural tenderness of the skin or the unequal pressure
of the collar, will fail to hail the appUcation of a
contrivance which, we imderstand, will both cure
the evil and jjrevent its recurrence. The following
are the terms in which the patent is spoken of in
the recently pubhshed annual report for 1844, of
the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals : — " Your committee, ever anxious to en-
courage and make known any inventions or im-
provements tending to lessen or prevent animal
suffering, or to afford increased power for the per-
formance of the labour required of that useful
animal, the horse, beg to state that they hav ; re-
cently had submitted to them, by Mr. Bencraft, of
Barnstaiile, in Devonshire, two improvements in
harness. One for the cure and prevention of galled
shoulders, has been successfully tried in Devon-
shire, on one of the horses working in the Laun-
ceston mail, between Barnstaple and Bideford, and
which had been constantly driven for twelve
months with its chest and shoulders much galled.
The other invention is in the construction of the
riding saddle, by which the horse is much relieved,
and enabled to perform his work with more ease
and greater freedom than with the common saddle.
Specimens of these inventions can be seen at the
society's office, and your committee beg to recom-
mend them to the notice of the friends of huma-
nity to animals, in the hope that they will try them,
and that, if approved, they will be generally pa-
tronized and adopted." We may add, that we have
seen the horse to M'hich reference is made, and
from the account we have received of his former
condition, the cure effected upon him is as com-
plete as it is extraordinary. — North Devon Journal.

COUNTRY BANKS ISSUES.

In pursuance of the Act 7th and 8th Victoria, cap, 32,
for a period of twelve weeks preceding the 27th April,
1844 :—

Banbury Old Bank, at Banbury and Shipston- £
on-Stour. — T. R. Cobb and R. Cobb 55,153

Banbury Bank, at Banbury and Woodstock. —

J. A. Gillett, H. Tawney, and E. Gillett . . 43,457

Basingstoke and Odiham Bank, at Basingstoke
and Odiham. — J. Cole, J. G. Seymour, J.
Brooks, G. Lamb, and W. H. Hillier 24,730

Bedford and Bedfordshire Bank, at Bedford. —

B. Trapp, R. Halfhead, and T. S. Trapp . . 8,515

Bradford Old Bank, at Bradford, Yorkshire. —

H. Harris, A. Harris, and W. M. Harris . . 12,676

Brecon Old Bank, at Brecon, Merthyr Tydvil,
Carmarthen, Llanelly, Haverfordwest, and
Cardigan. — John Parry de Winton, John
Jeffrey de Winton, John Jones, Samuel
Church, David Evans, and John Evans. . . . 68,271

Bridport Bank, at Bridport, Beaminster, Lyme
Regis, Chard, and Axminster, — Samuel Gun-
dry and Walter Eustace Gundry .,...,.... 24,698

Burlington and DrifiSeld Bank, at Burlington £

and Driffield.— E. Harding. C. Smith, W.

Faber, and R. T. Forster 12,745

Craven Bank, at Settle, Skipton, Keighley,

Gisborn, and divers otlisr places. — J. Birk-

beck, W. Alcock, H. Aleock, Thos. Birk-

beck, and Rachael Birkbeck 77,154

Hereford, Ross, and Archenfield Bank, and

Ross and Archenfield Bank, at Hereford and

Ross. — K. HoskinSjN. Morgan, andF. Hamp 27,625
Lincoln Bank, at Lincoln, Gainsborough,

Brigg, Market Raisen, Caistor, and Grimsby.

—A. Smith, R. Ellison, H. Smith, and the

Hon. A. L. Melville 100,342

Newark Bank, at Newark. — T. S. Godfrey and

Geo. Hutton 28,788

New Sarum Bank, at Salisbury. — II. Hetley,

C. W. Everett, R. Hetley, and W. Smith . . 15,659
Newbury Bank, at Newbury. — E. B. Bunny

and C. Slocock 36,787

Norwich Crown Bank, at Norwich, Loddon,

Thetford, Bungay, and Southwold. — Sir R.

J. Harvey, A. Hudson, I. Hudson, and R.

J.H.Harvey 45,120

Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Bank, at

Nottingham.- F. Hart and A. T. Fellows . . 10,866
Penzance Bank, at Penzance. — J, Batten, J.

Came, and P. Marrack 11 ,405

Reading Bank, at Reading and Maidendead. —

J. Stephens, C. Stephens, W. Blandy, and

C. Blandy 43,271

Royston Bank, at Royston. — J. G. Fordham,

H. Fordham, and F. N. Fordham 16,393

Salisbury Bank, at Salisbury and Fording-

bridge.— W. B. Brodie and C. G. Brodie . . 23,335
Shrewsbury and Market Drayton Bank, at

Market Drayton and Shrewsbury. — C. A,

Adams, C. Adams, and C. Warren 9,700

Southampton Town and County Bank, at

Southampton. — M. Maddison and R. Pearce 18,589
Southwell Bank, at Southwell, Mansfield, and

Alfreton.— W. Wylde and J. C. Wylde 14 ,744

Stone Bank, at Stone and Stoke-upon-Trent.

— Wm. Moore 9,154

FROM THE LONDON GAZETTE OF TUESDAY, AUG. 20.

Abingdon Bank, at Abingdon and Wantage. — £
H. Knapp 29,316

Andover Bank, at Andover. — W. II. Heath . . 17,751

Ashford Bank, at Ashford. — W. Jemmett and

V. Pomfret 11,849

Aylesbury Old Bank, at Aylesbury, Chesham,

and Thame.— W. Rickford and Z. D. Hunt 48,461

Aylsham Bank, at Aylsham. — R. and G.

Copeman 5,854

Bedford Bank, at Bedford.— T. Barnard 34,218

Birmingham Bank, at Birmingham. — Taylor,
Lloyd, and Co 38,816

Blandford Bank, at Blandford.— P. N. Bas-
tard, and W. C. Oak 9,723

Boston Bank, at Boston. — Gee, Gee, and

Wise 15,161

Bridgewater Bank, at Bridgewater. — E. and J.

Sealy 10,028

Brighton Union Bank, at Brighton. — Hall,

West, and Borrer 33,794

Buckingham Bank, at Buckingham, Stoney
Stratford, Winslow, and Brackley. — G. Par-
rot and T. Hearns 29,657

Buiy and Suffolk Bank, Sudbury Bank, and
Stowmarket Bank, at Bury St. Edmunds,
Mildenhall, Thetford, Sudbury, and other
places.— Oakes, Bevan, Moor, and Bevan 82,362

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

208

Cambi'idge and Cambridgeshire Bank, at Cam- H
bridge, St. Ives, Royston, Ely, and New-
market.—E., C. F., and G. E. Forster.... 49,916

Canterbury Bank, at Canterbury. — Hammond,

Plumtre, Furley, luton, and Furley 33,671

Colchester and Essex Bank, and Witham and
Essex Bank, at Colchester and Witham. —
Bawtree, Errington, Bawtree, and Haddock 33,308

Diss Bank, at Diss and Harling. — Oakes, Fin-

cham, Bevans, and Moor 10,65?

Doncaster Bank, at Doncastei. — Tew, Jack-
son, and Leatham 13,881

Hadleigh Bank, at Hadleigh, Suffolk. — Baw-
tree, Errington, and Bawtree 10,396

Kernel Hempstead Bank, atHemel Hempstead
and Watford.— W. Smith and E. F. Whit-
tingstall 23,842

Nuneaton Bank, at Nuneaton. — J. Craddock

and W. Bull 5,898

Oxford Bank, at Oxford.— J. and R, Morrell 14,2/7

Peterborough Bank, at Peterborough. — Simp-
son, White, and Simpson. ... r 12,832

Peterborough Bank and Oundle Bank, at
Peterborough, Oundle, and Thrapston. —
D. and C. F. Yorke 12,545

Thornbury Bank, at Thornbury. — Rolph,

Yates, and Parslow 10,026

Thrapston and Ketterring Bank, Northamp-
tonshire, at Thrapston and Kettering. — J.
Yorke and G. Eland 11,559

Union Bank, Cornwall, at Helston. — Vivian,

Grylis, and Kendall 17,003

Wallingford Bank, at Wallingford. — Wells,

Alluatt, and Clarke 17,064

West Riding Bank, Wakefield and Pontefract
Bank, at Wakefield and Pontefract. — E.
Tew, and W. H. Leatham 46,158

Winchester and Hampshire Bank, at Win-
chester.— Wickham, Mant, Bailey, and
Jessett 6,737

Wirksworth and Ashbourn Dei-bvshire Bank,

at Wirksworth.— P. and C. Ark'wright 37,602

Wisbech and Lincolnshire Bank, at Wisbech,
March, Chatteris, Whittlesea, and Holbeach
— Gurney and Co 59,713

FRIDAY, AUG. 23.

Burton, Uttoxeter, and Staffordshire Union

Bank, at Burton and Uttoxeter 60,701

Bradford Commercial Joint-stock Bank, at

Bradford 20,084

Whitehaven Bank, at Whitehaven and Wigton 32,081

Barnsley Bank, at Barnsley 9,563

Bradford Bank, at Bradford 49,292

Gloucester Bank, at Gloucester, Cheltenham,

Burford, Circenster, and other places 144,352

Cheltenham and Gloucestershire Bank, at Chel-
tenham and Tewkesbury 12,786

Coventry and Union Bank, at Coventry .... 16,251
Coventry and Warwickshire Bank, at Coventry 28,734
Cumberland Union Bank, at Workington,
Cockermouth, Maryport, Wigton, Penrith,

and Keswick 35,395

Carlisle City and District Bank, at Carlisle and

Cockermouth 19,972

Carlisle and Cumberland Bank, at Carlisle,

Wigton, and Appleby 25,696

Dudley and West Bromwich Bank, at Dudley

and West Bromwich 37,610

Derby and Derbyshire Bank, at Derby and

. ^^ 'per 20,093

East of England Bank, at Norwich, East Deer-

ham, Eye, Fakenham, and other places .... 25,025

Gloucestershire Bank, at Gloucester, Stroud, £
Newnham, Cheltenham, and other places .. 155,920

Herefordshire Bank, at Hereford, Leominster,

Evesham, and Hay 25.047

Halifax Joint-stock Bank, at Halifax 18J534

Huddersfield Bank, at Hudderslield, Holm-
firth, and Dewsbury 37,354

Wallsal Old Bank, at Wallsal. — Charles

Smith Forster, and John Forster 19,937

Fakenham Bank, at Fakenham and Holt. —

Gurney, Birkbeck, and Gurney 24,293

Yarmouth and Suffolk Bank, at Yarmouth,
Beccles, Lowestoft, Halesworth, and other
places. — Gurneys, Birkbeck, Turner, and
Brightwen 63,060

Kingsbridge Joint-stock Bank, at Kingsbridge 3,952

Worcester Bank, at Worcester. — Farley,

Lavender, Owen, and Gutch 15,463

Draining the Haarlem Lake. — The de-
termined industry, the phlegmatic perseverance, of
the inhabitants of the United States of Holland
have been exhibited to Europe by the laborious un-
dertakings which on every side of Holland present
themselves Nearly a seventh part of this land
has been rescued from the sea ; and wherever the
traveller is placed he recognises the marvellous
barriers that have been formed to prevent its en-
croachments : he sees an artificial coast, formed
from the granite rocks of Norway ; dykes, buttres-
ses, constructed with a solidity which seems to
promise to resist even time itself. Amongst the
objects which have long occupied the attention of
the Hollander has been the drainage of the Lake of
Haarlem, and the conversion of its bed into cultiva-
ted land ; various projects have, at various times,
been conceived, have been discussed, and, from
various reasons, abandoned. A plan, which was
considered feasible, was laid before the states-gene-
ral in April, 1838, and great hopes were entertained
that the idea which was suggested was one which
might easily be carried into execution. After,
however, due and careful deliberation it was aban-
doned, in consequence of the rejection of a bill
brought before the second chamber. At length
the government has undertaken the great work,
and every prospect is entertained of the successful
issue of the enterprise. A vote has been obtained
from the chamber of 4,533,333 dollars, but this
sum will be by no means adequate to the expendi-
ture that must necessarily be made. It has been
ascertfvined by calculations, founded upon the pro-
fit obtained by other drainages in Holland, that so
large an interest will be returned, that a loan of
much greater extent may very safely be advanced.
The Lake of Haarlem is calculated to be about 14
English miles in its greatest length, and as many in
breadth. About 70,000 acres are covered by it, and
it has been asserted that every year nearly 250 acres
are encroached upon. The depth of the water has
been A-ariously estimated, but it is supposed to be
upon an average, tweh'e feet and three-quarters, and
the mass about thirteen and three-quarter millions
of cubic roods of water. The manner in which it
has been decided to carry out the drainage is as
follows : — A channel is to be formed, 143 feet and

204

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

a half in width, supported on each side by an enor-
mous dyke ; into this is to be poured by means of
six steam-engines, each of 200-horse power, the
whole of the water contained in the Haarlem Meer,
and three sluices are to conduct it into the
German and Zuyder sea. It is expected that this
undertaking, commenced in May, 1S40, will be
completed in the course of the present year. It is
understood that it will be requisite that every
spring the action either of steam engines or water
mills should be called into action, to preserve the
rescuedlandfromfresh inundation. Of what Holland
is capable an idea may be formed from the recollec-
tion that large tracts of land are below the level of
the sea, and that not only the safety, but absolutely
the existence of the country is dependent upon the
dykes which have been at various times raised up.
Near the great dyke of the Helder is the Beemster
Polder, a tract of land of upwards of 8,000 acres,
over which the water roUed uninterruptedly, and
where now there exists a healthy, industrious
population of 3,000 souls. — Polytechnic Review.

EXPERIMENT ON THE GROWTH of WHEAT

— Having received a small quantity of wheat of very su-
perior quality from a gentleman recently returned from
Australia, I prepared a small piece of ground which had
produced a crop of potatoes in 1842, and in November
of that year I dibbled in 682 corns, putting only one
grain in each hole, planting it in rows nine inches apart,
and six inches from hole to hole ; the ground measixred
34 yards or the 1 -142nd part of an acre; the grains
planted weighed 18 drachms, which would amount to a
little less than lOlbs. to the acre, so that a bushel of
wheat would plant rather more than six acres. The
usual quantity sown in this neighbourhood varies from
18 to 20 gallons per acre. The wheat was put in with-
out any manure after the potatoes, and no kind of top-
dressiug or manure of any description was put upon the
land during the whole time of its growth. The season
of planting being rather late, and the weather a little un-
favourable, the plants looked weakly through the winter,
and compared with that growing in the adjacent fields,
and cultivated in the usual way, the appearance was very
unpromising, but as soon as the weather became more
genial and the spring advanced, it began to branch out
from the root in a very remarkable maimer, producing,
in many instances, from 18 to 25 luxuriant and healthy
stems, and, in oue case, to upwards of 40, and the
ground was nearly as much covered as that sown broad-
cast. On the 6th of April I had the ground carefully
measured, and upon counting the plants found that 33,
or about one in 20, had not vegetated, or that they had
perished during the winter ; this reduced the number to
649 ; these continued to flourish, came into ear in good
time, and ripened quite as soon as any wheat in the
neighbourhood. The produce on the 34 yards was a lit-
tle more than four gallons, exclusive of several of the
finest plants which I took up with the roots, for the pur-
pose of showing to persons interested in agricultural im •
provements ; one of these, presented to C. S. Dickens,
Esq., of Coolhurst, and exhibited by him at the conver-
sazione of the Marquis of Northampton to the Fellows
of the Royal Society, had 42 ears, all from a single grain.
The wheat was of the most excellent quality, and the
straw, which stood remarkably well, weighed 721bs., or
at the rate of 280 trusses to the acre. Taking the 34
yards as the H2nd part of an acre, the produce multi-

plied by 142, would amount to 71 bushels per acre.
Judging from what I have seen of this wheat, I think it
possesses an astonishing power of branching, and is pe-
culiarly adapted for cultivation in the manner described
above. N.B. — I have this year about an acre of the
same wheat, planted in precisely the same manner, and
believe it to be a new and most excellent variety, and in-
tend to dispose of the same for seed for the next year,
and after harvest to publish a further account of the ex-
periment, and to advertise it for sale. F. Allman,
Nurseryman. Horsham, July 23rd.

PATENT PEG THRASHING MACHINE.

One of these new thrashing machines has
lately been erected by Mr. TurnbuU, millwright,
Newport (patentee for certain districts in the coun-
ties of Fife, Forfar, and Perth), on the farm of
Wester Kinnear, occupied by Mr. James Millar,
and it may be interesting and useful to those who
have not seen those machines to know the principle
upon which they are constructed, and the manner
in which they do their work. The peg thrashing
machines difter from the common beater machine
in the construction of the cylinder or drum, as it is
commonly called. In the common mills, the corn
passes through two rollers, whose office it is to
hold it until the grain is separated from the straw,
by a succession of blows from beaters attached
to the revolving cylinder; the objection to this
method is, that the beaters strike the sheaves trans-
versely, causing considerable damage to the straw
by breaking and cutting it. Another objection
is, that with careless feeding much loss is occa-
sioned by ])ortions of the grain passing through
the rollers sideways, and, consequently, unthrashed.
In the patent peg thrashing machine these objec-
tions are completely set aside by the manner in
which the pegs or small beaters strike against the
grain; they do so, not transversely, as in the
former case, but in a line parallel to the direction
in which it is moving; to understand this properly,
it will be necessary to describe the parts of which
the cylinder consists. The cylinder is of smaller
diameter in the peg machine than in those com-
monly employed in this countr}^ Upon this cy-
linder fwhich is 5 feet long by 25^ inches in dia-
meter), four double rows of iron pegs are fixed,
amounting to 96 in number, and 2h inches each
in length ; these rows of pegs occupy a position
similar to the beaters of a common drum. The
cylinder of this machine revolves at double the
velocity of the common drums, and thrashes
down. The concave bedding under the cylinder
is thickly studded Avith pegs of the same size
as those in the cylinder ; they are, however, fixed
in with a slight obliquity, and run in rows at
right angles to those in the cylinder ; the distance
between the revolving pegs and the fixed ones is
half an inch. It will be seen by this arrangement
of the pegs that rollers are quite unnecessary, and
are consequently dispensed with. The revolving
pegs act both as rollers to draw in the corn, and
as beaters to thrash it out — the fixed pegs acting
as resisting points, upon which the grain in its
cotirse through the machine is alternately driven.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

206

The above is a rough description of this admirable
machine, and those who haA-e any intention
of making alterations in their thrashing ma-
chinery, or of erecting new thrashing mills,
ought, before doing so on the old principle,
to examine the claims of the patent peg thrasher —
which, there is no doubt, will, in course of time,
supersede those now in common use. Before con-
cluding this notice it may be satisfactory to state
that a number of farmers had lately, by Mr.
Millar's invitation, an opportunity of seeing the
peg thrasher in operation. On the occasion refer-
red to, five horses were employed to work the ma-
chine, and the quantity thrashed in two hours and
forty-seven minutes amounted to 20 quarters of
rye. The grain was remarkably well separated
from the straw, both in the thrashing and shaking,
very few ears indeed being left amongst the straw.
The capability of the machine to thrash short-
strawed corn was fully tested by dividing the ears
from the straw and putting them through by them-
selves, when they were found to be completely
thrashed. Another sheaf was put through the ma-
chine with the straw end first and was, as in the
former case, found free of grain. Some farmers
present stated, that they doubted if with rank or
wet corn the machine could be kept from warping.
This objection was immediately removed by Mr.
Turnbull pointed out a very ingenious contrivance
of his own, by which all warping or injury to the
macbiner)'- would be completely prevented. This
contrivance consists in having the cylinder-bedding
so constructed, that in cases of improper feeding,
or warping, it yields to a certain amount of pressure,
and allows the straw to pass out ; the amount of
pressure is indicated by weights hung on the levers
which move the bedding. The straw, after being
separated from the grain by this machine, has a
very ditFerent appearance from that thrashed in the
ordinary way ; it is delivered from the shakers
almost as unbroken as if it had been beaten out by
the flail, this arises, as was previously stated, from
the thrashing power being applied in a line of di-
, rection parallel to the straw, and not as in the com-
I mon mills transversely. It was the general opinion
I of those who witnessed the performance of the ma-
1 chine on the occasion alluded to, that the principle
I upon which it is constructed effects a saving of power
: to the extent of one-third, when compared with the
I old principle ; that the corn is cleaner thrashed, and
the straw less broken, both of which are important
considerations. The farmers of Fife must feel in-
debted to Mr. Millar for the enterprising manner
in which he has introduced into their county an
improvement likely to eflfect so great a saving in
one of the most important departments of agricul-
tural operations.

We elsewhere lay before our readers a report of
the proceedings at the meeting of the Council of
the Royal Agricultural Society on the seventh of
August, and at which the final settlement of all
matters relative to the meeting at Southampton
took place. The progress of the society in the
march of improvement cannot fail to be satisfac-

tory to the members. We notice with much satis-
faction that a motion by Earl Ducie, " That the
exhibitors of implements be permitted to read the
corrected proof of Mr. Parkes' report (prepared
for publication in the Journal) in the society's
rooms, but not to make extracts from it, or pub-
lish any part of it," was carried. We presume the
intention to be of aflfording the implement makers
an opportunity of making any suggestions to Mr,
Parkes, otherwise the permission can be of no
value; if such be the case, it will render the report
more important. We say this without in any mea-
sure detracting from the merits of Mr. Parkes,
which all are ready to admit, but upon the prin-
ciple that "many heads are better than one." We
cannot permit the labours of the council of the
society, and the numerous committees, to close,
without bearing our testimony to the unwearied
diligence and regular attention at all times displayed
by the worthy secretary of the society, Mr. Hudson.
Few are acquainted ^vith the mass of details which
are attendant on the conducting such a society,
whilst all will coincide in admiration of the ease and
affability with which, under frequently very trying
circumstances to the feelings, his temper is never
ruffled. We trust that conduct so meritorious ^vill
meet its just reward at the hands of a society now
so prosperous and influential.

Kiktle-Water Farmers' Club. — ^The spring
meeting and ploughing match of this club took
place at the Green, on Friday, the 8th ultimo.
The ploughing match came off in the Blythe
Holme of Hillhead ; and sixteen competitors en-
tered the lists, who all acquitted themselves in such
a manner as reflected great credit upon the plough-
ing capabilities of the district. The first prize of
30s. and the Highland Society's Medal was
awarded to William Ir^ang, servant to Lieutenant-
Colonel Graham of Mossknowe ; the second, 20s.,
to John Johnston, servant to Mr. Richardson,
BroomhiUs ; and the third, 10s., to John Davidson,
servant to Mr. Syme, Redkirk. The prize for the
best three quarters of potato oats exhibited, £2 and
the Highland Society's Medal, was awarded to Mr.
Andrew Rome, Faulding Cleugh, Cove, the suc-
cessful competitor in the same department
last year. The weight of the seed per im-
perial bushel was 46 lbs. ; produce per im-
perial acre, 48 bushels; grown moss, or black topped
land, Avith clay subsoil ; altitude, about 120 feet;
exposure, south ; grown on his own farm for the
last 20 years. Of the other competitors, Mr. Rome,
of Hillhead, showed three quarters, which weighed
per imperial bushel, 452 lbs. ; and Mr. Barker, of
Langshaw, the same quantity, which weighed 442
lbs. per imperial bushel. The members of the
club present at the meeting, and a few visitors,
partook of an excellent dinner purveyed in first-
rate style by the worthy hostess at the Green.
Norman Lockhart, of Tarbral, presided. The
remainder of the day was spent in agreeable and
profitable social intercourse. The autumn meeting
of the club was agreed to be held at Kirtle-Bridge.
— Dumfries Courier,

206

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.
METEOROLOGICAL DIARY,

Barometer. 1

Thermometer. 1

Wind and State.

Atmosphere.

Day. 8 a.m.j

10p.m.

Min.

Max. lOp.m.j

Direction.

Force.

8 a.m.

2 p. ra.

10 p. m.

July 22
23

in. cts.
30.20

in. ct;.
30.08

50

83

65

N.W. to S.E.

calm

fine

sun

fine

30.02

29.95

58

84

65

East

brisk

cloudy

fine

fine

24

29.94

30.0

61

84

65

variable

gentle

cloudy

fine

cloudy

25

30.0

29.98

58

81

64

W.W. by N.

gentle

haze

cloudy

cloudy

26

29.98

30.15

61

&7

60

N. West

lively

fine

sun

fine

27

30.17 1 30.21

54

75

61

N. West

gentle

fine

sun

fine

28

30.21 '' 30.10

54

78

64

W. by N.

variable

fine

sun

cloudy

29

30.05 i 30.0

58

70

59

W. by N.

lively

fine

sun

fine

30

29.88

29.57

51

63

58

W. by S.

brisk

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

31

29.62

29.76

57

65

57

W. by N.

brisk

cloudy

sun

fine

Aug. 1

2

2976

29.84

50

58

52

N. West

brisk

fine

cloudy

fine

29.88

29.56

48

67

56

N.W. to S.

gentle

fine

sun

fine

3

29.55

29.40

54

64

55

South

violent

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

4

29.67

29.86

54

70

57

N. West

gentle

fine

sun

fine

5

29.88

29.70

47

65

58

N. S.E. S.

gentle

fine

cloudy

cloudy

6

29.60

29.61

56

67

56

S. West

brisk

cloudy

sun

fine

7

29.65

29.70

53

65

56

W, by S.

brisk

fine

cloudy

fine

8

29.66 ' -29.77

55

67

55

West

brisk

fine

sun

fine

9

29.75 ' 29.73

50

68

53

West

gentle

fine

sun

cloudy

10

29.70 ■ 29.70

49

68

55

W. to X.

gentle

cloudy

sun

fine

11

29.80 ! 29.70

48

66

56

N. to S.W.

gentle

fine

cloudy

cloudy

12

29.47 • 29.64

57

66

58

N.S.W.N.W.

variable

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

13

29.66

29.60

56

61

55

S.W. to N.E.

variable

cloudy

cloudy

fine

14

29.43

29.50

53

57

53

S.W. N.W.

variable

cloudy

cloudy

fine

15

29.60

29.78

50

62

55

N. West

brisk

cloudy

cloudy

fine

16

29.60

29.80

49

67

5S

N.W.W.byS.

variable

fine

sun

cloudy

17

29.80

29.95

56

63

54

N. West

gentle

cloudy

cloudy

fine

18

30.05

30.17

50

64

52

N. West

li\'ely

fine

sun

fine

19

30.17

30.16

48

68

60

N. to W.

A'ariable

fine

sun

cloudy

20

29.97

29.84

1 ^^

60

57

W. by N.

variable

cloudy

sun

fine

21

29.84

29.80

52

66

56

N. West

1

brisk

fine

cloudy

cloudy

- =

ESTIM.A

lTed average.

Barometer.

Thermometer.

North and N. East Wine

Is. . 3f
. . . 4i

High. 1 Low.

High

. 1 Low. 1 A

lean.

days.

30.26 1 29.35

82

1 44 !

61

East to South
South and Sout
West to North

Real Average Temperature

of the period.

ti West. . .

... 8j

... 14^

High. 1 Low.

1 Mean

.

68.7 1 54.8

1 61$

Weather and Phenomena. — June 22, si)lendid weather — 23, misty — 24, do. early — 25, a shower
. — starchy clouds — 26, beautiful lively air — 27, very hot sun — 28, cloudy, thundery — 29, very beautiful —
30, totally overcast, some showers — 31, again showery. August 1, gvisty wind and showers — 2, very
fine at times — changeable — 3, fierce wind and scuds of rain — 4, beautiful — 5, fine harvest weather — 6,
brisk air after profuse rain — 7, showers, strong current — 8, l^risk \\dnd — fine day — 9, fine day, cloudy
evening — 10, beautiful — wheat harvest very forward — 11, showery — 12, changeable — 13, profuse rain —
14, rainy morning — 15, improved — 16, changeable — 17, gloomy morning, fine night — 18, very fine — 19,
fins till evening — 20, cloudy till noon, then very fine — 21, beautiful morning, cloudy evening.

Lunations. — July: First quarter, 22nd day, 9 h. 13 m. afternoon; full moon, 29th day, 2 h. 23 m.
afternoon. August: Last quarter, 6th day, 3 h. 26 m. morning; new moon, 14th day, 2 h. 32 m.
morning; first quarter, 21st day, 2 h. 16 m. morning.

Remarks referring to Agriculture. — July had produced the first rains since the third or
fourth week of March, but the intervals of fine weather brought the harvest so forward as to enable se-
veral farmers to cut the wheat before the end of the month. We have seen nothing of the kind since
1834, when the wheat was in sheaf by the r2th. August, as the table will prove, exhibited a great re-
duction of temperature ; its weather has been cool, \vindy, and very unsteady ; the rain, however, has been
exceedingly beneficial to the turnips, doing the corn no other injury than that of retarding its progress.
The third week has improved, and now Ave see no reason to doubt a rapid completion. Hitherto the
surface of the ground only ha^ been wetted — it is dust dry below,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

207

LEITERS FROM IRELAND.

BY THE EDITOR OF THE FIFTH AND SIXTH
EDITIONS OF "BAYLDON ON RENTS AND
TILLAGES," AND AUTHOR OF A TREATISE
ON MANURES AND GRASSES.

" Agiicultura nihil melius, nihil iiberius, nihil liouiino illjeio
Uignius." — Ciciro.

(The copyriyht of Ihene lettem in reserved by the
author.)

LETTER VI.

Cuunty of Kilkenny.

The county of Kilkenny lies on the south of
Queen's county, and extends in length nearly fifty
miles to the river Suine, which divides it from
Waterford, the average hreadth being about
twenty-five. 'ITie chief towns are Kilkenny, Thomas-
town, Knocktopher, Invistioge, ('alien, GoAvran,
Ballyragget, and Castle Comer, Freshford, New-
market, and Kells. It contains only one river, the
Nore, which joins the Barrow about New Ross,
and a canal runs nearly the whole length of the
county from New Ross by the river, and l)y Thomas-
town and Kilkennyto the main trunk at Phihps-town,
which leads from Dublin to the Shannon. It is
well situated for water conveyance, communicating
by this canal directly with Dublin and Waterford.
The town of Kilkenny is pleasantly situated on
high ground near the river Nore, surrounded Ijy a
fine country, and is the best provincial town I
have yet seen. It possesses a good hotel, and a
good main street, but the north entrance is much
too narrow through lanes of old Iniildings, and
encumbered with heaps of dung. The seat of the
Marquis of Ormonde adjoins the town, built in
the square form with towers and bastions, and is
surrounded with some fine old trees, especially of
the chesnut. In the neighbourhood of the town
there are some neat villas and residences.

I The general aspect of the country is hilly : on
the south, the high grounds with some exceptions
are cultivated over the top; in the middle
of the county and around Kilkenny, the sur-
face is more flat; on the north, high hills rise
on both sides of the county ; on the west, towards
'IHpperary, and on the east to Carlow and Wexford
These hills are divided into fields more than half-
way to the top, which is generally rocky, and pro-
ducing heath and gorse. In the valleys there is a
fair quantity of woods and plantations, but on the
liigher grounds there is a very great want, and at
liresent totally neglected. On the better grounds
thorn hedges ai'e found, on the infei'ior lands gorse
fences occur, and often earthern mounds stand
hare of any covering. On rocky grounds the
divisions are made of field stones loosely laid to-
gether ; but thorns and gorse would grow any-
where if properly planted and preserved. Thorns
gi-ow beautifully, as does everything I have seen
of the vegetable kind—a stunted or decaying
plant is nowhere found.

The land on such a varied surface difters con-
siderably in quahty, from rich loams in the low
grounds, to thin lands on the sides of the rocky
hills, being of a light grey colour, in some
ajjproaching to red. The best qualities occur
around Kilkenny and in the valley of Gowran, the
farms varying in size from the cottar holdings of
one or more acres uj) to several hundred, many
being occupied as grazing farms, and no cultivation
takes place. The rent varies from a few shillings
per acre to two pounds, and the taxes are much
the same, as in the counties already mentioned.
Only a part of any farm is cultivated — the rest lies
in pasture for an indefinite time, the equality being
good or bad, as chance directs. The poor old pas-
ture is j)loughed during winter with a light furrow
into narrow ridges, which in the spring are planted
with potatoes in the rudest form that can be con-
ceived. It is surprising that human awkwardness
ever could have descended so low. The only im-
plements used are a small shovel, with a long
bended shaft, for all purposes of digging and shovel-
ling, and a narrow iron tool awlshaped, about a foot
long andfour to sixincheswide, withanattachedfoot-
rest on the left side, and a low wooden shaft, with
which implement, men, women, andlads makeahole
in the ploughed ridge by pressing the tool forwards,
and then drop a potato set behind the tool, and carry
the sets in an apron fastened round the Avaist.
The intervals between the ridges arethen ploughed or
dug, and the earth thrown over the ridge and forms
the lazy-Ijed. When dung is found, it is spread on
the ridge before planting, or dug in, or applied as a
top dressing. Various similar methods are adopted
in planting this useful root, and the wonder is that
any form of a crop is obtained, or that the cul-
tivators can sustain life, putting rent out of
the question. The lazy-betls are most awkwardly
formed, crooked, serpentine, and cornered, a straight
line being unknown, or not heeded, llie wheat
is sown on very narrow ridges not exceeding
four or six feet, and on land of a dry quality ancl
seeming not to require that very narrow form.
Where the land is well dunged the crops are
good, but in most cases indifferent. The rotation
of cropping is varied between potatoes, oats, and
wheat ; the artificial grasses are sown only by some
of the leading cultivators. Mixed with the colts-
foot, dandelion, and the grounsel, they show a very
careless cultivation, even on the best managed lands
they woidd barely pass a judge's scrutiny. Barley
is little grown, lire headlands are much neglected,
and a neglected headland always shows a careless
and slovenly farmer. Fences are imiversally neg-
lected, excej)t in some very few places, and gates
there are none.

The paring and burning of land is adopted to a
considerable extent, and is quickly, but rather
roughly performed by the common whin and broom-
hoe going round on a circular piece of ground, which
is heaved into a standing form by the last stroke of
the foot and tool. The ashes are spread, and the
land dug up into lazy-beds, and planted with pota-
toes. In some cases, turnips are sown with one
furrow, though where the land is loamy, working
and mixing would be preferable, and then drilling
and hming in the common waj'.

P

208

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Limestone is so plentiful that every farmer may
have a kiln on his o'Wti farm, and accordingly a
rickety erection of dry stone walling is often seen
adjoining the house yards, rudely constructed and
in a state of dilapidation, as most other things are
fonnd. It is apphed in many parts of the county
in liberal quantities, but both the lime and the
land being in a rough state, the full benefits will
not be derived.

The roads are generally good, and maintained
from the county cess, few toll-gates occur, the rate-
boards illegible from fihh, the windows of the
house broken, and the gate maimed and defaced.

In most villages and at convenient distances
in the country, the constabulary police are sta-
tioned in twos, fours, or sixes, in good houses
and well-kept. The individual pay is £30 a year,
one-half ]iaid by government, and the other by the
county. The police are armed with a short musket,
and a bayonet stuck in the side belt. The appearance
of soldiers and policemen with their badges of dis-
tinction, show that there is something wrong in
human society that requires coercion — the removal
of the cause is the important consideration. Na-
tional schools are now almost everywhere planted,
both of the protestant and cathohc persuasion, with
salaries to the teachers of £10 and £15 a-year, and
as much as can be got from the scholars, id. or
Isd. weekly from each. The fixed salary is a
mere pittance, and only shows the niggardliness in
giving the people their due, and the recentness of
the gift, shows how long that inestimable Ijlessing
has been %vithheld.

Having occasion to call upon a leading cultiva-
tor in the northern part of the county, I found a
good steading of offices built at the tenant's ex-
pence on a lease of eighty years, and cultivation
going on in a better style; The proximity to a
village procured much dung to potato lands,
which were granted free to the villagers for the
dung. At this season, the mud- cabin lanes are im-
passable from heaps of dung in the street — young
and old, male and female, are engagedinthe bvxsiness
— vehiclesof every description are used, and dung is
in many places carried out in creels on the backs
of women. Osier crates areplaced on skeleton
carts ; the farm-yard dung is little better than dry
straw, and the whole load is tumbled down in tlie
field in one heap. The field was covered with
human beings in a phght not to be believed unless
seen. The housts and out grounds were in a
superior style, the dahlias and rhododendrons stood
in full and luxuriant blossom; when on approach-
ing the front door, there stood on each side of it,
an ornamental pillar, in the shape of shivering
half-naked women, whose appearance and costume
formedamost mournful contrastwiththebeauties and
the bounties of nature that surrounded them. These
villages areletbythe jn'oprietors in buildingareas,till
they have got colonies of j^aupers livinginmudhovels
built by themselves, and which form a disgrace on
the nation at large, and chiefly to the proprietors.
On that farm, a dairy of seventy cows is kept,
and from an accurately kept account the profits of
a cow is shown to be £3 13s. 6d. yearly, after de-
ducting all expenses, rent, and interest on capital.
Much butter is made in this and the adjoining coun-

ties, and sent by Waterford to the London market.
The small farmers pay rent mostly by the contin-
gencies of farming, as butter, poultry, and eggs ;
cheese is almost unknown ; little is made and very
bad, and many villages possess none even for the
travellers' use.

The general accommodation of the farmers con-
sists in a thatched dwelling-house, with an out-
house -or two — often no l^arn, so that the grain
must be thrashed in the open air. The better
sort are slated and white-washed. The landlords
give little or no assistance, and hence the wretched
houses and hovels that are seen erected by persons
who have neither the means nor ideas. In the
sunken cellars in the towns and villages, and in
the country cottages, the pig is domiciled with the
family, and is, in many instances, the only article
for disposal. In some rare instances a neat village
is found, where the houses are under the imme-
diate care of the proprietor, and such a one as
takes delight in the good he can do his fellow-
creatures; but such are few and far between. Some
distilleries and other specidations generally, fail in
this country, probably from being erected and
conducted on a scale too large for the circum-
stances of the country to support ; and, in many
cases, they have been treated \vith a bullet in this
world, and damnation in that to come. The wages
of country labourers are generally 8d. a day for
men, and 5d. for women ; and in hay and corn
harvest victuals are added, consisting of potatoes,
thrice a day, with sour millc. Such fare needs no
comment.

Some isolated attempts are made at Deanston
draining, which had much better be let alone, as
the plan and execution cannot fail to bring dis-
grace on the system. Draining is a necessary part
of farming, but if not followed by the suitable pro-
cesses, the effects will be almost wholly lost.

The expense of travelUng and of living differs
nothing from the counties before-mentioned ; in
most hotels in the provincial towns much careless-
ness prevails.

The evils of the past and present state of Ire-
land, and the causes that are said to produce them,
are sufficient to fill a book of lamentations, and to
form a Jeremiad as large as any that has yet been
written ; but as no single specific reason has yet
been assigned, it is evident that no specific remedy
can be applied. A radical organic malady must
exist in the whole framework of society ; but how
that malady is to be probed and cin-ed forms a
question of difficult, if not impossible solution.
The want of political power and priA'ileges on the
]5art of the Catholic ])opulation, is held forth by
that body as the whole and sole cause. We are
governed, say they, by penal statutes — by soldiers
and policemen — by garrisons, cannon, and loop-
holed ramparts ; but the existence of these things
shows that a necessity for them must exist ; and so
long as the world is governed by might, and by a
stronger party ruling the weaker, so long must
conditions be imposed to secure the superiority
obtained. The Catholics did the same thing them-
selves when in power, and must not grumble now.
Property is safe ; their church is unmolested, and

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

209

the support of it by themselves is a condition im-
posed by the stronger side on the weaker, and not
only on them but on all other religionists who
difl'er from the dominant party. The hardship of
contributing to the support of a religion ditl'erent
from our own is no grievance at all ; the posses-
sion of the earth is made an article of commerce
on "certain" conditions, and to these conditions the
possessor must submit, or demit the right. It is
a burden laid on by the dominant party, and to
which the weaker must submit. But it is impos-
sible to see how a Catholic or Protestant creed, or
any other creed can prevent the prosecution of
manufactin-es or the cultivation of the earth — no
1>clief or dogma can fetter the mind or manacle the
liands. The present question of a repeal of the
union attracts but little general attention; a
local legislation would do no good ; the country
was no l)etter when they possessed it. On the
contrary, the tighter the cords of union are drawn
lictween a rich and poor country, the benefit of
both, Init chiefly the latter, is proportionately pro-
moted. The poor one produces, and the rich one
buys; capital gets mixed and distributed, and
makes society stronger.

On taking a view of the country, a most striking
scene is presented of carelessness and neglect — of in-
ertness and inaction ; and it is almost impossible not
to draw the conclusion, that there must be a large
■^'ap — a wide "hiatus" in the genius of the people
themselves, and, as in similar cases, the blame is
thrown upon other shoulders. During the late
\\'ars, when Britain advanced so rapidly in wealth
and civilization, Ireland would appear to have stood
still ; capital did not flow into the country and get
diffused, or it got into too few hands for general
use. It is said that the country is improving \vithin
two or three years past, and some say within six
or eight years ; but we are never told what they
were doing within the last half century, and why
improvements were so long delayed. If the country
be much improved from its former state, dreadful
must that state have been. The inhabitants have
short and easy access to any part of Britain to see
every alteration ; the non-adoption miist rest \\ath
themselves, and even now, any improvement is
introduced in the first rurle form instead of the more
improved one, and thus have to tread the ground
that has been gone over before them. The ores
and minerals of the country have never been
wrought, and the price of exports has not been
derived. There is no Leeds — no Sheftield — no
Birmingham ; there is no Manchester — no Liver-
pool to consume the produce of the land. The
towns of any note are about four in number, and
their commerce is as dull as agriculture is stag-
nant. Instead of being actively employed, the
people are seen in groups begging in every public
place, and lounging from morning till night on the
stepping-stones to the doors of the Catholic chapels,
which are open to their prayers. The spiritual
wants seem to have an ample provision, while the
physical may be below that of the Roman slaves or
the Grecian Helots. The depression is so very
great as to kill every energy in the lower orders ;
no road is open by which to better their condition
by their own exertions, and no person mil ever

have the spirit of a man who lives in dependance
on another. If this life be a vehicle to another
and a better, there can he no reason that the dili-
gence may not pass along the road as smooth as
possible, and easy to every passenger.

The proprietors of the soil are directly chargeable
with the existence of the mud cabins, and with the
small holdings of land in quantities of a few acres.
Every house should be built at the proprietor's
expense, or by persons of sufficient means, and
under the proprietor's direction. But in order to
raise money by any means the ground is let for
building, and hovels are erected in town and
country that reflect an indelible disgrace on the
whole nation. Much delicacy is at present mani-
fested about consuming sugar produced by slave
labour, but much less delicate is he who draws rent
from the cabins of the village of Swords, in the
county of DubUn, and of Arklow, in the county of
Wicklow, and many more of a similar nature. The
minute division of landed property in the hands of
proprietors or tenants is a most pernicious system,
for neither the one nor the other is able to improve
the property, but are wholly dependant on spon-
taneous production. No farm should consist of
fewer acres than fifty ; for the farmer's share of the
produce from that quantity is sufliciently small to
rear a family in comfort, and smaller quantities
are insufficient for that purpose, if the possession
were wholly free These two causes have produced
much of the misery of Ireland — have placed dung
creels on the backs of women, and have aftbrded
potatoes and soiu' milk to feed the labourers. And
after the people themselves have produced, and
continue this state of things, they I'un to the
British parliament, and ask something to be done ;
that Ireland can go on no longer — but " that
something" to l)e done is never placed on them-
seh'es where it should be, but on other quarters,
and even in ignorance of what it consists. It is
curious to think what can be expected from parlia-
ment.

It does not appear that the want of leases forms
so great a detriment as is imagined, having been
granted formerly for long periods ; sometimes for
ever, and called into existence a much calumniated
class called " middlemen," who were originally
persons of capability, and able to give a needy
landowner a A-alue for an extent of land which was
afterwards re-let at a profit. Some of these profits
amount to £'10,000 yearly. The lease had con-
tained no clause against sub-letting, which are high
in rent and racked to the utmost. It is human
natvu'e, whether a person be a first man, a middle-
man, or a third man, to get all he can for himself
at the least expence, and things are mostly as well
under middlemen as on the estates of noblemen.
No assistance is given by either in the erection of
houses, or in any improvements whatever ; a few
of the most lil)eral only pay the one-half of the
cost of new farm buildings of an improved con-
struction. In such a state of unwilhngness or
m ability, it only remains that a lease be given of
long duration to persons of capital, wlio will exe-
cute the improvements, and that the lease be sale-
able and transferable as houses or puljlic shares, a
fair portion of the first fruits being reserved

P 2

^0

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

to the proprietor. Leases are not now granted
under twenty- one years, and are further ad-
vanced in that point than many jjlaces in
England. It would he useless to give a lease to
persons of insufficient means. Thence circum-
stances must always regulate the adoption ; hut
in proper cases, the want of security forms an in-
separable barrier to agricultural impro^-ements.

A commission appointed by Government is at
present perambulating Ireland, making inquiries,
and taking evidence on the difterent modes of tenure
of land, the advantages and disadvantages of each-
Such in((uiries most generally do no good, for they
strike on objects, and enter on subjects which are
imfit for exposure or discussion. In the ])resent
case they would reveal a system of iniquity and
oppression, seldom, or perhaps never equalled,
which never should have existed, and wliich might
have been demolished before this time. It is diffi-
cult to see what purpose such an inquiry can efl'ect
■ — for if the axiom be held good, that proj)erty is
inviolal^le, and that every person is at liberty to do
as he pleases it is evident that no interference
can take place. But it remains to be seen if the
tenure of land may not soon become an olyect of
legislation, and a compulsory act to enforce the
liberal use of it. In this case we must go beyond
statute law and common law, and rest on the law
of nature and of God, and discover the duties of
property as well as its rights, the latter Ijeing fully
settled, the former only hinted at as existing, Imt
never defined. When any person converts his
property into land, he takes it with all the l)urdens
that natm'e has imposed upon it — the employ-
ment, maintenance, and education of the jieople —
the proper effecting of these objects, along with
the rights, forms the grand question for solution.
Their not being adopted, does not argue they are
unknown, but that the opposing power is too strong.
In attaining this end, every kind of knowledge
will be useful, and the commission may not wholly
fall to the gi'ound.

No greater proof of the state of civilization that
a people has attained can be adduced, than the degree
of courtesy and respect that is paid to females in the
higher classes of society, and the state in which
they appear among the lower orders. Their frame
is less durable, and their minds more susceptible
of impression than those of men, and hence,
degradation appears upon them in a much greater
degree. Whenever the female attains her proper
place, the manners of society quickly alter, " for
we had been brutes without them." In Ireland,
the quantity of out-door work is much too great —
it ought to be e\'erywhere abolished, for it never
fails to vitiate the character, and debase every finer
feeling, as not only the quantity, but the quality of
the work has a great and lasting effect both on
body and mind. He who draws rent or tithe from
land manured with dung, carried out on the backs
of women, must be possessed -vvith feelings of no
common kind — a savage must Lave brought him
forth, and a Hyrcanian tiger must have given
him suck. As the poet says, he must be

" God's image rudely etched on base alloy."
In Ireland the Ijeauties of nature are thoroiighly

defaced by the degredation of the moral system,
which has completely inverted the order of nature,
and has i)laced the human species, the image of the
creator of the world at the bottom, instead of the
top of the creation, where raised by the great
Author of their l^eing. The cherry-tree stands
decked with the most gaudy blossom on the turf
wall of a garden adjoining a cottage — the " cytisus
laburnum " hangs its pendulous flowers in grace-
ful beauty over the dung pit, the children, and the
pig ; the " syringa," with its white and lilac blos-
som, aids tlie beautiful scene, while the wife stands
in the door of the smoky and turf-walled cottage,
dirty, half naked and dishrevelled, and instead of
enlivening the surrounding a])pearance, mars and
destroys the whole effect, and leaves a most
mournful impression on the mind of the traveller, as
he sojourns over the miserable scene. In many
extensive tracts of country, the mansion of a
nobleman and proprietor stands like an oasis in an
African desert ; the grey stone wall is finely man-
tled over witli a luxuriant growth of ivy ; the aged
trees spread a beautiful umbrage ; within the wall
everything is thoroughly right, and without it every
thing is most frightfully wrong. Nowhere, per-
haps, in the known world, does the breadth of a
few feet show a greater difference; inside there
walk grandeur and wealth ; outside there pass
along hunger and destitution, bare feet and tat-
tered garments, rags tiying in the wind, and ready
to bid adieu to each other. The contrast is most
remarkably striking.

The union poor-houses are now being erected
in many parts of Ireland ; and if the treatment of
the inmates correspond with the exterior of the
l)uildings, they must be very comfortable asylums.
The erections are splendid ; but are generally un-
derstood to be experiments at how low a rate
the poor peo])le can be kept ; and how cheaply
a human being can be maintained. Great
objections are made to them in Ireland, as
being contrary to the genius of the people ; but it
is never stated " what' would be suitable to the
genius of the people; they want, it is said, such a
system as will enable laljour to be abundant, and
to purchase its due reward ; but all nations have
wanted such a system from the earliest records of
history, and want it at this da}' ; no human legisla-
tion can produce it ; but time and circumstances
only so far as it has been attained. There being
no A'agrant act to compel an asyliun in the work-
house, beggar)' in Ireland will not be diminished,
as there is a strong repugnance to the name of the
establishment. Poor laws are founded on the
maxim " that no person must starve ;" and it would
be difficult to devise any other means, so long as
the social system does not afford an opportunity
of saving to support themselves, or their relations
to assist them. It is observed that the money ex-
pended might be better applied in cultivating the
bogs or wastes by employing the inmates; but
poor-laws siqjpose the inmates to be aged and infirm,
and past enduring labour ; and there is certainly
" much'' to be done on sound lands before the bogs
come into requisition ; which nature has in most
cases placed beyond cultivation. Of a similar na-
ture with the above obseiTation, is the present

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211

mention of ai)i)Iying guano, while a drill of pota-
toes or turnips is rarely found ; and there are,
certainly, many vast strides of common sense to be
made before reaching the application of gnano.
So mxxch easier is it to use the tongue than the
hands.

A ])urely agricultural country will seldom or
never be a rich one; the districts in England show
the truth of this remark; for wherever there are
manufacturers, wages are better, there are l)etter
cottages, and a more improved state of the lower
orders. The improved cultivation introduced into
Ireland l)y cultivators from Scotland has not ex-
U'lided ]>eyond the farms they cultivate — capital is
necessary to follow their steps ; and prejudice lends
its powerful aid. But the "vegetable ideas" of the
Irish landowners in paying scanty salaries in milk
and butter esculents have not brought educated
persons from Scotland — they import cultivators
only and uneducated, and whose ideas are natu-
rally low, and conceptions narrow. 'I'he land
agency in Ireland is generally entrusted to lawyers
or some relations of the landov/ners, and loud
complants are heard of the inadequacy of the per-
.sons to the trust. If educated and qualified prac-
tical men were placed in farms on their estates,
every improvement that takes ])lace in the United
Kingdom would be introduced and shown, and the
spectacle would rot be seen of a half century in
arrear. This system of land agency also prevails
in England and Scotland, and has been attended
with the same results, only in a smaller degree. Ab-
senteeism can have no eft'ect in operating hurt-
fully ; for, wherever the consumer is, the articles
will be sent ; and wherever articles are i)rodiiced,
money will be lent for them. Few persons are
willing to place blame on themselves ; and thence
arise such excuses. Those persons who write about
man, and the different states and stages of his ex-
istence, ])hysical, social, and moral, would do well
to consider two things — '" cultivation of the earth,
and the necessaries of life;" for they uphold or
overturn all their ideal fabrics. In Ireland the
almost universal and seemingly incomprehensible
anomaly is exhibited in a most frightful degree —
an abundance of the necessaries of life in commerce
D but not in use ; and the laboiu'ing population, who
I are chiefly instrumental in raising the produce,
are not in possession of such a portion as will
' barely sustain life. A frightful anomaly certainly,
Init which no human wisdom or legislation has yet
been able to remove.

The planting of a national and an effectual system
of education in Ireland was long hindered, if it yet
be done, by the conflicts of religious parties con-
tending for su]ieriority — the thing from which so
much evil has resulted. The culture of mind and
land are nearly allied to each other — a cultivated
mind naturally desires to associate with cultivated
objects, and will seek every opportunity of attaining
its end. Dr. Channing, the most eloquent and
philanthropic of all the American writers, has olj-
served that, if by securing time and means of
improvement to the people, industry and capital
became less productive, he would saj', "sacrifice
the wealth and not the mind of the people." But
it does not follow that a diminution of a country's

wealth would be occasioned by intellectual and
moral culture ; no man that ever lived is able to
foretel the vdtimate and permanent result of any
great social change, if production did become
less. The sjiirit and character of the people would
effect a more equal and useful distriliution of it ;
and on this circumstance infinitely more than on
the amovmt of its wealth, the happiness of a com-
munity depends. Religion also tells us that hap-
piness and lasting prosperity are not attainable but
l)y elevating all classes of citizens ; but as no im-
proved mental state can be got without a previously
improved physical condition, arising from a com-
petency of the necessaries of life, disti'ibution of
cajiital becomes the i)rime agent to produce im-
l)rovements either physical or moral, or any altera-
tion whate\'er.

" If this fail.
The pillar'd firmament is rottenness.
And earth's base built on stubl)le."

Daily experience proves that the greater the im-
provement of the mind, the greater are the produc-
tive powers, and that intellect diminishes human
labour l)y giving the direction in place of the per-
formance of the act. ^Ul philosophers have urged
the elevation of the lower orders of society, but to
this day the means ha\'e never been pro^'ided ; for
in most cases the remuneration of labour is barely
sufficient for the animal existence, and produces a
condition of life wholly adverse to any education
of the mind. No sacrifice of wealth or production
is necessary for intellectual cultivation ; nor is the
latter produced by the wealth of a nation, for a
country may be very rich, and the people at the
same time in a state of great degradation. And
legislation has, in too many instances, produced the
latter condition instead of removing it, which is
daily seen by the growing information of the people
compelling the abandonment of enactments that
had been passed for the ostensil)le piu-pose of their
special benefit. And this general information has
grown up, not in consequence, but in despite of
legislative influence.

Logicians have remarked that man is the only
animal that possesses the faculty of laughter ; and
tiiey might have added, that he is perhaps the only
animal that deserves to be laughed at. Philosophers
have moralized over the wants and miseries of Ire-
land ; orators have exhausted all their powers of
description, and every appeal to sympathy ; poets
have sung them in measured strains ; and legisla-
tors and theologians of every creed have brought
fonvard their opinions and remedies, but none have
succeeded in de\'ising any measure of relief, either
of permanency or extent. In such cases, a com-
bination of causes must be considered, which time
and circumstances are alone able to remove. It
would appear that capital, and the application of it,
are now safe in Ireland, and the establishment of
trade and manufactures would be a great and
primary step for which the natural ad\'antages are
many, and the boimties of nature are most ample.
The social system that has oljtained is most adverse
to the advancement of any agricultural improve-
ments ; capital and skill are wanting ; and where
the former is found, a disinclination to expenditure

212

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

renders it useless. It is surprising that capital did
not flow into Ireland, and get ditlused, as in other
parts of the kingdom; it is evidently in fewer
hands, and consequently produces fewer results.
The general land system, which tlie people them-
selves have adopted, and continue with httle varia-
tion, in most cases debars the apphcation both
of capital and skill ; and as the origin and practice
of the evil rests with themselves, the remedy must
be referred to them also. At the same time, the
genius of the people must be sadly deficient in
not having adopted every improvement of the
jjresent day ^\'ithin the compass of their power
— they are many, and for the neglect of them
there is no excuse. The system has produced
results, as seen in the state of the bulk of
the population, probably the most miserable
ever known, an abomination on the eartli, a sin
before God, and a shame before men. The
Irish nation must be made to feel their backward
and degraded state, and to feel it sharply, and if
possible effectually. Nothing more quickened im-
provements in Scotland than Dr. Johnson's ob-
servation, that there was not a tree in the country on
which a man could hang himself; and thovigh
rather a splenetic effusion of his prejudice than the
bare truth, it may with equal justice be applied to
Ireland at the present day. Indi\Tiduals ^^'ho have
the means and the power,'and not governments, are
chargeable with the want of improvements both
local and general, for in a few cases only can the
latter interfere. Such a state of things as exists
in Ireland, cannot continue long ; and for the
consequences, whatever they may be, the powerful
party in the nation itself must be responsible.

AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENTS.
Letter IV.

Sir, — Having in my three former letters disposed of
the details of my farming operations, I will now proceed
to consider —

First : The imperative necessity of agricultural im-
provements in a national point of view ; and, how those
improvements can be most readily effected.

Secondly ; The defects in the present system of farm
valuations ; and evils resulting therefrom to landlord,
tenant, and country.

Thirdly : The relation of landlord and tenant to each
other in a pecuniary point of view, their identity of in-
terests, and the importance of long leases with corn-
rents.

Fourthly : Suggestions for rendering the Royal Agri-
cultural Society a standard and model of agricultural
improvement in every essential point.

Lastly : Popular but prevalent errors as regards agri-
culture, with a few general remarks.

The existence of a superfluous capital, with a super-
abundant unemployed population, is a dangerous
anomaly — threatening, in its continuance, ultimate de-
sti'uction to our nation. Luxury for the wealthy few,
and poverty for the willing but unemployed many, must
produce discontent, anarchy, and ruin. It is an alarm-
ing fact, that much of our income is derived from the
capital we lend to foreign counties ; whilst, in our own,
we dole out grudingly, in rates and in charities, a tithe of

what ought to be the just and well-earned wages of the
industrious, but not employed, labourer.

Ask the majority of your independent friends whence
they derive their incomes ? The widow willtell you, " My
money ismaking a road, cutting a canal, or building atown
in America." The orphan will say, " Mine is supporting
a civil war in Spain or South America, or growing corn
in Russia for the London Market." The capitalist will
report his strong box full of bonds — Chilian, Colum-
bian, Peruvian, Mexican, French, Sjmnish, Dutch, Por-
tuguese, Russian, Austrian, Prussian, and Neapolitan
(some of which by-the-by do not pay interest or prin-
cipal) ; but neither the widow, the orphan, nor capitalist
will tell you, their money is profitably and delightfully
engaged in growing food for themselves and their
families — in providing employment and profit for their
fellow-countrymen of every grade, from the labourer to
the merchant. No ! agriculture has had as yet no
charms for the capitalist or speculator. We must re-
form, and cpiickly too, some of our errors, both as
capitalists and farmers. The one lends his money to
strengthen foreign competition in agriculture commerce,
and manufactures ; and the other sows uselessly and pre-
judicially more seed than the total annual amount of our
wheat importation — the extra quantity sown actually
diminishing the produce to a similar extent ; yet all this
takes place whilst we are complaining of superabundant
capital and population, as if an industrious population
could be too great. My opinion is, the more numerous
we are, the more prosperous we shall be, for we live by
one another. The denser the population the greater our
power and our trade, provided we keep our capital

AT HOME, AND AVORK AMONGST OURSELVES.

To ship off our labourers and our money is nothing
less than suicide. It is giving away, economically and
politically, the sinews of our strength ; and I call upon
every man who has the welfare of liis country at heart
to put a stop to it. This leads us to the question,
"How is this to be done?" I answer ca*27y ; and
point to my operations at Tiptree Hall Farm, as a solu-
tion of the difficulty. If every capitalist expends, as I
have done, forty-six-pounds sterling money in improv-
ing each acre of poor and indifferent land, the sum
total required would be many hundred millions. I need
hardly point to the magical effect of this expenditure
on our trade, commerce, and manufactures. Every in-
dividual in this country would feel it. It is too grand
and delightful a prospect to hope to realize. There is
too large a mass of miscalculation, ignorance, prejudice,
pride, and long custom to be removed. Facts and re-
sults will barely do it ; but reason and truth must pre-
vail at last : and I look forward with hope, that the wise,
the patriotic, the intelligent, and the wealthy will exercise
their influence, by example and precept, to procure so
desirable a result. Agriculture is our sheet-anchor ; to
that we must look for employment and for profit : it is
a vast field for enterprise : it is our vital strength as a
nation ; and our pride of countiy alone should stimulate
us to be independent of foreigners for the supply of
our daily bread — the staff of our lives.

In considering how these improvements can be most
readily effected — it is quite clear that individuals gene-
rally have seldom the means, the ability, or the inclina-
tion to cany out a perfect system of agi'icultural im-
provement : it must be done by companies of as-
sociated capitalist the same as our railways and other
great undertakings. I will venture to assert from expe-
rience that there is not, in agricultural undertakings, one-
tithe of the difficulty or uncertainty that attended railway
operations.

Rival Companies will be beneficial to the public by
the protection of competition. General rules, however,
on fundamental principles must be obtained by sanction

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

213

of Act of Parliament ; and I apprehend an examination
of competent authorities would lead to a table of laws
adapted to the security and profit of the shareholders,
the benelit of the landowner, and the welfare of the
tenant.

Mortgagers might transfer their mortgages to the
Company, with full authority to carry out necessary im-
jirovements, on condition of receiving from the Company
all benefits over and above five per cent, interest for the
Company's capital. Should the landowner desire a sale,
the Company would have the opportunity of purchasing
outright by public competition ; or the landlord might
have the power of redeeming his projierty, on jiaying
the Company principal and interest up to a period of
sufficient notice.

In all cases where there is not an absolute sale, land-
lords should have the power of redeeming their pro-
)ierty or transferring it to another Company, under
iquitable arrangements to both parties. The variations
in rents and prices of corn would be no greater, on an
average, than the fluctuations in railway or other shares.

As to the fear of companies engrossing land, the same
objection cannot apply to them as to charities. Share-
holders invest for profit, and rivally will necessarily pre-
vent oppression. What tenant would not rather trust to
lair competition under a company than to individual
favour, cupidity, or caprice, to say nothing of the un-
certainty of individual hfe.

Landlords would also benefit. Frequently now (I
know several cases) a landlord, without agricultural
knowledge, is prevailed upon, by a designing or incom-
petent tenant, who shows an annual statement of heavy
losses, to reduce his rent, till he receives but two per
rent, for his money,

I proceed to consider —

The propriety of valuing improvements; the defects
ill the present system of valuations, and its evil re-
sults to the landlord, the tenant, and the nation.

Now a bad farmer is almost sure to get a new lease
(for who is anxious to take it after him) ? whilst a
thorough good one is almost as certain to be turned out,
or have his rent raised — the landlord being generally
ready to avail himself of those improvements which a
wise farmer is compelled to make for a profitable return.
These improvements are bond fide his property, and
ought to be legally as much so as the coat on his back ; and
it is a scandal and disgrace that they are not valued to
the incoming tenant.

Let us see, in fact, how it acts on the landlord — I
shall piove clearly he is a loser by it ultimately.

The out-going tenant is obliged in self-defence to
starve tlie laud and injure his crops the last four years of
his lease, whilst it takes the incoming tenant another
four years to repair the damaged one by his predecessor ;
so that between the two there is during eight years less
labour and capital employed, less food grown, less profit
made, and an increase in the poor's rate, without any
corresponding benefit to the landlord. In nine cases
out of ten an improving tenant resists being charged a
large interest, in the shape of increased rent, on his own
capital. He makes way for a miscalculating bad far-
mer, who ruins the land, ruins himself, and ultimately
the landlord is obliged to put up with a small rent — not,
however, till all parties have been put to considerable
regret, inconvenience, and expense, arising from ex-
change of residence, to say nothing of expensive
sales, valuations, and leases, a non-acquaintance with
tlie peculiarities of a new farm, and the breaking-up of
many friendly and relative ties, formed during a local
residence.

With regard to the pecuniary relation of landlord
and tenant, I shall endeavour to show that long leases

and a corn-rent (that is, the value of so many bushels of
wheat at the current price of the day) are essentially
beneficial to both landlord and tenant, as well as to the
country at large. Under this system landlord and
tenant have but one common interest — they rise or fall
together. The present custom of fixed money-rents
acts alternately most injuriously to both. An unexpected
war may find a tenant benefiting by an enormous price ;
whilst his landlord has only his four per cent, reduced,
in fact, to two per cent., by all commodities having
risen to war prices.

On the other hand, a tenant hires on a war lease — a
sudden peace makes huu bankrupt by the violent re-
action ; and still his landlord must let his farm at peace
prices, whilst he was deprived of war benefits. The
landlord is evidently the greatest sufferer, and should
hasten to amend so unfair and so ruinous a system.

The leant of a well-founded code of rules for
agricultural improvement is much felt. At present
each individual claims for his own plan the palm of ex-
cellence. This must no longer be.

Our Royal Agricultural Society, to which every land-
owner and farmer should belong, has already effected
vast good ; but still greater remains to be done. They
should have extensive model farms, with schools and
libraries attached. There should be shown, after patient
investigation, the most perfect and certain modes of
drainage, irrigation, and warping ; the most complete,
durable, and economical arrangement of buildings ; the
most advantageous mode of tillage and course of crops ;
the greatest economy of manure and labour ; the mini-
mum of seed and maximum of distance in sowing ; the
most advantageous stage of ripeness ; the effect of steep-
ing seeds in manures ; the most profitable mode of
housing and feeding stock, and the advantages of re-
moving all trees and fences. When all these national
and important subjects are accurately ascertained by a
competent but limited board of paid and responsible
directors, deciding regardless of personal considerations,
then let a code of unerring rules be promulgated and
enforced with the full weight and sanction of the so-
ciety, as a guide and beacon to the doubtful wanderer
in search of agricultural knowledge, who, eager to avoid
the shoals of error, is now distracted by multitudinous
and conflicting opinions.

Chemistry and mechanism will, no doubt, daily lend
new aids to agriculture ; but the points I have mentioned
must always form the unalterable basis of our agricul-
tural structure.

Much is being said about hov) we are to pay for oui
foreign corn importations, whether in goods or in money.
This is not our affair at all — we are purchasers. If you
will have foreign com, flax, and other things, that you
might profitably produce at home, you must pay for
them ; and the seller (the foreigner) will not allow you
to dictate to him hoiv he shall take his payment, whether
in goods or in money ; that is his a-ffair, not yours. The
whole question of foreign corn importation is, to my
mind, trivial and insignificant, as compared with the
importance of national agricultural improvement ; and I
hoi)e to see the latter occupy the minds and speeches of
our statesmen and orators to the exclusion of the former.
I consider our dependence on foreigners for food a
glaring and national disgrace, unworthy of our wealthy
and highly civilized countiy.

Let us grow corn instead of timber, fences, and mb-
bish : we can do better without one than the other. I
am told, " We must have timber ! what should we do in
case of war?" I answer, "How do we get our tea,
coffee, wine, and every other foreign article in time of
war?" So long as we have money to buy, and hearts
of oak to defend and convoy our purchases, old England
can never feel a want, nor want a market to buy in.

2U

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Besides, what a gross folly it is to grow our own
timber in corn fields, at a cost of four shillings a foot (I
am sure it costs more), when we can import it at one-
third the price.

A great error amongst farmers is the desire to grasp
a large quantity of land, instead of concentrating their
capital by improvement in a smaller compass. One of
the important results of my suggestions as to valuing
and making improvements, would be, that instead of 6/.
to 8/. jier acre being (as it is now on an average) a suffi-
cient tenant's capital, double that amount would be re-
quired, as on my farm. This alone would find employ-
ment for considerably more than one hundred millions
of additional capital, so that, in fact, when we had dis-
posed of all our foreign bonds and securities, I doubt if
we should have near money enough to carry out entirely
my practical scale of improvements, except slowly and
gradually.

Some gentlemen think the removal of fences and
throwing open the country would be detrimental to
game. This is contrary to the proof : wherever land is
thoroughly drained and the turnip culture introduced,
so surely will game (if pi-otected) thrive and increase.
Wet and pasty undrained land is inimical to game —
particularly in a wet season.

Let agriculture form an honourable portion of our
general education — why should it not ? Let TuU and
Tusser range side by side with Homer and Virgil. Then
would our nobility and gentry be independent of incom-
petent or dishonest stewards and land-agents, and be
able to appreciate those of a more worthy character.
Agricultural education and apprenticeships for our young
farmers are imperative. Why should there not be as
much uniformity in growing a sack of corn as in manu-
facturing a piece of cotton, or a hat or coat .'

How many a worthy person, retiring from the toils
and turmoils of a busy city to enjoy the tranquil peace
of agriculture, regrets the want of agricultural know-
ledge ! — often are his hopes and intentions frustrated and
his property diminished by interested or erroneous ad-
vice, of which, till too late, he cannot judge. When I
see landlords making returns in rent (in my opinion an
injudicious operation), I think how much better would
it be to present their tenants with an agricultural 11-
brary. Farmers, from the very nature of their occupa-
tion, and their isolated jDOsition, are seldom able to travel
from county to county in search of facts ; but how
readily is a multitude of agricultural experiments and
experience brought to their fireside by a selection of
good and practical books I Some may say, "Oh,
farmers are too pi'ejudiced to read." Experience has
taught me the contrary. Bring them the book —
they may affect to despise it, but they will keenly,
anxiously, and with sound sense, scrutinize all that con-
cerns their pecuniary welfai-e. Reason tells us that the
farmer, born, bred, and mixing with others of precisely
the same way of acting and thinking as himself, cannot
be expected to have so expanded a mind as a manufac-
turer or trader, who is daily in contact with strangers
from every corner of the globe.

It is to be feared too, that jealous landlords form too
low an estimate of a farmer's character, and consider his
success and elevation as degrading them — as if his gains
were their loss. Let us hope this feeUng will gradually
give way to a better, and that a farmer who follows the
hounds, and dresses and acts respectably, will be con-
sidered quite as likely to farm well and make as good a
member of society as one who imitates in every respect
one of his labourers.

Where individuals are desirous of improving their
own estates without disbursing capital, I know of no
plan so good as allowing the tenant annually a certain
sura out of his rent for impvoYenaents, takijig care that

they are really beneficial, which is very easily ascertained
and arranged ; generally speaking, tenants would most
readily contribute their share, particularly in the matter
of drainage.

The national health is deeply concerned in n2,ricultu-
ral improvement, for it is notorious that perfect drainage
of land and buildings insures the absence of agues,
fevers, and other complaints, that are sad drawbacks to
the personal welfare and pecuniary comforts of our
agricultural population, to say nothing of the impor-
tance, in a national point of view, of having a hardy
healthful race in lieu of a debiUtated and vitiated popu-
lation.

The mind and the body are too sympathetic to be un-
influenced by each other. Humanity, policy, and self-
interest then call loudly on us to unite for the worthy
purpose of national agricultural improvement. — I am,
sir, your obedient servant, I. J. Mechi.

4, Leadenhall-street, London, July 8, 1844.

P.S. — I shall publish annually, a faithful and correct
debtor and creditor account of my farm, valumg the
crops and stock at one uniform average price (the averaga
price in the county of Essex for the last fourteen years).
This will prevent confusion, and admit of a correct
comparison of one year with another. The quantity
produced, and the cost of producing, will be the princi-
pal and most interesting considerations.

EXPLANATION OF THE BUILDINGS AT
TIFI^REE-HALL FARM.

Letter V.

The yards are so placed as to be entirely sheltered
from the east, north, and north-west winds, whilst
they are quite open to the south and west for
sunny warmth : it is jnesumed the heat absorbed
by the brick-walls and buildings during the day
will be retained for a portion of the night, so as to
produce a warmer atmosphere in the yards.

The farm and other yards are on a perfect level ;
they are underdrained every four yards with stones
and a jiipe — same as the land. All the drains (ex-
cept the roof-drains) terminate in the manure-tank ;
so that not a pint of Avater that falls directly on the
yards ever escapes, except into the tank. All the
water that falls on the roofs is conveyed through
pijies to the brook. The sheep-j'ards, the bullock
and horse stables, are all paved perfectly smooth
with hard j-ellow bricks, set in cement ; so that no
liquid manure is wasted. This arrangement admits
of cleanhness, without waste by occasional washings.

The straw for litter being cut into chalf, is ap-
plied where required without waste.

The manure-tank is bricked, and set in cement.
We put into it the solid manure as made, turning
the moist bottom upon the tojJ, as occasion requires,
to prevent too violent a degree of fermentation, and
adding occasionally sulphuric acid in water, espe-
cially in the summer months, or an occasional
layer of earth. In winter we have always sufficient
moisture in the tank. As we pump out the liquid
manure from the well, which is three feet deeper
than the tank, no solid manure can enter, there
being proper gratings to prevent it. We choose a
wet day, when nothing can be done on the land,
to turn over the manure in the tank — there being

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

216

a slated roof over it which keeps the men dry. It faces
the north; so that the sun cannot shine on it to evapo-
rate the ammonia and strengthen the manure. In
the winter, when we have a superahundance of
moisture, we pump the liquid manure into C'ross-
kill's liquid manure-cart, which holds 200 gallons,
and apply it to the pastures, young wheats, or
fallows ; first fixing the ammonia where required
with sulphuric acid, heing governed as to diluting
its strength hy the dryness or wetness of the
weather. We find the tank-manure of extraordi-
nary strength, as well as density, from subsi-
dence hy fermentation and pressure. When filled
lo four feet above the ground, it contains al)out
■200 loads of solid manure.

Manure that is drojjped in the day is remo\'ed
the following morning in barrows to the tank, so as
to preserA'e its efficacy.

The contents of the water-closets are received
into a brick tank, set in cement. The ammonia is
fixed, and smell prevented by suli)huric acid :
mixed with earth it will form a valuable manure.
Nothing on our farm, in the shape of manure, is
ever wasted. Why should it ?

'ITie jjiggeries, paved with flagstones, discharge
their moisture into the manure-well.

The stone water-tanks in the yards and house
are all filled simultaneously by one pumj) over a
tank, 14 feet deep, liricked, and set in cement : into
which is brought a never-failing stream of pure
spring water from the A-alley below. This water
fonnerly spoiled some acres, and caused the bog ;
l)ut now it answers a much better purpose. I do
not like the usual custom of giving manure water
to horses and cattle, instead of to the land. Ijiresume
they are, like ourselve.-^, all the better for drinking
pui'e water, instead of filthy comjjounds. The
pump also supplies our copper, on which fits a
])erforated iron vessel, capable of steaming six
)jushels of potatoes or other matter. This vessel
travels backwards and fonvards with wheels on a
small iron rail ; and by a lever, is capable of being
filled, emptied, or placed over the copper l)y a
strong lad. The merit of this is due to the ingenious
Mr. Crosskill, of Beverley, who manufactured and
contrived it.

The cart-lodge is so placed as to avoid sun, and
we consider a weather-tight implement house
essentially necessary.

The barn is 130 feet long, 30 feet wide, and
rises 18 feet before it springs the roof. The liorse-
power that drives the threshing-machine occuj)ies
30 feet square on the ground-floor, and about 30
feet more is occupied by the granary and chaft'
house, over which is the threshing apparatus.

Tlie imthreshed corn being on both sides of, and
near to the threshing-machine, economizes time in
removal.

On this account, and the facility of doing work
imder cover in bad weather, I like plenty of barn
room. I do not see the necessity of a steam-engine,
as we do our threshing, chaft-cutting, &c., when
we can do nothing else.

The threshing-machine is of six-horse power ;
but we throw it out of gear, and work the chaft'-

cutter or corn-mill with two horses. We cut
thirty-two trusses per hour into chaff".*

A crane (cost 50s.) fixed on the top of the granary
in the l)arn, enables one man and a lad to load the
sacks of corn with ease, dropping them into the
cart or waggon.

The iron gutters and pii)es to our roofs may be
found fault with on account of the expense, l)ut I
really cannot see the utility or profit of the present
custom, that is, putting good and costly manure on
straw, and then washing it all out again with tens
of thousands of gallons of ])ure water ofl' the roofs,
taking especial care that it shall poison the horse-
pond, and then run down to enrich some stranger's
meadow at the first flood. 1 hope in fifty years
time, the farmer who does this will be considered
insane. The idea of a man's throwing away his
manure with his left hand, and with his right
paying money to bring it back again, all the way
from Peru or Africa, seems too ludicrous for the
nineteenth century.

So far as we have had experience, pigs, poultry,
and horses, thrive uncommonly well in our yards
and sta])les, and no doubt our cattle and sheep will
do the same. All our horse feed is cut for the
manger. Even our tares and green food are cut
uj) with straw.

We contemplate clipping our bidlocks M-hen
stalled in the warm stables, taking it for granted
that nature provided their long winter coats for
open fields, as a non-conductor of caloric, and that
they never were intended for artificial confinement.
The thermometer will regulate our ventilation,
lliey will be groomed every morning, the same as
horses. There is (piite as much rtason for re-
moving from their skins the insensible perspiration,
as for grooming a horse. Health depends on
cleanliness, as much in an animal as in a human
being. In a state of nature, they would rid) against
a tree or fence. Having no such ojiportunity in
confinement, we must do it for them. We shall
shear some of our sheep liefore Christmas. I mean
those kept warm and dry under cover: this of
course is quite an experiment. It seems on the
same princijjle as the IniUocks, confinement with
their warm clothing does not ansu'er, so we shall
try them without.

Some 1)utchers agree with me that farmers often
spoil the mutton as well as the fleeces, by keeping them
on too long. Besides, a long coat requires support
all the winter, as well as any other part of the
body. The dairy, beer, wine, and coal cellars are
all imder the house, light, cool, and airy.

As to a good house, why, if our farmers are to lie
men of education and capital (which 1 hope they
will be when they get agricultural colleges), I do
not see why for a few pounds extra jjcr annum,
they should I)e deprived of the comforts of a ])roper
residence. As my sidistantial brick and slate
buildings are thought to l)e in advance of the age,
I hope those who find fault with them will consider
they are intended for the next generation.

* The threshing-machine takes in the straw
lengthways, and having twelve parallel beaters,
each three feet six inches long, no wheat-kernel
can escape its action. It does not break the straw.

216

THE FABMER'S MAGAZINE.

If board and thatch are so very durable and ad-
vantageous in farmeries, why not apply them to
towns and cities ? My own opinion is, those tem-
porary erections indicate either poverty or miscal-
culation. If there is " philosophy in frying a
pancake," why should there not be "an adaptation
of means to the end" in planning and erecting farm
buildings ?

In conclusion, as some of my farming operations
are on so very different a plan from the common
routine of proceeding, I will allow my farming
friends to laugh at, but not to condemn them, till
they have had an opportunity of seeing whether
they answer or not. Should they by chance suc-
ceed, I shall exj)ect those who now enjoy the joke
will have the good sense to follow the example set
them. If they do not, I shall certainly take care to
remind them that theij oiir/ht so to do.

I. J. Mechi.

4, Leadenhall Street, London, July 1 1 .

THE DRAINAGE OF SURFACE WATER
FROM HEAVY LAND.

Letter YI.

Sir, — The veryvarious and conflicting opinions as
to what is perfect drainage, convince me that practice
without theoiy is like a ship without a compass —
dangerous, uncertain, and expensive. Having cut,
during the past year, with good effect, sixty miles
of drains, I will describe its action, and state
what I consider to be the true theories of perfect
drainage.

My operation being different to the usual custom,
I beg to submit my theories and ])ractice for dis-
cussion, approA'al, or disproof. The question of
drainage is far too important to remain longer in
abeyance. The Royal Agricultural Society will do
an essential pubhc good by deciding the point.

Theory 1st. That in perfect drainage, twelve
hours' rain shoidd percolate and leave the land, in
less than twelve hours from the time the drains
begin to act, the difference in time being equivalent
to the proportion of water the earth chooses to
retain for its use by capillary attraction.

2nd. That to effect this, the subterranean area
of porosity should nearly equal the surface to be
drained, so that if the space to be drained were one
square yard, the sides and top of the dram should
present an area for percolation equal to nine super-
ficial feet, minus the allowance for pressure.

3rd. That the continuance of water in the soil
longer than it would remain by capillary retention,
is injurious, chemically and mechanically, causing
inequality, density, and sedimentation.

4th. That the earth and roots will abstract from
the passing water those gases for which they have
an affinity, and in which they may be deficient.

5th. That the form of drain should be deep and
narrow, as affording the greatest area of porosity
at the smallest cost, increasing the quantity of
porous earth, available to roots — nothing animal
or vegetable can exist in dense undrained subsoils.

6th. That the material for filling the drains
should comprise the greatest durability with the
least power of capillary attraction,

7th, That where pipes are used, their material
should be durable but porous; their form not
round or square, but a very narrow and deep ob-
long, the object being to get a large area of poro-
sity.

8th. That small, round, hard pebble-stones,
with a pipe over them, seem to present all the
advantages desired ; viz., the impossibility of
choking by superincumbent earth, resistance of
pressure from the sides, absence of capillary at-
traction ; the round hard stones having but little
mechanical affinity for the water, and offering but
small resistance to its passage,

9th, That the ])assage of water in a pipe or
drain is always quicker than its percolation through
the earth or material of the pipe,

10th, That no drain should much exceed 100
yards in length (fifty or sixty would be better),
without opening into a leading drain of greater di-
mensions. If the drain were in any part full, it
would delay percolation,

11th, 'rirat neither bushes, straw, or other per-
ishable material, should ever be vised in a drain,

12th. That the deeper the drainage, the better
the crops ; but in no case should any portion of
the drain be nearer to the surface than eighteen
inches.

13th. There should be a leader to every 300
yards of drains, giving it ample capacity,

14th. That there should be an open ditch (but
no fence) for every seven or eight acres drained.
The absence of an occasional open ditch is what
renders so much drainage useless. Long con-
tinuous narrow streets without frequent outlets get
frequently obstructed ; the same may be said of
drains — a full drain with a slow egress sadly retards
the filtration of water. Drains should be never
more than half full of water — the other half air.
In this way the superior weight of water causes
proper filtration by displacement of air and replace-
ment of water by cjuick passage.

15tli. That the rapidity of percolation depends
on the subterranean area of porosity and the depth
of drain combined. Shallow drains want a greater
area of porosity than deeper ones; because (as
water presses equally on all sides towards the
vacant space in the drain) the deeper the drain the
greater the weight and column of water. Conse-
quently, the greater the pressure the more rapid
the filtration : filtration at two feet will be double
that ot one — at four feet four times as great, and
so on in projjortion to the superincumbent weight
of water pressing equally on all sides towards the
drain. It is on this principle that deep pipe drains
act quicker and lay dry a greater extent of ground
than shallow ones ; consequently, the deeper your
drainage, the smaller may be your area of subter-
ranean porosity. Pipes at the depth of five feet
would hardly need stones ; the pressure being about
two-and-a half pounds on every square inch at
first, and as the water escapes and diminishes, so
will the drains run slower and slower, in a ratio
proportioned to the diminished pressure.

Still, stones with pipes, in my opinion, are the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

271

(juickest conductors of water generally in heavy
land.

Now, although my drainage is considered the
y most perfect in the county of Essex, / only con-
sider it one-fifth as perfect as it should he. My
drains have one foot of subterranean porosity for
every five feet of surface, instead of having five
feet : still, as it is expensive even so, I umst l)e
content with it ; and I will assume it to !)e the mi-
nimum of perfect drainage.

During the recent nineteen hours' rain, after a
very dry time, the stones and pipes poured out an
immense volume of water, which, on the second,
third, and fourth days, gradually decreased; proving
my calculation correct, that if my drains had been
perfect, it all would have run away in 1 T hom"s, in-
stead of SO.

On comparing notes with a farming friend of
mine, who has bush drains from 200 to ;500 j'ards
long, in the same quality of land, he said, '* I know
not what has become of the water, for none has ap-
peared in the ditches ;" and he seemed quite sur-
prised at my drains running so much. What is the
inference? that bush and straw drains of great
length are perfectly icorthless as compared with
pipes and stone drains of moderate length.

In fact, on one field I drained about three acres
the same time, distance, depth, and soil, with scuds
or bands of straw tightly fitted over the vacant
space, and find it as compared with the tile and
stone drained part, almost useless, so much so, that
we shall re-drain it.

The consequence of my friend seeing no water
is, that it stagnates and remains in the soil, keeping
the roots cold, wet and sour, resulting in late crops
and densely working land. I hope, after this,
we shall hear no more of scud or bush draining.

From the moment our land was ploughed after
draining, no water has ever runoff the surface, whe-
ther in winter or spring, although our fields have a
pleasant slope.

So far my draining has answered, although
I still maintain it is only perfect in degree. It
would have been real economy to have spent ano-
ther 5/. per acre, and earned out my theory com-
pletely.

I am not able to say which answers best, a pipe
only, the full size of the drain, or a pipe and
stones. The latter I give the preference to, the
stones having less capillary attraction.

I consider drainage almost as important in a
very dry season as in a very wet one. This spring
we had a practical illustration of it at Tiptree. The
crops never looked yellow as they used to do,
but always a healthy green, and the very first rain
caused an amazing quick growth.

It is very easy to perceive that ])orous drained
land on a cool bottom keeps moist in dry M'eather
by capiUai-y attraction (like lumjj sugar resting on
moisture).

At nighi the insidious dews fill its surface. No
such effects can take place in sodden land, with
gaping cracks, and a baked impervious surface.

For further details of my spring and other drain-
ing, I beg to refer you to my letter of the '2Sth
March last.

If I am wrong in my theories or practice, I shall

feel obliged to any gentleman who will correct me,
my object being to arrive as near perfection as

possible.

Permanent grass on very stiff" clays must be
ploughed up before the drains can act. The imper-
vious pan requires to be broken up. This may be
a subject of regret, but it ought not to be ; for I
quite agree with Mr. Morton, that no permanent
grass can keep so much stock per acre as the tur-
nip culture and green crops, fed, folded, or stall-fed,
nor is it so i)rofitable. Grass land is, therefore^ a
national loss, employing less labour, capital, and
affording less profit than it would do if cultivated
with roots, green crops, and corn.

As TO Spring Draining.

It must always be effected by drain-pipes, (with-
out stones) fitting into each other so as to form
one continuous unbroken channel ; half circular
pipes, fitting on each other, are sometimes used ;
if properly loaded they answer, but are not so se-
cure as the whole pipes.

I think we may lay down as a safe theory : —

1st. That as the pressure of water is from beloiv,
and frequently as much as fourteen pounds on
every square inch, that spring drainage should l)e
deej), so that the superincum])ent earth be equal to
resisting the pressure on the pi])es.

2nd. That the pipes should be always large
enough to contain air as well as M-ater.

3rd. That no stones, bushes, or straw should
be used in spring drains ; it being e\-ident the im-
mense pressure I have mentioned, would quickly
choke them with earth. Pipes, for spring-drain-
ing, should alone be used. Useful information on
this point is contained in " Loudon's Encyclopaedia
of Agriculture," " Stephens's Book of the Farm,"
and " Hutchinson on Spring Drainage."

4, LeadenhuU Street, • I. J. Mechi.

London, July iGth, 1844.

YORKSHIRE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

WEDNESDAY.— Aug. 7.

STOCK AND EXHIBITION OF IMPLEMENTS.

Wednesday was the chief day for the exhibition of
Stock and Implements, but the latter were likewise
shown on Tuesday, and had been the subject of trial on
two or three days previously. The scene of the show
was judiciously chosen between the Gillmg and Kirby
Hill Roads, where three spacious fields were occupied.
The number of visitors to the show fields, especially on
Wednesday, was immense. The implements embraced
almost every conceivable variety, and several new inven-
tions, strikingly indicative of advancing mechanical skill
and agricultural enterprise. With respect to the stock,
the horses were more numerous, and as a whole, gi-eatly
superior in quality to the show last year ; in Cattle,
also, though not quite so extensive as the Doncaster
exhibition, there was a manifest superiority in quality ;
to which we may add a very excellent show of Leicester
Sheep and of Pigs ; and if we take into consideration
the situation of Richmond, we think that altogether the
show of both stock and implements was not inferior even
to its splendid predecessor at Doncaster.

218

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

The following were the judges :—
For Cattle. — Richard Parkinson, Esq., Babworth,
near Retford; Anthony Maynard, Esq. Marton-le-Moor;
and Wm. Torr, Esq. jun., Ribey, near Caistor.

For Sheep and Pigs.— Plulip Skipworth, Esq.,
Aylesby, near Brigg ; Wm. Tindall, Esq. Wheatley,
near Doncaster ; and Thomas Short, Esq., Martin, near
Bawtry.

For Horses. — "Wm. Wetherell, Esq., Durham;
Samuel Harrison, Esq., Everton, near Bawtry; and
Francis Maw, Esq., York.

For Farms. — Robert Brough, Esq., Melton, near
Hull; Wm. Henlock, Esq., Ouseburn, near York ; and
John Kilby, Esq., Owsthorpe, near Pocklington.

For Implements. — The following were appointed
the judges of Implements : — Wm. Shaw, Esq.,
London; James Firth, Esq., 13, Queen-street, West-
minster; and Jos. Johnson, Esq., of Cleasby, near
Darlington.

PRIZES.
The Prizes were awarded as follows : —
SHORT-HORNED CATTLE.
For the best Bull of any age, 25/.— Thomas Bates, Kirkleaviiig-
ton, Yai-m ; 2nd Cleveland Lad (i-oan) bred by hira, c23rd March,
1838.— Sire Short Tail, Dam by Matchem. Second, ditto 10/.—
AVilliam Ralne, Morton Tinmouth, Darlington ; The Colonel
(roan) bred by Wm. Raine, Gainforth, c Jan., 1838-S Magnum
Bonum, Dby Rob Roy; 13 competitors.

For the best yeailiog Bull, '.iO/.— Thomas Lax, Ravensworth,
Richmond; Captain Shafto (red) bred by him, c 19th August,
1842-S Mahomet All, D by Miracle. Second ditto, 10/.— J. B.
Stanhope, Revesby, near Hornoaslle ; Cramer (roan) ; 8 compe-
titors.

For tlie best Bull Calf, 10/.— Thomas Bell, Kirkleavington,
Yarm ; General Sale (roan) bred by him, c 17th October, 1843—
S Duke of Northumberland, D by Cleveland Lad. Second ditto
5/.— G. D. Trotter, Bishop-Middleham, Sedgtield ; Suetonius
(roan) bred by him, c 2Gth Nov. 1843— S Duke, D by Eclipse; 10
competitors.

For the best Cow of any age, in G.ilf or milk, 20/.- Thomas
Crofton, Holywell, Durham; Rosey (roan) bred by John Colling,
c 13th May, 1889-S Borderer, D by Gainford; in calf or milk.
Second ditto, 10/.— Richard Booth, Warlaby, Northallerton;
Faith (roan) bred by him, c 30th March, 1840— S Raspberry, D
by Young Matchem ; in calf ; 7 competitors.

For the best three year old Cow, in calf or milk, and having
had a calf, 15/.— John Booth, Killerby, Catterick ; Birthday
(white), bred by him, c 20ili May, 1841—8 Lord Stanley, D by
Priam ; in milk. Second ditto 5/.— Thom.is Bates, Kirkleaving-
ton, Yarm; Foggatlioipe 2nd (white) bred by him, c 14th Sep.,
1840— S Duke of Northumberland, D by Mailbro'; in calf and
milk; 6 competitors.

For the best two year old Heifer, in calf, 10/.— John Booth,
Killerby, Catterick; Aledisli (roan) bred by him, c SUtii Jan.,
1842-S Lord Stanley, D by Jlatchem. Second ditto, 5/.— Thos.
Lax, Ravensworth, Richmond; Thorpe Cherry (roan) bred by
Col. Cradock, c 16th April, 1842— S Tlie Colonel, D by Pirate; 4
competitors.

For the best Yearling Heifer, 10/.— Thomas Charge, Barton,
Richmond ; Alice Croan) bred by him, c 2nd Jan., 1843— S Dul-
cimer, D by a son of Magnum Bonum. Second ditto, 5/.— Riclid.
Booth, Warlaby, Northallerton ; Bud (roan), bred by hira, c 2nd
May, 1843— S Leonard, D by lied Rorer; 16 competitors.

For the best Heifer Calf, 10/.- John Booth, Killerliy, Catterick;
Pearl (white), bred by him, c 27th Oct., 1843-S Leonard, D by
Priam. Second ditto, 5/.— Thomas Cro.''ton, Holvwell, Durham ;
Leonard (roan), bred by him, c 22nd Sep., 1843— S Gainford.
Second, D by Gainford; 14 competitoi-s.

CATTLE OF ANY BREED.
For the best Fat Ox, under three years of age, 10/.— Henry Robin-
son, Glaister, Bedale ; a Yellow Roan Ox, bred by the Rev. Geo.
F. Clarke, c 26tli April, 1842— fed on hay, turnips, potatoes, lin-
seed cake, grass, and liean meal ; 6 competitors.

For the best Fat Cow or Heifer, of any age, 10/.— Cuthbert
Watson, Ovington, Barnard Castle ; Roan, bred by him, c in 1827,
fed on turnips and cake; 3 competitors.

LONG-WOOLLED SHEEP.

For the best Shearling Ram, 15/.— I'ercival Riclnrdson, Hork-
stow, Barton; bred from his own flock. Second ditto, 7/.—
Robert Dawson, Sewerby Field, Burlington, bred from liis own
flock; 21 competitors.

For the best Ram of any age, lO/.-Samuel Wiley, Brandsby,
York; 4 years old, bred from the flocks of Messrs. Buckley aiid
Stone. Second ditto, 5/.— Ri hard Parkinson, Badwoitli, Ret-
ford; 3 years old, bred from the flock of Mr. Lyiliall; 15 com-
petitors.

For the best Pen of Five Ewes.'lO/. — Henry Maim, Pigburn,
Doncaster; 2, 3, and 4 years old, bred from his own flock. Se-
cond ditto, 5/.— William Abraham, Barnetby-le-Wold, Brigg; 3 to
4 years old ; bred from the flocks of Messrs. Dixon and Taylor;
4 competitors.

For the best Pen of Five Shearling Wethers, 10/.— William
Jordan, Speeton, Burlington ; bred from the flock of Mr. Smith.
Second ditto, 5'.— Stephen Waldby Duggleby, Beswick, Beverley ;
bred from the flock of James Hall ; 5 competitors.

For the best Pen of Five Shearling G.mmers, 10/. — Richard
Outhwaite, East Appleton, Catterick ; bred from his own flock
and Mr. Wright'.s. Second ditto, 5/. — Richard Outhwaite, East
Appleton, Catterick : bred from his own flock, and Mr. Wright's;
3 competitors.

PIGS.

For the best Boar, large breed, 5/.— John W. Nutt, York ; aged,
bred by Mr. Wiley or Mr. Shafto. Second ditto, 2/. — John Hel-
ton, Oldstead, Thirsk ; 1 year and 6 months old, bred by him ;
3 competitors.

For the best Sow, large breed, in pig or milk, 5/. — John Hig-
ginson, Thormanby, Thirsk; 2 years and 7 months old; in pig.
Second ditto, 2/.— Thomas Lister, Coverham Abbey, Middleham ;
2 years old, bred by him ; in pig; 5 competitors.

For the best Boar, small breed, 5/.— The Earl of Zetland,
Aske, Richmond ; 2 yearsold, bred by his lordship. Second ditto,
2/.— Leonard Severs, Oliver, Richmond; 3 years old, bred by Mr.
Oxley ; 5 competitors.

For the best Sow, small breed, in pig or milk, 5/. — Samuel
Wiley, Brandsby, York ; three year old, bred by him ; in milk.
Second ditts, 2/.— diaries George Smith, Everton, Bawtry ; 3
years and 8 months old, bred by biin ; in pig; 3 competitors.

For the best Thiee Store Pig's, of the same litter, from 4 to 0
months old, 5/.— Lord Wenlock, Escrick Park; 30 weeks old,
bred by his lordship, from J. W. Nutt's boar (Samuel). Second
ditto, 2/. — John W. Nutt, York ; 2G weeks old, bred by him,
from Lord Wenlock's boar ; 3 competitors.

HORSES.

For the best Stallion for Hunters, 10/.— Ryby Nicholson, Bee-
ford, Driffield; Tally Ho (chestnut), aged, bred by the Duke of
Cleveland- S. Emilius, D. by Merlin. Second ditto, 5/. — John
Foxton, Waithwith, Richmond ; Politician President (bay or
roan), II years old, bred by John Gregson— S. Old President, D.
by Soothsayer ; 5 competitors.

For the best Stallion for Coach Horses, 10/.— Robert Rotsey,
Sancton, Market Weishton ; Shiner (bay), 3 years old, bred by
Mr. Marshall— S. Brutandorf, D by Volunteer. Second ditto, 6/.
— Thomas Moss, Scargill, Greta Bridge; Regulator (bay), 8 years
old, bred by him— S. R sebery, D. by Forget-me-Not ; 5 com-
petitors.

For the best Stallion for Roadsters, 10/.— William Dobson,
Bishop Auckland; Sorcerer (chestnut), 12 years old — S., a son
of Sorcerer, D. by Philo-da-puta. Second ditto, 5/.— Thomas
Cockshott, Addingham Moor Side, Otley ; Young Gainsborough
(brown), 8 years old, bred by James Jewell— S. Old Gainsbo-
rough, D. by Pallister; 7 competitors.

For the best Stallion for Agricultural purposes, 10/.— George
Russell. Kellington, Ferrybridge; Nelson (grey), 8 years old,
bred by Makin Burton— S. Young Merryinan, D. by Corrector.
Second ditto, 5/.— J. Nightingale, Barmplon ; Farmer's Supijort
^black), aged- S. Farmer's Delight, D. by Farmer's Glory; 8
competitors.

For tlie best Mare and Foal for Hunting, 6/.— William Dale,
Manor House, Catterick ; Bay, 7 years old, bred by him, S. Phy-
sician, D. by Barnaby, Foal by Provost. Second ditto 2/.— Chris-
topher ftleynell, Scorton, Catterick : Bay, 8 years old, bred by
him, S. Viscount, D. by Champion, Foal by the Earl ; 9 com-
petitors.

For the lest Mare and Foal for Coaching, 5/.— Robert Mears,
Beaumont Hill, Darlington ; Bay, 8 years old, bred by him, S.
Drover, D by Barnaby, Foal by Sorcerer. Second ditto, 2/. — Thos.
Wilkinson, Danby Grange, Northallerton; Bay, 8 years old, bred
by bini, S King George, D by Young Luck's All, Foal by Dun-
can Grey ; 5 competitors.

Fvir the b<>st Roadster Mare and Foal, 5/.— John Booth, Kil-
lerby, Catterick ; Chesnut, aged, bred by Mr. Wiley, S Wildfire'
Foal by Young Sportsman. Second ditto, 2/-— William Lythe,
Thirsk ; Black, 15 years old, S Jack Spiggot, D by Old Bishop,
Foal by Fernley : 2 competitors.

For the best three-year old Hunting Gelding or Filly, 5/.—
Anthony Maynard, Burdon, Darlington; a chestnut Gelding, bred
by Thomas Mann, S Sir Harry Dinsdale, D by Organda. Second
ditto, 2/.— Anthony Maynard, Burdon, Darlington; a bay Geld-
ing, bred by John Waitman, S Sir Harry Dinsdale : 3 competi-
tors.

For the best three-year old Coaching Gelding or Filly, 5/.—
Cuthbert AViitson, Ovington, Barnard Castle ; a bay Gelding, bred
by James Wood, S Contest. Second ditto, 2/.— Cuthbert Watson,
Ovington, Barnard Castle, a b.iy Gelding, bred by James Weed,
S Lion : 1 1 competitors.

For the best two-year old Coaching Geldingor Filly, 5/.— Thos.
Manfield, Thirkleby Bridge, Thirsk ; a brown Gelding, bred by
him, S Perion, D by Monarch. Second ditto. 8/. -Thomas Man-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

219

field, Thirkleby Bridge, Thirsk ; a bay Gelding, bred by Leo-
nard, Mnnfield, S Politician, D by Governor: 6 conipetitors.

For the best three-year old Hackney Gelding or Filly, 5/.—
Tilburn Dickinson, Bishop Wilton, PooklinKton; a bay Gelding,
bred by Philip Deighton.— S Prinio D by Old Reformer. Second
ditto, 51. — Tliomas Robinson, Barton, Richmond; a liay Gelding,
bred by him, S Bay President: i conipetit'irK.

For the best three-year old Gelding or Filly for Agricultnral
purposes, 5;.— George Trotter, Barton, Richmond ; a brown tilly,
bred by him, S John Bull, D by Skyrocket. (No competition.)

HORXED CATTLE.

For the best Hard Ram, 5/.— John Martin, Hope, Greta Bridge ;
bred by Mr. Alderson. Second ditto. Ml. — James Hutciiinson,
Helwitli, Richmond; bredbyliim: 2 competitors.

For the best pen of five four- year old Hard Wethers, ii;.— James
Hutchinson, Helwith, Richmond ; bred by him. (No competi-
tion.)

For the best pen of live Hard E" es, 5/. — James Hutchinson,
Helwith, Ricluuond ; bred by him. (No competition.)

EXTRA STOCK.

CATTLE.

The Society's First Prize Medal was awarded to John Boolh,
Killcrby, Catterick, for his Roan Cow, Bracelet, S Priam, D by
Argus. " The Society's Second Prize Medal was also awarded to
Mr Booth, for his Cow, Necklace ; twin sister to the above.

Highly commended.— The Duke of Leeds's Heifer in Calf, Vine,
c September, 1841; bred by his Grace -S Lord Stanley, D by
Frederic; and Roan Heifer, c 8th March, 184'i; bred by his
Grace — S Vesuvius, D Roland. Thomas Charge, Barton, Rich-
mond; 3 Fat Oxen, 5 years old. Leonard Severs, Oliver, Rich-
mond ; Roan Heifer, Portrait, c •22nd March, 1841 ; S. Hogarth,
D by Reformer, in calf; 18 competitors.

SHEEP.

First Medal to Robert Dawson, Sewerby Field, Burlington ; a
5 year old Ram, bred from the flock of Mr. Burgess. Second
Medal to John Carter, Scales, Richmond ; 10 Leicester Rams ; 4
competitors.

PIGS.

First Medal to John Higginson, Tliirsk, for a sow in pig, small
breed, 3J years old. Second Medal, to Samuel Wiley, Brandsby,
York, for a Gilt of the small breed, U months old, bred by him;
8 comjietitors.

HORSES.

First Medal, to R. M. Jaques, Easby Abbey, Ricluuond, for
Cart Mare, 10 years old. Second Medal, to George Holmes,
Thirsk, for bay yearling Coaching Colt, by Rufus, D by Quint-
essence. John Foxton, VVaitwith, Richmond, highly commended,
for Bay President, I'i years old, bred by J. W. Roclifte, S. Old
President, D by Akarius ; 9 competitors.

A Sweepstakes of 10s. each (3 entries) for two years old Hun-
ting Geldings or Fillies, was won by Richard Wood, Woodhall
Park, Askrigg, in extra stock.

DRAIN TILES.
F'or the best specimen of Draining Tile, tlie expense of making
to be taken into consideration, as well as tlie implements used in,
and the mode of manufacture, £10.— J. W. Etheredge, Furnival's
Inn, London ; 8 competitors.

CHEESE.
For the best cwt. of New Milk Cheese, made within 30 miles of
Richmond, £5, — Ann Dent, Caldwell, Richmond ; 3 competitors.

FARMS, &c.

The Premium of £10 for the best account of the mode in which
R team of not less than four liorses has been kept from Lady-day,
1843, to Lady-day, 1844, statin? the quantity and quality of their
food, and the manner in which it has been supplied to them, was
not awarded.

The premium of £10 for the best account of experiments made
with guano as compared with other manures, to different crops,
was awarded to Mr. M. Milburn, of Thorpe Fild, near Thirsk, the
Secretary of the Society. This gentleman's statement contained,
as required, the names of the persons by whom the experiments
were made, the soil, mode of application, and circumstances of
its ap]dication.

The premium of £10, added to a sweepstakes of £5 each, from
occupiers, being me iibers of the Society, for the best (ultivated
farm, not less in extent than 100 acres, situate in Yorkshire, and
within 30 miles of Richmond, was awarded to Messrs. O.ithwaite,
of Bainesse, near Catterick. The stake of tlie second best culti-
vator, according to the terms of competition, was returned to
Mr. W. Heddon, of Howfield, near Ripon.

SHEPHERD.

To the Shepherd, being an annual servant, who sliall have lost
the smallest proportionate number of ewes and lambs previous to
the 12th of May, from tb.ose that produced lambs in 1813, the
number of the flock not being less than fifty, £5 ; to the second
approved candidate, £3 ; to the tliird ditto, £2.

First Prize to A. Middlemiss, shepherd to S. Judd, York, wlio

lias had 104 ewes, producing 102 lambs, and had lObt neither
a Iamb nor a ewe.

Second prize to Joseph Martin, shepherd to T. Eelcs, New
House, Richmond : number of ewes producing lambs, 104, lost
none ; lambs produced, 148, lost none.

Third prize to Solomon Maddison, shcidionl to R. C. Work-
man, Alniholme, Doncaster; number of ewes producing lambs,
189, lost none; Iambs produced, 500, lost five.

There were eight competitors.

IMPLEMENTS.

The trial of Implements not being complete, only a portion o
the prizes were awarded. They were as follows : —

£1 to John Teasdale, Burniston, Bedale, for Two Row Turnipf
Diill, for Rough Manure; £1 to ditto for Corn and .Manure
Drill.

£1 to Thomas Bigg, Crawford-street, London, for Sheep-Dip-
ping Ai)paratus.

The Society's Medal to Barnett, Exall, and Andrews, Reading,
for Hand Threshing Machine; Iiiv. Wm. Exall; Mk. Barnett
and Co.; new invention ; and £1 for Chaft' Cutler.

£1 to Joseph Scurrah, Crakehall, Bedale, for Horse Hoe.

£1 to Alexander Dean, Birmingham, for Horse Engine.

£1 to John Henry Charnock, Waketield; for Drain Tile Ma-
chine ; Inv. J. B. Denton; Mk. Bradley and Craven.

The Society's Medal to William Croskill, Beverley; for 5ft.
6 in. Improved Patent CIsd Crusher.

£1 to John Green, Doncater, for Portable Weighing Machine.

Ten Shillings to John Barker, Dunnington, near Y'ork, for
Two Pair Potato Harrows, and Four Improved Iron Sack-bar-
rows.

The Society's Medals to Richard Clyburn, Uley, Dursley, for
Winnowing Machines; luv. G. Parson and R. Clyburn; Mk. R.
Clyburn, new; and for Chaff Cutting Machine; Inv. Earl Ducie,
R. Clyburn, and E. Budding; Alk. li. Clyburn. To ditto, £l
for Corn Crushir; and £1 for Spanner, or Sciew Wrench.

Ten Shillings to Francis King, Northallerton, for Cattle Feet
Clippers; Inv. G. Meynhill, Northallerton; Mk. G.Meynill.

The Society's Gold Medal was awarded to Wm. Croskill, of
Beverley, for the best assortment of implements in the yard.

REARING CATTLE, WITH A VIEW TO
EARLY MATURITY.

The cows should be ^ood milkers, able to keep
at the rate of two-and-a-half to three calves each.
It is, in general, highly exjjedient for the beef
grower to attempt Ijreeding his own IjuU. It is
e^'idently much for the ad\'antage of the breeder
to spare no reasonable expense in obtaining a bull
of thorough purity, and then to select his calves
with the most scrupulous attention. It is veiy
desirable to ha\e all the cows to calve betwixt
the 1st of Februai-y and the 1st of April. If
earlier, they will get almost dry before the grass
comes, and calves later than this will scarcely
be fit for sale with the rest of the lot. When a
calf is dropped, it is immediately removed from
its dam, rubbed dry with a coarse cloth or whisp
of straw, and then placed in a crib in the calf
house among diy straw, when it receives a portion
of its own mother's first milk ; which, being of
a purgati\'e quality, is just what is needed by the
young animal. For a fortnight, new milk is the
only food suitable for it, and of this it should
receive a liljeral allowance thrice a day ; but means
should now be used to train it to eat linseed cake
and cut Swedish turnips ; and the readiest way
of doing so is to put a bit of cake into its mouth
immediately after getting its milk, as it wiU then
suck greedily at anything it can get hold of. By
repeating this a few times, and placing a few pieces
in its trough, it will usually take to this food freely,
and, whenever this is the case, it should have as
much as it can eat, that its allowance of milk may
be diminished, to meet the necessities of the younger

220

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

calves tliat are coming in succession. It is always
most advisable to avoid mixing anything with
their milk by way of helping the quantity. When
a substitute must be resorted to, oatmeal porridge
mixed wth the new milk is perhaps the best. An
egg stirred into each calf's allowance is a good
help, but with this exception, it is best to give the
milk warm and unadulterated, and along with this,
dry farinaceous food, turnips and hay. If more
liquid is needed, a pail with water may be put
within their reach ; some breeders are of opinion
that this should ne^•er be omitted, it being a pre-
A'entive of the scours. The diet of the cows at
this season is a matter of some consequence.
Swedish turnips yield the richest milk, but it is
too scanty, and calves fed on it are liable to inflam-
matory attacks. Globe turnips should, therefore,
form their principal food during the spring months.
Care must also be taken that they do not get too
low in condition in the autumn and winter, and
for this end it is well to pvit them dry at least three
months before calving. The cows, when dry,
are kept at less expense, and, by this period of
rest, their constitution is invigorated, greater justice
done to the calf, and so much more milk obtained
after calving, when it is really valuable. AVhen
the calves are from four to six weeks old, they are
removed from their separate cribs to a house where
several can be accommodated together, and have
room to frisk about. So soon as the feeding yards
are cleared of the fat cattle, the calves are put into
the most sheltered one, where they have still more
room, and are gradually prepared for being turned
to grass, and, when this is done, they are still
brought in at night for some time. At six weeks
old, the mid-day allowance of milk is discontinued,
and at about fourteen weeks they are weaned
altogether. When this is done, their allowance of
linseed cake is increased; and, as they have been
ti-ained to its use, they readily eat enough to im-
jirove in condition at this crisis, instead of having
their growth checked, and acquiring the large
belly and unsightly appearance which iised to be
considered an unavoidable consequence of wean-
ing. The cake is continued until they have so
evidently taken with the grass as to be able to dis-
pense with it. They are not allowed to be out very
late in autumn, but as the nights begin to lengthen
and get chilly, are brought in during the night,
and receive a foddering. When put on turnips,
the daily allowance of cake (say 1 lb. each) is
resumed, and continued steadily through the winter
and spring, until they are again turned to grass.
This not merely promotes their growth and feeding,
but seems a specific against quarter evil or black
leg. When put to grass as year-olds, they de-
cidedly thrive better on soAvn grass of the first
year than on old pasture, difl^ering, in this respect,
from cattle whose growth is matured. They are
laid on turnips again as early in the autumn as
these are ready ; and it is a good practice to
sow a few acres of globes for this ex2:)ress purpose.
It does well to give the turnips upon the grass for
ten days before putting them finally into the feed-
ing yards, and then if they can be kept dry and
warm, and recei^'e daily as many good turnips as
they can eat (globe till Christmas and Swedish

afterwards), they will grow at a rate which will
afford their owner daily pleasure in watching their
progress, and reach a weight by the 1st of May,
whidr, if markets are favourable, will reward him
well for all his trouble and pains."— The contribu-
tor of the foregoing extract begs to direct the at-
tention of his brother farmers to the hberal course
of management so satisfactorily recommended.
There can be no doubt but that ample and good
feeding, keeping " dry and warm," with careful
attention to all points of good management, will
well repay any "trouble or pains" taken. The
crops grown from the dung of well fed cattle vnW
reimburse any additional outlay incurred, to say
nothing for the greatly increased ^-alue of the cattle
so treated. Contrast the treatment recommended
with the starving straw-yard system, too often fol-
lowed under the absurd notion of rearing cattle at
little cost, and turn to your crops and your cattle
for an answer. — Maidstone Gazette.

NORTH CORNWALL EXPERIMENTAL
CLUB.

The monthly meeting of the members of this club
took place on Thursday the 27th of June. Before
dinner, a large party visited a field, on which Mr.
J. S. James had tried the effect of covering grass
with layers of straw. The straw had been spread
over about one-third of the breadth of the field,
and through the entire length from east to west.
Mr. James caused the straw to be raked off for
some width up and down the line of di\nsion, and
from several patches in different parts. The differ-
ence was very marked : where no straw had l)een
laid, all the grasses were thin and short, and the
field appeared almost as brown as the soil itself.
But where the straAV had been spread, the grass
presented a lively green, and in quantity was thick
and matted, corroborating Mr. James's statement
of the enormous increase. He had cut and weighed
it, and the increase was at the rate of 2,240 lbs. to
the acre. The party having fully satisfied them-
selves of the success of the experiment, returned to
dinner at the Tree Inn. The proposing of new
members having been disposed of, immediately
after the removal of the cloth the chairman read a
letter he had received from the Rev. J. Davis, of
Kilkhampton, stating the complete success of an
e.xperiment he had made with guano for the de-
struction of the wire worm, a mere contact with
which in its native strength ^^'iU be followed by
almost instant death. He then referred to the very
handsome offer made by F. Rodd, Esq., of Tre-
bartha, to place at the disposal of the committee of
the Stratton and Launceston Clubs five acres of
land now in fallow, for the purpose of making any
experiments which the}' might desire and suggest.
Rev. James Maj', of ^^''est Putford, exhibited to the
meeting a specimen of the Bokhara clover, a peren-
nial plant of great productiveness, but not much
relished by cattle.

The Chairman had brought from AVoodley six
turfs, in order to shew the meeting the effects pro-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

221

duced by strawinpf the land. He also answered
some objections which had l)een made. The in-
creased growth evidently did not arise from con-
tact, for the high grass, the eaver, on which the
straw principally rested, was scarcely at all acted
upon. It M'as also clear that no unfavourable efiect
was produced in changing the quality of the
grasses, for he had requested Dr. Yacey, who they
all knew was a fellow of the Royal Botanical So-
ciety, to examine them, and he found that they
retained all their original properties — there was no
new grass, but all were very much improved. That it
was not to be attributed to atmospheric influence,
or a diminished evaporation from the soil, was
proved from the fact that the rush had been equally
susceptible of the effect. There was but one ques-
tion to be resolved, and that was the question of
agency ; the increase in quantity and quality had
been proved to demonstration. The action on
turnips had not proved so favourable. If applied
above the turnip stalk, it had the etTect of drawing
it, to the injury of the turnip. A lengthened dis-
cussion took place, after which Mr. Shearm recalled
the attention of the meeting to the business ap-
jiointed for the day, namely, to hear a paper by
Mr. Shephard,

On the system of cropping in the District — its de-
fects and disadvantages, ivith practical hints for
its improvement.

Mr. Shephard then ]n-oceeded — Mr. Chairman
and gentlemen : when I proposed to lay before you
some remarks on the subject we are met here to
discuss, I did not sufficiently i-eflect that if it were
properly treated, it would include a review of nearly
all our agriculture. It is a subject of great interest
to all, including as it does the means of providing
employment for our labourers, and the means of
supporting from our own soil a rapidly increasing
j)opulation. The first course of cropi)ing I shall
mention is that adopted in this immediate neigh-
bourhood, viz : ])otatoes — wheat — barley — clover,
the clover cut for hay and secondly for seed, — the
whole of this upon one dressing, put in with the
potatoes. This system, confined however to this
more immediate neighbourhood, has been in prac-
tice ever since my recollection, and still continues.
And, notwithstanding the occupiers of the land
find its jn-oduction annually diminisliing, they still
persevere in the same objectionable course. Pos-
sibly, however, this may arise from its affording to
the artizans and the other M'orking men of the
town and vicinity, great facilities for getting a few
yards of potatoes annually. I will admit this to be
of considerable importance to such parties, and
would Ije the last man to urge anything that would
deprive them of the advantage : the system may,
nevertheless, be improved without doing this, and
I woidd recommend that instead of potatoes, wheat
should .be the first crop, then potatoes, and next
barle)', which would not only clean the land but
give a far better crop alike of barley and of the
seeds after.

Another system, which you will find among the
farmers who occupy more largely, but which is
still more objectionable than the former, is that of
first potatoes or turnips, then wheat, barley, and

oats, or else wheat, barley, and oats, without the
previous crop of potatoes, or turnips, or wheat, and
two oat cro])S ; the oat crop in either case seeded
out, and generally cut for hay the following year.
This is done upon the dressing ])ut in either with
the potato, turnips, or wheat, in fact, with the first
crop. Now, I ask, can it be ])0SHible to pursue any
system more ruinous than this r Thoug]\ the soils
in this neighbourhood vary, and, consequently, re-
quire to be differently cropped ; yet, let the land be
what it may, never take three white crojjs in suc-
cession, nor two after a green crop. If you take
two white crojjs following the green crop, you leave
your land in a worse state than when you first
broke it. I would recommend those who farm
largely, and where there is a mixture of soils, wet
and dry, to obser^'e the following mode in prefer-
ence : — On their dry land, where they can grow
barley, to have wheat, barley, turnips, and barley,
dressing for wheat and turnijjs; on those dry lands
where they cannot grow a fair crop of bark)', they
should have the intermediate crop potatoes instead
of turnips, because I conceive that all the lands
that grow barley in this neighbourhood are capable
of growing turnijjs. On their wet lands, where the
green crops cannot be grown with advantage, they
should have wheat and oats, and allow the land to
remain out two years, I could wish such farmers
to adopt the system I have found indispensable in
my own case ; to take for instance GO acres out of
their estate, and crop it as I have mentioned, they
would have 10 acres of wheat, 20 of barley, 10 of
turnips, 10 of seeds, and 10 of lay, which would be
put into wheat in the autumn of every year. Were
they to adopt this system, they would find that the
rusty appearance of the land in the spring of the
year, so characteristic of this neighbourhood, would
in a very short time disappear.

Some persons, I have observed in the last few
years, have adopted a course of cropping, I sup-
jwse \vith a view to profit : I can only hope that
for their oavu sakes they may not be deceived ; all
depends on the period they remain in their es-
tates,— that is, wheat, barley, and turnips, wheat,
and barley seeded. It would appear from this that
farmers had an objection to see their land too free
from weeds ; for as soon as they succeed by judi-
cious management in getting a good crop of turnips,
they seem to look with a jealous eye u])on the good
condition of their land, and again take the two white
crops from it.

I now come to the system adopted on the moors,
which is wheat and two oat crops, the last crop par-
tially seeded, and the land allowed to remain out of
tillage for years. I am not sure that there are not
some farmers who believe that inere rest in grass is
the cause of the land's increase in fertility ; but I
presume that every ]ierson who has studied the
matter at all, knows that land is enriched not by
rest, but by. the quantity of food that cattle con-
sume on it, or in other words, the quantity of
manure it returns. Here, then, there is a great
field for improvement, and I am disposed confi-
dently to assert, that were 1,000 acres of waste or
moor land which we have around us brought un-
der a proper system of cultivation, the two great
and desirable objects with which we set out would

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

be attained— that of providing employ for our
labourers, and food for oiu* increasing population.
I shoidd therefore recommend, that those lands
now covered with furze, heath, &c. should be
broken and put into wheat, then oats, the land to
be ploughed immediately after the oats are cleared
oil" — a second ploughing in the s})ring ; tlien be
allowed to fallow for the purpose of destroying the
seeds of the furze; in the following autumn put
into wheat, and after, to have a crop of potatoes or
turnips. The farmers to the east on the moors are
adopting a system of turnips and oats, which I ad-
mit to their credit, wth a view to destroy the furze,
&c.,but I prefer the system I have mentioned.

The last system to which I would refer is that of
lay oats, wheat, turni])s, and barley; tliLs will do
very m'cII for those who ha\'e previously well cleaned
their land ; but a)JO^•e all, I do prefer the course
■which I advocate, and which I have adopted my-
self with success.

Mr. Shearm fully agreed ■with Mr. Shephard's
system, more particularly in the case of the moor
land. He had adopted that system for 12 years
on a piece of land the freehold of which cost him
6/. 5s. per acre. He did not take the credit to
himself, the suggestion proceeded from Mr. Henry
Badcock, and he had acted on his advice with the
most complete .success. He ploughed deeper upon
every fallow after the oat crop. The lirst crop of
wheat jiroduced 5 bags to the acre and 10 of oats —
the last crop produced 1 1 bags of wheat, and 20 of
oats ; an increase whicli proved to demonstration
the advantage of aiich a mode of treatment. It
must not be forgotten, however, that the land had
been thoroughly drained at the commencement.
He would earnestly recommend draining.

After a si)irited and lengthened discussion, which
was adjourned to the next meeting, Mr. Wm. Bray
annoimced that he should, at the close of tlie ad-
journed discussion, move a consideration of the
subject of " The Economy of Farm Labour."

ON HARVESTING CORN.

BY MR. SARJEAXT.

Read at a meeting of the Stratford-on-AAon
Farmers' Club, on the 26th of July.

I am not aware of any period in the history of
our country when agriculture assumed a more
interesting or more important character than at
the present time. It is gratifying to \vitness the
exertions so generally made to increase the pro-
duce of the soil, and to hope that science, aiding
practice, may so much increase the productive
powers of the earth, as to render plentiful, and
consequently cheap, the necessaries of life, ■without
depriving those engaged in producing them of a
just reward for their capital and labom-. But while
we labour to attain this jjraiseworthy object, it
behoves us to examine and compare the diiFerent
means adopted to harvest that produce, with a A'iew
to follow those most likely to economize time and
labour, and to secure it in the best condition ; for,
if we neglect these precautions, we mar the good

I we have previously endeavoured to insure. Con-
I sidering the subject of much importance, and
1 speaking in the presence of those who understand
it much better than myself, I approach it with
diffidence, and regret it was not intrusted to some
other member of "the club" whose experience
and opportunities of observation had been more
extensi\'e than my own, and who possessed the
ability of communicating them in a more pleasing
and instructive manner ; l)ut rather than appear
wanting in courtesy, I reluctantly yielded to the
call so imanimously made upon me at the last
meeting. I will now cheerfully do my best in
responding to it, although I had flattered myself,
as a junior member, I should not have been thus
early called upon to have taken such a prominent
part.

The state of the weather may some seasons jus-
tify a delay in commencing harvest; generally
speaking it is considered advisable to cut corn
before it becomes quite ripe. By beginning early
the labourers employed regularly upon the farm
may cut a much greater portion before it becomes
too ripe, and the terms may be arranged more
satisfactorily; and here, it may be observed, the
increased satisfaction resulting alike to the em-
ployer and the employed, from setting or contract-
ing for the work to be performed previous to
the commencement will, it is hoped, be a suffi-
cient recommendation to adopt it. The risk of
loss from shedding and breakage, if not wholly
a^'oided, is much diminished, unfavourable weather
being less injyrious than when allowed to become
quite ripe before it is cut, and to which may be
added the superior quality of the grain, the in-
creased value of the straw, the probability of
finer weather to secure it, and the greater quantity
that can be secured than in shorter days, are im-
portant considerations. In confirmation of these
opinions, we will refer to the fourth volume of the
Fanners' Miujaziiie, p. 19, for the carefully con-
ducted experiments of Mr. Hannan recorded there
must go far to convince every un^jrejudiced mind;
and his observations so amply repay the perusal,
that no apology is necessary for calling attention
to them, if it is not trespassing too long upon our
time : they are so applicable to the subject as to
merit a careful consideration, for it would be doing
them less than justice to make extracts. These
results might somewhat vary according to seasons
and different localities, yet it is probable the grain
would be often more than 4 per cent, upon that
cut raw.

Amongst the implements used for cutting corn —
the scythe and the sickle, however modified in
shape, ha\'e retained their names through a series
of ages ; but the great im^jrovement in agriculture
and agricultural mechanics, strengthen the opinion
that modern machineiy, as already applied to this
pxu-pose, \\\\\ extend so as materially to lighten
this department of human labour. That the sickle
is well adapted to this purpose is not to be denied,
and its use, in some cases, not to be dispensed
with. With equal truth, the greater expedition of
the scythe points to it also as an article of similar
value, and as one that may occasionally l)e sub-
stituted for the sickle mth advantage, and is in

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

2-22

much repute for this purpose in Scotland, and
some of the eastern counties. To secure as jrreat
a quantity of straw as possible is always desirable,
(and particularly so the present season), and for
this purpose the scythe is superior. It may l)c
objected to mowing wheat undoubtedly, for it is
faulty, Mke everything of human invention. Let
us examine the objections, and should some appear
to exist rather in imagination than reality, whilst
others are counterbalanced by an increased pro-
duce, let a trial of the system determine its merits.
First, it is objected as slovenly in appearance. The
same will apply in every operation if performed by
careless, averse, or inditierent hands ; nevertheless,
if skilfully executed, there is a finished look not to
be arrived at by any other single operation. Next is
urged the deterioration of the sample from dirt
and seeds; both may be prevented by careful
management, — observe the same precautions as
with barley, which is as much lessened in \'alue
from these causes as wheat, and were this an
insuperable objection, barley must be reaped, to
which are added the additional expense of calling,
stacking, and thrashing. These will all be repaid
by the increased quantity of straw and corn, with-
out mentioning the cost of cutting and carting
stubble, which is entirely saved.

We will now consider the recommendations,
amongst which may be enumerated expedition in
cutting — the mixing of inferior hands without a
corresponding inferiority in the work — clearing the
ground at once and thoroughly, by allowing the
use of the rake, thereby preventing man}' of the
weeds from casting their seed, allowing immediate
cultivation, which if not considered a universal
advantage, its necessity in some cases cannot be
denied ; the quantity of straw increasing in a
greater ratio than the grain, and there being no
compression by the grasp of the hand as in reap-
ing, permit a stronger current of air in the field
and in the stack, consequently it can be carted a
day or two sooner. Also, the increased quantity
and Aalue of the straw, (though it may be con-
tended the stubble is equivalent to this,) if ended
upon the premises. To meet this it may be asked,
who has not observed the comparative worthless-
ness of stubble for manure, which is as much
occasioned by its long exposure to alternations of
weather, as to any deficiency of the more highly
azotized ingredients which the straw immediately
contiguous to the grain may contain. And, lastly,
the increased quantity of grain, with a saving in
the expense of cutting, compared with reaping, of
one or two shillings per acre.

Viewed as opinions or statements, these must
have little or no influence; yet, when proved in
practice, they are not to be controverted by pre-
judice, or undervalued without proof, for which
we wU again refer to that useful pid:)lication the
Fanners' Magazine, which merits the patronage of
e\'ery one connected with the cultivation of the
soil. In the sixth volume and 350th page, it is
ascertained from a field of wheat, averaging four
and a half quarters per acre, every six inches of
stubble, when quite dry, was equal to three and a
half cwt. of straw per acre, and the value of the
gleanings was under one shilUng pei- acre upon a

two-inch stubble, and about six shilhngs per acre
upon stubble cut twelve inches from the ground.

It is l)y no means intended to advocate the indis-
criminate use of the scythe, much will be detracted
from the advantages, unless the crop be thrashed
by machinery; and wheat sown to clover or grass
seeds, and very bulky crops, the sickle seems pre-
ferable.

The hook used in Wales, and some of the ad-
joining counties, is held in less estimation for cut-
ing wheat than the sickle or the scythe; yet it
secures a greater quantity of straw than the former,
and is attended with many of the advantages of the
latter.

ObseiTe in binding to have no more straws for
the band than is absolutely necessary, and that
the sheaf be securely, but not tightly, bound, for
these are by no means synonymous terms, the pro-
])er fastening of the band being of the greatest
importance ; nor is it of so much consequence as
generally supposed to bind perfectly dry, if these
rules are strictly observed, or to refrain from reap-
ing in showery weather — if two or three reaps only
are placed in each band, the assertion is ventured
without fear of contradiction, that it will take less
damage, and be much quicker in good condition
than larger sheaves; and by so doing the labourers
are not entirely idle during showery weather, nor
does the employer suffer when fine weather returns,
by loss from shedding, &c., but will be much bet-
ter satisfied with the portion that was cut in the
showery season than that by which he is daily losing
for want of cutting.

Order is also to be observed in placing the
sheaves upon the land conveniently for shocking,
in such a position that rain will the most readily
run oft' them. The system of cap-shocking, how-
ever beneficial in improving the quality and secu-
ring the grain, is liable to the serious objections
of requiring perfect dryness when shocked, and
more time in the field before ricking.

We have now to consider the method used to
cut barley and oats, the common scythe being the
implement genei-ally used for that purpose in this
neighbourhood. Let us tiun our attention to what
is going on around us, and we shall find the
Kentish cradle scythe and Drummond's corn
scythe are used in other places for that purpose,
and the corn collected and bound. It must be
remarked there is not any intention to hurry a
sudden departure from customs sanctioned by
long usage, yet, whilst our own interest and the
wants of a vast and daily-increasing population
remind us that in this and every other process of
agriculture tlie best systems must be selected with
discrimination, and followed out with care. Should
any consider the method beneficial in securing im-
provement in quality, in affording greater protec-
tion in unfavourable weather, and expediting the
carting from the field, and every subsequent oi)e-
ration, the increased expense would be small com-
pared with the advantage that might result from
it in an unfavourable season ; and as the old
system of cutting beans by the common scythe
has yielded to the modern practice of reaping and
hacking, let us be scej)tical about its use in the
oat and barley fields. Generally admitted imjirove-

Q

224

THE FABMER'S MAGAZINE.

ments as these are upon the former system, each,
in some jjarticular, is hable to objection ; for in-
stance, reaping beans is slow in execution, and
unless well dried before binding, and as slackly
bound as consistent mth security, they occasionally
damage for want of a freer circulation of air in the
middle of the sheaf; it is an excellent method of
cutting them when very ripe, and when turnips or
other green crops are growing under them, and
the facility it atibrds to carting, stacking, &c., is
no trifling advantage, hacking will be found a
more expeditious process, and the length of time
beans so cut will endure wet, comparatively speak-
ing, without injury is a recommendation to the
system, which, neatly performed, is little, if any,
inferior to reaping j indeed, so far as being less
liable to damage by rain, it is superior.

AVith respect to cutting peas, expedition points
to the scythe; but experience proves that the hook,
assisted by a stick or sickle in the left hand, as
preferable in some cases; as, for example, when
much lodged or very ripe.

We now arrive at the second part of the subject,
and will briefly review the carting, stacking, and
thatching. Tlie time of carting wall in some de-
gree depend upon the time intended to thrash —
whether in the autumn or following spring ; it is
not profitable to risk corn in the field longer than
sufficient to prevent its damaging in the stack, for
the chance of improved condition is often dearly
bought by so doing, whilst the daily loss from
numerous small birds, and the additional shedding
on removal, will materially lessen the quantity.

The cai-riages used to convey corn to the rick
merit particular attention, the waggon often used
for that purpose exceeding a ton in M-eight. The
lighter narrow-wheeled ones are often irTjurious in
wet weather, and the other, from their weight and
height, must occasion an extravagant expenditure
of horse and manual labour ; therefore, should the
cart prove, upon comparison, better adapted to the
purpose, let their introduction show that we are
willing to learn, and ready to practise the jjest
methods. As many important considerations are
involved in this inquiry, it will be advisable to de-
A'ote our attention to it at some future time.

Much inconvenience is often experienced when
carting corn by the rakmgs, as these are mostly
the unkindest and worst quality of the crop, and
are more hkely to contain dirt and stones, one to
the injury of the sample, and the other to that of
the machine, if thrashed by machinery ; it may, on
some occasions, be expedient to rake them alone,
and for this purpose Grant's patent lever horse
rake claims particular attention. The time occu-
pied in binding or roping is often considerable ; if
one pitcher only is em^jloyed, may be much dimi-
nished by having a temporary framing, somewhat
similar to the fore-ladder, fixed Avith a slight incli-
nation from the perpendicular at each end of the
load, a cross-roping or two being then all that is
requisite ; or, where the road to be tra-\^elled over
is not very bad, the binding may be simphfied by
securing the rope to each side the cross-bed be'-
fore, (to remain so fastened during the han^est),
drawing the ends over, and tying them to the cross-
bed behind.

The staddles or frames in the rick-yard should
be arranged Math reference to convenience for
barning the corn, care being taken to place them
in a position favourable to a free circulation of
air, and insure a road to each without interference
with others ; peculiar circumstances may some-
times justify the trouble of conveying straw, &c.
to place and secure the corn in stacks in the fields
where it grew ; by so doing, the cultivation of the
field is impeded, and the expenses of fencing and
digging are incurred, as also a mixture in the suc-
ceeding crop from shed grain, which duly con-
sidered ■will not often excuse the practice. ITie
size of the ricks, like other matters appertaining
to agriculture, should depend upon circumstances,
amongst which the weather may be noticed as one
of the most influential. Small ricks, comparatively
speaking, present a more extended surface to the
sun and air, and admit stacking the corn in inferior
condition without so much risk of injury as in
largerones. Eachshould contain at least sufficient for
a day's work, if thrashed by machinery ; but should
the flail be used for that purpose, they should not
contain more than twenty quarters, or the length of
time some must remain before thrashed render it
liable to injury by the evaporation of moisture from
the earth at the bottom of the mow, as well as
being a harbour for vermin ; and for these reasons
frames should be erected in the rick-yard to stack
the grain upon. Considered wdth reference to
insure the benefit of sun and air, and at the same
time economise thatching, round ricks embrace
these objects ; yet, on consideration of the diameter
being greater, they are inferior to oval-shaped ones
where large ricks are made, and these seem the
most convenient, if ])roperly erected; hips and
gables being avoided, it is thatched much quicker,
and the wind has more difficulty in displacing it.
Wood frames may be used when the unloader can-
not reach the top of the rick, for a man to stand
upon, to pitch it from him to the top, instead of
standing upon the roof of the rick.

To save the annually recurring expense of thatch-
ing, roofs permanently thatched and fixed upon
pillars, or raised by pullies, are in some instances
used ; but hitherto none of the attempts to eflfect
this desirable object have met Avith any great de-
gree of approbation. Could not a permanent and
extensiA'ely useful erection on pillars, tweh'e feet
high and twelve feet by twenty from each other,
(similar in size to a barn), the length to be more or
less, according to the extent of the farm, be made
serviceable for this purpose, by placing the corn
intended for thrashing in the autumn under it, and
after the removal, stacking the straw wished to be
preserved ? no rain could injure during the time
occupied in stacking ; by this arrangement the
temporary covering the grain at harvest, thatching
it afterwards, and again thatching the straw, would
be saved.

If a slight digression from the subject may be
permitted, a still greater advantage to the small
occupier may be mentioned. On small occupations
collecting the hay often takes considerable time,
and the use for a sheet, &c. would scarcely justify
svxch an outlay ; the damage hay often sustains
during ricking would not occur by placing it under

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

236

this building, and the lengthened exposure which
a slow consumption, or want of buildings to re-
move a cutting into at once would be avoided.

Thatching, though last, is not the least impor-
tant part connected with. " harvesting corn," and
should by no means be delayed, for hasty and un-
expected rains may some seasons do an infinity of
mischief ; therefore, every rick-yard should be well
supplied with bolting straw for the purpose, as this
description of straw will enable the thatchers to
perform more work in a day, and one person to
wait upon two thatching. The use of water may be
dispensed with, except for the purpose of toughening
bands or ropes, for which purpose sags or rushes
are preferable to hay or straw ; and with a supply
of boltings and sprags, ready for immediate use,
every rick may be temporarily secured in a few
minutes, which should be attended to as soon as
it is erected.

The importance of the subject must be my
apology for so long occupying your attention.
Had it been less comj)rehensive, it would have
admitted treating more in detail ; probably, much
has been said unnecessarily, certainly much useful
matter has been omitted, the subject being entirely
one of a i)ractical nature. I hope these deficiencies
may be supplied by your remarks, which, for prac-
tical utility, may be more profitable than anything
I have said.

As the first attempt that has been made by one
dependent upon the cultivation of the soil, to call
your attention to one of the many important ope-
rations therewith connected, I hope my obsen^a-
tions may l)e candidly considered, and commented
upon \vithout undue severity. Upon any point
wherein I have not been sufficiently explicit, I
shall be happy to give any further explanation in
my power.

After the reading of the paper a very interesting
and useful discussion followed. The club, which
was only formed in April last, already numbers as
members, more than sixty of the most extensive
landed proprietors and intelhgent agiculturists of
the neighbourhood.

W. H. JoRDEN, Hon. Sec,

DR. MURRAY'S LECTURES ON CHEMIS-
TRY, IN THE TOWN-HALL OF KELSO.

In the last lecture were considered the mineral
manures, and the various compounds of ammonia.
"We have now to notice the compounds of the fixed
alkalies — soda and ])otash.

Carbonate of potash is very high in price, and
therefore cannot in general fje economically em-
ployed ; but it is used in some other states, as
in wood ashes, straw ashes, and other kinds : it is
produced by the burning of vegetable matter.
Carbonate of soda is much cheaper, varying from
£8 to £10 per ton, and, therefore, so reasonable
that it might be apphed with advantage to the
lands which are overrun with moss, or abounding
largely in vegetable matter, or where there are
poisonous ingredients in the soil, in which case a

weak solution of carbonate of soda has been found
to correct it; in a fine powder it may be
apphed to sprouting corn during moist weather ;
and, in general, wherever wood ashes are
useful, it is beneficial ; it is valuable to the green
])ortion of plants, particularly to the straw of the
l>arley crop.

The other salts of soda and potash are the
nitrates — the nitrate of potash and the nitrate of
soda. Their efficacy is now generally acknowledged,
and they are so abundant that they can be profitably
employed. When eiti.er of the two is employed, their
first visible effect on the crop is, that they produce a
dark green colour in the stems and leaves ; second-
ly, they hasten, increase, and prolong the growth ;
thirdly, they generally cause an increase in the
weight of the hay and straw, and sometimes even
in the grain. Hay and grass dressed with them
are much more greedily eaten by cattle ; the
grain, however, is stated to be usually of an inferior
quality, and yielding a proportionally smaller
quantit)'. The principal action of the nitrates is in
promoting the growth of the woody fibre, and on
land in a high condition they force a production of
a greater quantity of straw at the expense of the
ear; an inferior quality of grain also arises from
this peculiarity. the grain becomes enveloped
in a thicker husk, and a large quantity of it goes to
form bran, the nitrates in this case appearing to be
the cause of the transformation of the starch and
gum into the woody fibre : we may deduce from
this not to apply the nitrates where there is a ten-
dency to the abundant production of straw. As to
the effect of the nitrates upon the crops, there are
cases in which they produce no effect, and others
in which they produce a dark green colour without
increasing the crop; in other cases again they
have diminished the production.

EFFECT OF NITRATES OF SODA AND POTASH
ON WHEAT.

Undressed. Dressed.

Grain. Straw. Grain. Straw.
B. C. B. C.

Nitrate of Soda i cwt. :
A poor sandy soil 18^ — 27 —

Nitrate of Soda, 1 cwt. :
A gravelly soil . . 42 34 64 38i

Nitrate of Soda, 180 lbs. .-

35 31^ 47 62

Nitrate of Potash 180 lbs. :

— — 42 76

EFFECT OF NITRATE OF SODA ON HAY.

Per Acre.

Undressed. Dressed.
Tons. Cwt. Tons. Cwt,
Nitrate of Soda, 1 cwt. :
Soil thin and light, sub-
soil clay .... 2 12 3 4
Nitrate of soda 120 lbs. :
Light soil, subsoil / 2 OA 3 0^
gravel 12 12 10
Nitrate of soda 1 60 lbs. :

Stiff clay after wheat ^ ^ ^ j '^ j*|

Ci2

226

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

EFFECTS OF NITRATE OF SODA ON WINTER RYE.

Per Acre.
Undressed. Dressed.

Grain. Straw. Grain. Straw.
Nitrate of soda, \60lbs. :
Strong clay after
Potatoes 14 B. 27icwt. 26 B, 2 tons. IQk'wt.

EFFECTS OF NITRATE OF SODA ON OATS.

Per Acre.

Undressed Dressed.

Grain, ^traw. Grain. Straw.

B. C. B. B.
Nitrate of Soda, 1 cwt. :

Heavy soil, clay

subsoil . . 48i 25j 64 38|

Nitrate of soda, 1 cwt. ;
A loam on chalk

subsoil .. 40 61 60 90

EFFECT or NITRATE OF SODA ON BARLEY.

Per Acre.

Undressed. Dressed.

Grain. Straw. Grain. Straw.

C. B. C. B.
Nitrate of Soda, 1 cwt. :

Light soilj subsoil

chalk .... 44:1 I6i^ 55^ 20:}

Nitrate of soda, 1 cwt. :
Poor sandy soil. .18 32

ON POTATOES.

5 cwt. per boll per imperial acre.
Nitrate of soda 1 A cwt. 64 bolls. 16 tons.

do., potash l^cwt. 492 bolls. 12 tons 7 cwt. 2 qrs.
Farm-yard dung 35 tons 35 i bolls 8 tons 1 7 cwt. 2qrs.

We see from these tables that nitrate of soda
seems capable of producing a great increase in the
oat crop, and where it has failed, the failure has
arisen from inattention to the state of the weather,
or some peculiarity in the soil ; it appears that this
salt requires a considerable degree of moistiux ; in
diy weather it does not act. In regard to the
action of these nitrates upon the turnip crop, per-
haps a sufficient number of trials have not yet been
made to enable us to come to a sound conclusion ;
and in reference to the trials which have been
made, the information given to us is not precise ;
individvials recording trials with any kind of manure
on turnip or other crops should recollect that it is
highly important to state fully eveiy circumstance
connected with it, such as the nature of the soil
and the subsoil, the weather, whether the soil be
drained or undrained, the weights and measures of
the substances employed, the quantity and quahty
of the crops obtained, &c. By giving such a state-
ment as this, sound and correct information would
be obtained, and discordant results would disap-
pear or receive an adequate explanation. It is
seldom that any good future effects of the nitrates
have been observed ; this is in consequence of their
solubility in ^\-ater, whereby they are soon carried
away ; they are washed entirely out of the soil, and
in many cases their after effects have probably

arisen from the circumstance that the season was
a dry one, when a portion of the salt remained in
the soil : this circiunstance will so far explain to
us why the nitrates and other saline manvires have
in some cases failed to produce any beneficial effect,
or have even proved injurious, as by burning up
the croj). The emj)loyment of the nitrates must
be beneficial on poor lands, or those on which corn
is thin ; on rich lands their only effect seems to be
in promoting the growth of the straw ; the effect
will greatly de})end upon the moisture of the soil,
and upon whether there be a retentive subsoil.
These two salts have been employed indiscrimi-
nately, being supposed to have the same special
action ; their action must depend, however, not
only upon the nitrogen, but also upon the potash
and that upon the soda. According to some, it does
not siginify whether soda or potash be applied,
and that if there is any s])ecial action, it must arise
from the potash being more soluble than the soda.

SPECIAL EFFECTS OF THE NITRATES.

Grain. Cwt.

Nitrate of soda 46 B. 52

Nitrate of potash 42 B. 76

Here is a considerable difference in the grain, but
the difference in the straw is far greater. Others
ha\-e found little or no difference whatever ; and
in one or tM'o trials the reverse of this has been
said to be the case. In cases where they have an
equal action, it is omng to the nitric acid. Tlie
explanation of this is that the function of the
nitrates is to afford nitrogen, which is a necessary
ingredient in almost all cultivated vegetables.
From the air. it ap})ears to be principally carbonic-
acid gas that the plants absorb ; nitrogen is not
generally absorbed from the air, but is taken in at
the roots, and in some cases is even evolved by
the j)lant. It must be exclusively obtained from
the soil and the manures applied to it. It is in the
form of nitrate acid that nitrogen is conveyed to
the roots of the plants ; in the absence of any one
essential kind of food, the young plants will lan-
guish and die, and it is easy to understand from
this how the application of the nitrates should so
suddeiily revive them ; that this is the correct ex-
planation is shown by the fact, that in the
poorest soils the effects of the nitrates are the most
evident.

The next compoimds to be noticed are the sul-
phates ; these have been long known to produce
beneficial effects ; in growing corn they increase
the produce one-fourth. The price of sulphate of
potash, however, has been too high to admit of
its extended application. The price of sulphate of
soda was considerable some years ago ; but it is
now much lower, in consequence of the method of
manufacturing it ; hence it can be applied econo-
mically, either alone or mixed with other salts.
One ciiTum stance is, that sulphate of soda, when
in a state of crystals, contains about one-half its
weight of water, and this must be kept in mind
when mentioning the quantities of it applied to the
land ; in a dry state, when the water is expelled
from it, at the rate of 84lbs. per acre, applied to
hay, r)'e, and potatoes, suljjhate of soda alone gave
the following results : —

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

0'>7

EFFECTS OF SJULPHATE OF SOI>A.

Undressed. Dressed. Increase.
Hay 4,480 lbs. 5,288 808 lbs.

Wiptcr ^ '^''■^'"' ^'^^ — ^^^ '^''^ ~

t Straw, 4,09<3 — 4.008 .5 1 2 —

Potatoes 164 tons. 18^ tons. l|tons

It was also found that the grain of the dressed
rye was much heavier than that of the undressed.
On beans and peas the influence of this salt is con-
siderable, its action being almost entirely upon the
pods, enlarging them and improving them in
flavour. ^Yhen sown with jjeas, it nearly killed
ever}' one of them ; while the same cpiantity used
as a top dressing benefited them greatly. The
(juantity applied shoidd be about 1 cwt. of dry salt
per acre ; it should be sjjrinkled on the young
crops with water, or when rain is expected. An-
other salt is sulphate of magnesia, or common
Epsom salts ; its effects are principally from the
action of the suljihuric acid ; its price is now down
to 10s. or r2s. per cwt., and therefore it can be ex-
tensively employed ; sulphate of soda is ajtplied at
ab.out 2 cwt. of crystals to the land, and the price
is about 12s. per cwt.; the sulphate of magnesia
will be applied at about 1^ cwt. per acre, giving it
the advantage in point of cost ; still the other sul-
phate is an important one. Gypsum, or sulphate
of lime, has been long applied to the land ; in Ger-
many its influence has been found to be the
greatest on grass and clover, while in other coun-
tries it has been applied to almost every kind of
crop ; it is generally dusted on the young plants ;
but as gypsum requires much water to dissolve it,
in dry seasons it will be slow in producing its
effect if applied as a top dressing ; it requires a
gallon of water to dissolve a cjuarter of a pound of
gypsum ; the time and mode of its application
exert considerable influence. The following shows
the

EFFECTS OF THE SAME aUAXTITIES OF GYP-
SUM AT DIFFERENT PERIODS OF THE CROP.

Undressed 100 lbs.

Top dressed, March 30 132

— — April 13 140

— — Do. 27 156

From this it appears that the effect of the top
dressing is the greatest after the development of
the leaves ; this has been exi)lained by saying that
when gypsum is dusted on the leaves of plants, the
sulphuric acid is absorbed and carbonate of lime
left upon the leaf. The true explanation of the
general action of all the salts is obtained from
chemical analyses of all the crops benefited by
them ; thus it is a well knoAvn fact that sulphur
forms a necessary constituent of gluten and albu-
men, and of the principle called legumen, which
exists in the pea, the bean, and other crops of that
nature ; this being a necessary ingredient, plants
must obtain it from the soil. One cause of the eflS-
cacy of the sulphates is that they yield up the sul-
phur readily, and in large quantity ; and, as they
produce a far greater effect upon leguminous plants
than upon others, this is because these plants re-
quire more sulphur than the others. It is of im-
portance in reference to this mode of action, to
know the relative efficiency of the various sulphates

employed ; this will dej)end upon the quantity of
sulpliur in thein, upon their solubility in water,
and also upon the specific action of the base itself.
Not only is the weight of sulphur in gypsum more
than in any of the others, but it is also the cheapest
of the whole; other circumstances than these
must, however, be taken into account. Of Ijurnt
gypsum, it requires a gallon of water to dissoh'e
one-sixth of a pound ; hence, in a dry season it is
better to use sulphate of soda, or magnesia, which
is chea])er and easily dissolved in water, as insolu-
ble bodies cannot be taken up by the roots of
plants. Again, the chemical composition of the
soils determines in a still greater degree the special
action of these salts ; if the soil be deficient in
lime, gypsum should be employed ; the same wiU
be the case with the other sulphates, according as
the soil abounds or is deficient in their bases.
There is another consideration independent of the
sulphuric acid which these bodies contain, namely,
the cpiantities of those ingredients which are con-
tained in the plants, as .shown by their ashes. The
following is the

COMPOSITION OF CLOVER ASHES :

Rye grass hay. Red clover. White clover.

Potash 8-81 19*95 3r05

Soda 3-94 5-29 579

Lime 7"34 27'80 23-48

Magnesia 0-90 3-33 3-05

Sulphuric acid 3*53 4-47 3-53

We must consider not only the kind, but the
quantity of manure, and also the kind of crop.
From the table we see that the red clover contains
more lime and less potash than the white ; the sub-
stances to be employed, therefore, will be gypsum
to the red and sulphate of potash to the white
clover, to supply the lime and ])otash which they
respectively require. In the rye-grass we see
how much smaller a proportion of these bodies
exist; a Cjuantity which would, however fit it
would be, be insuflficient for the others. From this
we perceive that we must consider not only the kind
of manure to be applied, but the quantity of it
which we must use. Common salt, commonly
termed chloride of sodium, has been long recom-
mended as a manure ; in some districts it has been
highly extolled, while in others it is much disap-
proved of. In many cases it has been used advan-
tageously ; on the other hand, it has, under other
circumstances, failed to produce any sensible im-
provement. Where the repeated application of salt
has failed to benefit, it may be because there is an
abundance of it in the soil.

EFFECT OF COMMON SALT ON WHEAT.

Per A

■:re.

Common Salt.

Unsalted.

Salted.

1 1 Bushels,

16^ B.

22iB.

after barley.

6* ditto

lUB.

21 B.

after beans.
r Ditto sown

Ditto ditto

16 B.

17* B.

< with the seed
L after peas.

5 ditto

13^6.

26iB.

< Light gravel-
t ly soil.

160 lbs.

25 B.

32 B,

^ Hea\7 loam,
I after potatoes

228

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

16 Bushels,

tons.

ON BARLEY.

Per Acre.
30 B. 51

ON HA y.
Per Acre.
cwt. tons.

5 Bushels, 2 0 2

ditto

1

c\vt.

i Light soil
I on gravel.
_ / Clay soil
X on clay.

A great number of the failures in the apjilication
of salt have occurred in the immediate vicinity of
the sea, or where the land was exposed to the sea
spray, while the most successful experiments with
it have almost imiformly occurred at a distance
from the sea, thus determining that its beneficial
effect depends upon the greater or less abundance
of it in the soil. Certain plants flourish best by
the sea, and will select soils containing a large
quantity of saline substances ; obser\'ations of a
sufficiently extended nature, howcA^er, are yet want-
ing to show which of our crops are most benefited by
salt. The two next manures, the bases of which
are lime and magnesia, are the chlorides of calcium
and magnesia; these constitute the refuse of the
salt manufactories. When salt water is boiled
down, a thick oily matter remains containing
these bodies ; both of them are found to benefit
vegetation ; they are said considerably to benefit
the potato crop. It is generally in inland situations
that these salts are found beneficial ; in Germany
the refuse liquor of the salt pans is largely and ad-
vantageously employed ; it is now used to extir-
pate grubs and virmin. It is obvious that we
cannot expect to succeed so well by the use of any
one manure as with a mixture of two or more ; all
the natural manures are nothing else but mixed
manures ; they contain a mixture of saline sub-
stances, much of which exerts a specific action,
while they contain also a mixture of animal and
vegetable matter ; so that the increased produce
is not to be ascribed to one ingredient. It is,
therefore, a subject for investigation where these
saline matters are generally useful, and where they
are specially useful. Some trials have been made,
but not to a sufficient extent to furnish us with a
complete answer to the question ; from these trials
it appears that the effect is far greater from the
combined action of the two than from either of
themselves ; thus on potatoes the result was very
different, in the foUoAving experiment by Mr. Flem-
ing, Avith the nitrate and sulphate of soda : —

EFFECT OF NITRATE AND SULPHATE OF SODA
ON POTATOES.

Imperial Acre. — Top dressed.
Bolls,
5 cwt. each. Tons
Sulphate of "]
soda 1 J cwt. I
Nitrate of [
soda f cwt. J
Farm-yard }
dung 40 tons ]

n

49

18

12

Cwt.

15

Q6 bolls, each 5 cwt. 107 B.

Imperial Acre.

Undressed. Dressed.

Nitrate of soda, "^

100 lbs.
Sulphate of do.
100 lbs. J

Increase, 41 bolls, or 10 tons per acre.
Nitrate of soda alone, 80 bolls.

The success of this experiment is so great as ob-
viously to lead to trials with other mixtures.
Wood ashes may be regarded as a mixed manure,
consisting of a great number of mineral manures,
such as carbonates, suljAates, phosphates, chlo-
rides, and siUcates of the diiferent bases, along
with unbiu'nt charcoal, and other substances neces-
sary to the growth of plants. As the ash of almost
every vegetable differs from the others in composi-
tion, so their eflfects may be supposed also to
dififer ; v.-ood ash is said to be most effective on
leguminous plants, as beans, peas, &c. ; as a top
dressing to grass land, it roots out moss ; it is also
found to have an excellent effect upon the turnip
crop when mixed Avith bone dust. As the wood
ash of this countiy generally contains from 1-1 2th
to 1-1 5th of its weight of salts, the following will
be the proportions equal to a ton of wood ash, and
the prices : —

SALTS EOUAL TO ONE TON OF WOOD ASH.

Common potashes 60lbs. at a cost of 15s.

Crystals of carbonate of soda 60 do. do. 79

Sulphate of soda 20 do. do. 2s.

Common salt 20 do. do. 2s.

160

24s.

As these ashes contain a greater or less quantity of
unburnt carbonaceous matter, and a large portion
to their weight of insoluble matter, their fertilizing
effects cannot be ascribed either to their soluble or
insoluble ingredients alone ; the insoluble ones re-
maining in the soil, and acting permanently.
Ashes obtained from the burning of straw contain
also a natural mixture of saline substances exceed-
ingly valuable to almost every crop ; the propor-
tion of the several constituents varies with the kind
of straw burnt.

COMPOSITION OF STRAV^"" ASHES.

Oats. Barley. Wheat. Rye.

Potash 15-2 3-4 0*6 V2

Soda trace. 0-9 0-8 0-4

Lime 2-6 10-5 6-8 6-4

Magnesia 0*4 r4 O-g 0-4

Alumina O'l 2*8 l

Oxide of iron trace 0-2 ^ 2"6 0*9

— magnesia . . do. 0"3 J

Sulphuric acid 1-4 2*2 TO 6-1

Phosphoric acid .... 0-2 3-5 4*8 I'S

Chloride acid O'l VZ 0*9 0'6

Silica 80-0 73-5 — 82-2

100

100 100

100

That such a mixture as this should prove useful
might be expected from the effect of the dung pro-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

229

cured from other vegetable bodies, and accordingly
good effects have been obtained from it ; in Lin-
colnshire the ash of 5 tons of burnt straw has been
found to be equal to 10 tons of farm-yard manure ;
it is said to produce better clover, and to give a
large return of wheat ; by it also all kinds of
weeds are destroyed. The soluble matter of
wheat ashes contains much silica, a substance
which is essential.

COMI'OSITION OF WHEAT ASHES.

Soluble salts 19 per cent.

Insoluble matter 81 —

SOLUBLE.

Silica 35 per cent.

Chlorine 13 —

Potash and soda 50 ■ —

Sulphuric acid 2 —

100

Silica is here mentioned as being rendered soluble
by the action of soda and jjotash ; it exists in straw
ash in the shape of silicate of potash, and thus we
perceive the value of the straw-ash mixture, these
soluble silicates finding ready and easy admission
into the roots of plants, and thus readily supplying
them with the silica essential to their health.
Peat ashes have l)een frequently employed as a
manure ; they generally contain gypsum and phos-
phate and carbonate of lime ; in England peat is
in many cases burnt for ashes, and applied to green
crops. Coal ash resembles wood ash. Kelp, the
ashes of marine weeds, has been much used; it
was formerly high in price, but is now i-educed to
£2 or £3 a ton ; it varies in composition both with
the species and the age of the plants from which it
is obtained.

AVERAGE COMPOSITION OF KELP.

Soluble portion. Insoluble portion,

Corbonate of soda 1 „. Carbonate of lime . .

Sulphuret of do. J ' Silica

Sulphate of soda . 13'5 Alumina&oxide iron

Common salt ... "I Gypsum

Chloride of pot- > 37*5 Sulphiu- and loss . .
as slum J

42-5

57-5

42-5

100

Kelp may be applied to the land in nearly the
same circvunstances as wood ashes ; it is decidedly
efficacious ; it ought to be employed in inland
situations, as the soil near the sea will already have
sufficient saline matter ; the ordinary kind of kelp
is not so good as another kind which is made ; in
the ordinary kelp the heat is so great that it melts
the sahne matter ; the other kind is converted into
black powdery ash, and being in a finer state of
di\dsion, will be better dissolved by water, and find
its way more readily into the roots of plants ; this
would combine the advantages of the saline matter
with the ad\'antages of the animal and charcoal
matter.' — Keho Mail.

EXPENSES AND PRODUCE OF ARABLE
LAND.

TO THE EDITOll OF THE FARMERS* MAGAZINE.

Sir,— In estimating the expenses and produce of
arable land, it would much simplify the matter if
the home-made manure were left out of the calcu-
lation (as I consider it ought to be), except the
expense of taking from the foldyard to the land,
and the same will apply to all composts fonned of
materials found on the farm; the expense of manu-
facturing should be charged, but nothing for the
raw material; and, on the other side, little or
nothing should be allowed for straw, for, unless
cattle feeding thereon have something else given to
them of better quality, they \vill be of no more
value when they leave the foldyard than when they
enter it. If bones, rape dust, guano, or linseed
cake be applied in any shape, the proper proportion
should be charged; but whatever the turnip land is
made debtor to the homestead on account of (if I
may be allowed to call it) home-grown manure,
whether ten pounds or ten shillings, the farm has
a right to be given credit for to exactly the same
amount, on account of having produced it ; but the
real value of the straw, as fodder to let, may be
estimated by the fact, that there is many a farm in
Lincolnshire where beasts are taken in and wintered
for nothing ; in fact, straw is merely a convenience
for carrying through the winter a certain kind of
stock, and for littering the draught horses; and
the arable portion of the farm is as much indebted
to the grazing part for furnishing cattle to make it
into manure, as the grazing part is to the arable
for the profit arising therefrom. I make these
remarks in consequence of seeing on the one hand
home-made manure charged exceedingly high, and
on the other, straw estimated nearly at the value of
hay ; Earl Ducie, for instance, valuing an acre of
wheat straw at thirty-five shiUings.

Yours truly, B. H.

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT CLUBS.

In the present age of improvements, numerous
societies have been estabhshed for disseminating
the important benefits which modern discoveries
have brought under the consideration of the
British farmer.

In all parts of Great Britain we have evidence
of a deep and growing conviction of the personal
and national importance attached to the promotion
of agriculture.

The rapid progress of improvements in the cul-
tivation of the soil may be mainly attributed to
the powers of mind devoted to the study of the
several departments of the science of agriculture ;
a pursuit worthy of the soundest head and the
warmest heart.

The appHcation of chemical means and me-
chanical contrivances may be within the means of
the more opulent occupiers, but by far the more
numerous cultivators of the soil are either unable
or umvilling to secure these improvements.

It is a fact, confirmed by practice, that in the

230

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

use of improved and newly invented machinery,
the husbandman may be immensely Ijenefited in
ameliorating and improving the stubborn earth,
and increasing the fertility of the soil ; in drain-
ing off the superabundant moisture from the more
than saturated earth ; in tilling, cleaning and A\'ell
laj'ing open the bosom of the field, so as properly
to imbibe the showers of the clouds, the dews of
the morning, and the light and heat of mid-day ;
in the application of suitable manures as the pro-
per and wholesome food of such plants as are
suited to the soil, and in safely depositing the seed.
; Having had many opportunities of conversing
with aU classes of farmers and farm labourers in the
different localities of the north and south-eastern
and central agricultural districts of England, I
venture to offer a few suggestions to the agricul-
tural public, relative to a plan for the formation of
what might be termed, " Agricultural Implement
Clubs."

In some districts I have seen farming in the
highest state of cultivation, quite comparable to
garden culture ; while in other parts the corn fields
are now producing more weeds than corn plants.

The wide difference is plainly obsen'able in, and
mainly attributable to, the absence of good drain-
ing, tilling, cleaning, manuring, cropping, &c.

To enable any and every farmer to avail himself
of the use of the best implements of agriculture, a
society or clul) might be formed in any parish or
district, which vvould ensure mutual benefit, with-
out proportionable heavy expense. In connexion
with an implement club, an attemi:»t might be made
to instruct the farm-labourers in the use of the
most valuable and important machines.

In submitting a few suggestions on what may be
termed an " Agricultural Implement Club," it may
be observed, that the several clauses may be en-
larged, altered, or erased, in various localities, as
the shareholders may deem most expedient or ad-
vantageous.

RULES FOR AN AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT
CLUB, FOR PROMOTING THE APPLICATION
OF AGRICULTURAL MECHANICS IN ADVANC-
ING THE ART OF HUSBANDRY.

1. — The Implement Club to consist of any
number of shareholders, who shall purchase one
or more shares of ten pounds each share.

2. — The club may be of one or more parishes as
a district, as the shareholders may determine.

3. — The shareholders to elect a committee of
seven or more shareholders, annually, for the
management of the club.

4. — The committee to elect a chairman and
Other officers of the club, define their duties and
settle all matters required for the management of
the club ; also decide upon the implements to be
purchased for the club.

5. — ^The secretaries to keep the accounts of the
club, and submit the same to the committee
quarterly.

6. — The implements of the club to be let out on
liire, on such terms as the committee shall deter-
mine upon. Farmers who are not shareholders to
pay the hire of the implement on its return to the

depot. Shareholders to pay quarterly, and be
allowed a discount of one-fifth off their hire.

7. — The implement depot to be erected or
chosen by the committee, and a suitable person
appointed to take charge of it, residing in a house
attached or near thereto. A small shop to be pro-
vided with tools, oils, paint, &c., for cleaning and
keeping the implements in the best condition.

8. — The person appointed to take charge of the
implements to be a man capable of working every
implement in the clnb. His duties and wages to
be under the direction of the committee for the
benefit of all the shareholders upon whose farms
he shall he engaged certain days or periods, and
to whose farm laljourers he shall be required to
communicate every information relative to the
various implements &c.

9. — The Avear and tear of the implements to be
defrayed from the profits of hire ; accidental break-
age to be made good by the party who shall have
the implement in use.

10. — The net profits of the hire of implements
to be divided equally among the shareholders at
their quarterly meetings.

11. — The chairman of the club to be deputed
to attend the meetings at the Royal Agricultural
Society, half his expenses Ijelng paid by the club.
The acting man who shall have charge of the
Implements to attend the same meetings, as the
committee shall direct.

12. — Tlie Improved and newly invented imple-
ments of the clul), for the general trial of the
shareholders ; as draining tools, suI)soll and other
l)loughs, harrows, carts, &c., may be \t„ on hire
for the week. Drags, cultivators, clod crushers,
pressers, drills, haymakers, horse rakes, thrashing
machines, &c., may be let on hire for one or two
days.

I have the honour to l)e one of your constant
readers, William Day.

II

ON FARM-YARDS AND DUNG-HEAPS.

The following summary on faiTn-yard manure
gives the chief points which the author of the
"Muck Manual," In that verj' interesting and use-
ful treatise, deems particularly worthy of the con-
sideration of agriculturists : —

1. To bottom the farm-yard with furze fern, dry
haulm, or any other loose refuse that takes the
longest time to dissolve, and over that to bed it
deep with straw.

2. To occasionally remove the cribs of store cat-
tle to different parts of the straw-yard, in order
that their dung may be dropped, and their litter
trodden equally.

3. To spread the dung of other animals, when
thrown into the yard, in equal layers on every
part.

4. To remove the dung from the yard at least
once, or oftener, during the winter, to the mixen,

5. To turn and mix all dung-hills until the
woody or fibrous texture of the matter contained
in them, and the roots and seeds of weeds, be com-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

231

pletely decomposed, and until they emit a foul and
jiutrid smell, by which time they reach their
greatest degree of strength, and arrive at the state
of spit-dung.

6. To keej) the dung in an equal state of mois-
ture, so as to prevent any portion of the heap from
becoming fire-fanged. If the fermentation be too
rapid, heavy watering will abate the heat; but it
will afterwards revive with increased force, unless
the heap be either trodden firmly down or covered
with mould to exclude the air.

7. To ferment the dung, if to be laid on arable
land during the autumn, in a much less degree
than that to be applied before a spring sowing.

8. To lay a larger quantity on cold and wet lands
than on those of a lighter nature, because the for-
mer require to be corrected by the warmth of the
dung ; while on dry, sandy, and gravelly soils, the
application of too much dung is apt to burn up the
j)lants. Stifl'land will also be loosened by the vui-
decayed fibres of long dung, which, although its
putrefaction M'ill he thus retarded, and its fertiliz-
ing power delayed, wiU yet ultimately aft'ord noiu*-
ishment.

9. To form composts with dung, or other animal
and vegetable substances, and earth, for application
of light soils,

10. To spread the manure upon the land, when
carried to the field, with the least possible delay ;
and, if the land be arable, to turn it immediately
into the soil.

11. To preserve the drainage from stables and
dung-hills in every possible way ; and, if not appli-
cable in a liquid state, to throw it again upon the
mixen.

12. To try experiments, during a series of years,
upon the same soils and crops with equal quanti-
ties of dung laid on fresh, and afterwards rotted,
in order to ascertian the residt of their apjilication
to the land. ITie whole quantity to be first
weighed or measured, and then divided.

The fermentation of farm-yard manure is, in
fact, a subject of far greater importance than is gene-
rally imagined ; for on a due estimation of its value
mainly depends the individual success as well as
the national prosperity of our agricultiu-e. The ex-
periments to which we point cannot fail, therefore,
to come home to the interests of every man ; they
may be made without expense, and without any
other trouble than the mere exercise of common
observation and intelligence. Leaving aside, how-
ever, the discussion concerning the disputed worth
of fresh or fermented, of long or short dung, let
the farmer sedulously bend his attention to the
accumulation of the utmost quantity that it may be
in his power to procure. The manner and time
of using it in either state must, however, be
governed by circumstances which may not always
be within his control ; and every judicious hus-
bandman will rather accommodate himself to the
exigency of the case than adhere strictly to his own
notions of what he conceives to l)e the best prac-
tice. In fine, whether favouring the one or the
other side of tlie question, let him collect all he
can, apply it carefully to his crops, and then, trust-
ing to events, " let the land and the tnnck set-
tle it,"

BROMSGROVE FARMERS' CLUB.

At the anniud meeting of this clul), on the 30th
ult., the report stated that at the first meeting an
introductory lecture was delivered by Mr.H. F. Far-
don, " on the Ad\'antages of Association for the
Imj)rovement of Agriculture,'' in which the history
of English agriculture was briefly given, its present
im])ortance enforced by reference to statistics, the
duty and interest of nations and of individuals
with respect to its improvement examined, the
possibility of improvement urged, and the means
of improvement inquired into ; these are a remu-
nerative i)rice of ])roduce, such equital)le and pro-
per arrangements between landlord and tenant as
shall induce the latter to cultivate the ground in
the best possi1)le manner for the interests of both ;
and, lastly, skill and knowledge in the farmer, to
l)e communicated l)y proper education, and pro-
moted Ijy association. At tlie next meeting " the
advantages of lime as a fertilizer (jf land " were
considered. All plants grown by farmers contain
lime in a greater or less degree, which they must
absorb from the soil. In a caustic state lime com-
bines with acids in the soil, and some of the com-
pounds thus formed are serviceable as food to
plants. It also decomposes certain noxious com-
pounds of iron, &c., which frequently exists in the
soil, but it differs in its action according to the
state in whicli it is applied. It hastens the decom-
position of vegetalde and animal matter, and thus
has a tendency to exhaust the soil of these ingi'e-
dients.

Two lots of potatoes were exhibited at the
meeting by Mr. Elliot, each containing the produce
of six roots. Tliey \^'ere grown near together
under similar circumstances, each receinng a
dressing of farm-yard manvire. When up and
moulded, a small ])ortion of carbonate of soda was
sown between the ridges of one lot, at the rate of
150lbs. per acre. The lot undressed with soda
weighed 2lbs. 2 oz. ; that which received soda
weighed 4lbs. Goz. The sul)ject of seed wheat, and
the best method of pickling and planting the seed,
afforded matter, for discussion at several subsequent
meetings, at which it was resolved, " That there is
an adaptation in different varieties of wheat to
different soils ; and that the practice of annually
changing the seed from one soil to another is a
good one; and tliat arsenic, sulphate of copper
(blue vitriol), and salt have been used with much
success in the pickling of wheat for the prevention
tion of smut." A paper on " Wheat sowing " was
communicated at one of the meetings by Mr.
Richard Smith, of Upper-hall, near Droitwich.
On strong clay soils, that moulder and heave after
hard frosts, he a})proved of sowing broadcast and
ploughing in from two and a-half to three bushels
per acre, the land being ])reviously fallowed, be-
cause greater space is thus afforded for the roots.
More seed, however, is thus required, and the crop
cannot Ije so well cleaned. By drilling again, the
seed is dejjosited at an equal depth, ])ut the plants
are crowded, and the water is retained in the nar-
row channels made l)y the drill-share, jjarticularly
on strong soils, and where the driUing is done
lengthways of the ridges. Mr. Smith recommends

232

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Lord Western's system of drilling, which is to
have the heel of the common drill-share made four
inches in width to scatter the seed that width in the
row ; a space of nine inches is left between the
rows for tillage. Dibbhng is the most perfect sys-
tem, and will probably spread and become univer-
sal as population increases. All these remarks
suppose the ground to be in a good state of culti-
\'ation, for, if it is wet, foul, or poor, wheat cannot
be grown without loss.

The report, of which the above is an abstract,
having been read, Mr. Wright read a paper " On
the Utility of Leases," advocating well-adjusted
leases on corn rents. In arranging these rents, the
price of corn should be calculated on an average of
a certain number of years. The rent of a par-
ticular year should not be foimded merely on the
prices of that year ; otherwise, the tenant may have
the highest rent to pay when he has the least pro-
duce. A resolution was adopted by the club,
expressive of their opinion, that the only sound
system for tenancy of land is on the principle of
leases for seven, fourteen, and twenty-one years on
corn rents,

STATISTICS OF TILE-DRAINING IN
AYRSHIRE.

Tile-draining as a system was commenced in this
county about twenty years ago. At that period a
great many farmers were very averse to it ; so much
so, that otherwise intelligent men would not con-
sent to give it a fair trial. One great objection
regarded the durabihty of the tile, and the impro-
bability of the water getting down to the drain ; all
hesitation on these scores, if properly manufactured
and judiciously bid, have been completely set
aside : and to show how thoroughly the agricul-
tural interest have become persuaded of the im-
mense advantage of the system, it need only be
stated that there are beyond lifty tile-works in
Ayrshire alone! These will produce on an average
30,000,000 of tiles yearly, a quantity capable of drain-
ing not less than 12,396 imperial acres, allowing a
distance of eighteen feet between the drains, and
the tiles one foot long. The number of acres in Ayr-
shire is 793,600, and suppose one-fourth to be inca-
pable of amehoration, there will still remain 595,200
of improvable land. At the present rate of tile-
making, taking it for granted that the whole will
be used, and deducting 150,000,000 as the manu-
facture of previous years, it would require nearly
43 years to complete the drainage of the county.
The price of 30,000,000 of tiles, at 25s. per 1,000,
v/ould be £37,500. Tlie quantity of coal consumed
will be about 15,000 tons, and the number of men
and boys employed in making them not less than
1,200. Thirty millions of tiles, one foot in length,
will lay 1,621,621 falls of drains, 18* feet to the
fall, or nearly 6,000 miles. Supposing the average
cost of cutting, laying, and filling the drains to be
4d. per fall, the total would amount to £27,027,
and calculating a labourer's wages at 10s. per week,
for sixteen weeks in the year, the usual period of
draining in this county, it folloAvs that employ-

ment is given to 3,378 men — a matter of no small
moment, especially at a season when other out-
door work is not to be had. Granting that
150,000,000 of tiles have been laid prior to this
date, 61,980 imperial acres will necessarily have
been drained. Take the produce before the land
is subjected to this process at six bolls, and now
at ten, per acre — a medium average — the increase
over former years vn.ll be 247,920 bolls, or 123,960
quarters. Carrying the calculation a little farther,
suppose that equal enterprise is displayed during
the next ten years — and there is every probability
that it wll far exceed it, should no political shock
affect the encouragement of home agriculture — the
stimulus given to the productive capabilities of the
soil will be still more strikingly apparent. Ten
years' draining at 12,396 acres yearly, will give a
total of 123,960, or an increase at the previous
average of 247,920 quarters of grain, thus showing
an augmentation in th ; means of existence of 66
per cent., whUe it is well known that the gross
increase of the population in any previous period
of ten years has not much exceeded 15 per cent.
The above calculation of jiroduce, &c., is of course
limited to the county of Ayr; and, great as the
benefits are which it exhibits, how much greater
would they be in a national point of view were the
naturally rich lands of England and Ireland sub-
jected to a similar process ! — R. Boyle, Esq., in Ayr-
shire Agriculturist.

AN ESSAY ON FAT AND MUSCLE.

BY W. F KARKEEK, VETERINARY SURGEON,
TRURO.

(From the Journal of the Royal Agricultural

Society.)

1 . The object of this essay is to endeavour to
explain " the causes which appear to determine the
production of fat and muscle respectively, accord-
ing to the present state of our knowledge of
animal jjhysiology," Formerly the study of the
uses and functions of the different organs, and of
their mutual connexion in the animal body, was
the chief object of jihysiological researches ; but
although these yielded the most valuable results in
relation to the recognition of dissimilar forms and
conditions to be found in healthy and diseased
structures, yet they afforded no conclusions calcu-
lated to give us a more extensive insight into " the
essence of the vital pi'ocesses." The recent
alliance of chemistry with physiology has furnished
most valuable data both in this respect and as re-
gards the nutritiveness of particular vegetables in
the feeding of our domesticated animals. The
most important discoveries in this branch of
science are those of Professor Liebig, he being
admitted, by the unanimous voice of European
chemists, to be the first living authority on Organic
Chemistry. Professor Playfair was the first English
chemist who attempted to apply those discoveries
to the practical purposes of the farmer — holding
up the torch of science, as it were, to the agricul-
turisls, and teaching them the advantages to be

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

233

derived from the union of practice with science.*
It will be seen, in the course of this essay, that we
have adopted many of the physiological \'ie\vs of
Prefessor Liebig: and if we have succeeded in
adding but one useful fact to the mass of know-
ledge already acquired, which may be advan-
tageously put into practice in the ordinary ojjera-
tions of a farm, our object will be sufficiently
realised.

2. Your attention uill first be directed to some
of the phenomena connected with mdritiou and
yrowtli. When we consider that the food of
vegetables and animals is either altogether difl'erent
from their substance, or i^asses before being assi-
milated into a new form, we must admit that the
nutrition and growth of both depend on chemical
agencies, although these operate under peculiar
conditions, and are influenced by the unknown
force which is called the vis vitte, or intnUtij, so as
to produce results that cannot be imitated by the
chemist. The food of vegetables is derived from

the crude and simple materials which they absorb
from the air, the earth, and the waters. These,
after being con^'erted by the ])owers of vegetable
assimilation into the substance of the plant, acquire
the characteristic properties of organised i)roducts.
Hence, plants can grow at the expense of the ele-
ments around, where no living substance ever
previously existed ; whilst animals, on the contrar)',
can only exist upon matters previously organised
either by plants or other animals. In their well
marked forms, no two things can be conceived to
offer a stronger contrast than these two great divi-
sions of organised beings, yet the naturalist cannot
determine, in the animated chain, where the one
ends or the other begins ; nor can the chemist
detect, by his analyses, any greater differences in
their constituent parts.

Thus, on the analyses of hay, oats, beans, beef,
and potatoes, they are found to be composed of
the same ultimate elements, differing only in their
relative proportions : —

Hay.

Boussingault.

Oats.
Boussingault.

Beans.
Playfair,

Dried Beef.

Playfair.

Potatoes.
Boussingault.

Carbon

Hydrogen

33.47
4.20

32.51
1.26
7.56

16.00

41.57
5.25

30.10
1.80
3.28

18.00

38.24
5.84

33.10
5.00
3.71

14.11

51.82

7.57

21.37

15.01

4.23

*

12.30
1.74

Oxygen

12.04

Nitrogen

Ashes

0.32
1.40

Water

72.20

* Out of 100 lbs. of beef muscle
dry matter.

there is about 77 per cent, of water, by weight, and 23 lbs. of

These elements are not very numerous, the
principal of them being carbon, oxygen, hydrogen,
azote or nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorus, together
with a few of the alkaline, earthy, and metallic
bases. A brief knowledge of a few of these
elements will be found indispensable to be able
properly to understand the subject of this essay.

3. Carbon forms from 40 to 50 per cent., by
weight, of all plants in a dried state, which are
cultivated for the food of animals. This substance
is better kno\vn under the name of charcoal.

Oxygen is only found in a gaseous form, and
exists in the atmosphere to the amoimt of 21 per
cent, of its bulk : hence it is necessary to respira-
tion, and no animal can live in an atmosphere which
does not contain a certain portion of uncombined
oxygen. In respiration it disappears, as will be ex-
plained by and bye. It exists also in water — every
9 lbs. of this liquid containing 8 lbs. of oxygen; and
it forms about one-half, by weight, of the bodies
of all li\'ing animals and plants. Indeed, it may
be said that it forms one-half of the weight of
every solid substance we see around us — of the
sohd rocks which compose the crvist of the
globe, of the soils which we cultivate, and of all
that live and breathe thereon.

Hydrogen is the next elementary body. It also ex-
ists in the state of gas, and is the hghtest of all known

* Playfair' s Lectures before the members of the
Royal Agricultural Society, December, 1842.

substances. In combination with oxygen, it fonus
water, being about one-ninth of its weight ; and it
also forms a small per centage of the food of
animals, which, combining with oxygen in the living
organism, assists to produce animal heat (8).

Nitrogen, sometimes called azote, is also kno^\Tl
only in the form of gas. It exists in the atmos-
phere to the amount of 79 per cent, of its bulk :
hence it is an essential constituent of the air we
breathe — serving, as chemists believe, only to
dilute the oxygen ; but it is more probable that it
serves some necessary purpose in the economy of
animals, the exact nature of which has not been
discovered. All parts of the body of an animal,
which have a decided shape, contain nitrogen:
hence it may be supjjosed to perform certain most
important functions, in reference both to the growth
of plants as well as animals ; for the most con-
vincing experiments and observations have proved
that the animal body is incapable of producing an
elementary body such as nitrogen out of substances
which do not contain it ; and it obviously follows
that all kinds of food fit for the production either of
blood, cellular tissue, membranes, skin, or muscu-
lar fibre, must contain a certain amount of nitrogen.

4. The union of those elements, according to
certain laws, in various Avaj's, forms what are called
the 2)i'oxi7nate elements of nutrition.

These have been divided for the sake of dis-

^ tinction, in two groups — the azotised and non-

azotized — the former being properly designated

234

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the elements of nutrition, and the latter the ele-
ments of fat and respiration, llie following analy-

ses of several of these bodies mil enable the reader
to comprehend the nature of this distinction : —

Elements of Nutrition.

Elements of

Respiration.

100 parts
of—

Vegetable Fibrine
from Wheat.
Boussingault.

VegetableAlbumen
Mulder.

Vegetable Casein.
Jones.

Ox Blood.
Playfair.

2 S

o

O <L)

o

CO

-.3
O S3

be

Carbon

54.2

59.99

54.138

54.35

78.996

44.250

42.682

40.01

Hydrogen

7.5

6.87

7.156

7.50

11.700

6.674

6.374

6.73

Nitrogen

13.9

15.66

15.672

15.76

Oxygen

24.4

22.48

23.034

22.39

9.304

49.076

50.944

53.27

Thus, in the azotised group we have four of the
ultimate elements, whilst in the non-azotised we
have only three, the presence or absence of the
nitrogen constituting the difference. This distinc-
tion is a very important one, and must be kept
steadily in view. The former is only susceptible of
being applied to the nutrition and renovation of the
tissues (2), whilst the non-azotised substances are
destined either to undergo important changes
within the liody, or to be thrown oif from it again,
■Hathout even forming a part of its organised struc-
ture. In reference to this, the distinction between
the orginization of a substance, and the simple
deposition of it in the midst of an organized tissue,
must not l)e lost sight of ; for the fatty matters
which are derived from plants, and become
deposited in different parts of the animal ])ody, can-
not be regarded as ever becoming organized. Till
very recently, it was believed that vegetable albu-
men, fibrine, and caseine differed from i^nimal
albumen, fibrine and caseine ; but the researches of
Mulder have shown that this opinion was errone-
ous, and Liebig has proved that caseine exists in
vegetables, with all the characters of that found in
milk. Mulder has also shown that vegetable
albumen, fibrine, and caseine, are all nothing more
than the modification of one compound, to which
he has given the name of proteine, as being the
original matter from M-hich all those varieties are
derived. Vegetable fibrine is a gelatinous sub-

stance of a green tinge, produced from the newlyj
expressed juices of peas, beans, carrots, turnips^
beet-root, &c. Vegetable albumen is found ii
many vegetables and seeds, such as caulifiowersJ
as])aragus, swede-turnips, nuts, almonds, &oJ
When the clarified juices of those substances arej
made to boil, a coagulum is foi-med, very similar to
the serum of blood, or the white of an egg, — this
is vegetable albumen, which may be considered aa
the true starting-point of all the animal tissues, as]
is endent from the phenomena of incubation, where
all the tissues are derived from the white and yol
of the egg (which also contains albumen), with the
aid only of the air, of the oily matter of the yolk^
and of a certain proportion of iron found in the
yolk. It is clear from this that albumen may passi
into filirine, caseine, membranes, horn, hair^
feathers, &c. Vegetable caseine is found chiefly ir
the seeds of peas, beans, and of other similar legu-;
minous plants ; and is identical with the caseine o^
milk, ^A'hich is cheese. It differs from the two
former modifications of proteine in that it does not
coagulate spontaneously like fibrine, nor by heat
like albumen, but by the action of acids only.

5. The following ta])le, compiled from one of
Professor Johnston's (being the analyses of Bous-
singault, Sprengel, and Dumas), wiU give thej
reader a tolerably just idea of the proportions of
those proximate principles as they are found to ex-
ist in many of the cultivated crops of the fanner ;

100 Parts of

Water.

Husk, or
Woody
Fibre,

Starch,

Gum, and

Sugar.

Gluten,
Albumen,

and
Caseine.

Fatty
Matter.

Saline
Matter.

Field Beans

Peas

Barley

Oats

Meadow Hay

Clover Hay

Potatoes ■

Carrots

Turnips

Wheat Straw

Oat Straw ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

16.0
13.0
15.0
16.0
14.0
14.0
75.0
85.0
85.0
12 to 15
12.0

10.0

8.0

15.0

20.0

30.0

25.0

5.0

3.0

3.0

50.0

45.0

40.0
50.0
60.0
50.0
40.0
40.0
12.0
10.0
10.0
30.0
35.0

28.0

24.0

12.0

14.5

7.1

9.3

2.25

2.0

1.2

1.3

1.3

2.0

2.8

2.5

5.6

to

3.0

0.3

0.4

0.5
0.8

3.0
2.8
2.0
3.5
5 to 10
9.0

0.8 to I
1.0

0.8 to 1
5.0
6,0

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

235

Notwithstanding the imperfections of this depart-
ment of science, great imi)ortance has been
attached to these proximate analyses. We believe
that the proportions laid down in this table are,
with the exception of the fatty matters tolerably
correct, and that they will prove serviceable by
enabUng ns to trace the sources from ^\'hich are
derived particidar organic compounds essential to
nutrition, and to the continuanceof life or of certain
elements which become assimilated in organic
stnicture. Thus the proportion of starch, gum,
and sugar contained in any separate article of food
will enable us to form a rough spj)roximation as to
the per centage oifat or tallow which it is cajjable
of yielding, and the number representing the (jluten,
albumen^ and ca seine in the same article of food
Avill give us a very correct indication of its muscle-
or flesh-forming principle.

6. But before we can comprehend the manner
in which these changes are eti'ected in the living
organism, we must first make ourselves acquainted
TOth some of the laws, vital and chemical, which
regulate the metamorphoses of those materials, and
the interchange of atoms occurring between the
blood and the structures in the process of nutri-
tion. Accordingly, we will first direct your atten-
tion to the process by which the aliment is received
into the bodies of animals, and prepared to form a
part of iheir fabric. "When the food has entered
the stomach, the gastric juice is poured out, and
the whole is conA-erted into a pidpy mass termed
chyme. The process by which this stej) in the
assimilation of the food is produced, constitutes
what is commonly caUed digestion. The next step
occurs in the intestinal canal where the chyme is
united with the biliary and pancreatic secretions,
when it becomes converted into chyle. Brande
found no essential dift'erence in the chyle of grami-
nivorous and carnivorous animals. Dr. Marcet
imagines that the former is less abundant in
albumen than the latter, and Liebig informs us that
all the compounds of proteine, absorbed during the
passage of the chyme through the intestines, take
the form of albumen. The chyle is absorbed from
the inner surface of the intestines by a set of vessels
termed lacteals, which commence by very minute
orifices in incalculable numbers, and unite succes-
sively into larger and larger vessels till they form
trunks of considerable size, which empty their con-
tents into a receptacle for that jiurpose, forming the
entrance to the thoracic duct. In this receptacle,
other absorbent vessels termed lymphatics also
terminate, and empty their contents. The fluid
they convey is of nearly the same character as that
brought by the lacteals. Almost every part of
the body is in continual decay, so that we may
justly say that death and decay are constantly
going on in every living body, and are essential to
the activity of its functions — a quantity of organised
matter being continually removed, and replaced by
that which is newly formed. Of this, a portion is
doubtless unfit to be retained within the body, and
IS cast out by the various processes of excretion ;
but it appears that another portion of it may again
be made use of, and is, in fact, taken up ])y the
lymphatics, and brought to the central receptacle to
be mixed A\'ith the newly absorbed chyle : so that

an animal may be said in a certain sense to live
upon its own flesh. The chyle and lymph thus
mixed together flow into the thoracic duct, by which
they are conducted into a large vein — the jugular
— and together are sent by a direct and short course
to the lungs.

7. The changes which result from the passing
of the blood through the lungs form a Aery impor-
tant part of the process of nutrition. The blood,
the newly formed as well as that which has been re-
turned by the circulation, after repairing and reno-
vating the tissues, here comes in contact with the
atmospheric air, which is principally composed of
two gases, oxygen and nitrogen, in the proportion
of 21 parts of the former and 79 of the latter, be-
sides the watery vai)our with which the atmosphere
is always charged more or less ; and a change im-
mediately takes i)lace, from the dark purple hue
which the blood has when it is brought to the
lungs, to a bright vermilion colour. When the
air has produced this eftect, it is found that a cer-
tain proj)ortion of oxygen which it had contained
has disapjjeared, and that the place of the oxygen :s
almost wholly supplied by an addition of carbonic
acid gas, together with a quantity of watery vapour.
With regard to the nitrogen of the atmosphere,
Liebig says it is applied to no use in the animal
economy except diluting the oxygen; whilst other
chemists, Mulder for instance, affirm that nitrogen
is both absorbed and exhaled by the blood in respi-
ration. The question next arises, what becomes of
the oxygen which disappears in respiration, and
what is the origin of the carbonic acid gas i" The
blood consists of the same elements as the food
which the animal consumes, containing, as we
have seen (4), a very large proportion of carbon and
hydrogen ; and as carbonic acid gas consists of
oxygen and carbon, it is evidently the result of the
combination of the oxj'gen with the carbon of the
food. According to Boussingault, "' a horse con-
sumes in this manner in twenty-four hours 97i oz.
of carbon, and a milch cow 69to oz, ; and the former
requires to convert the carbon into carbonic
acid 13 lbs. 3A oz. of oxygen, and the milch cow
11 lbs. 10^ oz. in the same time.

8. — In whatever wa)' carbon may combine with
oxygen, the act of coml)ination cannot take place
without the disengagement of heat. There exists in
the living body no other known souixe of heat but the
chemical action between the elements of the food
and the oxygen of atmosphere, and it signifies
nothing what intermediate changes ((3) the food
undergoes in becoming assimilated to organised tis-
sues, or in its passage through the liver in the forma-
tion of bile ; the last change is uniformly the com-
bustion of the carbon and hydrogen, and the produc-
tion of carbonic acid, watery vapour, and animal heat.
No part of the oxygen taken into the system is given
out again in any other form than that of a com-
poxmd of carbon and hydrogen ; and as these
substances are supphed in the food, it is clear that
the amount of nourishment required for any
animal will be proi)ortionate to tlie quantity of
oxygen taken into the system.

9. — There are two causes which chiefly con-
triliute to increase the consumption of oxygen
ffas; these are TEMrERATURE and exercise.

236

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

We will proceed to consider the effect of these in
the living organism by a few examples from the
farmer's every-day practice. In the ;vinter, the
air is more condensed than in the summer, con-
sequently the same volume of air in the winter
contains a larger per centage of oxj^gen than in
warm weather, when it is more rarified. It is for
this reason that a larger supply of food is consumed
by persons living in cold countries than by those
who are inhabitants of hot climates. We thus
perceive an ex])lanation of the apparently anoma-
lous habits of different nations. The maccaroni
of the Italian and the train-oil of the Greenlander
are not adventitious freaks of taste, but necessary
articles fitted to adminster to their comforts in the
different climates in which they have been born.

Example No. 1. — A flock of Leicester sheep on
tolerably good keep will increase in weight
throughout the year about 52 lbs. of mutton for
each sheep, but this accumulation takes jilace chiefly
during the spring and summer months, for during
the cold weather it requires all the farmer's supplies
of food to keep them at the same weight. Should
the cold prove very intense, and the supplies of
carbon and hydrogen in the form of food be not at
hand, the store of fat which the animals haA-e been
accumulating in the mild seasons will be soon
made use of to keep up the animal temperature.

Example No. 2. — " One hundred sheep were
folded by tens in pens, each of which was 22 feet
in length l)y 10 feet in breadth, and possessed a
covered shed attached to it : they were kept there
from the 10th of October to the 10th of March.
Each sheep consumed on an average 20 lbs. of
swedes daily. Another hundred were folded in
similar pens, but without sheds, during the same
time, and their daily consumjition of swedes
amounted to 25 lbs. each. The sequel was, that
those sheep which enjoyed the protection of the
covered sheds had increased 3 lb. each more than
those left unprotected, although the latter had con-
sumed one-fifth more food."*

Example No. 3. — In the mountainous districts
of Scotland, the necessity of artificial shelter for
sheejj has long been acknowledged — for, when the
stormy season sets in, there is a necessity of feed-
ing the sheep with hay, both morning and even-
ing, the quantity of the fodder necessary being
generally proportionate to the degree of cold.

10. — Rest also, as well as the necessary protec-
tion from cold, is an equivalent for food. The
consumption of oxygen in a given time may be
expressed by the number of respirations ; it is
therefore obvious that in the same animal the
quantity of nourishment required must vary with
the force and number of respirations, and as the
number of respirations is fewer in a state of rest
than during labour or exercise, the quantity of
food necessary in both instances must be in the
same ratio. This can also be exemplified by the
farmer's daily practice, since he is A'ery well aware
that the quieter an animal is kept when feeding,
the quicker it fattens.

Example No. 1 . — It is uniformly found that a

* See Journal Royal Agri. Soc, A'ol. iy. p. 222.
Professor Playfair's Lectures.

stall-fed cow in the summer will yield considerably
more butter and milk than one fed in the field with
a greater supply of food. The reason is obvious ;
absence of oxygen prevents the inspiring of so
large an amount of oxygen as would take place in
the open air.

Example No. 2. — In the rearing of calves for
veal in Holland, it is usual to confine them in
suckling houses or pens, so narrow that the animal
cannot turn round. The calf is fed through an
opening in the doorway, just large enough to allow
the head of the calf to be thrust out : as soon as
he is feed, the opening is closed, and the animal is
kept in total darkness. In this manner it is found
that calves get fat in a considerably shorter period
than if allowed to move freely about in an open
stall.

Example No. 3. — Again, in the suckling of
house-lambs of the early Dorsetsliire breed for
the London markets, the dams are fed with hay,
oil-cake, and cabbage in an enclosure adjoining
the apartments where the lambs are confined.
The lambs are excluded from the light, except at
the intervals when the shepherd suckles them
upon the ewes. Some feeders confine their lambs
in narrow separate stalls to prevent them from
playing with one another, but others deem the
exclusion of light and the absence of motion and
noise sufficient for this purpose. By these means,
they speedily fatten, and their flesh becomes ex-
ceedingly white and delicate.

1 1 . — Tliis brings us to that veiy important part of
our Essay, the Production of Fat, We have seen
from the examples just adduced, that, under certain
circumstances, viz., the absence of exercise and
cold, and the presence of a proper supply of food,
herbivorous animals speedily become fat. By
reference to the table containing the relative pro-
portions of nutritious matter in the ordinary cul-
tivated crops of the farmer (5), it will be seen
that the proportion of beef-suet which exist in
wheat or barley, straw and turnips, is exceedingly
small ; indeed the turnip does not contain any ;
and yet animals under such a diet ^vill speedily
fatten. The fat then is the product of a pecuhar
digestive process on the unazotised constituents of
the food, and is formed in consequence of a want
of due proportion between the food taken into the
stomach and the oxygen absorbed by the skin and
lungs. The chief source of fat is starch and sugar,
and its composition is such, that if deprived of oxy-
gen, fat remains. "Thus, if from starch C 12, H
10, O 10, we take 9 at oxygen, there remains C 12,
H 10, O, which is one of the empirical formulae
for fat." It is ob'\^ous from this that Liebig's
theory is the right one, and that fat can only be
formed by a process of dexoidation. He regards fat
as an abnormal condition, since wild animals, such
as the hare, the roe, and the deer, never produce any
— the exercise which they continually undergo
preventing its formation ; besides, they never eat
except when hunger requires it, while the sheep
and the ox eat almost without intermission, and
when young, they convert into fat and organized
tissue all the nutritious parts of their food beyond
the quantity required for supplying the respiratory

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

237

process and the waste of the system ; so that they
soon become pkimp and fleshy.

12. — Want of exercise then and diminished
coohng are equivalent to a deficient sujii)ly of
oxygen, for when these circumstances occur, the
animal ahsorbs much less oxygen than is retpiired
to convert into carbonic acid the carbon of the
substances destined for that purjjose. We have a
beautiful example of this in the " conditioning of the
hunter," which consists in given such exercise
and food as wdl, without reducing the strength of
the animal, prevent the formation of superfluous
flesh and fat. Air, exercise, and a proper supply
of nitrogenised food, such as oats, peas, beans,
&c., contain the grand secret in the art of training.
But these articles also contain a large projjortion
of starch and fatty matters, and yet when in pro-
per condition, the hunter never becomes fat ; and
the reason is, that these substances, by the con-
stant exercise which is given, are consumed in the
lungs, whilst under different circumstances, the
same horse \vith little exercise and little oats,
being fed chiefly with straw, hay, and turnips —
articles that do not contain a quarter part of the
fattening principle of food contained in the hun-
ter's diet — would be found plump and fat. Here
Ave have the normal and abnormal conditions com-
pared together, as they regard the capability of
horses to undergo fatigue, since the well-condi-
tioned hunter is capable of undergoing great
exertion with very little fatigue — whilst the frothy
lather with which the non-conditioned horse is
covered after very little exertion, evinces undeni-
able inferiority.

13. From what has been stated then, we may
safely conclude that fat is chiefly produced from
the starchy matters contained in the food of ani-
mals, all the excess of which that is not consumed
in producing animal heat is taken back into the
circulation, and dejjosited, in the form of fat, in
cells appropriated for that i)urpose. It would
appear also that the blood-vessels have the power of
taking back the fatty matter again into the circula-
tion, when it is required ; so that one of the
objects which this deposition fulfils is to store up,
when nourishment is abundant, a supply which
may be taken back into the system, and made use
of in time of need.

14. These accumulations are foimd in different
parts of the bodies of animals of the same kind,
some breeds of cattle being disposed to carry fat
externally, and others internally, whilst in others it
is mixed in the muscle, forming what is commonly
called a proper mixture of fat and lean. In the races
of cattle disposed to carry fat externally, the African
ox, with a large fatty hump on his shoulder, and
the mild zebu of India, with an immense lump of
fat on his neck and rump, are striking examples.
Among sheep we have many instances of accumu-
lations of external fat. Throxighout Arabia and
SjTia, the countries over which the patriarchal
shepherds roamed, the breeds, which are two, are
characterised by immense accumidations of fat on
their rumps and tails. In one breed, we have an
accumulation on the tail, averaging from 14lbs. to
18lbs., whilst the dead weight of one of these sheep
Avill not amount to more than 50lbs. or 60lbs.

The Cape sheep are also of the broad fat-tailed
kind. These animals have little or no internal fat,
it being chiefly collected on their rumps and tails.
Climate must have some influence in producing
these characteristics, since the very women arc
distinguished at the Cape for their prodigious fatty
rumps. In our own country, examples of external
fat are particularly seen in the once famed Dishley
breed of cattle, which have an accumulation of fat
spreading itself over the rump. There appears a
tendency of the fatty tissue to remain separate
from the muscle, in the improved long-horned
jjreed, the fat mingling less with the lean than in
any other of our native breeds. The Hereford
breed have also a similar tendency, but not nearly
in so great a degree. In the Jersey breed of cattle,
we have an example of accumulations of loose fat
in the inside. This peculiarity is common to all
good milching breeds, more or less, for they all
turn out well when well fed, in the "fifth quarter,"
Some French and Spanish cattle imported into Corn-
wall in the summer of 1842, when killed, showed
an immense accumulation of internal fat; they
were also particularly lean and coarse-looking ani-
mals. In tlie improved Devons, the fat and muscle
are generally well mixed; whilst in the common
coarse breed of the Devon kind, we have plenty of
inside tallow. The short-horns carry more inside
fat in proportion to their size than the improved
Devons; they are also better milkers. From these
examples we may safely infer that the better the
milking qualities of the breed are, the more likely
is that breed inclined to carry inside fat.

15. As we proceed with our subject, it will be
found that some of those characteristics are in a
great measure dependent on internal organisation,
and accordingly exjierience has proved that animals
possessing small lungs, small hvers, and small
spleens, indeed " small oftal " of every description,
have a greater disposition to fatten and to lay that
fat on jn-oper places, which we consider to be a fair
proportion of fat and lean, than coarse-bred ill-
proportioned animals, which will be found to pos-
sess larger oftal than well-bred animals in propor-
tion to their size and growth. We can clearly
understand the reason of this, since we now know
that the less quantity of oxygen an animal consumes,
the fatter it becomes; for small lungs cannot
decarbonize as much blood as large lungs, nor can
a small liver secrete as much bile as a large liver,
bile being formed in the herbivora from the non-
nitrogenised materials of their food ; hence a larger
quantity of carbon is used in the production of fat.
Many physiologists conceive that the secretion of
bile is by no means the sole function perfoi'med by
the liver, and look uj)on it as a supplementary
organ of the lungs, assisting that organ in the de-
puration of the blood, and, like it, ehminating from
the blood its superfluous hydrogen and carbon.
The same will apply also to the spleen, its functions
being, we believe, also subsidiary to the lungs as a
purifier of the blood. It is a very common occur-
rence to find stall-fed animals with diseased Uvers,
and yet this does not interfere with the power of
accumulating fat ; on the contrary, if our theory be
correct, it must materially assist in accelerating this
process. We have Avitnessed the same in the

238

THE FARMERS MAGAZINE.

livers of horses in many instances ; the animals
will continue to do fair ordinary work in either
coaching or j)osting, and always look healthy,
when, should they he attacked with some prevail-
ing epidemic or a severe catarrhal affection, the
veterinaiy practitioner, if he be a young one, will
be surprised to find that the remedies which, in
similar cases, had proved successful, should fail
here; and he does not get at the truth imtil i\. post-
mortem examination re\'eals to him that there are
extensive lesions of the structure of the liver, it
having the same appearance as if it had been
boiled.

16. Professor Playfair was the first who directed the
public attention to the fact just related, that an animal
having small offal was more disposed to fatten, and
to come quicker to maturity, than an animal with
large lungs, liver, &c. We believe we are correct
in stating that this discovery was never Ijrought
before the public until he delivered his two lectures
before the Royal Agricultural Society on December
27, 1842; and it was in consequence of some in-
quiries which we made to ascertain the truth of
the Professor's statement, that we also became
acquainted with another singular and important
fact — that in proportion as an animal fattened, so
in proportion did the organs which are chiefly
connected ivith nutrition become diminished in size.
This fact we shall find to be intimately connected
with the breeding, rearing, and feeding of animals.
We draw our conclusions from examining a great
number of stall-fed animals, chiefly of the Devon
breed, averaging from 5 cwt. to 9 cwt. of meat.
We have seen tliem slaughtered at all stages of
feeding, from the comparatiA'ely lean to the fatted
ox, and the resiUt of our observations has been,
that in proportion as the fattening process went on,
the lungs, stomachs, intestines, liver, &c., were re-
ducmg in size. It has already been stated (6) that
a constant change of particles is going on in the
tissues of the living body ; and it has been com-
puted by physiologists that the human body, in-
cluding the skeleton, is taken down and rebuilt
about every seven years ; so that we may safely say
that it is being taken down and rebuilt at the same
time; and that the process of destruction and reno-
vation, absorption and nutrition, are ah^'ays being
carried on concomitantly. Now, ^vithin certain
limits it is observed that the greater the waste, the
greater is the supply, as l)y constant exercise, the
muscles are increased instead of decreased, so that
the effect of nutrition is not only to replace what
was destroyed, but to supply a certain quantity
more. And again, by the same law, an organ that
was originally intended to perform a certain func-
tion, if that function be not fulfilled, will diminish
in size and power. In the muscular arm of a black-
smith, and the delicate arm of a person not accus-
tomed to labour, we have an excellent example.
Now, whatever is true of the external parts, is like-
wise true of the internal parts of the body. If we
take, for an example, the heart of a calf, which must
increase in size as it increases in growth, it in-
creases not only in its whole bulk but also in the
size of the cavities. If an addition were made
only to the exterior of the heart, its whole bulk
would be increased, but the size of the cavities

would be proportionately small. We must there-
fore assume lliat substance is removed from the
interior of the heart, at the same time, though per-
haps not exactly in the same quantity, that sub-
stance is added to the exterior. In like maner,
when the heart of a man diminishes in size, as it
does in consumption, materials nuist be abstracted
from the exterior, and added in rather a less pro-
portion to the interior. It is upon this principle that
in proportion as animals fatten, particularly stall-
fed ones, their internal organs become smaller —
the lungs adapt their size to the volume of oxygen
consumed, and the liver Ijecomes smaller as the se-
cretion of bile is diminished ; the kidneys, stomach
and intestines are also considerably smaller in ex-
tremely fat animals than in lean ones of the same
age and breed. In the intestines this is particu-
larly observable — the circumference of the tripe is
considerably reduced, but it is thicker and richer.
This change appears to take place more rapidly
during the latter stages of fattening ; and it is rather
a remarkable coincidence that the fatter an animal
becomes at this period, the less food it consumes.
When the animal arrives at this last stage of
fattening, the arterial action is much slower than
before — a sluggish action appears to ])revail
throughout the whole vascular system, and the
arterial exhalants appear to be engaged chiefly
in manufacturing fat. If the animal be bled at
this time, which is usually the case on the evening
previous to its Ijeing slaughteied, very little blood
can be drawn before it faints.

17. — The breeder may learn a very important
lesson from these remarks ; for if it be trae (and
time and observation trill prove them to be so) that
in proportion as an animal increases in fat wiU the
organs of nutrition l)ecome diminished in size, it
follows that, by pursuing the system of breeding
from fatted animals, or from those having a great
tendency to ia.tten,funcfion must react on organiza-
tion, and at last those qualities become, not only
increased, but fixed in the race. By function re-
acting on organization, is meant — when an organ,
as the lungs, for instance, Ijecomes diminished in
conseciuence of not performing its natural function,
and the disposition to accumulate fat is thereby
l)roduced — the diminished structure is very likely
to be reproduced in the progeny of an animal so
affected : hence the reaction ; and if the same sys-
tem be pursued, i)articularly in breeding from the
nearest athnities, this effect will be more speedily
produced. It is in this manner that the greatest
improvements have been made in our native breeds
from time to time — in the short-horns and im-
proved long-horns — in the improved Herefoi'ds and
Devons. The history of those different breeds
sufficiently proves this. The dam of Hubback,
the sire of the short-horned race, became so fat that
she soon ceased to breed ; and her son, having the
same tendency, was useful as a bidl but for a very
short period. This was also the case wth Boling-
broke, and several of Mr. CoUing's best buUs.
The two cows of Mr. Tomkins, yiottle and Pigeon,
the originators of the improved Herefords, were
selected in consequence of their extraordinary ten-
dency to become fat; and the whole secret of
Bakewell, as to the method which he pursued to

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

239

establish the long-horned cattle and new Leicester
sheep, lay here.

18. — There is a delicacy of foi'm and a refine-
ment of tone which characterize animals bred in
this manner, and they acquire early maturity; their
bone and muscle are more quickly developed, and
are soon ripe, because they sooner become old. In
a wild state, and without reference to the wants of
man, we should consider these qualities as a progress
towards deterioration ; and so they are, since the
animals suffer by the exchange — but man gains an
improvement. It will be shown, however, before
we conclude, that by carrying this system of breed-
ing too far, in many instances man also has be-
come a very considerable loser (21, 22). The very
opposite system to this has been established in the
breeding of the race-horse ; and, accordingly, there
have been produced opposite results. The object
being here to develop a structure capable of great
speed with the powers of endurance : to attain
these qualities, animals were selected with large
lungs ; and the system pursued in training them
has tended to develop a still more powerful
structure of those organs. The object in training
the race-horse is to increase what is commonly
called the u'inf?;' and the regular gallops, which
are given for this purpose, increase the power of
the lungs ; and the breathing becomes accordingly
freer and deeper, and the capabihty of exertion is
increased. We have an example here also of the
effect of function reacting on organization — for the
constant breeding of animals in this manner (other
objects of course being attended to) would to a
certainty develop those desirable quahties in a
greater degree than was possessed by the founders
of the race. It is no argument to the contrary
that the present race of horses on the turf are
not capable of running such long distances and
carrying such heavy weights as the olden racers
were — since the system adopted in rearing, training
and racing, has been very considerably altered
within the last half century. Our blood stock
were formerly shorter in the leg, and more
compact and muscidar animals, seldom running
until four years old, and frequently not until five
years. But now they run at two years old, carrying
hght weights, and running short distances, where
bottom and stoutness are not so necessary ; and it is
this difference in the style of racing which has
altered their former character.

19. There are certain external signs or tokens
which are used as indications of early maturity, and
of the determination of the animal frame to pro-
duce fat or muscle in an eminent degree. We wUl
proceed to consider some of them. The first token
which a grazier will make use of, for the purpose
of ascertaining the feeding properties of an ox, is
technically called the touch — a criterion second to
none, inasmuch as a thick, hard, unyielding hide

indicates a bad feeder, and an unprofitable animal.
A thin papery-feeling hide, covered yni\\ thin hair,
indicates the vei-y reverse of the foi-mer, as such an
animal will speedily fatten, but will not carry much
muscle ; at the same time it indicates a delicate
constitution. This quahty is produced in animals
by great refinement in breeding, and especially by
breeding from animals near of blood ; in doing so,
we should remember that we are deviating from
the natural characters, in a point connected with
hardiness of constitution. The perfect touch in a
feeding animal will be found with a thick loose
skin, floating as it were on a layer of soft fat,
yielding to the least pressure, and springing back
to the touch of the finger, like a piece of thick
chamois-leather. This token indicates hardiness
of constitution and capability of carrying plenty of
muscle, as well as a suflSciency of fat. The physio-
logical history of these tokens is as follows : — The
cutis, or true skin, is that portion of the external
integuments from which leather is manufactured ;
and is nmch more dense and elastic in some breeds
than in others. Its external surface lies in contact
with a layer of cellular tissue which intervenes
between it and the muscle. This cellular tissue
contains a larger or smaller amount of fat cells ;
and the mellow feel which is found in some ani-
mals arises from the resiliency or springing back
of the cellular tissue in which the fat is deposited
on being touched. Where there is much " mellow-
ness" in a lean animal, it ?rises from the free cir-
culation of the blood-vessels through the mesh-
work ; and where there is a hard feel, it arises from
the cellular membrane participating in the hard-
ness of the hide, and therefore being less capable of
dilation by the interstitial deposit.

Smallness of bone is another indication of early
maturity, since it must be e^ndent that a breed of
animals that will attain their full size of bone at an
early age will be a much more profitable breed to
the grazier than one of slower growth.

The size of the head of an ox affords another in-
dication of a capacity to carry fat in an eminent
degree. When the head of a bull approaches to
the narrow elongated form of the female, he ^vill
be extremely docile, but will have lost much of his
masculine character ; his stock will be certain to
fatten readily, but mil not carry much muscle.

The ears shoidd be thin — coarse ears being a
certain sign of a coarse breed.

The horns should be fine — a coarse and thick
horn being an indication of an iU-bred animal.
Wherever there is a tendency in a breed to thick
and coarse hides, the horns are generally found
coarse and thick also. The horns, hoofs, hair, and
cuticle, seem to be intimately connected : they
resemble each other in their chemical composition,
differing only in their degree of hardness and con-
densation. Thus, according to Scherer : —

External

Skin of the

Sole of the

Foot.

Hairs of
the Beard.

1

^"ff^l^ Nails. i Wool.
Horn 1

1

Carbon

51-036

6-801

17-225

24-938

51-529

6-687

17-936

23-848

51-162 51-089

6-597 6-8-24

17-284 i 16-901

24-957 i 25-186

50-653

Hydrogen

7-029

Nitrogen

17-710

Oxygen and Sulphur

24-608

SiO

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Tlieae products are remotely connected wth
the vital actions of the systems with which they are
associated ; and however they may dift'er in form,
uses, and external appearance, they are all produced
by the saine kind of vascular structure; and though
variously arranged to suit the particular circum-
stances in each case, yet the mode of their develo^j-
ment and growth is essentially the same.

A thin neck is another indication of a delicate
breed, either in bulls or rams ; a thick neck, on
the contrary, indicating large muscles and a good
constitution. Proportion is another sign or token
by which to judge of the disposition of an animal to
carry a fair proportion of muscle. There should
always be a proportionate union of length, depth,
and thickness s no matter what the weight or size of
the animal may be, these three properties are in-
dispensable, if the breeder's object is to obtain the
greatest weight of meat on the most valuable points.

20. The immense dift'erence in the size of the dif-
ferent breeds of cattle or horses is beyond our con-
trol, although man has produced wonders even in
this respect. Generally speaking they assume a
certain character, dependent on the food which they
obtain — for where food is abundant, they are found
of a large size ; and, where deficient, they are found
of a diminutive breed. But this truth holds good
only as it regards the different races, and not the
individuals — for were we to breed the Shetland
pony on the best Lincoln pastures, it would take
many hundred successive generations before his
race would approximate to the size of the breeds
that are natural to this district.

21. But although the size of difterent breeds of
animals is seemingly fixed, or dependent only on
climate and soil, still much has been done by care
and attention in breeding and rearing. Our atten-
tion here will chiefly be directed to the rearing de-
partment, where there is a great deal of mismanage-
ment, even amongst our very best breeders. With
some, it is a common practice in the rearing of a
bidl-calf, to place the young animal, shortly after
he is weaned, in a narrow stall, and to feed him
with raw milk and oatmeal gruel, and afterwards
with some of the artificial and natural grasses, hay
and turnips, &c. — the breeder feeling perfectly sa-
tisfied that his system is a right one, so long as the
animal is looking plump and fat. The effect of
this, as we have already shown (16), would be with-
out doubt to lessen the size of the lungs and other
organs concerned in nutrition, and produce a breed
that wiU carry immense masses of fat, come quickly
to maturity, and also when they breed produce the
same equalities in their offspring. But however de-
sirable those qualities may be, depend on it there
are others of an opposite character which are also
to be attended to — these are, weight of muscle,
strength of constitution, and the capability of pro-
pagating their race — to produce all M'hich quite a
different system must be adopted. There is a cer-
tain amount of exercise which muscles require to
encourage their proper development and gro\vth,
that never can possibly be obtained by a young
animal confined in this manner. The degree of ac-
tivity in the nutrition of muscles depends in a great
measure upon the use that is made of them ; and
thus M'e find that any set of muscles in continual

employment undergoes a great increase in size and
A^gour, whilst those that are disused lose their firm-
ness and diminish in bulk (16). Cattle require not
such exercise as would tend to harden the muscu-
lar fibre, but just so much as would keep the ani-
mal in a healthy state, and prevent those enormous
accumulations of fat which so frequently disfigure
and so materially injure our very best breeds of
cattle. This was particularly observed in many of
the short-homed milch cows that won the Society's
prizes at Derby, that were better adapted, in conse-
quence of their immense fatness, to compete for
prizes offered for fatted stock, and many of which
will be prevented from breeding for the future.

22. During the first two years, as long as the
weather Avill permit, the young bull should be al-
lowed to range in the meadows ; and when the au-
tumn advances, and it becomes necessary to house
him, we would recommend that the house or shed
should be attached to a straw-yard, into which he
may be occasionally turned during the mild dry days
in the winter. We are aware of the trouble to be
apprehended from grazing animals of this descrip-
tion during the second summer, but we know the
plan is commonly practised in localities where the
enclosures are conveniently small, without any dif-
ficulty or danger.

23. We stated at the commencement of this essay
that the hving organism is incapable of producing
an elementary body out of substances which do not
contain it ; a statement in common parlance mean-
ing, " that a horse which gets kicks instead of oats
is not likely to maintain a working condition." In
the rearing of young animals of all descriptions,
it must be evident that substances rich in nitrogen
are particularly required for the growth of the va-
rious parts of the body, since there is no part of an
organ that contains less than 17 per cent. (3). For
the growth of bone, muscle, blood, membranes,
skin, horn, hair, and cellular tissue, a certain
amount of this substance is absolutely necessary.
We have shown that they do not obtain much , if
any, of this substance from the air : it must, the re-
fore, necessarily be supplied in the food. In the
rearing of horses, where the object is to produce a
great development of muscle, this is particularly
required : hence it is the practice of intelligent
breeders to supply the young stock with a proper
allowance of oats, peas, beans, and shelter, during
the winter; and it is from the want of those requisites
that so many thousands of horses are yearly ren-
dered worthless. The young animal is placed on
our globe tolerably perfect from the hands of the
Creator, but its degeneracy is frequently owing to
the treatment pursued in the rearing. Only com-
pare a yearling colt that has been well housed and
well fed during the Avinter, with one that has been
turned out, and fed chiefly with hay, straw, and tur-
nips— the food usually allowed by farmers to this
kind of stock in the winter ; and although equally
fine and clean in their respective points when sepa-
rated in the autumn, yet they bear no kind of com-
parison, either in size or beauty, in the spring.
Again pursue the same plan the following winter,
and you fix the shape for life — the one a handsome,
strong, muscular animal ; the other a coarse and
plain one. It is by proper feeding, and a proper

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

241

degree of shelter given to the young stock, during
the first three winters, that some horses are got to
such perfection as we sometimes see, having clean
hmbs, large powerful muscles, and good action ;
for, had those colts been kept hard, and exposed to
the weather, they would never have attracted any
attention.

24. In the rearing of store cattle, the same care
is not required as we have recommended for breed-
ing ones — the object of the feeder in this instance
being to obtain as much profit as he can from the
food which the animals consume : hence, their va-
lue must be determined by the profit Avhich they
yield to the breeder and feeder conjointly, from
birth to maturity ; but, even in this case, it may
be worth the farmer's notice to be acquainted with
the fact, that nearly the whole of the fleshy part of
an animal, which will afford any profit to him, is as-
similated chiefly during the period of its growth.
When it has arrived at its full growth, the addition
made to its bulk is chiefly an accumulation of fat,
which surrounds and is intermingled with the sub-
stance of the muscle. Thus, the object of the far-
mer whose purpose is profit, will be to force his
stock on, during the period of their growth, by
such kind of food as will produce the largest quan-
tity of muscle at the least expense.

25. The farmer must now see the necessity of
giving his growing stock peas, beans, and barley-
meal, in conjunction with good hay, grass, and
turnips, varied, of course, according to the seasons
and other circumstances. Experience has proved
that health and ajipetite are best promoted by a
change of diet, rather than by limiting the quantity
and quahty. There should be no cessation in the
rearing and feeding of cattle, for those that are
stuflf'ed and starved by turns are sure to prove un-
profitable to the feeder ; and there is no more cer-
tain rule in the rearing of young stock than this —
that those that suffer a deprivation either in quan-
tity or quality of food, never become perfectly de-
veloped, either in bulk or proportions.

26. It forms a curious and interesting subject
for the feeder to ascertain the respective quantities
of the fleshing and fattening properties contained
in an acre of the diflferent crops commonly used in
the rearing and feeding of stock. The follo\ving
acreable table of nutrition has been constructed
chiefly from Professor Johnston's calcvilations —
the proportions of gluten, &c., from Boussingault's
analyses, which indicate the fleshing propei ties >•
and the proportions of starch, gum, and sugar, the
fattening properties : —

One Acre of

Produce per |
Acre. I

Weight of

Grain per

bushel.

Weight of
Gluten,

Albumen,

and
Caseine.

Weight of

Starch,

Gum,

Sugar,

and Fat.

Weight of

W ater
per Acre.

Field Beans. .

Peas

Oats

Hay

Potatoes . . . .
Carrots . . . .
Turnips . . . .
Wheat Straw
Oat Straw . .
Barley Straw

25 bush.

25 ..

50 ..
3 tons.

12 .,

25 ..

30 ..
3,000 lbs.
2,700 . .
2,100 . .

lbs.
64
66

42

lbs.

450

380

290

480

600

1,120

800

40

36

28

lbs.

672

845

1,168

2,790

3,330

5,800

6,700

940

970

646

lbs.

256

208

336

752

2,0250

4,7600

5,6950

450

324

252

The fanner need not learn from this or any other
table the importance of a turnip-crop, it being ac-
knowledged by all that it is indeed the sheet-anchor
of light-soil cultivation; for although the per centage
of nutritious matters is trifling in the turnips, when
compared with that of peas, beans, oats, or barley,
yet the immense weight of these roots which can
be grown — sometimes as much as 40 or 50 tons
per acre — gives such a very large quantity of nu-
tritious matters, that swede turnips* may well be
called the raw material for the manufacture of beef.
The farmer will also see the peculiar adaptation of
the carrot crop to therearing and fattening of stock
— the nutritious matters which they contain being

S eater than turnips, and being admirably fitted for
e heavier description of soils, where turnips can-

* I have not been able to obtain a correct ana-
lysis of the Swede turnip.

not be successfully cultivated. He will also see,
from the immense weight of water contained in
those roots, that it is desirable to give some di*y
provender to his sheep, such as oat or barley meal,
oat-straw, hay, or pea-haulm, which would prevent
the frequent scouring of those animals, the conse-
quence of so much watery food ; and by occasion-
ing the food to remain longer in their stomachs, a
greater quantity of nourishment would probably
be obtained than when eaten alone.

27. The hai/-crop varies very considerably in
its per centage of nutritious matters — more so, we
believe, than any other ; the consequence of dif-
ference of soil, and methods adopted in saving.
In the blades and stems of the young grasses
there is much sugar, which, as they grow up, is
gradually changed, first into starch, and then in-
to woody fibre ; and the more completely the
latter change is eflfected, the riper the plant be-
ll 2

342

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

comes, and consequently the less soluble are the
substances it contains. Both theory and expe-
rience, then, indicate to the farmer the necessity
of cutting his hay before it has attained its full
stage of ripeness. It is also very probable that
when exposed to dry in the sun and air after
being cut, to a certain extent this change from
starch to woody fibre takes place. Hence the
more quickly the drying is efi'ected, the less ex-
tensively will changes of this kind take place ; and
this shows tlie necessity of the hay being frequently
turned during "saving," and being rapidly
dried.

28. Great quantities of bean-meal are used in
some districts in the feeding of bacon-hogs, but it
is found to make the flesh too firm for delicate
porkers, and in the last stage of their fattening,
barley-meal is substituted. The best kind of food
for feeding pigs is a mixture of barley-meal, peas,
and potatoes. Potatoes are frequently used by
themselves for this purpose ; but neither the fat
or muscle of pigs fed in this manner can be com-
pared to corn and ])eas-fed pork — the fat having a
tallo\vy appearance, and both fat and muscle
shrinking, for want of firmness, when boiled.
Potatoes \vill do very well for store pigs, but
should never be depended on for the " feeding."
Some feeders reject the grey pea, from an idea
that it partakes in a degree of the nature of the
bean in rendering the meat tough and hard.
The same effect is produced, although in a more
considerable degree, in the feeding of pigs on the
acorn, which tends to render the meat firm and
hard. This is owing to the astringent or tanin
principle contained in the bean and acorn; vege-
table astringents of all kinds are found to contract
the muscular and vascular tissues, to diminish
secretion, lessen irritabiHty, and in many instances
to impart strength or increased tone to an organ
or part. It is the tanin principle contained in
beans which renders them so valuable a food for
hard-working horses. The nutritious elements of
beans and peas are nearly the same, yet the former
add more materially to the vigovir of horses than
the latter. Our Saxon ancestors used to feed
then- swine on acorns, and set great value on them
for this purpose ; and round the forests of Eng-
land, it is still customary to drive the pigs in at
the proper season, that they may feed on the
acorns and the various kernels which fall from
the trees. In Westphaha, the pig is turned into
the oak forest as soon as he is weaned, where he
feeds, like the wild boar, upon acorns and roots of
various vegetables : the consequence of which is,
the worms and slush of every description w^hich he
devours counteract the astringent or tanin prin-
ciple of the acorn, and they thrive amazingly.
When the farmers around the New Forest feed
their smne -mth acorns in the stye, they invariably
give other food mixed with them, such as wash,
brewers' grains, potatoes, turnips, beet, and the
refuse of the gardens, as they find that swine fed
on acorns only, seldom thrive.

29. Our essay is now brought to a close ; and,
from what has been stated, it must be evident that
constant and progressive change appears to be one
of the leading characteristics of life ; the whole

seems like one vast laboratory, where mechanism
is subservient to chemistry — where chemistry is
the agent of the higher powers of vitality. In con-
sidering the digestive functions of animals, we have
seen the manner in which vegetable food is assim-
ilated into blood and tissues ; we see that the ma-
terials have to pass through a great number of
intermediate stages before they can attain their
final state. We can perceive all these, but still we
ha^'^e as yet a very imperfect knowledge of the
nature of the vital agents concerned in producing
those chemical changes which the food must
necessarily vindergo during its assimilation. The
living priiaciple, whether of a vegetable or animal,
is so adapted that it can elaborate its body out of
the materials which are around it ; but neither can
create out of nothing that matter of which its or-
ganization, during its appointed time, is composed.
These materials, but few in number, are first
elaborated from the air, the earth, and the waters,
into the substance of plants, for the food of her-
bivorous and graminivorous animals, which, in
their turn, are eaten by carnivorous animals ; and
when, after a time, the spirit has left its tenement,
the organized body is resolved into its original inor-
ganic substances — carbonic acid, water, and am-
monia— these elements being either returned to the
atmosphere, whence they Avere derived, or imbed-
ded in the parent soil, again to constitute races of
vegetables, and to contribute to the nourishment
of organized beings. Even those portions of or-
ganic matter which, in the course of decomposition,
escape in form of gases, and are widely diffused
through the atmosphere, are not wholly lost to
living creatures ; for, in the course of time, they
also re-enter into the vegetable kingdom, resuming
the solid form, and re-appearing in organic pro-
ducts, destined again to pass through the same
never-ending cycle of vicissitudes and transmuta-
tions. This is the most important page in the
whole book of material nature, for thus is grass
changed into mutton and beef, which afterwards
are changed into the flesh of man.

FALKIRK TRYST.

The first of these great annual markets was held on
Aug. 13 on the usual ground, Stenhose Muii-, and the
show was principally composed of grazing stock. The
supply of good fat was about an average of the last Au-
gust market, and sold about 7s. per Dutch stone. Cattle
fine for fogging and turnips from 4s. to 4s. 6d. per im-
perial stone ; leaner stock, from 3s. to 3s. 6d. In con-
sequence of the failure of the grass in the south, a limited
number of English and border jobbers were on the
ground, and about eleven o'clock a number of sales were
effected. Both buyers and sellers were disappointed —
the buyers having bought too dear in the markets re-
cently held in the north, and the south country dealers
paying here more money than they anticipated. Although
the market was above an average stock, there was a good
demand for grazing cattle of the Aberdeen, Angus, and
Fife breeds, and good Argyleshire were not neglected.
Six-quarter west Highlanders, of a good quality, were
also in demand. It was generally allowed that about 10
per cent, above last August market was obtained for
good beasts.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

243

A very superior lot of fat were bought by the Messrs.
Kerr, fleshers, in the neighbourhood of Stirling, sup-
posed to be as good as any in the market, for 13/. Ano-
ther lot was bought by a flesher from Glasgow, of rather
an inferior description, for III. ISs.

Aberdeen Breed. — A lot of 27 were bought by a
gentleman in the south for grazing at 9/. ; another lot of
the same kind and age, bought by the same gentleman
for //. I5s. A superior lot of 17 were bought by a gen-
tleman in the neighbourhood of Hawick for 10/. 5s. A
good lot of 20 (although rather lean), for turnip feeding,
at 8/. 10s. ; a small lot (shots of tlie last lot), 71. ; a lot
of 21 were bought by Mr. Rankine, flesher, Edinburgh,
for 10/. ; a lot of 50 were bought by a gentleman in the
neighbourhood of Peebles for 9/. ; another lot of 25, by
the same gentleman, for 7/. 15s. ; a lot of 14, bought
by a grazier, near Kincardine, Perthshire, for 10/. 7s.
6d. The above lots are all three-year-olds.

Angus Breed. — A very supei'ior lot of 27, purchased
by Mr. Hood, Newmains, parish of "VVhitekirk,for 12/. ;
another lot of 20 was purchased by Mr. Howden, Min-
ton Hill, East Lothian, for 10/. ; a lot of 29 was bought
by Messrs. Howden and Henderson, for 8/. 12s. 6d. ;
another lot of 1 5 was bought by a jobber from North-
umberland, for 8/. 15s. ; and another lot of 25, by the
same dealer, for 8/. 5s. There was a lot of shorts,
amounting to about 30, which were purchased from va-
rious stocks of this breed, by the same dealer, for 71.
5s. This kind wei-e all three-year-olds. A very supe-
rior lot of 12 stots were bought by Mr. Jones, a flesher,
for 14/. 10s.

Fife Breeds. — This description of stock was not so
numerous ; but a good lot of 20 three-year-olds was
bought for grazing by a gentleman in the neighbourhood
of Dunbar, for 9/. 15s. Another lot of 15, of the same
age, was bought by ajobber for 8/. IGs. There were
also several small lots of this description exchanged
owners at about 7/. 15s., and one very superior lot, for
10/. 15s.

Argyleshire Cattle. — A lot of 40 three-year-old
stots were bought by Mr. Melvin, Bonnington, for 9/. ;
a lot of two-year-old queys were also purchased by Mr.
Forrest, Treesbank, for 4/. ; another good lot of 20 three-
year-old stots were bought by a flesher in Glasgow, for
9/. ; a lot of 30 three-year-olds, from Sherifl'muir, were
sold by Mr. Andrew Gentle to Mr. Prentice, Arnbuc-
kle, for 5/. 12s. 6d. A lot of 40 three-year-old heifers
were bought by a dealer from Northumberland, for 5/. ;
also a lot of 20 of the same kind and age, for 4/. 5s.
From the appearance of the market about six o'clock in
the evening, a few good lots of this kind appeared to be
unsold ; but there is little doubt if they did not exchange
owners after that hour, they would be put on grass for
next market.

Skye, Lewis, axd Moray Cattle, &c. — A lot of
15 two-year-old queys, from Skye, were sold at 21. lis. ;
a lot of 30 of the same age for 21. 10s. ; a lot of 70 two-
year-old heifers, rather a good kind, 31. 7s. ; a superior
lot of 60 two-year-old stots, belonging to Mr. Gumming,
Newton, Inverness -shire, sold for 5/. ; a lot of 20 Moray-
shire three-year-olds were bought by Mr. Douglas, of
Dechmont, for 5/. 10s. ; 15 three-year-old Ross-shires
were bought by Mr. Russell, Stirlam, Bathgate, for 5/.
14s. ; a lot of 50 Morayshire three-year-olds, were pur-
chased by Mr. Veitch, of Park, at from 8/. to 8/. 5s. ; a
lot of 23 Forfarshires were bought by Mr. Torrance,
Meadow Head, Lothian, for 8/. 10s. ; a small lot of
Lewis cows were bought by Mr. A. Walker, Avon-
bridge, for 3/. 16s. ; a lot of 26 quarter-old stots from
the Isle of Mull, brought 21. 14s. ; a lot of 10 two-year-
old Ross-sihire queys fetched 3/. 12s. 6d. ; 59 black cat-
tle, two-year-olds, were purchased by Mr. Latimer,
Glinger Bank, at 21, 6s.

THE HIGHLAND AND AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND.

The annual great cattle show of the Highland and
Agricultural Society of Scotland was held this year at
Glasgow, August 14.

AWARD OF PREMIUMS.

I.— CATTLE.

SHORT-HORNED BREED.

For the best bull, calved after 1st January, 1840, the
premium of 40 sovs., to John Hunt, Esq., Thornington,
Wooler. For the second best ditto, 25 sovs., to John
Millar, Esq., of Ballumbie, county of Forfar. The
honorary silver medal to Mr. Crofton, Holywell, county
of Durham, as the breeder of the best.

For the best cow 15 sovs., to the Duke of Buc-
cleuch. For the second best ditto, 10 sovs., to Sir
Thomas Joseph de Trafford, of Trafford Park, county of
Lancaster.

For the best heifer, calved after 1st of Januai7, 1842,
10 sovs., to W'. R. Ramsay, Esq., M.P., of Barnton.
For the second best ditto, 7 sovs., to Colonel James
Dalgairns, of Balgaives, county of Forfar.

For the best heifer, calved after 1st January, 1843,
10 sovs., to Mr. Thomas Simson, Blainslie, county of
Roxburgh. For the second best ditto, 7 sovs., to Mr.
James Burnett, Aberlady, county of Haddington.

For the best two oxen, calved after 1st January, 1841,
15 sovs., to Mr. John Dudgeon, Musselburgh, county
of Edinburgh. For the second best ditto, 10 sovs., to
Mr. Robert Dudgeon, Humbie, county of Linlithgow.

For the best two oxen, calved after 1st January, 1842,
10 sovs., to said Mr. Robert Dudgeon. For the second
best ditto, 7 sovs., to Mr. James A. Vernor, Hillhead,
county of Edinburgh.

AYRSHIRE BREED.

For the best bull, calved after 1st January, 1840, 30
sovs., to Mr. Robert Paton, Cloberhill, county of Dum-
barton. For the second best ditto, 20 sovs., to Mr.
David Buchanan, Muckcroft, county of Lanark. For
the third best ditto, 10 sovs., to Mr. Alexander Miller,
Highmains, county of Dumbarton. The honorary silver
medal, to Mr. William Brodie, Lochwinnoch, as the
breeder of the best.

For the best bull, calved after 1st January, 1842, 20
sovs., to Mr. James Mather, Inches, county of Renfrew.
For the second best ditto, 10 sovs., to Mr. James
Peattie, Knowhead, county of Stirling. For the third
best ditto, 7 sovs., to Mr. Robert Logan, Westmains,
county of Ayr.

For the best cow in milk, 20 sovs., to Mr. Lawrence
Drew, Carmyle. For the second best ditto, 10 sovs.,
to Mr. William Peter, Temple, county of Dumbarton.
For the third best ditto, 7 sovs., to Mr. John Macadam,
Ballindalloch, county of Stirling.

For the best cow in milk, calved after 1st January,
1841, 10 sovs., to Mr. John M'Farlane, Blairnavaid,
county of Stirling. For the second best ditto, 5 sovs.,
to Mr. Alexander Galbraith, Kilwinnet, county of Stir-
ling. For the third best ditto, 3 sovs., to Mr. Alex-
ander Purdie, Midland, county of Lanark.

For the best three cows in milk, bred and reared by
the exhibitor, 10 sovs., to Mr. John Anderson, Gartnod,
county of Lanark. For the second best ditto, 5 sovs.,
to Mr. WilUiam Hunter, Mountford, county of Ayr.

For the best three cows in milk, the same having been
stall-fed, and had a calf at least six months previous to
the 1st of August, 1844. Their appearance as to milk,
and their condition as to fat, taken into consideration,
10 sovs., to Messrs. Alex. M'Lachlauand Son, Gorbals,
Glasgow.

244

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

For the best heifer, calved after 1st January, 1842,
bred and reared by the exhibitor, ten sovs., to Mr. Wm. i
Hay Boyd, Townend, county of Ayr. For the second
best ditto, 7 sovs., to Mr. William Paterson, Cairnbog,
county of Stirling. For the third best ditto, 5 sovs., to
Mr. John Waugh, Westside, county of Lanark.

For the best three heifers, calved after 1st January,
1842, 10 sovs., to Mr. Gabriel Dunlop, Peacock Bank,
county of Ayr. For the second best three ditto, 5 sovs.,
to Mr. William Muir, Hardington Mains, county of
Lanark. For the best two oxen, calved after 1st Janu-
ary, 1840, ten sovs., to Milliam Murray, Esq., of Pol-
maise, county of Stirling,

WEST HIGHLAND BREED.

For the best bull, calved after 1st January, 1840, 30
sovs., to Mr. Alexander G. Morrison, Salachan, Ard-
gower, county of Argyll. For the second best ditto, 20
sovs., to William A. Campbell, Esq., of Ormsery,
county of Argyll. For the third best ditto, 10 sovs.,
to Mr. Alexander Cameron, Invercouerie, county of
Perth. The honorary silver medal, to said Mr. Alex-
ander Morrison, as breeder of Fhebest.

For the best bull, calved after 1st January, 1842, 10
sovs., to Messrs. Stewart, Glenfinlas, Callander, county
of Perth. For the second best ditto, 7 sovs., to the
Marquis of Breadalbane, For the third best ditto, 5
sovs., to the Marquis of Breadalbane.

For the best cow which has reared a calf during the
season of the show, 15 sovs., to the Duke of Suther-
land. For the second best ditto, 7 sovs., to Mr. Wm.
Grant, Ruthven, county of Banff. For the third best
ditto, 5 sovs., to said Mr. William Grant.

For the best three cows, bred and reared by the ex-
hibitor, which have reared calves during the season of
the show. One lot exhibited, reported as possessing
merit, and desening of a premium.

For the best heifer, calved after Ist January, 1842,
bred and reared by the exhibitor, 7 sovs., to Mr. Donald
M'Laren, Glenertnay, Callander, county of Perth. For
the second best ditto, 5 sovs., to the Marquis of Bread-
albane.

For the best three heifers, calved after 1st January,
1842, 7 sovs., to the Marquis of Breadalbane. For
the second best three ditto, 5 sovs., to Neil Malcolm,
Esq., of Poltalloch, county of Argyll.

For the best two oxen, calved after 1st January, 1840,
10 sovs., to Archibald Stirling, Esq., of Keii-, county
of Perth. For the second best two ditto, 5 sovs., to
Neil Malcolm, Esq., of Poltalloch.

For the best two oxen, calved after 1st January, 1841,
10 sovs., to Archibald Stirling, Esq., of Keir. For the
second best ditto, 5 sovs., to Archibald Stirling, Esq.,
of Keir.

For the best two oxen, calved after 1st Januaiy, 1842,
10 sovs., to Neil Malcolm, Esq., of Poltalloch. For
the second best two ditto, 5 sovs., to Mr. Donald
M'Laren, Glenertnay, Callander.

For the best two oxen, calved after 1st January, 1841,
which have not been housed or confined in a straw-yard
since Whitsunday, 1842, 10 sovs., to the Duke of
Sutherland.

For the best five oxen, calved alter 1st January, 1843,
bred and reared by the exhibitor, repoi'ted as possessing
merit, and deserving of a premium.

GALLOWAY, ANGUS, AND ABERDEEN POLLED BREEDS.

For the best two oxen, calved after 1st January, 1840,
15 sovs., to Robert Lyall, Esq., Old Montrose, county
of Forfar. For the second best two ditto, 10 sovs., to
James M'Douall, Esq., of liOgan, county of Wigtown.
For the third best two ditto, 5 sovs. to James M'Douall,
Esq., of Logan.

For the best two oxen, calved after 1st January, 1841,

15 sovs., to Mr. John Collier, Panlathy, county of
Forfar. For the second best two ditto, 10 sovs., to
Mr. Robert Lyall, Old Montrose.

FIFE BREED.

For the best two oxen, calved after 1st January, 1840,
10 sovs., to Mr. David Wallace, Balgrummo, county of

Fife.

ANY BREED.

For the best two oxen, pure or cross, calved after 1st
January, 1840, 15 sovs., to Archibald Stirling, Esq., of
Keir. For the best ox, pure or cross, calved after 1st
January, 1840, 10 sovs. to Mr. William Christie, Mar-
kle, county of East Lothian. For the best dairy cow,
10 sovs., to Mr. Lawrence Drew, Carmyle, county of
Lanark. For the second best ditto, 5 sovs. to Mr.
John Brock, Barns of Clyde, county of Dumbarton.

II, HORSES.

The horses were divided into thirteen classes ; and the
exhibition in this department was indeed a magnificent
one, the difficulty of decision in many of the classes
being very great, owing to the different lots being so
nearly matched in merit. There were 172 lots exhibited
in this department, and among them were 23 stallions,
not exceeding eight years old, and 32 draught mares for
agricultural purposes. The Judges were — Col. Graham,
Mossknowe, Dumfrieshire ; Mr. Watt, Closeburn, do. ;
Mr. Forest, and Mr. Cairns, Glasgow; and Mr. Strang,
Auldhouse, Glasgow. They awarded as follows : —

For the best cart stallion for agricultural purposes,
not exceeding eight years old, 40 sovs., to Mr. Samuel
Clark, Mansurie, county of Renfew. For the second
best ditto, 25 sovs., to Mr. Robert Park, Glenshinnoch,
county of Renfrew. For the third best ditto, 15
sovs., to Mr. Robert Bowie, Gilmedland, county of
Stirland.

For the best draught mare for agricultural purposes,
25 sovs., to Mr. John M'Farlane, Blairnavaid, county
of Stirling, For the second best ditto, 15 sovs., to Mr.
John Bartholomew, Broomhill, county of Dumbarton,
For the third best ditto, 7 sovs., to Mr, Robert Murdoch,
Easthaughhead, county of Lanark.

For the best brood mare, having had a foal in 1844,
10 sovs., to Mr. Andrew Stewart, Kennyhill, county of
Lanark. For the second best ditto, 5 sovs., to Mr.
Alexander Galbraith, Croy Cunningham, county of
Stirling.

For the best entire colt for agricultural purposes,
foaled after 1st January, 1841, 15 sovs., to Mr. John
Erskine, Burntshields, county of Renfrew. For the se-
cond best ditto, 7 sovs., to Mr. Thomas Bowman, Hall-
hill, county of Lanark.

For the best do., foaled after 1st January, 1842, 10
sovs., to Mr. Matthew Young, Knockendall, county of
Ayr. For the second best do., 5 sovs., to Mr. John
M'Farlane, Blairnavaid, county of Stirling.

For the best do., foaled after 1st January, 1843, 5
sovs., to said Mr. Thomas Bowman, Hallhill.

For the best gelding for do., foaled after 1st January,
1841, 10 sovs. to said Mr. Matthew Young, Knocken-
dall.

For the best filly for do., foaled after 1st January,
1841, 15 sovs., to Mr. William WTiite, Weston, county
of Lanark. For the second best do., 7 sovs., to Mr.
John Anderson, Gartnod, county of Lanark.

For the best do., foaled after 1st January, 1842, 10
sovs. to Mr. W. Muir, Haddington Mains, county of
Lanark. For the second best do., 7 sovs., to Mr. Ro-
bert Findlay, Springhill, county of Lanark.

For the best do., foaled after 1st January, 1843, 5
sovs., to Messrs. Robert and Thomas Jackson, Stanley
Muir, county of Renfrew.

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245

For the best pair of horses or mares, of any age,
adapted for agricultural purposes, 10 sovs., to Mr. An-
drew Wallace, Torryglen, county of Lanark. For the
second best pair of do., 5 sovs., to David Robert C.
Buchanan, Esq., of Drumpeller, county of Lanark.

For the best two cart horses or mares, the same hav-
ing been in the possession of the exhibitor, and chiefly
worked upon the streets of Glasgow, anywhere within
the Parliamentary boundaries, for one year previous to
the show, to be exhibited in the harness in common use
for the preceding month, and by the driver, 10 sovs., to
Mr. William M'Culloch, Glasgow. For the second
best do., 5 sovs., to Messrs. |John Bartholomew and Co.,
Glasgow. The silver medal to each of the drivers of said
horses.

For the best cart-horse or mare, the same having been
in the possession of the exhibitor, and driven by him-
self chiefly upon the streets of Glasgow, and anywhere
within the Parliamentary boundaries, for one year pre-
vious to the show, to be exhibited in the harness in
common use during the preceding month, and by the
owner, 10 sovs., to Mr. Matthew SmelUe, 221, Argyll-
street, Glasgow.

The judges farther recommended a mare, exhibited by
Mr. Somerville, Lambpits, Carnwath ; a filly, by Mr.
Fulton, Sproulston, Lochwinnoch ; a pair of horses,
by Mr. Murdoch, Hillside, Glasgow ; and a horse, by
Mr. George Bathgate, Sauchiehall-lane, Glasgow, as
being all of them possessed of great merit.

III. SHEEP.

BLACK-FACEB BREED,

In the department of black-faced sheep there were
52 lots exhibited, which were divided into 9 classes.
The judges were Mr. Lome Campbell, Roseneath, and
Mr. D. Macdonald, Craigruie, who awarded as fol-
lows : —

For the best three tups, not exceeding 45 months old,
15 sovs., to Mr. David Foyer, Knowhead, county of
Stirling. For the second-best three ditto, 10 sovs., to
Mr. William Gillespie, Gateside, county of Lanark.
For the third-best three ditto, 5 sovs., to Mr. Thomas
Gillespie, Parkhall, county of Lanark.

For the best pen of five ewes, not exceeding five years
and seven months old, selected from a regular breeding
stock of not fewer than a hundred, and the pen having
reared lambs for three months during the season pre-
vious to the show, 10 sovs., to Mr. William Gillespie,
Gateside. For the second-best pen of five ditto, 5
sovs., to said Mr. David Foyer, Knowhead.

For the best pen of five gimmers, 10 sovs., to said
Mr. David Foyer, For the second-best pen of five
ditto, 5 sovs,, to Mr. John Watson, Nisbett, county of
Lanark.

For the best pen of five dinmonts, 10 sovs., to Mr.
Thomas Murray, Brenchoilly, county of Argyll. For
the second best pen of five ditto, 5 sovs,, to Mr. Mal-
colm Coubrough, High Craighton, county of Dum-
barton.

For the best pen of five tup lambs, 7 sovs., to Mr.
WiUiam Gillespie, Gateside. For the second best pen
of five ditto, 5 sovs., to said Mr, David Foyer, Know-
head.

For the best pen of five wether sheep, not exceeding
three years old, 5 sovs., to Mr. John Phillips, Laig-
park, county of Dumbarton.

For the best pen of five wethers, not exceeding three
years old, fed exclusively on hill pasture since twelve
months old, 5 sovs., to Mr. David Scott, North-
field, near Edinburgh. For the second best pen of five
ditto, 3 sovs., to said Mr. Malcolm Coubrough, High
Craigton.
For the best pen of five wethers, of any age, showing

most symmetiy, fat, and weight, 5 sovs., to said Mr.
David Scott, Northfield. For the second best pen of
five ditto, three sovs., to said Mr. John Phillips, Laigh-
park.

For the best pen of five ewe lambs, 7 sovs., to said
Mr. William Gillespie, Gateside, For the second best
pen of five ditto, 5 sovs,, to said Mr. David Foyer,
Knowhead,

CHEVIOT BREED.

Of the Cheviot breed there were 32 lots exhibited, di-
vided into five classes. Except for the two first there
was little competition ; and in the last a dispute has
arisen, as will be seen from the official report of the
judges, which of the only two competitors is entitled to
the premium. The wethers exhibited by Mr. Dud-
geon, of Musselburgh were reported the best; but in
case of its being decided that they are not of the pure
Cheviot breed, the premium will be awarded to Mr.
Gilchrist, Osbisdale, Dornoch, the five wethers exhi-
bited by him being recommended as excellent specimens
of the class. The judges were Mr. Pringle, Hindlee,
Hawick, and Mr. Murray, Drochill Castle, Peebles-
shire, and they awarded as follows : —

For the best two tups, 10 sovs., to Sir Graham Mont-
gomery, of Stanhope, Bai'onet, county of Peebles. For
the second best two ditto, 7 sovs., to Mr. Alexander
Murray, Hearthstone, county of Peebles. For the third
best two ditto, 5 sovs., to Mr. James Brydon,MoodIaw,
county of Dumfries.

For the best shearling tup, 7 sovs., to Mr. Alexander
Craig, Bidhouse, county of Sutherland. For the second
best ditto, 3 sovs., to ditto.

For the best pen of five ewes, 7 sovs., to Sir Graham
Montgomery of Stanhope, Bart. For the second best
pen of five ditto, 3 sovs., to said Mr. Alexander Craig,
Bighouse.

For the best pen of five gimmers, 7 sovs., to said Mr.
James Brydon, Moodlaw. For the second best pen- of
five ditto, 3 sovs., to Mr. Alexander Denham, Baitlaws,
county of Lanark.

For the best five fat wethers, lambed in 1841, two
competitors. Mr. Dudgeon's reported the best ; but,
in opinion of judges, they are not of the pure Cheviot
breed.

LEICESTER BREED.

There was an excellent show of sheep of the Leicester
breed, there being 53 lots exhibited, divided into six
classes, in two of which, however, there was no com-
petition. The Judges were — Mr. Buckley, near Miln-
thorp, Lancashire ; and Mr. Grey of Dilston, Northum-
berland. Their awards were : —

For the best tup, not exceeding forty-five months old,
10 sovs., to Mr. William Smith, Burton, county of Nor-
thumberland. For the second best ditto, 5 sovs., to Mr.
John Wallace, Banbeath, county of Fife.

For the best pen of three ewes of any age, 5 sovs., to
Mr. Hugh Watson, Keillor farm, county of Forfar.

For the best pen of three wethers, and exceeding
thirty-two months old, no competition.

For the best pen of three wether lambs, no compe-
tition.

For the best pen of three tup lambs, 3 sovs., to Mr.
John Brodie, Abbey Mains, county of Haddington.

For the best pen of three ewe lambs, 3 sovs., to said
Mr. John Brodie, Abbey Mains,

They also highly commended a tup, exhibited by Mr.
Brodie", Abbey Mains, Haddington, as possessed of great
merit. Indeed, we understand they would have awarded
the premium to this animal as the most superior speci-
men of his class, but for an unfortunate accident it
received in travelling to a former Show.

SOUTHDOWN' AND CROSS BREEDS.

Of the Southdown and cross breeds there were 2" lots.

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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

divided into seven classes — in two of which, however,
there was no competition ; in the 25th and 27th classes
respectively there was only one exhibitor ; and in class
23rd where four competitors entered, the premium was
withheld, the only good pen being considered not of the
pure Southdown breed. The judges were Mr. Dudgeon
of Spylaw, Mr. Graham of Balgowan, and Mr. Camp-
bell of Craigie. They awarded as follows : —

SOUTHDOWN BREED.

For the best tup, 15 sovs., to the Duke of Richmond.
For the second best ditto, ten sovereigns, to Mr. Hugh
Watsonr Keillor farm.

For the best pen of five ewes, 10 sovs., to the Duke
of Richmond. For the second best ditto, 5 sovs., to
Mr. Hugh Watson, Keillor farm.

For the best three wethers, showing most symmetry,
fat, and weight, premium not awarded ; the only good
pen not being considered of the pure Southdown breed.

CROSSES.

For the best pen of five Dinmonts, cross between
Leicester tup and Cheviot Ewe ; no competition.

For the best pen of five Dinmonts, cross between
Leicester tup and black-faced ewe, 5 sovs., to the Duke
of Montrose.

For the best pen of five Dinmonts, cross between
Southdown tup and black-faced ewe ; no competition.

For the best pen of five wethers, of any cross, not ex-
ceeding four years old ; no premium awarded.

IV. ALPACAS.

A new and interesting feature in this exhibition of the
society, consisted in the appearance of the Alpaca,
whose naturalization in tliis country is now being at-
tempted. The specimens were all exhibited by Mr.
Gartshore Stirling, of Craigbarnet, Stirlingshire ; and
Sir John Orde, who was appointed to inspect them, re-
commended as follows : —

To A. Gartshore Stirling, Esq., of Craigbarnet, for
two Alpacas, and a young Alpaca, their produce, bred
by Exhibitor, a premium of 5 sovs., and an honorary
silver medal ; a picture of the young animal recom-
mended to be taken,

V. SWINE.

In the department of swine there was a fair show, 59
lots being exhibited, divided into five classes ; but the
Judges — Messrs. Grey of Milston, and Hunt of Thorn-
ington, Northumberland — did not consider either of the
two lots exhibited in Class V. as worthy of the pre-
mium. In the other classes they awarded as follows : —

For the best boar, large breed, 4 sovs., to William
Campbell, Esq., of Ederline, county of Argyll. For
the second best ditto, two sovs., to Mr. Walter Burnside,
New City Road, Glasgow.

For the best sow, large breed, in pig or milk, 4 sovs.
to Mr. Robert Hewitson, Auchenbenzie, county of
Dumfries. For the second best ditto, 2 sovs., to Mr.
Colin Campbell, of Colgrain.

For the best boar, small breed, 4 sovs., to Mr. John
Bartholomew, Broomhill, county of Dumbarton. For
the second best ditto, 2 sovs., to Mr. James Burnett,
Aberlady, county of Haddington.

For the best sow, small breed, in pig or milk, 4 sovs.,
to Mr. Hope Hunter, Craighead, county of Lanark.
For the second best ditto, 2 sovs., to North Dalrymple,
Esq., of Fordel and Cleland.

For the best three store pigs, of the same litter, from
four to nine months old, no premium awarded.

VI. POULTRY.

The department of pouUry exhibited greater variety
than in former years, though in several of the classes
there was no competition. The Judges were Mr. Muir-

head, Edinburgh ; Mr, Cunningham, and Mr. Crooks,
of Glasgow ; and they awarded : —

For the best couple of turkeys, of the black breed, to
the Duke of Montrose.

For the capon turkeys, no competition.

For the best couple of fowls, of the mottled or
speckled Dorking breed, to the Duke of Montrose.
For the second best couple of ditto, to Lord Blantyre.

For the best couple of fowls, of the Polish breed, to
Wm. Lockhart, Esq., M.P., of Milton Lockhart.

For the best couple of fowls, of the spangled Ham-
burgh or old breed of Scotland, to Mr. Alexander Smith,
Glenhutch, county of Edinburgh. For the second best
ditto, to Mr. David Buchanan, East Muckcroft, county
of Lanark,

For the best couple of Ducks, to the Duke of Mon-
trose. For the second best ditto, to Lord Blantyre.

For the best pair of geese, to Mr. Wm. Sadler, Nor-
ton Mains, near Edinburgh. For the second best ditto,
to Wm. Campbell, Esq., of Ederline.

For the best poultry of any description, without re-
striction or limitation as to the place where they have
been bred or reared ; Spanish fowls, the Duke of Ai'gyle ;
ducks, cross betwixt Muscovy duck and common drake,
William Campbell, Esq., of Ederline.

VII.— DAIRY PRODUCE.

The exhibition of dairy produce was the most exten-
sive and varied that has ever been witnessed in this
country ; and the specimens were generally of more
than average merit. In addition to the premiums
awarded, the Judges — who were Professor Traill, Mr.
Francis Richardson, Grassmarket, Edinburgh ; Mr.
John M'Callum, Ploughlands, near Edinburgh; Mr.
Robert Thallon, and Mr. Thomas Miller, Glasgow —
commended a number of specimens in each class ; and,
with regard to the salt butter, they stated that many of
the specimens of butter in this class were very fine in
quality, but too recently and too slightly salted — being
what in Scotland is termed powdered butter. Their
awards were : —

1. CURING BUTTER,

To the owner of any dairy in Scotland who shall have
made and cured, during the season 1844, and shall ex-
hibit at the show the best quality of butter for the mar-
ket, the quantity made and cured not being less than
two cwt.. 10 sovs., to Mr. John Watson, Nisbet, La-
narkshire. For the second best quality, 7 sovs., to Mr.
James Wilson, Aukcaleck, Argyllshire. For the third
best quality, 5 sovs., to Mr. Alexander Buttery, Air-
drie, Lanarkshire. A medal to Mr. Alexander Aiken-
head, Barkseven, Renfrewshire.

For the best fresh butter, to be exhibited in samples
consisting of three rolls of lib. weight each, and by an
individual from the farm of which it is the produce, 3
sovs., to Mr. James Maclean, Braidwood, near Edin-
burgh. For the second best ditto, 2 sovs., to Mrs. John
Hunter. For the third nest ditto, 1 sov., to the Duke
of Montrose.

2. MAKING CHEESE.

To the person in Scotland who shall produce the best
specimen of sweet or full milk cheese, made in 1844, of
any variety that he shall find most profitable for the
market, the quantity not being less than 2 cwt. of
1121bs., 16 oz. to the lb., 10 sovs , to Mr. Gavin
Rowat, Bonnanhill, Lanarkshire. For the second best
quality, 7 sovs., to Mr. Hugh Watt, Knocklandside,
Ayrshire. For the third best quality, 5 sovs., to Mr.
James Wilkie, Craignethan, Lanarkshire.

To tiie person in Scotland who shall produce the best
specimen of sweet or full milk cheese, made previous to
the year 1844, of any variety that he shall find most
profitable for the market, the quantity not being less

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

247

than two cwt. of 1121bs., 16 oz. to the lb., 10 sovs., to
Mr. Wm. Kerr, Barroger, Ayrshire. For the second
best quality, 7 sovs., to Mr. Hugh Borland, Wester-
hill House, Ayrshire. For the third best quality, 5
sovs., to Mr. John Ross, Titwood, Ayrshire.

To the owner of any dairy in Scotland who shall have
made for sale, during the season 1844, the best quality
of cheese from skimmed milk, not being less than 2
cwt., 5 sovs., to Mr. Wm. Hamilton, Pirsiland, Big-
gar. For the second best quality of ditto, 3 sovs., to
Mr, James Allan, Whitehill.

SEED WHEAT.

Competition takes place upon Wednesday, the 2nd
of October, 1844.

EXTRA STOCK.

The exhibition was extremely rich in extra stock, in
which 87 lots were exhibited, containing specimens of
all the different classes already mentioned ; and all of
them fine animals. The Judges recommended three
aged cows of the Ayrshire breed, exhibited by Mr.
Stevenson, Beith, Ayrshire ; Mr. Hay, Orchardton,
Dumbartonshire ; and Mr. Kirkwood, High Langmuir,
Ayrshire, as being the most superior animals, and the
most deserving prizes in their class.

In the extra stock of the West Highland breed, the
Judges recommended two stots, exhibited by Mr. Stir-
ling, of Keir, as of very great merit ; a stot belonging to
Mr. Gilchrist, Osbisdale, as of uncommon merit ; and
they gave the same commendation to a bull belonging
to Mr. Campbell, of Ederline, a portrait of which they
recommended to be taken for the Society's museum.

In the extra stock of horses, the judges commended
as of great merit a half-bred stallion exhibited by the
Earl of Galloway ; an Arab stallion of high cast by Cap-
tain Barstow ; another stallion by Mr. Cossar, of Dal-
keith ; and they recommended for a premium a stallion of
the Clydesdale breed, exhibited by Mr. Wallace, of
Rhinmuir, Lanarkshire.

In the extra stock of sheep, the judges of the black-
faced breed recommended five ewe lambs of the black-
faced breed, by Mr. Stewart, of Glenbuckie, near Camp-
belton ; and they noticed two black-faced wethers by
Mr. Campbell, yr., of Sonachan, said to be 21 years old,
as very curious.

Of the Leicester breed, the judges reported that two
aged rams, belonging to Mr. Brown, of Halls, near
Dunbar, and six shearling rams, belonging to Mr. Smith,
Burton, Northumberland, were deserving of commenda-
tion.

In the extra stock of Southdowns, the judges highly
commended a shearling tup and three gimmers, shown
by the Duke of Richmond ; and in the extra stock of
crosses, they also commended a pen of ewes, shown by
North Dalrymple, Esq., a cross between a Southdown
tup and a black -faced ewe.

Of the extra stock of swine, a large sow of the China
breed, exhibited by Mr. Dobbie, Seamoren, Stirling-
shire, was recommended as worthy of notice.

ROOTS AND SEEDS.
The Judges of Roots and Seeds were — Dr. Neill, of
Edinburgh ; Professor Balfour of Glasgow ; Mr. Bab-
ington, of Cambridge ; and Mr. Inglis. Owing to the
show taking place at so early a season in the year, the
exhibition was not so extensive as it would otherwise
have been. The articles exhibited were, however, ge-
nerally interesting, and many of them deserve particular
notice. The judges, in an especial manner, called at-
tention to the excellent series of specimens exhibited by
Messrs. Lawson and Son, of Edinburgh. These con-
sisted of a collection of 54 species and novelties of grasses
and other herbage plants, illustrative of their treatise on

cultivated grasses— a very complete collection of the
cereal plants in straw — and a growing plant of Gama
grass, well fitted for countries subject to excessive
drought ; a new African grass like millet, besides several
new varieties of barley from Abyssinia ; a new Hunga-
rian species of clover, as well as other interesting speci-
mens. In this collection, the judges recommended that
an honorary medal should be awarded. The best thanks
of the society, they reported, were due to S. D. Stirling,
Esq., of Glenbervie, for two boxes, showing a result of
experiments with grass seeds, with the view of ascei-tain-
ing the depth at which the ordinary cultivated grasses
should be sown. They recommended that the valuable
and elaborate tables accompanying the experiment should
be published by the society. Among the i-emaining ar-
ticles of the exhibition, the judges would direct attention
to a series of specimens exhibited by Mr. James Camb-
bell, of Dundee, consisting of various grasses raised
from seed steeped in a fertilizing liquid. These were
contrasted with others which had not undergone the
process, and were in all cases decidedly superior. Of
the rye-grass seed, the judges considered that exhibited
by Mr. Alexander Watt, Fenwick, as the best. The
collection of various sorts of grasses and roots by Messrs.
Drysdale and Co., nurserymen, Glasgow ; by Mr. John
M'Naghten, gardener to John Wauchope, Esq., of Ed-
monstone ; and by Mr. John Jameson, Straiton, near
Edinburgh, were highly creditable. The judges also
think it right to notice the excellent specimens of roots
and vegetables exhibited by Mr. Davidson, gardener;
Messrs. W. and J. Noble, of London ; Messrs. Austin
and M'Auslin, of Glasgow ; and Mr. W. Lambert, of
Crichton Cottage, Peebles.

IMPLEMENTS AND MACHINES.

The implements exhibited were also numerous beyond
all former precedent, and contained many modifications
of implements in present use, which may prove highly
valuable. The following are the awards in this depart-
ment : —

For the best collection of agricultural implements and
machines, of any description, manufactured by, or under
the superintendence of, the exhibitor (just proportion of
parts, workmanship, utility, and price being considered),
10 sovs., to Mr. Robert Law, Shettleston, Glasgow,
for the best collection ; 5 sovs. to Mr. James Wilkie,
Uddingstone, for best workmanship, &c.

For any new and useful agricultural implement or
machine that has been satisfactorily tested in actual
work, not previously exhibited in competition, 7 sovs.
to Mr. Andrew M'Kerlow, Kilmarnock, for his antler
plough ; and .3 sovs. to Mr. John West, Lundie, for
Plough with apparatus for lifting potatoes.

For any design, model, or drawing of any new ma-
chine or implement applicable to any purpose connected
with agriculture, though not tested by experiment, but
which may, in the opinion of the Judges, promise to be
successful in accomplishing the object intended — no
award, not worthy.

For any useful improvement in the construction of
subsoil ploughs, 5 sovs. to Mr. James Wilkie, Udding-
stone, for subsoil plough with improved share.

For any useful improvement in the construction of
the common two-horse plough, which has for its object
the lifting and turning over the greatest possible quan-
tity of the soil in a given time, with the least resistance
to the draught, and which produces at the same time a
fair and efficient surface for expo.sure or for .seed, 7 sovs.,
to Messrs. Robert Gray and Sons, Uddingstone ; and
3 sovs. to Mr. James Wilkie.

For any useful improvement in the construction of
barn fanners, 5 sovs. to Mr. William Ralston, Mussel-
burgh,

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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

For any useful improvement in farm carts and
wheels, 5 sovs. to Mr. Robert Crawford, Uddingstone.

For any useful improvement in the thrashing ma-
chine, 7 sovs. to Mr. David Craig, Stewarton.

For the most useful improvement in the construction
of any of the implements used in the cultivation of the
turnip and potato crops, 5 sovs. to said Mr. James
Wilkie ; 2 sovs. to Mr. Alexander Reid, Stewarton ; and
2 sovs. to Mr. John M'Gill, Sundrum.

For the most useful improvement in any of the uten-
sils or machines used in dairy husbandry, 5 sovs. to
Mr. Robinson, Lisburn, Ireland; and 2 sovs. to Mr.
Richmond, Salford.

For the most successful introduction of any machine
or implement that is generally approved of in the prac-
tice of agriculture in England or elsewhere, or a modifi-
cation of the same, and which has hitherto been but
little known or employed in Scotland, 5 sovs. to Mr.
Wm. Crosskill, Beverley ; and a silver medal to Mr.
Houston, Johnston Castle.

For a weighing machine, adapted to general farm
purposes, capable of weighing stock or produce, dead
or alive, from the weight of a sheep to that of a loaded
cart, and which will indicate the addition of one-thou-
sandth part of the mass to be weighed, 5 sovs. to Mr.
Thomas M'Cririck, Garallan.

For an improved method, whether patented or not,
of manufacturing drain-tiles, or pipes, whereby the
price will be reduced, the tiles or pipes to possess the
requisite qualities of usefulness and durability, and sa-
tisfactory evidence as to the prize to be produced, 10
sovs. to Mr. Etheredge, Southampton.

Besides the above, the judges awarded various pre-
miums in money and medals for articles not within the
range of those specified.

THE MOST APPROVED MODE OF MOW-
ING CORN.

As the most approved mode of reaping by the scythe is
not very well understood, I beg to offer a few hints on it.
The mode practised in the counties of Aberdeen and
Banff is decidedly superior to any other I have seen or
heard of elsewhere, and may be described thus : — When
the crop is not laid and entangled, the mowers follow
each other with their backs, or rather their right shoul-
ders, to the wind, following the inclination of the crop,
without regard to the direction of the ridges, and com-
mence always on the left side of the field, so as to cast
the swathes from the standing corn ; but if the crop be
laid in various directions, every mower takes a separate
ridge. By this arrangement eveiy one can cut in
the most advantageous direction without being obstructed
by the others. But, whenever the crop will admit of it,
the mowers follow each other, taking a swathe seven and
a-half feet wide. Every mower is followed by a woman,
who gathers the swathe into sheaves, makes bands, and
places the sheaves on them ; and every woman is followed
by a man, who binds and stooks the sheaves ; and lastly,
follow one or more rakers, according to the number of
mowers. The rake in general use has a wooden head,
seven feet in length, furnished with curved iron teeth ;
the shaft is about the same length, with a ring fixed in
it two feet from the head, to which a belt is attached,
which passes over the shoulder and across the breast of
the raker, by which the rake is dragged backwards and
forwards across the ridges, so as to dip into the furrows,
and is always emptied close to the standing corn. With
this implement a man can rake to four scythes, if the
ground be smooth. During the time the mowers are
sharping their scythes, the rakings arc put into sheaves

by the gatherers, bound and stooked by the bandsters,
apart from the rest of the crop. As has been already
remarked, a man requires some practice to enable him
to mow grain properly ; and if this part of the work be
awkwardly performed, it will mar all the subsequent
operations of harvesting. If a mower has learned to
wield the scythe among hay — to give a good edge to the
scythe and preserve it — and to leave a uniform stubble
— all that is required more to constitute a good mower
of grain is the art of laying it in one direction. In
mowing, the scythe makes a circular sweep into the corn ;
every cut or swing of the scythe clears a piece of ground
in the form of a crescent. The mower should keep his
feet well forward to the standing corn, which saves
him from stooping, and gives him the greatest possible
command of his implement ; he should move freely and
steadily along, and swing his scythe no further to
the left than what is necessary to cut out the point ,-
and, above all, let him endeavour to make equal strokes
— to make crescents as nearly uniform as possible, for
thereon depends the even laying of the grain. This ad-
vice deserves to be reiterated upon the inexperienced
mower. Gathering the swathes into sheaves is mostly
done by women ; and though the process seems very
simple, it nevertheless requires an art which few
are clever enough to learn without instruction, and none
to excel in without considerable practice. Last year I
had an opportunity to see reapers at work with the
scythe in Berwickshire, the Lothians, and various other
places south of the Grampians ; I saw a good many
tolerable scythesmen, but, south of the Forth, not one
gatherer that I would have employed otherwise than as
a learner. They seemed not to have the least idea of
how gathering should be done ; for every one, while in
the act of gathering a sheaf, stood alongside of it, with
her petticoat tied to her knees ; whereas a good gatherer
invariably stands at the stubble ends of the sheaf, with
her petticoat down to her ankles ; indeed, it is such an
important auxiliary in keeping the ends of the sheaves
even, that, when men gather, they supply its place by
a sort of long apron. The gatherer's duty, when once
learned, can be as easily performed in the way which
most facilitates the process of binding, and all subsequent
operations, as the reverse. That no small parcels of
corn be unlifted, the left hand should be most used in
gathering, and every sheaf laid down with its corn end
towards the point where the swathe commenced, and its
centre of gravity placed directly over the band — both
ends of which should be left clear. Inattention to
these particulai s increases the labour of the binder — he
can neither do his own work well nor give the gatherer
any assistance. To facilitate the winning and stacking
of the grain, the sheaves should be made uniform in
size, with bands no thicker than just strong enough to
bind and keep them firmly together. In binding mown
grain, the main error practised by those who have been
accustomed to bind to reapers is pursuing the old plan
of binding near the stubble end. This should be ob-
served, and a different mode enforced, or else the ad-
vantage of mowing in regard to winning will be entirely
lost, and, if wet weather ensue, converted into a
positive evil. The quantity and treatment of the
rakings seem to me the most grievous evil of inexpert
assistants to mowers. I have seen about ten per cent,
left to the rake, and this made into wisps (the worst
imaginable form for winning, for the rain gets into
them, and never gets out again), and a wisp placed at
each end of every stook, as if designed to hinder the
winning of the stooks as much as possible by preventing
ventilation ; and when the stooks are lifted for the
stackyai-d, the wisps, being found in bad order, are
either tossed aside or else shaken out to dry, and before
a fitting opportunity arrives for securing them, we

THE PARMER'S MAGAZINE.

249

either rotted by the rain or scattered by the wind, and in
either case destroyed by birds, and thus incur very con-
siderable loss. Now, those who manage well, leave not
half as much to the rake, and what they do leave is
treated in quite a different manner ; being put into
sheaves, instead of wisps, it is found in as good order
as the rest of the crop, apart from which it can be con-
veniently stacked and threshed, which is found the most
advantageous plan, because rakings are commonly more
or less mixed with small stones and sand. — Transact
tions of the Highland and Agricultural Soc'efg.

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF
ENGLAND.

A monthly Council was held at the Society's house in
Hanover-square, on Wednesday, the 7th of August,
present, T. Raymond Barker, Esq., in the chair;
Col. Austen; D. Barclay, Esq., M.P. ; F. Burke,
Esq. ; J. Kinder, Esq. ; J. Parkes, Esq. ; J. A. Ran-
some, Esq, ; and Prof. Sewell.

Finances. — The Chairman of the Finance Committee
laid before the Council the Monthly Report of the state
of the funds of the Society to the end of the past month ;
from which it appeared that the current cash balance in
the hands of Messrs. Drummond at that time (including
a residue of 300/. on account of the subscription of
1,000/. received from the town of Southampton)
amounted to 2,858/. ; and the capital invested in the
public funds to 7,700/. : the Council, before leaving
Southampton, having defrayed the expenses of the Lon-
don police, amounting to 125/. and placed at the dis-
posal of the Stewards and Director of the Yard, out of
the deposit of 3,308/., in the hands of Messrs. Maddison
and Pearce, the Society's Local Bankers, the sum of
1,000/., to meet the immediate claims of a miscella-
neous character connected with that department. The
Council then proceeded to vote the discharge of the fol-
lowing claims, as recommended by the Finance Com-
mittee : —
Contract for the Yards and Pavilion at Soutliampton £

(balance of account) 1,751

Do. Council Dinner 405

Do. Pavilion 566

Piizes awarded at Southampton 1,315

Mileage, &c., to the Judges of the Show 354

Miscellaneous Bills connected with the Southampton

Meeting 60

Books for the Library 154

Binding and Carriage of Journal ........ 160

Miscellaneous Bills on general account 286

Total £5,051

Trial of Implements. — Communications in reference
to the trial of implements at Southampton, were re-
ceived from Mr. Burke, Mr. Smart, Mr. Clayton, and
Mr. Comins, and were referred to the Stewards of that
department. The Secretary was directed to communi-
cate with the Judges of Implements, and request them
to furnish the Council with a statement of the imple-
ments submitted to trial ; of the results of such experi-
ments as were made ; and, generally, with an expression
of their motives for their respective awards ; together
with a notice of such implements as may, in their
opinion, deserve special commendation or encourage-
ment.

Veterinary Science. — 1. New Epidemic. — Prof.
Sewell reported to the Council upon a letter referred to
him at a former meeting, received from Mr. James
Dixon, of WTiite Moss-farm, Cheshire. In that com-
munication Mr. Dixon stated, that until he had adopted
the treatment of bleeding his cows immediately on their
being attacked with the prevailing disease (termed the

" New Epidemic"), he lost several ; but none had died
since he had put that measure into operation. He urges
at the same time, in the most strenuous manner, that
jiarticular care and caution are required to keep a con-
tinual watch over the animals, and apply the remedy at
the very instant that the symptoms of the disorder make
their appearance ; as, on this promptness depends all the
value of the measure. As soon as the symptoms are
perceived, he recommends bleeding without delay.—
Professor Sewell informed the Council that this was the
practice he had himself been in the habit of recommend-
ing ; and he beheved that the losses which had been sus-
tained by the owners of animals from this complaint,
had arisen more from want of close attention to their
condition, and to the first changes in them from health
to disease, than from any other cause ; and he accord-
ingly took that opportunity of earnestly recommending
Mr. Dixon's watchful care over his stock to all other
farmers in general. The first principal step of bleeding
having been taken in due time. Professor Sewell would
recommend the administration of the usual laxative
medicines, and the application of external stimulants,
to be left to the judgment of the nearest practitioner.

2, Diseases of Domestic Animals. — Professor Sewell
then reported that the examination at the Royal Vete-
rinary College being concluded for the session, ninety-
three pupils had received diplomas ; several of whom
had also obtained certificates as having attended the lec-
tures and practice on cattle, sheep, and other domestic
animals ; in which branch of their profession he thought
their services to the farmer would be better secured by
Agricultural Associations and Farmers' Clubs in the
country engaging them, at fixed moderate salaries, to
settle in localities where they are most likely to be re-
quired. This plan had been adopted with great success
on the Continent, but it was there effected as a Govern-
ment measure, and had become a long established law.

3. Rabid Animals. — Professor Sewell informed the
Council that, keeping in view the object af the Society's
connexion with the Veterinary College, he had decided
on devoting the period of his professional recess during
the present autumn to a practical inquiry into the most
successful means by which the virus of rabid animals
may be counteracted, and the fearful results of hydro-
phobia obviated. He accordingly requested the co-
operation of the members in carrying out this inquiry,
and would himself willingly pay every expence connected
with the sending up to the college, from any part of the
country, of such sheep, lambs, or calves, as may unfor-
tunately have been bitten by rabid dogs during the late
hot weather, or should become liable to a similar in-
fliction at any future time. He mentioned small rumi-
nating animals only, as being more easily managed when
labouring under the worst or most violent symptoms of
the disease, thaii horses, cows, or bullocks, which under
such circumstances are not only almost unmanageable,
but highly dangerous ; and when such were intended to be
sent to him, he would feel favoured by a previous notice
by letter. The animals thus requested might be conveyed
in the ordinary railway trucks or cars, or sent by canal
boats. By the latter mode. Professor Sewell had re-
ceived a heifer from Worcester a few years ago : sheep
and lambs have been sent in covered carts ; but the most
rapid conveyance is preferable. A sheep or two might
be put into crates used for earthenware, and the expence
of engaging an entire car be thus obviated ; while the
animals would be less annoying to the railway agents.
Should the disease commence on the journey, the ani-
mals should be tied by the legs, and be well littered with
straw. Net muzzles might be worn, or sent along with
the animals in order to be in readiness. Professor
Sewell has, however, never had any fear of rabies being
produced by the bite of any animals but those of a car-

260

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

nivorous kind, including swiue as such. Of all the
numerous cases of canLae madness he had seen in horses
and other animals, he had not observed a single instance
in which they were unable or unwilling to drink water
freely. He had always found the disease commence
(with a single exception) from the third to the sixth
week after the bite had been inflicted. If, therefore, it
should not manifest itself in the stock sent to him by
that time, he would return the animals to their respec-
tive owners free of expence. In conclusion, the Pro-
fessor submitted to the inspection of the Council a series
of highly interesting coloured drawings, exhibiting the
moi-bid results on the brain, nerves, and other anatomi-
ca 1 structures of the animals which had died from the
ravages of hydrophobia ; and he trusted that his request
might not be considered an irregular one, as he was
anxious to eft'ect an immediate communication with the
members, and to lose as little time as possible in obtain-
ing objects for his intended research.

English Silk. — Mr^. Whitby, of Newlands, near Ly-
mington, Hampshire, presented to the society, at a pre-
vious meeting of the Council, a specimen of the silk
grown and wound off at her residence, along with half-
a-dozen of the cocoons just formed ; and favoured the
Council with the following interesting narrative of her
operations: — " I have, during several years past, cul-
tivated the Mulberry (mostly used in climates where silk
is grown of the best quality), and fed silkworms upon it
with great success. I have had an opinion on the quality
of the silk produced from them, which encourages me
to hope my example will be followed by others, as a
means of profit to the agriculturist, and affording em-
ployment to the industrious classes. I was led to the
undertaking by hearing, in 1835, as I was travelling in
the north of Italy, of an English gentleman, ' who had
doubled his capital in three years, and who received 10
per cent, on that laid out on a silk establishment near
Milan ;' and wonder was expressed that the culture had
not been tried in England. Agricultural produce had
been at a low ebb in England, and it was difficult to find
profitable work for the labourer. I determined to try
and introduce the cultivation of silk. I saw the young
Mulberry-trees in Lombardy blown aside by the force
of the N.E. winds, as our forest-trees are here by S.W.
gales. At this period a fog of 33 days' duration had
prevailed, and the ground round Milan was covered
with snow, and iron-bound with frost. I knew that
around Florence the nights were cold, and the weather
uncertain, even as late in the spring as the 1st June.
Judging from all this that the climate of England was
equally favourable to the growth of the Mulberry, I
ordered from a nursery-garden at Turin 100 standard
trees and 1 ,000 dwarf Mulberry plants of the sort called
— ' Of the Philippine Islands' (Morus multicaulis) .
This sort produces much larger leaves than the Italian
wild White Mulberry, or that which in England is cul-
tivated for its fruit. Its growth is rapid, and it is easily
propagated by cuttings, which strike as readily as the
Willow. My plants did not arrive in England until
April, 1836. I treated them according to the directions
given in Mons. Burden's book, and I did not lose one.
I even gathered leaves from them the same year. I
bought half-an-ounce of silkworms' eggs at Novi, which
is said to produce the best silk in Italy, and thus laid
the foundation of a small establishment, which, I hope,
will be the means of spreading the culture of raw silk
throughout England, and in the course of years render
her independent of foi'eign resources. I have had no
difficulty whatever in reaiing the silkworm. I possess
an old loft over an unused stable ; in the former I have
reared the worm ; in the latter I placed a silk reel.
Although my cocoons were pronounced 'good,' and

would bear a comparison with the specimens I brought
from Italy — although they were exempt from the diseases
which I understand carry off at times whole colonies
there — although I imported a silk reel from Italy, and
went to a great expense in having a scientific apparatus
laid down to heat the water, I found insurmountable ob-
stacles in winding oft' the silk fit for the loom. I tried
year after year in vain ; it was bright and beautiful to look
at : it was pronounced by Mr. Bonorardis, of the firm of
Prevostand Co., 24 A, Cateaton- street, to be of 'good
quality, and sufficient bone and brightness, but the
winding was without the 5 necessary for the loom.'
This opinion encouraged me to send to France for a per-
son acquainted with the process ; the res ult you have in
the specimens I have sent you. The yellow silk is the
growth of this year, the white that of cocoons kept
during my many years of trial. I have several pounds
already wound oft", equally good ; and the French girl,
aged 19, and another (English) of 15, are now busy at
work winding more. All the expense I have incurred
in the apparatus above-named is so much money thrown
away. The wheel I have imported this year with this
young girl from France is cheap, simple, and effectual ;
it is, also, so easy of accomplishment, that three of my
household can wind with facility, besides a cottager's
wife, who is employed at sixpence per day to attend
upon the worms. The eggs can always be retarded so
as not to be hatched before the mulberry is ready to put
forth sufficient food. In France and Italy the hatching
begins about the 1st of May ; I find a month later pre-
ferable. All the books I have read describe a tempe-
rature of 75° to be essential. I have proved, by eight
years' experience, that the insects thrive better at one
much lower. In damp or cold weather, I have a very
small Arnot's stove lighted, which regulates the tempe-
rature to from 65"^ to 70'^. Ventilation is more neces-
sary than extreme heat. The expense of this stove is
trifling, as, indeed, is everything connected with the cul-
tivation of silk. "This has been a dry season, and the
leaves, in consequence, fewer and smaller than usual ;
but the same difficulty has occurred in France, and the
father of my little winder writes word that he was
obliged to throw away this year 40,000 worms for lack
of food. Mine would have suff"ered also, had not my
friends in the neighbourhood assisted in supplying me
with leaves of the red mulberry. A scarcity of leaves
happening occasionally is no proof that it cannot succeed.
Look around at our fields. Wliere are the spring crops
of barley and oats ? Where are the turnips which ought
now to make them green ? Checks from bad seasons
will occasionally happen to every produce of the earth
in all countries ; but, in general, the mulberry of the
PhUippine Islands grows luxuriantly, and multiplies
freely in this part of England. The expense of an
estabUshment such as mine would be small. That which
I have incurred in my unassisted efforts to succeed must
not be considered as necessary by any one willing to
take advantage by my experience ; and I am so desirous
to see the culture of silk become general, that it will
give me much pleasure to answer any inquiries you may
wish to make, or give any information in my power. I
almost fear I shall have tired you with this recital ; but
I knew not how to make it shorter, so as to be clear and
convincing. Be it remembered there was the same pre-
judice in France as now exists in England against this
branch of agriculture ; it was attempted to be overcome
by Henry IV., but wtiat he tried to enforce by edict be-
came general as it became better known. All I desire is,
to make it known, that others may try in other parts of
England. P.S. — The worms of this year were reared
partly from eggs saved by myself last year, and partly
from insects I purchased from Signor Anegoni, 16,
Church-Street, Soho. The best thanks of the Council

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

251

were returned to Mrs. Whitby for the favour of this
communication,

Southampton Meeting. — At a Special Council held at
Southampton, Mr. Miles, on the part of himself and
Mr. Shelley, as Stewards of the Implement Department,
reported the unanimous satisfaction of the Implement-
makers with their arrangements ; when it was moved
by Col. Austen, and seconded by the Marquis of
Downshire, " Tliat the best thanks of the Council be
presented to Mr. MUes and Mr. Shelley, for their
exertions as Stewards of the Implement Department,
and for the trouble they had taken on behalf of the
Society in the Implement show-yard, as well as on the
trial ground." This motion was carried unanimously. —
On the representation of the Earl of Ducie, on behalf of
the Implement-makers, it was resolved — That the exhi-
biters of implements be permitted to read the corrected
proof of Mr. Parkes's Report (prepared for publication
in the Journal) in the Society's Rooms, but not to make
extracts from it, or publish any part of it. On the
motion of the Hon. Capt. Spencer, it was resolved, —
That no castrated or sjjayed animals be allowed to be
exhibited at the Country Shows of the Society. It was
decided, — That in future the business of the society be
adjourned on the Saturday of the previous week, at 4
o'clock in the afternoon, from the office in Hanover-
square to the jjlace of the Annual Country Meeting.
Resolutions were passed expressive of the high opinion
entertamed by the Council of the conduct of the police
at the Southampton IMeeting.

Shreiosbury Meeting. — The following General Shrews-
bury Committee has been appointed by the Council : —
Earl Spencer, Chairman; Hon. R. H. Clive, M.P.,
Vice - Chairman ! Duke of Richmond, Lord Portman,
Hon. Capt. Spencer, Col. Austin; D. Barclay, Esq.,
M.P. ; Thomas Raymond Barker, Esq. ; Col. Challoner;
J. W. ChUders, Esq., M.P. ; Sir Andrew Corbet, Bt. ;
John Cotes, Esq. ; Jas. Dean, Esq. ; C. Emery, Esq. ;
H. Gibbs, Esq. ; B. Gibbs, Esq. ; W . Ormsby Gore,
Esq., M.P. ; W. G. Hayter, Esq., M.P. ; W. Fisher
Hobbs, Esq. ; Sir John V. B. Johnstone, Bt.. M.P. ;
W. Miles, Esq., M.P. ; Philip Pusey, Esq., M.P. ;
R. A. Slaney, Esq. ; W. Shaw, Esq. ; J. VilUers Shelley,
Esq. ; H. S. Thompson, Esq. The following Special
Show-yard Committee has also been appointed : — Chair-
man, H. Gibbs, Esq. ; Steivards, Earl Spencer, Hon.
Capt. Spencer, S. Druce, Esq. ; W. Miles, Esq., M.P. ;
J. Villiers Shelley, Esq. Mr. Manning, of 251 High
Holborn, has been engaged as contractor of the works
for the Show-yard and Pavilion. Notices of Motion
for the Monthly Council in December. Mr. Fisher
Hobbs to move : —
I. That the Journal Committee Tie requested to prepare —

1. A printed List of all Jlembers of the Society, with their

addresses, lor the general use of the Members.

2. A Cataloijue of all Implements, Models, &c., Ihatliave been

presented to the Society.
a. The Charter and Rye-Laws.
IL That the Judges sliall be appointed by the Council from a list
of nominations made by the Members of the Society at
large at a General Meeting, and on the report of a Com-
mittee to whom such list shall have been referred.

Hon. Capt. Spencer to move : —
I. Thnt Governors and Members of the Council shall have admis-
sion, under certain regulations, to inspect the Cattle on
the Wednesday, after the Judges have delivered in their
awards.
U. That the Council take into their consideration the details con-
nected with the appointment of the Judges.
Mr. Barclay, M.P., to move : —
That at the future Country Meetings of the Society, the
Catile-show shall be open to Governors and Members of
the Council at 8 o'clock on Wednesday afternoon.

Co?«»rtMnica<2ons.—Thefollowing communications have
been received, with the thanks of the Council : —
1. The Right Hon. Sir George Rose, Bt.- Results in the em-
ployment of the Haisault Scythe.

2. Capt. Wntkins (Bombay Art.) -On Sea-mud as a Fertilizer.

3. Mr. Mechi— Communications on Agricultural Improvement.

4. Mr. Towers— Results of Dibbling Wheat.

5. Mr. Grant— Ou Fences.

0. Mr. Sheppard— Results in the Use of Guano.

7. Lord Bridport, Mr. Spooncr, 1\J.P., and Mr. Curtis— Obser-
vations on Insects attacking Green Crops.

8. Mr. Saul— On a Wheat-grub.

U. Mr. Grove— On Australian Barley.

10. Mr. Hayter, M.P., Mr. Stokes, and Mr. Blackburn— On Ap-
paratus for Steaming Food for Caitle.
! '. Mr. Dean- On Parochial Allolments and Drainage.
\i. Mr. Carson — On Guano.

13. Mr. Bowers— On the Vernon Harcourt Wheat-hoe.

14. Col. Austen— Communication from M. D'Arblay (Meniber of
the French Chamb. Dep.)— On the subject of his attendance at
the Sonthami)ton Meeting, and thanks for attention shown to
himself and the Baron Mallet.

15. Dr. I're— Present (ou the part of Mr. Kniglit, of Foster-
lane) of one of his Lime-testers.

16. Knight and Thompson— Present of one of their Double Re-
volving Beehives.

17. Mr. R. Smith— Present of Taper-tiles.

18. Mr. Colmaii — Present of "Transactions of the New York
Institute," and further supply of Indian Corn.

19. Mr. Reedham— On Publications against Incendiarism.

20. Mr. Buhner— Suggestions for the re-publication, in a cheap
form, of the best Standard Works on Agriculture, in imitation
of the Parker, Camden, and Sydenham Societies.

•-'1. Duke of Richmond— Present of a Report on Border Agricul-
ture.

22. Mr. Fisher Hobbs— Comniunicatiou from Dr. Baker, on the
In 'culatiou of Pastures.

23 Mr. Briggs— Treatises on the Growth of Wheat, Gypsum, &c.

24 .Mr. Pulman— The Western Agriculturist (Axminster) No. 1.

25 Mr. Shaw— The Farmers' Macuzine.

2() Dr. DaubeBy— Licture on the Education of Farmers.

27 Herring, Buinessand Co. — On Guano Agency.

28 M. Chylinski — On Apiaries in Poland.

29 Lunelland Co.— On Conveyance of Stock by Steamers.

30 Mr. osbcirn— Papers connected with tlie South East Hants

Agricultural Society.

31 Jlr. Morton -Meteorological Observations iu reference to the

Prize oflTered by the Society for the best account of Prog-
nostics of Weather.

32 Mr. Pearse— Present of Back band and Tug for Gig-horses.

33 Dr. Burgess— Comrauniration on Glanders, &c.

34 Messrs. Morton— On Braby's Draught-machine.

35 Mr. Minta— Paper on the Economy of Manures.

36 Sir E Imund Prideaux, Bt. -On tlie promotion of the Objects

of the Society.

37 Mr. Sparks— On the Red-water.

38 Earl of Essex— Communication of the Results attending the

Employment of Charcoal as a Manure.

Together with Reports of the Feccles Farmers' Club,
Chippenham Agricultural Association, and Geological
Society of London ; Transactions of the Highland and
Agricultural Society of Scotland, Jamaica Agricultural
Society, and Labourers' Friend Society, Veterinarian,
&c., &c.

Adjournment. — The Chairman declared the Council
to stand adjourned at its rising to Wednesday, the 4th
of September ; and failing a meeting on that day (for
want of a requisite quonim), to stand further adjourned
to Wednesday, the 6th of November, for the des-
patch of business. The Council then adjourned
accordingly.

NEW MEMBERS.

The Earl of Egmont, of Enmore Castle, near Ash-
more, Somersetshire ; and John QuanttTck, Esq., of
Norton House, near Yeovil, Somersetshire, were elected
governors ; and the foUowmg gentlemen members of the
Society : —

Barwell, E. R., Southampton

Boileau, Sir J. P., Bart., Ketteringham, Wymoudham,

Norfolk
Bonser, William James, Merton, Surrey
Burrell, Walter, 5, Richmond-terrace, Whitehall
Bury, Edward, Hanslope Park, Newport-Pagnel,

Bucks.
Campbell, John H., Exton, Bishop's Waltham, Hauts.

252

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Campbell, Major T. E. (7th, or Queen's Own Hussars),

Kenilworth, Warwickshire
Clarke, Charles, Aisthorpe House, Lincoln
Coles, Co)., Wells, Somerset

Cousins, Robert, Norton Farm, Sutton-Scotney, Hants,
Curtis, William, Netheravon House, Amesbury, Wilts
Damen, John Angel, New Farm, Winfrith, Dorchester,

Dorset
Davis, Robert, East Woodhay, Newbury, Berks.
De Grey, Hon. Brownlow N. Osborn, Fawley, South-
ampton
De Grey, Hon. and Rev. Frederick, Copdock Rectory,

Ipswich
De Grey, Hon. George, Fawley, Southampton
Dorchester, Lord, Greywill, Odiham, Hants.
Dowdiug, John, Wick, Worcester
Drew, John Watkins, Southampton
Drummond, Henry, Albury Park, Guildford, Surrey
Edwards, Thomas, Compton House, Stockbridge,

Hants.
Fanshaw, Rev. Charles Simon, Trinity Church, South-
ampton
Floyer, John, Hints, Tamworth, Staffordshire
Gilbert, Major, Bartley Lodge, Southampton
Glover, Rev. Frederick, R. A., rector of Charlton,

Dover
Gosling, Thomas, 10, Chandos-street, Cavendish-
square
Gurney, Charles, Launceston, Cornwall
Harvey, Thomas, Kegilliack, Falmouth, Cornwall
Haydon, Joseph, Guildford, Surrey
Henderson, Colonel, mayor of Southampton
Hobly, D. Peter, Colquita, Bodmin, Cornwall
Hocken, Rev. William, Great Endeiion, Camelford,

Cornwall
Hooper, George, jun., Cottington, Deal, Kent
Johnston, Charles, Claramont, Cheshunt, Herts.
JoUiffe, Sir William G. H., Bart., M.P., Heath House,

Petersfield
Kemp, James, C, Liverpool
Long, John, Marwell Hall, Twyford, Winchester
Lushington, Sir Henry, Bart., 32, Montague-square,

London
Lysoght, Admiral Arthiu", Southsea, Portsmouth
Martin, F. P. Brouncker, Compton House, Salisbury
Newton, Thomas F., Dogdean, Salisbury
Owen, William, Blesington, L-eland
Pigott, Simon Frazer, Fitzhall, Midhurst, Sussex
Powell, Col. W. E., Nanteos, Aberystwith, S.W.
Sanders, S., Fernhill, Newport, Isle of Wight
Sidford, George, Bishopstone, Wilton, Wilts,
Smallpiece, Job, Compton, Guildford, Surrey
Smallpiece, William Haydon, Guildford, Surrey
Speke, WilUam, Jordans, Ilminster, Somerset
St. Germans, Earl of, Port Eliot, Devonport
Talbot, C. R. Mansel, M.P,, Margam Park, Neath,

South Wales
Taylor, John Oddin, Hardiugham, Norwich
Tinker, William, Conock House, Devizes, Wilts.
Toomer, James, Rhinefield Lodge, Lyndhurst, Hants,
Witham, Hejjry, Lartington-hall, Barnard-castle,

Durham
Withers, Rev. Edward, Phillimore Place, Kensington
Withers, Richard, Luzborough Farm, Romsey, Hants
Woodrow, William Robberds, The Place, Tombland,

Norwich
Young, George Edgar, Broad Chalk, Wilton, Wilts.
Young, J. G., Salisbury,

RUTLAND PLOUGH,

We are happy in directing our agricultural readers to
the merits and great success of this plough as an iraplci
ment in husbandry.

Southampton Meeting, Stand No. 34.

1. A Ransome Rutland plough, marked N.L., inven*
ted by R. W. Baker, Esq., of Cottesmore.

2. Prizes for implements, Messrs. J. R. and A. Ran-
some, for a heavy land plough, ^^10 and silver medal.

3. Ditto, ditto, for a light land plough, ^flO and 9,
silver medal.

Working OF THE Implements. — One of the ploughs
was a new implement, made by Messrs. J. R. and A.
Ransome, of Ipswich, and has a moveable nose-piece,
which adjusts the pitch of the share, either to take more
or less hold of the ground, or to give it an inclination
more or less to the land. This plough won the prize of
ten pounds and a silver medal in competing with the
others as a heavy land plough, and also won the prize of
ten pounds and a silver medal in its competition on the
light land.

Another of the ploughs was also a new implement by
the same exhibitors, the peculiar feature of which was,
that the mould-board is adapted for turning furrows 4^
inches deep and nine inches wide, so as to leave the
angles of the furrow precisely at 45 degrees.

At the council dinner, Mr. W. Miles, M.P., said the
highest attribute of mechanic excellence the farmer had
at length seen attained this year, in the manufacture of
a plough (Ransome's), which was equally good for light
and heavy land, and which was now stamped with a
double medal as the best for both.

We have always much pleasure in following the inven-
tions of our immediate neighbours with every mark of
attention, and in doing so we have frequently found
our feUow- townsman, Mr. Grant, and our Grantham
neighbour, Mr. Hornsby, and other gentlemen, forward
in the ranks of successful competition. In reference to
one of our oldest scenes of agricviltural improvements
and exhibition of implements, we must indulge in a few
observations. For sixteen years much attention, year
after year, has been most successfully devoted to im-
provements in ploughing, and plough-making at Cot-
tesmore, at which place Mr. Ransome and his ploughs
were first introduced into this coimty, and there the
now far-famed Rutland plough had its birth. In 1828,
at the ploughing meeting, the ploughs were of a very
rude construction, and the work miserably executed}
in 1830 Ransome's Bedford plough appeared, and Mr.
Baker, in a humourous speech, said that he should en-
deavour to bring out a plough more simple in its con-
struction at the meeting of 1831. The Rutland plough
came out, and won the first prize, on which day we
noticed the first exhibition of implements at an agricul-
tural meeting in our vicinity. At this meeting Mr.,
Baker's speech is thus reported : — He had endeavoured
to give every facility to the introduction of good imple-
ments, which occasioned the excellent show they had
seen this day, and he wished gentlemen to judge of
those implements from their real usefulness in farming
operations. The draught of the plough, as well as the
laying the work, was of great consequence ; and the ex-
periments tried in the morning would show that tf
lightness of draught, and the lightness in the weight of
a plough, were different points; and he had much pleasure
in finding that the Rutland plough (by Ransome) had
an advantage over every other plough in the field, by
half a hundred,"

Last year the "improved Rutland plough," with
other implements of the highest order, were exhibited at
Cottesmore, in work, during the week preceding the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

253

annual ploughing meeting ; and it was a most decided
exhibition in stamping the Rutland plough, and the im-
proved Rutland, as fully capable of taking up hard, dry,
and strong laud. Some years back, in the Agricultural
Hall, at Oakham, after the dinner at one of the annual
meetings, a model, or rather two models, were exhibited
by Mr. Baker, showing how the furrow slice could be
set at the angle of 45 or any other degree, and they fully
exempUfied the capability of a good plough to set the
furrow to any pitch. At that meeting Mr. Baker, in
acknowledging the toast of " Mr. Baker and the
Cottesmore meetings," observed, " that it was always
advantageous to throw the competition well open,
whether in ploughing or in any other brancli of agricul-
ture ; they did good by inviting their neighbours to
show them the way to do better. (Hear). He (Mr.
B.) was not at all prejudiced in favour of any particular
plough. It had been said that he was over partial to
the manufacture of Mr. Ransome, but he said, throw
open the competition among plough-makers as well as
ploughmen." (Hear.) — Rutland Agricidtural Show
Dinner, 1840.

In pursuing this pleasing subject of agriculture we
bring to our recollection Mr. Handley's prize essay "on
wheel and swing ploughs" in the Journal of the English
Agricultural Society, vol. 1. 1829, part 2. He thus
mentions the Rutland plough : — " The experiments ex-
hibit the wheel-plough as requiring a smaller amount of
animal exertion than the swing-plough ; indeed, the
tractive force of the Rutland wheel-plough appears, by
the table, to have been less than that of the best experi-
ment of the Lincolnsliire swing-plough by 23 per cent."
Tliese remarks of Mr. Handley had reference to trials
made at Ipswich in November, 1838, under his own par-
ticular arrangement and inspection.

The improvement now made m the construction of
the plough is chiefly in the material and formation of
the beams and handles. They are now made of the best
wrought iron, and the advantage of having lightness of
weight with adequate strength is completely effected.
The plough is also more durable. The beams are made
with wrought iron, on what is mechanically termed the
"truss principle," which connecting the two sides firmly
together gives strength so as not to bend or give way to
a resisting force on whichever side applied. — Lincoln-
shire Chronicle.

FARMERS' CLUB HOUSE.

The Monthly Meeting of the Committee was
held on Monday, August 5, at three o'clock, pre-
sent, "W. Shaw, in the Chair, Thomas Knight, and
William Level. The following gentlemen were
elected members : — William Gregory, Cirencester ;
Montagu Shearman, Charing Cross ; Thomas
Knight, Sittingbourne ; C.J. Smart, Rainham ;
John Clarance, 21, Cullum-strect, City ; James
Anderton, Dulwich ; Francis Hagger, Hertford ;
Thomas Waller, Luton ; John Craft, Philpot-lane,
City ; Isaac Churchyard, Petistree, Suffolk ;
Henry Wix, New Bridge-street.

The report of the Finance Committee, recommend-
ing the investment of one hundred pounds in
Government securities on account of the Club, was
read and adopted. The report of the Sub-Com-
mittee appointed to draw up rules to be observed
in reference to the Monthly Discussions upon agri-
cultural subjects to take place under the superin-
tendence of the Club, was read and approved,
rhey are as follows : —

" 1. That there shall be a Chairman and Vice-
Chairman, to be elected for twelve months.

"2. That, at each Meeting, the authority of the
Chairman on all disputed matters shall be final.

"3. That, in the absence of the Chairman and
Vice-Chairman, the Meeting may appoint a Chairman
for the evening.

" 4 . That the Chairman be at liberty to introduce
Visitors at all discussions.

"5. That Members be allowed to introduce a friend
at each Meeting ; no Visitor to be admitted more than
once during twelve months.

"6. That the Presidents and Secretaries of Agricul-
tural Societies, and the Chairmen, Vice-Chairmen, and
Secretaries of Local Farmers' Clubs, shall be entitled,
for their year of oflice, to admission as Honorary Mem-
bers, official notice of their holding such office having
been received from the respective Secretaries.

"7. That there shall be a printed list of the subjects
for discussion, and that there shall always be three
subjects, at least, kept on the list.

"8. That Local Farmers' Clubs be allowed to
suggest subjects of discussion for the consideration of
the Committee.

"9. That written compositions on the subject of
discussion may be read.

"10. That all persons must address the Chair
standing.

"11. That no one, except the proposer of the
subject, be allowed to address the Meeting for a longer
period than twenty minutes.

"12. That Meetings for discussion take place on
the first Monday in every month, and that the hour of
meeting shall be six o'clock in the summer and five
o'clock in the winter months.

"13. That all religious or political subjects be
totally excluded from these discussions.

"14. That the discussions shall close at nine o'clock
in the summer and eight o'clock in the winter months,
unless the majority of the Meeting shall determine
otheiTvise.

"15. That these rules be in force for twelve months
only."

Several subjects of discussion submitted to the
Committee were taken into consideration, and the
following were adopted : —

" Nov. 4.ih, 1844. — Manures. — Artificial — Guano —
Bones, &c. — Best Mode of Application — Description
of Crops — Time of Using — Cost, &c. Proposed by
Mr. Robert Baker, Writtle.

"Dec. 2nd, 1844. — Draining. — Surface and Deep.
Proposed by Mr. James Smith, Deanston.

'^ Jan. 6th, 1845. — Architecture. — On the Import-
ance and Advantages of an Improved Style, as applied
to Farm Buildings, both in Convenience and Economy.
Proposed by Mr. Wm. Cheffins, Bishop-Stortford."

The Secretary was directed to communicate with
the Secretaries of local Agricultural Societies and
Farmers' Clubs. The Committee then adjourned
to Monday, October 1st. As no complete list of
these Societies and Clubs h extant, should no com-
munication be received by the officer of any
Society or Club in the course of the next fortnight,
it would be desirable that he should forward the
name of his Society or Club, and his address, to
the Secretary of the Farmers' Club House, 39,
New Bridge- street; Blackfrjars.

2U

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE MANAGEMENT
AND APPLICATION OF MANURES.

By A Practical Farmer.

(Conti7mecl.)

The importance of attending to the liquid matters of
the manure of tlie farm-yard has been ah'eady incidentally
mentioned, but before entering on the consideration of
the portable manures, the suljject will demand our spe-
cial attention. This is the more necessary, as the prac-
tice of even our most enterprising farmers in the preser-
vation and application of the liquid matters wliich are at
certain times so abundant in the farm-yard, has hitherto
been greatly defective. This department of rural
economy is, perhaps, nowhere so well understood as in
Flanders ; there the liquid is jjrized still more liighly
than the solid portion of the manure, and it is appUed
at all seasons by these industrious cultivators of the soil
■with the best effects, their management in this respect,
in fact, forming one of the chief characteristics of their
husbandry. With the Flemish farmer the liquid manure
tank is considered to be an essential part of the arrange-
ment of the farm yard, in w'hich the urine and excess of
liquid in the manure heap is collected and retained until
it is to be applied to the land. In British husbandry
the introduction of reservoirs for the collection of liquid
manui-e is of comparatively recent date ; the practice of
the British farmer has been rather to apply the liquid
in conjunction with the solid portion of his manure than
by itself — nor is this practice to be hastily condemned.
It is only when the urine is allowed to go to waste by
running out of the yards that the practice is reprehensi-
ble ; there is no doubt, indeed, that considerable loss is
annually sustained by our farmers from inattention in
this respect, nothing being more common than to see the
urine running from the yards, and being washed away
by the rains, when a little attention in the construction
of reservoirs for its preservation, and the prevention of
rain-water mixing with it would be productive of great
advEintage.

It has been ascertained, and, in fact, may be apparent
to every one by observation, that the application of
fresh urine to plants is not advantageous — nay, that when
applied in considerable quantities in this state it is de-
cidedly injurious. In practice it is, therefore, allowed
to ferment for a period of several weeks, according to its
composition and the state of the weather, before being
applied to the growing crops, and such additions are to
be made to it from time to time as will concentrate the
gaseous matters, which would otherwise be evolved and
escape during that period. The necessaiy arrangements
for this purpose are tanks communicating with each
other, or divided into different compartments, each con-
taining urine in different stages of decomposition, and
communicating with each other in such a way that when
the contents of one are taken out for application, it can
be immediately filled by urine less fermented, which, in
its turn, is there to remain until the necessary changes
have taken place in its decomposition. The circum-
stances to be attended to in the construction of these re-
servoirs are, that they shall be impervious to moisture, to
secure the urine from being wasted, and that they shall
present a small surface to the atmosphere to guard
against waste from evaporation. When proper attention
is paid to the retention of the gaseous matters already
referred to, by the introduction of suitable substances to
enter into combination with them, and thus form com-
pounds not volatile in their nature, the loss from evapo-
ration cannot, however, be considerable.

The proper materials for the construction of liquid
manure tanks are bricks laid in cement and well coated
over with the same material; after the cement has pro-

perly set, it is impervious to moisture in the highest de-
gree. The size will obviously be regulated by the quan-
tities which they are required to contain, which will
depend on the number of animals, and, in some degree,
on the nature of their food. The most convenient form
is oval or circular, the dimensions being gradually di-
minished towards the top, which may be covered by a
flag, through which a circular openmg is made for the
admission of a pump to remove the contents when ne-
cessary, and the flag itself can be raised to remove any
accumulations of more solid matters which may from
time to time take place. The passage of the urine from
the manure heap and the cattle sheds must, as already
observed, be secured from the ingress of water from the
surface of the yards or from the roofs of the buildings,
otherwise it may become so dUuted as not to containmore
than a few per cent, of the really important ingredients,
in which case its effects would scarcely repay the ex-
pense of the application. The importance of this pre-
caution becomes the more apparent when it is considered
that even in its natural state urine contains from ninety
to ninety-five parts of water, so that the fertilizing mat-
ters are, m any case, present only in small quantity.

The composition of urine is very various, not only in
the case of different animals, but also in that of the same
animals under different circumstances, as regards health
or disease, or the quality of food, with which they are
supplied. The same circumstances affect the quantities
voided by each. The following table may be regarded
as exhibiting the average composition of that of man and
some other animals in their healthy state, with the quan-
tity voided by each, so far as they appear to have been
ascertained, as quoted by Professor Johnston : —

Water in
iOOO parts.

Solid matter in 1000 parts.

Produced iu

Organic.

Inorganic

Total.

24 hours.

Man...

969

23.4

7.6

31

3 lbs.

Horse . .

940

27

.33

60

3

Cow , . .

930

50

20

70

40

Pig ... .

928

56

18

74

Sheep..

960

28

12

40

—

It is seen from the foregoing table that the urine of the
cow is not only the most valuable, but is also produced
in much greater quantity than any of the others ; the
urine of the pig, indeed, contains a few per cent, more
of solid matter, but then it is produced in so small quan-
tity as to be of comparatively little importance. Al-
though the farmer is, generally speaking, Uttle interested
in detailed analyses, yet it will be interesting to exhibit
the extremely compound character of the urine of the
cow, as given by Sprengel, both in its fresh and fer-
mented state ; in the latter case being allowed to stand
four weeks exposed to the open air, by which, it will ap-
pear, it became considerably concentrated.

Ingredients. Fresh. Fermented ,

Water 926.2 954.4

Urea 40.0 10.0

Mucus 2.0 0 4

Hippuric and lactic acids 6.1 7.6

Carbonic acid 2.6 1 .7

Ammonia 2.1 4.9

Potash 6.6 66

Soda 5.5 5.6

Sulphuric acid 4.0 3.9

Phosphoric acid 0.7 0.3

Chlorine ,,.. 2.7 2.7

Lime 0.6 a trace

Magnesia .., 0.4 0.2

Alumina, oxide of iron, and oxide of man-
ganese 0.1 a trace

Silica 0.4 0.1

1000.0

Urea is seen to constitute a large proportion of the
solid matters in the urine of the cow, as in other animals,
and the change produced in it by fermentation is appa-
rent from the table. The quantity of ammonia is seen

THE FAPtMKU'S MAGAZINE.

to t)e increased by fermentation, but not by any means j
ill proportion to the quantity of urea which is abstracted,
wliich shows how large a quantity of ammonia escapes
during that process, where proper measures are not taken
for its retention. Dilution to a certain extent is fa-
vourable to fermentation, and, consequently, to the pro
duction of ammonia. Under any circumstances a por-
tion of the ammonia will escape, so that it is desirable
that it should be applied as soon as possible after fer-
mentation has taken place.

Various matters may be added to the tank, with the
view of preventing the escape of the volatile ingredients.
Ammonia and carbonic acid gas are freely given oft' by
the fermentation of animal matters, whether liquid or
solid ; and perhaps the most convenient and efficacious
substances at the command of the farmer for retaining
both of these are refuse vegetable matters, rich earth,
ashes, &c. Charcoal, for instance, will absorb nearly
ninety times its bulk of ammoniacal gas, and nearly
forty times its volume of carbonic acid gas ; dilute sul-
phuric acid, added in small quantities, will also combine
with the ammonia and prevent its escape. Gypsum is
generally recommended for the purpose ; that substance,
by its decomposition, entering into new combinations
with both the ammonia and the carbonic acid gas, the
resulting compounds being sulphate of ammonia and
carbonate of lime. Gypsum is, however, very sparingly
soluble, and it must be in solution in order that any
such changes may take place, so that its efficacy in this
respect is less than is usually supposed ; nor is gypsum
available only in very few cases, unless at very conside-
rable cost; matters already existing on the farm are
evidently to be preferred when the required purpose is
attained by their use.

Before urine is applied to the land, it may be com-
bined with various other fertilizers to increase its eff"ects ;
but these should not be bulky, so as materially to add
to the difficulty of applying it. The Flemings judi-
ciously add rape cake, which, from its composition, is well
suited for the purpose, and might be similarly applied in
this country. All succulent vegetable matter, such as
weeds from the garden and fields, may also be added to
it before fermentation with the best effects.

The annual value of the urine of a cow is estimated by
the Flemings at 21., and this sum is, in fact, frequently
paid in Flanders for it. A portion of the urine is, no
doubt, at present conveyed to the fields in this country
along with the solid manure ; but it is not too much to
suppose that, taking the whole of the United Kingdom
into account, one half of the urine produced is allowed
to go to waste. When we recollect the number of cattle
contained in it is assumed at 8,000,000, without taking
any of the other domestic animals into consideration, it
will be seen what an immense loss is sustained by such
waste. The urine of a cow annually contains little less
than 10 cwt. of solid matters, equal in value, if not su-
perior, to an equal weight of guano, which, at the pre-
sent price of that article, would be worth il. 10s.
Where the number of cattle kept on the farm amounts
to 50, the salts contained in their urine are thus seen to
be worth upwards of 200/. per annum — no inconsidera-
ble sum. It is, of course, impossible to tell what pro-
portion of this goes to waste, but, as before observed,
it is probably not too much to assume this at one -half.

Several methods have been adopted with a view of
rendering the valuable ingredients of urine portable, so
that some portion of the vast quantities produced in
large towns might be saved. Thus the urate which is
announced in the manure market is produced by the ad-
dition of one-seventh the weight of the urine of powdered
gypsum, allowing the whole to stand for some days,
when the liquid is poured off and the powder dried.
This powder, it is said, contains the urea ; but it is ob-

vious that the salts in solution are entirely lost by this
method of treatment. The Messrs. TurnbuU, of Glas-
gow, add dilute sulphuric acid to the urine as the am-
monia is formed, after which tlie whole is evaporated to
dryness, the resulting powder being sold as a manure,
and a most efficacious one it would no doubt prove if
the process was so conducted as to retain the ammonia,
the only volatile ingredient.

The application of urine is valuable to every kind of
crop, especially when applied at an early stage of its
growth ; but it is to be observed that it is not equally
advantageous when applied before the crop is put into
the ground, the fertilizing matters in that case being dis-
sipated before advantage can be taken of them. On the
lighter class of soils it is of much greater value than on
those of a clayey nature, being, in the latter case, sub-
jected to a greater degree of evaporation before being
absorbed and rendered available. When applied to
meadow and grass lands, it not only causes an increased
produce, but also tends to the destruction of the mosses
which are so injurious in lands long in grass.

Notwithstanding the advantages resulting from the
application of urine separately from the more solid ani-
mal manures — and they are confessedly very great — yet,
in some cases, it is believed an undue importance has
been attached to that course of management, when the
urine and other liquid matters might have been advanta-
geously applied in conjunction with the solid manures.
In cases where the supply of litter is deficient in propor-
tion to the number of animals which can be profitably
maintained, and where the urine will, of course not be
all absorbed, it may, and, in fact, must be, separately
collected and applied ; but on all the heavier class o*
soils, on which root crops are not extensively cultivated
it will rarely occur that an excess of moisture will be pre-
sent, especially when due precautions have been taken
to guard against the admission of rain water, which has
already been seen to be extremely injurious. Indeed,
in such soils one of the chief difficulties hitherto has been
to cause the decomposition of the excess of straw pro-
duced in proportion to the number of animals which
could be maintained ; grain is the chief product of such
farms, and when this is the case the entire of the urine
will be absorbed by the litter which is consequently so
abundant.

As improvements in husbandry advance, and the cul-
tivation of root crops becomes more general, the propor-
tion of liquid matters in the farm yard will, however, be
on the increase, and in whatever manner this may be ap-
propriated, a liquid manure tank is essentially neces-
sary on every farm. Composts of various kinds will
always be in process ofcollectionon every well-kept farm,
consisting of the scrapings of roads, scourings of ditches,
&c. , to which the contents of the tank will form a valu-
able addition. During the preparation of the land for
green crops, quantities of weeds will have been collected,
which, when formed in a heap in a convenient situation,
and repeatedly turned, liquid manure from the tank being
added at each turning, will thus form a compost little in-
ferior to farm -yard dung.

Having now brought this department of our subject to
a conclusion, a few general remarks may not be out of
place before entering on the consideration of the porta-
ble manures. The question as to what extent the latter
may be substituted for farm-yard manure has of late
been much agitated among the farming community, al-
though we do not conceive it can be fairly entertained
for a moment. The dung of the farm yard is of home
production, and could a sufficient supply of it be ob-
tained, no good reason would exist for the use of any of
the other manures at all, and the use of them in any case
must be regulated by the extent to which the home supply
is deficient. The portubl^ mamires are unquestionably

S58

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

of vast importance, and their introduction has formed a
new era in the agricultural annals of the countiy ; but in
the eagerness to render them available to the fullest ex-
tent, it is to be feared that proper attention is not in the
majority of cases paid to increasing the home supply, as
being of comparatively less importance than before such
anxiliaries were available. Without the aid of these
auxiliaries, the extent of land which can be profitably
cultivated is regulated by the supply of farm-yard ma-
nure which can be produced. They, have, however,
enabled the farmer to bring into cultivation lands which
otherwise he could not have done, and every addition to
the cultivated produce of the farm also increases the
sources of fertility for the production of future crops.
The progress of improvements hitherto has not tended
to lower the value of the dung of the farm yard, nor can
it ever do so. The judicious use of the portable ma-
nures may indeed be made the means of largely increas-
ing the home supply, and from this circumstance they
derive much of their value.

In the vicinity of tovras where a further supply of
farm-yard manure can be obtained, its value as com-
pared with some of the portable manures, taking not
only the original expense, but also the cost of transit into
account, then becomes a proper subject of consideration.
The expense of carriage is at all tunes a great drawback
on the use of farm-yard manure, this item alone fre-
quently exceeding the total outlay connected with the
use of some of the other class of manures, and this cir-
cumstance will undoubtedly cause the preference to be
given to them in every case in which an extraneous sup-
ply may be required.

Bones.— Farm-yard manure, it has been already seen,
was that first employed in the rudest ages of husbandry,
and was, it may be said, the only one in use until within
a comparatively recent period. Bone manure was pro-
bably the first of the portable manures which was ex-
tensively employed ; and the success which followed its
application not only caused it to be used in increased
quantities, but also caused such a spirit of inquiry to
Bprpad abroad as to the adaptation of other substances
for similar purposes, that the list may now be regarded
as almost endless. No other of the portable manures
has better maintained its reputation than bones, on almost
all soils, and for every kind of crop. Like all other
innovations, however, bone manure required some time
to make its way among farmers, and many hundred tons
of the bone refuse of Birmingham and Sheffield were
considered as a nuisance and thrown away, before their
value as a manure became known ; but this being dis-
covered, the home supply soon became insufficient, and
large quantities were annually imported from foreign
countries. The declared annual value of the importa-
tions so early as 1821 was, in round numbers, j£l6,000,
which increased in 1830 to £^58,000, and in 1837 to
i£254,600, besides the increase from the home supply,
which was far from inconsiderable. Bones have been
much lowered in price since the introduction of some of
the other portable manures, especially guano ; and the
reluctance with which vendors have lowered their prices,
has probably caused the quantity at present employed
to be rather less than used a few years ago.

Bones differ from other animal substances chiefly by
their containing a much larger proportion of inorganic
matter; the precise quantity being, however, exceed-
ingly variable in different animals, and even in the same
kinds of animals under different conditions. It is less
in the young than in the full grown animal ; bones in
the first stages of existence consisting almost entirely of
cartilage, the deposit of inorganic matters being gra-
dually increased as progress to maturity takes place.
The proportion of the different ingredients also some,
what depends on the position of the bone in the body.

In the young animal that of water and fat frequently
amounts to one-third, while in old age it seldom exceeds
one-sixth. When dried and freed from fat, the propor-
tion of inorganic matters is as under*

The lower jaw-bone of an adult 68 per cent.

a child 3 years old 62

A compact human bone 58.7

A spongy human bone 50.2

The tibia of a sheep 48.03

The vertebrae of a haddock 60.51

The inorganic ingredients of either animal or vegetable
substances are obtained by calcination, the organic mat-
ters being dissipated by this process. The inorganic por-
tion of bones, constituting the white skeleton which
remains after burning in the open air, is composed
chiefly of phosphate of lime ; but it contains also a con-
siderable though variable proportion of the carbonate of
lime, with smaller quantities of some other ingredients.
The phosphate of lime is composed of 51^ per cent, of
lime, and 48^ of phosphoric acid. This substance is
also present, though in smaller quantity, in the horns,
hoofs, and nails, and is never absent even from the flesh
and blood of healthy animals. It is found in consider-
able quantity in the seeds of many plants, and in all the
varieties of grain which are cultivated for human food.
The ashes of leguminous, cruciferous, and composite
plants, well known as being amongst the most nutritious
of the vegetable kingdom, are pecuUarly rich in this
compound.

This substance, which plays such an important part
in the animal and vegetable economy, is insoluble in
water ; but is readily dissolved by acids, as the nitric or
mutriatic, or even, though more sparingly, by common
vinegar. It exists in milk, and is supposed to be held
in solution in that liquid by lactic acid, an acid peculiar
to itself. It is also slightly soluble in carbonic acid, and
certain other organic acids existing in the soil ; and by
these means, it is probable, it is rendered available as
food for plants. Carbonic acid is well known to be pre-
sent wherever vegetable matter is undergoing decay, a
portion of which being carried into the soil by rains,
will supply phosphate of lime in solution for the wants
of the growing plants. These facts it is of importance to
keep in view, in considering the action of bones as a
manure.

The precise proportion of each of the constituents of
bones is thus given by Dr. Thompson : —

Slieep. Ox. Had<Iock.
Organic or combustible matter 43.3 48.5 39.5

Phosphate of lime 50.6 45.2 56.1

Carbonate of lime 4.5 6.1 3.6

Magnesia.. 0.9 0.2 0.8

Soda 0.3 0.2 0.8

Potash 0.2 0.1 0.0

99.8 100 3 100.8

By burning it is seen that bone may be deprived of its
organic constituents without alteration of form, the only
external change being an alteration of colour. Calcined
bones, however, are extremely light, which is easily un-
derstood when it is considered what a large proportion of
the whole mass is formed by the organic matters. They
are also extremely brittle, hence the greater facility with
which the bones of aged persons are broken than those
of persons after reaching maturity, the proportion of
organic matters becoming gradually less with increase of
years ; and hence, also, the greater faciUty with which
broken bones unite in the one case compared with the
other.

But the inorganic constituents of bones may also be

* iee Profsitor Jotmtton'i I.«cturei, &c. ko.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

257

abstracted, leaving the organic matter or gelatine, and
the original form of the bones still be retained. The
former has been seen to be soluble in muriatic acid, and
gelatine not been affected by this acid when diluted, it
follows that if bone be placed in such dilute acid the
earthy or inorganic parts will be slowly dissolved, and
the organic parts will alone remain, retaining also the
form and size of the original bone. It is then flexible
and somewhat soft ; and by prolonged boiling may be
dissolved in boiling water, and formed into glue, with
which it is, in fact, identical in chemical composition ;
and is nearly the same as wool, hair, and horn.

The organic portion of bone is completely abstracted
by fire ; but the same purpose may in some degree
be eft'ected by boiling, especially when long continued,
or conducted under a high pressure ; and hence it is
apparent that after this process it will to a greater or
less extent be lowered in value as a manure. That the
gelatine is equally valuable as a manure with the phos-
phate of lime does not admit of doubt, and the abstrac-
tion of this, in however small quantity, must be injuri-
ous. Even the small degree of boiling to which bones
are subjected, in the case of the flesh being used as
food, lowers their value as a manure by the loss of oil
and gelatine thereby occasioned. Were bones estimated
by weight, then the loss from boiling would not be so
considerable, as an increased bulk would in that case be
required ; but as the contrary is the usual practice, the
great loss sustained in the purchase of boiled bones will
be apparent. Bones, however, absorb moisture on
losing any of their original constituents, and hence loses
less in weight than would at first sight be supposed.

Since the introduction of bones as a manure they
have been applied to almost every one of our cultivated
crops, and in very few cases indeed has the application
been unsuccessful. It is however to turnips that they
have hitherto been applied with the most beneficial re-
sults, not being inferior for this crop to farm-yard dung.
Before being applied they are crushed by machinery into
a coarse powder, the immediate effect depending on the
size to which they are reduced. It is believed that
they have hitherto been used without being sufficiently
reduced, being in this state more difficult of decompo-
sition, and it being supposed that their beneficial effects
will be extended over a greater length of time, thus de-
priving the immediate crop of the benefit of their action,
to a certain extent, in favour of the succeeding ones. In
a preceding part of these papers, however, this has been
shown to be very doubtful econony. Where manures
are applied of which the present crop cannot reap all
the advantage, it is not difficult to foresee that much of
their fertilizing powers will be wasted by the rains of
winter, and otherwise dissipated, before they can be
taken advantage of by the succeeding crops. And fur-
ther, the difi'erent crops require not only different kinds
of manure, but they require different proportions of it,
so that under a scientific system of culture the proper
kind and quantity will be supplied to each according to
its individual wants. The results of the investigations
which have hitherto been carried on in this important
department of husbandry, have not been such as to
enable the farmer to appropriate with precision the pe-
culiar substances to be employed in every case, nor the
quantities necessary to produce the desired effect ; but
further experiments, it is hoped, will illustrate this in-
teresting subject, and, in the mean time, it is the duty
of every intelligent farmer to aid in the path of cautious
experiment, and assist in the present auspicious move-
ment to raise his art from its hitherto empirical position.
In the application of bone manure to the turuip crop
it IS either drilled in with the seed by machinery or
first deposited in the drill by the hand, and the seed
afterwards sown by machinery or otherwise. In the

latter case the drills are formed by the plough, the
land being first thoroughly pulverized and cleared of
weeds, and along the top of the drill a track is made
either by the hand alone or by the hand hoe, about two
inches deep, in which the bones are evenly deposited,
after which the turnip-seeds are sown, and the whole
covered up by drawing the earth from each side to the
centre. This is the usual method of applying bone
manure on a small scale, but latterly hand machines
have been constructed which deposit the bones and seeds
at proper intervals, as from nine to twelve inches apart,
and in any quantity required. This is obviously a great
improvement on the former practice, the manure being
deposited only where it is really required, in which case
the quantity applied may be greatly diminished without
being rendered less efficacious. The saving in turnip-
seed by this method, though not an expensive article, is
also deserving of attention.

An important consideration in the application of bone
manure is its portability and cheapness. When dibbled
in, from ten to fifteen bushels will be a large allowance
for an acre, and the manure for four acres will not, ac-
cording to this calculation, form more than an ordinary
one-horse cart load. The introduction of bones as
manure also removed some of the greatest obstacles to
turnip culture, as enabling the farmer in many cases to
grow them successfully, when otherwise their cultivation
could not be attempted. The critical period in the
growth of turnips, bones also enable them safely to get
over. Before the young turnip plants have assumed
the rough leaf, especially if they are languid in vegeta-
tion, it is well known that they are liable to be eaten off
by the turnip-fly, or to be destroyed by stormy weather ;
but the effect of bones is to cause a rapid vegetation,
and push the young plants at once, as it were, out of
danger.

Before bone manure is applied to the soil, it has been
recommended to mix it with an equal quantity of ashes
or rich vegetable mould, and should the compound thus
formed be deficient in moisture to bring on a slight de-
gree of fermentation, refuse train-oil or other cheap and
impure oleaginous matter may be added for that pur-
pose. The whole mass will by that means become
equally valuable, and will be in the state to produce the
quickest results on the young plants, a consideration too
often neglected in the application of manuring, the
farmer, in his eagerness to apply a large quantity, often
overlooking the more important consideration of its
quality.

With a view of rendering the bone manure more im-
mediately available for the growing crop, it has in some
cases been reduced by the action of some of the mineral
acids — the sulphuric, from its cheapness, being that best
suited for that purpose. The acid is previously to be
diluted, and before the mass is applied to the soil it is
necessary to guard against any great excess of acid,
which would of course prove destructive to any vege-
table matter with which it may come in contact ; but
this is easily remedied by the addition of alkaline mat-
ters. Lime will perhaps form the best ingredient which
can be added for this purpose. As the effects of the
manure will in such cases not extend beyond the crop
to which it is applied, the quantity employed is very
small. The reports of some of the trials which have
been already made of this course of management, have
been highly satisfactory ; still it is better that experi-
ments o, this kind should be cautiously conducted, and
only on a small scale, until the results which may be ex-
pected to follow are so well established as not to be a
matter of uncertainty ; but in this department of the
subject much remains to be done by the experimental
farmer in showing how the maximum of effect can be
produced with the smallest possible outlay.

s 2

258

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Before dismissing this part of the subject, it will not
be out of lilace to add a few remarks as to the causes on
which the fertilizing powers of bones depend. This is
rendered the more necessary from the circumstance of
several trials with boiled and calcined bones as manure,
the reports of which in some of the leading publications
of the day would lead to the belief that bones, after
undergoing either of these processes, are equally valu-
able with those in their natural state. Few would
arrive at this conclusion, reasoning from the composition
of bones; and, had not properly authenticated experi-
ments of the contrary been on record, it is probable
that the experiments which have been undertaken with
the view of solving this phenomenon would not for the
present have been thought of.

Bones have already been seen to consist chiefly of
phosphate of lime and gelatine. Some regard the for-
mer as the only source of fei'tility in bones ; while others,
again, atti'ibute the whole of this influence to the latter.
The former opinion is maintained by Sprengel, and
afterwards by Liebig, though it would appear that it
has been too hastily adopted. In support of this opi-
nion, it is adduced that bones are sometimes inefficacious
even when farm-yard manure is always followed by the
best results. Hence, it is contended that the soil
already contains phosphate of lime in sufficient quan-
tity, in which case that contained in the bones could not
be supposed to produce any perceptible effect ; and that
as the gelatine did not influence the vegetation, it is
consequently in operation. This, to say the least of it,
is not very satisfactory reasoning. It does not admit of
doubt that the phosphate and carbonate of lime, which
bones contain so largely, are directly available for the
support of vegetation. Phosphoric acid and lime are
present in all our cultivated plants ; and, from the vege-
tables on which they feed, aU animals derive the entire
substances of their bones. The soil on which these
plants were produced must, therefore, have contained
these substances, otherwise they could not have been
present : so that if a soil be deficient in phosphate of
lime, or its constituents, it is clear that the addition of
bones will benefit the after crops, not only by the or-
ganic but also by the inorganic matters which they
contain.

In the case of soils deficient in phosphate of lime,
when it may be supposed the inorganic portion of the
manure would at any rate produce the most marked
effects, it is also by no means impossible that the action
of this portion may be increased by the partial or total
abstraction of the gelatine. After boiling, a considerable
quantity of water will be taken up, which will cause
decomposition to set in more rapidly when mrsed with
the soil. Hence, according to Professor Johnston, the
reason why, in Cheshire, where unboiled bones are used
to a considerable extent, many practical men are of
opinion that this action upon the crops is not inferior
to that of bones from which the oil has not been ex-
tracted by boiling. The immediate eff'ect may, indeed,
be equal, or even greater, than that of unboiled bones,
but the total effect must be less in proportion to the
quantity of organic matter which has been removed by
boiling. Cases, however, may occur in which the skilful
man will prefer to use boiled bones, because they are
fitted to produce more immediate effects, where, as in
the pushing forward of the yoimg turnip plant, such an
effect is particularly required*.

• The prolonged boiling of bones, so as to dissolve a portion of
the gelatine, is practised to a considerable extent as a mode of
manufacturing size or glue. In the large dyeing establishments
of Manchester the bones are boiled in open pans for twenty-four
hours, the fat skimmed off and sold to the candle makers, ami
the size afterwards boiled down in another vessel till it is of suffi-
Ci«nt strength fpr stiffening the thick goods for which it is iu-

Unless when reduced to a very fine powder, the
action of bones is exceedingly permanent in its duration.
Decomposition obviously sets in with greater rapidity
after boiling, as stated in the preceding paragraph, but
when unboiled bones are deposited in the soil every one
is aware of the great length of time necessary to ensure
their incorporation with the other materials of the soil.
Tlie action of the air is, in all cases, necessary to carry
forward the process of decomposition, and hence the
more deeply bones are buried, they will remain so much
the longer fresh. Nor is the organic matter of bones of
such a destructible nature as might be inferred, espe-
cially when not finely crushed. They long retain a
portion of their organic matter, which they give out
more slowly, and in smaller quantity each succeeding
year, yet still in such abundance as to contribute sensi-
bly, and in some degree to promote the growth of the
cultivated crops. To use the language of the learned
professor already quoted in summing up his views on
this subject, he who candidly weighs these considera-
tions will see that the whole eff'ect of bones cannot in
any case be ascribed exclusively either to the one or the
other of their principal constituents. He will perceive
that in the turnip husbandry the organic part performs
the most prominent and most immediately useful
office ; but that the earthy part, nevertheless, aff'ords a
ready supply of certain inorganic kinds of food, which
in many soils the plants would not otherwise easily
obtain. He will, therefore, assign to each constituent
its separate and important fiinction, observing at the
same time, that, while m very many cases the earthy
part of bones applied alone would fail to benefit the
land, there are few cultivated fields in which the organic
part apphed alone would not materially promote the
growth of most of our artificial crops. The foregoing
conclusions, indeed, seem so evident, that it appears not
a little strange how men of science or intelligent prac-
tical farmers could come to the conclusion that the
organic portion of bones did not materially contribute
to the production of this marked eff'ect in accelerating
the progress of vegetation.

(To be continued.J

PEMBROKESHIRE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY,

On Wednesday, the 31st July, the grand show of
stock and agricultural implements of this society took
place in a large and commodious enclosure, made for
the purpose, on St. Thomas's Green, Haverfordwest.
There was not a very large exhibition of cattle, partly
owing, it is said, to a misapprehension as to the mode
and time of entering ; but some of those shown were
really very good, and called forth the admiration of the
spectators, who consisted of a very large and the most
respectable and wealthy portion of the landed gentry,
farmers, and breeders of the county. The judges were
Messrs. Leonard of St. Florence, Whittow of Hook,
and Greenish of Cleggars, and their award of the prizes
seemed to meet with general approbation. There were
also exhibited specimens of the most modem and useful
implements of husbandry, manufactured by Mr. Mary-
church, of Haverfordwest, upon which were passed the
high and unanimous commendations of the agriculturists

tended. The size liquor, when exhausted, or no longer of suflS-
cient strength for stiffening, is applied with much benefit as a
manure to the adjacent pasture and artificial grass lands, and the
bones are readily bought up by the Lancashire and Cheshire
farmers. The boiled bones must evidently lose all the fertilizing
virtue which the size liquor acquires. — Professor Johnston's
Lictwts,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

250

present. At four o'clock in the afternoon, about 120 of
the members and friends of the society sat down to
dinner at the Mariner's Hotel, at which Lord Emlyn
officiated as president, and Lewis Mathias, Esq., of
Lamphey Court, as vice. The proceedings of the day
terminated much to the satisfaction of all concerned, and
fair promises are made of the ultimate success of the
society. List of prizes : — No. 1. For the best Pem-
brokeshire bull, G. D. Griffiths, Esq., Barllan, 10/.;
No. 2, for the best dairy cow, J. Freeman, Esq., East-
hook, 5/. ; No. 3, for the best two-year-old heifer,
Mr. James Greenish, Neeston, 5/. ; No. 4, for the best
two-year-old steer, Mr. Cozens, Castlemartin, 5/. ; No.
5, for the best bull, of any age or breed, Lord Cawdor,
5/. ; No. 6, for the best ox, Pembrokeshire breed, Mr.
Lock, Rowstone, 5/. ; No. 7, for the best yearling bull,
Mr. Cole, Filbeach, 5/. ; No. 8, for the best two year-
ling heifers, G. D. Griffiths, Esq., Berllan, 3/. ; No. 9,
for the best two yearling steers, Mr. Wm. Greenish,
Neeston, 3/. ; No. 10, for the best long-woolled ram,
Lewis Mathias, Esq., Lamphey, 21. 2s.; No. 11, for
the best short-wooUed ram, Mr. Cole, Filbeach, 21. 2s. ;
No. 12, for the best pen of five long-woolled ewes, do.,
21. 2s. ; No. 13, for the best pen of five short- wooUed
ewes, Mr. H. P. Goode, 21. 2s. ; No. 14, ibr the best
Southdown ram, Mr. H. P. Goode, 21. 2s.; No. 15,
for the best short-ear boar, Geo. Roch, Esq., 21. 2s. ;
No. 16, for the best long-ear sow, J. Palmer, Esq.,
Gellyswick, 21. 2s. ; No. 17, for the best short-ear sow,
R. L Ackland, Esq., 21. 2s. ; No. 18, for the best two-
year -old colt, J. Palmer, Esq., 3/. ; No. 19, for the best
two-year-old filly, Mr. Isaac Williams, Orielton, 3/. ;
No. 20, for the best mare, the property of a tenant-
farmer in the county, Mr. Nich. Bowling, Bullibar, 5/.
Rewards to labourers: — Geo. Reynolds., having lived
with the same master 46 years, 40s.; David Samuel, do.
do., 27 years, 20s. ; Martha Jones, do, do., 51 years,
203. ; Abel James, do. do., 26 years, 40s. ; John Price,
do. do., 40 years, 40s. — Cambrian.

EAST-RIDING (YORKSHIRE) AGRICUL-
TURAL SOCIETY'S EXHIBITION.

The annual show of stock and implements in
connection with that extensive body, the East-
Riding Agricultural Association, took place at
Beverley, on Wednesday, 31st of July last, and
presented one of those splendid collections of
animals and instruments which cannot be found in
any but a country where farming is something
more than a mere mechanical occupation. No dis-
trict could be more likely to produce a show of the
highest character than that of which Beverley is a
focus, ^\'^lere the wolds of Yorkshire contribute
the excellence of their herds, their flocks, and their
implements, there it may be relied on that the ex-
hibition will be such as must gratify the most scep-
tical, and from which all who take an interest in
agricultural improvement may derive a lesson, and
be made to feel the wonderful results which can be
accomplished by a proper and well-grounded know-
ledge of the science of cultivation and the philo-
sophy of feeding. Thus the exhibition at
Beverley, was replete Avith the most admirable
specimens in every department; there was
nothing exceptionable in any of the classes : all
were good and perfect, affording gratification to all
who looked upon them, and giA-ing to those who

had to decide upon the respective merits of each
no little difficulty in awarding the palm of supe-
riority.

The ground used for the purpose of the show
was the same as has been before engaged — two
fields adjoining to the West End, and in the occU"
pation of Mr. Skelton, of the Rose and Crown Inn.
The arrangements were excellent ; and, from the
good order which was kept, no inconvenience was
felt in disposing of the various classes of the exhi-
bition. The committee, ably assisted by Mr.Boyes,
the secretary, whose courtesy we cannot altogether
overlook, actively superintended the entire proceed-
ings of the field, and there was complete satisfaction
expressed at the manner in which they accomplished
their plans. The departments were laid out in a
manner very similar to that of former years ; in-
deed, it could not well be improved. The imple-
ments were, as usual, deposited in the upper field,
and were minutely inspected by great numbers
during the day. We may enumerate a few of those
which have some novelty in their construction.
Mr. Gibson, of Beverley, exhibited two seed drills
— the largest having thirty-nine coulters, and is
calculated to sow about fifty acres of small seeds
per day. It is on a larger construction than any
before shown, and the coulters work in two rows,
which is considered to be an improvement. Mr.
Dale, of Beverley, exhibited a land roller, on a new
construction, being in three parts, and it obtained
a prize a week ago at Bridlington. Also a
sheep trough for linseed cake, being an improve-
ment on the former plan, and having a lid at the
top, which, of course, keeps the cake dry in wet
weather. Mr. CrosskiU had upon the ground a spe-
cimen of Torr's imjiroved pig trough ; a new liquid
manure cart, on an improved constniction, with a
metal pump and copper piping inside, and also a
spread board attached. He also showed some
of his patent wheels^ for which he got a prize the
other day at Southampton, and some clod-crushers.
Messrs. Musgraveand Sawney, of Beverley, showed
a dressing machine and blower, and also a reaping
machine, on an improved principle, the rollers in
the shoe being dispensed with, so that a free pas-
sage is allowed for the straw. Messrs. Barrett and
Ashton, of Hull, had some good implements on the
ground, part of which are reserved for a trial, which
is to take place shortly, of several which were ex-
hibited on this occasion.

We now submit a list of the premiums, as con-
ferred by the judges, without making any remark
upon the separate classes. It is sufficient to repeat
that all which were put in competition had an ex-
traordinary degree of merit, and the decisions of
the judges gave very general satisfaction.

Prizes.

labourers and servants in husbandry.

Class A. — Labourers in husbandr}' (who have
not occupied more than half an acre of land) who
have brought up and placed out to sen-ice the
greatest number of children, without receiving pa-
rochial relief, certificates of which to be produced;
first, 3/.; second, \l.; five candidates.
1. Anthony Fussey, Ryehill, 15 children born, all
living — 8 in service, 3 married, 4 at home

260

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

(oldest 9 years, and youngest 4 years) ; land,

20 perches.
2. James Barnett, Keyingham, 12 children born,

1 1 living — 6 in service, 3 married, 2 at home

(9 and 7 years old^i ; land, 30 perches.
Class B. — Labourers who have worked the long-
est time upon one or more farms (jDrovided they
have worked not less than seven years on each
farm), without receiving parochial relief, except on
account of sickness or accident ; first, 3/. ; second,
IZ. ; fourteen candidates.

1. Robert Cocker, ChfF, near Selby, 50 years one

farm, no relief.

2. Robert Thurlow, Aike, 43 years, 6 months, one

farm, no relief.
Class C. — Labourers' Avives or widows who have
placed out the greatest number of daughters in re-
spectable ser^dtude, 2l.

1. Mary Ann Lacy, wife of Thomas Lacy, Routh, 4
daughters in service. No other candidate.

SHEPHERDS.

Class D. — Shepherds, or other persons, who
have reared the greatest proportionate number of
lambs with the least loss of ewes and lambs, from
a flock exceeding 150 ewes that have produced
lambs; first, 2/. ; second, 1/.; three candidates.

1. John Stephenson, shepherd to Mr. Wilham

Jordan, Speeton ; number that produced
lambs, 185; lambs born, 293 ; lambs living
1st June, 281.

2. Thomas Simson, shepherd to Mr. John Whipp,

Etton; number that produced lambs, 289;

lambs born, 424 ; lambs living 1st June,

415.
Class E. — Shepherds, or other persons, who have
reared the greatest proportionate number of lambs
with the least loss of ewes and lambs, from a flock
exceeding 40, and not exceeding 150 ewes that have
produced lambs; first, 2/.; second, IL ; eight
candidates.

1. Alexander Middlemas, shepherd to Mr. Judd,

Naburn; number that produced lambs, 104 ;
lambs born, 192; lambs living 1st June, 192.

2. Michael Grice, shepherd to Mr. Botterill, Cat-

ton, Kilnwick ; number that produced lambs,
48; lambs born, 90; lambs living 1st June,
88.

SHORT-HORNED CATTLE.

Class 1. — Bulls of any age, from any part of the
kingdom, bl. Twelve competitors. Mr. Francis
Midgely, Bugthorpe, three years, for " Cornwall,"
a roan bull, calved March 4th, 1841, bred by Mr.
Cooper, of Ox Close, near Ripon. He was got by
Valentine, out of Miss Fashion, by Noble ; gran-
dam Fashion, by Don Juan; great grandam
Grizzle, by Studdley Grange ; great great grandam
Young Fanny, by Young Dimble, ; great great
great grandam Old Fanny, by Layton, which was
a son of Mr. Charge's grey bull.

Class 2. — Bulls, not exceeding two years old, 3Z.
Five competitors. Mr. Botterill Johnson, Fro-
dingham Bridge, one year six months.

Class 3. — Cows, of any age, in calf or milk, 3Z.
Six competitors. Rev. D. Jefferson, Thicket
Priory, "Daisy."

Class 4. — Heifers, above two and under three

years old, in calf, Zl, Four competitors. Mr.
John Collins, Danthorpe, *' Angelique Borel," two
years eleven months.

Class 5. — Heifers, under two years old, 2Z.
Seven competitors. Rev. D. Jefferson, Thicket
Priory, " Kitty," highly commended. Mr. James
Thomson, Beverley, "Clara," one year ten months,
sire Ronald, dam by Malcolm, prize.

SHEEP.

Class 6. — Rams, of any age, for general farming
purposes, the sole property of the exhibitor, bl.
Fourteen competitors. Mr. George Robinson,
Carnaby.

Class 7- — Shearling rams, the sole property of
the exhibitor, 5Z. Nine competitors. Mr. John
Borton, Barton-le-street.

Class 8. — Pen of five wether shearhngs, bred
by, and the bona fide property of, the shower ; a
silver cup, value ten guineas (offered by Lord Ho-
tham, M.P.), with a sweepstakes of \l. each added.
Second 2Z., if four lots shown. Three competitors.
Mr. Stephen Waldby Duggleby, Beswick ; prize
and sweep. Second prize not awarded, three lots
only being shown.

Class 9. — Pen of ten gimmer shearling , bred by
and the bona fide property of the shower, to be
drawn out of the flock the day before the show
(offered by Henry Woodall, Esq., of North Dalton),
4Z. ; second 2l., if four lots shown. Two compe-
titors. Mr. John Foster, Southburn.

Class 10. — Pen of five breeding ewes, that have
suckled lambs up to the time of show ; the lambs
to be shown \vith the ewes, 3/. Six competitors.
Mr. Robert Dawson, jun., Sewerby Field, prize ;
W. E. Botterill, Easthorpe, commended.

HORSES.

Class 11. — Stallions for hunters that have served
half-bred mares at not more than 3Z. 3s. each ; cup
(offered by H. Broadley, Esq., M.P.) value \0l.
Six competitors. Mrs. Mary Crump, Skidby
" Falcon."

Class 12. — Stalhons for coach-horses, bl. Six
Competitors. Mr. Robert Rotsey, Sancton,
" Shinar."

Class 13. — Stallions for cart-horses, 3Z. Two
competitors. Mr. Thomas Roydhouse, Hedon.
"Young Active."

Class 14. — Mares for breeding coach-horsea,
■\vith foals, 4Z. Eleven competitors. Mr. Robert
Tasker, Naburn.

Class 15.- -Mares for breeding hunters, with
foals, 4Z. Five competitors. Mr. Foster, Wans-
ford.

Class 16. — Cart mares, 3Z. Eight competitors.
Mr. Richard Foster, Southborn.

Class 17. — Coaching geldings, three years old,
3Z. Four competitors. James Hall, Esq., Scorbro'
(bay).

Class 18. — Coaching geldings, two years eld, 2Z.
Nine competitors. Mr, Butterill Johnson, Fro-
dingham-bridge.

Class 19. — Coaching geldings, yearlings, 2Z.
Four competitors. Mr. Thomas Holtby, Rotsey.

Class 20. — Coaching fiUies, three years old ; a
piece of plate, value 5Z. (given by the Riding), with
a sweepstakes of 5s. each added. Seven competi-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

!6l

tort. Mr. Peter Dunn, Pasture House ; prize and
sweep.

Class 21. — Hunting geldings, three years old,
3/. Six competitors. Mr. Thomas Dawson, jun..
Great Driffield, by Hampton.

Class 22. — Ponies, not exceeding 14 hands high ;
a piece of plate, value bl. (given by the town of
Beverley). Four competitors. Thomas Whiting,
Beverley.

PIGS.

Class 23. — Boars, large breed, 21. Four com-
petitors, Mr. James Boyes, Beverley, " Bobby
Shaftoe."

Class 24. — Boars, small breed, 21. Six compe-
titors, Mr- James Richard Singleton, Great Given-
dale, "Sam Slick," 19 months, bred by Mr. Wiley.

Class 25. — Sows or gilts, large breed, 2/. Three
competitors, Mr. Thomas Constable, Little Weeton.

Class 26. — Sows or gilts, small breed, 2/. Five
competitors, Mr. James Richard Singleton, Great
Givendale, 9 months, " Cerito."

IMPLKMENTS FOR COMPETITION AND TRIAL.

The implements of trial marked thus * day of
trial not yet fixed.

Messrs. Barrett and Ashton, Hull. — Six ploughs
of different construction, three.* T^vo iron drags
or scarifiers, do. one.* Four sets iron harrows,
do. Two iron whippletrees.* The harrows were
not selected for trial, and the Judges deemed it
unnecessary, as their merits were considered suffi-
ciently established, and they obtained the first
prize at Beverley last year.

Richard Sanders, North Cave, three ploughs of
different construction.

James Teal, Holme, one-drag harrow.*

John Agars, Foston, one-drag harrow.*

Ambrose Griffin, Cherry Burton, one linseed
cake crusher or cutter, a good implement.

Thomas Gibson, Beverley, one seed drill, two
ploughs, one turnip scuffler.

John Braithwaite, Foxholes, one plough.

Mr. W. Crosskill, Bevei'ley, six feet six inch
patent roller ; six feet ditto ; two-horse cart patent
wheels ; four one-horse ditto ; liquid manure-cart,
pump and flexible pipe extra; two-row presser
drill ; hay-making machine ; single-row drill ;
Grant's improved rake ; potato washer ; Ran-
some's straw-cutter; bean mill; kibhng mill;
Bristol turnip cutter; Yorkshire barrel turnip
cutter ; Torr's improved pig trough ; pair No. 4,
patent wheels, with case-hardened axle ; pair No.
3, patent wheels, with case-hardened axle.

Mr. Dale, Beverley, improved roller, linseed
cake feeder for sheep, cake crusher, patent sheep-
cutter on wheels, hand ditto ditto, large beast
ditto, blower, two-knife straw-cutter, ditto smaller,
patent block tin churn, steamer for potatoes, bean
mill, wheel plough, six bill ploughs, two.*

AViUiam Harrison, Beverley, dressing machine,
blower.

THE IMPLEMENTS NOT FOR COMPETITION AND
TRIAL.

Richard Sanders, North Cave, nine ploughs of
different construction.

SWEEPSTAKES, TEN SHILLINGS EACH.

Class 7. — Shearling rams. Three competitors j
Mr. Robert Dawson, Jun., Sewerby Field (sweep).

EXTRA STOCK.

Cattle. — Mr. James Watson, Waudby, four
cows (medal) ; Mr. John CoUins, Danthorpe, five
year old heifer (medal).

Sheep. — Mr. Robert Dawson, Jun., Sowerby
Fii-ld, pen of shearling rams, (medal) ; Mr. Henr)'
Hill, Sledmere Field, three fat ewes (medal).

Horses. — Mr. Christopher Jordison, Lookington,
four-year old coaching mare (medal) ; James Hall,
Esq, Scorbro', hunting colts, four years old
(medal).

JUDGES.

Horses and Pigs. — Mr. WiUiam Henlock, Great
Ouseburn ; Mr. John He^^^son, Harrington; Mr.
John McTurk, Skelton, near York.

Cattle and Sheep. — Mr. William Sonley, Lund
Court, Kirby-moorside ; Mr. William Torr, Riby,
near Brigg ; Mr. Isaac Tetley, Armley, near Leeds.

Implements. — Mr. Joseph Beaumont, Brant-
ingham ; Mr. Thomas Harrison, Leven Hall-
Garth ; Mr, Robert Fisher, Leckonfield ; Mr.
John Brandham, Weel ; Mr. John Robinson, Be=
verley.

The Dinner.

According to appointment, the dinner of the
society took place at three o'clock in the afternoon,
in the public Hall, Nonvood, and the company
who sat down to the repast numbered near two
hundred. Provision had been made for a much
greater number, but the weather was so unpropi»
tious, that many who had otherwise intended
being present were prevented from attending. The
party, however, was a very respectable and influ-
ential one, comprising the leading gentry of the
riding, and the most extensive and important far-
mers in the district. The dinner was prepared
in a very creditable style, by Mr. Burrell, of the
White Horse Inn, and the whole of his arrange-
ments on the occasion gave the utmost satisfaction.

It has been usual that the president of the
society, Henry Broadley, Esq., one of the mem-
bers for the riding, should officiate as chairman
at the dinner, but in his unavoidable absence on
Wednesday last, the senior vice-president of the
institution present, John Smith, Esq., of Welton,
officiated in that position. E. H. Raynard, Esq.,
of Sunderlandwick, acted as vice-chairman. On
the right of the chairman's seat we noticed Lord
Hotham, M.P., for the riding, J. R. Pease, Esq.,
of Hesselwood; James Hall, Esq., of Scorbro';
Robert Bower, Esq., Cherry Burton. On the left
W. F. Bethell, Esq., of Rise; H. W. Hutton,
Esq., of Beverley; and H. E. Smith, Esq., of
Welton. In other parts of the room were ob-
served D. Burton, jun., Esq., Cherry Burton;
Charles Whittaker, Esq., of Welton Hill ; Rev. A.
Maister, George Liddell, Esq., of Hull; Jonathan
Harrison, Esq., of PockUngton; T. B. Phihps,
Esq,, of Beverley ; George Wood, Esq., of South
Dalton ; Joseph Pease, Esq. ; John Hudson, Esq.,
of Beverley ; J. Boyes, Esq. (secretary to the as-
sociation), &c., &c. Grace was said at the dinner

302

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

table by the Rev. a Maister ; and, on tlie clotli being-
drawn, the general business of the evenhig com-
menced.

The usual loyal and customary toasts having
been given.

The labourers and servants in husbandry to
whom had been awarded the society's prizes for
long service and general meritorious conduct were
called into the room and addressed by the Chairman
in suitable terms.

The Chairman said before he proposed the
next toast on the list, he would read some letters
which had been received from several individuals
whom all present would no doubt have been glad
to have seen then amongst them. He then pro-
ceeded to read aloud letters addressed to the society
by H. Broadley, Esq., M.P., for the East-Riding,
and Messrs. Townley and Hogg, the members for
Beverley, and from Mr. Jackson, the mayor of
Beverley, the three former gentlemen expressing
regret that duties in parhament prevented them
from being in attendance, and the Mayor excusing
himself on the ground that he was compelled to be
away from home on this day.

The Chairman then proceeded to say it be-
came his duty to ask them to drink success to the
institution under the auspices of which they were
assembled together — success to the East-Riding
Agricultural Association. {Applause.) He trusted
they would continue to assemble for many years —
to come to every succeeding anniversary, bringing
with it an increase of members and an increased
effect. {Applause.) If they looked at the import-
ance of the institutions of this nature, there were
none in the whole range which deserved encourage-
ment more than those which came under the title
of agricultural associations, not only in conse-
quence of the great good they effected in the circles in
which they were severally established, but also on
account of the incalculable benefit which they con-
ferred on the world at large. {Cheers.) It was
not matter of small interest that these institutions
embraced every branch that science could illus-
trate, and every means which was hkely to benefit
or be of advantage to the human species. He
would, for instance, refer to the clergy, and appeal
to them if any pursuit in life was so likely to pro-
duce devotion in the mind of man as that which fol-
lowed out cause and effect, and showed the won-
derful power of the Almighty, and also how an in-
dividual could best pay his gratitude to his Maker
by first inquiring into his laws, and then attempt-
ing to follow the doctrines which they set forth.
{Applause.) Tliis was no idle speech, because,
from what they now read and saw of the connec-
tion of science with agriculture, they must perceive
that it required every one of them to culti^'ate their
own talents, in order to enable them effectually to
till the soil placed under their care. And he would
call on the landlords to give every encouragement
possible to their tenantrj' on so laudable a pursuit,
and he would call upon the tenantry not to grudge
where they could feel a certainty, whether by leases
or by a knowledge of their landlords — not to grudge
the utmost labour or capital which they could com-
mand. By this means mutual gratitude and influence
would be encouraged between landlord and tenant,

and the greatest possible amount of good would be
effected, the poor would be supported, and the coim-
try be rendered altogether independent of a foreign
supply. (Loud applause.) In proposing success
to the East- Riding Agricultural Association, he did
it because their associations were the principal
means by which that knov/ledge was acquired,
which enabled the agriculturist to impi-ove the cul-
tivation and the mixture of various soils, and
through their instrumentality great and im-
portant imjirovements in implements had been
designed. These societies were not, however, of
importance merely as regarded the proceedings
of the members at their different meetings — those
proceedings were investigated by parties not im-
mediately interested — they were published openly
to the world, and thus a body of information was
diffused which by-gone ages had not been able to
supply. {Applause.) He hoped there would be
no laxity shown in keeping up the prosperity of
that association, and before he concluded he would
give them an immediate stimulus for their attention
during the ensuing year, and he trusted it would
have great weight. The East-Riding had long
been famed for its agriculture, and when he told
them that the committee of the association had
determined to sohcit the Yorkshire Agricultural
Society to hold their next annual meeting in
Beverley, he hoped they would all put their
shoulders to the wheel to produce stock of such ex-
cellence, as would keep all other competitors at bay,
and carry off all the premiums. {Applause.) It would
take no slight trouble to do this — they had strong
and able competitors to contend with, and he there-
fore implored them to use such exertions, of which
they were well capable, as would ensure them
honour in the contest. (Applause.) It was not
yet determined that this meeting of the Yorkshire
Agricultural Society was to be held in Beverley,
but a deputation had been appointed to wait upon
the society next week at Richmond, and solicit the
appointment of Beverley as the place of meeting
next year. He hoped their mission would be a
successful one. (Applause.) The result of the
appUcation would be announced as soon as it had
been come to, and if favourable to Beverley, he
rehed upon it that the agriculturists to the East-
Riding would produce something creditable to
themselves and to the county. {Loud applause.)
He concluded by again announcing the toast,
" Success to the East-Riding Agricultural Society,"
which was received with much cheering.

The Vice Chairman (E. H. Reynard, Esq.,)
rose in obedience to the call of the worthy chairman,
and was received with hearty plaudits. He said if he
had wanted courage to present himself before them
those hearty cheers and kind acclamations would
at once have relieved him from any difficulty which
he might have felt, but as he was speaking in a
party of gentlemen with most of whom he was
proud to say he was intimately acquainted, those
plaudits had not been requu'ed, as the duties he had
then to discharge were easy and light. Not so,
howe^'er, with those whose health he was then
about to propose, for in spite of wnd and weather — in
spite of drizzling rain and its inclemency, the judges
had laudably persevered in their arduous duties.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

26S

and had gone through the award of premiums to
as splendid a collection of stock as had ever been
seen. (Hear hear.) The duties of judges were
always of the most critical kind, and the selection
of gentlemen to that office for the exhibition of
that day reflected the highest credit on the com-
mittee of the association. They had not been
chosen from the immediate neighbourhood, in
which case they might have been suspected of
some party feeling, but they had been invited
from various parts of broad Yorkshire, and were
gentlemen considered not only able judges, but
clever farmers. The duties of gentlemen occupy-
ing the position of judges on these occasions be-
came more difficult and irksome e^•el•y year, be-
cause now-a-days attention was paid to the breed
and rearing all kinds of agricultural stock. The
worthy president had intimated that there was a
possibility of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society
holding their next exhibition in Beverley. Should
that be so, he (Mr. Reynard) felt satisfied, from
what he had that day seen, that it would be diffi-
cult in the whole of Yorkshire to beat any of the
prize animals, and even to compete with some of
those which had been unsuccesful on that oc-
casion. (Applause.) If ever there was an oppor-
tunity on which the health of the judges ought
to be drank, surely the present was one when they
had been exposed throughout the day to such in-
clement weather, and if any other argument were
requisite to produce a hearty welcome for this
toast, he might add that he had heard more than
one unsuccessful candidate say that the judges had
done their duty in a most impartiad manner.
{Loud applause.) The toast was enthusiastically
received.

Wm. ToRR, Esq., of Riby having returned
thanks in the usual form, congratulated the asso-
ciation on the splendid show which had been made
in horses, but which was far more excellent in the
sheep department, and he trusted that that spirit
and good management, which were characteristic of
the East-Riding, would enable them to maintain
the society in its present splendid position. About
four years ago he had first the honour of address-
ing them. He remembered that he indulged in
some obsen-ations apart from the office of judge,
namely — on the advantages to be derived from the
connection of science with agriculture. He at that
time saw no reason why they should not call
geolog)' to their aid. He said he saw no reason
why farmers should not become acquainted with
the elements of chemistry. He saw no reason
why they should not apply their minds to im-
provements in machinery. He was happy to find
that since that time aU this had been done — that great
strides had been made in agricultural pursuits and
appliances. (Appause.) He had had the honour
the other day of being a judge at the great show at
Southampton, and he could bear his testimony to
the great improvement which had been made in
agi-icultural implements. He hoped that all this
rapid advancement of the agricultural interest in
the pursuit of scientific knowledge would proceed
still more favourably, and the day was near at
hand when the resources of the land would be
found sufficient for the demand upon them. In

conclusion, he again returned thanks, and resumed
his seat amidst considerable applause.

J. R. Pease, Esq., said it was ■wdth pleasure he
proposed a toast which had been submitted to him
— viz. : " The healths of the successful competi-
tors." After some general observations on the
benefits which were conferred on the agriculturist
by associations of this description. Mr. Pease
enlarged on the advantages of the allotment system,
observed that the cottage garden system was one
of which he was a decided advocate, and he was
exceedingly happy to find that the legislature had
taken this subject in hand, and that a bill had been
introduced into parliament ; nevertheless, he for
one had much rather that the system should be
carried out by a spontaneous effort on the part of
the landowners of this country. At a late public
meeting in the East-Riding, a doubt had been
raised as to whether this system was not a danger-
ous one. On this subject he was enabled to speak
as a practical man, having adopted it for the last
ten years. He had now ten acres of land divided
into sixt)'-six allotments. (Applause). He then
proceeded to show the great benefits which had
resulted from the grant of these allotments, and the
eflfect which it had produced, not only as regarded
the comfort of the cottagers, but also as eflfected
their moral conduct. (Applause). It was ex-
ceedingly gratifjnng to him to state in conclusion,
that these cottagers were not ungrateful for the
boon he had bestowed upon them ; so far from
that they had heartily thanked him for what he had
done for them, and had, moreover, presented him
with a silver medal. (Applause), He begged to
propose "The successful candidates."

James Hall, Esq., of Scorbro', was received
with applause. After acknowledging the last toast
he said he could not help referring to the observa-
tions of the worthy chairman on the subject of the
Yorkshire Agricultural Society holding its annual
meeting in Beverley next year. He hoped that the
society would be induced to do so, and he thought
that the stock which they had had the pleasure of
seeing that day — if those who had shewn them in
such quality and condition were able to presen'e
such capital merit — would then be cro\vned with
as much success in a larger field of competition as
they had been on this occasion. (Hear, hear). He
had the honour to be one of the deputation ap-
pointed to wait upon the Yorkshire Agricultural
Society at Richmond next week, and he hoped
from the handsome manner in which the inhabi-
tants of Beverley had come forward with subscrip-
tions, that the meeting next year would be held
there. (Loud cheers). After again alluding to the
successful candidates he sat down amid great ap-
plause.

The Chairman said the next toast on the list
was one in which he was sure they would all hear-
tily concur, and he begged leave to call on Lord
Hotham to introduce it. (Lotid cheers)

Lord Hotham then rose, and was received with
several rounds of applause. His lordship said
however unequal he was to the task of addressing a
meeting of any kind, more es])ecially under the cir-
cumstances in which he then stood before them, he
would not shrink from endeavouring in a few words.

tM

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

to discharge the duty which he had been called on to
fulfil — the agreeable duty of proposing the next
toast for their consideration. He had less hesita-
tion in doing so when he considered that the toast
which he was called on to propose was no other
than the tenantry of the East-Riding. {Loud
cheers). He might be allowed, perhaps, then, lest
in the hurry of the moment he should forget it, to
fulfil a commission with which he was charged by
his honourable colleague, Mr. Broadley, to express
to them his great regret at being unable, from cir-
cumstances over which he had no control, to ac-
company him (Lord Hotham) to attend the meeting
that day. For himself, he had been, if not an origi-
nal member of the society, at all events, a very old
one. It had been his practice, as they were aware,
to attend these anniversaries on former occasions.
and often he had felt pleasure in doing so, at a
time when he had no other connexion with its
members than that which arose from a community
of interest with them, but how much greater must
the anxiety and pleasure be, when, since the last
occasion on which he had the honour of addressing
them from that place, they had conferred upon
him, unsought and unsohcited, the highest dis-
tinction which an EngUshman could wish for.
{Loud applause). If, therefore, as he had said, he
had pleasure in coming among them on former
occasions, doubly anxious must he have been to do
so then, if for no other reason than on account of
the opportunity which this meeting afforded him
of seeing and paying his respects to a large number
of those persons with whom he had formed a new
bond of connection. {Applause). He exceedingly
regretted — and all would participate in that regret
— that the state of the weather had necessarily pro-
duced such an effect on the attendance upon that
occasion : but he thought they might safely attribute
it to the weather alone, and not to any diminution
of interest in the proceedings of this society thai
they were not surrounded by a more numerous
party. {Hear, hear). He was one of those who
cordially and entirely concurred in all they had
heard from their worthy president as to the value
and even as to the necessity, of such associations
as the present. At their early meetings it became
the duty of those who addressed them to enlarge
on the nature, objects, and advantages of these
associations. Experience, however, he hoped had
proved their value so much, that it had now become
totally unnecessary to trespass on their attention
with any exposition of the peculiarities of these
institutions. {Applause). It was needless for him
to eay that there was no class of persons for whom
he had a greater regard than those whose health
he had the honour of proposing for their considera-
tion. {Applause). He could not attempt, in a
society consisting for a greater part, no doubt,
of the tenantry of the East-Riding, to pass
upon them any fulsome compliment, or to say any-
thing to them which he did not in his conscience be-
lieve they deserved. {Applause). Such compli-
ments they had too much good sense to expect, or
too much good feeling to desire. It is sufficient
they should receive the strongest approbation and
good feeling which could be evinced. They had
heard, on former occasions, a great many imputa>

tions cast on the sense or want of sense — on the
feeUng or want of feeling — on the part of the
tenantry of this county ; but he confessed himself
this showed that the parties who passed comph-
ments such as these had very little understood the
individuals of whom they spoke, or could not at
all appreciate the value of this class of society
(Applause). For his own part it always had been
his desire to cultivate and maintain a good under-
standing with the tenantry of the East Riding,
with whom he had the good fortune to be con-
nected, and he might, without vanity, say that no
gentleman had a more respectable or intelligent
set of individuals for his tenantry than those he
(Lord Hotham) had the good fortune to be con-
nected with ; and so they might suppose he was
always desirous to keep up a good feeling of
mutual confidence which was so essential to the
welfare of that great interest which all of them had
at heart. He had no doubt those present, as well
as those who from circumstances which they
could not prevent were absent, had been actuated
by the same feeling as himself — feelings which
ought to be encouraged by every landlord — and
which, if encouraged would always be duly re-
sjjonded to by the tenantry CApplause). In
I alluding to the interest which he had always felt in
the success of this association, he had endeavoured
to evince that interest for several years past by
offering a trifle in the shape of prizes to be com-
peted for, in such a manner as the committee who
conduct this as ociation might think most condu-
cive to its interests. He had much pleasure in
doing that, but on no occasion more so than the
present, when he found that the prize which he had
offered had fallen into the hands of one of those
gentlemen whom he was proud to say looked up
to him as his landlord {Applause). This was not
an opportunity when long speeches were desirable.
A Httle practical information would no doubt be of
more intei est than a long speech on general sub-
jects, and he felt he should best consult their
feelings by not trespassing further on their time
and attention. He felt that having for the last
three years been entirely abstracted from public
meetings of every kind, the excitement attendant
upon an occasion like the present had made him
more than ordinarily incapable of doing justice to
his own feelings ; but he could not sit down without
assuring them of his sincere and full conviction of
the importance of that body whose health they were
about to drink, and he requested them to believe
two things, first, that he had great pleasure in
finding himself again amongst them, and he also
felt himself exceedingly grateful for the manner in
which they had seemed disposed to welcome his
re-appearance amongst them. The noble lord then
resumed his seat amid loud cheers.

Geo. Wood, Esq., of South Dalton, briefly
responded to the toast.

The Vice-Chairman proposed the health of
the President of the Association, H. Broadley, Esq.,
M.P.

The Chairman acknowledged the toast.

Robert Bower, Esq., of Welham, proposed
the health of the Vice-President of the Association
and Chairman of the present meeting.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

205

The Chairman replied in a neat and very ap-
propriate speech.

J. Harrison, Esq., of Pocklington, proposed
the health of the Vice-President, E. H. Reynard,
Esq., in a highly complimentary speech.

The Vice-President returned thanks expres-
sing himself highly gratified with the manner in
which his health had been drunk, and in the
course of some good practical observations upon
farming he noticed the fact of the premium for the
best cultivated farm having been discontinued, and
said he hoped it would be revived ne.xt year. He
for one should be most happy to give them a
helping hand (Applause).

Wm. Bainton, Esq., of Beverley Parks, pro-
posed " The Elected Committee."

— Harrison, Esq., of Leven Hall Garth,
responded.

Jas. Hall, Esq., of Scorbro', proposed "The
Unsuccessful Competitors," and in doing so took
occasion to express his high approval of the sug-
gestion that a premium should be oftered for the
best cultivated farm.

W. Bainton, Esq. returned thanks.

The Chairman mentioned his regret that the
corporation of Beverley were prevented from sub-
scribing to the meeting next year out of the pubhc
funds, at the same time, however, he understood
the municipal body intended to contribute some-
thing from their private resources which verj' likely
would exceed in amount what might have been the
total of an aggregate subscription. He was happy
to announce that the Mayor had already subscribed
£5 towards the funds.

The Chairman then called upon the Vice-
President to propose "The Ladies," which he did
in his usual spirited and humorous style,

A number of other toasts followed, and the
company did not separate until late in the evening.

EXPERIMENTS WITH SPECIAL MANURES.

By Mr, A F. Gardiner, Overseer to W. M.
Fleming, Esq., of Barrochan, Renfrewshire.

{From the Journal of the Highland and Agricultw
ral Society of Scotland)

Although for a number of years I had turned
my attention to manures, and various substances
used as such, it was not till 1840 and 1841, when I
conducted a number of experiments to ascertain the
value of, and the best mode of applying, artificial
manures, under the direction of my present em-
ployer, that I was struck with the conviction that a
new era was about to commence in agriculture, to
which no limit could be assigned, and that the ap-
plication of chemistry to agriculture and accurate
experiment alone were wanting to render the use
of artificial manures most beneficial to the countrj'.

In 1842, with the sanction of mypresent employer,
I conducted a number of experiments on a larger
scale than formerly, and particularly those experi-
ments with specific manures, for reports on which
the Highland and Agricultural Society has offered
premiums. These have also been varied and com-
pared, and the results accurately ascertained, the
detail of which I now proceed to give, specifying
the substances appUed as a fertilizer to each des-
cription of crop in the year 1842, and also experi-
ments in 1843, as far as the residts could be ascer-
tained, to this period, 20th Nov., 1843.

No. I. Yellow Turnips. — The ground, one im-
perial acre, divided into four portions, of a rood
each. Jones's yellow turnip-seed sown 13th June,
when the bones were drilled in sulphate of soda;
dressing put on 24th June ; the ground prepared
with 35 cubic yards of dung; turnips lifted, topped,
tailed, and weighed, 2nd December.

Bone-dust.

Burned Bones.

Sulphate of Soda.

Nothing but Farm-yard
Dung,

Cost of

Quantity of

Dress-

Value per

No. of

Description of Dressing.

Dressing ap-

mg per

Produce in

Produce in

imperial acre

Dress-

plied per Impe-

imp.

Tons, &c,, per

Tons, &c., per

at 15s. per

ing.

rial Rood.

Rood,

imp. Rood.

imp. Acre.

Ton,

s. d.

tons cwt. qr. lb.

tons cwt. qr. lb.

L. s. d.

1.

35 yards farm-yard Dung.

, ,

4 5 3 5

17 3 0 20

12 17 5

2.

Burned bones

3 Bushels
3 Bushels
1 Cwt,

8 3
8 3

5 16 0 14
4 17 1 6

23 5 1 0

19 7 2 24

20 1 0 0

17 8 9

3.

^ inch Bones

14 10 9

4.

Sulphate of Soda

6 0 '5 0 1 0

15 0 7

5,

Guano and 20 yards Dung.

f Cwt. Guano.

15 0 '6 17 1 7

27 9 1 0|20 11 11

The soil upon which these turnips were grown is
an alluvial loam of from three to four feet deep,
quite level, bounded by a rivulet on the south side,
and superincumbent upon blue clay and sandstone.

It was thoroughly drained with tiles some years ago,
and is perfectly dry. The ground \yas selected of
nearly as uniform a quality as possible, about the
centre of twelve Scotch acres of turnips, and pre-

366

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

pared, as directed by the HiglJand Society, with
farm-yard dung, the two kinds of bones being
drilled in with the seed, and the sulphate of soda
put on as a top-dressing during the time of rain, after
the turnip plants had come into the rough leaf;
the drills, twenty-eight inches apart, and the plants
thinned to ten inches in the drill. They brairded
well and evenly, and continued to grow till lifted in
December. No. 1 was a fair crop, of moderately-
sized bulbs. No. 2, burned bones, were remarkable
all the season, having the smallest tops of any of the
lots, and the largest bulbs. No. 3, half-inch bones,
of the same quality as No. 2, but unburnt, had
larger tops than No. 2, but did not fill so well out
in the bulb. No. 4 had the strongest tops of any
of the lots, taller, broader leaves, and more luxuri-
ant, of a lighter green colour ; bulbs of good size.

Along with the other experiments, there was a
weekly account kept of their progress ; but the above
is all that is worthy of notice. It was considered
advisable to give the result of one-fourth acre of
land, which was manured with dung and guano, as
the produce was so superior, both in respect to the
weight of turnips in 1842 and the after-crop of oats
in 1843, which was not only much superior to that
portion manured Avith dung alone, but also to the
portions, Nos. 2, 3, and 4, dressed as stated in the
table, and which were all superior to No. 1 .
No. II. Potatoes. — Connaught Cups, planted
about 4th May, 1842 ; top-dressed 4th July dur-
ing time of heavy rain; hfted before 20th Octo-
ber, when they were measured and weighed.
Quantity of land in each plot, one-fourth of an
imperial acre.

Soot.

Sulphate and Nitrate of
Soda.

Sulphate of Soda and Sulphate
of Ammonia.

Nothing but Dung.

be*;

a o
"35 u

rS <*H

-3

2 m

*3

Description of

2i^

o s

^u

Dressing.

rS O

a> „• aJ

(J OJ

^^^
■^2

^

° 2

o w o

p in rt

go C

fl4

>

qrs. lbs.

8. d.

pecks.

b». Ilka.

tons.

cwt. qr.

lb.

£. a. d.

1.

S Nitrate of Soda

^ Sulphate of Soda. . . .

0 14

1 0

2 6\
1 9/

244

15 4

15

1 0

16

30 2 3

2.

Soot in bushels, 10. . . .

, ,

2 6

168

10 8

10

2 1

0

20 4 6

3.

Dung, 35 cubic yards. .

. ,

, ,

147

9 3

9

3 3

0

18 7 6

4.

4 Sulphate of Ammonia.
\ Sulphate of Soda. . . .

0 14

1 0

2 6\
6 9J

213

13 5

13

6 0

16

26 12 3

The part of the field upon which the above expe-
riments were tried has a gentle inclination to the
east; soil a stiff loam, lying upon a blue clay sub-
soil of great depth, superincumbent upon sandstone
rock. It had been thoroughly drained Avith tiles
and wood soles in 1840 and 1841 ; the drains twelve
feet apart. The ground was trenched Avith the
spade sixteen inches deep in the \vinter of 1841 and
1842, after which it was prepared in the usual man-
ner with thirty-five cubic yards of farm-yard dung,
and the potatoes planted in cut-sets laid above the
dung in drills thirty inches apart. An imperial
acre was carefully measured and divided into four
parts, three of which were dressed ^vith the above-
mentioned articles upon 4th July, when the plants
were six inches high . In the course of a week, the
effects of the dressings could be pointed out by the
change of colour to a dark green, and greater lux-
uriance of stems over the undressed — and which
difference continued on Nos. 1 and 4 till the tops
were destroyed by frost in October. The appear-
ance of the different dressings which were noted

doAvn, from time to time, were fully borne out by
the results given in the table, viz. : — No. 1 came
away quickest and strongest, and continued its ef-
fects till the stems were destroyed by frost. No. 4
next, but its effects did not last so long in keeping
up the growth of the plants as No. 1. No. 2, soot,
made the same change of colour, but was not so
luxuriant in growth as Nos. 1 and 4, and its effects
were more rapidly exhausted, the stems beginning
to ripen about a fortnight before the others, which
were quite green when destroyed by frost. No. 3
came to maturity about the same time as No. 2. I
may remark that this kind of potato does not an-
swer so well for top-dressing as red and white dons,
or the different kinds of early potatoes, from its
greater luxuriance of growth upon hea\')' land, as
also its lateness in coming to maturity, and which
the dressings Nos. 1 and 4 have a tendency to in-
crease and prolong. The oats this year (1843) are
remarkably strong and heavy on the dressed por- ^
tions Nos. 1 and 4, but on Nos. 2 and 3 they are ,
much inferior. I

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

267

No. III. Barley. — Effects of top-dressings of
various salts on common Avhite barley, sown 14th
April ; top-dressed the beginning of May j cut

down 25th August ; thrashed, cleaned, measured,
and weighed before the 15th October, 1842.

Saltpetre.

1

Salt.

Nitrate of Soda and Salt.

Nothing.

■—

^-i

•3 "»

S P.

T3 '

at

1^

C3

00

<o

Q
o

fccS-

53 .

bco

-T3 (-

-t3 *i'
^ -« -^

2 2

:2 ?f^

s

TS

Description of Top-dressing.

of dressin
!■ an acre in

bo

0)

straw an
per quarte
al.

grain thras
t for mar
ere imperia

3< a;

X5 O

s

O

■g.s

be

6

o
"■5 '-'

;s " s

o a
-=5 "^IS

"^1

O oi

.n

o

cu

CO

O
O

be c-'-'

^1 ^

0) 0) <u

s

cwtqr. lb.

£

s. d.

lbs.

lbs.

lbs.

lbs.

bu. lbs.

biisb. lbs.

1.

Nothing

3240

650

770

55i

11 42

, ,

2.

Saltpetre

0 1 0

0

7 0

3430

779

1180

54

14 23

, ,

3.

Common Salt

0 3 0

0

1 U

3270

756

940

57

13 15

1 30

) Nitrate of
( Common

Soda

0 0 21
0 1 0

0
0

3 8 )
0 4U

3592

782

982

56

13 54

4.

Salt

2 12

6.

Guano

0 3 0

0

18 9

4200

864

1150

54

16 0

4 12

6.

< Lime and salt with dis- }
\ solved Bones. 5

0 3 0

0

7 6

3850

840

990

56

15 0

••

The field upon which these experiments were
tried, along Avith many others, contains about six
imperial acres, upon the side of the hill with a
south exposure. The soil, a light bro^vn loam of
medium quality, superincumbent upon a stiff stony
tiU of great depth, lying between trap-rock and
sandstone— the trap disappearing at the north side
of the hill, and the sandstone commencing at the
foot of it, upon the south side. The west side of
the hill is bounded also by the trap, while the east
gradually recedes into a level of alluvial land of
great extent. It had been thoroughly drained with
tiles some years previous to its being broken up,
and was worth about 21. per acre rent. In the
spring of 1842 it was trenched out of lea, with the
spade, to the depth of twelve inches, at an ex-
pense of 3l. 6s. 8d. per imperial acre, all marks
of ridge and furrow being taken away, and the
land laid down level, as it was to be sown down
again (Avith the barley crop) Avith a mixture of
grass-seeds for permanent pasture; it was all
dressed over, except two acres where the experi-
ments were to be tried, with two chaldrons of
I quicklime, slaked Avith water in which common
salt had been dissolved ; and, before sowing the
I the barley, it was top-dressed with two and a-half
cwt. per acre, of TurnbuU's dissolved bones in
muriatic acid. AVith the exception of the two
acres left for experiments, the barley was sown
jbroad-cagt two and a-half bushels per acre, and

gave a return of clean grain, sold in the market, of
ten bolls of six bushels each, averaging 56 lbs. per
bushel, and brought above 20s. per boll. Nos. 2
and 3 burned the plants somewhat, which recovered
after rain ; but another portion, dressed with No.
2, never recovered. Nos. 2 and 4 took the lead of
No. 3, and kept it all the season in point of appear-
ance, being of a darker green and stronger. No. 3,
dressed with common salt, was throughout the
season of a hghter green colour than any of the
others, but salt, it appears, has the remarkable
effect of adding to the weight of the bushel of
the grain brought with it. A weekly account was
kept of the appearance produced by each descrip-
tion of top-dressings, but the above summary of
them seems sufficient. No. 5 (guano), which is
given extra, not being in the diagram, was, all the
season, superior in point of appearance to any of
the other dressings in the field.

From what has been observed, both in this and
former seasons, all dressings and manures contam-
ing a large per centage of nitrogen, such as guano,
rape-dust, sulphate, and muriate of ammonia,
nitrate of soda, &c., make the grain grown by them
lighter in weight per bushel, while, at the same
time, they giA-e more bushels per acre, as well as
more straw. On the other hand, such dressings
and manures as common salt, sulphates of soda
and magnesia, and bone dust, invariably give
heavier grain per bushel, but fewer bushels per

268

THE FARMEH'S MAGAZINE.

acre. Now it appears from this, if the same be
found to hold good in other places, that the most
judicious and most economical method is to use
a mixture of these, as common salt with, nitrate of
soda, or any of the others. The one wiU give
quantity while the other wiU give weight ; because
not one of the dressing enumerated above, except
guano, contains all the ingredients required for the
food of plants.

No. IV, Rye-grass and Clover. — Effects of dress-
ings of various Salts upon Rye-grass and Red
and White Clover; made into hay in 1842 ; top-
dressed 9th April; cut 30th June; weighed
when cut, and again weighed when stacked,
22 nd July.

Sulphate of Soda.

Common Salt.

Nitrate of Soda.

Nothing.

Description of
Dressing.

Nothing
Sulphate of Soda
Common Salt
Nitrate of Soda
/Salt, 14 lbs. }
\ Soot, 4 bush 5

^3

&4

o ^

CO rt
O o

cwt. qr. lb.

0 3 0
0 3 0
0 1 14

0 5 3

0 1 U

0 7 6

0 1 4i

&^

. u

03 ID

lbs.
2840
1936
2689
4500

3180

■T3 C

* a

5-Q

T3 is .

od a> £-

(B rt >H

'O

o .s

c;

P.S c3
g (U p

hS ffl S

c

TS

«!

tM

(U

o

C

0)

O}

CJ

, ,

<1

cS

Ih

0)

OJ

(=H

Oh

S

ID

HH

CJ

C

-a
o
u
Ph

lbs.

II904

11151

*1660

*340

3t. lbs.

55 10

46 8

50 4

100 4

65 2

St. lbs. I St. lbs.' £ s. d.

222 12; 5 11 4

19 2 186 4' 4 13 2

|5 6 200 0 5 0 0

*44 8 401 010 0 6

*10 0

280 0700

K

2 o

0) o

>=2

lbs.
275
337
262
312

287

The field contains about eleven acres imperial —
is nearly level, with a south exposure — and has
been for some years thoroughly drained with tiles,
and is quite dry. The soil a stiff alluvial loam of
good depth, superincumbent upon a heavy white
clay; and is upon a four-course shift, viz. : — 1st,
oats from hay stubble ; 2nd, green crop, potatoes
or turnips ; 3rd, wheat ; 4th, hay ; after which the
eame rotation follows. There was excellent wheat
grown on it in 1841, exceeding forty bushels per
acre. This land is worth £3 an acre. Owing to
the very dry weather at the time of dressing, their
effects were not so quickly remarked as is usual
from dressings ; but by tlie last week of April, No.
4, nitrate of soda, had taken the lead of all the
field in point of strength and darkness of colour.
The field being examined every week till cut, and a
register kept of the progress of the different dres-
sings. No. 4 had always the superiority in point of
appearance, being of a darker green colour, taller
in the stems, broader in the leaves, and more
numerous plants than the other dressings, of
which were a number of experiments in the field of
different kinds. Nos. 2 and 3 were not different
in point of appearance from the undressed por-
tions, but, if anything, was Ughter in colour ; but
the grasses upon No. a were quite of a different

kind, there appearing to be hardly any of the sown
grasses except a few straggling stalks of rye-grass.
But No. 2, sulphate of soda, though at no time
appeared to produce so vigorous a growth as No.
4, nitrate of soda, it is still worthy of trial, from the
fact that on some soils the crop, after being top-
dressed with it, gives a greater proportion of dried
hay than any other dressing ; for it appears from
the table that l,000lbs. green-cut undressed gave
275lbs. of dried hay, and the same quantity top-
dressed with sulphate of soda gave 337lbs., or
62lbs. more, while nitrate of soda gave only 3 1 2lbs. ;
and from some trials I have made on a small scale,
it seems that the most profitable way of using the
dressings, Nos. 2 and 4, is by mixing them to-
gether, which, while it lessens the first cost, impairs
none of the effects of the nitrate of soda in produc-
ing a vigorous growth, while the sulphate of soda
adds greatly to the weight of dried hay; as, in one
case, with nitrate of soda, at the rate of 1 cwt.
mixed with \ cwt. sulphate of soda, l,000lbs. of
green grass gave 362lbs. of dried hay, being 50lbs.
more than \\ cwt. of nitrate of soda alone, while,
at the same time, there was a difference of
3,000lbs. of green per acre in favour of the nitrate
of soda itself. Of No. 3, common salt, httle
effect was remarked ; and, owing to the great dry-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

260

ness of the season, it would have been better with
a less quantity, as the grasses seemed burned and
stunted in their growth after the dressing was put
on, and from which they did not recover. It may
be remarked that the top-dressing of nitrate of soda
gave an increase of above a ton of dry hay per acre.

No. V. Oats. — Sandy Oats; sown 16th April.
Nos. 2 and 4 top-dressed on the same day ; No.
3 watered Gth May, Cut down 14th September;
thrashed, cleaned, and weighed by the 6th Oc-
tober, 1842.

Ammoniacal Liquid.

Sulphate and Nitrate
of Soda.

Bones dissolved
in Sulphuric Acid.

Nothing.

n3

'h

hCOJ
.S u

Si

a a
■f-3

a

o
<ii bia

a

O Oh

bci

.9

fci)

.5

'rn

a

S-c

.S ^

6p.

1-^

2 8

0) o

-3 t;

Q
B

w

o
d

Description of Dressing.

bo

c .

Q «

bC.S a,

1^ S
be" ■-

> ^

is o

CO <1^

a

to

s

hi

'S ^ h

■St3 §

<D u

uo

3 Si

u

O o

^3^

^§<5

^S,

i?s

Z^

(3

qu. lbs. gal

£ 8. d.

lbs.

lbs.

lbs.

lbs.

bu. lbs.

bu. lb.

1.

Nothing

1955

440

670

39

11 11

..

2.

S Bones dissolved in Sulphuric ^

^ Acid J

Ammoniacal Liquid . . .

3 0 0

0 7 0

2717

668

997

42

15 38

3 27

3.

0 0 30

, ,

2255

550

865

40

14 0

2 29

4,

S Sulphate of Soda Nitrate of >
^ Soda 5

1 14 0

0 3 4

2496

651

928

41

15 36

4 25

The part of the field upon which the above ex-
periments were tried, has a gentle inclination to the
south. It was trenched with the spade sixteen
inches deep, in the spring of 1842, out of lea
which had lain about seven years, and was drained
with tiles at twenty feet apart, having been before
only partially drained with stones. It is now
(1843) completely dry. The soil is partly moss
and partly a sand or gravel loam which were mixed
in the trenching. The dressings, Nos, 2 and 4,
were put on, and slightly harrowed in, before the
oats were sown. The oats brairded well. No. 3
was mixed with 120 gallons of water, and sprinkled
upon the oats during the time of rain after they
had come up. No. 4 came earher thi'ough the
ground than the others, and was of a darker green
colour, so that the square upon which it was put
marked itself out from a distance. No. 2 had no
change of colour, but was very luxuriant in
growth, and kept the lead of the others, in point
of strength, all the season. A few days after
No. 3 was sprinkled, the colour changed from
a light to a dark green, and the plants made
great progress for some time, appearing to
outstrip the other dressings ; but about the middle
of July it began to fail in growth, and showed the

usual signs of coming to maturity, while Nos. 2
and 4 were in full growth. No. 3 was the earliest
ripe — No. 3 next— and No. 2 latest. No. 1 (no-
thing) was ripe nearly at the same time as No. 3.
A register was kept, but nothing remarkable was
noticed from what is given above. It appears that,
however needful it may be to find out some suitable
top-dressing for oats, upon uplands where the
ground is poor and thin, such land should at no
time be broken up without something being added
to enable it to bear a good crop. Yet most of the
land upon which oats are grown in the low lands
does not require dressings to be given them ; for,
in the generality of seasons, oats are strong enough
for a good crop, and, if dressings are added, th^
he down, and are, in a great measure, destroyed,
particularly in wet seasons. No addition is re-
quired to ensure a good crop of oats from lea that
has been suitably laid down in grass and regularly
pastured ; and, if sown after green crop, the land
will in general be found of sufficient strength to
yield a good return without the aid of dressings.
No. VI. Peffs.— The effects upon peas of gypsum,
sulphate of soda, and a mixture of sulphate and
nitrate of soda, was tried ; but the experiment
failed, in consequence of a considerable portion

270

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

of the crop having been destroyed by birds and
rabbits. The only remark I can make, at all
worthy of notice, is, that the portion top-dressed

with sulphate and nitrate of soda was extraordi-
narily heavy in straw.

Gypsum.

Sulphate of soda.

Sulphate and nitrate of soda.

Nothing.

EXPERIMENTS REPEATED IN 1843.

Turnips. — ^The effects upon the turnip-crop of the
substances mentioned in the foUoAving diagram
together with that of several other substances,
was again repeated this year (1843); but, as
they have not yet been hfted (Nov.), the result
cannot be accvirately ascertained. It may, how-
ever, be remarked, that one portion, guano
and dung, took the lead of all the others, and
appears to be at least one-fourth heavier than

any of the other portions. The portion with
burned bones seems the next heaviest crop,
although that from sulphate of soda appears
to make the leaves larger and more luxu-
riant. All the four portions Avere equally ma-
nured with 35 cubic yards of farm-yard dung ;
the portion with guano and dung was manured
with 20 cubic yards dung, and 2^ cwt. gua no,
per acre.

Bone-dust.

•
Burned bones.

Sulphate of soda.

Nothing but dung.

Potatoes. — The substances mentioned in this dia-
gram were repeated upon the potato-crop of
this year (1843). Rough red potatoes, planted

4th May ; top-dressed 8th June ; hfted, mea-
sured, and weighed, first week of October.

Soot.

Sulphate and nitrate of soda.

... ..... .....

Sulphates of soda and of ammonia. Nothing but dung.

eg

.'2

'u

u

0)

.« (U

<y o

<U u

<u

fl

in

CO u

be ai

.s s

<" 1-1

" is

_2 c3

o cr

ex,

S ^-

£

ts

Description of dressing.

•S u

o

o

O

<u

S ^S

3 " h

S.S

<U CS

i

6^

•^3 5£

o5 2

li

cwt. qrs. lbs.

£

s. d.

pecks, lbs.

bus. pk. lb.

tons.

cwt. qrs.

lbs.

£ s. d.

1.

Soot in bushels, 12, .

....

0

3 0

211 15

13 3 15

13

4 1

4

26 8 5

2.

J Nitrate of soda ....
L Sulphate of soda .. .

0 10

0

4 4il
2 3 5

0 1 14

0

234 10

14 10 10

14

12 3

12

29 5 8

3.

Dung, 40 cubic yards

. , • •

....

189 25

11 13 25

11

16 1

4

23 12 7

4.

J Sulphate of ammonia
l Sulphate of soda ....
r Bones dissolved in"1

0 1 0
0 1 14

0
0

4 6 }
2 3 \

25 5

16 1 5

16

I 1

20

32 2 4

5.

sulphuric acid, and

1 2 0

0

7 0 >
.... 5

carbonate of mag- (

6 1 0

228 20

14 4 20

14

6 2

24

28 11 5

L nesia ^

THK FARMEU^S JIAGAZINE.

271

The ikld upon wliich the al>o\e potatoes were
gro\A'ii is a light, sharp, gravelly loam, ratlier thin,
subsoil gravel, and has a slight inclination to the
south. It was thoroughly drained with tiles two
years ago — drains eighteen feet apart, and thirty
inches deep — and is novv- quite dry ; worth 4()s. of
rent per acre. After draining in the spring of 1S42,
it was ploughed out of lea, and oats sown, which
gave a good crop. After the oats, at the end of
1842, it was ploughed with a broad deep furrow,
and subsoiled. At the time of planting, it was
cross-ploughed and harrowed, and all root-weeds
gathered off"; after which a grubber, of three
horses, ^^■as passed through it. and again harrowed
and gathered. The drills were then drawn with a
double mould ])lough, at twenty-eight inches apart.
The manure — forty cubic yards of farm-yard ma-
nure— was spread in the bottom of the drills ; po-
tatoes cut and set upon the toji of it, and covered
with the plough about three inches deep. They
were harrowed, and worked in the usual manner
with the plough, drill grujjber, and hand-hoe.
They brairded about the end of May, very healthy
in appearance, and quite regidar. After top-dress-
ing, which -was done during the time of rain, the)-
made remarkable progress — so that, by the '24th
of June, Xos. 1, 2, and 4 had taken the lead in
point of strength, and dark green colour, and
which Xos. 2 and 4 continued to do till destroyed
by frost on the night of the 2Sth of September,
No 1 came away the same as Nos. 2 and 4 ; but
these came to maturity earlier, shewing signs of
ripening at the beginning of Septeml}er. No 5 is
given here, as Ijeing put upon part of the same
field as the others ; and from the very remarkable
effect it had in promoting the growth of the potato.
It made no change in the colour of the leaves ; but
the plants, from being the weakest in the field, be-
came strong and luxuriant, and continued to grow
most luxuriantly till destroyed by frost, and, when
the crop was lifted, was found to yield fully the
largest tubers in the field. This trial was upon a
smaller portion of ground than the rest, and top-
dressed upon the ])lants when they were set up for
the last time. I think, howe^•er, that it ^vould per-
haps be l)etter to put the mixture in the bottom of
the drills along ^^'ith the dung. It u'as made by
dissolving bones in sulphuric acid diluted with
water in a tub, and let stand foi- some days. Car-
bonate of magnesia in powder was then stirred into
it till it dried uj) all the moistrire, ^^'hen it was fit
for use. I consider this dressing as worthy of a
more extensive trial upon dififerent soils. The cost
of it, as gi^'en in the table, is only probable ; but it
will rather be over than under the real cost, and a
very small portion of it, mixed with other manure,
would probably be sufficient. An experiment was
also tried in the field, of the comparative effects of
half an acre manured with forty cubic yards of
farm-yard manure, and another half acre with
twenty cubic yards and five cwt. guano — the pro-
duce of the first being at the rate of forty-seven
bolls, of five cwt. each, per imperial acre, and of
the latter sixty-three bolls. This shews the bene-
ficial effects of mixing guano with dung, as well in
an economical point of view, as from yielding a
greater produce. It may be remarked, that a

mixture (jf liftccn cwt. guano with moss, or
other inert vegetable matter, seems, from several
ex])criments that have been tried, to yield a crop of
potatoes equal to that produced by forty cubic
yards of dung.

(To be continued.)

(JN JTIE COST OF GROWING WHEAT.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MAKK LA^fE EXPRESS.

Sill, — With regard to the expense of growing wheat,
aud the i)rofits of the crop, to which you have invited
attention, there are I think several collateral circum-
stances worth taking into, consideration. I believe
Earl Ducie's statement to be perfectly correct as to the
profit of growing wheat even at 3s. Od. per bushel, as an
isolated tact dissevered from all considerations of the
expenses of the foregoing crop, and in this sense doubt-
less Earl Ducie meant to represent it. I am at a loss
to know why Mr. Jonas (see the Mark Lane Express
of the '22nd inst.) debits the wheat crop with the whole
expense of the himip fallow, viz., 11/. 14s. Id. Will
not from 20 to 30 tons of Swedes per acre settle that
account ? Again, why cannot Mr. Jonas, may I be
allowed to ask, fatten 200 bullocks on oil-cake and corn
in his yards himself, instead of offering to others a pre-
mium of 1,000/. to do so ? Does he mean thatby feeding
them on his own account he should sustain a pecuniary
loss more than ecpiivalent to the value of the manure,
whi(^h, if I understand him, he estimates at 1,000/. .' If
so, does not tliis loss arise from tlie circumstance of the
high price of corn compared with that of beef and ani-
mal food generally ? If the price of wheat was 3s. 6d.
per busliel (I name that sinn merely for argument's
sake), instead of 7s., and wlieat being the standard, other
grain regulated at a similar rate, could not the bullocks
be fattened without incurring the loss implied by Mr.
Jonas's oft'er of so large a premium ? I hold that if the
protective dnty was over the bullocks instead of the
corn, tliey could be fattened to pay a very handsome
profit — even the moderate profit of a halfpenny per lb.
would amount to 400/., the manure 1,000/., making
1 ,400/. Now, supposing the farm to be 300 acres,
and .jO acres of wheat grown, the value of t!ie crop at
the protected price of 7s. per bushel would be 525/. ;
but then there could be no bullocks and no manure pro-
duced, the high price of the corn being incompatible
witli these last productions ; so that without reckoning
tlie corn at all, the profits alone on the 200 bullocks
and the manure together would leave a balance in favour
of low-priced corn of 875/., or take a farm of 100 acres,
on which 20 acres of wheat arc grown, amounting under
the present protective system to 200/., at which price
no bullocks can be fed ; but put the wheat at an unpro-
tected price, say 3s. Od. per bushel, the crop of 20 acres
would then make 100/., but then 20 bullocks could be
fed at the stall, paying a profit of a halfpenny (or per-
haps more) per lb., which would amount to 66/. ISs.
4d., value of the manure (\ take Mr. Jonas's estimate)
100/., altogether 233/. 6s. 8d., and the laud put into
good condition for future cropping ; balance in favour
of cheap com 33/. 6s. 8d.

Every farmer of long experience is well aware that for
30 years past stall feeding has produced no profits, but
rather the contrary ; and why .' for the reasons above
stated, the materials for raising the required produce
have been forcibly and artificially enhanced in price far
exceeding the value of the product to be raised out of
them ; hence, almost four-fifths of the business of «

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

farmer, during sk months of tlie year (the winter), has
been thereby rendered valueless or rather injurious, tind
the mischief is extending to the daiiy farms, and to sheep
feeding ; in consequence of these results farmers are
driven to the necessity of just keeping their stock in
existence through tlie winter in the cheapest manner
possible — to attempt to fatten, or even keep it in good
condition does not answer ; to do that, corn would be
required, which, with wheat at 7s. .per bushel as the
standard, would be attended with positive loss — no won-
der, under these circumstances, that the stock generally
does not improve in quality. Statistical writers affirm
that corn constitutes one-fi.th of the whole produce of
the land, and if they are correct, then I contend that
the interests of the other four-fifths have been sacrificed
through a mistaken policy, the purpose of which has
been to uphold predominantly the one-fifth (corn). We
have, then, surely here an insight into the causes of
agricultural distress, the losses on four-fifths of the pro-
duce greatly preponderating over the forced gains of the
one item I contend that a thorough revision of the
whole system of agricultural legislative protection is
necessary, not with the view of carrying out the dogma
of " free trade," but of transferring the protective prin-
ciple from corn, and diffusing it over the other products
of the land (or the most important portions of them)
which would in reality be benefited by, and require it.
Until this is done, we shall get no profits; andif so, how
can we employ labourers ? I contend not for prices but
profits. Shew me that I am making profits of some
kind or other, and I care not for prices. There is in-
deed an undue proportionate profit on wheat at 7s. per
busiiel, if, as Earl Ducie has shown, it can be grown at
3s. 6d. ; but it is obtained by sacrificing profits upon
everything else, and also by sacrificing the fertility of
the soil. Agriculture ought to be protected to the same
extent and after the same manner as are manufactures —
that is, by nominal duties on raw materials, and protec-
tive duties, on wrought, manufactured, and completed
goods. Corn is our raw material, and our other pro-
ducts are more or less analogous to manufactured goods.
Under this system the trade, commerce, and manufac-
tures of the country are now in a flourishing condition,
which shews the incorrectness of the statement of Mr
Jonas, as reported in the Mark Lane Express of the
22nd inst. — "That it was impossible for the manufac-
turing and commercial interests of the country to
flourish unless agriculture flourished also." I take it
the present condition of the two interests militates
against that assertion, and shews that one is governed by
a healthy system, the other not. I contend, further,
that by the present system corn is imported duty free in
the most objectionable form, that is, after it has been
converted into animal food, thereby giving to the
foreigner the larger profit upon a more complex article,
and the manure to enrich his land with. What is a fat
OS but 8 or 10 Quarters of corn converted into his sub-
stance ' The abohtion of the tariff duties is not the
cause of our depression, but it is a terrible aggravation
of it ; the true cause has been in operation for 30 years,
under various degrees of intensity, and now combined
with the new tariff has reached its climax. Had the
'* protection" always rested upon all agricultural pro-
duce excepting corn, agriculture would never have
known distress, the country would never have known
want, the fertility of the soil would have been increased
bayond calculation, and rents would have kept pace
with it. We ought to be indebted to foreigners only to
help us out in the materials of which we cannot produce
enough, and we should work them up as we ought, and
sould do in a workmanlike style. It may be objected
that the protection I speak of would be inoperative.
J«Jgw, if it wer^ bo, that would shew that competition

could do us no harm. Mr. Cobden contends that the
protective duties of 30 per cent, afforded to cotton and
silk goods is inoperative, because (says he) we export to
all parts of the world, therefore how can there be im-
ports : I believe, notwithstanding, that were it not jfor
the protective duty, cotton and silk goods of an inferior
quality would be imported and interfere very much
with the prices and profits of our own manufactures,
just as inferior cheese, and nasty salt meats of various
kinds, are now imported from abroad, and havetheeffect
of lowering our prices, without in a corresponding de-
gree benefiting the public. I say, then, if our " pro-
tection" is shifted and placed in the right direction, we
shall become like the manufacturers, exporters to a large
extent of the finer and more elaborate productions of the
land, such as high bred animals of every description,
cheese the best in the world, perhaps wool and other
products, all of which, under the system proposed,
might be produced without limit.

If then (for the argument's sake) the foregoing con-
clusions be admitted, the leaders of the agricultural
party would evidently appear to be in a serious dilemma ;
but this is not, or ought not to be, a party question, or
a "free trade" question, but a national one, afiecting
the vital interests of agriculture, and the very safety,
honour, and welfare of the country and constitution.
Sir Robert Peel himself, although a great statesman,
and possessed with extraordinary talents, cannot be ex-
pected to know everything. He told us some time
since, at Tamworth, he was not a practical farmer, and
therefore the conclusion is, that he has been misin-
formed with respect to the nature and benefits of agri-
cultural protection. I believe the right hon. baronet
on inquiry will soon discern the true nature of the
question, and having done so, will not be slow to rectify
past errors ; here, if anywhere, will open before his
astonished eyes the " new path to future fame."

The condition of the agricultural labourers, now
almost abandoned to want and star\'ation, through the
inability of the farmers to pay them wages, will compel
a diligent inquiry into the causes, not only the proximate
but remote, of these social evils. The very elements and
seasons seem to mock and laugh to scorn our present
legislative protective system ; and what is to support the
labouring poor and the live stock of the farmers next
winter, I ask, unless we have large importations and low
prices .' I shall be greatly mistaken if future experience
and coming events do not confirm the positions I have
assumed, and the arguments with which I have endea-
voured to support them, respecting " agricultural pro-
tection." When I commenced farming a very few
years since, I found that I fattened cattle at the stall
which cost me 7d. per lb., and sold them at less than
6d. ; pigs cost me 10s. per score to feed, and sold for
7s. T reckoned my turnip crop to lose a halfpenny per
lb. on the mutton fed. I was much surprised at these
results, and inqiured of older farmers how it happened
that there were no profits : the answer I invariably got
was this — " There have been no profits on stall-feeding
for 30 years past," but no explanation could I obtain in
any one instance of the cause of such a state of things.
It is somewhat remarkable, however, that the period
named corresponds very nearly with the age of the corn
laws.

It does appear that just principles of legislation with
regard to agriculture have been overlooked and lost
amid the din and confusion of two sets of clamourers —
the pro-corn law men and the free traders. To the
former I should say, seek to transfer " protection" to
those products of farming which you must see need it
the most ; corn, we know, can be grown profitably
without it, but there are many other things which you
produce which demand it, To the latter I would taji

THE TARMER'S MAGAZINE.

278

seek freedom of trade first of all upon the goods you
manufacture, and when that is obtained, then come
with clean hands to us, and we will listen to you — at
present we desire to possess equal privileges at least with
yourselves : from 20 to 30 per cent, is your " protec-
tion," we expect as much. I grant we do not want it
on corn, if that is your only object; but we want it,
nevertheless, on the bulk of our products. Your attacks
upon the agriculturists about taxing the "food of the
people" are mere twaddle and hypocrisy, so long as you
continue to tax their clothing at the rate of 30 per cent.
Tnus both these parties seem to be right in a small de-
gree, and wrong in a much larger degree; hence the con-
fusion that has arisen; but 1 believe " truth" may be
winnowed out of this confusion : I have a strong opinion
that the above statement in some measure elucidates it.
I am yours, &c., " Taurus."

Warwickn/iire, July 29, 184-1.

AGRICULTURAL QUERIES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — Observing a communication from Mr. J.
Campbell to the Highland Society, on steeping seed
in chemical solutions, and aware that great dis-
appointment and loss has occurred to some who,
hke myself, are ignorant of chemistry, from steep-
ing barley, and thereby destroying its vitality, I
resolved to try with wheat steeped thirty-eight
hours in a solution of lib. of sulphate of ammonia
ta one gallon of water, and accordingly planted
twenty grains in two different situations in the
garden on the 19th of July, and four grains with
each lot which had not been steeped. On the 26th
July, seven of the grains which had not been
steeped came up vigorously, and on the 27th, two
of those which had been previously steejjed had made
their appearance, but looked very sickly, and are
now, August 2nd, inferior to those planted dry,
and upon examining the seed bed for those which
had not germinated, I found them nearly decayed.

If the insertion of these facts in your widely
circulated magazine should induce some to experi-
ment with caution for themselves, and others of
your better informed correspondents to comment,
and instruct the inquirer as to the best way of pre-
paring a steep for seed, through the same medium,
the purpose of your obedient servant will be fully
answered. jNauiBgR.

Stratford-on-A con,
August 27id,

gladly make the experiment, and shall be happy to
communicate the result. I am, Sir, yours respect-
fully, John Sills, Jun.
Gopsall House, near Atkerstone,
July 24th.

IMPROVEMENT OF WASTE LANDS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — Among the correspondents of your able journal
there are, doubtless, many well versed in the reclaiming
of waste land, and who will liberally impart some of
their experience to one who asks enlightenment on the
subject. I have lately become the possessor of a portion
of waste ground, the soil of which consists of black
sand, covered with heath and furze, and various coarse
grasses, whose fibrous roots give it a well known dark
blue colour. The subsoil is of red and yellow sand, with
occasional deposits of hard sand stone at various depths
below the surface. Each of these sands, when minutely
examined, appears composed of small transparent crys-
tals, differing little in shape or size ; but opinions vary
as to which will form the better soil of the two.

Whatever information any of your experienced cor-
respondents can furnish me with, on the following points,
will be gratefully received : — The comparative merits of
these two soils. The best mode of converting them ;
whether by paring, burning, and ploughing, or by trench-
ing and dressing with mud clay or marl. Tne best
kinds of manure for such soil ; and the comparative
expense of these processes.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

Heather.

Leighton Buzzard, Aug. 6th, 1844.

TO THE EDITOR TO THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — Though a constant reader and subscriber
of your magazine, I do not recollect having seen a
remedy for the " Smother-Fly " on Swede turnips.

Nearly all the crops in this neighbourhood are
sutieting from them, more or less, mine particu-
larly so, and unless some remedy can be immedi-
ately applied, I am afraid the whole crop will be
completely destroyed. If you are aware of any i
appUcation that will kill them, I shall feel obliged
by your informing me of it at your earliest conver !
nience : or if not, if you can suggest anything that j
will bo likely to have the desired effect, I will |

Sir, — The present appearance of the turnip crop is
so unfavourable, and it has in so many places entirely
failed, that it behoves us farmers to look about for a
substitute for that valuable root, more especially for
spring feed. In many parts of this county they have
been thrice sown, and each time destroyed by the
smother-fly, and in such a manner as not to leave the
vestige of a turnip in fields of fifteen or twenty acres in
extent. Will you, therefore, allow me, as a sufferer, to
inquire, through the medium of your valuable paper,
from some of your correspondents, what, under present
circumstances, is best to be done .' for it is evident that
continuing to sow turnips is an useless expense and
trouble. I am. Sir, your obedient servant,

Salop, Aug. 22, 1844. Salofiensis.

Sir, — You will oblige one of your subscribers if you
can mform him whether the effects of guano in destroy,
ing worms has been observed by any of your correspond-
ents ?

In the spring of last year I apphed 1 cwt. of Ameri-
can guano, mixed with finely-sifted ashes, to about half
an acre of lawn, which is kept close cut, and which had
for many years been infested with worms to a far greater
extent than I ever observed elsewhere. Ever since the
apphcation of the guano the worms have rarely come to
the surface, and, when they do, they die almost imme-
diately. I am not aware of any other cause of this re-
markable change, and will be glad to receive informa.
tion on the subject. I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

Newcastle, Aug. 19, 1844, A Subscriber.

Sir, — Can you, or any of your correspondents, afford
me any information respecting the giant cow parsi'ip,
its mode of propagation and culture, the season for sov .
ng or planting bv seed or offset, its produce and aptU

T 2

274

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

tude for the feeding of stock, and the time at which
usually it may be cut for fodder in the north of England
or Scotland ? A i-eply to such, or as many as possible,
will be very obliging.

Have any of your correspondents had experience of
prickly comfrey as green fodder for cattle, pigs, or
horses ? It is said to be both productive and fattening.
Any addition to our means of early spring feed is of
much consequence, particularly in northern districts,
where grass does not come forward so early as in more
favoured climates. I am, Sii-, your constant reader and
humble servant. J. B. F.

Momack, by Inverness, N. B., Aug. 17.

Sir, — In the parish in which I reside, the land (a
strong soil upon lime-stone) is principally farmed upon
what we call a five-field course, viz., seeds, pastured
two years ; then wheat, turnips, barley, and seeds. I
believe, as neighbours, we are all agreed that to use our
fold-yard manure for wheat and artificial tillages for tur-
nips is the best management we have hitherto tried ; but
we differ in opinion as to the proper time and method of
applying it, to be the most beneficial to the wheat and
succeeding crops. Some lay it on in the winter, after the
seeds have been pastured one year ; andargue that it gets
properly washed into the land, and greatly improves the
seeds for the second year, and is, of course, the greatest
advantage to the wheat. Others use it after the seeds
have been pastured two years, in a decomposing state,
plough it in immediately, and drill the wlieat as soon
after as possible ; consequently, it is one year nearer the
turnip crop, to which its advocates contend it must be a
great assistance; while those who are opposed to the plan,
say it is put in too deep and near the stone, and, in a
great measure, wasted.

I have a neighbour in the adjoining parish — the land
similar — whose invariable practice it is to manure his
seeds the first winter after being sown, and is equally
wedded to his own plan. I should, therefore, feel greatly
obliged if any of your numerous practical correspondents
would have the kindness to give us their opinions from
proofs of experience, and, if possible, set us right for the
future.

Your insertion of the above, together with any infor-
mation that may be kindly forwarded to you upon the
subject, will much oblige, sir, yours with great respect,

Lindsey, Lincolnshire. An Old Subscriber.

Sir, — I should feel obliged to any of yoiu* numerous
correspondents if they would inform me, through your
valuable journal, the most approved method of laying
down to grass strong land with a clay subsoil ? What
combination of seeds will produce the best herbage ?
And whether more advisable sown with barley, oats, or
otherwise? Yours, &c.,

Aug. Ibth. M.R.A.S.E.

Sir, — Having lately observed some of my sheep
" spilling the cud," as it is termed, I shall feel obliged
if you or any of your readers will inform me of its cause
and its remedy, and you will oblige yours, faithfully,

Aug. 17, 1844. Agricoj.a Bedfordiensis.

A Correspondent from Yorkshire inquires as fol-
lows : — " I have a piece of ground very contiguous to
my stables, on which I have summered my horses for a
long time ; indeed it is a sward of 50 years standing.
Your correspondent from ' West Norfolk' will much
oblige me by saying whether it would be practicable to
raise a crop of lucerne for ne.xt year from it, and which
-would be the best way to break it up, whether by par-
ing and digging, or how."

ANSWERS TO AGRICULTURAL QUERIES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK LANE EXPRESS.

Sir — In reply to the inquiry of your correspondent,
M. R. A. S. E., relative to the best method of laying
down to grass strong land on a clay subsoil, I should
recommend him to procure a mixture of grass seeds
from Messrs. T. Gibbs and Co., sowing them with a half
crop of barley or oats ; and for the first year or two, if
practicable, a good folding would be useful. In this
way I laid down about thirteen acres two years since,
and I have now a well- bottomed pasture. That I might
be sure of having a suitable selection of seeds, I had my
soil analyzed, and sent the result to Messrs. Gibbs. I
shall be happy to let your correspondent see the report
of this analysis if he wishes it, and will give you his
name and address, that he may judge for himself of the
similarity of our soils. I have tried inoculation in
former instances, but not with equal success. I should
have said that the price of the seeds is 40s. per acre.
I am, Sir, yours faithfully,

August 23. Agricola Bedfordiensis.

TO AN INaUIRER ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF WASTE
LAND NEAR LEIGHTON BUZZARD.

Sir, — Your upper and lower soil, though ditferent in
colour, are probably the same in substance ; still it would
be a dangerous experiment to bring the lower soil to the
top suddenly by deep ploughing or trenching.

Paring and burning, followed by very shallow plough-
ing, would be likely to give you good turnips or rape,
unless the season were«dry.

As to marl, if you have that substance in your neigh-
bourhood, as you probably have, you are very fortunate,
and may be certain of your improvement. The Duke
of Bedford's home farm at Woburn, which is not far
from you, was once covered like your land with heath,
and was reclaimed chiefly with marl. You would do
well to look at its present state, and to satisfy yourself
if there be any doubt by a comparison of the marl and
the soil of Woburn with your own.

MUMMY WHEAT.— A few weeks since, we had
the pleasure of visiting the grounds of Mr. Reid, nur-
sery and seedsman, Derry, and feel bound to add our
tribute of admiration to the tasteful manner in which
they are laid out. In his garden, among other curiosi-
ties which attracted our attention, we saw a quantity
of Egyptian wheat in full ear, and giving promise of
an abundant harvest, the seed of which was found
in the folds of a mummy unrolled in 1840. For the
benefit of those unacquainted with the characteristics of
this wheat, we take the following very accurate descrii)-
tion of its peculiarities from our contemporary, the
Derry Journal: — "The specimens of the Egyptian
bear a much larger and weightier ear than our common
wheats, and have a proportionably stronger stem or stalk.
The ear itself is full six inches long, and is provided
with long awns or beards, like barley ; its breadth,
taken diagonally, measures in one direction more than
an inch, and in the other about half au inch ; it has,
therefore, a somewhat quadrangular appearance from the
base till within one-third of its whole length from the
top, from which, till its termination, it resembles the
ear of barley. But, in our opinion, its distmguishing pe-
culiarity (which accounts for its great breadth) consists
in the disposition of the greatest portion of the grain in
earlets, or small ears, which lie so compactly and close
to the main ear, that their existence as separate ears is
detected only by manipulation. The grain in size, form,
consistency, and colour is similar to the produce of this
country, and, from its being very prolific, its cultivation
will merit the attention of our best agriculturists."-—
Northern Whig,

THE FARIMER'S MAGAZINE.

273

AGRICULTURAL REPORTS.

GENERAL AGRICULTURAL REPORT FOR
AUGUST.

It has been a matter of general observation that
the weather of this month has exhibited a great fluc-
tuation of character — greater perliaps than ever re-
collected at any previous corresponding period of the
year. From its commencement, until nearly the '20th,
all parts of the L'nited Kingdom were visited by heavy
showers of rain, which, for a time, greatly impeded
the progress of out-door farm labours, and pro-
duced many fears as to the eftect that might be
produced upon the wheats and barleys, immense
quantities of which were exposed in the fields in
the whole of the forward counties. Since the above
date, the atmosphere has been uniformly fine — quite
as fine, indeed, as could possibly be desired ; and
the whole of the corn which was outstanding on
the day las-t mentioned has been cari'ied in the
most admirable order, if we except a few patches
of barley having become rather sprouted. Such
has ])een the activity everywhere displayed, that it
is calculated that at least three-fourths —
perhaps four-fifths — of the wheat and bar-
ley have been secured in those counties south
of the Humber; and further, that, in about a
week from the present time, harvest -work will be
concluded. North of that river, all is activity and
bustle ; we may, perhaps, say that about one-third
of the ^vheat has already reached the mow or stack-
yard, with every jn-ospect of a termination of this
kind of labour earlier than usual.

As to wheat, no complaint whatever exists ;
everywhere it is admitted that the acreable supply
will be A'ery abundant, with quality seldom or never
surpassed. The straw of all grain, on the
other hand — owing to the dry weather in the early
part of the season — is very short. Oats are not
likely to prove more than an a^-erage produce ; but
that of beans and peas will be quite equal to that of
last year. As yet, the supplies of new grain on
offer in the various markets have been — as might
be expected, from the fanners being so busily occu-
pied in cutting and carting — by no means exten-
sive.

During the month the importations of live
stock under the new tariff have been moderately
good as to numbers, though they have not proved
quite equal to those at the corresponding period
in last year. From the official returns made up to
27th inst., we find them to have been as under ; —

Oxen and Cows.

London 801 head.

Liverpool 78 „

Hull 260 „

Southampton , . , 138 „

1,277
In addition to the above, about 100 sheep, and
200 pigs have been received into London, South-
ampton and Devonport, from France and Belgium.
During the same time in 1843, there were imported
1,600 cows and oxen, 300 sheep, and 340 pigs.

As to the quality of this year's importations, we
may observe that it has fallen short of the expec-
tations of the sanguine in these matters. Some
very useful beasts have, it is true, come to hand ;
but the majority of them, including the sheep,
have been m'iserably deficient in this respect. The
average range of value of the oxen and cows has
been about 18/.; for the sheep 1/. 12s. each.
Though no improvement has, as yet, been observed
in the quaUty and condition of the foreign stock,
we have no hesitation whatever in saying that in
future years a great difference will be perceived in
it, for we have the best authority for saying that
the graziers in Germany, France, Holland, &c.,
are making veiy great efforts, by importations from
this country, as well as by an improved system of
feeding, to enter into competition with those in Eng-
land. Strange as it may appear, the whole of the ex-
periments which have been tried to fatten foreign
beasts in our marshes and stalls have turned out most
disadvantageously, as not a single instance has
come under our observation in which the stock
has not been seized with the epidemic, and speedily
wasted away, and this, too, notwithstanding all
kinds of food have been used. Immense quanti-
ties of American beef, pork, cheese, &c., have been
entered for consumption in London, Liverpool, &c.,
in, generally speaking, capital condition. From
New South Wales, about 1,200 casks of beef and
pork have been received, and which will be shoitly
submitted to public competition.

The stock in our pastures has not, we regret to
observe, fared so well as could be desired ; and our
accounts from the flock districts are by no means
cheering.

The second crop of hay is not likely to be so abun-
dant as many persons appear to anticipate. This,
together mth the light first-cut, seems to foretell
high prices during the winter.

Our advices from Scotland are to the effect,
that the crops, in the cutting of which no great pro-
gress has as yet been made, are looking remarkably
well, with every prospect of a good general yield.
The corn trade has ruled rather inactive, at about
stationary prices.

In Ireland, harvest work is going on under the
most favourable auspices. Some large quantities
of oats have been brought forward in the different
markets, where the trade has been somewhat steady,
at late rates.

The various descriptions of farm produce ex-
hibited in the home markets, have been in by no
means heavy supply ; but the quantities of foreign
having been large, the general demand has been
rather inactive, and prices have proved a shade
easier.

The supphes of fat stock on sale in Smithfield
market, in the course of the month, have been as
under : —

Beast 12,010

Sheep and lambs ... . 195,412
Calves 1,290

t • ) 1 1 1 1 1

1,462

2/6

THE FABMER'S MAGAZINE.

The quotations have ruled as follow : —
Per Slbs to sink the oftals.

s. d. s. d.

Beef 2 4 to 4 0

Mut on 2C 40

Lamb 3S 48

Veal 34 46

Pork 32 40

Although, as will be perceived by the above
returns, the supplies have been seasonably large,
prime beast, sheep, and calves have commanded
a steady sale, at full prices ; but with other kinds
the trade has been heavy, and the rates have been
with difficulty supported. The lamb season may
now 1)6 considered nearly closed; hence some dif-
ficulty is experienced in giving accurate quotations
of that kind of stock. From the northern grazing
districts the arrivals of beasts have amounted to
about 3,000, but we cannot report very favourably
of their quality. From Norfolk a good number of
Scots has come to hand ; but the droves from that
quarter will speedily cease.

Newgate and Leadenhall markets have been again
amply supphed, yet the trade has been, on the whole,
steady, at full currencies. Beef has sold at from 2s.
4d. to 3s. 6d. ; mutton, 2s. 6d. to 3s. Sd. ; lamb, 3s.
4d. to 4s. 8d. ; veal, 3s. 4d. to 4s. 4d. ; and pork, 2s.
6d. to 3s. lOd per 8 lbs., by the carcass.

YORKSHIRE.

The harvest may now be said to have generally com-
menced in this large and important county ; for, al-
though in some of the moorland and clay districts the
corn is still green, still in all the ordinarily forward
parts cutting may be said to have commenced in ~ood
earnest. Partly owing to the wet season delaying the
scythe, and partly owing to the previous dry season
preventing the growth of grass, the hay time and the
harvest are to a very considerable extent interfering ;
and the hay season may be said also to be in its very
midst, for in one field you may see the hay in swathe, in
lapcock, or in pike, scarcely any in stack ; and in the
very next field, the reapers busily cutting down the yel-
low corn. The turnip-hoeing has also been much de-
layed ; and, partly from the slow growth of the tur-
nips at first, and more especially because of the very
heavy rains and consequent saturated state of the earth,
it was impossible to eradicate the weeds ; and, though
the turnips are now growing very rapidly, still the most
instances are very backward and foul — only, however,
with annual weeds, the root-weeds being so easily ex-
tirpated in the delightful spring. The grass only com-
menced growing after the rain which fell in June ; and
therefore many of necessity delayed mowing. The
rainy season keeping in constant succession prevented
its being cut ; and now the crop is by no means by far
so deficient as was generally expected. Much that is
already got is, however, in only moderate condition.
Tne weather now, however, seems settled ; and the con-
sequence is, as we said, that hay-time and harvest are
both going on together. The corn has ripened very
gradually, and is coming on very rapidly, and almost
altogether. Barleys are horribly light. On some of
the lighter soils they are exceedingly short, and never
recovered the shock the long drought gave them. A
largs produce is impossible. The oats are short, and
very deficient in straw, but are pretty well eared. The
wheat is a fair crop, and in most cases free from smut,

mildew, and rust ; and though the straw may perhaps
have been, in some cases, stronger and taller, still the
prospects of the yield are quite an average ; and, should
divine Providence favour us with a propitious harvest,
plenty, aided by prosperity, may be expected to crown
our " sea-girt isle." The grand County Society's exhibi.
tion at llichmond produced a show of short-horns
which must have astonished every person who was not
intimately acquainted with the capabilities of the north
of England. So many perfect animals collected toge-
ther, of all ages, and, whether of cattle, sheep or pigs,
were perhaps never — taking their relative proportionate
value into account — brought together on any one occa-
sion since the dispersion from Mount Ararat. The
splendid success of that valuable and valued society in-
creases with its age, and, zealously carried out as it is,
it is no doubt calculated to give an immense impetus to
agricultural improvement in the county. — Aug. 20,

NORTH EAST OF SCOTLAND.

We can now give a much more favourable report of
the state of the crops in this district than we could have
done at an earlier period of the season. The long-con-
tinued drought in May and June, kept vegetation in
check during the time in which it ought to have made the
greatest progress; and the month of July commenced
with a prospect rather unfavourable to the hopes of the
husbandman, in so far as the grain and grass crops were
concerned. The hay crop had proved decidedly poor
and light ; pasturage had been deficient throughout the
season, more so, it is believed, than it has been in any
season since the memorable summer of 1826, and the
corn was coming into ear with every appearance of a
short and light crop. But a copious rain which fell on
the 13th ultimo, and which was followed by mild and
genial weather, completely changed the appearance of
things, and during the last three weeks, crops of all
kinds have advanced with amazing rapidity. Their
progress has, indeed, more resembled the hasty strides
of vegetation during the brief, but rapid summer of
more northern regions, than the slow and gradual
advances which it usually makes in our sea-girt isle.
Oats, which are almost the only grain crop in this dis-
trict, have already attained to a length of straw which
could not, at one period of the season, have been ex-
pected. Though we are certainly not to expect a heavy
crop — unless perhaps in a few cases on low-lying and
moist ground — yet there seems reason to believe that it
will reach an average. The harvest will not be early,
notwithstanding the dryness of the early part of the
season ; and, if the weather continue wet with a cloudy
atmosphere, it may be rather late. The early part of
the season was remarkably favourable for preparing the
land for turnips; and the seed of this important crop
was put into the ground with every advantage. The
weather having subsequently continued propitious, the
plants made a beautiful and regular appearance in the
drill ; and never, perhaps, have turnips been seen ad-
vance more rapidly than they did this season after the
first hoeing. An immense quantity of crushed bones
is annually used in this district as a luanure for turnips.
Last spring the supply of this important manure was
not nearly equal to the demand ; and the limited
quantity o^ guano, which was imported in the earlier
part of the season, was speedily bought up, so that
many individuals were under the necessity of deferring
the sowing of part of their turnips till an additional
supply of this latter manure could be obtained. An
abundant crop of turnips may be expected, if the wea-
ther continue tolerably favourable during the remainder
of the season. — Aug. 20.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

277

CALENDAR OF HORTICULTURE —SEPTEMBER.

1 . Retrospect. — For ten weeks we had complete
aridity. The water-pot was called for twice a-day,
and did little. July came in wet, but the rain,
after refreshing the earth, pa??ed away, and nature
recovered its verdure, while the renewed heat ma-
tured everything. August, to the date of this ar-
ticle, has been cool, changeable, and very showery ;
its weatiier brings on a premature autumn, and
though it renders the turnips luxuriant, and the
lawns grassy, yet it disappoints us much. August,
in a good and propitious year, ought to be serene,
very warm, very lovely. We are now paying for
our volumes of solar light, which came at a sea-
son when the showers that now fall would
have made the gardens richly luxuriant. Tlie
winds are frequently very violent, and the tem-
perature i'rom .50 to 66 deg.

Tlie garden crops are generally fine, and the rain
makes the cabbage and broccoli thrive very fast.
Potatoes have suffered mucli ; tubers few, very
small, plants in many instances dried up ; and in
consequence of the premature ripening of the
young potatoes, they sprout again ; thus dete-
riorating the fruit, and producing a feeble,
secondary progeny, utterly valueless

2. Manures. — True guano, analyzed by Dr.
Ure, gave as an average result, according to the
report in the last Journal of the Royal Agricul-
tural Society —

1st — Azotized animal matter, includ-
ing urate of ammonia, together ca-
pable of aftordiug from 8 to 16 per
cent, of ammonia by slow decora-
position in the soil 50 per cent.

2nd— Water 11 „

3rd — Phosphate of lime .... 25 ,,

4th — Phdsphateof ammonia, oxalate
of ammonia, ammonia, phosphate of
magnesia, together containing from
5 to 9 parts of ammonia .... 13 ,,

6th — -Silicious sand 1 ,,

100 part«(.
But analyses differ, specimens differ, and lastly,
adulteration is practised to a disgraceful extent.
The earthy phosphates and ammonia are the es-
sentials ; and thus, if every gardener would save
all the bones which are left by the family, have
them ground or beaten to a coarse powder, com-
bine that with nitrate of soda and sulphate of am-
monia, he might introduce the leading materials of
true guano into his soil for a mere trifle. Take,
for instance —

Of crushed bones, or coarse bone-dust . . 50 lbs.
,, nitrate soda and sulphate of ammonia,

each 71bs 14 ,,

,, decayed cow-dung or desiccated night-
soil 36 „

100
For top-dressinga in rainy weather, applied in
the proportion of true guano, it would prove a
most fertilizing compost ; yet we confess t)mt, as
guano is produced by sea-fowl, which feed only
upon fish, it caunot be efiectually imitated.

Weekly Operations in tfie Kitchen
Garden.

3. Mushroom-beds are now prepared, but few
persons who can afford to raise this vegetable arti-
ficiallj' ought to hesitate between the conveniences
and certainty of a good mushroom-house, and the
litter, trouble, and doubt attending tlie old-
fashioned "apology" of the open ground, when
the fields produce mushrooms of better quality,
particularly at this season of the year, if the wea-
ther be showery.

Sow occasionally salads ; lettuces of the hardier
sorts in frames. Plant lettuces at latest by the
middle of the month, from the seedlings raised in
August. If the garden be cold, with a damp,
watery subsoil, dig trenches as for celery, but
closer together, and lay the earth in nice ridges,
upon which plant the lettuces, six inches asunder.

In sandy or dry gardens, it will suffice to enrich
the earth with good manure, digging and planting
as the work proceeds ; the rows to be a foot apart :
or plant in single row, along the borders.

Cauliflower plants raised in May and June, and
transplanted in July, will be heading. Make a
sort of basin round each, and in dry weather apply
liquid manure.

Cabbage- plants raised in Augu&t ought to be
pricked out pretty early in tlie month, in bed'}
made rather rich with manure. Standing tliem
five or six inches asunder, they acquire stocky
roots, and much strength. Leave the plants in
the seed-bed about as far apart, or less so, and they
will remain in small compass during winter, and
may be easily protected. These directions apply
also tocoleworts, called "greens. "

Celery in the trenches must be earthed as re-
quired. Two persons will do the work better than
one, as each plant can then be held compactly, so
as to prevent any earth from falling into its ci^ntre.
In earthing, at all times, the heart-shoot should be
left above the soil.

Endive. — Tie a few plants to blanch them for
the table.

Onions. — The small silver, for pickling, are to
be taken up when quite ripe, and dried in the air,
under cover, if the weather l.e rainy. The large
bulbs, if not quite mature at the beginning of the
month, should be twisted, and the green shoots
laid even in the spaces so as not to overshade the
bulbs. When ripe, the onions are pulled up, ex-
posed for some days to the sun, and then transferred
to an airy shed till quite dry, prior to being put
into nets, or tied in ropes.

Spinach for winter. — Keep it clean by the hoe,
and draw out young plants in thinning order for
table use, leaving the stock to stand ultimately four
or five inches plant from plant.

Turnips. — Hoe carefully. These planto should
stand in rows ; the hoe will then cut up all the
weeds in the spaces, and the plants can be effec-
tually thinned out with regularity.

Attend to beds and plots, so as to keep every
part, not under crop, neat as possible.

We like the system of self-manuring ; thus every
leaf of a permanent crop, like rhubarb and arti-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

choke, can be digged into the ground close to the
plants. Vegetable manure (always excepthig
weeds) is best obtained by digging in the herbage
of all garden plants, as cabbage, potatoes, lettuce,
&c., &c. : they soon decay, and tlieir remains add
quality to the land. I'ea-haulm. just pulled u]i,
may be laid into trenches and covered -with soil.
If those things decay in a heap, they lose four-
iifths of their substance, the gases generated pass
off, and little else than wet carbon remains. In
the ground every produce is economised, and it is
not true that grubs and vermin are thus fostered
and protected .

Fruit Uepartmexts.

4. First regulate, and nail-in, orderly, the re-
tained shoots of all the stone-fruit trees; gather
the fruit very carefidlj-, and deposit it in baskets
furnished ^\ ith leaves, or some soft material, one by
one, to prevent bruising. Suspend nets in front of
the trees, if this be not already done.

Bottles of sugai-, or treacle and water, among the
trees, will attract numbers of \;^asps and ilies.
Take wasps' nests.

Strawberiy plantations can be made early in the
month, if the weather l^e rather moist. Trench the
land eighteen or twenty inches deep, incorporating
half-decayed manure and leaA'es. If the runners
have been rooted -'in small 60" ])ots, as for forc-
ing, every jdant with an entire ball will take to the
ground; the staple earth should be alight unctuous
loam, or the decayed turf of a sheep common. Plant
in rows, two feet asunder, and at twelve inches in
the rows ; but if the strawberries are to occu])y
iDorders or edgings, the plants arc to stand eighteen
inches asunder. Keen's come in first; the old
pine, and the British Queen next ; the Elton pine
finishing the succession, lliese are enough ; but
all should have several aspects : the Eltons to the
north would continue to produce fruit till the
second week in August. I'he protraction of the
season with goosberries and currants should thus
also be foreseen and provided for. Grapes ripen
now; many of the best clusters ought to be se-
cured by mushn bags against wasps and blue-bottle

flies. ViNEEY.

5. The fruit ripens fast now; and at this season
the West's St. Peter's is a vine of first-rate excel-
lence, which is easily kept till the middle of No-
vember by making gentle fires, and giving plenty
of air to expel damp vapours. Ilie skin of the
grape is extremely delicate, and requires caution in
handling and packing : if to be sent to a distance,
one good method is a piece of fine tissue paper
upon another piece of a quality much stouter; then
to make a sort of pottle, twisted tight at the lower
point. The cluster is to be carefully held by the
6talk, dropped into this bag, and covered at top by
folding over the edges of 'the two papers. These
packets should be placed one by one firmly toge-
ther upright in a box, pressing tow or threshed
Boft moss round the sides, so as absolutely to ])re-
yent shaking. Grapes thus secured, will lose very
little of their bloom, and may be conAeyed a
hundred miles or more in safety.

Melons are nearly over; but in a sunny Sep-
tember good fruit is frequently produced, and
houses or pits furnished with a hot water tank

could grow them in still greater perfection. The
same may be said of pineapples. This mode of
heating is so pure, clean, and capable of reo-ula-
tion, as to be suitable at any season to succes-
sional or fruiting plants.

Plants fully grown, and M'hicli ;u-e intended to
furnish a complete house of fruiters during the
following spring, ought now to be finally potted,
and at the end of the month removed to the pine-
stove, there to remain cool and unexcited during
the autumn ; previously, however, being kept quite
close, and at 70«, till the roots ha\'e taken hold of
and worked into the new soil ; this they will do in
I two 01- three weeks.
I Flower Depaktmext.

Camellias become more and more fashionable ;
] they and the gardenias form the most elegant and
I attractixe bouquets. It is fortunate, therefore, that
I a method of ol)taining single stocks for budding
1 and grafting in vast numbers, and with dispatch,
I has been discovered ; and this v.-e shall attempt to
j describe.

j Prepare a bed of tan in a In-ick pit, so deep as
just to retain a gentle heat of 60* or 65«, and cover
it three or four inches deep with silver sand. Col-
lect cuttings of three joints of the shoots of the spring
now ripe, and cut each just al)ove the bud, so as to
leave an inch or more of wood below the eye ; thu.s
there will be three cutting.s — the lowest and the one
above it with an inch of wood, a bud and leaf at
top, and the upmost with the same length of
wood, a leaf, and ])erhaps two buds. After
thoroughly soaking the sand, stick the cuttings
into it as closely as they can ])e packed, and shut
the .sashes. We have seen thousands together,
which in the .Time following could be individually
drawn out of the sand, without damaging roots,
three inches long, and perfectly M-hite. It is u.sual
to pot off these plants in good bog earth about
September; they must then be kept quite close
(but nexer with bottom heat) through the W4nter.
The piece of wood below each eye, so far from
preventing rooting, retains moisture and feeds the
eye, which, in its turn, excited by the gentle heat
below and in the sand, protrudes roots between
the wood and bark.

Trans])lant rooted plants of carnations, pinks, and
picotees.Prepareflowerbordersfor herbaceous plants;
and make the flower garden neat in e\Try part.

Mow the lawns as required ; cut box edgings ;
plant box, and make good the blanks. Weed the
gravel walks, and roll them ; dig any vacant
ground.

Greenhouse plants must be removed, and re-
potted ; then placed in the house. Two year old
geraniums may be retained ; but older ones, ex-
cepting the fine large scarlets used in clumps,
should be dispensed with.

All the heaths, and hair rooted, hard-wooded
tribes, are best in dry airy pits.

Rooted cuttings of all the fancy pelargoniuma
are to be re-potted. The auriculas, primulas, ver-
benas, &c. &c., put into pits to stand on a stratum
of dry coal ashes.

The plant-stove must have air; its plants be
less watered, and the heat kept by night about 55".

August 17, 1844,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

279

REVIEW OF THE CORN TRADE

DURING THE MONTH OF AUGUST.

In taking a retrospective Aiew of the corn-trade
during the past month it will be necessary, in the first
instance, to direct attention to the atmospherical
changes which 'have occurred witliin that period.
Till nearly the close of July the weather M'as
hightly auspicious for the wheat croj), and sanguine
expectations were entertained as to the probable
yield ; indeed, to such an extent did the opinion
prevail that the harvest would prove one of unusual
abundance, that jirices of the article fell to a low
point ere the month of August commenced.
Scarcely, however, had reaping begun, before an
unfavourable alteration took place, and the first
fortnight in August proved so wet and boisterous,
as, in a great measure to dispel the high hopes
previously indulged in ; torrents of rain accom-
panied with violent gales of wind were experienced
at intervals between the 1st and iGth instant ; and
in many parts of the kingdom the grain crojjs were
much lodged. This state of things gave rise to
fears that the harvest would be ])rotracted and
precarious, and in proportion as apprehensions in-
ci'eased so did the value of old wheat advance, un-
til it had risen at least 5s. per qr. from the lowest
point of depression ; this occurred about the mid-
dle of the month, but a propitious alteration having
shortly afterwards taken place in the weather, the
upward tendency was checked. In the southern
counties harvest operations were commenced as
early as the ■25th of July, and some quantity of
wheat \^'as safely housed previously to the com-
mencement of the rain. Subsequently a temporary
stop was put to carrying, l)y the fickle and \m-
settled state of the \A'eather, and it was not till the
drying breezes and bright sunshine experienced on
the 17, 18, and IQth inst.hadagain dried the sheafs,
that carting could be safely resumed ; from that
time, up to the period we are writing, no serious
interruption has occurred, and in all the counties
lying south of the river Humber, the bulk of the
harvest may now be considered safe. That the
quality has been injured by the unfavourable
changes above described, does not admit of doubt;
the most serious mischief was occasioned by the
corn, where badly laid, sprouting in the ear, and we
have seen many samples grown in Essex and Kent
where this defect has materially deteriorated the
value of the produce. Still, the greater part has
been well got in, and after a careful investigation of
the various reports which have as yet reached us,
we are inclined to think that the total )'ield will be
found to exceed rather than fall short of an usual
average; we feel bound, at the same time, to
observe, that while a considerable proportion
of the northern harvest is still abroad, this
opinion is given with some degree of
doubt, as circnmstances might yet occur so far to
injure that still exposed as to make an important
difference in the total production of the kingdom.

The foregoing remarks are intended to apply
especially to wheat ; of the spring-sown crops, we

are sorry to say, our reports must be far less
favourable. Barley, which at no period of the
year promised well, the plant having never wholly
recovered the injurious effects of a dry spring and
summer, has suffered quite as much from the
heavy rains as wheat ; and, l)esides being short
in quantity, will, we are satisfied, prove exceedingly
various in quality. The best pieces, sown early and
on good soil, l)eing the most luxuriant, were the
more susceptible of being Ijeaten down, and in
many instances were laid as flat to the ground as if
a roller had past over ; the wet and heat from the
earth naturally caused germination, and much
grown corn will consequently l)e found. On the
other hand, where late sown, it came up at dif-
ferent times, and therefore ripened irregularly;
and we fear that the maltsters \\'ill find it difficult
to obtain samples of really fine malting quahty.
Oats must be short in England, nor do the ac-
counts recently received from Scotland and Ireland
speak nearly as well of the probable result of the
harvest in those countries as earlier in the season.

Attention having, as usual, been principally
directed to wheat, the information which has
hitherto reached us in regard to Lent corn, is not
sufficiently authentic to enable us to come to a defi-
nite conclusion as to the entire produce of the
United Kingdom. The statements from Ireland,
in regard to oats, we receive with considerable
caution, and merely give their substance without
in any way vouching for their accuracy ; it is at
all times difficult to collect information to be de-
pended on for some time after harvest has been
concluded resjiecting the result even from those
districts immediately under our own observation,
and the difficulty is greatly increased when the
locality lies on the other side of the Irish Channel.
Beans are decidedly short in most of the southern
counties, and we have also numerous reports of
deficiency from other quarters, the drought in
June having, as was at that period apprehended,
caused the pods to fill indifferently ; in addition to
which, extensive ravages were committed by the
fly. Peas are variously spoken of, but on the
whole the complaints of the yield are too general
to allow us to hope that this article will prove an
exception to the otherwise defective prodiice of all
Lenten-sown crops.

Whilst the rain which fell during the first half
of the month interfei'ed greatly with harvest opera-
tions, and was ]iroductive of more or less injury to
the quality of the ditterent descriptions of grain,
farmers have in some measure been compensated
for this disadvantage by the benefit which the
copious showers have afforded to all articles used
as fodder ; the second crop of grass is likely to
prove very good ; turnips, exce])t where injured by
the fly, will also produce well, and mangold-wurtzel,
potatoes, &c., have been increased in bulk by the
plentiful fall of moisture. Our prospects are
therefore, on the whole, far from discouraging.

S80

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

With regard to the future range of prices, a
good deal still depends on the weather ; we can,
however, see no reason to reckon on any material
reduction, even if the remainder of the crop should
be secured in good order. The stocks of old corn
are by no means abundant ; and though the yield
of wheat may be regarded as rather exceeding an
average, that of most other kinds of agricultural
produce being somewhat below what is usually
grown in average years, there is not likely to be
so great a superalnmdance as to cause prices to re-
cede much below their present moderate range.

With these obsei-vations as to the future, we
shall now endeavour to trace the proceedings of
the past ; and as the changes at Mark Lane have
regulated the proceedings at most of the other
principal markets, we shall confine our observa-
tions principally to the occurrences of the month at
the metropolitan market.

The very low ebb to which the value of wheat
was reduced towards the close of July, gave rise to
a general disinclination, on the part of holders, to
part with that portioii of the old crop stiU remain-
mg on hand. This circumstance, and the fact
that but little time has been aftbrded for thrashing
(all hands having been employed in the fields),
have caused the deliveries from the growers to be
on a moderate scale throughout the month. No
new wheat appeared at Mark Lane until the 12th,
and then the quantity was inconsiderable ; on the
19th, however, about 1,000 cp-s. were shown,
chiefly from Essex. The unsettled weather, and
the smallness of the supply, caused old wheat to
advance 2s. per qr. on Monday, the 12th, and
heavy showers having been subsequently experi-
enced, a further rise of 2s. per qr. occurred on the
following market day, when good runs of red real-
ized 50s. to 53s. and white 52s. to 58s. per qr. ;
this was the highct point attained. The appearance
of a fair quantity of new wheat at market on the
succeeding Monday, and the improvement which
the weather undenvent about the same time,
checked the upward tendency ; and though prices
have not again receded to the point from which
they originally rose, purchasers have been enabled
to secure what they required at Is. to 2s. per qr.
below the top quotations mentioned above. Nearly
the whole of the new wheat exhibited on the 19th
was of good quality, having probably been saved
previous to the rain. Some few of the samples
contained unripe grains, and had otherwise the
appearance of having been harvested too hastily,
but the majority were in e^^ery way fit for grinding,
with only a small admixture of old ; the average
weight was certainly not less than 63lbs. per bush.,
from which it will at once be understood that the
condition was generally good. As is usuiil ■wdth
the first supplies of new, comparatively high prices
were obtained ; some of the finest parcels of white
realized 58s., and for the best red 53s. to 54s. per
qr. were paid. Among the supply of the following
Monday, there were again some very good samples,
but viewed as a whole, a considerable falling off
in quality was observable; there was conse-
quently a wider range of prices, some being
sold as low as 47s., whilst the best still brought
36s. per qr. Foreign wheat has throughout the

month come freely to hand, the weekly arrival having
averaged about 15,000 qrs. On the 1st instant
the duty rose from 17s. per qr., at which point it
had pre^novisly stood for a considerable period, to
18s. ; before this event took place, about 50,000 qrs.
were entered for consumption at this port, nearly
100,000 qrs. at Liverpool, and a large proportion
of the bonded stocks were likewise hberated at the
other principal ports, so that the cpantity under
lock in the kingdom was reduced from about
600,000 C[rs. to 351,549 qrs. Notwithstand-
ing this large addition to the quantity of free
wheat, the heavy rains in the early part of the
month, and the consequent chances of the out-
standing crops being injured, sufficed to prevent
any decline occvirring; for about a week after
the release of the bonded the trade remained in-
active, but afterwards buyers came forward more
freely, and holders raising their pretensions in pro-
portion as the demand increased, succeeded in
establishing an advance of 3s. to 4s. per qr. on the
lowest rates of the previous month ; this occurred
on the l6th, being one of the wettest days experi-
enced in the neighbourhood of London during the
month. Subseciuent events have caused the in-
quiry to fall off, and at the present period nearly
half of the advance has again been lost ; good
Rostock, which at one period was worth 54s., has
been since sold at 52s. ; whilst superior Danzig,
for which as much as 58s. per qr. was realized
when the excitement caused by the weather was at
the highest point, has receded to 55s. to 56s. per
qr. The duty remained at IBs. perqr. four weeks,
during which time about 50,000 qrs. were entered at
the port of London ; it is now 19s., and will rise to
the maximum on the 6th of September. Nothing
of interest has transpired in bonded wheat, only
a few parcels having changed hands at prices
about equal to the value of the article free, less the
duty. Parcels to be shipped from Danzig have
been offered, free on board, at 30s. to 32s. per qr.,
according to quality, without meeting attention,
and the transactions in this department of busi-
ness have not been of much importance.

In the early part of the month, before the rise in
wheat was established, flour was exceedingly diffi-
cult of dis]30sal, and the top price of town made,
which had for some time been unsettled, was put
down by the principal millers to 45s. per sack ; the
decline has not since been recovered, though the
demand for the article has improved. Country
flour has been seUing at very irregular rates ; at
one period good Norfolk households were obtain-
able, in quantity from the ship's side, at 34s. per
sack, but since then prices have, with a falling off
in the supply, rallied Is. to 2s. The sale of
British manufactured flour has been a good deal
interfered with by continued arrivals from Canada.
At Liverpool this has been more felt than
in London, but even here it has made a consider-
able difference. The quality does not, however,
appear to please our bakers so well as in former
years; and the best brands have been selling at
28s. per barrel, equal to 40s. per sack.

With barley of home gro\vth we have been vei^
sparingly supphed ; and though the demand, as is
usually the case at the corresponding season of the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

881

year, has been of quite a retail character, no varia- 1
tion has occurred in prices. Nearly the whole of
the abundant arrivals from abroad have been
landed in bond, importers still calculating on a
reduction in the duty. That some tricks are being i
played to effect this object is too eviderit ; and it I
behoves the parties, whose duty it is to guard
against frauds, to keep a sharp look out after the
returns from those places where the princi])al stocks j
of bonded are lying. The transactions in foreign j
barley have been even more restricted than the I
operations in English, the sales having been con- '
fined to small quantities, taken for grinding pur- !
poses at prices varying from 2Gs. to 28s. per cp\
The averages have lately tended upwards, an oc-
currence somewhat difficult to account for, and
scarcely in accordance with the position of the
trade. The inspectors should look to this. The
conviction that only a small proportion of the bar-
ley crop will be of suitable quality for making good
malt, has caused the finer descriptions of tnat
article to be held with much firmness; and though
the inquiry has at no period of the month been
active, previous prices have been well supported.

During the long continuance of drought in Maj-
and June many orders were transmitted to the
north of Europe for the purchase of oats, under
the impression that the extensive failure of the hay
crop, and the probable deficiency in the yield of
oats, would cause that grain to rise considerably
in value previous to harvest, so as to reduce the
duty to a low point. This calculation, though
apparently well grounded, has not been realized,
and the speculations entered into have thus far
been attended by serious loss to importers. The
duty never fell below Gs. per quarter, the arrivals
from Ireland having throughout the summer
months been on a sufficiently liberal scale fully to
supply our wants, the foreign receipts have there-
fore proved somewhat superfluous ; and though
prices have recently recovered slightly from the
extreme depression in July, they are, neveitheless,
still very low. Besides the large quantity already
received from abroad, 50,000 to 60,000 quarters
are yet expected from the more distant ports ; but
as the English stocks are nearly exhausted, and the
supplies from Scotland and Ireland are likely to
be short for the next month or six weeks, we do
not reckon on prices falhng below their present
level.

The utmost rise that has occurred since our
last has not exceeded Is. per quarter, and even
that small advance has had the effect of lessening
the demand, the operations have therefore daring
the last week or two been on a restricted scale.
Good Irish have lately been selling but slowly at
20s. to 22s.; Scotch feed at 23s. to 24s., and foreign
at from IQs. to 21s. Of Enghsh corn so little has
appeared that qiiotations cannot be accurately
given. We have hitherto had no arrivals of new
oats from Ireland at this port ; but at Liverpool
several parcels have appeared, mostly of good
quality.

Beans, which had already fallen to a very low
point at the close of July, continued to recede in
value during the first two weeks of the present
month ; but the reports of the yield having, mean-

while, become very unfavourable, and the moderate
terms at which the article was obtainable having
somewhat restored confidence, a slight rally occur-
red on the 19th instant, and the advance of Is. to
2s. per qr. then estal)lished has since been well
maintained. .Vbout 3().()()0 qrs. were entered for
home consumption at this port at the 5s. Gd. duty
previous to the I7th instant, on which day the duty
rose to Gs, Gd. per qr, Egyptian beans were at
one time sold free as low as 25s. to 26s. per qr. at
Mark-lane, but lately 2Gs. up to 28s. have been
obtained for good qualities, duty paid, and cor-
responding prices for bonded. English Ijeans have
risen in the same proportion, good ticks having,
within the last week or two, commanded 308, to
32s. per qr. The stock of this article in bond is
now unimportant. The present position of the
averages indicates a further rise in the duty, but
it is not improbable that it may, after a time,
again recede.

Peas seem to have yielded better than beans, at
least such is reported to be the case immediately
around the metropolis, and judging from the sam-
ples which have hitherto appeared at Mark-Lane,
we should be inclined to say that there is little to
complain -of in regard to quality. The opening
price for white boilers was 40s. to 42s. per qr. ;
since then the value of the article has gradually
given way, the most recent sales having been at
36s. to 38s. Maple and grey peas have also been
parted with at low rates, the finest samples having
scarcely exceeded 33s. per qr. The duty fell to
Gs. Gd. per qr. on the 25th July, at which point it
has since rem.ained, with the prospect however of itf5
rising Is. per qr. almost immediately. Most of the
foreign peas held at this port have stood the im-
porters in about 30s. per qr. in bond, the quantity
is not veiy large, amounting to only 7,628 qrs.,
and from the fact that it would at present be im-
possible to realize without loss, there is not likely
to be much pressing on the market ; indeed, we
doubt whether the whole of the quantity under
lock will be libevateCl, as some parties are still of
opinion that when the season shall have advanced
somewhat further, it will be discovered that the yield
has been over estimated. Should this really prove
the case, prices might easily rally sufficiently
during the winter months to reduce the duty below
what it is at present, and the probability of such
an occurrence is by some holders regarded as
preferable to entering at the existing rate. Very
little has been done in foreign peas, either free or
in bond, during the month, and that little at an
abatement of fully 2s. per qr.

In laying before our readers the substance of the
most recently received reports from the principal
foreign grain markets, the North of Europe claims
the first notice. During the latter part of July and
the first half of August, most inclement weather
was experienced over all that tract of country from
whence Danzig draws its supphes. So great a
quantity of rain fell that the waters in the Vistula
were swollen to such an extent as to rise nineteen
feet from the lowest point, and extensive inunda-
tions were the consequence. Broad tracts of fertile
land, both in Poland and Prussia, were laid under
water, and the reports respecting the mischief

282

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

done are really distressing. Besides the mischief
this visitation has inflicted on the outstand-
ing crops, the bulks of wheat lying along the
borders of the river have recei^-ed extensive
damage, intailing great loss to the merchants. It
may probably be known to many of our readers,
that the barges which bring down the \\'heat from
Poland and other parts to Danzig do not, as with
us, at once deposit their cargoes in granary ; but
that the grain is, in the first instance, landed and
turned in the open air, by which, in suitable
weather, its condition is much improved. Upwards
of 200,000 quarters were, at the commencement of
the month, lying exposed preparatory to imder-
going this operation; it may, therefore, easily be
conceived that the overflowing of the river must
have proved a serious calamity — not only inasmuch
as at least a portion of the corn must have been
wholly destroyed, but the quality of the entire
quantity must inevitably have been greatly dete-
riorated ; indeed, the advices state that scarcely a
parcel is to be met with (except such as was pre-
viously in granary) in a fit state for shipment.

This circumstance — together with the important
fall which prices have undergone there, in conse-
quence of the generally discouraging reports from
Great Britain — has placed the foreign merchants in
a very awkward position. Heavy advances had,
as usual, been made by them on the wheat to the
landed proprietors, v.'ith the certainty of being re-
imbursed on the arrival of the goods, by making
sales or consigning to England or Holland. 'I'he
wretched condition to which the wheat has been
reduced by the casualty above referred to, and the
generally damp state of the atmosphere, have, as
already remarked, rendered it altogether unfit for
immediate shipment ; and the expectation of these
advances being refunded has not only been disap-
pointed, but a heavy pecuniary loss, in consequence
of the deterioration of quality, appears likely to
accrue. Under these circumstances, it is impos-
sible to foresee how hr prices may l)e depressed,
particularly if the recent favourable change of
weather here should enable our farmers to secure
what, we are satisfied, will after all prove a full
average crop in the British islands, and the vent
calculated on by shipment to England be thereby
lessened.

By the last letters from Danzig, we learn that
fine high-mixed wheat, crop 1842, weighing 622lbs.
per bushel, had been sold at comparatively
low prices ; and soft-conditioned parcels of new,
though otherwise of good quality, at from 29s.
to 30s. per qr., free on board. The accounts
received there from Holland being deemed more
favourable than those from Great Britain, ship-
ments were in progress to several Dutch ports ;
but it is scarcely necessary to remark that the wants
of the first-named country are likely soon to be
satisfied, and we are fully convinced that of the
400,000 qrs. of wheat at present at Dantzig,
a large proportion will ultimately find its way
here to the prejudice of our own farmers. The fact
that within the past month 300,000 to 400,000 qrs.
of wheat have been entered at 17s, and 18s. duty,
and that with the certainty of having to pay 20s.
per qr., foreign suppUes continue to be poured

into this country when our own growth will. In all
probability, suflfice for the consumption of the
next tweh'e months, ought, we think, to satisfy
even the most violent free trader that the present
corn laws are sufficiently liberal, and demonstrate
but too clearly that the concessions already made
to conciliate the manufacturers must prove to the
prejudice of the agricultural interest. It is now
clear that we shall at all times receive importations
from abroad at A\'hate-\'er point the duty may stand,
and that the foreign grower can well afford to pay
the maximum rate. The new Canadian Bill is
also beginning to show its practical working, al-
ready large quantities of flour have arrived at
London and Liverpool, paying only 7d. per brl.
duty ; and by the most recent advices it ajipears
that upwards of 300,000 barrels may be expected
from Montreal within the period comprising the
shipping season, an exportation of nearly three
times the quantity usually shipped from thence
before an impetus was given to the trade by the
late legislative enactment.

The accounts from Canada generally describe
the prospect in regard to the harvest as most
promising ; and, a much greater breadth than
usual being under wheat, we may calculate on
the benefit being still more extensively felt by our
farmers and millers next year. In the United States
the wheat crojj has proved unusually abundant ;
and what with the supplies this country may
expect from there direct, and the quantity that
will reach us as Canadian produce after having
been smuggled across the border, the importations
from the other side of the Atlantic threaten to be
sufficiently large to produce a serious effect on
prices here. In the foregoing remai'ks we have
altogether omitted to take into consideration the
probable arrivals from the southern countries of
Europe ; but though the produce in Italy, Tuscany,
&c., has not been very abundant this year, and
France will scarcely be in a j^osition to export
wheat, still some of the surplus grown in the coun-
tries bounded by the Black Sea, will, we doubt
not, come to Great Britain ; and, taking into con-
sideration our present stocks, free and in bond,
there is reason to come to a conclusion that the
pressure of foreign produced on the different
markets will have a material influence in keeping
doivn jjrices, and thus tend to prevent native in-
dustry being adequately remunerated.

CURRENCY PER IMPERIAL MEASURE.

August 26.

Wheat, Essex and Kent, now, red 50 52 Wliite 54 56 58

Old, red 50 52 54 Do. ..52 56 63

Rye, old 30 84 New.... :i6 —

Baklet, Grinding, 23 30 Malting 32 34 Chevalier 85 —

Irish 26 28 Bere . . . 29 —

Malt, Suffolk and Norfolk 58 CO Brown.. 58 58

Kingston and Ware CO — Clievalier CO —

Oats, Yorksh.& Lincolnshire, feed 20 2J Potato.. 23 24

Youghall and Cork, black.. 19 — Cork,whitel9 20

Dublin 19 20 W^estport 19 20

Waterford, white 19 20 Black.. 19 20

Newry 21 22

Galway 18 19

Scotch, feed 21 22 Potato.. 23 24

Clonmel 19 20 21 Limerickl9 20 21

Londonderry 19 2) Sligo 19 20 22

Beans, Tick, new 32 35 Old, small 36 .18

P£AS, Grey 32 34 M.aple.. 34 85

'VVlut« 33 36 Boilers.. S6 88

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

283

Seed, Rape 27Z. 28f. Irish .. 22.'. 20/. per last.

Linseed, Daltic. 30 38 Odessa 41

Miistai'd, wliile 6 7 biowii 8 11 per bush.

Floub, Town-made -- 50 Suffolk 3-i per sk. of 280 lbs.
Stockton and Norfolk 38 Irish 40

FOREIGN GRAIN AND FLOUR IN BOND.

Wheat, Dantzic 36 40

Hamburg 3i? —

Rostock .3(5 —

Barley 23 24

Oats, Brew 16 17 Feed ... U

Beans — 24 23

Peas 20 28

Flour, American, per brl — 25 Baltic.. 2t !

IMPERIAL AVERAGES.

Week endin?.

Wheat.
54 10

Barley.

Oats.

Rye.
3t 2

Beans.
37 8

Peas.
37 3

July 13th

34

10

22 3

20th

54

1

34

5

21 5

36 4

37

7

37 3

27th

o2

U

34

2

20 10

3.-$ 0

37

1

37 4

August 3ril

51

0

34

0

20 3

87 6

34

7

36 5

lOth

48

10

84

«

20 1

35 9

35

0

34 2

17th

40

1

34

6

20 0

35 11

35

7

83 7

Aictrreijiite ftvt'ra^p of

reffulatfs the duty.

51

9

34

5

20 10

35 7

30

3

36 0

Duties puyulile in

London till Wed-

nesday next inclu-

sive, and at the Out-

ports till the arrival

ot the mail of that

day from Loiidm . .

19

0

4

0

6 0

7 6

(i

0

6 6

Do. on ^r,iin from

British possessions

.

out of Europe.. .. .

4

0 ' 0

6

2 0

1 a 2

0 2 9

COMPARATIVE PRICES OF GRAIN.

WEEKLY AVERAGKS by

AVERAGES from the corres-

the Ini().Qu:irter, from the

pondiiig Gazette ir

the last

Gnzctie. of Fridaj

last,

year, Friday, August 26tli,

Aug. 23rd, 1844.

1843.

s. d.

s. (I.

49 1

34 6
20 0

35 11
85 7
33 7

Wheat

Baki.rv

50 8
82 11
20 7
31 6
31 10
33 y

Oai's

0
R
B
P

ATS . . .

Bye

PnAS

EA3

STOCK OF GRAIN IN BOND IN LONDON

AUGUST 5

Wheat. Barley, Oats. Beans, Peas. Rye. Flour.

qr.s. qi-9. qis. qr^. qr<. qrs. owr^.

ll-',565 58,752 27,8:59 22,711 7,623 1,017 50,.5C0

Cloverseed, 13,691 cwts.

Accoitut shewing the Quantities of Corn, Grain, Meal,
and Flour imported into the United Kingdom, ii
the month ended the 5th Aug., 18-14; the Quantities
upon which Duties have been paid for Home Con-
sumption during the same month, and the Quantities
remaining iia Warehouse at the close thereof.

Species of Grain.

Wheat, from British

Possessions

Barley, do

Oats, do

Peas, from do

Wheat, foreign

Barley, do

Oats, do

Rye, do

Peas, do

Beans, do

Indian Com, do

-Malt, do

Flour and 3f eal from . .

British Possessions. . . .

Flours .Meal, foreign.,

Quantity
imported. I

Quantity en

tered for

consumption.

qrs. bush. I qrs. bush.

I43S1 4

14.36 1

267 7

4^05 4

1668.58 2

61461 7

61833 5

2280 0

4833 6

33340 1

1099 2

cwts. qrs.lbs.

2^9845 0 16
39669 3 4

14331 4

1436 1

267 7

4765 6

3.5 ' 588 3

234«4 3

46810 1

1497 0

3097 7

28-'68 7

998 7

cwts. qrs. lbs.

209783 0 27
5098 1 22

Quantity

remaining in

warehouse.

qrs. bush.
119 2

3.51430 4

108416 0

72399 1

7862 5

42814 7

794.5-.i 4

1803 6

7 6

cwts. qrs.lbs.

2709 3 13
212ti67 0 14

PRICES OF SEEDS.

August 26.
There were several parcels of new Mustard Seed at
market, some of very fine quality ; but the majority of
the samples were in only moderate condition. Prices
can scarcely be regarded as established yet : 10s. to Hs.
for white, and 12s. to 17s. i)er bush, were the rates asking.
Canaryseed was scarce, and maintained the late advance,
whilst most other sorts of Seeds were held firmly at
last Monday's quotations. Winter Tares were inquired
for at 7s. to 8s. per bush.

Linseed, English, [sowing 54 60

Baltic .' — — crushing 40 ■12 per qr.

Mediter. & Odessa 41 43

Carraway 44 46 new .. 44 52percwt.

Coriander 15 18 percwt.

Mustard, brown, new.... nominal white.. — p. bush.

Trefoil — — old . . — new —

Rapeseed, English, new . . 23'. 24/. per last.
Linseed Cakes, F.ni;lisIi..lO/. 10s. to 11'. Os. per 1000

Do. Foreign.. 0'. 15-i. to 71. per ton.

Large, foieign .... — —

Hempseed 35 38 per qr.

Rye Grass, English — — .Scotch — — nominal.

Tares, Winter 7s. Od. to 8s. Cd.

Tares, old .... — — new — — per qr.
Canary, fine CO 62 per qr.

PRICES OF HOPS.

BOROUGH, MoND.vY, August 2(5.
There has been scarcely so much doing in Hops since
this day week, but holders are not likely to take less
money while the accounts continue so conflicting. In
fact, there is little doubt but that the bines present a
great contrast, even in adjoining plantations of the same
district. Generally the factors seem to look upon the
accounts as more favourable, and 125,000/. is given as
the probable duty.

WORCESTER, August 24.— Our district reports
to-day are rather favourable, and the duty has ati up-
ward tendency, 16,000/. to 17,000/. being now the current
estimate. There is a general inquiry for all descriptions
of Hops, especially good fresh old olds, which are
bought freely at 40s. to 56s. per cwt. The best runs
of 1843's are worth 124s. to 128s. per cwt.

EAST RETFORD, August 22.— Since the date of
our last report, a consideFable change for the worse has
taken place in the condition of the plantations in the North
Clays. The strong winds and frosty nights have very
iTiaterially increased the filth and blight, and the brown
smit has made serious havoc in those grounds which
were first attacked with disease. We have not seen the
principal grounds in the south of the district, but the
accounts with which we have been favoured all concur
in the serious inroads which disease is making. In con-
sequence the duty has declined materially, and there are
but few persons who will back the duty at more than
1,100/. Within the last day or two a slight perceptible
improvement has been manifested ; whether it will con-
tinue depends entirely upon the w'eather.

MAIDSTONE, August 22.— Our hops have not pro-
gressed as we could have wished : they show more and
more every day the effects of the late winds ; but there
seems to-day a decided improvement in the duty. They
may now be considered as nearly in full hop, which
may in some measure account for this rise in duty. We
are sure we shall not see them this year more showy
than at the present moment. The duty stands at pre-
sent at 130,000/., against which there are many betters.
The following are our weekly returns : — Ulcomb,
Bromfield, and Leeds. — We have such very little
diflference since our last report, that it is not worth no-
ticmg. There is, in fact, no variation since our last,

284

PRICES OF

Subjoined are the preseut
Manure : —

Hunt's Bone-dust, 17s. \mt qr.
Hunt's Half-inch Bone, 15s.

per qr.
J. T. Hunt's Artificial Guano,

9/. per ton
Hunt's Stuff Graves, 5^ per ton
Rape Dust, 6/. to 6/. 1 Os. per ton
Rape Cake, 0.'. per ton
Rags, 4/. to 4'. 10s. per ton
Graves, 6'. lOs. per ton
Gypsum, at the waterside, 32s.

6d. per ton ; landed and

housed, 3-'>. to 4.;s. per ton,

according to quantity
Agricultural Salt, 34s. per ton
Carbon, lis. per qr.
Humus, Us per qr.
Soap Ashf's, Ids. i)or ton
Patent Disinfected Manure,

1 3s 6d. per qr.
Highly Concentrated Manure,

»0s. per qr.
Nitrate of soda, 14s. 6d. to los.

per cwt.
Kitrate Potash (saltpetre), £6s.

per cwt.
Petre Salt, 4s. per cwt.
Willey Dust, il. -is. per ton
The U'ate of the London Ma-
nure Company, 4/. 4s. per ton
New ristol Manure, 8s. per qr.
Hunt's new Fertilizer, i3s. 4d.

per qr
Preparation for Turnip Fly,

10s. (id. per pakt., sufficient

fni- three »rres

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

MANURES.

prices of several sorts of

Chle fou, 218. jier cwt.

WolverhamptonComposf( Alex-
ander's), l'2s. perqr., subject
to carriage to Loudon, or
forwarded from Wolver-
hampton

Guano, 10/. 10s. per ton; 12s.
jitr cwt.

Potter's Artificial Guano, 123.
pei- cwt.

Muriate of Ammonia, 248. per
cwt.

Muriate of Lime, 12s. per cwt.

Clarke's Compost, SI. I2s. 6d.
per hhd., sufficient for three
acres

Alkiilies, -283. and 42s. per cwt.

Soda Ash, 14s. to 1 6s.

Chloride Lime, 28s. per cwt.

Sulphuric Acid, 2.Jd. per lb.

Sulphur for Destroying Worm
on Turnips, 16s. per cwt.

Sulphate Soda, 7s. 6d. per cwt.

Tlie Liverpool Abattoir Com-
pany's Animalized Manuring
Powder, 21. 10s. per ton

Manure Powder, 1 6s. per qr.

Boast and Co.'s (Bow) Inor-
ganic Manures, from Os. to
lis. per cwt., according to
crop

Boast's Guano, Ql. 9s. per ton

Fothergill's Gypsum, 85s. pei
ton.

Fothergill's Phosphate of Limei
14s. I er C'.vt.

i mate of the west, compared with the east, enables the
I producers of that section to raise better qualities of
i Wool, heavier fleeces, and at a very trifling espense.
I The long and severe winters of this section of the coun-
try compel the farmers to feed their flocks on dry food,
consequently the texture of the staple is reduced by the
falling off in the condition of the creature. We annex
a table showing the quantity produced in each state, ac-
cording to the returns made in 1840 -. —

Production of Wool in the United States.

WOOL MARKETS.

BRIHSH.
LEEDS, August 23. — We have not to report any
alteration in this branch of trade this week. Sales are
steady, prices firm, and the manufacturers are all very
fully employed.

LIVERPOOL, Aug. 24.

Scotch. — ^There is a fan- inquiry for laid Highland
Wool, but the manufacturers seem disinclined to give
any advance on late quotations, and which does not come
up to the mark of the prices for that class ; in the north
there is, consequently, little doing. The above remarks
will apply equally to white Highland. Our imports of
good crossed Wool meets a ready sale on arrival at late
rates. The demand for Cheviots — our remarks regard-
ing laid Highland will equally apply to this class.

Foreign. — The prospect of our public sales to take
place the early part of next mouth, has rather checked
the demand by private contract, and no doubt people
who are not in immediate want will put off getting their
supply until the sale.

FOREIGN.

The market for Wools is firm generally.

The following are some interestmg details on the
Wool trade of the United States : —

The new clip of Wool raised in this country is coming
to market very rapidly. Within a very short time prices
have improved, but compared with quotations of. 1840
and 1842, there is but a very trifling variation, but the
farmers are receiving more remunerating returns for
their clips than formerly. Within a few years the rais-
ing of Wool in this country has increased to wonderful
extent. The farmers of the West have turned their at-
tention more to the production of this material, in con-
sequence of the low price all other agricultural products
command. The western country is peculiarly adapted
to the raising of wool, and must soon monopolize the
business. It can be produced at one-third the expense
Qf the piodttctioQ ia the eastern statea. The mild cli-

Pounds.

Maine 1,465,151

New Hampshire 1,260,517
Massachusetts . . 941,906
Rhode Island .. 183,830
Connecticut.. .. 889,870

Vermont 3,699,235

New York ....9,845,295

New Jersey 397,207

Pennsylvania ..3,048,564

Delaware 64,404

Maryland 488,201

Virginia 2,538,374

North Carolina.. 625,644
South Carolina.. 299,170
Georgia 371,303

Pounds.

Mississippi 175,193

Louisiana 49,283

Tennessee ....1,060,332

Kentucky 1,786,847

Ohio ...3,685,315

Indiana 1,237,919

Illinois ,-. 650,907

Missouri 562,265

Arkansas 61,943

Michigan 163,375

Florida 7,285

Wisconsin .... 6,777

Iowa 23,039

District of Co-
lumbia 707

Alabama 220,353

The total quantity produced, according to the above
table, amounted to 35,882,114 pounds. Ohio was at
that time the third wool-growing state in the Union ; we
have no doubt at this moment it is the second, and in
ten years will be the first. Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky,
Tennessee, and Missouri are rapidly progressing in this
business. It is a very astonishing fact that those farmers
throughout the country who have adhered to the pro-
duction of this material, have invariably, year after year,
notwithstanding the fluctuations in prices that have taken
place, made it the most profitable of all agricultural
operations. We anne.v the quotations for the Boston
market for a series of years, adopting that point as the
truest standard for prices : —

Quotations for Wool in the Boston Market : —

March il, April 2, Sept. 16, June 24,

1840.

184-'.

1843.

1844.

Cents.

Cents.

Cents.

Cents.

Prime or Saxony Fleeces 40 to 50

47 to .50

a- to 40

45 to 0

American full blood... 45 „ 47

4J „ 45

3.5 „ 37

43 „ 4.5

Ditto 1 ditto 4i ,1 42

3S „ 40

33 „ 36

87 „ 40

Ditto ^ ditto 37 „ 38

83 „ 33

80 „ 32

35 „ 37

Ditto |ditlo, and ) „= 37

29 „ SO

30 „ —

30 „ 33

Superfine Northern 1 .^ ,_
pulled Lamb J ^^ " *'

37 „ 40

85 „ 37

42 „ 45

No. 1, ditto, ditto .... .36,, 40

84 „ 86

25 „ 80

37 „ 40

No. 2, ditto, dito .. . 23 „ 2.5

v4 „ 26

22 „ 24

I'S „ 83

No. 3, ditto, ditto .... 18 „ JO

1.5 ., \tO

16 „ 19

18 ,, 20

These quotations include a period covering the opera-
tions of the two Tariffs. In March, 1840, the Com-
promise Act had a little more than two years to run, and
the rate of duty on foreign importations was greatly re-
duced. In April, 1842, the Compromise Act was just
expiring, when the average duty on foreign manufac-
tures was at the lov/est point, and we find the quotations
for Wool, at this time, nearly corresponding with those
of March, 1840. In June, 1844, under the operations
of the Tariff of September, 1842, we find our quotations
very similar to those of March, 1840, and April, 1842.
In September, 1843, prices were much lower than be-
fore or since. If the Tariff regulates the price for most
of our agricultural productions, we should like to know
what was the cause, according to the theory of protec-
tionists, of high prices in 1840 and 1842, when the
tcale of duties was very much reduced. The manufac-
surers are much more active now than they were in 1840,
I842, or 1843, and there must be a more active demand
for the raw material, The importation of foreign

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

285

1840
1841
1842
1843

1840
1841
1842
1843

Wool lias fallen oft' very much since the adoption of the
new Tariff.

Quantity and value of Wool imported into the United
States for four years —

Not exceeding 8 cents per pound.

Founds. Value — Dollars.

9,303,992 .. 675,099

. 14,409,764 .. 981,281

. 10,037,251 .. 685,649

4,773,083 .. 462,795

Exceeding 8 cents per pound.

Pounds. Value — Dollars.

594,748 ., 174,067

596,606 .. 273,672

783,701 .. 111,738

210,570 ,. 66,387

The falling off" from 1842 to 1843 in the importation
of wool under 8 cents per pound, was about six million
pounds in quantity, but in value only 225,000 dollars.
The importation of wool over 8 cents per pound, fell oft'
in the same time 573,000 pounds. Granting that the
new Tarift' has caused this decrease in the imports of
foreign wool, we cannot show that it has advanced the
value of wool of domestic growth a farthing, but on the
contrary, will in a few years cause a reduction. What-
ever tends to increase the production of any article,
eventually causes a decline in prices, by creating a sur-
plus from our productions. If the Tariff" protects manu-
factures, it raises a competition, iiud thereby reduces the
prices of manufactured articles. If foreign markets are
open for our agricultural products, the demand increases
the production and reduces prices. With our great ex-
tent of soil there are no limits to its products, and after
supplying the whole world, we could keep a surplus for
ourselves. Why is it that the agricultural products of
this country sell at so reduced prices ? Is it because
other nations shut them out from their markets .' or be-
cause we raise more than we can consume ? We are in-
clined to think the latter cause the true one. Should
Great Britain open her ports free for our agricultural
products, it would not advance prices more than a year
or two The additional supply required could soon be
furnished ; the temporary inducement for production
would prompt many to go into business, and two or three
years would give us the same or a larger surplus than
we now have. It will, in a very short period, be
the same with wool as it is with cotton. The production
■will exceed the consumption.

Receipts of Wool at Tide Water, 1842-3 :—

1842 1843. Increase,

lbs. lbs. lbs.

Albany and Troy 3,329,000 6,216,400 2,887,400
This great increase shows how rapidly the production
is extending itself throughout the Western states.
Wool exported east from Bufl'aiw : —

Wool shipped eastwai'd on the Pentjeylvania canals for
six years ;

lbs.

lbs.

1838

900,216

1841

... 1,449,715

1839

. .. 1,020,782

1842

... 1,248,733

1840

. .. 1,200,129

1843

... 2,500,189

1834
1835
1836
1837
1338

lbs.
146,135
186,300
253,367
39,262
108,744

lbs.

1839

131,787

1840

170,462

1841

340,224

1842

592,707

1843

... 1,249,520

We see by this table, that of the amount received at
Tide Water, in 1843, a large portion came from ports or
places west of Buff"alo, as follows :—

lbs. lbs.

Cleveland 391,138 Milan ... 3,000

Detroit 98,950 Sandusky 22,050

Fiiirport 67,522 Chicago 57,695

Ashtabula 43,174 St. Joseph and

Southport 30,840

Great quantities of Wool raised in the Western States
reach the seaport markets, through the Pennsylvania
canals.

1844, to June 15, 408',630lbs.
The shipments in 1843 nearly doubled those for any
previous year, and those for 1844 will, doubtless, nearly
double those for 1843. The shipments thus far in the
season are quite small, but the new crop is hardly off' the
.«heep's back ; it will come forward very extensively in
July and August.

WOOL.

The estimated produce of Wool in each County of
England, with its value at the average rate of Is. per lb.,
and the eff'ect produced upon the amount of its value by
a variation in the price of Id. per lb. We have also
placed the number of farmers who employ labourers to
each county, in order to show the vast number of per-
sons who are interested in the growth of Wool. As no
satisfactory accounts exist of the produce of Wool in
Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, we have refrained from
making any statement respecting their produce ; but if
we admit it to be equal to one-half of England, then
the annual produce of Wool in the United Kingdom
would be nearly 8,000,000/. If Adam Smith had lived
in these days, he would have placed Wool as one of the
main causes of the wealth of the United Kingdom ; but
the free-trade philosophers make light of it. Tall chim-
neys, noise, and smoke, they consider the main cause of
our wealth.

Variation in

amount of

of land
who em-
ploy la-
bourers.

COUNTIES.

Produce of
AVool.

Value at
Is. per lb.

value for
every Id.
per lb. in

price.

Iba.

£

£

Bedford

!,'.;£ .,1100

61,100

4,250

1.3'0

Berks

1,116,9.0

65 848

4.654

1,711

Bucks

1,369,-140

68, J 72

5,706

2,152

Cambridge ....

657,-40

32,892

2,-41

2,41

Chester

346,i>0

17,304

1,442

4,H74

Cornwa'l

l,7n8,8 0

88,140

7,-370

4,608

Cumberland .

i?,16ii,9BU

108,048

9,004

S,fil7

Derby

2,795,520

1.19,776

11,648

8,320

Devon

3,98:^,76 >

199,188

16,599

9,323

Dorset

2,:i7l,vl00

118,5fi0

9,^86

2,,;43

Durham

1,616,240

75,ril2

6,«17

2,229

Kssex

2,372 640

118,632

0.880

4,561

Gloucester ....

4 2 fi,480

210,324

17,527

8,765

Hants

I,ti2:i,ll4i!

91,1.V2

7,-59fi

2.7 4

Hereford ....

2,991,840

Mi,rm

12,4fi6

2,.50.5

Hertford

1,410,-20

70,.580

5,878

1,518

Huntingdon....

1,075.-00

63,T60

4,480

857

Kent

4,776,720

238,836

19,903

4,.3fll

Lancaster

1,434,48

71,724

5,977

6.fi63

Leicester

2 4 03, 1 '-'0

120,166

10,013

2,6.58

Lincoln

10,324.240

816,213

68,017

6 901

Middesex ....

250,321

12,516

1,043

1.050

Monmouth . . .

910,920

4.5,996

3.833

1.648

Norfolk

4,3->2,8Sll

217,644

18,137

6,229

Northampton . .

3,8411,000

192,000

16,001

.1,016

Northumberlnd.

2,959,920

147,996

12,:<83

2,376

Nottingham. . . .

2,1*40,7^0

102,036

8,503

2,643

Oxford

l,6fi6.600

83,2s0

6,940

2,054

Rut'and

.■iHS.SOO

28,440

2,370

429

2,049,600
2.672,400

102,480
133,'.20

8,ili40
11,126

3,832

Somerset

0,032

Stafford

1,096,080

64,-04

4,6H7

3,781

Suffolk

2,626,080

131,804

10,942

4,526

Surrey

\, 07 1,280

.53,5ii4

4,463

1,873

2,772,240
2,461,020

138,612
173 096

11,551

10,258

.1,16'!

Warwick

2,838

Westmoreland .

1,311,8611

6-5,568

.■.,464

1,4.35

Wilts

2,1.50,400

107, .52 I

8,960

3,MS7

Worcester

1,80.5,2-0

90,264

7.622

2,63f5

York

8,263,h58

413,182

34,431

7,' 98

Total

102,803,78&

e,U0,180

4-28,948

141,460

286

THE FARMER^S MAGAZINE.

PRICES OF SHARES.

No. of

Div.

SharKs .

per Ann.

9,.^00

2/ 2s p sli

10,000

los Od

15,000

2/16spsh

6,610

86,000

20,0(10

56,000

6s. p.sh.

88,0.1(1

«s Od

144,000

ijl per ct

IRON RAILWAYS.

Priceper
Share.

Sliares.
15,000

18,000
18,000

10,918
10,918

10,000

25,000
26,0110
87,500
10,500

8,000
8,000
16, 00
6,100
7,96S
ll,47i
S6,ii00

4s,ono

43,077
11, M6
1,100

41-25000/
54,450
41,2)0
16,3J0

33,000
7,0(10
18 OOO
IS.O'iO

l.s,ono

30,000

10,000

10,000

19,000

iOs^^dp.s.

10/per cl
lOZper ct

57s6d p c

71 per ct
7/ ^er rt
71 per ct

m prct

lO/perct
lo/perct
lO/perct
I /5s psh
r>l per ct
2s 6d

51 per ct

I0?perct
\0l p ct
U 143
3.'5spsL

14s0<ip s

4/7i-6dps
37b6d p s

IS

II ISs

4ns psh
■2^ 4d
2a3spsh

10,256
3.1.16
12,208
8 I.DIIII
72,000
2,6U0
9.600
40,000
7,000

56,000

7,500
6,700
6,700

Biriiiingliamand GloucesterlOOZ sh pd
Do. New, iss. 7J dis. .. 25/ sh 17^/ pd
Bristol and Exeter .... 100/ sh 70/ pd
Do. and Gloucester .... 50/ sh 3"/ pd

Ca'edoniaii 50/ sh 5/ p'l

Cliester and Holyhead 5/ pd

Ci'ichester and Brighton . . . . . . .5/ pd

Dublin and Casiiel 50/ sh 2 J/ pd

Eastern Counties 25/ sh 23/ pd

Ditto New 25/ sh 8/ 6s 8d pd

Ditto Extension.. 6/ 13s 4dsh 13s4dpd I pin

Eastern Union 50/ sh 5/ pd

Glas2;ow, Paisley Ic Ayrshire . .60/sh pd
2/7s6dps Edinburgh &; Glasgow .... 50/ s'l pd

Ditto QuaterShares 12j/shpd

Ditto Rexistereil..,,,^........ 12^/ pd

Grand Junction 100/ sh pd

Ditto Half Shares 50/ sh pd

Ditto Quarter Shares 25/ sh pd

Great North of England. . . .100/ sh pd

Ditto New 40/ sh 5/ pd

Great Western 100/ sh 75/ pd

Ditto Hal' Shares 50/ sh pd

Ditto I'-ifths 20/ sh 13/ pd

Harwich (Braithwaite). . . .20/ sh 2/ pd

Ditto (Locke) 2^/ pd

Hastings, Rye, and Tenderden. .. 25/

sh 3/ pd
Harrowgate and Kuareshoro' 2.0/

sh 3/ pd

Hull and Selby 50/ sh pd

Do. Quarter Shares.... 12/ sh 10/ pd
Lancaster and Carlisle . . .60/ sh 5/ pd
Liverpool & Manchester. . . . 100/ sh pd

Ditto Half Shares 50/ sh pd

Ditto Quarter Shares 2.0/ sh pd

London and Brigliton 50/ sh pd

Ditto Loan Notes 10/ sh pd

London & Blacl<wall . . Av. 10/ 13s 4d
London & Greenwich .. Av. 12/ Lis 4d
Preference or Privilege.. Av. 18/ 17s 2d
Ditto and Guildford Junction 50/

sh 5/ pd
London & Birmingham ....... Stock

Ditto New Quarter Shares 2/ pd

Ditto NewTliirds 32/ sh 2/ pd

London & South West.. .Av. 41/ 6s lOd

Ditto Eighths 6/ 5s p sh 15s pd

London « Croydon .... Av. l.S/ 15s yd

Do. Scrip, iss.50/dis 20/sh 10/pd

Mancliesterij Leeds .. 100/ sh 70/ pd

Ditto Half Shares 50/sh30/pd

Ditto Quarter Sliares 2/ pd

Manchester & Binning.. 70/sh40/pd

Ditto Extension 70/ sh 7/ pd

Midland Stock

Ditto Fifths 20/ sh 2/ pd

Birminchain Sc Derby Stocl

North British 24/ pd

Norwich and Brandon. ...20/ sh 4/ pd
Newcstl&Darlingt June. ..25/sh21/ pd

North Midland 100/ sh pd

Do. ^Shares, iss. lOdis. ..50/sh 40/ pd
Ditto Thirds, iss. at 11/ 13s 4d dis.
21/ 13s 4d sh pd
Northern & Eastern .... 50/ sh 45/ pd
Do. Scrip .. iss. 5 dis. ..50/ sh !5/ pd

Do. i Shares 12/ 10s sh pd

Paris and Orleans 20/ sh pd

Paris and Rouen 20/ sh 20/ pd

Preston & U'y re 60/ sh

Ditto, Se.'on'd Preference, 1812

Rouen and Havre 20/ sh 10/ pd

Slieffield, Ashton-under-Lyne, and

Manchester 100/ sh 82J/ pd

Ditto J Shares 8/ pd

Sheffield and Rotherham .. 25/ sh pd
Stockton and Darlington . . . 100/ sh pd
South Eastern and Dover Ave-
rage 33/ 2s 4d
Ditto New, iss. 18 dis. ... 60/ sh 4/ pd

Trent Valley 20/ sh 2/ pd

Yarmouth and Norwich 20/ sh 18/ pd
York & North Midland .... 60/sh pd

Ditto Half Shares 25/sh 25/ pd

Ditto Scarboro' Branch 2J/ pd

Ditto Selby Scrip

2/ 5s
15s

U 17s Od

5/ per ct
1/ 153

15/perct

10/perct
10/perct

Il4al5
25a a f.i
•Oi a 81J
55 a i
3| a 4i
6i a I

"i a g
11 J ex-d
13* ex-d

675 a 8J
16| a 74

219ja20

113 a 12

n

136.!ex-d
Si^ ex-d
245 cx-d

55 a CJ

103 a 4

48| ex-d
[& ex nw
n a a
'ay

222 ox-d
26a a i
38 a 7|
87 a 6
3} pni.
193^ a a
lO.i

I -'6 a 5
53i a 3
II a i
54 a i

110 a 8

81 a 80J
n a Sk
14ia!35
49^ a 9

58i a 8

37 a 6J
37i a 7

18

37f a I
liy ai

10

a 8
104 a 5
52i
24
34 pm

15,000

7,500

20,000

5,000

8,000

1,000

20,000

4,000

40,000

60,000

40,000
20,000
4,000
10,000

10,000
10,000
21,500
10,000

20,000
20,000
10,000

Div.

3/ per CI

6/ per cl

6/ per ct

/ per ct
5/ per c(
6/ per ct
6/ per ct
6/ per ct

3/ per ct
8/ per cl
6/ per cl
21s pr sh

fis per sh
14/ pr ct

6/ per cl

6/ per ct
10/perct
10/perct

60,000 15/ per ct

4,000
10,0)0 ill
15,000

u

2,000 3/ per ct

|l7s6d
10,000

6,000
11,000 I
12,000 1 15s
8,5000
10,000

1,.500
20,000

4,000 I
10,000
15,000

JOINT STOCK BANKS.
.igricultiiral and Commercial of
Ireland 25' sh 10/ pd

.iustralasia 40/ sh pd

Ditio New .. 40/ pd

British North American ..50/sh 50/pd

Ditto New 10/ pd

Ceylon 25/ sh 20/ pd

County of Glouc.Bank...lOO/sh 25/pd

Commercial of London 200/ pd

Colonial 100/ sh 25/ pd

Ionian 25/ sh pd

London and Westin. ..100/ sh 20/ pd

London Joint Stock 50/ sh 10/ pd

Metropolitan 25/ sh 7.7/ pd

Provincial of Ireland .... 100/ sh 25/ pd

Ditto New 10/ sh pd

National of Ireland 50/ sh 17J/ pd

.National Provincial England 100/
sh 35/ pd

Dilto New 20/ sh 10/ pd

Northamptonsh. Union ..25/ sh 5/ pd

Gloucestershire 50/ sh 10/ pd

West of England and South Wales

District 20/sh 12,1/ pd

Wilts and Dorset 15/ sh 7^/ pd

Union of Australia 25/ sh pd

Do. Do 2i/pri

' Union of Loudon 50/sh 10/pd

1 MINES.

AHen 15/ sh 13.^/ pd

Anglo Mexican, iss. 5/ p. 100/ sh pd

Ditto Subscription 25/pd

.isturian.^IiningCoinp....20/ sh 2/ pH

Bolanos 150/ sh pd

Ditto Scrip

Brazilian Imp. iss. 5/ p. 35/ sh 21/ pd
Do.Mocaubas&Cocaes United 25/ sh pd

Do.St.JolinDelRey 20/sh 15/pd

Cob™ Copper 40/ pe

iCopiupo 20/sh 14/ pd

iCoiuinbian iss. 5/ pra 55/ sh pd

jDitto New 11/ sh pd

General Mining 20/ sh pd

[Great Wheal Martlia 5/ sh 2/ pd

Hibernian 60/ sh 10^/ pd

Imp. Slate Company .... 10/ sh 8/ pd

iMexican 60/ sh 59/ pd

5,051 ;10/perct|MiningComp. of Ireland 25/ sh 7/ pd
20,000 I Real del Monte, registered A v.

, I 63/ 10s 6d

11,500 i Ditto Ditto unregistered

j4/ per ct Ditto Red Debentures .... 73/ 15s pd

1,872 4/ per ct Ditto Black Ditto 71/ 6s 3d pd

3,548 I Ditto Red and Black

I Rhvmney Iron 50/ sh pd

10,000 jlO/ p sh Santiago de Cuba 25/ sh 10/ pd

Price.

l/5s

25| a

14

61 a J

43,171

10,000
10,000
5,709
6,000
10,000
10,000

10,000
5,000

2,700
80,000

8,000
10,000

20,000

5,387
14,000

4,000
10,000

1 United Mexican, average 28/ 2s S^d
, MISCELLANEOUS

1/ 4s i.inglo Mexican Mint 10/ sh pd

1/ 1.5s Auslralian Agricult 100/ sh 30/ pd

PA per ct Australian Trust Comp.. I(i0/sh35/pd
|British Ameri. Land .. 50/sh 35^' pd

6/ per ci;Canada 100/ sh 32^/ pd

5/ per Cl [Upper Canada Bonds

5/ per Ct Ditto
4/ per Ct
5/ per Cl

General Rever.&; Invest... 100/ sh pd
Equit. Reversionary .. 100/ sli 75/ pd

City Bonds

Comp. Copper Miners in England

100/ sh / pd

5/ per ct

&2/bs.

4 J per c!

l/8s and

2s6dbsGen. Steam Navigat 15/ sh 14/ pd

10/ &bs. I Hudson's Bay Stock 100/ sh pd

1/ 10s. London Commercial Sale Rooms

Av. 75/

5/ per ct London Reversionary Int. 50/ sh

17/ pd

London Wood Paving Company

10/ sh 2/ pd

.Mexican & S, American ..10/ .sh 7/ pd

New Brunswick (Land) 75/ pd

5/ per ctJNew Zealand 25/ pd

Ditto New 25/sh 12^/ pd

7/ per ct; Peninsular (ScOrien Steam.. 50/sh pd

'Ditto 50/ sh 45/ pd

4J/percti Reversionary Int. Soc .... 100/ sh pd

Roya Mail Steam 60/ pd

6/ per ctJSouth Att;tralian 25/sh 2u/pd

South Metropolitan Cemetry.. 25/pd

Thames Tunnel 50/ sh pd

6s IVanDieman'sLand ....lOOish 20/ pd

I04i
103

Printe4 by Joseph Rogereon, 24, Norfolk-street, Strand, London.

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wifAouZ **^icb If wiiu/d soon fie. ckolud. itp.
f7nxf*r drain, fhnnJ^^ Caft^t
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If? firmi, ^otvrt, sppuZ.
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Sard Ifaler 7'aJHp.

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Slop ■ s/.on£..

jU

0a 4 ^i^"'. I

THE FAKMEK'S MAGAZHsTE.

OCTOBER, 1844.

No. 4.— Vol. X.]

[Second Series.

PLATE I.

PORTRAIT OF THE DUKE OF RICHMOND.

PLATE IL

MR. JAMES HAZLEDINE'S DUNG WATER TANK, &c.

MEMOIR OF CHARLES GORDON LENNOX,
DUKE OF RICHMOND, LENNOX, AND
AUBIGNY, K.G.

Tlie subject of our memoir, Charles Gordon Len-
nox, fifth Duke of Richmond, was born on the 3rd
of August, 1791, and before we proceed with a
brief sketch of the hfe of this nobleman, it may not
be uninteresting to our readers to give a slight
retrospective glance at his ancestors, from the time
of the first founder of the family, the merry, al-
though libertine monarch Charles II. Among the
most conspicuous of the royal profligate's favourites
was Louise de Querouaille, daughter of the Compte
de Querouaille; this young lady possessed great
personal beauty and accomplishments, and was in
every respect well suited to attract the attention and
gain the aflfections of the royal Giovanni. Louis
XIV. of France, anxious to secure the interests of
the EngUsh monarch, resolved to allure him by
beauty ; and for this purpose dispatched the young
Louise to England, in the suite of the Duchess of
Orleans, then about to visit her brother Charles, at
Dover. Our fickle monarch fell headlong into the
meshes spread for him, and almost at first sight be-
came enamoured of the young and lovely French
girl. Like the Roman, " she came— (was seen)—
and conquei'ed!"

Tlie influence Louise de Querouaille had created

OLD SERIES.}

over the mind of the voluptuous monarch now in-
creased daily, and Bishop Burnet thus speaks of
her : — " The king was presently taken with her ;
she studied to please and observe him in everything,
so that he passed away the rest of his hfe in a great
fondness for her ; he kept her at a vast charge, and
she, by many fits of sickness (some believe real and
others thought only pretended), gained of him every-
thing she desired, ^e stuck firm to the French in-
terest, and was its chief support ; and so entirely
was the king possessed by her, and engaged in the
French interest, that he was thrown into great dif-
ficulties, and exposed to much contempt and mis-
trust."

The result of this liason may easily be antici-
pated : on the 29th July, 1672, the Maid of Honour
to the Duchess of Orleans became the mother of a
son, who Avas named Charles Lennox, the illustri-
ous father attending the ceremony of his baptism.
In August, 1673, Charles created the Lady Louisa
de Querouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth, Countess
of Farnham, and Baroness of Petersfield, and in
December of the same year, Louis XIV. showed a
gratitude, not very usual in crowned heads, by
granting her the territory of Aubigny, in France.
During his infancy, the king's son was created Ba-
ron of Settrington, Earl of March, and Duke of
Richmond ; honours shortly followed honours, and
the adage of " being bom with a golden spoon"
V [No. 4.— FOL. XXL

288

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

was fully realized in this scion of royalty, who, in
1675, was created Duke of Lennox, Earl of Darn-
ley, and Baron Methuen, of Torbolton, in Scot-
land. In 1681 the young duke was installed as a
Knight Companion of the Garter, and made Master
of the Horse (we were about to say rocking-horse)
to the king; and in 1684 the French king, "wilUng
to annex to the said inheritance of Aubigny a pro-
per title, and such as should be agreeable to the
illustrious birth of the said Duke of Richmond,
unites, creates the territory, &c., into a duchy and
peerdom of France, to be enjoyed by the said
Duchess of Portsmouth during her life, and after
her decease, by the said Duke of Richmond, and the
heirs male of his body, in name, title, and dignity
of Dukes of Aubigny." This noble pluralist served
in Flanders during the reign of William III., as
his aide-de-camp, and was also a lord of the Bed-
chamber to George I.

Having married, in 1692, a daughter of Lord
Brudenel's, he became the father of Charles, second
Duke of Richmond, and two daughters. The se-
cond duke shared some of his father's good for-
tunes ; he was elected M.P. for the city of Chiches-
ter, and for the borough of Newport ; was a Knight
of the Bath and of the Garter ; a lord of the Bed-
chamber; and aide-de-camp to George I. ; which
same situation he held under George II., and, at
that latter monarch's coronation, in 1727, was ap-
pointed High Constable of England for the day.
The Duchess of Portsmouth dying in 1734, the
Dukedom of Aubigny devolved on his Grace, who
was shortly afterwards appointed Master of the
horse to the king, and one of the most honourable
Privy Council, Not satisfied with these civil dis-
tinctions, the Duke was speedily promoted from
the rank of Brigadier-General to that of Lieu-
tenant-General. During this period the Duke was
present at the battle of Dettingen, and shortly af-
terwards \mder the orders of the Duke of Cumber-
land, assisted at the reduction of CarUsle. His
Grace was now appointed High Steward of Chi-
chester, and admitted to the degree of Doctor of
Physic at Cambridge, but even here his good for-
tune did not desert him, for the very year of his
^ death, the jade (in this instance not fickle) stood by
her fa^'Ourite, who was made Colonel of the Royal
Horse Guards (Blues). In 1750 the Duke died,
leaving a family of six children, five ha\dng died in
their infancy ; their mother being a daughter of
the Earl of Cadogan, and one of the ladies of the
Bedchamber to Queen Caroline.

Charles, third Duke of Richmond, succeeded
to his father's titles and estates at the early age
of fifteen. He also chose the military pro-
fession, and, before he had attained his 27th
year, Avas a Major-General in the army, and

at the accession of George III., received what
in those days would seem to have been the
hereditary right of the family, the situation of Lord
of the Bedchamber. His Grace in 1763 was ap-
pointed Lord-Lieutenant of the county of Sussex.
The Duke supported the "Whig interest under the
Duke of Newcastle, and was appointed Secretary of
State under Lord Rockingham. During the whole
period of Lord North's maladministration, the
Duke gave his determined opposition to the pohcy
of that minister, and introduced a Reform Bill
which did not receive at the hands of the legislature
of this country that support which a measure si-
milar in many respects gained in 1832, when the
subject of the present memoir formed one of the
Cabinet under the Earl Grey. When the Whigs,
under Lord Rockingham, again came into power,
the Duke of Richmond was appointed Master-
General of the Ordnance, an office he afterwards
held under Mr. Pitt's administration. So extensive
and extravagant were his Grace's plans respecting
the fortifications of our sea-girt isle, that the econo-
mists of the House of Commons took the alarm,
and, with the assistance of the Speaker, carried their
point by a majority of one. From this period the
Duke retired into private life, and died at Good-
wood, in the winter of 1806, in his 70th year. Upon
his death the title and estates devolved upon Charles,
his nephew, son of Lord George Henry Lennox.

Charles, the fourth and father of the present
Duke, was born in 1764, and died in Canada, Au-
gust, 1819. Like his ancestors, he selected the
army for his profession, and served with his
regiment at the capture of several of the West
India Islands, and finally attained the rank of
a Lieutenant-General, with the colonelcy of a
regiment of the line — the 35th. Colonel Lennox's
memorable duel with the late Duke of York is too
well known to require further notice. In 1780, he
was returned for the county of Sussex, which he
represented for seven succeeding parliaments, giv-
ing his entire support to Mr. Pitt's administration.
In 1808 he was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Ire-
land, which situation he held for upwards of six
years. During his administration the utmost hos-
pitality was kept up at the Castle and Phoenix Park.
In 1814 the Duke and his family left England for
Brussels, where they remained imtil his Grace was
appointed Governor-General of the British settle-
ments in North America. Upon his death, Charles,
present and fifth Duke, succeeded to the title and
estates, and assumed the additional surname of
Gordon, after the decease of his maternal uncle,
George, fifth and last Duke of Gordon, in 1835,
whose property in Scotland now descended by the
will of his grandfather, the fourth Duke of Gordon,
to the present Duke of Richmond,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

289

At an early age the present Duke, then Mr.
Lennox, went to Westminster ; previous to which
he was at Mr. Horn's school at Chiswick for a few
months, andhecame a boarder at "Glover's," after-
wards Mrs. Packharness's, in Great Dean's Yard. As
a boy he was quick, attentive, and intelligent in his
studies, and very popular with his tutor — the late
respected Dr. Dodd. With boys of his own age
he was equally popular, being kind, open-hearted,
and generous; but perhaps his greatest triumph
was the devotion with which the younger and
weaker boys looked up to the hero of our memoir,
" old Lennox," as the eldest brothers at Westmin-
ster are always called — there being a sliding scale,
old, middle, and young. In him the oppressed
ever found a ready champion ; and whenever a
bully was reported to him, as having tyrannised
over some youngster, a sound thrashing was the
inevitable result. At all manly games, cricket,
fives, rowing, foot ball, quoits, running and leap-
ing, " old Lennox" was a youthful Crichton. He,
however, excelled most at cricket, and vipon the
water. His easy and good-humoured manner
kept him free from quarrels with his school- fellows ;
but whenever the gauntlet was thrown down, no
one was more ready to defend himself. He was,
in fine, a noble, generous, high-spirited boy, and
one that it was impossible to know without feeling
the deepest interest in. " Old Lennox" took all
his removes wth credit to himself, and was held
out often as a pattern of attention by the under
master. Dr. Page, and the head master. Dr. Carey,
now bishop of St. Asaph. Among his youthful
contemporaries may be mentioned two, with whom,
in after life, he was connected in the government,
namely. Lord John Russell, and the present Secre-
tar)' of State for the Home Department, Sir James
Graham. The late Lord Mountcharles and the Earl
of Grosvenor were also companions of his boyish
days. There was one, however, whose friendship
commenced with him at Westminster, and which
was only severed by death. We allude to young
Lifford, a noble, open-hearted, generous creature,
he was ever looked upon as a son of the late duke
of York's. " Old Lennox" and LifFord were inse-
parables ; in the Westminster phraseology, regular
" cronies," the Damon and Pythias of the school.
At an early age the latter got a commission in the
gallant 52nd, was severely wounded at Redinha,
and died at Coimbra. With his latest breath, poor
Lifford urged his old comrade Lennox to deUver
into the hands of the Duke of York his trusty
sword and sash. Need we say that this injunction
was implicitly followed by the young survivor,
who, upon his return to England, gave the dying
gift to the reputed father of his lamented friend?
Nor was this the only opportunity furnished to

the present Duke of being of service to this
friend of his youth. Poor Lifford, in a desponding
state, was feverishly anxious for the receipt of
letters from home. The mail arrived, and the hero
of this memoir, then on the staff' of the Duke of
Wellington, forwarded wthout delay, a messenger
to the sufferer, bearing letters for him from England.
Poor Lifford ! Of him might his surviving friend
say, in the lines of Halleck,

" Green be the turf above thee.
Friend of my 'youthful days ;'

None knew thee but to love thee.
Nor named thee but to praise."

Before we take leave of Westminster, we must
not omit to mention, that in a memorable contest
between the town boys and King's scholars, aris-
ing from an old custom, now we believe obsolete,
and which always led to a general fight, namely,
that of sluicing one another, upon a particular day,
^vith cold water (hence, perhaps, the origin of
hydropathy), "old Lennox" took a prominent
part, and led on his forces with a judgment and
bravery that quite won the hearts of his young fol-
lowers. Tlie affray we allude to was so serious that
the authorities put an end to this annual skirmish.
Shortly after leaving Westminster, the sub-
ject of this sketch entered the army, then only
in his eighteenth year, as an ensign in the 8th
garrison battalion, and was appointed extra aide-
de-camp to his father, at that period Lord Lieuten-
ant of Ireland. Our hero, then Earl of March,
however, sighed for an active life, and, " having
longed to follow to the field some warlike lord,"
qviitted the gaieties of the Irish capital to join the
army in the peninsula, as aide-de-camp to his
father's friend, the Duke of WeUington, Here he
remained until 1814, and was present at all the
actions that took place during that eventful period.
In January, 1814, Lord March left the staff to do
duty with the gallant 52nd, in which regiment he
had been appointed to a company during the pre-
vious year; within a month he was severely wounded
whilst in command of his company at Orthes.
The Duke of Welhngton was deeply grieved at this
event, and wrote letters of condolence to his parents,
which did credit to the great warrior's heart. Youth
and a good constitution did wonders for the young
soldier, who was sufficiently recovered to rejoin
his chief at Toulouse, the very day after that
battle. From thence he went to Coa, the head-
quarters of the 4th division, for the benefit of his
health, where he remained until his return to Eng-
land. In 1814, when a British force was sent to
occupy Belgium, Lord March was appointed aide-
de-camp to his former brother staff officer the
Prince of Orange, now King of Holland. He at-
tended this prince in the memorable battle of Wa=

290

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

terloo, and, upon his chief being wounded, gained
permission to join the head-quarters of the army,
where he was replaced on the staff of " Le vain-
queur du vainqueur de la terre." Here Lord
March remained during the occupation of Paris ;
he then joined the 52nd, with which regiment he
did duty until 1816, when the 2nd battalion, to
which he belonged, M^as disbanded.

On the 10th of April in the following year, the pre-
sent Duke married Lady Caroline Paget, eldest
daughter of the Marquis of Anglesey; and by
her has the present Earl of March, M.P. for the
county of Sussex, Lord Henry Gordon Lennox,
Lord Alexander Gordon Lennox, Lord George
Gordon Lennox, the ladies CaroHne, Augusta, and
Ceciha Gordon Lennox. In Mason's description of
Goodwood, we find the following paragraph referring
to Lawrence's noble picture of the Duchess. " In
the delineation of female beauty Lawrence pecu-
liarly excelled : and in this admirable production,
he has conferred to his canvas not only the grace
and eloquence of his subject, but the animated ex-
pression of a refined intellect, and the calm dig-
nity of domestic purity and moral excellence."
And this is no overdra^vn or exaggerated statement,
the peerless beauty of la belle Paget has long been
the theme of admiration ; and happily for those
around her, " her outward graces have been placed
about her thoughts and counsels of her heart."
Who that could witness her face with " coroneted
brow" in the brilliant circles of the court, would
recognise the same being, walking as an anxious
mother by the side of a beloved and beautiful fay
of a child, mounted on a Lilliputian pony, at an
hour, too, when the fashionable world are supposed
to be enjoying their first sleep ? Such, however, is
the case, as may be daily proved by any individual
who takes the trouble to proceed to the Regent's
Park at the awfully early hour of eight, where,
should he go, he will be rewarded by seeing as
lovely a sight as eye ever witnessed — the tender
care of an anxious mother to her beloved offspring.
The world, at least the unthinking part of it,
too often imagine that the higher classes pass their
time in luxury, indolence, and frivolity. Such,
unfortunately, may be the case in some instances ;
but we will take upon ourselves to say, that the
majority are as watchful parents, as devoted wives
and husbands, as affectionate sons and daughters,
as are to be found throughout the land. We have
already spoken of one, nearly and dearly connected
with the subject of this memoir, whose watchful
care, unremitting kindness, and unwearied atten-
tion, has ever soothed the hours of pain experienced
by those bound to her by ties of blood and affec-
tion : and we could name many others equally
worthy of the proud distinction of English mothers.

To return to Lord March. As a military man
he possessed every quality requisite to make a dis-
tinguished officer — courage, judgment, quickness,
and decision. It is too often the practice in the
army to talk lightly of staff officers, and to imagine
that their principal duties consist of carving at
dinner, writing invitations, and galloping about
with their chief. Those who knew the Duke of
WeUington's staff, and the manner the duty was
carried on, will readily admit that to be an aide-
de-camp to his Grace, was to hold no sinecure
situation. The staff of which Lord March formed
one were all young men of active habits and good
constitutions. The hunting field in England had
made most of them competent for part of their
duty, namely, that of conveying orders to distant
posts, and which, in a wild mountainous country,
surrounded by an enemy, was no very easy task.
The staff consisted of Lord Fitzroy Somerset,
another gallant Plantagenet, his nephew, the Duke
of Beaufort, then Marquis of Worcester ; the Prince
of Orange, who although an A.D.C., had two A.D.
C.'s of his own ; the Earl of March ; Lord George
Lennox; Sir Cohn Campbell; Harry Percy; poor
Canning and Gordon, who both fell at Waterloo ;
and the majority of which were still in their
" teens". It was a surprise that the French offi-
cers could not get over, when they saw the strip-
lings that attended the British Commander-in-
chief, for in their army few under the rank of full
colonels were attached to the Emperor or his gene-
rals. And yet this real good specimen of " young
England" did their duty in the most meritorious
manner, and such as gained them the thanks and
confidence of their warrior chief. To the "gentle-
men of England, who hve at home at ease," and
whose ideas of " roughing it" are very like those of
the young guardsman, who said, or rather is re-
ported to have said, " he could manage to rough it
on beef-steaks and port wine," we must point out
that the duty of one of Wellington's aides-de-camp,
although one of the highest honour, was not quite
the bed of roses many suppose it to have been.
Fancy a long ride of some fifteen leagues, under a
broihng sun, or the pelting pitiless storm, over a
wild mountainous tract, or through plains intersec-
ted with rivers and ditches; a straggler from theene-
my's ranks, deserter from your own, or pilfering
peasant of the country, looking out to enrich himself
by quietly shooting you through the head. You
reach the place of your destination, dehver your
despatches, devote the half hour your chief has
allotted you for rest and refreshment, and retrace
your steps to head quarters. The next morning the
note of preparation is heard, an action is anticipa-
ted; the eagle eye of Wellington burns with
unusual fire, some deed is to b» done before sun-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

291

set. Before noon you are in the midst of it, you
are ordered to the right of the Hne to bring up a
regiment to support another nearly overwhelmed
by the superior force of the enemy. You gallop
along the ensanguined field, the ground is ploughed
up almost under your horse's feet by the grape and
round shot, the bullets are whisthng about you, you
reach the commanding officer, deliverto him the brief
order of Wellington, written with pencil in his own
hand and torn from his memorandum book, and
then hasten to return to your chief. A few straggling
dragoons of the enemy, having left their main body,
recognise by your dress a staff officer they
wheel round, and make a dash at you ; your trusty
steed answers to your touch, and away you go,
like Mazeppa's 'wild horse, " upon the pinions of the
^vind:" atone time the unevenness of the ground
gives them a chance, but on the level your charger,
formerly a high-mettled racer, gives them the go-
by, and they are left to anethematize you
in morbleux, &c. The day is over, our arms
are crowned with victory; but even then
what thoughts come over you ! It is true you are
saved, but around you many of your dearest and
best friends have fallen. The reflection is mournful,
and nothing but the excitement of the time could
keep up your sinking spirits. In the depth of the
night, when lying on your straw pallet, exposed,
perhaps, to the inclemencies of the weather, to
the heavy bursts of rain, the vivid flashes of
lightning, the loud claps of thunder, the furious
gusts of wind, the thoughts of " home" and those
dear to us will come over the mind of the bravest,
and fill it with reflections easily to be understood,
but more difficult to depict. We have wandered
from our narrative. Suffice it to say, the Earl of
March was ever by the side of his chief, ready to
attend to his orders, and execute them with
promptness and fidelity. Upon one occasion,
during an action, his lordship was sent with an
order to one of the most gallant regiments in the
service, the Royal FusiUers, who were sufiiering
greatly from the enemy's fire. Just as he reached
this distinguished corps, he observed that some
of our guns had ceased firing. Passing the artillery
officer, he motioned the object of his mission, and
suggested that if he would only continue to pour
some grape into the enemy's cavalry, the Fusiliers
would get rid of a formidable opponent.

" Enemy's cavalry !" said the artillery officer ]
" they are of the German Legion."

" You are wrong," repHed our young Aid-de-
camp, "I am confident they are French. Re-
member, I have no orders for you to fire, but if
you ceased under the unpression that they were
friends, not foes, I advise you again to blaze
away."

In a second the artillery officer took the hint,
and again " opened the ball " in a way that
made the French take to their horses' heels. When
this was mentioned to Wellington, he applauded
the judgment and energy of his young Aid-de-
camp. We might fill this paper with similar in-
stances, but as we have only room for a sketch,
and not a full-length likeness, we shall leave the
subject for abler chroniclers, who may have more
space for details than we have. As a i-egimental of-
ficer, the Earl of March did his duty most efficiently;
and it would be well for the youth of this, and
every forthcoming generation, to remember
that in the Peninsula campaigns there were
many individuals, like the subject of this memon*,
born to high title and honours, who went through
the deprivations, difficulties, and dangers attend-
ing upon it in a way that few who have not ex-
perienced a similar life can have the remotest idea of.
The noble Paget, the princely Orange, the chival-
rous Somerset, the high-minded Worcester, were a
few of those names which now occur to us ; besides
others of noble lineage — Gordon, the gallant Percy,
Lennox, whose daring deeds were worthy of their
proud ancestral name.

In Hart's " Army List," one of the most com-
plete works of the sort that ever emanated from the
press, we find the Duke's serWces reported as
follows : —

"On the 24th July, 1810, the present Duke of
Richmond, then Earlof March, joined the Duke of
WelUngton as Aide-de-camp and assistant Military
Secretary, and remained with him until the year
1814. He was present with his chief at the bat-
tles of Busaco and Fuentes D'Onor, the storming
of Cuidad Rodrigo and Badajoz, battles of Sala-
manca, Vittoria, and Pyrenees, first storming of
St. Sebastian, action at Vera. At the battle of
Orthes, Lord March was, as we have previously
stated, in command of a company of the gallant
52nd. At Quartre Bras and Waterloo he was on
the staflF of the Prince of Orange, now King of
HoUand."

The Duke's political life commenced in 1812,
when he was returned to parhament as member for
the city of Chichester, which he represented untQ
1819, when his Grace took his seat in the House
of Lords. Upon the dissolution of the Welling-
ton administration in 1830, the subject of our
memoir accepted the office of Post-master-General,
with a seat in the cabinet, in the government of
that pure patriot. Earl Grey. It was during this
period that the vast changes effected in our legis-
lative institutions by the passing of the Reform
Bill came into operation, the glories of Bletch-
ingly and Milborne Port faded from the view of
their unfortunate holders, and the sun of old

292

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sarum and Gatton set for ever. In 1834 the Duke
of Richmond, Earl of Ripon, Sir James Graham,
and Mr,, now Lord Stanley, seceded from office ;
the cause of their resignation was a division of
opinion with the rest of the cabinet as to the pro-
priety of confiscating part of the property of the
Irish Church to other than protestant ecclesiastical
purposes. As a supporter of Church and State,
the Duke felt he could no longer act with a party
who, according to his Grace's views, were under-
mining the Protestant Church. During the period
the Duke held the situation of Post-master
General, he devoted his whole time and energies
to its duties, and his exertions were highly success-
ful. His Grace promoted some most efficient re-
forms, got rid of many old abuses, and paved the
way for the present increase in the facilities of
communication both at home and abroad. For-
timately for the public, the present holder of that
office, the Earl of Lonsdale, is unremitting in his
duty, and the business of the Post Office is carried
on with exemplary zeal.

In politics the Duke » a reformer of abuses, a
supporter of Queen, Church, and State, a friend
to the agriculturist, and an avowed enemy to the
Anti-Corn-Law League.

As a speaker in the House of Lords, the Duke is
clear, forcible, and fluent. He is ever master of
the subject he discusses, and, in the absence of
brilliant imagery, fancifid metaphor, or flowery
rhetoric, brings such a fund of good common
sense that he seldom or ever fails to command the
attention of his hearers. In reply he is quick, and
never fails to come off victorious when a brother
legislator tries a lance with him. At public meet-
ings his Grace is an excellent chairman; there is a
bonhoinmie about him — an affable manner — digni-
fied, yet not proud — courteous, yet not famUiar —
which wins all hearts ; and we know no one at an
agricultural or cattle-show meeting who carries
those prides of our country, the British farmer
and yeoman, so much with them as the Duke of
Richmond ; whether he appears as a successful or
unsuccessful candidate, there is still the same
joyousness of manner, the same good-humoured
smile, the same equanimity of temper. In private
life the Duke is exemplary ; he is a most affec-
tionate husband, and a kind father. Relieved from
the toils of public duty, his happiness is to be
found in the smiles of the children "of his heart
and home ;" and never does his Grace appear to
more advantage than in his own family circle. In
society the Duke is agreeable and affable, and has
a fund of anecdote of the " days of his campaign-
ing alongtime ago," and possesses the peculiar talent
of suiting his conversation to his hearers. Tlie mili-
tary man, the politician, the country magistrate.

the farmer, the sportsman, the man of letters, will
all find pleasure in the conversation of the Duke.
As a magistrate and guardian of the poor the
Duke is impartial, kind-hearted, and considerate ;
and whatever defects there may be in some of the
clauses of the present poor law, few that see the
West Hampnett Union, near Goodwood, could
find fault with the system there carried on. As a
sportsman, the Duke, when Earl of March, rode
well to hounds, and was, and is to the present day,
an excellent shot : he also carried on his love for
cricket for many years ; unfortunately the " ball"
he received at Orthes, and one which the most ex-
pert member of Lord's would have found quite
impossible to stop, has prevented his taking up
his bat of late years ; still the noble game of
cricket is patronized in the Duke's park at Good-
wood by a club under his auspices.

Upon the turf the Duke has had a fair share of
success. As Earl of March, we find him in 1817
winning a £50 match with Hermes, and in the two
following years \vinning another £50 match, and two
sweepstakes of £50 each with Roncesvalles. In

1820 RoncesvaUes won two races out of the only
three. Goodwood was not then in its glory. In

1821 his Grace's Yellow Jacket came in first for
two sweepstakes and a match ; from that period
until Gulnare's year, who won the Oaks, the
Duke generally carried off a few plates at Good-
wood. The Oaks was the first great race his
Grace won, and since that period his stud im-
proved, and some rich prizes of money and cups
have been added to the Duke's coffers. We shall
not here stop to debate upon the Goodwood races,
which, under the present Duke's management,
ably assisted by that leviathan of the turf. Lord
George Bentinck, have been brought to per-
fection. Independent of sport, the greatest
benefit has been derived by the constant im-
provements which have been made on the race-
course, and which improvements have been
the means of giving employment to many labourers,
who, otherwise, would have been on the parishes .
That excessive gambling which has been carried on
at the other racecourses, to the ruin of hu.ndreds,
has never been tolerated to a great extent at Good-
wood ; and it was some months before this ques-
tion was agitated in the Hovises of Parliament, that
the Duke determined to put an end to all gambling
booths and pea-and-thimble playing at Goodwood,
His example has been followed up by the Secretary
of State for the home department, whose stringent
laws at Epsom and Ascot have entirely succeeded in
suppressing this pernicious practice. All respect-
able races can flourish without the assistance of
roulette-table keepers, and thimble riggers. The
money that was wont to go to this cheating com-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

293

munity had better far be spent upon other amuse-
ments ; and we hail the day with pleasure that has
rendered 'a racecourse a place of innocent recre-
ation, without having a temptation placed in the
hands of the humbler classes, which, unfortu-
nately, few have the fortitude to resist.

The honours that have been conferred upon his
Grace are the Garter, the Lord Lieutenantcy of the
county of Sussex, the colonelcy of the Royal Sus-
sex Light Infantry MiUtia. In 1843, William IV.,
whose personal attachment to the Duke was very
great, appointed him to be one of his Aids-de-
camp of the militia, a situation which he now con-
tinues to hold under her most gracious Majesty,
Queen Victoria. It is here not unworthy of re-
mark that the Duke and all his predecessors have
been knights of the most honourable order of the
gartei", a distinction which we venture to think the
next generation will not fail to attain ; distant,
however, may that period be ! But if ever there
was a prospect of the worthy scion of a most
worthy sire emulating the noble example of his
father, it is to be found in the Earl of March.
May he live to support and cheer the " roof tree "
when age, decay, or infirmity, natural to us all,
shall creep on, and it is the ferA-ent \vish of one
" who prays continually for Richmond's good,"
that health and prosperity may attend that truly
British Farmer and his noble family.

As lovers of the soil, as friends to agriculture, as
enemies to the Anti-Corn-Law League, as well-
wishers to our country, we conclude in the words
of Shakspeare —

" Nought shall make us rue,
\i farmers to themselves do rest but true."

Landowners, farmers, yeomen, friends to your
native land, rally round his Grace's banner. Let
your watch-words be —

Protection to industry !

Live and let live !

Richmond and \'ictory !

THE ECONOMY OF FARM YARD MA-
NURES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — In my last communication I mentioned
that a friend of mine, Mr. Jas. Hazledine, a verj'
mtelligent farmer, of Warburton, in Cheshire, a few
miles from this, had carried into effect a sugges-
tion of mine, for a daily collection of the droppings
of his cows, and the application of the same, daily,
plentifully diluted \vith water, to his grass land.
The plan has, of course, been attended with the
most beneficial results, as it will be obvious to all
who understand the true principles of manuring, it
could not fail to be. I at the same time urged

upon him the propriety of paying particular atten-
tion to the economy of all the liquid manures re-
sulting from his house, stal)les, shijjjjons, piggeries,
&c., &c. ; of a great part of whicli there was, at
that time, a most lamentable waste. Mr. H., in
common with the majority of his brethren, hav-
ing a very imperfect knowledge of the great value
of these matters.

His house, offices, and farm-buildings, are all
of recent construction — all substantially built, with
good slated roofs, and the whole arranged Avith the
utmost regard to economy and convenience ;
therefore admirably adapted for the addition to
their eflScacy which I suggested. The success
attendant upon the apphcation of my suggestion to
liis meadows, encouraged him to make arrange-
ments for the collection of all matters of a fertihzing
nature produced on his premises. By inspection
of the accompanying plan, with which he has re-
cently furnished me, it will be seen how perfectly
he has carried out the plan. Everj'thing liquid,
from every source, is preserved and conveyed by
pipes to his large Hquid tank, from whence it is
pumped into a water-cart and applied to his land,
and the result has exceeded his most sanguine
expectations — his crops surpassing anything he has
ever witnessed in an experience of very many years.
In your Number for this month there is an article
" On Farm-yards and Dung-heaps," which I fear
contains statements and recommendations totally
opposed to just principles,

Our common object being "the diffusion of
useful knowledge," I trust I shall not be supposed
desirous of giving offence in any allusion I may
make to any errors contained in the article in
question.

Depend upon it, sir, it is not desirable to bed
the farm-yard with any matters hkely to prevent
the escape of the liquid matters to some place of
safety where the volatile parts may be fixed.
Nor can it be desirable to allow the dung from the
cattle to drop among the litter and there trodden.
Nor can it be economical to throw the dung of
other animals into the farm-yard. These and
other suggestions, in the article in question, have a
tendency, decidedly, to injure the farmer.

AU animal excrements should be separated as
quickly as possible from any decajang vegetable
manure, for this obvious reason — the heat gene-
rated in the decay (then combustion) of vegetable
matter is sufficient to dissipate all the valuable
organic matter contained in the animal excrements.

Farmers should, with the most scrupulous care,
separate the animal excrement, which should in-
stantly be conveyed into a tank partly filled with
water, and its volatile parts fixed with sulphuric
acid or g^^sum. Nothing can be more wasteful
than the exposure of these valuable matters, in
heaps, to the action of the atmosphere. What
says the greatest authority we possess on this
point ? Liebig says — " in a scientific point of
A'iew, it should be the care of the agriculturist so
to employ all the substances containing a large
portion of nitrogen, which his farm affords in
the form of animal excrements, that they shall
serve as nutriment to his own plants. This will
not be the case unless those substances are proper-

294

THE FAEMEll'S MAGAZINE.

ly distributed upon his land. A heap of manure
lying unemployed upon his land woidd serve him no
■more than his neighbours. The nitrogen in it
would escape as carbonate of ammonia into the
atmosphere, and a mere carbonaceous residue of
decayed plants would, after some years, be found
in its place." No doubt this is so, and it thus
follows that, by the decidedly wasteful plan, now
generally in operation, of allowing the animal ex-
crements to be mixed with the decaying vegetable
manures, very little else than the inorganic matters
is returned to the soil, and plants are made to de-
pend upon the ammonia essential to their rapid
and full developement to the precarious supply
afforded by the atmosphere in the forms of rain
and dew. Now is it not possible, by the apphca-
tion of a more improved system for that now in
operation, to check this dreadful waste, and secure
to the farmer the fuU benefit of his own manures ?
I think it is, and will briefly give a hint or two on
the subject.

My friend Hazledine has proved how easily all
the liquids of a fertihzing nature produced in his
farm buildings may be conveyed to a place of se-
curity. Mr. Mechi, in his admirable letter, No. 5,
in your No. of this month, goes fully into the same
subject. Such a letter as the one I allude to is in-
valuable; the soundest principles are therein ex-
pressed, and Mr. M. merits the thanks of every
farmer in the kingdom. It is rather strange that
in the same number should be contained articles
expressing views so wide in their operations as
those in letter No. 5, and the article I have al-
ready alluded to. Mr, M. says, "manure that is
dropped in the day is removed the following
morning in barrows to the tank, so as to preserve
its efficacy." In the article " On farm-yards and
dung-heaps," we find — 3. To spread the dung of
other animals when thrown iiito the yard in equal
layers on every jjart. 4. To remove the dung
from the yard, at least once during the tvinter to
the mixen.

Mr. Mechi has his conveyed, daily, to a place of
safety. Can there be any doubt as to which plan
will be the most economical? Again, Mr. M.
says — " the iron gutters and pipes to our roofs
may be found fault with on account of the expense,
but 1 really cannot see the utility or profit of the
present custom, that is, putting good and costly
manure on straw and then washing it all out again
with tens of thousands of gallons of pure water off
the roofs, taking especial care that it shall poison
the horse-pond and then run down to enrich some
stranger's meadow at the first flood, I hope, in
fifty years time, the farmer who does this wiU be
considered insane. Tlie idea of a man throwing
away his manui'e with his left hand, and, with
his right, paying money to bring it back again all
the way from Peru or Africa, seems too ludicrous
for the nineteenth century." Admirable reasoning,
and completely to the point.

It has been proved by Mr. Mechi, my friend
Hazledine, and many others, that, by the applica-
tion of just principles, much may be done ; and
the only question now is, to improve on what has
been already done. That the liquid state is the
most correct and efficient mode of application will,

I should suppose be generally admitted : reasoning
upon that admission, it is evidently desirable to
make the system general, and, if possible, do
away with, dung-heaps altogether. Is such a thing
practicable, and would it be economical? Not
being a practical farmer I cannot answer ; but I
am convinced it would, if practicable, be beneficial.

I should suggest the following plan : — That
every farm-yard be provided %\dth a spacious liquid
manure tank, sunk in the ground, and •with a
pump fixed therein. Close to the tank, and suffi-
ciently above it to allow its contents to be run off
into it, place a large tub or vessel, of good size ;
in this vessel, let the litter from the stables, &c.,
in which is mixed the liquid and animal excre-
ments, be well-washed, and the litter thus cleaned
removed. Then saturate the resulting liquid with
sulphuric acid or gypsum, until all the volatile
matter is fixed, and run it off into the hquid ma-
nure tank. By this means the possibihty of
loosing any of the valuable organic matter con-
tained in the excrements, during the decay of the
vegetable matter, would be effectually removed;
and the plan is so far perfectly easy and practicable.

Whether the next part of it is equally so I am
not able to determine ; but I should very much
wish to see it fairly tried by some practical farmer.

I propose that the litter, on its removal from the
vessel in which all the valuable matter has been
removed by lixivation, should then be burned, and
the ashes preserved with the greatest possible
care. I propose, also, that each description of
straw should be burned separately and returned
again to the land, on which a crop of a similar kind
is about to be raised, at the same time the seed is
so^vn. It would be requisite to have casks or
binns labelled " wheat straw ashes," or " oat straw
ashes," &c., &c.; and this plan, if practicable,
would save the waste of the organic matters, the
unwholesomeness resulting from the decomposi-
tion of large masses of vegetable matter, and ex-
pense of carting much useless matter on the land.
The first part of the plan is decidedly practicable,
and would unquestionably be attended with good
results. The value of the latter part could only be
tested by experiment. I am, sir, yours, most obe-
diently, W. Maddick, Jun.

Manchester, l6th Sej}t., 1845.

SALE OF PURE SOUTHDOWNS, AT KINGS-
COTE, GLOUCESTERSHIRE.— The annual sale of
Col. Kingscote's pure Southdown sheep, on Thursday
last, was very numerously and respectably attended, and
the beautiful park in which the sale was held presented
a very animated and picturesque appearance. Consider-
ing the shortness of keep which has been for some time
complained of, the biddings were very spirited, and the
lots went off with much briskness. Among the com-
pany present were the Earl of Suffolk, Lord Bloomfield,
Lord Andover, Sir John Kennaway, Capt. Berkeley,
M.P., Capt. Townsend, J. R. Barker, Esq., — Cripps,
Esq., H. C. Clifford, Esq., P. B. Purnell, Esq., W.
Jones, Esq., N. S. Marling, Esq., D. J. Niblet, Esq.,
and many of our leading agriculturists and breeders.
Mr. Banaster, of Threadneedle-street, the eminent pur-
veyor to her Majesty, was also among the bidders at
this sale. The lots sold included sixty Down theaves,
which fetched from 35s. to 42s. each; twenty four.

I

For Description see our last number, page 300.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

295

tooth ewes, which averaged 36s. each ; one hundred
six-tooth and full mouth ewes, which averaged from 28s.
to 54s. each; thirty Chilver lambs, average 16s. each;
sixty wether lambs, which sold at 49s. each ; forty two-
tooth fat wethers, which fetched from 34s. to 39s. each ;
thirty four-tooth fat wethers, which fetched from 41s.
to 49s. each ; and twenty full mouth ditto, which sold
at 48s. each. There were twenty-three pure-bred Down
rams and ram lambs of great excellence, and several lots
of horned cattle, in the catalogue. With regard to these,
the same spirit was manifested by the purchasers, and
many of the rams were sold at from 14^. to 20/. a-piece.
The auctioneers wei'e Messrs. Humphrys and Co., of
Stroud. — Wiltshire Independent.

PRESENTATION OF THE TESTIMONIAL
TO COLONEL POWELL, AT HAY,
SEPT. 10, 1844,

(from the HEREFORD TIMES.)

Tuesday being 'the day on which this event was
to take place, the inhabitants of Hay exerted themselves
to the utmost in making preparations for the forthcoming
interesting occasion. The committee of management
was no less active in its duties ; a spacious marquee was
ordered to be erected by Mr. Llewellyn, in a field adjoin-
ing the Swan Hotel, and every other preliminary matter
was arranged with the greatest judgment.

THE DINNER
took place at half-past three o'clock. The interior of
the marquee was tastefully decorated with a profusion
of bouquets and festoons of evergreens. The chairman's
table ran the whole length of the marquee, and from it
branched seven other tables. Arthur Henry Wall, Esq.,
the Woodlands, near Glasbury, presided, and John Tom-
kins, Esq., the Weir, near Hereford, officiated as vice-
president, assisted by six other gentlemen, at the tables
right and left. On the chairman's right sat the distin-
guished and venerable guest, Colonel Powell, supported
by many old and valued friends, some from the distant
counties of Devon, Middlesex, Worcester, and other
counties equally far off, and others from his native and
adjacent counties, companions of his youthful days. The
President's chair was surmounted by a beautiful floral
canopy, as was also that of the gallant Colonel. Nearly
three hundred persons sat down to dinner, and the gal-
leries at each end of the pavilion erected for the purpose
contained upwards of four hundred ladies, and presented
a brilliant galaxy of beauty, rarely grouped together.
The whole composed a scene the most imposing and
gratifying which can possibly be descnbed ; its equal we
never witnessed.

About half-past four o'clock the cloth was removed,
after which the chairman proposed in succession, pre-
faced by appropriate speeches, the usual national and
local toasts ; the intervals between which being pleas-
ingly filled by suitable airs played in good style by the
band, which was stationed in the centre of the gallery on
the chairman's left.

The Rev. Thomas Powell, of Turnastone, returned
thanks on behalf of the bishops, whose dioceses were in
the surrounding counties, and the clergy appointed
thereto.

The Chairman now rose and requested the company
to fill a bumper, which was immediately responded to by
all present. He then said — Gentlemen, I now rise to
propose to you a toast, which I am sure you are all most
anxiously expecting, and at the same time are prepared
to receive with all the honours it so richly deserves. Not
accustomed to make long speeches, I shall not offer any

apology, but shall merely ask you to attribute any defi-
ciency on my part to do justice to the toast to want of
ability, and not to any lack of zeal. It fortunately hap-
pens to me that flattery is not required to lend its aid
upon this most happy occasion. You all know the cir-
cumstances that have brought us together this day. We
sometimes see meetings and public demonstrations taking
place to welcome a warrior to his native soil ; but this
is not a meeting for any class of dependents to pay
homage and respect which they do not feel, or to bend
the knee to the rich aristocrat or grandee. (Hear, hear. J
We are met here to testify by our presence the respect
and esteem which we entertain for our worthy guest — to
show to him that his public utility, as well as his private
worth, is not only felt but acknowledged by us, and we
now request his acceptance of this very small tribute of
respect, as a proof of our sincerity and attachment to
him. (Hear, hear.) Upon this piece of plate there
are some devices that may call to our minds the recol-
lection that our gallant colonel has been in the service
of his country. Perhaps there is only one present who
can bear testimony to this, but many of you have
heard of his character as a soldier. From all we know
of him, and all we hear, we may come to the conclusion,
that the man who is so good a civilian, cannot have been
other than a good soldier. I think that any gentleman who
has fiUed the situations which he has done in his coun-
try's service, demands our admiration and esteem.
(Hear.) He was ever ready to attend to the wants of the
widow — to relieve the afflicted — and to administer com-
fort to the wounded. It is our good fortune not to have
followed him into the field of war ; we know him under
more favourable auspices — when he has turned his
spear into a reaping-hook (hear, hear) — when he has
exchanged the field of battle for the field of agriculture.
We recognise him as a friend and neighbour, always
ready to alleviate the wants of the poor — to promote by
every means in his power the interests of the com-
munity at large, and he exhibits at his own fireside all
the good qualities of an English gentleman. (Hear,
hear.) Were I to attempt to enumerate to you the
various traits that adorn his character, I should occupy
your attention some days (hear, hear) ; his charity and
generosity know no bounds ; how many hearts have been
gladdened by his liberality ! — how many an orphan has
found succour and support from him ! — how many, with
want staring them in the face, have been succoured and
relieved by him ! — how many a distressed widow has
sought him, and she and her children have been fed and
clothed by him, instead of being, as is too often the
case, sent empty away ! but, as the poet beautifully de-
scribes it —

" His house is known to all the vagrant train,
He chides their wand'rings, but relieves their pain."

(Hear, hear.) Great as his acts of charity are, many of
them are known only to himself, being one of those ' ' who
do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame." Great as
these are and have been, there is one that calls for especial
notice. I allude to a public declaration made by him at
the late anniversary of the West Herefordshire Farmers'
Club, and which at that time extensively engrossed the
attention of the public press of this country. (Hear,
hear.) It was a speech characterized by sound sense and
liberality of sentiment, and not only did honour to him
but also to the society. It contained the honest dic-
tates of his heart, and was the production of an honest
mind. There are circumstances upon which men may
differ ; some say this plan is best, some that ; but there
is one point on which we all agree, viz., that a lease will
gi\e to the farmer security and confidence, that in laying
out his capital he will reap the advantages arising there-
from, and when he goes into his farm he may expect to
remain ia it for life, and may call it, as it were, his free<

THE FABMER'S MAGAZINE.

hold and his castle. (Cheers.) We all know that the
tenure of a tenant farmer is a very uncertain one, and a
man knows not how long he may live under his landlord ;
he may be in liis farm to-day and have notice to quit
to-morrow. There are others employed by landlords,
who are sometimes more oppressive than those for whom
they act ; sometimes the tenant has almost a hundred
parties to serve, and unless he pays proper respect to all,
he frequently has to leave his farm in consequence, The
plan of the gallant colonel would give him comparative
independence, and gladden liis eye at the prospect of
success, and of securing to his family a decent and re-
spectable liveUhood. {Hear, hear.) Many entertain
these views, but have not boldness publicly to give them
uttei'ance. The gallant colonel was in a position not
only to conceive the plan, but likewise manfully and
openly to declare it. The jjlan, if carried into effect
(and if a kind spirit reigns in the bosoms of the land-
lords, they will not hesitate to adopt it), would be bene-
ficial to the landlord, tenant, and labourer. (Hear, hear.)
The chairman here, turning to the colonel, upon whom
every eye was now fixed, every ear directed to catch every
word as it fell from his lips, said — Sir, in the name of
the agriculturists, who owe you a lasting debt of grati-
tude, and combined with their gratitude and respect is
that of the commercial interest, whose welfare you have
always at heart ; and last, though not least, are the
heartfelt thanks of a body of men who have mustered
here to-day in such numbers as were never before wit-
nessed in this town — I alluded to the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows and the Hay Amicable Society, which
are formed for the purpose of relieving distress, and
which societies you have supported, not only by your
purse, but also by your countenance (hear, hear) ; in
the name of all these parties I beg leave to present to
you tliis most superb and splendid piece of plate.
(Cheers.) The chairman, assisted by those near, now
handed the testimonial to the gallant colonel, upon
which a most tremendous and enthusiastic burst of ap-
plause broke forth simultaneously from every part of the
spacious marquee and was continued for several minutes,
the ladies in the galleries rising, and waving their hand-
kerchiefs, manifesting the same spirit of admiration and
respect for the venerated guest. Such a burst of ap-
plause we never witnessed, and long will it be ei'e we
forget it. Silence being restored, the chairman con-
tinued— In the name of all these parties united, and in
the presence of these ladies who look down and smile
upon us, and to whom we all feel indebted, their pre-
sence adding additional lustre to the meeting, allow me
to present this testimony to you, and to express their
wish that you may live many years to look upon it —
not, sir, as an adequate reward for the very great kind-
ness we have all received at your hands, but as a small
testimonial of the respect and esteem in which you are
held by every class of the community. (Great ap-
plause.) And now, gentlemen (taking up a bumper,
and with a loud voice), I beg to give — " Health, happi-
ness, and long life to the gallant Colonel."

The call was immediately responded to by all present
rising, and with a bumper drinking the toast with nine
times nine, followed by loud and long-continued cheer-
ing, the ladies also expressing their mai-ked approbation.

The Gallant Colonel rose, after which cheers were
given that lasted for some minutes, being one of the
most enthusiastic bursts of applause we ever remember
to have heard. After silence was restored, he said — Mr.
Chairman and gentlemen (pointing to the former), to
you, sir, I am most deeply indebted for the kind and
friendly way in which you have been pleased to express
on the part of yourself and also the rest of the liberal
subscribers to this most splendid testimonial, which is
rendered doubly gratifying by the presentation bemg

made by one of the most liberal of landlords and most
hospitable of friends. Allow me, sir, upon my own part,
and on behalf of the very numerous body of contributors
to this splendid testimonial, to thank you for complying
with their wishes in taking the chair on tliis occasion. I
have also, sir, to return my most sincere thanks to the
gentlemen of the committee for their zealous exertions,
particularly to those kind and sincere friends who have
acted from pure friendship and affection. I have
likewise, sir, to return my thanks individually and-
collectively to the members of the West Herefordshire
Farmers' Club, particularly for the firm and manly ex-
ample continued by them during this manifestation, and
also to the general body of contributors I beg to retummy
most sincere thanks. There is one subject closely con-
nected with this day, to notice which I would humbly
beg your attention for a short time. It is relative to
the present and future state of agriculture, and the
views different parties have taken for bettering the con-
dition of the farmer. There are three most powerful
parties, each anxious to be considered the farmers'
friend ; but the means they take to obtain that distinc-
tion are as wide and as distant from each other as
the poles are separated. In the first place, there
are the fixed-duty men — cautious, prudent, and very
wary, saying little and doing less, taking especial
care not to follow the example of others in clapping
their hands into tlieir breeches pockets to back their
opinions, and did we not know to the contrary, we
might be led to believe that they were natives of the north
side of the Tweed (laughter) . Then come the League,
who are honest straightforward people, no doubt, if you
listen to their statements, who want cheap bread to ob-
tain cheap wages, to enable them to produce cheap ma-
nufactures. And what cheap bread, cheap wages, and
cheap calicoes have to do with bettering the condition of
the farmer, they leave you to find out. Then comes the
third and last, and by no means the least party in their
own estimation — another section of protectionists, who
tell you positively, that unless the farmers obtain the
protection which they term the sliding scale, both tenant
and the labourer must inevitably be ruined ; but they
take especial care not to let you know what is to become
of the landlord (7«ear, hear). If the farmer and la-
bourer were to be ruined, the landlord T think would be
treading pretty closely upon their heels (hear, hear).
We know many entertain each of these views, and we
also know they would be really and truly farmers' friends,
but they are deceived and misled by specious and cap-
tious characters who have other objects in view. The
farmers in general look upon the newly-formed protec-
tion societies with a cautious eye. You will rarely see
the name of a tenant farmer attached to either of their
lists — they know their own position too well. The only
protection they want is to be put in a position to be able
to protect themselves {cheers), and this they could
easily do if farms were let on leases and corn rents.
The additional quantity of grain that would be produced
would, in a very few years, by an improved system of hus-
bandry, be moi"e than would be required for the con-
sumption of the population of this kingdom; and instead
of being as we are now, and unfortunately have been for
a longtime, an importing, we should become an export-
ing, nation (cheers) . There are many cases that have
come within my own knowledge to prove these facts.
Twelve years back I knew a tenant farmer that took to
the off-going crop at a valuation taken by two neighbour-
ing farmers at ten bushels to the acre ; the coming-in
tenant had a lease of fourteen years, and at the expira-
tion of his fourth year he had 18 bushels of wheat and
23 bushels of barley to the acre ; and for the last seven
years, down to the present period, his average wheat
crop has been from 18 to 23 bushels, and from 25 to 30

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

297

bushels of barley. That is one advantage, amongst many,
of the consequences of a lease without a corn rent. Now
let us see what will be the advantages of a lease with a
corn rent, and we will take the corn rent from the wheat
crop only, and we will put the price at Gs. per bushel ;
and whenever wheat is at that price, or a fraction under,
in this country, neither the factor nor the foreign grower
can compete with the English farmer in the home mar-
ket (hear, hear) . We will take a farm of 200 acres,
120 of tillage and 80 of meadow and pasture, of fair qua-
lity land, that had been let for the last twenty years at
£\ an acre, and which have been known to produce,
within the last ten years, 20 bushels to the acre. The
custom of this county we know to be one-third of the
tillage as the odd mark for wheat. The third of 120
will be 40. The average of the present tenant's wheat
crop for the last ten years has been from 12 to 15 bushels
per acre. Now we will take it at 15, the maximum ; 15
bushels from 40 acres would be GOO ; take away 80 for
seed, would leave 520 ; 520 at 6s. would be £\.b^ ; that
appears to be the average value of the present tenant's
wheat crop for the last twelve years, according to the
tenant-at-will system. Now let us see what would be
the value of the tenant's wheat crop on the same farm,
on a lease and corn rent for 17 years out of 21, allowing
him the first four years for getting his farm into that
state of cultivation that would ensure him that return.
Now this farm has been known to produce, within the
last ten years, 20 bushels per acre under the bad system
of tenant-at-will ; and if it has done that, we have a
right, surely, to take credit for what we know it to have
done, if not for more, under a better system. We will
take it for what we have known it to produce, 20 bushels
per aci'e ; 20 bushels for 40 acres, would be 800 ; and at
6s., taking away 80 for seed, would leave 720, which
would be £2\(>. That would appear to be the average
value of the tenant's wheat crop on that farm, under a
lease, at a, corn rent, for 17 years out of21, leaving him,
as I said, the four first years, with some allowances, for
the purpose of gettmg it into that stateof cultivation which
would ensure him that return to which I have alluded.
It would be equally beneficial to the labourer, inasmuch
as, in all probability, oaly one laboui'er would have
previously been employed in the farm during the year,
and if a tenant had a lease upon a corn rent, he would
likely keep three or more labourers. It may be asked
what use would a lease be to a farmer who had not
capital for the purpose of carrying out those improve-
ments that would cause an increased production ? There
are some gentlemen sitting on my right who would
readily answer that the beneficial interest he has in the
lease would be sufficient to enable him to borrow the
money, provided the lease was made good to his family.
We have great local advantages in this part of tlie
kingdom, which we cannot avail ourselves of, because of
the tenant-at-will system. We have abundance of lime-
stone and coal, at a comparatively easy distance, but we
seldom or ever see a kiln smoking. If you ask a farmer
how it is that he does not make use of these advantages,
his usual answer is, that he cannot afford it with his
yearly taking — if he had a lease, he would alter his plan.
{Hear hear.) There are many great, good, humane,
and excellent landlords, who had shown a willing incli-
nation to relieve their tenants, by returning to tbem 10
or 15 per cent., and certainly they deserve very great
credit for so doing. But what says the tenant, the mo-
ment he quits the room ? He says, it has done me
good just now; I have been returned 10 per cent.,
which I am very grateful and thankful for ; but I am
thinking, if wheat get up to 10s. per bushel, my land-
lord will clap it on again. (Laughter on all sides.)
The mainspring to the whole machinery is confidence,
which the present method mainly tends to destroy. We

all have land, and pretty well know that Sir Robert
Peel is a great landed proprietor, and if, instead of sup-
plying his tenants with Birmingham bulls (immense
laughter), would set the example to the great landed
aristocracy of the kingdom, of letting his farms on leases,
at corn rents, he would be the greatest benefactor to the
agricultural community this kingdom ever received ; the
landlord would be satisfied, the tenant happy, and the
labourer comfortable, and we might all whistle at free
trade in corn. (Laughter.) We often hear at public
meetings observations made relative to the condition of
the agricultural labourers of this kingdom, as compared
with men of their class in other countries, and some will
go so far as to say that our agricultural labourers are
better fed, better clad, and better housed, than any
others of their class abroad, and that they generally get
a hot dinner most days of the week. Now if these gen-
tlemen who make these assertions at these meetings, for
political purposes, to deceive others, would only, when
they are taking their morning rides, and paying their
morning visits, when he is partaking of his mid-day
meal, they would then see the man, and his wife, with
three or four children, arovmd the table, with a huge
bowl of smoking hot potatoes and salt ; no bread, no
butter, no bacon. (Hear hear.) Such is his meal,
in many instances, when working near home : but let
them watch that man when he goes to work at a dis-
tance, and is compelled to take his meal with him ; in
the middle of the day he may be observed retiring to
rest himself under the shelter of a thick hedge, protect-
ing himself from a strong north-easter, and taking from
a little bag a piece of bread, often of very ordinarj"-
quality ; when he has done pecking it, he may be seen
directing his steps to the nearest place where he may
obtain a draught of clear water. Such many of you
know to be the case with many an honest, hardwork-
ing labourer. Let those gentlemen, when they are
travelling abroad, condescend to alight from their car-
riages, and taking a little more than a bird's-eye view
from the road-side, let them thoroughly explore a Uttle
of the interior of the agricultural districts they pass
through ; and then they will see that the foreigner is
often better off than the agricultural labourer of this
country — the destitution of the latter is mednly caused
by the injurious axrd impolitic system of letting land.
Whenever the time arrives that the contract between
landlord and tenant is based on leases and corn-rents,
then the agricultural labourer wUl become a comfortable
and happy man ; he will have plenty of employment,
which is all he requires to make him so. I have been a
landowner and occupier upwards of forty years, my in-
come is derived entirely from land, and I am a decided
advocate for leases and corn rents, as the only means of
restoring that kindly feeling and reciprocity of action
that formerly so happily subsisted, but unfortunately of
late years has been so deplorably defective between land-
lord, tenant, and labourer. There are many eminent
names as subscribers to this most superb and magnificent
present, which afford me unbounded pleasure and satis-
faction ; I trust I may be allowed, without the appear-
ance of making invidious distinction, to mention the
names of three, because they are so intimately acquainted
with my early Ufe. These are Lieut. -General Sir James
Watson, K.C.B. He joined the regunent in the year
1787, at the same time as myself, and we fought side by
side in the French revolutionary wars with the Duke of
York and the alUes ; afterwards we went to the West
Indies, under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby,
at the taking and retaking of all the West India islands,
for upwards of twenty-five years ; during this time we
had but one mind, one purse, and one wardrobe (laugh-
ter) , the two latter oftentimes very deficient (laughter);
but Still we contrived to get on. He went to the East

298

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Indies, where he remained thirty years, and in all the
Burmese and Pindarne war he was actively employed,
and also signalized himself at the taking of several places,
particularly at the Gibraltar (alluding to the strong fort
of Burtpoor), which had been attacked several times
without success. In consequence of this, and his gene •
ral bravery, he had the highest honour almost a sove-
reign can bestow next to a peerage, namely, that of
being created a Knight Companion of the Bath, and what
is more extraordinary, they gave him the regiment he
first started with in life, without solicitation. The next
is Major-General Wood, who commanded the 2nd bat-
talion of the 14th foot, in Spain, where he was so se-
verely wounded, that his body almost might be said to
have been completely riddled : he was left on the field
at Corunna, and a Frenchman turned him over, but
thinking he was dead left him. After the engagement
was over, when they were collecting the wounded, and
taking them to the hospitals, he was found breathing,
when they conveyed him thither, where by skilful treat-
ment be most miraculously recovered. Afterwards he
went to the siege of Flushing, and was wounded again.
Afterwards he went to Amiens ; and at an attack of the
city of Washington he had a most fortunate escape, a
musket ball having grazed his cheek, and cut away the
lower part of his ear, killing the man behind him. The
gallantry he displayed on various occasions gained for
him several marks of distinction from his sovereign,
among which was Companion of the Bath, and Knight
of Hanover, and also the good service pension, which is
never given but in cases of signal instances of bravery.
The third is a church militant, who, although he has
not buckled on the sword, nor tied on the sash,
has often braved death at the muzzle of the
musket, when acting in his magisterial capacity in
quelling disturbances amongst the desperate colliers
on the hills, who had broken out into riot and disorder.
For his many laudable and praiseworthy acts in behalf
of his country and his neighbourhood he has been pre-
sented with a magnificent testimonial of respect by his
parishioners and friends : there is not a man in the king-
dom who has done better service to his state and his
neighbourhood than the worthy gentleman I am al-
luding to — I mean the vicar ; for ])y this appellation he
is as well known in the county of Hereford as in Brecon
and Monmouth. However, should there be any one
here of the rising generation who does not know him by
that title, I beg to say that I mean my excellent, highly-
esteemed, and kind-hearted old schoolfellow, the Rev.
William Powell, vicar of Abergavenny, whom I have not
had the pleasure of seeing for years ; but I should like it
much. The Alps are between us, but I wUl not wait for
a locomotive to whisk me over for the purpose. In con-
clusion, my dear friends, I beg to express the most
sincere gratitude for this act of kindness a heart can
feel, and to wish each and every one of you health, hap-
piness, and all the comfort it is possible to enjoy in this
world, or that you can possibly wish for yourselves ; and
may success attend you in every pursuit of life.

The gallant Colonel sat down amidst the most enthu-
siastic cheering, which lasted for some time, and ap-
peared greatly affected.

John Tomkins, Esq., rose and said — Gentlemen, as
I have been called upon to propose a toast, I feel upon
the one hand the greatest jjleasure in giving it, be-
cause it is one which is sure to meet with a kind recep-
tion at the hands of every individual in this vast assem-
bly ; yet, upon the other hand, I feel regret that it has
not been placed in more able hands. In giving the
health of so excellent an individual as that of our chair-
man, some panegyric or eulogium may be expected
{cheers) ; but as his great merits are already so well
known to you, aud as bis maay virtues are so highly

appreciated by you all, nothing more remains for me to
do than to propose the health of an individual who, with
so much credit to himself, and with so much satisfaction
to this important assembly, has discharged the onerous
duties of the Chair on this interesting occasion (lond
cheers). All, I am sure, must be delighted, when look-
ing upon those celestial forms that turn this scene into
fairy land, those celestial beings animating us to our
duty by their beauteous smiles, and cheering us by
their presence, will, I trust, allow me to call upon them
to join us in testifying our admiration and esteem towards
our incomparable chairman. [The cheering lasted seve-
ral minutes ; the ladies expressing their approbation by
waving their handkerchiefs.]

The Chairman rose amid renewed cheering, and
said — Allow me to express to you my sincere and heart-
felt thanks for the high honour you have conferred upon
me by placing me in the agreeable position of chairman
of this meeting. It has frequently fallen to my lot to
have my health proposed and received in the same kind
manner that it has this evening ; but ixpon no occasion
did I ever rise to return thanks with feelings of deeper
gratitude than the present. When your committee re-
quested me to take the chair, I must say I did not hesi-
tate in doing so. I made no words about it, but accepted
it at once ; not from any superior ability of my own, but
because I knew it would be agreeable to you, and not
only satisfactory to me, but to the worthy individua
whom we delight to honour (hear, hear, and cheers).
I came hither knowing that I had to perform a duty
agreeable to myself and to you. Perhaps there is no
man who has been laid under greater obligations to the
gallant Colonel and the surrounding neighbourhood
than your humble servant. In the field I have received
much kindness and courtesy from the farmer and the
landlord. I have been treated in a manner that would
have made some men jealous and proud, and to forget
their position in society ; every kindness has been show-
ered upon me that one could expect, and any little that
I can do as a return I will do, not only as my duty, but
with pleasure (hear, hear, and cheers). All who ex-
perience favours should do some little to return them. I
hope, as long as I live and have my health, that I shall
continue to pursue the course which has called forth
your respect, and I shall endeavour, as far as in my
power lies, to be first and foremost in supporting meet-
ings of a convivial nature, hunting, racing, and every
amusement that can promote the good of all {hear, hear,
and cheers). This occasion is to me a most flattering
one. To have the duty imposed upon me to present to
the gallant Colonel your testimoniad, is indeed gratifying
to me, and is a mark of distinction which may never
occur to the youngest of us (hear, hear) . I hope I
have gone through the duty with satisfaction to you
(hear, hear) ,- what I have done, I have done with sin-
cerity and warmth. I have been placed in the chair to
present the testimonial to one whom, as long as he lives,
and after he is taken from us, we may in vain expect to
look upon his like again. The Chairman then concluded,
by again acknowledging the compliment paid him, and
resumed his seat amidst loud applause.

CoL. Powell next rose, and said — Mr. Chairman
and gentlemen, the mainstay of the army is the staff,
and it is perfectly hopeless to have orders carried into
effect without their assistance ; in the same manner in
civil society, you cannot carry out any plan without
having men of capacity well qualified for the purpose.
The gentlemen whose healths I am about to propose
have assisted most materially in promoting the comforts
of this day, and we cannot do less than drink their
healths in a bumper (cheers). I beg, therefore, to
give you the healths of the Vice-Presidents (loud
cheers).

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299

Mr. ToMKixs said — Mr. Chainuan and gentlemen,
your committee has a heavy load of sin to answer for, in
having selected me as your vice-chairman upon this
occasion ; because I am wholly incompetent to discharge
the duties of the office — {JVo, no) ; but after the compli-
mentary manner in which the gallant Colonel has been
pleased to speak of me in proposing my health, and after
the kind feelings you have evinced towards me by the
manner in which you have been pleased to receive it, it
may naturally be expected that I should rise for the
purpose of endeavouring to express how much I feel
obliged to you for the very high compliment you have
been pleased to pay me. I do assure you I never found
myself placed in a more difficult position than I do at
this moment ; for when I look around me on either side,
I see so many individuals so much more capable and so
much better adapted to discharge the duties of the
office than myself {No, no.) I assure you I feel the
greatest pleasure in being present on this occasion,
because it is one of those few and unfrequent oppor-
tunities on which men professing different political prin-
ciples can publicly meet together, for the purpose of
paying a public compliment to a private individual, and
to testify their admiration of his private worth ; and
when I look upon this vast assemblage, this vast gather-
ing, and what, on this side St. George's Channel, I may
call a monster meeting, and the echo of public opinion —
(cheers) — I see that happy mixture of political feeling
which is the best proof, if any proof were wanting, of
the esteem, veneration, and respect in which the
gallant Colonel is by all parties held. (Great cheering.)
I feel satisfied that the declaration of the gallant Colonel,
with reference to letting his estates upon corn rents and
long leases, has reached the uttermost parts of the
habitable globe, and has radiated into every interstice
of this kingdom — (cheers) — and has obtained for him a
name imperishable among the generous landlords of
England's fertile soil. (Prolonged cheering.) It is not
there he reaps is reward — it is not there that his great
merits are appreciated — but it is here in his own county
— (continued cheering) — amongst his friends and neigh-
bours, who love and adore him — amongst his tenantry,
who regard him as their patron — amongst the poor in
his locality, who look upon him as their benefactor and
the defender of their rights — these are the best judges
of his philanthropy, which is equalled only by his valour
and integrit}\ (Enthusiastic cheering.) He has not
foisted himself upon the attention of the public for the
purpose of aggrandizing his own ambition, or obtaining
temporary popularity, for his has been no visionary plan,
no theoretical doctrine, but one calculated, if carried out,
to be productive of practical good to the agriculturists.
It will give him (the agriculturist) an opportunity of
laying out his capital with some hope of a corresponding
pecuniary return ; it will give him an interest in im-
proving the cultivation of his farm — it will raise him in
the social scale — and it will give him an opportunity not
only of thinking, but of acting for himself, when he pre-
sents himself at the polling booth. (Great cheering.)
Such being the case, I am warranted in saying, that the
gallant Colonel has proved himself not only in word, but
also in deed, the farmers' friend. (Loud cheers.) He
has demonstrated that he recognises the axiom of the
late lamented Mr. Drummond, that " property has its
duties, as well as its rights ;" he has shown that he
sympathizes with the farmers by identifying theirs with
his own pecuniary interests. (Hear, hear, and cheers.)
He has not, at one time, been an advocate for high
protecting duties upon the importation of foreign corn,
for the purpose of keeping up exorbitant rents and
high tithes, and at another period a liberal dealer in free
trade principles; he has not followed the example of
gome others ; and as the gallant Colonel has made allu-

sion to the Premier of "farmers' friends," he has not
imitated him in the insult he offered to his tenantry, as
a panacea for the difficulties under which they laboured,
by asking their acceptance of a few rabbit-skins, or a
Birmingham cast-iron bull. (Hear, hear, and con-
tinued cheering.) If the gallant Colonel be not the
farmers' friend, I ask, where will you seek one ? Not
among those who are the joint-stock proprietors of a
scurrilous publication, a miserable apology for public
opinion, published in Hereford, in which not long since
the yeomanry of this county were designated " yelluig
clod-poles !" — and yet, forsooth, these gentry call them-
selves "the farmers' friends!" To friends of a like
nature we ought to express our gratitude for giving us
in some respects more than we desired or deserved, and
for giving us those good things for which we were not
worthy to ask, but through the medium of their kind
support — for instance, a reduced sliding scale, because
they said agriculture required great protection (hear,
hear) ; a new tariff ; a Canada corn bill ; and, to crown
all the blessings of their government, an income tax.
These blessings, and such as these, have we received at
the hands of these soi-disant " farmers' friends." I
feel, however, that I am digressing ("iVo, no ; go on") ;
yet I could not resist the opporbanity afforded me by
the observations of the gallant Colonel, of whom I may
say that in early life he exhibited his physical courage
by proving how well he could wield the sword in defence
of his king and country (hear, hear) ; and in his maturer
years his moral courage, which must accompany his
name to the latest posterity. (Prolonging applause) .
As an agriculturist I have frequently attended Hereford
agricultural dinners, and have as frequently upon such
occasions had an opportunity of listening to the obser-
vations of many of the landlords of this and other coun-
ties ; some of them, who are legislators, tell us that great
experiments have been made in a change of the laws
which protected our interests, and that we must now put
our shoulders to the wheel, and look to ourselves — lay
out more capital in draining, and in the purchase of arti-
ficial manures, with other such like advice ; but I have
never heard any observation made by them calculated
to give confidence to the farmer, when compared to the
declaration of our honoured guest. (Great cheering.)
And now, gallant Colonel, one word let me address to
you — one word, and I have done. I trust that your
valuable life wUl for very many years be spared, that
you may enjoy that splendid testimonial as a memento
of the esteem and affectionate regard of your fellow-
countrymen ; one which will, I trust, when you are
called away, stimulate those who come after you — (im-
mense applause) — to imitate your virtues and follow the
bright example you have set before them ; and as its
influence will cast a radiance upon all, it must prove a
lasting source of strength, honour, and security to the
best interests of the British agriculturist. (Vehement
cheering.)

The Chairman — Gentlemen, the next toast, I am
sure, is one so much connected with our proceedings
this day, that we shall not delay longer in drinking it.
To the gentlemen of the committee we are all very much
indebted for the very able and efficient manner in
which they have discharged their duties, and at the head
of them is the honorary secretary, Mr. Edge, who has
been indefatigable, and to whom the town of Hay is very
much indebted for his laudable exertions on all occa-
sions in endeavouring to promote the public good,
(Hear, hear, and cheers.) All who have had any con-
cern in subscribing to this testimonial are too well
aware of his verj' valuable assistance to require any
lengthy notice of it from me ; I will, therefore, conclude
by proposing "the health of Mr. Edge, Honorary
Secretary, and the Committee." (Loud c/ieers.J

300

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Mr. Edge, who, during Mr. Wall's proposing the toast,
had been absent from the room, having returned, rose
and said — Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, for the kind
honour you have conferred upon me, in thus noticing me
with the gentlemen of the committee, it is with great
pleasure that I return you my most sincere thanks.
This day, Gentlemen, I have long looked forward to as
the final consummation of our anxious desires and wishes
for one, who, by his generous and beneficent conduct, has
won the affection and esteem of all who knew him. (Hear,
hear.) This day I never shall forget. It is to do honour
to a gentleman whom we all sincerely respect — whom I
and many others have long witnessed doing all the good
he can. (Cheers). We have this day presented him
with a small token of our esteem : small, I say, because
splendid and elegant as it is, it is not such as he de-
serves, had we rewarded him according to his deserts.
(Hear, hear) . No reward that we could bestow could
ever do justice to his claims upon our gratitude ; but
we beg his acceptance of it, as offered with willing
hearts, as a small token of our estimation of him, and
long may he live to look upon it, though small the offer-
ing be. (Great applatise.) On the 9th of January the
first meeting was held in Hay, to set on foot a subscrip-
tion to carry out the wishes of numbers who had pre-
viously expressed a desire to contribute for so laudable
a purpose, since which the exertions of the gentlemen of
the committee have been unceasing. It would be idle
in me also to say, that my duties, though pleasing to
me, had not also been heavy ; when I tell you that I have
had to write upwards of 400 communications in corres-
pondence, I think you will agree with me that such has
been the case. (Hear, hear.) However, this day has
more than compensated me for all my pains and exertions
— such a gathering — such demonstrations of respect, I
never saw in my life. Had this been pictured to me
only a week ago, I certainly should have thought it im-
possible that such numbers could have assembled in this
thinly-populated district, to welcome the worthy object
of their respect and esteem. (Hear, hear.) The number
of subscribers to this magnificent testimonial has been
very great, upwards of 500, 1 believe, having contributed
their mites towards it, besides vast numbers of that most
orderly and benevolent body, the Oddfellows, as well as
the Hay Amicable Society. Had our subscriptions not
been limited, doubtless a vast sum would have been
raised. The largest subscription amounts to not more
than two gumeas, down to the small sum of one shilling.
That the sum raised is no trivial one, the beautiful piece
of British art now before you will bear ample testimony ;
all agree a more chaste, elegant, massive, and appropriate
testimonial was never seen in this county. (Hear, hear.)
Aided by a most eminent artist, combmed with the good
taste of the gentlemen of the committee, that enchant-
ing article has been produced. No less credit is due to
the eminent manufacturers, Messrs. Widdowson and
Veale, one of whom is now present ; that most superb
testimonial will, I think you will all agree with me, stamp
them as craftsmen of no mean craft. (Hear, hear.) You
there see, gentlemen, (pointing to the testimonial) a
pure emblem of the gallant Colonel's life. On the base-
ment are figures, representations of those christian vir-
tues which adorn his moral character ; on the body of
the vase are depicted faithful emblems of his military
and philanthropic career ; and to crown the whole, a
group of agricultural implements, which, for beauty of
design, is universally acknowledged to surpass anything
ever seen before (hear, hear) . This denotes his support
of that most useful class of society, the tenant farmers,
who have so handsomely and extensively contributed to
this mark of respect (hear, hear). To conclude, gen-
tlemen, I will not detain you any longer by further ob-
servations ; so much has already been, aud so well, said

on this subject, that it would ill become me to intrude
longer upon your time and attention. I wish you all
every success in life, and all the happiness it is possible
for us sublunary beings to enjoy. Continue, my friends,
to look upon the worthy Colonel as your benefactor and
supporter, and sure am I your trust will be in faithful
keeping ; his beneficence, I feel confident, will ever be
extended towards you, and his love for you wiU never
grow less (hear, hear, and loud and long- continued
cheering) .

Mr. Edge having resumed his seat, the committee ima-
nimously called upon W. Higgins, Esq., solicitor, to
respond to the compliment paid to them, when he with
feelings of marked emotion spoke touchingly and with
heartfelt force. We regret that want of space prevents
our doing justice to this eloquent address. After re-
turning thanks on behalf of the committee, Mr. Higgins
said — Our worthy Chairman has secured to me the ho-
nour, and further pleasure too, of proposing for your
adoption as the next toast " the health of Messrs. Wid-
dowson and Veal," those first-rate artists, to whom al-
ready I have referred, and I am glad to tell you Mr.
Widdowson himself is here. First look again on that
masterly work of taste and skill. Tell me not of foreign
art or science, whilst England yields such specimens as
this. Take the whole work throughout : — first, that
magnificent de\dce, faithfully denoting agriculture — the
harrow, plough, the sickle, scythe, the other imple-
ments, and the corn sheaves ; and so testing every point
and part — the vine and grape, the wreath of oak and
acorn, the war shield and arms of all kinds ; forgetting
not that base, the labourer at ease, with Faith and Hope
and Charity, all seemingly to me most gracefully appear-
ing in the most chaste perfection that art could place
them — a faithful fulfilment of the order given, and of the
confidence reposed in Messrs. Widdowson and Veal, to
whom we give our thanks, and pledge a bumper to their
prosperity (loud cheers) .

Mr. Widdowson : Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I
feel so perfectly incompetent to return thanks for the
high compliment paid me and my partner, that it is
utterly impossible for me to express my sentiments on
this i^eculiarly gratifying occasion. It affords me much
pleasure to think that I have met their views, and I
trust through them the wishes of the general body of
subscribers (hear, hear) . I shall leave this place im-
pressed with feeUngs of the highest veneration for your
esteemed guest as a man and a gentleman, and I hope he
will live many years to bear this day in remembrance
(hear, hear, and cheers). Gentlemen, be pleased to
accept my thanks for your kindness, and allow me to
assure you that it will ever afford me much pleasure to
say that I came amongst you as a stranger and left you
as a friend (great applause) .

THE VASE.— The Vase, or Wme Cooler, which is
of the antique Roman shape, is sustained by a stem of
richly chased acanthus leaves. The rim is surrounded
by a beautifully chased wreath of vine leaves and grapes;
the body ornamented wdth oak branches ; and on one
side the crest and a group of military emblems, and on
the opposite side a group of scientific emblems, in the
centre of which is inscribed upon a scroll, " First Patron
of the Hay Mechanics' Institution, formed 1841."
The handles are composed of a rampant lion, in refei'ence
to the gallant Colonel's military career, and a horse, in
reference to his agricultural. The ornament on the top
of the cover is composed of sheaves of wheat, sur-
rounded by agricultural implements, most beautifully
grouped. The pedestal which sustains this splendid
vase is surrounded by emblematic figures of faith, hope,
and charity, and agriculture in full relief and of frosted
silver, which are perfect specimens of the art, and con-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

301

trast most beautifully with the burnished vase ; on one
of the four sides is the inscription, with charity on one
side and agriculture, as represented by the contented
husbandman, on the other ; on the opposite side are the
armorial bearings of the Gallant Colonel, and the other
two compartments are enriched by groups of military
and agricultural trophies. This splendid tribute stands
31 inches high, and weighs nearly 30 pounds.

RUTLAND AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

The " September Show" of this Society, which has in
former years been held at Uppingham, took place in the
Riding-school at Oakham, on Monday, Sept. 9. The
exhibition was a decided improvement upon those held
for several years past, the stock being of a very superior
quality, and the competition in some of the classes (par-
ticularly in horses and sheep) being very great. The
judges were Messrs. Jas. Burgess, of Ridlington Park,
Rutland ; Berridge, of Careby, near Stamford ; and
March, of Wartnaby, Leicestershire. In the afternoon
a public dinner took place at Mr. Crowson's, the George
inn, at which Mr. J. Clark, of Burley, as senior steward,
presided ; and Mi-. Geo. H. Betts, of Ketton, as junior
steward, occupied the vice-chair. The evening was
spent in a very agreeable manner. Mr. Edw. Wortley,
one of the secretaries, read the award of prizes, which
was as follows -. —

Class 22. To the exhibiter of the best Mare (that shall
be a good and quiet worker) for the general purposes of
agriculture, 21,, to Mr. Bradshaw, of Burley. Seven
competitors.

Class 23. To the exhibiter of the best Yearling Colt
or Filly for the general purposes of agriculture, 21., to
Mr. Francis Gregory, of Wing. Two competitors.

Class 24. To the exhibiter of the best Foal for the
general purposes of agriculture, 21., to Mr. W. Fryer,
of Pickwell, for a 14 weeks old. Seven competitors.

Class 25. To the exhibiter of the best Bull, above 2\
and under 5 years old, &c., 5Z., to Mr. Thomas Chap-
man, of Whitwell, for his 2 years and 7 months old
roan. Two competitors.

Class 26. To the exhibiter of the best Bidl, above 1
and under 2^ years old, &c., 5/., no award. To the se-
cond best, 3/., to Mr. Clarke Morris, of Oakham
Grange. Two competitors.

Class 27. To the exhibiter of the best Boar, &c., 21.,
to Mr. R. Hubbard, of Langham. Second best, \l., to
Mr. Wright, of Burley, fed by Thos. Miles, Esq., of
Keyham. Three competitors.

Class 28. To the exhibiter of the best in-pigged or
suckling Sow, 21., to Mr. W. Robertson, of Langham,
fed by Mr. Hardy, of Hickling, Notts. Two competi-
tors.

Class 29. To the exhibiter of the best Shearling Ram,
to be used in the district, 5^., to Mr. R. Smith, of Bur-
ley. Second best, 3^., to Mr. E. E. Dawson, of Ing-
thorpe. Four competitors.

Class 30. To the exhibiter of the best aged Ram, to
be used in the district, bl., to Mr. R. Smith, of Burley.
Second best, 21., to the Marquis of Exeter, for a ram
bred by Mr. Hewitt, of Dodford, near Daventry. A
four-shear, bred by Mr. J. Tirrell, sen., of Exton, was
commended.

Esq., M.P., near Leatherhead. The beauty of the
weather, and the known high qualities of the stock,
particularly the sheep (which have gained prizes at the
local agricultural meetings, and also at the great exhibi-
tion recently held at Southampton), caused a large
assemblage of the leading agriculturists and other gen-
tlemen of the county, amongst whom were W. J.
Denison, Esq., M.P., Sir John Easthope, M.P., Gene-
ral Wemyss, Charles Barclay, Thomas Seawell, J. J.
Briscoe, Edmund Lomax, H. M. Parratt, C. B. Hankey,
Burrel Fuller, Henry Boulton, and Edward Kerrich,
Esqrs., a large body of practical agriculturists, and
many butchers from London and the vicinity, who
appeared much gratified with the display of the stock,
and also with the excellent arrangements of this ' ' pattern
farm" estabUshment, and not less with the hospitality of
Mr. Barclay. The auctioneer prefaced the sale by an
address, urging the agricultural body present to second
Mr. Barclay's endeavours to promote annual stock
sales, as the means of obtaining a better breed of stock
in the county, and as tending to the mutual advantage
of both seller and buyer. His observations were well
received, and the stock was sold generally at liberal
prices.

AGRICULTURAL SALE.— The annual agricul-
tural sale at Eastwick-park, Surrey, took place on
Tuesday ou the highly cuWyated farm of Darid Barclay,

TREATMENT of HORSES.— THE BEARING-
REIN.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MORNING HERALD.

Sir, — Adoptmg as a motto the celebrated line, ' ' Nihil
humani a me alienum puto," and taking the privilege
of extending it to all matters wherein the humane feel-
ings can be engaged, I would endeavour to enlist your
valuable attention for a few moments to a custom, tri-
fling certauily on the first blush of it, but which, if uni-
versally relinquished, would contribute immensely to the
reUef and comfort of that most indispensable, but at
once the most pampered and abused of all domestic ani-
mals, the horse, and in each case an equal sufferer by
this unlucky contrivance ; I mean the rein, by which
his head is more or less, not only unnecessarily, but
most injuriously and unnaturally elevated. There is
not an argument urged for the continuance of this rein
that is not absurd to the last degree, except one, that it
gives the horse a more stately appearance, wliich it cer-
tainly does, and the tighter it is drawn the more stately
he wUl look, till he becomes almost immovable from the
spot whereon he stands. W^hether this stately appear-
ance is a sufficient plea for the continuance of a custom
productive of so much misery to the poor animal, so
much injury to his health, for it is frequently the cause
of the malady called roaring, and so great an impediment
to his natural action, one would hope might be safely
left to the feelings of those who may thus, for the first
time, be made sensible of its bad effects.

When not in motion a horse may certainly hold his
head low, but the moment he moves he places it in a
position the most convenient for liis work, and which is
generally the most graceful.

Could some leaders, who might be named, of the driving
world, who carry this cruel custom to its ultra limit, be
induced to abandon it, it would soon altogether receive
its coup de grace.

I have the honour to be, sir, with most esteem, your
much obliged and humble servant,

A Constant REAPfa*

Kniffhisbridj/e, Sept, IQ,

302

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE DIBBLING OF
WHEAT.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK LANE EXPRESS.

Amongst the numerous improvements that have been
introduced in agriculture, nothing has been brought
forward which surpasses the dibbling principle, though
it is fully admitted that much science is displayed in
the superior invention of drills as a substitute. It has
been fully acknowledged by many practical farmers as-
sembled at the various agricultural meetings this year,
that immense advantages have accrued from the dibbling
of wheat over any other method hitherto adopted, pro-
ducing a superior crop, in quantity and quality, with an
immense saving of seed. As we cannot grow sufficient
wheat for the annual consumption of Great Britain, any
system for supplying the deficiency (hitherto thought im-
practicable) will certainly be of the greatest consequence
to the nation at large, not only by supplying the ' ' staff
of life" in sufficient abundance, but by Jceeping the gold
at home, which we have of necessity been compelled for
years to send out to foreigners, in our importations of
wheat to supply the deficiency complained of. Besides
the great saving of wheat in sowing by this method, it
will give employment to many of the now unemployed
labourers in carrying it into effect. I therefore submit
the following statement for the perusal and improvement
of a generous public, vouching for its accuracy as I was
present at the time its contents were ascertained, as far
as relates to the quantity of grains in an imperial bushel.
It has been the custom for a considerable period, to sow
broadcast from the hopper 10 to 12 pecks of wheat per
statute acre, but upon the most approved principle of the
present day, the plants stand 6 or even 9 inches apart
every way. To ascertain minutely the advantages to be
gained from dibbling, animperialbushelof new red wheat
was selected as an average of the Chester market, which
weighed 63 lbs., and, carefully counted, contained
635,448 grains, sufficient to plant, on the new principle
(observing that the intervals are exactly 6 inches in
every direction), 28 acres, 1 rood, 1 perch of land, re-
quiring only 1 peck, 1 nine-sixteenths of a pint to plant
a single acre. If the plants stand 9 inches apart, an
imperial quarter of wheat will plant 63 acres, 2 roods,
23 perches, or only half a peck per acre. The follow-
ing statement will shew the quantity of wheat gained by
adopting the new principle : —

On the New Principle.

Acres. Rds. Pehs.
A quarter of wheat will plant at six

inches apart 28 1 I

Ditto at nine inches apart 63 2 23

On the Old Principle.

Qrs. Bush. Pks.
Ten pecks per acre will require .... 9 0 2^
Ten pecks ditto ditto 12 7 0}

In the above calculation of wheat gained by the new
principle, the usual waste in planting must be allowed
for. — /. H. Sheppard, author of the Treatise of Guano
as a Manure generally.

N.B. — In the above system care is taken that even
by wilful mistake more than three to four grains of
wheat cannot be deposited at one period, and the depth
of seed regulated at pleasure to suit the nature of the
soil, and the space of 6 or 9 inches ; in fact any other
distance determined upon is reserved distinctly for the
growth of the plant or plants produced, and the expense
of the operation will not exceed 8s. to 10s. per acre,
which is amply provided for in the saving of seed, com,

WARWICKSHIRE AGRICULTURAL ASSO-
CIATION.

The annual show of the above association was held at
Warwick on Tuesday, Sept. 17, and was numerously at-
tended by influential inhabitants of the town and neigh-
bourhood. At thecommittee meeting, held at the Warwick
Arms, atwhich were present the Earlof Warwick, the Earl
of Aylesford, Lord Brooke, Sir J. Mordaunt, Bart.,M.P. ;
E. P. King, fisq. ; D. Galton, Esq. ; R. Atty, Esq. ;
E. Greaves, Esq. ; the Rev. — Hadow ; B. Granville,
Esq. ; Messrs. Chapman, T. Umbers, Townsend, Ball,
Blossidge, W. Umbers, Mann, S. Umbers, H. Robbins,
Pratt, Willington, &c., the following report was received
and adopted : —

REPORT OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE.

' * Your committee beg to make known that all the
premiums and prizes awarded by this society in the year
1843, have been paid. The accounts, as audited at
Lady-day last, exhibited a balance due to the treasurer
of 3^ 6s. 9id. The amount of subscriptions and arrears
due to the society at that date, including the subscrip-
tions of this year, was 359/. 7s. , a large portion of which
has been since received ; and the treasurers have now
in hand 165/. 12s. 5^d. The general committee have
awarded 96/. 10s. to the successful candidates in the
labouring classes, and offered 78/. for stock ; and as ad-
ditional subscriptions may be expected to be paid this
day, your committee recommend that cheques be signed
by the chairman, and handed over to all the successful
candidates, both in the labouring and stock classes.

' ' Your committee have also to inform you that, find-
ing the names of a few persons on the books owing
arrears of several years standing, who had not replied to
the general claim for payment, your committee felt it
their duty to address an urgent letter to them upon the
subject, which, in some instances, has been answered by
prompt payment, and in others obtained a reply that the
parties only considered themselves donors, and had no
intention originally of becoming annual subscribers, and
in such cases (where there is no evidence of the contrary)
your committee have directed the names of such donors
to be removed from the annual subscription list.

' ' Your committee have also to apprise you that the
number of subscriptions for the current year is 182,
being four less than last year.

" Your committee beg strongly to impress upon the
subscribers that the arrears of former years, being, with
a few solitary exceptions, paid and expended, this society
is now entirely dependent upon the annual subscriptions,
and they therefore trust that each individual member will
assist them in upholding its prosperity and usefulness,
by exerting himself amongst his neighbours and friends,
to increase the number of subscribers, and enlist fresh
ones to fill up the vacancies occasioned by death and
other causes.

' ' Your committee, in conclusion, take this opportu-
nity of making known to the society, and to the county
generally, that since the formation of the society in
1830, the sum of 1,515/. 10s., including this year, has
been given to labourers and servants in husbandry ; and
the further sum of 101/. as prizes for stock, exclusive,
in both cases, of considerable sums given as prizes by in-
dividuals. And your committee hope that their state-
ment, together with the general benefits which a society
of this description is calculated to confer on all classes
in the county who are interested in the cultivation of the
soil and the state of the agricultural labourer, will induce
those gentlemen who have not given their support to do
so, by becoming members.

" BoLTON King, Chairman."
—BirminghaM Advertittr.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

303

THE CULTIVATION OF THE POTATO.

Sir, — This is a subject on which so much has
been both said and written, that most people con-
sider themselves quite versant in the theory ; l)ut
it is too visible, year after year, that not a few fail
in practice. I do not pretend to any new discovery
in the cultivation of this inestimable root. I can
only furnish you with a few remarks derived from
my own practice, and observation from that of
others.

The potato crop is generally very luxuriant
in growth in this district in the jiresent season,
yet there are partial failures, and those are attri-
buted to the much dreaded disease, the dry rot.
It is to that disease my remarks will be principally
directed. After all the sayings and writings upon
failure in jjotato crops, I believe it is now admitted
that such failures are in most cases owing to defec-
tive seed. To that opinion I adhere, and I will
endeavour to j)oint out the cause of the defect,
and suggest an easy j)reventive against its recur-
rence in future. First, then, the cause : I believe
it is mainly owing to the potatoes used for seed,
having been heated in the pit or store-house. Every
farmer knows that corn heated in stack or mow
burned is much deteriorated in value, and will not
vegetate freely if used for seed. Hence, every
judicious man pays strict attention to harvesting
his corn crop, while the storing of the potato crop
is comparatively httle attended to, although the
heating of the one is as destructive to its vegetating
power as it is to the other. I call the heating of
seed potatoes the mother of dry rot. In i)roof
of this I give the following remarks : — It frequently
happens that potatoes taken from the outside of
pits or camps, and used for seed, grow well, while
others from the interior of the same pits, do not
grow, the latter having been heated. The result
is the same in regard to the outside and interior of
heated corn stacks. When potatoes are taken
indiscriminately from a large i)it and cut for seed,
it is observed that some of them cut firm and juicy ;
these were from the outside of the pit. Others
cut dry and furzy, and have a dry-rot smell, from
having been heated in the middle of the pit ; and
if minutely examined, black or brown spots are
observed inside of their skins, which is a certain
indication of disease, and none such should ever
be planted, for they will assuredly fail in producing
healthy plants. Potatoes not lifted in autumn,
when they escape the winter frost, and are used for
seed in sjjring, produce healthy 2)lants, provided
those tubers had not been tainted with dry rot in
the preceding year. Potatoes are frequently pre-
ferred for seed when grown upon moory soil in a
high cold climate, and so far correct. Potatoes so
grown do not come to early maturity ; they are
lifted late in the season ; are not usually stored in
large quantities in one pit or camp, and are not so
liable to be heated as in low warm chmates where
potatoes are grown to a greater extent, and are
stored m larger quantities together. It has been
said the dry rot is a new disease in potatoes. I do
not think so ; but I admit it is more prevalent now
than it was formerly; and I assign as a reason
for it, potatoes were not grown to the same e.\tent

formerly as they are now, and our fathers were more
careful than we are in storing so as to prevent
heating ; and another reason, the land was not so
thoroughly drained formerly as it is nov/ ; and it
is observed, the disease is most virulent upon dry
land. The early varieties of potatoes grown in
gardens are seldom tainted with dry rot, although
the seed is not changed, and grown year after year
upon the same ground; and that by reason of
their l)eing grown only in small quantities, and
not stored so as to heat. But I have no doubt,
if the earlies were gro\vn to a greater extent, and
treated as the crop potatoes too generally are they
would be alike subject to dry rot. And here I observe,
when early jiotatoes intended for seed are left in
the ground after being ripe, and a moist warm au-
tumn ensues, they are liable to grow out again.
To prevent this, let such potatoes be taken up
when ripe, and spread them thin, without covering,
in the shade under a north wall, a thick bush, or
branching tree, and there let them lie till the ap-
proach of winter, when they should be secured in
in the usual way. By exposure to the air, the skin
becomes green, and is hardened, and the eyes or
buds not injured. I also remark — the kidney
varieties of potatoes are frequently blankey in the
rows, though not tainted with dry rot. That is
owing to injudicious cutting of the sets for planting.
The crown-bud and the buds or eyes nearest to the
crown or top-end of kidney potatoes, grow most
vigorously ; those on the lower part less so, and
near the bottom they are effete, and do not grow.
Hence, the blank in crops of kidneys when the
whole tuber is cut into sets. This remark applies
more or less to all varieties of potatoes, and should
he attended to in cutting the sets; neither should
they be cut into too minute pieces. A very small
set cannot be expected to produce a vigorous shoot.
But, although I have said heating potato-seed is
the principal cause of dry rot, I do not say it is
the sole cause of defective crops, as much depends
upon soil, season, and cultivation. But I again
repeat my belief that heating in the pit or store is
the mother of dry rot in potatoes.

I could say much more in support of this theory,
as to the cause of the disease, but I think it un-
necessary. To the sceptic I say — make trial of
the antidote I ha^'e now to propose, and you will
find your interest in so doing.

Potatoes intended for seed should be selected
from a healthy stock ; those having strong vigor-
ous growing shaws have the soundest tubers, and
are most proper for seed. The selection should be
made at the time of taking iip the crop. Pick them
about the size of a domestic hen's egg, or even as
small as a pigeon's egg. Those sizes are most
proper for seed, and less valuable for cooking than
those of a larger size. Store them in a narrow pit,
not exceeding three feet wide. Throw a little earth
among them, as they are ])iled up, and cover the
pit in the usual way to secure against frost. Pitted
in this manner, there will be little danger of heat-
ing, and consequent dry rot. Potatoes do not keep
well if taken uj) when the ground is very dry.
Many people think a change of seed every year,
or every alternate year, indispensable. I am not
of that opinion. If the farmer has a healthy crop

304

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

of his own growth, such as I have before des-
cribed, I think a change unnecessary. On the con-
trary, if his crop is diseased, I then recommend
change. In that case, he should never trust to the
chance of spring supply, but make sure of the
seed at taking-up-time in autumn, and, if possible,
have previously inspected the growing crop from
whence he intends to procure his seed. He should
bring them home, and see them pitted as before
directed. At planting time in spring, when the
ground is properly prepared, the seed-pit should
be opened, and if the potatoes are of home growth
selected of the size here recommended, they should
be planted lohole at rather wider intervals than cus-
tomary for cut sets. When the seed has been
purchased, some of the tubers will probably be
large ; those may be cut, but not into very small
parts. In the United States of America, the dry
rot disease was prevalent among the potato crop
of last year, and has there given rise to many
surmises as to the cause. Some of the writers on
the subject assert that the natural term of hfe of
the cultivated potato, its three-score years and

ten, has expired, and new varieties must now be
raised from seed. Others say the disease is owing
to a parasitical plant, a sort of fungus having at-
tached itself to the potato. The smell, as I have
before remarked, leads them to that conclusion.
Some blame the weather, some the soil and culti-
vation, and so on. But I believe the cause is there
as it is here, mainly owing to potatoes used for seed
havmg been heated in their store houses. Potatoes
are now grown to a greater extent in the United
States than they were formerly, and they are ge-
nerally put together in their stores in lai'ge
quantities, consequently liable to heat, and engender
dry rot.

I now, Sir, conclude my potato essay, and sub-
mit it for your consideration to be dealt with as you
may deem proper j and I hojje my brother farmers
will follow my example in this respect, and not
place their Ughted candle under a bushel, but freely
communicate the results of their practice in hus-
bandry for the pubhc benefit. — I am. Sir, your
humble servant, Francis Blakie.

St. Helens, August 6, 1844,

EXPERIMENTS WITH SPECIAL MANURES.

By Mr. a. F. Gardiner, Overseer to W. M. Fleming, Esq., of Barrochan, Renfrewshire.

(From the Journal of the Hir/hland and Agricultural Society of Scotland J

(Concluded.)
Wheat. — The experiments with the substances mentioned in this diagram were repeated this
year (1843) upon Wheat. Wheat (Hunter's White) sown beginning of October, 1842; top-
dressed 12th May; cut down and weighed 15th September; thrashed, cleaned, weighed, and
measured second week of October, 1843.

Saltpetre.

Salt.

Nitrate of Soda
and Salt.

Nothing.

be

g

"oo

so

Q
o

1

Description of Dress-
ing.

Quantity of Dress-
ings apphed per
Quarter of an Acre
Imp.

Cost of Dressing per
Quarter of an Imp.
Acre.

Weight of Straw and
Grain when cut, per
Quarter of an Acre
Imp.

Weight of Grain
when thrashed and
cleaned fit for Mar-
ket, per Quarter of
an acre Imp.

Weight of Straw
when thrashed, per
Quarter of an Acre
Imp.

Weight of Grain per
bushel, from Dress-
ings.

Number of Bushels
per Quarter of an
Acre Imp. of each
Dressing.

Increase of clean
Grain from Dress-
ings.

1

2

3

cwt.qr.lb.
0 1 14
0 1 0
0 1 14
0 3 0

s. d.
10 6
4 44 \
6 0/
1 li

lbs.
5580

4720

3920
3360

lbs.
660

680

660
580

lbs.
1990

1720

1320
1090

lbs.
60f

61A

63
62

bs. lbs.
11 4lJ

11 7

10 30

9 22

bs. lbs.
2 19

S Nitrate of Soda ^
X and Salt. . J
Salt

1 46
1 8

4

Nothing

1

Guano • • • •

0 3 0

0 3 0

1 1 1

8 3
8 3
8 U

3380
3760
4280
2880

690
700
760
500

1480

1360

1560

900

624
61
62
C2

11 15

11 29

12 26

8 4

3 11

2
3

4

Linseed-cake Dust. .
Rape-cake Dust. . . .
Nothing

3 25

4 22

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

305

The field upon which the above experiments
were tried is a stiff loam about nine inches deep
subsoil a stiff yellow till, full of small stones, su-
perincumbent upon sandstone rock, and was
thoroughly drained some years since, and is quite
dry. It is nearly level, bounded on the west side
by a plantation ; the other sides are exposed. The
wheat was sown after potatoes at the beginning of
October, 1842. The potatoes were manured wth
forty- five cubic yards of farm-yard dung, and gave a
very fine crop of fifteen tons per Scotch acre.
After they were lifted, the land was ploughed
about six inches deep, seed sown and harrowed
in; it brairded well, but suffered severely through
the course of the winter, and was rather thin of
plants in spring 1843. The part selected for
dressing was of as nearly as possible a uniform
quality, both as regards soil and quality of plant.
The substances mentioned in the diagram, as also
those in the lower part of the table, were put upon
one side of the field. These dressings were ap-
plied during heavy rain, and in ten days Nos. 1
and 2 of the diagram were distinctly marked out
from the others by their dark green colour and
\'igorous growth. By the 9th of June a great
improvement had taken place upon these two
portions, and which continued till cut, viz. : — they
were dark green in colour, broad and succulent
in leaf, taller in stems, and had more stems, from
having tillered well. No. 2 appeared to have til-

lered most, but was not so tall in the stems as No.
1. When nearly ripe. Nos. 1 and 2 were laid
down quite flat, being the only laid wheat in the
field. No 3, common salt, made no change of
colour, but was considerably improved from the
])lants tillering well, and they had small, stiff, ,
shining, wiry straw. It was not laid, and ripened
evenly. After dressing, the hares and rabbits
seemed to be very fond of this portion, and it was
more injured by them than the rest of the field.
A register was kept of their appearance from time
to time, but the above comprises all that is worth
mentioning.

All the dressings given in the under part of the
table had the effect of changing the colour to dark
green, accompanied with a strong vigorous growth,
and they all appear to have nearly the same effect
when applied in the above proportions. I may
mention that No. 3, rapecake dust, had very coarse
straw, and it will be noticed that guano does not
lessen the weight of grain per bushel so much as
nitrates of soda and potash, and that a mixture of
it with salt would, there is reason to beUeve, from
trials made, be one of the best dressings for wheat
and other grain crops.

Grasses. — The experiments of the effects of top-
dressing with salts on grasses were repeated this
year upon ten-years-old lea intended to be cut
for hay.

Svdphate of Soda.

Common Salt.

Nitrate of Soda.

Nothing.

Q

Description of
Top-DressingSi

Nothing

Nitrate of Soda
Common Salt, .
Sulphate of Soda

S CC <D

2 be Ph

^ s s

Cwt. qr.lb.

0 2 0
0 3 0
0 3 0

£. 6. d,

0 8 9
0 1 H
0 5 3

be o

P-

■^ CO M

t» I— I
»^ <U M
S t" <u

" p-

C

Ibe.

4820
5960
5160
5260

<D _, C
fc" H <U

.S-i: he

lbs.

1140
340
440

1^

O C,l

P5

a d

r^ P.

St. lbs.
100 3

138
110
131

^ 2 o .

t3 tS l-i CO

P :>, ^^ Si

^> « B

St.

lbs.

38
10
31

i, a "3

9^ C cu
(U K o

t- o C

P-i rt i-H

St. lbs.
400 12

33 6
442 4
526 0

£. a. d.

10 0 5

13 6 r

11 1 H
13 3 0

X 2

So

> o

s b 6

r*"' tiS <i3

lbs.
312
325
300
350

306

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

The part of the field, one imperial acre, where
the above dressings were applied, is a good sound
loam, rather stiff", subsoil clay and gravel, and is
nearly level as possible, lying upon the banks of
a rivulet. It is thoroughly drained with tiles, and
quite dry. The sward is composed of a great va-
riety of grases, such as Holcus lanatus, Cynosurus
cristatus, Poas, Fesfucas, Loliuni j^ereiine, Phlcum
prutense, and Trifolhim repens, or those, however,
predominate. Previous to 1843 it was grazed with
sheep, and kept from three to four Leicesters or
Cheviots per Scotch acre. After the dressings
were applied, it was frequently examined ; and,
in consequence of their being put on during rain,
they quickly showed their effects, especially the
nitrate of soda, by changing the colour to a very
dark green, M'ith broad and succulent leaves, so
that, by the 4th of May, it marked itself at a great
distance, and, till cut, continued its superiority.

There was no change of colour on either of the
two other dressings, but they were thicker in sward
and taller of growth than the square which was
not dressed. In making remarks, from time to
time, upon these dressings, no jiarticular distinc-
tion could be noticed among them, further than
has been mentioned ; neither was any particular
grass noticed to predominate in any of the squares
more than the rest of the field. I may mention
that No. 1 is the average of two squares, each one-
fourth of an imperial acre, at each side of those
that were dressed.

Oats. — The experiments with the substances men-
tioned in this diagram were rejieated this year
(1843) upon oats. Oats (sandy) sown 20th
March ; top-dressed Gth May ; cut down and
weighed 8th September; thrashed, cleaned,
measured, and weighed last week of September
1843.

Ammoniacal Liquid.

Sulphate and Nitrate
of Soda.

Bones dissolved
in Sulphuric Acid.

Nothing.

^

Description of Dressings.

.r-4 — :
"2 "^

•43 S

c

S Bones dissolved in Sulphuric |

^ Acid S

t Nitrate and Sulphate of \

i of Soda S

Ammoniacal Liquid . . .
Nothing

qua.lbs. gal
4 0 0

14
14

0 40

3

O^

£ s. d.

0 8 4

0 0 2h I

0 2 3 5

0 3 4

% "ti

o §

u ^

lbs.
4520

4980

4800
3300

■73 <u

t3 3 o,

eg a

O (-

**-t CJ

1- C
o g °

c?

lbs.
740

780

750
600

'^,<

lbs.

1060

1260

1050
840

CQQ

o.s-

lbs.
3DA

40

39i
39

CO -<9^

^^

CD 3

bu. lbs,

18 38

19 20

19 0
15 15

t S

OS

O o

t<-i >-<

rj} CO

lbs.
140

180
150

The field upon which these experiments were
tried is a stiff' alluvial loam of a good depth : sub-
soil of a strong yellow clay lying on a flat, between
trap rock on the west and sandstone on the east ;
it is exposed upon all sides, and bounded on the
cast by a ri^^ulet. It was thoroughly drained with
tiles nine years ago, and had lain about the same

length of time in grass. It is worth about £2 per
acre of rent. In the spring of 1843 it was trenched
with the spade 16 inches deep, at an exjjense of
nearly £4 per acre, the grass, or top spading,
being laid in the bottom of the trench, and the
subsoil brought to the top. The oats were sown
broad-cast and harrowed in ; advantage was taken

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

30:

of rain to put on the dressings, after which the
field was rolled. No. 1 was long in showing any im-
provement, and it was not till the '24th June that
its effects were visible, at which time it began
greatly to improve, and continued to do so till it
ripened. The portion No 2 had, by the 18th May,
made a great improvement in appearance over the
general croj), having changed from a sickly yellow
to a dark green colour, and of a vigorous growth.
No. ^ made the quickest change, and, till the be-
ginning of July, it took the lead of the others,
being dark green and vigorous in growth, at which
time No. 2 took the lead, and kept it till cut; both
])nrtions, when growing, were of a darker green
colour, stronger, taller, and of more vigorous
growth than the rest of the field. No. 3, however,
failed first in growth of any of the dressings. No.
2 being still strong and vigorous, and No. 1 made

great progress, and looked better than No. 3 after
it began to shoot. The appearance of the different
portions continued much about the same as above
noted till they began to ripen, when Nos. 2 and 3
were completely laid down, No. 1 l)eing only partly
so. No. 4, the imdressed portion, standing quite
upright. Ammoniacal liquid appears, from dif-
ferent trials made with it, to cause a quick vigor-
ous growth at first, speedily changing the colour
and strengthening the plants, but it is evanescent
in its effects compared with the dressings tried
here contahiing nitrogen, the croj) coming quicker
to maturity, and, if grass, losing its vigour earlier
in the season.

Beans. — Beans, sown 6th March ; top-dressed Gth
May; cut down and weighed first week of Sep-
tember; thrashed, cleaned, measured, and weighed
second week of October 1843.

Gypsum.

Sulphate of soda.

Sulphate and nitrate of soda.

Nothing,

en

11

grain
quarter

irashed
ket, per

a Oh

1 i

c

.s

Description of
Dressings.

he

.s «

U =*

Ph'2

T3 tH
C «U

n! S o
!-. u oJ

^ ^ ii

las

o
S3 c

■3 ^

1
c! tib

0

•4-1

**^ in

05 .5

^ S'^

2 °

&s

^'o

fe"^

t^

'*-' ^ ^1

1 fe

^'^

Z. S3

<«-l

0 f^

CO

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>>^

? Dh! o c c

° 'S

0^

i^ti

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;?.

' 1) CO a 'S 'O t*

15-.

.5pfl

3 iH

0

c

CIS

Q

cwtqr. lb.

£

s. d.

lbs.

lbs.

lbs.

lbs.

bu. lbs.

lbs.

lbs.

1.

Gypsum

1 0 0

0

1 G

8000

1080

2320

64

16 56

200

2.

Sulphate of Soda . .

0 3 0

0

4 6

7500

840

1940

64

13 8

. ,

40

3.

^ Nitrate of Soda. .
i Sulphate of Soda

0 1 14
0 1 14

0
0

6 6 )
2 5 S

7920

1120

2360

66

17 0

340

4.

Nothing

..

'•

5920 ssn

1720

63

14 0

••

The same description applies to this experiment,
as regards soil and other circumstances, as that
given for Oats 1843, being part of the same field;
the only difterence being that, where the beans were
sown, the land was dressed with three chaldrons
of quick-hme per Scotch acre, slaked with water in
which common salt had been dissolved, at the rate
of one cwt.to a chaldron of Hme. After dressing the
beans were examined from time to time ; but it was
not till the end of June that any decided diff"erence
could be said to have taken place over the crop.
No. 1, gypsum, was strongest and had taken the
lead of Nos. 2 and 3, as also of the general crop,
and was fully the strongest straw when cut, but
not so well podded as the others, gypsum appearing
to give a greater impulse to the growth of straw
than to pods. Nos. 2 and 3 bm-ned the plants
after dressing, from which they did not recover for

some time. No. 3 was the first to recover, and was
next to No. 1. in strength of straw, and fuller and
larger podded than any in the field. No. 2, did not
completely recover from the effects of the burning
till near the end of August, when a most liLxuriant
second growth came upon them ; and, in conse-
quence^ although they were nearly as heavy in
straw as the others when cut in sheaf, they were not
so heavy in grain as the general crop. From
having to thrash them out so early in the season as
to be enabled to give the result by the time speci-
fied in the Society's premiums for 1842, this expe-
riment is not so decided as regards the weight of
the beans per bushel on the different dressings as it
would have lieen had they been stacked and tho-
roughly dry ; l)ut it may in some degree tend to show
the comparative ejects of the different substances
used,

308

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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

311

From having appended these remarks relative to
the tables, I can say little more regarding them ;
and it appears that, in the present state of our
knowledge, it would be rash and jirematurc to
draw conclusions for the imiversal ai)i)hcation of
these substances ujion every soil and situation. I
may, however, remark from my experience, that
many of these substances, when judiciously mi.ved
and apphed, will enable the cultivator to add
greatly to his produce, and reap a clear profit to
himself. I have found that the nitrafes of soda
and potash, when applied, either l)y themselves or
in mixture to hay and potatoes, on every variety of
soil, have always given a greater produce, and
particularly from a mixture of these salts ; while
the ajjplication by themselves to grain crops is not
beneficial, and is indeed injurious, particularly in
a moist climate ; for, though the growth of the
straw is greatly increased, the sample of grain is
lighter, and otherwise deteriorated in quality. In
places far from the sea, common salt will in general
be found advantageous as a dressing upon grain
crops, and also upop grass for hay. Although it
does not ^bring away a rush of growth like the
nitrates, it will, in general, be found in such places
that it will cause the grain to weigh more per
bushel, and be of better quality in clearness of
colour and plumpness, and the grass for hay,
equal quantities of dressed and undressed being
taken, to give most dry hay. Soot will be found
to be beneficial as a top-dressing for grass intended
to be saved for hay, and differs little in its effects
from the nitrates ; and its almost universal appli-
cation in this part of the country to the hay crop
goes to confirm that it is so. I, however, under-
stand that the dealers in hay do not like the hay so
well, and give a less price for it per ton. In ap-
plying it to grain and potato crops I have found
its effects to be more evanescent than the nitrates.
Sulphates and muriate of ammonia act in the
same way, and have the same effect as the nitrates.
The sulphates of soda and magnesia act differently,
and in many cases will not pay when ajjplied to
grain and potato crops by themselves. They are,
however, of the greatest importance in mixture
\ni\\ the nitrates ; only a small portion of them in
mixture with these salts adds greatly to the pro-
duce of both potatoes and hay. From some ex-
periments, on a very small scale, there is some
reason to believe that silicate of potash might
assist in correcting the tendency which grain crops
dressed with nitrates of soda and potash have to
lodge, but the difficulty of making the silicate, or
procuring it at a moderate price, has hitherto pre-
vented an extensive trial being made of it. There
are also other substances, such as phosphates of
lime and magnesia, a mixture of which might, in
certain cases, assist in bringing grain crojjs to
maturity.

Guano, although not noticed in the Societies'
premiums, has been mentioned in the tables. It
lias in all cases here been found an acquisition,
and a most powerful auxiliary to farm-yard ma-
nure. It has been successfully applied here u]ion
every description of soil and crop, both in the
garden and farm; and after having used it for
three years, and in this last year to e\'ery descrip-

tion of crop, to the extent of about ten tons, I can
speak of its merits with perfect confidence, and
am satisfied it is one of the greatest boons ever
conferred upon the cultivators of the soil. "When
it was used last year (1842) in growing turnips and
potatoes on a part of a field of considerable ex-
tent, the grain crop of this year (1843) is equal, if
not supei'ior, to that where the same description of
crop last year had forty culiic yards of the best
farm-yard manure. It is also a universal ma-
nure ; for it has been used with the greatest suc-
cess as a top-dressing for grass and hay, as well as
for grain crops, potatoes, and turnips. Used with
a small portion of dung this season, (1843,) the
heaviest crops of turnips, Swedish, yellow, and
white, are now upon the land (in Nov). The po-
tatoes also of this season are remarkable for
strength and luxuriance of growth where guano
was used, and the crop nearly a half larger. Five
cwt. of guano applied with moss, or other inert
vegetable matter, has given a greater produce of
both potatoes and turnips than thirty-five cubic
yard of dung alone.

A good artificial guano may, no doubt, be
made, should the foreign supply fail, or the price
increase ; and, to ensure this, a number of experi-
ments should l)e made with mixtures as nearly
resembling guano as jjossible, but the pure ingre-
dients should, in all cases, be mixed by the farmers
to prevent adulteration. And to promote this
object, the Agricultural Chemistry Associatiyn will
be most beneficial when brought into practical
operation.

THE FARMING OF CHESHIRE.

BY WILLIAM PALIN,

{From the Journal of the Royal Agricultural So-
ciety of England.

Prize Report.

In off'ering a report on the agriciilture of the
county of Chester, it may he necessary to observe
that cheese being generally considered the staple
commodity of the county, and the plough being
regarded only as an accompaniment to the pail,
the attention of the fiu-mer is principally directed
to that article, on the proceeds of which the pay-
ment of his rent chiefly depends ; the course of
cropping, and the general management, will there-
fore be found to differ materially from those of other
districts, where the dairy, if of any interest at all,
is merely a matter of secondary importance. Having
been practically engaged on a large dairy farm in
the interior of the county for nearly thirty years, I
have had opportunities of witnessing the diflferent
modes pursued, and the ])rogress n ade during that
period ; I therefoi'e jn-csume to offer the present
statement of its agriculture. In addition to the
knowledge derived from my own experience and
observation, I have endeavoured to elicit informa-
tion upon every point proposed in your important
inquiry from the most intelligent and the most
authentic sources ; and with tliis view I have Ansited
almost every part of the county.

212

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

The farms, with few exceptions, being appro-
priated to the dairy, the great objects which the
best farmers are desirous of attaining, are the se-
lection of a suitable stock for that purpose, and an
ample provision of nutritious food best adapted for
the cattle during the winter, as well as a good sweet
herbage dvu'ing the summer months. And here I
would remark tliat a great improvement has taken
place within tlie last twenty years in the provision
for milch cows by the more general introduction of
turnips, and the application of bone manure to the
pasture land ; to both of which modes of culture I
shall have occasion to refer more fully hereafter.

The agriculture of Cheshire is not of so high a
character generally as that of some other counties
in England; and perhaps it exhibits as great a
variety of methods, and as bad specimens of farm-
ing, as can possibly be conceived ; yet I think that
it will be admitted that many of its farms approxi-
mate very closely to an excellent state of cultiva-
tion. During the ten or fifteen years preceding the
spring of 1S42, a considerable improvement in the
management of the land became perceptible ; and
this result may chiefly be attributed to the diffusion
of knowledge by means of agricultural societies —
to the stimulus given by competition for their
various premiums — and to the assistance rendered
by some of the landlords in granting to their
tenants a certain quantity of draining-tUes, and in
occasionally supplying them with bone manure.
Since .that period the depreciation in the price of
agricultural produce (with an undiminished pressure
of the demands upon the farmer) has given a check
to that spirit of improvement which was spreading
through the county, and which was becoming-
more apparent every year.

From the great admixture of the prevaiUng soils
of this county, which have been shown by Dr.
Holland to consist of sand loams, tenacious clay,
and clay loams, it would be tedious and uninterest-
ing to enter into every particular respecting
them; and there are many farms which do not
exclusively belong to any special class — for in-
stance, in a field in my own occupation,
light sand land, strong clay land, and peat,
are so intermixed, that the general management
cannot vary in any material degree. In order,
therefore, to give a clearer view of the various
methods of cultivation, I shall classify the farms
under four distinct heads, and treat of each res-
pectively, viz. : —

1. Sand-land dairy farms.

2. Clay-land dairy farms.

3. Sand-land arable farms.

4. Clay-land aral)le farms.

Sand-Land Dairy Farm.
The ordinary course of cropping on a farm of
this description is as follows : — The first crop of
corn usually taken is oats on the grass ley of one
strong furrow ; the ploughing commences eai-ly in
Fel)ruary, and the sowing at the beginning of
March, or as soon as the ground is dry enough to
receive tlie seed, which is sown by hand at the rate
of 5 customary bushels of 38 quarts, or G imperial
bushels, per acre ; the land is then well harrowed,
first with rather a heavy pair of harrows, and fol-

lowed by hghter ones, until the seed is completely
covered. It is not unfrequently rolled, if dry
enough, immediately after sowing — a process which
compresses the fin-row, thereby gi^dng the seed firm
hold of the ground, preventing rooks and other
birds from tracing the rows of corn with their
accustomed ease when the ground is left quite
light by the harrowing ; and it gives an even surface
to the land, by which the operations of mowing and
raking are much facilitated. If the rolling be de-
ferred vmtil the blade of corn has made its appear-
ance, it has a tendency to check the gro^vth of the
crop in a manner which is sometimes injurious.
The varieties of oats generally so\vn are : —

The Poland, or leatherback (very saleable to
stable-keepers, grooms, &c.j from their large
and plump appearance).

The Potatoe (yield much meal, and are preferred
by millers).

The Friezland Cuts (stand well on good land).

The Yellow (productive on poor land).

The Hopetown (suital)le for strong soils).

And the Tartarian, which are not very common.

As soon as the crop is cleared off the ground,
pigs, geese, &c., are turned into the field to pick up
the oats which are shed. Tlie land is then prepared
for wheat by ploughing it across the butts as thin
as possible ; it is next harrowed with heav)' harrows,
whicli bring the stubble, grass-roots, &c. to the
surface. In the course of a week or nine days, if
the weather be favourable, it is harrowed again ;
and if intended to be so^m by hand is seldom
ploughed until the second or third week in Octo-
ber, when it is formed into butts of from 5 to 9 feet
wide, according to circumstances ; and sufficiently
deep to cover the stubble, grass-roots, &c., brought
to the top by the previous harrowing, commencing
in the rein of the former butts, and making the
former ridges into reins.''' If the wheat is to be
drilled,t a httle difference is required in the manage-
ment : the first ploughing across the butts is imme-
diately succeeded by a longitudinal ploughing of the
same depth into large flats, in order to give the
ground a level surface, and to enable the ploughman
to form the butts of equal size and uniform round-
ness, which is an operation of great importance if
the land is not particularly dry ; the butts are made
double the width of the drill, thus admitting of
their being sown at one bout or round, and the
soil is then usually water-furrowed by a double
mouldboard-plough passing along the reins.

The practice of growing two corn crops in suc-
cession on the same land may probably be censured,
as not being in accordance \vi\\\ the rules of good

* Reins. — a provincial term for the lower furrow
or division between the butts.

t The practice of drilling corn is very hmited in
Cheshire at present ; but there is reason to believe
that it is becoming more general every year,
as, where it has been tried, it appears to have given
satisfaction. Amongst the advantages of drilling
may be specified the equal distribution of the seed
— a saving in the quantity — the depositing of it at
the same depth — and the facility which is afforded
for hoeing if required.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

313

husbandry ; but my own experience convinces me
that as good crops of wheat may be grown after
oats upon the ley or green sod as any other crops,
provided the land be properly managed ; and on
dairy farms, where the tillage is limited to one-
fourth of the acreage, the alternate green crop
system would not answer well. For instance, on a
farm of 200 acres, 25 would be in green crop,*
which would be more than could be consumed to
advantage, and only 25 in corn, which would not
furnish an adequate svipply of straw for five or six
horses, forty or more milking cows, besides young
stock and pigs, and also thatch for the stacks, as
well as (in many cases) for part of the farm-build-
ings .f

llie general method with regard to wheat stubble,
is to give one ploughing before Christmas, merely
reversing the butts. An improvement has taken
place on some farms in this respect within the last
few years ; the land is ploughed very thin, harrowed,
and then ploughed again to the depth of 6 or 7
inches, thus covering all the stubble, and rendering
it much more easily to be worked in the spring.
The succeeding crop is generally Swedish turnips,
and some potatoes in drills, manured with farm-
yard dung or crushed bones, deposited with the
seed by a machine exclusively for that purpose, at
the rate of from 12 to 20 cwt. per acre. The tur-
nips are usually drawn in the months of November
and December ; the tops are given daily to milking
stock, and the bulbs are stored for the horses, cows,
young cattle, and pigs.

The turnip and potatoe crop is sometimes suc-
ceeded by wheat, though more generally by barley, J
and the land is sown with clover and grass seeds in
the spring. There is some risk in obtaining a good

* Peas and beans, it may be observed, run too
much to straw on this description of land.

t In addition to the old kinds of wheat formerly
grown in the county, many new varieties have
lately been introduced; amongst those generally
cultivated are the following : —

Old Red. — A fine straw, with a long thin ear ;
stands well, and the grain is much liked by millers.
Red Britannia. — Strong straw, thick long ear,
large grain ; not so fine in quality as the former.
Golden Drop. — Yellow grain, strong white straw.
Pearl, — Very white, compact ear, and great pro-
ducer.

Blood-Red. ~Stif[ straw, and not apt to lodge;
an excellent sort for spring.

Yellow Dantzic. — Fine straw, small grain ; very
productive on good clay soils.

Devonshire Red. — Compact ear, liable to lodge
in wet seasons ; veiy productive when it stands
well.

Chidham. — Very white, and something like pearl.
Hopetown. — Large ear, and strong ; not apt to
lodge.

X Norfolk, or Roundland. — Long, thin ear;
mucli liked by maltsters when fine in quality.

Chevalier.— Mwch. liked: short ear, and fine
straw.

Sprat.— Very stiff in the straw ; short, compact
ear ; small grain ; stands well were no other sort
will.

clover root with wheat, on account of the prevalence
of the slug or srrall snail, for the destruction of
which I have found a slight sprinkling of lime,
sown late in the evening to answer well. There is
also an uncertainty in having the ground in proper
condition for receiving the seed, which should he
sown immediately previous to rolling the wheat ;
besides, a greater degree of moisture is required to
cause the seed to vegetate and take root, than
when the land has been recently stirred. If the
land is to be pastured the following year, white
Dutch clover is sown at the rate of 10 lbs. or 12 lbs.
to the acre, with 2 lbs. of trefoil, 1 peck of
perennial rye-grass, and a few meadow-grass
seeds from the hayloft. The latter practice is not
now so prevalent as formerly, in consequence of an
opinion that a number of seeds from diflferent kinds
of weeds, as docks, thistles, couch-grass, &c., are
conveyed among the meadow-grass seeds to land
which has been cleared, at considerable expense,
by the previous green crop; and, indeed, it is
almost impossible to keep meadows free from such
weeds, as large quantities of seeds are annually
brought by the floods from neglected land, and
deposited in the meadows.

If the land is to be mown the first year, red
clover, or a mixture of red and white, with rye-
grass, is sown ; the latter is preferred, if to remain
in grass afterwards, as the red clover generally disap-
pears the second year after sowing, and leaves a
bare pasture if sown alone. The land remains
in grass four or five years, when it is again
broken up, and undergoes the same process. If it
has been mown, it is generally manured afterwards
on the green sod.*

Of other courses pursued on sand-land dairy-
farms, where the tillage is not so limited, the fol-
lowing may be cited : —

On one farm in the Hundred of Eddisbury, of 200
acres, slate-marl is applied to the grass-land when
it is broken up for potatoes or turnips, which are
followed by wheat; then potatoes or turnips,
oats, or barley, and seeds — 10 lbs. red clover, 2 lbs.
trefoil, perennial, rye-grass, top-dressed and mown,
pastured for three or four years.

On a farm of 160 acres, in the Hundred of Buck-
low, the course is — potatoes or turnips on ley, ma-
nured, in drills, from the farm-yard ; wheat ; pota-
toes or turnips; wheat clovered down — 6 lbs. red,
3 lbs. white, and hay-seeds mown twice, and pas-
tured five or six years. The clover root is m.anured
with bones, previously to mowing, at the rate of
10 cwt. or 12 cwt. per acre.

On two adjoining farms of 300 acres, in the
Hundred of Eddislnu-y, tlie course is — wheat on
ley ; turnips and potatoes ; barley; clover, pastured
for four years. If the land be sufficiently clean
after the wheat, a crop of barley is taken before the
turnips. On these two farms, jireviously to the
year 1820, the practice was to grow four or five
grain crops in succession, without ever thinking of
a green crop : the land was in consequence filled
with charlock, and the corn was exceedingly light .

* Lime, at the rate of 4 tons per acre, is a good
dressing, which I have found to answer well.

314

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

The farms have become much improved by the in-
troduction of turnips.

On a farm in Delamere, consisting of light sand-
land, another course is adopted, as follows : — 1.
oats; 2. potatoes and turnips ; 3. wheat; 4. oats
and clover, afterwards pastured for four or five
years.

Clay-Land Dairy Farm.

The course of cropping adopted on a clay-land
dairy-farm varies considerably from that of a sand
farm. The grass-land is frequently broken up for
a summer fallow ; it receives one ploughing before
Christmas ; early in the spring it is cross ploughed ;
in the course of the summer it receives one or two
more ploughings, and an occasional harrowing,
knife or spike rolling ; towards the middle or latter
end of August, it is formed into butts, and, if the
weather is favourable, is sown with wheat about the
middle of September. It is not unfrequently sown
under-furrow, as if is termed, the seed being sown
on the surface, and turned under by a shallow
furrow with the plough. I'his practice is not so
common as formerly, it being thought by many
better to harrow in the seed. After the seed has
been deposited, ploughed under, or harrowed in,
the field is carefully water-furrowed and guttered.
A large portion of the flat clay-land has been formed,
ages ago, into butts or loons, varying in width from
15 to 50 feet or more. Where this is the case, the
form is scarcely ever altered, unless by a few furrows
being ridged uj) in the rein, to the width of 5 or 5
feet. Sometimes small butts are made at right
angles with the larger ones. This appears to be an
excellent ])lau for keeping the land dry during the
winter. The reins, which emj)ty themselves into
the main reins, are drawn with a double mouldboard
plough, so as to admit of a free escape for the wa-
ter. Tlie wheat-crop is succeeded by oats, the land
being either winter-fallowed or sown on one furrow
early in March. The latter mode is preferred by
some, not only on account of the saving of labour,
but l)ecause the land is thought to turn up drier,
and is sooner in order to receive the seed than that
Avhich has been winter-fallowed. This latter
opinion may probably have arisen from the careless
manner in which the winter-fallowing of clay-land
is too often performed, the i)loughman thinking it
only necessary to turn over the furrow to the
depth of 3 or 4 inches, thereby leaving a
hollow in the centre of each butt for the reception
of water, instead of ploughing deep enough to give
a roundness to the butts, and a depth to the reins
to draw ofl[' the water. The land is usually laid
down with the oat-crop, and kept in pasture seven
or eight years. On the veryi)oor clay-lands, when
the clover has disappeared, which is invariably
towards the latter end of the second year after
sowing, the pasture Ijecomes and continues so poor
for three or four years, as to be scarcely worth
one quarter of its rent, saying nothing about rates
and taxes.

The evil ari^^^ing from this poverty of the land
maybe remedied by sowinga greater variety of grass-
seeds with the clover, and the application of l)one or
other manure, the former being decidedly prefer-
able.

A deviation from the foregoing course is fre-
quently practised on the better kind of clay soils —
the first crop being oats, then summer-fallow for
wheat, which is followed by oats and clover. Oc-
casionally the wheat-crop is succeeded by beans
or peas, and the land is again sown with wheat.
When such is the case, manuring with a compost
of soap-waste, or lime and ditchings, is generally
considered indispensable. The wheat-land is either
sown with cloA'er in the spring, or another crop of
oats is taken, and seeds are sown, as in the former
instance. On the poor clay lands, turnips or po-
tatoes are seldom attempted, except an acre or two
of the former in a small field near the farm-house ;
and of the latter, barely sufficient for the use of the
family.

Another course pursued on poor land, in the
hundred of Broxton, is as under : —

Fallow, wheat, oats, fallow, wheat, oats, seeds.
Lime on fallow is used at the rale of 4 tons to the
acre. On this estate, tiles areoffered to the tenants
on condition that they pay one-half the value. For-
merly, no charge was made, and the tiles were freely
used ; but now the farmers resort to sod-draining.
I need scarcely add that the land just noticed is
left in a very exhausted state.

On another farm in the hundred of Broxton,
the course adopted is — 1 . Wheat on grass ley ;
2. Oats; 3, ;Fallow;'4. Vvheat; 5. Clover,
manured, pastured, and broken xip in four or five
years.

Sand-Land Arable Farm.

There are very few farms of this description in
the county. On one, in the hundred of Eddis-
bury, consisting of 1 GO acres, the following course
is adopted : — ■

The grass-sod is ploughed very thin at the latter
end of the year; early in the spring it is cross-
ploughed and harrowed, then well worked with a
scarifier, and formed into ridges 27 inches ajmrt.
Winter potatoes are next planted without manure,
which crop is followed by wheat, generally drilled
at the rate of 2 customary bushels of 38 quarts to
the acre, the rows being about 7 inches apart ; the
wheat crop is succeeded by Swedish turnips in
drills, the land being manured with a compost of
dung and soil, the latter being taken from the
headland. The turnips are followed by either wheat
or barley, when the land is laid down with red or
white clover, or a mixture of both and grass seeds ;
if the clover be mown, the land is again manured
pi'evious to breaking it up, which is generally done
ever' fourth year ; in the meantime, it is grazed
M'ith either sheep or horned cattle. This farm is
managed in a very superior style of cultiA'ation,
which does great credit to the occupier.

Another course, practised on a farm of 700 acres,
in the hundred of Nantwich, a part of which only
is ap])ropriated to the dairy; and which consists
chiefly of a hght weak soil on a subsoil of fox-
beach of white sand, is as under : —

1st, turnips, generally Swedes, manured with 15
cwt. of ])oiled Itones ])er acre, or, M'ithin the last
two years, guano, at the rate of 3 cwt. to the acre,
part or the wholeof the crop being eaten oft'by sheep ;
2nd, barley or oats, laid down with clover; 3rd,

THE PARMER'S MAGAZINE.

31;

clover; 4th, wheat; oth, turni|)s, manured as
before and eaten oH"; (Jth, barley or oats; 7th,
clover; 8th, wheat; 9th, potatoes ; 10th, wheat.

One of my correspondents in the hundred of
Nantwich, says —

'• My system of tillage is as follows: — 1st, tur-
nips ; 2nd, barley or oats, the choice depending
upon the nature of the land, as I find oats to answer
best on peat, or on land which lias been drained ;
barley requires sormd land to i)roduce a good arti-
cle ; 3rd, seeds ; 4th, wheat ; and after t^\'0 courses
I generally take a croji of potatoes, which is fol-
lowed by wheat, and then return again to turnips,
and the four-course. If the land is very light,
I eat-on the whole, but generally draw otl' the
larger tiu-nips, say about one-half the crop. I
grow from 80 to 100 acres annually, and for the
last fourteen years have manured them entirely with
bones, except a part, during the last two years, with
guano, which had a wonderful effect ; I tried it last
year in every field I soM-ed, and witli the same re-
sult; I think the crop was in some cases one-third
more, but generally about one-fourth. I have gene-
rally used about 14 or 15 cwt. of bones to the acre,
and of guano about 3 cwt. It is almost impossible
to describe the nature of the soil, as it varies so much;
but, generally speaking, it is very light on a subsoil
of fox-bench or white sand. I have only been a
bean-grower three years ; I have sown them after
potatoes and turnips, and they have always done
well. I sowed some on rather strong soil, some on
light sand, and others on peat ; the latter during the
past 3'^ear were considerably the best."

Clay-Land Arable Farm.

On two adjoining farms of about 900 acres, in the
hundred of Wirral, not very distant from Chester,
by far the greater portion having been drained along
each rein (the small l)utts being at right angles with
the large ones), the following course of cropping
is adopted, the same system being pursued on each
farm. The grass land is ploughed in December or
January into strong furrows, and in March beans
are drilled in rows 27 inches apart; a small mark is
made with a common plough atong every third fur-
row; thus —

when the beans are deposited by means of a small
drill, which is fixed immediately behind the heel of the
plough. The beans being thus sown, manure is
spread along the roM's ; a furrow is then thrown
over them, and as soon as the land is sufficiently
dry, the whole field is rolled with a light roller to
level the furrows, and then harro\ved with a i)air
of common harrows. The bean crop is afterwards
kept clean by the plough and small scarifier. The
course on strong clay is

1st, clover root, pastured, or if mown, manured;
2nd, pasture ; 3rd, beans ; 4th, wheat ; 5th, fallow
or turnips, or part potatoes ; 6th, wheat, laid down
with clover and other seeds.

In the hundred of Wirral, on a farm of 150
acres, the following course ha^ been successfully
adopted : —

1st, clover; 2nd, wheat; 3rd, beans or pota-
toes ; 4th, wheat ; 5th, turnips ; (3th, wheat or
oats, with seeds.

Another course, on a ])oor stifl' clay land farm,
in the hundred of Wirral, is as under : —

1st, clover; 2nd, wheat; 3rd, green crop ; 4tl],
oats and seeds.

On the above farms thorough-draining and sub-
soiling ai"e invariably performed previous to cul-
tivating green crops.

In the hundred of Broxton another course,
on the drained land, is in the following order: —

1st, oats on ley; 2nd, beans in drills, manured
instead of fallow, as formerly ; 3rd, wheat ; 4th,
oats, laid down with clover and other seeds.

Another course, adopted on stiff weak undrained
clay, runs thus : —

1st, oats on ley, one furrow; 2nd, fallow ma-
nured with a compost of lime, &c. ; 3rd, wheat ;
4th, oats and seeds, pastured five or six years.

Another course, on the better kind of clay
land : —

1st, oats; 2nd, wheat; 3rd, fallow, manured
with lime or compost ; 4th, wheat ; 5th, oats ; 6th,
clover, pastured and manured before breaking up
again.

Another mode of agriculture, differing from any
of the foregoing, is almost peculiar to a district
of the county which borders on the Duke of
Bridgwater's canal, between Runcorn and Altrinc-
ham, the principal object of the farmer being to
raise early crops for the Manchester markets, as
he has the double advantage of canal carriage for
his produce, and of bringing back manure to his
farm at a reasonable cost, no tonnage dues being
levied, and only a small charge for wharfage. The
course of cropping which is practised (commenc-
ing in the neighbourhood of Warrington) is as
follows : —

The land is manured and planted with early
potatoes in the month of March, and the gathering
of the crop commences towards the middle of
June. As the ground becomes clear of the first
growth, Swedish turnips or a second setting of
potatoes are planted ; on the removal of this crop
wheat is sown, and in the spring clover, which is
mown the following year, and is then pastured for
three or four years. Sometimes early cabbages
are planted in November after the potatoes, and
sold oft' in the spring ; in which case the land is
planted again with potatoes, and undergoes the
same course, having received a good manuring for
the cabbages ; the land is generally trenched for
the potato crop. Proceeding towards Altrincham,
some dift'erence in the management is observable ;
much of the land being suitable for the growth of
carrots, a part of almost every farm is appropri-
ated to the culture of that vegetable ; four or five
acres are let to gardeners at 2s. per rood of eight
yards square. 'ITie system pursued is to skim the
grass ley, then trench the land into four-yard
butts, burying the sod in the trench ; sow broad-
cast, and clean with smtiU hoes. The croj) ave-
rages about 1 5 tons per acre ; the land is potatoed

316

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the following year, and sown with Avheat in the
autumn ; then a cro]) of oats, and laid down with
seeds ; sometimes pastured for one year, but ge-
nerally mown twice, and broken uj) again.

Another practice is to have oats on leys marled
on the oat-stubble ; then i^otatoes and turnips,
followed by wheat laid down mth red clover, 1 2
lbs. to the acre; mown and broken up for wheat;
then turnips, manured from the farm-yard, or
with horse-dung from Manchester, at 6s. 6d. per
ton, and followed by barley, sown with a mixture
of red and M'hite clover, 10 lbs. of the former,
and 3 lbs. of the latter, besides seeds from the
hay-loft ; mown the following year, and broken
up again for wheat. This course is pursued for
several years, until it is thought that the field re-
quires rest.

Another course adopted in this district is as
follows : —

Potatoes on ley, with two ploughings ; first,
thinly skimmed, then a strong furrow, then wheat,
laid down in the spring with clover; mown and
broken up again for potatoes, which are followed,
as before, by wheat; sometimes oats are taken
after wheat, and the land is laid down with seeds,
to remain a short time in pasture ; but few cattle
are kept, and perhaps the necessity for them is not
very great, on account^ of the facilities afforded by
the canal for laying down the manure on the farm.
There are no dairies here, the milk being sold to
the dealers for the supply of Manchester and the
surrounding neighbourhood.

In order to explain and illustrate more fully the
various systems of cropping practised in Ches-
hire, I subjoin some extracts from letters with
which I have been favoured by correspondents,
in reply to my appUcations for information. From
the hundred of Macclesfield : —

" The course of cropping generally followed
here is veiy bad; the fallow is usually planted
with potatoes, and then wheat on all descriptions
of soil, some of which is very inferior for the lat-
ter, and not at all adapted for its cultivation. Af-
ter wheat, oats with clover, which the farmers cut
once, and then leave the land in a poor and dirty
state, to lie two or three years in grass. In some
cases lime is apphed in a mortared state the second
year, but the land yielding no pasture capable of
producing milk or butter to any extent, then fol-
lows the complaint that it will not pasture ; it is
then ploughed again, is siil)jected to the same
treatment as before, and some will even take three
white crops before they will let the field lie ; the
land is consequently so impoverished that it be-
comes almost useless for several years. But
there are many exceptions to the above bad system,
and of late years improvements have progressed
so much that we now see, in different situations,
good crops of turnips produced with bones and
guano."

From the hundred of Broxton ;—

" The farmers, if left to themselves, have little
or no system of cropping ; they have an inveterate
inclination to keep tiUing the same land, imtil
reduced to a stand-stiU, and then to sow with the
last crop of oats a httle red clover and some seeds
out of the hay-loft j but the usual course is, on

breaking up — oats, fallow, wheat, oats and seeds,
clover mown, . pasture ; but most of the farmers
would, if uncontrolled, go on with at least another
crop of wheat and oats before the seeds. The
fallows are occasionally broken as to pieces of
fields, with potatoes and noio turnips. On
this estate, they seldom till a third of the farm ;
no more than two successive grain crops without
an inten'ening fallow and purchased manure,
lime, &c., no more than three grain crops in one
course of tillage ; only one crop of wheat in a
tillage. Tenants are bound to lay all their farm-
yard manure on grass land, or green crops to be
consumed on the premises ; not to sell hay, straw,
or food-roots grown with home-made manures.
I believe these restrictions are what most landlords
about here are aiming at, and most tenants coming
into. In Wirral many farmers take only two grain
crops in a tillage ; oats, fallow, wheat, and seeds
upon the wheat. At the Neston Farming Club,
last spring, I asked the question about laying
down with the wheat crop, and was answered by
their best men that it was an approved practice,
particularly on drained land, where it was not
necessary to make small round wheat-butts."

Another correspondent, from the hundred of
Broxton, says — " With the exception of one or two
fields, I may call the whole of my farm clay
land." The course of cropping I propose to adopt
is —

"1st, wheat; 2nd, beans, drilled and manured;
3rd, wheat; 4th, turnips, or other green crop,
drilled and manured; 5th, oats ; 6th, clover. Whe-
ther I shall be able to overcome the difficulties
generally complained of, in attempting to grow
turnips on such stiflf land, remains to be proved.
I trust that thorough-draining and subsoil-plough-
ing will eflfect such an alteration in the nature of
the soil, as, in ordinary seasons, to remove those
difficulties. There are two or three fields, some of
the stiflfest land on the farm, which present a very
sorry appearance ; these I have been recommended
to drain and cover with bone dust, and keep in
pasture ; but shall wait until I see the eflfect of the
course which I am adopting on the other stiflf
land."

A third correspondent, from the hundred of
Broxton, writes —

" The soil here is principally of a clayey nature,
and there are various notions of farming. In many
instances it is exhausted, owing to the repeated
cropping of the same land. Landlords have an
objection to the old ley being broken up, which is
a supposed protection to the owners of the soil,
the farms being let, in most instances, from year
to year. If leases were granted upon fair con-
ditions I am convinced that an immediate improve-
ment would take place ; and if the old ley be so
essential to the making of cheese, it might be gra-
dually changed. Tenants are bound not to have
more than one-fourth of the land up at once. I
make a practice of growing my wheat upon grass
or clover ley, green crop next, and lay down the
following spring. This course I cannot regularly
pursue, because it gives me too much green crop
for my straw, and I am compelled to lay down part
with oats for the second crop ; but I invariably

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

317

take a green crop on the land so Bcrvcd tlic next
tillage."

A fourth correspondent, from the hundred of
Broxton, says —

" When a piece of grass-land is ploughed, it it;
almost invariably sown with oats; and if the con-
dition is such as to warrant a fair expectation of a
green crop, with a small quantity of manure, it is
sown with turnips and potatoes, then cropped with
wheat, afterwards with oats and clover. If the
piece be very poor, a summer fallow follows the
first oat crop, and it is kept in tillage with oats,
beans, or peas in succession for several years.
There are very few turnips grown, and seldom
more potatoes than are requisite for the use of the
family and the farm-labourers."

From the himdred of Bucklow —

" For the ordinary course of cropping in the
parish of Great Budworth and its borders, the
land is skimmed about the month of November,
as a prejjaration for potatoes, both early and late ;
if for early ones, then after that crop the same
ground is either planted with Swedish or sown
\vith common turnips, or a second setting of po-
tatoes of the early kind for seed. In October or
November, the crops having been got up, the land
is either bxitted for the next year or sown with
wheat ; the latter is the most general practice. The
next crop is potatoes again, of course with ma-
nure, which, if the land be poor, is applied in the
first crop, and vice versa. The potatoes having
been gathered, the land is sown with wheat in
October or November, and followed with oats,
clover, and grass seeds, of which, in some in-
stances, ItaUan rye-grass forms a part, and from
its rapid growth and frequency of cropping, is
growng into repute. ^Miere the purse is a long
one, bone-waste is often set upon the clover-root,
either before or immediately after the first mowing,
at the rate of one ton to the acre ; some will only
ajjply 15 cwt. of bones, and these the boiled ones.
Clover is occasionally mown twice, but this prac-
tice, in the opinion of all good agricidturists, is too
exhausting. The same land is not tilled again for
six or seven years, according to the nature of the
soil, as being more or less suitable to the kind of
crops required, and which the other parts of the
farm would ill produce."

From the hundred of Nantwich —

"There is no particular system in practice here ;
but one method is pretty general, that of ploughing
up a field, and never finding a proper time to lay
it down again until the land is exhausted, and
left in a very dirty state. Such was the condition
in which I found my farm, and, in fact, the whole
township was little, if any better; the fences
were also shamefully neglected. I hope, however,
that farmers are now roused from their lethargy,
and that shortly a better system will be adopted.

The only green crop has been potatoes, for which
there has been a good market in the potteries ; but
now turnips are grown, though in most instances
in small quantities ; yet I think they will soon be
cultivated to a considerable extent. A few leases
have been granted from 14 to 17 years. It is de-
sirable that some of the clauses, especially those
relating to tillage, should be altered, as one-fourth

of the land is not sullicient for the growth of corn
and green croi)s where the jiasturcs have been ma-
nured with bone-dust ; for it will not produce the
requisite supi)ly of fodder to feed the increased
numljer of cattle, which the jiastures, when im-
proved by bones, will keep during the summer."

Another correspondent, from the Hundred of
Nantwich, writes —

" The tenantry on this estate are all under yearly
agreements, at a valuation of cheese at 60s. ])cr cwt.,
and corn at 9s. per bushel. They are allowed two-
sevenths of their acreage for their yearly tillage, and
are not permitted to take more than two straw
crops in succession ; but there is such a disparity
in the farms, that no general rule could be laid down
that would be beneficial to either the landlord or
the tenant. Upon the light soil farms, under the
best management, the four-course system is prac-
tised ; others prefer taking a crop of oats upon their
clover-leys, and wheat afterwards ; and where two
white crops are taken in two successive years, I
give the preference to this mode, instead of taking
the oats after the wheat crop. Upon those farms
which will not answer for turnips, fallow, oats, and
clover is the usual course, two years down ; oats
upon the clover-ley, fallow next, wheat, aud oats
with seeds."

From the Hundred of Eddisbury : —

" The state of cropping in this neighbourhood is
as follows with most of the farmers : — 1st, oats;
2nd, potatoes, ; 3rd, wheat ; 4th, oats laid down
with clover ; the genei'al management is not good,
the crops being left in a dirty state. Another course
— pursued with old pasture broken up — is, 1st,
oats ; '2nd, green crop (potatoes, turnips, mangold-
\vurtzel, &c.) ; 3rd, Wheat after potatoes and man-
gold wurtzel, barley after turnips, laid down with
red clover and Italian ryegrass ; 4th, mowed ; 5th,
oats ; 6th, green crop, as before ; 7th, wheat and
barley, laid down with a mixture of clover and
grass seeds for permanent pasture. By this rota-
tion of cropping, the land gets twice manured in
seven years ; and if the crops have been well cleaned,
the soil will be in fine order for clover, &c."

Another correspondent, from the Hundred of
Eddisbury, says —

"The course of crops on tillage land in this
country is as various, perhaps, as can be conceived,
and a neglect of a regular succe-sion may probably
be attributed to every successful farmer only using
the plough as an accompaniment to the pail ; for
cheese being produced here in great abundance,
and the agriculturist well knowing that he can ob-
tain a considerable sum annually from his dairy oc-
cupations, at a trifling expense (as compared
with the growth of corn), usually devotes all
his skill for the attainment of that object ; he con-
sequently grows but little corn, and frequently neg-
lects his tillage land. This is more generally the
case on strong clay soils, though net at all unusual
on lighter soils, which are adapted to a better sys-
tem of husbandry. Although Cheshire has not
ranked high among agriculturists, for any great in-
genuity displayed by its practical farmers, stillthere
are districts in this county which are not in-
ferior to any in the kingdom for the economical

3l8

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

and profitable system of management adopted. In
these partSj the four and five-course system (inclu-
ding clover) is the general practice."

From the Hundred of "NYirral : —

" This may be said to be a dairy district, where
the farmer's chief attention is paid to his grass
land. Tlie small quantity of land which he is
allowed by his tenure to plough or break up, vary-
ing in extent from l-3rd, 1-lth, and l-5th of his
whole farm, that portion which is \mder tillage is
very soon reduced to poverty by wheat, oats, and
clover in succession, with but little assistance of
either manure or cleaning applied to it; and, in
many instances, the farmer comes to a stand-still
for want of produce of straw. He is then com-
pelled to request his landlord to allow him to break
up a piece of his grass land ' to give him some-
thing,' as he says, and the tenant has no hesitation,
in return, to consent that a piece of his old tilled
land shall rest. Rest indeed it must, as prol^ably
it has not done so (in many instances) for forty
years. There are very few tillage farms in this
district ; but where the occupiers have had the ad-
vantage of access to manure, and the capital
wherewith to })urchase it, and thoroughly drain the
land, an advantageous course of cropping has been
thus pursued — viz., 1st, clover, pastured, or, if
mown, manured ; 2nd, pasture ; 3rd, beans or
vetches, drilled, and partially manured ; 4th, wheat ;
5th, fallow and turnips manured ; 6th, wheat clo-
vered down. This rotation applies to heavy wet
land, where neither barley nor oats can be advan-
tageously grown."

Breeds of Cattle in Cheshire.

There is no distinct breed of cattle peculiar to
this covmty ; the dairy stock consists principally of
a gieat variety of crosses with the breeds of other
districts — A'iz., the Yorkshire or Holderness short-
horns, the Lancashire and Staffordshire long-horns,
the Devonshire, the Ayrshire, Welsh, Irish, and
the improved short-horns. Doubts, I believe, exist
in the minds of some intelligent farmers, whetlier
any improvement has been effected in the milking
properties of dairy cows, by the introduction of
the improved short -horns among them ; that the
latter breed is much disposed to fatten, is admitted ;
but this class of cattle does not stand veiy high in
public estimation as milkers ; it may therefore be
reasonably supposed that there are good grounds
for thinking that it is very possible to introduce too
much of the improved short-horned blood into the
dairy stocks, and that great caution should Ije
taken in crossing ; however that may be, I am of
opinion that an improvement may be effected by
the introduction of the blood to a certain extent,
care being always taken to select the male animals
intended to be reared from the best milkers.

I cannot here refrain from noticing the beautiful
and well-selected stock of improved short-horns,
belonging to Messrs. Forrest, of Stretton, near
AA^arrington. Those gentlemen, at much pains and
expense, have succeeded in introducing into
Cheshire some of the best blood in the kingdom ;
and they frequently obtain premiums for their
stock at the exhibitions of the Royal Agricultural
Society. T) lere are, however, in many parts of the

county, well-selected dairy stocks ; and for a great
number of years, a slow but gradual improvement
has been perceptible in the appearance of cattle
l)rcd within it, and they now assume a more deci-
ded character of breed, the Holderness or short-
horns predominating. Though some of the latter
breed are alluded to in a treatise by Mr. Wedge,
which was published in 1796, they wei'e not then
much in favour, as it was thought they were too
delicate for wet clay land ; but on the introduction
of a few pure-bred ones from Yorkshire, about
thirty-five years ago, or immediately preceding the
ptiblication of Dr. Holland's book, they were
highly approved by sand land farmers, and soon
after were sought for mth aA'idity. About that
time, some of the principal farmers, assisted by
some leading cattle dealers, succeeded in estab-
lishing fairs at many of the small towns and villages
in the interior of the county ; and they were so
arranged as to give purchasers the opportunity of
attending at convenient distances from their farms,
and sellers the facility of driving their unsold stock
from fair to fair, without any material loss of time,
or of the keep of their animals ; and many of the
dealers had persons engaged in visiting the York-
shire fairs to make fresh purchases, while they were
selling in Cheshire ; thus a regular supply of good
young milking cows was kept up through the early
part of the cheese-making season. Some of the
largest and most valuable animals were bought by
dealers in milk for the supply of Manchester and
Liverpool ; but these cattle, from their great size,
were not so suitable for the tender clay land, or the
very confined farm buildings in the chief part of
this county.

The dealers also frequently brought young bulls
of from one to two years old for sale in the mar-
kets, and it was not unusual for them to receive
orders from those farmers who were most anxious
to improA'e their stocks ; which orders they were
always ready to execute, as they could in such cases
make their own charges without incurring any risk.
A farmer in the Hundred of Eddisbury, Avho kept
about forty cows, and took a pride in having a good
dairy stock, thinking the best way of obtaining it
was to purchase, instead of rearing from his own,
gave a respectable dealer an order for twelve cows
— this order was speedily executed for £336, or £28
per head — probably the Avhole dairy of cheese
would realise little, if any, more than £500.

From the cattle thus introduced at the Cheshire
fairs and markets, many of the present stocks were
raised. Perhaps the improvement in cattle has
been more rapid within the last seven years than
formerly, in consequence of an increased emulation
having been excited among farmers by the estab-
lishment of agricultural societies within the
county.

In addition to the cattle bred within Cheshire,
many of which are also fed or fattened within it
when no longer fit for the dairy, a considerable
number of Scotch, Welsh, and a few Irish and
Hereford bullocks and heifers are annually bought
for the purpose of being fed, principally by gentle-
men residing on and farming part of their estates
— such cattle, when fat and not required for the
use of the family, are sold to butchers for the supply

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

319

of the surrounding neighbourhood, or sent to the j
Manchester and Liverpool markets.
Sheep.
Although a considerable number of sheep is fed
within the county (estimated at about 65,000),
very few comparatively are bred within it, except
such as are sold when lambs to the butchers, and
some of which are reared from a few choice flocks
in gentlemen's parks ; of these, the Southdown and
Leicester ai-e the prevailing breeds. Those fed by
farmers consist chiefly of Cheviots (which probably
form the greatest portion), Leicesters, HasUngdens,
Scotch and Irish, and occasionally the Anglesea,
Carnarvon, Shropshire black-face, cluns, and the
Derbys, or grit stones, commonly called Woodlands.
The usual practice with many farmers is to purchase
a few ewes about the month of September, which
are kept in the stubbles imtil ploughed ; they are
then turned into cow pastures, where they remain
until the lambing season commences, when they
are put into a field of clover or old grass preser\'ed
for that jjurpose. The lambs and ewes when ready
for the butcher are sold ; wethers are seldom kept
by the dairy farmers throughout the winter, but
are frequently purchased in June or July, and sold
ofT at the latter end of autumn.

A great part of the land in Cheshire is at present
much too wet for sheep ; but if effectually drained,
they would be found a profitable stock, and would
improve the soil.

The calculation as to the number of sheep in this
county was first made in 1800, and afterwards in
1837, in a work from wliich I make the following
extract : —

"The river Dee, on the north-east border of
Flintshire, divides the principality of Wales from
England; and the river being crossed, Cheshire
first presents itself. Tliis is by no means a sheep
district ; the flocks bred in the county are compa-
ratively few, and they are of all kinds, from the
Welsh mountain sheep to the Leicester ; those
which are grazed for home consumption are much
of the same character. The Leicesters and the
Cotswolds, and the cheviots however prevail, and
^vith every variety of cross ; but as they are mostly
brought into the country for this purpose, they
afford only skin-wool, and are not to be taken
into account, when the character of the sheep and
the fleece is inquired into. The sheep that are
fed on the heaths and commons of Cheshire are
short-woolled ; but the fleece is gradually increas-
ing in length and weight as elsewhere. The only
variety worth particular record is that found in
the forest of Delamere, on the high grounds in the
eastern parts of the county; they have black, or
brown, or grey, or spotted faces and legs ; and usual-
ly small horns. They are not unlike a diminutive
Norfolk. _ They weigh about S or lOlbs. per qr. ;
the meat is as good as that of other small breeds,
and the wool is short and particularly fine, and
weighing about Ulb. per fleece. They are a variety
of the true native breed of England. The wool
used to be much sought after by the Yorkshire
manufacturers of fine cloths, and still bears a supe-
rior price, although it is also excluded with the
rest from the finer cloths. The Delamere sheep is
out of place in such a county as Cheshire. It is

capable of a very material improvement, and espe-
cially considering the jnirposes for which wool of
this kind is now used. In 1808, Cheshire was
supposed to contain 65,000, all short-woolled, the
length of the fleece various, and producing 926
packs. The wool is still short the average weight,
of the fleece 4^1bs., and the number of packs 1,218.*
Tliis increased quantity arises either from the
greater number of sheep, which an increasing
population requires ; or from the increasing weight
of the fleece, attributable to the altered mode of
management, or to the combined influence of both
causes."

Previously to the enclosure (about the year
1813) of Delamere Forest, containing 8,000
acres, which were equally divided between the
Crown and the adjoining freeholders, it was sup-
posed that 20,000 sheep were kept upon it ; it was
in fact the great nursery for the county. At the
enclosure, the greater part of the sheep were dis-
persed throughout the country, and most of the
commons being also enclosed, very few of that
breed are now to be met mth.f

In Delamere Park, the seat of G. Wilbraham,
Esq., I have observed a beautiful flock of South
Down ewes ; this gentleman has lately introduced
some rams from the celebrated flock of Mr. Jonas
Webb. The number of sheep kept in this park is
about 600.

In Lyme Park, the seat of T. Legh, Esq., 1,000
sheep are kept, including store ewes and those fed
for the butcher.

On some of the driest soils, small flocks of sheep
are fed after the Norfolk system of hurdling on
turnips, whereby the land is much improved;
amongst the most important, are those on farms at
Delamare and Haslington ; on the former, which
is a hilly district, guano has been used at the rate
of about 3 cwt. per acre, and the result has been
highly successful.

Picfs.

The breeding and feeding of pigs are earned on
to a considerable extent in this county ; but from
the great variety of crosses, it would be difficult to
determine to which class the prevaihng breeds
belong ; it must, however, be acknowledged that
during the last few years they have been much
improved ; for, instead of the large-eared, coarse-

* How far this estimate may be correct I cannot
pretend to determine. By the first calculation in
1808, the wool averages more than 3i lbs. per
fleece, and by the second 4§ lbs., which appear
rather high estimates, when the average of the
forest sheep at only Ih lb. is taken into account;
but supposing this calcidation to be correct, and
the weight of wool the true criterion as to the
number of sheep shorn in the county, I should
presume that many more than the numbers stated
are kept ; as many flocks are brought from distant
counties, after they are shorn, and having been fed
here, are again sold off when fat.

t The Crown land is planted with a variety of
forest trees, as oaks, larch, Scotch firs, &c., the
greatest part of which are in a very thriving state s
the other portion has been marled, and is in a high
state of cvdtivation.

320

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

boned pig, wliich was valued so highly on account
of the enormous size which it attained when fat, is
now to be seen a fine-boned animal, Avith smaller
ears, great length of body, width of shoulders,
and roundness of carcase, with aptitude to fatten
at an early age. These pigs proljably do not
make such heavy weights as the former kind, biit
they possess the advantage of becoming fat in
much less time ; their bone is hghter, and the
flesh not so coarse ; they are therefore more ap-
proved of by the consumer. The county is to a
certain degree indebted to the coarser breed,
formerly in favour, for the great length of frame
which many of the present pigs exhibit ; as un-
doubtedly those best adapted to the pvu-pose of the
farmers were raised by crosses from that breed with
the Berkshire, Leicestershire, &c. The more deli-
cate sorts, as the Chinese and Neapolitan, although
much approved in gentlemen's families, with a
slight cross of some of the more hardy breeds, are
not suitable, ixnless repeatedly crossed, as a general
stock for this county ; being too tender for the or-
dinary treatment, and too light when put into the
scale : it is a common phrase here, " when we have
done weighing, we have done receiving." The
practice with regard to feeding pigs on the gene-
rality of dairy farms is, to put up early in the
spring some strong stores of twelve-months old,
to feed on the offal of the dairy ; the number being
regulated by the probable supply of food — about one
to five cows, allowing for breeding sows and
young stores. If the farmer is anxious to bring
them early to market, a few potatoes, and a small
svij)ply of barley or other meal, are given ; but in
general they have little else than whey for the first
three months, when they are allowed potatoes or
meal, or both, for five or six weeks, and are then sold
to the butcher for the Manchester, Birmingham,
or other markets ; the weights ranging from ten to
fourteen scores. As soon as the pigs feeding on
whey are cleared off, which is usually in August
and September, more are put up ; by this time the
whey is much reduced in quantity, the pigs must
therefore be fewer in number, or the allowance of
corn, &c., greater ; some, or perhaps the whole, of
these are kept for the use of the family. The sows
farrow twice a-year, bringing their first litter in
February, and their second in August ; the first
are usually kept as stores for the farmer's OAvn use,
the latter are sold off when young.

Rearing yotmg Cattle.

More attention has been paid to rearing young
cattle of late years than at the time of Dr. Holland's
publication, and there is still room for much im-
provement in this respect. The treatment of calves,
previously to being turned out to grass, is nearly
the same as formerly, except that some farmers
substitute crushed oil-cake, or Mnseed-meal, for oat-
meal, wheat, or bran-flour, at the rate of lib. per
day for each calf; and, occasionally, a few slices of
mangold-wurzel or swedes are given, after the
calves are weaned from the cows to the time at
which they are turned out to grass. At the period
before referred to, very few turnips or other succu-
lent roots were grown, and the yearling calves had
seldom anything given to them except a little hay ;

occasionally a small field of old grass was reserved
for them, and the second winter they were fed en-
tirely on straw : this method of treating young cat-
tle is too much practised even at the present day,
but many farmers have recently adopted an im-
proved mode of feeding — when very young, before
going out to grass, the calves are taught to eat
sliced turnips, mangold-wurzel, or carrots, mixed
mth crushed oats ; they are taken up at night about
the latter end of October or early in November,
and have hay, and as soon as their pasture becomes
short, sliced turnips or mangold-^vurzel, and a few
crushed oats are given ; they are generally tm'ned
out to some early grass in April. Some few far-
mers, who make a point of rearing their first-
dropped calves in February and March, allow their
heifers to come into profit when little more than
two years old, about the middle of May ; but when
this is the case they are kept very well the second
winter, having hay, turnips, and a little corn, and
they are put into a good pasture early in the spring;
generally speaking, heifers do not come into profit
Ijefore they are three years old. The number of
calves reared on a dairy farm is in the proportion of
5 to every 20 cows, taking care to select those from
the best milkers. But it is too much the practice
with many farmers to feed all \he\v first calves indis-
criminately for the butcher, with the view of selling
them while veal is fetching a good price, and to
take their chance as to what may hereafter come
for rearing. This management frequently ends in
disappointment, and late rearings seldom or ever
grow up such fine cattle as early ones — i. e. when
after a certain period they are all treated alike, as is
the case in Cheshire.

The food for the calves* is prepared in the fol-
lowing manner : about half a pound of meal for
each calf is put into a tub, scalding water or whey
is poured upon it, and well stirred, skimmed-milk
and fleetings are then added ; about four quarts
are given to each calf twice a day, until Midsummer^
when they are gradually weaned.

It may perhaps not be out of place to state here
that the prevailing epidemic among cattle has
proved a great drawback upon the resources of the
dairy farmers. In some instances as many as 20
and 30, and even 60 cows have died on one farm
from this destructive disease. "Where this has been
the case, the places of the dead cattle have been
cautiously supplied by fresh stock, from fear of fur-
ther losses ; farmers preferring to increase the
number of their sheep. I have reason to believe
that the epidemic is now abating in virulence ; and,
in order that losses from this cause may not fall
with so heavy a pressure upon those individuals
among whose cattle the mortality may rage, insu-
rance clubs for mutual protection have been esta-
blished among the farmers.

I subjoin a few of the opinions of my correspon-
dent relative to cattle, &c.

From the Hundred of Nantwich : —

" The dairy cows here are a mixture of various

* A recipe for disordered bowels in young calves :
— 2 drms. rhubarb, 2 oz. castor oil, h drm. ginger,
mixed with a little warm milk or gruel. The dose
may be repeated in a day or two if required.

■ THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

321

breeds, a cross between the Durham and short-
horn bciofT more general than any other. The
breed of the old long-horn Cheshire cow is become
almost extinct. But few sheep are kei)t in this
neiglibourhood, and those of a cross breed, the
conmion black-faced Cheshire ; they are very pro-
lific, l)ringing two, three, and sometimes four at a
birth ; but they will never fatten."

From the Himdred of Wirral : —

" No particular breed of cattle can be said to ex-
ist in this district : milk being the main object of
the farmer, he does not consider any thorough-
breed particularly advantageous for that purpose ;
and I believe it has been stated with truth, tliat a
cross between the old long-horn, short-horn, and
Welch cows is considei'ed a good sort for the dairy.
In some very particular spots of really excellent
land, the ])ure short-horn and the large Yorkshire
cow have been introduced with success; Ijut some
farmers oljject to them, as too delicate to stand out
in this wet climate. Sheep. — Scarcely any sheep
are kept where the dairy is the main object ; in
some instances the farmers buy a few Anglesea or
Scotch wedders to eat up their stubble land in au-
tumn ; but the custom seems to be attended with
doubtful success in most cases, and few make it a
general rule to have sheep. The Delamere Forest
and Clunn Forest sheep are sometimes to be met
with in small numbers, but they are not regularly
bred in the district. Pigs. — Whatever may be said
of the native breed of pigs, a very great improve-
ment has been effected of late years in this class of
animals. They seem to be of the old Berkshire
breed, with, in many instances, a cross of the
Cliinese ; which, when judiciously managed, will
give compactness and aptitude to fatten. I should
say they are inferior to none in any county of Eng-
land."

From the Hundred of Broxton ; —

" The description of cattle fed in the Park here
is for the most part Scotch oxen ; but some hand-
some short-horns, from Mr. M'Gregor's prize bull,
have lately been reared, and they seem to do very
well. The feeding is made a two-years business,
and cannot therefore, I think, be quoted as an ex-
ample. Sheep do not answer in the Park, they go
lame from foot-rot, through the wet."

From the Hundred of Eddisbury : —
" The cattle here are not very good generally; a
few are now crossing with the short-horn breed,
which is found to improve their stocks. In pigs, I
prefer the Neapolitan, crossed with the large breed
(the short-eared kind) ; I then get a large pig with
small bones, and one that will feed at any age.
This I consider the best sort."

From the Hundred of Bucklow : —

" The greater number of cattle kept here consists
of fully half-bred short-horns, which are believed
to be the best for profit. I am of opinion that the
half-bred short-horn, from a cross by the best
Welsh breed and Holderness, is preferable to the
cross of the Lancashire long-horn and Holderness :
and, generally considered, it is much better adapted
to the land. But the most profitable cows I have
seen were a mixture of the Guernsey and pure Dur-

ham In-eeds. Great improvements nave tjeen ef-
fected in the lireeds oi pigs since the publication of
Dr. Holland's 1)ook; those now considered the
most profitable, and the most in use, are a cross of
the Berkshire and Shroi)shire — the ears a little pen-
dent over the eyes, the l)odies lengthy, not stinted,
or too compact in make. But, of course, there are
still amongst us many mixtures of breeds."
From the Hundred of Macclesfield : —
" Very few sheep are kept here, it being consi-
dered that in summer they injure the cow-pastures;
some are kept for winter pastures by the farmers to
serve the Derbyshire flock-masters."

The State of Drainage in Cheshire.

Having made a very extensive personal survey
of the county, and taken into consideration the na-
ture of the soils which predominate, I have arrived
at the conclusion that, although on many estates a
considerable extent of draining has been efl:ected
within the last few years, and some excellent speci-
mens of this desirable operation are now in pro-
gress, the drainage is lamentably defective, there
being very few farms which do not require it ; and
it is obvious that where the lando^vner does not
give liberal assistance, it is (with some rare excep-
tions) totally neglected. These remarks do not
apply so much to those lands which abound with
natural springs (and in wliicli cases one drain,
rightly placed, will sometimes effectually answer
for several acres), as to the clay and meadow lands,
on the latter of which so high a value is set. Much
of the clay-land is of so tenacious a quality that the
only possibility of materially improving its value is
by thorough-draining. Where land of this des-
cription has not been formed into large high butts,
it appears to me, and it is also the opinion of many
practical men with whom I have conversed, that
the butts should be formed to the width of about
six yards, with an elevation of 1 in 12 — 3 inches to
a yard — from the rein to the centre, and dro\vned
down each rain ; this exactness in making the butts
may not be so essential in arable land, but in pas-
tures, where there are large stocks of cattle, the
soil in veiy wet weather (unless there be a little
descent for the water) would soon become poached,
and much damage woidd be done to the grass. On
some of the best clay-land, if it have a tolerable
slope, I do not consider thorough-draining neces-
saiy ; particularly if it be kept much in pasture,
and the butts be well formed. An implement is
used in some parts of the county for the purpose
of draining this kind of land ; and if taken along
the reins once every winter, when the land is in a
moist state, it effectually answers the object of its
construction. It consists of a sharp-edged wheel,
fixed in a frame with a shding box over it (as shown
in drawing No. 1, p. 325): and, instead of throw-
ing out a furrow, as was formerly the custom, it
makes the drain by pressure sufficiently deep to ad-
mit of a free course for the surface water ; this im-
plement requires four horses to work it : and it will
water-furrow from 15 to 20 acres per day. On
much of the pasture-land the butts are too small
and flat, some not more than 5 or 6 feet wide, the
reins only serA'ing as reservoirs for supplj-ing the
rushes with water, instead of acting as drains tq

Y 2

322

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the land. Large portions of the natural meadow-
land, consistmg of many thousand acres, are de-
prived of half their value by an obstniction to their
drainage, occasioned by corn-mills backing up the
water to a considerable extent in streams where
there is very little fall ; and by the consequent
liability, from the same cause, of having the hay
swept away by floods, or so injured as to render it
unfit food for cattle. This evil, therefore, calls for
serious consideration in any inquiry connected with
the agricultural pursuits of a dairy district, where
the clay-land farmer is almost entirely dependent
upon the produce of his meadows as a winter sup-
ply of food for his milking stock. Tlie summer
and autumnal floods, before the after-grass is eaten
off, occur at least once in three years, and are fre-
quently attended with almost ruinous consequences
to the farmer; for, in addition to the entire loss of
his hay occasionally, his cattle become diseased,
and not unfrequently die from eating flooded hay.
On the river Gowey there are no less than twelve
miUs on a distance of about 15 miles j it is, there-
fore, obvious that the individual efforts of the land-
owners, and the united exertions of the occupiers,
wUl avail but little in attempting to effect a com-
plete state of drainage, unless the proprietors of
the farms collectively join in removing these impe-
diments, and converting the present water-mills
into steam-mills.

Effectual draining being the greatest of all im-
provements, and also an expensive operation, it is
of importance that the work should be well ex-
ecuted, in order to make it as permanent as possi-
ble ; in addition to the drains being cut in the right
direction, and of proper depths, care should be
taken to have the bottom of the drains, where they
are not on a sohd bed of clay, marl, or gravel, suf-
iicieully firm to support the tiles, by a layer of soles
of the same material, slates, or split alder, and
close enough to prevent moles and vermin from
getting into them ; the tiles also should be of a
good material. In cutting drains for the purpose
of carrying off" the siirface-water only, the bottom
is generally found Avith a sufficient appearance of
firrnness to support the tiles, pai-ticularly if the
drains are formed in dry weather ; but it should
be borne in mind that by draining the water is
drawn to those parts where water had never reached
before, and, by constant moisture, a clayey sub-
stance will become too soft to support the narrow
edge of a tile for any length of time, where there is
a pressure of from two to three feet of soil upon it.
I have lately seen drains taken up as being per-
fectly useless ; in some instances owdng to the tiles
sinking— in others, to the tiles decaying (which
will be the case when not made of good material,
and properly burnt), and in others, to the moles
and other vermin filling them with soil.

There are many manufacturers of tiles in the
county : there are three on one estate in the Hun-
dred of Broxton — the Tweedale and several other
works along the EUesmere and Chester Canal — and,
in addition to many others which might be named,
there is a manufactoiy on Ridley Hall farm, in the
Hundred of Eddisbury, whore the best I have seen
■were made. In the year 1829 I had to send 20
miles for 1000 tiles for which I had occasion : they

were charged 45s. per 1000, and were so badly
burnt that one-third of them were broken in the
carriage. Tiles of the same size, and a good qua-
lity, are now selling at from 25s. to 30s. per 1000.

In one instance, which has come under my no-
tice, half the A^alue of the tiles is charged by the
landlord to the tenant : this charge certainly gives
the tenant a pecuniary interest in them ; but whe-
ther such a regulation will matei'ially contribute to
the object in view, viz., a more extended and pei'-
fect state of drainage, is very doubtful. On one
estate in the Hundred of Broxton, the agent (whose
zeal for improvement is highly commendable) un-
der the direction of the noble proprietor, employs
a number of drainers regularly throughout the
mnter months, to perform the work for such of the
tenants as may require it, charging them with
about two-thirds of the expense. Tliis plan ensures
a better system of draining than if done by per-
sons who have not had the advantage of practice,
and who, therefore, do not possess much skill in
this most useful art. On this property there is a
very ingenious, and, I may add, humane contri-
vance, the invention of the gentleman alluded to ;
it consists of a portable house, on low wheels,
which is removed, as occasion, requires from farm
to farm, and from field to field, for the piu-pose of
aflfording shelter to the drainers during rainy wea-
ther, comfort during meal times, and a safe deposit
for the tools, when the men are not at work. I have
Ijeen informed that, by this contrivance, the men
are enabled to proceed with their work during
showery weather, Avith very httle loss of time ; when
otherwise they would frequently, on the first faU of
rain, proceed to a beer-shop, and lose the remain-
der of the day.

The following extracts from letters, with which
I have been favoured, will aflTord additional infor-
mation upon this important branch of agricultural
ojjei'ations : —

From the Hundred of Bucklow : —

" Draining since 1808 has increased one hun-
dred-fold ; and, instead of using (as was the cus-
tom then, and till withm the last few years) kids,
sods, stones, and red sandstone, the materials now
worked up are blue or red tiles, under which, un-
less the bottom of the drain be hard and hkely to
stand good, soles of alder-wood or thin blue slates
(which are most approved of) are placed, one at
each end of the tile. Tlie drains are cut from 8 to
10 yards apart, a httle further or nearer, as the
gouty nature of the land may require."

From the Hundred of Eddisbury : —

" A good deal of draining has been done Avithin
the last few years ; but there is yet much more to
be done. The work is much better executed than
formerly, and is chiefly laid with draining tiles
upon slate."

From the Hundred of Wirral : —

" Rapid strides towards improvement in this
branch of husbandry have been made within the
last six or eight years ; but, from the tenure being
yearly, the credit or discredit (as the case may be)
should rest entirely with the landlord. Where es-
tates are imincumbered, and the owner of the es-
tate has a wish to promote his own interest, as well

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

323

as that of his tenant, much good has been done by
tile-draining; but very mucli yet remains to be
done, botli upon arable and pasture lands. About
one-thirtieth part of the district has been drained
within the last twenty years : this seems a small
proportion, but I believe it will be found nearly
correct."

From the Hundred of Nantwich : —

" A great improvement is yet to be made in this
neighbourhood by proper drainage. The tenantry
are allowed a limited quantity of tiles yearly, which
they are exi^ected to put down at their own expense ;
but this they gladly do, having discovered the be-
nefits arising from this process."

A correspondent in the Hundred of Broxton su])-
plies the following particulars : —

" Lord AVestminster's estates in this neighbour-
hood (except much of the townships of Aldford,
and the two Churtons, and the meadows) consist
very generally of a clay-soil, varying in depth, qua-
lity, and tenacity, resting upon a few inches of an
unwholesome rammel, under which is a stiff marl
subsoil. The discharge of superabundant surface-
water is here the object of draining. No springs
or uprising waters are to be contended with, nor is
the soundness and regularity of the ground often
interrupted by boggy places or sand-pits. The
bulk of the land has long lain in butts or looms, of
a width from six to nine yards, jierhaps averaging
about seven ; these butts cannot be much altered
in form or direction \vithout injury to the farmer.
Most of the land is saturated with rain-water all
winter, so much so that in undrained fields a hole
dug will usually fill within a few inches of the sur-
face, and so remain ; and in a hot summer the
ground will bake to the hardness of an unburned
brick. This is the character of the worst parts {i.e.
Belgrave and Pulford), but the description applies
in a great degree to most of the estates. Under
these circumstances the system of draining is sim-
ple, and almost uniform. A drain is laid down
each rein, or furrow, between the butts or looms,
faUing into a main, which crosses the lower ends of
the furrow-drains at right angles, i-unning parallel
with the fence from which it is separated by the
headland.

" One million tiles a year are now made and
used on this property: that number will lay 190
miles of drain, and drain 500 acres."

Imi^lements in Use,
In this county, where the arable land is Umited in
extent, the variety of implements applied to agricul-
tural operations is perhaps not so great as in many
other districts : within the last ten years, however,
some of a superior description have been introduced,
among which those particularly deser^ang of notice
are the iron ploughs, the subsoil-plough, the Uley
cultivator, Finlayson's harrow, the twin harrow,
various iron harrows, turnip scarifiers, corn drills,
hay making machines, a furrow presser, and an im-
proved instrument for water-furrowing clay- land
pastures. The iron ploughs, which were scarcely
known in Cheshire ten years ago, are now in general
use in the best farmed districts. They principally
consist of those manufactured by Wilkie, West,
Harks of Mere, and Wood of Knutsford : the two

former Scotch, the latter two Cheshire. Wooden
ploughs of an imjjroved construction are also em-
ployed on the southern and western sides of the
county, each district having its favourite. Plough-
ing with two horses abreast is now almost invariably
the practice, where the iron plough is used ; exce])t
in very wet soils, and then three horses in length
are emj)loyed.

Among the scarifiers or cultivators now in use, in
addition to the old clumsy ones, which are almost en-
tirely discarded, are the Uley, Finlayson's, and one
of a very useful kind, which is made of wrought
iron, is most effective in its operations, and from its
simple construction not liable to get out of order :
it requires four horses to work it on light land, and
five on the heavy soils. It may be put to any depth
required, and is regulated by chains attached to a
frame (as per drawing No. 2). Tliis implement
was originally brought from the covuity of StaflFord,
but it has been much improved by a common black-
smith in the Hundred of Eddisbury in Cheshire,

The Uley cultivator has only been introduced
very recently : one gentleman in the Hundred of
Broxton speaks highly of it, and generally uses only
two horses in working it,

Finlayson's harrow, from some cause or another,
is not in such good repute as when first intro-
duced.

It is too frequently the case, that when inventors
have at much pains brought an implement to some-
thing like perfection, and have exhibited good spe-
cimens at an agricultural meeting, they become
careless about the manufacture of them ; and with
a view of offering a cheap article to the public, and
at the same time securing a certain profit to them-
selves, they have a number made by piece-work,
which is often indifferently executed, and bad iron
or other material is used ; but being neatly painted
before sent out, the defects are not discovered until
put to its destined operations in the field ; perhaps
fifty miles from the place of manufacture. It
woidd be well if some means were devised for test-
ing implements before they are sent out, as such a
practice would not only be a check upon the men
employed in their constiiiction, but the result would
be more creditable to the manufacturer, and certain-
ly much more satisfactory to the purchaser.

Turnip scarifiers are much improved : those most
in use are made by Harks of Mere, and Wood of
Knutsford, nearly all of which are of wTOught iron,
and are worked by one horse to each, except in ex-
treme cases.

Extracts from letters relating to implements : —
From the Hundred of Eddisbuiy : —
" Implements have been much improved within
the last few years, and several new ones have been
inti'oduced, viz., Scotch iron ploughs, grubbers,
scarifiers, and harrows made on a better plan, by
giving more room between the pins : with such im-
plements as these the land may be much more effi-
ciently worked than with the old wooden ones ; but
yet some of the fanners persevere in the use of the
latter."

From the Hundred of Macclesfield : —
" I have of late years tried the subsoil plough, and
mtli good effect."

S24

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

From the Hundred of Bucklow : —

" Iron ploughs are coming very generally into
use, from their superior work. Ploughing abreast
is getting into favour, because a driver is saved, the
horses travel better together, are nearer to their
work, and perform it more effectually. Horses only
are used in drawing, no oxen."

From the Hundred of Wirral : —

" Implements vary in almost every parish of this
district. The plough varies in size, shape, and
make, just as the located wheelwright fancies he
pleases his customers by new shapes or sizes of
implements. Little can be said in praise of any
I have seen, and little will be said till the plough-
man can do his day's work -without a driver."

A second correspondent from the Hundred of
Eddisbury, says —

" Upon the clay-lands it formerly excited no sur-
prise to see four horses drawing a plough, and even
now three are commonly used; but these prac-
tices are giving way to the use of the plough
drawn by two horses abreast ; and, with a few ne-
cessary exceptions, I have no doubt that in a few
more years Cheshire will be entirely cultivated ^^'ith
the 'two-horse plough,' which prejudice among
the older farmers has hitherto, in many cases, pre-
vented. Probably to the limited state of drainage
on the clay lands of this county, may be attributed
in part, the neglect of the ' two-horse plough ;' for
where the soil is so much saturated, it becomes so
very adhesive, that it is as laborious for three or
more horses to draw a plough on such land, as
for two horses on the same soil when well drained."

There are a few corn-drills in the county, but at
jDresent their number is very limited ; the Suftblk
drill, with eight coulters, and worked by two
horses, is most in favour.

Several hay-making machines have of late been
brought into the Hundred of Eddisbury. They
are worked vn\h. a single horse, which is changed
occasionally if the weather be hot ; they are much
approved of, especially in thinly populated districts,
where hay-makers are scarce. The furrow-presser
although a very useful implement when the furrows
are not well closed, is not in common use, and is,
perhaps, not so much required since the intro-
duction of iron ploughs.

The implement for water-furrowing clay-land
pasture is worked by four horses, and is found
useful where under-di-aining is not required; it
makes an opening along the rein by pressure,
sufficiently deep to carry otF the surface-water ; and
on land where the butts are six yards -wdde, the
work performed will be little less than twenty
acres per day. Fixed thrashing machines (some
of them worked by steam) are pretty general
among the principal farmers ; and the portable
ones are in very extensive use : the latter are let
out on hire at 15s. per day. Knife and spike

rollers are also in common use, and continue in
deservedly high favour.

Horses and other Cattle employed in Husbandry.

Many of the best farmers adopted several years
ago the system of ploughing with two horses abreast,
except on very wet soils ; and as the clay-land be-
comes drained the practice will no doubt be extend-
ed ; and nothing will tend more to promote such a
result than the annual ploughing matches in dif-
ferent parts of the county, where competitors are
not allowed to plough in any other manner.

There are some farmers, in every district, whose
prejudices are so strong in favour of old customs,
that the most decisive evidences of improvement
will never induce them to step out of the path they
have previously followed ; and such wiU no doubt
continue to jilough with three horses, and even four,
in length, to the end of their days. Oxen are not
used in Cheshire as beasts of draught : they were
tried by some gentlemen a few years ago, but the
practice has been abandoned.

There are seldom fewer than five horses used in
the subsoil-plough, and four or five in the different
kinds of cultivators : two in the light harrows for
ordinary purposes, and three in the larger; but
when land is very rough, and requires what is
termed the " ox-harrow," fovu- or even five stout
horses are emjiloyed. In many of the fixed thrash-
ing-machines four horses are used, but in the por-
table ones, which are always in great request after
harvest, five or six are required : these machines,
when the corn yields well, will thrash 150 or 200
measures of wheat per day.

The horses in Cheshire are not so heavy as for-
merly, but are considered more generally useful
for farming purposes .

A correspondent from the Hundred of Maccles-
field says —

" That the number of horses kept by the farmers
in that district is in the proportion of three to eighty
acres of land."

In the Hundred of Eddisbusy : —

" It has been estimated that there is one horse
kept for use in husbandry to every thirty acres."

A gentleman in the Hundred of Broxton has re-
cently fitted up an apparatus for steaming food for
horses. He says —

" The steam range cost £14 7s. Sjd. ; to this
must be added the charges for bricks and mortar,
fixing the boiler, and the bricklayers' time, which
will make the total expense about £15 10s. I had
great difficulty at first in getting the men to use the
steamed food. I steam both the cut hay and straw
and potatoes ; IG lbs. of cut hay and straw, S lbs.
of steamed potatoes, 7 lbs. of crushed oats, and a
few white Belgian carrots, making about 30 lbs. of
food, are divided into three servings, Avhich are the
allowance for each horse for 24 hours. My horses
never looked better,"

(To he Continued.)

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

323

Drawings referred to in the foregoing Essay,

No. 1.

ELEVATION.

FRONT ELEVATION.

Scale i an inch to the foot.

(Note.) — When the roller A is not required to press the furrow, the box B, which has small wheels sliding upon
plates of iron, should be moved to the other end of the machine, which raises the roller out of the
ground, and leaves it running upon a small pair of road-wheels attached for that purpose.
When greater pressure is required, the box B should be filled with heavy material.

Cost £'16.

326

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

AGRICULTURE.

From the position in which Lord Worsley's Bill relating to Commons and Waste Lands was left at the close
of the session, little doubt can be entertained that at the commencement of the next session it will in some shape
be brought forward again, in order to undergo a deliberate investigation by the legislative body. In our Gazette
of the 25th April and 2nd May last, we placed before our readers an account of all foreign and colonial agricultural
produce that had been imported into the United Kingdom and entered for home consumption in the last twelve
years (1832 to 1814), with an estimate of the amount (268,399,21U. sterling) that had been paid for the same by
the British consumers. "We now place before them an estimate of the acres of land that would be required to pro-
duce a quantity equal to that we have imported, with the amount of wages that would have been paid for the cidti-
vation of the land to agricultural labourers. We also give the number that would have been requu-ed, and the
total, including their wives and childien.

Article.

Wheat and flour

Barley

Oats and meal . .
Rye.

Peas

Beans • .

Buckwheat, &c

Clover seed

Trefoil, lucern, &c. .

Linseed

Bapeseed

Seed cake

Hempseed

Grass seeds, various

Various seeds

Garden seed

Mustard

Flax

Hemp

Madder and roots

Saffron

Open bulls and cows

Calves

Sheep and lambs

Swine and pigs

Horses

Tallow

Hides • •

Skins

Wool

Horse hau". Ox and cow hair, horn tips and hoofs, bones,

bladders, glue, grease, rabbit and hare skins

Butter

Cheese

Beef, pork, bacon, hams, tongues, eggs, sausages, and

lard

Vegetables

Fruits

Ale, beer, cider, and vinegar ,

Timber, wood, and tanners' bark

Feathers, quills, honey, wax, hops, teazles, basket rods,

juniper berries, and tares

Tobacco

Quantity entered for
home consumption.
Average of 12 years.

Total acres

1,228,291 qr.
174,827
201,903
19,786
77,939
82,352
6,875
83,359 cwt.
616
364,324 qr.
84,267
24,367 ton.
2,360 qr.
^3,022
20,144 qr.
80,318 lb.
9,003 bush.
1,187,781 cwt.
688,285
227,600
3,440 lb.
5,692"
116
791
774
4,488
1,166,002'cwt.

351,589
2,491,426 skins.
42,358,269 lb.

£315,561
194,774 cwt.
184,063

£166,034

£1,060

£10,106

£142

£2,471,246

17,605
198,659 cwt.

Produce per acre.

Acres of land
required.

3 qr.

5

3

3

3

4§

5 cwt.

5

3 qr.

3

^ ton.

3 qr.

£20 per acre.

3 qr.

224 lb.

30 bush.

8 cwt.

10

10

161b.

2 cwt.
2

8 skins
401b.

£20 per annum.

3 cwt.
4

£10 per annum.
£10 per annum.
£10 per annum,
£10 per annum.
£10 per acre.

£20 per acre.
10 cwt.

409,430

38,850

40,380

6,595

25,979

27,450

1,527

16,671

123

121,441

28,089

48,734

786

151

6,714

358

300

148,472

68,828

75,866

215

82,028

437,250

175,794

311,178

1,058,956

15,778
64,924
46,017

16,603

106

1,010

14

247,124

880
19,865

3,544,486

3,544,486 acres of land, labour, at 20s. per acre £3,544,486

113,621 agricultural labourers, 12s. per week 3,544,486

Add 346,544, proportion of women and children, at the rate of 3.050 to every labourer.

Total persons , . 400,165

-Brighton Gazette.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

327

OBSERVATIONS ON THE MANAGEMENT

AND APPLICATION OF MANURES.

By a Practical Farmer.

(Continued.)

Guano. — A few years only have elapsed since this sub-
stance was first introduced into this country as a manure,
yet its value as such is now appreciated throughout the
length and breadth of the laud. While so much odium
is attached to the pertinacity with which our farmers ad-
here to established customs, it is not a little creditable
to both our merchants and them that in the research for
further elements of fertility the continent of South Ame-
rica has not escaped their investigations, and that large
quantities of this substance are annually imported with a
view of adding to our cultivated crops, thereby at once
benefiting both our agriculture and our commerce.

Guano, as most of our readers are aware, is the name
given to the accumulated dung of the sea fowl which ho-
ver in countless flocks along the shores of the Pacific
ocean, and which, from time immemorial, have deposited
their droppings on the rocks and islands with which it is
studded. It is chiefly found between the 13th and 21st
degree of south latitude, the climate there being dry ^nd
favourable to its accumulation. In our moist climate
the dung of the sea fowl is washed away by the rains al-
most as soon as deposited, so that even where sea birds
most abound, no appreciable quantity of guano is ever
found. The climate of what may be termed the guano
islands is, however, extremely dry, and the droppings of
the birds accordingly decompose with exceeding slowness,
so that in many situations the accumulations of centu-
ries remain undisturbed, and present a fruitful field for
the enterprise of our merchants, the layers being occa-
sionally several yards in thickness. Large beds of guano
are also found covered by sand, drifted over them by the
winds, which have been thus buried and partially pre-
served from the action of the atmosphere, from an un-
known antiquity. From the great extent to which
guano is soluble, it may be readily supposed that that
thus preserved is in high estimation as a fertilizer.

The fertiUzing effects of the dung of fowls are well
known to every farmer, there being no portion of his
manure so valuable as that from the poultry-yard ; and
the value of guano in this respect has, it appears, been
known to the Peruvians, according to Humboldt, for
centuries, enabling them to raise luxuriant crops on their
sandy plains. Unlike many of the other recently employed
manures, it has even in this country been found to be an
universal fertilizer, improving every crop to which it has
been applied, though, it may be supposed, in different
degrees, according to the kind of crop and the quality
of the soil. This uniformity of success, after its first in-
troduction, soon caused it to be held in high estimation ;
but the eagerness with which it was sought after served
as an inducement on the part of the venders in many
instances to adulterate it to such an extent that samples
hive lately been examined containing from one-half to
two-thirds of sand and other worthless ingredients.
Guano, under any circumstances, is exceedingly vai-iable
in quality, so much so, indeed, that different samples
taken from the same package will occasionally yield re
suits diff"ering very markedly from each other'; and this
circumstance, no doubt, operated as a sufficient induce-
ment to adulterate to such a great extent. There being
so great a diversity of quality, even where no fraud has
been practised, enables the dishonest dealer to ply his
trade with a degree of security, and to an extent, almost
impracticable in the case of any other commodity. The
best samples of guano are liable to contain sand, and the
debris of the rocks off" which they are coUected, in
greater or less quantity—matters which, it is apparent, do

not sensibly contribute to the fertilizing eff'ects of the
manure — so that the value of any particular sample de-
pends in direct proportion on the quantity of such mat-
ters which it may contain.

In a former part of these papers, when noticing this
subject, the importance of purchasing only after thepro«
duction of an analysis of the manure to be sold, was
brought under the notice of the readers of this journal ;
and it is not without much satisfaction that I have since
seen the other leading agricultural publications warmly
take up the subject. In the case of any of the portable
manures, the only guarantee the farmer can have as to
the genuineness of that which he employs is the posses-
sion of an analysis of a sample of average quality, which
he should insist on being supplied with by the vender.
In some cases he can test how far such analysis is cor-
rect, by treating a sample of his manure in the manner
to be heremafter explained ; or in any case for a few
shillings an accurate analysis may be had from some of
the numerous chemists which are now offering their ser-
vices in this respect to the farming community. Nor is
this precaution so necessary in the case of any other ma-
nure as in that of guano, for the reasons just stated. It
is not to be expected, indeed, that any subsequent ana-
lysis shall exactly correspond with that obtained at the
time of sale ; but still any great variation is not likely to
be experienced, unless foreign ingredients have been
added with a view, of course, to adulteration. It is not
a sufficient guarantee on the part of the farmer that he
deals only with a person of character, as the manure
merchant may himself have been deceived ; let the sys-
tem of demanding an analysis be in every case strictly
adhered to, audit will be readily fiu-nished. The adoption
of this system will further prevent adulteration from be-
mg attempted in many cases, in consideration of the
certainty of detection. It wiU not be always necessary
to tes^t the accuracy of the analysis, especially when the
quantity employed may be small ; but still a sample
should be carefully preserved in order that it may at any
future time be examined, should the application of the
manure not be followed by the anticipated results. The
following are the directions by Dr. Ure, in a recent pa-
per on this subject, than whom it will be admitted there
can hardly be a more competent authority : — ' ' The far-
mer should never purchase guano unless its composi-
tion be shown by the analysis of a competent chemist.
He should cork up in a bottle a half pound sample of
each kind of guano that he buys ; and if his crop should
disappoint reasonable expectation, he should cause the
samples to be analysed ; and should the result not cor-
respond with the analysis exhibited at the sale, he is
fairly entitled to damages for the loss of his labour, rent,
crop, &c. The necessity of following this advice will
appear on considering the delusive, if not utterly false,
analyses under which cargoes of guano have been recently
sold. In a recent case which came under my cognizance,
in consequence of having been employed professionally
to analyze the identical cargo, I found the cargo of guano
to be nearly rotten and effete ; containing altogether
only 2\ per cent, of ammonia, -g- per cent, of urate of
ammonia, nearly 9 of sea salt, 24 of water, and 45} of
earthy phosphates. Now, this large cargo of many hun-
dred tons fetched a high price at a public sale, under the
exhibition of the fallowing analysis : —

Urate of ammonia, ammoniacal salts, and decayed ani-
mal matter 17.4

Phospliate of lime, phosphate of magnesia, and oxalate

of lime 48.1

Fixed alkaline salts iO.8

Earthy and stony matter 1.4

Moisture 23.3

100"

Sound guano, according to the same authority, con-
tedns from 20 to 25 per cent, of insoluble ureite of am-

328

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

monia, nearly as much undefined animal mattei*, along
with from 15 to 20 per cent, of earthy phosphates, leav-
ing no more than 50 or 55 per cent, of soluble matter,
exclusive of moisture ; whereas decayed guano j yields
from 60 to 70 per cent, of its weight to water, in conse-
quence of the uric acid and animal matter being wasted
away, and the large portion of moisture in it, the latter
amounting very often to from 25 to 35 per cent. The
good Peruvian guano does not lose more than from 7 to
9 per cent, by drying, even at a heat of 212 degrees, and
this loss necessarily includes a httle ammonia. Each
analysis of guano executed for the information of the
farmer should exliibit definitely and accurately to at
least 1 per cent. : ■ —

1 . The proportion of actual ammonia.

2. The proportion of ammonia producible also form
the uric acid, and azotised animal matter present, and
which may be called the potential ammonia. This is a
most valuable product, which, however, is to be ob-
tained only from well preserved dry guano.

3. The proportion of uric acid, to which if 1-llth of
the weight be added, the quantity of urate of ammonia
is given.

4. The proportion of the phosphates of lime and mag-
nesia.

5. The proportion of fixed alkaline salts, distinguish-
ing the potash from the soda salts ; the former being more
valuable and less readily obtainable : the latter can be
obtained from the use of common salt. Wheat, peas,
rye, and potatoes, require for their successful cultivation
a soil containing alkaline salts, especially those of potash.

6. The proportion of sandy or other earthy matter,
which, in genuine guano, carefully collected, never ex-
ceeds 2 per cent., and that is silica.

7. The proportion of water separable by a heat of
212°.

The quality of guano may be much injured by the man-
ner in which it has been preserved after its arrival in
this country. Exposure to the atmosphere causes it to
give off a portion of its volatile constituents, and in our
humid climate it rapidly absorbs moisture, and hence a
given weight becomes less valuable. It should, there-
fore, be packed in casks in preference to the bags in
which it is usually sold, and kept in a dry place, in
which state it will retain its qualities for almost an inde-
finite length of time.

Guano has been seen, in common with all animal mat-
ters, to be an extremely compound substance, every in-
gredient of which is calculated to act as a fertilizer. It
is, however, much more powerful than any other animal
manure. This arises in part from the circumstance that
in the economy of birds there is no final sepai-ation be-
tween the liquid and the solid excretions, and partly
also on that of the peculiar birds producing this manure
being supported chiefly on animal food. The soUd part of
the droppmgs of birds in general, in a recent state, con-
sists chiefly of uric acid with a little in-ate of ammonia,
and a variable per centage of phosphate of lime and other
saline compounds. The liquid part contains much urea,
with some phosphates, sulphates, and cholorides. The
uric acid and urea, however, gradually undergo decom-
position, and are changed into cai'bonate and other salts
of ammonia. If applied to the land when this stage of
decompositiom is attained, they form an active, powerful,
and immediately operating manure ; but if allowed to
remain exposed to the air for a lengthened period of time,
the salts of ammonia gradually volatilize, and the efficacy
of what remains becomes greatly diminished.

The general composition of guano has been already
seen, but it will not be out of place to quote an analysis
published by Dr. Ure as the average result of his trials
with genuine guano ; an analysis which, however, Profes-

sor Johnston considers contains more soluble matter
rich in ammonia or its elements than is usually to be met
with. The analysis of Dr. Ure is as follows : —

Organic matter containing nitrogen, including nitrate of

ammonia, and capable of affording from 8 to 17 per cent.

of ammonia by slo\y decomposition in tlie soil 60

Phosphate of lime 25

Ammonia, phosphate of magnesia, phosphate of ammonia,

and oxalate of ammonia, containing from 4 to 9 per cent.

of ammonia , ,.,. 13

Silicious matter from the crops of birds 1

Water H

100
Genuine guano is seen to contain a large proportion
of ammonia, a substance generally supposed to act a
most important part in accelerating the process of vege-
tation. Tills is a most valuable ingredient even in farm-
yard manure, and it may be confidently asserted that,
in proportion to the quantity of ammonia which guano
contains, will its value be increased ; and hence, a pri-
mary cause of the greater value of the recent varieties,
as compared with those which have suffered from expo-
sure.

The next important ingredient of guano is the uric
acid. The decomposition of this substance gives rise,
among other products, to the formation and evolution
of ammonia in considerable quantity ; but this process
takes place with great faciUty : hence, also, a principal
cause of the superiority of fresh guano. We are not in
possession of any analysis of fresh guano, as deposited
on the shores of Peru ; but as the excrement of other
sea-fowl living chiefly upon fish will present a great
similarity of composition, it will not be uninteresting to
compare the following analysis of the excrement of the
sea-eagle with that of guano already given, as found by
Coindet.

Solid Excrement.

Ammonia 9.2

Uric acid 84.65

Pliospliate of lime 6.15

Liquid Excrement dried.

Uric acid 69

Earthy and alkaline phos-
phates, sulphates, and chlo-
rides 41

100

Phosphoric acid is also another important constituent
of guano, in which it is contained in combination with
soda, ammonia, and lime. In the preceding article on
bone manure, the importance of phosphate of lime was
fully seen, as a constituent of all vegetables. So far as
this ingredient is concerned, therefore, the action of
guano will be similar to that of bones ; but the form in
which it is present in the former of these manures will
not insure its action being extended over so long a space
of time as it necessarily does in the case of the latter.
The action of phosphate of lime is, however, in any
case, exceedingly permanent in its duration, not being
soluble in water, and, therefore, not being liable to be
washed out of the soil by rains, hke the soluble salts.
According to Professor Johnston, on an average, ISOlbs.
of guano may contain as large a quantity of phosphate
of lime as lOOlbs. of bones.

The price at which guano was sold after its first intro-
duction, from 25s. to 30s. per cwt., prevented many per-
sons from making experiments to test its value, and, in
fact, almost acted as a prohibition to its use : but re-
cently the importers have made a large reduction in the
price of the article, perhaps from the circumstance of
its being entirely driven from the market by artificial
compositions. It is, indeed, satisfactory that, notwith-
standing the great increase in the quantities of this and
similar substances which is annually taking place, they
are still becoming lower m price. The introduction of
guano, and the great extent to which it is employed,
have had a most salutary eff'ect in lowering the price of
the other fertilizers previously in use. This circum-
stance holds out a great inducement to farmers to expe-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

329

riment largely with them, as it is in this way only that
their real merits and their adaptation to particular crops
can be ascertained.

Guano has not been a sufficient length of time in use
as a manure to enable any correct decision to be arrived
at regarding the jirecise quantity which should be em-
ployed. Even with those who have had the greatest
experience of its effects, very different quantities are
recommended. The precise quantity should, of course,
be regulated by the peculiar crop to be raised, as well
as by the state of the soil ; but, although the researches
of scientific men have done much in the investigation of
these circumstances, a wide field still remains for those
of future aspirants, and much is still to be learned.
Two cwt. are considered by many as a sufficient quan-
tity to the acre, while others employ so much as five
cwt. Perhaps the medium between these quantities is
that which should be most appropriately applied.
Wood-ashes, rich earth, or some other material, is
combined with the guano before being applied, the
quantity of such mixture being usually equal to that of the
guano itself. When experiments are made with a view
of testing the value of this substance as a manure, the
results cannot be expected to be of much practical
value, unless the precaution be adopted of not mixing a
substance with it, ^before appUcation, which is of itself a
fertilizer. Thus, wood-ashes form a powerful manure
in many cases ; and, when applied in conjunction with
guano, it may be a matter of uncertainty what propor-
tion of the effects produced are fairly to be attributed
to each. It is unfortunate that experimenters generally
do not pay sufficient attention to the various circum-
stances connected with the experiments which they un-
dertake. Generally speaking, such mmute attention is
not necessary in the ordinary course of farm manage-
ment ; it is only so when experiments are conducted
with the view of ascertaining the value of any given
course of proceeding, or of any specific manure, that
it becomes absolutely necessary.

The analysis previously alluded to will show that
giiano is an exceedingly compound substance, and,
therefore, capable of being applied with advantage under
great diversity of circumstances, both as regards soil
and crop. It may be applied at the sowing of the
seed, or afterwards as a top-dressing when the crop has
made some progress. In the latter case, the farmer has
the great advantage of being able to apportion the
quantity applied to the wants of the crop. When em-
ployed in this manner, the application should, if pos-
sible, take place before rain, otherwise the manure may
suffer much from exposure before any advantage has
been derived from it. The nature of the season has, in-
deed, much effect in increasing or diminishing the fer-
tilizing properties of guano and other m.anures of the
class to which it belongs. In very dry seasons, for ex-
ample, they will not be so efficacious as in others, for
reasons which do not require explanation.

It is not, perhaps, necessary to occupy much space in
the detail of experiments of the results of guano, as ap-
plied to different crops. No rehance can, indeed, be
placed on the greater number of the experiments which
have been reported on the grounds stated in a preceding
paragraph. By far the most valuable are those sug-
gested and reported by Professor Johnston, from which
the following are extracted. Some of these show the
results of guano as compared with other manures, when
applied to most of the usually cultivated crops. The
results refer to the produce per acre : —

SWEDISH TURNIPS.

Tons. Cwt.

1. Farm-yard dung, 20 tons 18 11

Guano, 3 cwt 23 8

2. Farm-yard dung, 20 tons 16 18

Tons. Cwt.

Guano*, 2| cwt 17 4

Bones, 32 bush ITj 17

YELLOW" TURNIPS.

Guanot, 5 cwt 32 2

Rape-dust, 15 cwt 24 11

Bone-dust, 30 bush 17 2

POTATOES.

1. Guano, 3 cwt 18 9

Rape-dust, 1 ton 12 G

2. Guano, 4 cwt 14 G

Rape-dust, 1 ton 10 0

Bone-dust, 45 bush 9 15

3. Guano, 4 cwt 13 14

Rape-dust, 1 ton 13 0

Bone-dust, 45 bush ,. 13 14t

WHEAT. Bush. Lbs.

1. Guano, 1 cwt 48 0

Rape-dust, 16 cwt 51 0

Undressed 47 30

2. Guano, 3 cwt 30 40

Undressed 24 56

3. Guano §, 2 cwt 32 20

Undressed 31 31

4. Guano, 1 cwt 46 15

Nitrate of soda, 1 cwt 54 18

Undressed 44 4

5. Guano, 1 4 cwt 45 0

Nitrate of soda, 1 J cwt . 41 0

Undressed 39 0

BARLEY.

Guano, 3 cwt 64 0

Undressed v 47 15

OATS.

1. Guano, 2 cwt 70 0

Undressed 52 0

2. Guano, 1 cwt 48 16

Nitrate of soda, 1 cwt 50 0

Undressed 49 0

BEANS.

Guano, 2 cwt 33^

Rape-dust, 16 cwt 35

Nitrate of soda, 1 cwt 33

Undressed 29f

HAY. Tons. Cwt.

1. Guano, 1 J cwt 1 18

Nitrate of soda, 1 1 cwt 2 10

Undressed 1 8

2. Guano, li cwt 2 2

Nitrate of soda, 1^ cwt 1 17

Undressed 1 10

The above experiments were conducted on soils of
different qualities, and in different parts of the king-
dom. The learned Professor remarks that the results
obtained appear to indicate that guano is more 7mi-
formlj successful with root crops than when applied as
a top-dressing to corn and grass ; and, further, that
certain experiments seem to indicate that its favourable
influence does not cease with the first season. If the
phosphate of lime so abundant in the constitution of
bones operate in any way in prolonging their beneficial
effect, the large though variable quantity of that sub-
stance present in guano should render it also capable of
permanently improving the soil.

* The guano in this experiment was mixed witli 1 cwt. of char-
coal powder.

+ The guano was here mixeolwith SObuslicls of wood aslies.

i In each of the foregoing experiments with potatoes, the ma-
nures were put in alone witli llie sets, no other manure being af-
terwards added.

§ Tlie quality of the grain in this and the succeeding experi-
ment was inferior to that in the others.

830

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

The analysis of guano at once shows its composition ;
and, the quantity of each ingredient being known, it
follows that a combination of these substances in the
same proportions as existing in imported articles would
form an artificial guano little if at all inferior to the ar-
ticle imitated. The cost of these several ingredients
when procured separately being also known, little diffi-
culty will be experienced in ascertaining the price at
which the origmal article, according to such a calculation,
should be sold. It has been already stated that, after
its first introduction, guano, for a length of time, sold
at 25s. per cwt. ; but Professor Johnston's suggestions
for the formation of this artificial substitute contributed
more than anything else to induce the impoiters to lower
their prices ; and it may, at the present time, be ob-
tained at rather less than one-half of this sum. It is
also not a little singular that the price to which it is now
reduced is precisely that at which the Professor states a
substitute could be formed. The composition of this
artificial guano is as follows : —

lbs. £ s. d.
315 (7 bush.") of bone dust, at 3s. 6d. per bush.,.. 0 17 G
100 of sulphate of ammonia, containing 341hs. am-
monia •• 0 lo 0

5 ofpiarlash 0 0 10

100 of common salt 0 2 0

10 of dry sulphate of soda 0 0 10

1 16 3

530 equal, at least, to 4 cwt. of guano

However abundant the supply of guano may be at
present, its permanence cannot be confidently calculated
on, as, in addition to the supply becoming diminished, it
is probable that obstructions will be thrown in the way of
the continuance of the trade by the governments of the
countries from which it is now obtained ; so that it is
well that the attention of the British farmers should be
directed to procuring a home supply. The artificial
substance will also have this advantage, that its quality
will be uniform, the quantity of each of the component
ingredients employed being constant, and its effects can,
therefore, be calculated on with greater certainty. The
foregoing ingredients are selected as those most likely
to answer, but further experience may suggest the addi-
tion of other substances, or their substitution either in
whole or in part for those already enumerated.

Saline Manures. — This is an important class, and
one regarding which great diversity of opinion prevails
among practical men, owing to the veiy contradictory re-
sults wliich frequently follow their appUcation. Some
of these manures have been employed from a vei7 early
period — common salt, for example ; and, from the great
experience of its effects, of which it is natural to suppose
we might now be in possession, it seems not a little
singular that its real properties are not better established
than those of some of the saline substances only recently
employed. These saline manures are always present in
greater or less quantity in our cultivated crops, so that
under a proper system of management no doubt can be
entertained regarding the propriety and value of their
appUcation as fertilizers. Nay, they are constantly ap-
plied in the usual practice of farm management with-
out attention being specially directed to them. Farm-
yard manure abounds in saline matters, and it is to their
presence that urine and guano chiefly owe their value.
In these cases they are applied in various states of com-
bination, and while some of them may prove ineffica-
cious, owing to their already existing in the soil in suffi-
cient quantity to supply the wants of the crop, the
others, which are wanting, are followed by that luxuri-
ance which their presence is so necessary to produce.
Here, however, a great waste is occasioned, as in order
to secure the necessary ingredients being applied, an ex-
tremely compound substance is used in the expectation

that the substances really required will be present, which
indeed is usually the case.

A more correct knowledge of the constituents of soils
and the wants of particular crops will greatly add to the
value of the class of manures now under consideration,
as showing where and in what quantities they should be
applied. Some of them are found to benefit only cer-
tain crops even on the same description of soil ; the na-
tural inference from which is, that these saline matters
naturally abound in such crops, and, on analysis, this is
actually found to be the case. Again, there are certain
soils on which saline manures are not found to produce
any beneficial effects ; nay, when applied in large quan-
tities, they are found to be eminently injurious. The
inference here is not less obvious than in the preceding
case. These results plainly indicate that such soils
abound in saline matters already, and tliat, therefore, no
further addition of these substances can advantageously
take place.

Notwithstanding these plain facts and inferences, it is
not uncommon to find some agricultural writers recom-
mending certain of these saline substances as suitable for
every soil and every kind of crop. A few instances of
their beneficial effects having come under their notice, it
is at once readily assumed that the same substances will
be equally successful in every case, the first result of
which hasty and erroneous conclusions is that the highly
extolled manure at once faDs into undeserved neglect.
It is, however, only lately that any effectual attempt has
been made to make the farmers acquainted with the ra-
tionale ot their operations, and, as such knowledge be-
comes more general, a different class of writers on the
subject will enter the field — a class who will combine
practice with science. Then, and not tiU then, can the
farmer place confidence in much that is written for his
guidance. Reasons must then be assigned for recom-
mending any particular course of practice ; it will not
do to state that this or that fertilizer has produced cer-
tain results in some particular cases, and that, therefore,
we have only to avail ourselves of its assistance to in-
sure the production of vigorous crops. Nor is this a
hypothetical case. Nearly a century ago a celebrated
writer in his day gravely informed the farmers that the
whole kingdom might be enriched by the plentiful appli-.
cation of common salt to the soil; and since his time its use
has been at intervals recommended in equally laudatory
terms. As might have been expected, such warm recom-
mendations led some of the more sanguine farmers to
employ that substance largely, which trials frequently
ended in disappointment, in consequence of being indis-
criminately recommended, and hence the use of salt, in
common with other substances, fell into undeserved neg-
lect. But this system of proceeding has been too long
persevered in, and it is to be hoped that every intelligent
farmer will now endeavour to make himself acquainted
with the reasons why certain results follow the applica-
tion of any particular substance as manure. With such
knowledge, experiments will be undertaken and con-
ducted in a proper manner, and the results obtained may
be expected to be of real value. With any intelUgible
principle as a guide, conflicting statements will not pre-
vent a fair trial from being given ; and even where the
result is different from what was expected, still the in-
formation thereby acquired will enable the experimenta-
list to go better to work for the future, and whether he
fail or whether he succeed, he will not rest satisfied until
he traces the results which he has obtained to their true
cause.

There is, perhaps, none of the saline manures, regard-
ing which so much diversity of opinion prevails, as
chloride of sodium, or common salt. This substance,
as has been already observed, has been long in use as a
manure ; and, in many cases, its application has been

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

331

followed by the most astonishing results. It is found
in greater or less quantity in aU soils, and is a constant
ingredient in plants ; circumstances which would seem
to warrant its almost universal application as a manure.
But it must be recollected that any particular crop or
course of crops require only a certain proportion of their
ingredients to be available in the soil for their healthy
development, and that any excess beyond this quantity
is mere waste, even in the most favourable point of view.
When present, however, in unusually large quantity,
they may become eminently injurious, and either par-
tially or totally destroy the crop, instead of rendering it
more luxuriant. Even farm-yard manure itself, the
fertilizer regarding which there is least, if any, difference
of opinion as to its value, if present in excess, will be
followed by a rank and worthless vegetation. These cir-
cumstances do not seem to be properly taken into ac-
count in judging of the value of common salt, and most
of the other substances of the same class. Though es-
sential to vegetation, it may be already, and in fact often
is, present in the sod in sufficient quantity for the wants
of the crop ; lands adjoining the sea coast are thus si-
tuated, or those exposed to the action of prevailing sea
wiiuls : over such districts the spray of the sea is continu-
ally borne by the winds. These are, therefore, situations
where it is likely to be least useful, and where it may be
presumed it is always present in sufficient quantity, if
not in excess ; but they are not by any means the only
ones, common salt being so widely diffused, so that be-
fore using that substance extensively it will be well to
ascertain previously to what extent it already exists in
the soil.

But it has been already observed there are certain
plants more likely to benefit from the application of any
particular substance than others. This is abundantly
proved in the case of common salt, from the fact that
certain species flourish by the sea-shore, 'which do not
succeed in inland situations ; but further observations
are still wanting to show to what extent our cultivated
crops are affected in this manner. The grass of salt
marshes, it may be observed, is found to be peculiarly
nourishing, aaid much relished by the various domes-
tic animals of the farm ; and it is well known that a small
quantity of salt adds to the flavour of hay, rendering it a
more palatable article of food, especially if previously of
inferior quality.

If it be desired experimentally to ascei-tain whether
the land already contains a sufficient supply of this ne-
cessary article, the readiest method, according to Pro-
fessor Johnston, is to collect half a pound of the soil in
dry weather, to wash it well with a pint or two of cold
distilled or pure rain water, and then filter carefully
through paper, or to pour off the clear liquid after the
whole of the soil has been allowed to subside. A solu-
tion of nitrate of silver will throw down a white precipi-
tate in this liquid, becoming- purple in the sun, which
will be more or less copious according to the quantity of
salt in the soil. If this precipitate be collected, and dried
in an oven, every 10 grams will indicate very nearly the
presence of 4 grains of common salt. The quantity of
this precipitate to be expected, even from a soil rich in
common salt, is, however, veiy small. If half a pound
of the dry soil yield a single grain of salt, an acre of
soil twelve inches deep would contain about l,0001bs.
of salt.

Common salt is highly deliquescent, so that when ex-
posed to the atmosphere it gradually attracts moisture
and assumes the liquid form ; hence in dry soils this
property may contribute to render the presence of salt
valuable in the soil on account of the moisture which it
may assist to main tarn. Existing in solution in the soil,
it is at once taken up by the roots of plants, and there is
reason to suppose that it, to some extent, becomes de-

composed in their system, the green leaves of vegetables
under the influence of the sun giving off chlorine ; so
that the quantity of common salt existing in plants,
when subject to analysis, may not correctly represent the
quantity which they have absorbed during their growth,
on account of the decomposition of that substance which
has taken place. When the chlorine is thus given off,
the soda remains beliind in the sap, and by its property
of combining with other substances, which then become
soluble, it serves a further useful purpose in the vegeta-
ble economy.

In the present state of our knowledge it is difficult,
if not impossible, to state with precision the quantity
of common salt which should be applied to the soil. In-
deed, from the preceding statements and considerations,
it will be seen that this must vary according to circum-
stances. In any case, perhaps, the quantity should not
exceed ten or twelve bushels per acre, without the con-
stitution of the soil having been previously tested ; and
it is to be further observed that a large appUcation of
salt having been followed by the expected results in
any particular case does not warrant the repetition of a
similar quantity on the same soil, at least untU after the
lapse of a considerable interval of time ; but it will
afford correct data for the application of that substance
in similar circumstances, as to soil, situation, and crop.
Salt, when strewed over the ground in large quantity,
is well known to destroy every trace of vegetation ;
hence it is often employed to kill weeds, strewn along
walks or other waste places. It has, however, been
applied to wheat crops at the rate of twenty bushels
to the acre and upwards with perfect safety.

Salt is perhaps most efficaciously employed m con-
junction with other substances, especially when it is to
be employed as a top-dressing for grass lands. The re-
fuse salt of the slaughterhouse is also more valuable
than that of better quality, on account of the blood
and small particles of solid animal matters which it
contains. A mixture of salt and quicklime has been
found to contribute to the growth of the plants to
which it has been applied in an eminent degree ; but
a sufficient number of trials of the effect of this combi-
nation has not been reported to enable any correct con-
clusion on the subject to be arrived at.

The nitrates of soda and potash attracted much
attention a few years ago as manures ; but whether in
consequence of guano subsequently becoming the all-
absorbing fertilizer, or whether these substances did not
realize the expectations which had been formed regard-
ing them, it is certain that they have fallen off in public
estimation. Like common salt, their efficacy in certain
situations has been placed beyond doubt ; but the fre-
quent failures which have occm'red cause these substances
now to be somewhat sparingly applied.

The nitrates of soda and potash consist of nitric acid
combined with each of these bases in definite propor-
tions. The nitric acid of these and other nitrates con-
tains 26 per cent, of its weight of nitrogen ; a substance
wliich it has been already seen, is a constant ingredient
of plants, and one which is at least in great part sup-
pUed by the soil. Leaves are well known to decompose
carbonic acid, and, as a consequence, to give off oxygen ;
hence the cliief source from which the necessary supply
is derived for the renovation of the atmosphere, and sup-
plying the waste of oxygen occasioned by fermentation,
combustion, and the breathing of animals. They also
exert a similar action on the nitric acid of the nitrates,
discharging their oxygen into the an-, and setting the
nitrogen at liberty to unite with the other elementary
substances contained in the sap, for the production of
the several compounds forming the vegetable structure.

Nitric acid is generally supposed to exist naturally
in greater or less quantity in most soils, being the form

53-2

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

in which a large proporlion of their nitrogen is rendered
available as food for plants. However well constituted
otherwise therefore a soil ni^y be, if this substance is
not present in sufficient quantity, vigorous vegetation
cannot take place. Tliis consideration easily accounts
for the sudden change and great luxuriance which occa-
sionally follow the application of any of the nitrates.
In such cases, it is immaterial which of the salts deno-
minated nitrates is applied ; but as the bases of these
salts, the potash and the soda, are also capable of exer-
cising a beneficial influence upon vegetation, the effects
of the application will, in some degree, depend on the
wants of the crop in this respect. These salts have
sometimes been substituted for each other without any
perceptible difference in their effects ; while, in other
cases, the one has been successful, where the other has
signally failed. In the former of these cases, it may
be supposed the beneficial effects of the manures pro-
ceeded from their nitrogen, and in the latter the alkalies
alone were the valuable ingredients. Wherever nitrate
of soda derives its value from its base, it may be sup-
posed that common salt would have answered precisely
a similar purpose at a comparatively triflmg cost.

As a general rule in the application of the nitrates,
it appears that they are uniformly most successful on
the inferior class of soils, and as a top-dressing, when
applied to thin or stunted crops. The early s.tages of
growth arc well known to be the most critical in the case
of either plant or animal, it being a well-known fact
that when either advances rapidly at first, the highest
measure of success may be anticipated ; but that if they
linger during these stages, it seldom happens that they
ever afterwards acquire a good condition. It is, there-
fore, at this critical stage of the growth of inferior grain
crops especially that the nitrates tender their assistance
to the cultivator, re-animating the pining shoots, and
making the thin corn tiller and come away rapidly.
On rich lands and heavy crops their action may be in-
jurious, as tending to cause an overgrowth of already
too abundant straw. The experience hitherto acquired
as to the effects of these manures shows also that they
have been comparatively inoperative in dry seasons, a
circumstance showing the necessity of fertilizing matters
being in a state of solution in the soil before they can
become available for the required purpose. As a fur-
ther general rule in the application of these substances,
it may be observed, that in situations where a tendency
already exists to produce an excess of straw, they should
not be applied.

The effects of the nitrates on the quality of the
crops have also frequently been very considerable. They
especially improve clover and grass, making them much
more highly relished by cattle. This is usually expressed
by saying that the crop is sweeter ; but knowing the
partiality of live stock for saline matters generally,
this result is not to be wondered at. In reference to
grain crops, especially wheat, they have been found to
produce a sample of inferior quality, however much the
quantity may have been increased. Further experi-
ments, however, are wanting as to their effects, but
we should be inclined to consider them rather favour-
able than otherwise. It has been observed that in the
case of potatoes, where nitrate of soda has been applied,
the produce is much superior for seed the following
year, and not so liable to fail as those to which no ap-
plication has taken place.

The following have been enumerated as the circum-
stances necessary to ensure the success of the nitrates : —

1. They must contain one or more substances neces-
sary to the growth of the plant.

2. The soil must be deficient more or less in these
substances.

3. The weather must prove so moist, or the soil be

in a sufficiently humid state, as to admit of their being
dissolved, and conveyed to the roots of the plants.

4. They must not be applied in too large a quan-
tity, or allowed to come in contact with the young
shoots in too concentrated a form : the water that reaches
the roots or young leaves must never be too strongly
impregnated with the salts, or if the weather be dry, the
plants will be blighted or burned up.

5. The soil must be sufficiently light to permit the
salt easily to penetrate to the roots, and yet not so open
as to allow it to be readily washed away by the rains.
In reference to this pomt the nature of the subsoil is
of much importance. A retentive subsoil will prevent
the total escape of that which readily passes through a
sandy or gravelly soil, while an open subsoil again will
retain nothing that has once made its way through the
surface.*

The quantity of the nitrates employed is small, sel-
dom more than 1 cwt. per acre. They are also usually
employed with the greatest advantage as a tojj-dressing,
after the crop has made some progress. As in the case
of common salt, they have occasionally been employed
in conjunction with other substances with the best
effects, but altogether further experiments are wanted
on this subject before any important conclusions can be
obtained.

The following are among the most authentic experi-
ments which have been reported of the value of these
substances as manures. They will be perused with in-
terest by those who intend applying them for the first
time.

I. WHEAT.

Undressed.

Dressed.

Quantity per Acre, and kind
of Soil.

Grain.

Straw.

Grain.

Straw.

Bush.

Cwt.

Bush.

Cwt.

\\ cwt. nitrate of soda; a

poor, spongy, sandy soil . .

18^

27

1 cwt.; a stone trash soil

abounding in carbonate of

33i

43^

1 cwt. ; on a light stone

trash, poor, thin soil ....

26

15

33i

2Ii

! cwt. nitrate of soda, on a

gravelly soil ; an equal

weight of nitrate of potasli

produced only ^ bushel of

43

34

54

38i

1 cwt. of nitrate of soda, on

a strong clay. The soil in

this and the preceding

case was previously limed

32

36J

1 cwt.; on a fair, light soil.

27i

32

Da. ; loamv, better land. . . .

30i

36

1 cwt. ; soil loamy, resting

on chalk ; straw strong,

33|

20

39J

23

* 1 cwt. ; on heavy soil,

27

24

39i
26

34^

* Do. do. do....

2I|

20;

♦ Do. do. do....

27|

20|

24 4-5

24i

I cwt. nitrate of potash ....

le

31}

20J

ISOlbs. nitrate of soda

35

31i

47

52

Do. nitrate of potash

35

3l|

42

76

These three different results were obtained from the same field.
II. BARLEY.

1 Undressed.
Quantity per Acre, and kind
of Soil.

1 cwt. nitrate of soda ; on
light soil, with chalk sub-
soil

1 cwt. ; on strong turnip
land

1 cwt.; on a poor, sandy
soil, where the turnips tlie
preceding year were nearly
destroyed by the land
blowing

Grain.
Bush.

Straw.

Grain.

Straw

Cwt.

Bush.

Cwt.

44i

47

16i
26

55J
59

20i
36

18

32

Professor Johnston's Lectures, &c.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

33^

III. OATS.

Quantity per Aero, and liiiid
of Soil.

1 cwt. iiilralo of soda; heavy
soil, clay subsi)il

1 cnt. ; land saturated with
water, and out of condi-
tion . .

1 cwt. ; a loam contnininp;
Hints, upon a subsoil ol
challi ,

Undressed.
Grain. Straw.

Cwt.
25.1

81

61

Dressed.
Grain. Straw.

Bush.
C4

002

Cwt.

40.i
90

The sails of ammonia will now demand our atten-
tion. Ammonia is coni))Osed of hydrogen and nitrogen,
both important elements in the vegetable structure. It
has lately excited much attention as one of the most
important fertilizers, and some have gone so far as to
assert that even farm-yard manure was only valuable in
proportion to the quantity of ammonia which it con-
tained.

Ammonia is one of the most widely diffused sub-
stances in nature, pervading both the earth and the at-
mosphere : it may, therefore, be supposed that it fulfils
an important part in the economy of nature. It is ca-
pable of contributing to the growth of plants by each
of its constituents ; the hydrogen and nitrogen of which
it is composed existing in a form in which they are
available for that purpose. The decomposition of car-
bonic acid gas, which is so constantly going forward in
the vegetable structure, sets the oxygen at liberty ; but
it is known that the whole of the oxygen thus liberated
is not given off, so that a part necessarily remains
within it to enter into fresh combinations, and ammonia
readily presents itself for this purpose, thereby at once
presenting the necessary elements for the formation of
sugar or starch. In every state of combination, there
is, indeed, reason to believe that ammonia is fitted, in a
greater or less degree, to accelerate vegetation. In the
gaseous state it pervades the atmosphere, from which it
is carried in small quantities to the roots of plants by
rains ; and in the solid state it is found in combination
with carbonic, muriatic, and sulphuric acids, all of
which compounds are available as manures.

The carbonate of ammonia is obtained by the distilla-
tion of animal matters ; and, after undergoing a purify-
ing process, it forms the smelling salts of the shops — a
form in which it is, of course, too expensive to be used
as a manure. While in the impure form, after distilla-
tion, it is believed that it might be beneficially employed
perhaps in the form of a weak solution, applied in moist
or showery weather by the liquid manure cart. The
ammoniaciil liquor of the gas-works contains ammonia
in its different states of combination, but the carbonate
largely prevails. The precise proportion of these salts
present in this liquor is variable, ranging from 201bs. to
401bs. to every hundred gallons. This liquor, which had
previously been allowed to go to waste, has latterly at-
tracted much attention, and the following striking ex-
periments reported by Mr. Bishop, of Methven Castle,
in the " Transactions of the Highland Society of Scot-
land," shows not without good reason. This experi-
ment was performed on grass and clover upon a heavy
moist loam ; the application of the ammoniacal liquor
being at the rate of 105 gallons to the acre, diluted with
500 gallons of water. The part undressed produced
20^ cwt. of hay to the acre; while that to which the
foregoing solution was applied produced no less than
61 2- cwt., or exactly three times the produce of the un-
dressed part.

Muriate of ammonia, the sal ammoniac of the shops, is
also sold at too high price in its pure state to be availa-
ble as a manure. The addition of muriatic acid to the
gas liquor, or even to liquid manure, forms an impure

muriate, which may be advantageously emi)loyC(l for the
purpose. Hitherto, however, little experience has been
had of ammonia in this form, and it does not seem pro-
bable that it is superior to the sulphate, which has the
advantage of beuig less expensive.

Sulphate of ammonia is formed by the addition of sul-
phuric acid to any compound containing ammonia, as
urine or gas liquor. In the management of liquid ma-
nure it has been recommended to add a small quantity
of sulplniric acid to the tank to i)revent the escape of the
ammonia, and hence a sulphate is formed which is not
volatile, unlike the carbonate. The addition of gypsum
to the tank is calculated to ]iroduce the same results —
this is sulphate of lime ; but the sulphuric acid having a
greater affinity for the ammonia than for the base with
which it is combined, decomposition takes place, and
sulphate of ammonia and carbonate of lime are pro-
duced. The sulphate of ammonia is found to act bene-
ficially on vegetation ; but, according to Professor
Johnston, so often quoted in these papers, accurate ex-
periments are yet wanting to show in what way it acts —
whether in promoting the growth of the green parts, or
in filling the ear, or in both — to what kinds of crops it
may be applied with the greatest advantage — and what
amount of increase may be expected from a given weight
of the salt. It is from the rigorous determination of
such points that the practical farmer will be able to
deduce the soundest practical precepts, and at the same
time to assist most in the advancement of theoretical
agriculture. In reference to the action of the sulphate,
it is further remarked by the same sound authority
that it will partake of the action of the sulphates of
potash, soda, and lime, in so far as it may be expected
to exhibit a more marked effect upon the leguminous
than upon the corn crops, and upon the produce of
grain than on the growth of the leaves and stem. This
special action may be anticipated from the sulphuric acid
it contains ; and if this reasoning from analogy be cor-
rect, we should expect the sulphate of ammonia to rank
among the most useful of manures, since the one con-
stituent (ammonia) will promote the general growth of
the plant, while the other will expend its influence more
in the filling of the ear.

Before concluding the interesting and important,
though as yet imperfectly understood, subject of saline
manures, a few words may be added as to the effects of
certain combinations of them, which may be treated of
under the denomination of mixed saline manures.

In the preliminary remarks appended to these articles
the constitution of plants, as exhibited by analysis, has
been seen to be remarkably constant, the several ingre-
dients not vaiying in the same species under whatever
circumstances it may have been placed ; and, further,
this uniformity of constitution has not been confined to
either the organic or inorganic elements, but holds good
in regard to both. It is to the inorganic constituents
that the present remarks have especial reference, these
being supplied by the various saline matters either al-
ready existing in the soil or supplied to it by artificial
means. The proportion in which these ingredients exist
in the cultivated crops is ascertained with precision by
analysis, and is in fact generally known ; but that in
which they exist in the soil is not so easily ascertained,
there not being two specimens of soil, however similar
in appearance, identical in composition. In .the same
field, indeed in different parts of it, within a few yards
of each other, very different results will be obtained, so
that the precise proportion of any of the usually applied
manures which may be found necessary in one case may
not be applicable in another in the inmiediate vicinity of
the former. Farming operations, therefore, are not sub-
ject rigidly to rule, but must be varied according to cir-
cumstances ; hence the impropriety of generalizing iii

334

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

this art, and the inapplicability of general rules deduced
from particular results.

In our efforts to render a soil productive, we shall be
more likely to succeed by employing a variety of sub-
stances, each of which has been previously ascertained
to perform a useful function in the economy of vegeta-
tion, than if we add to it one of them only. If we had
already ascertained that one ingredient only was wanted,
and had further become acquainted with the precise
quantity required, then indeed it would be wasteful ma-
nagement to add anything else ; but, for reasons already
stated, such a degree of precision need not be expected in
anything relating to the cultivation of the soil, at least
for some time to come. The practice of the husband-
man in all ages indeed confirms the propriety of adding
mixed manures to the soil, as many of the ingredients
of which they are composed may have a very different
action when in combination with other substances to
what it would have if appUed separately. Farm-yard
manure is the most valuable and at the same time the
most compound substance which is employed for the
purpose ; urine, bones, and guano, highly valuable ma-
nures, also partedie of this quality, and from it they de-
rive their value and universality of success.

This fact, then, being admitted, an important consi-
deration is, what combinations, and in what proportions,
are likely to be most successful, whether as being gene-
rally useful, or as being specially so, to this or that par-
ticular crop ? This is a problem the complete solution
of which wQl require the combuied assistance of chemi-
cal theory and careful experiment, and this, too, often
varied and long- continued. In the mean time we can
only place a few of the important results which have been
already obtained before the reader, when it is to be hoped
the astonishing measure of success which has attended them
in particular cases, will serve as an inducement to perse-
vere in subjecting them and other mixtures to further trials.

A mixture of nitrate and sulphate of soda, consisting
of 1 cwt. of each to the acre, has been applied as a dress-
ing to the potato crop, by Mr. Fleming, of Barochan,
which afforded the most astonishing results ; the un-
dressed portion of the field yielding at the rate of I65
tons to the acre, while that to which the foregoing mix-
ture was applied yielded no less than 26^ tons to the
acre. A further remarkable circumstance was, that the
stems of the potatoes from which this large produce was
obtained were from six to seven feet in length ; an excess
of foliage which, under different circumstances, would
undoubtedly have been accompanied by a worthless crop.
The addition of the nitrate of soda alone to another part
of the same field, gave a produce of only 20 tons.

The following experiments have been conducted by
Mr. Burnet, in Ayrshire, the crop to which the mix-
tures were applied being wheat of the eclipse variety,
sown on the 29th of October, 1841, and reaped on the
15th of August, 1842. The soil is a loam, with subsoil
of clay, tile-drained, and trench-ploughed. It had been
in beans the preceding year. No manure was applied
to the bean crop, but a good dose of lime was given be-
fore sowing the wheat.

Kind of manure, and quan-
tity applied per
acre.

Sulpli. of ammonia, 2 cwt. 1

Wood ashes, 4 cwt j

Sulph. of ammonia, 3 cwt
Sulpti. of soda, 2 cwt

Wood aslies, 4 cwt j

Sulph. of ammonia, 2 cwt. 1

Common salt, 3 cwt »

Wood ashes, 4 cwt J

Sulph. of ammonia, 2 cwt
Nitrate of soda, 1 cwt
Wood ashes, 4 cwt.
No application....

wt."J
wt. I
wt.^

Produce.

Straw.

Grain.

353

40

44a

49

45

49

44i

481

293

31|

Weight I lOOlbs. of

per grain produc-
bushel. ed of flour.

59
61^

661
63J

65§

m

Further experiments are still wanting in this depart-
ment of agriculture, and every reader of the Farmer's
Magazine will not only be acquiring the most valuable
sort of information himself, but conferring also an im-
portant advantage on the entire farming community, by
following up the experiments here recorded, however li-
mited the scale of his operations may be. It is merely
necessary that an authentic account should be kept of the
various circumstances under which each experiment has
been conducted, to render the result a useful addition to
the stock of agricultural knowledge.

(To he continued.)

SOCIETY FOR IMPROVING THE CONDI-
TION OF THE LABOURING CLASSES.

PROCEEDINGS DURING THE MONTH OF AUGUST.

Exeter Hall, Strand.

A meeting of the Committee was held on Thursday,
the 8th day of August, at which were present — John
Dean Paul, Esq. (in the chair). Rev. S. R. Cattley, Dr.
Holt Yates, E. Durant, H. Roberts, A. Gordon, E. P.
Hathaway, and James Lord, Esqrs.

The Secretary reported, that the Right Rev. the Lord
Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol had consented to ac-
cept the office of a Vice-President of the Society.

Letters were read from the Rev. Professor Henslow,
the Rev. Dr. Spranger, the Rev. G. Woodley, the Rev.
E. Caulfield, the Rev. E. Hollond, the Rev. Thomas
Pyne, C. B. Ellison, Esq., of New York; Sir John
Boileau, Bart. ; His Excellency Sir WiUiam Colebrooke,
J. A. Wilmot, Esq., of New Brunswick; J. G. Mar-
shall, Esq., Leeds ; J. H. H. Foley, Esq. ; and Mr.
John Bowring.

The Sub-Committee on Allotments reported, that the
agent of the Society had continued his inquiries as to
the state of the parishes in the vicinity of London ; and
that he had given in a report of twenty-three parishes,
in addition to those noticed last month, in several of
which the Sub-Committee earnestly recommend that
local committees should be immediately formed, to carry
out the objects of the Society.

A Report was also presented by the Sub-Committee
on the Dwellings of the Poor, which stated, that they
approved of a site of land on the estate of the Right
Hon. Lord Calthorpe, near the Gray's Inn Road, which
had been offered, and recommended that the same should
be taken on a rental of £bi) per annum, on a lease for
ninety-eight years.

Also, that a plan for erecting twenty single dwellings
had been considered ; comprising, on the ground floor,
a living-room, with enclosed closet, sufficiently large to
receive a bed, and on the upper floor, two bed-rooms ;
in addition to which, a wash-house wUl be attached to a
portion of the houses, and the whole of them will be
supplied with water, and such other conveniences as are
deemed essential to the comfort of a well ordered family ;
and upon which it was resolved, that the aforesaid land
be taken, and the building of the twenty dwellings im-
mediately commenced.

The same Sub-Committee also reported, that, for the
purpose of establishing a public laundry, they had under
consideration six offers of premises.

The Sub-Committee on Loans reported, that, with a
view of carrying out the additional instructions they had
received respecting provident institutions, as enume-
rated ui Article 7 of the General Principles of the So-
ciety, they had ascertained, that, of nearly 600 benefit
or friendly societies in existence in London, nine-tenths

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

335

are reported to be heltl at jmblic houses, iind that many
of them are upon unsound j)rinciples, and that i)rovident
institutions may be establislied with advantage ; In\t
tliat, considering the magnitude and extent of the sub-
ject, the .Sub-Committee request further time for its
consideration, and in order to obtain additional informa-
tion on it.

Oswald Mosley, Esq., was elected a member of the
Conunittee.

COMMUNICATED TO A G
1,IS0NS, HEMPSTED

EXPENSES.

EXPENSES AND PROFIT OF HALF AN ACRE
OF LAND AT RODMORTON,

LOUCESTER I'APER, BY SAMUEL
COURT, NEAR GLOUCESTER.
rROFITS.

£. s. d.
U bushels peas, at

4s. 6d 2 9 0

Pea-straw 0 10 6

20 sacks potatoes, at

5s 5 0 0

Sow * sold for 2 0 0

Four pigs, sold young 2-10
Two pigs, fatted, 12

scoreeach, at7s. 6d. 9 0 0

Rent of half an acre

Kates

Purchase of breedinf
sow

Barley meal

1.2 bushels of peas
(seed)

IJ sacks of potatoes
(seed)

II bushels of peas for
fattenin'? pig . ..

5 sack, oi intaloes to
ditto

Labour

(Only one day taken
from farmer's em-
ploy, the rest done
at leisure times,
and by wife, when
out of employ.

£

s.

d.

. I

0

0

. 0

0

'4

1

1!)

0

1

13

0

0

6

3

0

8

9

2

0

6

1

5

0

0

1

6

£9

3

n

Deduct expenses

21 4 0
9 3 2J

Profit £!3 0 9J

* Tlie sow was worth more, but tlie young man sold
it to his mother at prime cost.

P. S. — I ought to add to my communication, that
among my very numerous allotment tenantry, not one
has been brought before a magistrate on any charge.

"GURNEISM."

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — In consequence of my public letter on " Fibrous
Covering," I have received numerous applications from
different parts of the country, requesting further infor-
mation on the subject. Many are desirous for infor-
mation as to the best method of carrying it into practice ;
others, respecting the quality of the grass produced by
this curious action as compared to that grown under or-
dinary circumstances ; and scientific men, for informa-
tion respecting the supposed agency involved in the ex-
citement. The great interest which seems to be taken
in this subject — its importance, added to the wish on my
part to give a general answer to the inquiries — have in-
duced me to trouble you with the following communica-
tion, which you are at liberty to use as you please.

In regard to the best jiractical mode of managing
fibrous covering, I shall give the best information in my
power. From all I can see and learn, that given by the
President, at the last meeting of the East Cornwall
Experimental Club, I believe to be the best, and will
possibly be so regarded by the public. He detailed
many experiments, showing that a given quantity of
fibrous covering was essential ; that too much — like too
strong a dose of any powerful manure — would destroy
vegetation, whilst too little would produce no very seu-

sible eft'ect. A single rod would produce no sen-
sible action in less than six weeks or two months ;
whilst the i)roper aggregate number would produce a
sensible action in from four to five days. If straw was
used as the fibrous covering, it should be at the rate of
a ton and a-half to the acre, or about 201bs. to the rood
— to be uniformly laid over meadow or lay grass. It
should be removed and the grass fed off at the end of
three weeks, and not left longer. He recommended
folding sheep on the ground as the best mode of feeding
it off, moving the hurdles from one part to another, and
immediately recovering with the straw. Some management
is required in raking off the straw for feeding ; it should
be done a few days before being stocked, for the purpose
of more fully exposing the grass to the sun and air. An
iron-tooth comb, or rake, should be used, the teeth bent
in the form of the segment of a circle, and placed in the
head, with the concavity towards the handle, about 2^
inches from each other, the teeth being about 8 inches
in length. It may, if of a large size, be drawn by a
horse ; or by a man, if smaller. The straw should be
raked into rows, in case the whole field should be stocked
at the same time ; but, in case of folding, that raked off
from the fresh fold should be laid on the ground from
whence the grass had just been eaten. Some care is re-
quired in raking it off clean, because if any short straw
be left entangled in the grass it would (if in any quantity)
probably occasion the cattle to pass over and refuse to
eat it. Mr. Gurney further observed that he had found
fibrous covering of the branches of trees and brushwood
equally effective with the fibrous covermg of straw in
producing the excitement, when properly laid on ; and he
thought, in many respects, it was preferable : partly on
account of its being less troublesome in laying on and
removing, also on account of its not absorbing water in
showery weather, but more particularly on account of
its keeping its position. The straw, from its weakness,
in wet weather gives way, and falls too flat on the grass,
which, when it becomes six or seven inches high, " goes
to lie" under its weight ; whilst, in the other case, the
fibres keep their position, and allow the grass to grow
through. If the grass in spring is eaten off every fort-
night, which it should be, this objection does not obtain.
The action of brushwood, as compared to straw in pro-
ducing vegetation, seems to be about equal. Mr. Gur-
ney stated that, in a careful expei'iment, the increase of
grass from the action of fibrous covering of straw,
during three weeks, was found to be 5,0001bs. per acre
— namely, from the 24th of June to the 15th July ; that
of a portion of the field during the same period, under

the action of branches of the larch fir, was 4,8001bs. .

nearly the same, allowing for inaccuracies in cutting and
weighing ; under spruce and beach branches, about the
same ; and under brushwood, cut from the hedges, it
was so nearly equal in appearance, that the grass was
not cut and weighed. The expense of brushwood was
about 3s. 6d. per acre for cutting and laying down ; the
expense of carriage would vary according to distance. I
presume this kind of covering woidd last two years, and
then be of about half its original value for fires. Some
suppose |that this very abundant production of grass
must exhaust the soil ; this is not the case, neither does
the rationale of its action lead us to suppose that such a
result would be produced. The action of fibrous covering
on manures, as far as I am acquainted, has only been
partially tried. On grass top-dressed with guano, at
the rate of 2001bs. to the acre, the increase was not more
than 5,0001bs. in three weeks. On grass manured with
nitrate of soda, at the rate of 1601bs. to the acre, there
was about the same increase. There was an equal in-
crease on a contiguous portion of the same field on which
no manure was applied. Two portions of the same field
— manured with guano and nitrate of soda separately—

336

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

were purposely left uncovered. On these there was no
appreciable increase of herbage during the three weeks ;
the grass on which the nitrate of soda had been used
was darker in colour, but otherwise there was no
difference between it and that of the rest of the field.
This experiment goes to show that there was no sensible
action from either of these manures during this period ;
and that the increase in every case was due to the fibrous
covering. On the quality of the herbage as fodder,
there are no facts that I am acquamted with capable of
accurately showing its relative value ; I have no reason,
however, from what I have seen, to doubt that it is
equally nutritious with any other. I have examined —
as I stated in my former letter — the botanical condition
of the herbage, and find it healthy and perfect in all its
stages of growth. I have chemically examined it also,
and find, so far as my inquiries have gone, that it con-
tains the same elements as other herbage in the same
field of the same natural order. That the incombustible
portions are the same, any one may satisfy himself by
drying and burning given quantities, and weighmg the
residue. The quantity of hay seems in an equal ratio
with that from other grass ; 3,0001bs. of the one give
about l,0001bs. of hay, when dry; 3,0001bs. of the
other give the same. There is no reason, from these
data and observations on its effects on cattle, to suppose
it to possess different qualities from other grass. We now
come to the questionof the natureof the agency which pro-
duces this extraordinary action. I can say little on this
head at present ; it seems to involve difficulties in the
solution of problems in vegetable physiology supposed
to be solved by received theories. One experiment con-
nected with the influence of light and heat on vegetation,
detailed by Mr. Gurney, is highly interesting. It has,
since the meeting at Launceston, been repeated by
several besides myself with uniform results. A piece of
grass, covered by day with straw and uncovered by
night, became of a deep green colour in three weeks, and
much increased in quantity ; whilst a piece of ground
contiguous, covered by night and uncovered by day
during the same period, was injured ; the blades of grass
became yellow at the tips, and soon evidently in an un-
healthy state. The fibrous covering in this experiment
was oaten straw, laid on at the rate of 201bs. to the
rood. The quantity of light admitted to the grass
in the day experiment was very small, and, viewed
theoretically, insufficient to effect the chemical changes
ascribed to it. The result of the night experiment seems
a decided answer to those who suppose that the
action of fibrous covering is due to temperature. Ex-
tensive experiments are being made in many parts of this
county, the results of which, and the manner in which
they are conducted, I hope will be made public. I have
given sufficient information to enable any one unac-
quainted with the subject to experiment so as to satisfy
himself; and the agricultural public cannot be too
strongly urged to the policy of fuUy and fairly investi -
gating this most interesting and important subject. I
shall at all times be happy to communicate any informa-
tion which my present facilities will enable me to obtain ;
but I think it would come better from others more en-
gaged in practical agriculture than myself.
I have the honour to be. Sir,

Your obedient servant,
Charles Kingford Vacey, M.D.
Launceston, Cornwall.

On Thursday, Aug. 28j Mr. Fisher Hobbs's ninth
annual sale of stock took place at Mark's Hall.
The attendance was more numerous than upon
any former occasion, which doubtless was in some

measure owing to the fineness of the weather-
Those of Mr. Hobbs's friends who arrived early,
amused themselves in looking over the animals in
the various sheds and paddocks about the premises.
His stock of Hereford cattle, amongst which are
some of the herd of the late Mr. Price, were much
admired. We observed on the ground Osgood
Hanbury, Esq.; I. Rebow, Esq.; Col. Bullock;
G. Round, Esq. ; R. Holhs, Esq. ; R. DLxon, Esq. ;
J. Hudson, Esq., Secretary of the Royal Agricul-
tural Society ; Humphrey Gibbs, Esq. ; R. B.
Gibbs, Esq., Honorary Secretary of the Smithfield
Club; W. Shaw, Esq.; — Johnson, Esq. ;j —
Marriott, Esq., &c., &c. At two o'clock a por-
tion of the company sat down in a capacious
marquee, erected for the purpose, to an excellent
cold collation. Tlie company was so numerous
that several other parties followed in succession
before all had partaken of the repast. The Chair
was taken by the Rev. Mr. Honeywood. The
health of the Queen and Royal Family having
been given and responded to, the worthy Chair-
man called attention to the nature of the busi-
ness of the day, which wovild not afford oppor-
tunity for prolonging indulgence at that hour,
and proposed the health of Mr. Hobbs, which was
responded to in terms indicative of the friendship
and esteem in which he is held by his friends and
neighbours. Mr. Surridge, the auctioneer, pro-
ceeded to business, which he got through in his
usually straightforward and business-hke manner.
The stock was in excellent condition. The lambs,
a cross of the Southdown and Leicester breeds,
met the usual competition resulting from past
experience of their excellence. The demand
for Mr. Hobbs's improved Essex pigs is such that
he finds great difficulty in supplying them at the
instant required. The sale having concluded, a
considerable number of gentlemen retired to the
marquee, and the evening was spent in social in-
tercourse, intermLxed with intellectual conversation
and practical remarks, which mil always be pro-
ductive of some benefit.

THOROUGH DRAINING.

Mr. Alton says — " In all clay soil and dense land
the water does not filter beyond the depth of the
plough furrow, unless the subsoil has been opened
by trenching or subsoU-ploughing." Also, " In
such land, if a pool be dug within 18 inches of the
drain, and 30 inches in depth, when fiUed with wa-
ter not a drop of it will (if the subsoU has not been
rent in forming the pool) filter from the pond to the
drain, but stand there until it is exhaled in vapour
by the sun and by dry Avinds." Tlie whole of these
opinions have proved to be erroneous. I have
found that the water does filter through the un-
broken subsoil of dense clay, and that it does filter
out of such pools as Mr. Alton speaks of to the
drains. My proofs : — During the past season I
opened 93 pools, and made obsen'^ations for the
purpose of tracing the rise and fall of the waters
therein during the various changes from wet to
drought, and the contrary in unbroken and broken

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

337

subsoil. I have found that, in heavy bhie adhesive
clay, in which not the shghtest porosity seemingly
existed, the water was carried or filtered through
the subsoil to the drains 24 feet on each side ; and
in less tenacious subsoils as far as 30 feet ; and
when the subsoil was broken, the distance from

which the water was drawn was increased : but the
great observable difference of eflect lay in the
shorter time in which it filtered to the drains. I
formed the pools at right angles to the drains, at
intervals of six feet asunder. I submit short com-
parative extracts from my registry : —

Experiment, No. 1. — Soil, thin blue clay on a heavy blue adhesive subsoil. The depth of the sur-
face of the water in the pools is marked in inches.

Line of pools marked.*

Weather, &c.

*
15

*
lOi

*
4|

*
31

3

2h

3|

26th October.— 10 o'clock, A.M. On the 24th

heavy showers; the 25th dry, wth bright sun.

Night wet.
28th Oct. — 10 A.M. Previous day and night

and this morning characterised by heavy and

almost continuous rain.

:5

<

2

H

full

fuU

2

u

3

to
O

131-

Si

3i

2|

3i

3^

3f

30th Oct.— Half-past 8, a.m. Partof 28th very
heavy rain. Remainder of period to this date
cold, frosty, and dry.

13

8i

4J

3f

1

H

i

Rise during the wet period.

111

61

61

21

n

2i

2
3

Fall during the dry peiiod.

Experiment, No. H. — Soil, strong heavy clay, incumbent on a close, compact, reddish subsoil, inter-
mixed -with blue clay, and less retentive than No. I. The pools when made were at a distance from
any of the drains then formed. The drain with which these observations are connected was opened
21st Oct., 1S43. Thus the depth of water, and of course the effect, is observed by the comparison
below.

Line of pools marked.*

Date of Registry, Weather, &c.

*

8

*
5

9

*
7

*

6

*
6

19th Oct., 7, A.M. — Warm sun, but little drought.

51

4

7

5

4

4

21st Oct., 7, A.M. — Heavy rain for three or four hours,
remainder of time mild, but little drought.

i

11

H

6J

6f

44

44

22nd Oct., 7, A.M. — Commenced to rain hghtly pre-
vious evening at 8, p.m. ; heavy this morning, and
ceased at 8, a.m.

<

a

114

51

8

7i

4

3|

23rd Oct., 4 past 7, a.m.— Heavy showers during the
previous 24 hours.

o

124

5i

7

64

44

44

26th Oct., 9, A.M.— Heavy rain on the 24th during
half the day; 25th dry, with bright sun — night wet.

13f

71

m

8^

54

5i

27th Oct., 4 past 7, a.m. — Previous day and night
dry and frosty.

H

1

44

24

2

14

28th Oct,, 4 past 10, A.M.— Previous day and night
heavy and continuous rain.

114

10

12i

104

8

7f

31st Oct., 8, A.M.— The 28th very wet, remainder of
period drying and a Uttle frosty.

Comparison of draining effects, in unbroken subsoil : —

6

6

54

54

4

31

04

. 0

1

1

0

2

Fall from 21st (the day on which the drain was
opened) to the 31st October,

Fall from 8th to 21st October, previous to the drain
being opened.

z-2

338

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

The above shows distinctly that the water was
drawn ofl'to a distance of 2t feet from the drains,
and the fallacy of Mr. Alton's statement, that " the
water does not filter through the unbroken sub-
soil ;" also, that " it does not lodge in the pools
until exhaled in vapour by the sun," &c. It can-
not be alleged that the subsoil was rent in digging
the pools. The subsoil was unbroken, and yet the
water passed off quickly ; and even if the svibsoil
had been partially rent, the distances from which
the water was drawn, on the drain being opened,

*Line of Pools marked.* I

proves distinctly that it percolates through the un-
broken subsoil. If the operation of oi)ening a
pool 12 or 15 inches square had rent the subsoil,
it could only have been a few inches around it ;
but this idea is absurd, as the tendency of such
operation is to consolidate and render the pools
more retentive of water. The following compari-
son shows more clearly the eftect made at a dis-
tance from which the water is drawn oif. One
part of the ground unbroken, and the other trenched
1 8 inches deep : —

Date of Registry, &c.

*
14

*
12

*
12

*
14i

*
13

*
13

Trenched "

28th November, 8, a.m. Weather mild but very little

m

9

6

9

7

4

4

drought
UntrenchedJ

<
PS

Q

15

Hi

12

14

14

14

Trenched ^

f 15th Dec, 8, a.m. Previous three or four days very

o

15

11

i3i

12

9

Si

I drying.
Untrenched J

>A

10

Si

9

91

lOi

lOi

Trenched ~\

f 21st December, 8, a.m. Rain during the previous

15

9

9i

9

6i

H

( night.
Untrenched J

There are some apparent discrepancies in this
comparative registry, but arising principally from
some of the pools lying in hollows or furrows, on
which Mr. Alton relies, as on a broken reed, for
drawing oft" the surface water. From these it is
eviden that the water percolated from the fourth
pool, or 24 feet, after which the difference in rise
and fall of the waters leaves not the shadow of a
doubt as to the result, although the contrary is so

confidently asserted by Mr. Alton. A comparison
of the trenched and the untrenched proves the
greater distance from which the water is drawn in
the former ; and I know that it would be carried
from a much greater distance if the land was svib-
soiled as it was drawn off" from the extreme of the
l)art trenched deep. — John M' Arthur, in the Ayr-
shire Agriculturist.

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF
ENGLAND.

The Council stood adjourned to Wednesday, the
4th of September, but no meeting was held on that day,
in consequence of the absence of members from town.
The adjournment accordingly now stands over the au-
tumn recess, until the 6th of November, when the meet-
ings will be resumed.

Gorse. — Lord Kenyon having announced to the Duke
of Richmond, as President of the Society, his intention
to give a prize of twenty sovereigns, at the ensuing
Country Meeting at Shrewsbury, in 18-15, for the best
essay on the subject of gorse as food for cattle, &c.,
the following schedule of the terms and conditions of
that prize have been received from Philip Pusey, Esq.,
M.P., Chairman of the Journal Committee : —

" Twenty sovereigns, or a piece of plate of that value,
offered by the Right Hon. Lord Kenyon, will be
given at the Annual Country Meeting of the

* These figures express the distance in inches
of the surface of the water in the pools from the
surface of the ground ; the depth, in fact, which
the water had sunk in the pools.

Royal Agricultural Society, to be held at Shrews-
bury, in 1845, for the best account of the use of
gorse for the food of cattle, horses, or sheep,
founded on actual experience.
' ' Competitors will be required to state the following
points : —

1 . The quality of land on which the gorse is grown.

2. The age of the plant when cut.

3. The mode and expense of cutting.

4. The mode and expense of preparing for food.

5. The mode of feeding with the gorse, and the quan-
tity of other food given therewith.

' ' All essays competing for this prize to be sent to the
Secretary of the Society, No. 12, Hanover-square,
London, on or before the 1st of May, 1845."

The Society have received from Mr. Barton, a com-
munication on experiments relating to the application of
sulphate of ammonia to the growth of wheat ; from Mr.
Towers, a further statement of his results from dibbled
wheat ; from Mr. Hugues, of Paris, a memorial ad-
dressed to the President, calling the attention of the
Society to his new drill, and soliciting a practical trial
of its merits ; from the Hon. Robert H. Clive, M.P.,
Vice -Chairman of the General Shrewsbury Committee,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

339

and Mr. Peele, Town-Clerk of that borough, communi-
cations on the subject of the facilities intended to be af-
forded in the conveyance of passengers and stock to the
Shrewsbury Meeting, and the preparation of the 20
acres of light and 20 acres of heavy land, in the imme-
diate vicinity of the town, for the trial of implements ;
from the Rev. Dr. Buckland, a copy of the address de-
livered by him at the Southampton Meeting, to the
Mayor and Members of the Artesian Well Committee ;
from Mr. Hillyard, of Thorpelands, near Southampton,
a copy of the new and enlarged edition of his work on
Practical Farming and Grazing, dedicated, by special
permission, to his H. R. H. Prince Albert; from Mr.
Morton and Mr. Atkinson, communications on a pro-
posed reduction of the meteorological observations made
extensively throughout the country, under the direction
of Mr. Morton, with a view to ascertain tlie practical
vahieof the rules for predicting changes of weather, con-
tained in the essays competing for the Society's prize of
the gold medal ; from Mr. Wyon, H. M. Chief Medal-
list, announcing the completion of the medals struck at
the Royal Mint, for the exhibitors at the Southampton

Meeting, to whom they had been awarded ; from Mr.
Shaw, copies of the Farmer's Magazine ; from Mr.
Youatt, copies of the Veterinarian ; from the Royal
Asiatic Society, the last part of their printed proceed-
ings, containing notes on Indian agriculture ; from the
Royal Agricultural Society of Jamaica, a copy of the
essays on the cultivation of the sugar-cane, written in
competition for the Earl of Elgin's prize of 100/. ; from
Mr. Munn, a copy of his work, descriptive of the bar
and frame-hive invented by him ; from Mr. Osborn, a
copy of the prizes of the South-East Hants Association,
for the encouragement of industrious and meritorious
agricultural labourers ; from Mr. Allen, copies of the
American Agriculturist ; from Mr. Lilley, a copy of
his Agricultural Tour in Ireland ; from Mr. Peter
Hulme, of Philadelphia, a most interesting collection of
American agricultural publications, presented to the So-
ciety by Mr. Edmund Ruffin, of Virginia ; and from
Mr. Fulman, of Axminster, the second number of the
Western Agriculturist, containing the continuation of
the Rev. W. D. Conybeare's contributions on agricul-
tural chemistry.

ARTIFICIAL MANURES.

Experiments with Artificial Manures, tried by T. C. Eyton, Esq., at Donnerville, near Wellington ;
Seed, Swedish Turnips, obtained from Skirving's, Liverpool. Sown on the I7th of May, 1843; pulled
and weighed on the '2'2nd of November.

Description of Manure.

165 lbs. of Mur. Ammon

220 lbs. of Gypsum

333 lbs. of Guano

165 lbs of Mur. Ammon

333 lbs. of Guano

220 lbs. of Gypsum

330 lbs. of Guano

1 1 bush. Wood-ashes

165 lbs. of Mur. Ammon

1 1 bush, of Wood-ashes

1322 gallons liquid manure, viz., urine

and soapsuds

66 lbs. of Bones

Si quarts, or 33 pounds, of Sulphviric

acid

550 gallons of water

484 lbs. of bone-dust

}

Cost per
acre.

£. s. d.

1 10 11

1 13 0

1 6 6

1 17 5

2 4 0
1 17 6

0 8 5|

1 1 n

Weight of

crop ])er

acre.

tons. cwt.

7 U

15 1

8 16

15 14j
17 7f
14 19.1
11 9^^

14 6
14 19j

Measure
per
acre.

bush.

154

308
192i

3461
423^
385
269

346§
308

Cost of manure

per bushel of

crop.

d.

2^

IJ
If

14
U
U

Remarks. — In the above calculation fractional parts are not included : the following is an analysis
of the subsoil, I was told by a former tenant of the field that it would not grow turnips ; it was, how-
e^'er, drained shortly before the turnips were sown.

One hundred parts of the soil contain —
Water .. .. .. .. ..11 parts.

Silica or sand . . . . . . 70 „

Alumina or clay .. .. ., .. 15 „

Red oxide of Iron . . . . . . 1.5 „

Carbonate of Lime , . .. ,. .. 1.5 „

Loss . . . . . . . . 1 „

A trace of Sulphate of lime, in weight not appreciable. . — „

100

The proportion of silica is that yielded by the soil after the largest stones or pebbles had been re-
moved from it. The turnips all came up together, nor was there any perceptible difference in their ap-
pearance on the 27th of May; on the 14th of June No. 2 appeared to take the lead, 1, 7, 8, looking the
worst, and being more backward than the others ; on June the 20th they were horse and hand-hoed,
Nos. 9, 10, 8, 4, 5, were equal in appearance to No. 2 ; on July 21st, No. 5 looked best, No- 1 the Avorst
of all.— from a Lecture by T. C. Eyton, Esq., to the Wellmjton Farmers' Club,

240

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

WINGERWORTH FARMERS' CLUB.

Tlie monthly meeting of this flourishing institu-
tion was held on Tuesday evening, August 26, at
the club-room, Nag's Head, Wingervvorth, In
the absence of the Vice-President, Mr. Holland, of
Grasshill, was voted into the chair. The subject for
discussion was, " The best method of cutting and
securing corn," whether by mowing or by reaping.
There was a numerous attendance, and the dis-
cussion was conducted in a higlily creditable and
intelligent manner.

The proposer of the subject, Mr. Denham, of
Hasland, advocated the superiority of the method
of mowing, wherever it was practicable. On that
side of the question, it was observed that the first
thing to be considered was the state of the corn.
Most farmers were agreed that corn ought to be
cut a little before it was quite ripe. Of two loads
of Wheat, one of which has been cut rather green
— and the other fully ripe, the former will produce
a sample of better colour, and the miller wall be
inclined to give Is. or so a load more for it than
the other. As to the mode of cutting, mowing
was to be preferred, although rather novel in the
district at present, for several reasons. The first
was that the farmer could get his crop for 2s. or 3s.
per acre less than if it were shorn. Ss. was the
common price for mowing, and 10s. to 1 Is. for reap-
ing. The corn could be led at least two or three days
sooner than reaped corn, on account of its being
drier. This arose from the sheaf being neces-
sarily looser in the band than a shorn sheaf; and,
if it admitted wet sooner, it also admitted the
wind more freely, and dried sooner. Even in wet
weather, the advocates of mowing believed that it
■was the preferable mode, although they had not made
the experiment. The farmer, too, got 3 cwt.of straw
per acre more in mowing than reaping. Suppose
it were cut three or four inches nearer the ground,
it was a question whether the straw nearer the root
were not a better quahty than that near the ear ; it
contained more carbon and made more manure.
To the labourer also mowing was held to be more
advantageous. Although he got 2s. or 3s. an acre
less, he was able to cut much more. If he has a
boy or girl of eight or ten years old, they can be
very useful in making bands, and taking up the
corn. As to raking, there was less in the stubble
than in most cases of reaping. In some seasons
the raked corn may have a little dirt in it, but if
not fit to make bread of, it would be very useful for
pigs, whereas if left in the stubble the farmer did
not get it at all. Then, too, by mowing and raking,
the land was more effectually cleared of weeds. It
was condemned as slovenly, but the farmer by
that means got all his corn, and the slovenliness
was more grievous to the eye than the pocket.

On the opposite side it was contended that
the practice was unsuitable to so late and cold a
district as Scarsdale. In wet weather the farmer
would be certain to get a great deal of weed into his
sheaves. When piled on ground cut so bare as by
the scythe, the sheaves would be apt to absorb the
moisture from the ground, and the corn would be
hkely to sprout. This could only he avoided, in
distncts where the harvest is a month earlier than

here; and for those districts mowing might be
more suitable. The raking certainly takes away
the weeds, but the fanner has them among his straw
and his manure ; and, if he puts the manure on
ploughed land, he has a succession of weeds for
years to come. In high winds, which are not unfre«
quent in the district, the stack of mown corn would
be much sooner blown down than that of reaped
corn. In cases of urgency, or where there was a
very large crop, momng might be useful : any
plan by which the corn could be got do^vn in
proper time would be advantageous in such cases.
It might appear to cost rather more ])er acre, but
it was considered that mowing would be found the
more expensive in the end. The practice of mow-
ing had been in use in Scotland, a centuiy ago,
but it was now looked upon as disadvantageous,
and was scarcely ever heard of. There the reapers
were set out three-and-three, with a binder to each :
and the price paid for reaping fluctuated from 6s.
to 15s. a week. A great evil which arose from
mowing was that of the ears getting into the butt
end of the sheaf : about one-twentieth of the crop,
nearly a load to the acre, was the average amount
of the ears which fell thus. Reaped corn would
stand the weather better while in the field; the
stacks were made much easier ; and, in leading,
the farmer saved one-tenth in weight. Then, too,
it was impossible to rake it all where there were
large furrows.

The advocates for mowing rephed that the argu-
ment in favour of reaping had assumed that the
momng would always be done in the worse man-
ner, and reaping always in the best. This might
be the case where pai-ties were prejudiced, but
mowing would, nevertheless, make its way. In
this district many good practical farmers had
adopted the practice, being fully satisfied of its
advantages. It was, however, recommended as
appUcable in all circumstances. It has been proved
that a good mower could do double as much work
in the day as the reaper : one mower could keep
three gatherers at work. The vise of the Scotch
scythe, or of that which is fitted with a " cradle,"
throws the ears over, and they consequently fell
all, or nearly all, one way, so that verj^ few indeed
could get into the butt end of the sheaf.

The Chairman, in closing the discussion, ob-
sen'ed that the nature of the soil very much affected
the question. On Mmestone and sandy soils, the
corn would be so even and stand so well, that the
gatherers would be able to take up the ears almost
as well as the reaper ; but on soil so round, and
with furrows so deep, as in this district, it would
be impossible. The corn was often so tangled at
the ends of the furrows that it could not be taken
upright. In some cases the practice of mowing
might be advantageous, but the farmer must use
his own discretion as to its application. The re-
mark as to the weeds getting into the manure, he
did not think of much weight, since no fanner
now applied manure to ploughed land ; and, after
manure had fermented for any length of time, the
seeds of the weeds would not be likely to preserve
their vitality.

The meeting then, by a large majority, resolved
that " The practice of reaping is more economical

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

341

than mowing, and more suitable for this part of
the countrj'."

It was announced that a number of books had
been purchased for the proposed hbrary, and that
a number more had been presented to the club.
ISIr. Bro\vn, of Wingerworth, (the \ace-president),
had presented "British Husbandry," 3 vols. ; Mr.
Joseph Nicholson, " Tlie Muck Manual," Mr, F.
Browne (the secretary). Young's " Farmer's Calen-
dar," &c.

It was decided that the subject for the next
meeting (which, it was agreed, should take place
on the 24th Sept.) shall be "The best method of
preparing and sowing seed, and the quantity per
acre." Mr. N. Bacon was requested to open the
discussion on that occasion.

GREAT INCREASE OF THE CANADA
CORN TRADE.

It will be seen from the following comparative state-
ment of the exports from Canada up to the 9th August,
in the last and the present year, that the quantity of
flour exported had increased from about 50,000 barrels
to upwards of 307,000, and the quantity of wheat from
alittle more than 15,000 bushels to upwards of 237,000.
This has occurred in spite of unusually high freights, and
of a declining market in this country ; and, although the
losses on the recent importations have fallen very heavy
on the importers, the production of wheat on the bank
of the St. Lawrence and the shores of the lakes is in-
creasing so rapidly, that a constantly increasing supply
must find its way to the English market. It will be
seen from the following extract of a letter received by
the Caledonia, that the harvest of the present year is one
of the finest ever gathered in America : — " Montreal,
Aug. 12. — We are in the midst of one of the finest har-
vests that ever occurred in America, extending from
north to south."

Arrival of Produce at the Port of Montreal,
TO 9th August inclusive (by Canal and River.)
—Canada.— 10,341 brls. ashes; 384,618 brls. flour;
214,893 bushels wheat; 6,832 brls. pork; 1,581 brls.
beef; 514 kegs lard ; 1,944 kegs butter; 420 brls. tal-
low ; 2,200 bushels peas : 3,584 bushels barley. United
States.— 800 brls. ashes; 77,032 brls. flour; 34,878
bushels wheat ; 13,305 brls. pork ; 173 kegs lard ; 143
brls. tallow. Total— 11,141 brls. ashes ; 461,650 brls
flour ; 249,771 bushels wheat ; 20,137 brls. pork ;
1,585 brls. beef; 687 kegs lard; 1,944 kegs butter
563 bris. tallow ; 2,200 bushels peas ; 6,584 bushels
barley. Same time, 1843.— 9,943 brls. ashes ; 166,522
brls. flour ; 60,712 bushels wheat; 6,400 brls. pork;
617 brls. beef; 440 kegs lard; 950 kegs butter.

Exports from Montreal and Quebec to Aug.
9, 1844.— Montreal.— 16,525 brls. ashes; 154,604 brls.
flour, 210,212 bushels wheat, 1,368 brls. pork, 1,409
brls. beef, 371 kegs butter, 1,195 brls. oatmeal, 48,887
bushels; peas, 53,553 bushels barley, 20,388 bushels
oats, i0,22bl. specie. Quebec— 1,862 brls. ashes,
153,365 brls. flour, 26,886 bushels wheat, 2,262 brls.
pork, 648 brls. beef, 557 kegs butter, 1,225 brls. oat-
meal, 29,205 bushels peas, 7,062 bushels barley.
Total— 18,387 brls. ashes, 307,961 brls. flour, 237,098
bushels wheat, 3,630 brls. pork, 2,057 brls. beef, 928
kegs butter, 2,420 brls. oatmeal, 78,092 bushels peas,
60,615 bushels barley, 30,388 bushels oats, 40,225/.
specie. Same time, 1843.-17,487 brls. ashes,50, 130 brls.

flour, 15,417 bushels wheat, 4,849 brls, pork, 689 brls.
beef, 779 kegs butter, 1,048 brls. oatmeal, 31,726
bushels peas, 300 bushels barley, 200 bushels oats.

In addition to the immense increase in the exports of
wheat, it will be seen that there is a great increase in
barley, oats, and peas. — Liverpool Times.

NEW AND EXTRAORDINARY COMPLAINT
AMONGST CATTLE.

Some weeks back, we mentioned a new disease that
had manifested itself amongst cows. The animals were
suddenly attacked with delirium, which terminated in
death at a very short period. We have had an oppor-
tunity of gathering some interesting particulars of this
strange malady. On many occasions, cattle grazing in
the fields, and which appeared well and healthy, were
seized with the complaint, and died in a few hours.
In one case, that of Mr. Johnson, of Chester, seven
cows had died before Mr. Barth, the veterinary surgeon,
could arrive. On the second day of his attendance,
eleven, without any premonitory symptom, were attacked
in the morning, and seventeen more in the afternoon :
all of them were prostrate in their stalls in the short
space of ten minutes.

The disease, we are informed, is very prevalent in
Cheshire, although not of a contagious character ; and
its origin may probably have been owing to the drought
which deprived the grass of its succulent qualities. The
disease is attended with obstinate constipation, diff'used
inflammation of the most acute character, which de-
stroys the mucous coats of the stomachs and alimen-
tary canal, together with an eff"usion of serum to the
extent of from sLx to twelve ounces in the cranium,
and in some instances in the pericardium. The system
altogether appears to undergo a gradual and destructive
derangement, which time accumulates, and at last ends in
the inflammatory attack which carries the poor creatures
off-,

Mr, Barth, the veterinary surgeon we have named,
appears to have been very successful in his treatment ;
for we believe that he cured all Mr. Johnson's stock that
he had an opportunity of seeing. He had recourse to
immediate and copious bleeding, which generally left
the animals in a state of stupor for some hours. Pro-
bably the change of weather since the disease developed
itself will mitigate its malignant character ; but some-
how or other, at this time the demon of destruction ap-
pears to be stalking through the farmers' flocks and
herds. First came the epidemic, which seems to have
disappeared ; then pleuro pneumonia, and this formida-
ble delirium, both of which are raging thick and three-
fold ; and the catalogue unfortunately does not end there
for in Bakewell an epidemic, which for the sake of dis-
tinction is termed " the neiv epidemic" has appeared.
Mr. Gregory, a farmer there, at one fell swoop, lost 26
head by this new enemy. When this " new" monster
marches on to Derby, for the line of devastation ap-
pears to be from north to south, and joins the fatal
pleuro pneumonia, which, at this period, is so prevalent
there, we tremble for the owners of cattle. At this
time we understand that Mr. Smedley, of Culland, near
Derby, has had above a dozen cases of pleuro pneumo-
nia, of which half have proved fatal, and the remainder
are fast sinking ; but Mr. Smedley, with infinite fore-
sight and prudence, had entered (before it was too
late), the Mutual Cattle Insurance Association, and his
judgment has been rewarded by the immediate payment
of his losses by the London Society,

342

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ON THE COMPARATIVE MERITS OF
DIFFERENT MODES OF REAPING
GRAIN.

BY MR, JOHN TAYLOR.

Farm-Overseer, Corsiestone, nearly Himtly, Aber-
deenshire,

(From the Journal of the Highland Agricultural
Society.)

In experimenting for the purpose of ascertaining
the comparative merits of different modes of reaping,
every mode must be tried under equally favour-
able circumstances — must get a fair trial — other-
wise just conclusions respecting them cannot be
arrived at. It is necessary that the reapers with the
sickle and the scythe be alike dexterous with their
respective implements, and that these implements
be of the most approved description. It is rare,
however, to find a band of reapers alike skilful in
in two or more modes of reaping — indeed hardly
possible; but as I have employed reapers, and
been practically engaged in it myself, in a district
in which the sickle was in general use, and in that
in which the scythe was exclusively employed,
and also where the scythe was only in the course
of being introduced, I humbly conceive that I may
be able to make a report on the subject, containing
some remarks that could have only been suggested
l)y practical experience and minute observation.

I shall consider the comparative merits of reap-
ing by the scythe, and smooth and serrated
sickles, in regard to binding, winning, carrying,
stacking, and thrashing corn.

1. liwegaxdiio Binding. — The average number
of sheaves, of an average crop of oats or barley,
that one man can bind and stook in one day of
ten hours, by these three modes, differs thus : —

Of sheaves reaped by the scythe 1,500

Of shea\'es reaped by the smooth
sickle 1,200

Of sheaves reaped by the serrated

sickle 1,200

This difference is accounted for, first, by the
mown sheaves being in regular rows of consider-
able length, the binder loses no time in moving
from row to row, as in binding to shearers on two
or three ridges ; and, second, by mown stooks not
requiring to be hooded (covered with inverted
sheaves), owing to a peculiarity in their form
shortly to be noticed, which makes them more
easily and quickly erected than shorn stooks, as
these require to be hooded. In practice, however,
the binder binds less in a day to the scythe than to
the sickle, because he binds to but one scythe, and
the latter to six shearers, who reap more in a day
than one scythe ; but the binder to the scythe, if
the crop be good, finds plenty of employment in
assisting the gatherer in making bands. I have in
several instances bound and stooked 1,680 sheaves
of oats, containing 19i quarters of grain cut by the
sc}i;he, and of sheaves cut by the sickle 1,3G0 ; and
reckoned the latter decidedly the harder day's
work. Tlie amount of work that a binder can per-
form in a given time varies with the nature and
luxuriance of the crop. He can do more of soft

than of hard straw, and of a luxuriant than of a
poor crop, because, in the last instance, he has less
space to walk over from sheaf to sheaf, and also to
complete the stooks.

Sheaves reaped by the smooth and serrated
sickles in the usual way are ecjually easily bound ;
but by the mode of reaping by the former, termed
cuffing, the sheaves are not so neat, and the binder's
work is more difficult ; the sheaves requiring some
dressing, and numerous fallen heads to be lifted
up. Therefore, though a man may, and commonly
does, bind as many sheaves in a given time, reaped
by this, as by the usual mode, it must be by greater
exertion, or else the work will be imperfectly done.

2. In regard to Winning. — ^l^he prevalent opinion
is, that grain reaped by the scythe is sooner ready
for carrying than that reaped by either description
of sickle, and my own experience is corroborative
of this opinion. On a farm in Kincardineshire, of
which I was for many years manager, part of the
crop was reaped by the scythe and part by the
smooth sickle, and I unifonnly found that the part
cut by the sickle requii-ed one-fourth more drought
to fit it for the stack-yard than that cut by the
scythe. Of a field of oats reaped on the 19th Sep-
tember, 1 839, the part cut by the scythe was stacked
in good condition on the ninth day after, but that
cut by the sickle was unfit for stacking until it had
been twelve days in the stook. Tlie situation of
the field and farm in question was low, and shel-
tered by woods, and, during the period referred to,
the drought was nearly uniform.

In regard to winning the work of the smooth
and serrated sickles, if done in the usual way, is
quite the same. Sheaves reaped by the smooth
sickle by cuffing (viz., striking with the sickle so
as to cut and gather a sheaf together without
grasping every cut with the left hand) have the
advantage of being less compressed than if reaped
in the usual way, but want the peculiarities of form
which contribute to the winning of mown sheaves.

Once for all, I may here remark of cuffing, that
no more work can be done by it than by the ordi-
nary mode, though it is easier for the reapers, as
they require to stoop less, which is its only recom-
mendation. I have never employed any differs
myself, but have several times seen them at work.

As far as either my experience or inquiry goes, what
I have already stated is the relative time required for
winning mown and shorn stooks ; and sometimes
I have found the difference of great importance.
The latter part of the harvest of 1841 was remark-
ably wet, by which the outstanding crops were
much damaged. On the 28-9th of September of
the said year, I had thirty acres of oats carted and
stacked, which had been cut by the scythe the
preceding week. On the evening of Wednesday
29th, it began to rain, and continued very rainy for
twelve days, during which harvesting was at a
stand still; and had the produce of those thirty
acres been reaped by the sickle, it would haA'e
unquestionably been exposed to these twelve days'
rain, and, of course, thereby much deteriorated.

In investigating the cause or causes of the differ-
ence of mowing and reaping, in regard to winning,
the following peculiarities have particularly at-
tracted my notice ; — 1, That, in a great majority of

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343

cases, and especially on narrow ridges, the straws
composing the sheaf vary considerably in length.
2. That all the straws in sheaves reaped by the sickle
reach to the bottom, or stubble end ; and therefore,
including all the short straws within the sheaf,
require the bands to be passed round near the
bottom. 3. That binding in this way retards the
process of winning in two ways — by compressing
that part of the sheaf which most rerpiires ex-
posure, so as to render it almost impenetrable to
the influence of sun and wind ; and, by expanding
its corn end so much, that when stooked, the
stooks were almost as broad at the top as at the
bottom ; and, to defend these from rain, require
hood-sheaves, which retard the winning of the
grain. 4. That sheaves reajjed by the scythe are
even, or nearly so, at the top, or corn end, and, to
include all the short straws, require the bands
passed round a little below the ears of corn.

5. The binding near the top expands the bottom,
and gives the sheaf a tapering form from bottom
to top ; for though the straws are more numerous
at top than at bottom, they are much smaller, more
compressed, and consequently occupy less space.

6. That, when set up, the ridge of the stook is
very acute, leaving the least possible admission
for rain, and therefore requires no hoodsheaves;
and 7. That, after heavy rain, stooks reaped by
the scythe are sooner dry than those reaped by the
sickle, because the wet naturally sinks toward the
bottom of the sheaf; but the former, being open,
allows it quickly to escape by evaporation, while
the latter, keeping it tight within the band, dries
slowly.

3. In regard to carrying and stacking. — As has
already been remarked, mown sheaves are closer
and firmer at top than shorn ones ; and on this
account lose less grain by shedding than the
latter, in the process of carting and stacking. By
obser\'ation, I am quite satisfied that this is the
case, but cannot say precisely to what extent, nor
could it be easily ascertained.

Sheaves cut by the sickle are even at the stubble
end, and, therefore, a stack waU is easier built of
them than of mown sheaves, and has a more hand-
some appearance ; but, being close, excludes the
air from the interior. A stack wall of mown
shea\-es is rough Ijut open, and can be put up with
safety in a state of dampness, which would he
destructive to shorn sheaves. When a crop is
reaped -with the scythe by inexperienced hands,
a considerable quantity of grain is exposed
on the outsides of the stacks, owing to the
straws having been irregularly laid into the
sheaves ; but with dexterous mowers, the cjuantity
thus exposed mil be very trifling, as it only
happens when the wind l)lows in a direction con-
trary to that in which the crop has been laid by a
previous storm, and not sufficiently strong to turn
it completely back, that the mower finds it impos-
sible to make an even swathe.

A case of this kind rarely occurs, and when it
does, the grain exposed in consequence need not
be lost. A man with a scythe blade fixed to a
fork-shaft can dress a stack in an hour, spreading
a sheet of canvass at the bottom to receive the
heads of grain as they are cut off.

With respect to carrying and stacking the work
of the smooth and serrated sickles, provided they
have been alike careftdly performed, they are very
little dissimilar.

4. In regard to thrashing. — Of mown and shorn

gram, the llailman gives preference to the latter,
because the grain is more exposed to the action
of his implement, and is therefore more easily
])caten out. This is caused by the peculiarity ot
reaping noticed under the head of winning. In
ordinary cases a flailman can thrash about ten per
cent, more of shorn than of mown sheaves, and if
the mowing has been improperly performed, the
difference will be still greater. A good machme
will thrash the one kind as effectually and ex-
peditiously as the other; but mown sheaves are
more difficult to part asunder than shorn, and
although a man may feed both kinds equally fast
into the machine, the former fatigue him more,
as they require greater force to separate them.

As to thrashing the work of the smooth and
separate sickles, it is much the same ; howe\'er, by
the smooth sickle, some straws are apt to be laid
in a wrong direction, and usually some rakings are
left, and a feeble or imperfect machine will not
thrash the rakings and inverted straws perfectly—
and, to thrash these well, they must be put twice
through the machine. By the serrated sickle,
fewer straws are in a wrong position, and there are
no rakings to be dealt with.

5. The amount of ivork performed by different
modes of reaping.— Having had many opportunities
of ascertaining this point in various parts of Scot-
land, I shall here state what I have found to be the
average amount of work perfomied by a band of
reapers with scythes, and smooth and serrated
I sickles — the reapers being, in eveiy case thoroughly
trained to their respective modes of reaping. Seven
is the most convenient number, as six reapers re-
require one binder, and two mowers require five
attendants, viz., two gatherers, two binders, and
one raker. Seven reapers, then, will reap of an
average crop in one day of ten hours : —

Of Wheat. Of Oats or Barley.

Acres. Roods. Poles

Acres. Roods.
4 0

Poles.
20

By the scythe 2 3 0

By the smooth^ ^ 1 18 2 2 10

sickle S
By the serrated } , q g 2 010

sickle i
This shows a considerable difference in favour
of the scythe, although I have stated the average
extent of land reaped by expert shearers when
working briskly. In this district it is thought no
great feat for one man to mow three acres of a
hght crop in one day— in fact, I have repeatedly
done so myself, but with very great exertion ; but
of a fair crop two acres, or veiy httle more, is as
much as can be done ; the mower might do more,
but this is as much as two attendants can gather,
bind, and stook, and a third cannot be employed
to advantage. I cannot take leave of this part of
the sul)ject without remarking that I deprecate the
overtasking of young women in gathering heavy
crops as a cruel oppression. Half the numlier of
those hired to gather not being habituated to
active employment, it is unreasonable to expect

344

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

them to do as much at an occupation, perhaps the
most active that falls to the lot of women in field
labour, as those enured to it. To alleviate this
hardship, for the first week of harvest, especially
if the weather be warm, my plan is to make the
reapers rest twenty minutes whenever I perceive it
requisite, and I find it a plan both humane and
profitable.*

6. Comjmrative Merits of Different Modes of
Reaping. — The preceding facts show a difference
in favour of reaping by the scythe, with the excep-
tion of thrashing, which is comparatively an unim-
portant point, as the quantity of grain thrashed by
the flail in Scotland is very trifling. There is
another and somewhat serious objection urged by
the opponents of mowing, namely, that more is
left by it for the rake than by shearing, and that
that so left is either lost altogether, or deteriorates
the rest of the croj) if mixed amongst it. This, I
admit, is in many instances true enough ; but is
it an unavoidable resvxlt of reaping by the scythe ?
Assuredly not. I beg to submit that I have em-
ployed mowers for ten harvests, and that the
quantity left to the rake has not averaged more
than 4i per cent., which is little more than what is
commonly left by the smooth sickle, and I have
neither left the rakings to rot in the fields, nor
spoiled the rest of the crop by them ; and I know
no good reason why others should do so.

When a crop is reaped by the serrated sickle,
there is nothing left to the rake, but this is its only
recommendation ; it is otherwise a laborious and
expensive mode of reaping, and has now, with few
exceplions, given place to the smooth sickle and the
scythe. As it is now little in use, few can reap with
it without uprooting part of the straw. Last year,
1842, several southern farmers of my acquaintance
got seiTated sickles to their reapers on account of
their crops being so thin that more was cut by the
smooth sickle than could be caught in the hand,
by which too many straws fell to the ground ;
but the reapers, not being accustomed lo such
sickles, imlled up so many straws by the roots
that the stacks looked as if the whole crop had
been pulled, the roots, being outmost, concealed
the ends of what had been cut. I am inclined,
however, to think that much of the pulling had
been intentional on the part of the reapers, for
those who have reaped Avith smooth sickles dislike
serrated ones exeeedingly, finding them much
stifFer to work with.

With respect to learning to reap with the scythe
and either kind of sickle, there is this difference.
Beginners with the sickle very soon learn to reap
neat enough, but are defective in point of speed.
Beginners with the scythe very soon learn to reap

* It deserves to be noted that the food of the
reapers, whose work has been stated above, con-
sisted of oatmeal porridge and milk for breakfast
and supper, and potatoes for dinner, with abun-
dance of oatcakes and milk at every meal. All
whom I know that have harvested in " the south,"
assure me that they cannot do so much work there,
because the diet consists of porridge and milk,
with bread at dinner only.

fast enough, but are defective in point of neat-
ness.

Both mowers and gatherers require some in-
struction, besides a few days' practice, before they
can do their work properly; even although the
former be good mowers of hay, they will require
some practice in mowing grain, to enable them to
lay it evenly in the swathe; but, if they are
anxious to learn, a very short time will suffice ;
and until mowers and gatherers are both expert,
their conjoint work wiU appear rough and de-
fective.

7. The most Approved Mode of Mowing. — As
the most approved mode of reaping by the scythe
is not very well understood throughout Scotland,
I beg to offer a few hints on it. The mode prac-
tised in the counties of Aberdeen and Banff is de-
cidedly superior to any other I have seen or heard
of elsewhere, and may be described thus : — When
the crop is not laid and entangled, the mowers
follow each other with their backs, or rather their
right shoulders, to the wind, following the incli-
nation of the crop, without regard to the direction
of the ridges, and commence always on the left
side of the field, so as to cast the swathes from the
standing corn ; but if the crop be laid in various
directions, eveiy mower takes a separate ridge.
By this arrangement every one can cut in the most
advantageous direction without being obstructed
by the others. But, whenever the crop -will admit
of it, the mowers follow each other, taking a
swathe seven and a-half feet wide. Every mower
is followed by a woman, who gathers the swathe
into sheaves, makes bands, and places the sheaves
on them ; and every woman is followed by a man,
who binds and stooks the sheaves ; and lastly fol-
low one or more rakers, according to the number
of mowers. The rake in general use has a wooden
head seven feet in length, furnished with curved
iron teeth ; the shaft is about the same length,
with a ring fixed in it two feet from the head, to
which a belt is attached which passes over the
shoulder, and across the breast of the raker, by
which the rake is dragged backwards and forwards
across the ridges, so as to dip into the furrows,
and is also emptied close to the standing corn.
With this implement a man can rake to four
scythes, if the ground be smooth. During the
time the mowers are sharpening their scythes the
rakings are put into sheaves by the gatherers, bound
and stooked by the bandsters, apart from the rest
of the crop.

As has been already remarked, a man requires
some practice to en?ble him to mow grain properly ;
and if this part of the work be awkwardly performed,
it will mar all the subsequent operations of har\-est-
ing. If a mower has learned to wield the scythe
among hay — to give a good edge to the scj'the and
preserve it — and to leave a uniform stubble — all that
is required more to constitute a good mower of
grain is the art of laying it in one direction. In
mowing, the scythe makes a circular sweep into the
corn ; every cut or swing of the scythe clears a
piece of ground in the form of a crescent. Tlie
mower should keep his feet well forward to the
standing corn, which saves him from stooping, and
gives him the greatest possible command of his

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

345

implement; he should move freely and steadily
along, and swing his scythe no further to the left
than what is necessary to cm^ out the point j and,
above all, let him endeavour to make equal strokes
to make crescents as nearly uniform as possible,
for thereon depends the even laying of the grain.
This advice desei'ves to be reiterated upon the in-
experienced mower.

Gathering the swathes into sheaves is mostly
done by women; and though the process seems
very simple, it nevertheless requires an art which
few are clever enough to learn without instruction,
and none to excel in without considerable practice.
Last year I had an opportunity of seeing reapers at
work with the scythe in Berwickshire, the Lothians,
and various other places south of the Grampians ;
I saw a good many tolerable scythesmen, but, south
of the Forth, not one gatherer that I would have
emploj^ed othenvise than as a learner. They seemed
not to have the least idea of how gathering should
be done, for every one, while in the act of gather-
ing a sheaf, stood alongside of it with her petti-
coat tied to her knees ; whereas a good gatherer,
invariably stands at the stubble end of the sheaf
with her petticoat down to her ankles : indeed it is
such an important auxiliary in keeping the ends of
he sheaves even, that, when men gather, they sup-
ply its place by a sort of long apron. The gather-
er's duty, when once learned, can be as easily
performed in the way which most facihtates the
process of bindinp;, and all subsequent operations,
as the reverse. That no small parcels of corn be
unhfted, the left hand should be most used in
gathering, and every sheaf laid down with its corn
end towards the point were the swathe commenced,
and its centre of gravity placed directly over the
band — both ends of which should be left clear.
Inattention to these particulars, increases the
labour of the binder — he can neither do his own
work well nor give the gatherer any assistance.

To facilitate the winning and stacking of the
grain, the sheaves should be made uniform
in size, with bands no thicker than just strong
enough to bind and keep them firmly together.

In binding mown grain, the main error practised
by those who have been accustomed to bind to
reapers is pursuing the old plan of binding near
the stubble end. This should be observed, and a
different mode enforced, or else the advantage of
mowing in regard to winning ■will be entirely lost,
and, if wet weather ensue, converted into a positive
evil.

The quantity and treatment of the rakings seem
to me the most grievous evil of inexpert assistants
to mowers. I have seen about ten per cent, left
to the rake, and this made into wisps, (the worst
imaginable form for winning, for the rain gets into
them, and never gets out again,) and a wisp placed
at each end of every stook, as if designed to hinder
the -winning of the stooks, as much as possible by
preventing ventilation ; and when the stooks are
lifted for the stackyard, the wisps, being found in
bad order, are either tossed aside or else taken out
to dry, and, before a fitting opportunity arrives for
securing them, are either rotted by the rain or
scattered by the wind, and in either case destroyed
by birds, and thus incur very considerable loss.

Now those who manage well, leave not half as
much to the rake, and what they do leave is treated
in quite a different manner ; being put into sheaves
instead of wsps, it is found in as good order as the
rest of the crop, apart from which it can be con-
veniently stacked and thrashed, which is found the
most advantageous plan, because rakings are com-
monly more or less mixed with small stones and
sand.

S. The effects of the different modes of reaping
on the immediately succeeding crops. — By whatever
mode a grain crop may be reaped, I am quite con-
vinced that the immediately succeeding croj) will
be more benefited by a long stubble than a short ;
and as longer stubble is left by the sickle than the
scythe, the difference will be in favour of the
former ; but on no grain or green crop, on account
of the mode by which the preceding crop had been
reaped, have I detected a difference perceptible to
the eye, nor discerned any cause of diflference ex-
cept the length of stubble left on the ground,
which is gi-eater by two and a-quarter inches by
the sickle than by the scythe.

From the results of my own experience I have
no hesitation in stating that, if the usual mode of
mowing, ^iz., cutting close to the ground, be pur-
sued in reaping a grain crop amongst which grass
seeds have been sown, the grasses will not thrive so
well as if the grain had been reaped by the sickle.
But this is solely on account of the scythe cutting
lower than the sickle, and is by no means an inevi-
table evil, as the expert mower will cut high or
low as required ; and it is easier to cut high than
low, because the scythe keeps its edge longer : but
mowers learn to cut low for the purpose of obtain-
ing as much straw as possible, and will indiscrimi-
nately cut all crops low if not othenvise directed.
If a stubble, averaging four and a-half inches, be
left, whether by the scythe or the sickle, the grain
crop will, in reference to the prosperity of the
goung grasses, be a matter of no moment, except
the groimd be wet and soft, when more damage
will be done by the reapers' feet by reaping than
by mowing. It is assiimed by some, that as the
scythe, to work properly, requires to be very sharp,
mowing is injurious to the young grasses by cut-
ting off too much of their tops, which the sickle,
especially the serrated sickle, slips over ; but, as
far as I am aware, this cropping does no harm ;
and it is generally allowed that it is not hurtful to
crop young grass moderately by sheep when very
luxuriant in autumn, and the ground is in such a
state of consohdation as to sustain no injuiy from
their feet. All that is required, to render mowing
as conclucive to the prosperity of young grasses as
reaping, is the simple precaution of cutting a
little higher than might be done if the ground is
to be ploughed for the succeeding crop ; and es-
pecially in late har\'ests, because the grass makes
little or no progress after the grain is reaped.
But, as far as my observation has extended, this
precaution is not taken except in a very few cases.
On the contrary, the grain crop among which
grass seeds are sown, being uniformly that which
immediately succeeds turnips, potatoes, or summer
fallow, it is cut closer to the ground than any
other ; because the soil, at seed time, being in a

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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

finely pulverized state, its surface is made smooth
by the roller, and, if not disturbed before harvest,
the crop is cut so close by the scythe that a stub-
ble little more than an inch in length is left;
hence mowing is said to be injurious to young
grass, and no wonder that it should.

Sir Humphry Davy says, "when perennial
grasses are cropped very close, by feeding cattle in
autumn, it is uniformly observed that they never
rise so vigorously in spring, owing to the removal
of that part of the stalk which would have afforded
the grasses the sap for their first nourishment."
A similar efl^ect is produced by close mowing,
whether by the same cause, or from want of the
partial shelter afforded by the stubble, but proba-
bly partly from both causes.

9. The Wages of Reapers. — The farm on which
I was superintendent, the three years preceeding
this, is situated in one of the inland districts of
Aberdeenshire, at an elevation of above 300 feet
above the level of the sea, and is ])artly sheltered
by woods. On this farm, as on others, the time
of commencing harvest varies with the seasons,
but is usually on the last week of August or first
week of September. The time of finishing also
depends on the state of the weather, but we calcu-
late upon accomplishing the whole work in twenty-
six full work-days; however, as harvest never
passes without " liroken days," five weeks and
two days is its average duration. It is usually
finished on the first or second week of October.
On this farm the average extent of land under
grain crop is 150 acres, the whole of which I
have reaped with the scythe. The sickle has been
little used in this and the adjoining districts for
upwards of twenty years. The number of reapers
employed was seventeen. The work was carried
on thus : — Five men mowed, five women gathered,
five men bound and stooked, and two lads raked.
In this part of the country, reapers are not hired
by the week nor the day, as in the south and west
of Scotland, but are engaged, for a stated sum, to
come forward when harvest is ready, and remain
until it is finished. The conditions are, that,
should an interi'^al occur in harvesting, on account
of wet weather, or part of the crop not be ready,
they are entitled to victuals and lodgings, if they
remain and make themselves useful on the farm,
but have no claim to additional wages. They are
engaged to assist in the entire work of harvesting,
viz., reaping, carrying, thatching the stacks, and
lifting the potatoes, of which only a very few
acres are grown — and for these semces the aver-
age rate of wages paid for three years preceeding
this has been as follows . — £ s. d.

To a man for mowing, stacking, &c. 2 12 6
To a woman for gathering, &c. . . 118 0
To a man for binding, &c. ... 2 2 0
To a lad for raking, &c. ... 1 8 0
As has already been remarked, we calculate
upon performing the whole work of har\'est in
twenty-six days, and we consider the money-
wages paid exclusively for the work done in those
days, reckoning victuals and lodging equivalent to
all tlie labour i^erformed Ijy harvesters the rest of
the time they remain on the farm. The average
expense of victuals, beer, and lodgings, is 4s. 6d.

per week for each, or 9d. per work-day. The
above rates of wages, divided by twenty-six, and
in every case 9d. added — the value of victuals, &c.
— the expense of a day's work a band of seven-
teen reapers stands thus : —

s. d. s. d.

Five mowers, each .2 9.t — 13 lOj

Five gatherers, do. .2 24 — 11 0\

Five binders, do. . .2 a\ — 11 lOi

Two rakers, do. . . 1 10 — 3 8

A day's wear of tools, 1 3

Total expense of one day's work £2 1 Si

The average extent of a day's reaping was ten
acres, one rood, and ten poles, therefore the expense
of reaping was only 4s. O^d. per acre. The contrac-
tors who reap by the scythe in the south of Scot-
land, get 8s. per acre, in most instances ; but as
they are at the expense of taking the work-people
a distance of 150 miles, and of bringing them back
again, and are liable to loss of time in bad weather,
they find this price little enough.

10. Scythes and Sickles. — The scythe-blade in
greatest estimation for reaping grain, manufactured
by Dyson & Co., Abbeydall, is 3 1-10 th inches
broad, and has an edge forty-two inches in length,
and weighs 2f lbs. The piece of iron rivetted along
the back of the blade has a bent extremity termed
the heel ; the sneath is fixed to this by a ferrule
and v/edge, and is known as the Aberdeenshire
short sneath, of which there are various forms ; but
that most approved is of two pieces of ash, of un-
equal length, and quite straight, except the longer
one, which has a slight bend upioards ; near the
heel. The longer, to which the blade and left han-
dle are fixed, is forty-four inches in length ; the
shorter, to which the right handle is iixed, is
eighteen inches in length, and joins the other at the
distance of twenty- seven inches from the left han-
dle, and at an angle of forty-five degrees. The
general form of the short sneath is so well known
that I deem a drawing of it unnecessary. I saw
bundles of them exposed for sale in Edinbiu-gh,
and there were upwards of fifty mowers from Aber-
deenshire at work v/ith them in Berwickshire last
year ; but, as much depends on the form in which
the blade and sneath are put together, I may state
the following rules, which are strictly observed
here, viz. : — To make the heel, the point, and the
left handle, form the three extreme points of an
equilateral triangle. Thus, the blade, including
the heel, is forty-four inches in length, and from
the heel to the left handle is forty-four inches;
therefore, from the left handle to the point of the
blade should also be forty-four inches. Again,
when the sneath is laid flat upon a level floor, with
its handles upwards, if the scythe be in a right po-
sition, the point of the blade should be twenty-one
inches from the floor. The heel of the blade, as it
comes from the shop, has rarely the requisite bend
for the short sneath, and requires to be adjusted
by a blacksmith. The scythe, altogether, weighs
Tolbs., and is used without cradle or bow, and lays
the grain as evenly in the swathe as can be desired.
We i)ay 3s. Gd. for a blade, and 2s. 6d. for a sneath,
and reckon a day's wear of scythe and sharj)ing-
stone 22d,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

347

The smooth sickle used is a strong one, manu-
factured by T. Staniforth, and is well known. The
blade is about 1 l-5th inches in l)readth, and has a
cutting edge 20 inches in length. The handle is of
beech or plane-tree, about 6 inches in length by
4i inches in circumference. Reapers nail a learth-
ern strap to the handle, by which it can l)e more
firmly held in the hand. This sickle weighs lib., and
costs Is. 2d., and a day's wear of it is reckoned kl.

The serrated sickle used is that made by Glegg,
Stonehaven. The edge of it is 16^ inches in length,
and serrated to the depth of one-twenty-fifth of an
inch; the serratures, about 300 in number, all
pointed backward, or towards the handle, which is
much of the same form as that of the smooth sickle.
The sen-ated siclde weighs about 9 oz., and costs
Is. It is calculated to last, at least, four harvests,
and its wear may, therefore, be reckoned under :Td.
per day.

The smooth sickle, though liable to abuse, is a
manifest improvement on the saw-edged or serrated
sickle, inasmuch as more work can be accomphshed
by it with less exertion ; bvit let the scythe be put
into experienced hands, and it will be found less
tedious, less expensiAi^e, and more efficient than
either kind of sickle. To those who have seen
grain reaped by the scythe by expert hands, its ad-
vantages over reaping seem so great and obvious,
that between the two modes they think it ludicrous
to draw a parallel. On the other hand, those who
have seen grain reaped by the scythe by inexperi-
enced hands only are very sceptical as to its merits,
and a good many have tried it, and given it up as a
bad job. It is worthy of remark that the con-
tractors, who go from this place to reap with the
scythe to the south country, I'arely make so good
work as they usually do at liome. The reasons are,
first, it is not the best hands who go with them ;
and, secondly, they are somewhat careless, because
many of those to whom they reap are not aware that
they might do it better.

The practice of mowing grain is slowly gaining
ground, and will in all probability continue to do
so until it be universally adopted. In this part of
the country reaping by the scythe has been gene-
ral for upwards of twenty years ; and numerous are
the individuals of my acquaintance who have had
twenty harvests reaped by the sickle before the
scythe was introduced, and who are now as clearly
convinced that mowing is an improvement in reap-
ing, as of the modern two-horse being an improve-
ment on the twelve-oxen plough of their fathers.

DISEASE AMONGST CATTLE.— We find the
following paragraph m the Chester Chronicle of Friday,
and it may, therefore, be well to repeat, that it has been
ascertained by Professor Sewell, of the Veterinary Col-
lege, and Mr. DLxon, of Cheshire, that the prevalent
disease amongst cattle may, in almost all cases, be
checked by bleeding the animals affected with it the
moment the disease shows itself. " The Murrain — This
contagious pestilence makes alarming havoc among the
cattle of the several parishes of Aberdaron, Bryncroes,
Llanengan, &c., Lleyn, Carnarvonshire. It is of so
malignant a nature that every animal attacked dies
almost instantaneously. Some pestiferous distemper,
of the like nature, makes a shocking devastation among
the swine."

REMARKS ON THE LARGE HEDGES AND
SMALL ENCLOSURES OF DEVONSHIRE,
AND THE ADJOINING COUNTIES,

By John Grant, Surveyor and Land Agent, Exeter.

The evils of the present system of dividing farms, gene-
ral over this and great part of the neighbouring counties,
may be thus summed up. The hedges occupy in some
cases fully 10 per cent., but on an average of these ten
parishes, 7 l-7th per cent., or one acre in fourteen;
they shade and injure at least half as much, most per-
sons, landlords as well as tenants, whose opinion 1 have
asked, say, quite as much more ; they harbour birds
and vermin which injure the crops ; and that this is no
small evil any one may satisfy himself, by going into a
field just before harvest. They are nurseries for weeds ;
they prevent that free circulation of air so necessary to
the healthy growth of plants as well as animals ; they
are obstacles to the drainage of the soil, the roots grown
in them frequently choking up the drains. They are ex-
pensive to erect, as well as to keep in repair ; the ex-
pense of new hedges in labour and planting being about
3s. 6d. per perch, and that of keeping them in order
about 5 per cent, of the rental ; the soil on each side of
tliem is generally thinner, from the materials for making
the banks being taken from it. So many small enclosures
require a much greater number of gates, which have to
be kept up and renewed ; they cause a much greater
number of small lanes and cart tracks leading from one
place to another. The damage from shade is also very
much greater from those hedges which run east and
west. To do the least damage and to be of the greatest
service, as shelter, our most prevalent and severe winds
being from the west and south-west, hedges should be
made, and the long way of the fields be, from north to
south ; for the same reason that London lays it down as
a rule in building a house, to make the diagonal line in
that direction, namely, because the sun thus shines on
every side of it every day. The fences being in most
cases crooked, and the fields of every shape but right-
angled, the labour of every operation of the farm, parti-
cularly of ploughing, is most materially increased. The
parishes of Huxham and Poltimore will contrast favour-
ably with the others in this respect. This evil is any-
thing but a trifling one, especially when to it is added the
labour caused by the roots of trees which shoot out into
the fields. In any parish this is felt ; but in such a pa-
rish as Rewe, where there is much timber, one may see
when the ground is laid open by the plough, that the
roots of the trees cross each other from opposite sides
of the field.

The following hints on substitutes for the present
fortress like embankments are worthy of consideration : —

Where stall feeding is practised there need not be any-
thing lost by hedges, as 1 have seen farms without any
fences but that which surrounded and divided them from
the adjoining farms, a furrow being all that separated one
crop from another. But even where this system is not
adopted there are several methods whereby farms may
be sufficiently divided, and the whole or greater part of
the ground saved which is at present lost. Besides rail-
ings of wood, wire, or iron rod, there is the sunk fence,
none of these taking up any land. In wet, marshy, or
boggy ground, ditches would serve for fences and drains
at the same time ; and m such a place as Broadclyst
Moor this method of dividing and at the same time of
draining the land would very much increase its value.
But in cases where it might not be thought advisable,
either owing to the first expense of iron rod, or wire j
railings, or to other circumstances, to adopt any of the se
methods of dividing land, the white thorn would make a
cheap and good fence, taking up very little room, b eing

348

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

impervious to cattle, and costing little either at first or
in keeping up afterwards. A thousand plants will plant
thirty perches of one row, or fifteen perches of two
rows, the plants being six inches apart : they cost from
10s. to 20s. per thousand, according to their age, and
the planting of them is very little. Sir John Kennaway,
by takmg down 100 perches of bank and planting 50
perches of thorn hedge, thus making three fields into
two, saved nearly an acre of ground. Timber need not
be encouraged in hedge-rows on account of its value, as,
from the admission of foreign timber, this has been ma-
terially reduced. I should not think that the timber
thus grown pays nearly so much annually as one per
cent, of the rental, while it destroys about ten per cent,
of the ground, allowing three per cent, more than what
is actually occupied, for injux-ies sustained by the causes
mentioned. What necessity is there for a farm, even so
small as 100 acres, being divided into smaller enclosures
that eight or ten-acre fields, and the remaining twenty
into four or five, as might be most convenient ? It would
be a great improvement on the present state of things,
if, instead of six fields of every ten being under four
acres, there vyere the same proportion above ten acres.
If to the loss shown to be sustained from these small en-
closures and great hedges were added that from waste
ground and the want of drainage, how very far short of
its capabilities would appear that which is at present de-
rived from our soil.

IRISH WASTE LAND IMPROVEMENT
SOCIETY.

This society, whose successful progress we have
watched and recorded with so much pleasure, as one
among the various practical measures for the amelioration
of the peasantry of Ireland, was established in 1836,
under the auspices of the Earl of Devon, as chairman,
for the reclamation of the waste lands of that country.
Great caution has been exercised in all the progressive
steps ; the estates are held on leases of 99 years, at a low
rent, averaging less than 2s. per acre, and the plan
adopted was not to speculate in farming, as at Pobble
O'Keefe or King William Town — a costly experiment,
wliich has acted as a salutary check — but to re-let the
whole on allotments of from 10 to 25 acres, on leases
generally of 31 years, at rents rising gradually from 4s.
to 10s. per acre ; main drains and roads being made by
the society, who also assist the tenants with timber, when
needed, to build their houses. A small mountain tract
was first taken from Sir John Burke, of Marble Hill, in
Galway ; another in Limerick followed ; a thii'd of con-
siderable extent in Sligo, highly favourable for reclama-
tion; and in 1841 a wild district Ln Connemara, cdong
the shores of Kilkerrin Bay, comprising 9,500 acres,
was added to their estates, makmg together upwards of
16,000 aci'es, which have become the property of, and
placed in productive culture by the society, whilst the
calls have amounted to only 8/. per share upon 50/.
shares.

Ballinakil. — On the 12th ult., the Earl of Devon,
Sir R. Ferguson, and Mr. Wynne, accompanied by
Captain Kennedy, proceeded to Marble Hill, the de-
hghtful residence of Sii" John Burke, Bart., when several
leading gentlemen of the county, connected with agri-
culture, were invited to meet them, for the purpose of
inspecting the estate of Ballinakil, on which a very suc-
cessful system of reclamation and improvement is now
carried on, and thereby affording constant employment
to numbers of the peasantry. On the 13th, the Earl of
D'evon, with the other commissioners (attached to the
La.^dlord and Tenant Commission), and numerous visi-
tors, miiiutely inspected the society's estate, and ex-

pressed themselves highly gratified with the whole'of the
arrangements, and the improvement in the condition
and habits of the tenantry ; the extraordinary cleanliness
of many of their cottages and homesteads, and particu-
larly with the quantity of land reclaimed and brought
into cultivation, exceeding one acre and a half each resi-
dent tenant since August, 1843. Having addressed the
tenantry and many of the neighbourmg farmers in the
most encouragmg manner, his lordship distributed the
prizes given by the society and Sir John Burke, for pro-
gress in reclamation and improvement in agriculture,
accompanjang each with a few words of valuable advice
on the advantages to themselves and their countiy of
perseverance in habits of industry, when thi-ee heaity
cheers were given for the Earl of Devon (chairman of
the society) and Colonel Robinson (managing director).

Gleneaske. — The estate of Gleneaske, comprising
upwards of 6,500 acres, is beautifully situated on the
south-east slope of the Slievh Gauff Mountains, which
are here about 1000 feet above the level of the sea ; the
whole valley, which is watered by numerous rills, as well
as the lower slopes of the mountain, is pure unmitigated
peat bog, to the extent of 3,500 acres, and the remainder
is weU adapted to the breeding of the Kyloe, or High-
land cattle, of which the society have a thriving herd.
A model farm of 16 acres has been erected, where, upon
a piece of i^ure bog only two years reclaimed, may be
seen as fine Swedish turnips as can be found in Ireleind ;
mangels, rape, vetches, &c., are all flourishing in the
same kind of land, while the potatoes cannot be sur-
passed either in quality or quantity. The houses of the
tenants are 30 feet long, 13 feet broad, and 8 feet high ;
the allotments surrounded with trimmed furze hedges,
and the drains marked out. The difficulties of a new
settler during the first year are here admkably met ; he
works for the society on roads and drains while his first
crops are coming up, for which he is paid 8d. per day,
and lOd. per perch for furze hedges ; thus rendering him
in some measure uidependent of the land until it is made
by his own labour to produce a crop. Among the whole
of the small holders, occupying 1,400 statute acres, not
one was without turnips or clover, or both, and some
rape and vetches in addition, and there are generally five
or six head of cattle on each farm, and evidences of
recent draining and reclamation on the part of the
tenants were likewise apparent. The society offers a
strong stimulant for the latter, giving a prize of 21. for
every acre reclaimed, equal to four years' rent at the
highest rate. After draining the surface is burned and
limed, then two successive crops of potatoes taken, then
a crop of Aberdeen turnips, and lastly, oats laid down
with clover. Lime is too far distant to be generally
available, but limestone can beprocui'ed; and the lower-
ing of Lough Taalt, executed at a trifling cost to the
society, laid bare a rich bed of marl, which is Uttle in-
ferior in fertilizing power to lime. At this estate prizes
were given similar to those at Ballinakil.

Kilkerrin. — This estate is in an equally prosperous
condition, the result of the same fostering management
as at BallinakU and Gleneaske ; and, upon a recent dis-
tribution of prizes there for good farming, &c., before
Lord Devon, Capt. Kennedy, and the principal gentry
of that part of the country, the people generally poured
in as to a national festival or great fail', arrayed in all
the colours of the rainbow, so populai* is the society be-
coming where its operations are known — that popularity
being the natural result of a just appreciation of its in-
creasing endeavours, tlyough the able management of
Col. Robinson, to improve the condition of the people.

Here, then, are the means, not only of subsistence,
but prosperity, opened to the sti'uggling farmer and
agricultviral labourer of Ireland, who, instead of expa-
triating himself by the painful, costly, and doubtful
alternative of emigration, either to Canada or New UoU

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

349

land, may find the reward of industry, enterprise, and
good conduct, at a trifling sacrifice, within a few miles
of home ; and this has been accomplished by the forma-
tion of a society, the shareholders of which, in addition
to the gratification they must feel, as being the harbingers
of moral and physical improvement to the peasantry of
Ireland, will have the pleasure, at no distant period, of
receiving the reward of their enterprise in the shape of
a dividend. — Mining Journal.

LORD DUCIE^S EX.\MPLE FARM.

The following account of a visit to this celebrated farm
is evidently written by a practical man, who knows what
he is writing about : —

" Whitfield Example-farm, Gloucestersliire, on Lord
Ducie's estate, has been much spoken and written of.
It contams about 240 acres of cleared land, formerly
under pasture ; much under water, and destroyed with
hedge- row trees ; the whole of which were grubbed up
and sold for 3,400/. Then the whole farm was thoroughly
drained with stone and tile, and subsoiled with the Dean-
ston plough, goocl roads made, all old fences demoHshed ;
the whole limed at the rate of 120 bushels per acre, and
laid out without divisions into 24 fields of 10 acres each ;
a good house and offices, with a steam power thrashing
machine erected, and the whole put under a rotation of
crops — in turnips, wheat, clover, wheat, roots (in
turnips, carrots, potatoes, or mangel wurzel).
" This season, thea under crop, 12fields or 120 acres of wheat.

„ „ 2 „ 20 „ carrots.

„ „ 2 „ 20 ,, mang''l.

„ „ 2 ,. 20 „ turnips.

„ „ 2 „ 20 ,. potatoes.

„ „ 4 ., 40 ,, clover.

24 240

" The wheat is all good, and should average about 40
bushels per acre ; it is all drilled, some at 6, 9, 12, 15,
and 18 inches apart, and sown respectively with 8, 7,6,
1, and 3 pecks of seed. The nine inches apart is con-
sidered the most productive, although, had the season
been finer, the 15 or 18 would have probably outdone it.
The whole has been twice hoed, and not a weed is to be
seen in it. Seeds have also been sown, but they have
not appeared. The carrots, white Belgian, are not very
regtilar ; the mangel is patchy and inferior ; the turnips
sown, but not appearing ; potatoes very poor, partly
ploughed down ; clover fine, and feeding ofl' with sbeep,
with a full supply to horses and cattle within doors.
The general management good, but not so very extra-
ordinary as has been represented. The improvements
were conducted by Mr. Morton, a Fifeshire man, who,
with his two sons, have now taken a lease of the farm, on
certain conditions, from Lord Ducie. It was formerly
rated for the poor rates, at 7s. per ijound, at 84/., and it
is supposed now to pay 600/. The outlay has
been very great, but the proprietor says he has been
paid as a landlord, and now will be recompensed fully by
the advanced rent. The improvements have been six or
eight years in progress. The tenant disapproves of
frequent liming, or indeed of any liming ataU, and thinks
that by this rotation, and using all his straw and roots on
the farm, he wiU be able to keep it in order without any
extraneous aid — not even guano. This seems proble-
matical to the writer, who has travelled 36 miles (72, out
and home) to see this far-famed Example-farm, and is
now waiting the coach to take him up, and returns on
the whole satisfied— but no more — neither amused nor
dehghted beyond measure ; there is not sufficient variety
of management or stock to his taste, although certamly
the wheat and clover crops are good for any year, and
extraordinary for the present. He went thus far for the
edification and amusement of his careful and kind cor-
respondent and manager,"— .BerArj^Jre Chronicle.

WAGES OF AGRICULTURAL LABORERS.

TO THE EDITOR OK THE MORNING HERALD.

Sir,— The Rev. Sidney Godolphin Osborne requests,
in a public letter, a table of wages of agricultural la-
bourers.

The following table is published by the Anti-Corn-
Law League, in a tract entitled " Facts for Farmers:"
it cannot, therefore, be suspected of being too favour-
able to the agriculturist : —

Difference to
Price of Two- spare for

Wages thirds of a Bushel Clothing and
Years. per Week. of Wheat. other Neces-

saries.
1797 to 1802 .. 7 7 .... 6 8 .... 1 1

1802 1807 .. 9 5 .... 5 10 3 7

1807 1812 .. 10 5 7 3 3 2

1812 1817 .. 13 0 .... 7 3 .... 5 9

1817 1822 .. 11 7 6 2 5 5

1822 1827 .. 10 2 4 10 .... 5 6

1827 1830 ..11 0 4 11 .... 6 1

Such is the statement of the body most opposed to
the landed interest.

If Mr. Osborne will refer to the agricultural reports
of 1795, he will find the following to have been about
the rates of wages and wheat in the 18th century : —

Price of Two-
Years. Wages. thirds of a Bushel Difference,
of Wheat.

1700 to 1750 ..6 0 .... 3 2 2 10

1750 1773 ..6 6 .... 3 4 3 2

1773 1794 ..7 6 .... 4 0 3 6

If Mr. Osborne obtain (as no doubt he will most
readily) a table of the wages of agricultural labourers
since 1830, he will find that they have never received so
high a proportionate share of the produce for any series
of years of equal length, as they have from 1815 to the
present time as is shown by the above table up to 1830,
as compared with the previous century. I am, Sir,
your obedient servant, S.

THE TURNIP CROP.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — My object in the present communication is
merely to impress a veto on steeping turnip seed previ-
ous to sowing ; and I trust the very numerous and re -
peated experiments I have made, and with uniformly
decided results, will operate as a salutary caution against
steeping turnip seeds in chemical solutions. My first
experiments were made on the 21st June, 1844, and after
white stone turnip had been steeped for 55-2- hours in so-
lutions of carbonate of ammonia, muriate of ammonia,
phosphate of ammonia, and silicate of potassa, with
water simply, by way of comparison, it may suffice to
say, that while the entire number of the seeds steeped in
water germinated, and grew very well, not one of any
of the rest germinated, with the solitary exception of
three or four of those steeped in silicate of potassa.
Other chemical solutions were tried, and the period of
steeping varied, but uniformly fatal to the germination
and growth of turnip seed. This caveat seems of im-
portance, as Mr. Campbell's (of Dundee) steep, which
contains sulphate and muriate of ammonia, has been re-
commended for turnip seed, as well as wheat, barley,
and oats.

From my multiplied experiments, I find much discri-
mination is essential in reference to chemical solutions,
as steeps for various seeds. I have " Blue Moscow
barley," which has tillered into twenty -five sterna from
seeds steeped in a particular chemical solution; and

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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

' ' mummy wheat' ' which displays sivteen stems, by being
similarly treated. On tha other hand, kidney beans,
after being steeped 31 hours in a solution of phosphate
of ammonia, entirely perished. Flax seed was steeped
for 28 hours in water, phosphate of ammonia, and sul-
phate of ammonia. These all germinated and advanced
in growth, i)ari passu, not the slightest difference being
perceptible. Altringham carrot and Portugal onion
■were steeped for 28 hours in water, sulphate of ammo-
nia, and phosphate of ammonia, and both carrot and
onion seemed essentially invigorated and benefited by
the solution of sulphate of ammonia.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Sept. 12. J. MuKRAY.

AN ESSAY ON THE COMPARATIVE AD-
VANTAGES IN THE EMPLOYMENT OF
HORSES AND OXEN IN FARM WORK.

BY JAMES COWIE,

Of the Mains of Haulkerton, Laurencekirk, N.B.

{From the Journal of the Royal Agricultural
Society.)

PKIZE ESSAY.

This is a subject which has excited some contro-
versy among agriculturists. Lord Kames wrote
elaborately on it, and was at great pains in showing
the superior advantages of employing oxen. His
observations and calculations are not suited in
many respects to the advanced state of husbandry
in oiu- day, however valuable they may have been
three-quarters of a century ago.

The writer of the following essay is situated in a
district of Scotland where oxen are not much used
in farm work ; but he has for several years past been
in the practice of employing them himself ; and in
the hope that his observations may not be unac-
ceptable to his southern brethren, he has presumed
to send them across the Border.

Previously to the discovery of shoeing in the
ninth century, horses' feet having no protection
against the stones and hard ground, and their hoofs
not being so durable as those of oxen, the latter
almost superseded them in field labour. Even up
to the middle of last century, when there were few
made roads, and when consequently, all thorough-
fares were nearly impassable for wheel carriages,
agricultural produce was carried on the backs of
the animals, oxen as well as horses.

It may not be altogether out of place or unin-
teresting here to allude to the plough-team of
former days. The manner of yoking oxen in early
times seems to have been to fasten the draught
gear to the hoi'ns. This barbarous practice extend-
ed even to a modern date. Lord Kames says —
" People differ in the manner of yoking oxen ; in
some places they are yoked to the tip of the horn,
and in some by the root ; these modes are visibly
inconvenient. When an ox di'aws by the shoulder,
like a horse, his head is free, and his motion na-
tural : when yoked by the horns, he lowers his
head to the line of the draught, his posture is
constrained, and his step short ; his neck, indeed,
is strong, but his shoulder is a better fulcrum for

the draught." This is very cool reasoning, cer-
tainly. It was well for the poor brutes that the
policy and interest of the master chanced to l)e
accordant with humanity. Until about the end of
last century, the ordinary collars were not used ; a
sort of stuffed bow was fastened round the neck,
and the single tree lay on the shoulder, to which
were fastened the chains for drawing by. The array
of numbers and apparent strength employ ed in a
plough-team would astonish our modern agricul-
turists. From the earUest times, I presume, up to
about the year 1760, as many as from 12 to 20
oxen, and 6 or 8 horses, would have been engaged
in drawing one plough ; this can be partly ac-
counted for otherwise than by the rude and awk-
ward manner of yoking. Before 1770 very little
breadth indeed of artificial grasses was sown. The
ground was cropped for a succession of years, until
the natural grasses, what we now term weeds, got
thickly and firmly rooted, the growth of which
afforded food during the day in summer for the
animals, and at mid-day the ploughmen pulled
thistles from among the corn for night provender.
In Avinter the horses were allowed about a feed of
oats daily, with oat-straw ; the oxen got the latter
only. While thus poorly fed, the animals had not
strength in the draught, hence the numbers re-
quisite. The farm which I occupy has been
tenanted by my ancestors for many generations.
At the time of the Revolution, my great grand-
father, and his son for many years after that, em-
ployed 12 working horses and 28 working oxen,
one-half of each set being yoked to one plough ; I
now work the same land to better purpose, I pre-
sume, with 6 horses and 2 oxen.

In further discussing this subject, I shall en- \
deavour to treat it in the order pointed out in the
conditions : —

1. The Age and Breed of the Horses and Oxen,
and the time at which they are first put to Work.

Horses in this country are put to work at three
years old ; they are often from the commencement
worked steadily, although it is considered preju-
dicial to their future development. I am not aware
of the breed of the farm-horse in the middle and
northern districts of Scotland being recognised by
any particular name. The most perfect figure of a
draught-horse is that of the Clydesdale breed : he
is distinguished by a short compact body and
strong broad bone, these properties being charac-
teristic of strength and durability.

Oxen are put to work somewhat older than
horses, and they are not at the outset so able for
steady work ; they cannot be depended on before
they are four years old. Our work oxen are bred
principally in the shires of Angus and Aberdeen.
The pecuharities in their figm-e are, a small head,
deep chest, round body, and short legs. The
largest sizes, although frequently selected for work, |
are, I conceive, not the most proper. They have
naturally small bones in comparison with the size
of the body ; hence the strength of the limbs and
the weight of the carcase do not always correspond
in reckoning them as " beasts of burthen." The
weight of my oxen averages about SOOlbs. without
the offal, when fed. Wlien much heavier, I find

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

351

they want activity and endurance; and their feet,
from the additional weight, are more apt to give

U'ay.

2. 'The Condition of Horses and Oxen — the Work
iwrformed by each — and its relative Value-
Nature of the Soil where worked.

In all well and economically managed farming
establishments, due regard is had to the keeping the
horses in good condition. Efficient work can
never be performed by ill-fed, ill-groomed animals.
The ordinary allowance of food to each horse
daily is l61bs. of oats, and as much oat-straw as he
chooses to eat. My oxen get as many turnips as
they can eat. They are fed four times a-day, at 5
A.M., 11 A.M., 6 P.M., and half-past 8 p.m., and at
each time they eat betwixt them 12.'ilbs., being in
all 500 lbs. daily. I often shce the turnips for
them, especially at mid-day, when they have little
time to eat. They never drink any water even in
the hottest days of summer. Both horses and oxen
graze in summer ; I have not ascertained which of
them require the most grass.

In regard to the work performed relatively by
horses and oxen, I should say that, except in frost,
when the land cannot be ploughed, the amount and
value of the work performed by each are equal.
Many people who work oxen keep 4, and
work each pair only one-half of the day. This is a
most expensive system, and were a good selection
of the oxen to be made, is quite unnecessary. I
never keep more than 2 at one time, and they work
10 hours a-day, as steadily all the year over, except
in frost, as the horses, and keep in perfectly good
condition. We often see oxen going very slow and
sluggardly at work ; when well trained, and of a pro-
per breed and size, they will step out as well and as
fast as horses, mine do so. At a late ploughing-
match in the district, where upwards of 70 ploughs
started, my ox team was second oft' the field. The
average period when frost prevents ploughing may
be stated at six weeks. During this time, except
in the thrashing-mill, oxen are unemployed. The
horses are then engaged in carting dung, earth, &c.
By calculating the work of the pair of horses, with-
out the man's wages, as worth 6s. a-day, and allow-
ing £1 l6s. as the value of the thrashing-mill work
performed by the oxen during frost, we have the
sum of £9 standing against the latter. It Avill not
do to listen to statements ]iartly sjieculative and
hypothetical, about the capabilities of oxen for
drawing wheel-carriages ; it is enough for our pur-
pose at present to know that they are not so em-
ployed ; they are, in the time of frost at all events,
unsuited for such a purpose.

The soil best fitted for oxen to tread on is that
which is dry and most free from stones. My farm is
composed of both clay and black soil, some of the
former of which is rather wet, but there are very few
stones anywhere. My oxen, although unshod, and
working as I have said steadily, never get the least
lame, or suffer in the shghtest in their feet. On
another farm, however, which I occupy, where the
soil is more of a clayey nature, and somewhat wet
and stony, the hoofs of the oxen wore, and became
tender, and rendered them unfit for steady work.
<A,ttempts have been made to shoe them in such cir-

cumstances, but the experiment seldom proved sa-
tisfactory. The conclusion to which I have come is,
that oxen cannot by any management or precaution
be profitably employed on wet or stony soil.

3. The Cost of Maintenance and Farriery of each
Pair of Horses and Oxen, including the separate
Charge of Manayement.

A horse getting 16 lbs. of oats daily will eat in
seven months (the period he requires grain) about
10^ quarters, which in value amounts to nine
guineas. A horse wears 5 or 6 sets of shoes annu-
ally, which cost 185.; other 5s. Avill be allowance
enough for medicine.

In regard to the cost of maintaining working oxen
on green food, such as turnips, I have to remark,
that the price of that article varies according to the
locality where it is grown. I shall reckon the price
or value of the ton of turnips at 10s., being the ave-
rage in an inland district. I have repeatedly ascer-
tained, both now and formerly, the exact quantity
of turnips which oxen eat, and find that two daily
consume about SOOlbs. being at the rate of a ton in
four and a half days, or 47 tons in seven months
(the time they require turnips), which in value
amounts to £23 10s. I make no calculation on the
cost of straw. I believe the quantity eaten by a
horse and ox to be about equal. The charge of
management of horses and oxen is the same. One
man has the charge of a pair; and all must be
groomed and otherwise attended to alike.

4. The Cost or presumed Value of each Pair of
Horses and Oxen with their Gear, when put to
work, and their Value at the end of the Com-
parison.

A pair of farm-horses, four years old, suitable for
all kinds of work, can be bought for £56, Their
gear or harness, including the cost of keeping it
in repaii-, amounts to 25s. yearly. Should no acci-
dent occur, a horse will last twelve years, at the end
of which time he is worth about £6. Including the
difference between the original purchase and vlti-
mate selling price, together with interest the sum of
£3 10s. is thus lost annually on each horse. There
should be added to this at least 30s. to cover acci-
dents and deaths,

A pair of oxen, four years old, costs £26, The
last pair which I bought cost £24, They have
worked regularly for four years, and I am now
feeding them for slaughter. I expect to get about
£30 for them. They work one day a week at the
thrashing-mill which does not seem to retard their
feeding. I would therefore calculate that no actual
loss will be sustained on oxen from the time of
their being bought and sold. The cost of gear, in-
cluding keeping in repair, costs 10s. annually.

The account of the different items stands thus :— >
Expenditure, S)-c. on a working horse yearly.

£ s. d.

To lOi quarters of oats at ISs 9 9 0

To deterioration in value, interest on out-
lay, losses by accidents and death . . 5 0 0
To shoeing and medical attendance. ... 1 3 0
To furnishing and repairing gear 1 5 0

£16 17 Q

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352

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Expenditure, c^c. on a working ox yearly.

£ s. d.

To 23§ tons of turnips at 10s. per ton. . 11 15 0

To furnishing and repairing gear 0 10 0

To loss on his work during frost 4 10 0

To interest on purchase price 0 15 0

£17 10 0

In the above table, I have calculated the oats
given to the horses at the market price ; but the
cleanings and inferior grain, which cannot be
otherwise disposed of, constitute a considerable
portion of their food, and thus the cost on this
item can be reduced ; otherwise the figures above
so nearly correspond, that it rests with the par-
tiahty of parties whether they shall employ horses
or oxen, or partly both. For my own part, after
duly considering the matter, and after the expe-
rience of a number of years, I should give the
preference to employing horses exclusively. They
are ready at all times for all kinds of work ; in
wet or frosty weather they can be employed in
carting, and in leading the crop in harvest they are
invaluable and indispensable, whUe at these times
the oxen are " eating the bread of idleness."

Having formerly employed both horses and
oxen rather largely in farm labour when residing
in Germany, my experience would lead me to use
the former solely on road work, and the latter in
the field, but coupled \vith the observation that it
must be clay land j for, on light soils, I am con-
vinced that horses will do the work more satis-
factorily than oxen, and quite as cheaply, unless
the farm contains a large portion of rough pasture.
J. French Burke.

STEWPONEY FARMERS' CLUB.

At the eighth monthly meeting of the Stewponey
Farmers' Club; Mr. John Robins in the chair.
Amongst the company vv^ere J. H. H. Foley, Esq.,
Messrs. Shutt, G. Thompson, H. W. Baker, &c.
The subject for the evening's discussion was "The
best management of Hedges ;" and Mr. G. Tliomp-
son, being called upon by the chairman, read the
following paper : —

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, — The question
wliich I have undertaken to introduce for your
discussion is " The best Management of Hedges ;"
and the subjects for our consideration are — "The
relative expense between annual trimming, and
periodical plashing ; the proper shape and form of
trimming, and the quality of fence obtained by such
method." Believe me, I am fully impressed with adue
senseof the importance of the subject, and of my ina-
bUity to do thatjusticeto it whichit certainly demands;
for, although this particular question cannot be
said to be of equal importance with some others
which have been so ably dealt with at our previous
meetings, yet it should be remembered that it is
only by a comjilete knowledge of each respective
department that a perfect system of agriculture
can be carried out. Hence, it is not so much

with, reference to the intrinsic importance of this
question especially, as to that of its inseparable
connection with others of far greater moment,
that I feel the responsibility of my position. Still
I may be permitted to state that good fences,
next to suitable buildings, machineiy, and im-
plements are indispensable to the profitable manage-
ment of the land ; they are not only necessary to
the protection of crops from live stock, but to
the prevention of waste in produce. On all
farms where cattle and sheep are pastured, the
security and comfort which good fences give, both
to the farmer and the animals themselves, must
be evident to all. I think it wiU be readily ad-
mitted that no department of agricultural manage-
ment is attended Avith greater loss and perplexity
than the existence of bad or imperfect fences ;
and although great improvement has been made in
the cultivation of the land, in the bi-eeding and
keeping all kinds of live stock ; yet, if the fences
are bad, it is difficult to estimate the extent
of loss which miist inevitably be sustained. In-
deed, I should imagine no question can possibly
arise in the mind of the practical agriculturist
as to the necessity of efficient and economical
fences; and the object of his anxiety must be
how best to obtain this desideratum.

In endeavouring to furnish a few hints with
respect to this subject, I am perfectly aware that
to convince practical individuals of the disadvan-
tages attending systems established by the custom
of ages, and of the advantages attending those
but newly discovered or introduced is, under any
circumstances, a task of some difficulty. Never-
theless, I have the more confidence when I observe
the tacitly expressed desire for improvements,
so manifest in the support given to this and similar
societies; and when I reflect on the wonderful
advancement that has been made in other depart-
ments of agriculture, made where it was once
deemed impossible to effect improvements, and
when I also remember that many of these im-
provements have been applied, and their benefits
seen in the immediate neighbourhood, I feel con-
fident your desire to effect still further improvements
will render you indulgent toAvards me in this
humble attempt to assist in carrying out the
objects you have in view.

Having been engaged by Mr. Foley in the
management of his estates for several years, during
which time I have superintended the formation
and rearing of not less than 13* miles of new
fences, and the conversion of 11^ miles of old
periodically plashed hedges with those annually
trimmed, I am enabled to produce certain data
which will tend to furnish a clear answer to the
first subject for discussion — " The relative expense
between annual trimming and periodical plashing."

Although no allusion is made to the formation
of hedges, in the question propounded for discus-
sion, I think it necessary to inform you that my
remarks apply chiefly to haivthorn, or as they are
commonly termed, quick fences.

In calculating, firstly, the cost of hedges
periodically plashed, I beg to observ^e that the
expense of plashing invariably depends so much
on circumstances, that it would be impossible to

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

353

furnish a price proper for all cases. For instance,
many hedges are composed of materials ill cal-
culated for the purpose, being chiefly formed of
ash, hazel, elder and many other kinds ; some
grow on banks of an immense and most unreason-
able height ; others are half dead and half living
hedges ; all which circumstances have a corres-
ponding effect on the cost of plashing ; but, as far
as my practice has gone, I find I have generally
given lOd. per customary perch of eight yards.

The same circumstances mil also regulate the
periods at which it may be found necessary to
re-plash; judging again from my experience, I
think twelve years would be quite as long as
any hedge should be allowed to grow.

i estimate that one half the ninnber of stakes
would be found in the hedge, but that it %vould be
necessary to purchase hetherings for the whole
length.

Moreover, in order that I may not be thought
too partial, I make no estimate either of the expense
of gapping during the twelve years which the
hedge is supposed to stand ; of the cost of trouse
or dead thorns for imperfect hedges, or of the
carriage of the materials, each of which would
increase the cost of plashed he«iges. The following
is the estimate ujion which my calculation is
founded : —

Labourer for plashing one customary
perch

Eight stakes per perch (one half being
cut out of hedge) 0

Sixteen hetherings per perch 0

d.

0 10

Cost of plashing each perch . . 1 6 J

The average cost of trimming hedges I find
to be |d. per perch per annum, or 9d. for twelve
years — the period for which I have calculated
plashed hedges. Tlius, the absolute saving effected
by the system of annual trimming amounts to
fifty-one per cent. ; in other words, the cost of
trimming annually is more than one half less than
that of periodical plashing.

In order to illustrate the advantages of trimming
more clearly, I have measured the fences on
an arable farm of 116 acres, and I find they
extend to 940 customary perches: if this is
divided by 12 it wiU give 781 perches as the
length of hedging to be plashed on the average
in each year, when the relative cost of the two
systems wiU be as follows ; —

Plashing 782 perches, at Is. 6id. per

perch

Trimming 943 perches, at Jd. per perch

£. s. d.

Hi

3 2 1

Saving ,

By the former method of management, the cost of
hedges on a farm of the size named, for twelve
years, would be £72 12s. 3d. ; by the latter,
£35 7s. 3d. ; being an absolute saving of £3 7s. 5d.
Surely here is a sufficient reason for adopting the
system of annual trimming in preference to that
of plashing.
But the absolute or direct disadvantages are not

the only or the most serious ones attending the lat-
ter system ; for high hedges occasion a material
waste of ground on each side. It is sometimes
urged that high hedges are necessaiy for shelter to
the crops ; but I think this argument must be in-
stantly overthrown, when it is observed that larger
crops are produced on farms with low fences at the
present time, than were raised on them a few years
back, with high hedges ; proving, at least, that low
hedges are not injurious.

At a veiy moderate calculation the loss of ground
on the abo\'e farm would be four acres ; that is to
say, there would be a deficiency in crop occasioned
thereby equal to the average produce of four acres ;
the rent, cost of cultivation, seed sown, and manure
deposited on which, may fairly be estimated at
£20 : all of which would be lost by the extreme
heat and shade alternately operating injuriously
upon the crops, for a considerable breadth on each
side the hedge.

If this £20 is added to the £3 2s. id. previously
estimated, we have £23 2s. id., or, in round num-
bers, £23, as the saving effected on an arable farm
of 1 1 6 acres, by the substitution of annual trimming
for that of periodical plashing in the management
of hedges. I think nothing more need be stated to
show the advantages of the former system.

Closely aUied to this subject is one to which I
feel it necessary to allude ; I mean that of the pro-
priety of trimming all the hedges on a farm. Many
objections are made to this, under the impression
that thorns, or trouse, are necessary for the purpose
of repairing those gaps which are occasionally and
accidentally made. But I am satisfied that the sys-
tem of gapping invariably aggravates the evil it is
intended to prevent; for it is a law of nature,
equally as active in the vegetable as in the animal
world, that the propinquity of decaying matter, and
the prevalence of the noxious effluvia arising there-
from, is in the highest degree pernicious to the
health of a living plant. Consequently every dead
branch which is added to a hedge is actually pro-
ductive of those very gaps which you wsh to pre-
vent.

Not only is the system of gapping prejudicial to
the living portion of a hedge, but it is actually more
expensive than the immediate planting and rearing
of new quick in the gap formed. A dead hedge
will require to be re-made at least once in three
years ; and, as a gap repaired mth dead materials
is only a short line of fence, it is open to the same
arguments as a longer hne. Now the cost of a
strong dead hedge will not be less than 2s. 6d. per
perch; or lOd. per perch per annum; whereas the
cost of planting or rearing new quick will be but
Is. per perch the first year, and about fd. after-
wards, for it is clear that in all inside fences the
quick would only require protection with a few
hurdles, whenever the live stock was in the adjoin-
ing field.

In the case of outside fences an outer dead hedge
may be made to protect the quick until it is reared,
which, with due attention in preparing, cleaning,
&c., may be accomplished in six or seven years,
after which period the dead hedge might be dis-
pensed with, and the original hedge might thus be
kept perfect. It is obvious, therefore., that, as suf-

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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ficient quick may be purchased and well planted
for a perch of fencing at a cost of Is., and after-
wards kept cleaned or trimmed at an annual cost
of f d. — whilst repairing the same perch with dead
hedging woidd involve the triennial outlay of 2s,
6d. — that the most economical course would be to
plant young quick in all gaps. As this course is,
therefore, the least expensive, as well as the most
healthy to the existing hedge, there can be no con-
sistent objection to the annual trimming of every
hedge upon a farm.

I have thus shown the relative cost of the two
systems ; and proved by deduction that the saving
effected on a farm of 116 acres would amount to £23
per annum, or, in the average of cases on common
sized farms, to three times that amount ; an item
by no means to be despised. I have also endea-
voured to show not only that the system of annual
trimming may be apphed to every hedge upon the
farm, but that by planting quick in gaps, instead
of repairing them with trouse, a considerable saving
will be effected.

The next subject is " The proper shape and form
of trimming, and the quality of fence obtained by
such method."

With respect to the proper shape of a trimmed
hedge there can be little question, for the object is,
to induce not only one part, but every part, to grow
vigorously. Now this can only be accomphshed
by opening the sides to the light and air ; if the
bottom horizontal shoots are overhung by others,
they toU soon decay, and become weak and
stragghng; hence, the shape or form of trimming
should obviously be such as to afford not only to
the upper but the lower branches a due proportion
of those indispensable requisites for healthy vege-
tation— light and air. If the two sides are trimmed
coxivexly they will still be open to the above ob-
jections, inasmuch as by this system the bottom
branches must be overgrown ; I think, therefore,
that the nearest approach to a perfectly trimmed
hedge is that of having two straight sides, rising
from a base of proportionate width, to a point at a
l)roportionate height. By this means the very lowest
shoot has an equal chance with the highest.

The dimensions must dejiend very much on cir-
cumstances, as banks vary in height greatly, but I
think bank and hedge need never exceed four feet
in height, as being ample to answer every purpose
of a hedge; the width should certainly not be more
than three feet at the bottom ; thus, the form of
trimming which I recommend would present a co-
nical shape, the base of which would be three feet,
gradually lessening towards the top, and the height
four feet .

In order to afford a better illustration, I have
brought with me three models. No. 1, represent-
ing a hedge that has been trimmed round or con-
vexly ; No. 2, representing one trimmed according
to the plan I recommend, and No. 3, being re-
versed, and the sort of hedge usually seen. It
will be obsei-ved that No. 2 represents a conical
form, the base of which is three feet, and the top
reduced to a fine point : No. 1 is the same height,
and the top of the hedge grows equally vigorous
with the corresponding portion of No. 2; but
from Nos. 1 and 3 being allowed to overgrow, the

bottom branches become decayed and stunted, and
thus that portion which ought to be the most im-
pervious is free to the ingress and regress of all
smaller animals ; whereas in No. 2, the bottom
branches have equal opportunity to grow and
thicken with all other parts of the hedge. The
superior quality of hedge produced by the form
of trimming represented in No. 2 must be evident;
it is alone the form which will insure a firm imper-
vious fence, inasmuch as no other shape mil allow
the bottom branches to grow, for it is not at the
top the strength is required — it is at the bottom,
and if a hedge is wide at the base it must be irre-
sistible to every attempt to break through it, since
in such case it cannot be approached wthout much
difficulty.

I have previously alluded to the pernicious
effects of decaying matter, now here is a striking
instance of it ; for in the hedges Nos, 1 and 3, the
drip trom the overhanging branches encourages
the production of moss and other parasites; the
decay of which, and of the weeds gro\ving up
through the branches, maintains an incessant sup-
ply of noxious effluvia, which frequently produces
a general decay of the hedge in a few years, and
invariably defeats every attempt to have a good
fence.

Having thus disposed of the subjects submitted
for my consideration, I leave them in your hands,
fully convinced that my deficiencies will be amply
supphed by the observations emanating from the more
experienced individuals I see around me. And in
concluding this paper I think I may be allowed to
observe that, however much difference of opinion
may exist as to the best kind, or form of fence,
there cannot be two opinions as to the importance
of having good fences. The expense and anxiety
attending bad fences are very serious ; to have
banks and hedges harbouring vermin; to have
one individual frequently occupied in repairing
hedges, and another as frequently engaged in seek-
ing stray animals ; to have constant inroads made,
and damage sustained, in fields containing grain
or other crops ; and to have (which is not the least
vexatious) the character of a careless manager, are
evils which are invariably attendant upon the ex-
istence of bad fences ; and when, in addition to
all this, it is seen, as I have attempted to prove,
that a good hedge is more economical than a bad
one, there can no longer exist a single reason why
good hedges should not be maintained.

It may be asked whether the system I recom-
mend has borne out the test of trial, and by way
of anticipation, I beg to answer, " It has." Not
only has it been tried extensively, but in every
case where it has been in operation, so far as my
limited practice has extended, it has been pursued
with the greatest pertinacity.

I think then, that a system which is productive
of more efficient fences is economical, and having
the additional recommendation of bearing the
test of experience, will need no further remarks of
mine, to insure, at least, your attention ; if it ob-
tain this, believe me, I shall feel myself amply re-
warded for the little trouble I may have taken in
this humble attempt to illustrate it.

On the conclusion of the reading of the paper,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

and on the termination of tlie conversation on the
subject which ensued, it was ])roposed by Mr.
Shutt, and seconded Ijy Mr. H. W. Baker : —

" That the thanks of this meeting be given to
Mr. Thompson for his very vahiable and interest-
ing essay,

which was unanimously carried. It was after-
wards proposed by J. H. H. Foley, Esq., seconded
by Mr. Robins, and carried unanimously : —

" That hedges cut of a conical shape, kept trim-
med, are easier reared and less expensive than
high hedges, occasionally plashed, and more ad-
vantageous to the gro\\1;h of crops."
" Mr. Foley then stated that the committee of the
Stewponey Agricultural Society had resolved to
accept the terms offered by Mr, Gyde, of Pains-
wick, and agreed that he should be appointed con-
sulting chemist to the society, upon the terms
mentioned in the Farmer's Magazine for May
1844.

ON TREE PLANTING.

Article 2.

To resume the subject at the point where I left
it, page 198, a very few preliminary obsen^ations
only are required. It was stated in the concluding
paragraph that " trees were bad accessories in a
garden !" This fact ought never to be lost sight
of in any situation where crops, whether annual
or more permanent, are to be grown ; for whoever
will take the trouble to observe the effect of hedge-
row trees by the side of a corn field, can scarcely
fail to detect the marked deterioration of the crop,
the arid and miserable condition of the ground
for many yards in advance of every tree.

A great many futile remarks have been made
in books of gardening, upon the danger to the
trees that results from cropping garden fruit-tree
borders ! The reahty of the danger ought to have
been reversed; vegetables add carbon and other
alimentary matters to a soil ; but trees abstract all
the moisture, and impoverish every plant, while
by their shade they interrupt the agencies of solar
light and air, and by their drip they create or at
least promote actual disease : hence we may safely
assert that every standard tree ought to be placed
apart from vegetables ; and wherever it is possi-
ble, and situation is at command, it should be made
to occupy its proper place, namely.

The Orchard,

This indispensable adjunct to every good garden
will form the subject of the present article. By
attending to the calculations here applied to an
orchard of one acre, any clever person can deter-
mine the number of trees and their proper selec-
tion for larger or smaller pieces of ground ; but
on the latter point he ought to consult the locahty
and climate ; because it is quite certain that trees
which will flourish well, and bring rich and remu-
nerative crops in the southern counties, may be
far from prosperous in the northern parts of the
kingdom ; the same precaution will apply to marked
variations of soil and aspect,

A plot of one acre, according to the calculation

of a gentlemen (Mr, Reed, of Chatmoss, Lanca-
shire) who wrote some years since " On Orchard-
inf/, as a means of increasing the produce of small
farms, will comprise '240 trees, jjlanted 11 feet
apart in rows 5^ yards asunder; distances which
would apply well to dwarfs, or small half-stand-
ards ; but too limited for open, tall trees.

By a rule which I formed and made public in
the Domestic Gardeners' Manual, the planting of
an acre with any regular crop may be at once
determined. It is this : "First ascertain the extent
of the area in square yards by multiplying the
length into the breadth ; reduce these yards into
square feet by multiplying by 9, that being the
number of square feet contained in a square yard.
An acre contains 4,840 yards; therefore, the
square feet will be 43,560,

Next determine the distance in feet at which the
trees are to stand, and square the number ; that
is to say, multiply it by itself; divide the total
product by that square number, and the quotient
will indicate the number of trees, &c., which the
piece of land ■will contain, thus :

At 1 foot apart an acre of land will contain 43,560
At two feet — the square of 2 being 4, =

43,560 divided by 4 10,890

At-3 feet the number will equal the square

yards 4,840

At 4 feet, the square being 16, =43,560

divided by 16 2,722

At 6 feet, the square being 36, = 43,560

divided by 36 1,210

and so on according to the spaces required.

The Season of planting must depend a good
deal upon the chmate. In warm and dry soils
over a chalky, or well drained subsoil, the autumn,
at any time between the middle of October and
November, is to be preferred, because the drain-
age, and perfect freedom from low, stagnant water,
secure a genial warmth at bottom, and a sufficient
supply of moisture during winter to assist in the
slow progressive development of, or at least prepa-
ration for, smaU fibrous roots, which will thus be
ready to push at once into the soil at the first
approach of spring weather. But in cold and rainy
climates, the soil reposing upon clay, or some re-
tentive medium, it will be wise to defer planting
till Febi-uary, or the beginning of March, other-
wise the roots, disturbed and wounded by remo-
val, may be chilled, and rendered torpid.

The age of the trees will depend greatly upon
the objects of the planter. If he require speedy
fertility, he should purchase chosen varieties two or
three years old from the graft, with well-formed,
regular heads, consisting of four or five clean
branches. The figiu'e of the trees must also de-
pend greatly upon the ultimate object, Tliose
small open dwarfs which bear abundance of fruit,
conveniently situated for gathering, branch off
within a few inches of the soil, and are particularly
suitable to fruit-gardens in which the soil is always
kept clean, and turned by the spade. In a word, it
would be a great improvement in horticulture to se-
parate all the departments, so as to keejD the vegetable
garden purely as such, free from trees of any de-
scription, excepting those upon the ^yalls, The

356

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

fruit garden, of the finer varieties of pears, apples,
plums, and cherries, \vould then be near at hand,
and preserve its character, uninterfered with by the
deep tillage required by vegetable culture ; and
aU the borders might be occupied by the best
berry-bearing fruit-shrubs. This subject will be
hereafter duly noticed.

Tall or open standards ought to be planted thirty
feet asimder ; such trees as George Lindley tells
us " should be clean, young, and healthy ; their
stems should be straight, and their heads should
consist of not less than three, nor moi'e than four
branches, equal in strength, and regularly placed.
These wll be sufficient to form the prin-
cipal limbs for the support of the largest heads
that can be required." — Guide to Orchards, 8fc.

The intermediate tree or half standard, which
rises with a single clean stem of about a yard or
four feet, appears to me to combine everything
desirable for convenience and ample fertility. Such
trees can ultimately support a head radiating ten
feet in every direction, and therefore can be
planted in distances not more remote than twenty
or twenty-one feet, which will permit the growth
of excellent clover and pasture grass for many
years ; a circumstance extremely desirable, as I
have experienced in the stall-feeding of milch coivs.

Choice of Trees. — In planting an orchard for
purposes of domestic economy, the apple tree is
exclusively considered in the present article ; all
other fruit trees — even the pear — being more
properly referred to the fruit _ garden. The
varieties of the apples really required are few, and
these are restricted almost entirely to such as
will keep long in a good fruit room; for as to
summer apples, they are things of mere fancy and
little utUity. The descriptions of character and
quality are taken from " Lindley's Guide," as an
authority which, it appears to me, may be generally
trusted for its accuracy.

1. Keswick Codlin, — ^This is not a long keeper,
but its fertility is amazing, and a few trees will
furnish an ample supply of a fruit peculiarly ex-
cellent for the kitchen, or dessert. It is described
thus at No. 56 of " Lindley's Guide," which also
teUs us that, whoever as a landlord plants it, may
be truly deemed a cottager's friend.

" Fruit pretty large, somewhat irregularly
formed, having a few obtuse ribs extending from
the base to the crown, which is obtusely pentangu-
lar. Eye rather large and deep; stalk short, deeply
inserted, not protruding beyond the level of the
base ; skin pale yellow, a little tinged with blush
on the sunny side ; Jlesh pale yellow ; juice
plentiful — subacid." Season, September to No-
vember. "Its young fruit may be gathered for
tarts in the month of June, when scarcely any
other young apple is fit for use," I have seen
litle trees actually obtrne to the earth by the load
of hundreds of fruit.

2. Ribstone Pippin, or Formosa Pippin. — Eye
rather small, with a closed calyx ; stalk half an
inch long, slender ; skin pale yellow, russetty in
the crown and round the stalk, and motled thinly,
with dull red on the sunny side ; flesh pale yeUow,
firm, crisp ; juice saccharine, Avith a pungent, rich,
and delicious aromatic flavour, A dessert apple from

October till April, but it is generally in its greatest
perfection when it has been gathered a month or
sLx weeks. — Lindley's Guide, 155.

Experience instructs that the espalier suits this
tree admirably, and that the fruit is better and
more abundant than it is on standards.

3. Winter, or old Pearmain. — A dessert apple
from November till March. Fruit middle-sized,
tapering a little from the base to the crown ; eye
small, and closed by the short segments of the
calyx ; stalk short, slender, protruding a little
beyond the base ; skin a grass green, with a httle
colour of a lively red on the sunny side, interspersed
with a few dark specks ; flesh pale green, firm and
crisp,

AVhen finely grown this is one of the best
flavoured favourite old apples,

4. Downton Hall Gillifloioer. — Some years ago,
I received a parcel of cuttings from the late Mr.
Knight, of his truly valuable Downton Nonpareil,
and among them one or two labelled with the
above title. Being grafted in the rind (crown
grafted), of a small Siberian Crab stock, I ob-
tained one fine dwarf standard. Its branches and
shoots are slender, in some cases rather bare of
spurs, but being very numerous, they produce
abundance of fruit, and at this time mine are
weighed almost to the ground by the burden.

The apple is about three inches long, two inches
wide at the base, tapering a little towards the eye,
thus somewhat resembling the Pearmain, Skin
a yellowish green, when ripe tinted a full red,
inchning to brownish on the sunny side ; flesh
firm, rich, aromatic. It ajipears to keep and re-
main sound till May. I meet mth no description
of it, but judge it one of the best store apples
which we possess.

5. Norfolk Beaufin, is perhaps a more valuable
apple when true to its character, than the Downton
Hall GiUiflower ; it is an admirable keeper, from
November till May and June, and suflfers no dete-
rioration ; but, so far as we have seen, it is not a
very free bearer, Lindley thus describes it : —
Fruit i)retty large, of a somewhat irregular flattish
figure, about three inches in diameter, two-and-a-
half, or three-quarters deep ; eye large, deep, sur-
rounded by irregular plaits; stalk half an inch
long, fleshy, deeply inserted; skin deep green,
with a lively red nearly round the fruit, but deepest
on the sunny side ; flesh very firm.

Many thousands of these apples are dried by the
bakers in Norwich annually, and sent in boxes as
presents to all parts of the kingdom.

6. Old Nonpareil. — Fruit under middle size, flat,
broadest at the base. Eye very small, prominent
or very slightly depressed ; stalk an inch long ;
skin Avhen fully ripened, greenish yeUow, shghtly
coated with light I'usset, occasionally where exposed
to the sun of a reddish brown ; flesh very firm and
crisp ; juice not plentiful, but of a most singularly
rich, poignant, aromatic flavour. One of our most
admired dessert apples, in its greatest perfection
from Christmas to Lady-day." — Lindley's Guide,
No. 175.

An excellent companion, or even substitute for
this fine old fruit tree, is Mr. Knight's Downton
Nonpareil j it is a flatter apple, more green, and

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

357

less nissety. Grafted upon stocks raised from seeds
of the Siberian Crab, I find in at early and profuse
bearer on very small espaliers or dwarfs. In the
present year, the long-continued period of dry
weather and hot sun has brought the fruit pre-
maturely forward, as I found it nearly ripe on the
l'2th of September.

7. French Crab, or rather the Easter Pippin, of
the Catalogue No. 33. Fruit about two inches
and a quarter deep, two-and-a-half in diameter,
someAA'hat globular, without any angles ; sMn
rather thick, deep, clear green, wth numerous
white dots interspersed, on the sunny side shaded
u'ith a pale livid brown, but the whole becomes
)-ellow with keeping. Lindley adds : — " It is a
most valuable fruit, of great specific gra\nty, a
most hardy tree, an abundant bearer, and keeps
longer than any other apple I have ever met with.
I had some perfectly sound, and very fine fruit of
it in March, 1822, which were grown in 1820 : the
colour was then a pale orange."

It were very easy to multiply, and recommend
varieties, but the above selection comprises every
essential, and may be made to supply the table, the
cuhnary department, and even the cider-press — to
say nothing of the market, which might, after all, be
most desirable for the industrious gardener. Tnxe
it is that apples sell for little ; the price, owing to
the importation of foreign fruit, being greatly re-
duced. However, the Ribstone and Nonpareil
command the highest prices in the trade ; and all
the other sorts are exceedingly useful and avail-
able. Another circumstance should be borne in
mind : foreign apjiles cannot compete with our o^vn
in point of quality, and this circumstance alone will
always be in favour of the English orchardist.

Further remarks on the mode of planting and
conducting the trees to their maturity must be de-
ferred to another opportunity.

Sep. 12, 1844. J. ToWERS.

EPIDEMIC AMONGST CATTLE.

Thefollowing statement of a peculiar disease among cat-
tle in the neighbourhood of Wotton under Edge, Glouces-
tershire, is extracted from an article in this month's num-
Ijer of the Veterinarian, written by Mr. J. Howell, V.S.,
of Wickwar, and is an additional proof of the imperative
need thit exists for such a society as that which has been
established in London for the protection of the farmer
by insurance, and which is now spreading its beneficial
operations throughout the kingdom — we mean the
"Farmers' and Graziers' Mutual Cattle Insurance
vssociation" : —

"It was requisite," Mr. Howell says, "to visit a
tarm -house for the purpose of examining a dead cow,
which was supposed to have died from poison ; two
others having died the week previous, and five more
being taken ill. The symptoms observable in those that
were ill were a pecuUar dulness, dimness of the eye,
arched back, coat a little starmg, and a disinclination to
move. _ These were all the symptoms observable for per-
haps eight or twelve hours, when there was a trembling
of the muscles of the neck and shoulders, with a difficulty
of breathing and slight enlargement of the throat, fre-
quent lying down, placing of the nose on the left side,
wlien they would stretch out and die without a struggle,

perhaps within two hours after the trembling fit. As
the cows were supposed to be suffering from vegetable
poison, I made a very careful examination of the con-
tents of the stomach, but failed m detecting anything
of an injurious character.

" This last week I have been called in to the adjoining
farm to see the cows there, some of which have died in
a similar way, with this difference, that there appears to
be more difficulty of breathing just before death, and the
disease is more fatal, eight out of fourteen having al-
ready died. In some of them the disease cut them oft'
in two hours after they were taken ill.

" The opinion I have given is, that the disease of the
spleen is the cause of death ; that it is brought on by the
long-continued hot and dry summer, the blood having
become vitiated in quality, congestion of the spleen
following, and rupture and death.

RHINS OF GALLOWAY FARMERS' CLUB,

Mr. M'Bride, the secretary, read a letter from
the Earl of Stair, approving of the proposition to
get Professor Johnston to give some lectures on
agriculture, in Stranraer ; and promising to con-
tribute to the sum necessary for the purpose.

Subject for discussion — The breeding and crossing
of Cattle.

Mr. M'Bryde stated that he regretted that Mr.
Crawford, Culhorn, who had undertaken to intro-
duce the subject of the evening, was unable to at-
tend from a cold with which he had been attacked.
He had a valuable communication from him, which
he would lay before the meeting; but meantime he
begged to make a few remarks on the manner in
which the various points embraced in the question
of breeding and crossing were envolved. He would
therefore suggest that the club should consider
this very important subject in the following order :
— 1st. We ought to give the aboriginal breed of the
district — viz., the Galloways — the preference in the
discussion, and maturely and attentively consider
their various qualities. 2nd. We ought to consider
the various qualities of the Ayrshire breed. 3rd,
To take up the very important subject of crossing
■with the short-horns, as recommended by his
Lordship the Earl of Stair — a recommendation
which he trusted every one present would give his
very best attention, since it is quite obvious, not
only from the convincing remarks in his Lord-
ship's letter, but from the experience of some
breeders of short-horn crosses in the district, that
a race of animals can in this way be produced pos-
sessing the very superior advantages of unrivalled
aptitude to fatten, and rapid growth, vastly superior
to the other breeds in the district already refeiTed
to. And, lastly, to consider the points which
should characterize those animals to be selected for
the purpose of breeding ; the proper ages in both
sexes to commence breeding ; and how our cattle
ought to be reared from birth upwards, so as to
produce the greatest amount of prime beef, at the
least expense and in the shortest time. Such is
the order in which he would humbly propose to
consider the subject of the improvement of our
breeds of cattle ; and he trusted that all who had

858

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

any experience in this primary branch of agricul-
tural economy would not hesitate to come forward
and contribute freely his mite to the general infor-
mation of the club.

The secretary then proceeded to read the follow-
ing communication from Mr. Cra^vford : —

The subjects proposed for discussion will require
a good deal of investigation, so as to collect and
bring together the practical experience of various
eminent breeders and agriculturists, and the re-
sults of their practice peing placed, as it were in
juxta-position with our own ideas, we shall be led
to see more clearly wherein success lies.

I am not sufficiently instructed in the method in
which the subject of breeding is to be disciissed, so
as to enable me to offer many remarks — that is, I
am not aware whether it is confined to the breeding
of neat cattle, or for the dairy, or both. Purity of
Hood, however, in either cases is, in my opinion, of
the utmost importance in the first instance (and it
would be beautiful to see a herd of cattle of all the
various breeds, each exhibiting the pecuhar charac-
teristics of its family or breed) ; because, until we
have an animal or a breed of animals whose pecu-
liarities are so impressed on that particular breed
that these shall invariably appear in its progeny, it
cannot with propriety be said to be well bred ; and
the results of breeding from such a stock would, in
all probability, be the production of unequal ani-
mals, which, in every point of view, is anything
but desirable.

In breeding for the dairy, the " Kyloes" have
now the preference to every other breed. This
superiority they have no doubt attained by judici-
ous selection and breeding exclusively from such
animals as secreted the most milk, as well as by
preser^'^ing experimental observations. Good
judges can now pretty accurately ])oint out a good
dairy cow from the development of certain points
in her conformation. But whether other breeds of
cattle might not be as profitably used in the dairy
as " Kyloes," has never, so far as I am aware, been
distinctly proved. The same attention has not
been paid in selecting such as secrete most milk
either among the " Galloways" or perhaps the
" short-horns" — these breeds being more generally
reared for the shambles. The late John Earl of
Stair, however, had here, previous to his death, a
stock of dairy cows, of the Galloway breed, said to
be fully equal to the best " Kyloes" in their milking
properties, and certainly much superior in pro-
ducing good stock for the Enghsh market. I have
no doubt some of the farmers of the present day
may recollect the late Earl John's stock, and know
that his cattle were much prized in the Smithfield
market and elsewhere. I have been at some httle
trouble to learn the original breed of his Lordship's
cows, and find that they possessed a little foreign
blood, at least part of them. My informant says
that when his Lordship started his daiiy, he got a
red polled cow from England — ^lie thinks from some
part of Yorkshire. Tliis cow was put to a Galloway
bull, and her oflFspring was a quey (colour, white).
At two years old this quey was again put to a Gallo-
way bull, and her oflPspring was a quey calf (colour,
grey). At two years old this quey was also put to
Galloway bull, and her oiFspring was a quey calf

(colour, also grey) ; but what was most remarkable,
this coiv never had any milk, and her calf was fed
from another cow. A part of Lord Stair's dairy
cows were thus bred from the red polled cow, by a
pure Galloway bull ; their colour was universally
grey ; they were excellent milkers, %vith the excep-
tion above noticed, and bred very superior stock.
The red cow was said to be of the Dutch or Holstein
breed — sometimes distinguished as the Teeswater,
and more generally as the Durham or " short-
horn."

Tire narration of this fact may be interesting to
the members of your club, particularly as I under-
stand the introduction of short-horned cattle is to
be spoken of by members of the club. But it will
show that the success of the experiment was de-
rived from the introduction of a female animal ra-
ther than a male, and which mode of introducing
foreign blood into any breed of cattle I am more
inclined to advocate than by using male animals if
I am inclined to improve a breed ; that is, by
merely taking one cross and thence breeding back
into the original stock ; but were I intending to
change my breed, or rather the character of it, so
that it might exhibit more of the peculiarities of
the breed with which I might choose to cross than
its own, then I would select a well bred male ani-
mal of the latter class, whatever that might be, and
breed back into that cross by the male side, and
thus impress his pecuharities on the oiFspring. I
am quite of opinion, however, that our native Gal-
loways would be much more profitably improved
by the' former method than by the latter; but first
of all let us have them in their purity. They are
an exceedingly ^'aluable breed of animals — weU
adapted to the climate and pasturage of this coun-
try. And although inferior in size to the short or
long-horned breeds of cattle, they are inferior to
none in other more essential properties ; therefore,
why change them ? Rather let us improve them,
and in doing so take our foreign blood from the
female and not the male.

Mr. A. M'Lean, Auchneel, said it was clear
that the progeny partook more of the character of
the male than of the female. There was scarcely a
true-bred Galloway stock in the Rhins. He scarcely
thought that crossing would improve that stock.
They should get some of the true breed from
other districts. He approved of the plan of put-
ting a Galloway buU to a short-horned heifer.

Mr. M'MicKAN of Mark, thought the mixture
with the short-horned would improve the bone.

Mr. M'Bride said he had a three-year-old, the
produce of a Galloway bull and a short-horned
cow, and it was by far the best animal in his pos-
session. The cross between the short-horned bull
and the Galloway cow had not succeeded with him.
Mr. Cochrane, Craigcaffie, said that if the
Galloways were properly managed, they were as
good a breed as any, and sold best in the Enghsh
market as lean cattle,

Mr. Harkness concurred in the propriety of
the proposed cross. What he had seen at Logan
showed what could be done with Galloways stall-
fed. There were two two-year-olds there, each of
which would weigh 50 stones.
With respect to the Ayrshire breed, Mr. Gal-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

359

BRAiTH, of Aird^ thought that they would be best
improved by good feeding. The smaller the bone
and the finer, the better milkers they were ; and
the fine beast fattened most easily. The best dis-
trict for fine Ayrshires was about Dairy. For feed-
ing, the cross between the short-horned bull and
the Ayrshire cow was the best.

Mr. M'MiCKAN said that a feeling was prevalent
among faiuners that Ayrshire stock paid l^est.

Mr. Cochrane said that on early soils they
rose too much into bone. The best cattle both for
milking and feeding were reared on late soils.

Mr. Galbraith concurred with Mr. Cochrane.
Cows bred in this district do not milk so well as
those bred in Ayrshire on late lands.

Mr. G, Guthrie said that the finest breed of
Galloways was to be found in the lower district of
the county ; and the great point was to keep stock
of such a breed.

Mr, Cochrane said that it did not answer in
this county to breed from the Ayrshire bull and
cow. If the farmer wished to breed lean stock, a
Galloway bull should be kept ; if fat stock, a Tees-
water bull.

Mr. Guthrie said that he knew that in the
lower district several of the most experienced far-
mers intended to part mththe half of their Ayrshire
stock, and to cross with the Teeswater bull. The
most profitable system was to unite the dairy with
rearing and feeding.

After some desultory conversation, the following
resolutions were proposed for farther consideration
at the next meeting of the Club : —

1. That the Galloway stock of the Rhins dis-
trict, with few exce2)tions, has been deteriorated by
indiscriminate crossing with other breeds ; and that
it is desirable that those who profess to keep
Galloway stock should endeavour to restore its
purity.

2. That in crossing between the Galloway and
short-horn, it is recommended to put the Galloway
hull to the short-horn cow, rather than the short-
horn bull to the Galloway cow ; and to breed back
to the Galloway stock, where the object is to retain
the Galloway breed, impressing on it some of the
qualities peculiar to the short-horn.

3. That in good lowland farms Ayrshire stock is
to be preferred, while in the higher land and in the
poorer districts the native Galloways should be im-
proved and continued.

4. That it is not desirable to breed Ayrshire
stock for the dairy in early soils of this district, but
rather to keep up the stock from the higher dis-
tricts of Ayrshire; and for the purpose of rearmg
and feeding, the club recommend the Ayrshire cow
to be crossed with the short-horned bull. They are
also of opinion that it is a safe system to combine
rearing and feeding with the dairy.

Mr. Senior, of Stalbridge, has a number of fine cattle
down with the epidemic, or pleura pneumonia. Heaven
knows that the farmer needs no aggravation of the ills
under which he is labouring, and we therefore strongly
advise him to seek a shelter where there is a refuge, and
we know of none better than the availing himself of the
safe principle of insurance. The advantage of local
clubs, so much in vogue in some counties, we doubt.
Their benefit at least is but problematical, and when well
managed are only chandler-shops, calculated for the cot-
tager and the labourer, whose necessities compel them,
when the funds of the club are drawn upon, to carry
round the begging-box, to enhance its capital; but a
general insurance for the whole kingdom, by amalga-
mating risks, is undoubtedly the most economical, res-
pectable, and the safest. To such an one we are happy
to be able to point. The " London Mutual Cattle In-
surance Association" has started upon that prhiciple.
This Society not only insure against death by all diseases,
but admit to protection, accidents, at a rate which the
majority of the cow clubs, notwithstanding their inse-
curity, require for only a partial insurance. — Sherborne
Mercury.

ON STIFLE BURNING.

INFLUENZA AMONGST CATTLE.— The epi-
demic which has for the last two or three years principally
prevailed among the cattle in the northern and midland
counties, still continues with undiminished rigour, and
is daily becoming more extensive in its progress. Seve-
ral sudden and severe cases have occun-ed in our county.

At the annual meeting of the Wiltshire Agricul-
tural Society, held at Devizes, Mr. W. R. Browne,
alluding to the condition of the agricultural la-
bourers in Wiltshire, as compared with that of the
labourers in some other counties, stated the average
rate of wages in Wilts to be between 7s. and 8s.
a week, and showed that, while there was a great
redundancy of labourers, there were about 87,000
acres of uncultivated land in the county. He con-
tended that if this land were, as it might be, brought
into cultivation, the wages of the labourer would
be raised and his condition greatly improved, the
poor-rates of the county, which now average 3s.
in the pound, one shilling above the average of
England, would be diminished, and the welfare
and happiness of all placed on a firmer basis.
Mr. Browne referred, in proof of his assertion,
that the waste lands he had alluded to were reclaim-
able, to the southern part of the county, where
Mr. Brown, of Winterborne Stoke, and Mr. S.
Mills, of Elston, had made the experiment, and
had been amply repaid by the improved condition
of their labourers, and the increased value of their
property. In looking round the northern part of
the county, he could not help thinking that great
advantages would accrue to every class in society,
by attention to this subject, and that thousands
of acres which were now lying waste, might be
successfully brought into cultivation. He agreed
in everything that had been said relative to the
allotment system; but still labour was wanted,
and he did a great good who found that labour.

Mr. Mills corroborated the statement of Mr,
Browne, and observed —

" As his name had been alluded to, as having
converted some unprofitable soil to a good purpose,
he would state that he had adopted the plan, in
the first -place, for the benefit of the labourer,
as it was the labourer who received the first profit
in this case ; but it had also proved of great advan-
tage to himself, and also to the labourers through-
out the county. During the last year, larger num-

360

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

bers of labourers came to him from diflPerent parts,
and, in consequence of the Uttle demand there had
been for them in the hay season, still larger num-
bers had come to him during the present year,
and he had scarcely refused work to a single indi-
vidual He had of late adopted the system of
stifle burning, and this by mere chance, A man
m his employ, who had come from a neighbour-
hood where it had been in operation, strongly
recommended it. He consented to try it upon a
piece of five acres ; but, before that was burned,
he was so well satisfied of its advantages, that he
ordered it to be tried on 80 acres. Those 80 acres
had been valued by a highly respectable surveyor
at the annual rate of l8rf. per acre. After the
piece had been submitted to stifle burning, crops
of turnips and oats had been grown, that could
not be exceeded on land /or which 3l. an acre ivas
given.

"The process of stifle burning is commenced
by pulverising the land in the usual manner, namely,
harroM^ng and rolling ; so that the dead vegetable
matter contained in the soil, as stvibble, couch,
or any kind of weeds, may be cleared of the mould
as much as possible. When all this is sufficiently
dry, it is collected together by men or boys with
iron rakes, into heaps at equal distances, the more
readily to spread the ashes and burned soil. A
small wad of dry straw is then added to each heap,
and the earth is raked up over the heaps a few
inches in thickness, before they are fired. No
blaze or flame is suffered to escape, and not much
smoke. The current of air being in some degree
checked by the covering of earth, it becomes
necessary to use from half a ton to a ton per acre
of some sort of dry straw ; that generally used is
wheat straw. The last part of the process is
spreading the heaps equally over the land. The
whole is executed by men who travel from farm
to farm for the purpose, at a cost of from 8s. to 14s.
per acre."

It is right to observe that our correspondent has
not yet given the process a trial, as this is the first
year of its extensive use in the southern part of
the country. The turnip crop, too, has so gene-
rally failed (no matter what the preparation may
have been), that it would not be fair to judge of
the merits of the plan ])y the results of this sea-
son alone. Our correspondent adds —

" I must say that I look at the system with some
distrust, doubting if it can be safe and prudent to
destroy all the vegetable matter contained in the
soil, as this matter, if suffered to remain, Avould
become food for other vegetables for a succession
of years. For the sake of one good crop to render
the land comparatively sterile for several succeed-
ing years, is to kill the goose that laid the golden

egg."

Without professing to any practical knowledge
on the subject, but simply looking at the statements
of Mr. W. R. Browne and Mr. Mills, that waste
and unproductive land had been made equal to
land valued at three pounds per acre ; and that,
to use the language of more than one correspond-
ent who has tried the system, and whose letters
are now before us, the plan has given an immense
increase of work to the agricultural labourers (its

principal recommendation in our estimation), we
cannot help expressing our fervent desire that the
suggestion of Mr. Browne will receive the attention
which it deserves.

We need hardly say that we shall be happy to
receive any communications which will furnish
additional information on this interesting subject.

ACCOUNT OF EXPERIMENTS ON IRRI-
GATION ON A LIMITED SCALE.

BY MR. JOHN WILSON, EASTFIELD, PENICUIK.
MID-LOTHIAN.

(From, the Journal of the Highland Agricultural
Society.)

The first field experimented upon in irrigation
contains about one-and-a-half acre imperial mea-
sure, which was lying a few years ago in a state
little better than useless. From its proximity to
the farm-steading, it had for many years been used
as a park for the calves, which were reared upon
the farm for a few weeks, imtil they were weaned
and put to other pasture. But, as a proof of its
great sterility, when we entered to the farm at
Whitsunday, 1839, we put two calves into it in the
month of June, and were obhged to take them out
two or three weeks afterwards, as it did not grow
as much grass as to support them . Its herbage
was of the coarsest desciiption ; and, although in
a sheltered situation, much of the ground was
unswarded, and stunted heather was beginning to
shew itself upon some of the driest parts, while a
few straggling rushes wore a sickly appearance
upon those parts which were saturated with wet.

In January 1840, we tiu'ned it over with a plough,
and found the soil to be much inchned to moss,
especially in the lower part of the park. It ap-
peared as if it had been burned at some former
period, as the soil was partly mLxed with ashes.
In the lower part of the park the subsoil is a stiff'
gravelly clay, while across the middle it becomes
hard and stony, and is only covered with a few
inches of surface; from this part a large quantity
of mineral water flowed, and left a brown ochry
sediment on the surface ; nearer the top the soil
is a dark-coloured earth about six inches deep,
and the subsoil a fine clay. We sowed it with
oats in the spring ; and, excepting a small space
at the upper end of the park, it was a very poor
crop. We furrow-drained it in autumn, and planted
it mth potatoes in the spring following, with farm-
yard manure at the rate of about 25 cubic yards
per acre ; the crop was middhng good, being about
28 bolls, or 7 tons per acre. We then ploughed it
into ridges about IS feet broad, to answer the de-
clivity. In the following spring we spread upon
it the small quantity of about 10 bolls, or GO bush-
els, of lime shells, per acre, and harrowed them in
with the oats and grass seeds. Perennial rye-grass
of excellent quality, which had been cut after the
nineteenth year, and a few poimds of red and
white clover, were the only seeds so'wn ; the crop
of oats was middling good, being about 7 bolls

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

361

or 42 bushels, per acre ; but the sward of grass
in autumn was far from luxuriant. ,

We applied the water to it in the month of No-
venibei', which was done in the following manner :
— A small rill, which has its source from a few
drains at a little distance, had trickled hy the
steading for a great length of time, without being
used for any other purpose than to afford drink
to cattle : for which purpose, at times, from the
smallness of the run, it was scarcely sufficient.
During wet weather, however, in the winter season,
it sometimes swelled to a considerable size ; and
as it then brought the washings of the farm road
along with it, from a distance of about 300 yards,
we thought it might be turned to some useful pur-
pose in irrigation. We were in the habit of col-
lecting all the urine from the offices into a reser-
voir, and carting it to the fields ; but there was,
at times, a considerable loss of that valuable liquid
from the dunghill, which, when fully saturated,
ran over. If, therefore, we could by any means
raise the water of the rill to a sufficient height to
come in contact with the refuse liquid of the dung-
hill, and form a small reservoir, it would then, in
wet weather, catch all the rich washings of the
premises, and conduct them over the park in irri-
gating rills. We managed to effect this, and we
have not been disappointed.

Wlien we got the water raised to a sufficient
height, we formed a main conducting fiooder along
the head of the ridges, and made small feeders
from it to conduct the water occasionally into each
ridge.

As the sup])ly of water was small, and to prevent
waste, we laid the bottom of the feeders with clay,
which we got puddled at the clay-mill in the vici-
nity. The water was generally not more than
sufficient for one ridge at a time, so we commenced
at one side of the field, and regularly watered it
ridge by ridge. We usually allowed the water
to flow only about two days over a ridge,
when we turned it off into another. We
spread it over the ridges by damming the cuts
with pieces of slate or stone. When we got once
over the field, we commenced again at the other
side, and continued to do so during the winter.

That part of the park which lay at the greatest
distance from the water was apt to have got a less
supply than the rest ; but, fortunately, a few drains
emptied themselves into a ditch which ran along
the side of the park, and of this we took advan-
tage, by raising the water in it to a sufficient
height, where it had ample declivity to run along
a cut made across the ridges ; and we found that,
from the feeding qualities of this water, and partly
from a little of the more fertilizing liquid soaking
into it from the flooder above, that it had a most
wonderful effect in promoting fertility. Indeed,
the effects of the irrigation were visible in a few
days after this contrivance was apphed. When-
ever the weather was fresh during the winter, the
grass assumed a green appearance, and nothing
could e.xceed the lu.\uriance of its growth when the
spring set in.

We allowed a few ewes and lambs to pasture on
it the first two weeks of April, which kept it back
a little, but commenced cutting the grass about

the beginning of June, and cut and consumed it
green by horses and cows for nearly two months.
Before it was all cut it was much too ripe, and
some beginning to rot at the roots ; but as the
cattle continued to relish it, and it Avas so conve-
niently placed, we were loath to make any of it
into hay. We, however, measured and win a por-
tion of it to ascertain its weight per acre, and found
it to be 402 stones, of 22 lbs. to the stone per im-
perial acre. This portion was cut about the middle
of the field, and might be reckoned a fair average
sample. It was cut July 26, and weighed August
16. The second crop was excellent, being exceed-
ingly heavy where the first crop was earliest cut.
We commenced cutting it the second time on the
20th of August, and we cut a beautiful third crop
from a considerable part of it till the frost came
on the 13th of October, when its growth was com-
pletely checked, and we then allowed the cows to
eat u\) the foggage. When cutting the second
and third crops, the sward was so close, that the
swathe might almost have been rolled up like a
fleece of wool. Thus we have reason to believe
that, by the continued application of the water,
small as its allowance is, the grovmd may still, in
future years, increase in fertility ; and, of course,
prove a valua1)le acquisition to the farm. It is
now worth as many pounds a-year as it was before
worth sliillings ; and the means which have been
used to improve it have not been expensive, and
any future charge that may be incurred to maintain
and increase its fertility, will cost nearly nothing,
seeing that the aj^plication of no fertihzing ingre-
dient is required but what heretofore ran to waste.
The second portion of irrigation consists of
about three imperial roods, which lie in a steep
accli\dty on the banks of a river. It is too steep
to be brought under cultivation by the plough,
and, being a dry gravelly soil, the want of suffi-
cient moisture in summer seldom failed to render
it almost useless. Having two years ago furrow-
drained the field immediately above it, we led the
main drain in a direction where we could catch
another small supply of water that came from the
surrounding fields. This was nearly all that was
required ; we had merely to make a small cut as a
flooder along the top of the bank, and another
across about half M'ay down, when we let a small
supi)ly of water into each, and the steep declivity
rendered it an easy matter to spread it over the
surface. We kept the water upon it throughout
the whole winter and during summer, until a week
or two before, commencing to cut the grass. When
the supply of water was very small, we let it run
a few days in one flooder and then in the other :
but we found that it did no damage when it was
allowed to run continually upon the same part.
The first year the irrigation was applied, being
1842, it had no great effect, and the grass which
was cut from it was foul, and not highly relished
by the cattle ; but in autumn a beautiful sward
appeared; and in the present year, 1843, nothing
could exceed the luxuriance of its growth, the
water being still applied in the same manner. The
grasses were much finer in quality than in the
preceding year, and the cattle devoured it greedily.
We measured and Avin a part of it to ascertain the

362

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

weight, and found it to be the extraordinary weight
of 440 stones, of 22 lbs. to the stone, per imperial
acre ; the hay was cut on the 7th of August, and
weighed on the 2Sth of the same month. Thus
another small portion of land has been brought
from comparative barrenness into a state of great
fertility, by means both simple and cheap, as a
very small amount of labour and attention have
been required, and for which, certainly, we have
been most amply repaid. The above experiments,
although hmited in extent, shew what may be
gained with a very small supply of water, but they
likewise afford assured evidence of the great value
of irrigation in Scotland, when a plentiful supply
can be obtained.

GLOUCESTER FARMERS' CLUB

The following paper on "The Best and Cheapest
Means of Canying Stock through Winter during
Scarcity of Hay and Roots," was read by Mr. Gyde,
of Painswick, at the late meeting of this Club.

My object is to draw attention to those substances
produced on the farm, which are capable of being
substituted for hay and roots as food for cattle, and
to point out the quantities which practice, as well
as science, would Indicate as equivalent to good
meadow hay, in feeding properties. In a paper
which I formerly read before you, I showed you
how the doctrines of Animal Physiology might be
applied to the feeding of cattle. It will be neces-
sary to briefly review the leading points then
alluded to. The body of an animal may be divided
into three distinct classes of matter, namely, the
muscular portion, including all those structures
containing nitrogen; the fatty portion, which is
devoid of nitrogen ; and the earthy and saline por-
tion, consisting of saline matter and bone. Until
within the last few years physiologists supposed
that the food underwent, in the stomach of the ani-
mal, some change during the process of digestion ;
that the stomach, in fact, had the power of making
out of the grass and roots taken as food, those
substances of which its body was composed ; this
power they termed the vis vitm. But the investi-
gations of modern chemists show that no chemical
alteration takes place in the constituents of sub-
stances during digestion, but that the elements of
the animal body are prepared and elaborated in the
vegetable. In the vegetable, we find a principle
identical in composition -svith the muscle of the ani-
mal, and known as gluten, vegetable albumen and
casein. We have carbon for combustion in the
lungs, to keep up animal heat, supplied in the
starch, gum, and sugar of the plant : and we have
also oil for the purpose of forming fat, -with earthy
and saline matter for the bone and blood ; these
substances are all that the animal requires, of
which to build up its structure. This being admit-
ted, it only becomes necessary to ascertain the
amount of those constituents of the body daily
thrown out of the system by the various channels
of waste, to enable us to point out, with some truth,
the quantities of each substance necessary to replace
the daily loss in the animal economy ; or, in other
words, to say how much gluten and starch of the

vegetable will be required to supply the waste of
musc»ilar and other constituents of the animal.
Practice says that an ox requires 2 per cent, of his
live weight in hay ])er day ; if he works, he reqviires
2^ per cent. ; a milch cow, 3 per cent. ; a fatting
ox, 5 per cent, at first, 4i per cent, when half fat,
and only 4 per cent, when fat ; or 4^ on an average.
Sheep grown up, take 3^ per cent, of their weight
in hay per day to keep in store condition; and
growing animals should not not be stinted. Science
has ascertained, by the most carefully-conducted
experiments, that a full groAvn man voids, in his urine
alone, about i oz. of nitrogen every 24 hours, and
that a small quantity passes off in the solid excre-
tions and by the skin. The carbon consumed by
the lungs to keep up animal heat, averages about 11
ounces in the 24 hours ; and the saline and earthy
matter voided is in direct proportion to the amount
taken in the food. It appears that the food consumed
by an ox, horse, or sheep, is in direct proportion to
their weights when compared with man. Hence
we find that an ox would require, to replace the
daily loss of muscular fibre, from 20 to 24 ounces
of dry gluten or vegetable albumen, which would
be supplied in

120 lbs. of turnips
115 lbs. of wheat-straw
75 lbs. of carrots
67 lbs. of potatoes
20 lbs. of meadow-hay

17 lbs. of clover-hay
12 lbs. of pea-straw
12 lbs. of barley
10 lbs. of oats
5 lbs. of beans

The consumption of carbon by a cow amounts to
70 ounces, and that of a horse to 89 ounces on an
average in 24 hours, which is supplied by the starch,
gum, and sugar of the food consumed. Fatty
matter is required to supply the fat of the animal,
and this also exists more or less abundantly in all
vegetable food. Earthy phosphates and saline sub-
stances are found in the inorganic portion of all
vegetables, and these supply the daily waste of
bone, &c., of the body. Hence we see that the
animal requires a variety of substances, all of which
exist in greater or less abundance in its daily food.
In one article of diet we find one substance in abun-
dance, and in another other substances. Thus, fari-
naceous seeds are made up of starch and vegetable
albumen, or gluten, with much fatty matter and
phosphates. In the oily seeds, as lint-seed, hemp-
seed, &c., the predominating ingredient is oil, and
matter called casein, which is capable of supplying
muscle. In the potato, starch is the ingredient in
greatest quantity, combined with vegetable albu-
men. In the turnip, sugar and gum supply the
place of starch ; and in the grasses and clovers,
woody fibre with albumen, a little starch, and much
saline and earthy matter. From a knowledge of
these facts, with the assistance of the accompany-
ing Tables, which show the quantities of water,
woody fibre, starch or gum, gluten, albumen, or
casein, fatty matter, and sahne matter, contained in
100 lbs. of most of the products of the farm (see
Table No. I.), and the amount of those constituents
contained in the produce per acre (see Table No.
II.), the judicious feeder will be enabled so to mix
those crops which he has at his command, as to
render everything available as food. He may keep
his stock in condition by supplying Avith gluten,
starch, and saline matter, the natural waste of the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

363

l)ody, or he may fatten, by increasinj^ tlie amount
of food, particularly those articles containing much
fat ; always remembering that a mixture of food is
lietter than adhering to one article of diet, since it

rarely occurs that one contains all those substances
required by the animal, and without which healthy
and vigorous life cannot be sustained for any con-
siderable time.

I Table I. — Shewing the Composition of 100 parts of the more coimnonly Cultivated

rirnns

Crops.

Water.

Woody
Fibre.

Starch, Gum,
or Sugar.

Gluten or
Albumen.

Fatty
Matter.

Sahne
Matter.

Wheat

16

15

16

12

14

16

13

75

85

85

14

14
10 to 15

12
12 to 15

do.

do.

12

15

15

20

10

15

10

8

5

3

3

30

25

25

45

50

50

45

25

55
60
50
60
50
40
50
12
10
10
40
40
45
35
30
30
38
52

10 to 15

12?

14-5

14-5

12-0

28

24
2-25
1-2
2

7-1
9-3
12-3
1-3
1-3
1-3
1-3
3-0

2 to 4
2-5
5-6
3-0
5 to 9
2

2-8
0-3
8

•4

2 to 5

3-0

1-5

•8

•8

•8

•5

•7

2-0

Barley

2-0

Oats

3-5

Rye V

Indian Corn

1-0
1-5

Beans

3-0

Peas

2-8

Potatoes

1

Turnips

1

Carrots

1

Meadow Hay

Clover Hay

5 tol9
9

Pea Straw

5

Oat Straw

6

Wheat Straw

5

Barley Straw

5

Rye Straw

3

4

Table II, — Average Produce of Nutritive Matter of different kinds from an acre of the

usually Cultivated Crops.

Gross
Produce

Husk of
Woody Fibre.

Starch, Gum,
Sugar.

Gluten.

Fat.

Saline
Matter.

Wheat

bush.
25
30
35
40
40
50
25
30
30
30
25
30
25
tons.
6
12
20
30
25
1*
2

lbs.

1500

1800

1800

2100

1700

2100

1300

1600

1800

1300

1600

1900

1600

13500

27000

45000

67000

56000

3400

4500

2700

3000

3600

2700

3500

2100

2500

4000

4800

lbs.
225
270
270
315
340
420
130
160
270
320 ?
160
190
130

675
1350
1350
2010
1680
1029
1120

675
1500
1800
1210
1570
1050
1250
1800
2200

lbs.
825
990

1080

1260
850

1050
780
960
900
650
640
760
800

1620
3240
4500
6700
5600
1360
1800
1200
900
1080
:950
1200
630
750
1500
1800

lbs.
150 to 220
180 to 260

216

252

230?

290?

190

230

216

180

450

530

380

300
600
540?
800?
1120?
240
420
330

40

48

36

48

28

33

53

64

lbs.

60 to 60

36 to 72

45

52

95

118

40

48

90 to 170

5

32

36

45

45

90

?

j>

200

70 to 170

135 to 225
40
15
18
20
28
16
20
20
24

lbs.
30

36

Barley

36

42

Oats

60

75

Rye

13

16

Indian Corn

27

Buckwheat

21

Beans

48

57

Peas

45

Potatoes

120

240

Turnips

400

600

Carrots

569

Meadow Hay

Clover Hay

220
400

Pea Straw

135

Wheat Straw

150

180

Oat Straw

135

175

Barley Straw

105
125

Rye Straw

120

144

364

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Table III. — Showing the relative value of difterent articles of Food, as ascertained by practice; good

meadow Hay being taken at 100.

Hay 100

Clover Hay 80 to 100

Green Clover 450 to 500

Wheat Straw 400 to 300

Barley Straw 200 to 400

Oat Straw 200 to 400

Pea Straw 100 to 150

Potatoes 200

Old Potatoes 400

Carrots , . . . . 25o to 300

Turnips 500

Cabbage 200 to 300

Peas and Beans

Wheat

Barley

Oats

Indian Corn . . . .
Oil Cake

30 to
50 to
50 to
45 to

20 to

50
60
60
70
50
40

The above table reiiresents the average results from a number of experiments made in France and

Holland.

Table IV. — Showing the amount of different articles of food of equal value as indicated by
theory; good meadow Hay being taken at 100.

Hay 100

Clover Hay 80

Vetch Hay 40

Wheat Straw 520

Barley Straw 520

Oat Straw 550

Pea Straw 60

Potatoes 280

Old Potatoes 400

Turnips 600

Carrots 350

Cabbage 300 to 400

Peas and Beans .... 20 to 30

Wheat 50

Barley 60

Oats 50

Indian Corn 60

Oilcake 20

This table represents the supposed value, as food, of the different articles, calculated from the amount of
muscle-forming principle they are capable of yielding to the animal.

BANKER'S PROMISSORY NOTES.

(Continued.)

Warwick and Warwickshire Bank, at Warwick £
— Kelynge Greenway and Edward Greaves . 30,504

Oxfordshire Witney Bank, at Witney — John

Williams Clinch 11,852

Whitby Old Bank, at Whitby— Abel Chapman,

John Chapman, and Henry Simpson 11,258

Wliitby Bank, at Whitby— William Frankland

and James Wilkinson 2,076

Wellington Somerset Bank, at Wellington —
Edward Fox, Sylvanus Fox, Samuel Fox,
Henry Fox, and Charles Fox 6,528

Weymouth Old Bank, at Weymouth and Dor-

Chester— William Elliott and Edward Pearce. 16,461

Wolverhampton Bank, at Wolverhampton —

Richard Fryer and William Fleming Fryer . 11,867

York Bank, at York — Robert Swann, John

Swann, George Swann, and John Clough.. 46,387

Stourbridge Bank, at Stourbridge — Philip
RufFord, Francis Rufford, jun , and Charles
John Wragge 17,295

Bromsgrove and Stourbridge and Bromsgrove
Bank, at Bromsgrove — Philip Rufford and
Francis Rufford, jun 16,799

Derby Old Bank and Scarsdale and High Peak
Bank, at Chesterfield and Derby — John
Bell Crompton, William Leaper Newton,
and Gilbert Crompton 27,237

Oswestry Bank and Oswestry Old Bank, at
Oswestry — Richard Croxon,ThomasLongue-
ville Longueville, John Jones, and Edward
Croxon 18,471

Rmgwood and Poole Bank and Town and
County of Poole Bank, at Ringwood and
Poole — George Ledgard and Richard Ledgard 11,856

Newmarket Bank, at Newmarket — Richard Jef-
ferson Eaton and Charles Eaton Hammond. 23,098

Monmouthshire Agricultural and Commercial
Bank, at Abergavenny and Monmouth —
Joseph Bailey, Crawshay Bailey, Thomas
Gratrex, and WilUam Williams 29,335

Norwich and Norfolk Bank, at Norwich, East

Deerham, Attleborough, and North Walsham £
— Richard Hanbury Gurney, Samuel Gur-
ney, Joseph John Gurney, Daniel Gurney,
Henry Birkbeck, and John Henry Gurney . 75,372

Leicester Bank, at Leicester, Melton Mow-
bray, and Loughborough — Thomas Paget,
Thomas Tertius Paget, and Samuel Kirby . . 32,322

Lewes Old Bank, at Lewes, East Grinstead,
and Tunbridge-wells — George Mohneux,
Thomas "VMiitfeld, Thomas Dicker, and
George Molineux, jun 44,836

Lymington Bank, at Lymington — Chas. St.
Barbe, Samuel St. Barbe, and George Fos-
ter St. Barbe 5,038

Doncaster and Retford Bank, at Worksop,
Retford, Doncaster, and Thorn — Sir WilUam
Bryan Cooke, Bart., Francis Thornaugh
Foljambe, and Thomas Walker 63,519

Boston Bank, at Boston, Spalding, Louth,
Spilsby, and Horncastle — WilUam Garfit,
Joseph Claypon, Bartholomew Claypon,
WUUam Garfit, jun., and William AlUson . . 75,069

Exeter Bank, at Exeter — Joseph Barnes San-
ders, Edward Andrew Sanders, and WilUam
Barnes 37,894

Lynn Regis and Lincolnshu-e Bank, at Lynn,
Swaffham, and Downham Market — Richard
Hanbury Gurney, Joseph John Gurney,
Daniel Gurney, Henry Birkbeck, and John
Henry Gurney 42,817

Hull Bank, at Hull, Beverley, Barton, and

Grimsby. 29,333

Leeds Commercial Bank, at Leeds 13,914

Leeds and West Riding Bank, at Leeds and

Bradford 18,937

Ludlow and Tenbury Bank, at Ludlow 10,215

Moore and Robinson's Nottinghamshire Bank,

at Nottingham 35,813 i

Suffolk Bank, at Ipswich, Bury St. Edmunds,
Mildenhall, Saxmundham, Stowmarket, and
Woodbridge 7,449

Storey and Thomas's Bank, at Shaftesbury . . 9,714

Northamptonshire Bank, at Northampton,
Daventry, WelUnborough, and fStamford . , 26,401

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

365

LeicestershireBank, at Leicester, Ashby-de-la- £
Zouch, Hinckley, Market Harborough, and

other places 86,000

Leamington Priors and Warwickshire Bank, at
Leamington, Warwick, Southam, Kenil-
worth, and Banbury 13,875

Lincoln and Lindsey Bank, at Lincoln, Gains-
borough, Louth, Horncastle, and other
places 51,620

Leeds Bank, at Leeds 23,076

Lancaster Bank, at Lancaster, Ulverstone,

Preston,'and Kirkby Lonsdale 64,31 1

Stuckey's Bank, Bristol Somersetshire Bank,
and Somersetshire Bank, at Langport, Bris-
tol, Bridgwater, Taunton, and other places . 356,976

Knaresborough and Claro Bank, at Knaresbo-
rough, Wetherby, Ripon, Easingwold, and
other places 28,059

Taunton Bank, at Taunton, Dunster, and
Bampton — Henry Badcock and Robert Bad-
cock 29,799

Marlborough Bank, Marlborough and Wilts
Old Bank, Marlborough Old Bank, Marlbo-
rough Old Bank and Hungerford Bank, and
Hungerford Bank, at Marlborough, Hunger-
ford, and Calne — William Tanner and George
Henry Pinkney 19,073

Stamford and Rutland Bank, at Stamford,
Uppingham, and Oakham — Charlotte Anne
Eaton, Edward Cayley, and Robert Michel-
son 31 ,858

Kendal Bank, at Kendal — Jacob Wakefield,
William Dillworth Crewdson, John Wake-
field, William DillworthCrewdson, jun., and
George Braithwaite Crewdson 44,663

Worcestershire Bank, at Kidderminster —

George Farley and Abraham Turner 14,309

Stamford, Spalding, and Boston Bank, at
Stamford, Spalding, Boston, Oundle, and
other places 55,721

North Wilts Bank, at Melksham, Devizes, Brad-
ford, Trowbridge, and other places 63,939

North and Soutli Wales Bank, at Liverpool,
Chester, Wrexham, Oswestry, and other
places err.... 63,951

Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Bank,
Nottingham, Newark, Mansfield, East Ret-
ford, and other places 29,477

Halifax Commercial Bank, at Halifax 13,733

Pares' Leicestershire Bank, at Leicester,
Hinckley, Loughborough, Melton Mowbray,
and Lutterworth 59,300

Bank of Westmorland, at Kendal 12,225

Wakefield and Barnsley Union Bank, at Wake-
field and Barnsley 14,604

Sheffield and HaUamshire Bank, at Sheffield . . 23,524

Stourbridge and Kidderminster Bank, at Stour-
bridge, Kidderminster, and Stratford-upon-
Avon 56,830

Stockton and Durham Bank, at Stockton and
Guisbrough 8,290

Shropshire Bank, at Shiffnal, WelHngton, New-

port, and Coalbrookdale 47,951

Whitehaven Joint Stock Bank, at Whitehaven

and Penrith 31,916

Swaledale and Wensleydale Bank, at Richmond
(Yorkshire), Leyboum, Bedale, Hawes, and
other places 54,372

Sheffield Bank, at Sheffield and Rotherham . . 35,843

West-riding Union Bank, at Huddersfield,

Dewsbury, and Wakefield 34,029

Whitchurch and EllesmereBank, at Whitchurch
andEllesmere .,, , 7,475

Warwick and Leamington Bank, at Warwick, £
Leamington Priors, Stratford-upon-Avon,
Southam, and Henley in Arden 37,124

Worcester City and County Bank, at Worcester 6,848

Wolverhampton and Staftbrdshire Bank, at

Wolverhampton • 35,378

York Union Bank, at York, Driffield, Burling-
ton, Thu-sk, and other places 71,240

York City and County Bank, at York, Malton,

Scarborough, Whitby, and other places . . 94,695

Wilts and Dorset Bank, at Salisbury, Axmins-

ter, Blandford, Dorchester, and other places 76,162

Lynn Regis and Norfolk Bank, at Lynn— Ben-
jamin Massey and Lewis Weston Jarvis. . . . 13,91 7

Lane End Staffordshire Bank, at Lane End —

Chas. Harvey and Henry Harvey 5,624

Cambridge Bank, at Cambridge — Thomas

Mortlock 25,744

Birmingham Bank, at Birmingham — George
Attwood, Isaac Spooner, Thomas Attwood,
and Richard Spooner 23,695

Bath City Bank, at Bath — George Moger and

Geo. Moger, jun 4,572

Tavistock Bank , at Tavistock and Launceston

— John Hombrook Gill and John Bundle. . 13,421

Monmouth Old Bank, Monmouth Bank, Bre-
con Bank, Chepstow Bank, Chepstow Old
Bank, and Ross and Herefordsliire Bank, at
Monmouth, Brecon and Ross — James SU-
' vanus Fortunatus Brown Bromage and James

Prosser Snead 16,385

Saddleworth Bank, at Saddleworth, Ashton-

under-Lyne, and Oldham 8,122

Sheffield and Retford Bank, at Sheffield, Ret-
ford, Tuxford, and Ollerton 18,744

Newcastle, Shields, and Sunderland Union
Joint Stock Bank, at Newcastle-on-Tyne,
North Shields, South Shields, Sunderland,
and other places 84,130

Halifax and Huddersfield Bank, at Halifax and

Huddersfield 44,137

Helston Bank, at Helston 1 ,503

Christchurch Bank, at Christchvu-ch — William

Tice and James Kemp Welsh 2,840

Devonport Bank, at Devonport — William

Hodge and John Norman 10,664

Darlington District Joint-stock Bank, at Dar-
lington and other places 26,134

Newark and Sleaford Bank and Sleaford and
Newark Bank, at Newark, Sleaford, and
Bourn — Anthony Peacock, William Fam-
worth Handley, John Handley, and John
Andrew Peacock 51,615

Bedfordshire Leighton Buzzard Bank, at Leigh-
ton Buzzard, Dunstable, and Newport Pag-
nell — John Dollin Bassett, Hannah Grant,
and Francis Bassett 36,829

Knaresborough Old Bank and Ripon Old Bank,
at Knaresborough and Ripon — Joseph Bee-
vers Teriy, John Harrison, and Thomas
Harrison 21,825

Hull Bank and Kingston-upon-HuU Bank, at
Hull— Abel Smith, Oswald Smith, John
Henry Smith, James Henwood, Samuel
George Smith, and Martin Tucker Smith . . 19,979

Derby Bank, at Derby— Abel Smith, George
Robert Smith, John Henry Smith, Alfred
Smith, and Martin Tucker Smith 41 ,304

Richmond Bank, at Richmond, Yorkshire —

Gilbert Stapleton and Thomas Stapleton . . 6,889

Baldock and Biggleswade Bank, at Baldock and
Biggleswade and Hitchen— William Hogg and
Robert LindseU r. 37,223

366

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Ipswich and Needham-market Bank, Suffolk £
Hadleigh Bank, Manningtree and Mistley
Bank, and Woodbridge Bank, at Ipswich,
Woodbridge, Needham-market, Hadleigh,
and other places — Dykes Alexander, Re-
becca Alexander, John Biddle Alexander,
and William Henry Alexander 80,699

Bilston District Bank, at Wolverhampton. . . . 9,418

Barnstable Bank, at Barnstable — Zachary
Hammett Drake, John Gribble, and John
MarshaU 17,182

Wrexham Bank, at Wrexham — Samuel Kenrick 3,289

Rugby Bank, at Rugby — James Butlin, Cathe-

rme Butlin, and Maria Benn 17,250

Chepstow Old Bank, Chepstow Bank, Mon-
mouth Old Bank, Monmouth Bank, Brecon
Bank, and Ross and Herefordshire
Bank, at Chepstow — James Silvanus Fortu-
natus Browne Bromage, James Prosser Snead,
and John Best Snead 9,387

St. Alban's Bank, at St. Albans — John Samuel

Story : 3,743

Northamptonshire Union Bank, at Northamp-
ton, Daventry, and WeUingborough 84,356

National Provincial Bank of England, at Bir-
mingham, Bristol, Cheltenham, Exeter, and
other places 442,371

Harwich Bank, at Harwich — Charlotte Cox,
John Cobbold, William Rodwell, and John
Chevallier Cobbold 5,788

Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Bank, at

Chesterfield 10,421

Knighton Bank, at Knighton — James Davies,
Esther Crummer, David Oliver, and Richard
Green 9,090

Kingston and Radnorshire Bank, at Kingston
— James Davies, Esther Crummer, and David
Oliver 26,050

Birmingham and Warwickshire Bank, at Bir-
mingham— John Lewis Moilliet, and Theo-
dore Moilliet 18,132

Bewdley Bank, at Bewdley — John Nichols,

Slade Baker, and John Crane 18,597

Reigate and Dorking Bank, Reigate, Croydon,
and Dorking Bank, at Reigate and Dorking —
Joseph Nash and Thomas Neale 13,700

Nottingham Bank, at Nottingham — Abel Smith,
Samuel George Smith, John Henry Smith,
Henry Smith, and Martin Tucker Smith. . . . 31,047

Norfolk and Suffolk Bank, at Diss and Botes-

dale — Thomas Dyson 4,551

Navel Bank, Plymouth, at Plymouth — Harry
Bulteel Harris, Richard Zachariah Mudge,
Thomas Hittersden Bulteel, Christopher
Harris, and Josias Hayne Dawe 27,321

Stourbridge Old Bank, at Stourbridge — Thomas

Bate and William Robins 17,560

Hitchin Bank, at Hitchin, Luton, and Amp-
thill — Joseph Sharpies, William Exton, and
Jeffry Lucas 38,764

Margate Bank, at Margate— Francis William
Cobb, William Chippendale, Henry Chip-
pendale, and Thomas Francis Cobb 9,996

Marlborough and North Wiltshire Bank —
Thomas Rawdon Ward, Thomas Baverstock
Merriman, William Clark Merriman, and
William Foach Hillier 12,490

Kettering Bank, at Kettering — John Cooper
Gotch, John Davis Gotch, and Thomas Henry
Gotch 9,192

Rochdale Bank, at Rochdale — Albert Hodson
Royds, William Edward Royds, and Joseph
Wood , , , . , 5,590

Pembrokeshire Bank, at Haverfordwest — John £
Walters and William Walters 12,910

Bristol Bank, at Bristol — Philip John Miles,
John Scandrett Harford, Abraham Gray
Harford Battersby, Thomas Kington Bayly,
and John WiUiam Miles 48,277

Kentish Bank, at Maidstone — John Mercer,
Alexander Randall, and John Mercer, juu. 19,895

Leeds Bank, at Leeds — Christopher Beckett,

William Beckett, and John Smith 53,357

Macclesfield Bank, at Macclesfield — William
Brocklehurst, John Brocklehurst, Thomas
Brocklehurst, and Robert Bagshaw 15,760

Coventry Bank, at Coventry — John Little and

Edward Humphrey Woodcock 12,045

Darlington Bank, Durham Bank, and Stock-
ton-on-Tees Bank, at Darlington, Durham,
Stockton-on-Tees, Barnard Castle and other
places — William Backhouse, John Back-
house, John Church Backhouse, William
Backhouse, jun., and Edward Backliouse .. 86,218

East Cornwall Bank, at Liskeard, Bodmin,
Launceston, and St. Austell — Thomas
Robins, William Foster, Thomas Foster,
Edward Coode, Thomas Bolitho, and Wil-
Uam Bolitho 112,280

Farringdon Bank and Bank of Wantage, at
Farringdon and Wantage— John Barnes and
Henry St. John Medley 8,977

Dover Union Bank, at Dover — Henshaw

Latham and Henry Metcalfe Latham 9,577

Llandovery Bank and Llandilo Bank, at
Llandovery and Llandilo — David Jones,
William Jones, and John Jones ....,, .... 25,592

Hertford Bank and Ware Bank, at Ware and

Hertford — Samuel Adams 23,635

Hastings Old Bank, at Hastings, Battle,
Robertsbridge, Eastbourne, and other places
— Tilden Smith, James Hilder, Francis
Smith, and George Scriven 38,038

Lampeter Bank, at Lampeter — David Jones

and David Evans 7,353

Oxford Old Bank, at Oxford — Thomas

Robinson, John Parsons, and Guy Thomson 34,391

Honiton Bank, at Honiton — Christopher

Samuel Flood and Harry Buckland Lott. . . . 19,015

Salop Bank, at Shrewsbury — Robert Burton,

Thomas Salt, and William Wybergh How . . 22,338

Miners' Bank, at Truro and Camborne — Hum-
phry Willyams and Joseph Hodge 18,688

Bury St. Edmund's Bank, at Bury St. Ed-
mund's— John Worlledge 3,201

Romsey and Hampshire Bank, at Romsey —
William Footner and William Andrews
Footner 3,375

Rochester, Chatham, and Strood Bank, at
Rochester and Chatham — Thomas Hermitage
Day and William Henry Nicholson 10,480

Bicester and Oxfordshire Bank and Oxford
Bank, at Bicester and Oxford — Thomas
Tubb and Richard Wootten 27,090

Old Bank Tunbridge, Tunbridge and Tun-
bridge Wells Old Bank, Tunbridge, Tun-
bridge Wells, and Sevenoaks Bank, at Tun-
bridge and Tunbridge Wells — Thomas
Beeching, Horatio Beeching, and Stephen
Beeching 13,183

Sittingbourne and Milton Bank, at Sitting-
bourne — William Vallance and James Val-
lance 4,789

Saffron Walden and North Essex Bank, at
Saffron Walden and Bishops Stortford —
Wyatt G^Qrge GibsQU, Ffwcis Gibson, and

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

367

Towcester Old Bank, at Tovvcester — John Per- i!

cival and Samuel Percival 10,801

Reading Bank, at Reading — John Simonds,

. Chas. Simonds, John Simonds, jun., and

Charles Simonds, jun 37,519

Tring and Chesham Bank, atTring, Aylesbury,
Chesham — Thomas Butcher and Thomas
Butcher, jun 13,531

Ross Old Bank, Herefordshire, at Ross— Ed-
ward Pritchard and James Allaway 4,420

George Stacey Gibson ^ 47,646

Yarmouth, Norfolk, and Suffolk Bank, at
Great Yarmouth, North Walsham, Lowes-
toft, and Beccles — Sir Edmund Henry
Knowles Lacon, Bart., John Edward Lacon,
and Edward Youell 13,229

Yeovil Old Bank, Somersetshire, at Yeovil —

John Batten 10,033

Warminster and Wiltshire Bank, at Warmin-
ster— Joseph Everett and John Ravenhill. . 24,896

Winchester, Alresford, and Alton Bank, at
Winchester, Alresford, and Alton — William
Whitear Bulpett, Henry Joyce Mulcock,
and John Dunn 25,892

Wolverhampton Bank, at Wolverhampton —
Sir Francis Lyttelton Holyoake Goodricke,
Bart., and George Holyoake 14,180

Wiveliscombe Bank, at Wiveliscombe — ^Wil-
liam Hancock, Philip Hancock, and WilUam
Hancock, jun 7,602

Uxbridge Old Bank, at Uxbridge — Samuel
Hull, Thomas Smith, and W'illiam Frederick
Smith . . 25,136

Scarborough Old Bank, at Scarborough — John
Woodtall, John Tindall, Edward Hopper
Hebden, and Timothy Hardcastle 24,813

Tiverton and Devonshire Bank, at Tiverton —
Henry Dunsford, Henry Dunsford, jun.,
and John Barne 13,470

SheflSeld and Rotherham Joint-stock Bank, at

Sheffield, Rotherham, and Bakewell 52,496

Chertsey Bank, at Chertsey — Thomas LaCoste 3,436

Essex Bank and Bishops Stortford Bank, at
Chelmsford, Maldon, Braintree, Coggeshall,
Halstead, and Bishops Stortford — WilUam
Walford, Thomas Greenwood, William Mi-
chael Tufnell, William Walford, jun., and
Basil Sparrow 69,637

Worcester Old Bank, and Tewkesbury Old
Bank, at Worcester and Tewkesbury — Sir
Anthony Lechmere, Bart., William Wall,
Edmund Hungerford Lechmere, and John

Whitmore Isaac 87,448

■Leek and Staffordshire, and Leek and Congle-
ton Bank, at Leek — Sarah Fowler, John
Gaunt, and Matthew Gaunt 4,009

Pease's Old Bank, HuU, Hull Old Bank, and
Beverley Bank, at Hull and Beverley — Jo-
seph Robinson Pease, George Liddell, George
Wm. Moore Liddell, Wilham Liddell, Jo-
seph Walker Pease, and Charles Liddell. . . . 48,807

Broseley and Bridgnorth and Bridgnorth and
Broseley Bank, at Bridgnorth and Broseley
— George Pritchard and John Pritchard. . . . 26,717

Loughborough Bank, at Loughborough — Wil-
liam Middleton, Edward Chatterton Mid-
dleton, and Thomas Cradock 7,359

Yorkshire Bank, at Leeds, York, Hull, Don-
caster, and other places 122,532

Bristol Old Bank, at Bristol — Hugh Duncan
Baillie, Levi Ames, James Evan Bedllie,
Daniel Cave, James Palmer, and William
Edwards , . . , .,,,,,,,,, 89,540

Bishops Waltham and Hampsho'e Bank; 'af^ »
Bishops Waltham— William Giyiner, Tlio-
mas Gunner, and Charles James Gunner . 1,993

Staines Bank, at Staines — Thomas AshUy,
Charles Ashby, Frederick Ashby, and Skid-
more Ashby 9,244

Rye Bank, at Rye and Tenterden — Richard
Curteis Pomfret, Thomas Pix, John Belling-
ham, and Thomas Smith Pix 29,864

Cambridge Bank, at Cambridge — Thomas

Hall Fisher and George Fisher 8,753

Monmouthshire Newport Old Bank, at New-
port— WilUam WilUams, WiUiam Williams,
jun., and Thomas Robert Williams 8,600

Cambridge Bank, at Cambridge — Charles

Humfrey and Charles Humfrey, jun 2,615

Oxford University and City Bank, at Oxford
— Sir Joseph Lock, Edward Lock, and
William Taylor 15,705

Wrexham and North Wales Bank, at Wrex-
ham— Richard Myddleton Lloyd 4,464

THE FATAL DISEASE IN CATTLE.

Sir, — During the prevalence of this fatal disease,
which has destroyed so many thousands, I have directed
my attention to the discovery of the cause, &c., and
have, I think, succeeded in tracing it to a variety of
causes. One of these causes, atmospherical influence,
produces catarrhal affections, and an insidious form of
inflammation of the lungs, succeeded by serous eff'usion
into the cellular tissue and the chest, which, in many
cases, makes rapid but secret progress before the disease
is discovered, producing debility, &c., by the escape of
the serum of the blood into the lungs, whose spongy
texture and action absorb large quantities of serous
fluid. The disease sometimes results from hereditary
predisposition, and is derived from the mother by the
foetus in embryo, which during gestation is nourished by
the blood suppUed from the foetal artery of the parent.
It appears that some of the profession are of opinion
that this fatal disease is congestion and fulness of the
blood vessels of the lungs, and gorged with venous black
blood. But if this were the case, the lungs would be
black ; but in numerous cases examined by me, the
lungs were filled with serous fluid, instead of venous
black blood, and were of unnatural weight and size, and
resembled rough jointed brick work in colour and ap-
pearance. One case in particular, among many others,
may be referred to — a five year old cow just calved. I
found the left lobe of her lungs diseased and indurated,
weighing 781bs., and which almost filled the cavity of
the thorax, while the right lobe was nearly annihilated.
In examining the bodies of many calves which never
drew breath, I found disease on the lungs, undoubtedly
transmitted from its mother ; hence the necessity of the
greatest caution in the choice of calves for the dairy,
which should be not only free from disease themselves
but the progeny of perfectly sound cows. Calves with
short coughs, &c., should be rejected as imfit for be-
coming mothers, as these short coughs are produced by
the irritation of the disease on the lungs, which conti-
nues to increase in size and weight, until suffocation and
death ensue. In a healthy animal the blood rushes
through the vessels of the lungs, and, by means of the
veins and capillary vessels, passes off in the form of
sweat through the pores of the skin, but when the func-
tions of the liver, urinary organs, capillary vessels, or
pores of the skin are morbidly affected, the system is de-
ranged by the impurity of the blood and the fulness of
its vessels, and the ,n5GSt alarming symptoms, namely,
gpoplejy, paralysis, inflamed lungs, &c., super\'ene.

Putney. J. Waters,

B 3

see

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.
METEOROLOGICAL DIARY.

Barometer,

Thermometer.

Wind and f

State,

Atmosphere,

Day. j 8 a.m.

10p.m.

Min.

Ma.x,

10p,m,

Direction,

Force.

8 a,m.

2 p. m.

10 p. m.

Aug. 22

in. els.

29.79

in. cts.

29.76

53

66

56

West

variable

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

23

29.76

29.76

46

62

54

W.byN.

gentle

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

24

29.75

29.78

48

65

55

N, N. W,

gentle

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

25

29.90

30.0

49

65

58

N.W. W.byN.

gentle

cloudy

sun

cloudy

26 30.0

30.10

53

63

55

N. West

gentle

cloudy

cloudy

fine

27 30.10

30.11

52

m

52

N. by W.

gentle

fine

sun

fine

28 30.11

30.13

45

68

52

N, by E.

variable

fine

sun

fine

29 30.14

30.14

46

72

55

East

variable

haze

sun

fine

30 30.15

30.20

50

70

60

E. by S,

lively

fine

sun

fine

31

30.30

30.35

44

74

55

East

lively

fine

sun

fine

Sept. 1

30.37

30.37

45

77

60

East

variable

fine

sun

fine

2 30.37

30.23

49

76

59

East

brisk

fine

sun

fine

3

30.17

30.06

65

73

60

N. East

verybrisk

cloudy

sun

cloudy

4

30.04

30.0

59

70

60

N, East

brisk

cloudy

sun

cloudy

5

29.94

29.85

61

70

60

S. S.E.

gentle

cloudy

sun

fine

6

29.87

29.97

59

68

60

S. West

gentle

fine

cloudy

variable

1

29.95

29.95

58

71

57

S, West

gentle

cloudy

sun

fine

8

29.94

29.80

57

73

61

N, East

gentle

fine

sun

cloudy

9| 29.80

29.80

54

62

58

North

gentle

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

10 29.88

29.98

55

63

55

N. West

gentle

fine

sun

fine

111 30.0

30.0

48

66

54

North

gentle

fine

sun

cloudy

12 30.0

30.12

50

m

56

N,by W,

gentle

fine

sun

cloudy

13 30.16

30,16

53

65

57

S.W. variable

calm

fine

sun

fine

14 30.13

30.08

54

70

58

S, West

lively

fine

sun

cloudy

15 29.90

29,88

57

66

59

S. West

lively

cloudy

cloudy

fine

16 29.88

29.88

59

68

62

S. West

brisk

cloudy

fine

cloudy

17 29.80

29.80

61

70

61

N, West

gentle

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

18 29.88

30.02

56

61

50

N, N.E,

variable

cloudy

sun

fine

19 30.0

29.98

43

59

47

N, East

gentle

fine

sun

fine

20 29.99

30.02

49

58

52

N. East

gentle

fine

sun

fine

ESTIMATED AVERAGE.

Barometer.

Thermometer.

High. } Low. 1 Mean.

High, Low, 1 Mean.

30.41 1 29.41 1 29.93

1^ 36 1 57.8

Real Average Temperature of the period.

High. 1 Low, 1 Mean,

65,26

50,6

57.66

North and N, East Winds. . 6 days.

East to South 5

South and South West 7

West to North 12

'EATHER AND PHENOMENA. — August 22, cucumulas and cirro-stratus clouds — threatening
change — 23, overcast, fine broken clouds — 24, a struggle — heavy electric clouds — a hint of rain — 25,
some sun, cloudy — 26, mist early — ^very fine evening — 27, cirrus streamers early — fine day— 28, superb
cool evening — 29, strong haze, then hot sun — 30 and 31, August ends superbly; all this time the hy-
grometer has constantly indicated a dry atmosphere. September commences fine with great heat — 2,
the same, but with brisk wind as in the 3rd and 4th — 5th, thunder-stomi — lightning all night — 6,
thunder-like, cloudy — 7, hygrometer wavers, fine day — showers early, moist growing day — 8, cumuli —
sunny — 9, much rain, as the last night — 10, beautiful — 11 and 12, the same, with fine broken cumulous
clouds — 13 and 14, beautiful — hygrometer dry, but wavers — 15, suddenly to moist, warm, cloudv — ■
evening rainy — 16, 17 and IS, variable, thundeiy — much rain at times — 19 and 20, very fine — hy-
grometer varies — changeable — 21, brisk air, generally fine — hygrometer dryer.

Lunations. — August : Full moon, 28th day, 1 h. 34 m. morning. September : Last quarter, 4th
day, 9 h. 43 m, afternoon; new moon, 12th day, 7 h. 16 m. morning; first quarter, 19th day^ 7
h. 52 m, morning.

Remarks referring to Agriculture, — August terminated with weather nearly as magnificent
as that of 1843; in its early course it was changeable, and, therefore, the harvest was somewhat re-
tarded, StiU, however, the in-gathering went on propitiously, and that noble crop of wheat which is
the theme of every writer, may be said to have been secured early in September. Barley, however,
though equally fine in many places where rain fell in June, failed in others which had renjaiced parched
and cloddy till July, Upon the whole there is yet great cause for satisfaction. In 1843 s?. injury was
done by rain during May and June that no fiubsequent heat or $plendoiir could restore, t^ly sowing
la spring appears to be ih© wiseist practice,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

860

AGRICULTURAL REPORTS.

GENERAL AGRICULTURAL REPORT FOR
SEPTEMBER.

It is certainly a most pleasing task for us to have
to report, this month, most favourably of the n^eather
for harvest M'ork. Notwthstanding some few
showers have fallen in most parts of England, the
atmosphere has proved, taken as a whole, as fine as
could have been desired. This fortunate circum-
stance has, as our readers must be aware, produced
benefits of no ordinary nature to the British hus-
bandman, whose time, during the month, has been
actively occupied in the field. Such was the rapi-
dity with which cutting and carrjdng were carried
on in its early part, that a general conclusion of those
highly important operations, so far as regards
wheat, barley, and oats, was arrived at by or very
shortly after the 1 5th, while by the 20th the beans
and peas had been all secured. In those districts north
of the Humber, though a few patches of oats and
beans are still out, the crops may now be considered
as safely stacked. A difference of opinion, as is
almost invariably the case at this season, appears to
have sprung up as to the quahty of the present year's
produce; but this, in our opinion, is a question
speedily set at rest. It is quite evident that at
the commencement of cutting, a time marked with
considerable humidity in the southern counties, large
quantities of wheat and barley were carried too hur-
riedly ; hence reached the stack-yard, in a condition
alike unsatisfactory to the growers as well as the
dealers. This, however, was an exception to the
general rule; for general we may consider it,
when the resplendent weather which followed is
taken into consideration. As might be expected,
the farmer's care is that of wisely disposing, at the
earliest possible period, of his damp wheats, appre-
hensive as he may be of their not improving in
stack ; hence the primary cause of so many out-of-
condition parcels ha\4ng been brought fonvard in
the different markets. Taking, therefore, this year's
produce of the grain crops, from one end of the
country to the other, we maintain, and we think
upon the very best authority, that it has never been
exceeded, though it might have been equalled, in
quahty in any previous year. Thus much as re-
lates to quality, and we shall now brieflj' revert to
produce. It is admitted on all hands, though, of
course, partial deficiencies are to be met \vith, that
the yield of wheat this year, for England, is a very
large one ; considerably above an average of years.
As^to barley, there is certainly a deficiency in it,
■ and, to supply the falling off, a steady importation
Of foreign will, we think, be required. Oats, again,
are not to say abundant, yet the produce is very
neariy an average one. A shght faUing off is also
observed m beans and peas. In consequence of the
want of moisture in the early part of the season,
the stravvof all descriptions of grain is unusually
BlK)rt. That circumstance has continued to ope-
rate most prejudicially to the interests of the
grazing community, whose supplies of pasture
herbage have been smaller than have been known
for a series of years past; consequently very great
exertions are now being made, by sowing wnter
lares and vetches, to provide food for the stock.

For tlie time of year — arising chiefly from the
comparative sluggishness in the demand for wheat
here, and the low prices at which that article has
been disposed of — the imports of foreign wheat
have not proved large, though they have quite
equalled our necessities. Of Canadian flour, how-
ever— from the premium offered to its importation
by the new Flour Bill — the receipts have been large
beyond all precedent, and no doubt will continue
so while the present legislative enactment continues
in force. Our advices from Quebec and Montreal
inform us that not less than 3/0,000 barrels of
flour have been exported this season against
about 180,000 at the same time last year.

A new species of disease has now appeared
amongst cattle in various parts of the country, and
which has, we find, produced most serious, most
extensive losses. The beasts seem to be suddenly
seized with a vdolent cold; and unless immediate
remedies are adopted, they are lost in a short time.

The shortness of keep has produced some unu-
sually large stock fairs in different quarters,
which has caused the trade to be unusually dull,
at miserably low prices.

Although the turnip crop is not expected to be
a productive one, a very great improvement is
noticed in it, yet moisture is still much required to
increase the bulb.

As the working of the new tariff is a matter in
which our readers are so immediately interested, we
shall here devote some space to its consideration.
On its first passing into law, the greatest anxiety
was manifested by our graziers and others as to its
probable effect upon the value of stock in this coun-
try, from large importations. Speculators of all
classes were speedily abroad in the principal mar-
kets to purchase cattle for our markets, and not a
few of them were enabled to obtain what may be
considered fair profits. The deficiency of good
beasts abroad and the advanced rates demanded
for them caused the importers in the latter end of
last year to act with caution in their operations,
more especially as the quotations here were ruUng
lower than at the corresponding periods of some
past seasons. These, then, are the principal reasons
why the arrivals of foreign beasts have not equalled
in numbers those which were once expected. The
ofl^cial returns of the imports of stock up to the
close of December, 1842, were as under : —

Whence. Beasts. Cows. Sheep. Pigs.

Germany.. 1191 356 284 52

Spain .... 878 114 230 —

Holland .. 594 204 — 20

France .... 401 38 140 —

Totals.. 2064 712 654 72

The actual numbers upon which duty was paid
in 1843 were good — they being as follows : —
Beasts. Cows. Sheep. Pigs.
2360 450 700 80

During the present year, up to tlie present date
viz., the 26th of September, the arrivals of stock
have been (as is shown by the annexed statement)
tolerably extensive,

B B 2

370

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Arrivals from January \st to Sept. 'HQth 1844.

Oxen and Cows.

London 1,462

Liverpool SO

Hull 640

Southampton 200

Devonport 60

Total 2,442

In addition to the above, about 380 sheep, 40
calves, and 80 pigs have come to hand from
France, Belgium, and Rotterdam ; but their general
condition has proved very inferior. As regards
that, however, of the beasts, though a portion of
them still come to hand in a half-fat state, a de-
cided improvement, as we have long since pre-
dicted, has taken place in it ; and, from intelligence
which has lately reached us, and from the fact of
some very large exports of English stock having
been made to the above quarters, we have every
reason to suppose that even much better qualities
will, ere long, be brought forward. It being now
well ascertained that the speculation in Spanish
stock is productive of great losses, no importations
can be looked forward to from any part of Spain ;
but a better equalization of the value of the Dutch
beasts has how taken place ; hence extensive arri-
vals may be expected. With American provisions,
our markets have been heavily supi^Ued. The
quality being good, a fair demand has sprung up,
and prices have slightly improved.

In the value of wheat at Mark Lane no mate-
tial alteration has been noticed during the month ;
but that of barley has, owing to increasing
supplies, dechned Is. to 3s. per qr. All other
kinds of grain have met a sluggish inquiiy, at about
previous rates. The shortness of the crop has
produced a steady inquiry for both old and new
meadow and clover hay. The former has sold
read ly,at from 3Z. 10s. to bl. 8s.; the latter, at Al. 10s.
to 6/. 10s. per load. It is now quite evident that
the quotations will rule high during the whole of
the winter. Straw has sold slowly, at from \l. 6s.
to 1^. 13s. per load.

Our advices from Scotland state that harvest
work has progressed rapidly, under the most fa-
vourable auspices, and that the principal portion of
the crop is already secured in excellent condition.

The various markets have been only moderately
supplied with grain ; yet the demand has ruled
inactive, at about stationary prices.

In Ireland cutting and carrying have been
brought to a pretty general conclusion. The produce
of the crops is fairly represented. Fine wheat has
sold freely, at full prices. In other kinds of corn
a fair business has been doing.

The following is our usual monthly statement of
the supplies and prices of fat stock, exhibited and
sold in Smithfield cattle market. The former have
consisted as under : while the comparative state-
ment may be useful : —

Sep. 1844. Sep. 1843.

Beasts 12,400 1 1,690

Sheep and lambs 169,200 160,900

Calves 1,292 1,420

Pigs ....,,.,,,., J,884 1,990

The following is a comparison of prices : —
Per 8 lbs. to sink the olfals.

Sep. 1844. Sep. 1843.

s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d.

Beef 2 4 to 4 0 2 8 to 4 0

Mutton 2 6 — 4 0 3 0—4 4

Lamb 3 4 — 4 8 3 6—5 0

Veal 3 4 — 4 4 3 6—4 8

Pork 2 6—4 0 3 f)— 4 0

With the exception of the primest beasts, sheep,
and calves having commanded a steady sale at full
prices, the trade on each market day has ruled
heavy, and previous rates have been with, difficulty
supported.

The condition of the northern droves of beasts
has been good, though the quality has exhibited
nothing worthy of particular notice. The number
of short-horns received thence has amounted to about
3,700 head ; of Scotch beasts, about 400 ; and of
foreign — wholly Dutch — 140 have been offering.

Very limited supplies of country killed meat
have been received up to Newgate and Leadenhall
markets, yet those slaughtered in the metropolis
have proved large. For most descriptions the in-
quiry has been rather inactive, at about previous
currencies, or as follows : — Beef, from 2s. 4d. to
3s. 6d. ; mutton, 2s. 6d. to 3s. 8d. ; lamb, 3s. 4d.
to 4s. 8d. ; veal, 3s. 4d. to 4s. 4d. ; and pork, 2s.
6d. to 4s. per 8lbs. by the carcase.

BERKSHIRE.

The summary of the weather since the close of
August may be given in a very few lines. The two
last days of that month, and the two first of Sep-
tember, were mth us gorgeously fine. With the
barometer above 30 in. 30 cts., the natural hygro-
meter (by the spiral beard of the \vild-oat) show-
ing a very dry atmosphere, and the maximum tem-
perature being seventy-seven degrees. Moisture
prevailed on the 15th, and rain feU in some abund-
ance on the 8th, 9th, I7th, and 18th, generally pre-
ceeded by thunder. But as a whole the season has
been arid, and turnips would have suffered severely
had not the temporary supply of water fallen at the
periods just mentioned.

As it is, though we could have borne, and been
benefited by much more rain, the country and
the crops are looking very beautiful. As to the
wheat, it is magnificent, and has for weeks vanished
from our fields : but barley has exhibited the most
tantahsing appearance that any one ever witnessed.
To convey a direct idea of this, we have only to
state that, in a very large open field close at hand,
a crop on eight or ten acres, perfectly ripe and in
good condition, though very short — 18 inches — was
safely housed in August. This was sown before
the dry weather of April set in. Close to it — on
land ploughed while the land was in dry clods
— about the 10th, another large breadth was sown. '■
Half the seed did not vegetate till July; audit
was impossible to sow clover at all : the barley is
now lying in swarth — half grown and half green —
fit only for pigs. We could cite many examples
of the sort, and thus aflford proof of the necessity
of early sowing, and of the inevitable injury

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

371

which must result in a dry and parching season,
when spring crops are put late into the ground.

Wheat season approaches — it therefore behoves
every one who has his heart and eyes fixed on the
prospects of agriculture, to point to improvement
and urge it on. Great errors, much ignorance,
but more obstinacy prevail in the agricultural body ;
and, therefore, our real hopes are founded upon the
rising generation ; stiU some good may be done by
pointing to the wTitings and practice of Mr. Mechi,
to those of Mr. He\vit Davies, and to the direct
experiments that have been made by many, prov-
ing the enoi'mous loss and waste of corn by too
thick sowing. Detached experiments upon a small
scale cannot be claimed as proofs demonstrative.
Mr. Davis states thus : — I have, and by practice,
proved that ^vith only three pecks per acre of
wheat, my crops are larger than ordinary, and are
grown without any dressing, or any expensive fal-
lows ; and this result is on land much below the
average in natural fertihty."

We ourself raised 38 plants in one row from 38
seeds sown by dibble last November, eight inches
asunder; they tiUered from 6 to 13 or 14 culms
each supporting a perfect ear, containing from 45
to 64 germs, three to four on a spikelet. The birds
destroyed the product, but the fertihty induced by
dibbhng was undoubted.

Mr. Campbell teUs the pubhc that there are
reiterated existing proofs of the efficacy of his
"steeps;" and therefore it is important to bring
the inquiry to the test of a fair trial ^vith wheat
during the approaching season. As yet we, in
England, have been able to try the " steep" for
barley only, and that to a very limited extent, and
in a season unwontedly discouraging. It is in the
power of any one to try an acre, or half an acre,
side by side mth another of unsteeped seed, and
botli dibbled or thinly sown in drill. The expense
would be httle, the gain might be very consider-
able.

Deep, far deeper^ tillage than that ordinarily
given — even to the extent of four feet — has been
shown to produce heavy crops of wheat ; and, in-
deed, the double system of roots — the one tracing
laterally, the other penetrating far down into the
soil — evince the advantage which a wheat crop
must derive from subsoil ploughing, aided by a
thorough, effective drainage.

Of the coming season, we now have the prognos-
tic afforded by the late equinox. There is no rule
without exception, and no one can correctly de-
termine the effects of electric phenomena ; but ex-
perience seems to warrant the conjecture that a
prevalence of dry, north-easterly -svinds, at and
about the period when the sun enters the autumnal
sign of Libra, wiU indicate a ^\dnter of correspond-
ing character — and vice versa. We hope that after
the present fine Michaelmas summer some showers
^vill come, and in sufficient quantity to enable the
farmer to prepare his land adequately for the
autumnal Wheat ; and that some advantage wiU be
taken of the manifold proofs which have been
given that much seed has been wasted, by sowing
ten or more seeds on patches where only one would
have produced a fotir or five hundred-fold return.—
Sept. 26.

ESSEX.

Harvest may now be said to have come to a general
conclusion, save here and there a piece or two of barley
and beans ; and, in looking into our own as well as
other stack-yards, we find a very great deficiency of
stacks, in many instances not half the number of last
year. Much has been written as to the probable quan-
tity likely to come from the present crop ; some have
stated it as likely to be excessive, others a fair crop ;
some have even stated it as likely to be deficient ; but
the general opinion amongst well-informed men at our
markets is, that a fair crop and nothing more is to be
expected. It is true we have had a great pressure of
wheat on our markets ; but that is a most fallacious
criterion, as the lower the price the greater must be the
quantity brought to make up a certain payment. The
quality of the grain is certainly superior to that of last
season, and little or no tail is necessary to be taken
away ; much will be unfit for market till the latter part
of the spring, as it was carted so shortly after the heavy
rains we had at the commencement of harvest. Oats
are decidedly deficient. Barley by no means large.
Beans and peas short. Turnips and mangold bade
Second crops clover good ; but, where saved for seed,
reported generally very defective. Grass continues
growing, and our supplies of beasts to the fairs that
have already taken place, good ; and prices lower than
last season : sheep and lambs, also, are better bought.
We have lately had some beautiful rains, and the lands
are now in excellent condition for sowing. The pre-
vious fine weather has assisted the farmer in getting his
lands turned about, and tillage generally is in a forward
state. The advertising columns of our provincial news-
papers prove, what we foresaw would be the effect of
•.he recent agitation against the farmer. Let the present
prices for our produce continue but a year or two longer
and the very worst consequences must ensue.

SULPHATE OF AMMONIA.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — As sulphate of ammonia is now becoming
extensively used by agriculturists as a fertilizer, and
great mischief having resulted from the introduc-
tion, by unprincipled and dishonest men, of spuri-
ous compounds under that name ; some of which,
on being analyzed, have not yielded more than 3 per
ce7it.ofsulphateofammonia,hemgma.deupoigyT[)Sum
or other ingredients of a comparatively worthless cha-
racter, it may therefore be interesting and important
to many of your readers to be acquainted ^\dth the
following simple test ; — Heat a piece of iron to a
moderately red heat, and ha\'ing placed upon it a
small quantity of the sulphate of ammonia, if the
same be genuine, it vnW immediately all volatihze ;
if not genuine, the impurities mil remain.

This simple method can be easily apphed by
every one, and by giving publicity to it through
your magazine, it may be the means of saving the
farmers from many of those wholesale frauds that
have in so many instances been practised upon
them. Your's &c..

Ivy Cottage, J. H.

Bow Common, Limehouse,

373

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

CALENDAR OF HORTICULTURE.-- OCTOBER.

1. — Retrospect, — Since the rains of August
departed, which, after all, were very trifling in many
places, dry weather returned, and continued so
pertinaciously, that numbers of vegetables began
again to flag; turnips drooped and became quite flac-
cid ; cape broccoli, that ought to have been growing
strong, formed heads of diminutive size, which
opened, advancing immediately to flower ; fruits be-
came ripe prematurely,withdeficiency of flavour; and
as wasps were very numerous, plums vanished ra-
pidly ; and pears, such as the 3Iarie Louise were de-
voured. This delicious pear is generally green in Oc-
tober, and rarely ripens on the tree ; yet we found it
turning yellow before the 10th September of the
present summer, and ripening perfectly when
gathered. Grapes, however, do not appear to be
correspondingly early. Some rain occurred about
the 7th and 8th of September, which did conside-
rable service. In mellow, open ground, retentive of
moisture, carrots, parsnips, and beet are very fine ;
but in dry spots they are poor. In the growth of
onions this year, we are convinced, by observation,
of the very great utility of keeping the surface always
free and open by the hoe. Wherever there is a
crop of fine bulbs, we have invariably seen the
onions in drills or rows, ten or twelve inches apart,
and have been told by the gardeners, that they
never permitted a hard-bound or cracked surface
to exist, but set the hoes to work as soon as it ap-
peared parched. Thus, without any watering, there
were, early in September, whole beds with num-
bers of the bulbs measuring 13 or 14 inches round ;
while in neglected plots scarcely an onion of half
the size could be seen.

2. — Agency of Manures. — By the analysis of
guano — a substance which, perhaps, has been de-
posited for ages, and yet retains nutrimental pro-
perties of the highest quahty — it will appear
that carbon performs but a very subordinate
oflSce as the food of plants ; and yet we per-
ceive, in all the modern works of horticul-
ture, that carbonic acid is believed to form the
nutritive ingredient of the sap! Liebig asserts that
the whole ligneous matter of trees, shrubs, and
vegetables, is derived from carbonic acid; not,
however, conveyed from the soil by the channels of
the roots, but obtained by inhalation, or the inspi-
ratory power of the leaves, from the atmosphere.
Tliere is much of mystery in the agency of ma-
nures. It is quite certain that carbon accumulates
in the soil during a course of cropping, and it is as
true that carbonic acid (carbon and oxygen) is ever
present in the atmosphere, being the product of
every process of combustion and of eremacausis,
or the slow progressive decomposition of putrescent
substances. But guano appears to fertilize by
communicating phosphates and salts of ammonia to
the soil : and vegetables in general, particularly of the
cabbage species, require a portion of these chemical
agents as accessories of indispensable necessity to
their healthy development. Salts of potash and soda
are also required. For example : by the potato and
rhubarb among cuhnary vegetables, and by the vine

among trees. Hence we may conclude that
ammonia, phosphate of lime, and potassa, form
the terrene pabida of vegetable life ; and as stable
manure and urinous fluids contain these substances,
they still must be considered, as experience has
long proved them to be, among the most valuable
fertilizers of the land. They also add carbon, in
abundance, to the soil, of which we have ocular
proof in the dark tint it acquires after the liberal
application of spit-dung; and this carbon being
instantly acted upon by the oxygen of the air, be-
comes a fruitful source of that carbonic acid
which, as we said, pervades the atmosphere.

WEEKLY OPERATIONS IN THE KITCHEN
GARDEN.

3. Vegetable Department. — 1st week, Cape Broc-
coli, as taken, should be removed ; otherwise the
leaves decay, and become oflfensive. The remains
of all such plants ought to be taken to a compost
heap, and covered Avith a little loam or grass turf,
and sprinkled with a hand or two of salt. Clean
the spaces between remaining plants, and draw
earth to the stems; also to those of the spring
broccoli.

Sow small salad seeds, hardy lettuces, radish ;
and transplant the last lettuces of the season,
either in ridges or into frames.

Second iveek. — Cabbages. Strong seedlings,
or those in nursery beds, should now be planted
in rich beds 12 inches by 15 or 18 apart, accord-
ing to the size of the varieties. Retain a good stock
in comjjact order, which may be easily protected
in the event of severe frost.

Winter Spinach will probably be strong, and
close in the rows ; if so, thin it freely for table
use; and keep the ground clean by surface
hoeing.

Pot Herbs are best in a connected plantation ;
and now is a good time to plant rows of thyme,
lemon thyme, savory, marjoram, andthehke; good
loam is suflficient, and these herbs look well, and
are handy when they grow all together.

Potatoes. — We can say but little of their con-
dition this year ; but about this period it is usual
and proper to dig up and house the second early
sorts. Some of these are of great excellence, and
will keep till June. In numerous mstances it will
be now found, that, in consequence of the drought
of May and June, the potatoes that had remained
in the ground all winter have yielded the best and
largest product.

Third iveek, and to the end. Soiv rows of
earliest peas. Also small early beans.

Cauliflowers are now under glasses or frames,
and should have abundance of air, if after they
have established themselves by good roots ; till
when, the glasses and lights ought to be kept
close.

Endive. — Tie up some for blanching, and draw
earth to the stems of all, up to the leaves.

Celery. — Draw earth in as dry a state as possi-
ble close to the stalks, observing always to keep
it from the rising shoot in the middle of the plants ;

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

873

it will be very fine this year if properly managed,
aJfter the fine rains of September falling upon
extremely warm soil.

Asparagus wDl be ripe. Collect a few seeds of
some of the very largest giant plants, for new
beds, and to raise plants for forcing. Then cut
down the dry haulm ; burn it, and after cleaning
the surface of the beds, strew the ashes over it
to afford \''egetable alkali ; then dress with three
inches of leaf mould and sand. Collect leaves
everywhere for forcing asparagus, and thus prepare
annually the best of materials for dressing the
surface of the ground.

Artichokes should be attended to; remove the
weeds ; pull, or cut away the old leaves and stems,
dig them into the soil, and pile masses of decaying
tree leaves about the plants.

Dig up a supply of all the spindle roots, and
some Jerusalem artichokes.

4:. -Fruit Department. — Gather apples and
pears. Set the former in heaps, to heat and trans-
pire ; then wipe and examine each, and finally store
them in some dry airy, place, in layers 5 inches
deep, handling each gently, and cover \vith four
inches of sweet straw and mats.

Pears must be kept wanner, in order to become
mellow ; but the wasps have so mutilated the best
sorts, that the stock must have suffered materially.

Prune no trees j but either secure the wood of
peaches, nectarines, and apricots neatly and in
open order on the walls, to ripen it ; or im-nail
all the bearing shoots to give them free play during
winter.

Fig-trees are to be trained in order, cutting
away all dead wood ; and, at the end of the month,
interlace all the branches with the spray of the
spruce fir, or with fronds of fei'n.

Secure some Grapes on the wall, by muslin bags,
from large flies, &c.

Plant fruit trees, and deciduous shrubs, &c.,
at the end of the month.

FORCING DEPARTMENT.

Prune the earliest Vines; spur closely, or cut
back to entirely new rods, if the rod system is
practised.

Pine Apples in the fruiting house, fully grown,
are now kept dry and cool; those for succession
and nurse plants must be pushed on by moist
heat. Very large Providence pines have lately been
grown in deep but narrow pits, without pots. One
method is to place branchy wood, chopped like
small faggots, at the bottom, to a considerable
depth, over which turfy loam is deposited in suf-
ficient quantity to admit the balls of fine vigorous
pines. Keeping up a full growing heat by dung
and leaf linings, aided by hot water pipes, ample
growth is thus promoted, and the fruit attains the
largest size. Water is also spared ; and, as the
habit of the pine evinces that shady, close, low,
. vapoury situations, with little ground moisture,
are the natural concomitants of perfect develop-
ment, it is plain that we give too much water, and
admit too much air and direct solar light.

Flower Garden.
6. Auriculas. — Secure in airy frames from wet,
but l«t air from sides or ends have free access,

Chinese Primulas are treated in the same way till
frost come on. Mow lawns for the last time :
sweep and clean gravel walks : remove leaves aa
they fall on them : dig or fork all the borders,
dividing and replanting such herbaceous plants
as are suitable to the site : make the soil roughly
neat, and then permit leaves to fall as winter cover-
ing to the flowering plants and shrubs : leaves may
be unsightly, but in the main they ai-e not so much
so as a sodden, or frozen, bare surface ; and they
not only protect, but afford manure.

Pits and Greenhouse.

Take up all the ornamental shrubs which yet re-
main in the ground (by omission) : pot them care-
fully, and secure in close pits till they recover :
then put those which properly belong to the green-
house into their places. AH the Pelargoniums
like a dry, airy, and sunny exposure ; but Camellias
prefer shade : forty degree ai'e suflficient for any-
thing either in greenhouse or conservatory.

Roses for forcing and winter blooms must now
be removed to some well-glazed pit, which, if fur-
nished with a proper hot-water apparatus, can be
brought forward without the danger of acarus
that is incurred by the dry heat of a smoke flue.
The Aphis, or green fly, is a pest of the rose; and to
pi'event the incipient ravages, every rose-pit ought
to be fumigated with tobacco ere the leaves appev,
and thence once a week. To prepare tobacco
paper, make an infusion of four ounces of the
cheapest strong shag with a quart of boiling water,
keeping the vessel covered closely, on a hot stock
of a grate for an hour. Then strain the fluid
through a hair sieve into a bason containing about an
ounce of powdered saltpetre ; when this is dissolved,
immerse and soak any strong bibulous paper, till
perfectly saturated : dry it carefully, and when
wanted, cut it into shreds, intermixing a very small
portion of the shag tobacco, and place both in a gar-
den pot, with two perforations in the sides to give air :
ignite at the bottom, and the whole will gradually
consume, emitting an intolerably acrid and pun-
gent volume of smoke. A person may vary the pro-
portions of tobacco andnit;e accordingto the results;
but as a general fact, it is certain that, by the above
process, tobacco is both economised and used with
the greatest possible effect.

N.B. DeMghtful showers have fallen since this
article was commenced. — Sejj, 20.

AGRICULTURAL QUERIES.

CIDER.

Sir, — A correspondent, "J. R.," in the Fa mer's
Magazine for December, 1843, detailed a process
he thought he had discovered for making sweet
cider, decidedly the most simple and least expen-
sive I have yet seen recommended. As " J. R."
very kindly replied to a former query of mine, I
trust he will pardon my once more troubUng him,
to know whether the hquor so prepared answered hi*
expectation, as I purpose this season giving the
plan a pretty extensive trial.

I am, Sir, your obliged, '"''^.

Sep, I7th, A Dbvonshirs Farmer-

£74

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

"A Potato Grower." — "What is the quantity
of nourishment, as human food, contained in the potato,
as compared with some other ordinary articles of food ?"
The experiments of MM. Berry and Herring give the
following result, which will, probably, answer our cor-
respondent's purpose: — "One hundred pounds of
potatoes are equal, for nutriment, to —

lbs.

Meat without bone o 25

Beans 28

Wheaten bread 35

Parsnips and carrots - . . 190

Turnips 300

Cabbage 400

The experiments of MM. Berry and Herring establish
the fact that 31bs. of potatoes are equal for nourishment
to twelve ounces of bread and five ounces of meat."

ANSWERS TO AGRICULTURAL QUERIES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — In answer to your correspondent, bone-dust,
in the strictest sense of the word, is an excellent manure
for grass lands, and the better for being a clay sub-soil,
but such lands must be properly drained previous to
the bones being used. The smaller the bones are ground
the better. The quantity hitherto generally used for
grass lands in this county (Cheshire) has been about
a ton to the statute acre ; and, in some instances, conside-
rably more ; which quantity, in my opinion, involves
a complete waste of money. Science says 40 or 501bs.
per acre of bones ground to powder (in which
state they ought always to be when used as manure)
are sufficient for a succession of rops ; but as the boning
of grass lands is considered more a permanent improve-
ment than a mere annual manuring, I consider 10 cwt.
per acre a very proper quantity. The time for sowing
is as early in the spring as the weather will permit ; say
in February or March. The bone-dust ought to be
mixed with as much free soil as would enable the sower to
spread it as regularly over the surface as possible. In the
first dropping weather in April to sow at the rate of 1
cwt. of Peruvian guano to each statute acre of the boned
land, has a wonderful effect in producing a growth and
bringing the bones into action. If along with the
guano an equal quantity of gypsum is mixed, it fixes the
ammonia of the guano and enables the sower to do his
work more correctly.

I am. Sir, your obdt. servant,

Capesthorne, Sept. 11. G. Brown.

COMFREY.
In answer to I. B. F., of Momask, by Inverness,
Scotland, that success is only to be expected by proper
cultivation and studying the habit of any plant, comfrey
is a deep-rooting plant, and grows about three feet high,
producing many shoots, succeeds best by parting the
roots — every piece about the length of 3 inches will
grow without a top or crown. I should prefer a deep
free soil, or make it so ; and I would try to establish
a stock of plants in the manner stated above, and by
that time a knowledge of the plant may be acquired.
It may be obtained best from a botanic garden. It
will require to be planted finally 18 inches by 2 feet 6
Inches, from row to row ; indeed, 3 feet betwixt would
be not too much. I have been a horticulturist for forty
years ; and it was only by seeing the plant mentioned
in your valuable paper that I got a plant to learn its
habits. I have not found it free to seed, although it
blossoms freely. Half an acre would produce a great

deal of keep if well attended to, and might be cut at
least three times ; but it is only good when green.
There is another plant which I think equally good, called
the Milk Vetch ; grows nearly the same height, and
not so sprawling, and seeds more freely. There is also
the lucerne, when sown in drills about 1 foot apart is
excellent keep. These are all hardy plants and very
productive ; the most direct way to obtain them is to send
to Mr. Gibbs, Half-Moon-street, Piccadilly, London.
Their cultivation is all similar, and if well done, half an
acre of each will supply a good stock.

I am, Sir, your humble servant,
Moor, Cheltenham, Robert Blair.

Sept. Uth, 1844.

Sir, — Observing some inquiries respecting prickley
comfrey, I send you the results of my experience of it
and its use. I planted some from Grant's, at \l. a
hundred, in bad land. If it could be cut in April it
would be invaluable. I only tried it on horses ; one
horse that was used in the cart or carriage every day was
given as much as he pleased, and four quarts of oats
daily — no hay for the whole month of May, and the
animal was in improved condition at the end of that
period. It ought to be planted near the stable, and only
as much cut as is wanted for the feed ; otherwise it be-
comes watery in the wheelbarrow. Horses prefer grass,
clover, or tares ; therefore the comfrey ought to be the
only green meat. Were it produced before May, it
would be invaluable for brood mares and young stock.
At present, I give it to all my horses, in stable : it saves
some hay, and does not affect the consistency of the
dung, but makes it of a lighter colour. The grooms
dislike the trouble of cutting it, but I made them cut some
every day, whether they would use it or not. It would
be better to take the outward leaves only, but I allow the
men to cut it off with a knife. In May, as soon as
the shoots appear, I can get six or seven from each root
without injuring it, though a little of the root is cut off
with the shoot. To a horse in the distemper, com-
frey is very beneficial, I am trying to raise seed
this year. I have given plants to many persons, but
their servants have always neglected it. I have cut my
comfrey three times over, and shall have another cut-
ting. It dies away in October. I have tried to force it
in the garden, but the morning frosts retard it ; and I
have never been able to get any before the 4th of May,
except in the month I have previously mentioned, and
it was chiefly owing to the mild showery weather.—
Yours &c., J. Yates.

Stockbridge, Sept. 5/A.

EXTRAORDINARY SALES OF SHORT-
HORNED CATTLE.

BY MR. WETHERELL.

The sale of short-horned cattle, the property of John
Yorke, Esq., of Thrapston, Northamptonshire, took
place at his Woodford Lodge Farm, on Wednesday, Sept.
1 1 , and, as was expected, attended by many noblemen and
gentlemen from all parts of England, Ireland, and Scot-
land, as well as from France, who at 1 o'clock sat down to
a splendid luncheon, in an elegant marquee erected for
the occasion — Mr. Barnett, of Stratton Park, in the
Chair — after which the sale commenced, and in less than
two hours and a-half the whole herd changed owners,
Mr. Yorke, in the most honourable way, adhering to
his instructions to Mr. Wetherell when he announced
the sale, viz., that he would not retain one single animal ;

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

376

and the following are the prices, with the purchasers'
names :— =

COWS, HEIFERS, kc. ice.

LOT PURCUASEB. ^^^^g'

1 Sally, roan, calved in 1843 Mr. Roper 20

2 I'alsara, red roan, calved in 1835 .... Sir G. Robinson ., 31

3 Virgin, wliito, calved in 1835 Mr. Sperard 27

4 Rachel, red roan, calved Nov. 16, 1835 Mr. Strickland .... 34

5 Clara, roan, calved Marcli 8, 18:J6 Sir Q. Robinson ... 41

6 Viiginin, roan, calved Marcli 19, 1837 Mr. Hayter 50

7 Jane, white, calved May 11, 1837.... Mr. Tophani 41

8 Emily, roan, calved Dec. 1, 1837 .... Mr. Topham 20

9 Lily, white, calved in 1837 Lord Sandwich ... 22

10 Juno, white, calved Feb. 22, 1838.... Mr. Phillips 21

11 Janeite, white, calved Oct. 1, 1838 ,. Mr. Roper 85

13 Susan, white, calved Nov. 4, 1839.... Sir J. TroUope 25

14 Viriue, roan, olved Dec. 14, 1839 .. Mr. Tryon 45

15 Candid, white, calved Feb. 29, 1840 . . Mr. Heathcote 28

16 Rosebud, white, calved Sept. 16, 1840 Lord Sandwich 40

17 Rebecca, red, calved Oct. 30, 1840 . . . Mr. Strickland .... 25

18 Ruby, roan, calved Oct. 30, 1840 Mr. Hayter 40

19 Cora, red roan, calved May 7, 1841 .. Mr. Stopford 31

20 Sophia, red & wh., calved Nov. 11, 1840 Mr. Copel Brooke . 28

21 Rhoda, red&wh., civd. Mar. 12, 1841 Mr. Roper 18

23 Kate, roan, calved Jan. 14, 1837 .... Mr. Phillips 28

HEIFERS.

23 Selina, white, calved Oct. 6, 1841 ... Mr. Roper 30

24 Venus, white, calved Oct. 13, 1841 ... Mr. Heathcote .... 87

25 Kiri.y, red &wh., calved Oct. 20, 1841. Mr. Tryon 36

26 Frances, roan, calved Nov. 10, 1841 . . Mr. Strickland .... 61

27 Judith, white, calved Dec. 1, 1841 Mr. Robinson 46

28 Profit, roan, calved Dec. 4, 1841 .... Mr. Barnett 23

29 Victoria, roan, calved Jan. 26, 1842 . . Mr. Hayter 50

80 Bessy, roan, calved April 22, 1842 .. Mr. Tryon 42

31 Empress, roan, calved May II, 1842 . Mr. Tryon 32

32 Princess, roan, calved June 23, 184i . Mr. Barnett 32

83 Julia, white, calved Oct. 12, 1842.... Mr. Stopford 41

84 Jemima, white, calved Oct. 2I1, 1842.. Mr. Stopford 20

85 Kitty, roan, calved Nov. 13, 1842 Mr. Attenborough.. 18

36 Moss Rose, wh., calved March 1», 1843 Lord Sandwich .... 27

37 Sylvia, roan, calvtd Dec. 7, 1843 Mr. Tryou 26

BULLS.

38 Cyrus, roan, calved March 15, 1842.. Mr. Drage 20

39 Lilyman, roan, calved Nov. 6, 1842 .. Mr. Lewit 21

40 Jupiter, roan, calved, Dec. 26, 1842 . . Lord Lilford 22

41 Rover, roan, calved Feb. 28, !843.... Mr. Stopford 21

42 Comus, white, calved fllarchS, 1843.. Mr. Heathcote 38

43 Emperor, ri)an, calved April 29, 1843, Mr. Tryon 27

44 Commander, roan, calved Dec. 17,1843 Mr. Copel Brooke . 26

45 James, roan, calved, Jan 29, 1844 ... Mr. Strickland .... 14

46 Sam, roan, calve ' March 14, 1844 ... Mr. Crawley 20

47 Junius, white, calved May 24, 1844 .. Mr. Drage 22

48 Eclipse, (3688), roan, calved Nov., 1839 Mr. Phillips 26

49 Mahomed (6170), roan, clvd. Mar., 1836 .Mr. Ladds 48

LOT

PURCHASER.

PRICE,
0X8.

13 Portia, roan, calved April 22, 1837... Earl of Ducle 64

14 Clarinda, roan, culved May 12, 1837. Mr. Siansfield 36

15 Many Ann, roan, calved in June, 1837 Mr. Bagge 27

10 Garland, roan, calved Aug. 15, 1837 . Mr. Pollock 62

17 Laura, red&wh., calved Nov. 26, 837 Mr. Statter 41

18 Comela, red & wh., calved Dec. 1, 1837 Mr. F. Greenwood 22

19 Bolina, red&wh., calved Aug. 28, 1838 Mr. F. Greenwood 36

20 Cherry, roan, calved Dec. 25, 1838 .. Lord Hill 47

21 Miss Chance, red and white, calved

Jan. 13, 1839 Mr. Holmes .90

22 Fairy Queen, roan, calved Apr. 30, 1839 M r. T<ipham 41

23 Sweetbrier, roan, calved Sept. 19, 18.19 Mr. Hayward 40

24 Lady Elizabeth P^airfax, red and white,

calved Oct. 15, 1839 Mr. Simpson 65

25 Science, wliite, calved Feb. 26, 1810. Earl of Ducie 76

26 EasterMiracle,wh., clvd. Apr. 19,1840 Mr. Bagge 66

27 Clio, white, calved in August, 1840.. Mr. Sugdnn 18

28 Felicia, red, calved Jan. 12, lt<41 Mr. Stansfield 88

29 Princess Royal, red, clvd. Mar. 7, 1841 Mr. St ratio rd 45

30 Stella, roan, calved April 13, 1841... Earl of Ducie 105

31 Blandina, roan, calved Aug. 13, 1841 .. Earl of Ducie 65

32 Garlanda, roan, calved Aug. 25, 1841.. Sir J. Cathcart ... 5ft
I 38 Lovely, roan, calved Nov. 3, 1841... Earl of Ducie 81

I 34 Lady Emma Fairfax, roan, calved

Jan. 2, 1842 Mr. Carrulhers ... 78

35 WhitcRose.wh., clvd. March 17, 1842 Mr.Hayter 62

36 Gezina, white, calved Feb. 12, 1842.. Mr. Tophum 51

37 Sprightley, white, calved, Apr. 21, 1842 Earl of Dncie 72

38 Aurelia, white, calved June 7, 1842.. Mr.Hayter 44

39 Iva, roan, calved Nov. 3, 1842 Mr. Bagge 43

40 Gorilla, white, calved Dee. 22, 18)2.. Mr. Topham 68

41 Lady Buchan Fairfax, roan, calved

Jan. 2, 1843 Earl of Ducie 160

42 Frisk, red, calved Jan. 12, 1843 .... Mr. Hercy 43

43 Lady Valentine, roan, calved Feb. 14,

1843 Sir C. R. Tempest.. 100

44 Magnet, red, calved Feb. 23, 1843... Mr. F. Greenwood 27

45 Gazelle, white, calved March 20, 1843 Mr. Hercy ....... 48

BURLEY, NEAR OTLEY, in the County of
York. — The sale of this splendid herd of short-horns,
the property of Jonas Whitaker, Esq., one of the oldest
and best breeders of his day, took place at Burley, on
Friday, Sept. 13, in the presence of upwards of two
thousand spectators ; amongst whom were many of the
most eminent breeders in England, Ireland, Scotland,
as well as France, all anxious to possess themselves at
once of what had cost Mr. Whitaker such care and
attention for many years. After partaking of a most
beautiful spread, so hospitably provided by Mr. Whita-
ker, at two o'clock, Mr. Wetherell made a few pertinent
remarks on the necessity of combining purity of blood
with good animals, and the short space of three hours
consigned them all to different owners, at the following
prices : —

COWS, HEIFERS, &c., &c.

LOT PURCHASER. ^^q^s'

1 Superb, roan, calved in 1831 Mr. Carruthers .... 25

2 Starville, roan, calved Marcli 5, 1834 Mr. Carruthers .... 41

3 Graceville, roan, calved April 26, 1834 Mr. Jefferson 30

4 Overture, roan, calved April 29, 1834 Mr. F. Greenwood 25

5 Wamba, roan, calved in 1S84 Mr. Strafford 36

6 Helena, roan, calved in March, 1835 Mr. F. Greenwood 47

7 Red Rose, red, calved Jfay 16, 1835.. Mr. Sugden 21

8 Lingflower, roan, calved in July, 1835 Lord Hill 41

9 B.auty, red&wh., calved Dec. 1, 1835 Mr. Simpson 41

10 YoungJessamine, rn., clvd. Apr 6, 1888 Mr. Unsworth .... 29

11 Isabplla2nd,red&wh., calved in 1836 Mr. Wilkinson j.,.. 26
13 Lady, red, calved in 1836 Mr. Unsworth ' , , , , 50

46 Superlative, red,calved .March 20, 18)3 Mr. Wrijht

47 Winny, white, calved March 21, 1843 Mr. Jefferson....
43 Cornelia Buchan, roan, calved May 10,

1843 Mr. Wetherell .,

49 Superior Buchan, light roan, calved

Aug. 29, 1843 Mr. Barnes

50 ValerosaBuclian, roan, calved Sept. 1,

1843 Mr. Crossley . . . ,

51 Bella Buchan, red and white, calved
Sept. 5, 1843 Mr. Longbourne

36
60

60

28

5i JanettaBuclian,wh. , clvd. Sept.4, 1843 Mr. Jefferson 33

53 Labelia Bachan,wh., clvd. Sept. 4, 1843 Mr. Longbourne .. 80

54 IdellaBuchan,rd., clvd., Sept. 13, 1843 Mr. Sergeantson . . . 40

55 Princess Alice, red and white, calved

Jan. 13, 1844 Mr. Holt White ... 23

56 Sweet Lips, roan, calved Jan. 27, 1844, Mr. Holt White ... 32

57 Gem, roan, calved Feb. 9, 1844 Mr. Holt White ... 28

58 Miss Buchanan, red and white, calved

Feb. 22, 1?44 Mr. Holmes 45

59 Rozelle, nearly red, clvd Mar. 20, 1844 Lord Hill 15

60 Sidonia, white, calved April 11, 1844. Mr. Forrest 31

61 Dorette, red, calved April 28, 1844 .. Mr. Statter 20

BULLS.

62 Rockingham (2650), wh., clvd. in 1831

63 Buchan Hero (3288), roan, calved April

1, 1839

64 Doctor Buchan (5924), red and white,

calved Aug. 20, 1842

65 Petrarch, roan, calved April 8, 1843 .
60 The Naseby Hero, white, calved June

14, 1843

67 The Earl of Buchan, white, calved July

9, 1848

68 Lord Edward Fairfax , roan , calved July

2.3,1843

69 Burley Fairfax, wh., clvd. Oct. 27, 1843

70 Wharfdale Burley, dark roan, calved

Feb. 2.', 1844

71 The Honorable Charles Fairfax, roan,

calved March 5, 1844

72 Herschel, roan, calved March 13, 1814.

73 Towton, roan, calved March 29, 1844

74 Sir Robert Buchan, roan, calved June

8, 1844

75 Glendower Buchan, roan, calved June

13, 1844

76 The Swiss Hero, red and white, calved

July 9, 1844

77 Patroness, redand white, calved March

17, 1839

Bull calf, white, Young Jessamine

Bull calf, roan, Lingflower

Bull calf, roan, salbella ......

Sir C. R. Tempest.. 55

Sir C.R. Tempest.. 350

Mr. Latouche .... 70
Mr. Carruthers..,. 86

Mr. Statter 43

The King of the
French 200

Mr. Brooke 33

Mr. Pollock 54

Mr. Sergeantson ,.29

Mr. Foulis 25

Mr. Stansfield .... 86
Mr. Sergeantson.., 16

Mr. F. Greenwood 17

Mr. Dudding 16

Mr. Hayward 6

Mr. Stratton 20

Mr. Hadwin 5

Mr. Wetherell .... 15
Mr. Spurr .. ..... . 6

878

THE PARMER'S MAGAZINE.

REVIEW OF THE CORN TRADE

DURING THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER.

The wheat harvest ha.\nng been some time
finished in England, and the crop partially put to
the test of thrashing, we are now enabled to speak
wth some degree of certainty respecting the re-
sult. The opinion previously expressed that the
produce would probably exceed an average is
confirmed by the reports which have since reached
us, and we feel no hesitation in stating that a
larger quantity of wheat has been secured in 1844
than has been the case during any pre\dous year for
many seasons.

The want of statistics on aU subjects connected
wth agriculture renders the tenn "an average
crop" exceedingly vague ; but, according to the
generally understood meaning, which we conceive
to be an equal quantity to that grown in average
years, the wheat harvest just gathered may be re-
garded as one of abundance.

Nothing definite is actually known as to the
number of qviarters annually produced in these
islands ; and to deal wth figures would, therefore,
be entirely speculative, judging from what we have
been enabled to collect as to the increased breadth
sown, and the produce per acre as far as it has yet
been ascertained, in different localities, we are
inchned to think at least one-sixth more wheat has
been secured this autumn than usual.

As regards the quahty too little is yet known to
arrive at a positive conclusion; that saved very
early previous to the rain in the beginning of Au-
gust was carted in excellent order, and is as fine a
sample as could possibly be desired.

The first fourteen days in August were extremely
unfavourable for harvest work ; notwithstanding
which farmers continued their operations, and
much wheat was, during that period, put up in
veiy bad order. In other places extensive damage
was done by the crops being lodged where not cut,
and where cut the quality suffered nearly as much
by the heavy rains. In many of the forward dis-
tricts the corn grew in the ear, and sprouted grains
are thus common in some otherwise good samples.
The southern and early districts will consequently
afford some of the finest and some of the most
inferior quahty this year.

Further north the showers in August did less
mischief, the wheat not being sufficiently for^vard
there to be greatly injured by the rain, and though
heavy pieces were here and there lodged, gene-
rally the crops were well got in to the north of the
river Hmnber.

The most convincing argument we are able to
adduce to prove that no just reason exists to com-
plain of the quahty as a whole, is the fact that
light weight is scarcely heard of, 63 to 64 lbs. per
bushel being exceedingly common ; whilst parcels
weighing less than 60 lbs. are rarely met mih.
This circumstance is, in our opinion, sufficient to
convince all conversant with the subject that though
the quality may, in many instances, be coarse, it
it cannot De v«ry bad; thus far, therefore, farmers

have abundant grounds to be satisfied. With the
exception of wheat, however, the yield of all kinds
of agricultural products is undoubtedly short. The
deficiency m spring corn and the extremely low
price of the only crop of which the quantity is
large, render it very doubtful whether the year
1844 can be reckoned a prosperous one for the
farmer.

Wheat has, in some parts of the countiy, been
selling during the month at 40s. to 42s. per qr.
These rates we fear cannot pay the producer ; and
being of opinion that rather better prices will be
obtained later in the season, we should strongly re-
commend farmers not to be over anxious in reahsing,
especially as more remunerating terms may be made
for barley at present.

In respect to the yield of the last-named grain
the accounts from all quarters agree in describing
it as more or less deficient ; in many districts the
deficiency is very serious, and even in the most
favoured localities, the quahty is, with few excep-
tions, inferior to that of last year's growth.

In Norfolk and Suffolk, two of the principal
barley growing counties, there are, at the present
time (the close of September), numerous pieces
still abroad in an unripe state. This portion of
the crop was probably sown late in June ; the pre-
vious two months' drought having prevented the
seed being committed to the ground at the proper
period. The early so^A^l has, in many cases, yielded
better than could have been expected, pai'ticularly
in the eastern counties ; but, making fuU allowance
for this circumstance, it is nevertheless to be feared
that even on the best barley soil, the quantity will
prove short; whilst, taking the produce of the
entire kingdom collectively, a material deficiency
must be calculated on.

In the western parts of England and Wales
prices of this grain have already risen to such an
extent as closely to approach the value of wheat,
and the drain from the east to the west is likely
to keep quotations high in aU parts of the country.

From the comparatively small quantity of oats
now grown in England it is difficult to arrive at
an accurate conclusion as to the result, the reports
from many districts scarcely deeming it necessary
to notice this article ; from the best infoiTnation we
have hitherto been able to collect, we have reason
to beheve, howevei", that though partial instances
of good yield and fine quahty are to be met with,
the general i-esult has disappointed the grower,
and we are inchned to think that we shall be even
more dependant on Ireland and Scotland for Bup-
phes this season than usual.

In neither of the countries just named has the
harvest been brought to a close yet, but what now
remains abroad cannot make any veiy great dif-
ference in a national point of view; too short a
time has at present elapsed to permit of detailed
accounts being received respecting quantity and
quality; the intellijfence which has hith«rto

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Z7f

reached is not of a character to raise veiy sanguine
hopes, the drought diuing the greater part of the
summer ha\'ing been equally prejudicial in those
parts of the kingdom as Avith us.

Prices of oats have been very steadily supported
throughout the month, and present appearances
rather indicate a rise than a dechne.

Tlie yield of beans is almost universally allowed
to be exceedingly short, but the quality is generally
described as fine.

Peas have turned out more satisfactorily than
was expected J and whilst prices of the former of
the two last-named articles have been gradvially
advancing, those of the latter have tended down-
M'ard at most of the principal markets.

We must admit that the foregoing remarks, on
the resiilt of the harvest, ai'e not so definite and cir-
cumstantial as we could wish, but they are tlie best
we can as yet offer, it being by no means an eas)'
matter to obtain accurate information, on this im-
portant subject, so soon after the crops liave been
secured.

The weather has lately been very favourable for
preparing the land for autumn sowing, and, in the
southern counties, much work has already been
completed in a satisfactory manner.

The numerous out-door occupations which must
now have immediate attention, are likely to cause a
falling off in the supplies from tlie growers, and it
may, therefore, be concluded that, during the next
month or six weeks, the value of most species of
strain will be fully supported.

The shortness of the stocks of old wheat is likely
to have considerable influence on the future range
of prices. It is all but universally admitted that
farmers hold veiy httle in addition to the pre-
sent year's crop, whilst of free foreign the total
quantity in the kingdom is supposed not to ex-
ceed 250,000 quarters, of \vhich only about 100,000
quarters are held by London merchants and mil-
lers.

In bond we have the stocks officially made up to
the 5th September, sho\ving that, on that day, there
were 110,652 quarters in the metropohtan ware-
houses, and 330,892 qviarfeers, altogether, in the
united kingdom, under the Queen's locks.

The second subject to be taken into account,
v.lien the future value of wheat is under considera-
tion, is the probable extent of importations from
abroad. That these must be comparatively small
for the remainder of the year admits of no doubt,
prices, though much reduced, being relatively
higher on the continent than in England, and no
prospect existing of the duty falling below the
maximum point for many months. It appears,
therefore, that beyond about 250,000 quarters
of free foreign wheat, and perhaps occasional
imports to a moderate extent, we shall principally
depend on our growers for supplies until the spring
of next year ; the chances are, consequently, in our
opinion in favour of present prices being at least
supported; and a shght improvement does not
appear improbable. At the same time we cannot
see reason to reckon on any advance of importance,
for should there, hereafter, be symptoms of a de-
cided rise so as to cause a fall in the duty of only
a few shillings per quarter, foreigners would not

be slow in availing themselves of the circumstance;
and, until the navigation of the Baltic shall be
closed by ice, the knowledge of large stocks being
held there ready to be speedily transported to this
side whenever the British markets hold out any
encouragement, will act as a powerful check to high
prices.

"With these speculative remarks as to the proba-
ble value of wheat, we shall close our observations,
as regards the future, and direct attention to the
proceedings M-hich have occurred at Mark Lane
during the month.

The retrograde movement, which commenced
about tlie middle of the month of August, continued
till the iGtli September, when the best runs of new
red wheat were sold in the London market at 44s.
to 46s. ; and excellent quahties of white 48s. to 52s.
per quarter. About the same tune, prices of the
article fell to a very low point at some of the prin-
cipal shipping ports on the east coast. Lincoln-
shire wheat, weighing 63 lbs. per bushel, was
actually obtainable at 40s. ; and large contracts
were closed at 41s. per quarter, free on board.

These tempting prices caused buyers to enter
into operations more freely than they had for some
time previously done ; and the orders which were
sent to Spalding, Boston, Lynn, and Wisbeach,
for London, speedily caused a rise of 2s. to 3s. per
qr. to take place at those ports. The trade at Mark
Lane remained quiet meanwhile, attention being
more directed to free on board purchases than
to parcels on the spot; and it was not until the
23rd instant that a trifling advance could be
estabUshed. The appearance of large supphes from
the east coast, which began to come forward soon
afterwards, checked the ujiward tendency; and
though sellers have remained very firm, they have
been unable to estabhsh any further improvement.
The greater part of the arrivals from Lincolnshire
and that neighbourhood has gone to the millers di-
rect ; and their immediate wants ha\ang been thus
supphed, the quantity brought forward from Kent
and Essex (unimportant though it has been) has
mo\-ed off with much difficulty, at the shght rise
abo\'e noted.

The new wheat has not hitherto come to hand in
very good condition, and it has been found neces-
sary to mix it pretty largely with old to bring it
into proper order for manufacturing. The quan-
tity of old Enghsh brought forward has not been
adequate to the requirements of the millers, and
free foreign has therefore met a fair share of atten-
tion. The constant deliveries from granarj' have
greatly decreased our stock, and we doubt whether
more than 100,000 qrs. of duty-paid wheat are now
left in the port of London. ITie narrow compass
into which the stock has been reduced, has ren-
dered holders very indifferent about selling, and
fuU prices have lately been insisted on. Good
Rostock, which was, when the depression was at
its height, sold at 48s., has since obtained 50s. per
qr., and for other descriptions of red Bedtic wheat
proportionate rates have been reaUzed. Fine Dan-
zig has been in steady request, at 539. to 54s. per qr.,
and there are now but few really fine parcels re-
maining on the market. In bonded wheat nothing
of interest has transpired, the certainty of th« duty

876

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

remaining stationary at 20s. per qr. for a con-
siderable period ha\'ing checked all disposition to
enter into speculative investments. A few small
cargoes have been shipped to Holland and France
from hence, and have, after paying freight and ex-
pences, netted the consigners a trifling profit,
prices being several shillings per qr. higher at
Amsterdam and Rotterdam, as well as at some of
the French markets, than in London at present.
These shipments, and the quantities entered from
time to time for home consumirtion have pre-
vented the stock in the bonded warehouses in-
creasing to any extent.

Town-manufactured flour has met a steady, but
by no means a quick sale, and quotations have un-
dergone little or no variation : when we last wrote,
the nominal top price was 45s. per sack, and so it
has remained; whilst country marks have been
selling at from 34s. to 38s. per sack, according to
quality. Of the latter the arrivals have, through-
out the month, been smaU ; but we have recently
received rather important supphes of the article
from North America. The Canadian, paying only
7d. per brl. duty, hab of covirse been immediately
thrown on the market to the injury of our own
manufacturers : the quality is not very well ap-
proved of this season by the bakers, and the price
has been reduced from 28s. to 30s. down to 26s.
to 27s. per brl.

The first parcels of new malting barley exhibited
at Mark Lane reahzed high terms, 36s. to 38s.
being paid for the earliest arrivals from Kent, and
38s. to 40s. per qr. for superior qualities from Suf-
folk. These high prices induced farmers to thrash
out rather freely, and with increased supphes the
value of the article has, -within the last fortnight,
receded 2s. to 3s. perqr. below the top quotations.
There can be no doubt that efforts have lately been
made, by parties interested, to raise the averages
artificially, so as to cause a fall in the duty ; and
the extreme rates mentioned above were paid by
the speculators in furtherance of this object, and
not by the maltsters, who have scarcely yet com-
menced operations. The weather, which was
unusually warm in the early part of the month,
having since become cold, the principal maltsters
may be expected to begin steeping almost imme-
diately, and unless the deficiency of the crop has
been greatly exaggerated, the probability is in fa-
vour of present prices being supported.

The averages, as might be expected from what
we have just stated, have risen rapidly, and the
duty, after having remained stationary for a long
time, fell to 3s. per qr. onThurday, with a prospect
of a fall of another Is. per qr. The whole of the
quantity hitherto received from abroad has been
landed in bond, in anticipation of this event, and
until it is positively ascertained that the duty can-
not be further reduced, little or none will be
entered for consumption. The best heavy qualities
of free foreign have been held at 30s., and mode •
rately good parcels at 27s. to 28s. per qr. The
stock under lock was, on the 5th Sep., 164,684 qrs.
in the kingdom, and 81,918 qrs. in London, to
which some additions have since been made by fresh
arrivals. In bond sales have been made to specu-
lators at 2 is. to 27s, per qr., and for parcels to

arrive from 228. up to 248. per qr., cost and freight
have been paid. In the early part of the month
there was a good deal of inquiry for fine malt, and
several large parcels were taken to send to the
westward ; after the fall in the value of Barley,
prices of the manufactured article also began to
give way more or less, and business has closed very
languidly. We are led to believe that strenuous
efforts Avill be made next session to obtain the
abolition, or at all events, a remission of the malt-
tax, and we are happy to see that meetings have
taken place in diflferent parts of the country in
furtherance of this object.

The arrivals of English Oats have been small
throughout the month, indeed, excepting one week's
fair arrival from Ireland, the supplies have been
moderate from all quarters. The new Irish
which have as yet appeared have proved of
decidedly inferior quality to the growth of last
year, very few parcels weighing upwards of 40lbs.
per bushel, and many only 38lbs. ; whilst 42 to
43lbs. per bushel have been the common weight
of the Irish shipments throughout the past season.
From Scotland only one parcel of new oats has yet
appeared, whichhaving been secured unusually early,
proved of fine quality and good weight. For the first
arrivals of new from Ireland 20s. 6d. to 21s. 6d.
per qr. were obtained ; but subsequently sales were
made at 20s. to 20s. 6d. ; but in the value of good
old corn, the tendency has been rather upwards
than otherwise. Though a large proportion of the
supplies from abroad has at once been entered for
home consumption from on board ship, still the
stocks of bonded have slightly accumulated, and
on the 5th September there were 86,873 qrs. under
lock in the United Kingdom, of which 36,442 qrs.
were held at London. Beyond a small purchase
made occasionally for shipment to the West Indies,
scarcely anything has been done in bonded oats,
and quotations have become nearly nominal.

Comparatively few new beans have been exhibited
at Marli Lane, and the supplies of old having also
been small, full prices have been obtained. In the
early part of the month the value of the article rose
several shillings per qr»; but part of this advance
was lost on the l6th inst., stiU good ticks may now
be considered worth 30s. to 32s., and fine harrow
ticks, 32s. to 34s. per qr. Foreign beans have
excited little attention, but owing to the prospect of
a decline in the duty, bonded parcels have com-
manded rather enhanced terms. There are now
very few beans in bond in London; nearly the
whole having been released towards the close of
August, when it will be recollected the duty rose
from 6s. 6d. to 7s. 6d. per qr. In the kingdom
there were on the 5th only 4,810 qrs. under lock.

The supplies of peas have proved quite equal to
the demand, and \\dthout any material variation
having occurred in quotations, buyers have had
the turn in their favour. I'Tie best new boilers have
been selUng at 36s. to 37s.; and fine maples at 32s.
per qr. Foreign peas have been wholly neglected,
and to have made extensive sales, it would have
been necessary to have accepted very low terms.

Before bringing our review to a close, we shall
devote a portion of our space to laying before oiu-
readers the substance of our foreign advices, deem-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

379

ing it of the utmost importance for the British far
mar to be acquainted with the position of the corn
trade abroad, and thereby enabUng him to form an
opinion to what extent, and from what quarter he
has most to fear from competition.

That the late alteration in the corn-laws, by
lowering the maximum point of protective duty to
20s. per qr., is likely to keep prices of wheat down
in this countiy cannot for a moment be questioned,
and that importations to a greater or less extent will
be made, even when the duty is at the highest
point has already been proved, but we are inchned
to think that it will not often pay the foreign pro-
ducer to send us wlieat under such circumstances ;
thus much is certain, that the late importations
must have been attended by serious loss, and it
may, therefore, be reasonably concluded, that sup-
phes must speedily fall oft".

Most of the wheat lately received from Danzig,
cost from 32s. to 35s. per qr. free on board, pay-
ing a freight of from 3s. 6d. to 4s., which, vnih in-
surance, sound dues, and other expenses, increased
the price to 37s. to 40s. per qr., and •20s. duty,
bringing good qualities up to 60s. ; lately, however,
quotations have given way considerably on the
other side, owing, partly, to the continued discour-
ging reports from Great Britain, and partly to heavy
pecuniary pressures : even now, however, prices are
too high at the principal Baltic ports, to admit of con-
signments being made to England with a prospect
of profit. By the latest accounts from Danzig,
we are infonned that a portion of the wheat which had
been lying on the banks of the Vistula ever since
that river overflowed — of which occurence, and the
damage done thereby, we took notice of last
month — had been restored to tolerably good con-
dition, and the pressure for money ha\ang rendered
holders exceedingly anxious to realize, sales had
been made at low terms. Good mixed qualities,
the growth of 1842, weighing 62lb. per bushel, had
been sold at 27s. 6d. to 28s., and really fine high-
mixed samples at 30s. ; whilst for ordinary red,
partially damaged, and of only 57 lbs. weight, 20s.
per qr. had been accepted. ITie purchases had
been principally made by local speculators, or
by buyers from other parts of Germany, compara-
tively little having been taken for exportation.
Several important failures had taken place there,
and the assignees to the different estates had found
it necessary to dispose of the wheat, whereby the
pressure on the market had been much increased.

A few small vessels had been chartered to load
for London at 3s. 9d., and two or three for the
Channel Islands at 3s. 9d. to 4s. per qr. free on
board.

The stock of wheat on the spot had been shghtly
reduced by shipments to Holland, and granary
rent which had previously been very high, had be-
come rather more reasonable.

At Konigsburgh, prices have remained relatively
high, and very little business has, consequently,
been done at that port during the month in wheat.
Rye has, on the other hand, excited much atten-
tion there, and at one time equal to 21s. per qr.,
free on board was paid ; by the latest accounts,
however the irquhy had subsided. From the
lower Baltic ports, the reports are not of much

interest as regards wheat, Danzig having all along
offered by far the cheapest market for this article.
At Stettin, Rostock, &c., good stocks are still held of
last year's growth, but the merchants have shown
very little anxiety to realize.

Barley has met a fair sale, and has commanded
high rates, at Stettin as much as 20s. per qr., free
on board, has been paid for 5llbs. quahties, and for
heavy parcels from the Danish Islands, 21s. to 22s.
per qr. have been realized, whilst at Hamburg con-
tracts have been closed to deliver Saale barley of
511bs. weight, in October at 27s. to 27s. 6d. From
the south of Europe, the ad\dces have for some
time been and still continue without interest, as
there does not appear any probabihty of shipments
of grain being made from any of the ports in the
Mediterranean to this country.

From Alexandria, we are likely however to receive
a considerable quantity of beans, mostly bought so
as to stand in 21s. to 22s. per qr., cost freight and
insurance. The most recent news from Canada
fully bears out what we have pre^^ously stated re-
lative to the extent of supplies of flour likely to be
received from thence. Letters from Montreal, of
the 27th August, inform us that the exports since
the opening of the shipping season had amounted
to 335,957 barrels, whilst the shipments during
the corresponding period of 1843, had consisted
of 52,464 barrels. In wheat, the increase is still
more enormous, being 237,844 bushels, against
15,417 bushels. These facts but too plainly prove
the fallacy of the arguments employed by parties
favourable to the new bill, when they boldly as-
serted that the alteration will not materially aug-
ment the supplies; the very first season of its
being in operation, and consequently ere time has
been allowed for the colonists to avail themselves
fully of their resources, the exports of flour have
increased sixfold, and those of wheat are fourteen
times as large as the year immediately preceding.

CURRENCY PER IMPERIAL MEASURE.

September 23.

Wheat, Essex and Kent, new, red 40 46 48 White 40 60 54

Old, red 48 50 52 Do 62 56

Rye, old 30 34 New.... b6 —

Barley, Grinding, 28 30 Malting 32 34 Chevalier 35 —

Irish 26 28 Bere . . . 26 —

Malt, Suffolk and Norfolk 58 60 Brown.. 56 68

Kingston and Ware 60 — Chevalier 60 —

Oats, Yorksh. & Lincolnshire, feed 20 22 Potato.. 23 24

Youghall and Cork, black.. 19 20 Cork,white20 21

Dublin 19 HO Westport2ii 21 22

Waterford, white 20 21 Black.. 19 «0

Newry...... 21 22

Galway 19 20

Scotch, feed 21 22 Potato.. 23 24

Clonmel 20 21 22 Liinerickl9 20 21

Londonderry 20 21 Sligo 19 20 22

Beans, Tick, new 82 35 Old, small 38 .S8

Peas, Grey 32 34 Maple.. 33 86

White 3i 35 Boilers.. 36 88

Seed, Rape 27/. 28/. Irish .. 22i. 26i. per last.

Linseed, Baltic. 30 38 Odessa 41

Mustard, white 6 7 brown 8 llperbusli.

Flour, Town-made -- 50 Suffolk 38 per sk. of 280 lbs.
Stockton and Norfolk 38 Irish 40

FOREIGN GRAIN AND FLOUR IN BOND.

Wheat, Dantzic 36 40

Hamburg 38 —

Rostock 80 ~

Barley 93 24

Oats, Brew ,, 16 17 Feed ... 14 13

Beans. — 24 28

Peas 26 28

Fmub, American, per brl.,..., HI — Baltic •• SO —

S80

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

IMPERIAL AVERAGES.

Week ending. Wheat.] Barley.l Oats, i Rye. iBeans. P eas

[.Aug. 10th

17th

24th

81st

Bept. 7th

14th....

Ag"gre^Hte averao^e of
the six weeks which
regulates the duty.

Duties payable in
liondon till Wed-
nesday next inclu-
Bive, and at the Out-
ports till the arrival
of the mail of that
day from Lond'iu . .

Do. on g-raiu from
British possessions
out of Europe. . .. •

48 10 34 6

49 1 I 34 6

50 4 I 33 3

50 il
48 6
45 il

48 U

34 11

35 9
35 11

20

1

20

0

80

4

20

7

20

5

20

1

20

= [

35 9 35 0

35 11 85 7

36 S' 35 10
34 2; 37 0

34 4 33 1

35 9 87 9

35 5! 36 6

40 60i 7 61 66

06'20i 1620

84 2

33 7

34 0

33 10
83 10

34 6

8 6

COMPARATIVE PRICES OF GRAIN.

WEEKLY AVERAGES by
the Imp. Quarter, from the
GazcKe. of Fridav last,
Sept. 20th, 1844.

s. d.

Wheat...... 45 11

Barley 35 II

Oai-s 20 I

Btb... 35 0

Beaks...... 87 9

l»BAa .• 34 6

AVERAGES from the corres-
ponding Gazette in the last
year, Friday, Sept. 22nd,
1843.

S. d.

Wheat 50 lo

Barley 31 5

Oats 18 10

Rye 30 )

Beans 81 2

Peas 33 8

PRICES OF SEEDS.

September 23.

Baltic — — crushing 38 42 per qr

Mediter. & Odessa 38 40

Carraway 44 46 new ..48 52 per cwt.

Coriander 15 18 per cwt.

Mustard, brown, new.... 11 15 white.. 12 16 p. bush.

Trefoil — — old..— new —

Rapeseed, English, new.. 231. 25 f. per last.
Linseed Cakes, English.. 10/. 10s. to Ml. 0». per 1000

Do. Foreign.. 6^ I5s. to 71. per ton.

Large, foreign .... — —

Hempseed 35 38 per qr.

Rye Grass, English — — Scotch— — nominal-
Tares, Winter 5s. ed. to 6s. Od.

Tares, old .... — — new — — per qr.
Canary, fine 58 60 per qr.

PRICES OF HOPS.
BOROUGH, Monday, Sept. 23.
Hops at Worcester market on Saturday sold at 2s. to
3s. per cwt. advance. Prices 6/. 6s. to 71. ; very choice,
71. 5s. to 71. 7s : duty, 17,000/. We have now a good
supply of Hops in the Borough, and have but a limited
demand to the present time, the merchants not having
yet purchased to supply their travellers. Sussex pockets,
6/. 8s. to &L 15s.— choice higher; Wealds, 6/. 18s. to
71. 10s. do.; Mid. Kent, 8/. to 10/. do,; Famhams,
10/. .to 10/. 10s.; Yearling, Sussex, 6/. to 6/. 6s.;
do., Kent, 6/. 6s. to 6/. 16s. ; duty 130,000/.

WOOL MARKETS.
BRITISH.

LEEDS, Sept. 20. — Sales of combing wools have
been rather quiet during the present week ; the manu-
facturers having supplied their present wants by recent
purchases. Prices are firm and stationary ; and as the
consumption is large and undiminished, it is expected
that there will shortly be a renewed activity in purchases.
Clothing wools are in good demand, and go off steadily
at firm prices.

WAKEFIELD, Sept. 20.— We have to report a very
still market ; the consumption is unabated, but spinners
of long wool put themselves in stock a few weeks ago,
and are enabled to abstain from purchasing ; the range
.of prices from the grower, however, being above what

has been reah^ed here, there is no anxiety to force sales,
and wool is held firmly. Blanket wool is light in stock,
and is moved off as it comes to market.

LIVERPOOL, Sept. 21.
Scotch. — There has been rather less doing this week
in Laid Highland wool, but this may arise from the
different parties having supplied themselves last week
when down at our pubUc sales. In White Highland
little has been done. Our stock of Cross is still light ;
this class has been in demand on arrival at fair rates.
In Cheviots there has been little doing this week, wliich
arises from the same cause no doubt as for Laid.

s. d. s. d.
Laid Highland Wool, per 241bs .... 9 3 to 9 6

White do. do 12 8 12 9

Laid Crossed do., unwashed.... 10 0 12 0

Do. do. .washed U 6 14 6

Do. Cheviot do. unwashed .... 10 6 18 0

Do. do. .washed 12 6 17 9

White Do. do 24 0 26 0

Foreign. — There has been a quietude in our market
this week, after the excitement of the sale. A few
transactions by private towards the end of the week, at
full rates, has given a little life to our market. There
has been more doing in Alpacas at full rates.

FOREIGN.

Accounts from Berlin, of the 9th instant, state that
the Wool market continued very active, large purchases
being made. The stock, including Polish, was not
above 15,000 cwt. Mid. qualities, at 50 to 62 rix-dols.,
were in most request; and fine, at 70 rix-dols., was
least sought after. Lamb's-wool had been dear, but the
supply was increasing.

At Riga, last month, the stocks of Wool were rather
large, but prices were satisfactory. Fine 27 to 33 r.
per pud, and mid. 19 to 23 r.

PRICES OF MANURES.

Subjoined are the present prices of several sorts of
Manure : —

Hunt's Bone-dust, 17s. per qr.

Hunt's Half-inch Bone, 15s.
per qr.

J. T. Hunt's Artificial Guano,
Ql. per ton

Hunt's Stuff Graves, 51. per ton

Rape Dust, 5/. 5s. per ton

Kape Cake, 61. per ton

Rags, 4/. to 4/. 10s. per ton

Graves, 61. 10s. per ton

Gypsum, at the waterside, 85s.
per ton

Agricultural Salt, 82s. per ton

Carbon, 12s. per qr.

Humus, 14s. per qr.

Soap Ashes, 10s. per ton

Patent Disinfected Manure,
138. 6d. per qr.

Highly Concentrated Manure,
30s. per qr.

Nitrate of Soda, 16s. per cwt.

Nitrate Potash (saltpetre), 25s.
to 26s. per cwt.

Petre Salt, il. 10s. per ton

Willey Dust, il. 4 s. per ton

The Urate of the London Ma-
nure Company, 4/.4s. per ton

New Bristol Manure, 8s. per qr.

Hunt's new Fertilizer, 13s. 4d.
per qr.

Preparation for Turnip Fly,
10s. 6d, per pakt., sufficient
for three acres

Chie fou, 21s. per cwt.

WolverhamptonCompost( Alex-
ander's), 12s. perqr., subject

to carriage to London, or
forwarded from Wolver-
hampton

Guano, Pemvian, lOl. lOs. ;
Bolivian, 9/.; African, 51.
15s. to 61. per ton, according
to analysis

Potter's Artificial Guano, 111.
per ton.

Muriate of Ammonia, 203. to
24 s. per cwt.

Muriate of Lime, 6s. per cwt.

Clarke's Compost, SI. 12s. 6d.
per hhd., sufldcient for three
acres

Alkalies, 28s. and 42s. per cwt.

Soda Ash, 14s. to )6s. per cwt.

Chloride Lime, 28s. per cwt.

Sulphuric Acid, l^d. per lb.

Sulphur for Destroying Werm
on Turnips, I2s. per cwt.

Sulphate Soda, 6s. per cwt.

The Liverpool Abattoir Com-
pany's Animalized Manuring 1
Powder, 2/. lOs. per ton

Manure Powder, 1 6s. per qr.

Boast and Co.'s (Bow) Inor-
ganic Manures, from 6s. to
lis. per cwt., according to
crop

Boast's Guano, 91. Os. per ton

Fothergill's Gypsum, 85s. pel
ton.

Fothergill's Phosphate of Limei
14s. per cwt.

Printed by Joseph Rogerson, 24, Norfolk-street, Strand,
London,

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I

THE FAEMER'8 MAGAZII^E.

NOVEMBER, 1844.

No. 5. — Vol. X.] [Second Series.

PLATE I.

SHORT-HORNED BULL.

" Strelly" was calved in June, 1841 — bred by, and the property of, Mr. John Cooper, Bankwood
Farm, near Southwell, Notts. At the meeting of the Royal Agricidtural Society of England, held at
Derby, July, 1843, this animal obtained the prize of £20 as the best short-horned bull, calved since the
1st January, 1841, and more than 1 year old ; also the first prize at Nottingham, October, 1843; and
at the meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, at Southampton, July, 1844, he Avon the
first jirize of £30 as the best short-horned bull, calved previous to the 1st January, 1842. His sire,
Mr. Edge's celebrated bull " Strelly" (5339), won the first prize three successive years at Nottingham,
viz., 1839, 1840, and 1841, and he — Strelly (5339)— was also the sire of Mr. Fould's young bull " Fa-
vourite," which obtained the £'20 prize this year at Southampton, as the best short-horned bull, calved
since the 1st of January, 1842, and moi-e than one year old, both l)eing from the same neighbourhood
(near Southwell, Notts). Mr. Fould's bull has since been sold to Mons. St. Marie, for the King of the
French.

PLATE IL

THE PRINCESS; Winner of the Oaks, 1844.

Pedigree. — The Princess, a chesnut filly, was bred by Lord Jersey, in 1841, and is by Slane, out of
sister to Cobweb (foaled in 1820), by Phantom, her dam Filagree, by Soothsayer, out of Web, by Waxy
— Penelope, by Tiaimpator. This sister to Cobweb is also the dam of Donegani, Ismael, Ibrahim, and
others. Slane, who has been but a few years in the stud department, is the sire of Murat, Zenobia,
and St. Valentine ; he was got by Royal Oak, dam by Ondlle ; started in eighteen races, of which he
won nine, including the Waterloo Shield.

Performances. — In 1843, The Princess, then two years old, made her debut at Doncaster; where,
on the Monday, sire was not placed for the Champagne Stakes, Mr. Sah'in's The Cure winning it, Mr.
Osbaldeston's sister to Martingale second, and Mr. Irwin's Foig a Ballagh third : 8 to 1 agst. 'ITie
Princess. On the Thursday, in the same meeting, ridden by Butler, she won the Two-year-old Stakes,
beating Lord G. Bentinck's AU-round-my-hat (2), Mr. Salvin's The Cure (3), and the following not
placed : —Mr. Jaques's Advice, Mr. Mostyn's Brunei, Mr. St. Paul's Telemachus, ^Ir. Stebbing's Ce-
leste, Lord Westminster's Carol, and Mr. M. Jones's British Tar : won by three lengths. — The Princess
not in the betting. At Newmarket, on the Wednesday, in the Second October Meeting, she was ])laced
third for the Bretby Stakes, Lord Chesterfield's Joan of xVrc, and Mr. Osbaldeston's sister to \Iartin-
gale running a dead heat for and dividing the Stake, and Lord E.xeter's filly, by Beiram, out of Datura,
Mr. Thornhill's Eclogue, and Mr. Payne's Audrey, also starting ; 7 to 4 on the Princess, who was beaten
by a neck. In 1844, at Epsom, the Princess, ridden by Butler, won the Oaks, beating Lord Exeter's
Merope (2), Mr. Gregory's Barricade (3), and twenty-two others not placed : 5 to 1 agst. The Princess :
won easy by two lengths. At Ascot, ridden by Flatman, she won the Coronation Stakes, beating Lord
Exeter's Mocha; 8 to 1 on The Princess, who won in a canter by two lengths.

OLD SERIES.'] c c [No. o,—VOL, XXI.

362

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

OX THE FARMING OF NORTH WALES.

BY CUTHBERT ^y . JOHNSOX, ESQ., F.K.S,

There is, perhaps, no part of the United King-
dom where the correct cultivation of the land is
so little understood as in some extensive districts
of North Wales, It is true that this portion of
the empire labours under natural disadvantages ;
that the climate is wet, the country in many places
a nigged mass of broken ground. All these ob-
stacles, however, are to be profitably overcome,
even in very bad cases ; and this is not a
general description of the unproductive soil ;
there are many high lying districts where
great breadths of level are found covered with
a coarse herbage, saturated with stagnant water,
abounding in rushes, enclosed in the most
careless manner, and left, by their indolent occu-
pants, to the care of nature, with all the compla-
cency of ignorance. The owners of the soil seem
to be very commonly, every way worthy of such
tenants. There is not, in the majority of the Welsh
districts I passed over in a recent pretty extended
tour, any appearance even, of any attempt at im-
provement, although the draining tUe, the fork hus-
bandry, a rotation of crops, stall-feeding, &c.,
might be introduced into many of these rugged
districts, not only with comfort to the landlord and
tenant, but to the prqfit of both. Habits of greater
industry, too, would hence be inculcated, which,
in many parts of the principality, appear to be
much needed. To effect these desirable objects
I see no plan more likely to be attended with such
decided advantage as the introduction of self-sup-
porting agricultural schools; for these would
speedily convince the little Welsh cultivators that
by the use of the fork, by improved drainage of
the land, by a good rotation of crops, and other
practical improvements, the land may be made to
produce a return for the labourer far beyond what
they now deem possible.

To the landlord such efforts hold out similar
advantages, in better cultivated land, higher rents,
and a more respectable tenantry. To many of
these the mere pleasure of thus benefiiting their
poorer neighbours would be an ample recompence ;
to others the stimulus of pecimiary interest may
be necessary ; and to that view of the question,
therefore, I shall in this paper chiefly address my-
self. Let the holders of such soils, in the
first instance, however, cease to imagine that
the present mode of cultivating them is the
best that can be adopted, and that it admits of
no further improvement; for such comi^lacent
feelings have ever been the bane of aU attempts to
improve the cultivation of the soil.

Let them feel assured that all such conclusions
of a bygone age are fast exploding before the march
of science and of common sense, it being now a
pretty well understood axiom amongst the enhght-
ened farmers of England, that there is no soil so
fertile or so poor, but what may, in some way or
other, be rendered more profitable.

If in this paper I dwell at greater length upon the
use of the fork-husbandry, it is owing to my being
convinced that this is a system admirably adapted

to the inequalities of soil whiclvis to be met with
in many portions of Wales, and to the small capitals
of the little tenantry, who now till it so deplorably.

Spade husbandry has been extending itself even in
England within the last few years. The late Dr.
Yelloly described its introduction into the parish of
Wymondham, in Norfolk, where it seems many
acres were dug (land after a white crop) at 2d. and
2id. per rod. Of late the fork has, in many places,
superseded the spade, since it lessens labour, and
is better adapted to penetrate the hard substances
on which many shallow soils rest. The spade has
long been employed in the husbandry of Spain,
France, the north of Spain, and other continental
states. The Rev. W. Rham observes (Joiirn. Roy.
Aff. Soc, vol. ii., p. 43), "The husbandry of the
whole of the north-eastern part of East Flanders,
where the soil is a good sandy loam, may be consi-
dered as a mixed cultivation, partly Ijy the i)lough,
and partly by the spade. Without the spade, it
would be impossible to give that finish to the land
after it is sown which makes it appear so hke a
garden, and which is the chief cause of the more
certain vegetation of the seed. Tliere is a great
saving of seed by this practice, as may be seen by
comparing the quantity usually sown in Flanders
with that which is required in other countries,
where the spade is more sparingly used. In large
farms in England, the spade is only used to dig out
water-furrows, and to turn heaps of earth, which
are made into composts -with diflferent kinds of
manure. But in Flanders, where the land is
usually laid in stetches of about sLx or seven
feet wide, the intervals are always dug out with the
spade, and the earth spread evenly (sifted, as they
call it) over the seed which has been harrowed in.

The trenches are so arranged, that every year a
fresh portion of the ground is dug out, and in six
years the whole land mil have been dug to the
depth of at least one foot. In the next course, the
trench is dug a few inches deeper, which brings
up a little of the subsoil; and, after four or five
such courses of trenching, the whole soil comes to
be of an uniform quality to the depth of eighteen
or twenty inches ; a most important circumstance
to the growth of flax, potatoes, and carrots, all of
which are very profitable crops to the farmer, and
the two last indispensable to the maintenance of
the labourers and the cattle. In the AVaes country
they proceed differently, for they have a soil which,
by repeated trenchings, has long been uniform in
quality to the required depth. There they regularly
trench one-sixth part of the land every year, and
plant it with potatoes, or sow carrots in it.

If it shall be objected that the little Welsh cottage
farmers do not understand the system, then why not
teach them, through their children, by the introduc-
tion of agricultural schools? Let the Welsh landlords
read the report of the master of such a school
at Willingdon, in Sussex ; and he will find that
an establishment of that kind is to be carried on
without needing any support from the charitable.

George Cnittenden observes in a recent report,
April, 1843 : — " I have twenty scholars, to whom
I teach reading, Avriting, &c., without any salary,
for one penny per week from each boy, from
nine till twelve o'clock j and from two till

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

383

five in the afternoon, cultivating tlie land.

1 have not lost one from dissatisfaction, but I am
glad to say that they willingly assist me. The
quantity of land I rent is five acres, on the side of
the South Downs, at £3 an acre ; this, with £10 for
my house, makes £25, which I have ])aid for the
year ending Michaelmas last, though I might have
taken oft" my crops, and left rent-free ; but I pre-
ferred staying and teaching, though I have no
salary, and so I think would many others."

If I am to be met with the objection that such a
system of husbandry, although flourishing satis-
factorily on the chalks of Sussex, is ill adapted to
be i)ursued on heavier lands, and in moist climates
like that of Wales ; then let me adduce the evidence
of S. Bridge, of Stock Green, near Feckenham,
Worcestershire, who, in a much wetter chmate than
t hat of Sussex, has about four acres oi very inferior,
stijf, day land on the blue lias, which he has oc-
cupied, two acres for IG or \7 years, and two acres
for 27 years, whose mode of culture, although but
recently pretty extensively made known to the pub-
Uc, can hardly be too much enforced, since it illus-
trates so well the advantages ofthe fork husbandry
on a clay soil and in a moist climate. He grows
Avheat and potatoes, and about \ acre of beans.
Leaving the beans out of the account for the sake
of simplifying it, we may consider two acres to be
in wheat, and two acres in potatoes, every year, the
crop being of course shifted alternately from one
division to the other. His system of cidtivation,
which he has followed for the last 24 years, is this.
As soon as the wheat is off', he breast-ploughs his
stubble ground, raking up the stubble to litter his
pigs ; he then digs it over with a fork, and plants
on it potatoes m the following spring ; this crop
being kept clean, the land needs no further prepa-
ration for wheat. He does most of the labour him-
self, but he estimates it to amount altogether to
£4 6s. l^d. per acre; his average produce has been
rather more than 40 bushels of wheat per acre, and
12 tons of potatoes per acre. He sells all his pro-
duce, even his st)-aw, excepting a few potatoes and
beans, which he consumes in feeding about 30 or 40
score of bacon annually for his own consumption ;
he litters his pigs with the potato haulm and stub-
ble, and the manure from this source, and from his
privy, with some clay out of his ditches, which he
gets occasionally and burns, is all that he has.
Leaving out of consideration the small quantity of
beans raised, and of bacon fed, valuing the wheat
at 7s. per bushel, and the rest of his jjroduce at the
price he obtains for it, we shall have something like
the following account of the annual sales : —

£ s. d.

24 tons of potatoes at 50s OO 0 0

80 bushels of wheat at 7s 28 0 0

2 tons of wheat straw at 50s 5 0 0

Deduct expenses.

93 0 0
23 14 6

Leaves him subject to rent and parochial

payments (59 6 0

If I am still to be answered that it will not be sa-
tisfactory to compare the mode of culture adopted in

the warm valleys of Worcestershire with that of the
soils resting on the elevated ridges of North Wales
and in a climate still wetter than AVorcestershire,
then I adduce the successful result of the same
system on the poor high lying lands in tlie West
Riding of Yorkshire, in the jjarish of Farnley 'J yas,
introduced through the exertions of Mr. Nowell —
[Nowcirs Farm of Industry, p. s) ; here the land is
as poor as can be well imagined, was devoid of arti-
ficial drainage, in a chmate as wet and as cold as
any in North Wales. Mr. Nowell says (and he is
speaking of the year 1842, when great distress per-
vaded the manufacturing districts) : —

" Having obtained grants from the Rehef Com-
mittee, and raised a sum of money, &c., in addition,
we proceeded to lay it out in the following manner.
We borrowed two fields, of two acres each, of an
occupying tenant (who was receiving little benefit
from it, altogether overnm as it was with gorse,
brambles, &c.) ui)on Farnley Moor, in a high, cold,
bleak situation, and lying at such an inclination
that it could not be ploughed at all, one of them
being of a most irregular surface, in short of a very
forl)idding aspect. We had several oflfers of land
of a better description, but these fields were pre-
ferred in order to convince neighbouring occu-
piers ofthe value of spade labour carried on under
great disadvantages. We also accepted the offer
of another field, at a distance from the former, of
about one acre, in a very exposed situation ; and in
both instances agreed to pay rent, taxes, &c., for
four years, and then to restore them to the tenant in a
better condition than they were received, and laid
down in grass. They were afterwards divided into
lots of one-eighth of an acre each, and were let to
dig or trench, to the unemployed manufacturers as
they successively applied for employment.

" We broke ground in the month of November,
1S42, by paring off" the turf and trenching into
ridges the ground for potatoes down to the sub-
soil : the prices for trench work of course were
variable, but averaging about £4 l6s. per acre.

" It was very gratifying to see, sometimes, above
a dozen men and boys, busily employed, working
cheerfully together in one field, and not less so to
find several of them from different families, of from
thirteen to sixteen years of age employed upon a joint
lot; a task voluntarily undertaken by them for the
assistance of their respective families at home. The
men did their work well, gave little trouble to the
superintendent, and after a time assumed the healthy
appearance of the farmer; and in their transition from
the manufacturing to the agricultural labourer, did
not appear to suffer inconvenience. They easily
fell into agricultural habits, and were soon very ex-
pert in handling the spade or the hoe, assuring us
that they preferred this kind of labour to any other.
We proceeded heartily mth our work, met fre-
quently together, and encouraged the men in their
labours, till the month of March this year, when
we had trenched three acres for ])otatoes, 2 r. 10
p. for turnips, and digged over 1 a. 1 r. 13 ji. for
oats ; our men, in part, were then removed, and em-
ployed by Lord Dartmouth, the sole proprietor of
the township, in breaking up, by spade, ground
from which a wood had been removed for that pur-
pose,

c c 3

384

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

" I must here, however, digress to make a remark
as to an unexpected result which already flowed
from our ex])eriment.

" No sooner had we commenced digging our
fields, than a neighbouring farmer commenced
ploughing a very rough field of his, lying very
near to ours, with all despatch, after it had
remained almost useless to him for a great number
of years, determined that he would not be outdone
by us, and it has yielded him, I am happy to say,
a good crop of oats. One part of his field,
however, he found it impossible to plough ; he
therefore re-let it to two young men, who pro-
ceeded to dig it Avith great industiy, and it has
borne them the finest crop of potatoes I ever saw ;
since which time, they have taken the field and be-
come allotment tenants to him ; and will, doubt-
less, better accomplish with the spade what he
had attempted with the plough. It was thus mani-
festly shown that where an industrial farm is vin-
dertaken, it will act as a stimulus to the regular
farmer, and as a preparation of labourers for small
tenancies, or gradually lead the way to the intro-
duction of cottage allotments.

Tlie disadvantages of exposed situations, poor
soil, &c,, were not alone what we had to contend
with ; our manure was drawn four miles up steep
hills, which added materially to our expenses ;
various other imi)ediments were found : howe^'er,
we had a favourable seed-time ; the soil, by expo-
sure to the frosts during winter, was found in ex-
cellent tilth. Suffice it to say, that our crops have
turned out well, and exceeded our expectations,
and now are principally converted into money, and
I am enabled to produce the following balance
sheet on the present occasion.

EXPENDED. £ s. d.

Manual labour 36 8 3

Farm-yard manure, &c 11 ll 2

Team work, leading manure .. .. 9 12 6

Seed oats 1 39

Potatoes borrowed for seed . . . . 6 0 0

Rent ard taxes, one year 9 3 0

Superintendent's salary 5 0 0

Guano 1 18 0

SO
2

16

1

8
4

82

18

0

Total

To balance profits

PRODUCED. £ s. d.

Potatoes sold -12 IS 9

Turnips sold (crop deficient) . . . . 5 lo 0

Potatoes reserved for sets 4 113

Oats 11 0 0

Potatoes on loam repaid 6 0 0

Half manure in the land 10 9 4

One-third guano in the land .. .. 0 12 8

Potatoes unsold 1 i6 o

82 18 0

" Thus then, under every possible disadvantage —
such as imfavourable chmate, poor soil, laymg at a
considerable elevation, and at a great distance'from
manure, and a partial failure in our turnip crops —

still we have paid part off the advanced capital, and
are about to pay the whole ; and shall then have
remaining the original capital received from the
Manufacturers' Relief Committee, and from other
quarters, besides a small profit, either invested in
land in the shape of manure for the ensuing crop,
or in money, or produce ; which had it not been
distributed for its equivalent in labour, would have
been totally lost, or nearly so."

On the great advantages of example over precept,
it is hardly necessary to dwell. This was well un-
derstood by those who instituted the industrial farm
of Farnley Tyas, and its benefits would be felt to
an incalculable extent in whatever district of Wales
it shall, fortunately for the inhabitants, be intro-
duced.

" It was M. Parmentier, I think," adds Mr. Nowell,
"who, when the clamours and opposition to the
introduction of the potato plant were most vehe-
ment, displaying a profound knowledge of human
nature, caused patches on the roadsides in the dif-
ferent departments of France to be planted with
that vegetable, in order that the common people
might steal the roots, and acquire from experience
the knowledge that they were not quite so bad as
had been represented.

" Guided by the example of M. Parmentier, I, too,
have appropriated a roadside field to spade husban-
dry experiments ; and, like him, shall be hajjpy, if
my plans may be stolen, and prove of use to the
passers by. Book knowledge in agriculture, wher-
ever it can be communicated, is good ; but a record
written upon the land, in a local district, still bet-
ter. Acting upon this belief, I have been endea-
vouring, Avithin the last and the present year, to
shew such passers by as would notice my laboiu's,
the efficacy and rare virtues of the A'arious chemi-
cal manures we owe to science, as well as better
methods of raising green food for cattle ; and espe-
cially to direct the attention of my neighbours to
this economising of their liquid, solid, and all other
manures, created in great abundance upon every
well-stocked farm, and which, in many instances,
have been suffered to run to waste. I may be ex-
cused for mentioning some results and proceedings,
which have no novelty in themselves, but which I
deemed it important to show in this neighbourhood
to such as had not witnessed them before, particu-
larly the power of the tank or liquid manure in in-
vigorating the growth of the natural grasses."

REMARKS ON THE AGRICULTURE OF
IREI^^ND.

(for the farmer's magazine.)

The condition of Ireland is at present attracting
much attention ; and whatever may have been the
fault of our rulers in neglecting that ill-fated por-
tion of the British empire in times past, it cannot
now be said that her claims are neglected if the real
means of bettering the condition of her inhabitants
were discovered. That unfortunate country has,
however, been too long the battle-ground of party
warfare, and the hotbed of religious and pohticaJ
dissension, to warrant the belief that the ameliora-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

S85

tlon of the condition of the people, and the (hfl'ii-
sion of habits of industry, peace, and good order,
can he anything but gradual, how well devised
soever the means adoj)ted for that j)urpose may be.
Nor can these untoward circumstances be spoken
of only as things that were, and are now ])assed
away : rehgious and ])olitical dissension still con-
tinue to agit:ite that unha]i])y land, to the exclusion
of the cons' deration of objects of real utility; and
so long as ; liis state of things prevails, improve-
ments in t!;e prosecution of the useful arts must
proceed at :\ slow pace. Let us hope, however, that
better days are in store for Ireland, and that the
cultivation of the energies of the peojjle for the
prosecution of political objects may afterwards
prove availa1)le in enabling them to march on-
wards at a rapid pace in the path of true and lasting
im})rovement — the cultivation of habits of industry
and perseverance; and that her brave and generous
people, instead of wasting those talents and powers
with which a bountiful nature has blessed them, in
sowing the seeds of dissension among the different
parties whose interests and objects are supposed
to be in such direct opposition to each other, will
unite heart and hand for the prosecution of those
objects the attainment of which can alone make
a people powerful, happy, and contented.

The experience of the jmst further shows that
the early consummation of such a desideratum is
much less improbable than it may seem to many
who have not turned their attention to the circum-
stances of the case. Even within the memory of
persons still living, Scotland, which may now not
unaptly be termed the model-farm of the world,
was the scene of bloodshed and strife, and the
battle-ground of contending parties — parties, too,
urged on by all the rancoiu- which rehgious and
political strife could engender ; and her agriculture
at that period was greatly, nay immeasurably, in-
ferior to that now generally practised in Ireland.
The strong arm of the law, and the forces of their
legitimate sovereign, idtimately jjrevailed; and then
that peace was restored, and civil discord at an
end; those trained to habits of warfare soon be-
came distinguished as cultivators of the soil, hav-
ing literally " turned their swords into ])lough-
shares," and become in reality benefactors of
their race. Most of the improvements in the
cultivation of the soil, of which Scotland may
now justly be so proud, were unknown even so
late as the commencement of the French Revolu-
tion; but then a new impetus was given to farming
I operations in the United Kingdom, of which the
' Scotch certainly a\'ailed themselves to the fullest
extent. But the attention being directed into the
proper channel, and a proper spirit of inquiry being
abroad, the work of imjjrovement was easy, and
proceeded at a pace and with a degree of success
altogether unexampled ; so that the agriculture of
Scotland, from being little more than half a century
ago on a level with, if not inferior to, the other
parts of the empire, is now justly held up as a
model for the imitation of all.

It must indeed be admitted that the cases which
we have been considering are not precisely analo-
gous, niere are, in truth, many dissimilar cir-
cumstances connected with them ; still they are not

without many imj^ortant points of resemblance.
No doubt nuich oi the celebrity of Scottish farming
may justly be attrilmted to the haljits of i)erse\'er-
ance and self-denial, so characteristic of that peo-
l)le ; yet, in some degree to counterbalance these,
the remnants of feudalism were long in being
banished from the land. In the introduction of
im])rovements, too, there was no model to be
copied; and the merits of every innovation of
established practice had to be tested by cautious
and repeated experiments before being generally
carried into ojieration. Although, therefore, the
habits of perseverance, so characteristic of the
Scotch, may be wanting on the other side of the
Channel, the inhabitants of the latter country have
the advantage of a model to copy after, which
many years of patient perseverance were recpiired
to form and establish. The intelligent farmer of
the present day, who may be located in a badly
farmed district, need not have much difficulty in
making himself acquainted with the most improved
practice of his art, and has thus a great advantage
over the impro\'ers of a former age, when the
merits of any innovation had to be tested by the
results thereby produced before it coxdd safely be
repeated. As similar results are invariably ob-
tained by following any given line of jjroceeding
under sunilar circumstances, the improving farmer
of the present day has only to make himself ac-
quainted with the practice of the best cultivated
districts, either by personal inspection, or by a
perusal of the many A'aluable jjublications on rviral
economy which now issue from the press, to enable
him successfully to introduce it on his own farm,
making of course due allowance for any diversity
of circumstances which may exist. This latter
particular it is peculiarly necessary to observe,
although it is not luifrequently neglected, notwith-
standing the certainty of such neglect being at-
tended by disappointment and loss. Personal ob-
servation is also, for obvious reasons, more valu-
able than any instructions obtained through the
instrumentality of another, and should be preferred
in every case when the expense thereby incurred
is not an object. It is believed that the farmers
not only of Ireland, but also of Great Britain,
would be much benefited by availing themselves,
to a greater extent than they do, of this means of
improving themselves as agriculturists, 'lliere are
certain seasons in which a week or ten days might
be devoted annvxally to this species of impro\'ement
without materially interfering \vith the usual routine
of the operations of the farm; and the comparatively
small sum which would be expended in this manner
would be much more than repaid by the informa-
tion thereby obtained. Different districts should
of course be selected each succeeding year for
inspection, though it would not be a little interest-
ing to observe the progress which had Ijeen made
in any given district in a number of years. Were
the farming classes aware of the advantage of such
a course of jjroceeding as this, such an anomaly
would not exist as a badly cultivated county fre-
quently adjoining a well cviltivated one; improve-
ments in husbandry would proceed at the same
rapid pace as improvements in any of the other
arts ; the cultivation of the fields would then soon

386

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

in reality approximate to what it might be — that of
the garden.

Farmers, as a body, have been much, and justly,
censured for their pertinacious adhei'ence to esta-
blished practices, even after a very little considera-
tion might convince them that they were erroneous.
This failing is, however, rajjidly giving way ; and
at no former ])eriod were the joint labours of scien-
tific and practical men more effectively carried into
operation for the iminovement of husbandry than
at the present time. No doubt the circumstances
of the times have contributed to accelerate this
auspicious movement ; but be this as it may, it
must be regarded as fortunate that, when great
exertions are required, they are not wanting. Still,
even in the most favoured part of these kingdoms,
much remains to be done ; and the view can
scarcely be extended in any direction without par-
ticular farms being seen, the management ])ursued
on which would be discreditable more than half a
century ago. Much has been said about the culti-
vation of the waste lands of the country ; but surely
it is a primary and more important consideration to
improve those ah-eady under tillage to the fullest
extent ; and any one conversant with these matters
must be aware that in this respect much yet
remains to be done.

The value of statistical information, as regards
agricultural pursuits, is not less im])ortant than in
other departments of industry ; still it is remark-
al)le that our knowledge in this respect has not at
all kept pace with the progress of improvements
in husbandry, slow as that progress has been.
With few exceptions, it cannot be said that much
has been added to the statistics of agriculture since
the commencement of the present century, when
the surveys of the Enghsh counties were dra^vn up
ixnder the jmtronage of the Board of Agricvdture ;
and those of most of the Irish counties were also
published at the same time under the direction of
the Royal Dublin Society. The statistical account
of Scotland, planned and superintended Ijy the late
Sir John Sinclair, contributed much to the im-
provement of that part of the kingdom; but so great
has been the progress of improvement since the
pu])lication of that valuable and voluminous work,
that a new statistical accoimt of Scotland is now in
course of publication. This work is compiled by
the ministers of the respective parishes ; and there-
fore, so far as it goes, may be regarded as authen-
tic ; but as regards the practice of agriculture it
enters much less into detail than is desirable, so
that at a future period it will be incapable of being
referred to with satisfaction when comparing the
then state of agriculture with that of the several
districts at the ])eriod of the jniblication of the
woi'k. Under the auspices of the Royal Agricul-
tural Society of England brief surveys of such
of the English counties as present any peculiarity
in their husbandry are again in progress; but these,
on account of their lu'evity, are far from satisfac-
tory, and cannot be regarded as furnishing reports
which are calculated to be of much practical value.
They are more like the sketches of the mere tourist
i n passing through a country, and may accordingly
be quite sufficient for the general reader, who
merely requires to become acquainted with the

more striking features, without entering into de-
tail.

While so little has been doing in making the
statistics of British agriculture keep pace mth the
improvements in the art since the publication of
the original surveys, nothing whatever, it may be
said, has been done in Ireland. Occasionally, in-
deed, sketches on the subject from the pen of mere
tovirists have from time to time appeared ; but they
cannot be regarded as really adding anything to
our stock of information on the subject, the state-
ments being for the most part too general to be of
any vahie, besides, from peculiar isolated cases the
conclusions are usually drawn, and, as a conse-
quence, are often glaringly erroneous. A benevo-
lent tourist, for example, in his stage-coach excur-
sions through the country, has his attention ar-
rested by some of the miserable hovels, which it is
to be regretted are too numerous throughout the
country ; and if his curiosity leads him so far as to
attempt an inspection of the interior, he is shocked
by the miseiy which is so apparent everywhere
around him — the paucity of the most common
articles of furniture, the deficient arrangements for
ventilation, and the damp and dirty floor of the
a])artment, which sen^s the double purpose of
sleeping and living room for the entire family.
Such a case as this, and it is imfortunately not an
extreme one, is by no means uncommon in Ire-
land, and is well calculated to make a lasting im-
pression on the mind of a stranger, to the exclu-
sion of more common-place matters ; and not un-
frequently the result of seeing a nvunber of repiti-
tions of this is, that the country is described as
consisting of a series of hovels from one end to
the other. Cases of slovenly and imperfect tillage
are also numerous ; and from witnessing a number
of these, our tourist at once comes to the conclu-
sion that the system of agriculture practised there,
if system it can be called, is th« most barbarous
that can be conceived, and that nothing like correct
principles to guide the husbandman are understood
or acted on. These are the accounts of the cha-
racter and situation of the rural population of
Ireland, which are usually cu'culated on this side
of the channel ; but from a very extended know-
ledge of that countr)', the writer of the present
pages can very unhesitatingly assert that such
accoimts are to be received -with very many grains
of allowance. No doubt the general character of
Irish agriculture is unfavourable, and that much,
nay, very much, yet remains to be done before the
most recent improvements are generally in opera-
tion ; and further, the peasantry and small land-
holders of that country are frequently subjected to
great privations, and enjoy few of the luxuries or
comforts of life ; but it may be asked, do these
remarks not also apply to England, highly favoured
England ? Are there no districts in the latter
country in which the hand of improvement is not
yet Aasible, or in which no perceptible change has
taken place in the system of cultivation since the
publication of the county surveys at the com-
mencement of the present century ? Nay, through-
out the length and breadth of the land can a single
county be pointed out in which improvements may
not be beneficially introduced ? Nor are there no

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387

instances of destitution amonpf the English pea-
santry, which are too often followed by a.i^rarian
outrage of a description altogether unknown in
Ireland ? These are (jueries to which the Enghsh
fanner can most satisfactorily reply.

(ireat and permanent advances in the path of
im])ro\'ement have, in fact, been made in Ireland
since the commencement of the present century,
and examples of skilful cultivation may be found
dispersed over the surface of the country which
would not reflect disgrace on the liest cultivated
districts of Britain. These, however, even were
they more numerous than they are, are not calcu-
lated to make such an immediate or permanent
effect on the mind of the traveller as cases of gross
mismanagement or great destitution ; and hence the
latter occujjy such a prominent place that, with few
exceptions, a stranger M'ould fancy from these
documents that the Irish were a nation of savages
or beggars. It is unfortunate, too, that this gene-
ralising from individual cases in agricultural mat-
ters is not even confined to the uninitiated in the
mysteries of the art. This is the misfortune of
agricultural writers, and contributes more than
anything else to bring their lucubrations into
disrepute. It cannot be wondered that such state-
ments are often viewed with extreme distrust, if not
altogether disregarded, when their manifest ten-
dency is to mislead.

It is difficult, if not impossible, in a rapid sketch
to convey any correct idea of the general charac-
teristics of the agriculture of an extensive district,
much less of an entire country. The system of
cultivation practised on a single farm may be accu-
rately described ; but even two farms can nowhere
be found the management of which is precisely
identical. In order to appreciate the merits or
demerits of any particular course of management,
too, it is necessary that the peculiar circumstances
of the case shovdd he minutely detailed. The
system of farming, in oi)eration throughout a large
portion of Scotland, is manifestly unsuited, in
several important particulars, to the southern coun-
ties of England; yet, altogether overlooking the
diversity of circumstances in which the farmers in
these cases are placed, the latter are often sweep-
ingly censured for not adopting the system pur-
sued by the fonner, in all its details. The sweeping
condemnation, indeed, of the practice of whole
districts may be regarded as arguing a very great
want of kno\vledge of the subject, in those who
thus assume the office of censor. There can, in
fact, scarcely be found a district in the kingdom,
no matter how unfavourably situated, in which
something may not be learned worthy of imitation,
when considered in connection vnth. the locality,
though entirely unsuited to dissimilar circum-
stances. It may also be obseiTed that a reference
to facts, however limited, is more valuable than
general conclusions, drawn, in the majority of cases,
from incorrect data. When facts are minutely
and accurately stated, the intelligent reader can
generalise for himself; at all events, if the narrator
is to assail his readers in this department, it is but
fair that the facts should be stated from which
such conclusions are drawn, in order that it may
be seen to what extent they are well founded.

The jierusal of a recent series of " Letters from
Ireland," which a])peared in this magazine, has
called forth these remarks; and the intention of
the writer of this paper is to sujiply several essen-
tial details not found in these " J^etters," and also
to correct some erroneous imi)ressions M'hich they
are calculated to make on this side of the Channel,
as to the state of farming in Ireland. In so doing,
he 1)egs to disclaim all idea of following the ex-
amj)le of some of the critics of these Letters, in
Ireland. He is well assured of the sound practical
knowledge of their author, and therefore cannot
speak with approval of the i)ersonal abuse with
which he has been assailed by parties whom his
remarks seem rather severely to have nettled. 'Hie
opportunities of observation possessed l)y the
" Editor of Bayldon" seem to have l)een too
hmited, and, as a consequence, the course deprecated
in the preceding remarks has been too largely
adopted — that of too hastily drawing conclusions
from a hmited observation of facts.

(To be Confinued.J

LEDBURY AGRICULTURAL MEETING.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE HEREFORD TIMES,

Sir, — Will you give me a space in your ^'aluable
paper to make a few useful obsen'ations relative
to the Ledbury Agricultural Meeting ? I was
pleased to see so good a competition for the prizes
awarded for the cattle, sheep, and pigs ; the horses
both years wanted a great improvement, and quite
of a different character of horses to go with the
present railway times of farming ; and we must
not forget our friend Butt, who so liberally pro-
\'ided for us a good dinner, and at such a reason-
able price, which is essential to farmers in these
times; he had a good company, which I hope
made it answer his purpose, and the evening upon
the whole went off quite as well, or better than
those gatherings generally do. Had I been a
county man and a subscriber, I should have pro-
posed fewer premiums for stock, and given some
for different imjjrovements, so badly wanting upon
nine-tenths of the estates in these counties. I
think premiums should be offered to the fai'mer
who had the best-managed fences upon his farm,
and also one to the labourer who made the best
hedges for durability, and at the least expense.
These sorts of premiums would be a stimulus to
the farmers and labourers, and we should soon see
a great improvement in the system of hedging in
our two counties, which I think is the worst part
of our management, it having been handed doMTi
from father to son; to do what we call riding a
hedge before it is laid, and then what we call
pleaching, the labourer first begins to cut nine-
tenths of the li^'e bushes up, and leaves here or
there a hawthorn or other bush — then he begins to
clean his ditch and load the bank with soil (often-
times of the worst description), which for ever
prevents those thorns he cut off growing again —
he then fills up the dead places with the thorns or
wood he had before cut out, and lays the live par

888

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

in amongst tlie dead together, so thick that rain
cannot get through to moisten this high hank,
which is so essential to all kinds of vegetation
growing — neither can the sun nor the wind dry
the hedge, which is necessary to preserve it from
decaying. If the ditch was thrown out on the
face side, and piit upon the land instead of loading
the bank, and make a thin Wve hedge, it would
naturally keep alive, instead of nine-tenths of the
present way of hedging, made like a wall to jjlease
the eye when first made, and in three years gone,
and only fit for some of the more dishonest part of
the labouring class to take home with them at
night. These premiums would encourage farmers
to turn their attention from these expensi\'e ways
of hedging, and make him attend to his labourers
when he directs them to make a hedge — the one
an exjjensive way, the other cheai). I unfortu-
nately followed farmers who had left their fences
with a live bush, and yards dead — all destroyed
from bad management. One I farmed for eighteen
years, and another I took by it had scarcely a good
fence upon it ; now I wiU pledge myself it is the
best-fenced farm in the parish — all done in about
four years. My brother now farms the estate, and
has always thorns to sell, instead of buying, as my
predecessor always did before I had it, and which
I did until I got my hedges up; this way of pleach-
ing is the most absurd and ruinously expensive ;
it is for this reason I trouble you with these re-
marks, and I do think if Mr. Biddvdph, the Vice-
chairman, had proposed a £50 premium for the
best cultivated strong clay farm, of not less than
150 acres, with neat narrow live hedges, and
farmed upon a fovir or five course system, he would
have given a stimulus to those sorts of farmers,
who, of all others, are now being crushed for want
of their landlords allowing them to farm better,
and grow more corn to sell at these low jirices : to
make the landlord the same rent, he is now obliged
to sell so small a produce of his farm in conse-
quence of the landlord filling up his hedges with
timber, almost worthless to sell, which prevents his
tenant gro-wing corn to pay him his rent ; and 1
am sorry to see wide hedges and brambles left, by
order of some landlords, for the game to harbour
in, and often the game to l)e sent to market, which
is an act of dishonesty — by letting a man a farm,
and then stock it and sell the produce. If we
little folks were to do such things, what should we
be deservedly called? Answer me. I again say,
if Mr. Biddulph had proposed that premium, it
would have been received by those tenants, who
honoured him and the good chairman wth their
attendance at the show and at the dinner, much
l)etter than his bringing forward the good farming
of the Lothians. Now really this is too bad to find
fault with men who cannot help themselves, by
recommending the Ledbury district to be farmed
like the Lothians, which we all know cannot be
excelled, not only by farming and the situation the
Lothian district is in for markets, and the soil not
to be surpassed in Europe for its general quality,
which can grow everything good that can be put
upon it, and farms of 4, 5, 6, or 700 acres, with
farm-houses and buildings put in the centre of the
farm, with fine open twenty-acre square fields.

with neat quick-set hedges — the whole of them,
perhaps, not covering one acre of land —
and a lease of nineteen years, which makes
the tenant a yeoman and a respectable man
in society, and a certainty of getting a return for
his capital laid out in cultivating such beautiful
land ; such land, and such an expenditure first ex-
pended by the landlord will always command good
rents. But the idea is absurd to think that a Led-
bury clay district farmer can comjjete with such
men as the Lothian farmers, with e\'ery hedge in
almost every piece full of timber, and small inclo-
sures to rear tiadjer, and brambles left to harbour
vermin, and a six months' holding instead of a 21
years' lease, how is the poor Ledbury district farmer
to compete with such farmers as our Northern
fanners ? I can speak from facts : — I was called in
to value a piece of wheat three years ago, and not
two miles from Ledbury, to say what remuneration
his landlord ought to pay for the damage done by
the rabljits, &c., «&c. 'I'he piece was four or five
acres, and there was one acre next to the road
good, which the game had not much hurt, that was
thirty Imshels at least, the rest of the piece had
not six bushels of wheat upon either of the other
three or four acres. I also valued a crop of wheat
and barley, about thirty acres, almost destroyed by
game ; neitlier wheat nor barley was ten bushels per
acre, and the vvay the poor fellow farmed it he
would have averaged thirty bushels, and I con-
sidered his loss more than the whole rent of the
farm, and hevvas not allo^^'ed a shilling for damages;
and worse than all, he came to me the next spring,
and said if he did not make up his rent then due he
should have a notice to quit his farm, and he begged
me to lend him my acceptance for £25 to enable him
to do it, and said Mr. Collins, the banker, ofltered
to discount it if I vv'ould do so ; I lent it him, and
he died, and I never had a sixpence ; so I paid
part of his rent, which the landlord should not
have taken, for damage done by his excessive stock
of game. There are two gentlemen in Ledbury
that can vouch for the truth of my statement ; there-
fore, the less is said the better about the Ledbury
district agriculturists' farming. It is not the
tenant's faidt that farming is done so slovenl}', it
is the fault of the landloi-ds. I could fill your
])aper upon the same subject, for a burnt child fears
fire. I consider my ruin originated from game.
I gave up the farm I first began upon in 1808, in
the days of Bonaparte and a depreciated cur-
rency, to carry on an unjust war, to hold
up royalty in a foreign country which we
ought not to have meddled with. My farm was
208 acres of land, my rent was 400 guineas a year
and some tithe, the farm badly out of condition,
and my predecessor's rent was £260, a fair rise for
a raw boy to encounter with. I farmed it 18
years and made it what it now is, and my then
neighbours knew what it then was. When I
entered upon it there v/as no game of any conse-
quence; but it became the last ten years of my oc-
cupation a preserve, and I have many a time
counted 200 pheasants upon one piece, besides
hares and stinking rabbits, which so disgusted me
with the insolence of the gamekeepers, that I made
up my mind to leave it j and I must say my land-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

389

lord beliaved like a gentleman by allowing me to j
make money, by drawing £800 in cash, and the \
san.e as cash to make up that snm for the good- I
will j and I had several who would have given me
the same sum, «Stc. My successor had not been
accustomed to farming strong clay land ; he left in
three years £2,000 minus ; his rent had been re-
duced, and the j)resent tenant's had also been re-
duced, and had 1 stopped 1 have no doubt l)utmine
would, and I should have been there now and saved
my money had it not been foi' the game. 1 went
out of the farm well, making more money at my
sale than any farmer ever did with the same sized
farm and tjualily; and the following spring I had a
sale of four Norman stallions at my other farm the
following March, which I sold by auction and made
£"00, and kept the best ; and sold four Norman
mares at 200 guineas,* all of which went with the
jn-oceeds of my other farm into trade, in which 1
did well, and made money the first two years, and
the last four I lost those sums, and an estate I
mortgaged for £5,000, making £10,000 of my own
money, besides my creditors', which I shall never
do otherwise but regret — all from the change in
the monetary system, being ignorant what in the
end would be the result of that dishonest bill called
Peel's Bill, M-hich peel'd me and millions of indus-
trious men \^'ho had been brought up under the
])aper system, to aggrandise the rich, the money-
lender, and furid-holder, v/ho lent his money in a
depreciated currency, and paid by a dishonest
governnient in gold. Pitt and his sovereign were
fond of blood and taxes, but gave us the means of
paying them; but Peel gives the farmer a property-
tax, and takes from him the means of jjaying it. I
state the above relative to myself as one punished
individual out of many tliousands of poor farmers,
ground down by the game and bad legislation.
Mcithon, Oct. 9, 1844. Rd. Winnall.

P.S. — March 2nd, 1843, Mr. G. Pierce and my-
self offered a challenge through the Farmers' Jour-
nal, and it was in the Hereford Time; the follo\^-
ing week, that we would find five Herefordshire and
five V>'orcestershire farmers who would stake £100,
that we would find 20 as good farmers in those two
counties, who could farm as Avell as any 20 in the
north Yorkshire of Scotland. This challenge was
ne^-er accei)ted; 10 clay farmers and 10 turnip and
barley farmers.

* These four stallions were the best team in
England, and perhaps ever v.-ill be, and sold to
three gentlemen at the most money. Two went
into Ireland and two mares, one into Northumber-
land, one into Herefordshire and one of the mares,
and the other mare went into Somersetshire.
William the Norman, the best horse, 1 showed at Sir
C. Morgan's show, and v/on the cuj) ; and he was
put uj) by auction, and bought in at £480. I
oft'ered to show him ngainst ail England for 100
guineas.

PROFESSOR JOHNSTON'S LECTURE ON
THE SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.

A short time since. Professor Johnston, at the
request of a number of parochial schoolmasters,
delivered a lecture in the High School Hall, Edin-
burgh, on the introduction of agricultural instruc-
tion into elementary scliools in Scotland. There
was a very full attendance. At the cjnclusion of
the lecture, the professor said that if twenty of the
gentlemen ])resent would like to hear an address on
the science itself, in order that they might have an
opportunity of understanding some of its beauties,
he would be happy to meet them next afternoon in
the same jjlace. The offer was immediately ac-
ce])ted, and the necessary arrangements made. The
following lecture was according delivered : —

Professor Johnston, after a few preliminary
remarks, spoke in the following terms : — (Gentle-
men, there was a time when this hill upon which we
now stand was nothing but a naked rock of lava.
The old lava gradually decayed, as m^odern lavas
do, and crumbled down and formed loose matter
on the surface, in which seeds of plants grew, died,
and left their remains. 'I'hus by degrees the soil
accmnulated to such as you now see on the surface
of this rock on which plants now grow. Such is
the history of nearly all the soils on the surface of
the globe. Suppose you take a portion of any one
soil, and put it upon the end of a piece of metal,
such as I am doing just now, and in any way ex-
pose it to the action of the fire, you will see that
part of the soil will grow blacker at the edges ; by
and by that blackness will disappear, and the soil
will assume a colour more or less dark, according
to the nature of the substances of that which re-
mains consist. If you take this portion of the soil
before it is heated and weigh it, you will find that
after it is exposed to the fire it is not so heavy as
before. That portion of the soil which has burned
away consists of the remains of those vegetables
of which I have spoken ; of those animals who
have died and been deposited in the soil; and
of the manures which have been applied by the
farmer. Thus vegetable matter forms vvdiat is
called the organic, and the other jiortion of the soil
the inorganic matter. The quantity of organic mat-
ter varies very much — in some soils it exists to the
extent of two per cent., in others, 15 and 20 per
cent., and in peaty soils, sometimes as high as 70
per cent. If you take a piece of vegetable matter,
such as wood, and burn it, you will find here, also,
that a large portion will not burn away, but remains,
forming v/ood-ash. It is the same, then, with re-
gard to the plant as to the soil — a ])art burns away,
and a part remains. If you look at the tables, you
will see that ditt'erent jjlants have different i)ropor-
tions of inorganic matter — thus, meadow hay leaves
nine or ten per cent, of incombustible matter.
Again, as to the animal substances — take a piece of
muscle, dry, and burn it, and you shall find that
the greater part of it will burn away, which is the
organic matter, the remainder being, as in the soil
and in the plant, the inorganic and incombustible
matter. Now, one hundred pounds of fresh m.us-
cle contains phosj)hate of lime and other saline sub-
stances to the extent of one per cent, of incombus-

390

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

tible matter. Tlius the three different substances,
soil, vegetable and animal matters, consist of orga-
nic and inorganic matter ; but there is this dif-
ference, that in the soil there is a larger portion of
inorganic matter than in plants and animals — in the
latter the greater portion burns away. I shall call
3'our attention now to the inorganic jwrtion of soil.
By looking at the table you will observe that the in-
organic matter consists of difierent substances,
such as silica, which forms a very large proportion
of flint; alumina, a substance which forms a large
proportion of pipe clay ; oxide of iron, which is the
rust of iron ; i)otash, of which the potash you get
from the shops may serve to give you an idea of;
chlorine, which is a kind of air ; and then there is
manganese, phosphoric acid, and carbonic acid.
These substances are found in all soils, but not in
equal jjrojjortions. You will see in the table before
you the details of the constitution of a soil
which would yield good crops for perhaps a lum-
dred years. Were you to possess such a rich
soil as that, and such soils are to be got in the vir-
gin land at the Cape of Good Hope, on the banks
of the Ganges, and the Mississippi, you would al-
ways find that it would contain a notable quantity
of all these difierent elements. In the second co-
lumn of the table you have a list of the quantities
of the difierent substances of a sod capable of yield-
ing good crops, but which would require to be re-
gularly manured. You will observe that opposite
three of the substances the word " trace" is put,
which means, that though the substance was not
al)sent altogether, yet it existed in so small a quan-
tity that it could not be weighed. In the rich vir-
gin soil stated first, you observe that there is of
lime 59 per cent., while in the second column
there is only 19. Of phosphoric acid there is four
in the one, and only two in the other. In the third
cohunn of the table is the constitution of a soil so
barren, that though manured, it could not produce
a good croji. You see that there is a great many
gaps in the list ; in short, there is only five sub-
stances which exist in anything like quantity. So
much for the substances which exist in all good
soils ; and you may be sure that if any soil does
not produce a good crop, some one or other of these
substances are wanting. The question then arises
■ — How do soils come to have such different com-
positions as these ? I stated to you how the
crumljling down of rocks formed the soil along
with the accumulation of organic matter in it ; and
if I had had time, I should have directed you to a
geological map, and shown you that in every coun-
try the rock on which the soil rests is difierent, and
if it be true that the crumbling down of rocks
forms the soil, you learn at once how soils must
differ very much in their comjiosition. In feldspar
soils, of which rocks principally consist, you will
observe only silica, alumina, and a few others. A
soil formed from this must, therefore, contain a
large quantity of these substances which are on all
soils, while it would be deficient in many others.
As soils dift'er in this way, \re are led to this prac-
tical question — How can we make this soil to be
like that soil, or how can a bad soil be made equal
to a good one ? The answer is simply, that you
must supply those substances which are wanting in

the soil — you must supply as much potash or lime
as are wanting in the third or poor soil — and as
much lime and phosphoric acid as is wanting in
the second, to make up all the constituent elements
which exist in the first or rich virgin soil, and
which are necessary to enable the soil to produce a
good and profitable crop. This shows you the be-
nefit of an analysis of the soil, by which a farmer
is enabled to decide what the soil requires, and pro-
ceed accordingly. I shall next speak of vegetable
sul)stances, and first, as to the inorganic part of
them. If we take the ash which remains behind,
when a plant has been exposed to the fire, and ana-
Ij'ze it in the same way as with tlie soil, you will
come to this result, that the inorganic part of the
plant contains precisely the same substances, as the
inorganic portion of the soil. In the table on my
right hand, you see the composition of 1000 lbs.
of hay. The different kinds of hay have different
quahties of the same substance, which substance is
the same as in the soil. In reference to the ash of
vegetaljles, lOOlbs. of wood would leave behind not
more than half a pound of ash. Perhaps you may
be inclined to ask why? seeing that out of lOOlbs.
one half pound only is ash, can that half pound be
necessary for the existence of the plant, or is it ra-
ther merely accidental, and in no respect making
any difference to the plant ? No such thing, gen-
tlemen. The half pound of ash is just as much an
essential part of the plant, as the 99ilbs. which
burned away. The same is the case with wheat,
which- leaves 2lbs. of ash. I state these facts, in
order to Ijring you along with me in my exposition
of the principles of the science — that you may see
how I come to the conclusion, and which must be
true, that the plant could not live — that it could
not fulfil the purposes of nature unless it contained
this small quantity of inorganic matter. If you
look to the table on the ash of hay, you will find
there is an analogy between it and the soil. Red
clo\-er contains in one thousand pounds thirty-one
pounds of potash ; rye grass as little as nine ])ounds.
Of phosphoric acid, rye grass contains one-third of
a pound, red clover less than 71bs., white contains
.5lbs., and lucerne ISlbs. We learn, then, that
these substances are present in different propor-
tions in the ash of different kinds of hay, and from
that we draw several important practical deductions.
Let us inquire whence do the plants derive the or-
ganic and inorganic parts of which they consist ?
They derive the organic, partly from the soil, and
partly from the air — the inorganic solely from the
soil. In the air float certain proportions of all
those substances which enter into the organic part,
but none of those which enter into the inorganic
part of the plant. Now, the different kinds of
plants in the soil will materially affect its constitu-
tion, and have a remarkable influence upon that
constitution. Sup})ose I grow lucerne upon the
very fertile soil detailed in the talkie ; as the lucerne
takes out a large quantity of lime and of phosphoric
acid, you will see that the crop would rob the soil
of a large pro]iortion of lime and of phosphoric
acid, and that, therefore, it would not grow the
same crop with that luxuriance that characterized it
at first, because it could not su])ply with the same
ease and abimdance those peculiar substances upon

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391

which hicerne lives more than upon any other.
Take the ash of the (htterent kinds of pfrain, and
you will find that each in its own way attects tlie
soil. Wheat, oats, and rye, require a lara^e quantity
of phosphoric acid, and so if you grow wiieat a long
time in the same soil, it will draw out this phospho-
ric acid among other things, and thereby reduce its
quantity. This is what is meant l)y exhausting the
soil. If rye grass is the plant used, it will exhaust
the soil generally, because it does not take away a
great portion of any one of the substances. In the
same way, ditierent crops makes the soil poor, but
if I take the same crop, say 15 or 20 times — a prac-
tice which, as is well known to most of you, ex-
isted not many years ago, it would by that time
produce no crop at all. The land then may be ex-
hausted in two waj'S — generally of all the sub-
stances, and specially of jiarticular substances ; and
from this circumstance we are enabled again to
make two or three practical deductions. In the
first place, inasmuch as the soil contains a limited
quantity of these su1)stances, and inasmuch as dif-
ferent crops carry off ditlerent portions, you at once
see M'hy it is judicious to have a rotation of cro])s
— that the longer the time is which elapses before
j'ou take a similar crop, the longer will the soil
last and continixe productive. A soil may produce
one crop, when it cannot produce another. Let us
inquire next, why land is manured. The composi-
tion of the soil would tell you in the first instance,
for it is ob\aous that manure is applied to restore
those things which are wholly or comparatively
^'anting. Chemistry tells jiractical men how to
renew their exhausted soil. Suppose that 1 5 crops
of oats have been taken otF a piece of land, it will
lose a large quantity of lime, phosphoric acid, and
potash, and in order to restore it you must supply
the soil with those ingredients of which it has been
robbed. Manure being composed of the remains
of vegetables taken ott' the land, and containing all
those things of which the plant consists, the farmer,
generally speaking, is enabled by its application to
retain the fertility of the soil. But then, ol)serve
you, he adds all those things which are required
for a fertile soil, which may be a great deal too
much, and may not supply an adequate abun-
dance of that particular substance which the
land actually recpiires, and thus a great ex-
pense is entailed which he may not be able
to undertake, and thus the land falls short of that
richness which he wishes, and which, at a less ex-
pense, he might be able by other means, under the
guidance of chemical knowledge, to provide for his
land. If the farmer knows chemistry, he will, at
far less cost, and far more effectually, secure good
crops. I come next to the organic part of the plant.
You observe, when I take this wheat flour dough,
and wash it in water, it diminishes in bulk, and the
water becomes milky. The portion that remains,
for it will not all wash away, is a sticky substance,
and this is called gluten. If the water is allowed
to stand a short time, the white will fall to the
bottom and form starch. The flour is thus easily
separated into two parts, the starch and the gluten.
If lint or hemp seed is put into a press and squeezed,
a large quantity of oil will come out, but not the
whole that the plant contains, and this is the case

with all seeds, more or less, though the fatty matter
may not be so abundant perhaps as to produce oil
by pressure merely. Wheat contains gluten to the
extent of from ten to thirteen ])er cent. ; meadow
hay forty per cent, of starch. Of fat, wheat con-
tains from two to four per cent. ; straw, sometimes
three per cent, Oats, six per cent. Indian corn,
nine per cent. ; and meadow hay from two to five
per cent. Thus the organic part of vegetable mat-
ter contains gluten, starch, and fat. I shall now
make a few observations on the composition of the
animal. Of what does the ash of animals consist ?
The body you know is composed of various jiarts —
of muscles, fat, bone, and other elements which I
need not detail. Let lis examine the composition
of the muscle, and we shall find that it contains
two and a half per cent, of phosphate of lime, and
a third per cent, of other saline matters. In bones
you do not have all the substances which exist in
wheat, but you have some of them, such as lime,
magnesia, &c. In ten gallons of milk there is
three-fourths of a pound of saline matter, so that
if you take the composition of the muscle of the
bone and of the milk together, you will find that
animals contain the dift'erent substances which are
to be found in the soil. Thus it is we learn the
intimate connexion between the composition of the
inorganic matter of the plant, of the animal, and of
the soil. But where does the animal get this
inorganic matter ? they obtain it from the plants.
In bone six-tenths of the whole consists of phos-
l)hate of lime and magnesia. Now, an animal could
not support itself or walk about without some bone
or firm substance to iijihold it. It feeds upf)n
herbage, which it must have, in order to obtain
those different substances of which it is made up.
But if the plant has no soda or magnesia the bone
could not be built up no more than the walls of this
house could be erected without lime, stone and other
substances. It is necessary, then, that the plant
should have all these substances, in order to su])ply
them to the animal creation — a purpose which it
would not fulfil unless it contained all that is
necessary to build uj) their bodies. And where
does the plant get these substances ? it gets them
from the soil • nor can a plant live without them ;
and here we have a beautiful example of the pro-
visions of nature, for a plant cannot grow, it cannot
live, it cannot appear at all imless it can acqviire
those elements, and that too, just because if it did
not live it might indeed deck the surface of the
earth, but it would not be able to feed animals,
which is its great purpose in the creation. [Loud
applause.) Thus a beautiful thread of philosojjhy
pervades and connects all those different substances.
Of what does the organic matter consist in animals >
It consists of two parts, the muscle and the fat, and
you will remember we have three things in the
plant, fat, gluten, and starch. If I take a piece of
muscle and wash it I shall wash out the blood and
make it the colour of fat, and iq)on tearing it out it will
be seen to be fibrous. When the fibre is analyzed
it is found to be the same thing as the gluten in
wheat. If you take the fat of animals and com-
pare it M'ith the fat in jilants you vi'ill find a re-
markable analogy to each other, though they were
not absolutely identical, and I beUeve they could

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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

very easily be converted into each other. The
organic matter of vegetables contains the same sub-
stances as the muscle of animals. Vegetables con-
tain a large jjrojjortion of that M'hich will very
readily form the fat of animals, the only difference
being that animal matter contains no starch. Let
us now see what is the purpose for which the animal
eats its food. Unquestionably for the support of
the different parts of which it consists. You see
again what a beautiful connexion exists between the
organic part of the plant and that of the animal.
The animal eats gluten in order to form the fibre.
^Mien I eat rolls to breakfast I eat a cjuantity of
gluten and starch, and that gluten saves the diges-
tive organs the trouble of manufacturing gluten for
the frame. Out of those rude elements which
constitute the soil and which float in the air it is the
duty of the plant to prepare those substances — those
bricks, as it were to be carried away by the builder
to fill up the different gaps which are continually
made in the body. There is a great difference
between starch and gluten. The substance called
nitrogen exists in the latter but not in the former ;
in the fibre bvit not in the fat of animals. Thus
nitrogen is obtained wholly from the soil, therefore
it is necessary it should be in the soil. In beans
gluten exists to the extent of twenty-eight per cent.
If therefore you or I eat beans we eat that which is
capable of building up a much larger proportion of
muscle in the body. Again, if the soil contains a
large ])roportion of gluten beans Avill grow when
no other plant would. Some animals lay on the
fat very abundantly, and some like myself lay it on
very sparingly. (Laughter.) If you ha^-e an
animal inclined to lay on fat feed him with Indian
corn. There is an important difference between
the composition of the vegetable and that of the
animal; in the former there is gluten, starch, and
fat, in the latter nuiscle and fat only. The lungs
are a .sort of carbonic acid manufacturers. The
starch we throw off" to the air the plants suck in,
and thus it is the leaves are continually in motion,
l)eating against the air, forming a thousand little
moviths M'hich perpetually suck in the carbonic air
which forms starch. x\ man throws off' about seven
ounces per day of carbonic acid. Thus it would not
be enough to eat merely of fibre and fat, but we re-
quire to eat the vegetable substances which contain
starch, gluten, and fat, because the general purpose
of nature is to save the stomach the troidjle of ma-
nufacturing these substances for itself. The lungs
might suck in the same as plants do, but such is
not the order of nature, and it falls to plants to sup-
l)ly the deficiency. The stomach can build more
easily from carbonic acid than it could from
muscle. In feeding young stock, the farmer must
give as much as will not only svq)ply the daily defi-
ciency, but also su])i)ly an increase of muscle and
bone. You all know that every part of our body
is continually undergoing a change, and that a
certain quantity of gluten must be eaten every day
to supply it, and it is the same with young animals ;
and, therefore, they require an extra supply of
muscle and bone, in order that they may increase in
size. You may, by attending to the different qua-
lities of the kind of food, make your animals either
very fleshy, very bony, or very fat. Animals re-

ject in dung and other excrements a great many
substances, and as the plants contain substances
which are soluble with water, it is of great conse-
quence to take care of the liquid excrescences, and
to mix it with the solid, so that the whole the ani-
mal ate may be preserved, which being taken back
to the soil, it is provided almost with the same
substances for ever. If you allow the licpiid to
run into the ri\-ers, then you bare the land of what
the plant gets from the sod, and which the animal
gets from the plant. AVhen the animal dies, all
those things which it got is retvu'ned to the soil,
and thus the same revolution goes on from the soil
to the plant, and from the ])lant to the animal
(applause). These are some of the points, gentle-
men, by relating which I wish to interest you, which
demonstrate the over-ruling presence of one mind,
directing practical operations to the same end. If
there was not the same spirit and intellect ])erva-
ding in the nature of the soil, the plants and the
animals, there would be some confusion ; but as
they do exist, there is manifested the presence of
one mind and of one principle, directing the
whole cycle of animal and A'egetable life, as there is
to be seen in all the cycles and motions of the
planetary bodies Cloud applause). In wishing to
teach those under you the elementary principles of
agricultural chemistry, I don't wish you to leave out
of A'iew the beautiful and powerful evidence which
it affords of the existence of a deity who is present
at all times, and regulates in its infinite wisdom all
ovxr affairs and intercourse, I therefore concur en-
tirely in the remarks of Mr. Piper, that moral train-
ing is above all things necessary for the yoiuig.
Moral training comes first, intellectual next, and
practical last of all ; but yet all are here combined,
for by this practical knowledge you can give the
)'oung mind a new view of natural theology. It is
not merely chemistry or physiolog)% but this science
seems to be one of the most beautiful pictures of
natural theology (applause). I might tell you there
is a great deal of poetry in the sketch I have pre-
sented to you. The whole planetary system in
dead masses float in space, and the dead earth
forms the sidjject which geologists contemplate;
but on the surface of this dead earth you have a
soil, a vegetable, and an animal life, subject to
changes which must interest and concern every in-
quirer. Suppose the soil contained no seed — that no
vegetables grew, and no animals existed — still no
doubt the other jmrts of the creation would go on,
and this subject of ours is just one idea — an episode,
as it were — in connection with the planetary system.
And this little episode in the mighty jioem of nature
presents to us the divine bounty, goodness, wisdom,
forethought, benevolence, and the exalted intelli-
gence of divine mind. How beautiful it is indeed !
What an incontestiblemanifestationof the existence
of the deity is to be found in this ejiisode, planted
on oiu- o\vn globe ! I have no doubt, gentlemen,
that, in imparting this branch of knowledge to those
under you, you will enjoy an agreeable and enter-
taining study yourselves. I came among you an
entire stranger, and therefore I hare not been able
to speak with the freedom and ease which, perhaps,
I otherwise would ha^e done ; but I hope the kind-
ness which you ha^'e shown to me, and the atten-

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39:J

iKiii vv'hich you have ])ai(l to my explanations, will
in sonic measure, at least, lia\'e made up for my
(lificiency. If you do me the honoiu" to ask me
a'^ain before you, I trust I shall be able to address
\iiuin abetter manner than I have been enabled
on this occasion to do {great (tpplause).

ON TREE PLANTING.
Article III.

'I'lie general directions in the first article of these
snies beinsr clearly understood, and the particular
cliji'ct now under consideration being the orchard,
I will suppose that the ground is properly prepared
for the reception of the trees, and become somewhat
consolidated by settling, at the commencement of
the present month — November. As, hov/ever, some
t'langes of practicehave recently been introduced, and
sioutly advocated by men of sound judgment, it
w ill be proper, in the first instance, to allude to
tliera.

Formei'ly it was received as an axiom, in planting
e\\ ry kind of deciduous tree, to wait the fall of the
li'if ; and while preference was justly given to the
latter end of October, inasmuch as the still exist-
in;; warmth of the ground and power of the sun
mi'j^ht favour the advance of a few new roots, and
s'Ture the tree, yet it was deemed feasible to plant
during the winter months, provided the land were
open, and even till the fourth week of March.

I was led, by observing the laws of vegetation
and the then condition of the land, to advocate
transplanting gooseberries, currants, raspberries,
and even apple trees, at the close of September ;
and I appealed to ]Mr. Knight, then President of
the Horticultural Society, on the subject. But that
great man discpxalified the practice, on the ground
that by stimulating any activity in roots once dis-
turbed, j)rior to spring, the sap laid up for the
future development, and become inspissated prior
to " the fall," would be disturbed, its course di-
verted, and the power of Aatal energy weakened in a
corresponding degree.

It is, however, proved beyond doubt that young
trees may be safely moved at any period of spring
or autumn, jirovided that in the former case they
be carefully and speedily reset, their roots brought
into close contact with fine soil, which also shoidd
be co])iously Avatered, and kept moist by a deep
covering of leaves or littery mulch. I have made a
complete laurel hedge in July, planting it even upon
a bank, and that too in a very diy season, and suc-
ceeded perfectly with raspberries also ; but I ob-
ject to December and .Tanuar)', because the land
must of necessity be very cold, and lial)le to become
saturated with snow water. It is consistent with
physiological theory to urge the great importance
of so planting a ti-ee as to induce the propulsion of
new rootlets with the least possible loss of time ;
and, with this proviso, it must be admitted that a
judicious and careful planter can almost command
success duringfive months of the advancing year, and
also from the first week of September till the end of
Noverr hi :, Our present object is referred to the

last named month, and to that we now recur. Dwarf,
or half-standard trees, with a clean, single stem,
three or four feet high, are preferable ; and these
may be planted at the distances before mentioned.

Let a hole Ije digged so wide as to allow a clear
space of six inches beyond the extreme points of
the longest roots of each tree, and so deep as to
permit the bole to stand about one inch higher at
the surface than it did in the ground whence the
tree was remo^-ed ; trim oft' every wounded rootlet,
pruning back nearly uj) to the next joint above it,
cut clean away eveiy perpendicular root which
taps, and thus, if possible, reduce the root to a ra-
diating fiugre, inclined a little downward, but tend-
ing to trace in a nearly horizontal direction. Make
the soil in the hole of a form adapted to that of the
roots, so that each branch may repose upon it;
then place the tree upright in the centre of the hole,
trickle fine earth upon the roots, insinuating it till
every fibre be covered, and thus fill the hole,
shaking the tree a little, and rather raising than
pressing it down. When the uj)right position has
been secured, tread the earth lightly and evenly,
beginning at the extremity of the circle ; after which
pour a full stream of soft pond water over and about
the roots, so as to puddle them in the soil ; level
the ground with a little more fine earth ; supjjort
the tree by two or three sloping stakes, convei'ging
at the tops and meeting at a ring of hay-bands se-
cured round the bole ; and finally, apply mulch all
o^'er the surface, to the dejith of three or four
inches.

I have l)een thus particular, becaiise upon the
minute obsen'ance of every precauticm depends, in
a great degree, the speedy adaptation of the roots
to the soil. It is plain that little time as possible
should be lost between the removal of a tree and its
plantation ; also that the shock received must,
under the most favourable circumstances, be very
great. Hence a fine and mellow condition of the
soil, and the complete contact of it udth every re-
tained rootlet, are essentially necessary, as is also a
fixed and immoveable position, in order to prevent
the disruption of the first new fibres. AH the leaves
must, of necessity, perish, unless the tree be very
young indeed, and be reset as soon as moved, be-
cause their vitality depends \\\mn roots formed
simultaneously with the annual developments ;
when, therefore, these channels of communication
are once broken, it follows that the foHage must
be deprived of sap, and thus a year is usually lost
befoi'e a removed tree can be said to grow, for the
l)uds are nourished by the juices of the bark and
cambium retained during the torpid season. Thes3
buds, indeed, may push with some vigour in the
first spring, but it requires considerable time ere a
new connecting system of absorbent roots can be
fully re-established.

Young trees, not more than two years from the
graft, ought to be chosen — nay, some able garden-
ers prefer maiden trees of the first year ; and, in
fact, such trees make more early and strong ad-
vances than do those of more mature age. But,
whatever be the age, the knife must not be used to
j)rune back a single shoot during the first spring ;
for, as the upmost buds are always the most for-
ward, they should be left to grow and sijtrengthen

394

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the shoots, which they will do by attracting the
})repared juices upwards, and thus exciting the ab-
sorbent powers of the roots to imbibe moisture from
the ground. "Whereas if the lively upper buds
were removed, those seated lower on the shoot —
being comparatively silent — might not retain vitality
sufficient to bring into motion the energies of an or-
ganization, paralyzed by the mutilation of those
members which had connected it with that medium
whence it derived all its moisture.

We are apt, while we forget that plants and trees
depend mainly upon atmospheric electricity, to
ascribe e^-ery ^-ital mo-\'ement to the sap ; but the
ascent of this fluid is a phenomenon of attraction,
of which the expanding buds are the agents. Sap
appears to be little more than water ; it may con-
tain a little carbonic acid, and some of the inorganic
salts of the ground, but every act of nutrition and
assimilation is performed by the leaves ; therefore,
to amputate one active bud, while life itself is in a
precarious condition, is, to say the least of it, a
doubtfvil operation.

On the future treatment of newly-planted trees,
the first thing to be insisted on is the formation of
the head ; and this in a degree depends upon the
number and disposition of the earlyshoots. A maiden
tree shovdd have a single straight stem, supporting
a head of three or fovu" branches regularly placed ;
and these are to be left untouched until the buds
swell in the second spring. According to the
habit of the trees must be the regulation of each.
Some affect a direct perpendicular growth ; such,
according to G. Lindley, will not require to be cur-
tailed or headed down ; but many take a horizontal
or declining position, and therefore may be im-
proved by cutting each branch to the length of
twelve inches, always pruning behind an outside
bud, not at a bud seated at the side of a shoot.
This pruning for figure will generally produce
branches sufficient to form the head; and then
little more will be required than the occasional dis-
placement of supernumeraiy branches, which might
cross and intersect others. Fruitfid spurs will form
naturally on the branches, beginning -with two,
three, and five leaves j after which such spurs will
generally be fertile.

The first fruits of a tree — of a young pear parti-
cularly— can seldom be considered a fair sjiecimen
of its quality ; and few, A-ery few, should be per-
mitted to ripen. Svich fruits are the early oftspring
of an immature subject ; and, while possessing
little true flavour, they tend materially to task the
vital power of the plant.

These remarks will apply equally to every form
of orchard-trees ; all require amjfle preparation of
the ground, and prudent, early training. But tall
open standards may be left more to their own mode
of growth and development ; in so far that, not
being required to bear very early, they are not
required to protrude those low-seated, secondaiy
buds, which form branches that speedily bear
fruitful spurs. These, consequently, are pennitted
to grow and assmne their natural form, Avith the
simple precaution to remove ill-placed branches,
which lash each other and obstruct the ingress of
solar light.

It is a question with many, whether, in the early

progress of an orchard, the intermediate spaces
should be cropped Avlth vegetables, or otherwise ?
So long as the roots of the trees do not api)roach, a
few rows of potatoes or cabbage could do no mis-
chief, and would induce a cleaning tillage. Goose-
berry and currant trees might also — as in many of
the London market gardens — be rendered very
aA'ailable ; but when the trees api)roach, and become
the primary fruitful object, cropping shoidd cease,
and then a grass-turf might be economically sub-
stituted.

Om' next shall treat of the orchard in another
form, which ought, perphaps to be adopted, as a
most valuable adjunct to a really good garden.

October 11. J. T-

STIFLE BURNING.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — In yourmumber for the present month is
an article on Stifle Burning, as lately introduced
into Wiltshire with signal success; it being thus"
stated that land previously valued at only one shil-
ling and sixpence per acre, was thereby made to
produce turnips and oats equal to land worth three
pounds per acre : a vast improvement indeed for
an outlay of from eight to fourteen shillings per
acre only — a sum I should think by far too small
for the best burners to accomplish it eflfectually.
And as you invite information on burning, and
doubts are expressed whether it would be prudent
to pursue the practice, and thereby destroy the
vegetable matter which might become food for
plants for a succession of years, I will give you a
brief sketch of the method pursued in the Roothings
of Essex for many years without the least per-
ceptible diminished effect.

Some persons sow grass seeds in the previous
crop on land intended for burning. This facilitates
the process, and probably improves the ashes.
The land is thinly ploughed, and then harrowed
a time or two, as required. The land is marked
out with sticks, thus, ; ; ; giving an equal dis-
tance from each stake, so that four square rods
are allotted to each fire ; the earth is then collected
with iron-toothed rakes, and a seven-pronged flat-
tened fork is used to throw it up. This fork is
more suitable than a shovel, as it severs the dust
from the lumj^s in the process of moving ; an iron
hook or dung crome is also requisite to pull down
the fire occasionally. Bean straw liaulm or other
stover is furnished in moderate quantity, a small
quantity only being requisite for each fire. Thus,
forty heaps, containing about two tumbrel loads,
are bui'nt onan acre, and spread out again at from7d.
to 9d. per fire ; an acre, therefore, at 8d. would
cost £1 6s. 8d., exclusive of straw ; and good
burners in favourable weather, working early and
late, will earn from 1 5s. to '20s. per week. Burn-
ing is not generally repeated on the same land
oftener than six or seven years, and land that has
undergone the process several times with
such intermission is evidently improved by

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

095

each burning. It is, therefore, beneficial in improv-
ing the land with small cost ; and gives employ-
ment to the labourer, with profit to the employer.
I am, Sir, your most obdt. seiTant,
Oct. lUh, 1844. EssKX.

STIFLE BURNING.

Stifle burning should never, in my opinion, be done
but for a green crop, as I consider it too great a stimulant
the first year for a corn crop, as it forces it too much to
straw, and often leaves the land in a weaker state than
before; but when done for a green crop, turnips or
swedes, it is generally a preparation, for its effects are
often truly astonishing. It should never be done oftener
than once in eight years. I would caution those who
may be induced to adopt the plan, not to expect their
land will be increased in value in the same ratio as Mr.
S. Mills's, though I know of many farms, that were
reduced by over-cropping, &c., to the lowest state of
cultivation, brought into good tillage by a judicious
application of this system sooner than by any other
means, inasmuch as it destroys not only weeds, but the
seeds of the same, and produces an immense quantity of
green food at a cheap rate. I find, on inquiry, the sys-
tem owes its origm, in this part of the country, to the
late Mr. Spencer, of Chalfield, near Bradford, nearly 40
years ago, and has been followed on that farm from that
time till the present with great success ; and I have no
hesitation in stating, there is not a farm in North Wilts
in a higher state of cultivation than Chalfield. The soil
of that farm is stone brash, and by no means deep. I
state these particulars as a proof that the system should
not be so hastily condemned as it is by Mr. Short in
your paper of the 26th, neither should it be held in too
high estimation, as to expect at all times such results as
Mr. Mills has stated. I quite agree with you, sir, in
thinking Mr. Short wrong in asserting that none but
slovenly farmers resort to the use of fire for consuming
the refuse of the farm, for it has been proved beyond
doubt, that good turnips, &c., can be grown with ashes
as well as by decomposed vegetable matter, and particu-
larly if carefully collected and well soaked with the contents
of the liquid manure tanks previous to using, as many
of the slovenly farmers do in this part of the country.
I should be happy, if it were possible, to show 10 acres
of swedes grown upon ashes prepared asabove, against 10
acres grown by Mr. Short, upon his decomposed couch,
&c., for ten pounds. I cannot help thinking Mr. Short
should have made himself more acquainted with the sys-
tem (which has for so many years proved beneficial to
the farmers of tliis, and I make no doubt of other
counties) before he had so highly censured it. — I remain,
sir, your obedient sei"vant,

A North Wiltshire Farmer.

JOINT STOCK BANKS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — There seems to be a very general opinion
that Joint Stock Banks are more secure than
jirivate estabhshments, and so far as the public
are concerned, perhaps they are ; but there are
many reasons for suspecting that the shareholders
in Joint Stock Banks may ultimately find them-

selves in a \ery awkward predicament, and it
behoves every lionest man, as far as in him lies,
to analyze the system, and guard the unwary from
ruin. These '* ostentatious estaljlishments" have
in numerous instances been brought to a sort of
stand-still, through misfortune or mismanagement,
or "circumstances over which the directors had
no control" (? ? ?) and found to be proceeding most
egregiously wrong ; indeed, by the recent " break
up" of the Western District Joint Stock Banking
Company, it has been stated in a Cornish paper
that the trifling sum of £130,000 and upwards
has Ijeen lost, actually lost I in about 9 years ; or
about £14,000 per annum since their establish-
ment ; and their unfortunate shareholders must
of course be called on " to fork out." This will
fall severely on persons who, through ignorance
(and perhaps by the advice of the crafty who hoped
to profit by their credulity), had invested the
whole of their property in shares, because paying
a good interest; but where did that interest come
from ; from their own ^'itals, to gull the public,
and make them regret not having joined so pros-
perous a concern ! This is a common trick against
which I would warn the aged, the \\idow, and the
orphan. Mere speculators I leave to the enjoy-
ment of their own selfish hallucinations ; but I
would fain ask what I consider to be rather an
important question, and should feel much obliged
if any of your intelhgent readers can reply to it,
or throw any light on the subject.

Many private banks having merged into Joint
Stock Companies, that is, have been purchased
by them, what can have become of all the bad ac-
counts, that is, the rottenness of such private
firms ? It would be preposterous to imagine that
they were perfectly sound or had such customers
as were capable of giving satisfaction and security
to another firm; but we hear nothing of parties
being compelled to "wind up" their concerns in
consequence of such change. Can it be possible
that these Joint Stock speculators have been in-
duced, like children at play, to " open their mouths
and shut their eyes to see what luck would send
them ?" vAth. a view of getting custom and declar-
ing a liigh rate of interest to tickle their share-
holders at the end of the year, however hazardous
the business might be by which it was obtained ?
It looks very hke it. But some have already
found, and others I suspect will find that
" hope told a flattering tale," for if Joint Stock
Banks are safe to the public, they can only be so
because all the shareholders must be sacrificed
on the altar of justice to satisfy a deluded public.

If any one can shew that the system of banking
has been changed othenvise than in name, and
that there is not still the same pitiful competition
and trickery resorted to as heretofore (with a shew
of grandeur, albeit subdued with a quaker-lilie
plainness, to give the appearance of stability), pos-
sibly I may change my opinion ; but until then I
must remain. Your very obdt. servant,

Daniel Dubious.

Launceston, Oct, 7, 1844,

396

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

FENCES AND HEDGE-ROWS OF DEVON.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE EXETER FLYIXO-POS T.

Sir, — I have attentively perused the remarks of
your correspondent, signing himself " A Practical
Man," on the ahove sul)ject, but do not think he
has made out a good case for the preser\'ation of
all the enormous" banks of earth filled with under-
wood and trees in this part of Devon, so particu-
larly striking to strangers, and which many of our
most inteUigent occupiers find so inconvenient in
carrying out the improvements of modern agricul-
ture, which I take it are as applicable to the county
of Devon as elsewhere. Of course the owners of
the soil are to consider the propriety of reducing
the number of these unsightly fences, and if it can
be clearly sho^vn that it would improve the vahie of
their property in so doing, I have no doubt they
will not be slov/ in adopting such improvements.
Your correspondent seems to think that the ex-
posed and maritime situation of De\'on would
render the reduction of the number of hedges par-
ticularly ineligible. In answer to that objection,
some of the best crops of wheat, and particularly
as to the quahtj', grov>m in this neighbourhood, is
on open land close to the coast, between Exmouth
and Budleigh Salterton — not a deep, rich soil, but
\\'here the sea-breezes prevent wood and timber
from groAving, and ^^'here the enclosures are toler-
ably large ; the harvest there being also quite as
forward as at Exeter.

As to the glory of Devon being in its high
hedge-rows and small enclosures, taste differs ; the
beautiful undulating character and mild salubrity
of our neighbourhood would alwaj's excite atten-
tion, and the woods and orchards would gi\-e cjuite
as ornamental an appearance and more park-like
than the present superfluous quantity of hedges.
As to the great use of these fences in providing
timber to the occupiers, firing, and overplus for
sale, let us examine the qtiestion : — Iron is rapidly
superseding wood in the construction of agricul-
tural implements ; many tenants prefer iron ploughs,
harrows, rollers, scuflSers, hoes, &c., though allowed
rough timber ; and though I may be deemed wild
and visionary, I confidently anticipate the time
when iron fencing will be considerably used : iron
for building purposes, ship-building especially, is
more and more used — all showing the prudent
owner of the soil that timber is, and will be, less
sought after. For firing purposes coal is cheap,
and we may expect it to remain so, our internal
communication by railway being a guarantee of it,
altering our position in this respect also from by-
gone days. The cost of cutting and preparing
wood, &c., getting out headlands, &c., account
being kept of it, would more than pay a heaAy
coal-bill. " The old oak settle and the great wood
fire" sounds A-ery ]5rettily in poetry; but those who
know the luxuiy of a carpeted room and nice coal
fire of a cold vdnter's night, shrug up their shoul-
ders at the former.

Your correspondent offers another objection to
their removal from their benefit to cattle; and
seems to infer that the justly celebrated breed of
North Devon owes their maintenance (if not their

very existence) to these hedge-rows ; but unfortu-
nately for his argument, Southmolton, Northmol-
ton, and neighbourhood, where the breed is sup-
posed to be most pure, is anything but a thickly-
timbered part of the county. As to the fear of a
falling off in the supplies of butter, milk, fat meat,
&c., stall-feeding seems to jjoint to a supply quite
commensurate with the demand, saying nothing of
turnips and other root crops. As to preserving
these fences simply in opposition to the Corn Law
League, why then draining would remain undone
also. Now let us examine the C][uestion as to profit:
we will assume 100 acres of arable land divided
into 33 enclosures (something, I believe, about the
present average), let at £125, tenant paying out-
goings, being allowed rough timber for repairs,
tkc. ; sale of timber after such allowance, say £25
(above the mark, I think), making a clear return of
£150. Now let us see what would be the increase
of produce from the same farm, divided by iron or
quickset fences into 10 enclosures. — I shall take it
at 1-1 0th, and am satisfied the calculation is low,
most of these enormous old hedges occupying from
plough-turning on either side a rod and a half, or
about 25 feet of land : — if any one is doubtful, I
beg them to use their half-rod and see ; roots of
trees also frequently extend four or five rods into
the field, doing serious mischief.

1-lOth increased produce on

50 acres of corn, say £30

Ditto ditto 20 turnips G eaten on same.

Ditto ditto 20 clover 6 ditto & mown.

Ditto ditto
Ditto ditto

5 potatoes 5 carried ofl".

5 mangel or other roots 5

£52

These 10 enclosures are to be ploughed, worked,
manured, sown, reaped, and harvested, at a con-
siderably less expense than the 33, Cjuite enough to
cover the supposed benefit the occupier derives
from the allowance of rough timber for his imple-
ments ; therefore, as to profit, I think I have
shown the difference is clearly in favour of lessen-
ing these old fences, the expense of throwing them
down being but trifling, the stuff and underwood
in them (or at most Is. per rod extra) paying for it,
leaving the young timber in them for the expenses
of providing iron-wire or quickset fences; nor is
there now-a-days (thanks to the Commutation Act)
a sleeping partner in the shape of tithe-owner to
hold up his hand for the tenth of this increased
produce.

In conclusion, I trust this subject will
r,.nd more excite attention : wet lands
draining particularly want being thrown open, to
avoid i)oaching from turning in small fields and
the stoppage of drains from the roots of trees. I
trust that " A Practical Man" will see, on reflec-
tion, that the I'eduction of these old fences is not
so \^'ild and visionary a scheme as he may have
imagined. Your's &c,,

G. J.

Oltery St, Mary.

yet more
requiring

THE FAllMER'S MAGAZINE.

397

THE FARMING OF CHESHIRE.

BY WILLIAM PALIN.

{From the Journal of the Royal Agricultural
Societi/.)

[Concluded.]

Tenures of Farms,

With very few exceptions the farms in Cheshire
are let from year to year, terminable, as to the land,
on Fe1)ruary 2 ; and as to the house, buildings,
garden, and an outlet for the cattle (which is gene-
rally contiguous to, or most convenient for, the
buildings), on May 1. Where leases are granted
they are seldom for longer terms than 7, 11, or
14 years ; some at a fi.\ed rent, others regulated
by the price of grain, at what is called a corn-rent,
and others by that of wheat and cheese. However
desirable it may be to secure to the landowner a fair
annual rent for his estate, and its surrender to him
in as good condition at the expiration of the oc-
cupancy as at its commencement, it is equally
desirable that a tenant, who possesses skill, in-
dustry, principle, and capital, should have secured
to him, as far as the nature of the case mil admit,
a fair return for the labour and money employed;
and, to ensure these results to both parties, proba-
bly a lease of 14 or 21 years, on equitable tenns,
and with proper restrictions, the amount of rental
to fluctuate according to the price of agricultural
produce, would be most hkely to answer the pur-
pose. But here a question arises, would the
average price of grain, or of cheese, or of both,
extending over a given period, be a sufficient guide
to regvdate the rent of a dairy farm? ',It is the
opinion of some intelUgent men that, as the article
of cheese A'aries so much in quality, and conse-
quently in price, and as there are no means of ob-
taining a fair return of the averages, it could not
be satisfactorily taken into the account; but as
there are no similar difficvxlties with regard to grain,
wheat may be safely taken as a guide even on a
dairy farm, if the estimates be not calculated from
too long a period, as it seldom happens that any
description of farm produce continues high for any
length of time, while other produce is Iom^, and ince
versa; although it is very possible that, from some
particular influence of season, or other causes,
cheese may be high in price when wheat is low ;
or the latter may be high when the former is low :
but this dis])arity will, in all probability, continue
but for a short time, as I find, by reference to the
prices for the last 12 or 14 years, they have nearly
kept pace with each other.

The usual time for gix^ng up possession of arable
lands (February 2) is frequently attended with
great inconvenience to the in-coming tenant, and is
of little or no advantage to the out-going one. It
has, therefore, occurred to myself, and my opinion
is confirmed by the judgment of many practical
men, that the 1 st of November Avould be the proper
period for giving up clover roots (where the re-
tiring tenant is allowed the cost of the seed) and
all tillage land, except that sown, or intended to be
sown, 'with wheat ; and some consider that March

25th would be a more convenient time for quitting
houses and buildings than May ; but, having given
the matter a careful examination, I feel convmced
that the advantage to be gained by taking posses-
sion of the house, buildings, &c., at that early
period, would be more than counterbalanced by
the inconvenience to which the farmer would oc-
casionally l)e put, by removing his stock to a farm
\^here but httle fodder had been provided, and
without any prospect of being enabled to turn his
cows to grass till after a lapse of five or six weeks,
and having left at the same time, on the farm he
has given up an ample supply of provision, which,
according to agreement, must be consumed on the
])remise8 ; one-half or two-thirds of its value only
being allowed by his successor.

Upon this part of the subject I quote the fol-
lowing statements and opinions with which I have
been favoured by my correspondents : —

From the Hundred of Eddisbury :— -

"The tenures on which farms are held in this
neighbourhood are those of yearly occupation ;
but I am of opinion that leases would be better for
the farmer, whether at a fixed sum, or regulated by
a corn-rent: the latter I shovdd prefer, as the
fairest arrangement between landlord and tenant."

From the Hundred of Macclesfield : —

" We have veiy few leases or agreements for terms
of years in this district ; but many of the farmers
have lived long upon their farms, having succeeded
their fathers in the same occupancy. I think, how-
ever, it would be better if we had leases."

From the Hundred of Wirral : —

" Yearly tenancies are most prevalent here.
There are some instances of 7, 14, and even 21
years, and, where these have been granted, the
tenants certainly appear more industrious and
improving, and landlords more generous and libe-
ral. The good feeling which is said to exist be-
tween landowners and yearly tenants, has been
strengthened by the granting of leases."

From the Hundred of Nantmch : —

" The present time of entering upon a farm is
very inconvenient, and attended with much loss
to the in-coming tenant. Possession of the land
should be had on November 1, and of the home-
stead, &c., on March 25, a fair allowance being
made for fodder left imconsumed on the premises,
and for any improvement which the retiring
tenant has made, and of which he has not reaped
the benefit, some return should be given by the
landlord."

Another coiTespondent from the Hundred of
Nantwich says :—

" The property for Which I have the honour to
be Concerned Is principally held under agreements
from year to year, although there are several in-
stances where leases have recently been granted
for fourteen, seventeen, and even twenty-one years.
The conditions of our agreements which, I believe,
generally speaking, are similar to most others in
this division of the county, run as follows, viz : —

" Tenancy commences at Christmas as to the
mowing lands : on the 2nd February as to all the
other lands, except the boosey pasture ; and on
the 1st of May as to the homestead and boosey
pasture : timber, mines, and game reserved.

D D

39S

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Tenants to keep premises in repair, except in cases
of fire or tempest ; landlords finding timber in the
rough, bricks, hme, and slates, and first putting
the premises into repair. The fodder to be con-
sumed upon the premises, or the 'money to arise
from the sale thereof to be expended in bones or
other manure to be applied upon the farm. The
permanent mowing and pasture lands, ivhich have
been boned by the landlord, are reserved from tijg
]age. One-fourth is allowed for tillage, including
fallows ; and the tenant is not allowed to take
more than two white straw crops in succession,
without either a green crop or summer fallow, and
to lay down with a certain quantity of artificial and
other grasses; together with a variety of minor
stipulations, which of course vary according to
circumstances, A difterence of opinion exists as
to the desirableness, or othenvise, of granting
leases, and a good deal may be said both for and
against the practice of doing so. I by no means
think that it is politic for any gentleman to make
the pi-actice of granting leases indiscriminately to
all his tenants, because it must be admitted that it
is not safe or prudent, on many accounts, to part
with the control over his property, and to commit
the charge of it so completely to the care and
mercy of every man for a term of years ; but, at
the same time, when a gentleman has a tenant
possessed of capital, enterprise, skill, and principle
(for I think the latter qualification quite as neces-
sary as any of the foi-mer), and that tenant comes
forward with a spirited proposition to improve the
property, I think there can be but one opinion
that it is for the interest of both landlord and
tenant to have a lease ; but whether a lease be
granted or not, I am perfectly convinced that
nothing tends so much to promote the success of
agriculture, and the general good of the neighbour-
hood, as the best possible understanding between
landlord and tenant, and a perfect confidence in each
other. There are, I think, few connexions of a more
important and interesting character than that of
landlord and tenant. The landlord commits his
fee-simple and inheritance into the hands of his
tenant, which, to a certain extent, is at his mercy,
and may be either materially improved or injured
(in spite of any written document) by his treat-
ment of it. On the other hand, the tenant is in-
debted to his landlord, to a certain extent, for
many of the comforts he enjoys, and so dependent
are they upon each other, and so reciprocal are
their obhgations, that if I were asked whether a
tenant was most indebted to a good landlord, or a
landlord to a good tenant, I should be puzzled to
give an answer. At all events, this connexion is of
so delicate a character, and the harmony of it so
essential to the prosperity and happiness of both,
that it ought on no shght grounds to be dis-
turbed."

Rate of Wages,

Tlie rate of wages varies in diflferent districts.
On the north, north-eastern, and north-western
sides of the county, especially in the vicinity of
manufacturing or large towns, wages are nearly 20
per cent, higher than in many parts of the interior,
or in the south, south-western, and south-eastern

districts. In the former, there is a greater demand
for labour, while cottage-rents and provisions are
higher than in the latter : a better rate of wages is
therefore required. The average amount, in the
former case, will be about r2s. per week; and in
the latter about 10s., including harvest work. A
reduction has lately been made in some instances,
during the winter quarters, from 9s. to 8s., but
this is not general. Many of the labourers in the
latter mentioned districts have peculiar advantages.
The rent they 'pay for a comfortable cottage and
garden is about 50s. per annum — seldom more
than 3/. Tliey have also an acre or two of land at
a moderate rent, and are thereby enabled to keep a
cow ; and they have very frequently the pri^^lege
of cultivating potatoes on the farm where they are
employed — the farmer manuring the soil and doing
all the necessary team work, including the cartage
of the potatoes to the cottages of the labourers,
who on their part find the sets, hand hoe and dig
up the crops, and leave one-half of the produce in
lieu of rent, &c.

There has been little, if any, reduction in the
wages of servants hired for the year.

The wages of head-waggoners range from 10 to
1 2 guineas per annum ; under-waggoners 8 to 9
guineas ; boys 3 to 4 guineas ; dairy-maids 1 2 to
20 guineas (according to circmnstances); under
female servants 6 to 8 guineas.

A correspondent in the Hundred of Eddisbury

says —

"Wages for labour vary according to the lo-
calities. In the immediate vicinity of large towns,
and not unusually in the neighbourhood of smaller
ones, wages are higher than in the more rural
districts ; and this disparity is very obvious in the
summer months, even at times of commercial de-
pression. I have observed that for 1 5 miles round
Maljias (say 5 on the Chester side), the rate of
wages is lower by at least 6d. per day than within
the same distance of Northwich, and other towns
on the north side of the county. These remarks
refer to married labourers ; but the same observa-
tion \vill apply to farmers' servants, male and
female. Of the latter, in many parts of the count)',
there is a great scarcity, partly through the facility
of obtaining situations in towns, and partly o\ving
to additional numbers being required in conse-
quence of improvements on the farms ; for where
a reasonably liberal encouragement has been given
to tenants by extensive landowners, immense sums
have been expended in bone-manuring and drain-
ing, principally on permanent pastures, whereby,
in many instances, the dairy stock has been
doubled in numbers, and consequently more fe-
male servants are needed. For the three years
preceding June, 1842, as much as lOOOZ. per an-
num was expended in these improvements by .
tenants here."

Having now treated of the different heads of
inquiry specifically noted in the Society's proposal
for this Essay, I may here observe that, with re-
ference to the question as to what improvements
and alterations have been introduced since 1808
(the date of Dr. Holland's pubhcation), those
which appear to call for more particular notice

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

399

have either been mentioned in the foregoing re-
marks, or will be described luider the separate
divisions of the subject upon which I think it
desirable to supply some information in the fol-
lo\ving pages : —

Cheese.

Cheshii'e being a cheese district, some account
of the process of making this staple article of
agricultural produce may reasonably be expected ;
but the method generally adopted being the same
as that pursued at the time of Dr. Holland's pub-
lication, and of which he gives so full an account,
any statement of mine would only be a repetition
of his narrative. I shall, therefore merely mention
a few improvements which have been introduced
in the machinery and offices of the dairy. The
first process of breaking down the curd in the
cheese-tub is now generally performed by a
breaker or curd-cutter (see drawing No. 3, p. 311),
the dairy-maid alone walking rovmd the tub, and
pressing the breaker slowly through the curd at
first, and more rapidly as she proceeds with her
work, until it is reduced to small particles, when
it sinks to the bottom of the tub. This practice
supersedes the old mode of three women kneeling
around the tub, and breaking the curd with their
fingers. The next improvement is the curd-mill
(as per drawing No. 3), which is for the purpose
of breaking the curd after being drained from the
whey in the cheese vat, before finally putting it
under the press, instead of the old tedious plan of
again breaking it with the hands. The greatest
improvement, however, yet effected, is by the in-
troduction of a lever press (as per drawing No. 3),
which is self-acting, and may be used during the
process of making. This invention renders un-
necessary the previous custom of kneeling upon
and pressing the cheese ^vith a board, or two or
three persons thrusting it with their hands, or
pressing it for a time, before placing it under the
heavy stone press, llie great advantage of this
machine consists in its being regulated by a
small weight on the beam, by which the pres-
sure upon the cheese can be increased or di-
minished at pleasure. It is also portable; and
as wannth is very essential during the time of
pressing, especially in cold weather, it can be con-
veniently removed to any warm situation. Ar-
tificial heat is now introduced into many cheese-
rooms, either by means of hot-air stoves or steam
conveyed in cast-iron pipes through the rooms,
for the purpose of forwarding the ripening of the
cheese. By these means, large dairies, which
formerly were scarcely ever marketable before
April or May, are now sold as early as October or
November.

Manures.

In addition to the old-fashioned manure from the
farm-yard, marl, lime and bones — all alluded to
by Dr. Holland, though the latter at that time were
in very limited use — the most important kinds
which have of late years been tried in this county,
are guano and nitrate of soda.

The manure from the farm-yard, if well pre-
pared by occasional turnings, and if, when

carted out into the fields, previously to its being
applied to the land, it be proi)erly thrown into
heaps, and covered with soil to keep in the ammo-
nia, is considered the best for general purposes ;
but for i>asture-land alone, especially the poorer
kind, there is nothing to equal in efficacy " bone
manure," either as regards the permanency of its
effects or the production of a sweet luxurious
herbage, of which all cattle are fond. Many thou-
sand acres of the poor clay soils have been covered
with this manure during the last eight or ten years,
and the results have been truly astonishing. There
are two descriptions of bones which are nsed ; the
boiled and unboiled. The former sort undergoes
a process of boiling for three or four days, by
which the grease and nearly all the glutinous matter
are extracted. This kind of manure is preferred
by many, being much quicker in its operations
when applied either to pasture-land or turnips;
and nothing has yet been advanced to prove that
the durabihty of its effects is not as lasting as those
of the unboiled bones. The average quantity
applied is abovit a ton and a half per acre. The
unboiled bones, by means of improved machinery,
are reduced to a much smaller size than they for-
merly were, and from this cause are undoubtedly
more speedy in their eflfects. The manure thus
prepared is also in high favour ; but as bones in
this state contain a j)ortion of animal mattei", valu-
able for manufacturing purposes, though not very
essential as a manure, they are invariably sold at
about .50 per cent, more than those which are boiled;
and it has not been demonstrated that they possess
any properties which are more permanent or more
fertilizing than the cheaper kind. When bones
are applied to pasture-land they are generally paid
for by the landowner, the tenant being restricted
from breaking up the lands which are thus im-
proved, and charged from 7 to 8 per cent upon the
outlay.

It may perhaps not be amiss to remark here,
that on many farms much of the essence of the
manure (farm-yard dung) is allowed to escape,
owing to the want of proper tanks for receiving
it. Of late years, premiums have been offered
by several agricultural societies for the construc-
tion of such tanks ; and many of the more spirited
farmers are beginning to turn their attention to this
branch of husbandry.

Marl.

Marhng, which was thought indispensable till
within the few last years, especially upon the light
soils, is now rarely practised. Till very lately the
shouts of the marlers were to be heard on fine
summer evenings in almost every direction, but
now their whoops are seldom raised. It may be
said that the reason there is so little marling now
is because the greater part of the land has been al-
ready subjected to that operation. This remark, to a
certain extent, may be true ; but from what I have
heard and seen, I believe the fact to be that farmers
do not like to incur the expense of the process,
as hght land, particularly for corn, woidd no doubt
noiv be materially improved by it. Marl, like other
substances, loses its effect in time, probably not

D D 2

400

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

so much from exhaustion of its nutritive powers
as from its heaviness ; sinking as it does, in the
course of a few years^ below the reach of a common
plough. In dividing a strong sandy loam field,
whicli had been marled fifty or sLxty years ago,
I found, when cutting a ditch for the purpose of
making a fence, a regular stratum or bed of marl
entirely across the field, at the depth of 13 inches ;
and there was no appearance of marl in the soil
above. How far this marl may again be made
avaUaljle, by the use of the subsoil plough, I cannot
pretend to determine; but I purpose giving the
experiment a trial, of which I consider it worthy,
and from which I anticipate beneficial results.

Lime.

Lime is used to a considerable extent in many
parts of the county, particidarly in the Hundreds
of Broxton, Wirral, parts of Eddisbury, Nantwich,
&c. It is generally applied to fallows for the wheat
crop, at the rate of 4 tons per acre, either in its
natural state or in compost ; sometimes to grass-
land, previously to breaking up for oats ; and occa-
sionally to land intended for turnips. I have seen
a mixture of lime and salt applied to turnip land,
but the result was not satisfactory. Last year
(1843) I saved my clover from destruction by the
slug or smaU snail, on land bearing a wheat-crop,
by a slight dressing of powdered lime, scattered
through a clover-seed machine late in the evening,
when the insects were busy at work. Lime would
be found exceedingly iiseful, if frequently aji^Jhed
in this manner.

Guano.

Many experiments have been tried in Cheshire
with this wonderful manure ; but from my own
observations, and the information which I
have obtained from others who have used it,
I am induced to believe that it is very uncertain
in its efliects, especially in dry seasons.

One of the tenants of Mr. Wilbraham, of De-
lamere House, has applied it to a weak sandy soil
for common turnips vnth. good eflfect. A gentleman
in the Hundred of Wirral has tried it on pasture
with extraordinary results ; the herbage was most
luxuriant and palatable to the cattle, and he affirms
that the cheese made from them while grazing on
the land to which the guano had been applied,
was much superior to that made from the cows
when feeding on the ordinary pastures, and realized
5s. or Gs. per cwt. more when sold. I tned guano
myself in 1842 for my turnip crops, on a cool (or
damp) peaty soil, at the rate of 2 cwt. per acre,
with an equal quantity of ashes from coal and
wood ; the fielcl having been previously drained
and limed at the rate of 4 tons per acre; and although
the weather throughout the summer was exceed-
ingly dry, I had a luxuriant crop of white globe
turnips, the tops being more than 3 feet high ;
but on the crop being taken up, the bulbs proved
light; this might, in some measure, be owing to
the rapidity with which they grew in the tops after
the first hoeing, and not receiving their second
hoeing in time ; on a butt where the guano was
not applied, the turnips were very inferior. On
another fiald of six acres, one half a sandy loam

on a porous subsoil, the other on a marly subsoil
(the latter having been drained to the depth of
2 feet by parallel drains 8 yards apart), and the
whole subsoiled to the depth of 14 inches, I sowed
Swedish turnips in drills 27 inches apart; manured
■with farm-yard dung at the rate of 15 tons per
acre; part in a rotten state, having been drawn
to the field early in the spring, and turned twice
in the heap, the other in a high state of fermen-
tation.

I commenced sowing (the seed-drill following the
plough as closely as possible) the last week in May,
and finished about the 1st of June, depositing at the
same time, although not immediately in contact
with the seed, 1 cwt. of guano, and an equal
quantity of ashes (2 cwt, in the whole per acre) ;
in a few drills gypsum was deposited by the same
machine, instead of, and in the same ratio, as the
guano ; and in two drills, exactly similar, the same
mixture of guano was applied without any other
manure, at the rate of 6 cwt., 3 of guano, and 3
of ashes. The seed sown on the last-mentioned
drills was four or five days later in making its ap-
pearance than on any of the former; my object
in sowing with guano was principally to force the
young plants out of the way of the fly, at the
same time saving a portion of my farm-yard ma-
nure ; in the first place it certainly had the desired
eftect, for I never saw turnips grow more rapidly ;
and those sown first on the part where the rotten
manure was applied were a good crop ; but all the
other part was a hght crop, and especially the two
drills where guano was applied alone ; they were
certainly not more than two thirds of the weight
of the latter, which did not average more than 22
tons per acre. The season was remarkably dry,
and the whole crop much mildewed ; nearly one*
third of the turnips were hollow and full of juice
like cocoa nuts.

Nitrate of soda was tried in the parish where I
reside, in 1 840, on grass-land, and with apparently
good effect, the grass soon becoming of a dark
green colour, and increasing rapidly in quantity;
but I have not heard of its application since that
period. One extensive farmer in the Hundred of
Nantwich applied it in the same year to a wheat
crop ; and he stated at an agricidtural meeting*
that it had been a loss of 50/. to him, in con-
sequence of forcing his crop too much into straw.

Upon the subject of artificial manures an intel-
hgent correspondent from the Hundred of Eddis-
bury thus writes : —

"In the wintef of 1836, I laid upon a field of
eleven acres 1 ton of boiled bones, crushed small,
to the statute acre ; the field had not been ploughed
for a great many years, and produced a coarse
bad grass, which I could only get eaten down
during the winter or spring. In 183/ I mowed
the field, and had a very good crop mth much red and
white clover. But in 1838, I had a most extraor-
dinary crop, and perhaps the most extraordinary
thing was, that it was an entire mass of wild red
clover, I never saw a field of common clover a
fuller crop. I continued to mow it for three years
longer and had fair crops, but not very hea^7 one*.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

401

1 may add, that the field was no'j then drained,
which has been done since.

" Guano I have used for turnips at the rate of

2 Cwt., and half a ton of bones to the acre, and I
should have had a capital crop of Swedes had not
the first sowing been killed, soon after they came
up, by the drills having been too much cmshed
down by the drill in putting in the bones, &c.
But I soiled the drills up again, and sowed again,
and the last sown did not grow to a great size in
consequence of the late sowing, June 20th : the
gro\\'th was so rapid, that in six weeks the leaves
met across the intervals of the drills, and what
turnips remained of the first sowing were 12 and
14 lbs., and the whole a very fair average crop;
this was on stiff clay land, in 1842. I intend
following the same plan ; as last year the wetness
of the season prevented my getting my land in
order. If Swedes are not sown upon my land
in May, they never get to a good size. The very
great advantage of using on my land manures so
easy of removal, enables me to take advantage of
weather, which the long time required for carting
manure from the yard often precludes one from
doing. I last year put 2 cwt. of guano per acre
on my oats, and had a very fine crop, on one field
9i acres 260 threaves, and one field of 7 acres,
and a poor field, and one part thin in soil on a
steep slope 148 threaves. In 1840 I put nitrate
of soda on a field of wheat, at the rate of 200 cwt.
to the acre ; on 300 square yards I put none, and
the difference the whole time it was green was
clearly seen at a great distance. I had this
cut and thrashed separate, and 300 yards adjoining
on the same butts separate ; that with nitrate pro-
duced 35 sheaves, and 125 lbs. of wheat: without,
20 sheaves, 86 lbs. of wheat.

The first at the rate of 27 bush, of 75lbs. to an acre ;
The second „ ISbush. and261bs. toanacre.

The whole crop was very indifferent and thin
(before applying the nitrate) and a poor field, and
I consider the crop was throughout as good as the
300 yards I cut against that on which I had used
no nitrate. I have also used it on grass lands
without any experiments of comparison, but the
crop was good; without any precise data to go
upon, I think it leaves the land poorer a second
year, nor does it improve the after-grass. After
all, for our clay land, bone at the present price of
4l. 10s. per ton is the cheapest and best manure,
and will pay well at that price : I hope I have met
your wishes, and shall at all times be very glad to
communicate any of my experience of farming
on as stiff a clay as any in Cheshire ; in the year
1840 I grew as fine a crop of Swedes as is often
seen in a field, in ploughing of which it was so
thin of good soil, that we brought up such as far-
mers are seldom willing to turn up; the field
was well drained down the furrows, and the drills
drawn diagonally across the butts — and the crop
yielded 10 cwt. of 6 score to the rood of 8 yards
— which was tried in several parts of the field
and they form by no means the heaviest part of
the crop ; I had 8 acres : I only name this to show
what may be done on Cheshire clays, the real na-
ture of which i? httle kno^vn by witerg on agricul-

ture in general, and particularly by those who
recommend very deep draining, and laying the clay
in over the tiles as when I had only laid rammel
on, I have in every case been obliged to remove
it to render the drains effective, and even upon
ploughed groxmd, the water ^^'ill remain at the
bottom of a slope some time liefore it sinks in,
much to the injury of the crop."

Another correspondent in the Hundred of Ed-
disbury thus speaks of the efficacy of salt as a
manure : —

" A neighbour of mine had a quantity of soil
which came out of a ditch, and was full of docks
which are completely destroyed by the application
of salt ; he put 40 cwt. to the soil, and mixed toge-
ther six months previously to being spread upon
the grass; this preparation he put last Januaiy
upon three statute acres of land, which were cov-
ered with a very useless kind of grass, that cattle
would not eat ; but a good herbage is now pro-
duced, and the land thus dressed looks by far the
best part of the field. Ten cwt. of salt is suf-
ficient for an acre of grass land. Salt sown on
turnip land and land for wheat pre-\dously to sowing
is an excellent maniu-e ; lime on light soil 1 cwt,
per rood for potatoes, &c., is also very useful, and
will bring white clover where none grew before.
I have used salt and lime in like manner, u]5on a
piece of ground which I suppose had not been
cultivated for a century (if ever), and it is now as
good as any part of the field."

From a correspondent in the Hundred of North-
wich : —

If a few handfuls of salt be strewn over the
horse manure, immediately on its being taken
out of the stable, the ammonia contained in the
urine, dung, &c., which is the most powerful part
of the manure, having a great affinity for salt, is
retained by its apphcation on the surface, and it
would othermse be evaporated. Rock salt is
coming into more general use for cattle and sheep ; if
placed in the field or straw-yard, in large lumps,
it has a tendency to keep them healthy. There is a
description of salt called Salt scale, which contains
about a twentieth proportion of lime, and I think
would be more powerful on that account, in retain-
ing the ammonia, if strewn on the top of fresh
manure."

From the Hundred of Wirral : —

No improvements have been made in this dis-
trict since 1808, except tile-draining, to the extent
before mentioned. Bone dusting, marling, and
manuring, were quite as well understood in 180S
as they seem to be herein 1844; and their increased
apphcation, and even draining, have only been
practised in instances, where tenants and landlords
have both been well satisfied that mutual advan-
tages would arise from such improvements."

A land agent on the eastern side of the county
thus writes : —

" This estate is capable of very great improve-
ment, and would well repay an extensive judicious
outlay, particulariy for draining; there being scarcely
a field on the estate, which does not more or less
require draining. Bone.[manure, on strong clay

402

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

land, has a wonderful eftect ; this is well known
to most Cheshire farmers, but the cost is too great
for a tenant at will ; it is the practice for the land-
lord to pay for the bones, and the tenant to cart
and spread them, the landlord being paid by the
tenant from 7h to 8 per cent on his outlay. Bone
manure, when paid for by the landlord, is always
applied to pasture land, which is not allowed to be
broken up, and its effects are very durable, I may
say ])ermaneut. The land will support an extra
number of stock, and the increased quantity of
manure thus made upon the farm, compensates
for any diminution which time may make in the
effects of the ' bone dusting.' A considerable
income might be realized from an estate hke this,
by the difference between common interest, and
that which a tenant would gladly pay for such im-
provement."

From a correspondent in the Hundred of Nant-
wich : —

It is, I believe, the opinion of some very expe-
rienced agriculturists (unacquainted of course
with the clay soils of tliis county), that bone ma-
nure can only be apphed with ad^'antage for arable
purposes, and that to put it upon permanent pas-
ture land is a mis-apphcation of this most valuable
manure, but the most casual observer who has
witnessed the wonderful effect produced by it upon
the pastures of this county, must be amused at
the absurdity, and feel surprised that such an opi-
nion could ever have been entertained. Although
unquestionablybones may, and are to a great extent,
very advantageously used for green crops, and
other arable purposes on hght soils, yet I contend
there is no comparison in the return "either to the
landowner or occupier between bones applied for
arable purposes and those applied to the permanent
pasture lands. I have known many instances
where the annual value of our poorest clay lands
has been increased by an outlay of from 71. to 8l.
a statute acre, to the extent of at least 300 percent.,
or in other words, that the land has been much
cheaper after this outlay at 30s. per acre than it
was in its original or native state at 10s., thereby
leaving a return of more than 15 per cent, upon the
amoimt expended, besides the satisfaction of see-
ing a miserable covering of pink grass, rushes,
hen-gorse, and a variety of other noxious weeds
(which are generally the ofispring of poverty),
exchanged for the most luxuriant herbage of \vild
clover, trefoil, and other succulent and nutritious
grasses. The permanency of this manure depends
in some measure upon the nature and situation of
the land ; Ijut I beheve it is admitted on all hands
that it will, imder any circumstances, continue long
enough to render ample compensation for the
outlay, and although in some instances, a consid-
erable portion of the clover and trefoil may dis-
appear after the first eight or ten years, yet an ex-
cellent herbage of permanent grasses remains very
superior to what the land originally produced;
and in myopinionclayland oncewellboned will never
again produce a bad herbage if kept in pasture. I
know some instances where lands which have been
boned ujjwards of fifteen years, still retain a \'ery
considerable portion of both clover and trefoil,

and I have very little doubt but this will be found
to be the case in many instances when sufficient
time has elapsed to test it. There are different
opinions as to whether the boiled or unboiled bones
are the most profitable, some contending that the
raw or vmboiled bones are the most permanent;
others, that the boiled ones have the advantage,
inasmuch as they come sooner into operation, and
are lower in price. My opinion is, that provided
the bones could be obtained as they come from
the l)utcher, or from the carcase without the prin-
cipal bones being taken out (as they generally are)
for boiling purjjoses, they would be preferable to
the unboiled ones, inasmvich as they would, by
containing more animal matter spread over more
land, be longer in decomposing, and consequently
more jjermanent in their effect ; but as it is noto-
rious that the best bones are now taken out for
boiling purposes, we only get the refuse, and it is
very questionable whether the boiled bones, even
after the gelatine is extracted (which by the bye
some contend forma no part of their essential
quality as manure, and is quite as well dispensed
withj, are not as good for the purpose of manure
as the unboiled ones; at all events, taking into
account that 2 tons of the boiled bones can he had
for the same sum as l| tons of unboiled ones, I
should prefer the former.

" llie price of good raw bones now is about £5
per ton, and boiled ones about £3 10s. to £3 1.5s. :
the quantity when land is poor, I generally recom-
mended, is of the boiled bones from 30 c\vi;. to 2
tons to the statute acre according to circumstances ;
but where the land is very thin of soil and much ex-
hausted with the plough, I always recommend 2
tons, and nothing less is in my opinion an effectual
dressing; but where the land is tolerably good, and
the principal object is to sweeten the herbage, I
think from 15 cwt. to a ton to the acre is sufficient,
and I know an instance where even 8 cwt. to the
acre produced surprising efiects in improving the
herbage. Although I am a great advocate foi-
draining, and am ready to admit that, generally
speaking, it is the foundation of most other improve-
ments ; yet I think it may be carried too far where
bones are used upon permanent pastures or mowing,
for I have invariably found them to answer best
where the land is cool, and even moisture appears to
be fa^^ourable to their operation, and I believe it is
universally allowed that boned lands suffer much
by a dry summer ; I would therefore only lay the
land sufficiently dry to carry stock, and to take
away rushes and other aquatics where they exist to
the detriment of the proper herbage. Before bones
came into use in this county, the farmers made a point
of selecting a hardy and inferior description of stock
for their clay lands, farmers finding that large weU-
bred cows did not at all answer upon them ; but
now they find that the best of stock find ample
support, not only to supply the cheese-tub freely,
but also to do justice to their lineage by retaining,
if not improving, their size and symmetry, so that
the farmer has not only the advantage of making,
considerably more cheese, but also of making more
money by his turn of stock. I think bones might
be very extensively used, and with great advantage,
upon clover roots. The usual practice when a piece

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

403

of clay land has been tilled to a stand still, and will
answer no longer to the whip, is to clover it down,
when nature makes, as it were, a last expiring ef-
fort by yielding a crop of clover, or clover and rye-
grass, or whatever artificial grasses happen to be
sown, which crop is then generally mown off, and
this gives the finishing stroke to the misera])lc ex-
istance of the poor field ; it then becomes a dead
letter for many years to come, an encmnbrance to
the tenant, an eyesore to the landlord, a subject of
remark to the railway tra\'cller, and thereby a dis-
grace to the county : but if a tolerable covering of
bones, say from 20 to 25 cwt. to the acre, accord-
ing to circumstances, were api)lied upon the clover,
it would not only produce a good crop of artificial
grasses, but it would also assist nature in clothing
herself speedily with a fine herbage of those natu-
ral grasses pecuhar to the soil, which only require
the friendly aid of some good fertilizer to bring
them into existence ; and if this plan were pursu-
ed, instead of the land lying, as it generally does,
for many years, after the artificial grasses have dis-
appeared, in a totally improductive state, it would
form a good turf of natural grasses immediately to
succeed the artificial ones, and present a cheerful
countenance as well as a profitable return to the
farmer, without any check or cessation whatever
after the arduous labours of the severe tillage. I
think bones might also be most beneficially applied
upon permanent mowing ground (of course I am
speaking all the while of clay soils), in which case
the farm-yard manure might be taken for the tillage
lands ; and if those were effectually and thoroughly
drained, summer fallows might be dispensed with,
and some good winter and spring feed provided for
the stock in the way of green crojjs, a luxury with
which I fear most of our dairy^ stocks are as seldom
indulged in as the good people of China are with
eating our far-famed Cheshire cheese, both of which
enjoyments I hope will become universal ere long.
I would in the first instance put upon the lands 1
intend for my permanent mowing about 30 cwt. to
the acre, if old mowing land, or 2 tons if pasture
land ; and after mowing it for four or five years, if
I found the grass begin to get shorter, I would re-
peat the dose by adding another ton to the acre,
and so on every four or five years, by which means
the hay crop would no doubt become not only very
abundant, but of very superior quality, and the
value of the green crops alone woidd, I contend,
more than provide for this outlay ; in addition to
which the farmer would get a double crop of corn
and straw from the tillage land, and always have it
in a condition to produce him a good crop of any
thing he chose to ask it. I know of an instance
where bones were put upon the wheat root of a
very hard tilled field of poor clay land after the rate
of only 15 cwt. to the acre, and the result was that
it considerably improved the crop of wheat, as well
as the clover which followed it, and tended ma-
terially to produce a better sort of natural grasses
afteiTvards, than would have otherwise appeared ;
the field has never had any kind of manure since,
and has been in pasture now eight years, and pro-
duces twice the quantity of herbage, and that of a
very superior quality to any of the adjoining fields,
which have rested much longer, and consequently

ought to be in better turf. I have paid nearly
£10,000 for this manure, and therefore must natu-
rally feel no little interest in the subject, and I have
much satisfaction in saying that the result has in
every instance been most satisfactory both to my
employers, myself, and the tenants.

" / have known many a j)oor honest, hut half bro-
ken-hearted man, raised from poverty to comparative
independence, and many a sinking family saved from
inevitable ruin by the help of this wonderful manure.
Unquestionably, bones act in a very peculiar man-
ner upon our Cheshire clay soils, when applied to
the grass lands, which no doubt arises from the
circumstance of our soil containing either less of
that matter which counteracts their effects, or pos-
sessing in an extraordinary degree those cjualities
which are favourable, if not essential to their opera-
tion. When the landlord purchases the bones, I
think he ought to receive 7h per cent, upon his out-
lay, which I consider would amply remunerate him
for both principle and interest, and answer the pur-
pose of the tenant exceedingly well ; but of course
in this case it is only fair that a proper agreement
should be (and, I presume, generally is) entered
into, reserving the boned land both from the scythe
and Plough ; but when bone manure is applied for
permanent mowing, clover or arable purposes, it
should of course be at the tenant's expence, and f
much question if it is not for his interest, where he
possesses sufficient capital and can get a lease, to
do it himself in preference to paying the interest
even in the former case."

Cottage Allotments for Spade Husbandry.

The following communication is from the gentle-
man whose o])inions on bone-mamu-e are last quo-
ted : — " I know of nothing better calculated to
benefit our peasantry than allotting to each labourer
a certain portion of land for spade husbandry, at a
reasonable price. Some laudable examples have
been set by excellent individuals in difl^erent parts
of the kingdom, which are now beginning, I hope,
to be pretty generally follou'ed ; but it has
often been a matter of surprise to me that a
plan so well calculated to ameliorate the
condition of our poor fellow-creatures — so
very satisfactory in its results, and those results
being attainable without any pecuniary sacrifice,
and I believe entirely free from any objection what-
ever, should not at once have received the most
cordial and universal support of every well-\visher
of the community. I have made upwards of a
hundred of these allotments, varying from a
quarter of a statute acre to an acre ; but I gene-
rally confined them to quarter and half acres,
according to the capability of the cottager and the
size of the family, charging them the same rent as
a farmer would be able to pay, and it is quite sur-
prising to see the quantity of produce that is raised
from this small quantity of land ; and in order to
show what may be done by spade husbandry, I
\vill mention some facts which have come under
my own observation. About three years ago I
selected two pieces of land, together about thirty
statute acres, from a farm of Lord Crewe's, which
land had been very hard tilled, and lying more

404

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

than a mile from the homestead, had not for many
years received any support in the way of manure,
besides which it was naturally a weak, Ught soil, with
a bad subsoil ; and so Uttle did the tenant prize it,
that he said I was quite welcome to take it from
the farm if I would release him from the rates and
taxes paid in respect of it, and make any deduction
from his rent I might think proper. This I did to
his satisfaction, and set it out in proper allotments,
averaging about half an acre each. I allowed the
poor men draining shells, which they put down
themselves under my directions, and charged them
as much rent as was just sufficient to cover the
rent formerly paid by the farmer, together with all
levies, tithe, rent charge, &c. ; and although the
land has only undergone this superior method of
cultivation for three years, and was in the lowest
condition to commence ^vith, and consequently will
improve for years to come, yet, notwithstand-
ing these disadvantages, the crops grown upon
these 30 acres of poor land last summer, were as
follows : — 1,497 measures of potatoes, 29S mea-
sures of wheat, 22 measures of barley, 10 measures
of vetches, and 70 measures of oats ; which crops,
after paying the rent, poor-rates, tithe, and all
other charges, amount to nearly £250, even calcu-
lating them at the present low prices of agricultural
produce. It is, therefore, impossible that this
amount of produce could be distributed amongst
these poor men-without adding greatly to the com-
fort of themselves and their families; besides
which, all these necessaries of life were procured
by the application of those leisure hours which
would, most likely, have been spent in the beer-
house, and might have produced the bitter pains of
domestic strife and wretchedness, instead of making
the cottage a peaceful and happy home, and the
allotment a healthy training-school for the children.
I am extensively concerned in the management of
cottage i^roperty, and necessarily come in contact
with some hundreds of cottage tenants (and, I
hope, pay some attention to their habits, wants,
and feehngs), and I am decidedly of opinion that
no able-bodied labourer ought to have less than
half an acre of land, which will enable him to raise
potatoes sufficient for his own consumption and to
fatten a couple of pigs, besides growing a little bread-
corn ; and I think it would be for the general good
of the agricultural community if every cottager
with a family was enabled to keep his cow."

Irrigated Meadows,

In addition to the natural water meadows on the
principal streams, which have already been noticed,
there is a considerable extent (many hundred
acres) of meadow land along the numerous small
rivulets which intersect the county ; and consider-
able ingenuity is frequently displayed in subjecting
these lands to occasional irrigation. The water is
dammed up in situations where it cannot injure the
surrounding land, and conveyed along the sides of
the banks to the parts intended to be flooded. In
many instances great improvement is effected by
this process, but in others it is decidedly injurious.
"Where land is already full of water from the want
of proper drainage, it cannot I conceive be bene-

fited by having more water brought upon it ; for
although immediately after irrigation, the herbage
may have a green and luxuriant appearance, it be«
comes coarser every year, with an increasing mix-
ture of rushes and other aquatics. If the same
ingenuity were exercised in draining and laying the
ground perfectly dry for a fortnight, after being
irrigated for a week or nine days, and this process
were to be repeated three or four times during the
winter, the land would unquestional^ly be much
improved ; and we should not hear so many com-
plaints of artificial watering or irrigation being in-
jurious. We should also bear in mind that this
description of land is frequently in situations where
manuring would be very expensive, and therefore
never likely to have much applied ; it is evidently,
then, of great advantage to be enabled to enrich
such soil by irrigation.

Pasture Land.

There is, perhaps, no county in England where
the pasture lands (particularly the poorer soils)
have been so much improved during the last ten or
twelve years as in Cheshire ; and this principally
by the application of what is termed " bone-dust."
This extraordinary manure has a peculiar effect
upon the poor clay-land pastures, for on the ap-
plication of boiled bones a sudden change takes
place in the appearance of the fields, and instead of
the carnation-leaved, or " pink grass," which so
much abounds on this kind of land, luxuriant
herbage presents itself, consisting of red and white
clover, trefoil, and other grasses, of which the
cattle are so fond that they eat up almost every-
thing before them ; even thistles and rushes are
very much weakened, and eventually reduced,
by being constantly eaten off by the stock after
the pastures have been " bone-dusted."

Fences.

The fences in many parts of the county are
sadly neglected, some farmers scarcely ever think-
ing it necessaiy to cut a hedge, unless when thorns
are wanted to repair the gaps, and then the work
is performed in a careless manner. Many fences
are allowed 'to run so wild that they cover two or
three yards on each side of the ditch, and are so
high as, in a great measure, to exclude the air from
the fields ; and if perchance a few quicksets are
but into the old copse, they are never more thought
of, and soon become choked with couch-grass or
weeds, and are eventually destroyed. On some of
the best managed farms great attention is j^aid to the
fences ; on a field being put into tillage, the hedge
is neatly cut to the height of about two feet, the
ditch is cleansed, and as much of the contents as
is required is thrown in among the quicks, and
the remainder is put on the opposite side to be
carted away as compost ; the field remains in til-
lage four or five years, and by this time there is a
good fence, affording shelter for cattle. If the
fence be old and ragged at the bottom, all the
strong stems are sawn off near the roots ; and
when there are any young slender shoots, they are

THE FARMEB'S MAGAZINE.

405

reserved for the purpose of plashing or laying, and
are fastened down with short hook pegs, the cop
having been previously "breasted u])," as it is
termed, with the contents of the ditch ; if there
should not be young wood enough to form a suffi-
cient fence to the field, a small beard of thorns is
put along the top of the cop. Where there is a
great deficiency of quick thorns in a fence, and
those left are old or decaying, it woidd be much
better to remove tliem altogether, level down the
old cop, form a new one not too high, and replant
with quicksets of four or five years' growth, cut-
ting off the tops, and taking care to jjut some
rotten manure in the trench before planting.
Sufficient attention is seldom paid to the protection
of young fences, and as good hedges form an im-
portant part of an estate, it would be well if land-
owners would find good strong quicks, and posts
and rails to protect them, the tenant planting,
manuring, and keeping them clean.

Some farmers not only never think of cutting
their fences till thorns are wanted, but they never
cleanse their ditches until they become so full that
the water from them begins to flow over the ad-
joining land. There is also great and very general
neglect as regards weeds in the hedge-rows along
by-roads and around ponds. There are few far-
mers who do not think it necessary to cut the
weeds in their grass fields once a year, but the
hedge-rows are frequently neglected, even on well-
cidtivated farms, this being considered one of
those unimportant works which can be postjooned
till " a more convenient season," but, unfor-
tunately, this time seldom arrives, until the farmer
is upbraided by the seeds of these weeds crossing
his path in every direction, and alighting on his
well-cleaned fallows, &c. Observing a fine crop of
seed dispersed through the country by a gentle
breeze in the month of September last, a plan
occurred to me, which, if generally adopted, would
soon materially lessen the growth of weeds arising
from such neglect. It is simply this — sup])osing
that all townships could be induced to join in the
undertaking, a small fund might be raised l)y a
levy of one halfpenny or one penny per acre,
according to circumstances, on each farm in the
township; the former sum I believe would, in
most cases, be found sufficient. A treasurer
should be appointed, whose business it should be
to collect the money, and employ a person ap-
proved of by a majority of the inhabitants, to go
diligently thi-ough the township and carefully
destroy all weeds in the situations before alluded
to ; he should be provided with a long pole ha^^ng
a small hook attached, which could be closed at
pleasure, like a clasp-knife, to prevent accidents
while leaping (as he would sometimes have occa-
sion to do) over fences ; his labours should com-
mence at stated periods, say on June 1st, and
again towards the middle of July, as many weeds
might spring up through the Ijrambles after the
first cutting. As soon as the work has been com-
pleted to the satisfaction of the treasurer, payment
should be made, and the surplus, if any, carried to
the next year's account. As the work would not
be very laborious, in many instances paupers
might be employed.

Farm Buildings.
Although many of the old, inconvenient build-
ings are still remaining in various parts of the
county, they have been generally much improved
within the last twenty years ; with very few excep-
tions, whenever old buildings have l)een taken
down and rebuilt, they have been made much more
spacious than formerly ; and, instead of the narrow
stalls which were scarcely wide enough for small
Welsh cows, with room behind barely sufficient for
a person to pass, they are now made large enough
for the improved breed of cattle, with many
conveniences which before were never thought
of; and slates or tiles (even where the old
buildings remain) are frequently substituted for
thatch. There is an error, by no means un-
frequent, and which, therefore, deserves notice,
in the construction of calf-pens, and in placing
them in very cold situations. Young calves are
exceedingly susceptible of cold, and unless kept
warm and dry will not thrive as they ought. A
south aspect is decidedly the best, but such an ar-
rangement is not always convenient, as it might in-
terfere with the general plan of the buildings ; but
whenever they are placed in situations much ex-
posed to the cold winds, care should be taken to
have the doors closely jointed, and the openings re-
quired for ventilation should be sufficiently liigh to
prevent the winds from l)lowing upon the calves ;
and if the building be a shoring, the roof should l)e
plastered underneath, as in frosty weather the cold
strikes through the slates : and the floors should
invariably be raised a little above the level of the
ground, vAXh openings left between the flag-stones
or boards through which the wet from them may
escape. I have found strong oaken planks to an-
swer better than flags for floors, and so contrived
as to be enabled to put them in loosely, as they are
then readily removable for the pvu-pose of cleaning
out the bottom of the pen ; wood is also much
warmer for the calves to lie upon than flags in
frosty weather. I am thus particular, because I
have experienced the difference betv/een cold pens
and warm ones. Mine are shorings, on the north
side of the buildings, with the exception of one to
the south. During cold frosty weather the calves
in the former pens often suffer from disordered
bowels, and other complaints follow; neither do
they thrive well in that situation ; but if removed to
the latter, a change for the better is very soon per-
ceptible. In three of my calf-pens I have had
frames of oak bars made in three divisions each,
with an inch between each bar, to place upon the
flags, and have found much benefit fronr the con-
trivance, as the calves now lie in a much drier and
warmer state than before.

Offices connected with the dairy are also much
improved in many parts of the county. The dairy-
kitchen, as it is called, is spacious and convenient ;
and anything calculated to create a draught is stu-
diously excluded, it being of great importance to
keep cheese warm dming the process of making."^

* By the present regulations only one dairy win-
dow is allowed free of duty ; lattices are therefore
frequently introduced, and thus cold draughts are
admitted of an injurious tendency.

406

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

The milk-house is placed on the coolest side of
the building, and has good ventilation ; the drying-
house is at one end of the dairy, and the cheese-
presses are placed close to the wall at the back of
the boiler and whey-furnace, which stand in the
dairy, as the warmth from them is so desirable to
promote the running of the whey from the cheese
while under the press. The furnace and boiler are
arched over, and are so contrived that the steam
arising from them passes through a flue parallel
with the chimney, and escapes without finding its
way into the dairy.

Potatoes.

Although large quantities of potatoes, both of the
early and the winter kinds, are grown in the county,
I believe itwdllbe found that they have not been on
the increase for some years. Many farmers now
grow Swedish turnips for their cattle ; and some
gentlemen have an objection to many potatoes being
jilanted on their estates. In the northern and west-
ern districts, and some parts of the interior, whei'e
there is water-carriage within a reasonable distance,
extensive crops are grown for the supply of the
Manchester and Liverpool markets; and some
from the southern side are sent to Wolverhampton.
Among the early sorts, those most deserving of
notice are the foxes-seedhngs, and ash-leaved kid-
neys; there is also a new kind, called Radicals,
which are about a fortnight later than the rest, but
are much liked on account of their productiveness ;
and, by taking a little pains with the sets previously
to planting, they are frequently brought into the
market as soon as the others. The plan is as fol-
lows : —

" At the latter end of January, or in February,
the sets are placed close together, with the sprout
vipwards, on shelves in a building with a southern
aspect, or on boards, each resting one above the
other, on three bricks placed on edge : sacks are
suspended in front to keep them warm. About a
fortnight before planting, which is early in March,
the sacks are removed, with the view of hardening
them ; they are then cut into two or three sets,
taking care to leave only one sprout, and are placed
in the ground, which has been well manured. When
this method is adopted, they can be brought into
the market very early; and the ground is again
planted with the same kind of potatoes for seed the
following year, or Swedish turnips. Among the
best varieties of winter potatoes are the red apple,
Scotch ink-eyes, new ink-eyes (much liked in the
Manchester market), short wertzle or short tops,
Irish cups, bread fruit, add blue farmers ; the lat-
ter an inferior kind, but good cro])pers, cultivated
principally for cattle, and have of late years been
used by bread-bakers on account of their white-
ness."

Swedish Turnips.

One ofthe greatest improvements which have taken
place in Cheshire since 1808 is the more extended
cultivation ofthe Swedish turnip ; and it has only
been within the last ten or fifteen years that its va-
lue has been adequately appreciated. In the year
1814 there were not 5 acres of Swedish turnips
grown in the parish where I reside ; now there are

from 60 to 80 ; and in many parts of the county
the increase has been in a much greater ratio ; on
two farms,* in the holding of one person, in the
Hundred of Nantwich, where turnips were not
gro\vn at all twenty years ago, from 80 to 100 acres
are now raised annually, and these principally with
bone manure ; these are dairy and grazing farms
combined, and a great part of the turnip crop is
consumed by sheep, on the Norfolk system, or by
stall-fed cattle. Many of the new implements for
cleaning the land having been introduced, the crops
generally are kept much cleaner, and the manage-
ment of them is on the whole better understood
than formerly. Swedes are given to the dairy cows
while eating straw, and to the team horses, and are
found to be very wholesome ; they are sometimes
steamed for the latter, and mixed with chaff or cut
hay or straw ; this ajipears to be an excellent plan
when hay has been damaged by the weather, &c.
Swedes are given raw to the sows and store-pigs,
with good etl'ect ; on many farms they li^'e upon
them entirely throughout the winter, and keep in
good condition. Too much cannot be said in praise
of this invaluable root ; but some fanners have yet
to learn that, to have swedes in perfection, and to
grow them so that the land may derive that benefit
which renders their culture dovibly desiraljle, the
ground must be well worked, well manured, good
seed sown, and the crop kept perfectly clean by
scarifying and hand-hoeing. The turnips on the
dairy farms are generally taken up during the
months of November and December, and piled into
narrow heaps near the homestead, and thatched
over to keep out the wet.

Lucerne.

The land in Cheshire is not at all suited (gene-
rally speaking) to the culture of this plant — it re-
quires a deep dry soil : it grows well on some of
the driest parts of the enclosures from the river
Dee, called " Sealand," particularly on the raised
crops, where it is most productive, aftbrding three
good cuttings in the year. There is a small field
of it in the Hundred of Eddisbury, where it is sown
in rows 10 inches apart; the lucerne occupying 4
inches, with 6 inches between for the purpose of
cleaning. It was sown in May, 1843, was cut
twice, and is now most promising.

In concluding my Report I may remark, that
any attempt to have given an accurate description
of every course or " no course" system of manage-
ment, pursued throughout this part of England,
would have been an almost endless task, and could
not possiljly lead to any beneficial results. There
is in Cheshire, as in e^-ery other county, a mixture
of good and bad farming ; and while the agricultu-
rists of this district make no pretensions to the

* From 900 to 1000 acres.

A correspondent from the Hundred of Eddisbury
says, " When I commenced growing turnips, ten
years ago, there was scarcely one farmer in ten who
cultivated swedes for his stock ; but now nearly all
my neighbours grow them to a greater or less ex-
tent."

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

407

palm of peculiar merit, they cannot admit the im-
putation of heing the " very worst farmers" in the
kingdom ; and they justly think the epithets unen-
ergetic and unskilful are not generally apphcal)le.
In almost every district there are more or less diffi-
cult soils to contend with ; and the systems which
are pursued in the Lothians, Norfolk, and other
counties of England, would not he at all suitable to
the generahty of land in Cheshire. Enough, I
trust, has l)een advanced to show that, in many
respects, the agriculture of the county has been
improved ; and I doubt not that a majority of the
farmers are desirous of proceeding with imj)rove-
ments as far as in their power ; but something
more than even energy and skill on the part of the
tenants is essential to good farming ; and there ne-
ver was a period when they stood more in need of
assistance and encouragement than the present.

nie breeds of cattle and pigs are more improved
in the interior and northern parts of the county
than on the western, southern, and eastern borders ;
and this difference may be chiefly attributable to
tlie circumstance of the former being more within
the influence of various agricultural societies. For
any improvement which may be observable in
sheep, this county can claim little or no merit, as it
is almost entirely dependent upon other districts
for a sujjply of that useful class of animals. So
lightly do the leading agriculturists of Cheshire ap-
jireciate them that in their societies they have erased
from their lists of premiums prizes for sheep ; it
being evidently considered a stock undeserving of
such distinction.

The description which has been given as to a de-
fective state of drainage — that highly important
branch of husbandry — should command the atten-
tion and arouse the energy of all who are interested
in the productiveness of the soil ; for there can be
but httle doubt, that by far the greatest portion of
land in this county is capable of being made to
double and even treble the present amount of its
produce, by a proper system of draining, and a ju-
dicious ajjphcation of manures. I have seen much
draining in operation, and observed land which was
subjected to that process 12, 14, and even 20 years
ago, and the result of my conviction is, that no ge-
neral system of drainage can be laid down, c.s
equally applicable to all soils. The tenacious clays
of Cheshire do not require such deep draining as
is generally recommended, from 18 to 22 inches
being sufficient for most of them; and some of the
sound clay land {i. e., land with a httle slope, and
on a regular substratum of solid marl) would not
need imder-draining at all, if the butts were jn-o-
perly formed, G or 7 yards wide, with an elevation
of 1 inch in 12 towards the centre; should it at
any time be necessary to water-furrow, as before
described, the I'ein presser (see drawing No. 1, in
our last number, page 325) would be sufficient for
the purpose. It has, within the last few years, be-
come the practice of many landowners to allow
their tenants indiscriminately, without charge, a
certain quantity of draining tiles annually; the
tenants jjerforming all the work. In a very few
instances 5 ])er cent, is charged upon the cost of
the tiles, but this charge, 1 should imagine, is
Only made to ensure ^ proper care and use of

them ; and in one case which has come to my know-
ledge, half the value of the tiles is charged to the
tenant — an arrangement which certainly cannot fa-
cilitate improvements at a very rapid rate. There
can be no (|uestion that a better state of informa-
tion, and a more extended spirit of enterprise, have
been promoted of late years throughout the county;
and if those who possess the means will cheerfully
and liberally advance this movement, there will,
no doubt, be an almost universal readiness, on the
part of the farmers, to avail themselves of all those
helps and facilities which modern science and in-
\'estigation have brought to the aid of agriculture.

Appendix.

As a kind of " Appendix" to my Report, it may
not be altogether destitute of interest if I narrate
the course which I took in my tour of agricultural
inspection, the principal journeys of which occupied
me during the greater part of the month of Decem-
ber; having previously crossed the county in vari-
ous directions in the summer and autumnal months.

I commenced at the south-west side of the Hun-
dred of Eddisbury, crossed Delamere Forest to De-
lamere House, the seat of G. Wilbraham, Esq., and
observed some land near the mansion much improved
by draining with tiles, laid upon spht alder. On
one of his farms in the neighbourhood, consisting
of light sand-land, the Norfolk system of eating off
the turnips with sheep is adopted : the land is sown
with barley and seeds afterwards. Mr. Wilbraham
thinks many of the old leases and agreements very
absurd, and not at all apphcable to the most ap-
proved mode of farming in the present day. He
speaks highly of bones as a manure, and also of
guano ; but is of opinion that the effects of the lat-
ter are very imcertain in dry seasons ; he considers
it very suitable to the culture of mangold-wurlzel,
having an excellent crop this year raised by this
manure.

The fences here are in admirable condition, from
having been carefully attended to when young.
There are two brooks on this estate, one a clear
white water, the other brown, both of which abound
with trout ; and on each there are irrigated mea-
dows. In the former stream the trout are large;
in the latter, small, and never grow beyond a cer-
tain size — the meadows watered by the former are
green, luxuriant, and productive ; those by the lat-
ter comparatively barren. It is supposed that the
])ernicious eftects of the brown stream are occa-
sioned by passing through peat, or some mineral
substance, but the cause has never been satisfac-
torily demonstrated.*

* On the property of the Earl of Carnarvon,
near Exmoor, there are four streams : the Haddiow,
containing excellent trout, and making superior
water-meadows ; the Exe, inferior in the quality of
the fish and less beneficial to grass ; the Barle,
worse again in each respect ; and lastly, the Danes-
brook, containing no fish at all, and itself, as I am
informed, poisonous to gras-s-land. The variation
of their colour confirms Mr. Palin's opinion that
these differences are owing to the presence of peat.
— Ph, Pusey,

408

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

From Delamere I proceeded to Weaverham and
Acton Bridge, where 1 entered the Hundred of
Bucklow, and thence through Whitley. Observed
some grass-lands veiy badly managed. The land
naturally poor and wet, the butts small and flat,
the reins sufficiently deep to form reservoirs for
supplying the rushes with water, Ijut not deep
enough to act as drains to the land. Arrived at
Stockton Lodge in the afternoon, and visited the
town of Warrington in the evening. The next
morning passed through Stretton to Great Bud-
worth, saw a great deal of bad farming, and some
little good. Draining on the increase in that neigh-
bourhood, especially on the estate of Rowland
Warburton, Esq., who allows his tenants the tiles —
a great quantity of hedge-row timber, which is
much neglected, on an estate between the tvv^o last-
named places, belonging to a non-resident gentle-
man. On returning to Stockton from Budworth,
along the lower road, between Belmont and Mar-
bury, passed a number of small freeholds : an in-
dication here of some improvement by draining ; but
in many instances great neglect of the timber, and
much loss of land in old pits, hedge-i'ows, &c.

The next day went to Lachford and Grappenhall,
and along the Duke of Bridgewater's CanaJ. The
course of cropping pursued in this district has
been previously described. From Grappenhall to
Stretton, and thence through Preston by Whitley.
Noticed a great deal of poor land, which might be
much improved by draining and bone-manure;
passed through Frodsham, and thence to Chester.

Started again from the south side of the Hun-
dred of Eddisbury, crossed into the Hundred of
Broxton at Stapleford Bridge, near which, on an
estate belonging to the Marquis of Westminster,
there are some good specimens of draining ; the
butts, consisting of a strong clay-soil, are high, and
vary in width from 4 to 10 yards : the drains are
cut along every rein to the depth of 20 inches, and
are laid^vith tiles. (The other particulars are fully
described under the head of " Drainage.") From
thence to Saighton, Bureton, and Aldford. At
Bureton noticed on a large farm belonging to Sir
W. Stanley, and in the occupation of Mr. Thos.
Weaver, a field of 40 acres, about one half of which
was in progress of draining. This field was one of
the stiifest clays I had seen, the butts, varying in
width from 5 to 14 yards, were drained with tiles
down every rein, to the depth of about 20 inches.
The tiles are m.ade upon the estate, at the expense
of the landlord, and allowed to the tenant, who pays
for the cutting of the drains, fiUing uj), &c. Fre-
A'iously to cutting the drains, a thin furrow is re-
moved from the top by a plough, and after\A'ards
placed upon the tiles. The good soil in this field is
remarkably thin. From Aldford I proceeded to
Farndon, where 1 crossed the Dee into Denbigh-
shire. The farming on that side is exceedingly
bad for three or four miles, and the farm buildings
are much out of repair. Re-crossed the river at
Bangor Bridge, snd proceeded to Worthenbury,
where, on the foIIo\ving day, I saw some good s])e-
cimens of farming in the neighbourhood : the
wheat stubbles were decidedly the best I had seen.
They drain here ])y thromng out two furrows with
a plough, right and left^ then the remainder of the

soil is thrown out with a spade to the depth of about
15 inches, when an instrument 2 inches wide is
used to cut a narrow drain about 5 inches deep,
leaving a shouldering or ledge, on which are put
sods or stubble, and the drain filled vip ; but pre-
viously a long narrow scoop is used for clearing
out the soil which may have fallen in. The course
of cropping here has been described. From Wor-
tlienbury went to Cuddington, in the parish of
Malpas ; here they have a practice, novel in this
county, that of burning marl as a manure for their
turnip crops. The plan is to build a wall of sods
of the size required, then lay in a quantity of wood,
then a layer of marl, then a layer of coal and marl
alternately, the fire constantly burning till the work
is finished. The heap may be raised as high as
men can conveniently throw the marl. Tlie tur-
nips were a good crop gro^vn with this manure
alone, but the more general practice is to put about
half the usual quantity of farm-yard manure on the
burnt marl in the drill. " Shoulder" draining is
practised in this dristrict at the distance of 8 yards.
Noticed a great quantity of neglected small timber
in the hedgerows. Proceeded the next morning to
Ridley Hall ; saw a very good specimen of drain-
ing on Coxon-green farm, the drains from S to 9
yards apart, average depth 30 inches, cut oblicpiely
across the fall ; the sub-stratum a mixture of sand
and clay ; cost of the work 4id. per rood, the land-
lord finding tiles and soles. On Mr. Cawley's
farm, at Ridley, noticed part of a field laid out for
irrigation (about 8 acres) ; the work done in a su-
perior stjde, and the v/hole wore a good appearance.
There is a large thrashing-machine worked by
steam, and there is also an excellent tile and brick
yard on this farm. A good deal of draining has
been done here ; one large open drain at the lower
end of the farm, about one mile in length, cost the
tenant upwards of £100. Returned by way of
Cholmondeley, where I observed much fine oak
timber, which is well managed, not being too much
crowded together ; the land too is better cultivated
here than any I had previously seen.

From Cholmondeley proceeded to Wrenbury, and
thence to Nantwich, without seeing anything wor-
thy of notice, except bad farming and timber
crowded in the hedgerows : arrived at HenhuU
Cottage, where I stayed for the night. The next
day went to Mr. Botts's farm at Shrewsbridge : the
buildings are quite new and com.plete. There is in
the ground a stone trough, twenty yards in
diameter, which supplies two fields with water for
the cattle : it is formed of blocks of stone, neatly
worked and cemented together, the bottom being
cased with bricks on edge ; the stone-work is raised
about two feet above the level of the ground, and
the water is only a few inches below the top of the
trough. Tlie water is supplied by a small spring :
there is a pipe in the centre for tiie purpose of con-
veying the surplus water into a drain underneath
the trough. The whole is surrounded by flags,
for the cattle to walk along, about two yards in
width. The fences here are very good, and the
farm in a high state of cultivation. A fine dairy
stock of short-horns is kept. I also observed a
good hay-cutter, made by Parry of Chester, and
worked by one horse, Afterwards Avent to see

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

409

some irrigated land belonging to Mrs. Tomkinson
of Dorfold : it is laid out in a masterly style l)y
Daniel Smith of Sandbach, and is so contrived that
all the sewers about the farm-yard may l)e cleansed
by turning some water into them out of a large
pond, and the whole is thrown over the meadow.
Proceeded to Dorrington, via Combermerc, jjassed
a large tract of land, which wants draining. Near
Com])ermere perceived symptoms of better farm-
ing ; here and there a large turnip field of small
turnips, but clean and regular : at the farm-yard,
where there is a range of good buildings, was a
number of cattle feeding. This kind of stock is
peculiar to the place, and consists of oxen and
heifers, bred from the Brahmin bull, and short-
horned and Ayshire cows, which, I was informed,
feed well, and ai'e most excellent beef: a nice dairy
stock of Ayrshire cows is also kept upon the farm.
The pigs here are very numerous, and consist of a
great variety of breeds, which are fed jjrincijially
for home use. The dairy is neatly fitted up : there
is a churn worked by steam, whicli I was told
answers well. From Combennere proceeded to
Audlum, Doddington, andBarthomley. On Monday
morning left Barthomley for Haslington ; pro-
ceeded thence to Sandbach, aftenvards to Rode,
the seat of Rundle Wilbraham, Esq., a delighful
residence, the grounds of which are laid out with
admirable taste. Passed on from Rode to Congle-
ton, where I spent the night. The next day walked
to West Heath Cottage. West Heath is a tract of
land which has not Ijeen enclosed many years ; the
farm-houses and cottages have all a neat apjiear-
ance, and the land, which consists chiefly of a
black soil on a grey sand and fox-bench, has been
drained, and seems to be tolerably well managed. Re-
turned to Congleton, and thence went to Maccles-
field, calling in my way at Eaton Hall, the seat of
Crawford Antrobus, Esq., beautifully situated
about two miles from Congleton. About four
miles from Macclesfield came to an estate, the land
miserably poor and badly managed, •with a super-
abundance of timber, sadly neglected. Passed on
to Macclesfield, whence, after obtaining some in-
fonnation, I proceeded along a hilly road and wild
country through Bollington, to Lyme Park, the
seat of T. Leigh, Esq., where I arrived too late in
the evening to see its beauties. On this line of
road the farming is most uninteresting; remained
for the night at Disley. On the next morning took a
stroll through Lyme Park ; the house is a noble
mansion ; the i}ark has a wildness about it which
is seldom seen in this part of England ; high un-
cultivated hills, covered with fern and rushes :
there is a number of wild cattle on these hills, the
breed of which has been there for centuries ; they are
perfectly white. There are buildings for these
cattle to nm in during the winter, where they are
fed on hay, and have rushes to lie upon and make
manure. TTie jiark, in the greater part of it, is
wet and nishy, and ^'ery much in want of drain-
ing : a little draining has been done, which
answers exceedingly well; about 1,000 sheep are
kept in the park. Returned to Disley, and thence
proceeded to Stockport. At Hazel Row there is a
good tile-yard, where the prices for the largest size
of draining tiles is 32s. per 1,000. The railway

viaduct of 20 arches, on brick pillars, is an object
of great interest in this neighbourhood. From
Stockport drove to Altrincham, where I remained
for the night. There is a tolerably good specimen
of draining in this neighboiu-hood : on the same
road a common has lately been enclosed by con-
sent of the freeholders, Mr. Tatton of Within-
shaw being the principal one : it appears a barren
soil, consisting principally of grey sand, fox-bench,
and peat, and requires draining and marling ; the
men receive a shilling a rood for trenching it, and
the first crop is generally potatoes. The following
morning inspected several farms, the covu'se of
cropping on Avhich has been described in the gene-
ral remarks on that head. From Altrincham pro-
ceeded to Dunham Massey, the seat of the Earl of
Stamford and Warrington : the land in tillage here
is a deep black loam, and appears to be well-
managed on the alternate green-crop system.
About eighty head of cattle, consisting of Scotch
bullocks and short-horned cov/s, are fed in the
l)ark, and what are not sold off before Christmas
are put upon turnips. On leaving Dunham I ob-
served some good meadowing : proceeded thence
to Mere, where there is an excellent imple-
ment manufacturer named Harkes, who is doing
an extensive business, and has frequently obtained
premiums at the different agricultural meetings.
Went thence to High Leigh, and savv' a farm
belonging to Egerton Leigh, Esq., in the holding
of Mr. John Owen ; it consists of 160 acres, and
is decidedly the best managed farm I have seen.
There are two bone-mills in this vicinity ; one little
more than a mile off, worked by steam on a large
scale. A quantity of American bones are crushed
here, besides those brought from the surrounding
neighbourhood ; the large bones when crushed are
sold at a higher price than the small ones; the
former are now selling at Gl. 10s. per ton, and the
latter at 51. 10s. ; they are ground more finely than
formerly, and are consequently considered better
for the land, and are here preferred to boiled bones;
the other works are at Hoo Green, and on a smaller
scale; the proprietors, Messrs. Ockleston, have also
an estabhshment at Massey Brook, Lymm, near
Warrington. From High Leigh, drove to Knuts-
ford, and slept there. A great extent of draining
has been done, and is yet progressing on the
estates in this neighbourhood, the landlords finding
tiles. Mr. E. Leigh, Mr. Cornwall Leigh, Mr.
Brooke, Mr. Egerton, and Lord De Tabley, are the
principal landowners. Went to Tatton, the seat of
Wilbraham Egerton, Esq. ; on my way there, a
short distance from Knutsford, observed a great
number of small plots of ground, which I learned
are let by Mr. Egerton to the surrounding cottagers
and Mechanics; 20 rods to each person, at Is. per
rood, thereby producing a good rental to the owner,
and being a great accommodation to the occupiers.
The farming" here presents no features requiring
particular comment. Mr. Egerton gives prizes for
the best ploughing, which are annually contested
for by his tenants ; but these being veiy numerous,
the competition has the effect of improving this
important operation in agriculture in the vicinity
adjoining his estates. A'isited Messrs. Woods'
implement manufactory at Knutsford, where are

410

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

made some of the most approved ploughs, !>cari-
fiers, turnip scufflers, lever churns, &c. Leaving
Knutsford, passed Toft, the seat of H. Leycester,
Esq. : this estate is finely wooded ; larjgre numbers
of oaks have recently been felled, and many more are
marked to come down next season. The appear-
ance of the country will not only be thus improved,
but the proceeds will enable the proprietor to im-
prove his lands by draining and bone-manuring,
Avithout any material additional outlay of capital.
Tiles are allowed to the tenants, and not unfre-
quently bone-manure. Leaving Toft, came to a
villao-e called Little Peover, thence to Middlewich,
passing some very good meadow land on a small
stream, and some property once belonging to Lord
De Tabley, but now to " Dr. Taylor," who allows
his tenants as many draining-tiles as they will use,
and will advance an equal sum of money to that
which they are wilhng to pay for bone-manure, or
will advance the whole sum himself, at the rate of
7t^ per cent., at the option of the tenants. Passed
Kinderton Hall, the property of Lord Vernon, a
fine farm of about 400 acres, managed by the
tenant Mr. Stones, on the Norfolk system, or
nearly so ; he feeds a considerable number of
cattle and sheep, and grows large quantities of
turnips ; there are only three milking co\\-s kept,
to supply the family with milk and butter. Pass-
ing through Middlewich, arrived at Sutton Hall, a
farm belonging to Mr. Court, of the Manor, and
well managed by the occupier Mr. G. Woolrich.
Returned through Middlewich to Winsford, where
are some extensive bone-works belonging to Messrs.
RawclitF. A peculiar jjrocess of boiling is carried on
here with excellent eftect ; and the manure, which a
year and a half ago was sold at 5l. 10s., is now to
be had at 3l. r2s. 6d. per ton. The dust which is
caused by the sawing of the bones, does not pass

into the boiler, and is sold alone at 8/. per ton: it
is a veiy valuable manure. Leaving Winsford,
crossed Delamere Forest, and reached Stapleford,
a township in the Hundred of Eddisbury.

Commenced a toiu* through the Hvmdred of
Wirral, at Chester, and ])roceeded in a westerly di-
rection. About the middle of the Hundred ob-
served a large tract of land in a most wretched
state of culti\'ation from want of draining ; the
land is very thin of soil, a great portion of clay
being turned xq) in ploughing very shallow fur-
rows ; the butts are small and flat, in many fields
not more than three feet wide, and in some not
more than two feet six inches ; every rein full of
water, and the gutters not more than three or four
inches deep. As I proceeded I found some better
s])ecimens of farming, and some very good on two
farms, one of 500, and another of 150 acres. On
the former I witnessed an exceedingly interesting
and novel sight— "Alexander's draining-plough,"
which has been minutely described in agricultural
pujjlications ; it was drawn by sixteen horses, yoked
eight abreast, then six, then two. By the first
operation, soil to the depth of sixteen inches was
thrown out ; by the second, soil to the depth of
eight inches more wds cast up, leaving the drain
twenty-four inches deep and five inches wide ; the
loose soil is then scooped out by an instrument for
the purpose, when the tiles are laid upon slates cut
for this work ; sods are placed iqion them, and the
drains filled up. It is calculated that the plough
will drain, on an average, eight acres per day ; and
it is estimated by the gentleman using it, that work
which would be done by this clever invention for
61., would cost by spade-husbandry 7/. 4s.

The weather throughout my various journeys
was remarkably propitious.

Stapleford Hull, Chester.

Drawings referred to in the foregoing Essay.

No. 3.

CURD-MILJ-

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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

411

CURD BREAKER.

1

STEWPONEY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

The annual meeting of this Society took place on
Tuesday, Oct. 1st. There was not a large show of
stock, but tlie want of numbers was pretty nearly ba-
lanced by the excellence of that shown. Some of the
animals exhibited by Mr. W. Foster, of Wordsley, at-
tracted a great deal of attention, as did also the sheep of
Mr. Watkins, of Ombersley. There were some splendid
cattle amongst the extra stock, and the breeding sows
may fairly be pronounced to be first-rate.

We have rarely seen a better collection of roots,
seeds, and vegetables, than were to be seen in the show-
yard. We have neither time nor space to notice them
all, but amongst others we observed an assortment of
agricultural seeds by Messrs. Perry and Son, of Stour-
bridge ; a quantity of roots and vegetables exhibited by
W. Foster, Esq., amongst which were some fine speci-
mens of mangel wurzel of the long red kind, a dozen gi-
gantic yellow globe mangel wurzel, yellow carrots. Kohl
Rabi or Hungarian Swedes, and some splendid specimens
of the knapsack potato, growhig on poor drenched land
without using manure, and fit for domestic as well as
agricultural purposes. J. H. H. Foley, Esq., of Prest-
wood, and Mr. Thompson, the Assistant- Secretary of
the Society, also exhibited a large assortment of both
roots and vegetables.

In the implement department there was both number
and variety, Mr. Nock, of Kinver, amongst other ar-
ticles, exhibited a grain crusher, one of Gartnell's zig-
zag harrows. The grand feature of improvement in
this implement is that the draught is from the centre,
and the teeth act in a separate track from each other ;

in addition to that there was a horse drag rake ; an im-
proved horse-hoe, invented by Garrett, of Saxmundham,
suited to all methods of drill cultivation, and adapted to
hoeing com of all sorts, as well as roots. (This imple-
ment took the prize at Liverpool, in 1841, and at Bris-
tol, in 1842). There was also an improved cake crush-
ing machine, the construction of which is exceedingly
simple, and an improved sub-soil plough. A clever
contrivance, in the shape of a seed dibble, invented by
Mr. Smith, of Droitwich, attracted a good deal of £\Jten-
tion, and we have no doubt but that in a short time it
will be in very general use. Mr. Hall, of Ismere, ex-
hibited a plough with two iron shares attached, and
made to rise and fall seven or eight inches from the
ground, and to work either single or double as occasion
may require. Then there were harrows, scufflers, win-
nowing-machines, thrashing-machines, cake-crushers,
ploughs, water-carts, and every other variety of agricul-
tural implements ; but the article which deservedly at-
tracted the most attention was a newly-invented machine
for the manufacture of draining tiles (Benenden's tile
machine) ; tliis implement was manufactured by Cottam
and Hallen, of London, and was kindly sent to the ex-
hibition by J. H. H. Foley, Esq. ; it was worked by two
men in the show-yard, and is capable of producing in a
perfect state 3,200 tiles in ten hours. A more useful
implement could not by possibility have been brought
out ; it will tend materially to reduce the price of tiles,
the great cost of which had hitherto been a great bar to
draining.

There were several kinds of artificial manure exhibited
by Mr. Nock, and a specimen of Campbell's manure

412

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

for steeping seed corn for the purposes of seed ; the ef-
fect of this is that a much less quantity is requu'ed to be
sown.

The ploughing took place in a field, the property of J.
11. H. Foley, Esq., on the Stourbridge -road ; eight
ploughs were started for the two classes at twelve o'clock.
Most of the ploughs used were manufactured by the
Messrs. Ransome, of Ipswich ; the ground was in good
condition, and the work done tolerably well, though we
have seen a great deal better, and we should have been
glad to have seen more competition in these classes, and
such we are confident must have been the feeling of the
best friends of the society.

We are gratified to learn this really useful society is
in a flourishing condition ; much of this is to be attri-
buted to the countenance and support it receives from
J. H. H. Foley, Esq., and to the active exertions of the
excellent assistant-secretary of the society, Mr. Thomp-
son, of Prestwood, to whom we beg to return our best
thanks for his courteous and polite attention in affording
us every information connected with the interesting pro-
ceedings of the day.

The judges of stock were— Messrs. G. Ashdown, J.
Ash, and J. Penn. Of implements and ploughing —
Messrs. C. Pratt, J. Robins, and W. Perry. Of tur-
nips, roots, aud seeds — D. Banton, T. Nock, and J.
Yardley. It is sufficient to say that in each department
they gave the utmost satisfaction-
It only remains for us to repeat, that we have never
seen better arrangements at any exhibition ; for these
the society are indebted to the stewards — Messrs. Yard-
ley, Griffiths, Thompson, and G. Thompson ; and we
are quite sure we may add the name of the Rev. Mr.
Wharton, of Kinver, who has long been actively engaged
in endeavouring to improve the condition of the agricul-
tural labourer.

THE DINNER
took place in a spacious tent erected at the back of the
Stewponey Inn. The company, to the number of about
200, sat down to an excellent cold collation, provided
by Mr. Mantle.

The chair was taken by T. "Whitmore, Esq., the Pre-
sident of the society, who was supported by the Right
Hon. Lord Lyttelton, Sir W. Russell, Sir R. Pigot, Col.
Challoner, J. H. H. Foley, Esq., — Lambert, Esq.,
W. A. Roberts, Esq., W. Moseley, Esq., H. Campbell,
Esq., Charles Noel, Esq., H. P. Delme, Esq., Captain
Bennitt, and amongst the general company were — J. G.
Watkins, W. Grazebrook, W. Trow, John Aston, J. B.
Brindley, G. Bourne, and W. Bate, Esqrs. ; the Revds.
G. Wharton, T. Baker, and C. Whitmore ; and Messrs.
Berry, Hughes, Beddard, Bonney, Wood, Baker, Hill,
Robins, Hill, Downing, Smith, Young, Windell,
Knowles, Green, Bluck, &c.

Grace having been said by the Rev. Mr. Wharton,
the Chairman proposed the health of the Queen, and
also the health of the Queen Dowager, Prince Albert,
Albert Prince of Wales, and the rest of the royal family,
which having been duly responded to with three times
three,

The Chairman, again rising, said the next toast
which he had to propose to their notice was one more
immediately connected with the objects of the present
meeting. He regretted that the office of president had
not been conferred upon an abler individual and one
more competent to discharge the duties in a more effi-
cient manner than he felt he could do. However, he
had accepted the office because he was thoroughly con-
vinced that meetings of that kind not only tended to the
advancement and improvement of the agricultural inte-
rest of the whole empire, but that they also conferred
great benefits on many other classes besides the agricul-
tural community. He thought that the bringing of the

landlord and the tenant into closer contact, which such
meetings were calculated to do, was very desirable, and
was Hkely to be productive of the greatest benefit (hear,
hear). There w^as also another reason why he thought
it his duty to support institutions like that before their
notice, and it was because they tended to benefit and
improve the condition of the agricultural labourer
(cheers). He had heard with great pleasure since he
had coiue into that room that the allotment system was
about to be adopted in that part of the country (cheers).
He himself had tried it among the cottagers on his es-
tate for many years, and with the most complete success.
(Hear, hear). He would not trespass further on
their time, as so many gentlemen had to address them,
but at once propose ' ' Success to the Stewponey Agri-
cultural Society." {Applause).

The toast having been duly drunk, the Chairman
said it now became his duty— and a most pleasing duty
it was, he could assure them — to present the premiums
which had been awarded to the successful candidates.
The awards were as follows : —

REWARDS AND PREMIUMS.

Ten sovs. for the be^t crop of Swede Turnips, not less than ten
acres ; the expense of manure, quality of the land, and the ge-
neral appearance and cleanliness of the (whole of the candidate's)
turnip crop to be taken into consideration. No person to be eligi-
ble as a candidate, who has not, in the opinion of the Judtjes, a
proper quantity of turnips, in proportion to the extent and
nature of his farm. — To R. Evrtus, Esq., Pendeford, Wolver-
hampton.

Five sovs. for the second best crop of Swede Turnips, subject
to the same conditions.— To. J. H. H. Foley, Esq., Prestwood.

Five sovs. to the occupier of any farm, under one hundred and
twenty acres, who shall produce the best crop of turnips, subject
to the same conditions. — To Mr. James Cartwright, Himley.

The Judges commended the crops of several other candidates.

ROOTS.
Three sovs. for the best exhibition of turnips, carrots, potatocp,
cabbage, and mangel wurzel, not grown in a garden. — To J. H.
H. Foley, Esq , and W. Foster, Esq. — F. Rutford's Esq., com-
mended.

A great many rewards to labourers and servants in
husbandry were given.

STOCK.

HORSE.

Five sovs. to the owner of the be«tcart mare and foal for strength
and activity, exhibited by a member of the society. (Given by
Mr. Foster, Woidsley House).— To W. Foster, Esq., N^ordsley
House.

W. Foster's, Esq., cart mare commended.

CATTLE,

Three sovs. for the best bull of any age or breed, and bred by
the exhibitor. — To W. Foster, Esq., Wordsley House.

Two sovs. for the best yearliiig'ofF Durham bull, bred by the
exhibitor, he being a member of tlie society. (Given by Mr. Fos-
ter, Wordsley House).— To W. Foster, Esq., Wordsley House.

Three sovs. for the best pair of two-year-old heifers (in calf)
bred by the exhibitor. (Given by Mr. F. Rufford, Bellbroughton).
To James Foster, Esq., Stourton Castle.

Two sovs. for the second best pair of two-yenr-old heifers (in
calf) bred by the exliibitor.— To W. Trow, Esq., Ismere House.

Mr. J. Brown's Ayrshire heifer commended.

Mr. James Farmer's 83 months' old short horn steer com-
mended.

SHEEP.
Leicester or long-ifoollcd Sheep.

Five sovs. for the best Leicester or long-wooUed ram, bred by
the exhibitor.— To Mr. J. Oatley, Bickton Hall.

Five sovs. for the pen of the best five yearling Leicester eweS,
bred by the exhibitor.— To J. G. Watkins, Esq., Omborsley.

Fifty shillings for the pen of the second best five yearling ewes.
—To Mr. E. Pratt, Wannerton.

Five sovs. for the pen of the best five yearling long-woolled
wethers, bred by the exhibitor. — To Mr. E. Pratt, Wannerton.

J. G. Watkins, Esq., forhis ewes and lambs, highly commended,

Southdotvn or grey-faced Sheep.

Five sovs. for the best Southdown yearling ram, bred by the
exhibitor.— To Mr. A. Farmer, Shipley.

Five sovs. for the best pen of five Southdown or grey-faced
yearling ewes, bred by the exhibitor. — To Mr. A. Farmer, Shipley.

Fifty shillings for the pen of the sec;nd best Southdown or

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

413

grey-faeed yearling ewes, bred by the exhibitor. — To Mr. K.
Pratt, M'annerton.

Fivesovs. for tlie pen of the best five Southdown or grey-faced
yearling wethers, bred by the exhibitor. — To Mr. E. Pratt, Wan-
ner ton.

PIGS.

Two sovs. for the best in-pig, or suckling sow. — To Mr. James
Parrish, Enville.

One sov. for the second in the same class. —To W. Foster, Esq.,
Wordsley.

Two sovs. for the best boar, bred by any person, but the pro-
perty of the exhibitor.— To Mr. James Parrish, Enville.

One sov. for the second in the same class. — To J. Mathews,
Esq., Park Hall.

Two sovs. for tlie best pen of not less than four store pig<, of
the same litter, and under six months old.— To Mr. James Man-
tle, Stcwponey.

IMPLEMENTS.

Ten SOV9. (given by Mr. Foley, Prestwood), with 5 sovs. added
by tlie society, for the most extensive exhibition of the most use-
ful agricultural implements. — To Mr. E. Hill, Hart's Hill, Dudley.
i Fivesovs. for the most useful, new, or improved agricultural
' implement. — To J. H. H. Foley, Esq., Prestwood.
i Three sovs. to the owner of the best plough for general pur-
I poses.— To Mr. E. Hill, Brierley Hill.

Two sovs. to the owner of the second best plough. — To Mr. J.
I Nock, Kinver.

The following Report was then read by J. H. H.
Foley, Esq., the Secretary of the Society : —

" Four years have nov/ elapsed since the formation of this So-
ciety, and as there has been a sufficient time for a fair trial of
, the plan on which it has been conducted, it may perhaps be de-
, sirable that I should state as shortly as 1 can the progress that
has been made.

" In selecting a circular form for our district of twelve miles
round the Stewponey, our object was to obtain a sufficient space
for our operations, convenient and compact in distance, without
encroaching materially on the limits of county and local soci9ties
already established.

" By dividing our Society into difTerent branches, we have
kept each department with sepaiate account.', rules, and mem-
bers, leaving it to the option of every one to support all, or
j either of them they might prefer ; but we have considered tliem
coimected as a means by which we hoped to effect one great ob-
ject—the advancement of agriculture and the improvement of the
condiion of the labouring classes.

" Our Agricultural Society consists of 225 members, it has
given about 430^ in prizes, and possesses a libr.iry of upwards of
100 volumes of standard works on agricultural subjects, which
are now in frequent demand.

" Mr. Gyde, of Painswick, has been appointed consulting che-
mist; a gentleman, by all accounts, well qualified to give every
information required, and at a very trifling cost. This arrange-
ment will afl'ord the means of detecting fraud in the purchase of
manures, and lead to a better knowledge of the useful properties
contained in our soils. I much regret the unavoidable absence
of this gentleman to-day, owing to a prior engagement ; but I
hope you will have an opportunity of becoming acquainted with
him by hearing him give a lecture at our meeting on the 1 0th
of December.

" The next branch of our Society is a Fai-mers' Club, which
commenced in January last, consisting of 95 members ; its
monthly m^'etings have been well attended, and various interest-
ing subjects discussed with much ability.
' " The last branch I have to mention is our Ticcher Club. Tlie
' improvement of the condition of the British labourer is now en-
fi gaging the attention of most persons in this country, and a So-
' ciety has lately been formed in London for that express purpose,
to which I looked forsvard with sanguine expectations for good
results. It is only justice to clain for us the merit of having
had this object always in view from the beginning.. Of the i'iOl,
which I mentioned as given in prizes, 1217. has been bestowed on
honest and industrious labourers. The Beclier Club now con-
sists of 14 districts, containing 248 benefit, and 129 honorary
members, making a total of .177 members. The honorary
members have contributed by donations and subscriptions \70l.
15s. Id. since its commencement in March, 18i2, towards the
expenses of the club, and have the distinguished honour of the
name of her Majesty the Queen Dowager at the head of their
list, as patroness. With this powerful and liberal assistance, 248
persons, male and female, are insuring a weekly piovision ade-
quate to their wants in sickness, accompanied with medical at-
tendance, a weekly allowance in old age, and a small sum at
their death They have already a fund in handt o meet these
de>irable objects, after deducting all payments, of 252?. 15s. Id.,
of wt.ich 21£W. lis. is invested in the Bank of England, and 3:il
4s. Id. in the Stourbridge Savings' Bank At their anniversary
meeting on Whit Tuesday, upwards of 200 persons were present,
the day was spent with the utmost propriety and good humour,
and I am not aware of one instance of intoxication occurring.
To this Club an Endowment Society has recently been added,

and two additional branches for allotments of land and for loans
are now in contemplation. I have endeavoured to call your at-
tention to the progress we have made. All our proceedings have
been carried on, without one exception, with the most perfect
harmony and cordiality : ar d if you agree with me that, with
very limited means, great good has been effected ; that by our
meetings we have increased the intimacy and good will between
the landlord, the tenant, and the manufacturer ; that we havo
raised the moral character of the labourer ; that, instead of being
anxious to burn and destroy our property, as we hear of being
done in other countries, we have taught him to feel that he is re-
cognized as a rational being who is to share a fair proportion of
the profits of the land he cultivates, with the landlord and the
tenant, and that the interests of all three are inseparably united
together ; if you think our Society cither has promoted these
results, or is calculated to do so, I call upon each member to
support it, and individually to use his endeavours to add the
name of some friend in his neighbourhood to our list before the
next meeting."

Sir R. PiGOTT proposed the health of the Chairman
in an appropriate speech.

T. Whitmore, Esq., in responding to the toast, said
he most sincerely thanked them for the very kind man-
ner in which they had received him. He could assure
them that it was a great pleasure at all times to meet his
friends in any public capacity, but he knew of none
greater than to meet so large and respectable a body of
men as he had then the honour of addressing, in the
capacity of agriculturists. He had now lived many
years upon his property, and he hoped he could say that
his aim, as respected his tenants, had been to live and let
live (loud cheers) ; and as long as it might please God
to add to his days, he should continue to follow up that
system. He would again beg sincerely to thank the gen-
tlemen present for the way in which they had drunk
his health, and to fill a bumjier to all their very good
healths.

W. A. Roberts, Esq., proposed the health of the
judges of the stock, of the'ploughing and the implements ;
and, in doing so, paid a well merited compliment to those
gentlemen for the skill and impartiality they had dis-
played in the fulfilment of their office.

Mr. D. Banton acknowledged the toast, and assured
the meeting that in the execution of the duties assigned
to them, they had endeavoured to act in strict accordance
with the rules laid down by the society.

H. M. Campbell, Esq., said he had been deputed by
the committee to propose the next toast, which was the
health of their respected and valued secretary (cheers).
There was one thing which made him (Mr. C.) wish that
the proposal of the toast had fallen into other hands ; for
so great was his intimacy with that gentleman, and so
constant was his intercourse with him, that he was afraid
anything he could say in his favour might be attributed
to partiality and feelings of friendship. Such being the
case, he would set aside any thought or expression of his
generous hospitality, kindness, and amenity, and all
feelings which rendered him so dear to them as a friend.
He would throw all those entirely aside, and confine his
observations to what he had done for that society. In
the first place, they must all look up to him (Mr. Foley)
as their parent. It was entirely ovring to his suggestion
that the society was first formed. It had cost him much
trouble and pains to establish it, but he was amply repaid
by the success which had attended his exertions. It was
not only for bringing to light an agricultural society such
as theirs for which he was to be thanked, but they must
look at the great attention he had paid to his own tenantry,
and more especially to the poorer class of labourers de-
pendant upon the farm. In addition to this, the society
would have observed from the report that he had estab-
lished others ; for there was the Becher Club, which at
the present moment was making great exertions in the
allotment system (hear, and cheers). Whatever he
had undertaken hitherto had been successful, and he
(Mr. Campbell) trusted that he would yet devise many
more plans for the benefit of the agricultural classes

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4U

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

which would be equally SO. [The toast was drunk with
three times three.]

J. H. Foley, Esq., then rose, and said — Tlierewasno
time in his recollection when agriculture stood supported
on sounder principles than the present. Prices had, it
was true, been higher during war, during scarcity, or
caused by those numerous circumstances that always had
and always would create fluctuations ; but at what
period of our history did they ever know such an intense
interest as was now displayed for the promotion and
l^rotection of agriculture ? They often spoke of the agri ■
cultural and commercial interests of the country as inse-
parably connected together, which they all knew to
be true ; but when did they see the enormous amount
of capital now employed called into action by the de-
mands of agriculture ? It had been his duty to state
what had been done by their own society within the last
four years. Similar associations had been formed in all
parts of the kingdom, and the difficulty now was to select
a day for their meeting that might not interfere with
some other society. The manufacture of agricultural
implements was now become a useful and profitable trade.
The article of guano alone employed capital and shipping
to a vast amount annually ; and agricultural protection
was afforded in numerous instances — considered as chi-
merical but a few years ago — creating a safe and lucrative
investment for the imemployed money of various classes
of individuals, and thus uniting the whole kingdom in
one general feeling of anxiety for its prosperity. Mr.
Foley concluded by reading an account of the Fai'mers'
Insurance Society, established in 1840, fi'om which it
appeared that little short of ten millions was insured.
The account of the Hail-storm Insurance was interesting
and satisfactory, and showed the great utility of such a
company, 750/. having been paid last year to one indi
vidual. (See advertisement.) In the cattle department,
for protecting the farmer against loss by diseases and acci-
dents among cattle, insurances had been eflected to the
amount of ^^120,000 within six months of its commence-
ment. He would also mention, and it gave him great
pleasure to do so, that the agricultural college of Cirences-
ter bad been formed, and the company had been incorpo-
rated under royal charter. Every shareholder of 30/.
would be entitled to one nomination, and every holder of
five shares would be a director. He had the pleasure of
being a director, and of making five nommations, two of
which, however, were already filled up ; but he should
be glad for the remaining three to be filled up by three
intelligent lads from this part of the country. (Cheers.)
From the respectability, rank, and intelligence of those
principally active in this undertaking, and who he (Mr.
Foley) was happy to number as his own personal friends,
there was every guarantee for its efficient carrying out.
Mr. Foley concluded by again thanking the meeting for
the kind manner in which his health had been received,
and sat down amid applause.

Mr. MosELEY gave the health of the stewards, and
complimented those gentlemen upon the excellent ar-
rangements which they had entered into to ensure the
comfort of all present.
Mr. Trow briefly replied.

Lord Lyttelton rose at the request of the chairman.
His lordship said he was glad he had been called upon
to propose to them a toast which was so essential on an
occasion of that nature, and the subject of which had
been so frequently referred to already that evening. It
was health and comfort to the agricultural labourers.
(Loud cheering.) He was glad of the opportunity of
proposing that toast, in order to express his hope that, in
case the necessity should arise for it, drinking the health
of the agricultural labourer would not be all that would
be done for him — (hear, and cheers) — nor even giving
him prizesfor industry and good conduct, excellent thmgs
as they both were. Nothing could be more proper, on

occasions like the present, than to include their names
among the toasts of the evening, but at the same time
they must be aware that giving prizes, and drinking their
healths, must be much better in good times than in bad
times. He was led to make these remarks because some
apprehensions had been thrown out, such as they had
frequently heard before, and such as they had unfortu-
nately seen realized, that there would be a want of em-
ployment among the labourers during the ensuing win-
ter. Should such a want of employment arise, he hoped
the strongest exertions would be made among all classes
to meet the evil. He was not addressing these observa-
tions solely to the farmers, for the farmer, as was well
known, did not regulate the wages he paid his labourers
or the employment he gave them, any more than the
inanufacturers or those engaged in trade regulated the
wages they paid. He hoped, therefore, that the owners
of the land especially, would take these things into their
consideration ; and should such a state of things arise as
had been anticipated, he doubted not that as much, or
even more, would be done for the benefit of the labourer
in that neighbourhood as in any other. His lordship
announced that it was his wish to continue the small
prize which he gave last year for the encouragement of
labourers, the object for which it should be given, how-
ever, he should leave in the hands of the committee.

W. Grazebrook, Esq., proposed " The health of the
successful candidates."

Mr. Oatley responded to the toast.

Mr. Foley expressed himself highly gratified at his
having had awarded to him a prize of 10/. this year, and
also announced his determination to offer a 15/. prize
next year for implements, as he was sure that the gentle-
men who so kindly assisted them by the exhibition of
implements were frequently considerably out of pocket
by so doing.

W. Trow, Esq., also placed the prize awarded to him
in the hands of the committee, for disposal as they should?'
best think fit next year.

The Chairman rose and said he had now to give a
toast which he was sure would be drunk with the utmost
enthusiasm. It was "The Royal Agricultural Society
of England." He was proud to say that the next meet-
ing would be held in Shropshire, and he hoped he should
see all the faces he saw that day at Shrewsbury in
August next. He begged to call upon Colonel Challoner
to respond, as he would be able to inform the meeting of
many things they would feel pleasure in hearing from his
lips.

Colonel Challoner said he found his name attached
as responder to the toast they had just heard, and he
must say it gave him great pleasure to witness the man-
ner in which that toast had been received by the farmers
assembled on that occasion. He wished that many other
members of the Council of the Royal Agricultural So-
ciety had been there, who would have been better able to
explain many of the merits of the society than he was
able to do. At the same time, having been a member of
the council from the earliest formation of the society,
and never having missed one single meeting of the society
(hear, hear) , and having assisted in the formation of the
rules by which it was governed, he was happy to address
them as an advocate of that society, because he always felt
convinced it would do good to the agriculture of the
United Kingdom. He had seen the gradual and steady
good which it had done, and he therefore was proud at
having the honour of mentioning those circumstances be-
fore the members of the Stewponey Agricultural Society.
He had to thank his old friend and acquaintance, Mr.
Foley, for giving him an opportunity of witnessing what
he had witnessed that day, and although he had been
present at many provincial meetings, he must say he
never saw one calculated better to fulfil the objects for
which it was formed than the meeting of that morning.

THE FARMEK'S MAGAZINE.

416

He could not, it would be wrong in him, to say a word
about the quantity of stock, because they had very little.
There certainly was a pen of Southdown ewes fit to have
been shown in any part of the country, but further than
that he could not say that the stock afforded him any
peculiar gratification. But one of the most useful
branches of this society was the mechanical dejjartment
of agriculture. The great advantages that commerce
and manuftictures had derived for many years past in
this country, and in fact, the point of excellence to which
they had now arrived, had been caused chiefly by the
admirable excellence and improvements of our ma-
clrinery. Hitherto, beyond a certain point, they had
been deplorably deficient of combinations of machinery
as applicable to agriculture. On this point the Royal
Society of England had materially benefited agriculture,
by offering prizes for new agricultural implements of
real merit. They lessened the labour by putting the
land into a fair and proper state to grow the crops, and
produce the food of man. Mind, he did not wish to be
misunderstood. He said diminish the labour ; he did
not mean diminish the employment of the agricultural
labourer ; that could be more profitably made use of at
this moment than he feared had been hitherto the case in
England. He (Col. Challoner) believed, and he trusted
gentlemen would not differ from him, that it was to the
advantage of the agricultural labourer, that it was to the
advantage of the farmer, and that it was to the advan-
tage of the landlord that the best machinery obtainable
should be made use of. So far from its being disadvan-
tageous to a labourer to use a thrashing machine, the
reverse was the case ; and he would tell them why it was
so. Because then the labourer, instead of losing his
time, thirteen or fourteen weeks in the barn in the course
of the season, might be much more profitably employed
in collecting compost, in clearing ditches, and in various
other employments on the farm, the expense of which
would be the same to the fanner, and a greater benefit to
the labourer, because he could earn more at draining and
at task labour out of the barn than he could in it ; and
therefore he (Col. Challoner) would say that the advan-
tages gained by machinery within these few years had
been of mutual advantage to the labourer, to the farmer,
and to the landlord. It was with great pleasure he
witnessed that day among the implements exhibited, one
of the simplest, one of the least complicated machines he
ever saw. He need scarcely say that a subsoil plough
was found in many instances to double the crop, and to
produce a one-third greater crop, taking the average of
England, than could be reared without it. Many kinds
of subsoil ploughs had been introduced, but he (Col. C.)
must say he had never seen a subsoil plough so simple in
its construction and so efficient in its working, as one

'. he had the opportunity of seeing that day, and which
he understood was invented by Mr. Underwood of that
neighbourhood. It was indeed a very creditable inven-

1 tion, and one well calculated to effect the desired object.
In all farm implements the less complication the better,
and if the meeting would pardon his detaining them, he
would relate a circumstance he met with in Scotland,
which perhaps was somewhat to the point. lie was
inspecting a drill which was capable of being converted
to a variety of purposes, among others, it was to sow
turnip seed ; it was a drop drill and it was a corn drill
also ; and this was being tried before a number of Scotch
farmers. The Scotch are generally a dry set of fellows,
and one old farmer, who was very attentively inspecting
the machine, exclaimed, "Well, I dinna ken the use o'
that machine ; for I've no idea o' having a coat an'
breeches sewn together." (Laughter.) Now he (Col.
Challoner) could assure them that the thought was so
graphic and so true, that although he had previously
intended ordering one of the machines, he immediately

suggested to the implement maker whether or not he
could not make two machines, each to answer but one
purpose ; and he had no hesitation in advismg all farm-
ers about to purchase one of those complicated drills,
that it would be much better to purchase two drills, and
not to carry a deal of unnecessary machinery about the
field when it was not required. But to return to the
advantage afforded by agricultural societies. They had
surely all heard sufficient that day to convince any one
of the benefits they were conferring upon the country.
The scientific information which was communicated
from one to another at the farmers' clubs, could not
possibly have been obtained twenty years ago. Then
farming was a bit of a secret. If a man had a remark-
ably good crop, and you asked him how he got such a
good crop of turnips, he would scratch his head and
say, " Its a zummit as I knows on." Now why should
one man on one side of the hedge have a good crop more
than the other on the other side ? In these days, when
a man happened to have a good crop of turnips, as Mr.
Foley had, his neighbour would immediately ask him
how he obtained it, and Mr. Foley would tell him the
*' zummut as he know'd on;" he would tell him what
seed he sowed, the time of sowing, and every particular
connected with it. It was mutual information that was
wanted. They went to the chemist for scientific in-
formation, and to the farmer for practical information,
and it was to the provincial agricultural societies they
were indebted for the valuable results which had been
obtained. The agriculturist that formerly could only
make his land pay when wheat was at 18s. and 20s.,
now can make it pay equally well at 14s. But he does
not do this upon the old principle. People did not now
blindly put lime, lime, lime into the ground because
their fathers and their great-grandfathers before them
did so. Why, there was an instance in Kent where a
farm had been limed to such an extent that from an
aluminous it was converted into a calcareous farm. But
now science had been called in to the aid of agriculture
such mistakes would not be likely to occur, for in a
short time all farmers would know what management the
land required, and would act accordingly. It was not
to be expected that the tenantry of England would make
the necessary experiments. They must be convinced of
the advantages to be derived when the experiments had
been made by landowners and agricultural societies, and
would be experiments no longer, then they would readily
adopt any new improvements. The gallant Colonel,
after thanking the meeting for having given him such an
attentive and patient hearing, expressed himself warmly
interested in the success of the Stewponey Agricultural
Society, and resumed his seat amidst loud cheers.

C. Noel, Esq., proposed " The health of those
gentlemen who had contributed to the exhibition of im-
plements,"

John Maughan, Esq., gave " The honorary con-
tributors to the show."

The Chairman gave " The health of the unsuccess-
ful candidates." He next proposed, "The press,
through whose instrumentality their proceedmgs were
always so fully and so faithfully reported."

Mr. M'Millan, of the Worcester Herald, briefly
returned thanks.

The health of the visitors was given by the Chairman,
and responded to by Sir William Russell, who observed
that he was exceedingly gratified, and he doubted not
that all the other visitors were equally so with himself
by the proceedmgs of the day, and with the unanimity
and enjoyment which was everywhere observable.

Several other toasts and sentiments were given and
appropriately responded to, after which the company
separated at an early hour, apparently all highly de*
lighted with the proceedings of the day.

E E 2

416

THE FAKMER'S MAGAZINE.

GREAT TORRINGTON FARMERS' CLUB.

A meeting of the above Society took place on the
24th August, Lord CUnton in the chair ; among the
members present were Sir Trevor Whelor, Bart. ;
J. H. Furse, Esq. ; J. S. Willett, Esq. ; and many
other gentlemen of the neighbourhood. The fol-
loAving paper was read by Mr. Joseph Risdon, of
Speccott : —

" The blessings of peace have now been enjoyed
by our happy land for a much longer period than
usual, during which time we have made great ad-
vances in commerce and manufactures, or, I may
say, in arts and science generally. The din of
war having ceased, great pains have been taken
during this time to ele^'ate the general character of
mankind by substituting peaceful avocations, and
ennobhng the ideas of the people \vith various me-
thods, in order to make the most of life ; and, as
agriculture is the most natural employment for man,
the most congenial to his general character, and, at
the same time, the most important in contributing
to his wants and welfare, it has, therefore, been a
leading subject wth various i)ersons in contributing
to its advancement, in order that the advantages to
be derived by scientific management may be fviUy
developed. Among those so engaged are to be
found some of the wealthy and some of the most
talented persons of the age endeavouring to assist
everything connected \\ith it, and for this end
geology and chemistry have been brought fonvard
by the leading professors to aid and assist the prac-
tical farmer in his pursuits ; and as we are so for-
tunate to be thus assisted, it is scarcely possible to
form an idea that has not been before written and
acted on ; but as a great portion of the practical
men are persons whose labours will not allow time
for deep reflection, I have ventured to concentrate
a few of the leading topics that have lately come
under my notice, and give you my humble and im-
perfect opinion on them.

You must not, however, expect from me all the
terms made use of by the geologist in the forma-
tion of the globe, nor all the terms made use of by
the chemist as to the fertilizing manures that can
be applied to its surface.

With respect to geology I will merely confine my
opinions to two parts — that is, to what is called
primary formations and secondary foiTnations, in
which I shall include the surface soil — and, there-
fore, as far as the agriculturist is concerned, it may
as well be termed subsoil and surface or vegetable
mould.

Before I proceed further, allow me to make a few
observations on those formations, viz., what is
termed primitive and secondary, in which I shall
include the globe and its surface : and this I do
with a view that those modern terms in geology
may not mislead the unwary sceptic by venturing
beyond his depth in this hidden mystery. It is
true, bones of animals and shells of fish are fre-
quently found at a considerable depth below the
surface on the tops of high hills far inland. How
they came there is not for man to say, for after he
has exhausted all his httle knowledge of the ways
of the great Creator, it must be left in great uncer-
tainty, if it is not in perfect unison and harmony

with the accoimt we have in holy writ — and from
this we find the Almighty created all things out of
nothing ; and after chaos was ruled into order, plants
and herbs were made by him, and the hving crea-
tures were created and pronounced by him good.
Lastly, man was created and placed in the garden
of Eden to dress it and to keep it. Now, however
geology may be said to aid the science of agricul-
ture, this is the only account we have whereon we
can place any reliance ; and although we are aware
certain plants are indigenous in certain soils, and
certain plants have been fostered by the care of
man and brought to greater perfection, varieties
have also been produced of the different species,
and hybrids from those varieties, yet we have no
proof that anything has been created since man was
put in charge of it at first. The face of the earth
must, therefore, be cultivated by man as he has
found it; and although geology and chemistry have
brought many important things to view, yet to spe-
culate further into their formation as to this or that
must be futile, as "matter altvays obedient to the com-
mand of the Almighty had no need of preparation ;"
the geologist may, therefore, cease from his research,
and the chemist lay aside his laboratory, as he wiU
find an answer in the book of Job, where the Al-
mighty challenged him to answer " Where wast
thou when I laid the foundations of the earth ?"

We have no record in the account of the deluge
that any new thing was created ; but man, Avith
beasts, fowls, and creeping things, was preserved
alive in the Ark — we have a very imperfect account
of what great change might have been caused in the
face of the globe by this well authenticated event.
I say well authenticated, as Heathens bear testimony
to it, as well as the account we have from Moses in
the Bible ; and we know the dove returned to the
ark with an ohve branch in her mouth, a proof that
the whole face of the earth could not have been
destroyed. After this we find everything in nature
made great and rapid strides towards that perfec-
tion we at present enjoy ; but we have no account
of secondary formations, nor of anything being
created after man was put into possession, and
God pronounced it very good.

That time has made important alterations we by
observation must be well aware, and geology has
proved as far as it is possible to prove it, that there
have existed certain animals on the globe that are not
now to be found, but I much question if the face
of the earth is by time more productive at this mo-
ment than it was when man was placed upon it, at
least immediately after the deluge. Modern tra-
vellers that have visited the place where ancient
Babylon stood tell us that, for a very long distance
round it, it is one continued waste ; that there is
nothing to be found there but a solemn stdlness
with a sterility scarcely to be equalled ; yet it must
be borne in mind that for ages here resided count-
less numbers of the human race, who must have
drawn their sustenance from this country that is
now so barren. And in Egypt we have those mo-
numents of antiquity, the Pyramids, the works of
art that ha-\T existed in aU probabOity between three
and four thousand years, and are still likely to
stand, lliese observations have occurred to me as
proofs that there has not been that great change in

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

417

the face of nature that one might be led to suppose
from the writings of some of the most eminent geo-
logists of the present day.

Generation after generation has passed away, but
each individual has a limited time allotted to him,
in which he has many duties to jjerform ; and alile
writers of much experience and knowledge have
been found to hand down to posterity their ideas
and methods in making the yoke and burden as
easy as ])ossible, so as to ])roduce probal)le lia])])y
results ; and we must carefully bear in mind that
to every one is allotted a share in the first command
to dress and keep in order that i)ortion of the glol)e
allotted to him. To this end agriculture has of late
found many advocates ; and, among them, some
learned and scientific j)rofessors, and others who are
mere theorists ; but it falls to the lot, in the main, of
the plain practical man to carry out the various mea-
sures that are thus projjosed to him, and to glean
from what is thus scattered to him such parts as
he thinks applicable to his case — allow me again to
repeat the words, " such parts as are applicable to
his case," as in looking over most works on geology
and agricultural chemistry, one would be led to
suppose at first sight, that districts were formed
with little or no variation for miles together ; na)-,
almost by entire counties ; whereas the land changes
as to quality and fertility continually : the same
enclosures in this neighbourhood often vary in soil
and subsoil. This is known to every practical
man, and in whatever locality he is called on to
visit, " the soils are discoverable botanically, che-
mically, and mechanically ; that is, by the i)lants
that grow on them, by chemical analysis, and by
their sensible qualities of roughness, smoothness,
taste, smell, and fracture."

Plants that are to be found in the land, or in the
fences of waste adjoining, are the best indicators
of the nature of the soil, " for no practical culti-
vator would engage with land of which he only
knew the results of a chemical analysis, or had
only examined a few bushels that were brought
to him ; yet ever)' gardener or farmer who knew the
sort of plant it produced, would be at once able to
decide as to its value for cultivation."

CUmate, which is at all times affected by altitude
and aspect, must be taken into account, be the soil
or subsoil what it may ; if not, the person who
makes his calculations without it, however well he
may understand the soil, \v\\\ find himself ^\^de of
the mark he aimed at.

I have lately derived great pleasure in reading a
work that I think elucidates the chemical quahties
of manures very ably indeed, and I think will be
read to advantage by most practical men ; the \^'ork
I allude to is Johnstone's Elements of Agricultural
Chemistry and Geology, which has gone through
three editions, and by which it will be seen that
the continued use of any particular manure to the
same description of soil and crop must, in great
measure, lose its eflfect ; also that certain manures
wdll only last one season, in consequence of its ten-
dency to volatilize. Tliis has also been strongly
noticed by that able and learned professor. Dr.
Buckland, at the late agricultural meeting at South-
ampton, in his remarks as to guano ; a manure that
I am convinced, in its genuine state and properly
applied, -will not fail to show its fertilizing qualities,

Mr. Herapath, the celebrated Bristol chemist, has
lately pubhshed a letter to the agricultural commu-
nity, in which he cautions the purchasers of guano
to be careful as to its adulteration, and also states
that by tnixinr/ it tvith lime the guano is spoiled and
the lime is also injured.

Experience teaches me that manures may he
used without doing the good it was calculated to
do, by l)eing injudiciously applied, when the land
is not in a fit state to receive it; and it is perfectly
useless to apply many of the best manures when
vegetation is in a dormant state, as it will lose its
qualities before the plant intended to be benefited
by it is in a fit state to receive it, or when the tem-
j)eratiu'e of the air is too cold to permit the ])lant
to gro\v ; and there can be no doubt but that liquid
manures, of whatever description, \vill be found to
answer or fail according as they are applied in due or
out of season, by the same rule.

Deep ploughing for fallows , where the land will
permit, certainly imjjroves the soil ; but this can
only be done with advantage in land known to the
experienced practitioner ; and when dung or lime
is applied to it, it should be carefully covered over
by the soil, but not too deep; for 1)e assured
the manure that is ploughed deep has never its pro-
per eflfect.

Farms are often said to be over tilled, that is,
corn produced year after year with little \'ariation
of crops or rest ; liy this course the soil is impov-
erished and weeds get verj' plenty. Persons that
have had to renovate such land know to their cost,
that whatever course they pursue, and however they
manure, land so exhausted is not very readily put
again in condition.

The best course in this case seems to be, to
clean the land, and let it out of tillage for a while,
and rest \vill restore it ; but here 1 beg to remark
(what I believe to be true, although opposed to
some of the opinions of the age) that good land
may be exhausted or deteriorated for a while by
bad management ; but let alone, nature and time will
recover it, and put it in its original condition ; and
bad land may be improved for a while, and made
to produce good crops by good husbandry; but
leave that alone to nature, and it will return nearly
if not wholly to its former state. I should say
these are my own ideas, but in mentioning it to a
friend of mine who is a good farmer of consid-
erable practice and observation, he quite agreed
with me.

In conclusion I would recommend all that hear
me to improve their farm-yards to the greatest pos-
sible extent for the purpose of making manure;
and to do this, let the stables, cattle sheds, and
pigsties be as much concentrated as possible, and
never fail to convert into manure all that can be got
together for that purpose. (The barn mil l)e better
a little detached, as the seeds from it will prove
injurious mLxed up with the manure.) Lastly,
ne^'er permit anything to be wasted that will improve
the land by irrigation, for this is not always paid
that attention to that it ought, for the result of my
reading and experience comes to this, that we look
to this and that as fertihzers of the soil, which is
procured at great cost and brought from a dis-
tance, but neglect that which nature has put mthin
our ovm control.

418

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

RESEARCHES ON THE FATTENING OF
CATTLE AND THE FORMATION OF
MILK.

By MM. Dumas, Boussingault, and Payne.*

All animals and all plants contain fatty matter
(la matiere grasse.) ITie first thought of all ob-
sen^ers on seeing it accumulate in certain tissues,
modify itself, and at times disappear altogether,
must have incUned to the generally-admitted
opinion that fatty matter is jjroduced through the
medium of the aliments of the plant or animal, and
by processes analogous in both.

The researches of which we are about to give a
short account, tend, on the contrary, to prove that
fatty matter is formed in plants only, that it passes
already prepared into animals, and that there it may
be either consumed at once for the developement
of the heat which the animal requires, or take its
place more or less modified in the tissues, to serve
as a reserve for respiration.

This last opinion is certainly the most simple
that can be taken of these phenomena ; but, before
discussing the experiments which confirm it, it will
be necessary to show how all the ideas which have
been hitherto formed on the origin of fatty matter
have been successively overturned. It were use-
less to search into the views which the ancient
chemists may have held on this subject. It is
since the origin of modern chemistry alone that
philosophers have been conducted by a more inti-
mate knowledge of the elementary composition of
organic substances, and by the observation of some
accidental phenomena, to construct true theories on
the formation of fatty substances.

It was thus that, at the period of the emptying
of the "Cemetiere des Innocents," the transfor-
mation of the muscles or internal organs into real
fatty matter was unhesitatingly admitted to be an
effect of the putrid decomposition of animal remains.
" The fat of dead bodies," as they called that pro-
duct into which the muscles, the liver, the l)rain,
&c., of the disinterred bodies appeared to be trans-
formed, was considered as the direct effect of the
alterations which the flesh, and, in general, the
fibrous parts of the tissues, had undergone in the
lapse of years in the grave. This opinion, some-
what later, was strongly supported by the experi-
ments of M. Berzelius, who, having submitted fi-
brine to the action of powerful acids, such as the
nitric, imagined he had discovered that filjrine,
in dissoMng, lost azote, and developed fatty matter ;
in fact, if the azote is wthdrawn from fibrine, the
remaining elerqents approach the composition of
fatty matters. But, on the one had, the researches
of M. Chevreul, on the fat of dead bodies, have
perfectly estabUshed its nature, proving that this
substance contains the same acids in which they
exist converted into soap by ammonia.

M. Guy Lusac, on the other hand has shown, by
direct experiments, that fibrine, submitted to putrid

* Translated from Les Comptes Rendus of 13th
February 1843,

decomposition, leaves, as a residuum, a quantity of
fat not sensibly greater than that which solvents
can extract from it in its natural state. Whence,
it follows that the result of putrefaction is to destroy
the fibrine, and, consequently, expose the fat sub-
stance which it contains.

In another process, some chemists supposed they
had discovered the formation of a fatty matter in
the action of nitric acid on starch during the pre-
paration of oxalic acid. There is, in fact, a fatty
substance, but M. Chevreul has long ago proved
that this matter pre-existed, and that the reaction
which destroys the starch merely sets it free.

We may therefore afiRrm that all the opinions
rashly put forth on these pretended formations by
chemical processes have one by one vanished as
they were subjected to a strict examination.

Let us now inquire into the results obtained by
physiology. Carnivorous animals contain fattymat-
ters, and they do not give them out by any of their
excretions. It is consequently in these animals that
it is easy to discover whence these substances are
derived and how they disappear. When we exa-
mine the progress of digestion in dogs, we are
soon convinced that their chyle is far from being at
all times of the same natvire ; that which is formed
under a vegetable diet, rich in fecula or sugar, or
that which comes from the digestion of lean meat,
are equally poor in globules ; these chyles are
transparent, A'ery watery, and yield but little to ether.

On the contrary, if these animals are fed on fat
meat, their chyle is very thick, of a creamy appear-
ance, verj' rich in globules, and yields to ether much
fatty matter.

These facts observed by M. Magendie, and again
with stUl more detail by MM. Sandres and Bou-
chardet, show, by the clearest e^adence, that the
fat substances of our food, cUvided or converted into
emulsion by digestion, pass, wthout much altera-
tion, into the chyle, and thence into the blood.
M. Donne has seen milk, injected into the veins,
remain several days in the blood. The buttery
globules, in fact, continue perfectly A'isible in the
blood during a certain time : it is not possible to bei
mistaken in this. The fatty matter of our food mayi
thus be followed into the chyle, and thence into the i
blood, were they continue long unaltered, waiting]
to be taken up by the organs.

Every chemist will be led to conclude, from these
observ^ations, and the many facts connected with
them, that the fatty matter, ready prepared, is the
principal if not the only product by means of which
animals can renew the adispose substance of their
organs, or furnish the butter in their milk. Such,
also, is the opinion which MM. Dumas and
Boussingault put forth on this subject in 1841.

This opinion will give rise to no sort of doubt so
long as it is confined to carnivorous animals ; but
if we would extend it to the herbivorous two diffi-
culties present themselves : — 1st, Is their found in
plants suflficient fatty matters to explain in this way
the fattening of cattle and the formation of milk ?
2nd, Is it not more simple to suppose that the but-
ter or the fat are the products of some transforma-
tions of sugar, easily imagined when we consider
its constitution and that of the fatty matters ? It
seems so unnatural to allow that the fattening ox '

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

419

finds the fat which he assimilates in his food, that
one cannot adniit the idea wthout having made
many analysis of plants, and seen the fatty matters
reappear everywhere, and in quantity almost always
greater than is thought to exist in the vegetable
organization.

But it is no longer startling when one is convinced,
as I have been, by the researches to which I have
dedicated the last ten years, that there is almost
constantly found in plants a union of neutral azo-
tized matters and fat substances. I have seen this
conjunction, not only in the seeds, but also in the
leaves and stalks. It is thus that we have been
led — M. Dumas by views of animal physiology,
M.Boussingault by agricultural studies, and myself
by my opinions on the physiologj' of plants, and by
my experiments on the composition of their tissues
— to adopt the same opinion, and to submit it to
the proof of experiment. According to this
opinion, the fatty matters are principally formed
in the leaves of plants, and they often assume in
them the form and the substance of waxy matter. In
passing into the bodies of herbivorous animals, these
matters are subjected in their blood to the influence
of oxy^gen, and undergo a partial oxydation, from
whence results the stearic or oleic acid which is
found in tallow. In undergoing a second elabora-
tion in the carnivorous animals, these same sub-
stances, oxydized anew, prodvice the margaric acid
which characterises their fat. Lastly, these differ-
ent principles, by a still higher oxydation, produce
the volatile fat acids that appear in the blood and
sweat. Fully admitting that, when comjiletely
acted upon by oxygen, they may be changed into
carbonic acid and water, and disappear from the
animal economy. Thus, taking our starting point
from the wax of the lea^'es, we shall see it pass
by digestion into the chyle of the herbivorous
animals, undergo in their blood an oxyda-
tion which forms it into stearine and oleine, and
from thence passing into the carnivorous animals,
the stearine, oxydized anew, becomes margarine;
at last, by a fresh oxydation, are formed the Vola-
tile acids, such as the caproic, capric, hersic, and
butyric. Although this system is quite simple, one
cannot help comparing it with an opinion which
rests naturally on the researches undertaken by M.
Dumas, and of which he has already given a sum-
maiy to the Academy. In fact, we may consider
sugar as formed of carbonic gas, water, and ole-
fiant gas. Now, why should not the olefiant gas,
once separated, take different states of condensa-
tion, and combine wth water, so as to produce
common alcohol, oil of potatoes, ahahc alcohol,
margaric alcohol, &c. These different bodies, in
oxydizing, produce the fatty acids, and afterwards
fat itself. Since it is kno\vn that the oil of potato-
spirit is the same which is found in brandy
made from the refuse of grapes, (marc de raisin J
from corn, and from beet-root molasses, the cer-
tainty that this oil is a product of the fermentation
of sugar seems complete.*

* We here speak of the oil of alcoholic compo-
sition, while another substance of the nature of es-
sential oils appears to be the origin of the charac-
teristic odour of the fecula of potatoes,

It is, therefore, possible that, in the act of diges-
tion, the sugar giving rise to a hke oil, or to one
more condensed, may intervene in the fat of herbi-
vorous animals — chemically speaking, at least,
nothing is opposed to it. It is, therefore, not pos-
sible to explain the accumulation of fat in carnivo-
rous animals otherwise than by supposing that it
comes to them from the herbivorous ones ; but, in
the case of these last, admitting that they profit by
the fat which plants contain, we may suppose that
they produce a certain quantity more by means of a
special fermentation of the sugar which forms part
of their food. This supposition becomes still more
natiu-al when we see the saccharine juices lose their
sugar at the moment of the flower and the fruit
being formed, as if the sugar of the juices went to
form the oils or the fats which are found in the
fruits or the seeds. If, in spite of these presump-
tions in favour of the inten^ention of sugar in the
formation of fat in animals, we have adopted a con-
trary opinion, it is that the facts have appeared to
us completely in accordance with this opinion, and
completely oi)posed to the h5q50thethis vrhich as-
cribes to sugar an essential part in the production
of fats. Nevertheless this hyiDOthesis, which we
combat, rests on two results worthy of our utmost
attention, on account of the high reputation of the
observers who have recorded them, and the conse-
quences which follow them. The first was obtained
by Huber, and, as may be easily imagined, relates
to bees ; the second originates from M. Liebig, and
as is known, relates to the fattening of geese.
Huber found, in fact, that bees, fed on honey, or
even on sugar, possess the power of producing
wax during a length of time. He estimates even
the quantity of wax which sugar can produce.

All physiologists and all chemists have copied
the results of Huber' s exjDeriments without exa-
mination, and have agreed with him that wax is
formed in bees by an act of their digestion with any
sort of food whatever — with sugar for instance.
As for us, we are led to beUeve that it is with a bee
as with a nurse. If a nurse finds in her food the
fatty matter and the proteine requisite for her milk,
she })roduces milk for her nursling, and her health
does not suffer. If, on the contrary, she is de-
prived, in whole or in part, of albuminous or fat
ahments, she still yields milk, but she becomes thin,
and in this case the milk is produced at the cost of
her o\vn substance. When we shall not rest satis-
fied Avith merely exam.ining if bees fed on honey
can make combs, but proceed to enquire how much
they lose of weight and of fat imder the influence
of such a regimen, we shall arrive probably at a
perfectly opposite conclusion from that of Huber.
Bees continue to produce wax, more or less mixed
with their own fat, for some time after they have
been placed on a purely sugar regimen ; their wax
becomes then gradually more and more fusible or
soft, on account of the mixture of stearine or oleine,
as Huber himself has stated; but without doubt,
under these circumstances their bulk diminishes in
a preceptible degree. This is a subject which at
present occupies one of our brethren, M. Edwards,
and, although serious difficidties have presented
themselves, we feel assured that to him they will
not prove insurmovintable, Independently of

420

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Huber, whose name is held in such veneration in
the scientific world, M. Liebig has recently pub-
ilshed opinions and experiments relative to the
origin of the fatty matter of animals. M. Liebig,
along with Huber, assigns the fat of animals to the
sugar or the starch of their food. He seeks to
strengthen this opinion by chemical formulae tend-
ing to prove that the sugar or the starch are changed
into fat by losing oxygen. M. Liebig expresses
himself on this i)oint in the following manner in
one of his recent works : —

" The relations between the sorts of food and
the ends which they serve in the animal economy
are now much clearer to us since organic chemistry
has taught us to examine them by the quantitive
method. A lean goose, weighing 2 kilogrames, in-
ci-eases 2 kilo. 50 in the course of thirty-six days,
during which time it has consumed in fattening 1 2
kilos, of maize. At the end of this time 1 kilo.
73 of fat may be extracted from it. It is evident
that the fat has not been found I'eady formed in the
food, for it hardly contains a one-thousandth part
of fat or similar substances."

We are convinced that this experiment on the
fattening of the goose is perfectly exact ; for its de-
tails correspond with what we ourselves know on
this point, according to what takes place at Stras-
burgh, Dijon, &c. But we cannot imagine that M.
Liebig can ])e ignorant that maize contains some-
thing else besides fecula, when the mere povmding
of maize with water produces a true emulsion, and
when the analysis of maize, already published by
one of ourselves, has given the following results : —

Starch . . .71.0

Azotized substances, 12.0 in three distinct states.

Fatty matters .

Cellulose .
Dextrine and sugar
Colouring matter

Salts.

8.7 one solid, the other

liquid.
5.8
0.5
0,05 soluble in oil, ether,

and, above all alcohol.
2.0

100,0

Fresh experiments, in confirming all these facts,
have shown us that the fatty matter of maize is
always present in the proportion of 7.5 to 9 per
cent. It is not surprising that we, who were aware
that maize is very rich in fixed oil, have come to
the conclusion, from its frequent and profitable
employment in the fattening of animals, that it is
by its fat substance that this grain fattens ; while
M. Liebig, persuaded that maize contains no oily
matters, naturally draws from its use the contrary
conclusion, and sees in the fecula of the maize the
origin of the fat of those animals that are fed on it.

We are quite satisfied that those who will take
the trouble (as we have done) to repeat the analysis
of maize will find, like us, nearly 9 per cent, of oil.
This quantity will appear less extraordinary when
we add that the cotyledon of the cereal plants is
always very rich in oil, and that that of the maize in
particular contains two-thirds of its weight of it,
and that this cotyledon is much more bulky in pro-
portion to the fruit in maize than in the other
cereals. Thence nothing is more easy to explain

than the fattening of animals on this food. It is
very eAndent that the fattening power of maize, so
universally applied, should in nowise surprise us,
and that the most simple mode of explaining it is
to admit that the fatty matter passes ready formed
into the animals which are nourished by it, and is
there fixed more or less modified. But in this view
of the subject we must account also for the fattening
properties of certain substances evidently less rich
in the fatt^' ^inciples. Thus, for instance, it is
very easy to show that a cow in good condition,
eating 100 kils. of dry hay, produces 42 litres of
milk, containing 1 kil. 5 of butter. If our opinions
are well founded, we ought to find in the dry hay
1.5 per cent, of fatty matter capable of producing
this butter. Now the analysis of various samples of
hay have given us 1.875 to 2.00 per cent, M.
Boussingault at the same time, without having any
' knowledge of our experiments, was led by the
same views to make the same trials. Meadow hay and
second crop of good quality yielded to him nearly
2 per cent, of fatty matter, and in samples of red
clover, cut in flower, the propoi'tion rose to from 3 to
4 per cent. We may therefore affirm, on the
universal ex])erience of agriculturists, that the hay
consumed by a milk cow contains a little more of
the fatty matter than the milk which she produces.
Nothing warrants us to imagine that this animal is
capable of forming the fatty matter of her milk, and
every thing leads us to believe that she receives it
ready made in her food. We may fear some error
in thus comparing hay taken l)y chance, and the
yield of milk equally taken by chance, although
they both were averages. A direct experiment
would, doubtless, be better, showing the propor-
tion of butter by analysis relatively to the fatty
matter of the hay eaten by the cow, and itself ana-
lyzed with care. This experiment has been made,
and made by M. Boussingault, with such care, and
on such a scale, as, we are persuaded, will convince
agriculturists. The experiment was carried on for
a year with seven cows of the Swiss breed — the
milk was measured with care at the two milkings
of each day. The seven cows produced 17,5/6
litres of milk of a mean density of 1.035. Accord-
ing to this, we may estimate the weight of the milk
at 18,195 kils. Analyses often repeated, and with
trifling variations in the results, show in the milk
0.7 per cent, of butter, completely deprived of water,
from whence it follows that the seven cows ha\'e
given, during the year, 673 kils. of butter ; during
this time they have eaten each 15 kils. of hay,
aftermath, and clover per day — that is to say, the
seven cows have ate in all, during the year, 38,325
kils. If we grant that the hay contains merely 1.8
of fatty matter per cent, we find that the 38,325
kils. represent 689. If we assume that the mean
proportion amounts to 2 per cent., we find in all
766 kils. Taking into account the clover used,
which is still more rich, we see that even this last
quantity will be much exceeded. Now the butter ob-
tained only reached to 673 kils. Thus, to produce a
quantity of butter amounting to 67 kils., a cow eats
a quantity of hay which contains of fatty matter at
least 69 kils., but probably 76 kils, or even more.
The conclusions which it seems to us the most
natural to draw from this experiment is, that the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

421

cow extracts from her food almost all the fatty
matters which it contains, and that she converts
that fatty matter into butter.

Perhaps one could, at will, but always within
certain limits, cause the proportion of ])utter in
the milk, and also its quality, to vary. To ])rove
this, for instance, is it not enough to recall to mind
that the butter of cows in the same locality varies
very much according as they are fed on green
forage or on dry food ; that the butter of the Vosges,
for instance contains in summer 6(3 of margarine to
lOOofoleine, and in winter as much as 18G of
margarine to 100 of oleine ? In the first instance,
the cows ])asture on the mountain ; in the second,
they eat dry forage in the cow-house. But, doubt-
less, it would he more satisfactory to give here a
direct experiment on this point, which appears to
us conclusive. If we exchange half the ration of
hay given to a cow for an equivalent quantity of
rape-cake, which is still rich in oil, the cow will
continue in good condition, but the milk yields a
less solid butter, which has to an intolerable degree
the peculiar savour of rape oil. What can be ob-
jected to this experiment, conducted by one of
ourselves, and how avoid acknowledging that the
fatty matter in the food passes into the milk,
scarcely at all altered, to form butter ?

Let any intelligent agriculturist, guided by
suitable chemical study, make use of these ideas,
and he ^vill soon succeed, we doubt not, in modi-
fying the quantity as well as the flavour of the pro-
ducts of the daily, at will, by judiciously varying
the nature of the food given to his animals. AVe
do not hesitate to affirm that what we have said
above of the experiment conducted by one of our-
selves on seven cows is applicable to the generality
of cases. It results, in truth, from all the details,
that 100 kilogs. of hay, clover, or aftermath dry,
and still more an equal quantity of green food
eaten by cows, yields, on an average, 42 litres of
milk. In like manner we find, on an average, that
28 litres of milk contain and yield 1 kilog. of but-
ter; hence it follows that 100 kilogs. of dry hay
yields 1 kilog. 50 of butter. Now the analysis
8he^^'s in dry hay a quantity of fatty matter which
rises at the lowest to 1 kilog. 87;'), or 2 per cent. ;
consequently a larger quantity than the milk pro-
duced contains, and which represents at the same
time that which is found in the excrements of the
animal. M. Riedesel, an agriculturist who has at-
tentively studied this sidjject, presents the results
under another form. He separates the food of the
cow into two parts, and distinguishes the allowance
for support from that which goes to the formation

of milk. According to him, a cow weighing 600
kilogs. requires 10 kilogs. of dried hay for her ra-
tion of supijort. On this allowance she could not
produce milk without becoming lean ; l)ut for each
kilog. of hay which she eats, abo\'e the 10 kilog. of
support, she yields one litre of milk, so that such
a cow, eating 20 kilogs. of hay, can yield 10 litres
of milk. These results correspond to our own re-
searches, Init they require a different interpretation.
According to our own opinion it would be wrong
to admit that a cow can extract 10 litres of milk
from 10 kilogs. of dry hay. This appears to us im-
possible; because 10 litres of milk contains 0 kilog.
370 of butler; and 10 kilogs. of dry hay only con-
tain 0 kilog. 187 of fatty matter. May it not be
thus. When a cow eats only 10 kilogs. of dry hay,
she consumes all the product she can extract from
it, whether they be azotized, fat, or saccharine mat-
ter ; but if the cow gets 20 kilogs. of dry hay, she
finds in it saccharine or analogous products in
quantities more than sufficient for her daily sup-
port, and nothing prevents her from reserving, un-
der the form of milk, a portion of the azotized
matters, and almost the whole of the fatty matter.
W^e know, besides, that as the cow fattens, her al-
lowance remaining the same, the milk diminishes
in proportion to the increase of the weight of the
animal, and in a relation which we shall presently
point out. Like all other animals, the cow requires
to produce each day a given quantity of heat, M'hich
she developes by means of the soluble products
contained in her blood, before having recourse to
the insoluble products, such as the neutral fat sub-
stances which the chyle is constantly pouring into
it. Thus, at the short allowance of 10 kilogs., a
cow consumes all that she absorbs ; if she eats 20
kilogs., she makes a selection, consuming certain
products and reserving others, and thus she finds
the 0 kilog. 370 of butter, which her milk contains,
in the hay that she had, and where analysis, in fact,
shows us, at the lowest, 0 kilog. 370, and even 0
kilog. 400 of fatty matter. But if it is true that
the hay contains enough of the fatty matter to re-
present the butter which exists in the milk yielded
by the animal fed on it, shall we find the same re-
sult when the cow is fed on aliments of a different
kind — the answer will be easy. Thanks to the de-
tails which we owe to the politeness of M. Damoi-
seau, one of the most attentive observers who has
studied the subject of the production of milk, and
who has carried the rigour of scientific methods
into the study of all the phenomena which he had
under his eyes in his fine establishment.

Comparatioe Rations for a Cow.

Kilogs. Kilogs.

Mangel-wurzel 40 Carrots 34

White Bran 3 . . 3

Coarse Flour 2.5 . . 2.5

Lucerne , 3 . . 3

Oat Straw 6 . . 6

Sea Salt , 0.05 . . 0.05

Kilogs.
Potatoes 25
3

2.5
3
6
0.05

Product in milk and cream. . 54,55 Max.

48.55 Mean,

39.55 Min.

422

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

In order to comprehend the true meaning of 1 10 litres, and the maximum rose to 15 htres per
these expressions we must add that the minimum day.*
of milk was 7 litres per day, the mean rose to 9 or \

Comparative Rations for a Milch Ass.

Mangel "VVurzel. .
\ATiite Bran ....
Coarse Flour. . . .

Lucerne 1.050

Oat Straw 2.100

Sea Salt 0.020

Kilogs.

14.000
0.950
0.955

Product in milk }
and cream. . i

Carrots

19. 1/5 Max.

Kilogs.

Kilogs.

11.900

Potatoes

8.744

1.050

1.050

0.955

0.955

1.050

1.050

2.100

2.100

0.020

0.020

16.075 Mean.

13.919

Min

Rations for a Goat.
Kilogs.

Mangel-

ivurzel 5.900
0.600
0.460
0.500
1.000
1.010

Max. 8.370

Taking the solid equivalents of potatoes, carrots,
and mangel-wurzel, we still see, according to the
experiments tried on milk asses, that the potatoes
give the maximum of milk just as we had found in
the milch cow.

Let us now calculate the real value of these dif-
ferent sorts of food, and let us take first, as an in-
stance, the allowance of which mangel forms the
principal part. It is made up of 40 kils. of man-
gel, 14 kils. 55 of bran, lucerne, and straw, which

appears only destined to distend the stomach o*
the animal, as has been generally supposed. Che-
mical analysis wiU teach us what we ought to
think of this opinion. The oat straw does not con-
tain less than 5 per cent, of resinous fatty matter,
{matiere grasse resinoide), the lucerne 3.5 per cent.,
the bran 5 per cent. : hence it follows that, in the
food of a milk cow in the establishment of M. Da-
moiseau, there is

5 kilogs. 5 Bran and coarse fiour, at 5 per cent,
3 — 0 Lucerne at 3 per cent.

6 — 0 Oat Straw at 4 per cent.

0 kilog. 275 of fatty matter.
0 — 090
0 — 240

0

60c

Here we have 600 grammes of fatty matter, a
quantity more than sufficient to produce not only
10 litres of milk, but even 15 litres of milk very
rich in cream — quantities containing 400 to 550
grammes of butter. If, besides this, the cotv gets
40 kils. of mangel, she finds in this additional food
6 kils. of sohd matter, formed of sugar, which she
absorbs, 20 grammes of fatty matter which can be
formed into butter, and azotized matters which
may be converted into caseine. The water of the
mangel, moreover, is far from being useless — it is
equally necessary for the production of milk as for
the variovis vital functions of the animal. "When
the cow gets 25 kils. of potatoes, it is still 6 kils.
of dry matter that she is receiving ; this matter
contains equally 20 grammes of fat substances,
combined with a great quantity of starch, which
may be changed into sugar and albinninous mat-
ters which take part in digestion. If the potato
yields less milk than the mangel, it is, doubtless,
because it contains less water. According to the
analysis, it requires nearly 33 kils. of carrots to
represent 40 kils. of mangel ; but the regimen of
carrots is had recourse to for other reasons than
those which relate to the economical production of

* The cow-keepers who provide Paris, and large
towns in general, get quit of those cows which,
from getting fat, or from other causes, give httle
milk; hence it arises that the average yield of milk
is higher in such localities.

milk.* It results from this examination that, if,
instead of the 20 kils. of dry hay, a cow gets 14
kils. of oat straw, bran, or lucerne, and 6 kilogs.
supposed dry, of mangel or potatoes, in all 20 ki-
logs., in this last regimen the mangel or potatoes
constitute the ration of support, and sustain the
life of the animal by their sugar or their starch.
On the other hand, it is the oat straw, the bran,
and the lucerne which furnish the greater part of
the fatty matter necessary to the production of
milk. If we now pass to the phenomena of the
fattening of animals, we shall find so exact an ap-
plication of the principles we have laid down, that
if any circumstances remain to be explained, we
hope they wiU soon be so, by those agricultmnsts
who will hasten to engage in the experiments ne-
cessary to verify the views which have so much in-
terest for them.

Setting out from the figures resulting from
the experiments of M. Riedesel, which corres-
ponds in some points \\dth the information which
we have ourselves obtained, we arrive at the fol-
lowing results : — According to M. Riedesel, an ox
weighing 600 kilogs. keeps up his weight when

* This sort of food is resented for those cows,
which are not so good milkers, and whose milk it
is wished still farther to impoverish, in order that
it may ser^'e as a substitute for woman's milk.
This is done with a view to avoid a too sudden
transition when the milk of a nurse chances to fail.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

423

he eats 10 kilogs. per day of hay ; in fattening, the
same ox requires 20 kilogs. per day ; and on this
allowance he can gain 1 kilog. in weight. While
we consider the experiments of M. Riedesel as pre-
senting too favourable results, by giving the maxi-
mum of the nutritive power of hay or its equiva-
lents, we admit mth this agriculturist that 10
kilogs. of hay may produce about 10 htres of milk,
or nearly 1 kilog. of beef : it remains to be seen what
a kilog, of increase in the weight of an ox consists
of. Now we may conceive that this kilog. is di-
vided thus : admitting that the fatty matter of the
hay is taken up by the animal, in the same way as
it passes into the milk of the cow, we find that the
ox has gained about 0 kilog. 370 of fat ; there re-
mains then 0 kilog. 630 of moist flesh, which
ought to contain 0 kilog. 160 of dry flesh. Whence
it follows that an ox which is fattening, granting
that he takes up into his tissues all the fat svib-
stance of the hay which he eats, does not however
derive from his food more than the half of the
azotized matter which the cow extracts from it
under the form of milk, and that he loses the
whole of the aliment which the cow converts into
the sugar of milk. It is not necessary to revert to
this examination to show how great is the differ-
ence between the cow and the ox, with regard to
the profit which they extract for the benefit of man
from'the food given to them. In truth, in this ex-
ample, which we borrow from M. Riedesel, the
cow which has consumed 10 kilogs. of hay above
her ration of support, yields 10 litres of milk,
which represent 1 kilog. 4 of soUd matter, while
the ox has only increased 1 kilog. with the same
food, and this kilog. the water absorbed into the
tissues of the animal ought certainly to be counted
as the half. Hence it follows that there is exag-
geration in supposing that the ox has absorbed
0 kilog. 500 of solid matter, with the same food
which furnished 1 kilog. 400 of it to the milk of
the cow. A mUch cow, then, draws to the profit
of man, from the same pasture, a quantity of mat-
ter for the food of man which may be more than
double that extracted from it by a fattening ox. We
see, then, that whatever tends to establish the trade
in milk upon a basis which may mspire confidence
and deserve it, would be worthy of the highest at-
tention from an intelligent administration. Hence
it follows also that a more general introduction of
Swiss fruit-shops and cheese manufactories would
be of most essential service to the agriculture
of France, at least in those localities where it is not
possible for man to consume the whole dairy pro-
duce in the form of milk.

Let us now see if these views correspond with
general experience, and examine if the relations
which we ha.ve stated between the secretion of milk
and the fattening of cattle are confirmed by prac-
tice.

The following note, which we owe to the pohte-
ness of M. Yvart, gives a summary of a long
series of facts. "The secretion of milk," says
this talented veterinarian, " seems to alternate with
that of fat. When a milch cow grows fat her milk
diminishes — the best milkers remain long thin
after calving. In some of the English breeds,
where the fatty cellular tissue is much developed,

as, for instance, the Durham breed, the quantity
of milk may be very great after calving ; but they
quickly grow fat, and the secretion of milk does
not last as in the Dutch and Flemish cows.
English swine, which are much more inclined to
fatten than the swine of the French breed, are
rarely such good nurses, that is to say, they give
less milk." If we admit that there exists such a
balance between the formation of milk and that of
fat, we are A'ery near admitting, also, that the fat
food, indispensable to the production of milk, is
not less so to the production of fat in animals.

Are there any circumstances in which animals
have been fattened \vith food devoid of fat ? We
confess we have not met with a single fact which
has appeared to us to lead to such a conclusion.
A very clever agriculturist has tried, for instance,
the effect of potatoes in fattening hogs, but he could
not succeed in fattening them by means of this food
without adding some cake greaves, which are
known to contain a considerable quantity of fatty
matter. On the other hand, we have made experi-
ments with hogs, which appear quite conclusive,
and from which it results that, while two Hamp-
shire hogs, after eating 30 kils. of gluten, and 14 kils.
of fecula, had only gained 8 kils. ; two other ani-
mals of the same breed, the same age, and the same
weight, which in the same time had eaten 45 kils.
of cooked flesh of sheejj's heads, containing from 12
to 15 per cent, of fat, had gained 16 kils. ; never-
theless, judging from the elementary analysis,
these different sorts of food were equivalent. The
first contains dry gluten 12 kils. X fecula 14 kils.,
the second contains of flesh deprived of moisture
9 kils. and fat 7 kils., thus the quantities of carbon
and azote were even a little greater in the vegetable
food, but these two rations difl'er materially in this,
that the animal food contained a quantity of fat
equivalent to that which the other contained of
fecula.

In a second trial, four hogs, fed with boiled
potatoes, carrots, and a little rye, had gained only 53
kils. 5, whilst four other hogs, of the same age,
and in the same condition, treated with a regimen
of boiled sheep's heads, had gained 103 kils. We
could not help being much struck v/itli the cir-
cumstance that the inci'ease of weight of a fatten-
ing animal being considered as containing 50 per
cent, of water, 33.3 of fat, 16.6 of azotized matter,
we arrive at the conclusion that the greater part of
the fat is taken up into the tissue of the animal.
Thus the first hogs had eaten G kils. 7 of fat, and
had gained 5 kils. 2., the four last had eaten 8 kils.
4 of fat, and had gained (5 kils. 7. We cannot con-
clude this paper without recalhng the remarkable
experiments by which M. Magendie has so well
])roved that the chyle of animals fed on fat food is
itself very rich in the fatty matter, and that under
the influence of a diet rich in fat, the animals are
subject to that affection of the hver which is known
by the name of fat liver [''foie yros'"). These facts
have had a great weight in the examination which
has led us to the opinions we have just expressed.

To sum uj), we ha^-e found by experiment that
the hay contains more of the fatty matter than the
milk which it goes to fonn, and that it is the same
with the other rations on which cows or milch

424

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

asses have been put. That oil-cake increases
the production of butter, but is Uable to make it
less solid, and may give it the taste of the vegeta-
ble oil when there is too great a quantity of this
food in the ration. That maize possesses a power
of fattening, dependent on the large jiroportion of
oil which it contains. That there exists the most
perfect analogy between the production of milk and
the fattening of animals, as the bearers of stock
had anticipated. That nevertheless the fattening
ox turns to use less of the fatty matter or azotized
.substances than the milk cow. That this last
merits, in an economical point in view, by much
the preference, when the question is to get from a
pasture the greatest amount of product useful to
man. That potatoes, mangel-wurzel, and carrots,
only fatten in so far as they are joined with pro-
ducts containing fat substance, such as straw, the
seeds of cereal plants, bran, or oil-cake. That
equal weights of gluten, mixed with fecula and
flesh rich in fat, produce an eflfect in fattening
which in the hog differs in the ratio of 1 to 2. All
these results agree so completely with the opinion
which holds that fatty matter passes in substance
from the digestive canal into the chyle, and thence
into the blood, the milk, or the tissues, that it is
difficult for us to imagine on what fact can be
founded the idea that the fatty matter is capable of
being formed from any substance by the animal.
We know perfectly that chemistry is succeded in
transforming bodies, such as amygdaline, into oil
of bitter almonds, hydracyamic acid, &c. AVe
know that it can convert saclicine into oil of queen
of the meadow, carbonic acid, &c., and we believe
that by similar processes, under particular circum-
stances, certain vegetable matters may yield fat
bodies ixnder the action of chemical agents : but
hitherto none of the phenomena of the economy of
the higher animals give reason to think that such
facts have any share in their digestion, in the
formation of their chyle,* the production of their
milk, or in the phenomena which take place during
their fattening.

* Numerous facts well worthy of serious atten-
tion have taught us that green forage is, in general,
more favovirable than dry for the production of
milk and the fattening of animals. It would,
doubtless, be curious and useful to determine the
circumstances favourable to complete this assimila-
tion, and what are their precise eiiects. This is a
subject for very interesting researches. If we could
have entered on it, we shovild have wished to con-
nect the results of these comparisons of different
diets with the remarkable facts observed by M.
Magendie, which have broiight to light notable
differences between the nutritive powers of cooked
meat and raw flesh ; but such studies would have
led us to far. We have preferred confining our-
selves to the outline we had marked out, leaving to
other experimenters to go deeper into these ques-
tions, but at the same time without giving up the
pursuit ourselves.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES APPLICABLE TO
THE MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT TREES.

Standard fruit trees occasion less trouble in
managing, and are more certain in bearing, than
either wall trees or espaliers ; though there are
some trees, as the peach, which are too tender for
being grown as standards ; and others, as the vine,
which are unsuitable. In standard trees, the top
will generally be adjusted to the root naturally;
and hence, in such trees, very little pruning will
become requisite beyond that of thinning out cross-
ing or crowded branches : but, in wall and espalier
trees, as the top is disproportionately small to the
roots, pruning or disbudding, &c., as a substitute,
becomes necessary during the whole period of their
existence. The nearest approach which a wall tree
can be made to have to a standard is, when, in
the case of north and south walls, one half of the
the branches are trained on the east side of the
wall, and the other half on the west side ; or when
one tree is made to cover both sides of a double
espalier. Pruning may be rendered almost unne-
cessary by disbudding, disleafing, and stopping ;
but this will not always be the best course to pur-
sue. When the root of a wall tree is to be
strengthened, more shoots should be left than are
required for being laid in at the winter piaming;
and when the root is to be weakened, all or a part of
the shoots produced may be left, but they must be
disleafed or stopped as fast as they advance in
growth, or the stem may be ringed, or the young
shoots twisted or broken down, or the roots
pruned.

Keeping roots near the sxu-face, and encouraging
the production of suiface roots, will have a ten-
dency to moderate the production cf wood ; and
deep planting and stirring the surface to a foot
or more in depth will throw the roots down to a
moister stratum, and encourage the production of
wood, but of an inferior quality for the future pro-
duction of fruit. Dry sandy soil, not rich, flail
produce moderate grofl^th and precocity, both in
the fruit and the ripening of the wood, and rich
deep soil the contrary; hence dry soil, compara-
tively poor, ought to l)e preferred for cold late
situations, in which it is always desirable to ripen
early both the fruit and the wood. By depriving
a tree or a j)lant of its first crop of buds, a second
crop will be jiroduced the same season, but some
weeks later ; and, on this principle, late crops of
leaves may be produced on all jjlants, and of fruits
on all such trees and plants, as have the power of
forming blossom-buds, and expanding them in the
course of one season ; as, for example, the rasp-
berry, strawbeny, grape, and all annual and bien-
nial fniit-b earing plants whatever. As all jilants
require a certain period of rest, by bringing on
this period sooner than autumn, by disleafing and
depriving the roots of moisture by thatching the
ground over them, they Avill be predisposed to
vegetate sooner in spring. Hence the advantage
of pruning all trees, the young wood of which is
not liable to be injured by the frost immediately
after the faU of the leaf. All wood that is not
thoroughly ripened should be protected during
mnter by branches, fern, hay netting, or some other

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

426

means ; but, as this is only applicable to wall trees,
the soil for all others should be so adjusted to the
climate as to insure their wood ripeniuj^ in the open
garden or orchard. As the most exhausting jiart
of every fruit is the seed, and as the number
of seeds in every fruit is limited by nature, it fol-
lows that a few fruit grown to a large size will be
less injurious to a plant than the same weight of
fruit produced in fruits of small size. As in plants
in a state of seed-bearing the chief energies of the
plant are directed to the nourishment of the seed,
so in those fi-uit-bearing plants in which the frviit is
gathered green, such as cucumbers, gourds, capsi-
cums, peas, beans, kidneybeans, &c. ; none of the
fruit should be allowed to mature any seed so long
as any of it is gathered in an imripe state. Hence
the immense importance of thinning out the blos-
som-buds of trees before they expand, and thinning
out the fruit before the embrj-o of the seed begins
to assume that stage which in berries and pomes
is called setting, and in nuts and stone-fruit ston-
ing. When a fruit is once set or stoned, if the
embryo of seed be destroyed by the deposition in
it of the eggs of an insect, or by the puncture of a
needle, the fruit, if it does not fall off, v,n.\\ ripen
earher, but will be in most cases of inferior flavour.
The same result will take place to a limited extent
even \vith leaves, when they are punctured.

Any check giving to the head of a tree, such as
disleafing, the attacks of insects, disease, overbear-
ing, &c. ; has a tendency to cause the plant to
throw up suckers, if it is natural to the root or
stock to do so. As the leaves produced at the base
of a young shoot are small, and generally soon
drop off, so the buds in the axils of such leaves are
never blossom-buds till they have become in-
vigorated by at least another year's growth ; and
hence, when young wood is shortened, if blossom
is the immediate object, it ought not to be cut
farther back than to the first large bud. This is
particularly applicable in the case of vines, roses,
&c. In shortening such wood on spur-bearing
trees, such as the apple and pear, only one or two
of the imperfect buds are left at the base of the
shoot, and these the following year generally be-
come blossom-buds, if the tree is neither too weak
nor too luxuriant. In general, v/inter-pruning a
young tree retards the period of its fruit-bearing,
but greatly increases the vigour of the tree ; hence
delicate trees, such as the j^each, require more
pruning than very hardy trees, such as the apple
and plum.

" Summer pruning," a friend observes, "effects
various objects; it exposes the fruit, where it
exists, and also the embrj-o fruit-buds, and leaves
connected with them, to the beneficial influence
of light, air, and dews. This is effected by remov-
ing those portions of shoots which, as they ad-
vance, would more and more shade the lower parts,
and prevent them in a great measure from deriving
advantage from the above imjjortant agencies as
regards vegetation ; these may be termed mecha-
nical effects. Physiologically considered, the pro-
gress of the sap is limited by summer jiruning,
and is directed towards the leaves and buds on
the lower part of shoots, which are in consequence
invigorated, more especially as their free exiJosure

to light, &c., enables them better to elaborate this
increased supply. Hut although the fohage so left
to act is increased in size and efficiency, yet the
agency of this portion in producing roots is, not-
withstanding, less powerful than the whole mass
would be, if the shoots were allowed to grow wild
throughout the sinnmer ; for in proportion to the
mass of healthy foliage, so is the increase of roots.
Hence excessive vigour is moderated by summer
])runing, and this in a greater or less degree accord-
ing to the time and manner of performing the ope-
ration. The longer the operation is deferred, and
the less the portion cut off from the shoots, the
greater will be the strength which the roots otU
derive ; and the earlier and shorter the shoots are
cut, the less will be the quantity of foliage, and pro-
portionally so the quantity of roots. Therefore,
if a tree is too vigorous, summer pruning should
commence by disbudding such shoots, as they ap-
pear, as are not at all wanted to be retained for
wood or spurs ; and, as soon as the shoots intended
to produce fruit spurs or buds at their base have
become furnished with five buds, the extremity
may be pinched off. As many as five buds are
mentioned because fewer do not complete one turn
of the spiral, which may be traced by following
the arrangement of the buds on a shoot of such
fruit trees as are usually trained on walls. In the
course of a fortnight, the ujjpermost buds on the
portion left will have commenced to push ; and
they must be allowed to go on for a longer or
shorter time without stopping, accorchng to the
greater or less danger of the buds at the base
being also developed into shoots, instead of remain-
ing in the character of fruit buds till next spring.
If the roots, and of covu-se the tree generally, re-
quire to be invigorated, the shoots will not be so
nvimerous, and may be allowed to extend till after
midsummer; and then only shortened for a little
at first in order that as much fohage as is consis-
tent with the principles above explained may be
left to act. It is a very prevalent but no less erro-
neous notion, that in the case of an over-\-igorous
tree, as much wood should be retained, and as many
shoots allowed to grow as possible, in order that
its vigour may be moderated by the expenditure.
Those who hold this opinion may rest assured that
the more a young tree grows, the more it is capa-
ble of growing ; for growth is not a mere evolution
of parts already formed, evolved by a determinate
amount of expansive power. If ten buds give
rise to a hundred others, these last have the power
of originating (in the same ratio) one thousand,
and so on, as long as force of sap towards new
formations is undiminished." — N.

All shoots under half an inch in diameter, cut
from the side of a stem before midsummer, will
generally heal over the same season. Terminal
wounds made by shortening will not heal over tiU
a shoot has been produced, the base of which will
cover the wound.

The fruit-bearing shoots of all trees, in a natural
state, are chiefly such as are lateral, %vhile the wood
of the tree is chiefly increased by the vertical
shoots ; hence some modification of lateral training
will, in almost every case, be found preferable to
training vertically. Lateral roots are also those

426

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

which contribute most to fruit-bearing wood ; and
tap or deep-growing roots to upright and barren
wood. All resti'aint imposed on trees, whether by
training, root-pruning, or ringing the branches,
if not followed up by art, will speedily end in dis-
figuring the tree and rendering it unfruitful, till
it has assumed its natural fonn and habit of
growth; and, if the tree should be of a species
so tender as not to ripen fruit in its natural form
as a standard, it will, by assuming that form, have
become useless as a fruit tree. In the case of all
trees in a state of culture, and more especially
such as grow in soil the surface of which is heated
more than that of the general surface of the lo-
cality, as in the case of a border exposed to the
reverberation of the sun's rays in front of a south
wall, artificial supplies of water are necessary at
particular seasons ; and water, therefore, must be
considered as much an element of culture as ma-
nure. All the diseases of fruit trees cannot be
effectually prevented or cured by judicious culture,
but most of them may ; and all insects which live
on the svirface of trees may be destroyed or sub-
dued by abundant washings with clear water by
the syringe or engine. All fruit-bearing plants
(and indeed all others) grown in pots ought to be
potted in soil which has not been sifted, and which,
if not sufficiently coarse to keep it so ojjen as to
receive water freely, should be mixed Avith frag-
ments of wood, bones, and stone, for that purpose,
for supplying manure, and for retaming moisture.
— Gardeners' Magazine.

LORD WORSLEY'S COMMONS' INCLO-
SURE BILL.

The report of the select committee appointed to
inquire into the expediency of facilitating the in-
closure and improvement of commons, and land
in common, and exchange of lands, and the di-
vision of intermixed lands; and into the best
means of providing for the same, has lately been
published. The minutes of evidence attached to
the report is extremely voluminous, though in many
respects interesting, and adduces strong evidence
in favour of the inclosure of many of our com-
mons. The committee agreed to the following reso-
lutions : —

" That it appears, by the evidence of competent
and experienced witnesses, that a large portion
of the waste land of the kingdom is capable of
profitable cultivation, or of other improvement.

" That these lands, as now used or cultivated,
are comparatively improductive, whilst they are,
in several locahties, a source of serious injury and
inconvenience to the surrounding neighbourhood,
by their effect upon the character of the popula-
tion.

"That the expense of procuring and carrying
into effect private or local acts of parhament for
the inclosure of land is so great, as to be, in the
case of commons of limited extent, a serious
impediment to their inclosure, whilst in the case

of commons of large extent, the uncertainty of
an application to parhament, coupled with that
of the amount of the expense attending it, almost
equally prevents the parties interested from mak-
ing such application, whilst, at the same time,
it appears that the large expenses of passing inclo-
sure acts through parliament, have been frequently
occasioned by the want of due attention of parties
interested, to the legal means in their power to
check and to control improper charges.

"That the legislature has, by repeated acts and
resolutions, admitted the principle and advantage
of affording facilities for the inclosure of waste
lands.

" That the present time is more favourable than
any that has preceded it for a general measure of
inclosure ; first, because the waste and other
lands to which such measure would apply, are
freed, by the operation of the tithe act, from any
liability to an increased payment upon their culti-
vation or improvement; secondly, because the
introduction and application of a more cheap and
skilful system of draining, and various artificial
manures to lands of this description, and the
increase of agricultural enterprise, afford the
prospect of raising them to a high degree of fer-
tility, at a moderate cost; whilst, thirdly, the ex-
penses incident to the partition of all such lands
amongst the parties entitled thereto would be
greatly decreased, as, in many instances, the exist-
ing maps and valuations made for the purposes of
the tithe act, might be rendered available for the
purposes of inclosure.

" That, under the operation of the 6 and 7 Wil-
liam 4, c. 115, a large extent of common field land
has been inclosed, whilst the powers of that act
have not been so generally used as might be
expected, if it were in some respects altered,
especially with a view to diminishing expense.

" Tliat great loss and inconvenience have been
found to result from the occupation of intermixed
lands occupied in severalty, and detached from
such other, and divided into parcels of such
inconvenient form and size as to be incapable
of improved and advantageovis cultivation.

" That great advantages would necessarily be
found to result from affording increased facilities
for the exchange of lands to a hmited extent,
provided that, in affording such facilities, when
parties are under legal incapacity, the reversion-
ary interest of all persons be properly secured.

"That loss and inconvenience have been fre-
quently found to result from the incomplete and
the imperfect execution, and from the non-execu-
tion of powers given to commissioners of inclosure,
and that it would be advantageous to provide some
remedy for that evU.

"That it appears to be both practicable and
expedient, under the provisions of a general in-
closvu'e act, to intrust the superintendence of all
applications for the inclosure of land, and the
carrjdng of the same into operation, to some central
body, to whom all local functionaries should be
responsible; but that the sanction of parliament,
in regard to all inclosures authorized by a central
board of commissioners, shoidd be requisite before
their decision should have legal effect."

THE FABMER'S MAGAZINE.

427

DARLINGTON FARMERS' CLUB,

At the last monthly meeting of this club, the
subject undei" discussion was "wheat sowing, with
the preparation of the land and seed, and the proper
time for sowing."

In the absence of Henry Chapman, Esq., chair-
man, Mr. Walton, vice-chairman, presided ; and
in opening the, meeting he observed that the subject
they were then met to discuss was one of great
importance to the tillage land farmers of the
neighbourhood, and one that he considered de-
served more attention than was sometimes bestowed
upon it, but more particularly with regard to sow-
ing wheat on clover leys ; and his opinion was
that it was better not to sow when the land was
in a very wet state, more particularly in a late sea-
son, for in such a case he thought it much better
to run the risk of a still later season, and have
the land in a tolerably dry and firm state, than to
sow it very wet, he having himself experienced
the ill effects of wet sowing. He then gave in
detail an account of a field of clover ley, part of
which was sown while the land was wet, and the
remainder some time later when the land had got
into a drier state, the crop being much superior
on the dry sown land than on the wet . The subject
was discvissed at length, when the general opinion
seemed to be that it was desirable to avoid sowing
when the land was in a very wet state ; and whe-
ther sown broadcast or drilled, it was better not
to sow the land too soon after being ploughed,
as wheat is found to answer much better when the
land has been jjloughed awhile beforehand, as by
that means the seed gets a firmer bed, which is
now believed to be very essential to its success.
With regard to the preparation of the seed it was
believed that in all ordinary cases the method at
present followed in this neighbourhood as a pre-
ventive against smut answers very well, which is,
wetting the seed thoroughly with stale urine, where
it can be obtained. In ordinary cases where this
precaution has been used, and smut has made its
appearance in the crop, it was believed to have
proceeded from the seed wheat not having been
thoroughly mixed and wet in every part by
the urine before applying the lime. It was
also believed that, althovigh smut cannot itself
grow, it is desirable to avoid sowing wheat infected
with smut, as it is apt to make its appearance in
the succeding crop, but in cases where it becomes
necessary to sow smutty wheat, one of the best
remedies known is to wash it in vitriol water instead
of wetting it with stale urine. Drilling and rib-
bing wheat was considered by the members pre-
ferable to sowing broadcast in all cases where
practicable, as by that means the land can be hoed
while under crop and kept in a cleaner state, and
thereby not exhausted by growing weeds. It was
also considered that a less quantity of seed per
acre than Avhat has been generally so^\^l would
answer the purpose equally well, if not better;
and where two bushels per acre have been regu-
larly sown it was believed that six pecks would be
sufficient ; and in support of this principle Mr.
Joseph Johnson mentioned an accidental circum-
stance which had happened in his own practice,

and which was as follows : — Some years ago having
as usual prepared the seed wheat in the morning
for the day's sowing, it happened from some cause
or other (he believed from the urine being too
strong) that such parts of the seed as were sown
in the early part of the day sprouted as usual
and grew well; but such parts as were sown in the
latter part of the day came up very much thinner,
a great portion of it not having vegetated at all,
whereby that part of the field sown in the latter
part of the day looked for some time much too
thin and likely for a failing crop ; yet when har-
vest came it was full as good if not superior to the
other part which was sown in the morning. He
also further stated that he was now in the habit
of sowing less seed than formerly, and found it to
answer better ; he formerly drilled his wheat six
inches apart betwixt the rows; but now, and for
the future, he would always give it nine inches
betwixt the drills, as he thereby found that it til-
lered better, was better to hoe and clean, and alto-
gether answered a better purpose. At the con-
clusion of the discussion it was unanimously re-
solved : —

1st. That it is desirable in sowing wheat to give
it a firm bed ; therefore, it is better to have the
land ploughed a week or two before sowing.

2nd. That in preparing the seed it is important
that it be thoroughly mixed with urine or brine,
so that every grain is wet before adding the lime,
and then the whole to be well worked together.

3rd. That the best time for sowing wheat is
from the middle of October to the middle of No-
vember.

The following table will show at a glance the relative
value of meat at the markets where the different weights
per stone are used. It must be kept in mind that in
Glasgow the loose tallow is not offal, but forms part of
the price per stone. In London and Edinburgh the
loose tallow is offal. Fractions are not given ; —

Dutch stone

Imp. stone

London stone

Glasgow stor

of IT^lbs.

of 141bs.

ofSlbs.

22Jlb8.

s. d.

s. d.

s. d.

s. d.

8 0

6 44
6 2|

3 73

10 8i

7 9

3 6^

9 lOJ

7 6

6 0

3 5i
3 3|
8 'A

9 7J

7 3

5 10

9 32

7 0

5 7J

9 0

6 9

5 4J
5 2l

3 1

8 8

6 6

3 lU

8 4i

8 <V

6 3

5 0

2 10|

6 0

4 9.

4 7|

2 8$

3 74

7 8;

5 9

7 4;

THE CRITERION OF A GOOD COW.

She's long in the face, she's fine in the horn ;
She'll quickly get fat, without cake or corn ;
She's clear in her jaw, and full in her chine,
She's heavy in flank, and wide in her loin ;
She's broad in her rib, and long in her rump,
A straight and flat back, with never a hump.
She's wide in her hips, and calm in her eyes ;
She's fine in her shoulders, and thin in her thighs ;
She's light in her neck, and small in her tail ;
She's wide in her breast, and good at the pail ;
She's fine in her bone, and silky of skin ;
She's a grazier's without, and a butcher's within.

428

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

WESTFIRLE FARMERS' CLUB.

On Monday, Sep. 30, the regular two-monthly
meeting of the Westfirle Farmers' Club took place
at the Ram Inn, Mr. Hart, jun., in the chair. The
subject for the evening discussion was, " How far,
or to what extent can poor pasture or meadow
lands be converted into arable, without raismg the
price of meat to the consumer."

The Chairman observed, that in his opinion a
great many lands wanted changing, and he thought
that they might be made fertile by the a])plication
of manure ; and it was a question whether gixano
would not have this effect, without the necessity of
breaking up land. He had tried it, and found that
there was a marked improvement where the guano
had been applied ; indeed, the difference was so
great that the cows had eaten that portion of the
crop where it had been laid down in preference to
the rest.

Another Member replied to this remark, that
he thought this might be found to answer where
the cjuantity was small, but where the extent of
land u'as great it woidd not do, as the expense
would be considerable.

A Member observed, that if broken up and
lime ashes were applied, he thought it would be
advantageous.

Another Member answered that he knew lime
ashes had been applied without benefit, and he
should prefer soap ashes ; to which it was answered,
that a farmer had tried lime ashes in different parts
of a field, and the first year scarcely any difference
was perceptible, but in the second year, in one par-
ticular spot where he recollected he had laid the
ashes on very thick, the crop grew luxuriantly.
He then continued his plan, and carried out a much
increased quantity, and the effect was good and
permanent, for it was now observable, although the
circumstance took place eight or ten years ago.

A Member said that some pastvire was too poor to
be mended to advantage ; he had seen it tried, and he
thought that by breaking U]) and bringing in with
seeds a far greater produce would be the result.

It was here remarked, that the act for the commu-
tation of tithes was much in favour of land being
broken up, as the rent charge was unalterable.

A Member said that he thought the objection
of the landlords was, that lands might be broken up
for a short time and then not properly laid down
again.

It was then observed, that many places on the
doAvns, with a good staple, and which was under
furze and paying no rent, would, if broken uj), pay
rent, give profit to the farmer, and therefore be of
benefit to both landlord and tenant.

A Member observed that he knew of an
instance where a piece of land was overrun with
fern, and it was broken up and converted into a
hop garden, and the effect was that the whole farm
was benefited thereby.

It was then mentioned that some years ago Chin-
ton farm was under furze, and now it was broken up
there was not an inch of bad ground upon it ; and
that a similar system might be carried to a great
extent, especially as we now better understand the
grasses and manures,

A Member said that he ploughed up four acres
of turf which would not keep a sheep. He
ploughed with four l)ullocks, but it lay till spring,
raked up and burned the grass, struck the plough
along, and sowed red rounds, and the produce
would keep 200 ewes for two months.

It was here observed that the best ground for
breaking up was where the sedge and furze grew
as the sheep could not destroy it.

A Member then remarked that it was often
seen that excellent crops were growing close to
furze, and there was no reason why that land should
not also be made as productive.

A Member said he thought when land was laid
down it ought to remain so six or seven years, as
the accumulation of vegetable matter would be of
advantage to the following crops. In Norfolk
where labour was cheap it was laid down for four
or five years.

A Member stated that in some parts they laid
the land down for two or three years, and then
ploughed it again. This was the system on the
Cotswold, which is a sheep country. He was of
opinion that it was of considerable advantage, and
in breaking up he should not take the best
or the poorest, as he doubted whether the
latter would pay, as the produce would not per-
haps be good enough to fatten cattle ; in his opinion
the old pasture land of England contained the raw
material of more grain than the inhabitants could
consume. Perhaps one reason why landlords ob-
jected to the breaking up of land was that the
tenant found when he entered a farm that the land
contained a given quantity of vegetable matter,
which was the landlord's property, and it was the
tenant's duty to leave the land in the same condi-
tion ; but if broken up, the landlords feared that
the soil would be exhausted and impoverished ;
but he thought that when land was broken up a
higher rent might fairly be expected by the land-
lord, as the farmer's profits woidd be considerably
increased — he was also of opinion that by laying
down other land the produce would like\vise be
greater; he had broken up land which was not
worth above 7s. per acre, and it still retained the
good quahty which pasture land always bears to the
following crops, it worked better and yielded better
corn than the old arable — he broke up 30 acres and
laid down 30 acres, and he found that that which he
l^roke up yielded three times as much as that which
he had laid down, but the produce would be larger
for a considerable time. There was no question
but that the laying down of arable land would do
good, as by that means we conveyed to the soil
a renewed sui)ply of vegetable matter of which it
had been deprived. He was in faA'oiu" of the alter-
nate system, as he believed the produce would be
much greater on both arable and pasture land ; he
considered the subject to be a most important one
— indeed it was a national question, and he hoped
that the attention of the landlords would be drawn
to it.

A Member thought it not advisable to break
up land worth two or three pounds per acre ; and
another replied that the land in which you may
turn stock out from May-day to Christmas without

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

420

improvement, was tlic land tliat was i)roposecl
should be broken np, and would ])ay best.

A Mjcmbrr then remarked that another advan-
tage of this system would be the increased employ-
ment it M'ould give to the laljourer. To which 'it
was answered that, as the system would cause as
much to be laid down as was broken up, perhaps
labour would not be greatly increased.
_ A Member said that the subject under discus-
sion was a most important one, for if the pasture
lands of England would ])roduce more corn
than could be consumed, the farmer ought to
be relie^'ed from the restrictions under which he
laid in the cultivation of his farm, and especially at
a period like the present, when it was thrown in
his face that he could not produce enough for the
consumptionof the population, and that it was, there-
fore, necessary to have a foreign supply. Now, as
the desirable end of sustaining our own jjopulation
could be attained with advantage to both landlord
and tenant, he earnestly hoped that the attention of
the landowners would be directed to that important
point.

After a few other remarks on the seeds best adapted
for laying down arable land, in which it was ob-
served that some grass seeds v/ould not grow if
kept above a year, which induces seedsmen who
mix the old with the new, to recommend sowing
thickl)', and that the best plan is to save home-
grown seed. The following resolution was unani-
mously adopted : —

"It is the opinion of this meeting that many
lands at present under jjasture, might be broken up
with much ad\^antage, inasmuch as their value
would be increased to the farmer, and the public
would be benefited by the increase of stock and
corn. At the same time, this meeting is further of
opinion that, as a general practice, the alternate
system would be preferable to any method of
breaking up without restriction."

WETHERBY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

EXTRACTS FROM SPEECHES AT THE LATE
MEETING.

Mr. Dext, the Vice-Chairman, was loudly ap-
plauded on his rising to propose " Success to the
Wetherby Agricultural Society." They were now
celel)rating the fifth anniversary of the Wetherby
Agricultural Society, and he hoped that if they
lived to witness the sixth anniversaiy, they would
see assembled a stronger force. He thought the
surrounding pi'oprietors and gentlemen should put
their shoulders to the wheel, and show that they
were earnest in the cause (applause). If they
would revert back to. the "monster" meeting at
York, for combating the An ti- Corn-Law League —
not a " monster " meeting as to numbers merely,
but in strength — he thought they would have
noticed the first blow which had led to the down-
fall of those who wanted to upset the prosperity of
the landed interest (applause). He would now ob-
serve that from all the accounts he had heard from
different jiarts of the country, as he had said
before, where English money and gold found its

way, there increased cultivation would follo^v
{licur, hear). He had been told that in Canada
the supply of wheat was about double, and, there-
fore, they might i)repare for a great inundation of
foreign corn. He did not mention this to discou-
rage them, but rather that it should act as a stimu-
lus to increased exertion. Let them then insti-
tute a better system of cultivating their soils. If it
could be demonstrated to the farmers, the loss
they sustained by the exhaustion of their land in
consequence of weeds, he believed they would all
be converts to the extirpation of weeds ; but he
could not bring the demonstration to their eye-
sight. He did but tell them the truth, when he
told them that crops were much exhausted by
the growth of twitch-grass and ketlock ; the far-
mer, in many instances, employed labour and
manured his land, and then very unwisely allowed
those depredations in the shape of weeds to
spring up to take away part of his property. They
could not grow two crops at once to perfection ;
and this mode of jiroceeding would neither fill
their barns nor their pockets. When he was out
in the fields sometimes, with his dog and his gun,
he was delighted with what at a distance appeared
to be red clover ; but when he got to it, he often
found it to be all twitch-grass. Landlords must
meet their tenants in effecting agricultural im-
provements and Ijetter modes of cultivation ; but
it was rather disheartening to see so much neglect,
and he trusted that the cultivators of the soil in
that neighbourhood would turn their attention to
the subject. He had offered a small premium to
his tenants for six or eight acres of the best drilled
or hoed corn, but he regretted that there were no
competitors. It was thovight by some farmers that
when they had sown their corn, they had nothing
to do until the time of reaping it. Tliat was quite
an erroneous imjjression, and he must state that
the hoe was a necessary implement. They might
have all the implements which they had seen that
day, and which were of a superior description, but
the hoe was a very useful little fellow, not only for
extirpating weeds, but for loosening the soil, and
letting in the sun and atmospheric air, which, as they
must all beaware,were so veryessential to vegetation.
After they had hoed their turnips, did they not
find them grow more than if they had let them
alone? Decidedly so, and it was just the same
with wheat : he was sorry, therefore, that the prac-
tice of hoeing wheat was not carried out to a
greater extent in that part of the country. If they
went to Nottinghamshire, to the Wolds of York-
shire and Lincolnshire, they would see incessant
hoeing going forward; and he trusted that this
fact, with other observations he had thought
proper to make, would lead to further investiga-
tion, and induce them to give the plan a trial. In
conclusion, he would advise them all to unite
together, from the proprietor of land down to the
labourer, and he thought they would be able to
combat lower prices^ or any inundation of foreign
corn that might take place. He had great pleasure
in proposing the toast (applause). " Prosperity to
the Wetherby Farmers' Club." (three times three.)
Mr. J. Hannam, of North Doighton, in acknow-
edging the toast, said that as the Wetherby Far-.

F F

430

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

mers' Club was a mere bantling, it coiikl not be
exjiecUid to create so loud a sound as its parent,
tlie Wethcrby Agricultural Society {hear, hear, and
laujjhter). Lord Harewood had alluded to certain
things in his speech which were taken notice of at
the first and maiden meeting of the Farmers' Club,
when the question as to the best means of securing
the harvest was discussed, and a resolution was
drawn up to the effect that no time was to be lost
in cutting and securing the wheat. It was con-
sidered that the best time for cutting wheat was
when it was raw, and get it secured as soon as
possible {hear, hear). He could only say that
many persons in that part of the country were
tardy, not only in cutting, but in securing wheat,
and they wanted people to believe that want of
capital was the cause. He did not believe that,
but that it was an old-fashioned prejudice which had
l)een brought into operation. He considered that
farmers' clubs were handmaidens to agricultural
societies; and he really thought that as much
good to the small farmer would spring out of them
as out of these shows, if not more. A portion of
the smaller farmers could by no means compete or
share in the premiums awarded that day; they had
not the means of producing such animals as were
required, nor of fattening them, and, therefore,
their advantage was rather remote. With respect
to a farmers' club, the case was different; for the
])oints discussed by them were immediately pub-
lished, and could be carried out by the cottager
possessing half an acre of ground {hear, hear).
Therefore, if they were properly carried out, with-
out party feehng or pohtical discussion, and merely
with an eye to the production of com and cattle,
and in relation to other agricultural matters, he
thought they would be of greater utility than such
societies as the one whose anniversary they were
then celebrating (hear, hear). Tlie Wetherby
Farmers' Club, he was happy to saj', was in a
flourishing condition, both with respect to its funds
and the number of its members {applause). He
rejoiced at this, because he was one of the original
l)romoters of the society. In the first instance,
when they met, the members had considerable
diffidence in commencing the discussions; but now
a difFerent feehng existed, and there was no lack
of voices. He believed that the next time they met
they would Avant a larger room in which to assem-
ble, and more time allowed for discussion. So
long as they had the contributions of their
\vealthier neighbours, he had no doubt that the
club would continue to flourish. He was quite
sure of this, that they would conduce to the benefit
and to the good of every class of the community.

NORTH DERBYSHIRE AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.

The annual meeting and dinner of this society
•vvere held at Bake well on Thursday, Sep. 26. The
day being beautifully fine, there was a large mus-
ter of the inhabitants of the thstrict.

The show of cattle was very good, although not

so numerous as could be desired. Many of the
bulls and heifers elicited general commendation.
The display of sheep was good ; and the same may
be said of the horses and pigs. The plough horses
were fine handsome animals, and attracted general
admiration.

The show of implements was numerous and in-
teresting. Mr. Crosskill exhibited his patent clod
crusher, improved liquid manure cart, Yorkshire
wold barrel turnip-cutter, patent rick or stack ven-
tilator, and patent meat-salting instrument. Mr.
Grant, of Stamford, his patent steerage horse hoe,
self-cleaning harrow, improved garden drill, and
lever hand-rake. Hon. G. H. Cavendish, M.P., a
hay-tedding machine and an improved plough.
Mr. Rotherham, of Whiston, a straw-cutter. Mr.
Wright, of Romely, a Ducie drag. Mr. Furniss,
of Birchill, a manure cart, and Grant's patent
horse-rake. Mr. Wright, of Idrigehay, a scviffler.
Mr. Broomhead, of Bakewell, an improved fire
engine, capable of being worked by 16 men, and
of very great power.

Among the company present, we observed Mr.
Arkwright, of Sutton Hall ; Mr. Thornhill, Mr.
Smith, of Clifton, vice-president of the South
Derbyshire Agricultural Society ; Mr. Paxton and
Mr. CondeU, of Chatsworth ; Mr. Tomlinson, of
Bradley, near Ashbourn; and other gentlemen who
were prevented by their engagements from attend-
ing the dinner.

The judges were Mr. Wm. Newham, of Edling-
ton, and Mr. Henry Mann, of Pigburn near Don-
caster.

At 3 o'clock the company assembled in the
dining room of the Rutland Arms Inn, Bakewell,
whei'e a dinner of the most sumptuous kind was
served up in excellent style. The chair was taken
by the Hon. G. H. Cavendish, M.P,, and the vice-
chair by John Henry Barker, Esq.

The cloth having been removed.

The Chairman gave the health of "Tlie
Queen, the Prince of Wales, Prince Albert, the
Queen Dowager, and the rest of the Royal Family,"
in proposing which, the Chairman reminded the
company that Prince Albert is himself a farmer,
having a large farm near Windsor, in which his
Royal Highness takes much interest. He had
been told that when his Royal Highness first
visited the farm, after he had taken it, he told the
gentlemen to whom he had entrusted the manage-
ment of the farm, to be sure and make it pay,
(Laufjhter and applause.) This showed that the
Prince meant to farm in earnest,

"The Army and Navy." Capt. Underwood
briefly retm^ned thanks.

Tlie Vice-Chairman next proposed the health
of the Lord Lieutenant of the county. (Cheers.)

The Chairman, in the absence of his Grace,
and as a relative of that nobleman, begged to thank
Mr, Barker for the kind terms in which he had
proposed that toast, and the company in the man-
ner in which they had received it. The Duke
had accompanied him round the exhibition-yard
that morning, and expressed himself A'ery highly
gratified with the sight, as well as in hearing that
the highland cattle which his Grace had shown had
received the commendation of the judges, It was

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

131

from a desire on the part of tlie Duke to leave the
competition open to tenant farmers that his Grace had
at present decided to cease showing for premi\nns.
{Applause.) It remained to be seen whether that
was the best com'se or not. Mr. Newham, one of
the judges, had observed that in his part of the
country the tenant farmers can show against the
landowners. Although his Grace might discon-
tinue showing his stock, he would certainly not
discontinue sending them to the show, or coming
himself. (Cheers.)

The Chairman observed that the next toast was
"Success to the North Derbyshire Agricultural
Society." (Loud cheers.) His being called on to
preside on that occasion, in the absence of the
President, was very unexpected. When he knew
that both the president and vice-pi'esident were
prevented from attending, he had suggested that
two gentlemen residing in the neighbourhood
should be requested to officiate ; but both of them
were also imable to attend. He had been very un-
willing to act, because he had previously held the
office of chairman, and he felt that it was desira-
ble to have new men, and to hear new matter on
these occasions. He was sure that they who were
there ought not to take any compliment to them-
selves for the exhibition of that day, for they were
not deserving of any. He could not flatter himself
or the members on the show, for he was afraid that
it was not so good as on former occasions. It was
not possible to slur over that fact that there had
not been that competition which they had expected.
A very large amount had been offered in pre-
miums, but he was sorry to say that there had
been not only no competition, but no candidates
for many of those premiums. If they were all
really anxious for the success of the society, they
must not only drink the toast, but do their utmost
to promote that success. Without earnest exer-
tions they should not obtain success. It was not
the time then to discuss the means by which the
society inight be improved, but at a committee
meeting that might be done. Whether by meeting
more frequently that object might be accomplished,
was a question. He had had the pleasure last
year of very frequently attending the committee
meetings of that great and useful society, the
Royal Agricultural Society; and he foimd that
many of the first noblemen in the land were re-
markably zealous in their attention to its interests.
Earl Spencer, in spite of his numerous engage-
ments, had never once omitted attending the com-
mittee. He was quite sure that many farmers in
this neighbourhood might do much more to pro-
mote the improvement of agriculture than they
now do. Tlie farming of a gentleman whom he
saw at the other end of the room, he meant Mr.
Greaves, had been noticed in very high terms of
commendation by Mr. Pusey, in the last number
of the journal of the Royal Society. Mr. Greaves's
crops had been excellent, although his land was
lately a moor. Last year, at Derby, Mr. Swaffield
had won the first prize for pigs ; and this year the
first prize at Southampton, had been carried off by
Col. Thornhill (who used to reside in this neigh-
bourhood), with a sow bred at Stanton, near Bake-
well, These instances showed that much might

be done by Derljyshire farmers. He hoped that
the practical gentlemen present would tell them
where their faults lay : this would be much
])etter than mutually giving and recei\ing compli-
ments which he was sure they did not deserve.
" Success to the North Derbyshire Agricultural
Society." — 3 times 3.

The secretary then read the awards as follows: —

No. 1.— For the best short-horned bull, of 2 years
old and upwards, £lO 10s. For the second-best ditto,
£5 5s.— Mr. J. T. Haywood, Brimington, best; Mr.
John Allen, Chesterfield, second-best.

No. 2. — For the best yearhng short-horned bull,
£10 10s. For the second-best, £5. — Mr. W^m.
Newbould, Intake, best ; Mr. John Wright, Rom-
ley, second-best.

No. 3.— For the best-shorned cow, in calf, or
having had a calf since the 1st. of March, 1844,
£3 3s. For the second-best £2. — Mr. Joseph
Cocking, Tupton, best ; Mr. John Allen, Chester-
field, second best.

No. 4. — For the best short-horned two years old
heifer, in milk or calf, £2. For the second-best
ditto, £l.— Mr. John Allen, Chesterfield, best; Mr.
J. T. Heywood, Brimington, second-best.

No. 5. — For the best yearhng short-horned
heifer, £2. For the second-best ditto, £1. — Mr.
John Allen, Chesterfield,, best; Mr. Wm. Jepson,
Edensor Inn, second-best.

No. G. — For the best bull calf, of the short-horned
breed, 6 months and under 12 months old, £2. —
Mr. Peter Furniss, Pilsley.

No. 7.— For the best cow calf ditto, £2.— Mr.
J. T. Heywood, Brimington.

No. 8. — For the best milch cow, the property of
an agricultural labourer, or his widow, £2. — Mr.
Jas. Gregory, Conksberry, half the premium,

SHEEP.

No. 9. — For the best long-woolled ram, of any
age above a shearling, £3. For the second-best
ditto, £1. — Mr. John Wright, Romely, best; Mr.
George Furniss, Birchill, for the second-best.

No. 10. — For the best shearling long-woolled
ram, £3. For the second-best ditto, £l. — Mr.
John Wright, Romley, best; Mr. WilUam Oxley,
Romely, second-best.

No. 11. — For the best pen of three long-wooUed
ewes, £2. For the second-best ditto, £1. — Mr. J.
P. Limb, Tapton, best; Mr. George Furniss,
Birchill, second-best.

No. 12. — For the best pen of three long-woolled
theaves, £2. For the second-best, £1.— Mr.
George Furniss, Birchill.

No 13 — For the best pen of three long-woolled
shearhng wedders, £2. For the second-best ditto,
£1.— Mr. Benjamin Armstrong. "N^lialey, best;
Mr. George Furniss, Birchill, second-best.

No. 14. — For the best ram, bred on, and most
suitable for, a high lime-stone farm, £2 2s.— Mr.
J. T. Hey^vood, Brimington.

I'IGS.

Xo. 16.— For the best sow of any age, of a large
breed, £2. For the second-best ditto, £l. — Mr.
Samuel Lucas.

No, 17. — For the best boar of any age, of a

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433

THE FAllMEH'S MAGAZINE.

small breed, £2. For the second-best ditto, £l.— j
^Ir. Benjamin Armstrong, "Whalley.

No. 18. — For the best sow of any age, of a small
breed, £2. For the second-best ditto, £1. — Mr.
William Jepson, Edensor Inn, best; Mr. J. P.
Limb, Tapton, second-best.

HORSES.

]v;o. 19. — For the best thorough-bred stallion, £3
3s._Mr. Thomas AVhetton, of Pllsley, for his brown
3 years old staUion.

No. 20. — For the best brood mare of the draught
kind, £2. For the second-best ditto, £1. — Mr.
Wm. Nicholson, Bolsover AA'oodhouse, brown
mare (and fiUy foal).

No. 21. — For the best brood mare, £2 2s.;
second, given by the society, £l. — Best, Mr. John
Lucas, Warsop Park ; second ditto, Mr, Joseph
Sybray, Snitterton Hall.

No. 22. — Given by the society, for the best year-
ling gelding or filly of the draught kind, £2. — Mr.
J, T. Heywood to have half the premium.

Mr. 23.— For the best two years old gelding or
filly of the nag or ridmg kind, £2.— Mr. Joseph
Sybray.

No.' 24. — For the best pair of plough horses, £3
3s.; second, £2 2s. — Best, Mr. James Lingard,
Chesterfield; second ditto, Mr. B. Armstrong,
Whaley.

IMPLEMENTS.

No. 25.— For the best hay-tedding' machine,
£2 2s. — Mr. Grant, Stamford.

No. 26. — For the best horse-rake, £2 2s. Divided
between Mr. Grant, and Mr. Furniss, Birchill.

No. 27.— For the best scuffler, £2 2s.— Mr.
Wright, Romely, a Dacie-drag.

No. 28. — For the best hquid manure cart, £2 2s.
— Mr. Crosskill, Be^-erley.

The judges highly commended CrosskilFs clod-
crusher and stack ventilator,^ Grant's lever hand-
rake, and Broomhead's fire-engine.

EXTRA STOCK.

The judges highly commended the Duke of
Devonshire's short-horned heifer, Scotch bullocks,
and Southdown ewes, Mr. Wright's ewes, Mr.
Barker's rams.

Several prizes were awarded to agricultural
labourers.

To the tenant farmer who shall have soiled the
greatest number of cattle, £5 5s. : second, £3. — 2
candidates, not decided.

For the greatest quantity of draining, £5 5s. ;
second, by W. J. Bagshawe, Esq., £2 2.— J. T.
Heywood, Brimington, 1,445 roods with tile and
stone : second, Thomas Irwing Cutthorpe, 870
roods.

For the best manure tank, £3 3s. — George Fur-
niss, Birchill.

To the tenant farmer in High Peak, who has the
best crop of turnips in drill excepting Swedes, £3
3s. — 2 candidates, not decided.

For the best crop of Swedes (in the hundred of
Scarsdale) £3. — 5 candidates, not decided.

For the farm vmder 150 acres in the best state
of cultivation, £5 5s. : second by the President, £4
4s. — 4 candidates, not decided.

For the farm under 50 acres in the best state of
cultivation. — 1 candidate, Mr. S. Nuttall, Darley,
not decided.

Sweepstakes. — For the best short-horned
bull, Mr. J. T. Heywood. Best short-horned
heifer, Duke of Devonshire. Best cow calf: Chats-
worth against Hardwick — the latter won. Best
pen of three long-wooUed ewes, Mr. Wright,
Romely.

Matches. — Best pen of three long-woolled
ewes, the Hon. G. H. Cavendish beat Mr. J. H.
Barker. Best tup lamb, Mr. J. H. Barker beat
Mr. Cavendish.

Mr. Heacock proposed the health of "the
judges, Messrs. Newham and Mann." The toast
was" drunk with loud applause, and acknowledged
by Mr. Newham.

Mr. Greaves observed that he had found great
advantage in sowing an herb called comfrey, one
of the weeds natural to this country. He had
sown it in the first week in April, and had already
got three crops from it. Cattle are very fond of it,
and it gives an immense quantity of milk, without
injuring the flavour. It is very hardy, and will
grow in shady places or any^vhere, in fact where
nothing else AviU gi-ow. The oftener it is cvit, the
better it likes it. {A laiir/h.) If any gentlemen
chose to try it, he should be happy to present
them with a few plants.

The Yice-Chatrman proposed " the health of
the successful candidates." In reading ever the ac-
count of the South Derbyshire meeting, he ob-
served that the complaint there was that there were
no prizes ; but here the deficiency was in candi-
dates. Do not let it be said that they must turn
over their prizes to the South Derbyshire Society ;
let the farmers of the North themselves compete
for them. He had himself been beaten that day
by Mr. Wright, but he would try again, and hoped
to be more successful another time. " The suc-
cessful candidates, and may they be successful
another time, that is, if they cannot find anybody
better than themselves. (Lcmgliter and applause.)
Mr. Wright returned thanks in the name of
the successful candidates. He had very fre-
quently applied to his brother farmers to become
members of this society, but had been often met with
these two excuses : first, that their farms were too
small ; and secondly, that their land was of too in-
ferior quality to enable them to compete with
those who held better land. Now, his own land
was decided^ worse than the average of the dis-
trict in which it was situated. (Cheers.) Then
too let them look at the county of Dui'ham, where
the land was worse than anything in this district,
yet there the best short-horns were found. The
stock which the judges had done him the honour
to commend had been kejDt on the same pasture
since Lady-day; and nine out of ten of them had
never tasted any other food. Let this stimulate the
holders of small farms to go forward. Mr. ^^'right
went on to remark on the proceedings of the society
during the year. Many persons stopped away
from the annual meetings under the idea that they
were ineligible to attend, but this Avas a mistake, as
all the members were entitled to attend, 'lliere
had been very great difficulty experienced in get-

TIIR FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

433

far had the
In this dis
that been

ting meetings, in consequence of that mistaken
idea. He woukl suggest that in future there be a
meeting for business, to commence an hour Ijefore
the dinner, or else that part of the time after din-
ner be set apart for business. He went on to
review the labours of the society during- the thirty
years of its ex'istence. They had had ab(mt a hun-
dred members, and had exj)ended £3,000. Now
how far had the stock of individual members im-
])roved ? ] :' this question could not be answered
favourably -he did not say that it could not — how
lock throughout the country imjiroved ?
1 ict it certainly had improved ; but had
aused by the .labours of the society,
or by the example of other parts of the kingdom ?
If the latter be the case, it Ijehoved them to see if
they could not improve the society. He would sug-
gest that the district be subdivided into farmers'
clubs dependent on the society ; and that agricul-
lural tracts be distributed among the farmers.
With something like this arrangement they would
find themselves daily improving. Farmers' clubs
had lately been estaldished at Norton, Bakewell,
and "Wingerworth, which already comprised nearly
as many members as that society. The great
adulterations in rajie-dust, bone-dust, and guano,
rendered it ad\-isable for the society to appoint
some persons to analyze these manures. The effect
of such precautions had been very Ijeneficial in
Scotland.

Mr. Case, of Thingwell Hall, near Liverpool,
observed that the best mode of procuring guano
pure was to buy it of the im2:)orters, and not
at second or third hand. About 100 vessels were
now employed in bringing that manure to this
countiy; and he understood that at the places
from whence it was brought, any substances
with which it might be adulterated were actually
more valuable than guano itself. African guano
had now fallen from £12 to £5 a ton, and Peru-
vian from £20 to £10.

The Chairman gave the health of " the Duke
of Rutland," prefacing it with a well-deserved
eulogium, which elicited loud applause,

Capt. Underwood returned thanks, and jii'o-
posed "the members for North Derbyshire."

The Chairman returned thanks, and ])roposed
the health of " the President and Vice-President.

Capt. Underw'Ood projjosed the health of the
Vice- Chairman, which was received with enthvisi-
astic applause, and suitably acknowledged by that
gentleman.

The health of "the committe," and other toasts
followed, and the company separated about se^'en
o'clock.

At the meeting of the Wantage Agricultural
Society, Mr. Pusey said, there was one subject to
which he wished particularly to allude ; with the
present prospects, it was not to be expected that
farmers out of their capital could make any perma-
nent improvements in their farms unless assisted by
their landlords {Hear, and cheers). Nor were the
probabilities more favourable for the labourer ; and
he feared, as the winter approached, a great difficul-

ty would be experienced in fuulincj emi)lcyment for
them ; the shortness of straw would cause thrashing
to be short, and the failure in turnips would of ne-
cessity increase such a difficulty {Hear). His opi-
nion was, that landlords could not more usefully
lay out their money than by employing a large
number of hands in hnproving their estates, and by
taking a certain number out of the parish they
would materially relieve the farmer ; it would also
be far Ijetter to give men good wages for work, than
giving them money in relief, as it would d(j them
more good. {Hear.) 15ut whilst he admitted this,
he must tell them that the landlords' means were
very limited, and they were afraid to spend large
sums in labour, vinless there were fair prospects of
benefiting their property. If farmers, hov/ever,
were to look for some practical improvements on
farms, the landlords, he thought, would not be
slow to come forward and assist to the utmost of
their power.

At the meeting of the Wokingham Association,
Mr. Pusey again said, he congratulated the far-
mers of that neighbourhood u])on the manifest im-
provements they had made in agriculture, and then
energetically expressed his approval of the determi-
nation which now appeared to be generally come to,
to address the landlords to give their assistance in
the improvement of the state of the labourer. This
was the point to which he had ahva3's been looking
forward. The landlords appeared not to be aware
what improvements might be effected, but the far-
mers were ; an understanding would now be estab-
lished between landlord and tenant which must
operate to benefit the working man. After dwelling
upon the necessity of carrying out these principles,
the hon. member concluded by enforcing the fur-
ther improving the land by thinning the hedge-rows
and the timber, finally urging them to go to their
landlords, to "tell them that you do not know how
to employ the men, that they must set them to grub
the hedge-rows, fell the timber, and drain the land,
and give them no rest till they do it !"

ABINGDON AGRICULTURAL
ASSOCIATION.

The Chairman, T. Duffield, Esq., said, it had
always been his opinion, that the condition of the
working classes amongst the agriculturists might
be very much improved, and that they did not do
them justice ; that they attributed faults, many of
which were to be laid to their own doors in their
neglect of them, and a want on their part of pro])er
encouragement. In the estabUshment of that so-
ciety, they had advanced a step toward remedying
this evil ; but there were many others that might
be taken Mdth equal safety, and with as much, if
not greater, effect. He would only mention one of
the most obvious and most easy to be carried into
effect, that was giving to them gardens ; or where
they could not give them gardens contiguous to
their houses, small allotments of land, which they
might cultivate according to the principles generally
adopted ; he said this in contradistinction to land
to be sowed with corn, which would not be ser-

434

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

vicea])le to them. The good effects of these gar-
dens in allotments were miivevsally admitted where
they had been tried ; it could be done, too, at little or
no expense to the parties doing it. The Chairman
here read a ]5aragraph relative to the successful work-
ing of the allotment system, at Wigginton, in Buck-
inghamshire. The Chairman continued ; when they
heard such an account of the system he had been
recommending, he trusted they would not be long
before they made an attempt to cany it out in their
respective parishes. He was satisfied that societies
like these were beneficial in every point of view,
and he was satisfied that by its bringing together
neighbours, such as were then assembled, it must
be productive of the best feelings amongst them,
more particularly when engaged in one common
object, and that so good a one as the present. He
had but little doubt in his own mind, on looking at
the interest taken on behalf of the agricultural poor,
that many more means might be devised to improve
their condition ; among others, the formation of a
Provident Institution, which, by aflbrding assis-
tance and encouragement to the labourer in his
early days, would enable him to ensure a competent
maintenance in his old age. He had talked so long
on this subject, that some might think it was a
mere vision which would never be realized ; but he
did most certainly believe in its ultimate success.
Should such a state of things be realized — should
they see the oppressed and despised labourers, who
now abound in every parish, improve in their com-
forts and in their moral condition, and enjoying
that independence, he must say, that at the last mo-
ments of his life, it would be one of the most pleasing
recollections that would occur to his mind, that he
had taken a part in promoting such a state of
things.

ISLE OF ELY AND MARSHLAND AGRI-
CULTURAL ASSOCIATION.

Meeting held on the 26th September.

Judges of Stock, &c. — Mr. Longland Ekins,
Mr. Edward Scales, and Mr. Christopher Cattle,

PRIZES AWARDED.

Neat Cattle. — To the owner of the best bull
that shall serve as many cows within the district
during the next six months as may 1)e offered to
him, not exceeding 10s. per cow: — 1. Mr. Joseph
Peck, Wisbech St. Mary's, £5. 2. Mr. Edward
PhiUips, Wisbech St. Peter's, £2.

To the owner of the best bull under two years of
age, that shall serve cows within the district during
the next six months, not exceeding 10s. per cow:
— Mr. James Porter, West Walton, £2.

To the o^vner of the best milch cow, and in milk
at the time of exhibition : — 1. Mr. Thomas Aveling,
March, £2. 2. Mr. Robert Scrimshaw, Levering-
ton, £1.

To the breeder and owner of the best in-calved
heifer, whose age shall not exceed three years and
six months ; both awarded to Mr. Thomas Aveling,
March:— 1. £2; 2. £l.

To the breeder and owner of the best heifer, whose
age shall not exceed two years: — 1. Mr. William
Goodman, March, £2.

To the breeder and owner of the best steer, whose
age shall not exceed three years : — 1. Mr. WiUiam
Kilham, Tyd St. Giles, £2; 2. Mr. Henry Olland,
Walsoken, £l.

To the owner of the best ox of any age, without
resti'iction as to feeding, having been in the pos-
session of the exhibitor at least six months : — 1.
Mr. John Taylor, Sutton St. Edmund's, £5 ; 2.
Mr. Henry Ollard, Walsoken, £2.

To the owner of the best fat cow or heifer, of any
age, ■without restriction as to feeding, having been
in the possession of the exhibitor at least six
months: — 1. Mr. Henry Abbot, Wisbech St.
Mary's, £2 ; 2. not awarded.

Sheep. — To the breeder and owner of the best
shearling ram: — 1. Mr. Johnson Porter, West
Walton, £3 ; 2. Mr. Henry Ollard, Walsoken, £2.

To the breeder and owner of the best ram : — 1 .
Mr. James Porter, West Walton, £3; 2. Mr.
John Dow, Elm, £2.

To the breeder and owner of the best pen of five
ewes, having reared one lamb each up to the 1 st of
July, and fed on vegetable food only, from the first
day of May preceding the day of show : — Mr.
Nicholas Taylor, Leverington, £2 ; 2. Joseph
Marshall, Esq., Elm,£l.

To the breeder and owner of the best pen of five
shearling ewes, fed as above: — 1. Mr. Charles
Oldham, Wisbeach St. Mary's, £2 ; 2, Mr. Wil-
liam Goodman, March, £l.

To the breeder and owner of the best pen of five
shearling wethers, fed as above : — 1 . Mr. Abraham
Catling, Walsoken, £2 ; 2. Mr. Charles Oldham,
Wisbech St. Mary's, £1.

To the owner of the best pen of five two-shear
wethers: — 1. Mr. Charles Oldham, Wisbech St.
Mary's, £2; 2. Mr. James West, Parson Drove,
£l.

Cart Horses. — Cart stallions. — No entry.
Premium (awarded in April last) to " Farmer," the
property of Mr. John Whiteman, Rudham Grange,
Norfolk.

Cart mares ; six entries. — No merit.

Yearling cart colt. — No merit.

Yearhng cart filly. — No entry.

Swine. — To the o\vner of the best boar: — 1.
Mr. John Spikings, sen,, Tyd St. Giles, £2,

To the owner of the best sow, suckling or in pig
at the time of exhibition : — 1. Mr. John Smith
Scrimshaw, Leverington, £2.

Nag Horses. — ^To the breeder and owner of
the best four-years-old nag mare or gelding : — £5
5s. (presented by the Hon. E. T. Yorke, M.P.) —
Three competitors.' — No merit.

To the breeder and owner of the best five- years-
old nag mare or gelding : — £5 5s., (presented by
J, Alix, Esq., M.P. — only one shown. — No merit.

Several premiums were given to labourers for
industry and good conduct.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

435

HERTS AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

PUIZES AWARDED AT THE MEETING ON THE
•2GtII SEl'TEMBER.

For die best l)ull, J. Kinder, Esq. Offered by
the society, £5 — Mr. Kinder's second bull highly
commended.

For the best pair of steers, bred in the county
(no competition), J. Kinder, Esq. Oft'ered by J.
Kinder, Ks((, £5.

For the best pair of stirks, Mr. E. Roberts.
Offered by the society, £5.

For the best milch cow, bred in the coimty (no
competition), ,T. Kinder, Esq. Offered by Lord
\'iscount Griraston, £5.

For the best cow, J. Kinder, Esq. Offered by
Abel Smith, Esq., M.P., £5.

For the pest pair of heifers, bred in the county,
Mr. Woodwards. Offered by T. Sowerb), Esq., £5.

For the best pair of cart horses, Mr. J. Purrott,
jun. Offered by \V. R. Baker, Esq., £5,

For the best mare and foal, by Mr. G. W. Roberts.
Offered by Hon. G. D. Ryder, M.P., £5.

For the best cart stallion, Mr. G. W. Roberts.
Offered by the society, £5.

For the best two-years-old cart colt' or filly. No
competitors.

For- the best Down ram, W. R. Baker, Esq.
Offered by G. J. Bosancjuet, Esq., £5.

For the best long wooUed ram, R. Oakly, Esq.
Offered by the society, £5. — Mr. T. Waller's highly
commended.

For the best pen of five theave South Do^vn
ewes, bred in the county, W. R. Baker, Esq.
Offered by W. Hale, Esq., £5.— Mr. W. Iron's and
Mr. R. Sibley's highly commended.

For the best pen of five Down ewes, W. R. Baker,
Esq. Offered by the society, £5. — Mr. W. Par-
sons's and Mr. G. W. Robert's highly commended.

For the best pen of five long-woolled ewes, R.
Oakley, Esq. Offered by the society, £5.

For the best pen of five Down ewe lambs, bred
in the county, W. R. Baker, Esq. Oflfered by W.
Wilshire, Esq., M.P., £5.

For the best pen of five long-woolled ewe lambs,
bred in the county, R. Oakley, Esq. Offered by
the society, £5. — Mr. T. Waller's highly commen-
ded.

For the best pen of five Down wether lambs,
bred in the county, W. R. Baker, Esq. Offered by
the society, £3.

For the best pen of five long-wooUed wether
lambs, bred in the county, R. Oakley, Esq.
Offered by the society, £3. — Mr. T. Waller's highly
commended.

For the best pen of five half-bred wether lambs
bred in the 'county, Mr. W. Irons. Offered by
the society, £3.

For the best boar, J. Kinder, Esq. Oflfered by
the society, £3.

For the best in-pig sow, bred in the county.
Not meritorious.

For the best pen of three pigs, bred in the
county, Mr. E. Roberts. Offered by the society, £3.

For the best neat cattle of any breed or age, J.
Kinder, Esq., for his Durham O.v, £3.

For the best lired shec]'), of any breed or age,
Mr. W. Irons, for his five shearlings, £3.

For the best bred i)igs, of any breed or age, Mr.
J. Webb, for his three Suffolk i)ig.s, £3. A gold
medal was given to the owner of the best stock.

First ])rize for Swedish turnips — Offered l)y S.
II. U. Heathcote, Esq., Lord Dacre, £10.

First prize for English ditto. — Offered by the
society, W. Wilshire, Esq., M.P., £5.

First prize for mangel wurtzel. — Offered by the
society, Mr. Geo. Webb, £5.

ON RENEWING OLD GRASS LAND.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

I oflfer to the notice of the readers of the Farmer's
Marjazine the following improvement, for restoring
and renewing old grass land, which has become
very short of roots, and those of an inferior sort,
particularly on stiflT, clayey, adhesive soil, which
may have been seeded down three or four years ;
viz., when the grass is eaten off" pretty bare or close
in the eleventh or twelfth months of the year or
later, take a Double Spiked Roller; the spikes
should be nearly six inches long, and the roller
sufficiently weighted to make them enter the ground
to their full depth, which it is possible for the
spikes to penetrate : pass the roller o\'er the grassy
surface of every part of the field (or there might
be a small portion left, in order to show the differ-
ence) ; then sow the field with salt immediately,
about twelve bushels to the acre, to destroy the
insects and worms which have been disturbed by
the spikes. Let the field be inclosed from any cat-
tle, except in a hard frost, taking them out again
on the appearance of a thaw. Tlien in the fourth
month follomng, sow the field wth grass seeds the
most suitable for such a soil, and draize them weU
in with a flake filled with brushwood. Next, set
on any suitable manure {fine ground bones are a
luxury), and draize this well in also. Be careful
not to disfigure the field with the cart-wheels ; but
let it be gone over ^^^th a rake or hoe, to close
down any clods, and pick up what might othenvise
be an obstruction to the mower's scythe passing
smoothly. When this is done, enclose the field for
a hay crop. By this operation many beneficial
eflfects are produced. The spiked roller disturbs
the insects and worms, many of which the salt will
destroy. The frost pulverizes the loosened soil to
the depth the spikes ha^■e penetrated, which, toge-
ther with the rains, snow, thaws, atmosphere, light,
and sunshine, until the fourth month, so combi-
nedly act upon this stiflE" adhesive soil, as to change
it into a fine loose open mould, even between the
finest fibres of the grass roots ; and the broken
fibres, that are broken off", will send out a new
blade of grass. And thus this light soil, seeds,
and manure, sucking up all the rains, &c., will,
like a sponge, retain the moisture for their support.
The grass will be ripe nearly a month earlier, and
the crop better ; whilst the new seeds will be get-
ting forward in strength for a second crop of hay,

4ZC>

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

v.lucli will be ready nearly as soon as usual. — 1 am,
resijectfull)', a friend to ira])rovements,

Jacoc Bkoster.

Braufield Vale Head, near Sheffield,
8 mo. I6th, 1844.

P.S. On land where the grass .seeds, which were
sown this spring (1S44) have perished for want of
rain, when the crops are cleared ofl', use the spiked
roller freely, by passing over the surface many
times ; then sow v/ith seeds suitable, as above di-
rected, and if a heap of compost manure were set
on, a good and early crop might be exjiected in
1845.

VALE OF EVESHAM AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.

Evesham, Oct. 2. — The show of stock was,
generally speaking, satisfactory. In some depart-
ments there was a deficiency, but in others an in-
crease, and the average in this v.-ay wrs fully sus-
tained.

The Hon. General H. B. Lygon, M. P., the pre-
sident of the society, presided at the dinner. On
his left sat Mr. Barneby, his colleague in the repre-
sentation of Worcestershire, and on his right Lord
Sandon, M.P. for Liverpool. The company in-
cluded a large number of well-known agriculturists
connected with the counties of Worcester and
Gloucester.

The introductory toasts having been given and
responded to with all the honours, as also " Success
to the Association," various topics of general inter-
est were subsecjuently adverted to. These may be
classed under " draining," " long leases and corn
rents," and " the means of benefiting the laboiu'ing
population by providing employment."

The subject of di-aining was introduced by Mr,
William Woodward, of Bredon Norton, an eminent
breeder of stock and a practical agriculturist. He
had seen a machine at work the other day making
tiles, and he understood that the cost to the buyer
would not be more than from 8s. to 9s. per thousand.
At such a moderate price he did not see why every
farm in the vale should not he drained. Taking the
average of the farms, 1/. per acre would be suffi-
cient for the tiles and IZ. for workmanship ; so that
at the cost of 2/. an acre a farm could be pi-operly
drained. Many poor tenants Vi'ere jirevented by
poverty from draining ; but he (Mr. Woodward)
hoped that in such cases the landlord would step in
and lay out the money himself ( CAeeri). If, on a
farm of 200 acres, 400Z. was laid out in draining,
and if the land, previous to draining, was only worth
25s. an acre, the tenant could afford to pay an addi-
tional 5s. an acre, bringing it up to 30s. If the land
was worth 30s. an acre previous to being drained,
35s. could be paid after the improvement had been
effected ; for he knew from experience that if land
was not farmed well it could never be fanned to
advantage ; and he knew also as regarded draining
that a large return would be realised from it in a
very short time. As to the agricultural labourers,
he would intreat all who heard him to do their

utmost to find employment for that valuable class
of men. He did not think there was a farmer who
would not find it i)rofitable to increase the number
of his labourers ; and if this was generally done, a
great good would immediately be effected (Cheers.)

Lord Sandon said that he had recently been told
by a large landed ^iroprietor that he hoped to be
able to furnish tiles at 4s. 6d. a thousand ; but this
was in a part of the country where coals could ])e
bought at 10s. a ton instead of l6s., the price
charged in the Vale of Evesham. He did not think
a greater blessing could be conferred upon the coun-
try, whether as regarded health, profits, the produc-
tion of food, or the means of increasing employ-
ment for the i>eople — nothing, he was convinced,
was so pregnant with important consequences as
cheapening the price of tiles. Everything tended
to convince him more and more that draining was
the number one of all impro^'ement ; \v'\i\\ it the ex-
istence of water was a benefit — without it a curse ;
and he did hope that the extension of draining
might be looked upon as the means of increasing
the demand for labour, as he did not know where to
look for it from any other source. Beyond all doubt,
if an extensive system of draining be carried out,
ample employment would be found for all.

Mr. Barneby, M.P., said that he could corrobo-
rate the remarks of Mr. V/oodward as to the great
benefit to be derived from drtiining, having person-
ally exi)erienced the advantage. He agreed, also,
with Mr. Woodward, in thinking that in some parts
of the country it would be impossible to find tenants
with sufficient capital to enable them to defray the
outlay themselves. That remark did not apply so
much to their own county as to the county of Here-
ford, where the farms were small. He thought
small f .rms were useful ; but it was in vain to ex-
pect the occupiers of them to be possessed of suffi-
cient capital tocarrj'out theiniprovementthcmselves,
without the assistance of their landlords. The plan
he had himself adopted was to expend the money,
and to charge the tenant five per cent, for the out-
lay, and this arrangement he had found to be of
great utility to both parties (cheers).

Lord Sandon said that his father had adopted a
similar plan to that spoken of l)y Mr. Barneby, and
had offered to drain as much of his tenants' lands
as they pleased, charging them 5 per cent, for the
outlay. Many of the tenants had availed themselves
of the ofler, and much advantage had been experi-
enced in consequence. But it Avas not so much as
a means of increasing the produce of the soil —
although that was an oliject of the highest impor-
tance— that he looked at the great improvement of
draining; he looked with anxiety to the improve-
ment of agriculture as a means of providing em-
ployment for the rapidly increasing population. It
was impossi1)le to look at the swarming population
without feeling the mind impressed with anxiety as
to how employment was to be provided for them.*
There were many resources, indeed, available. Emi-
gration was one, and he by no means wished to
discourage it. Possessed as this country was of
numerous and valuable colonies, and engaged too in
a most extensive commerce, he believed it would
be v/ell for Britain to become the hive and mother
of nations ; and if emigration was well conducted, a

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

437

Pfi'eater blessing could not be bestowed on the man
that went and on the man that remained, because
fjoinf^- away removed in some dejiree the pressure
which previously existed on the lal:)our market. Emi-
oration, however, could not do all ; care must be
taken not to overstock tiie colonies — only a certain
number could there be ])rovided for. Manufactures
were, no doubt, on the increase, but it so happened
that by tlie improvement of machinery, manufac-
tures increased, without augmenting the demand
for manual labour. He therefore looked most
earnestly to the improvement of agriculture, as the
means of i)roviding employment for the people.
He illustrated the point by referring to the case of
two farms held by the secretary of the association,
on which, before the improved cultivation com-
menced, eight or nine persons only were employed ;
now there were forty ( Cheers). If in this way i)ro-
vision could be made for the jjo'pulation, there would
be no need for emigration, neither would it be
necessary to send the agricultiu'al labourers into the
crowded manufacturing cities. It was not so nuich,
therefore, as tending to benefit the landlord and
tenant, that he hailed the advance of agricultural
improvement, as presenting the means of supplying
a great and crying want.

The (paestion of long leases and corn rents was
introduced by x.Ir. Holland, of Dnmbleton. In
shov/ing the necessity of such an arrangement be-
ing gone into for the protection of the tenant against
bad harvests and fluctuations in prices, Mr. Holland
referred to the condition of the farmers during the
past three years ; 1841 he said v/as a fair year, but
the alteration in the tariff produced a panic, which
told injuriously on the interest of the farmer. In
1842 the harvest was deficient, agricultural distress
existed, and to some extent rent had to be paid out
of the farmer's capital. Last harvest was deficient
in everything save wheat, and the prospect of keep
for cattle was gloomy in the extreme. Rent in this
case must also, in part at least, be paid out of the
farmer's capital. And how was the tenant to re-
cover himself ? It was in vain now to look for high
prices ; and he (Mr. Holland) thought there was
only one way by which the farmer could Ije restored,
and it was by putting the machinery in motion Ijy
which he would be enabled to make the most of
his im])rovements — namely, a long lease and a corn
rent (Cheers).

Mr. Holland illustrated his views at some length,
and referred to the difficulties in the way of his sug-
gestion being acted upon, and expressed his anxiety
to have the question discussed at a more convenient
time.

Mr. Barneby expressed his dissent from the views
of Mr. Holland as to the advantages of his scheme,
and expressed his apprehension that, if such sub-
jects were discussed by the association, the question
of the corn laws must necessarily be introduced.
This would be foreign to the object of the institu-
tion, and might prove fatal to its existence.

After explanatory statements, the discussion
dropped.

Lord Sandon is the president for next year.

EAST CUMBERLAND AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.

The Chairman having pro])osed the health of
the judges, coupling it witli the names of Mr.
Wilkin and Mr. ElUson, Mr. Fair, of Frenchfield,
having been obliged to dephrt immediately after the
show.

Mr. Ellison returned thanks and said it was
generally a most arduous task for the judges to
perform the duties of their office as it ought to be
done ; but he must add, that that day they had not
met with so many difliculties as he had anticipated
before coming to the meeting. The show altoge-
ther exceeded his anticipations. The show of bulls
had given him very great pleasure. There could be
no doubt but every one was alive to the importance
of the improvement of stock ; and if the improve-
ments in the land went on progressing in an ecpial
ratio \nth the great improvements that had taken
])lace in stock, he would not hesitate to say, that
before long, agricvdture would be carried to a very
great pitch of perfection in this country. {Hear,
hear.) He remembered being a judge in this place
some years ago, when some very splendid animals
were shown, but he must say that he thought more
of the animals which had been shown that day.
The yearling bulls which had obtained the pre-
mium's were very superior animals indeed, and
there v/ere others in that class which he thought
very good. There was one thing to which he would
like particularly to call the attention of the farmers
present, and that was as to the description of stock
that was best suited to this part of the country.
One-half of the lands in this county were not of
that kind which would give to animals what was
called " a deep bite," and therefore it would be
wise to encourage animals of such a description as
could do with the short bite. There was the cele-
brated bull Sir Thomas Fairfax, which M^as cer-
tainly a very superior animal, and might challenge
ail England ; but he (Mr. Elhson) would have a
doubtin his mind as to whether that bull would be
suited to this county. He had been a grazier for
a number of years — the colour of his hair showed
he was no chicken — (ft lauf/h] — and the result of
his experience was that a short-backed, thick-legged
animal, and one that would do with a short bite,
was best for this part, and would be found soon-
est fit for the butcher. There had been a veiy
great improvement in the breed of sheep within the
last forty years ; Leicesters were now much run
upon, and the reason was that they were a short
and compact animal that would suit any bite, and
be made fit for the butcher in a short time. The
great object in rearing stock as well as crops was
that the capital laid out shoidd be returned
as speeddy as ])ossible. With respect to pigs,
he had expected there would have been a
better show. There were certainly some good
animals shown, Init in his opinion the object
that should be aimed at in raising im^jroved breeds
of pitjs, was to give them smaller bones and larger
carcases. A black and white pig had been shown
in the first pen, M-hich was certainly a wonderful
animal ; Init in his opinion the judges woidd have
done ^vl•ong if they had given the premium to that

438

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

animal. It was two fat — {hear, hear) — and ten to
one if it had farrowed, all the pigs would have been
destroyed. He (Mr. Ellison) had shown some pigs
at a meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society in
Bristol. He did not obtain the premium, and a
gentleman remarked to him after the show, " Sir, if
your pigs had been fatter, nothing on earth could
have beaten them." He himself was not of this
oi)inion, however, he had once found his son fatten-
ing the pigs with new milk, but he soon stopped
the tap on him — (« laugh) — and though he did not
obtain the prize, he had afterwards the satisfaction
to find that when his pigs were brought into com-
petition in the market with those which had ob-
tained the premium, he got about £5 a piece for his,
while not more than £3 10s. was obtained for the
pigs which had got the prize. {Hear, hear.) The
customers did not like them so fat, — it was the
greatest error possible to have them over-fed, and
the object that should always be aimed at was
to have them in the most healthy state. With res-
pect to horses, some very good animals had been
shown. Thejudges had some difficulty in deciding
on the premiums, but they had done their best, and
acted according to their consciences ; and if an
eiTor had been committed, he trusted that no one
would trace it to the score of partiality, but that all
were satisfied that thejudges had given their decision
according to their judgement. {Hear, hear.) And
now, he would give a few words of his experience
in usmg bones and guano with respect to the
turnip crop. He had used four tons of guano this
year, African and Peruvian, and he might state in
the first place, that from the appearance of the
turnip crop the African had answered fvdly as well
as the Peruvian, although there was a wonder-
ful difterence in the i)rice — the Ichabo gnano in his
experience, had answered fully as well as the other.
He also had some turnips sown with bones, which
were likely to jaeld about 25 per cent, less than
those which had been sown with guano, and his
manure turnips were not so good as those which
had been sown with guano. Now this was
singular, after what he had heard a large farmer
state, that on his farm the only effect on grass was
to make it a greener colour, and that though it made
corn greener for a while at first it had no material
effect upon the quantity produced. This had been
told to him by the son of a gentleman whom he
might name — Mr. Watson, who lived on the other
side of Wigton. This soil was on a thin limestone
bed, but he (Mr. Ellison) had tried it upon peat
moss, and it acted equally well. With respect to
the permanency of its effects, he could notyet ascer-
tain it so well, and it was a kno\vn fact that bones
were permanent in their effect! Corn from the
land which had been bone-manured would be
stronger than from that produced by farm-yard
manure. But if they might believe a gentleman
who had spoken at a meeting of the Royal Agricul-
tural Society the effect of guano was permanent and
therefore great 1)enefit might be expected from its
introduction. He would now say a few words with
respect to potatoes. He held an agency in Lan-
cashire in fourteen townships, and had therefore
had ample opportunities of observation, and he
might say that potatoes then were a very failing

crop indeed ; and in his opinion it could he at-
tributed to nothing but cutting the potatoes before
planting them as seed. {Hear, hear.) It was a
common saying with many peo])le whose potato
crops had faded, to say that they had been carried
off by the dry rot. But it was no such thing. He
(Mr. EUison) was satisfied that it was an insect
which penetrated through the potato when it was
cut, and eat up all its juices, so that it was impos-
sible the stem could flourish. He had examined
potatoes in this way, and on taking them up, after
being a fortnight or three weeks in the groimd, the
inside of the ])Otatoe was found like a sponge, and
perforated with small holes. Hehad this year six acres
of potatoes, and they were all planted whole. {Hear,
hear.) He had also an acre in which the seed was
cut, by way of satisfying his neighbours, and
enabling them to judge of the difference of produce
between the two modes. The six acres were as
good as heart could wish for, while the acre in
which the seed was cut, was not half a crop,
{Hear, hear, and applause.) There was a tenant
whom three years ago he (Mr. Ellison) threatened
to turn off' his farm if he continued to cut his potato
seed. He had seen him the other day, and he told
him that it would have been £90 in his ])ocket if
he had followed his advice, as he had lost £30 a
year by the old practice, A very effectual mode to
prevent the worm amongst potatoes was to wash
them. Experiments of this kind had been made,
and those potatoes which had been washed when
laid u]) for seed were found to l)e entirely exempt
from this disease, which arose from the eg,s:^ of an
insect ])eing deposited in the eye of the potatoe,
which laid dormant till the spring, when it Ijegan
to prey on the potato. By washing the potatoes in
the autumn the oxa were of course washed out
and all danger obviated. Mr. EUison concluded by
returning thanks for the honom* which had been
conferred in drinking the health of the judges, who
had performed their duties to the best of their
ability, and sat down amidst considerable applause.

ARUNDEL AND BRAMBER AGRICUL-
TURAL ASSOCIATION,

At the meeting of the above society, the Chair-
man, Sir C. BuRRELL observed that, whether as gen-
tlemen of property or landlords, the best of chai-i-
ties was to find remunerative employment for the
labourer (cheers). In this county, and in the ad-
joining county of Kent, and Ire believed also in
Norfolk (from both which counties there were vi-
sitors present), they had not seen outrages such as
those which had occurred in Cambridgeshire and
some other counties. He woidd not attribute fault
to the residents of the latter ; but he would say
that, by judicious conduct in this and other coun-
ties, all turbulence and all violence of that descrip-
tion had been entirely avoided. That was a great
blessing ; and he was convinced that if they gave
the laboiu'er fair employment, they would find that
they pi'omoted not only industrj', but morality,
among the lower classes (hear, hear). They
could not illustrate this better than by referring

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

439

lo the immediate neiglibourhood. By means of
the Pearson drainage, for which he was under the
greatest ohlio-ation to his friend, Mr. Hodges, who
resided in West Kent, and who first taught him
(Sir C. Burrell) that useful art, the ])arishes where
that system had been carried on had been greatly
ii'lieved ; and he could say, with regard to his
own peo]ile, that during the 1 1 years that he had
used it to the l)enefit of himself and to the benefit
(if the land, crime and poaching had been put an
end to, the country people so employed had on all
occasions upheld his rights, and done their duty in
an ample manner, and he was grateful to that part
of the neighl)ourhood for their excellent conduct.
1( was a very great pleasure, when he attended the
l^ench at Horsham, not to see a person of his own
jiarish, or the adjoining parishes, 1)rought there
Tor any crime or impropriety of conduct ; and the
( vcellent clerk to the Horsham bench of magis-
trates (Mr. Stedman), who was now present, would
corroborate his statement whenhesaid thatthebench
liad as little trouble from West Grinstead and
Shipley as from any part of the Rape of Bramber
[lienr, hear). It would be a waste of time to
enter much into agricultural matters ; but he had
taken some pains to ascertain what might be be-
neficial to the farmer, and he had exhibited two
machines in the yard to-day, which a most respect-
al)le farmer, whom he met at Southampton, re-
commended him to purchase, assuring him that
by their means he could make his fallows at one-
half the expense of the plough and harrow only.
He alluded to the Uley cultivator (or Riddle's cul-
tivator) and the Crosskill clodcrusher. The Uley
cultivator had unfortunately been broken from
Ijeing mis-sent to Portsmouth, whence he had re-
ceived it only three or four days ago. Both gained
prizes at Southampton ; and he could entirely re-
commend the two cultivators, the Uley cultivator
or Biddle's cultivator, and the clodcrusher, to those
who held clay-land, as a means of making good
fallows with much less expense than the usual
means. In conclusion Sir C. Burrell repeated his
thanks, and then proposed the healthof Mr. Hodges,
of Hempstead, in Kent, to whom he owed deep obli-
gations, and to whom he might say the labouring
classes of West Grinstead and Shipley were greatly
indebted for the information which had enabled
him (Sir C. Burrell) to carry out that system of
draining which had proved so advantageous. His
land, on which he used to grow five sacks an acre,
now produced in fine seasons, like the present,
nine sacks an acre. His bailift" was here, and
would in all candour, set him right, if he over-
stated any thing.

Mr. Laker (the bailiff) — You are quite right.
Sir Charles, as regards last year ; and there is
every prospect, this year, of growing more (hear,
hear).

The Chairman proceeded to say that some
drains which had been made by men sent down
by Mr. Hodges not taking the water away quite
so fast as he had expected, his bailiff judiciously
suggested that there was not a sufficient number
of main drains; on which he (Sir C.) re])lied, "If
you think so, open more." This was accordingly
done ; and he beheved that he stated a fact when he

saidthatnot a single plough-drain was found stopped
up, after being eleven years in operation; this led him
to suppose that in proper land, a good sticky clay
soil, which was not infested with stones or shrave,
they might presume on those drains lasting 100,
nay jierhaps 1,000 years. There was one difficulty,
he admitted, with regard to this drainage. It would
naturally be said, " If we do all this drainage at
once, how shall we find labour for the people at the
dead time of the year?" There was some reason
in that ; but as drainage of aU sorts was good, the
round pipe tile would obviate that difficulty ; and
he thought they would find it as cheap to use
jjipe tile as frith. The toast was then drank with
three-times-three.

Mr. Hodges having returned thanks, remarked
that he could afford but little information ; for he
had seen repeatedly, in the Sussex papers, the am])le
explanations given by Sir C. Burrell from time to
time as to the effect of draining his land by the
Pearson plough. With respect to that system of
draining, however, he might say that, living in a
country which was extremely wet and stiff and
cold, and finding, a great many years ago (some-
what niore than 40) that they were increasing their
poor-rates, and not increasing their crops, and that
the ordinary manvu-es had no effect, he was com-
jieUed to turn his attention to some mode, by which
they could radically and fundamentally improve
the quality of the soU. That led him to drainage,
which he found a most expensive process ; for the
cost was from .5/. to 7/. an acre, a charge so high
that he could never expect a tenant to encounter
it. This led to deep consideration of the subject ;
and a little farmer in his own neighbourhood, who
had been only a labourer, but who afterwards took
a small farm, turned his attention to the subject,
and hit upon the principle of the Pearson Plough.
His name was Pearson, and the plough was called
by his name. Necessity and his own intelligence
suggested the plan to him ; and he (Mr. Hodges),
immediately he saw it, discovered at once that it
was the very thing they wanted. The plan was
not expensive, and was very lasting; for he had
some drains which he could prove had stood forty
years, and that being the case, he should Uke to
know when they would wear out. This drainage
had cost 30s. an acre ; and he believed it could be
done even cheaper, for the great expense had been
the 'charge for tiles for the main drains, and, as
Sir C. Burrell had said, the invention of machinery
obviated the objection to employing tiles of ex-
pensive nature. He beheved that the Pearson
Plough Drainage, combined with the use of tiles,
would be found most effective. But all clay land
was not uniforn ; some portions would be gravelly,
and could not be rammed down, but if they had
plenty of tiles they could ]>ut them in, and so go
on without interruption, till they reached the clay
again. An ingenious man named Hatcher, in his
own parish, had invented a machine for making
tiles, which was in operation in Sir Charles Burrell's
yard mth as good effect as in Kent. He knew that
in some places drainage could not be carried out,
according to the Pearson system ; but he knew
that the Pearson Plough would cut out drains
truer than they could be cut out by hand {hear,

440

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

hear, from Sir C. Burrell). Having had this ma-
chine invented, a machine so simple that he was
now working it with three boys — he used to have
a man, in addition to the three boys — he turned
out from 5,000 to 6,000 tiles a day, which was
faster than any kiln could burn them. The great
difficulty with regard to tiles had been the expense
of carriage from the tileries to distant places, where
their use was required. Last year he sent his own
team 18 miles for tiles; and it was as much as
four horses could do to bring 1,000 tiles. Now,
a machine manufactured tiles uhich could be carried
6,000 at a time ; and that made a great reduction
in the expense of carriage. Still, ho^ve^'er, to very
distant places the carriage was considerable. But
he was hajipy to state that he had made a discovery
on the subject; and he was now Maiting a paper
for the Royal Agricultural Society on his discovery,
'llie substance of that paper was this. The great
expense and the difficulty of making tiles arose
from the expense of making a kiln ; and he had
erected a kiln of earth, that had not cost him 5/.,
in which he Vv-as burning at the rate of 20,000 tiles
a fortnight. It was not necessary to have a single
permanent building for the manufacture of tiles,
'lire pug mill worked in the open air ; the sheds
would be made of hurdles and thatched ^\^th straw,
like the sheds which the sheplierds erected in lamb-
ing time ; and the machine, being a moveable one,
ran along the shed, and there was no expense of
handling, exce})t hy two little boys, who put the
tiles into the hut to dry. This would so reduce
the cost of tiles, that hereafter it would be impos-
sible for any landlord or tenant in England to
allege the expense of tiles as an excuse for not
draining. But the apprehension that when the
soil was permanently drained they would lose the
means of employing labourers, M'as a A^ery wi'ong
doctrine. He had heard it broached in the cattle
yard that morning. By draining they removed
one great obstacle to an increase of produce ; and
when they had laid the super-structure, who was
to ])ut a limit to the increase ? When they had
drained, there A\'as no limit to the employment of
labour ; but the ])roduce might be increased to any
reasonable extent. He thought the objection
was without much fovmdation. At all events, the
difficulty was one that he was not afraid to encoun-
ter {cheers).

The Chairman next proposed the health of
Mr. Hurst (cheers).

Mr. Hurst said there v/as one circumstance he
would mention. He had had a field drained, and
had only time last autumn to subsoil a portion of
it. I'he field was sown with M'heat ; and the reapers
told him that they could tell to a line Avhere the
subsoiUng had been done, by the handling of the
straw.

The Chairman asked Mr. Hodges whether he
had anything to communicate, relative to the ad^-an-
tages of subsoiling.

Mr. Hodges stated that when he first began
to drain, the average produce M'as about two quar-
ters of brown wheat of moderate quality, containing
a great deal of " cockle" (laughter). Under-drain-
ing and subsoilincr had raised the average to above
four quarters of white wheat of the finest descrip-

tion, and without cockle. The subsoihng, he would
observe, should be done in dry weather (Chairman,
hear, hear). Mr. Hodges proceeded to state that
when he began to drain, people told him he would
drain away his grass. He did drain away the
coarse grass, but there arose spontaneously a finer
growth, which gave him an increased \\-eight
of hay, and did not give him the rot in shee]i.

Mr. T. Childs wished to mention what his
friend, Mr. Weller's modesty made him withhold.
A field, which used to produce very little more
than four sacks of wheat to the acre, had been
drained and subsoiled; this year he had thrashed a
field of three acres, and three quarters, and the
produce was 45 sacks, or 12 sacks an acre (hear,
hear).

The Chairman observed that subsoiling ap-
proached as nearly as possible to garden culture ;
but, in subsoiling, he would advise the farmers
to work across the lands, lest the drains should
squeeze in. After draining some of his land, he
had a coiuse of crops before he used the Deanstone
plough. He took out 16 inches of the 24, in sub-
soiling across the drains.

Mr. Hodges asked for information relative to
the growth of white carrots.

The Chairman replied that the culture of the
white carrot having been brought to his notice
by a friend in Belgium, he purchased some seed
at the shop of Wrench and Co., in King William
Street; and his produce Avas 1,000 bushels an
acre. Since then he had sown four or five acres
annually, and his friends had had an opportunity
of now seeing the fine crop he had this year, not-
withstanding the season had been most ungenial.
He had made a statement on the subject to Mr,
Pusey, and it appeared in the Journal of the Royal
Agricultural Society, to which he would refer those
who wanted information. This year, when his
cattle were turned out, he had 400 tons of hay
left, whereas formerly he had been left with 30. And
all this he attributed to the introduction of white
carrot upon clay lands.

BRECONSHIRE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

The following premiums were awarded at the an-
nual meeting of this Society, held on Friday, Sept.
13th, at Brecon : —

To Henry Allen, Esq., The Lodge, for the best
aged bull, £4 4s.

To Joseph Bailey, Esq., M.P., for the second
best ditto, £2 2s.

To Mr. John WiUiams, Abercunrig, for the best
pair of two-year-old steers, £3 3s.

To Mr. Stephens, Sheep' House, for the second
best ditto, £2 2s.

To Mr. Stephens, Sheep House, for the best two-
year-old in-calf heifer, £3 3s.

To. J. L. V. Watkins, Esq., Penoyre, for the se-
cond best ditto, £2 2s.

To Mr. E. Williams, Pipton, for the best year-
ling heifer, £2 2s.

To Mr. Trouncer, Sheep House, for the second
best ditto, £2 2s.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

441

To Mr. Williams, Scethrog, for the best Lowland
arm, £2 2s.

To Mr. Vv''illiams, Manest, for the best pen of
two-year-old Lowland ewes, not less than 10 in
number, £2 2s.

To Mr. ^^'illiams, Abercunrig, for the best pen
of yearling wethers, not less than 5 in number,
£2 2s.

To Mr. Downes, Maesmaur, for the best moun-
tain ram, £2 2s.

To Mr. Williams, Pipton, for the best pen, as
above, for the hundreds of Talgarth and Crick-
howell, £3 3s.

To Mr. Downes, Maesmaur, for the best pen, as
above, for the hundreds of Devynnock and Pen-
kelly, £3 3s.

To Mr. Williams, Manest, Devynnock, for the
best boar, £2 2s.

To the Rev. Philip Morgan, for the best sow,
£2 2s.

To J. L. V. Watkins, Esq., for the best i)ony,
not exceeding 13 hands high, or six years of age,
and bred in the county, £2 2s.

To Mr. Thomas AVilliams, Brecon, for the best
cow in milk, on a farm not exceeding in rent £50
per annum, the occupier gaining a livelihood solely
thereby, £3 3s.

To Mr. Thomas Williams, Bi'econ, for the best
in-calf two-year-old heifer, on a similar farm, £2 2s.

CULTIVATION OF LAND.

To Mr. William Powell, Ffynant, for occupymg
a farm in the county of Brecon, not exceeding the
value of £80 per annum, and gaining a livelihood
solely thereby, in the year 1844, and raising the
best and cleanest crop ofwheat either upon a naked
fallow or clover ley, after a previous crop of turnips,
not less than three acres, soil and situation consi-
dered, the sum of £2 2s.

Several prizes were awarded to shepherds, la-
bourers, and farming servants.

SILVER CUPS.

A silver cup, the gift of Colonel Gwynne Hol-
ford, of Buckland, for the best three-year-old nag
colt or filly, bred in the county and exhibited by
the feeder — W. Watkins, Fforddfawr.

A silver cup, the gift of Colonel Gwynne Hol-
ford, of Buckland, for the best cart colt or filly,
three years old, bred as above — Mr. Hugh Edwards,
Pont^^dllim.

A silver cup, the gift of Joseph Bailey, Esq.,
M.P., not to cover at any place exceeding 20 miles
from the town of Brecon, 1844 — Mr. W. Rogers.

A silver tea pot, the gift of Colonel Wood, M.P.,
for the best milch cow — J. L. V. Watkins, Esq.,
Penoyre.

A silver cup, the gift of Walter Maybery, Esq.,
for the best brood mare and foal, bond fide the pro-
perty of a resident in the coimty of Brecknock, the
mare not to be thorough-bred, and the foal to be
got by a thorough-bred horse — Captain Stretton,
Danyjiark.

A silver cup, the gift of the Rev. R. W. P. Davies,
of Courtygollen, for the best yearling colt got by a
thorough-bred horse — Mr. Roger Powell, Brecon.

A silver cup, the gift of Mr. Jones, of Crick-

howell, for the best six yearling steers, bred by
the exhibitor — Mr. Williams, Pipton.

A silver cup, the gift of J. Powell, Esq., for the
best pen of Lowland ev/es, not less than ten in
number — Mr. Williams, Manest.

A premium of £ 1 0, from a few tradesmen of the
town, for the best practical essay on farming,
adapted for the farmers residing in the hvmdreds
of Devynnock and Methyr Cynog. The manage-
ment to be in the hands of the chairman and com-
mittee, and the essay to be produced by the autumn
meeting. There were three received. To be
awarded at the spring meeting.

J. Hewer, Esq., and — Watkins, Esq., v\'ere the
judges of the cattle and sheep ; and — Parr, Esq.,
and R. D. Gough, Esq., were the judges of the
horses.

llae very splendid show of improved agricultural
implements exceeded every exhibition of the kind
ever before seen — both as to number and utility.
The spirited exhibitors, Messrs. Hodges and
Wright, decidedly stand amongst tlie first on the
list of a2rricultural machine makers.

STAMFORD AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

The fifth annual exhibition of stock and imple-
ments of this society was held on Tuesday, Sept.
24, in a paddock behind the infirmary, in the oc-
cupation of the Messrs. Simpson, who kindly lent
it to the society for the occasion. Ample and com-
modious shedding for the stock was gratuitously
provided (as in former years) by Mr. Jas. Richard-
son, builder. Barn-hill.

There M'as a ^■el•y extensive show of implements.
We purposed giving a list of all those exhibited,
but are forced to forego our intention from want of
room. The exhibitors of implements were Mr. J.
C. Grant, Mr. Johnson, Messrs. W. and J. "Wright,
Messrs. H. Smith and Co., all of Stamford; Mr. J.
Coultas, of Grantham ; and Mr. Bird, of Caster-
ton. Mr. Jas. Simpson, seedsman, Stamford,
showed some beautiful specimens of turnips, pota-
toes, &c.

Amongst the visitors in the show-yard were the
Marquis of Exeter, the Earl of Westmoreland, Sir
J. TroUope, Bart., M.P., — O'Brien, Esq., Blath-
erwycke, Staftbrd O'Brien, Esq., Blatherwycke,
General Reynardson and a party of ladies, G. J.
Heathcote, Esq., M.P., the Rev. H. Chaplin, of
Ryhall, and a party of ladies, &c., &c.

THE DINNER

Was held in the large room of the " George and
Angel" (Mr. Lasegues). The chair was taken by
the President of the society, Sir John Trollope,
Bart., M.P. ; the \'ice-chairs were occupied by Mr.
Octavius Simpson and Mr. James Atter.

The cloth being removed, the usual loyal and
complimentary toasts were diimk.

The Secretary (Mr. Sharp) then proceeded to
read the award of i)remiums, which ^\'as as fol-
lows : —

Judges of Stock : Mr. Scales, Dowsby ; Mr.
NichoUs, Bourn; Mr. John Pollard, Stamford.
Judges of Farms ; Mr, D, Larratt, Thuiiby 5 Mr,

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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Bradshaw, Barley ; Mr. Sharman, Horn, Judges
of Labourers: Mr. R. Simpson, Little Casterton;
Mr. John Roden, jun., Stamford; Mr. W. Smith,
Stamford.

CATTLE,

Class 1.— Oxen or steers, of any breed or weight,
under five years of age, without restriction as to
feeding, 10 sovs., to Mr. Robert Smith, of Burley,
Rutland, a steer.

Class 2. — Oxen or steers, of any breed or weight,
under four years of age, 7 sovs., to Mr. H. Hodg-
liin, of Edenham, a red steer.

Class 3. — Cows of any age, having had a calf at
the full time, 5 sovs., to the Marquis of Exeter, a
roan cow.

Class 4. — For the best short-horned bull, up-
wards of 3 years of age, 10 sovs., to Mr. T. Chap-
man, of Whitwell, Rutland, a pure-bred short-
horn bull, " Rasper,"

Class 5, — For the best short-horn bull, under
three years and not less than one year old, 5 sovs.
to Mr. Thomas Chapman, of Whitwell, a pure-bred
short-horn bull, " Victor,"

Class 6. — Milch cows, of any age or breed, 3
sovs., to the Marquis of Exeter, a roan cow, 4
years old; 1 sov.to Mr. H. Hodgkin, of Edenham,
a roan cow, foiu' years old.

Class 7. — In-calved heifers, not exceeding 3 years
of age, 3 sovs., to Mr. Thos, Chapman, of Whit-
well, a pure-bred short-horn heifer, 2 years and 9
months old; 1 sov. to Jos. Phillips, Esq., of St.
Martin's, Stamford, a roan heifer.

Class 8, — Steers, not exceeding 3 years of age,
2 sovs., to Jos. PhilUps, Esq., of St. Martin's Stam-
ford, a red steer.

Class 9. — Heifers, under 2 years of age, 2 sovs.,
to Mr. H. Hodgkin, of Edenham, a red heifer, 1
year and 1 1 months old ; 1 sov. to Mr. Thomas
Chapman, of Wiiitwell, a pure-bred short-horn hei-
fer, 1 year and 6 months old.

SHEEP.

Class 10. — Shearling rams, to be used within the
district, 5 sovs., to Mr. Thos, Fountain, of Deep-
ing Fen, a shearhng ram ; 2 sovs. to Mr. E. E.
Dawson, of Ingthorpe, a shearhng ram, 17 months
old,

(In reference to this class, the judges were of opi-
nion that there should be one class for Leicesters,
and one for Lincolns, they ha\'ing experienced
great difficulty in deciding on the merits of ani-
mals shown in a class combining both breeds).

Class 11. — Rams, of any age, 3 sovs, to the Mar-
quis of Exeter, a three-shear ram ; 1 sov, to Mr. E,
E. Dawson, of Ingthorpe, a two-shear ram.

Class 12. — Long-wooUed ewes, of any age, bred
within the district, 5 sovs. to Mr. Robt. Lynn, of
Stroxton, 5 ewes ; 2 sovs. to Mr. T. Parkinson, of
Ryhall, 5 long-wool ewes.

Class 13. — ^Theaves, underTthe same condition
as laid down in Class 12, 3 sovs., to Mr. Seth
Smith, of West Deeping, 5 theaves ; 2 sovs. to Mr.
Robt. Lynn, of Stroxton, 5 theaves.

Class 14. — Ewe lambs, bred within the district,
2 sovs., to the Marquis of Exeter, 5 ewe lambs ; 1
sov. to Mr. M. Bradford, of Tickencote, 5 ewe
lambs,

Class 15. — Long-woolled shearlings, bred within
the district, without restriction as to feeding, 3
sovs., to the Marquis of Exeter, 5 shearlings; 2
so\^s. to Mr. J. Lowe, Belmisthorpe, 5 shearlings.

PIGS.

Class 16. — Boars of any age, 2 sovs., to Mr.
Eras. Wright, of Burley, a boar, 1 year and 4
months old; 1 sov. to Mr. Thomas Fountain, of
Deeping Fen, a boar, 1 1 months old.

Class 17. — In- pigged sows, 2 sovs,, to Mr, J.
Bettinson, of Thurlby, a sow.

Class 18, — Fat pigs, of any weight, 2 sovs, to
Messrs, Bowman and Paine, of Greatford, a fat
pig, Chinese breed; 1 sov, to Stafford O'Brien,
Esq., a fat pig, 13 months old.

A premium of 1 sov, received by Mr. Rd. Prout,
of St. Martin's Stamford, 1843, for his boar, and
given by him for the best sow and htter, the pro-
duce of his boar ; Mr, Standwell, of Casterton, en-
tered a sow and litter, but did not show,

FOR TENANT OCCUPIERS.

Of not more than Thirty Acres in the District.

Class 19. — Cows in milk, to have calved at full
time, 2 sovs, to Mrs, Ann Woods, of Langham, a
white cow, 5 years and 9 months old.

Class 20, — Heifers, under two years of age, 2
sovs, to Mr. Eras. Wright, of Burley, a heifer, 1
year and 11 months old; 1 sov. to Mr, Ed. Cun-
nington, of Egleton, a heifer, 18 months and 2
Weeks old.

Class 21. — Steers, under the same condition as
in class 20, 2 sovs., to Mrs. Ann Woods, of Lang-
ham, a white-faced steer, 1 year and 11 months
old ; 1 sov. to Mrs, Charlotte Almond, of Lang-
ham, a white steer, 1 year and 1 1 months old.

Class 22. — Lambs, bred Avithin the district, 30s.,
to Mr. E. Cunnington, of Egleton, 5 lambs.

Class 23. — Pigs, above 12 months old. No en-
tries.

Class 24, — Pigs, under twelve months old, 1 sov.,
to Mr, Prout, of St. Martin's, Stamford, 2 pigs,
24 weeks old.

Several prizes to labourers and servants were
awarded,

BEST CULTIVATED FARM,

A premium of Forty Sovereigns, offered by the
Most Hon, the Marquis of Exeter, K.G., to the te-
nant farmer (being a member of the society) occu-
pying not less than 200 acres of arable land within
the limits of the society, whose farm shall be in the
best state of cultivation. To Mr, J, Holland,
Deeping Fen.

EXTRA STOCK.

1 . Mr, Gregory, of Wing, an entire colt,

2, Mr. Scott, of Morcott, two colts.

3, The Rev. P. W. Pegus, a roan bull calf, bred by
himself, IO5 months old.

4. Dr. WiUis, of ShiUingthorpe, a buU, 16 months
old — higlily commended.

5, Mr, Morton, of Pilsgate, a cow in calf — highly
commended,

6. Mr. Bettinson, a cow in calf — commended.

7. Mr. Edw. E. Dawson, 2 two-shear rams, 17
months old, fed on cake since May, 1S44.

8, Sir J, Trollope, a pen of two-shear sheep.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

443

'J. Mr. Carter, of Dunsby, a pen of 5 shearling

rams.
10. Mr. T. Fountain, a boar, 10 months old.

The successful competitors in ploughing, the la-
boui'ers, &c., were then called in and addressed by
the chairman.

I The Secretary then opened and read the do-
cument containing the award of judges for the
best cultivated farm. They awarded the i)rize to
Mr. J. Holland, Deeping Fen.

The Chairman, in a complimentary sjieech,
proposed the health of Mr. Holland, in a bumper.

Mr. Holland returned thanks.

Mr. Clarke, of Burley, said — As their worthy
chairman had insinuated that the farmers ought to
encourage the laloiu'ers and alleviate their suffer-
ings as much as possible, he must say that he hoped
they would alleviate the sufferings of the labouring
classes as much as possible, but they could not do
it unless the landlords'would stand Ijy the farmers
{loud applause). He hoped that so long as the land-
lords favoured their tenants by attending agricul-
tural meetings of this description they should see
the best stock displayed for their notice, and the
best ploughing — the ploughing that would produce
the best crops [applause). The farmers were desi-
rous of encourging the labovu-ers, and he hoped the
landlords would encourage the farmers, and then
there would be no necessity for the emigration of
the labourers {hear and applause).

Francis Simpson, jun., Esq., proposed the
judges — Messrs. Larrett, Sharman, and Bradshaw.

Mr. Larrett, of Thurlby, acknowledged the
compliment in a neat speech, in which he made o1)-
servations upon the various improvements that had
taken place on the four farms which were entered
for competition. If all the farms in the coimtry
were cultivated as well as the four farms they had
examined, there would not be a man, woman, or
child in the country out of employment. If all
farms were cultivated as these four were, the pre-
sent population M'ould not be sufficient to cultivate
them {appluv.se). He thought if the Marquis of
Exeter gave £30 for the best managed farm, and
£10 for the second best, allowing the second best
to compete for the first prize on the following year,
it would be an improvement upon the present sys-
tem, and would ensiu'e more competition. And he
was of o])inion that such an arrangement would
carry out his lordship's views to the greatest extent.

Mr. M. Bradford, Tickencote, jjroposed the
health of the Secretary,

Mr. Sharp, the Secretary, returned thanks.

Mr. Hunt said, as the Stamford agricultural So-
ciety at present gaA'e no premium for the best
stacking and thatching, he would next year as a
trial give 50s. for the best stacking, and 50s. for
the best thatching {apjilause).

The Chairman proposed the health of Mr.
James Richardson.

Mr. Richardson returned thanks.

The Chairman next proposed the health of the
ex-secretary of the society, Mr. Fricker.

Mr, Fricker returned thanks, observing in re-
ference to the remarks of Mr, Sharp, that the office
of secretary had nothing whatever to do \vith that
of treasurer.

The Chairman wished to congratulate the so-
ciety on the increasing interest tluit seemed to take
place every year in the show of impleuicnts. The
show of implements this year was larger than any
he had seen except that at the meeting of the Royal
Agricultural Society. The show of implements this
year at Stamford was very large and well-selected,
and they certainly were very much indebted to the
spirited tradesmen who exhibited them {applause).
There was also a gentleman from Grantham who
had exhibited implements — he meant Mr. Coultas,
a name very well known in the implement world.
And Mr. Bird, of Casterton, showed some ploughs.
But the great bulk of the implements shown were
exhibited by a tradesman of Stamford, Mr. Grant,
who had been at great expense in travelling far and
wide for the improvement of agricultural imple-
ments {applause). The name of Grant was not un-
known in the mechanical world — he met with him
last year at the meeting of the Yorkshire Agricul-
tural Society, at Doncaster, where he got many or-
ders for his implements. He thought Mr. Grant
was deserving of their thanks for liis very excellent
show, and begged to propose his health {loud ap-
plause),

Mr. Grant was quite sure that the very higli
compliment Sir John TroUope had just paid to the
implement makers, with whom he was pleased to
couple his name more particularl}', could not be
passed over ^vithout thanks on his part. If he had
added to the interest of the meeting he was ami)ly
repaid by the manner in which his health had been
l)roposed and received {applause). He hoped he
should at all times be able to exhibit as large a
show of implements as he had done that day. He
certainly had visited some distant places ; he in-
tended visiting one the next morning. He had had
the honour of receiving an invitation from a soci-
ety of which Sir Robert Peel is president {applause).
He expected to be at Lichfield on the following
morning at ten o'clock. He had sent some imple-
ments to that to^vn and elsewhere. He returned
thanks on behalf of the implement makers.

THE TYNESYDE AGRICULTURAL

SOCIETY'S SHOW.

Hexham, Tuesday, October 1.

This day the Tyneside Agricultural Society held
their sixth show of stock, &c., in the Cloister's
ground behind the Abbey, granted for the purpose
by Captain Bell.

The Judges upon this occasion were — for the
cattle, &c., Mr, Fair, Frenchfield, Cumberland;
Mr, Harrington, Nunnery, Cumberland; and Mr.
Severs, Ohver, near Richmond. For corn, &c.,
Mr, G. Armstrong, Ileddon Banks ; Mr. W. Ste-
phenson, Tlirockley; and Mr. Nicholas AVright,
Buteland.

The stock was allowed, by competent judges, to
be the best, in almost every respect, that has yet
been shoNvn by this society. The only imjjlements
sho^vn were a clod-cnisher, the property of Mr.
Campion, and manufactured by Mr. CrosskiU,
Beverley ; a large iron roller, also the property of

444

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Mr. Campion ; a turnip cutter, either for horse-
])o\ver or manual labour, by Mr. Nevison Walker,
Hexham ; and an improved stand for washing
butter, by the same manufacturer. In the course
of the day, the clod-crusher was purchased l)y Mr.
C, J. Biga^e.

Amongst the company in the show ground there
were Mr. Ogle, M.P. ; Mr. John Grey, Uilston ;
Mr, George yilvertop, Minsteracres j Mr. C. J.
Bigge, Bradley Hall ; Mr. Garston, Liverpool ; Mr.
Walker, Liverpool ; Mr. G. H. Ramsey, Denvent
Villa ; Mr. J. Harbottle, Anick Grange ; Mr. E.
James, Wylam HaU ; Mr. W. Annandale, Bingfieid ;
the Rev. W. Airey, Hexham; the Rev. J. Rawes,
Allendale To^vn ; Mr. Edward Campion, Hareshaw
Iron Works ; Mr. AV. Langhorn, Mill HiUs ; Mr.
G. Atkinson, Seaham Hall ; Mr. John Harle, Mill
Hills ; Mr. Nicholas Wright, Buteland ; Mr.
Nicholas Burnett, Black Hedley ; Mr. W. Sample,
Matfen ; Mr. Crofton, Haughton Mains ; Mr. Mar-
shall Stephenson, Fourstones ; Messrs. Angus,
Broomley ; Messrs. T. and G. Lee, Stocksfield
Hall; Messrs. J. and T. Trotter, Bywell; Mr. J.
Atkinson, Newbiggin ; Mr. G. Angus, Bearl ; Mr.
Silas Angiis, Boghouse ; Mr. John Errington, War-
den; Mr. J. Kirksopp, Spital ; Mr. N. Ruddock,
Hexham ; Mr. Spraggon, Nafterton ; Mr. Jos.
Wright, Charlton; Mr. John Watson, Aller wash ;
Mr. Johnson, Prudhoe ; !Mr. Jacob Watson, Allen-
dale Tov/n ; Mr. Jos. Lee, Dilston ; Mr. Cail, Peel-
well; Mr. G. Davidson, East Acomb; Mr. J. Rid-
ley, Park End ; Mr. T. Ridley, ditto ; Mr. Brown,
Seaton Delaval; Mr. R. M. Park, Hexham, Mr. P.
Jeiferson, Hexham ; Mr. J. Cowen, Winlaton ; yir.
Milburn, Crawcrook; Mr. J. Fe\vster, Newlands;
Mr. John March, Greenside ; Mr. AY. Hunt, Dil-
ston ; Mr. Harrison, WaU ; Mr. Smith Stobart,
Hexham Abbey; Mr, Blandford, Mr, Chrisp,
&c., &c.

THE DINNER.

Tlie labours attendant on the show ground
having l^ecn satisfactorily terminated, the members
and their friends, to the numjjer of 60, sat down to
a substantial dinner, provided in a pavilion, in the
garden of the AAliite Hart Inn, when the chair was
taken by Mr. John Errington, AA'arden, and Mr. C.
J. Bigge officiated as vice-president. On the right of
the chairman were Mr. Ogle, M.P., Mr. John Grej',
and Mr. (iarston ; and on the left were Mr. C. A.
Monck, Mr. Jasper Gibson, and Mr. AValker. The
vice-chairman was supported by Mr. J, Harbottle
and ^Ir. J. Kirsopp.

On the removal of the cloth, the usual lo}'al and
comphmentary toasts were drunk.

The Chairman said — He would beg to give
"The Members for this Division of the County"
{applause). To the member who was here last year
(Ml'. M. Bell), and who filled the chair upon an oc-
casion similar to the [present — and he need not
remind them how admirably it was filled upon that
occasion — he was sure that, as agriculturists, they
would be happy to give him that mark of their gra-
titude for his sen-ices, not only upon that, but upon
many other occasions {applause). To the member
who now sat on his right hand they were highly
indebted for his attendance on the present occasion,

and for his regard to the interests of the county
at large, and especially its agricultural interests,

Mr. Ogle, in returning thanks, said — He was
glad to think that they had not diminished in their
efforts since that time, and that there was now every
pKispect that this county would speedily stand high
for its agricultural produce. This part of the county
appeared to be peculiarly well qualified for the gene- J
ral purposes of agriculture, and he belie\'ed that
this association wovild be productive of the most
beneficial residts. It Mould not only stimulate the
ambition of the agriculturist and improve the far-
mer, but it would tend to promote and keep alive
that friendly intercourse between landlord and
tenant which was so much to be desired, as being
of the utmost benefit to both (applause). On all
sides he perceived that the spirit of improvement
was abroad ; e^-en in a remote jiart of the county he
was struck with admiration at the manner in which
tile-draining v/as carried on. Indeed, eveiything
reminded him of an inscription which he saw over
a gate in the extreme north of Europe, and ^vhich
was to the effect that "Art and Industry can over-
come even hostile Nature" (applause). He felt,
howe^•er, that it was not for him, who came there as
a listener — as a lover of the art, and not a practi-
tioner of it — to detain them longer ; he could assure
them, at the same time, that, as long as he had the
honour to be a representative of the county, he
would pay eveiy attention to the best interests of
agriculture in general, and to the agriculture of the
county in jiarticular ; and he trusted that they
would, in conclusion, allow him to propose the
health of a gentleman of ^^•hom they aU approved —
a gentlenan who had quitted the practice of tlie bar :
for the practice of the sickle ; who had doffed the
forensic gown, that he might retire to the sylvan
shades and follow the pursuits of his forefathers.
He would give "The Health of their excellent
Chairman."

The Chairman said he begged to return his
most sincere thanks for the honour they had done
him. He would haxe the pleasure of jiroposing a
toast which he well knew would ensure their appro-
liation; he would propose that they should drink
" Success to the Tyneside Agricultural Society, and
the health of its respected founder, !Mr, Grey"
(applause). He (the Chairman) was ill able — being
no farmer — to speak of the benefits to be conferred
on this district by a society like the present ; that
was a subject with which they were better acquainted
than he ■was. But there M-as no man, who had
lived a few years amongst them, who could be in-
sensible to the material improvements which had
taken place in this countiy-side, as it regarded
agriculture ; any eye, however inexperienced, would
be able to see that ; and, though there might be
A'arious causes for such improvement, there was no
doubt that that improvement was mainly attributable
to the establishment of this society, and to the con-
tinued exertions of Mr. Grey (applause). If such
had been the results witnessed by them in a few
years, as siiringing from this society, what might
they not expect for the future ? AAliat they had
done might be considered as nothing compared
M'ith what they might expect to do. There were
none who had witnessed that show who were not

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

445

satisfied that it was a material improvement on all
former occasions ; and there were none, he was
convinced, who had been successful that day, who
would not go home with a determination to be yet
more successful, and to ])roduce still finer animals
{applause) ; and many who had been unsuccessful,
and some who had been spectators only, would go
home and try if they could not succeed in showing
animals finer than any which had been seen that day.
It was not in the breeding of animals alone that they
had been successful; they had furthered aU the arts
belonging to the cultivation of land. AU the various
experiments which had been made, either in this or
in other districts, as to the apphcation of manures,
and to the tilling of land, had been investigated by
them, and must now be l^etter known to all. It
was amongst the landlords that these benefits were
highly desirable ; for no man could be a good tenant
without producing a disposition in his landlord to
join in the superior cultivation of his land. Every
intelhgent fanner would meet with the cordial co-
operation of his landlord in such matters. If drain-
ing were wanted, the landlord would not be deficient
in providing the means ; and if the breeding of stock
were the object in \\&\y, he would be ready to give
such buildings as might be required for protection
and shelter, and thus, as the tenant improved, so
would the landlord improve with him. Nor would
these be the only parties to be benefited ; other
classes would feel the influence of such a happy
combination. He meant the peasants and the
labourers of the countiy, for whom too little had
been done Avith regard to their comforts and mode
of life. How essential was it that more attention
should be paid to their well-being, to their wages,
and to their cottages, to make them useful labourers
in the cultivation of the land ! Thus, when they
(the company) found how the well-being of all was
aided by this society, they would be fully sensible
of what they owed to him who set it a-going
{applause).

Mr. Grey, on again addressing the meeting,
said he would indeed be A'^ery insensible did
he not feel the warm and kind manner in which
he had been brought iinder their notice, and
did he not attempt to state the gratitude which he
felt for the enthusiastic manner in which it had
pleased them to receive him. It had been often
observed that many societies now in existence were
very humble in their origin ; and, however useful
or however successful this society had been since
its establishment, it certainly was not an exception
to the general rule, for it was on one of their
private rent-day meetings that this society was
formed; and happy was he to think that, from
such a beginning, it had risen into some degree of
importance ; and happy also was he to think that
the show which they had witnessed that day had
fuUy justified all that their worthy and excellent
chairman had said respecting it {applause). He had
noticed other objects which were of the utmost im-
portance, and which certainly would not be over-
looked. The society began their efforts for improve-
ment by looking at the stock in this district, which
certainly, at that time, might be said to be rather
retrograding than improving; and he was happy
now to think that it was on tlae advance in this i)art

of the country ; but he would beg leave to draw
their attention to other subjects, subjects which he
felt more difficult to deal with than with the breed-
ing of hve stock. In that there was an excitement
which rendered it more easy to command attention
than there was in other subjects which did not
come immediately before the eyes. The breeding
of stock was a thing rather in favour of the gam-
bling propensities of our nature than otherwise — a
sort of a contest between Bee's-wing and Lanercost;
and when so engaged they were curious to know who
would win, and this might have a great effect in
producing such a show of stock as they had wit-
nessed ; but there were other motives for improve-
ment, and no man could be excused if he remained
in ignorance of them {hear, hear). He remembered
the time when he found it very difficult indeed to
get knowledge on this subject, and he went through
some districts for that purpose ; but that, he was
happy to say, was now no longer necessary, for
they had a knowledge of all the new manures which
had been experimented on in every part of the
kingdom. They had their great parent of Scot-
land, and they had English and Irish societies, and
even societies as humble as their own, in which
investigations took place, and in which they could
hold converse Avith each other on subjects which
were of the most vital importance to "themselves,
and to the country at large. And, besides these,
they had other engines at work : they had
periodical agricultural publications, and they
had, moreover, the public press earnestly en-
gaged in carrying abroad all the information
which could be obtained, and especially which could
be obtained at meetings like the present ; and men
must be very stohd indeed if they went to sleep
after their work, and did not attempt to profit by
all these means before them. There were \'ery
many matters upon which they were not properly
agreed on yet, and which had not been properly
and experimentally treated. For instance, he had
been told that where the land was veiy poor it
shoiild be sown thick with seeds, whereas nothing
could be more preposterous {hear). They also had
considerable doubt as to which really was the pro-
per time for cutting their grain. His belief was,
that the best way was to cut it before it was quite
ripe ; and millers had told him that what was cut
in that way was more kindly than it would have
been if it had been left to ripen in the sun; they
had, when it was suflfered to dry in that manner,
more bran and less flour. He thought the best
way was to have it cut a few days before it was
ripe ; but it was still a point which was left unde-
termined, and it would be better if they could bring
forward proofs of this and other matters which
were not yet agreed upon. This might be very
weU done if they could establish schools of agriciU-
ture, and have the benefit of experimental farms.
Without going to school, however, they knew by
experience and by science what they were to do,
without wandering about in the dark. What he
recommended was wthin the reach of eveiy one ;
and if it should at any time l)e in his power to
advance knowledge, or to give any information on
the subject, he would be most ready to do so, and
to co-operate with any parties having improvement

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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

in view. He would recommend the farmers to
vmite in the forming of small libraries, and in the
procuring and reading books of useful agricultural
knowledge, and then to hold meetings, and com-
municate the knowledge they had thus gained one
to another. He knew of nothing that would be
more hkely to keep the farmer on the alert than
this. By such means he would be kept awake,
and have the full benefit of those intellectual
powers with which Providence had blessed him
{applause). In returning thanks for the honour
which they had done him, and for the honour
which they had done what they had been pleased
to term his society — and for the ultimate success of
which he was still very anxious — he thanked them
most cordially ; and he begged, in conclusion, to
give them the health of a gentleman whom he saw
amongst them for the first time, and who, he had
no doubt, would be a benefit to them, as he was to
every society in which he engaged. He would beg,
therefore, that they would join him in drinking the
good health of Mr. Bigge, the vice-chairman.

Tlie Vice-Chairman said he begged to return
liis most cordial thanks for the extremely flattering
comphment which had been paid to him by Mr.
Grey and the company generally. Though not
himself a practical agricultural man, he was the son
of one of the oldest and one of the most successful
agricultural men in Northumberland- — and one
who was amongst the first to venture on the expe-
riment of draining his estate^-an experiment which
met with the most unexpected results. There could
now be no doubt of the advantages which draining
conferred upon clay land ; it exceeded every expec-
tation which had been formed of it, and there was
no doubt that, if it were fully carried out, so far
from what was predicted by Cobden and the
League, we would be able to support our own
population with grain, and, in no short time, be-
come an exporting instead of an importing country
(hear, hear, and applause). He agreed in all that
the chairman and Mr. Grey had said on this sub-
ject, and he was of opinion that there should be,
generally speaking, an alteration in the division of
the land ; long leases should be introduced, and
large farms, and the tenant and the landlord, would
soon find that, by combining together, they were
acting in support of their mutual interests. The
system had been introduced in Bambrough, and
had been found to work well. With respect to what
Jiad been said on manures, he had to inform them
that he had made use of one which was very uncom-
mon, and which had proved amazingly productive :
it was the ammoniacal gas-lime which was made at
the gas-works ; and, being passed through water,
it lost aU its heat, and was incapable of being adul-
terated as Guano was. He had produced an im-
mense crop of clover by using it, and in applying
it to potatoes and parsnips the produce was enor-
mous, so much so, indeed, that next year he was
determined to try it in his garden, and he would do
so because he was convinced that what was good for
one kind would be good for all. It had an-
other and a great recommendation — it was only
one shilling a ton, which would render it very
acceptable. He had also used it as a top-dressing
for old land J and he would be very glad if any

gentleman would call upon him and see what am-
moniacal gas-lime was really worth. He might
mention, further, that it exterminated wire-worms,
and was, in fact, inimical to everything of insect
life. He heartily coincided in everything which he
had heard with respect to the intelligence of socie-
ties like the present, consisting as it did of the i^ro-
duce of various minds; and he would be most
happy to unite in the estabhshment of hbraries for
the benefit of the farmers generally. If it were
practical to have hand-books in agriculture, it
would be of great benefit to the farmer ; and he
would conclude by hoping that, by means of socie-
ties like the present, science would be extended in
every direction, and we should, by such means,
soon see the country amply able to supply the
whole of its inhabitants with grain (applause.)

Mr. Hunt, the honorary secretary to the society,
then read the award of the judges as follows : —

SHORT-HORNED CATTLE.

For the best bull of any age, calved previous to
the 1st of January, 1843, a sweepstakes of 10s.
each, \vith a premium of £8. Mr. W. Hunt, Dil-
ston, 1 ; Mr. George Dickenson, Ouston, 2.

For the l)est yearhng bull, calved since the 1st of
January, 1843, a sweepstakes of 10s. each. Math a
premium of £5. Mr. Woodman, East Acomb, 1 j
Messrs. Angus, Broomley, 2.

For the best bull calf, calved since the 1st of
January, 1844, a sweepstakes of 10s. each, with a
premium of £3. Mr. J. Atkinson, Newbiggin, first
and second.

For the best cow in calf, or in milk, and having
previously produced a calf, a sweepstakes of 10s.
each, with a premium of £5. Mr. John Trotter,
Bywell, 1 ; Mr. J. Atkinson, Peepy, 2.

For the best three years old cow or heifer, calved
since the first of January, 1841, in calf, or in milk,
a sweepstakes of 10s. each, with a premium of £3.
Mr. J. Atkinson, Peep)'-, 1 ; the Hon. J. Hope
Wallace, Featherstone Cfastle, 2.

For the best two years old heifer, calved since
the 1st of January, 1842, a sweepstakes of 10s.
each, with a premium of £3. Mr, J. Atkinson,
Peepy, 1 ; Mr. J. Atkinson, Newbiggin, 2.

For the best one year old heifer, calved since the
1st January, 1843, a sweepstakes of 10s. each, with
a premium of £3. Mr, J. Trotter, Bywell, 1 ; Mr,
W. Langhorn, Mill Hills, 2.

For the best heifer calf, calved since the Ist of
January, 1844, a sweepstakes of 10s, each, with a
premium of £2. Mr. J. Atkinson, Peepy, 1 ; Mr.
J. Trotter, Bywell, 2.

For the best yearling heifei', a sweepstakes of
10s, each. Messrs. Trotter, Bywell, 1 ; Mr. J,
Atkinson, Peepy, 2.

LEICESTER SHEEP AND LAMBS.

For the best tup of any age (having been more
than once shorn), a sweepstakes of 10s, each, with
a premium of £3. Messrs. Angus, Broomley, first
and second.

For the best shearling tup, a sweepstakes of 10s.
each, with a premium of £3. Messrs. Angus,
Broomley, i j Mr, John Grey, Dilston, 2,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

417

For the best pen of two tup lambs, a sweepstakes
of 10s. each, Avith a j)remuiin of £2. Messrs.
/vngus, Broomley, 1 ; Mr. G. Little, Burnfoot, 2.

For the best pen of three ewes, that have reared
lambs during the season, a sweepstakes of 10s.
each, with a premium of £3. Mr. Edw. James
Wylam, 1 ; Mr. Wm. Cuthbert, Beaufront, 2.

For the best pen of three gimmers, a sweep-
stakes of 10s. each, with a premium of £3. The
Hon. J. H. Wallace, Featherstone Castle, 1 ; Messrs.
Angus, Broomley, 2.

For the best pen of three gimmer lambs, a
sweepstakes of 10s. each, with a premium of £2.
Messrs. Angus, Broomley, 1 ; Mr. G. Little, Burn-
foot, 2.

HORSES.

For the best mare, for breeding draught horses,
a sweepstakes of 10s. each, Avith a premium of £4.
Mr. Marshall, Stephenson, Fourstones, 1 ; Messrs.
Angus, Broomley, 2.

For the best two-years-old colt or filly, for
draught, a sweepstakes of 10s. each, with a pre-
mium of £3. Mr. J. Dixon, Staples, 1 ; Mr. J.
Armstrong, Hardriding, 2.

For the best one-year-old colt or filly, for draught,
a sweepstakes of 10s. each, with a premium of
£2. Mr. T. Ridley, Parkend, 1 ; Mr. J. Leadbit-
ter, Brocksbushes, 2.

For the best mare, for breeding harness horses,
a sweepstakes of 10s. each, with a premium of
£3. Mr. J. Atkinson, Peepy, 1 ; Mr. G. H. Ram-
say, Derwent Villa, 2.

For the best two-years-old colt, for harness, a
sweepstakes of 10s. each, with a premium of £3.
Mr. G. H. Ramsay, 1 ; Mr. Wm. Bragg, Snape, 2.

For the best one-year-old colt, for harness,
a sweepstakes of 10s. each, with a premium of
£2. Mr. Nicholas Wright, Buteland (no compe-
tition).

For the best mare, for breeding saddle horses,
a sweepstakes of 10s. each, with a premium of
£3. Mr. N. Wright, 1 ; Mr. G. H. Ramsay, 2,

For the best two-years-old colt or fiUy, for the
saddle, a sweepstakes of 10s. each, with a pre-
mium of £3. Mr. T. Ridley, Parkend, 1;
Mr. C. Colwick, Walwick Grange, 2.

For the best one-year-old colt or filly, for the
saddle, a sweepstakes of lOs. each, with a premium
of £2. Mr. N. Wright, 1; Mr. J. Robson,
Keilder, 2.

For the best draught horse or mare, a sweep-
stakes of 10s. each. Mr. J. Watson, AUendale, i ;
Mr. M. Stephenson, 2.

SWINE.

For the best boar, of any breed, no competition.

For the best sow, of any breed, a sweepstakes
of 10s. each, Avith a premium of £2. Mr, J.
March, Greenside, 1 ; Mr. W. Hunt, 2.

CORN AND TURNIPS.

For the best reaped farm of corn, of not less
than 50 acres, a silver cup, given by F. W. Ethe-
redge, Esq., Southampton, wth £3 added by the
society, to Messrs. Trotter, Bywell. Mr. J.
Lee's reaping was highly commended ; as was Mr.
W. Bell's.

For the best crop of turnips, of not less than 10
acres, a silver tankard, given by the same gentle-
man, with £1 added by the society, to Mr. J. Har-
bottle, Anick Grange.

The Chairman then proposed the health of
the Judges.

Mr. Severs said he had great pleasure in return-
ing thanks on the part of himself and his coad-
jutors : they were quite as much satisfied with thequa-
hty of the stock placed before them, as he was
himself. They had had, no doubt, some very
beautiful animals before them ; and they had found
it difficult, in some cases, to say which was the
best; and if they had erred in the judgment which
they had given, it was from the equahty of the
stock, and not from any intention on their part to
do so. Mr. Grey had told them of the success
which had attended the formation of their society,
and he had also told them what they ought to do
to maintain it. Now he (Mr. Severs) came from a
neighbourhood where they had also a society, and
he could assure them that from nothing had they
received so much benefit as they had from what
Mr. Grey had recommended, namely, the estab-
hshment of a library. They had monthly meetings
of their society ; at which they all discussed the
various subjects connected with agriculture, and
with what he considered to be the very best infor-
mation. They had now in their library about eight
hundred volumes and numbers, and they had oaJv
been estabhshed three years. As to the number
of their books, they might have had more if their
subscriptions had been higher ; but they only sub-
scribed five shillings a year each, and for this
they could go at six o'clock in the evening and
remain reading or discussing tiU nine, which
was a good hour to close at. On the whole,
he thought they could not devise a better scheme
in a society hke the present, where they would be
sure to find the benefit of it.

The Vice-Chairman proposed the successful
competitors.

Mr. Wm. Hunt returned thanks.

Mr, Harbottle said he had great pleasuic m
proposing the health of a gentleman with whom
he had lately become 'acquainted, and whose im-
provements in drain-tile making had been of great
benefit to- the county. He would give the health
of Mr. Etheredge.

The Chairman proposed the health of Mr.
Kirsopp and the Committee of Management.

Mr, Kirsopp returned thanks,

Mr, Ridley proposed the health of the Rev.
Mr. Airey, the Chaplain to the society (applause).

The Rev. W, Airey returned thanks, and pro-
posed to them the health of Mr. Hunt, the Secre-
tary.

Mr. Hunt returned thanks.

The Vice-Chairman said the subject of the
toast which he had now to propose would ensure
it a most favourable reception. Tliere was nothing
so creditable to large bodies of individuals who
had the management of landed property, as to see
them contributing liberally to societies hke the pre-
sent. The body to whom he alluded were liberal
subscribers to that society, and their desires for
the improvement of agriculture were fully carried

G a 2

448

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

out by the efforts of their worthy representative,
Mr. Grey (applause), whom he covild not but com-
pUment on the high order in which the farms under
that body were maintained. Those farms had been
purchased with a world of sagacity ; there was less
bad land amongst them than there was in any other
part of Northumberland, whilst they were ma-
naged in a way which made them an example to
all. He would give, therefore, " The Commission-
ers of Greenwich Hospital," who were liberal
subscribers to this society [applause).

Mr. John Grey said, as the humble repre-
sentative of the Commissioners of Greenwich
Hospital in that county, he had the honour of
returning thanks for the kind manner in which
they had been noticed by the Vice-President and
the company at large. They (the Commissioners)
were perfectly sensible of the claims which the
county had upon them, and it was only right that
those who managed so large a share of the land
in the county should contribute to the efforts made
for the improvement of the county. ITie Commis-
sioners of Greenwich Hospital, it ga^-e him pleasure
to say, were always willing and ready to perform
their part respecting the property of which they
had the management by contributing to societies
like the present, by advancing the education of the
poor, and by doing all in their power for the well-
being of every class (applause). He had lately
the pleasure of receiving a deputation from the
Commissioners for the purpose of examining the
state of their property, and he accompanied them
from the mouth of the Tweed to the source of the
Tyne in that examination, and he was highly
pleased with the testimony which they bore as to
the state of the county generally, the fine ap-
IJearance of its peasantry, and the beauty and
variety of the scenery in the districts through
which they travelled. They were also happy to
know that their tenantry had been successful in
their efforts for improvement (applause). With
respect to the reaping of grain upon these estates
there had been a marked improvement, and he
might say that there were some of them on which
everything was done in the most exemplary and
efficient manner possible. Now that the torch of
science was shedding its light upon the fields of
agriculture, it would not be amiss for its cultivators
to walk by that light ; but let theui not, in doing
so, forget the benefits which they had received
from the care and the industry which they T^ad
practised at home. Much had been done by the
introduction of bones and guano ; but he would
recommend them not to depend solely upon these
manures, because, by care and observance, they
would find that they had, at home, a manure both
solid and liquid, which, if properly managed, would
have the effect of rendering them completely inde-
jjendent both of bones and guano. The natural
increase of their crops would soon place them in a
situation — excepting in a bad year — in which they
would be independent of foreign manures alto-
gether.

EAST CUMBERLAND AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.— PENRITH BRANCH.

ANNIVERSARY MEETING, SEPTEMBER 25TH.

(Abridged from the Carlisle Patriot.)

The annual meeting and the cattle show of the
Penrith Agricultural Society took place at Penrith,
and drew together the most numerous and respect-
able attendance of landowners, and others interested
in agricultural pursuits, that we ever remember
seeing assembled on any similar occasion.

The show of stock was excellent. It was not
perhaps so numerous as it might have been, but in
every class there were some first-rate animals, and
the large majority of the stock shown was of a de-
scription that could not easily be equalled in
the northern counties of England.

The judges nominated on the occasion were —
Short-Horns — Messrs. Croften, of Hollywell;
Howey, of Lilburn ; Sowerby, of Newton Morrel.
Horses: — Messrs. J. Fawcett, of Scaleby Castle;
Ir\'ing, of BroomhiUs; Newbry, of Hallgarth.
Black-faced Sheep : — Barker, of Greystoke ;
Mounsey, of Askham; and Dixon, of Winderwath ;
and the awards of these gentlemen afforded the
utmost satisfaction.

The inspectors of farms were — Messrs. Bou-
stead, of Hackthorp Hall; Elliot, of Plumpton;
and Richardson, of Hutton Hall; whose report
excited great interest.

After the exhibition of stock, and when the
judges had agreed vipon their award, the members
of the society and their friends adjourned to the
George Hotel, where an excellent dinner was pro-
vided on the occasion. The company who sat
down were upwards of two hundred in number.

H. Howard, Esq., of Greystoke, in the chair;
Sir G. Musgrave, Bart., in the vice-chair. On the
right of the chairman were the Hon. Col. Lowther;
H. Lo\vther, Esq. ; Richard Ferguson, Esq., of
Harker Lodge; John Grey, Esq., of Dilston;
Thomas AVilson, Esq., Nent Hall ; Edward Craw-
hall, Esq., White House. On the left, Wilham
Marshall, Esq., M.P. ; — Murray, Esq. ; Sir John
Ogilvie; Thomas Salkeld, Esq.; Timothy Fether-
stonhaugh, Esq. ; C. Fetherstonaugh, Esq. ; John
Crosby, Esq. On the the right of the vice-chair-
man—Hon. C. Howard M.P. ; W. Crackenthorpe,
Esq., Newbiggin Hall ; the Rev. Beilby Porteus.
On the left — E. W. Hasell, Esq., Dalemain ; the
Hon. Mr. Petre; H. Howard, Esq., of Munich;
J. Salkeld, Esq., Croft House, &c. ; and most of
the principal agriculturists of the county, besides a
great number of the resident gentry of Penrith and
its vicinity.

After the cloth had been removed, and the usual
loyal and customary toasts drunk, the award of the
judges was read as follows : —

THE judges' award.
CATTLE.

Best short-horned buU, being an approved stock-
getter, engaged to serve cows within the limits of
this society, during the ensuing 12 months, at lOsi
each, £10; awarded to Mr. W Boustead, Hack-,
thorp Hall.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

449

Second-best ditto, ditto, £4 ; awarded to Mr.
Bell, Inglewood House.

Best short-horned bull, above 1 and vmder 2
years old, to be kept as in premium 7, at 10s. each,
£5 ; awarded to Mr. Brunskill, Newton.

Second-best ditto, £'2 ; awarded to Mr. Fair,
Frenchfield.

Best short-horned cow or heifer, in calf or in
milk,* £4 ; awarded to Mr. Benn.

Best 2 yrs. old short-horned heifer, £3 ; awarded
to Mr. Untl'.ank, Netherscales.

Best yearling heifer of any breed, £2 ; awarded
to Mr. Benn.

HORSES.

Best brood mare for the general purposes of
agriculture, £3 ; awarded to. Mr. Watson, Long-
wathby.

Best coaching brood mare, £3 ; awarded to Mr.
W. Boustead, Hackthorpe Hall.

Best 2 yrs. old coaching gelding, 30s. ; awarded
to Mr. Fisher, Dale.

Best 2 yrs. old coaching filly, 30s. ; awarded to
Mr. Bell, Inglewood House.

Best 1 yr. old coaching gelding, 20s. ; awarded
to Mr. Harrington, Nunneiy.

Best 1 yr. old coaching filly, £1 ; no award.

Best 2 yrs. old carting gelding or fiUy, 30s. ;
awarded to Mr. Bird, Catterlen.

Best 1 yr. old carting gelding or filly, 20s.; none
shown.

Howard's premium.

H. Howard, Esq., of Greystoke Castle, offers
for the best 3 yrs. old gelding or filly, by a thorough-
breed horse, £4 j awarded to Mr, Fair.

SHEEP.

Best Leicester ram, being an improved stock-
getter, engaged to be kept during the succeeding
season, within the limits of this society, £2 j awarded
to Mr. Fair.

Second-best ditto, ditto, 20s. ; awarded to Mr.
Fair.

Best shearling Leicester ram, ditto, ditto, £2 ;
awarded to Mr. Ohphant, Great Salkeld.

Second-best ditto, 20s. ; awarded to Mr. 011-
phant.

Best pen of 5 Leicester ewes, which have reared
lambs this season, £2 ; awarded to Mr. Watkin,
Plumpton.

Best pen of 5 Leicester gimmer shearlings, £2 ;
awarded to Mr. Parker, Yanwath Hall.

Best black-faced ram, being an approved
stock-getter, as in premium 23, £2 ; awarded to
Mr. Spedding, Crewgarth.

Second-best ditto, ditto, 20s. ; awarded to Mr.
Young, Longwathby.

Best pen of 10 black-faced ewes, having reared
lambs this season upon the hiUs or heath, selected
from one stock, bred in the district, and brought
down from the hills or mountains where bred, not
having been previously grazed on good land, £2 ]
awarded to Mr. Abbot, Thornthwait Hall.

Best pen of 5 black-faced gimmer shearlings,
bred as in premium 31, £2; awarded to Mr.
Young, Longwathby.

* The cow must have produced a calf within nine
months of the show.

Best Herdwick ram, as in premium 23, £2 ;
awarded to Mr. Mounsey, Settra Park.

Second-best ditto, ditto, 20s.; awarded to II.
Howard, Esq., Greystoke.

Best pen of 10 Herdwick ewes, as in premium
31, £2; Mrs. Bowerbank, Lowside, deserx-ing.

Best pen of 5 Herdwick gimmer shearlings, as
in premium 31, £2; not shown.

PIGS.

Best boar of the most approved breed, under
three years old, being an approved stock-getter,
engaged to be kept within the limits of this society
during the succeeding season, for the use of the
same, at 5s. each, £3; awarded to Mr. Benn.

Best breeding sow, which has had pigs within
four months, or in-pig, of the most approved
breed, £2 ; awarded to Mr. Benn.

Second best ditto, 20s. ; awarded to Mr.
Featherstonhaugh, Tlie College.

For the cottager's, labourer's, or artizan's best
fat pig under eighteen months old ; 10s. ; Thomas
Rylands, Penrith, deserving.

Several rewards to servants were given.

IMPLEMENTS.

1. Mr. Fair, Frenchfield, double mould-board
plough, 5s.

2. Mr. Smith, The Luham, Lancashire corn-
rake, 2s. 6d.

3. Mr. Hamilton, turnip-cutter, £l.

4. Plough, 5s.

SEEDS.

5. G. Hutchinson, swandown wheat, 5s.

ROOTS.

6. Mr. Barratt, red mangel, 2s. 6d.

7. Green top, 2s. Gd.

SWEEPSTAKES.
CATTLE.

Bull of any age, 20s.; awarded to Mr. W.
Botstead, Backthorpe.

Bull above two, and under three years old, at
the time of show, 20s.; awarded to Mr. Bell,
Inglewold House.

Two year old heifer, 10s. ; awarded to Mr. Un-
thank.

Yearhng heifer, 10s.; awarded to Mr. Benn.

(Private match) yearling heifer; Mr. D. HiD,
Edenhall, Mr. Unthank, Netherscales ; awarded to
Mr. Unthank.

Bull calf, calved since last September show, age
to be considered, 10s.; awarded to Mr. Benn.

Bull calf, calved since January, 1844, age to be
considered, 10s. ; awarded to Mr. Benn.

Pair of bull calves, age to be considered, 10s. ;
awarded to Mr. Benn.

Heifer calf, calved since January, 1844, age to
be considered, 10s. ; awarded to Mr. Parker, Yan-
wath Hall.

HORSES.

Foal by a thorough-bred horse, age to be con-
sidered, 10s.; awarded to Mr. Markham, Mor-
land.

(Private) foals; Mr. Graham — Mr. R. Par-
kinson; awarded to Mr. Parkinson.

460

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sow pig under twelve months, 10s.; awarded to
Mr. Featherstonhaugh, Kirkoswald.

Sow pig, pigged in 1844, 10s.; awarded to Mr.
Watkin, Plumpton.

The secretary then read the Inspectors' Report,
as follows : —

Inspectors' Report for 1834,

To the Committee of Management for the Penrith
Agricultural Society.

Gentlemen. — We have endeavoured, to the
best of our skill and judgment, to perform the very
important duties entrusted to us, and beg to lay
before you our report.

We remain, yours, &c.,

William Houstead, T

Joseph Richardson, y Inspectors.

John Elliot,

Class I. — Farms.

Premium 1. — To the tenant and resident occupier
of any farm, dependent vipon farming exclusively
for a hvehhood, the farm being not less in quan-
tity than 150 acres, who shall have the same
properly subdivided with fences, suitable to the
soil and situation, in the neatest and most exact
order, watercourses, waterbanks, roads, gates,
styles, farm-yards, &c., included ; judicious
draining ; the arable land under the most ap-
proved course of cropping, and also the grass
land in the neatest and best condition, &c. ; soil
and situation to be considered, £8; awarded to
Mr. William Henderson, Thistlewood.

Premium 2. — To the tenant and resident occupier
of any farm, dependent upon farming exclusively
for a livehhood, not being less in quantity than
50 statute acres, nor more than 150 acres, who
shall have the same in the neatest and most
exact order as in premium 1, £4; awarded to
Mr, Joseph Dixon, Spittal Farm.

Premium 3. — To the tenant or resident occupier of
any farm, who shall produce the best crop of
turnips, according to the nature and quality of
the land, thoroughly cleaned from weeds, and
equally thinned ; the number of acres to be in
proportion to the quantity of arable land in such
fann, £3 ; awarded to Mr. John Powley, Long-
wathby.

Premium 4.— To the resident occupier of any farm,
who shall produce to the inspectors at the Sep-
tember survey the best general stock of store
cattle, including horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, &c.,
according to the extent and quahty of the farm,
the same not being less than 50 statute acres —
the whole stock of such farm to be exhibited,
£5 ; awarded to Mr. Copley, Clifton.

Premium 5, — To the person who shall produce the
best crop of turnips from bone manure, £2j
awarded to Mr. John Powley, Longwathby,
[This premium is given by Mr. M. Robinson, of

Sockbridge Mill, and Mr, Mitchell, of Bolton Mill,

bone-dust manufacturers.]

Premium 6. — To the person who shall produce the
best crop of turnips raised from Guano, not less j

than 2 acres, £2 ; awarded to Mr. Richard Bow-
man, Askham.

[This premium is given by Messrs. James and
John Graham, Penrith.]

Sweepstakes.

Best crop of Swedes, not less than two acres,
10s.; the Old Brewery Company, a very good
crop and highly deserving of merit.

William Bousted,
Joseph Richardson.
John Elliot.

John Grey, Esq., said — Mr Marshall had no-
ticed his contributions to the Journal of the Royal
English Agricultural Society, and he could not but
refer to a subject vipon which he was most anxious,
and that was the improvement and comfort of the
labouring classes, as far as it could be'promoted l)y
supplying better, more healthful, and more commo-
dious cottages. He wshed to state a fact which
had transpired that might usefully be made known
in this district. It was found that where an extra
room had been provided for labourers' families,
which he considered essential to their health and
morals, it was seldom used because it was so cold,
and the expense of fuel was considerable. He had,
therefore, bestowed some consideration on the ob-
jection, and had adopted a plan which would be
attended with a great saving in fuel. It was simply
to introduce a cast-iron box behind the fireplace,
with a small grating, from which the heated air
might be conveyed to all the rooms, and so keep
them warm and dry. It had answered this pur-
pose well, and nothing further was necessary but
to provide for the escape of this warm air, which
might easily be effected by a cheap moving venti-
lator in the window, or, better still, in the roof {ap-
plause). He had not been able to reach the exhi-
bition that day in time to see aU the stock upon
the ground, but what he did see enabled him to
say that an immense improvement had taken place
(hear). He could remember when it was very dif-
ferent, but they must recollect that it was a depart-
ment of agriculture in which improvements were
most easily accomplished. It touched in some de-
gree the gambling spirit of our nature {hear, hear).
Tliere was in an exhibition a degree of competition,
and an eagerness to win, or name the mnner, not
unUke that excited by a contest between Bees\ving
and Lanercost {applause and laughter). But there
were other improvements more important still to
the agricultural community which ought to be the
study of all those who wanted not to be left behind
in the pursuit of agricultural science {hear, hear).
Formerly there were great difRctilties in the way of
attaining the necessary information, but now, by
means of societies, mvich information was obtained,
and the press was ever ready to diffuse it through-
out the country, and he must be a stupid agricul-
turist indeed, who, when his day's work was done,
did not read such information as was abundantly sup-
plied to him {hear, hear). There was a time when it
was the fashion to sneer at agricultural activity, and
even poetry was employed to ridicule the fattener
of cattle and sheep ; but he w^s one who felt that

I

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

451

if he so exercised his faculties as to improve sheep
or fatten cattle, or introduce a new manure, so as
to increase the produce of the covintry, he was sa-
tisfied that he had not lived in vain {applause).
Before he sat down he wished to refer to guano,
as he could state from his own experience that if
projierly employed it was a most valuable manure,
but he thought it too stimulating to be used alone.
He had tried it on turnips against bones, stable
manure and guano mixed, and when Professor
Sedgwick had visited his little place at Dilston, at
the close of last autumn, he showed him the crops.
They agreed that the turnips grown tvith guano
were certainly the best, but they were already ma-
ture ; the leaves began to wither and drop, and it
became necessary to take them up, or \ise them in
the ground at once, as it was evident they would
not stand the winter. The result of the experiment
was, the turnips grown with bone manure exceeded
those with guano by two tons, while those grown
with the mixed manure exceeded all others {ap-
plause). He thought, therefore, that guano brought
turnips forward too rapidly if applied alone, and he
recommended that an under-layer of fold-yard
manure should be used as well — and in that way
he believed they would raise a larger crop of tur-
nips than in any other. In fact if any fanner had
a quantity of manure which would admit of his ap-
plying ten tons an acre, he would find his produce
more if he mixed half the cjuantity with guano,
than if he had given all his manure to half his land
and guano to the other (applause).

STEWPONEY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

[The following remarks, made by the judges in
reference to the turnip crop, were read to the meet-
ing by Mr. Banton.]

Gentlemen, — As your appointed judges of
turnips, we necessarily have had to travel over a
considerable part of the district wthin the prescribed
circle of this association. And perhaps the society
might expect us to make some obsen'ations as to the
general appearance of the crop ; this we shall feel
gratified in doing, if any jiractical information we
can give -will add to the general stock of useful
knowledge acquired by your society. To enter
into the minutia of the history of all the turnips
shown for your prizes, would take up too much of
your time ; we shall, therefore, only make a few
general statements, which, perhaps, will convey
most of the infonnation required upon the subject
by practical men.

You all know that this has been an unpropitious
and, I may add, an unprecedented season for grow-
ing tumijjs ; the greatest skill, perseverance, and
industiy have, in too many instances, failed to pro-
cure a crop; the usual methods and seasons for
solving adopted in ordinarj' years have not suc-
ceeded in this ; the farmer, after all his exertions
have failed, has stood aghast, and witnessed with
astonishment and mortification field after field of
once promising plants vanish from his sight as if
by magic ; he has sown again and again, but his

perseverance was in vain, his labour useless. We
doubt not but that all turnip growing farmers in
this county will remember the year 1844, and
not soon forget the eifects of it.

We think it would be well for agricultural
societies to record the failure of the turnip crop in
this peculiar season, and also the nature of the dis-
ease ; noticing also the dearly bought experience of
the j^ear with respect to the treatment of the plant
whilst the enemy was upon it. Some few fields of
Swedes have been saved from the general devasta-
tion by letting them remain unhoed till the destruc-
tive insects infesting them had ceased their attacks.
Thousands of acres have disappeared in a day or
two after being hoed, which before were promising
plants ; that operation which in other years accele-
rates their growth has this year proved destructive
to them, and some of the most industrious farmers
have been the greatest sufferers. Where the hoe
was not used, and the hand substituted to thin the
plants (if they were tolerably large), the plan in
some instances was successful ; and we found here
and there a tolerable promising field of Swedes
saved by one or the other of the plans we have
mentioned.

We will now, gentlemen, present to you a more
pleasing picture, and change the scene to Ponde-
ford ; and we feel assured if the whole of the gen-
tlemen in this pavilion were there, and were to take
a sun^ey of the turnips upon that estate, there would
not be one dissentient voice to our award of the
first prize to Mr. Evans, Ninety acres were all the
Swedes Mr. Evans sowed this year, and I believe
any practical man who has seen them vnR agree
with us that — taking two or three acres out of the
ninety — the others are a good crop for any season.
How has Mr. Evans been fortunate enough to grow
ninety acres of Swedes in this disastrous season ? is
a very natural inquiry, when there is only to be
found, as we have just told you, a field or two in a
•parish elsewhere. We were tolerably inquisitive to
get at the secret how to grow Swedes in 1 844 and
similar years (if we should be so unfortunate to
have another), and Mr. EA-ans very candidly gave
us information. He told us he commenced sowing
on the 29th of April, and finished on the 12th of
May ; that he applied 12 tons of good muck per
acre, partly from his own yards, and partly mixed
\vith stable muck from Wolverhampton; he has,
in some instances, mixed scutch and guano with it,
saturating it whilst being mixed with liquid manure
from his yards. We saw where he had
apphed guano alone to a small plot in the middle of
an excellent field of Swedes, at the rate of 4 cwt.
per acre, and we thought the Swedes upon it rather
better than the adjoining ridges, but Mr. Evans did
not appear to think so. His ridges are 26 inches
apart, his land generally good for Swedes, and his
management of the crop throughout excellent ; but
his singvdar success this year vnil, I suppose, be
attributed to early sowing.

Mr. Foley, to whom we have awarded the second
prize, has also some excellent Swedes upon
naturally a very poor field of black sandy soil, but
which was trenched 18 or 19 inches deep in the
spring of last year, and this year manured at the
rate of 12 tons of best bought muck, and 2 cwt. of

4&2

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

guano per acre. The ridges are a yard apart. The
Swedes were sown on the 29th of May. They are
now large, and are still luxuriant and grow-
ing, and free from mildew. Several of the other
candidates have good growing Swedes for the
season, hut they are too young to win a prize on the
1st of October.

If these few obsen-ations should prove of use to
one practical man, we shall feel pleasure at having
made them, and consider ourselves well requited
for the little trouble we have had.

GUANO : ITS VALUE AND USES.

Our intelligent countryman, Mr. Sim, of Scots-
burn, Ross-shire (says the Inverness Courier), has
favoured us by dramng up, for the guidance of the
agricultural public, the following account of his expe-
rience of guano : — " Were it not that the anticipated
extensive use of guano is likely soon to exhaust it, its
introduction might be looked upon as one of the
most important aids to agriculture that has been
offered. Having used it to perhaps a greater ex-
tent than any other farmer in the northern coun-
ties, a short detail of my experience may not be
uninteresting. I tried it 1841 on barley and tur-
nips, without any other manure, at the rate of
two cwt. per Scotch acre ; and the result so satis-
fied me of its value, that I have since used it in
increasing extent, and strongly recommend it to
my neighbours. The high price of £20 per ton in
1842 retarded its extension; and altogether, in
that year, only about ten tons were applied in
Ross-shire. In 1843, the price fell to £12, and the
quantity applied in the same year rose to thirty
tons. The farmers in the north are not generally
very ready to experiment, but, observing the effects
of the new manure on their neighbours' fields,
many began to think it must be a good one ; and
this, with the circumstance of bone-dust having
been scarce during the late season for sowing
turnips, led to a very considerably greater demand;
encouraged also by the discovery of the African,
and consequent reduction of price. With hardly
an exception, all who have apphed it are highly
pleased with the appearance of their growing tur-
nips, and are convinced that guano is cheaper, and
more speedily effective, than bone-dust. Still its
value for corn crops, and particularly for wheat, is
comparatively little known to the great body of
Scotch farmers, and it will be satisfactory to many
to know that no doubt rests on that point. During
the last winter and spring, I apphed guano to
eighty Scotch acres of wheat, and at present have
the prospect of being paid the cost four-fold and
upwards. I apphed it to grass land, without any
other manure, at the rates (according to the quality
of the soil) of two-and-a-half cwt. and two cwt. per
Scotch acre. To land that had carried a crop of
potatoes I gave one-and-a half cwt., and the same
after turnips wholly drawn for cattle. In every
instance it has been highly beneficial. In very
bad land, not worth 15s. per acre, with two-
and-a-half cwt., I have the prospect of four to four-
and-a-half qrs. per acre ; and on better, and with
two cwt., still more. There has been considerable

doubt with regard to the duration of guano beyond
one season. Dr. Buckland, at the late meeting of
the English Royal Society at Southampton, laid it
down as a fact, that the effects were confined to
one season. From my own experience I differ
from him : I think its continuance depends wholly
on the quantity applied. Taking Professor John-
ston's view — which is, that this manure contadns
all the fertilizing ingredients necessary for soils,
with the exception of potash, which, when required,
can be otherwise supplied — 1 would say, with con-
fidence, that the durabihty of the effects of guano
will depend on whether the crop to which it is
applied exhaust these ingredients. If not, then
they will, continue to act till other crops exhaust
them. Knowing, as I do, the very great value of
guano, I intend myself, and would advise my
brother farmers, to apply it, not only to turnips,
but to grain of every kind, where the richness of
the soil or other full manuring may not render
it dangerous, from the probability of their being
too strong, which in our climate may be the case.
Present prices warrant doing this ; and should the
importation during the next six months not be met
by a corresponding demand (which, however, is
very hkely), prices may yet go lower. After the
present year it is improbable that there vnW ever
again be such a supply, as it is now well known
that the whole of the Ichaboe giiano will be taken
off in a few months, after which we will be depend-
ent on the Peruvian and Boli\dan, and the value of
these will be greatly enhanced."

THE COLONIAL WOOL TRADE OF THE
UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN.

It is scarcely much over a quarter of a century when
the announcement of a public sale of wools imported
from a British colony was a subject of derision on the
part of not a few of the German and Spanish merchants
connected with the trade in the wools of the two coun-
tries we have named, and a topic judged as chimerical
by the flock-masters and manufacturers of the United
Kingdom. '* The Colonial Wool Trade of the United
Kingdom" has, however, despite all original and long-
continued prejudices, now attained a position in the
commerce of this country, and its colonies in New Hol-
land, in Tasmania, in the East Indies, and elsewhere,
that demands for it much more than a casual glance of
the progress of the public sales, latterly of so frequent
occurrence, and of wliich due and correct though busi-
ness-like quotations have periodically appeared in the
columns of the Mark Lane Express.

In the certainty that all parties interested in the wool
and woollen trades will thank us for taking a review of
this notv important branch of trade, we purpose to cull
the reminiscences of its early history, and to continue,
in a series of articles, as occasion may offer, imtil we
have placed before our agricultural and other readers
a " full and particular" account of the " ups and
downs" of the Colonial Wool Trade. But the writer
of this article requests not too severe a criticism, as,
having attended the first colonial wool sale of a public
nature, and for many years afterwards, the memory has
had to be put to a severe test in bringing out dates
with that entire coi-rectness that could be wished. How-
ever, a month or two out, nay, a mistake of a year, as

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

453

the precise time the first attempt to sell colonial wools
(they were Cape of Good Hope, we believe) is not of
much importance. The records of the sales have not
been kept with anything like accuracy for more than
about fifteen years.

It is our purpose to take the " rise and progress" of
the wool trade connected with all our colonies that have
in early times exported, and continue now to do so,
seriatim ; to mark the acumen displayed by parties in
this country, in their advices given very many years ago,
in order that the staple might, as it has been, improved;
and, in short, to furnish that which has not been done —
give a faithful glance at matters " past and present" in
relation to this rising branch of the trade and commerce
of old England. Another reason may be given why we
think such a review as we propose to offer to the notice
of our readers, viz, that there are not very many in the
wool and woollen trades who were living when this
interesting trade took its station among the periodical
sales of either colonial or foreign products.

To those who have a full recollection of events to be
hereafter noticed the details proposed will not, we opine,
be much less interesting. To the flock-masters, and
others engaged in the purchase or transit of the staple
from the British colonies to the mother country, we are
quite sure our details will be perused with earnest atten-
tion. They will find advice given by competent judges
very many years ago, and which in most instances are
equally applicable even now, that the greatest care and
attention should be shown to the condition in which
wools ought to be shipped ; and occasionally they will
find (and the advice cannot be too often repeated, till
the wools come over as well and as fairly, nay, we may
say honestly, packed as those from Spain and Germany
were in the palmy days of those trades) that the broad
tone of censure is sometimes adopted. Even supposing
that we may incur the charge of repetition, we think by
recurring to this really important subject, a great ser-
vice may be hereafter done to all those who are wool-
growers in the colonies, by recurring to advice given a
long time ago, and which has in too many instances
been long neglected. As a. finish to the series of articles
it is intended to furnish, upon the " Colonial Wool
Trade," comparative prices of various well known flocks
realized at the present, as well as at the earlier public
sales, will be given as correctly as memory will permit.
But if any of our readers in the wool trade would kindly
give us a hand, by furnishing correct dates and prices
from their books and records, addressed to the office, a
favour would be conferred, and duly acknowledged by
us. It is our intention, at the close of the articles pro-
posed to be given, to name the authorities from whom
the more important quotations to be referred to are ob-
tained. This is but fair.

Incidentally, and before proceeding to details, we
may just refer to the vast importance of the Colonial
Wool trade to this country, as well as to our manufac-
turers, reference being had to the large quantity of tex-
tile fabrics now consumed by the colonists, and received
from Great Britain. May we venture to express a hope,
that others, not connected immediately with the Wool
trade, will peruse our interesting (as we think) history
of the ' ' Colonial Wool Trade of Great Britain ? ' '

It was in the year 1817 that the first public sale of
colonial wools took place in the City of London, and
was conducted by Mr. Marsh (now, we believe, of
the firm of Marsh and Edinborough). A small room
at Garraway's Cofffee House sufficed for the audience of
the auctioneer. But very recently, so numerous has
become the buyers from the woollen districts of this
country, that the large rooms of the establishment just
named were of too small dimensions to hold them. A
removal, therefore, to the Hall of Commerce, in Thread-

needle-street, was resolved upon. The first public sale
of colonial wools took place there in October, 1843.

For a long period the colonial wools met with but
little success, for, as they were described in a circular of
somewhat ancient date, thus : — " The wools from Syd-
ney, with a few exceptions, have come in very bad con-
dition ; and the scarcity of water in the colony, which,
it is stated, has led to such a general failure in the
washing, seems also to have aff"ected the strength ef the
staple ; as those wools shewing any length are extremely
tender, which has kept out the competition of the spin-
ner, and increased the proportionate quantity of clothing
wools. Some few of the Australian flocks have come in
comparatively good condition. Several flocks of decided
reputation have been sent either totally unwashed, or
partly in the grease, much to the disappointment of their
usual buyers."

However, there were occasionally some very good
samples received, the most conspicuous being marked
Mc. A., some bales of which realized about 5s. we be-
lieve, which is the highest value that previously or
since has been paid for wools from Australia. And
here, we may state, that it is intended now to confine
ourselves to the ' ' rise and progress of the Wool Trade
of Australia." About the years 1835-6, the quality of
the colonial wools offered at public sale at Garraway's
began to attract the notice of foreign manufacturers.
Before, the declaration of 400 bales was called a very
large sale ; in July 1825, but 750 bales were announced.
In the whole of 1824, the quantity put up was small; and
for the ten years previously, scarcely any but
speculators appeared as buyers, the better qualities
still finding but httle favour. About 1836 it was
that the colonial wools began really to become po-
pular ; some good combing qualities then realized
3s. 3d. per lb., for Australasian. The attendance from
the manufacturing districts was then called very large,
say about 50. " The interest excited by the sales (July
1835, states a trade circular) seems to increase, as the
attendance of buyers from all parts was larger than
on any former occasion, new purchasers having been
attracted, and there appears to be an evident desire
in the trade to encourage the growth of colonial wool."
At these sales there were off"ered 8,746 bales of Austra-
lian and Tasmanian wools. The highest prices realized
were from 2s. 6d. to 3s. 8d. per lb. for choice flocks.
In the course of 1836, but three series of sales took
place ; the quantity sold being about 10,000 bales.
We find here the flocks of H.Mc. A. gaining high values,
fetching for some bales 3s. 3H- per lb. Other com-
petitors were then in the field, and they sent over some
most excellent samples, for instance, the marks X. E.
and G. X. sold at from 2s. 6d. to 3s. 3^d. per lb.
An authority at this period remarks —

" TheAustralianwoolsjustarrivedshewmuchimprove-
ment in fineness, but are for the most part too short in
the staple for combing purposes, in many instances
tender, and are generally of bad colour and ill-con-
ditioned.

The importation of wools from New South Wales in
this year was 10,227 bales into London, 3828 bales into
Liverpool, making, with other arrivals, 22,783 bales.
In the same year there were received 90,450 bales from
Germany, and 23,463 bales from Spam. We purposely
note the two last in order to make a comment or two
hereafter, showing how rapidly colonial wools began to
be estimated by our own as well as by the foreign manu-
facturers.

A marked alteration occurred in the prospects of the
colonial wool trade in the year 1837 ; for, though the
spring and clothing trades were represented as in a
healthy state, the manufacturers were full of stock as
well as the dealers. To mark the progress made in the

454

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

condition of Australian wools, it was then observed as
follows : — ' * The superior adaptation of colonial wool to
the manufacturer of the fabrics more generally in de-
mand, has caused them to be preferred to any other wool
in the same range of price, and the improved condition
of many of the flocks must get them into further repute."
Early in this year the markets were dull, owing
to the difficulties then experienced in the money
market, and a large increase in the arrivals of Ger-
man and Spanish wools. About 12,571 bales of
wool were received in London from Sydney in 1837,
and 17,314 bales in 1838. From 2s. 4d. to 2s. lOid.
were the highest rates paid for first-i'ate combing Aus-
tralian wools this year. We have not an accurate ac-
count of the number of bales sold publicly this year.

At the close of December there was an improvement
quoted of full 3d. per lb. on qualities worth 2s. per lb.
and less, arising principally to the then improving de-
mand for manufactured goods for the American mar-
kets.

The year 1839 brought with it a large accession of
imports of Australian wools, and a considerable decrease
in the receipts of German and Spanish wools as com-
pared with the arrivals of 1836 received into London.
From New South Wales there were imported this season
into London not less than 20,495 bales, of the aggregate
weight of 5,414,300 lbs. There were received at Liver-
pool about 5,000 bales. The imports of German wools
fell off this year to 20,114 bales, and of Spanish to
11,318 bales. It is important to trace the feelings of the
manufacturers of this country with respect to the in-
creasing favour evinced towards the colonial wools. Not-
withstanding so large an increase was announced in
the arrival of colonial wools, the quotations in the whole
of 1839, or very nearly so, were firm. Upon the condi-
tion of the wools sent over from the colonies, the fol-
lowing remarks from the pen of a leading broker of the
City are well worth giving entire here. Referring to the
sales of July, 1839, our author remarks : —

' ' The attendance of buyers from every quarter was as
full as upon any previous occasion, and the bidding par-
ticularly animated, as may be inferred from the prices
given ; which, notwithstanding the unsettled state of the
money market, must be very encouraging to the colonial
flock growers, particularly to those whose fleeces, by
their improvement in growth and very excellent condi-
tion, evince the careful attention which has been be-
stowed upon them by their owners ; to such parties it
must be satisfactory to find their exertions responded to
by the purchasers. It is not intended to be invidious,
but it is scarcely possible to pass unnoticed the beautiful
growth and condition of several of the more celebrated
combing flocks, as well as several of the finer fibre cloth-
ing wools. Similar attention to the flocks, which are
only in progress of improvement, will no doubt be
crowned with similar success."

Four years back the increase in the importation of
wools from New South Wales was to 24,992 bales,
weighmg about 6,241,000 lbs. In 1840 the arrivals of
German wools into London fell to 16,462 bales, and of
Spanish to 4,840 bales.

The state of the colonial wool trade at the commence-
ment of this year 1844 was not the most cheering to the
flock masters or to the holders here. Much commercial
distress prevailed, but very shortly the demand for New
South Wales wools increased, and at the first public
sales for the season combing quotations rose l-g-d. per lb.
At the sales this year many new buyers made their ap-
pearance, and the large room at Garraway's was extremely
crowded.

A decided improvement was observable at the October
sales in the qualities of the Australian wools. Some
fresh comments were made during the various sales of

the year under review at the want of attention, on
the part of the flockmasters of the colony, in cleaning
their wools ; and the following remarks are well worth
being disseminated throughout all the British wool-
producing colonies : —

"The Sydney flocks, with few exceptions, are this
year full of burrs, prickles, and grass-seeds, to an ex-
tent never before known. The prices of such wools
must be entirely speculative ; and being low, as might
be expected, will no doubt convince the growers of the
propriety of taking care to prevent their flocks becom-
ing in such a state in future. We also regret to ob-
serve, in some few flocks, many coarse Lincolnshire
fleeces, not at all assimilating even with the more im-
proved breeds of this country, and showing most inju-
dicious crossing. It is understood here that the most
practical and best informed colonial flockmasters have
proved the possibility of increasing the weight of fleeces
to any extent, proportionate to the means of sustenance,
by careful selections from their own flocks, or crossing
with suitable flocks to be obtained from other growers
in the colonies. It should, however, be observed, that
the combers were not buyers to any considerable ex-
tent, and the state of demand for the higher qualities of
yarn induced moderate prices for the few lots of fine
combing wool, the mid. quaUties being more in request ;
indeed, the great bulk of the quantity offered at these
sales has been clothing wool."
Again :

" It cannot be too strongly impressed upon the Aus-
tralian flock-growers, that attention to the cultivation
of the combing properties of their sheep is more than
ever necessary, in order to obtain the preference their
flocks have so deservedly held amidst all the conflicting
circumstances of the trade, as well as with a view to se-
cure remuneration by the increased weight of tlieir
fleeces, rather than looking to a high price upon the
light weight of a German fleece. This cause, it is well
known, has been adopted by many of the principal
flockmasters for some time past ; and , although the ri-
valry in price against the exotic production of Germany
seems in a great measure to have subsided, the flocks of
the New South Wales colonies remain unrivalled for
their combing properties and general usefulness for the
great bulk of the clothing demand."

The highest value paid for Australian wools this year
was from 2s. 4d. to 2s. 65d. per lb. for good combing
and superior clothing samples. In aU there were about
25,000 bales of wools from Sydney disposed of by pub-
lic auction.

The differences which existed at the commencement of
the year 1841 between this Government and the Re-
public of America caused a slack demand for wools, es-
pecially Australian. Tlie March sales, therefore, com-
menced and went off heavily, although prices could not
be quoted lower, nor wei'e the biddings heavy. The
complaints so often made of burrs in the wools from
Sydney appear to have become less frequent about tliis
period of time. One circular then issued upon this
topic remarks —

"There appears an evident improvement in the
growth and condition of the wool from Sydney, and
those flocks which were tolerably free from burrs and
seeds reached prices which we hope wiU encourage
the flockmasters to endeavour to overcome this great
evil. Some flocks were depreciated 4d. to 6d. per lb.
from this cause."

The August and September sales of this year were the
largest ever before had. Of Australian wools alone
12,145 bales were declared. It was quite an epoch in
the trade. The biddings aU through were most ani-
mated. Complaints were again renewed of the bad
condition of the wools from Australia, In the follow-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

453

ing month, however, some fine samples were sold. " We
are much pleased," states a broker's circular, " to ob-
serve an improvement in the condition of several Aus-
tralian flocks. Indeed, some of them approached per-
fection as regards washing, which encourages us to hope
and expect, whenever an augmentation of labourers in
the colonies takes place, that the colonial wools will
equal in condition those of foreign countries."

The highest prices paid for superior clothing Sydney
wools this year were 2s. Id. to 2s. 3d. per lb., and for
superior clothing wool, 2s. 2d. to 2s. 7 id. per lb. The
total quantity of Australian wools offered for sale pub-
licly this year was from 27,500 to 28,000 bales. In
the year 1841 we find that the importation of Austra-
lian wools into London given at 54,704 bales, of the
total weight of 13,145,555 lbs. The importation of
German wools was, in the same period of time, reduced
to 39,192 bales,and of Spanish to 4,811 bales.

An increased degree of importance was attached to
the sales of colonial wools in the year 1842, not only on
account of the large demand which existed for them in the
two preceding years, but in consequence of the rapid in-
crease in the production of the staple in the British
colonies. True it is that the first series of sales in this
year went off flatly for Australian samples, but both
clothiers and spinners found fault with them, as the
fleeces offered were short in staple and weak in fibre.
The stocks, too, in the hands of the dealers were at
this period rather large ; and in the manufacturing, dis-
tricts there was a very considerable amount of
heaviness then prevailing. The April sales of the year
now under consideration were limited, but the attendance
was good, and Sydney wools (the remains of the last
year's clip) realized an advance of from 5 to 7i per
cent. The sales now under review were the sixth and
concluding series of the season. A small portion of the
new clip was exhibited at the June sales, 1842, but
the quality was not remarkable for the improvement
that was certainly looked for. The lower quaUties at
those sales sold the best, for reasons hereafter to be
stated. In the sale of the following month " the
favourite flock of J. Mc A. was eagerly sought after,
the condition being very superior," and as high as 2s.
2d. per lb. was paid for a choice bale or two. The July
sales passed off without any feature of moment. The
following series of sales, however, gave ample testimony
that the requests of the selling brokers (a body whom ,
from their accurate knowledge of the quality of wools
generally, their influence in the colonies and on the
continent in all matters connected with the staple) had
not been entirely disregarded ; for in the comments
upon the sales of the month referred to, the following
remarks are given in a communication then sent to us : —

" Australian wool of fair to good qiiaUty was much
sought for, and we have pleasure in finding many cele-
brated flocks, which had suffered from burr and prickles,
and consequently low prices, again recovering their high
reputation, and realizing satisfactory prices according to
times. Many considerable parcels still continue to be re-
ceived in dingy, burry, prickly condition, and have pro-
duced apparently low prices. We are nevertheless
induced to hope that a favourable season and increased
care will eradicate this evil."

A few words of advice is thus given from another
source — they were good then — they suit even the pre-
sent day : —

"It is very evident that wools in bad condition,
whether from the colonies or elsewhere, are not suited to
the wants of the day ; and it will be more than ever re-
quisite that the condition of getting up of wools must be
more attended to, as the miserable prices obtained for
large masses of wool from all the colonies plainly in-

dicate the absolute necessity of stricter attention being
requisite on this now most material point."

At the December sales a great impetus was given to
the sales by the timely receipt of favourable intelligence
from India and China. An authority on sucli matters,
at tlie time now under especial notice, thus refers to the
subject of the displacement of foreign wools by colonial
producers : —

" At this moment, when colonial clothing wool is
rapidly superseding, for general purposes, the demand
for German and other foreign wools, too much care
cannot be taken to keep up the character and quahty of
flocks which have acquired an enviable reputation ; the
evident deterioration in fibre and quality of several ap -
proved Sydney clothing flocks is much to be regretted,
and we suspect it is the result of an endeavour to obtain
a greater weight of fleece by crossing with coarser but
heavier breeds ; this must be attended with more risk,
especially as the declension in the spinning demand by
the introduction of cotton warps has seriously affected
the value of combing wools."

The highest prices realized for Australian wools in
the year 1842 were, for good to best clothing, 2s. Id. to
2s. 2d. per lb., and for good combing. Is. 9d. to 2s. Id.
per lb. In this year the imports of New South Wales
wools into London were 32,095 bales, of the weight of
8,248,415 lbs. From Germany in the same period there
were received into the port of London 11,188 bales, and
from Spain but 2,884 bales. The total quantity of
AustraUan wools submitted to public competition in the
year 1842 was, as near as may be, 26,000 to 26,500
bales.

It may be asked why so elaborate a dissertation, as
respects the Australian Wool Trade, is requisite. To
those interested in the past, the prasent, as well as the fu-
ture interests of the wool trade, we need not offer a word of
apology either for the facts or opinions given in the present
article, or for those that may be inserted in our
Journal hereafter upon the same interesting topic. The
" Cotton Trade" has had full justice done to it; and
why should not the rapidly rising " British Colonial
Wool Trade' ' have something said of it ? Certain we
are that this branch of industry, of trade, and of com-
merce, cementing as it does the mother country and the
far distant possessions of the British Crown, must rise in
prosperity equally to the benefit of Great Britain, and
to the advancement of the best interests of the colonists
themselves. Last year the receipts of wools from New
South Wales shewed a most enormous increase, viz., to
47,994 bales, of the aggregate weight of about 12,334,600
lbs. The imports of Spanish wools in the same period
were but 2,480 bales (mark, there were 23,453 bales
received in 1836, and 90,450 bales from Germany, of
which 27,830 came to London of the latter, and 14,614
of the former) ; while of German wools 9,964 bales
only were imported into the port of London. It is,
however, but fair tO remark that the general receipts of
German wools '.into the United Kingdom do not show
so great a falling off as those of Spam ; but the statis-
tics upon this subject belong to another branch of the
series of articles which it is our intention to furnish our
readers with. It may just be remai-ked that, in the
quantities of Foreign wools cleared for home consump-
tion, there has been a diminution from 38,504,142 lbs.
in 1840, to 30,981,376 lbs. in 1842, As respects the
total importations from New South Wales, including all
the settlements, the arrivals really stand thus : — 52,897
bales in 1842, and 67,160 bales in the last year.

The early part of the past year did not bring with it a
realization of the hopes previously entertained, that for
the China markets an increased demand would arise,
and the consequence was that prices of wools receded.
The trade in the woollen districts was also flat. It was

456

THE FARMEU'S MAGAZINE.

the fifth series of sales of the previous year's clip, and
not over and above good. At the February sales an
unusual circumstance, at least as far as Colonial wools
are concerned, took place — the withdrnwal of about 400
bags of Australian qualities. The sixth and concluding
sales of the previous clip was in April ; but, although
the better qualities from Sydney advanced for line sam-
ples, no material feature occurred. Towards the middle
of June the trade again assembled, and all were anxious
to ascertain how the first sales of the new clip would go
off. The results were less favourable than anticipated :
as to the wools from Sydney, they were badly washed,
though pretty free from burr. We quote the following
remarks, as pertinent to the objects we have in view, of
shewing the " rise and progress" of the Colonial Wool
Trade.

"The few first-rate wools offered at these sales,
suitable for combing purposeswere in their usual high con-
dition, but the extremely depressed state of the Bradford
trade did not admit of the buyers giving corresponding
prices. The present low prices of cotton, and a taste
for low priced fancy goods, have induced manufacturers
to substitute the former for wool in a very important
part of their goods, viz., the warp, which has materially
diminished the consumption of wool in stuffs. Through
out the sales, the finer wools maintained prices rela-
tively higher than other qualities. Lambs' wool, of
good length and quality, supported former prices."

The June sales brought a great change for the
better. Sydney wools, for clothing purposes, were
in great request, especially the more approved flocks.
" We beg again," says a well-known firm to its corres-
pondents, " We beg again to impress on the Colonial
growers, the necessity for more careful management in
the getting up of their flocks, both as to washing and
casting their fleeces ; and as Colonial Wool materially
interferes with, and for general purposes is far super-
seding the continental growth in this market, a remu-
nerating price to the grower can only be secured by in-
creased attention : we regret to be obliged to notice the
prickly and hurry state of many of the finer flocks."

At the August sales the West of England manufac-
ture's bought with avidity, and there were but a few
continental orders, and prices rose a penny per pound.
The best descriptions of Colonial Wools continue to
find favour among the manufacturers of Gloucestershire
and Wiltshire, as well as of Yorkshire, &c.

We may, here, remark, that previously to the first
public sales of wool from the Colonies, there were
several parcels disposed of, but principally of pickings.
The first bale of wool sold by auction, was in 1817, and
from the novelty of the thing it was bought at the rate
of almost 10s. to 10s. 6d. per lb. This, however good
it might be, was not a criterion as to its really intrinsic
worth, but because the buyer wished to have the power
to assert that he was the purchaser of the first bale of
wool offered publicly for sale in this country. Previously
to this the wools imported sold at 2d. to 3d. per lb.

The highest range of prices paid this year for hand-
washed Australian wools were 2s. 3d. per lb. ; for good
combing wool. Is. lid. to 2s. 2|d. per lb.; and for
good clothing, Is. lid. to 2s. O^di" per lb. The quan-
tity of bales that passed the hammer in this city, in the
same period, was 40,000 bales.

Already have there been five series of public sales
this year. Including the quantities announced for the
sales, that are at this time in progress, we find that about
15,000 bales have found buyers this season. Until the
month of June not much animation was displayed in the
sales of Australian wools. In general prices ruled firm,
the home as well as the foreign trade having become really
brisk. The attendance of buyers was unprecedentedly
large— a longer period than usual having elapsed since

the close of the previous series in October. Sydney
hand- washed was much approved of, being in better
condition. The rise in prices was estimated at 2d. in
the lb. The next sales did not furnish any matter of
first importance. At the June sales all discriptions, es-
pecially Sydney fleeces, were taken eagerly. The gene-
ral result was cheering, and trade brisk. " Of Austra-
lian wool," remarks a respected broker, " Of Australian
wool but few flocks of a superior description have
hitherto been brought foi^ward, the long continuance of
easterly winds, having prevented the arrival of several
ships. In the arrivals from Sydney and Van Diemen's
Land we are "glad to observe, not only a general im-
provement in the quality, but almost a total absence of
burr, and these remarks equally apply to the Port Phil-
lip flocks, although the condition of all, so far as we
have yet seen, is not so much better as compared with
the clip of last season as we had been led co expect."

The report of the duty upon wool gave a little zest
to the present sales. It is stated upon good authority
thus — " We are decidedly of opinion that the repeal of
the Foreign wool has, by giving increased confidence to
the manufacturers, had its due influence in the improved
tone given to the market ; and so far from colonial being
injured by the repeal, that it will prove an eventual
benefit to every branch of trade."

The July sales brought forward not less than 13,890
bales of Australian wools. The prices obtained were
generally equal to those of June. As respects the
recent alteration in the duty on foreign wools, a trade
circular states —

" We are decidedly of opinion that the rejieal of the
duty will prove advantages to all."

In the recent arrivals from Australia there are a few
most interesting items of intelligence to agriculturists at
home, whether flockmasters or others connected with the
culture of the soil. It is said in a communication before
us,

" The Australian colonies are now producing so
much fine wool, that the price of that article in
England is not much more than half what it was
twenty years ago. This must be admitted to be a great
boon to the manufacturing interests of this country ; in
fact, it is a great national benefit, even though it comes
from a convict colony, or rather a colony that has been
so.

" Persons here, who have sons to provide for, come
to me often inquiring what prospects there now are
in New South Wales for young men going there with
moderate capital ? The inquu-y has latterly been made
with much doubt and hesitation, owing to the embarras-
ments which have latterly overtaken the colony. The
question cannot be answered shortly, for reasons which
I shall not explain.

" If English shepherds can be got at 24^. per annum, or
if Indian shepherds be allowed to be imported into the
colony, there is no doubt whatever but that sheep would
pay a good return, either depasturing on government
land, or on land purchased from government at 5s. or
even 10s. per acre, to the extent of an acre for each
sheep proposed to be kept on it ; i. e. provided such
land (as is almost always the case) have a good back run.
If these data be granted, there is no doubt in the case.
The wool would pay the current expenses of the estab-
lishment ; I mean all the expenses except the interest
on the capital invested in sheep, land, buildings, horses,
bullocks, and everything else required on setting up an
establishment of the kind ; much of this establishment
would cost but comparatively little at present; bullocks
not broken into the yoke, which were lately worth from
10/. to 14/., are now to be got at 21. ! and horses which
were lately worth from 45/. to 60/., are now to be got at
16/. to 20/. Suppose then a farmer should be moderately

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

457

fortunate, he would, at the end of seven years, have a
flock of upwards of 100,000 sheep ; and suppose them
to be worth 8s. each, the value of his flock would be
40,000^. This is not a bad return in seven years,
without taking into consideration at all the value of his
cattle, horses, buildings, &c.

" It may be said that my statement is imaginary, the
increase incredible ; my reply is, the increase stated is
founded on experience ; it might, in short, be a great deal
more.

" It may be remarked, too, with perhaps greater force,
that at the end of seven years sheep will not be worth
8s. This is a matter that cannot now be settled to de-
monstration ; but I confess I see little chance of their
being below that figure, and much of their being greatly
above that. The wethers generally feed to upwards of
601bs. neat meat. I have lately seen grass-fed mutton,
that had been cured by the patent air-exhausting curing-
machine, and had been a voyage to the West Indies and
back ; the fat was still white, and the meat altogether
much superior, both in taste and appearance, to salt
meat in general. If the farmers in New South Wales
get a few of these machines, cure part of their meat,
and send it to the Mauritius and elsewhere, they will be
very unfortunate if they cannot get a return for it equal
to 2d. per lb. prime cost, which would be equal to 10s.
per head for wethers. '

The foUowmg remarks, quoted from our Sydney con-
temporary, are german to the subject above given : —

" Competition of Australian with German Wools.

" The eventually beneficial competition of Australian
with German wools, long foretold by the father of our
colonial wool-growers, the late John Macarthen, seems
now to be taking place upon a considerable scale. It
appears, from the information referred to, that a number
of the small German sheep-owners are reduced to a
state of bankrui^tcy, and that the large flock-masters
are extensively curtailing their establishments. The
immediate causes of this occurrence seems to have been,
that by reason of the scarcity of food, and the costliness
of bringing the wool to market in a state fit to compete
with the Australian produce, sheep were beginning to be
practically found not to pay the grower. Hence it was
confidently calculated, that in the ensuing season the
German wool crop would have fallen off at least one
fourth, the growers not being able to carry on their
operations for want of capital. It is further represented
that the West of England manufacturers and clothiers
have been, and are still manifesting a further inclination
to be large purchasers of Austi-alian wool. They are
rapidly discovering the superiority of our raw material,
and thus the extension and comeptition in the home
market is placed beyond a doubt.

"When it is recollected, in addition, that in conse-
quence of the settlements of political disputes between
Great Britain and the United States, the American mar-
ket is rapidly reverting to its ordinary state as regards
demand, rational anticipations of advantage may be en-
tertained. It is difficult, moreover, to fix a limit to the
amount of good that may accrue to us from the opening
of the China trade, in the matters of British fine woollen
manufactures.

" Upon the whole, we may safely look to a decided
advance in the price of Australian wools, a prospect
which, pleasing at all times, is most consolatory in the
present condition of the colony. '

W^e would ask a favour from those of our readers
who have watched more narrowly than we have the
" rise and progress" of the Colonial Wool Trade, to
aid us by giving us more accurate dates, and of prices,
if our present remarks are not very near the truth.
Relying upon recoUectioD, in a great measure alone, it

is not at all unlikely that some errors may have been by
us committed, and which we will cheerfully correct.

It may be considered not an inopportune time to add
a fact or two connected more immediately with the
arrivals from Sydney.

The first good bale of wool received here was sent by
Mr. William Mc Arthur, for which he received a gold
medal from the then Government. Mr. Starkie — who
purchased the lot at 10s. 6d. per lb., as being the
best then seen from Sydney — had also a medal presented
to him for the spirit he showed in buying it and manu-
facturing it into cloth.

We believe we are not far from the truth —in com-
mencing a review of the rise and progress of the produc-
tion of wools in Van Diemen's Land for those years to
which reference, as to results, are easily accessible — in
stating that the flock-masters of this colony have not ad-
vanced so rapidly in extending their flocks as those in
Australia ; not that there have not been most ample
supplies of capital thrown into circulation to ob-
tain so desirable an object, or that there has
been a want of energy in the management of sheep.
We are informed — in a highly interesting " Treatise on
Sheep," addressed to the flock-masters of Australia, Tas-
mania, cS:c., written by Mr. Thomas Southey, who is
well known as a practical man upon such matters — that
the flocks of Van Diemen's Land "yield admi-
rable combing wool, clearly evincing that the land
at Launceston and in its neighbourhood is pecu-
liarly suitable for the pasturage of sheep." No
doubt this is the fact ; but the produce of most other
parts of the island cannot, we apprehend, be spoken so
highly of. At all events, the prices obtained for many
years past for combing wools from Tasmania do not
indicate that the flock-masters generally have so mate-
rially advanced in the improvement of their sheep.

About eighteen years ago a company was incorporated
under the name of the " Van Diemen's Land Agricul-
tural Company," the main object of which was then
stated to be, the rearing and improving of the breed of
sheep in the colony. It started with a capital of
£71,000,000, in shares of £''50 each. The colonists
looked with alarm and apprehension at having so for-
midable a rival coming amongst them, and nothing but
ruin was anticipated by many. An immense tract of land
was purchased by the company, of Government ; large
establishments were formed at Circular Head, at Wool-
north, at the Surrey and Hampshire Hills, and other
places within the company's grant, for the purpose of
carrying out the objects of the directors, and the pro-
prietary body ; many of the largest shareholders being
either directly or indirectly connected with the wool
trade. Immense sums of money were laid out in the
purchase of the most improved sheep Great Britain could
produce, in order that the best system of crossing with
the native breed should be carried out. The bright
prospects of the success of the undertaking, at first so
surely considered as certain of realization, year by year
became less apparent, until at last the speculation, as
far as the breeding of sheep was concerned, was given
up. The company's flocks were so frequently attacked
by disease, that the directors had been called upon at
several of the proprietors' meetings to give up the con-
cern. We refer to this subject, as, had the Van Die-
men's Land Company succeeded in its primary object,
numerous advantages would have resulted to the colony,
and not ruin to any class as was anticipated by many of
the colonists. In all probability, most valuable improve-
ments would have been made in all parts of the island in
the management of the flocks.

The subject is so interesting to the colonists, that we
may be excused, perhaps, giving the reasons briefly, as
stated in the directors' report, for the abandonment of

458

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the leading object forwliich the corporation was formed.
They say: — "The proprietors have long been aware
that ujjon the establishment of a tenantry the success of
the company must mainly depend, as it is difficult for a
large body to compete profitably in the cultivation of
land, or in the breeding of live stock, with individual
farmers."

StiU, in the same report it is stated that
' ' The condition of the flocks was highly satisfactory
in the breeding of both ewes and hoggets, and about 450 of
the rams were superior to any ever bred before by the
company. The lambs of last season had done well, but
a greater number was suffering from diarrhoea than were
ever attacked by this malady in former years, and it
had been remarked that those depastured on English
grasses are more liable to the disease than those fed upon
native pastures.

" Tlie proposed arrangement of flocks for the ensuing
season was as follows : — Two Saxon breeding flocks of
1,000 each, one Wanstead and Nigretti flock of 1,000,
and an improved flock of 1,000, making a total of 4,000
breeding ewes.

" A wether flock was to be formed of 1,000, to be
depastured on such portions of the land as are not cal-
culated for breeding ewes. In regard to the lambs —
the rams were to be kept "on Trefoil Island, as being
best calculated for that description of stock, and about
2,000 ewes and wether lambs on the main settlement.
600 ci'oss bred cheviot lambs had been sent to the estab-
lishment at the Hills, where it is hoped they will succeed
better than the finer breds.

' ' Tlie aggregate number of sheep of every description
at Woolnorth would then be about 8,000, which it can
be confidently stated the establishment will maintain.
Great benefit had resulted from the system recently
adopted of improving the native pastures by burning
and collecting the fallen timber, and there was every
prospect of maintaining still larger flocks in each succeed-
ing year by this system of clearing."

The proceedings of the company since, as detailed in
the annual reports, show that to continue sheep
breeding, as a body corporate, would be only an annual
loss. Such an extensive concern cannot compete with
the industrious and resident colonists. We proceed now
to the principal object of this article.

There were but few of the quotations at the first sales
of Van Diemen's Land wool, which can be taken as
affording any criterion of the progress made. Pre-
viously to about 1834 or 1835, a great deal of indif-
ference was shown to the staple. In the latter year, a
good importation took place, and average flocks realized
2s. Gid. to 3s. 2d. per lb. These prices were then con-
sidered high, but the sample were bought to suit a fancy
that had begun to spring up for these wools. That this was
the case, will be ascertained from the fact, that with one
exception, and that in the following year, no such value
has since been obtained, although most unquestion-
ably a considerable improvement in the staple and the
condition of the wools forwarded from the colony has
been exhibited. They were marked H. Y., M, A., T.
A. in a square, I. X., F. Y., X. F., and G. H.

Tliese realized from 2s. to 2s. Q^d., from 2s. 8d. to
3s. Id., and from 2s. 8d. to 3s. 4d. per lb. But the
other samples sold in the month of September, are
represented " as generally being of lower grade, worse
condition, and more tender staple" than had been before
imported. In 1834, the total imports of Van Diemen's
Land wools were 1,331,715 lbs. ; in 1835, ditto ditto,
1,521,861 lbs.

The earlier sales of Tasmanian wool, whether by pub-
lic auction or by private contract, do not appear to have
attracted, by any means, so much interest as those from
Australia ; indeed, it was not until about the year 1838

that any declarations of consequence were made. In the
following year, quite a sensation among those interested
in the trade was caused by the announcement that 6,141
bales would be put up in the course of the July sales of
that year. In reference to those sales, which were an
epoch in the history of the Van Diemen's Land wool
trade, the following remarks were made at the period
referred to : —

' ' The attendance of buyers from every quarter was
as full as upon any previous occasion, and the biddings
particularly animated — as may be inferred — which, not-
withstanding the unsettled state of the money market,
must be very encouraging to the colonial flock growers,
particularly to those whose fleeces, by their improve-
ment in growth and very excellent condition, evince the
careful attention which has been bestowed upon them by
their owners : to such parties it must be satisfactoiy to
find their exertions responded to by the purchasers. It
is not intended to be invidious, but it is scarcely pos-
sible to pass unnoticed the beautiful growth and con-
dition of several of the more celebrated combing flocks,
as well as several of the finer fibre clothing wools.
Similar attention to the flocks, which are only in pro-
gress of improvement, will no doubt be crowned with
similar success."

In the year 1837, the demand for wool from Tas-
mania was very dull, the spinners and manufacturers
holding then large stocks of colonial staples of most sorts.
The derangement of the currency, and the unfavour-
able state of trade, gave a heaviness to the market for
all descriptions of raw and of manufactured goods.
There was also another important check to the demand
for colonial wools in that year, viz., an increased im-
portation from Germany and Spain of at least one-third
over that of the previous clip. The quantity of the
former qualities imported this year was about 2,453,610
lbs.

The highest prices of Tasmanian wool obtamed this
year, were from 2s. 2d. to 2s. 4d., and 2s. 6d. per lb.

The following year was a very quiet one as respects
the market for Tasmanian wools ; still matters were
looking brighter, and an advance of full 2d. to 3d. per
lb. was obtained. The importations during the year
amounted to 2,490,992 lbs,

Superior combing wools were bought at 2s. 2d. to 2s.
8^d. per lb., average flocks Is. lOd., and good lambs'
2s. to 2s. 6d. These were about the highest values
quoted this year. Constant complaints were still made
of the condition in which the wools were exported from
the colony. As the quotations from circulars issued at
different times bear witness in the comments of the
writers upon wools from the island, as well as upon
those received from Sydney, and as, with regard to the
latter, free extracts were made in our last week's article
on the wool trade, it is not necessary to repeat them.

In the year 1839 a considerable impetus appears to
have been given to the colonial wool trade generally,
and the imports from Tasmania began to wear a respect-
able appearance. At the March and May auctions there
was not a feature of interest elicited, but in August full
prices were obtained, notwithstanding there was a fall in
German and English wools of from 10 to 15 per cent.
' ' This fact (states a letter from a leading broker, writ-
ten after the sales were over) shews the estimation in
which wool from this colony is held by consumers and
dealers."

The highest prices for Van Diemen's Land wool paid
this year were — for superior combing 2s. 7d. per lb.
for second do. 2s. 5d., for good flocks 2s. 4^d., and for
lambs' 2s. S^d.

The imports this year (into the United Kingdom)
were 16,318 bales, of the aggregate weight of 3,212,698
lbs.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

459

At about this period a marked increase was obsei-ved
to have commenced in the exportation of foreign wools. In
the present year, of 138,340 bales received at the ports
of London and Liverpool, 600,155 bales were exported.
We shall have a few remarks to make upon this topic,
ere we close the article upon ' ' The rise and progress of
the colonial wool trade," as having a bearing upon the
subject now treated upon.

The commercial stagnation which prevailed in the
latter part of 1839 was not without its influence upon
the wool trade at the commencement of the ensuing
year ; but a month or six weeks had scarcely elapsed
when a most material change for the better took place,
and Van Diemen's Land wools were taken at 2s. to 2s.
2id. per lb. for superior combing. Prices were firm
and advancing, but the result of the following sales in
June was, that a reaction to about the same amount
took place. The stocks of short wools in the possession
of the Yorkshire and other dealers, added to reports of
the excellence of the clip on its way to this country from
the colonies, induced all to buy sparingly, and a fall, as
just noticed, on the February prices was the consequence.
A small parcel of the new clip, by the Derwent, offered
at the June sales, adapted to combing purposes, was
purchased readily. At the wool fairs of Germany this
year a fall of about 25 per cent, took place, and this in-
juriously influenced the prices of colonial wools here.
Much confidence was apparent at the August sales. A
feature, as connected with this and all other branches of
provincial trade, was most strongly shewn at this, as
well as at many of the previous sales — the attendance of
parties who, for the first time, have been their own pur-
chasers, they having taken advantage of the facilities
afforded by means of the various lines of railways. The
results of the early sales being made known in a
very hours to the west and north of England (they be-
gan with a very heavy aspect), brought up fresh buyers,
and towards the middle of the sales the rooms were
crowded almost to suffocation. At the October sales
the improvement in the condition of the Tasmanian
wools was a subject of conversation.

The highest prices paid this year were, for superior
combing 2s. 2^d. per lb., for lambs 2s. G^d. per lb., and
for combing 2s. 0|d. per lb.

The quantity put up this year was 15,894 bales.

The imports into London, Liverpool, Hull, and Goole,
were of the aggregate weight of 2,626,178 lbs, : 10,378
bales came to London.

The transactions of the year 1841 were numerous and
important, and there was an increase in the number of
the public sales. The markets opened rather flatly,
owing to the dispute with the United States. In the
]\huch sales there was no feature. In the next series
skill wool was principally offered, imported from the co-
lony now under review. About 400 bales of the new
clip arrived from Launceston sold weU. Samples of the
produce of the colony, when long enough for combing,
were looked for eagerly. The largest general sale ever
yet recorded was ui September, when 20,481 bales were
put up, of which 3,834 bales were Tasmanian. The sales
took also the longest period yet on record to get through
them. As respects the wools under review, they are re-
presented as being of fair reputation, well grown, and
the combing qualities fetched high prices.

The highest values realized this year were for superior
combing 2s. 24d. per lb. Good clothing 2s. 2d, per
lb., and for lambs' 2s. 2d, per lb.

The quantity put up tliis year was 12,569 bales.
The imports into London in the year were
12,988 bales, of the aggregate weight of 2,923,6801bs. ;
and into the United Kingdom, 3,597,531 lbs.

In the course of the year 1842 the public sales of
colonial wools amounted to from 65,000 to 70,000 bales,

of which from 14,000 to 15,000 bales were from Van
Diemen's Land. With so extensive an increase in the
quantities put up for auction in this year, it might na-
turally have been anticipated that prices of wool of all
sorts would have receded considerably ; but |such was
not the fact. In truth, the more extensive the arrivals
of wools from our colonial possessions, the greater ap-
pears to be the demand for them. This looks well for
the future state of the trade here, and for the advantage
of the colonists themselves, who will by the proceeds
reaUzed for this staple be enabled to take additional
quantities of British manufactured fabrics. We have
not at hand any return of the exports of British woollen
manufactures exported from the United Kingdom to our
several colonial possessions separately, but the aggre-
gate returns show, that with two exceptions, 1829 and
1834, there has been a steady increase since the year 1826,
when the total declared value of British woollen manu-
factured goods sent to the colonies was 764,131/.,
whereas in the year 1843 it had increased to 1,307,191/-
In woollens entered by the piece of, viz., cloths, coatings,
kerseymeres, baizes, and stuffs, the number stood, in
1826 at 1,442,741 pieces, and in 1843 at 2,292,334
pieces. The exports last year were the largest upon re-
cord. There is no doubt but that the shipments to Tas-
mania have increased in proportion to those to other
colonies.

At the commencement of the sales of this year in Feb.
(and the fifth series of the last clip), an apprehension
was entertained that in consequence of the languid con-
dition of the manufacturing interests, the prices of wool
would fall, but the importer was agreeably surprised to
find that all descriptions of colonial, at and under Is, 6d.
to Is, 7d. per lb., obtained full prices. The hope was
entertained and not disappointed, that as the spring ap-
proached, the stocks on hand would be lessened ere any
extensive arrivals of new clip took place. At the sixth
and concluding series of the season, in the
month of April, a large proportion of the Tas-
manian wools put up were of inferior quality and
in bad condition. Notwithstanding all the advices that
have been sent out to the colony, the flock-masters
hitherto, except in a minority of cases, appear to have
disregarded the most ordinary means of forwarding their
wools to England in a clean state ; and this, too, mani-
festly against their own interest. It followed that, at
this sale, ill-conditioned wools went oft' at a decline ;
whilst other qualities, that had been shipped in a proper
state, realized fuU prices. The arrivals of the new cUp
were long delayed by adverse winds ; and as stocks on
hand had been much reduced, it was thought advisable
to proceed with the June sales, though but 6,400 bales
were lotted, of which 1,048 were from Tasmania. The
attendance was large, under the circumstances, and most
present bought a little to supply immediate wants, well
knowmg that, very shortly, the most ample supplies
would arrive. The samples of the new clip were con-
sidered to be in improved condition. The lower class
sold at a decided advance ; but a different result must
be noticed at the succeeding sales in July ; for then
nearly all the wool offered from Van Diemen's Land
(6,242 bales) went off lower, and why ? Because of its
condition, and being stunted ingrowth ; owing, no doubt,
to the prevalence of drought— a circumstance of rather
frequent occurrence— and their not being fit either for
clothing or combing purposes. They were little more
than half-washed, and consequently very greasy,

"We cannot close our circular," states a leading
firm, " without again strongly inculcating the necessity
of paying more attention to the gettmg up of wools ; and
the best argufnent we can make use of, is to refer the
owners to the great contrast of prices paid for well and
ill-conditioned wool."

460

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Tills is a fact that ought at least to have some weight
with the flock-masters in the colonies, who hitherto have
let the best prices fall into the hands of those attentive
to the condition in which they send their fleeces forward
in something like a decent state.

At the following series there were 14,400 bales put
up, of which 2,699 bales were from Van Diemen's Land.
A trade letter, in reference to these sales, states —
" Notwithstanding the depressed state of the combing
trade, several flocks of known excellence realized rela-
tively high prices : a large proportion were in an un-
favourable condition, and the staple short and imma-
tured. The large supply of low and mid. quality, suited
only for clothing purposes, now received from all parts,
renders it more than ever imperative on the growers of
colonial wool to keep up the quality of their flocks ; and
where this has been done, we can confidently refer to the
list of printed prices, to show that they have been fully
appreciated by the buyers."

At these sales the buyers exhibited great caution, for
reasons very obvious. The wools from all the colonies
were not suited to the wants of the day. There were
plenty of buyers of fair conditioned produce ; but they
would not take ill got up samples at any price. The
miserable prices obtained for such almost unmarketable
stufl", must indicate to those not entirely blinded to
their own interest, the absolute necessity of stricter at-
tention to the material point of sending wool to the country
in something like a clear and proper state. A con-
siderable quantity of wools were taken at these sales for the
West of England manufacturers, of the finest quality.
They will not buy an inferior fleece.

The fourth sale of the series of the new clip, and the
last of the j'ear 1842, took place in November and De-
cember. The favourable news received from India and
China about this period had its full influence upon the
sale of colonial wool ; which, notwithstanding the large
quantity declared (1.5,046 bales, of which 2,070 bales
were from Van Diemen's Land) commenced with ani-
mation to a crowded audience, and throughout it
purchases were made with avidity. In the samples
submitted on this occasion, there were many instances
of unfair packing found out. Upon this serious charge
against some of the exporters from the colonies, the cir-
cular of a leading broker remarks thus :— ^

" We regret to state that many instances of irregular
packing have occurred during the season, which have
not only given just cause of complaint, but we fear may
be used as a handle by those who are disposed to put the
exception for the rule, and thereby produce an unfa-
vourable impression on the minds of the uninitiated ; the
absurdity of supposing that growers or shippers, whose
well-known marks are brandedupon their bales should have
any intention to deceive, requires no effort at refutation.
To guard against the difficulty of the buyers not bemg
able to see the entire bale, and so to discover any cases
where more than one sort might be contained in the
bale, we adopt the plan of sampling and shewing, which
is referred to at the head of our catalogues ; and which
it is anticipated, both by buyer and seller, will go far
towards detection, and so remove any future cause of
complaint ; but we would again reiterate our hope that
the practice of irregular packing will be altogether dis-
continued.

The highest prices obtained in the course of the
present year were as follows : — For superior combing,
2s. 0}d. per lb. ; for good combing, 2s. per lb. ; for
superior clothing. Is. lOd. per lb. ; and for lambs', first
quality, 2s. 2d. per lb. The quantity in the sales for the
year was nearly 16,000 bales. The importations were,
in the aggregate, 3,491,685 lbs.

At the public sales of colonial wools in last year

there were about 16,000 bales of Tasmanian wools an-
nounced for sale, and an advance in prices occurred for
those samples that were sent in a good state, and of fine
fibre. A feeling far different was entertained at the first
sales of 1843, as respects the prospects of the China
trade, than at the commencement of the preceding year.
The prices of wools fell in February, as the demand for
goods for the markets of the celestial empire and the
East Indies was not so good as had been most sanguinely
expected ; still there was some spirit shewn at these
sales. The stocks in the hands of the manufacturers
and dealers were also heavy. Van Diemen's Land wools
receded about one penny per lb. At the AprU sales the
wools on off"er from the island were of improved condi-
tion, and sold well ; confidence in the future state of
trade was freely evinced at these sales. The arrivals of
the new clip were too small to afford an estimate of the
produce of the season. At the close of this series, the
state of the manufacturing districts had improved, and
the first portion of the fresh arrivals was offered in
June, when rather over 16,500 bales were declared, of
which 5,345 bales were Tasmanian ; most of which was
but half-washed, and in other respects in bad condition.
Generally speaking, the presence of burr was less fre-
quent ; one march in the right direction towards remov-
ing the many and long-continued complaints of the
buyers here. In connection with the present series a
competent party remarks — " The flocks of Van Die-
men's Land were, for the most part, in heavy, ill-con-
ditioned state, although there were some splendid ex-
ceptions, which realized fair proportionate prices. We
observe, too, in many parcels the prevalence of Lincoln-
shire and other low English (not Merino) cross, and to
this circumstance, together with the unfavourable condi-
tion, may be attributed the very low range of price pro-
duced. We have always given our opinion against this
mode of crossing, and the result, where it has been
practised, has realized our worst anticipations ; to these
circumstances, together with the universally low price of
all raw material and manufactured articles (notwith-
standing an increased demand), must be attributed the
present reduced quotations."

The August sales commenced well, and an advance
of a penny per lb. all through was sustained.
The demand for the continental manufactured was
very brisk. The series having been gone through, thus
are they spoken of in a circular now before us :

" We have the satisfaction to announce that these
important sales took place under very auspicious cir-
cumstances— a decided improvement in trade in the
manufacturing districts, and very favourable state of
weather for securing the harvest. From these united
causes we are enabled to state that the whole of the
large quantity sold with spirit, and as compared with the
extremely low prices of last June, we must acknowledge
an advance was realized on all descriptions of wool ; but,
we fear, the result of these sales will disappoint the
shippers of a large proportion of wools brought forward,
viz., the small thin-haired tender-stapled sandy wool
from Sydney, ill-conditioned and irregular-packed wool
from Port Philip, and short stapled clammy wool from
Van Diemen's Land : these descriptions continue to sell
at very unsatisfactory prices — an English cross was too
visible in many flocks."

In the September and October sales this year, the
principal feature was a slight improvement in the de-
mand, and in the prices.

The extreme values realized for Van Diemen's Land
wools this year were — for superior combing Is. 10-Jd.
per lb. ; for clothing Is. 8d. per lb. ; for lambs', finest
quality, 2s. Id. per lb.; do., second quality. Is. 8d. per
lb., one very fine sample of lambs' went off" at 2s. 4dt
per lb. The gale this year amounted to 18,400 bales,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

4G1

The importations of wools from Tasmania this year
were 3,993,010 lbs.

In the course of the present year, at least as far as it
has proceeded, the features connected with the supply
and demand for Tasmanian wools at the various public
sales that have taken place, are not of much interest in a
general point of view. The sales too have been com-
paratively so recent, and the facts connected therewith
are so immediately within the recollection of the trade,
that any lengthened statement may be deemed, perhaps,
superfluous. The position taken up by Tasmanian v.ools
this year already, demands a few remarks. Many have
been the terms used to denote the increasing importance
of the colonial wool sales, but at the commencement of
those in February the number of buyers and others in-
terested was " unprecedentedly" large, though but a
small quantity of the staple was declared. Considering
the low qualities of the wool, the prices realized were
considered as establishing a considerable rise on the quo-
tations paid in October and November last. This was
attributable to the general improvement in the home and
foreign trade. At the April sales but 639 bales of Van
Diemen's Land wool were put up, and these sold at a
slight fall. At the first series of the new clip, in June,
the demand was good, being generally sound in staple
and remarkably free from burr, prices were a shade
higher. The second series commenced on the IGth July,
and comprised 29,541 bales, of which 7,001 bales were
Van Diemen's Land, but no advance was quoted.

At the conclusion of our general remarks relative to
" the rise and progress of the colonial wool trade," some
corrections will be given, which have been kindly handed
to us, more expressly as to imports of Australian fleeces
in by-gone years. We did not presume to assert that
our figures were accurately correct. As yet the averages
of the early prices of wool, with special marks, have not
been completed.

At the last series of sales for the present year, viz.,
those which commenced in September and continued
until the 11th of October, 3807 bales of Tasmanian
Wools were put up. The home trade was good, and a
few fine samples realized advanced rates. In some res-
pects this was to be attributed to the shortness of the
stocks.

The highest prices realized at these sales were these : —
for superior combing, 2s. 1 jd. per lb. ; for good clothing,
2s. O^d. per lb. ; for scoured, 2s. 3d. per lb. ; for lambs',
2s. 4d. to 2s. 4 id. ; and one sample went off at 2s. 8d.
per lb. The importations for the present year, have, as
far as it has proceeded, been fully equal to, if not above,
those of the corresponding period of 1843.
'> Having brought our remarks down to the close of the
sales of wool for 1844, we may add as matter of re-
ference a few items relative to the importations of wool
;from Tasmania, which have not been referred to in the
previous remarks. Until the year 1827, the quantities
received from Van Diemen's Land were given with the
imports from New South Wales, Swan River, and .South
Australia. In 1827 the arrivals from Van Diemen's Land
were separately and officially given at 192,075 lbs. ; in
1828, at 604,372 lbs. ; in 1829, 925,320 lbs. ; in 1830,
at 993,970 lbs. ; in 1831, at 1,359,203 lbs. ; in 1832,
at 951,131 lbs. ; in 1833, at 1,547,201 lbs. ; and in 1836,
1,983,786 lbs.

CTo be continued.)

BELGIAN WOOLLENS FOR THE CHINESE
MARKETS.
The great demand for Belgian woollens by the Ame-
rican trade, and also by British merchants for re-ex-
portation, not unnaturally directed attention in Belgium
to inquiries respecting the markets by which the demand

ha3 been created. The parties more especially interes-
ted were not long in making the discovery that, although
a considerable internal consumption of Belgian woollen
fabrics existed in the United States, yet that such con-
sumption accounted but for a certainproportion, and that
not the largest, of the bulk imported. Following up
the investigation it was found that China was ultimately
the chief receiving point of the excess of woollens im-
ported from Belgium. So also with respect to the pur-
chases made for British account. It could not escape no-
tice that the Belgian woollens purchased for import into
this country were at once lodged in entrepot for re-ex-
portation, and that the principal market for which they
were destined was China also. Upon this conjoint dis-
covery the Belgian journals are extremely eloquent about
the advantages which might be derived, the double profit
which would be secured, were Belgian merchants and
manufacturers more enterprizing, and would they but
ship their goods on direct to China, the place of consump-
tion, instead of selling them to foreign merchants at
home, and so throwing into their hands all the advan-
tages of more profitable returns. These freaks of over
covetous commercial jealousy would really seem to be
remarkably unreasonable. Belgian manufacturers, how-
ever, are not to be blamed for the fanciful conceits of
the journals, but are doubtless well content, as they
should be, with disposing of their wares at a hard cash
profit, instead of shipping them ten thousand miles out
of sight and command, for the blind chance of a small
per centage the more. If, as stated, the Americans have
tripled their purchases of Belgian woollens since the
re-opening of the China trade, whilst the English have
multiplied theirs sixfold, it is sufficiently clear that the
Belgian manufacturers have no cause for discontent, but
the reverse. What, indeed, could they gain, or rather
what might they not lose, by shipping on their own
account ? In what shape could they make up return
cargoes, were the sale of their cloths ever so advantageous
in respect of profit, so as to save all the large expense
of chartering ships out and home — an expense aggravated
so much in most instances by inevitable delays and charges
for demurrage ? Teas are the only commodity of any bulk
which China could supply for cargo, and where is a
market for teas to be found in Belgium ? If teas, like
beer, were an article in general use in Belgium, the con-
sumption of four or five millions of people would be an
object of consideration ; but the reverse is the fact, for
they enter but for an insignificant quantity into con-
sumption, and only as a luxury among the more wealthy
classes. Into Great Britain, the great tea-consuming
country, teas could not be imported from Belgium or in
Belgian vessels, whilst hostile tarifl:s also would meet
them in other countries where the commodity may more
or less enter into consumption. The fact, however, of
this extraordinary increase in the purchase and shipment
of Belgian woollens to china by British and American
merchants merits the attention of the woollen trade in
this country. There can unfortunately be no doubt of
the preference which Belgian and Prussian woollens
have obtained in the markets of China. It is difficult to
believe that this preference can be attributable to any su-
periority in the fabric, but if it resolves itself into a mat-
ter of price it is not less difficult to understand how, with
such undeniably superior appliances of machinery, the
manufacturers of this country cannot successfully com-
pete with those of the continent. It comports with our
own knowledge that, at the present moment, a merchant
larg ly engaged in the tea trade is over in Belgium and
Rhenish Prussia selecting considerable assortments of
woollens for shipment to China, after first submitting his
orders to various houses in Yorkshire, by whom, at the
limits, the execution of those orders was declined.—,
Journal of Qommerce,

II n

462

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

THE ORTHOP(EDIC INSTITUTION.

" Bring in hither the poor, tlie maimed, the halt, and the blind."

Such were the commands of him who founded that sys-
tem which has given the new world such advantages
over the okl. As regards the poor, the maimed, and the
blind, the command has been in this country most fully
obeyed. In no countiy in the world is such provision
made and charitable aid afforded to the poor as in England.
Scarcely a town of any magnitude is without its hos-
pital, upon an extensive scale, and liberally supported.
For the blind schools and institutions have been established
in various parts of the kingdom, but for the halt little
exertion has yet been made. This by no means arises from
an absence of feeling for or indifference to the unfortunate
sufferer, but is attributable to the fact that until within the
last few years no remedy for the cure of club-feet or dis-
torted and contracted limbs was known ; and we believe
at the present moment there are thousands of sufferers who
do not know that the means of cure exists, and thousands
of philanthropic individuals who would be ready and
anxious to contribute towards the support of an institu-
tion which is calculated to confer such inestimable bless-
ings upon the unfortunate sufferers, were they made
acquainted vrith its existence. An institution called
the " Orthopoedic Institution, or Infirmary for the
Cure of Club-Foot and other Contortions" was opened
at 6, Bloomsbury-square, London, in the year 1840.
The institution is under the patronage of his Royal
Highness Prince Albert, and numbers amongst its Vice-
Presidents, his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, the
Bishop of London, and other noblemen and gentlemen
of influence. At this institution every species of contor-
tion and deformity to which the human frame is hable is
treated, and with the most complete success. Children born
with club feet and with the toes turned quite in, walking
almost upon the ankle, even up to the age of seven-
teen years, have been completely cured, having their
feet put quite straight, and have been discharged cured.
(To use the beautiful expression of the Scriptures),
"walking and leaping and praising God." We scarcely
know whether the individual who enjoys a good consti-
tution and good health, but is afflicted with a malady,
such as club-foot or distorted limb, which incapacitates
from the performance of those duties for which he was de-
stined in this life, is not a greater object of compassion
than one who is labouring under disease, the result of
unsound constitution.

It is essential that there should be an institution
wholly devoted to this object, inasmuch as the few cases
which might be sent to the hospitals would not ob-
tam that attention nor be treated with such success as
where a variety of cases are brought together, the diffe-
rent forms of the disease seen, and the mechanism ne-
pessary for each case minutely examined and studied ;
m fact, where the attention of the medical man is almost
wholly directed to this one malady. Since the establish-
ment of this Institution— only four years— upwards of
2,280 cases have been treated, all of which have been cured
or greatly reUeved, and there has not occurred a single
mstance of loss of life or limb. The number of out-
patients attending on Mondays and Fridays (the days for
attendance) is from 70 to 100. We wish this may meet
the eye and arrest the attention of some of those whose
hearts dehght in witnessmg and sympathizing with
the best feelings of our nature. Let such visit this Institu-
tion on the days above named, at two o'clock, and watch
the tremulous anxiety with which the mother seeks re-
lief for her beloved child, and see the almost frantic
|°y evmced on findmg that, by a simple operation,
her child is, as it were, miraculously changed from a de-
termed cripple into a well-formed creature. There is

nothing in the whole proceedings which could offend the
eye or sense of the most delicate female. The number
of in-patients is limited to six, for want of fimds ; the
number waiting admission in rotation is from 100 to
150. The patients admitted into the house are those
whose cases are too severe to admit of their being
treated as out-patients. The time they remain is upon
an average three months, so that these poor deformed
creatures are compelled to wait, in consequence of the
limited means at the disposal of the committee, 18 months
and two years for admission, and many relinquish all
hopes in despair. The generous and charitable British
public may shorten the time of their suffering by
subscribing liberally, and the committee are most
anxious to open twenty additional beds, which would
enable them to admit annually 'on an average eighty
more patients, a consummation devoutly to be wished,
as during a long delay the cases get worse and
worse, and some become incurable. This species of
malformation is confined to no class, all are equally liable
to it. Had the remedy now offered been then known Lord
Byron might have been relieved of a deformity which
was ever irksome to him.

We humbly but earnestly solicit those who have the
means, if it be only for the purpose of promoting
medical science, of which some future member of their
family may stand in need, to come forward and support
this institntion. We call upon those whom nature has
so placed as to feel with the warmth of a mother's aftec-
tion, with the acuteness of a mother's agony for the suffer-
ing of her child, to exert their influence in behalf of this
inestimable institution. We earnestly entreat the public at
large to perform the part of the angel who moved the
waters of Bethesda ; if they will but lend the necessary
assistance, thee committe and medical officers will take
care that the healing influence of their skill shall be
cheerfully and liberally dealt out to all the afflicted pa-
tients.

TO THE LANDLORDS AND TENANTS

OF ESSEX.
My Lords and Gentlemen,
In reading the speeches at the recent agricultural
meetings I occasionally lighted on remarks which were
something more than the mere expressions of opinion :
they might indeed, generally, be classed either as ad-
mitted verities, or truths so obvious that, though new,
they were not less readily approved as just and incon-
trovertible. Some of these I jotted down, and now
submit them to you as specimens of Agricultural
Aphorisms : —

1. The most profitable farming is the highest and best
farming.

2. Timber and corn cannot be grown together with
advantage.

3. Land generally is insufliciently cultivated ; and
might be made more productive and more profitable by
increased cultivation.

4. Protective leases on the principle of com rents are
essential to the proper cultivation of land.

5. Land being capable of greater cultivation, and
great quantities lymg entirely uncultivated, the idea of
redundancy of labour is erroneous.

6. All the surplus labour — so called — might be profit-
ably employed at home ; consequentiy the argument that
extensive emigration is necessary as a cure for our " ex-
cessive" population falls to the ground.

7. One of the greatest enemies to agriculture and the
country is the bad farmer ; he is a curse to his neigh-
bourhood, because he denies to the poor man the labour

on which he depends for his daily bread ; he is a curse
to his brother farmers, because he lays them open to the
charge that they are not able to grow corn enough for
the support of the community ; and he is a curse to
himself, because he is sure to have an empty pocket and
an empty cupboard.

8. Money spent upon able-bodied labourers in work-
houses is money thrown away.

9. Beer-shoi)s for drinking on the premises are an
unmitigated evil, and ought to be abolished.

10. To enable the labourer to brew his own beer is to
give him, and his family too, a wholesome beverage,
without the contamination of the beer-shop.

11. The allotment system, as an occupation for the
labourer's leisure hours, and an instructive employment
for his children, is an undoubted good.

12. Allotments are the saving-banks of labour, and
should be as near as possible to the poor man's cottage,
that his children, as well as himself, may day by day put
in their deposits of labour.

13. A beneficent Providence has so ordered the affairs
of this world that we cannot do good to others without
directly or indirectly doing good to ourselves.

The above might be added to in great numbers ; but
the few brief sentences here strung together offer ample
food for the consideration of the patriot and the philan-
thropist, and a spacious field for his exertions. In
bringing these practical points of many speeches before
you, I would just remind you that, knowing these
things, " happy are ye if ye do them."

Your humble servant,

Lacon Redivivus.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

MALT T

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MAUK-LANE HXPp.H!SSi

CONSUMFnON OF PORTER AND ALE IN
LONDON AND ITS VICINITY DURING
THE LAST AND PRESENT YEAR,

An accurate statement of the number of quarters
of malt used by the undermentioned brewers, from the
10th of October, 1843, to the 10th of October, 1844;
distinguishing those whose consumption has increased
and decreased : —

Names, Signs, and Situations.

Barclay anri Co., Anchoi-, Soutlnvark
Trumiin, Black Eagle, Spitalfields. .
Whitbread, Hine'sHead, Chiswell-st.
Reid,* Griifin, Liquorpond-street . .

Meux,* Horse Shoe, St. Giles

Combe, Wood Yard, Long-acre. . . .
Hoare, Red Lion, East Smithfield..
Calvert, Hoiir-Glass, Tliames-street

Elliot, Stag, Pinilico ...

Thorne, T., Harrow, Westminster ..
Charrington, Anchor, Mile-end ...

Coding, Lion, Lsimbeth

Taylor, Bailey i\Iow, Limeliouso. . . .
Gardner, Cannon, St. John-street , .

Mann, J. Albion, Mile-end

Broad wood. Lion, Golden-square ..
Courage, Anchor, Horsley-down.. . .

Wood, Artillery, Westminster

Moore, Scottish, Old-street

Tubb, Castle, St. George's Fields ..
Manners, King's Arms, Whitechapel

Strong and Co., Ratcliffe

Kompson, Star, Alortlake

Abliutt, Bow

c

13

<«H

OJ &H

S "»

3 3

3

a(3

c

a

1,970

108,510

110,480

90,585

94,418

3,863

51,706

53,265

1,559

51,830

51,205

44,956

40,407

1,511

42,524

42,202

29,:i26

31,001

1,676

29,923

30,375

452

20,694

27,204

510

19,052

20,655

1,003

19,328

20,243

915

10,465

18,110

1,645

19,350

16,905

15,350

16.8.30

1,480

14,S95

16,136

1,291

15,141

15,558

417

11,641

11,994

3.!i3

8,004

8,461

457

7,382

7,409

77

5,865

0,364

499

5,397

5,833

436

5,520

5,545

25

4,828

5,412

584

6,C68

5,275

!,355

793

Those marked thus * brew porter only.
Increase on the year's consumption by tlie above

Brewers 20,7-2 qrs.

Decrease on the year , 4,095

Balance of Increase • 16,637

rl^^UB

4G3

Sir, — I am very much please^ to observe tbat a move-
ment is being made to remove that curse of the home-
stead and the cottage— the malt-tax ; and I do hope that
the cultivators of the soil, as well as the people gene-
rally, will unite to press on the legislature the justice
and necessity of abolishing for ever that destructive
and demoralizing impost.

I remember reading some years ago evidence given by,
I believe, the late Mr. Ellman, before a committee of
the House of Commons, in which he stated that — " 40
years ago every labourer in his parish brewed liis own
beer, but at that time there was but one who did."
Things have not improved since, I believe, in that res-
pect. The baleful effects of the malt-tax on the happi-
ness and comfort of the labouring classes are enormous ;
good wholesome beer ought to be within the reach of
every hard working man ; it is necessary to his well-
being, notwithstanding what those poor milk-and-water
creatures, the teetotallers, may say to the contrary. The
malt-tax is a disgrace to a Christian land ; scripture
says: "Let the husbandmen be first partaker of the
fruits of the earth," and "muzzle not the ox that treadeth
out the corn/' our rulers, however, muzzle the labour-
ing man that thrashes out the corn and does aU the rest
of the work necessary to produce abundance of the fruits
of the earth ; before he can enjoy a cup of beer he must
pay a tax and the other expenses that grow out of the
tax to the amount of nearly half the cost of the beer.
The malt-tax has been the cause of preventmg the la-
bourer from having his barrel of beer at home in his own
cottage to partake of and enjoy with his family ; when a
labourer does drink beer, it is generally in one of those
low haunts of vice — a beer shop, where is to be heard ri-
baldry and all kinds of bad language.

I have gone into working people's cottages at noon,
where I have seen (and never without feelings of indig-
nation) their dinner table, and on it some wretched tea
crockei7 instead of a jug of beer, and I have bethought
me of Goldsmith's " Bold peasantry their country's
pride," and I have had the cold chills at the thought of
what a bold peasant it must make a man who washes
down his poor meal with comfortless tea slops.

One of your correspondents has recommended the re-
peal of half the tax, which I fear would be very little re-
lief indeed ; it is not worth while, I am convinced, to
agitate for half the tax, seemg that all the present ma-
chinery for collecting it must remain — the same number
of excisemen to watch over and control the maltster.
No, let us go for the whole repeal ; the advantages to
the landholder, the farmer, and all the industrious
classes, are so manifold and palpable, that I repeat the
hope that they will unite to promote its utter abolition.
The repeal of the malt-tax would vastly increase the
consumption of barley, and good beer would come into
repute again as formerly. People who live in towns,
and are used to the wishy-washy stuff they buy under
the name of beer and porter, have no idea what splendid
liquor may be made by a judicious union of good malt
■a.ndfne hops, and a moderate quantity of soft water.

Hoping you will give your powerful advocacy to the
repeal of the odious tax,

1 am, sir, your most obedient servant,

Fhilo Barleycorn.
II H 2

644

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

METEOROLOGICAL

DIARY.

Barometer, 1

Thermometer, 1

Wind and i

State.

Atmosphere,

Day.

8 a.m.

10p.m.'

Min.

Max.

10p.m.

Direction.

Force.

8 a.m.

2 p, m.

10 p. m.

Sept. 21

in. cts.
30.08

in. cts.
30.11

48

59

52

N, N.E,

brisk

fine

variable

cloudy

22

30.08

29.95

48

59

50

N. N.E.

brisk

fine

sun

cloudy

23

29.80

29.80

49

61

52

N.E.N,

lively

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

24

29.80

30.10

48

60

51

North

variable

fine

sun

fine

25

30.19

30.23

46

59

46

North

gentle

fine

sun

fine

26

30.25

30.23

39

65

46

N. by W, var.

calm

fine

sun

fine

27

30.20

30.14

37

65

46

N.byW.

gentle

haze

sun

fine

28

30.10

30.0

40

64

48

N. by W,

gentle

haze

sun

fine

29

30.0

30.27

45

55

44

North

brisk

cloudy

sun

fine

30

30,30

30.27

37

56

42

Southerly

gale

fine

sun

fine

Oct. 1

30,16

30.0

41

58

56

S. S.W,

variable

fine

cloudy

cloudy

2

29.76

29.80

55

62

55

S,W, N.W.

strong

cloudy

sun

fine

3

29.83

29.80

52

62

60

W, by E,

forcible

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

4

29.98

29.94

46

62

54

N, West

gentle

fine

sun

cloudy

5

29.80

29.87

50

61

50

W. N,W.

gentle

fine

cloudy

fine

6

29.92

29.92

46

58

48

Westerly

gentle

fine

cloudy

cloudy

7

29.88 30.0

42

54

40

N, West

gentle

fine

sun

fine

8

29.98 29.62

32

54

45

S, by E.

brisk

fine

sun

cloudy

9

29.30

29.10

45

57

57

S. byE,

strong

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

10

29.20

29.44

49

64

51

S, S.W,

gentle

cloudy

sun

fine

11

29.62

29.77

45

62

50

S. S.W,

gentle

fine

sun

fine

12

29.66

29.56

44

62

57

S. by W,

brisk

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

13

29.46

29.27

52

62

52

S. by W,

brisk

fine

cloudy

cloudy

14

29.20

29.10

47

56

52

S. West

brisk

fine

cloudy

cloudy

15

29.10

29.04

45

60

51

S. West

variable

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

16

29.03

29.14

45

54

45

W. by N,

gentle

cloudy

sun

fine

17

29.26

29.48

44

60

47

N. West

gentle

fine

sun

fine

18

29.60

29.76

39

53

42

W, by N,

gentle

fine

sun

fine

19

29.78

29.64

34

51

48

S. West

brisk

fine

cloudy

cloudy

20

29.50

29.49

42

52

42

S. West

gentle

fine

sun

fine

21

29.50

29.60

42

48

45

S. East

calm

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

-I -.,'!•, '

estimated

average.

Barometer.

Thermometer.

North and N, East Winds. .

East to South

South and South West

West to North

High. 1 Low, 1 Mean.

High. 1 Low. 1 Mean.

61 days.
5|

30.61 1 28.74 1 29.774

68 1 27 1 48.9

Real Average Temperature of the period.

8

Hi

High, I Low, 1 Mean,

58,5 1 443 1 56.4

Weather and Phenomena. — September 21, brisk changeable wind— 22, the equinox, fine
weather decidedly from the north— 23, a struggle, many dark masses of clouds— 24, perfectly fine, and
to the end, with only the exception of the morning fogs of 27 and 28, September has been of the
finest character, like that exhibited in 1843. The barometer has ranged at, or above, 30 inches during 17
days, the wind to S,, or S. by W., only 8 days of the month. The rain has amounted to nothing, when
compared with its usual average, October 1, beautiful morning, changeable, p.m. rain— 2, rain, a shower
violent wind — 3, windy — 4, hygrometer, which had indicated much moisture, now shows the reverse,
three hours of rain— 5, rain, night much finer— 6, rainy p.m.— 7, and 8, fine days, first frost shown by
the thermometer — 9, changeable, rainy, boisterous evening — ] 0, improved, one hour's rain — 1 1, fine in ge-
neral— 12, great moisture, cloudy, rainy evening — 13, showers, lightning in some places — 14, thunder
in the south, rain in profusion — 15, rain, many showers — 16, finer, one shower — 17 and 18, fine, and
generally warm, a httle rain — 19, rain, two showers after a shght rime— 20, a fine placid day — 21, rainy
p.m., hazy forenoon, hygrometer indicates increased humiditj'.

Lunations, — September: Full moon, 26th day, 1 h. 13 m, afternoon. October: Last quarter, 4th
day, 4h. 29 m. afternoon; new moon, 11th day, 11 h, 24 m. afternoon; first quarter, 18th day, 3
h. 16 m. afternoon.

Remarks referring to Agriculture. — The dry weather of September had again arrested the
gro^vth of turnips, which, nevertheless, thanks to the few previous showers, had greatly improved.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

4G5

October came in fine, but a change became ajjparent after noon, and all the iiiKtraments showed fluc-
tuation. We have begun to register every rainy day, and shall continue the practice; already, to the
end of the third week, there have been fifteen days on which rain has fallen, in some places, very pro-
fusely; but in Berkshire no fall of consequence occurred till the 13th. The earth, therefore, was tO(i dry
for wheat sowing, but during the third week the plough has been actively employed upon a fine stajjle,
now sufficiently moistened to the depth of one foot. The frosts have been restricted to a mere sprink-
ling of rime on grass once or twice, the thermometer being always above the freezing point except for an
hour or two on the 8th day, early.

CALENDAR OF HORTICULTURE.— NOVEMBER.

1. Retrospective Meteorology. — Some showers
have refreshed the ground since our last, and now
and then frosty rime has appeared on the grass ;
the thermometer, however, never falling below SG*^
till the 8th, when, by the " differential" instru-
ment, it appeared that the freezing point (32'^
Fall.) had been marked at some moment of the
preceding night, ^'^egetation, however, suffered
little injury. Great atmospheric moisture succeeded
to aridity; the hygrometer had given exactly reversed
indications ; and whenever this occurs with a gra-
dual depression of the barometer, rain is almost
sure to follow. We make this observation in order
to correct a too general mistake which most per-
sons who have a weather glass are liable to fall
into. A fall of the mercury gives evidence of a
decreased density of the atmosphere ; l)ut it does
not prove that the air is in any degree charged with
moisture. When, however, a change of the elec-
tric condition induces that concomitant, the par-
ticles of watery vapour are very likely to unite in the
form of clouds, and rain follows. As a converse
of this theory, we all have observed the highest
state of the mercurial column at a time when
fogs and haze have been present for days together
without producing one particle of rain.

But during the second week of October the hygro-
metric index gradually passed from dry to moist;
while the barometer fell to nearly the rain jioint,
and on the 13th and 14th there was wet in profu-
sion, to the great advantage of field and garden.
Water was wanted ever\'where ; the ponds, stream-
lets, and many wells were dry, and even the rivers
became shallow.

2. The agency of light is not sufficiently observed.
In open ground culture experience has instructed
a few gardeners to allot a sunny exposure to some
vegetables ; a more shady and cool one to others :
but there are no fixed principles — no certain deduc-
tions. Plants under cover are treated empirically,
or according to routine ; some are to be placed
under stages, or in shade ; others are ordered to
be brought close to the glass, to prevent their
becoming drawn; but in this there is no reason,
no appeal to causes ! The full solar ray comprises
all the prismatic colours in the condition of white
light ; the red ray is presumed to be the instrument
of heat, while to the blue and its various tints
are assigned the magnetising agency. Here we
approach the electrising theory ; and some have
proposed the trial of various coloured glass, the
blue particularly, on the supposition that the blue
ray induced the more rapid emission of roots.
Full exposure burns, destroys the colours of petals,

and causes endless trouble in giving water; and
lately it has been proved that under a diffused
light, passing through a medium which in a degree
obstructs the direct, brilliant ray, every difficulty
has been met, and its inconveniences obviated.
Varnished calico frames were coming rapidly into
vogue; and with justice, so far as light was con-
cerned ; but truth requires us to state one defect
in the application, which was so severe that they
who had begun to compliment themselves iipon a
most valuable adjunct were thrown back by finding
that the calico was destroyed, the fabric cracking,
and rending to shreds by the slighest force.

It becomes necessary, then, to urge the manufac-
turers of cloth, who are interested in the success
of a beautiful discoveiy, to construct a fabric which
will not spht ; and other persons, Avhether garden-
ers or men in the business, to prepare a varnish
which will not affect the cloth. We know that
oilskin remains firm; why should we not be able to
prepare, or meet with, fluids that could be apphed,
once and again, to frames, as required, with perfect
safety to the fabric ?

Operations in the Kitchen Garden.

3, Artichokes require winter defence ; clear away
the old stalks and dead leaves ; burn them in a
heap, and scatter the ashes on the soil over the
roots, then cover the whole with a deep stratum
of decaying tree leaves, heaping them about the
stems : thus are the plants protected and manured.

Asparagus. Cut down the old stems ; i)lace
them in a heap, and soon as possible burn them.
Clear the beds of weeds ; sweep them, and ' the
dropt seeds away ; scatter the ashes of the' haulm
among the plants, and cover the plots or single
beds with three inches of leaves. Remember that
the ashes of any plant contain its inorganic salts
which had been derived from the earth: by res-
toring so much of them as now remains to the soil,
a grateful return to a corresponding extent is thus
made, in a form which must be suitable to its pe-
cuhar constitution.

Broccoli ought to have good diy earth, brought
up ridgewise against the stems. Some persons lay
purple and white cape into the ground ; but if this
practice were adopted, September would be a better
season. However, a few plants, hfted and
potted in tiventy-fours, might be kept safe in a pit
or frame.

Caulijiowers may be laid down, but are better
preserved imder glass ; they should have air freely
every fine day.

Celery is now fully grown, and further landing

466

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

up can be rarely be required. If necessary, select
the dryest weather and state of earth, to finish
the work eftectually ; celery would do well under
glass in deep pits, employing the best mellow, sifted
earth.

Endive. Blanch some by tying up the extremi-
ties of the leaves.

Carrots, beet, parsnip, Jerusalem artichokes.
Dig enough for family use, and to provide against
severe frost : the two first may all be got up,
and stored in cool cellars, in dryish sand.

Potatoes must all be digged up, dried and stored.
The piting of this A'aluable tuber is the ruin of
many thousands ; the store heats ; sprouts are
sent forth in abundance, and these impoverish the
bulk, while great numbers of tubers acquire decay;
hence future failure. Diy condition, cool cellars,
or caves where actual frost is excluded, are the
means of security; for the eyes should remain
quite torpid till spring.

Early in the month sow jjeas in a long row
under a south wall, a yard in front of it ; sow beans
also, and repeat the sowings once.

Sow small salad and radishes in frames ; trans-
plant lettuces to the same, for under glass they
are comparatively secure.

Seakale plots are to be cleared of the decaying
leaves, which might be advantageously buried in
the spaces between the rows, on the principle of
self-manure. The plants ought to be covered
with three or four inches of light, rich soil each,
and a stick set up as a marker to each, if heaps
of leaves only are laid over the plot. But pots
or boxes are better, and these should be surrounded
with warm dung. A very good way to blanch
sea-kale would be to grow it in pits, heated with
warm water pipes : each plant to be covered with
a box that will perfectly exclude light ; the litter
and trouble occasioned by the manure, which,
after all, is uncertain in its heat, would thus be
avoided.

Fruit Department.

4. Gather aU the remaining apples and pears.
Dry each separately in a warm room or vinery ;
that is, expose the fruit so long to the sun as to
get rid of that watery juice which transpires, and
causes sweating in the heap, imparting bad flavour
and decay to many. When thus sweated, wpe
the fruit, and lay it in a cool fruit-room, covering
every layer with three inches of clean and new
wheat straw.

Plant early in the month every kind of fruit-
tree ; but consider this the latest period. Defer
future removals till February.

Raspberries, white and red, may be introduced
into rather rich fresh soil; prefer the Antwerp
and Fastolfa. In trimming and securing these
plants some clever gardeners make the supporting
stakes slope toward the north at a considerable
angle. By so doing they permit the new canes
of next year to rise perpendicularly, and not con-
fusedly ^vith the bearing canes now tied back to
the stakes.

Defer pruning the berry-fruit shrubs till Fe-
bruary; but lay manure around and over their
roots.

Vines. Prune and regulate them entirely, leav-
ing nothing more to be done till they begin to
shoot in April.

Fi(js. Cover with spray of the fir, or yew-tree,
interlacing the branches pretty closely.

Strawberry plants in pots for forcing are pro-
tected most effectually in brick pits, furnished
vnth. water pipes. They now should seldom have
water, and air ought to be freely admitted.

Flower Garden, etc.

5. Plant bulbs of every kind very early. By
a recent exjieriment with a bulb of the tulip we
detected much alkali in the ashes : this indicates
the necessity of its presence in the soil. Most
loams conl^^.n pot ass a naturally; but it would stUl
be rational j^ractice to sprinkle vegetable ashes
over the soil, prior to digging the bed ; and then,
at the time of planting, to fill up the holes with pit
or river sand.

Take up the dahlia roots, and dry them carefully
in an airy shed.

The shrubberies ought to be neatly pruned,
cutting back to a shoot, not hacking the shrubs
at random. All sorts of trees can be safely re-
moved, biit not advantageously after the first
week.

The greenhouses and pits ought to have air
in clear days, the plants being kept almost dry.

The plant-stove ovighX to be at 60° to 65° per
day, and 10'^ lower at night. Houses furnished
with tanks and brick cemented gutters are equably
heated; but there is no economy of fuel in any
of these new inventions. This we shall show soon,
and suggest a proposed improvement.

THEORY OF FIBROUS COVERING.

The observations which I have met with at page
335 of the "Farmer's Magazine" (October) attracted
my attention, following, as they did, a communication
made in conversation between two scientific gentle-
men, upon the effects produced, or believed to be
produced, by covering grass with ''fibrous^' mate-
rials.

As I have not witnessed any direct experiment
in the large way, I feel incompetent to recommend
a practice which I do not possess sufficient evi-
dence to confirm. But taking the testimonial of
the article on " Gurneyism" for granted, backed as
it was by the opinions which were adduced in my
presence, I shall assume that the fact recently made
public is founded, to a certain extent, upon correct
data.

The object of the present article is to approach
the question on " 'llie nature of the agency which
produces the extraordinary effects described, and
which Dr. Vacey believes to involve difficulties in
the solution of problems in vegetable physiology,
supposed to be solved by received theories." In
order to meet this question, we must retrace some
of the particulars adduced in Dr. Vacey's letter,
premising, that if meadow-grass be covered for a
certain time \vith fibrous matter, the produce in
herbage Avill be very considerably increased ; and

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

407

thus (as stated column 2, page 335), "if straw was
used as the fibrous covering, it should be at the
rate of a ton and a half to the acre, or about 20lbs.
per rod" (not rood), "to be uniformly laid over
meadow or lay grass. It should be removed, and
the grass fed oft', at the end of tlu"ee weeks, and not
left longer."

If we were to stop here, the evidence of increase
would amount to just nothing ; for it merely goes
to say, that grass covered by straw, to the extent of
20lbs. on every 30| square yards, might, or rather
ought to be, fed ofl" by sheep at the end of three
weeks ; but when, further on, we are told that, in a
careful experiment, "Mr. Gurney stated the in-
crease of grass, from the action of fibrous cover-
ing of straw, during three weeks, was found to be
5,000lbs. per acre," we obtain data worthy of serious
investigation. Again, Mr. Gurney further ob-
seiwed, that he had found fibrous covering of the
l)ranches of trees and brushwood equally effective
^^■ith the fibrous covering of straw in producing the
excitement, when properly laid on ; and he thought
in many respects it was preferable, particularly on
account of its keepincj its posifio7i.

I shall not stop to investigate minutise, or to
inquire whether the quality of the grass so covered
be in any degree altered, the increase in quantity,
both as respects green fodder and a crop to be cut
for hay, being the sole question at issue. Admit-
ting, then, that an increase of 5,000lbs. of grass j^er
acre has been bond fide obtained by coating the
herbage with straw or 1)ranches, \\q are immediately
led to ask, " What is the supposed agency involved
in the excitement ?"

The conditions implied are these : a portion of
grass, say a pole, 30^ square yards, is to be duly
covered by 20lbs. of straw for 21 days, and the
result, upon removing the covering, will be a very
great increase of herbage. Tlie operating cause is
supposed to be involved in mystery ; and so it will
remain, till an agency be candidly and in good
faith appealed to, which, strange to say, has here-
tofore been so lost sight of, so little regarded, as to
make it appear as if its very existence was deemed
problematical !

Every growing blade of grass, so long as it main-
tains its upright or perpendicular direction, is one
of the most efficient and powerful conductors of elec-
tricity in nature ; even a handful of grass plucked
from a meadow, and held with the points directed
towards the ball of a charged Leyden jar, will speedily
and quietly attract its charge. By laying a covering
of straw, or other fibrous material, over a breadth
of grass, the direction of the blades is changed, or
flattened, from the perpendicular to the horizontal;
consequently, the attractive energy, which consti-
tutes grass the most eflfective medium of electric
conduction, and by which it becomes dewed and
spangled \\dth frosty rime, is diminished, and thus
the herbage becomes debased and torpified. Of
this fact any one may convince himself in three
days, by merely throwing a hght board, or a piece
of cloth, on the grass ; and then the covered por-
tion will become first yellow, then pale (or etio-
lated), and finally brown.

This torpor, which, if carried too far, would in-
duce disease and destruction, is qualified by the

more ojien nature of the fibrous covering. It is,
however, effective so far as it goes, and, as in all
other similar cases, is followed by increased activity
when the operating cause is removed. Viewing
electricity as the grand cause of vegetable activity,
and knowing that it is the bond of union in all
compound matters, that it j^ervades all material
substances, and is the sole agent of every chemical
attraction and decomj)osition, the conclusion ap-
pears inevitable that, by the interruption of the
intercourse between atmospheric and terrene elec-
tricity, through the medium of its organic tissue,
the grass is placed in a state of temporary repose,
during which, also, the temperature and moisture
of the ground are more equably maintained ; and
these, as secondaries, still operate conjunctively
with the great prime agent, insomuch that, when
the causes of interrupted conduction and circula-
tion are timely and with jvidgment removed, the
herbage resumes its natural position, and revives to
greatly-increased vigour and acti\'ity, producing
the results that have been announced to the public,
and made to appear of very great importance to
the grazier and flock-master.

I see no agent other than that of electricity
to which I can by possibility appeal. I expect to
meet with much opposition from the doubters of
electric agency; but this will be of little conse-
quence, if those who are inclined to dispute be
only the more disposed to investigate, not only the
correctness of the alleged facts, but also the cause
of the phenomena. J. Towers.

Berkshire, Oct. 22.

AGRICULTURAL QUERIES,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — I should esteem it as a favour if any of
your correspondents, whose propensities lead them
to investigate the mysteries of nature, wovdd be
kind enough to inform me, through the medium of
your magazine, how or by what means the ficngi
are produced ? — whether from root, seed, or a pe-
cuhar combination of gases, and whether they are
classified by naturalists as plants, or may be con-
sidered as merely natural excrescences.

I am, sir, your inquiring reader,

Pardshmv. T. R.

SALT AND LIME,

Sir, — I should be obhged by one of your cor-
respondents informing me what is the proper time
for mixing these ingredients for the purposes of
manure — what are the pro])er proportions of each,
and whether the hme should be slacked or not pre-
vious to being mixed with the salt — and when so
mixed should it be occasionally turned over?
What the proper time for applying the mixture,
and the proper quantity of bushels per acre (when
so mixed) to use for turnips — mangold wurtzel —
cabbage — wheat— barley — clover — or meadow
land ? The soil on my farm is a dry healthy loam
on a sandstone formation.

Yours, faithfully,

Archenfield,

468

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

TO THE EDITOR OP THE MARK LANE EXPRESS.

Sir,— During the last month, several of my neigh-
bours have had their weaned calves attacked by a disease
called the hasJc, or husJc. The symptom is a kind of
husky cough ; and the treatment recommended is a drench
of turpentine in water, with bleeding ; also rubbing a
little tar on the nose, to be licked in. Notwithstanding
this, several died; and on examining those that have died,
there were found thousands of worms, or maggots in the
stomach where it joins the throat. Will you, sir, or
some of your intelligent readers inform us (through the
medium of your useful publication) what is the cause of
this disease, and also the best means for its cure and
prevention.

N.B. It appears principally to affect those that were
weaned in the spring and summer.

Christchurch, I am, Sir, respectfully,

MonmouthsJiire. Utilitarian.

Oct. 1th, 1844.

POTATO ONIONS.

Sir, — I should be glad if any of your correspondents
would inform me (through the medium of your excellent
journal) what is the cause of the failure in potato
onions. In the past year I had a most excellent crop,
and they appeared to be well saved ; but now, I am
sorry to say, they are all rotten. I should be glad to
know what dressing is best, whether the same seed
should be sown in the same ground year after year, and
what time of the year is best to till them. T. C.

St. Clement, near Truro,
Oct. BtA, 1844.

ANSWERS TO AGRICULTURAL QUERIES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK-LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — I perceive in your valuable paper of this week
that some of my brother farmers in Monmouthshire are
losing their calves of the hoose. Some few years ago I
used to lose several yearly ; I could never tell what was
the cause of their boosing. I consequently examined
one calf that died, and in the wind-pipe I found thou-
sands of thin white worms. I immediately referred to
our agricultural library, and there I found " Clater's
Cattle Doctor;" I tried the recipe just as he gave it,
and I have never lost one since. I consider good clean
water, and dry land in good condition, essentially neces-
sary. There ought also to be good shelter for them in
rainy weather ; rock-salt I also give them to lick in the
field. Now for the recipe : — Take oil of turpentine, one
ounce ; linseed oil, three or four ounces ; ginger, pow-
dered, one drachm. Mix. To be repeated at the in-
terval of a week, or as often as may be required.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,

Peter Bond,

Dray cot. Stone, Staffordshire, Oct. 18 1844.

Sir, — I expected that some of our horticultural
friends, who are better qualified for the task, would have
replied to the queries of your correspondent " T. C."
respecting potato onions (Mark Lane Express, Oct. 14).
I beg to inform him I had this summer a very good crop,
from seed that has not been changed for twenty years. I
always plant them in ground manured for the previous
crop, as early in the season as it can be got into tole-
rable working order (they may be set from the shortest
day to the end of March), but never two years in suc-
cession on the same land. The complaint of their rot-
ting has been general for several years ; many persons
have discontinued their cultivation on that account ; I,

however, find, by frequently looking over those that are
strung, and removing all tainted ones as they infect those
touching them, I obtain abundance for the use of my fa-
mily : the small ones keep best. I have tried, as a sub-
stitute, the Strasbourg onion, sown in August, as recom-
mended in a Scotch gardening work, by Walter Nicol,
but have not succeeded, as, if sown near the time he di-
rects, they run to seed in the spring; if later they are in-
jured by frost in winter. I am surprised that no men-
tion of the potato onion is made in the above work, and
some others on gardening I possess, as, from their early
maturity, when seed onions are scarce' : bulbing, there
is a very great demand in towns for them.

Oct. 24. A Devonshire Farmer.

A correspondent says : — " ' A Gloucestershire Far-
mer" may cure his calves that have lice upon them,
with a little of the best Scotch snuff, applied from the
crown of the head to the tail, from a pepper-box, and
repeated till cured."

THE FARMERS' AND GRAZIERS' MUTUAL
CATTLE INSURANCE ASSOCIATION.

The extensive losses occasioned by the epidemic
amongst cattle, entitled pleuro jmeumonia, induced
the Directors of this Association to offer a prize of
twenty-five sovereigns for the best essay on the
nature and treatment of the disease. V»'e are in-
formed there were nine competitors for the prize.
Three leading members of the veterinary profession
were appointed judges, the names of the com-
petitors being unknown to them. At the meeting
of the Board, on Thursday last, the award of the
judges was read; and the sealed paper, indorsed
with the motto of the prize essay ■without, and con-
taining the name of the writer within, was opened,
and found to be that of Mr. John Barlow, Jun., Ve-
terinary Surgeon, Oak, Wilmslow, near Manchester.
We are authorised to state that se^'eral parties insured
in the Association, having lost six, seven, and ten
animals each, have had their losses made good.
For the satisfaction of persons desiring to insure,
the parties above-named ^^'ill be referred to.

ROT IN POTATOES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — Many experiments have been tried as a
preventive for the rot in potatoes, which has been
so prevalent of late years. I have taken the liberty
of forwarding to you a statement of the manage-
ment adopted by me these two last seasons. I
apply manure upon the land intended for that crop
in autumn and the early winter months, each load
as it is carted from Manchester, before ploughing ;
consequently, the dung is pulverized with the soil.
Since commencing this system, I have had little or
no cause to complain of the disease in question ;
the crop has been equally good, and the seed ve-
getates much better than when the manure was ap-
plied in drills at the time of planting.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,
A Subscriber to your Magazine,

Gatley,near Cheadle, Cheshire, Oct. 21.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

4G9

AGRICULTURAL REPORTS.

GENERAL AGRICULTURAL REPORT FOR
OCTOBER.

Taking the generality of seasons, we think the
wealher of the month now just brought to a close
has ]>rove(l highly favouraljle to out-door farm
operations, in almost all parts of England. It is
quite true that, during the first week or ten days,
owing to the want of adequate supplies of mois-
ture, comparatively little progress was made,
either in jjloughing or sowing ; but from that
period up to the close of the month — during
which time rain fell in good abundance, and the
land l)ecame in most admirable working order —
the greatest activity everywhere prevailed, and
immense breadths of land were finished for winter
wheats.

Notwithstanding that much of the farmers'
time has been necessarily occupied in the fields,
more than average supjjlies of wheat, as is, indeed,
fully evidenced by the receipts of that article up to
our various markets, have been thrashed out.
From this circumstance, we are now enabled
to speak in somewhat positive terms as to the
yield of the present year's crops of that descrip-
tion of produce. Partial instances have, we
find, occurred in which a falling off has been
observed ; but, taking the whole of England, it is
quite evident that the produce is above an average
one, with quality seldom or never surpassed.
This fact, for such we may without hesitation afhrm
it to be, appears to have produced a feeling of
despondency amongst the agricultural body as to
the future value of the article. It has been asserted
that the a\'erage })rice of v/heat will inevitably fall
below 40s. per qr. ; but, for our parts, we see no
reason to apprehend so great a depression from
present rates, for reasons which we shall presently
state. On glancing through the oflicial returns,
we find that the total imports of foreign wheat into
the United Kingdom during the first nine months
of the present year have exceeded those at the
same time in 1843 by upwards of 400,000 qrs.;
yet we must not forget to observe that more than
that surplus was received for home consumption
in the early part of the present season; consequently,
the available supplies now in the bonded ware-
houses are positively less than in the correspond-
ing period of many preceding years. Besides, it
is quite evident that the present state of our mar-
kets will prevent any large orders being executed
abroad on English account for some considerable
period. The consumptive demand must, there-
fore, of necessity, fall almost wholly upon home
grown wheat, and which v.ill, we contend, prevent
that great depreciation in the quotations which
some parties have been led to consider will be the
result of ovu' abundant harvest. Again : with the
exception of last year — during which, up to the 5th
of October, only 430,000 qrs. reached our various
ports ; and upon which duty was paid on no more
than 110,000 qrs. — we have imported a much
smaller supply of wheat from abroad than has been
known for a very long period. For instance, in
the first eight months of 1842 we received 2,387;601

qrs. ; while duty was paid on 2,598,635 do. In
1841, taking the same lapse of time, 1,12(3,112 qrs.
came in; but only 280,117 qrs. were brought
into our markets free. We think, therefore, nay,
we sincerely trust, for the interests of the agricultu-
ral body, that prices have nearly, or quite, reached
their lowest point.

The malting season having now fairly com-
menced, and the general quality of the new barley
not being very prime, the barley trade has assumed
a firm appearance with, we should say, every pros-
pect of its continuing so for some consideral)le
time, arising, principally, from the comparative
scarcity of really fine malting quahties ; and this
notwithstanding the large imports of foreign dur-
ing the present year, which have consisted, up to
the 5th of October, of about G20,000 qrs., against
108,806 do. in 1843, 62,000 in 1842, and 80,000 in
1841. Duty has been paid this season on about
530,000 quarters, against 65,000 do. last year.
The transactions of late in the article have, how-
ever, been by no means large, in consequence of
the imports of foreign parcels being on the in-
crease, with every prospect, from the large orders
lately transmitted to the Baltic and elsewhere, of
further extensive supplies.

Although we have been favoured with some
bountiful showers of rain, a great scarcity of grass
has been complained of by our graziers, who have
been compelled to resort to more than usually large
supplies of artificial food, in order to keep the stock
in good heart ; hence the beasts have fared by no
means so well as could be desired but the sheep
have thriven remarkably well.

Owing to the falling ort' in the crop of grass, a
great scarcity of botli old and new hay is expe-
rienced ; hence the prices have ruled much higher
than at the corresponding period in 1843 and 1842.
lliere is no doubt whatever that the range of value
of the best quahties will be high during the winter
months.

As might be expected, the new tariff has at-
tracted very considerable attention. According to
the official returns, it appears that the imports of
Uve stock, under that measure, were as under in,
the stated periods : —

From Jan. 1 to Sept. 5.

1842. 1843, ' 1844.

Oxen and Bulls . . 511 .. 556 .. 1441

Cows 281 .. 269 .. 538

Calves 20 . . 32 . . 40

Sheep 222 .. 159 .. 344

Lambs 5 . . 5 . . 15

Smne 108 .. 240 . . 188

Total 1147 .. 1241 .. 2566

Since the above return for 1843 was made up,
about 600 beasts, 400 sheep, 50 calves, and 200
pigs have been received. Is not this, we ask, one
of the most positive proofs that could be offered of
the increase of the importations of live stock under
the above-named measure ?

Our advices from Ireland and Scotland state
that ^'ery considerable progress has been made,
both in ploughing and sowing. The yield of most

470

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

grain is favourably represented, while the potato
crop is unusually abundant.

The following is our usual monthly statement of
the supplies and prices of fat stock exhibited and
sold in Smithfield cattle market during the week.
The former have consisted of 14,000 beasts, 162,000
sheep, 1,2G0 calves, and 1,429 pigs ; while the latter
have ruled as follows : beef, from 2s. 6d. to 4s. ;
mutton, 2s. 8d. to 4s. ; veal, 3s. 4d. to 4s. 4d. ;
and pork, 2s. 6d. to 4s. per Slbs. to sink the offals.

On most market-days a very great scarcity of
really prime beasts and sheep has been observed ;
hence such qualities ha^'e sold somewhat freely at
full prices. In other kinds of stock, if we except
the primest sheep, very little has been doing, and
the rates have been with difficulty supported. The
numbers of foreign stock on show have consisted
of about 200 beasts and 180 sheep. The former
have sold at from l6l. to 18/. 10s.; the latter, 25s.
to 30s. per head.

In Newgate and Leadenhall markets full average
supplies of meat have been on show. Prime beef
and mutton have sold steadily, at full prices ; but
all other kinds have been a mere drug. Beef, from
2s. 4d. to 3s. 6d. ; mutton, 2s. 6d. to 3s. Sd. ; veal,
3s. 4d. to 4s. 4d. ; and pork, 2s. 4d. to 3s, lOd. per
Slbs. by the carcass.

DERBYSHIRE,

The seed-time is drawing fast to a close, and a greater
breadth has been sown than usual. In some localities,
where the soils may strictly be said to be wheat soils,
the clover stubbles have worked extremely foul, for want
of more moisture ; other descriptions have done well,
and in several forward localities the plant has made its
appearance. The general aspect of the country is im-
posing ; the grass lands have grown of late, but the
period at which the rains fell precludes the possibility of
any considerable aftermaths. Keep is scarce, and likely
to be so (in some locaUties turnips are an exception,
and are very good). Hay is fetching from 6/. to 71. per
ton, with but little inquiry for it ; prices, no doubt, wUI
range higher during the winter months. Tlie store stock
markets are glutted, and prices extremely low ; very
little store stock is worth the money it was last spring ;
bulling stirks are fetching from 31. to bl., and in-calvers
from 6/. to 10/. each. There is a complete panic
amongst the farmers, and many will become insolvent ;
the complaint is more general thau I ever knew it.
Thrashing of corn has proceeded very general since har-
vest. A person, who is the owner of two portable thrashing
machines, told me the other day that his machines had been
at work ever since the commencement of harvest, but
that every day had been bespoke prior to harvest, and
many had applied three months ago. Money the
farmer wants, but where to make it from is a very im-
portant question with him. Corn and fat stock are the
only disposable articles. The yield of wheat is highly
spoken of; spring corn the reverse. — Oct 26.

THE LOWTHER STOCK SALES.

Tne splendid sale of stock at Lowther took place on
Friday, Sept. 27.

Good-reputed and well-bred stock, like that at Low-
ther, when offered for sale, is sure to attract a numerous
company of spirited breeders, who are ever ready to vie
with each other in the race of competition, and therefore
it is almost unnecessary to say that the sale at Lowther
was most numerously and respectably attended.

i;35

4

36

14

35

12

3<

17

36

15

47

5

54

12

27 IG

31

0

38

17

09

15

59

17

74

11

84

0

37

16

52

10

55

15

88 17

47

5

45

■3

63

0

85

14

88

17

36

15

33

12

4S

1

64 1

There were upwards of two thousand persons present,
and amongst the company were observed, the Earl of
Bective, Lord Hill, the Hon. Colonel Lowther, the Hon.
Mr. Petre, Sir Robert Pigot, Alderman Thompson, Sir
Percy Nugent, Henry Howard, Esq., William Mar-
shall, Esq., M.P., — Strickland, Esq., &c. &c.

The Marquis of Tweeddale, the Earl of Zetland, and
Sir Charles Tempest were purchasers, but were not per-
sonally present at the sale.

COWS AND HEIFERS.
Aurora, light roan, calved in 1835, got by Sir William . .
Jessy, roan, calved in 1838, got by Gainford . ,
Isabella, roan, calved in 1837, got by Priam . .
Harriet, white, calved in 1836, got by Sir William
Ida, light r;ian, calved in 1840, got by St Holrna
Peeress, red, calved in 1840, ^'Ot by Belvidere the Fourth
Ruth, wliite, calved in 1839, got by Belvidere the Fourth
Lily the Second, roan, calved in 1839, got by Gainford ..
Clifton Beauty, roan, calved in 1837, got by Gainford
Ellen, roan, calved in 1810, got by Spearman ..

Premium, roan, calved in lH3B, got by Gainford
Myrtle, red and white, calved in 1837, got by Priam ..
Camilla, roan, cahed in 1837, got by Gainford ..

Sweetbrier, roan, calved in 1838, got by Gainford
Milkmaid, red, calved in 1839, got by Prime Minister
Valentine, roan, calved in 1841, got by Beggarman
Bertha, roan, calved in 1841, got by Monarch the Third..
Elizn, roan, calV' d in 1840, got by Prime Minister
Emily, red and white, calved in 1841, got by Prime Minister
Vesper, roan, calved in 1841, got by Monarch the Third..
Bella, red and white, calved in 1841, got by Monarch III.
Symmetry, red and white, calved November 12th, 1841,

got by Archibald
Wryneck, red and white, calved February 23rd, 1342, got

by Prince Ernest
Iduna, roan, calved Dec. 14th, 1841, got by Archibald . .
Verbena, roan, calved June 21st, 1842, got by Prince Ernest
Eliza, roan, calved in 1842, got ty Gainford the Second..
Wearmouth, roan, calved in March, 1842, got by lUel-

bourne
Rosette, roan, calved September, 28th, 1841, got by Mon-
arch ihe Third .. .. . . .. 73 10

Cowslip, roan, calved Jan. HO, 184?, got by Westmorland 39 18
Eleanor, white, calved May 29tli, 1842, got by Loftv .. 31 10
Carmine, red, calved "\'ay 28th, 1842, got by Prince Ernest 53 11
Elvira, roan, calved Nov. 30, 1841, got by Prince Ernest.. 74 11
Minerva, roan, calved November 6, 1841, got by Monarcn

the Third .. .. .. ,. . . 47 5

Lavinia the Second, red and white, calved December 12,

1812, got by Prince Ernest .. . .. 45 0

YOUNG CATTLE.
Snowdrop, white, calved Jan. 7, 1843, got by The Earl .. 22 1
Beauty, red and white, . alved March 12th, 1843, got by

His Royal Highness .. .. : . . 2"? 2

Hospital Lady, roan, calved in 1843, got by Eden .. 27 6

Weardale Lass, roan, calved in Feb., 1843, got by Eden.. 21 0
Barbara, roan, calved Oct. 7th, lt43, got by His Royal

Highness . . . . . , . , . 20 0

Elvina, roan, calved September 18th, 1843, got by His

Royal Highness . . . . . . . . 24 3

Mermaid, red, calved October 6th, 1843, got by His Royal

Highness .. .. .. ,, . . 45 S

Princess Royal, rod and white, calved October 22nd, 1843,

got by His Royal Highness .. .. .. 81 10

Rowena, roan, calved October 5th, 1848, got by His Royal

Highness .. .. .. .- .. "37 16

Harmless, roan, calved November 21st, 1843, got by His

Royal Highness . . . . . . ..309

Bluebell, red and white, calved March 2Hh, 1844, got by

Premier .. .. .. .. .. 10 W

Charlotte, red and while, calved March 17th, 1844, got by

His Royal Highness .. .. .. .. 17 0

BULLS.
His Royal Highness, roan, calved in 18 JO, got by Second

Duke" of Northumberland . . . . . . 73 10

Prince of Wales, red, calved June 10th, 1843, got by His

Royal Highness .. .. .. .. 68 5

Chanipagne, red and white, calved June 12tli, 1843, got

by His Royal Highness . . . . . 26 5

Sir Roger de Coverley, roan, calved December 11th, 1843,

got by Prince Ernest . . . , . . . . 27 6

Baron, red, calved January 30th, 1844, got by His Royal

Highness . .
Edwin, white, calved Feb. 28tli, 1844, got by Premier ..
Ploughboy, red and white, calved May 7th, 1844, got by

His Royal Highness .. — ..

Sir Harry, red and white, calved March 27th, 1844, got by

His Royal Highness .. ., ..

Albion, red and white, calved April 2nd, 1844, got by His

Royal Highness .. ..

William Hugh, roan, calved March 28th, 1844, got by

Premier . . . . . . . • • •

36 16
31 10

53 11

24 3

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

471

REVIEW or THE CORN TRADE

DURING THE MONTH OF OCTOBER.

The present position of the corn trade does not
allow much scope for remark : affairs have gone
on during the month now drawing to a close in
much the same way as that immediately preceding,
and without a single new feature to notice : we
have merely to record the actual occurrences which
have taken place since our last — a sufficiently dry
and uninteresting procedure, but one nevertheless
serA-iceable as affording the required link in the
chain for connecting that which has previously
transpired with future occurrences, so as, at the
close of the year, to give a clear narrative to the
course of the trade.

Tlie opinion we ventured to express last month,
in regard to the result of the han^est, appears, from
what we have been enabled to learn since the dif-
ferent species of grain have been more generally
put to the test of thrasliing, to require but little
correction.

'ITiat there is a considerable surplus in the quan-
tity of wheat produced, is universally admitted :
but the excess seems to be greater in the midland,
eastern, and northern counties of England than in
the south and west. Essex, usually one of the
most favoured comities in the kingdom, is likely to
afford less than an average quantity of fine wheat
this year, a ver}' large proportion having suffered
severely from the heavy rains in August : this is
sufficiently manifested by the numlier of samples
received from thence containing sprouted corns,
and exhibiting in other respects the effects of hav-
ing been exposed to unfavourable weather. From
no other quarter do we hear such general com-
plaints in respect to quality as from the county
last named ; and, as nearly the whole gro\vn there
finds its way to the London market, the circum-
stance has led many parties (who draw their con-
clusions from local instead of general information)
to infer that the abundance of the yield, and supe-
riority of the quality of this year's han^st, had
been much exaggerated. Taking into considera-
tion, however, the verj' excellent condition in which
the bulk of the wheat was secured in the north,
and also in the extremely productive counties of
Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, and part
of Suffolk, we are satisfied that our previously
given estimate — viz., that the yield of the entire
kingdom will prove a sixth above an average — will
not be far from the truth. It is fortunate that this
is the case, for the more closely the result of the
harvest in regard to spring corn is investigated,
the more evident does it become that wheat is the
only crop which has produced a good return.

The deficiency on barley does not appear to have
been by any means overrated, and, as far as re-
gards quahty, the deliveries which have hitherto
been made go far to prove that only a compara-
tively small proportion of the growth of 1844 will
be suitable for manufacturing good malt. The
greater part of the late-sown (and the weather in
spring and the early part of the summer was of a
character to preclude the possibihty of getting the

seed in till late on many descriptions of soils)
ripened unevenly, and, thougli weighty, the sample
is of coarse quality, only fit for distillation or feeding
puri)oses. Excepting, therefore, the small breadth
sown sufficiently early to have gained strength be-
fore the setting in of the drought in May, very
little Ijarley has been grown \\'hich can properly be
designated as fine, and such seems likely to rule
exceedingly high throughout the malting season.
The fall which occurred in prices early in Septem-
ber proved only temporary : this was caused by
the supplies exceeding the demand, whilst the wea-
ther was too warm to allow the maltsters to com-
mence operations ; but, so soon as they began to
make purchases, it was speedily discovered that
superior descriptions were far from abundant ; and,
within the last few weeks, the whole of the previous
reduction has again been recovered. At several of
the markets in the principal barley-producing coun-
ties, 37s. to 38s. per qr. have lately been paid for
extra fine samples — prices which, Avhen the ex-
penses of transit to the consuming towns be added,
will stand in at least 40s. per qr. In the western
and north-western parts of the country even higher
rates than those named have lieen realized; but the
inferiority of the quality of a large proportion of
the supplies brought forward has caused a \vide
range in quotations, and thus pre\'ented the ave-
rages rising. Importers of foreign have conse-
quently been disappointed in getting a lower duty
than 3s. per qr. ; and, when it became evident that
no further fall could be expected, the whole of the
quantity under lock, amounting to about 200,000
qrs., was entered for home consumption ; since
then the duty has risen a step, and it may probably
advance to 5s. per qr. in the early part of next
month. Nearly the entire quantity of the recently-
liberated foreign consists of distilling and grinding
qualities, principally the latter ; even these descrip-
tions have maintained previous prices, and it is by
no means improbable that the fine kinds of home-
grown barley may hereafter be even more valuable
than at present.

The oat haiwest having now been brought to a
close in Scotland and Ireland, and some jirogress
ha^^ng been made with thrashing in both countrie.«,
more definite accounts of the yield and quality
are beginning to be received. From these it would
appear that the latter is decidedly inferior to the
produce of last year in all parts of the United
Kingdom, and the weight per bushel will, we be-
lieve, be found to average at least two pounds less.
In respect to quantity, we are disposed to think
that in Scotland there will be no material falling
off; but neither in England nor Ireland are the re-
ports of the yield per acre of a nature to lead to the
conclusion that an average crop has been secured
in these islands. We are, under all circumstances,
satisfied that the deficiency on both barley and
oats will hereaftar cause prices to advance ; but this
can be of but little benefit to the British farmer, as,
under the existing corn laws, a rise of a few shillings

472

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

per qr. on the terms now current would produce
a sufficient advance in the averages to reduce the
duty chargeahle on foreign importations to a point
to encourage shijjments from the near continental
ports ; indeed, in addition to the quantity of foreign
barley lately entered for home consiunption, a
further supply from abroad may be looked for;
large shipments having been made at several of the
Baltic ports during the month, and further quan-
tities are likely to be dispatched to this country,
prior to the setting in of the winter. Several
orders have also been sent out lately for oats and
fine brew, weighing 42 to 43 lbs. per bushel, may
at present be bought in Holland at prices making
the cost here, after paying freight and insurance,
iGs. to I7s. per qr. These rates will admit of the
existing duty of 6s. per qr. being paid, and foreign
oats are likely therefore to be brought into active
competition with those of home growth. These facts
are worthy the consideration of farmers, as theyattbrd
some criterion by which to judge when the best
opportunities may be expected to take place for
disposing of their grain. Our own opinion is that
neither oats nor barley will fall in value until the
spring ; but that so soon as the navigation of the
Baltic shall have been set free, which usually occurs
about the month of April, good supplies of all
sorts of spring corn will reach us from that
quarter.

The reports of the acreable produce of beans
are so universally vmfavourable as to lead to the
conclusion that a serious deficiency exists. At the
time of harvest there was a good stock of old on
hand, and this may, in some measure, compensate
for the shortness of the present year's yield ; still
prices of the article are likely to rule high. In
Warwickshire and that neighbourhood 44s. to 45s.
per qr. have for some weeks been the current rates
for handsome parcels of old beans, and even in
those districts where this article is most extensively
grown, the common runs of new have been selling
at 30s. per qr.

The averages have been steadily rising for some
weeks past, and the duty which was 7s. 6d. in
September has since fallen to 5s. 6d. ; below which
however, there seems no prospect of its receding
at present.

Nearly the whole of the bonded beans in the
kingdom having been liberated in August, and the
importations having since been unimportant, the
quantity under the Queen's locks in the kingdom
is now so trifling that the release can produce very
little effect on prices, and we are therefore inclined
to reckon on a further advance, rather than any
fall from present rates.

Several orders have lately been sent out on Brit-
ish account to Alexandria to buy beans ; but from
the high quotations at that place we do not think
many will be executed. Egyptian beans have
recently been selling at Liverpool and other ports
where stocks are held at 22s. to 23s. in bond, and
28s. to 30s. per qr. duty paid. Of Baltic beans
there are very few in the country, either duty paid
or under lock.

The growers have brought peas forward sparingly
during the month, and though the inquiry has at no
period been active, the time at which this article is

most extensively consumed, having not yet arrived,
still prices have tended upwards. It is now ascei'-
tained that the rains in August came in time to
repair much of the iniury caused by the previously
protracted drought, and that the crop has therefore,
as a whole, turned out much better than was
expected ; still we believe that the produce is short
of an average.

The duty is now so high (9s. 6d. per qr.) as to
have put a stop to supplies from abroad ; and
already the quantity of free foreign has been ma-
terially diminished at all the principal ports in the
kingdom. Unless the deliveries from the farmers
increase, higher rates will probably prevail about
Christmas time.

The extremely deficient produce of hay and
straw, and the partial failure of potatoes and tur-
nips, must unquestionably have a material influence
on the value of all species of spring corn and
pulse, and had it not been for the satisfactory
result of the wheat harvest and other circumstances
already alluded to, this would certainly have been
a dear year for all agricultural productions.

Up to the present time the weather has been
highly favourable for preparing the land to receive
the autumn seed. In the early part of the month,
wheat sowing was more or less retarded for want
of rain ; subsequently plentiful showers fell in
difl^erent parts of the country, and this importantope-
ration is now in quite as forward a state as is usually
the case at the corresponding period of the season.
Notwithstanding the many out-door occupations
which have required the attention of the agricultvmsts
good supplies of wheat have been brought
forward at the leading country markets, and the
demand having meanwhile rather fallen off, a de-
cline of Is. to 2s. per qr. has been very generally
acceded to. There can be no doubt that the disin-
clination manifested by millers to continue their
purchases, and the consequent reaction in the value
of the article, has been partly caused by the soft
condition in which much of the new wheat has
come to hand, the humidity of the atmosphere
having had a deteriorating effect on the quality.
Whilst English has given way in price as above
stated, old free foreign has firmly supported former
rates. Of the latter the stocks are extremely small
at all the outports, and as more or less must be
taken froi i week to week for mixing mth the soft
new of our own growth (in the absence of old
English), quotations are likely to be steadily sup-
ported.

With regard to the proceedings at Mark Lane,
we have little of novelty to communicate ; the fol-
lowing statement of the arrivals of the diflferent
articles into the port of London during the quarter
ending the 28th of September, with the receipts of
the corresponding three months in 1843, Avill, how-
ever, we trust, prove of some interest to our
readei's. The most striking difference between the
two quarters is, it will be perceived, exhibited in
the importation of foreign wheat, the arrivals from
abroad during the three months terminating with
the 28th of September last, being less than half the
quantity received within the same period of last
year —

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

473

1844.
Wheat, English
„ .Scotch
„ Irish
„ Foreisn

Qrs.

78,351
237

143,940

Total 222,528

Barley,

1843. Qrs.

Wheat, English 70,393

„ Scotch 300

„ Irish 370

„ Foreign 324,428

Total 395,491

English

Scotch

Irish 282

Foreign 149,727

9,390 ; Barley, English 4,831

289 i „ Scotch 3,894

„ Irish 2,554

,, Foreign 39,039

Total 159,688

Oats,

English

Scotch

Irish

6,870

21,560

186,548

Total 50,318

Oats,

Foreign 144,390

Total 359,368

Beans, English 9,107

„ Scotch 53

„ Irish 8

„ Foreign 29,355

English 17,069

Scotch 23,195

Irish 291,526

Foreign 25,411

Total 357,201

Beans, English 8,624

„ Scotch 200

„ Irish 60

„ Foreign 2,132

Total 38,523

Peas, English 9,225

„ Scotch —

„ Irish —

„ Foreign 26,965

Total 11,016

Peas, Enghsh 4,396

„ Scotch 8

„ Irish • —

„ Foreign 5,151

Total 36,190

Sacks.

Flour, English 66,378

„ Scotch —

„ Irish 700

t:. • ) sks. 105
„ Foreign ;^^j^3g3gg

Total 9,555

rp . , ^ sks., 67,182
^^^^Jbrls., 36,389

Sacks.

Flour, English 68,796

„ Scotch —

„ Irish —

„ Foreign, brls., 7,446

T<"='}ws'1;So

The difference in flour is scarcely so great as
might have been expected, taking into considera-
tion the encouragement afforded by the Canadian
Corn Bill to import ; but this may readily be ex-
plained, by stating that Liverpool is the favourite
port with the Canadian shippers, and that the bulk
of the flour has therefore been despatched to that
place.

Though a good consumptive demand has been
experienced for wheat throughout the month, the
arrivals of EngUsh have been sufficiently large to
prevent any want of the article being felt ; at the
same time there has been no accumulation of stocks
either in the hands of factors or millers. Till
about the middle of the month, prices remained
nearly stationary; on the 14th, sellers found it
necessar}'-, however, to make some concession, but
beyond a decline of Is. per qr. on ordinary quaU-
ties, no variation has occurred. The late wet
weather has acted injuriously on the condition of
the new wheat, and a considerable proportion of

that brought forward within the last week or two
has come to hand in indirt'erent order, to which
circumstance the fall noticed may in a great mea-
sure be attril)uted. Really fine qualities have all
along commanded a ready sale, the best runs of
Essex and Kent red at 4Ss. to 50s., and superior
white at from 50s. up to 55s. per qr. — showing
little or no fall from previous quotations. The
value of free foreign wheat has likewise been well
maintained, and as no addition has been made to
the stock by fresh importations, whilst small quan-
lities have been taken weekly by our own mil-
ters for mixing, besides occasional sales for ship-
ment coastwise, the confidence of holders has in no
degree been diminished. Rostock and Danzig
qualities, to which attention has been principally
directed, have found buyers at about previous
rates; the former at from 50s. to 53s., and the lat-
ter at from 52s. to 56s. per qr. The transactions
in bonded wheat have not been of much im-
portance, still occasional purchases have been
made for export to Belgium, and the quan-
tity shij)ped during the month has been
more than equal to the imports. Low qualities
have been chiefly taken for exportation, the price
asked for the finer kinds having been too high to
come within the limits of the Belgium orders ; from
22s. to 26s. have been the rates paid, but there is
now little more to be had on such easy terms.

In quotations of Flour not the slightest alteration
has occurred ; the top price of town-made has re-
mained steadily at 45s., and country marks have
brought from 34s. to 38s. per sack, according to
quality. At these prices a moderate vent has been
experienced, but the bakers have displayed a good
deal of caution in their operations, and have shown
an evident reluctance to hold heavy stocks. Ca-
nadian flour has met with rather more favour than
earlier in the season, the value of the article being
now nearer on a par with that of Briti.sh manufac-
ture; fine brands have been selHng at 28s., and
the common descriptions at 26s. to 27s. per ban-el.

Though the season is well advanced, and the
maltsters have fairly commenced steeping, still the
supplies of barley have continued on a very mode-
rate scale. Of fine qualities the quantity brought
forward has proved inadequate to the demand, and
a steady advance in the value of the l)est sorts has
consequently occurred ; similar descriptions to
those sold at Mark Lane at the close of September
at 36s. to 37s., have recently realized 38s. to 39s.,
and in some instances even 40s. per qr., whilst se-
condary and ordinary sorts have supported former
rates, notwithstanding the large addition made to
the same by the release of 100,000 qrs. out of bond
during the week ending l6th October previous to
the rise in the duty from 3s. to 4s. per qr. Of the
foreign thus thrown on the market ^'ery little is of
suitalile quality for malting ; a small lot or two of
Saale have been sold for that purpose ; this variety
is kindly and otherwise well calculated to make fair
malt, but the weight per bushel does not exceed
51 to 52lbs., 33s. to 35s. per qr., duty paid, have
been the prices obtained for the best, whilst 53 to
54lbs. Danish barley has been offering below 30s.
per qr. We have heard numerous complaints of
the working properties of the EngUsh barley of this

474

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

year's growth, and as it is the general opinion that
even tlie best samples will not make such fine malt
as the old, holders of the latter have demanded en-
hanced rates j the rise since our last has amovmted
to 2s. to 3s. per qr., with a prospect of the upward
tendency continuing.

The arrivals of English and Scotch Oats into
London have been scanty in the extreme since the
close of September, and the receij^ts of that grain
from Ireland much smaller than usual. Stocks of
old corn appear to be very nearly exhausted in all
parts of the country, and nearly the whole of the
supplies recently received from Ireland have con-
sisted of new. From Scotland several parcels of
this year's growth have also come to hand mostly
of very infei-ior quality. The principal dealers
have shown a disposition to increase their stocks,
and so long as it was practicable to buy good qua-
lities without paying enhanced prices some degree
of animation prevailed in the trade. Within the
last week or two factors have raised their preten-
sions, and buyers having paid the advance of Is.
per qr. generally demanded with evident I'eluctance
business has again relapsed into a state of quietude.
Really good feed oats have lately commanded from
22s. to 24s., and superior Scotch potato 26s. to
27s. per qr., whilst the common descriptions of
Irish have sold at from 21s. to 22s. per qr.
These rates are from 2s. to 3s. per qr. higher than the
prices current at the corresponding period last
year, and we should not be surprised if the rela-
tively high value of the article were to attract fo-
reign supplies to this country, though there is very
httle prospect of a lower duty than that now
chargeable, viz., 6s. per qr.

Beans have, since our last, excited a considera-
ble degree of attention, and the whole of the Eng-
lish brought fonvard have met a ready sale at gra-
dually advancing prices. Common ticks have
lately commanded 30s, to 32s., and for handsome
sam^ples of old 38s. per qr. have in many cases
been obtained. The stock of foreign beans con-
sists principally of Egyptian, and these being
mostly in firm hands, a corresponding rise in prices
to that estabhshed on English has been insisted on,
the best parcels have been held at 29s. to 30s. duty-
paid, and for bonded samples 24s. to 25s, per qr.
have been asked.

The inquiry for all descriptions of peas remained
exceedingly slow in the early part of the month,
but lately the demand has improved considerably.
The supply of white peas has fallen short of the
quantity required by the splitters, and the stocks
of foreign have been largely drawn upon, Superior
Enghsh boilers have risen to 408., and free foreign,
which were at one period altogether unsaleable,
have been in lively request of late, at 36s. to 37s.
per qr.

In laying before our readers the substance of
the most recent reports from abroad, we have prin-
cipally to direct attention to the circumstance that,
though the ad^dces from hence have not been of a
character to encourage the continental growers to
expect orders from this country for Avheat, the
value of the article has rather tended upwards than
receded at the leading Baltic ports. This has been
principally caused by continued purchases for ship-

ments to Holland ; and from Danzig alone 80,000
qrs. were despatched to different Dutch ports dur-
ing August and September, With regard to the
yield and quahty of the new wheat, the accounts
are extremely various. In the upper districts of
Poland both are said to be extraordinarily good,
and in Lower Poland the result of the harvest is
not Ijadly spoken of; but all over Prussia, and
many other parts of Germany, as well as in Hol-
land and Belgium, the wheat crop appears to have
suSered extensively from an excess of wet during
the summer. The samples of new brought for-
ward at, and grown in the neighbovirhood of Dan-
zig, Konigsberg, &c., are generally described as of
wretched quahty ; and equally unfavovirable reports
are received in respect to the yield. The stocks of old
wheat are large at the principal Baltic ports, and,
notwithstanding the complaints of the new crop,
we are satisfied that considerable quantities of
wheat ^^all be shipped from thence to Great Britain
early in spring. The prices last paid at Danzig for
supeiior qualities have been 32s. to 33s., whilst
fair parcels have been selling at 28s. to 30s. per qr,
free on board. The stock was then estimated at
430,000 qrs. At Konigsberg, Stettin, Rostock,
&<"., quotations of wheat have ruled high, as com-
])ared with the rates at which the article has been
selling at Danzig ; and the British, Dutch, and
French orders have consequently been principally
directed to the last-named place. From Ham-
burg we learn that the transactions in wheat had
been entirely confined to supjjlying the local con-
sumption, little or nothing having for several weeks
been done for export. Barley, on the other hand,
had excited a good deal of attention ; superior
qualities of Saale having been in active request for
shipment to England, at prices varying from 26s.
up to 28 s. per qr. free on board. Freight from
thence to London is low, and consignments to
Mark-lane will jn-obably realize a trifle over cost
price after paying the existing duty. From the
Mediterranean we learn that, though good arrivals
of wheat had taken place at the principal ports
from the Black Sea, the Danube, and other dis-
tricts, the value of the article had been well sup-
ported, and prices continue relatively high there
as compared with the rates at which purchases
might be made in the north of Europe, From the
other side of the Atlantic we must expect to receive
rather important supphes of wheat and flour, the
han'est having, as a whole, been exceedingly abun-
dant as well in the United States as in Canada.
The latest advices from Montreal (27th September)
inform us that large sales of flour had been made
there at 23s, to 24s. per brl., principally for ship-
ment to Liverpool, the freight to which port was
then 3s. 9d. per brl. By the list of exports, it
appears that, from the opening of the shipping
season to the 25th September last, the exports of
wheat and flour were respectively in 1844 — 241,276
brls. of the former, and 373,052 barrels of the latter,
against 15,417 bushels of wheat and 62,805 brls, of
flour shipped up to the same time in 1843.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

475

CURRENCY PER IMPERIAL MEASURE.

October 28.

Wheat, Essex and Kent, new, red 40 40 48 White 46 50 54

Old, red 48 50 52 Do 52 66

Rye, old 30 34 New.... S6 —

Bakley, Grinding, 28 32 Alalting 86 40 Chevalier — 42

Irish 26 28 Bere... 26 —

Malt, Sutiblk and Norfolk 58 63 Brown.. 56 CO

Kingston and Ware 60 — Chevalier 65 —

Oats, Yorksh.& Lincolnshire, feed 20 22 Potato.. 23 24

Youghall and Cork, black.. Id 20 Cork,white20 21

Dublin 10 20 Westport2U 21 22

Waterford, white 20 21 Black.. 20 21

Newry , 21 22

Galway 19 20

Scotch, feed 21 22 Potato.. 23 24

Clonmel 20 21 22 Limerick 22 23

Londonderry 20 21 Sligo — 20 21

Beans, Tick, new 82 36 Old, small 36 40

Peas, Grey 33 35 Maple.. 35 86

White 3^ 35 Boilers.. 36 40

Seed, Rape 27/. 28/. Irish . . 22i . 20/. per last.

Linseed, Baltic. 30 38 Odessa 41

Mustaid, white 6 7 bro^vn 8 U per bush.

Floub, Town-made 47 Suffolk 34 36 per sk. of 280 lbs.
Stockton and Norfolk 34 36 Irish 36 38

FOREIGN GRAIN AND FLOUR IN BOND.

Wheat, Dantzic 32 3§

Hamburg 30 —

Rostock 80 —

Barley 24 26

Oats, Brew 16 17 Feed ... 14 16

Beans. — 24 28

Peas 26 28

Flour, American, per brl 21 — Baltic.. 20 —

IMPERIAL AVERAGES.

Week ending

Sept. 14th

2Ist

28th

Oct. 5th

12th

19th

Aer!?rej2:ate average of
the six weeks which
regulates the duty.
Duties payable in
London till Wed-
nesday next inclu-
sive, and at the Out-
ports till the arrival
of the mail of that
day from Lond-ju ,
Do. on grain from
British possessions
out of Europe. .

45 11
45 3

45 9

46 1
46 3
46 3

45 ll

20 0
4 0

Barley.

Oats.

Rye.

Beans.

35 11

20 1

35

9

37 9

35 6

20 5

85

7

37 3

34 5

20 5

37

3

36 8

33 9

20 6

37

5

36 8

33 6

20 6

37

10

36 11

34 0

20 8

38

0

86 9

84 6

20 5

37

0

37 0

4 0

6 0

5

6

5 6

0 6

2 0

1

6

2 0

33 7

COMPARATIVE PRICES OF GRAIN.

WEEKLY AVERAGES hy
the Imp. Quarter, from the
Gazette, of Friday last,
Oct. 25th, 1844.

s. d.

Wheat 46 3

Barley 34 0

Oats 20 8

Rye 38 0

Beans 36 9

Pba3 83 10

AVERAGES from the corres-
ponding Gazette in the lasl
vear, Friday, Oct. 27th,
1843.

S. '!.

Wheat 50 1

B&RLEY 30 4

Oats 17 0

Rye 29 10

Beans 30 6

Peas 32 8

PRICES OF SEEDS.

October 28.
Linseed, English, sowing 52 58

Baltic — — crushing 38 42 per qr

Linseed Cakes, English. .10/. 10s. to 11/. Os. per 1000

Do. Foreign.. 6/. 15s. to 71, per ton.

Large, foreign .... — —

Mediter. & Odessa 38 40

Carraway 44 46 new .. 48 SOpercwt.

Coriander 15 18 percwt.

Mustard, brown, new.... 12 17 white.. 14 18 p. bush.

Rapeseed, English, new . . 23^. 25/. per last.

Hempseed 35 88 per qr.

Trefoil — — old..— new —

Rye Grass, English — — Scotch — — nominal,

Tares, Winter 5s. 6d. to 6s. 3d.

Tares, old ... . — — new — — per qr.
Canary, fine 54 65 per qr. new, 54s. to 56s,

PRICES OF HOPS.
BOROUGH, Monday, Oct. 28.
This being so decided a holiday, the market is neces-
sarily very quiet ; and our remarks refer, therefore, to
what was done last week. The hop trade continues very
firm, and generally at previous quotations, a great deal
of business having been done. For Sussex pockets
there has been an extraordinary demand, and they have
advanced fully 5s. per cwt. It is the opinion that the
duty will exceed 130,000/. We quote as follows : —

£ i. £ s. \ £ s. £ s.

Sus ex Pockets . 0 15 to 7 5 | East Kent .... 7 7 to 8 5

Wealds 6 18 to 8 0 l Do. choice

Mid Kent 8 0 to 10 10 growths 10 0 to 12 0

Farnhani 10 0 to 10 15

WORCESTER, ( Saturday last. J— The inquiry for
Hops has not in the slightest degree abated, but the
contrary, for the demand to-day was as quick as ever,
and the few parcels in offer were eagerly bought up at
three per cent, advance upon last week's prices, the follow-
ing being the rates realized. New Hops, 71. to //. 16s. ;
choice, SI. 4s. to 8/. 10s. ; yearlings, 6/. 10s. to 7/. 5s.;
do. choice, 71. 10s. ; old Hops, 45s. to 84s. ; do. choice,
95s. The quantity weighed at the public scales amounted
to 604 pockets of new, and 26 of old Hops ; and in the
week 168 pockets of new, and 26 of old passed the
scales. The duty for the district is steady at 17,000/.

POTATO MARKET^
SOUTHWARK, WATERSIDE, Oct. 28.

In consequence of the arrivals being large at the time
you received our last report, and the supply being also
liberal during the past week, these together have been
more than equal to the demand, which has caused a
great depression in our market, and a considerable
reduction in the prices. The best samples of "York,"
" .Scotch," and " Devons," moved off at the annexed
quotations ; but the inferior samples of reds, also the
different samples of whites, were a complete drug.

s.

York Reds 55 to 70

Perth do — to 50

Early Devons do — to 55

Cornwall do — to 55

Jersey Blues 45 to 50

Kent & Essex Whites. — to 50
Wisbeach Kidneys .. — to 60

Do. Whites — to 50

Guernsey Blues 45 to 50

Prince Regents 50 to 55

WOOL MARKETS.
BRITISH.

LEEDS, Oct. 25. — There has been rather more in-
quiry for wool this week, but the sales have not been
large. Prices are nominally without alteration, but
where sales have been effected they have been a shade in
favour of the buyers.

WAKEFIELD, Oct. 25.— The expectations of the
wool holders (as expressed in our last week's report)
have in some measure been realized already, as the ab-
sence of consumers generally for several weeks past as
buyers, have so reduced the stock of several of them as
to occasion their coming forward more freely to buy,
and more sales have been passing this week than for seve-
ral preceding weeks, at a shade under the highest prices
that were obtained two or three months ago.

LIVERPOOL, Oct. 26.
Scotch. — There has been a rather better demand for
Laid^ Highland Wool this week. In White Highland
there has been rather less doing. There is a fair demand
for good Crossed Wool. In Cheviot the demand has
been more limited.

8. d. s. d.
Laid Higliland Wool, per 241bs .... 8 9 to 9 6

White do. do 12 0 12 6

Laid Crossed do., unwashed.... 9 0 10 6

Do. do., washed 10 9 14 6

Do. Cheviot do. unwashed .... 10 0 12 9

Do. do.. washed 11 9 18 6

White Do. do 26 0 28 o

476

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

FOREIGN.

The market for Wool has been rather dull.

A correspondent of a New York Journal gives an in-
teresting statement relative to the injurious operation of
the high tariff of the United States, and which, al-
though bearing in his case upon cotton fabrics, will
apply equally to woollen imports. He remarks : "It
is easy to theorize anywhere ; and in this city it is to-
lerably easy to get at those facts in commercial matters
which are more convincing than arguments. To deter-
mine the relative value of cotton goods here and in
England, as a matter of fact, we called yesterday at the
store of one of our dry goods dealers, who is a large
buyer of domestic goods, and who, we knew, had just
returned from England, where he had been buying
plain cotton sheetings and calicoes in spite of the tariff,
and for no other reason than the great mercantile reason
of making money. He was selling English calicoes at
a profit, on which he had paid 6 cents a yard cash duty,
and they were taken freely.

PRICES OF SHARES.

The succeeding returns of the prices of wool in Nor-
folk for the last 30 years have been furnished by one
of the most eminent buyers in the county. They are
the prices given during the summer and autumn months
of each year after clipping time, and are as near as
possible an average of the ewe and hog combined.

1812.

1813.

1814.
1815.
1816.
1817.
1818.
1819.
1820.
1821.

Per tod of
88 lbs.
s. d.
.... 70

63

65

50
50
84
50
40
37

183.3.
1824.
1825.
1S26.
1827.
1828.
1829.
1830.
1831.
18:32.
18:'8.

Per tod of
28 lbs.
f. d.

.... 35

28

40

35

35

28

, ... 24
..... 31

34

31

37

1834.
1835.
1836.
1837.
1838.
18-39.
1810.
1841.
1842.
1813.

Per tod of

28 lbs.

s. d.

, ... 52 0

45 0

30
45
40
32
28
27
25

1822 35

Since the clip of 1843 to February 1844 wool has
risen about 30 per cent. — Bacon's Prize Essay on the
Agriculture of Norfolk.

PRICES OF MANURES.

Subjoined are the present

Manure : —

Hunt's Bone-dust, 17s. per qr.

Hunt's Half-inch Bone, 15s.
per qr.

J, T. Hunt's Artificial Guano,
9/. per ton

Hunt's Stuff Graves, ol. per ton

Rape Dust, Ql. 6s. per ton

Rape Cake, 6/. per ton

Rags, 4/. to 4/. 10s. per ton

Graves, Ql. 10s. per ton

Gypsum, at the waterside, 85s.
per ton

Agricultural Salt, 32s. per ton

Carbon, 12s. per qr.

Humus, 14s. per qr.

Soap Ashes, 10s. per ton

Patent Disinfected Manure,
13s. 6d. per qr.

Highly Concentrated Manure,
30s. per qr.

Nitrate of Soda, 16s. per cwt.

Nitrate Potash (saltpetre), 25s.
to 26s. per cwt.

Potrc Salt, 4^ 10s. per ton

Willey Dust, il. 4s. per ton

The Urate of the London Ma-
nure Company, 4^4s. per ton

New Bristol Manure, 8s. per qr.

Hunt's new Fertilizer, 13s. 4d.
per qr.

Preparation for Turnip Fly,
10s. 6d. per pakt., sufficient
for three acres

Chie fou, 21s. per ewt.

'WolverhamptonCompost( Alex-
ander's), 12s. perqr., subject

prices of several sorts of

to carriage .to London, or
forwarded from Wolver-
hampton

Guano, Peruvian, 107. 10s.;
Bolivian, 9Z. ; African, 6J. 6s.
to 11. 10s. per ton, according
to analysis

Potter's Artificial Guano, \\l.
per ton.

Muriate of Ammonia, 20s. to
21s. per cwt.

Muriate of Lime, 6s. per cwt.

Clarke's Compost, 37. 12s. 6d.
per hhd., sufHcient for three
acres

Alkalies, 28s. and 42s. per cwt.

Soda Ash, 14s. to )6s. per cwt.

Chloride Lime, 28s. per cwt.

Sulphuric Acid, IJd. per lb.

Sulphur for Destroying Worm
on Turnips, 12s. per cwt.

Sulphate Soda, Cs. per cwt.

The Liverpool Abattoir Com-
pany's Animalized Manuring
Powder, 27. 10s. per ton

Manure Powder, 16s. per qr.

Boast and Co.'s (Bow) Inor-
ganic Manures, from 6s. to
lis. per cwt., according to
crop

Boast's Guano, 97. 9s. per ton

Fothergill's Gypsum, 35s. pei
ton.

Fothergill's Phosphate of Lime,
14s. per cwt.

Superphosphate of Lime, Ss.do.

I Div.
Shares, per Ann.

9,500
10,000
15,000

6,6t0
80,000

50,000
144,000

10,918
10,918
10,918

20,OC0

10,000

25,000

25,000

37,.j00

10,.500

8,000

8,000

16,000

6,100

7,968

11,475

41250007

41,2.50

54,450

4;i,ono

36,000

43,077
11,156
46,200

33,000

90,000

8,000

13.000

13,0(10

13,000

30,000

41550007

978500/

20,000

0

6

3,136

12,208

19,000

2,600
9,600

7,000

2-i,000
06,000

58.000

45,0J0

7,500

6,700
6,700

18,000
18,000
5,000

12,500
16,000
4,000
4,000

80,000
72,000
40,000

6s. p. sh.
57 per ct

107perct
107perct

IRON RAILWAYS.

3/ 5spsh Birmingham and Oloucesterl007 sh pd
15s Od Do. New, iss. 7.1 dis. .. 257 sh 17^7 pd
2/16si)Sh Bristol and Kxeter .... 1007 sh 707 pd
Do. and Gloucester .... 507 sh 3i»7 pd

Caledonian 507 sh 57 pil

Chester and Holyhead 57 pd

Chichester and Brighton 57 pd

• hurnct Valley 27 pd

Eastern Counties 257 sh 257 pd

Do Perpetual. .67 13s 4d sh ".7 13s 4d pd

Ditto ditto. No. 3

Grand Junction 1007 sh pd

Ditto Half Sliares 507 sh p<!

lO/per ct Ditto Quarter Shares 257 sli pd

Great Southern & Western (Ireland),
507 sh 57 pd

57s6dp cGreat North of England 1007 sh pd

Ditto New 407 sh 57 pd

77 per ct Great Western 1007 sh 757 pd

77 per ct|Ditto Half Shares 507 sh pd

77 per ctiDitto Fifths 207 sh 127 pd

Harwich 207 sh 17 pd

57 per ct|Hull and Solby .507sh pd

Do. Quarter Shares.... 12^7 sh 107 pd

Lancaster and Carlisle... 507 sh 107 pd

10/peret Liverpool & Manchester.. . .1007 sh pd

107perct Ditto Half Shares 507shpd

lOiperct Ditto Quarter Shares 257 sh pd

10/pcrct I London & Birmingham... .... Stock

I07|er CtiDitto New Thirds 327 sh 27 pd

I07perct Ditto New Quarter Shaves 257sh27 pd

I London & Blackwall .. Av. 167 13s 4d

1 7 5s psh I London and Brighton 507 sh pd

j7 per ct

57 per ct
37 5s psh

lOsOd p s

177s6dps

37s6dps

is

27 p sh

474s psh

2713spsh

27 5s
I5s

57 per ct

lOJpercl
107 per ct

t.^per ct
ti7per ct

4j7per ct
H per ct
':l per ct
57 per ct

17 17s

Ditto Loan Notes 107sh pd

London & Greenwich .. Av. 127 15s 4d
Preference or Privilege. .Av. 187 1 7s 2d
London & South West... A v. 417 6s lOd

Ditto Eighths 67 5s p sh 15s pd

London & Croydon .... Av. l.S7]5s9d

London and York 507 sh 2^7 pd

Lynn and Ely 257 sli 1^7 pd

Manchester & Leeds .. 1007 sh 707 pd

Ditto Half Shares 507sh307pd

Ditto Quarter Shares .... 357 sh 27 pd
Manchester & Birming.. 407sh407pd

Midland Stocl

Ditto Birmingham & Derby .... Stock
N'ewcstl&Darlingt June. . .257sh217 pd

North British 57 pd

Northern & Eastern .... 50/ sh 457 pd
Do. Scrip .. iss. 5 dis. ..507 sh 257 pd

Do. i Shares 127 lOs sh pd

Norwich and Brandon... .20 7 sh 67 pd

Ditto New 107 sh

Preston & Wyre 507 sh

Ditto, Second Preference, 18 12

Slielfield and Manchesterl007sh 82J7pd

Ditto J Shares 257 sh 87 pd

South Devon 507 sh 57 pd

South Eastern and Dover Ave-
rage 337 2s 4d
Ditto New, iss. 18 dis. ... 507 sh 47 pd

Trent Valley 207 sh 27 pd

Yarmouth and Norwich 207 sh 207 pd

Ditto New 207 sh 57 pd

Yorkfc North Midland .... 507 sh pd

Ditto Half Shares 357sh 257pd

Ditto Scarboro' Branch 127 pd

Ditto Selby Scrip

SCOTCH RAILWAYS.
Edinburgh & Glasgow .... 607 sh pd

Ditto Qua ter Shares 12J7 sh pd

Edinburgh, Leith, and Newhaven, 20/
sh 207 pd

Glasgow & Ayrshire 507 sh pd

Ditto and Greenock 257 sh pd

Ditto and Garnkirk 257 sh pd

Dundee and Arbroath 237 sh pd

FRENCH RAILWAYS.

Paris and Orleans 207 sh pd

Paris and Rouen 207 sh 207 pd

Rouen and Havre 207 sh 127 pd

Price per
Share.

101 a 25
25* a 4
3 a 5
42i a 3J
4 a J
Gi a 7

IH a
1 pm

llj al
12.5 a 4
16

146 a I
34.1 a K|
HI a 5

61

13g

211 a 13

:}5.i

24 a k
6i a a
40^ a 7J
llg
^5 a 5

72J a 3
i pin
16 a ij

n a g

il

105 a 3
77a a 6J

5? a J
56 a i

16J
9a|
IJ pm

42.?

a 3}f

I6i

a 16

8

ia a

ih

)

108

a 7

53

34 a

3

47i

pm

60 a

694

l*^

16

64

12?

'28

27i

\9k

a^

39^

a 40

21^

Printed by Joseph Rogerson, 24, Norfolk-street, Strand,
London.

■m^:

I V^ "v

V

THE FAEMER'S MAGAZINE.

DECEMBER, 1844.

No. 6.— Vol. X.]

[Second Series.

PLATE I.

PORTRAIT OF MR. STEPHEN GRANTHAM.

PLATE IL
A DEVON BULL.

Our second plate represents a two years and eight months old Devon Bull, bred by Mr. George
Turner, of Barton, near Exeter ; which was exhibited by him at the Southampton Meeting of the Royal
Agricultural Society of England, in July last, and obtained the first prize of Thirty Sovereigns.

MEMOIR OF MR. STEPHEN
GRANTHAM.

The question has long since been determined as
to the national importance of those efforts which
tend to the more profitable cultivation of the earth.
It was even in the classic ages that men began to
elevate to the rank of gods those who first taught
them to plough, to sow, and to reap. This was the
very dawn of agriculture, and from those primitive
days to the present, improvements of all kinds re-
lating to husbandry have gradually taken place, al-
though pretty steadily, yet with such quietude,
that it is only here, and there, that the eflfbrts of
any one farmer, however important to the progress
of good farming, his improvements can be distin-
guished from his industrious contemporaries.
There is no branch of husbandry which was longer
neglected than the breeding of domestic animals.
Many a farmer advocated improved modes of tillage
after Fitzherbert made the first pubhc attempt]

OLD SERIES.']

John Worledge, Jethro TuU, Thomas Tusser, and
a host of minor authors, continued to advance the
crusade, but no one did anything effectually to im-
prove the breed of the farmer's live stock, till the
days of the great BakeweU, a portrait of whom
adorns vol. VI. (N.s.)'p, 81 of the Farmer's Magazine.
Bakewell did much for the sheep, the oxen, and
the cart-horses of the English farmer ; his jiupils,
the Collings, still further improved the breeds of
these animals in the northern portion of the island.
To the two Collings (see Farmer's Magazine, vol.
IX. p. 98 for the portrait of Charles Colling),
England mainly owes the Durham short-horns.
From Bakewell's farm emanated the Dishley, or
improved Leicester sheep, but it is to the Sussex
breeders that England chiefly owes her noble race
of improved Southdowns, one of the most useful
for stock farmers of all the English breeds.
The general reader will feel the importance of these
efforts when he reflects upon the number and va-
lue of the vast tiibes of sheep which tenant oiu:
I I [No. G.—VOL. XXI.

478

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

island.* To correctly estimate the value of im-
proved breeds of sheep, and the vast diflerence
which has been made in the form and value of the
domestic kinds by the long continued efforts of the
breeder, let such a person contrast the shape of the
•ivild, profitless, slow-fattening sheep, which are the
parent stock of the domestic breed, with a South-
doM'n or a Leicester of our age. Let him merely
place in juxta-position one of these with the por-
traits of the Musmon {Ovis Musimon), still found
wild in the mountains of the larger islands of the
Mediterranean, or the Argali {OvisAmmon) or wild
Asiatic sheep, which are the tenants of the highest
moimtains of central Asia ; or the rocky mountain
sheep {Ovis Montana), found on the mountains of
North America; or the bearded sheep of Africa
{Ovis Tra(jalaphus), found on the high lands of
Barbary. Induce such a person, I repeat, to con-
trast these large-boned, butcher-profitless animals,
with the following description which has been
given of a modem Southdown, and mark how
the wild sheep suffers by the comparison ; —

" The head should be neither too long nor too
short ; the lip thin ; the neck neither too long nor
too short, but thin next the head, and tapering
towards the shoulders; a long, thin neck is ob-
jected to by the Southdown breeders, since it de-
notes delicacy. The breast should be wide and
deep, projecting forwards before the fore-legs ; this
indicates a good constitution and disposition to
feed. The shoulders ought not to be too wide
between the plate-bones, but on a level with the
chine ; if the shoulder-blades are wide on the top,
the animal generally drops behind the shoulders.
The chine should be low and straight from the
shoulders to the tail; the ribs should project hori-

* It is worthy of remark how steadily the sheep
of England have increased both in number and
weight as the breed has been improved, and the
mode of supplying them with food better under-
stood. In 1698 Mr. Gregory King calculated that
there were in Great Britain 12,000,000 sheep; in
1741 the number had increased to 16,640,000; in
1774, according to Arthur Young, the number was
25,589,754; in 1826, Mr. Lucock estimated them
to be 26,148,463 ; in 1834, Mr. M'CuUoch stated
them to be 32,000,000, and the value of their wool
£7,000,000 ; and not only have they during this
period thus nearly trebled in number, but they
have at the same time nearly doubled in their ave-
rage weight. In 1710, according to Dr. Davenant,
the average weight of black cattle was only 370lbs. ;
of calves, 50lbs. ; of sheep and lambs, 48lbs. ; but it
IS now calculated by Mr. Youatt that the average dead
weight of the cattle sold at Smithfield is 6561bs. ;
of calves, 144lbs. ; and of sheep and lambs 90lbs.
{Yovutt on Cattle, J}. 257). In 1732, the number
of sheep and lambs sold at Smithfield was 514,700;
these had increased to I,647j3l6 in 1835, and to
1,854;320 in 1843.

zontally from the chine, for the animal will then
lay its meat on the prime parts ; the sides high and
parallel ; the rump long and broad ; the tail set on
high, and nearly on a level with the chine; the
hips wide; the ribs circular and barrel-shaped;
the legs neither very long nor very short ; the
bones moderately fine."

The traces of Enghsh breeds of sheep, in the
early history of our island, are few and unsatis-
factory. It has even been doubted whether the
sheep is indigenous to the island. It has been
supposed that they were unknown here before the
days of the Romans, who established the first
woollen manufactory at Winchester. According
to Mr. Youatt, the first express mention of the
sheep is in the year 7 1 2, when the value of a sheep -
was to be one shilling until fourteen nights after
Easter. Spinning of wool soon became a fashion-
able and even princely occupation. The mother
of Alfred the Great was, it seems, an accomplished
spinster. Fabian, in his Chronicles, when speaking
of King Edward the elder, informs us (p. 179) that,
being anxious to give his children a proper educa-
tion becoming their exalted station, " he sette his
sons to scole, and his daughters he sette to woU
werke, takinge example of Charles the Conques-
terer." To this day the name of spinsters is
applied to the unmarried women of England.
Shakespeare, in his " Twelfth Night," says —

" The spinsters and the knitters in the sun.
And the free maids that weave their thread with

bones.
Do use to chaunt it."

Of all the modern race of breeders of South-
down sheep, in the very first rank must certainly
be placed the great breeder who is the subject of
this memoir — a farmer whose efforts have been
equally energetic and long-continued — well directed
as successful.

Mr. Stephen Grantham, whose portrait, en-
graved by Mr. F. W. Topham, occupies the first
page of our present number, was born at Lewes, in
the county of Sussex, and commenced business as a
farmer in 1810, at Stoneham, in the same county.
He has been for upwards of thirty years the re-
spected agent for the extensive landed estates of
the Earl of Liverpool, one of whose seats is
Bunted Park, not far from Lewes. He speedily
turned his attention to the improvement of the
breed of Southdown sheep. He formed liis
first flock by purchasing from the best neigh-
bouring breeders those sheep which showed the
greatest aptitude for fattening, the greatest
symmetry of form, and other indications of supe-
riority. Thus was commenced the now-celebrated
flock of Stoneham Southdowns, which, from long-
continued attention, and the exercise of the great-

I

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

479

est discrimination in breeding, has now been raised
to be perhaps distinguishable as the very first flock
of Southdowns in the kingdom.

Mr. Grantham first became a public com-
petitor for the prizes oflFered by agricultural
societies for the improved breed of hve stock,
at the Lewes Show, in the year 1812; from which
period till the discontinuance of the show in
1819, he won twenty-two silver cups. His suc-
cess was not confined to the public exhibitions
of his own county of Sussex, for at those of
the Board of Agriculture in 1821 and 1822 (the
whole period of its existence), he gained prizes
to the amount in plate of one hundred and fifty
pounds ; and at the last show, instituted by Lord
Somerville, in 1816, a silver cup of the value of
thirty gviineas was awarded him. The history of
the Smithfield Club must include, perhaps, the
longest series of successes of any person ever
connected with that great and useful society ; for
from the year 1819 to the present time, Mr.
Grantham has not only been a constant exhibitor,
but on only two occasions has he failed in ob-
taining the premiums, having carried away thirty
seven prizes, besides twenty-five breeder's medals,
and nine gold medals, including that given by
the great Francis, duke of Bedford. When, in
1839, the Royal Agricultural Society of England
held its first countiy meeting at Oxford, the first
prize of thirty pounds, for the best one-year-old
ram, was awarded to the subject of this brief
sketch ; in fact, no person ever obtained so many
prizes, we believe, for Southdown sheep.

The fame, therefore, of Mr. Grantham rests
on the most solid foundation ; he has not
needed any undue means to raise the character of
his stock ; he has not even had a public letting-
day for his rams, these being generally let by
the early period of the season, being, in fact,
eagerly sought after by the first noblemen and
agriculturists in the United Kingdom, They are
acknowledged to be of a breed peculiarly his
own, and that in its promotion he has well at-
tained the objects he had in view, being animals
approaching as nearly as possible to the Leicester
form, but in every degree possessing the South-
down wool, character, and constitution.

The greater merit is due to Mr. Grantham (and
the fact should encourage others equally illsituated,
to strive for the attainment of excellence), for
his noble and successful efforts, from the circum-
stance that the farm on which he has raised
himself a name as a breeder, which will hardly
ever be forgotten by the practical English
farmer, is far from being what is generally con-
sidered a good flock farm.

SOME OBSERVATIONS UPON INSECTS
WHICH PREY UPON WHEAT, DURING
ITS GROWTH, AND IN THE GRANARY.

BY SIR OSAVALD MOSLEY, BART.
Read at the Burton Farmers' Club.
We have scriptural authority for beUeving that
the infinitely \vise Creator of the universe some-
times sends "his great ai-my" of insects as
instruments of his \vrath, to convince an ungodly
world of their entire dependence upon Him for
the supply of their daily wants, and of his terrible
power to punish, even by means apparently
insignificant. But we may likewise presume that
He occasionally pennits them to be messengers
of mercy, to invite the observance of mankind to
the wonderful works of his creation, and to
encourage them to make use of the mental and
bodily energies with which He has endowed
them, in checking that which is enl, and in
cherishing that which is good, both in the natural
and moral world. Tlie insidious attacks of these
httle foes require the constant watchfulness of
every cultivator of the soil, although intervals of
years may perhaps elapse before his losses, from
this cause, are of magnitude suflScient to arrest
his attention ; but the unusual dryness of the last
spring, and the consequent swarms of insects
which have sought sustenance from the products
of the land during the summer, must have con-
vinced even the most careless, that if he values
the future returns of profit, this subject must no
longer be neglected. My object vipon the present
occasion is simply to investigate the history of
such insects as infest wheat, and the inquiry seems
naturally to divide itself into three branches : first,
as to those insects which are found attacking the
roots and the stem of the plant in the early stage
of its growth ; secondly, as to those which are
found upon the ears and stem when it approaches
maturity ; and thirdly, as to those which attack
the grain after it has been harvested.

The most destructive of those insects that attack
recently sown corn are wireworms; so named,
perhaps, from their nearly cyUndrical form, and
their extreme toughness : their bodies, which con-
sist of a wedge-shaped head and twelve segments,
are protected by a smooth horny skin, with a
few hairs scattered over the surface. The
length varies according to age, but it seldom
exceeds three quarters of an inch ; and the colour
is pale amber, becoming darker when dead. The
three first segments after the head are furnished
with six short legs, attached in pairs ; and the last
segment of the body is the longest, generally
conical in shape, mth a dark oval aperture on
each side towards the base : in some species the
form of the terminal segments differ ; beneath all
of them, however, there is a fleshy tubercle, which
assists them when walking, and is withdrawn, when
at rest, into a cavity provided for the purpose.
After hanng li\'ed for five years, or thereabouts, in
the larva or grulj state, the wireworm descends to
a considerable depth in the ground, where it is
transformed into the pupa or chrysahs state, in
which it remains only two or three weeks, and then
rises to the surface as a perfect beetle. The family

II 2

480

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

to which this beetle belongs have received the
scientific name of Elateridce, and the more famihar
English names of skipjacks, spring, snap, or click
beetles, from a pecuhar property which they
possess, of suddenly springing up to a considerable
height, when laid upon their backs ; this springing
is accompanied ^vith a sharp sound emitted by the
friction of a small spiny process affixed to the
thorax, when projected from the cavity formed for
its reception, in the act of leaping. Two varieties
of these beetles have at present been distinguished
as the parents of wireworms : one called Elater, or
Agriotes obscurus, which is of a pitchy colour,
covered with a short downy hair of a dull brown
tint; the other, Elater, or Agriotes lineatus, so
called from having its wing-cases striped in lines.
And it is probable that upon further investigation,
some of our wireworms may be traced to other
species of the same family. Both of these are
found, from April to Midsummer, in corn-fields,
pastures, and under stones. It would be a needless
waste of time for me to notice the losses annually
sustained by the farmer, from the ravages of these
little pests ; they are too well known, and have
been too recently experienced. My purpose will
be answered, if I can succeed in pointing out to
the grower of wheat the difference between the
true wireworm and other larvae which prey upon
his crops, for vmtil lately there have been strange
mistakes upon this subject, and the common
appellation of wireworms has been incautiously
ap})lied, in some instances, to insects of a totally
different kind. I need not dwell upon the incon-
venience resulting from such a practice, and I
would strongly recommend to all cultivators of the
soil the necessity of more accurate observation.

In the ninth volume of the Linnaean Transactions,
there is an account of a small larva which
infested the wheat in Suffolk, in October, 1802,
and which the author of the paper says was in
that county impi'operly called the Avireworm ; but
as he fortunately accompanied this account with a
delineation of the insect, it was immediately dis-
covered that this mis-called wireworm was the
larva of some insect of the family StaphylinidcE, or
rove-beetles, a family easily recognised, from a
singular habit of elevating their long abdomens
above their heads, when disturbed, and emitting
in many species a very Hnpleasant odour. The
wing-cases of the perfect insects of this family are
much shorter than the body, but they have wings
of an amj^le size beneath them, which are folded
up in a manner similar to that of the earwig.
They feed generally upon decaying animal and
vegetable matters, and are supposed to be preju-
dicial to several of our garden crops.

The larva of the common cockchafer, Melolontha
vulgaris of Fabricius, has been found prejudicial to
young wheat which has been so\vn upon clover
leys. It is a large fleshy grub, with the last seg-
ment of the abdomen remarkably large and turgid ;
it continues for several years in that form, feeding
the whole time upon the roots of plants. The perfect
insect has also been known to devour the leaves
and break the stem of wheat in a more forward
state. In some years they have been so numerous
as to deprive our hedges and trees of their foliage.

and to leave behind them such deplorable marks
of their voracity as to entitle them, in some mea-
sure, to the character of locusts, a name which has
been commonly but improperly applied to them in
this neighbourhood.

Another depredator of a formidable kind is the
caterpillar of the dark moth, Agrotis segetum, of
the family Noctuida;. This may be distinguished
from the beetle grvibs, of which we have hitherto
been speaking, by having, in addition to six pec-
toral legs, eight central and two terminal feet. The
young caterpillars are hatched in the earth, in the
month of August ; and after the winter is over, they
have attained the thickness of a quill and the length
of an inch or more. They are of a dirty pale livid co-
lour, faintly spotted, and a few hairs are scattered
thinly over the body : there is a dark line down
the centre of the back, and others less visible on
the sides, and between these are two black dots on
each segment. When disturbed, they roll themselves
up, but do not continue long in that position. In
this country these caterpillars appear to prefer our
turnip and green crops, but in Germany and the
north of Europe they are very destructive to the
autumn-sown corn. The moth appears at the end
of June or the commencement of July ; the upper
wngs are generally of a reddish-brown, but they
\'ary much both in the colour and in the dark mark-
ings which appear thereon ; these in general con-
sist of two double-waved lines across the base, at-
tached to one of which is a black and nearly oval
spot, margined with black. Other dark indented
lines and black spots are visible on the upper
wings of the males, but those of the female are of
one uniform dark brown, with scarcely any mark-
ings upon them ; the under wings in both are of a
dirty white colour their body is brown, and their
legs grisly. I must refer those who wish for fur-
ther information upon the habits of these and si-
milarly destructive insects to the valuable papers
of Mr. Curtis, published in the Journals of the
Royal Agricultural Society.

Two, if not more families of the Dipterous order,
attack the wheat plant in its infant state.

Of the MuscidcB, or common fly family, there
are two species of Chlorops, or green-eyed flies,
which have been detected breeding in the stems of
wheat : the one, Chlorops pumilioris of Meigen, is
of a black colour, with the under side of the head
and two lines on the thorax yellow ; the halteris
are white, and the legs ash-coloured with black
tips. The larva is a white fleshy grub, one-sixth of
an inch long, with the head pointed like the letter
V, and ending in a black tip. In the spring of
1791, the wheat in the neighbourhood of Battle, in
Sussex, was much injured by this grub, which was
lodged in the centre of the stem just above the
root ; but as it changes to a chrysahs by the middle
of March, the mischief it occasions does not appear
to be very alarming, for provided the land is in
good heart, the roots have power to send out fresh
stems, and the produce is not ultimately much af-
fected. Mr. Markwick, in the 2nd volume of the
LinncEanTransactions,has described this insect; and
Mr. AVestwood has favoured us with an account of
the other species above alluded to, called Chlorops
glabra, in the 13th volume of the Gardeners' Maga~

THE FARMEE'S MAGAZINE.

481

sine. The head of this latter fly is of a shining
golden yellow, ^vith yellow antennae, and a triangu-
lar black patch between the eyes ; the thorax yellow
and shining, with a broad central and two wedge-
shaped lateral marks of a black colour ; the rest of
the body is of a dark colour, wings trans])arent,
and iridescent. It is remarkable that this fly was
found in great abundance amongst some wheat
when removing it from the stack in which it had
stood through the winter ; a proof, I should think,
of its having passed through the chrysalis state in
that situation. The caterpillars of some moth, but
of what kind it was not ascertained, were observed
in the same stack of wheat, the grains in which had
been much eaten.*

Several of the larger gnats are likewise said
to do mischief both to corn and garden crops,
and it is more than probable that such is the
case. FurLher observations, however, are ne-
cessary, before any decisive opinion can be given
upon the subject. Mr. Curtis, in his valuable ob-
servations upon insects aflecting the turnip and
corn crops, which have been recently published in
the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, has
given us a description and figure of the larva of
one, which he believes to be Tipida maculosa, de-
tected, in company with many others of the same
kind, in May, 1S41, in the act of eating the roots
of some wheat belonging to Lord Prudhoe ; they
were of a yellowish colour, tapering to the head,
and truncated at the tail, the lower circumference
being deeply indented, forming irregular lobes with
two brown tubercles in the centre ; they were des-
titute of feet, as all such maggots usually are.

Other insects, of a very different order, but
somewhat resembling wireworms in shape, have no
doubt been often mistaken for them. They belong
to an order named Myriapoda, from the multitude
of legs that they possess ; and Latreille has called
the family in which they are classed Anguiformia,
or snake-formed : from these circumstances Mr.
Curtis has given them the appropriate appellation
of snake millepedes. They are long, slender crea-
tures, covered with a shining horny coat, and hav-
ing, in their perfect state ; from sixty to as many as
two hundred and forty small legs. They do not,
like the former grubs we have been describing,
ever pass into the winged state, but they change
their horny coats five times, still retaining, how-
ever, their first form, only increasing in bulk, and
in the number of legs. They do not attain theu*
full size under two years, and the female lays
numerous eggs in the earth from Christmas until
spring. When disturbed, they roll themselves up
with the head in the centre, and the legs concealed
within the inner folds of the body ; and when un-
folded, they have often a pecuhar jerking motion.
The rapidity with which they move their feet is
also very remarkable, during the time of their pro-
gress from one place to another. Of these snake
millipedes, those which have been fovmd to infest

* Since writing the above, I have also learned
that the wheat crop in a field of Mr. Greaves, near
Burton, has this summer been much injured by the
larva of a fly which preys upon the root, and which
is supposed to belong to the family of Muscidce.

the roots of wheat are Julus Londinensis of Leach,
and Polydesmus complunatus of Linmeus : the former
is usually an inch long, of a lead colour, with
about one hundred and sixty legs, set in pairs on
each side. The head is brown, covered with a fine
down. This is a species of considerable size, and
is said to emit through its lateral ])ores an acid
liquor of a disagreeable smell. It is called Lon-
dinensis from its having been first discovered in
the neighbourhood of London. The latter, Pohj-
desmiis, has the specific name of Complanatus on
account of its flattened appearance. Its back is
granulated, of a dirty lilac colour, and its belly
whitish. It is much less than the other kind above
mentioned, being not longer than half an inch, and
more slender in proportion. Clusters of the young
have been detected, in the spring months, feeding
upon the roots of wheat ; and they are very prolific
where the soil is undisturbed. The number of
legs in the Polydesmus does not exceed sixty or
seventy, and it does not appear to have any eyes.

We w 111 now turn our attention to those insects
which attack the ears of corn, or the plant in its
more advanced state ; and the first which we shall
notice, between the chaflT and the grain, is a little
active insect, of a peculiar order, with four narrow
wings of equal length, laid horizontally along the
back, and edged with long hairs. This is a very
well known enemy to the gardener and florist,
under the name of thrips. From the hatching of
the eggs they are capable of motion throughout all
their changes, and often leap to a considerable dis-
tance when disturbed. They feed indiscriminately
upon the juices contained in the leaves, flowers, or
fruit of plants, and are often extremely injurious.
The species which is found in the wheat Mr. Hali-
day has named Thrips cerealium, or corn thrips ;
and it causes the grain to be shrivelled by sucking
out the requisite moisture with the beak or ros-
trum attached to the lower part of its head.

But there is to be seen in a similar part of the
ears of wheat to that which is frequented by the
thrips, the yellow or almost orange-coloured larva
of a fly of the TipididcB, or long-legs family ; which,
in some seasons, is productive of much more mis-
chief by feeding upon the pollen of the flower, and
also upon the grain itself. The name given to this
fly is Cecidomyia tritici, and it is familiarly known
under that of the wheat midge. The colour of its
body is that of an ©range ; it has long antennte,
and large wings longer than the body, white,
iridescent, and fringed with down. The abdomen
is furnished with a retractile sheath, from which
the female has the power of projecting a long,
sharp ovipositor. These flies appear in great mul-
titudes between seven and nine o'clock in the
evenings during the month of June; and, if all
the eggs they lay were to produce larvje, the wheat
crops would be as much injured by them in this
country as those of America are by a species of the
same fly, called Cecidomyia destructor, from the
destruction it there occasions, which insect has been
also described under the name of the Hessian fly.
Happily for us, this pest is at present unknown,
I beheve, in Great Britain.

Another insect which lives by suction upon the
ears of wheat, and occasionally also on other kinds

482

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

of corn, is one of the numerous family of Aphidce
valgarly called plant-lice. It is described by the
Rev. Mr. Kirby, in the 4th volume of the Linnsean
Transactions, under the name of Aphis granaria,
and is supposed to be identical with the Avhis
avencB of Fabricius. This insect, like most of the
same family, has two tubular processes attached to
the farther part of the abdomen, which are in this
species of considerable length; the antennae also
are as long or longer than the body, which is of a
dirty greenish colour, becoming in many instances
of a brownish tint when old; the eyes, the joints
of the legs, and the tubular processes are nearly
black, and the abdomen terminates in a point.
These aphides are not in general found in great
numbers on wheat ; and, as both sexes soon be-
come winged, they often fly away before they have
been much noticed ; but in various places they
have been found troublesome during this summer :
some ears of wheat were sent to me by Mr. Clay,
from the neighbourhood of Sudbury, which were
nearly covered by them, and in 1830 the produce
of the harvest in the north of France was consider-
ably diminished in consequence of their attacks.

But if it required the aid of a microscope to
discover the form and habits of many of the minute
assailants that I have heretofore mentioned, a
much stronger power becomes requisite to trace
that of the remarkable animalcule I must now
introduce to your notice. If the farmer attentively
examines his wheat crop, when the ear is almost
ripe, he will occasionally perceive some of the
grains still of a dark green colour; which soon
become black and round hke pepper-corns, while
the husk and chaff open, and the awns become
twisted. Upon examining the inside of these
discoloured grains, instead of flour, a white cot-
teny substance is perceived ; and if this substance
be put into tepid water and submitted to a micro-
scope, it will be found to be one mass of long
and slender worms, somewhat resembhng, if not
identical with, the eels in paste : 50,000 of these,
according to Professor Henslow, may be contained
in one grain ! and as much as half a peck of such
grains has been occasionally found in a single
bushel of wheat. These animalcules will live
for years in a dry state, after six or seven ; for
instance, they have revived when put into water.
The name this species has received is Vibris
tritici.

When wheat has been harvested, thrashed out,
and deposited in the granary, the watchfulness
of man is still requisite to guard it against insect
devourers. A minute beetle, of a very different
family to those before noticed, d eposits its eggs
upon the grain ; and as soon as they are hatched,
the young lan^a immediately burrows into it, and
feeds upon the internal part of it. This beetle
belongs to the CurculionidcB, or weevil family,
and is known by the name of Calandra granaria,
or corn weevil. It is an insect so well known that
I need not enter into any precise description of
it, particularly as I have the good fortune to have
two specimens here, which I shall be glad to exhibit
to such members of the club who are not well
acquainted with them.

Another injurious insect to corn in the granary

is a small moth called Tinea granella. The per-
fect insect frequents (about the months of May,
June, or July) buildings in which grain is stored,
remains at rest aU day, and flies about in the night
time, depositing its eggs upon the grain. In a
few days after, small whitish larvae proceed from
them and penetrate the grain; after which they
close the opening -with their shiny excrement ; and
thus hidden from obsen^ation, they devour the
mealy part at leisure. In the month of September
they retire to the crevices in the floors and walls,
form coccoons, or outer cases, in which they
conceal themselves and change into chrysalides,
in which state they continue aU winter, and become
moths in April or May.

I must here conclude my enumeration of such
insects as seek for nourishment from the same
plant upon which we dejiend for our daily bread —
and a most formidable catalogue it is ! Enough
has been said, I trust, to rouse your activity and
vigilance; you are now become acquainted with
their forms and habits, and I sincerely hope that
you will all carry on a successful warfare against
such a host of enemies. To assist you, however,
in so laudable a pursuit, I shall briefly lay before
you the best methods Avhich ha^'e hitherto been
discovered for checking their incursions upon
your property, and at the same time point out
some of your natural allies, whose unceasing ef-
forts are employed in your service, and by whose
attacks the ranks of your foes are kept \vithin
such limits as to prevent them from becoming,
what they othenvise would be, overwhelming. Sir
Joseph Banks, whose name will always be held
in veneration by every naturalist and agriculturist,
recommended slices of potatoes to be deposited
in places infested by %vireworms, upon which the
insects might congregate, and thus be captured.
The experiment has been tried in gardens,
and found tolerably successful; but lettuces are
a better bait than potatoes. In the Gardeners'
Chronicle the refuse hme of gas works is stated to
be efficacious ; and Mr. Burgess, in the 2nd
volume of the Royal Agricultural Society, recom-
mends the application of nitrate of soda. Rape-
cake used as a maniu-e certainly saves the crop
from annoyance, if it does not destroy the wire-
worm. Lime and soot, before soAving the grain,
has also been found a preventive. However
tedious such a process may be, I am incUned to
agree with that admirable entomologist, Mr. Cur-
tis, that hand-picking would be found the most
effectual, and not the most expensive mode of
extirpating them. Mr. Pearce employed boys to
collect them at the rate of l^d. per hundred; at
the expense of £1 2s. 6d., he saved an acre and
a half of turnips, worth from £5 to £7, and gave
employment to the children of the poor, who could
not have otherwise obtained it. The same mode
would be found equally successful with regard
to caterpillars and all surface grubs. Watering
the land with lime-water and solutions of salt, as
well as sowing soot over the surface, will drive
away the snake millipedes. Such applications,
however, should be made in dull and damp
weather, not only that the liquid may penetrate
into the soil before it evaporates, but because

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

483

the leaves of plants might be injured by it during
the scorching heat of the sun. Many animals,
l)irds, and even insects themselves, are the farmers'
friends in destroying these various depredators.
The poor persecuted mole feeds not upon earth-
worms merely, but upon the loireivorm and all
subterranean grubs. The hedgehog also assists
in destroying beetles and noxious flies in their
perfect state. Frogs, toads, and lizards put forth
their claim to man's protection as insect devour-
ers. I will not here venture upon the disputed point,
whether the rook is to be considered a friend or
a foe.

The introduction of ducks into fields at the time
of ploughing has been found beneficial in many
parts of Norfolk. The pheasant and partridge, I
can confidently afhrm, relish the wireworra and
grubs of almost every kind ; and the lapwing and
starling are, beyond doubt, most usefully employed
in feeding on insect diet. But Providence has
wisely ordained that even the insect tribes them-
selves should prey upon each other. Neither the
coat of mail wnth. which the wireworm is encased,
the coarse-skinned caterpillar, nor the more deli-
cate grub of the wheat midge, although concealed
in the awn, are secure from the inoculating punc-
tures of ichneumon-flies, the larva of which prey
upon their living victims.

There is also a large family of beetles, called
Carabidce, distinguished by their great activity and
running powers, which during the day conceal
themselves under moist clods, biit at night come
forth to prey uj^on other insects, that are conse-
quently very beneficial to the gardener and agricul-
turist. Of these the black beetle, called Steropus
madidus, from its inhabiting damp places, is a
natural enemy of the wireworm ; and another
genus, called Omaseus melanariiis, was seen by a
highly respectable tenant of mine, in his turnip field,
A^'orrying the caterpillar of the dart-moth above
described (to use his o^vn expressive phrase) like a
bull-dog. There are, however, some exceptions to be
made among the members of this family, a few of
which have been, unfortunately, proved to be grain-
destroyers to a very considerable extent : one called
Zabrus (/ibbtis has been convicted of this offence,
both in the larva and beetle state ; and the lar^'ee
of another called Calathus latus is at least liable to
a similar suspicion.

You will find in Mr. Curtis' s valuable papers
above alluded to an admirable account of the
several insects which prey upon the aphides or
plant-lice, and to that source of information I
therefore beg leave to refer you. The mischief
done by insects v/hich feed upon grain in the
granary may be in some measure obviated by great
attention to cleanliness before laying up the corn;
the floors and walls should l^e carefully swept, the
dust immediately removed, and a free ventilation
of air allowed, together wth frequent shiftings of
the grain ; a sprinkling of vinegar and salt where
the floor is of wood has also been found useful,
and I would recommend the walls to be annually
whitewashed. All insects that aflfect our crops
pass the winter months either in the soil or in the
rough herbage growing on our hedge-banks, and
in our ditches ; it will therefore well repay the

farmer for the trouble and expense incurred to
keep his ditches open, and his hedges free from
weeds, as well as to stir his ground as frequently
as possible during that season of the year ; for, by
these means, the severity of the weather and the
insectivorous birds will greatly tend to check the
increase of those noxious enemies, whose secret
spoliation too often robs him of some portion, at
least, of his expected profits.

I have now performed my promise in giving you
a shght sketch of the insects that the cultivator of
wheat has to dread, and of the best means at
present discovered of checking their depredations.
I am well aware of the imperfections of my
remarks, but I shall have obtained my object if I
can succeed in directing the attention of the prac-
tical farmer to a subject of such vast importance to
his interests, and if I can convince him that
entomology is a study not beneath his notice.

THE ALLOTMENT SYSTEM, AND THE
GAME LAWS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FAUMER's MAGAZINE.

Sir, — It is a circumstance of a gratifpng cha-
racter that, amidst the conflict of parties and
principles by which our island is agitated, there is
a numerous class which are neither Tory, Whig,
nor Radical, but who are likely to be benefited in
their worldly circumstances in some degree, unless
the present indications bring forth no fruit in
future. The utility of allotments of land to the
labourers in the rural districts is not now shghtly
glanced at, as it formerly used to be, at agricultural
gatherings ; in fact, it was rarely even mentioned
on those occasions, but now it is spoken of not
merely as a possible advantage or a curious specu-
lation, fit for such a body as the British Association
for the Advancement of,Science, but as an acknow-
ledged benefit, and one capable and worthy of
being carried into practice ; and the speakers either
inform their auditors of what they hhve been doing,
or what they intend to do, in furtherance of that
object. I am glad that such is the case ; for,
amidst many signs of the times of an ominous
character, this is one which bodes good to many a
poverty-striken dwelling and cheerless fireside, and
is a beginning at the right end. It has been too
much the fashion in bygone years for the speakers
at agricultural anniversaries to expend their oratory
in mutually eulogising and comphmenting each
other, with so httle variety withal that the conduc-
tors of a periodical might have stereotyped the
speeches of one meeting, and, vnih. the exception of
the names of places and persons, it would have
been a tolerably faithful report of any other ; yet,
as far as the interests of those by whose labour the
soil brought its golden stores to perfection was
thought of, they might just as well have had no
existence, they were passed by unheeded; but I
rejoice at the twihght of a better state of things,
which, if I mistake not, is making its appearance,
giving promise that whilst the welfare of bullocks,
the draining of bogs, and the prevention of the

484

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

escape of that summum bonuni, ammonia, is duly
attended to, the h^^ng medium by which all these
things are effected, is not to be forgotten. Upon a
merely superficial view, it seems strange that there
should be such a general unwillingness on the part
of the owners of the soil to allow the poor man a
small portion of their broad acres; although, on a
closer inspection, the cause is apparent. But, in
order to obtain a clear view of it, we must go back
to the time when the landowner was lord, not only
of the land, but also of the serfs on it; when,
besides himself and his retainers, there were none
in his extensive and partially forest-covered do-
mains, and his glory was, Nimrod-like, to be a
mighty hunter, either of men or beasts ; although
protecting and maintaining all those who owned
him for their liege lord. Centuries rolled along,
bringing in their train great and important changes ;
feudal service was exchanged for money payments,
the maintenance of those who before looked to
him for assistance in their distress was transferred
to the class below him, and a barrier was placed
between him and them which was not to be passed
in future. Civilization created new wants, and, in
order to administer to them, numbers congregated
together and formed or increased towns, which, in
process of time, acquired a power and influence
independent, wholly or partially, of the barons ;
and population, ever pressing on the old regime,
when not thinned by war or pestilence, with the
increasing intelligence of large towns, have brought
about those changes from the original feudalism
which we -witness in the situation of the commu-
nity at the present day.

Amidst all these mutations, however, there is
one principle which has come down in all its pris-
tine strength — the absolute and uncontrolled right
of the first owners of the soil to "do as they pleased
with their own," including persons as well as things,
has been struggled for by all their successors,
and maintains a constant and unremitting war with
the interests of the mass at the present hour ; their
tastes, wishes, and pursuits *are essentially the same
now as they were seven hundred years ago, though
circumstances do not allow of their being carried
out at present. The power over their retainers in
a former age has a parallel, though modified, in the
tenant- at-will system ; the wolf and boar-hunt
is changed into the pursuit of animals of a less
ferocious kind, though far more destructive to
property than the former, bred and fed too to as
great a hmit in many places as barely to allow the
tenants to be one step above insolvency ; and the
old forests are imitated in the extensive covers, the
wide and numerous hedgerows, studded with trees
which remain till they rot down and become value-
less, in order that the estates may appear well-
wooded. The disregard of justice characteristic of
many of the old barons is not wholly done away
with. It is well known that the West India plant-
ers have a protective duty in favour of their sugars :
now, if it were a proved fact before a committee of
the House of Commons that most of them kept one
or more elephants on their estates there purely for
a iiusement, and fed entirely upon sugar, would
the nation allow them one farthing advantage over
other sugar growers under those circumstances ?

Yet the landowners, calling for protection on the one
hand, at the same time preventing corn being grown,
by refusing to allow worn-out grass land to be
ploughed, as thousands of farmers can testify, and
destroying hundreds of thousands of quarters
whilct growing, by means of game, especially hares
and rabbits, are in a precisely similar case as the
sugar growers would be in if it were trvie what I
have supposed. In one respect a^one is the con-
duct of the modern landowner the reverse of the
olden time; then the strength of the baron con-
sisted in the nvimber of stalwart arms which he
could range under his banner when needed ; now
it is the number of sovereigns which annually find
their way into his purse, and the fewer his tenants
are the more convenient ; hence the labourers are
looked on as an evil — a necessaiy one 'tis true, but
stiU one which must be narrowly watched, and its
growth prevented by all means; and whenever
they come athwart the centralizing, monopohzing
views of the great occupiers, they must either be
driven abroad, or kept down at home at the lowest
pitch at which body and soul can be kept to-
gether.

I freely admit that there are exceptions, but, as
a whole, the rule will hold good, and unpalatable
and severe though the preceding remarks may be,
I believe them to be strictly true. I know them to
be so to a considerable extent. It must not be
forgotten that there are in the aristocracy many of
most inestimable private character and disposition,
who would not take an active part to the injury of
any one knowingly, but on whose estates, neverthe-
less, the pernicious system is carried out in its
greatest rigour ; it has been thus, and conse-
quentl)', is continued because it is the old plan.
The evil is not lessened on the properties of those
who have arisen from an humble origin; along
with the possession of an estate, the spirit has
entered into them, and often a double portion of it
too, rendering them as callous to the wants and
necessities of those from whose ranks God raised
them, and as cold as the polar ice.

These evils have entirely arisen from one source
— the rights of property have alone been regarded,
but its duties have been forgotten ; the labouring
classes — the sinews of the nation — have gradually
been severed from those above them, and the con-
sequence has been, that distress, and one eflfect of
it — incendiarism — have attained such a pitch as has
forced the consideration of their condition upon
those who, happily, have the power of removing it
in a great measure, if they will honestly set about
it ; towards that end the system of allotments is an
instalment which will be hailed with delight by the
whole body of labovu-ers, from Berwick to the
Land's End. We have arrived at a critical period ;
we have a population increasing at the rate of a
quarter of a million per annum, without an acre of
surface on the island more than we had a century
ago ; the stimulus which the war prices gave to
agriculture has passed away, and that protection
against foreign competition which former corn-laws
gave us has been gradually frittered away, till we
have but the shadow left. The receding prices
have rendered it a profitless calling to the majority
of occupiers : even such men as Mr. Samuel

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

485

Jonas, with 1,700 acres, declare that they can "only
just obtain the bread of carefulness," and we have
no guarantee that the remainder of our dej)endance
from that quarter may not be removed. We have
a certainty that prices cannot materially advance,
for the moment they become buoyant, the foreigner
steps in, and prevents the advance being perma-
nent. From the highest quarters the farmer is
warned to prejjare for even keener comjietition,
and called on by the landlord to employ the
labourers at a time when the state of his purse ren-
ders him unable to do so. The cry is heard in all
places of a redundant population, and the only
hopes held out to a farmer are that he may only
expect to keep his position by increasing his pro-
duce (through a more expensive outlay), though
he well knows that a further diminution of the
price of his whole crop would be the result. Yet, in
the face of all these discouraging facts, I am well
convinced the cultivators of the soil are able to
feed a much greater population than now exists,
and live comfortably themselves too, if allowed the
liberty to do it; but not under present sys-
tem. The tenure by which the land is held must
undergo a great change, and the sooner that
change takes place the better for all. The difficulty
is not so great as may be imagined, and only con-
sists in the abandonment of practices and customs
which exist only by prescription, and cannot be
retained on any plea of justice. We have now an
agricultural college on foot, which is said to insure
immense advantage to the forthcoming generation
of farmers. "Whether the future is to affirm or
deny those hopes, I know not ; but this I do know,
that it is equally necessary to have something of the
same kind to instrust the lando^vners how far their
rights really do extend and their duties go. I will
suppose a case of an extensive estate just fallen
into the hands of one who has an ardent wish to
improve it, and a real interest in the welfare of his
tenantry ; he makes personal inquiries of both the
large and small occupiers, and from the former he
learns that their rents were fixed on the basis of
wheat at 64s. per qr., and mutton at 6d. per lb.,
and that it was with extreme difficulty and priva-
tion they could raise them mth wheat at 50s., and
mutton at 4^d.; that they should not, however,
be so depressed, if it were not for the loss they
sustain from game ; that they are compelled to be
slovenly in their farming to make cover for them ;
that when the crop was somewhat thin in plant,
the hares cut the stalks off, and utterly destroyed
it ; and Avhere it was strong and became laid, they
trampled it so flat that in a wet time it was sure to
be sprouted ; and that they had an additional loss
from the numerous hedges and trees. The labourer
tells him in his unvarnished way that he is veiy
" badly off," for he has not a bit of land to grow
any garden stuff, much less to feed a pig from, and
that he cannot afford to buy ; but if he had half an
acre or an acre of " jjloughing land " at the same
rent that the farmers paid, and pretty constant
work, " he would not thank King George to be his
uncle." He hears the same story, with trifling
variations from the whole of his tenants, save one
or two of his largest farmers, who tell him that
times are bad, but yet, if he should have any place

at liberty adjoining their own, they would be glad
to take it, as they could work it also at not much
more expense than they were at at present. He
returns to his mansion, and seriously reflects upon
the whole subject ; he considers that the only tnie
claim he has on the land is to the annual value of
it, over and above the expenses and fair profits of
cultivating it by his tenants, and that they have no
right to be coerced in any measure by him, either
on political or religious grounds; he reflects too
that God holds him accountable for the manner in
which he either vises or misuses his property, and
that the nation has a right to demand of him that
his portion of its surface shall produce as much
food for the people as its capabilities will admit of.
He determines, regardless of past practice, to
fulfil his duties, and endeavour to find out if he
cannot derive as much satisfaction from his new
pursuits as others do from following the old ones.
He finds a keeper's widow an annuitant on the
estate, in consequence of her husband being mur-
dered in a midnight affray ; and is told by another
wretched being with tears in her eyes, in one of his
visits to the union workhouse as ex-officio guar-
dian, that she would not have been there but for
her husband, in their great distress when out of
work, killing a hare ; that the farmers were not
allowed to employ him after that, and that he then got
wrong, and did not care what he did, till he was
sent to Botany Bay for life. He resolves that that
curse shall not destroy any more of his fellow-men,
and though he feels it a sacrifice, he makes it, and
gives the right in game to his tenants. He knows
also that the gradual cheapening of all articles will
admit of his making some reduction of rent with-
out much injury to himself, and he lowers it one-
fifth in the first instance, and establishes the
future on a corn scale similar to that by which
tithe is regulated ; giving them the principle ad-
vantages of a lease — he is averse to the thing itself,
and it is not wished for by them — but he gives
to them a scale of years (drawn up by intelligent,
practical men) for all improvements effected by
them at their own expense; alters some disad-
vantageous homesteads, and erects two or three
new ones, restores several others which had been
neglected; and severs from some overgrown farms
the land which formerly belonged to them, reim-
bursing himself for the outlay out of the hedgerow
timber, and permitting the tenants to root up any
hedges which were useless, plant others where
advantageous, and plough up all the inferior grass-
land if they should wish it; places the keeping of
a cow to some of the labourers, and to all of them
half an acre of arable land at a convenient distance,
stipulating that one half of it shall be in straw
cropping, and providing conveniences at their
piggeries at home for presen-ing all the manure,
liquid and solid, to be returned to the land, with
a distinct understanding that they must always be
forthcoming when required on the farms. The
money saved by the not preserving and watching
game is expended in the maintenance of one or
more efficient schoolmasters, where the mind is
benefited, as well as arithmetic taught ; the chil-
dren of the poor being required to attend, but free
of expense to their parents. He resides in, and

486

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

enjoys the pleasures and beauties of the country in
summer, and goes to town in winter, and, having
done all this, he finds out that not only is there no
surplus of labourers, but that the estate will fvir-
nish employment for several more than there are
on it. Knowing, however, that the time may come
when there may be an overplus, he kindly but
fully gives them to understand that beyond a cer-
tain point he cannot go, but that facilities shall
be afforded for emigration, and the means given ;
that they shall be cared for till they are located in
their adopted country; and, in the mean-time,
presents each of the cottagers with two or three
authentic works descriptive of the different fields
for emigrating to, -with every information available
respecting them ; by which means they will become
familiarized with the idea, and those young persons
for whom there was no room at home, would look
with confidence towards another country, and not
with dread.

Here is a perfect " Utopia ;" still, I maintain,
here is nothing which might not be fully carried
out, and the landlord who shoidd act thus would,
together with his tenants, be in an unassailable
position, and might throw the Agricultural Pro-
tection Societ)'-, the League, and the Corn Laws,
overboard together, as things not worth trovibling
themselves about ; and he would ha\'e the satisfac-
tion of being the head of an industrious, thriving,
contented tenantry; and of receiving all the
homage which a mind rightly constituted feels to
be of any value.

" Our hearts ne'er bow but to superior worth.
Nor ever fail of their allegiance there."

He would have justice done him, and many
would be the aspirations which would ascend
up to heaven from grateful hearts on his Ijehalf.
Were the estates of the nobility and squirarchy
conducted on principles similar to the above, it
would form such a healthy part of the body politic,
that England would be "Young England" indeed,
but such changes must not be expected to take
place without a great expenditure of time and
effort ; yet, to something like it they must arrive
at, if we wish to avoid a situation somewhat similar
to that of France in 179"2. If anything were want-
ing as proof of the extent to which the severance of
the poor from any direct connexion with the soil
has arrived at, it is furnished by the account of
some proceedings at Bingley, a large manufactur-
ing village near Bradford, as given in the news-
papers. It appears that a lady, whose heart was in
the right place, laid out a fifteen-acre field last
year into sixty lots, and let them to as many
operatives at the same rent as it v.'as before ; being
at not one farthing loss to herself, however; yet
such a great and important circumstance is it held
to be, that the anniversary of the event is deemed
worthy of a public dinner, graced by the presence
of such an amount of rank and beauty as perhaps
Bingley never witnessed before. Laying aside the
romance which had been thrown around the affair,
the thing is so easily accomplished, has no loss
appended, and might be multiplied ten thousand
times, that it scarcely seems to demand the tribute
which was paid ; but, as a celebration of a practical

acknowledgment of the rights of the poor, and of
the good effects following the carrying out of that
conviction, in its most unmistakeable form, the
occasion was well worth all the pomp, circum-
stance, and eclat, which could possibly have been
given to it. The condition of the labourer must be
bettered, but to expect the farmer to do so, as
things are, is an impossibility. The landowner
must come forv/ard, not as chairman at a public
meeting, merely to lu-ge the farmer to employ more
men, but to act with his property according to
those principles of justice and equity which are
held to be binding upon all others ; and the cul-
tivator must keep his eye steadily fixed upon that
object — the obtaining a " repeal " of those evils and
hindrances to his welfare, and those dependent on
him, which the present system occasions, and not
be diverted from it by protection societies, chemis-
try, geology, nor the subsoil plough, nor yet by
all the eloquence of after-dinner speeches put
together. Let the tenure by which land is held be
placed on a right basis, and landlord, tenant, and
labourer will form such a " threefold cord" as can
never be cut, untwisted, or broken : whilst, on the
contrary, if the present system be persisted in, all
other means will be as futile for good as a meeting
lately held, where the Earl of Radnor was, if I
mistake not, chairman ; and will be like an attempt
to clean a piece of land for turnips, which is full of
couch, bv mowing off the green blades which make
their appearance on the surface. Yours truly,
October 26. A Tenant Farmer.

THE EARL OF EUSTON AND THE GAME
LAWS.

We stated, a short time ago, that the Earl of
Euston (now the Duke of Grafton) had addressed
a letter to the magistrates of the western division of
the county of Suffolk, on the preservation of game,
and on the propriety and expediency of its assess-
ment, with a view to remedy the evils resulting from
the existing system. The noble Earl did us the
honour of forwarding a copy of the letter, and we
have now the pleasure of laying before our readers,
and those interested in the question, the following
extracts from this very seasonable publication : —

" In the few pages which I have the honour of
addressing to my brother magistrates, I have
two objects in view : one to explain the cause
of tlie hasty manner in which I brought forward
the subject of the assessment of game, at the
late Quarter Sessions ; and the other to express
more strongly than I had then either time or
ability to do, my sentiments on the urgency and
importance of taking some steps whereby the
evils arising from the undue preservation of game
may be diminished.

" The idea of an assessment of game was sug-
gested to me by a friend, with vdiom I had a
conversation a short time preA^ous to the Sessions ;
so short indeed, that I had no time to commu-
nicate my intentions of bringing it forward, after
I had determined in my own mind on doing so,
except to two or three individuals.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

487

" My own mind had been so long alive to
the great evils arising from game preserving,
botli from the general acknowledgment, almost
amounting to a proverb in tliis county, that
poaching is the beginning of crime, and from
personal observation, that it was well prepared
to receive the impressions of any remedy calcu-
lated to counteract or mitigate this great evil.

" First, however, I take leave to remark, that
although the assessment of game is what 1 suggest
as an act of justice, I do not consider that any
assessment on it would compensate for the evils
which the extreme system of preserving it inflicts
upon the social system in this covintry,

" But, if the system of preserving game is to be
continued, it is no more than a just and equitable
requisition, that that which has such a tendency
to immorality and crime, which it engenders in
the lower class (and so increases the county
expenditure), should contribute in some way
towards the defraying of those expenses to wliich it
gives rise.

" I am aware that it is argued that a proprietor
or occupier of land has a right to stock his farm
with game as well as sheep and cows or oxen.
The right is admitted ; bvit there is this obvious
difference in the character of these above-named
things, as well as in their nature : first, one is wild,
and the other tame ; one can be driven home and
preserved, the other not; the one is of general
value and use to the community, and is therefore
especially exempted from tax, as farming horses
have of late been ; the other is a luxury, and of no
general value to the community, and, if cultivated
as stock, occupies the place of more useful
things.

'• The yovmger part of the community may
suppose that the system of preserving game has
existed from time immemorial. I beg to tell them
the contrary, and that I have lived to see the rise
and progress of this great e^^l-stirring system.

" Our fathers, and we of the earlier part of this
generation, were satisfied M'ith a very little spoil
to our gun, and were more gratified by the health
we obtained by the exercise, and by the sagacity
of our dogs, than by the effects of our shooting.
But the system is changed. The sagacious dog
is scarcely used to hunt the woods and fields,
but men and boys are used for these purposes.

" This practice, which introduces them into the
haunts of the game, has a very bad tendency
in leading these individuals into the temptation of
poaching.

" That the fact is so, no one can doubt ; that it
does place such temptation in their way must be
evident, for the Division Sittings of the Justices
demonstrate the truth of it — the Quarter Sessions
and Assizes give more pubhc proof of it, and the
records of convictions at these courts demonstrate
that poaching and the increase of other crimes go
hand in hand.

" We may go to the right and left, and find
other unhappy causes for the increase of crime;
for I do not say that there are not other causes,
or that we are blameless in eveiything else : but
here is one palpable and plain and distinct cause
in the catalogue of the guilt of some of us ; no

all, for it would be indeed hard to attribute guilt to
those who are not preservers of game.

" And here does it not at once present itself to
the mind, how unjust it is that a whole community
should suffer for the indulgence and self-gratifi-
cation of a portion of that community ?

" Ic is then the duty and interest of those who
are the cause of this guilt to extricate ourselves
from the reproach which some of us have, un-
ha])pily, gathered around us, both for the sake of
our own peace and quiet as individuals, and for
our characters as magistrates and conservators of
the puldic peace ; for I look upon it, that it is
not less the duty of a justice of the peace to prevent
crime, than it is his avowed obligation, if he imder-
takes the office, strictly and impartially to adminis-
ter the laws of the country.

" Although it is the moral effect which this
sj'stem has upon society which it is our duty prin-
cipally to consider, other evils occasioned by it are
not to be overlooked.

" The first of these is the injury which game
does to the growing crops ; and the next is the
injury which the superabundant supply of game,
at particular seasons, has upon the market, by
competing at these periods, with the sale of the
more legitimate live productions of the land.

" There is no doubt of the injury which hares
and rabbits especially do to the yoimg crops
growing on a farm, independently of the increased
expense to the farmer to endeavour to protect his
crops from their inroads.

" The amount of this injury is differently
stated, but it has been stated as high, in some
localities, as ten shillings an acre. If this is
correct in this county, it is an injuiy to the extent
of the rent of the land in many instances.

" This is not only an injury to the farmers,
but an injury to the comnumity, for it diminishes
the produce of the land, and, inasmuch as the
produce of the land is diminished, in that respect
is the cost of that pi'oduce increased to the com-
munity. The farmer is not benefited by the
increased price, because a larger quantity at a lower
price will remunerate him as well as a smaller
quantity at a larger price ; the public have, there-
fore, a greater right even to complain of the
inroads of game on the produce of the land than
the farmers themselves. But there is stUl another
evil attending the preservation of game.

" The farmers are charged with not employing
a sufficiency of labourers, or of employing them at
low and inadequate wages. If this is the case,
why is it so ? Not because the lal)our market is
overstocked, but because half the labouring
population subsist half the year on the profits of
gaiue, and the other half year are out of employ-
ment, when game is not legally sold.

" How is the farmer to take into his calculation
the employment of these men, who seldom, if ever,
wish to be employed, except at a particular season
of the year, when it suits them ; and even if they
are inclined to work, they are neither wilHng nor
able to do a day's work, for a man cannot work
both day and night.

" Tlie blame, then, for the unempl ved state of

488

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

such men is not to be laid to the farmer, but to the
presen-ation of game.

"Do away with all the temptations to poach, and
the men who have been engaged in it will, by de-
grees, return to more regular and industrious ha-
bits ; not, indeed, at once, for bad habits are not
easily shaken oft', but they will return, and by no
slow degrees ; for the farmer will employ more la-
bour on his farm, because he will have more confi-
dence in the character of his labourers, and wiU be
assured that the labour he pays for is expended on
his land.

" Do away with game preserving, and the pocket
of the farmer is relieved, in a great degree, from
poor and county rates — for these are both in-
creased by the presentation of game — which, while
it tends in every way to moral evil, has, as a pecu-
niary evil, increased these items of local expenditure.

" Another evil, arising from the temptation to
poach, is, that it prevents the disposition to learn,
even if schools are offered ; but, generally, parish
or country schools are inadequate for the purpose
of really educating the poor in those branches of
education which are practically useful to an indi-
vidual who is to obtain his hvelihood by the inge-
nuity or strength of his hands. These schools,
which are certainly pretty large, teach moral and
religious principles, the principals of reading, writ-
ing, and arithmetic ; but no branch of practical
knowledge is e\'er taught in them to those who are
to earn their bread by the sweat of their brow.

" They are not taught the rudiments of any trade
or of husbandrj', or of gardening ; they obtain no
advantage from their education to become useful to
themselves or to society. On the other hand, ob-
serve how the system works. As soon as a poor
boy is able to earn a penny or two, he is taken
from his school, and employed by some farmer,
perhaps, out of charity and kindness, in order to
add a trifle to the earnings of the family ; his whole
employment consists either in keeping cows on a
common, or driving birds from the corn fields, or
keeping pigs in the stubbles, which work would be
better done by aged men, who are unfit for hard
labour.

" The poor boy, thus early left to his own discre-
tion and devices, without any bias to good, as hu-
man nature is prone to ill, quickly follows the bent
of his nature ; and whatever is the prevailing crime
of the neighbourhood, he almost naturally falls
into that ; for there is probably, indeed certainly, a
greater temptation to commit that crime which is
the preyaihng vice of the locality, because the rea-
son of its being the prevailing crime is, that there
is the greatest facility in committing it. Thus, the
poor boy falls, in these counties, into the habit of
poaching, because game offers a ready temptation
to him.

" If, then, it were only for the sake of these poor
children, I appeal to the owners of land, in this
county, to do away with the practice of game pre-
serving, which is often the cause of initiating them
into vice from the moment they have strength to
do the smallest amount of what is called labour.

"At present, the means of the farmer are taken up
in providing for the expenses of poor and county
rates. As long as the mind and purse are over-

burdened, it is in vain to call upon the farmer, the
occupier of the soil, to subscribe to the improved
education of the children of his neighbourhood, or
to the more general education of the children of the
hundred or county; but if his mind and pocket
be relieved from these burdens, it is not only not in
vain to apply to him, but from the personal know-
ledge I have of many farmers, I feel sure that they
would be the first to incur the httle additional ex-
penses which would be necessary for an improved
system of education of the rising labouring gene-
ration, in the improvement of whom they are so
much interested, from the improved good conduct
which would foUovv in their lives, and which would
so abundantly repay the expense incurred in esta-
blishing it.

"There is now one more view of this subject which
I will shortly advert to, and which I do in conse-
quence of the observation made in a letter pub-
lished in the Bury Post.

"This subject is the amusement which the \\Titer,
in the course of his letter, says he is willing to al-
low to the higher classes of society.

"I am quite willing to concede to them so much
of amusement as is consistent with the good of so-
ciety, and with their own duties as citizens and
Christians. I am not inclined to think that any
class of individuals is privileged to be idle. The
highest class of society happily has its duties, as
well as the lowest ; and if it had not its own pecu-
liar duties, that class would be cursed and not
blessed, and it is only by the higher class being
extremely attentive to the duties which its station
requires of the individuals who compose it, that it
can reasonably and justly expect that other classes
of society will do their respective duties.

" In strictness, amusements, in whatever classes
of society they occur, ought to be carried on in sub-
ordination to men's other duties. It is not the pri-
vilege of country gentlemen to be idle and not to
contribute in any way to the good of society ; and,
least of all, should it be their privilege to add evil
to society by an extravagant pursuit of shooting.

"They have many other methods of filling up their
time beneficially, both to themselves and their
neighbours, besides their employment in killing
game. If the upper classes of society follow their
amusements to the neglect of the interests of those
beneath them, they may have their amusements,
but they can have no gratification from them.

" If, then, amusements, which are not absolutely
vicious, fail to afford satisfaction because they
do not contribute to good, how much more
will those amusements be unsatisfactory which
have a particular vicious tendency ?

"For instance, how can real gratification wait upon
the slaughter of a thousand head of game in one
short day ? Is it possible that this so-called amuse-
ment, which is sickening to men who hear of it,
can be of real gratification to the actors in the
sport ?

" If we consider the cost of this amusement, even
if the occupation was purely virtuous and free from
all the vicious tendencies of game preserving, it is
a frightful waste of that wealth which is given to us
for other purposes than thus to be used in selfish
gratification.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

489

"And when to this is added the amount of demo-
raUzation which accompanies the preserving of
game, the gratification must be still more dimi-
nished.

" I feel assured that those gentlemen who are
most deeply engaged in preserving game, will, when
they reflect on the subject, be the foremost to make
reparation to the community for the evil which their
hitherto preservation of it has caused to society, by
aljstaining in future from such excess.

" I have not entered into the detail of the mode in
which game can be assessed, but if it is not now
taxable under the property tax, which some people
think it is, there can be no difficulty in including it
in the rateable property with land.

" I am fully aware of the imperfections of what I
have now ventured to ofter, but I respectfully so-
licit your attention to the subject, in the hope that
you -will not be backward in supporting any scheme,
if it can be shown to oflfer a reasonable promise of
promoting the public welfare."

COLLEGE OF CHEMISTRY.

A small pamphlet has recently been issued for
the purpose of drawing attention to the advantages
which would arise from the establishment in Lon-
don of a College of Chemistry, similar to the La-
boratory of Geissen, in Hesse Darmstadt. The
promoters have received great encouragement and
support from many eminent persons, including the
Duke of Welhngton, The proposed institution
will embrace —

" 1st. A Laboratoiy (as designed by Sir H.
DaA'y) for original investigations, and for extending
the boundaries of this most important national sci-
ence, on the model of the Geissen Laboratory.

" 2nd. A College for the instruction of students
in analysis and scientific research, upon such terms
as to encourage young men of talent and scientific
taste to apply themselves to chemistry, and for qua-
lifying pubhc lecturers and teachers.

" 3rd. Departments for the application of che-
mistiy to especial purposes, as agriculture, geology,
and mineralogy, by the analysis of soils, rocks,
&c., to medicine, physiology, and the arts.

" 4th. The employment of such means as may
appear expedient to the Council for encouraging
and facilitating the pursuit of scientific chemistry
throughout the country, and making it a branch of
general education."

The prospectus sets forth the necessity of the
CoUege as foUows : —

" The student who may -wish to adopt chemistry
as a profession, or who may entertain the ambition
of extending the science, finds in this country no
means of obtaining instruction in manipulation, or
in the ])ursuit of analytical researches ; he is either
compelled to trust to private instruction, or to re-
sort to some practical school on the continent. The
expense, in either case, and the necessity in the
latter of learning the language, deter all those
whose pecuniary means are small from availing
themselves of these aids, and the result is, that

many of the most promising students of chemistry
are compelled to abandon it altogether, and seek
some other profession.

" IiTespective of the expense of private instruc-
tion, this can never be made eqiiivalent to the sys-
tematic and concerted study of a lal)oratory of re-
search under the guidance of a qualified director.

" In the absence of such a laborator}% we are,
in fact, in the same position Avith respect to che-
mistry, as we should have been in classical learn-
ing and mathematics, if Oxford and Cambridge
had no existence.

" The establishment of a school of chemistry,
where analysis and research are taught practically
and systematically, and where the education of the
scientific chemist may be completed at a moderate
expense, has long been recognized as of primary
imjiortance to the advancement of the science in
any country, and as especially desirable at the pre-
sent time in England."

The importance of chemical knowledge, in an in-
dividual and national view, is well illustrated in the
prospectus, by reference to its bearing upon manu-
factures, agriculture, and even political relations
between nations.

" Every one will remember the dispute between
Great Britain and the government of Naples, res-
pecting the monopoly of sulphur. This arose from
the necessity of a supply of sulphuric acid for in-
numerable purposes in this country, in the arts and
manufactures. The export of sulphur is a great
source of riches in Naples ; it constitutes the chief
value of Sicily. We have, in fact, in this country',
mountains of sulphur and sulphuric acid, in a state
of combination with iron, lead, bai-ytes, hme, or
other substances, from which sulphuric acid can
be produced, but at present not quite so economi-
cally as from imported sulphvir ; ere long the sci-
entific chemist will point out a means of accom-
pUshing a separation of the sulphur, which wiU
render us independent of a foreign supply.

" Another article of commerce, phosphorus, com-
paratively unimportant, is yet iised to the extent of
200,000 pounds annually, in the metropolis alone,
in the manufacture of matches, lucifers, and che-
mical purposes. This is aU imported, although we
have abundant sources whence it might be derived
in this country,

" But our expectations of future applications of
chemistry to the benefit of society are more espe-
cially based upon the fact, that a key has been fur-
nished us to unlock the mysteries of organized
beings, enabling us to discover the elements of
which plants and animals are composed, the man-
ner in which those elements are combined Avith each
other to build up their structures, and the sources
whence they are deri^-ed. We are now able to ana-
lyze any organic substance, whether animal or ve-
getable, and to find the proportion of every kind of
matter it contains with the same accuracy as we
can make out the composition of a mineral. It is
understood that Professor Liebig is engaged in as-
certaining the exact amount of the elementarj' con-
stituents of, and the mode of their combinations in,
all kinds of food. Thus we shall learn, for exam-
ple, what are the elements of wheat, and in what
respect it ditfers from barley, oats, or other grain j

490

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the state in which those elements must exist in the
soil to enter into the growing crojis, and to render
a field fertile, llie immediate practical consequence
of this knowledge v/ill be, that an analysis of the
soil of a field Mdth the exactness now attainable wiU
inform us for what particular crop it is adapted,
what element it may need, and what we must sup-
ply as manure, in order to render it fertile.

" Experimental farming is proverbially a certain
road to loss and ruin. What incalculable wealth
has been expended in attempts to ameliorate the
soil, by blindly heaping it with manures, or dress-
ing it with the most inappropriate substance, simply
because the experimentalist has known neither
what the land contained, nor what the plant he was
desirous to grow needed for its nourishment. Such
losses mil infalhbly be prevented as the science of
chemistry advances and its apphcation to agricul-
ture is extended.

Persons desirous of obtaining further informa-
tion upon the subject, may address the Secretary,
J. Gardener, M.D., 7, St. Martin's Place, Trafalgar
Square.

PROFESSOR LIEBIG AT GLASGOW.

At the recent dinner to this eminent chemist, at
Glasgow, in replying to the toast of his health, he
said : The benefits which science is capable of con-
ferring on agriculture cannot, I believe, be too high-
ly estimated. It is true, that in an art which en-
gages so many acute minds, great discoA^eries will
often result from accidental observation and experi-
ment, without the suggestion of theory — applica-
tions so important, for example, as that of bones for
inanure, or even hme itself. But how much more
likely is experience to be successful when directed
on sound principles ! Practical experience posses-
ses unquestionable value : but it is like a vessel, to
which, in the form of science, the compass or the
pilot is wanting ; it is a treasure which cannot be
inherited ( Cheers). Science enables us to bequeath
this treasure to our children, and it enables our chil-
dren to increase the store. Science gives us the
consciousness of our strength, and thus inspires us
with courage and energy. Science teaches us to
recognise the food of plants, and the sources from
which it is derived. This knowledge alone makes
us the true masters of the soil, the lords of our
capital {Applause). We can now see where we are
guilty of waste, and where we are too sparing. The
great truth, that animal manures are nothing else
than the ashes of the food produced from our fields,
consumed or burned in the bodies of men and ani-
mals, has given the chief direction to all modern
improvements in agriculture. Who woidd have
thought it possible, a few years ago^ that gas-works
would yield a powerful manure ? We now know
on what cause the exhaustion of our soils depends
— it is the most precious ingredients of the soil
which we remove in the crops, and thus impoverish
our fields. By analysing the ashes of plants, we
learn that we must add or replace, in order to restore
the original fertility of the soil. Africa and Peru
supply us with the mineral elements of bread and
flesh in the shape of guano ; and chemical works

now produce the other mineral substances which
are indispensable to turnips and potatoes {Cheers).
It is evident to all that the present age has entered
upon a new path : we have now to do with the real,
not with the imaginary, value of the manure
{Applause). As we have learned how to measure
the value of an acid or an alkali, so we can now as-
certain the true value of a manure. This, therefore,
is precisely what we must expend on the soil, in
order to obtain a profit ; for the capital of the far-
mer consists of his labour and his manure. Much,
certainly, remains to be done. According to the
geological character of the soil, the farmer must de-
cide on the means to be employed for its improve-
ment. The mineral food of the plants of all coun-
tries must be ascertained by the analysis of their
ashes ; we must determine which substances ai'e es-
sential, which accidental — we must endeavour to
find out in which plant one ingredient or another
may be replaced, as lime by magnesia, or potash by
soda. Researches with these objects in view, I re-
joice to say, have been undertaken by Professor
Graham, at the request of the British Association
{Cheers). Tliis information, I am glad to learn, is
likely to be supphed for Scotland, by the Agricul-
tural Chemistry Association, an institution reflecting
the highest honour on its projectors, and which, by
employing the able agency of Professor Johnston,
in diffusing through all parts of the country the re-
quisite information, and in stimulating the agricul-
turists to continued experiments, promises to lead
to the most valuable results {Cheers). I trust you
will permit me to regard this expression of your
feelings towards myself as a frank and public ac-
knowledgment of all that has recently been done by
chemistry for agriculture and physiology, and as
an encouragement to all chemists to persevere in
their eftbrts for the perfecting of these sciences. I
thank you, in the name of all those whose labours
in extending the boundaries of chemistiy, and in
diffusing scientific principles, have procured for us
your approbation {Cheers). This is a glorious day
for us all, for in it we celebrate the indissoluble
union of chemistry with agricvilture and physiology
{Great applause).

The toast, "The Chemists of England," called up
Dr. Playfair, who observed that if the English
chemists, as a body, had not kept pace in discovery
\vith their German brethren, they possessed, at all
events, this merit, that they had actively dissemi-
nated the Aaews of the Giessen school. He recol-
lected that, in 1840, when Liebig's agriculture was
first published, people talked, as of a rare curiosity,
of a manure called guano, a few bags of which had
been imported ; but by the activity displayed in the
dissemination of Liebig's A'iews, already had its use
become so universal, that 37,000 tons had been
used, and there were then vessels on the sea in quest
of it amounting to more than 60,000 tons {Hear,
hear). But it was not in agriculture alone that
Liebig's views had been of such practical benefit.
In animal physiology their use was still more ap-
parent. Our cattle were now fattened on economical
principles, derived from the ajjplication of science,
and the food of man was thus increased. But the
principles had not been confined to cattle, for we
knew now the principles of nutrition, and how best

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

491

to apply them for the benefit of the human race.
We had a right to expect that theu" proper appre-
ciation would enable us to strenj?then and mature the
rising generation, and that in the presei-vation of
health they would be as important as in the removal
and alleviation of disease. We did not now pass
through our infirmities without inquiring whether
the treatment were in accordance with Liebig's

THE HIGHLAND AND AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY'S SHOW OF SEED-WHEAT,

AND

MEETING OF THE AGRICULTURAL CHE-
MISTRY ASSOCIATION.

The following is a summary of the Seed-Wheat
Competition Show : —

SEED-WHEAT COMPETITION.

List of Competitors at the Seed- Wheat Competi-
tion of the Highland and Agricultural Society
of Scotland, October 2nd, 1844,

Class I. — White Wheat. — James Jack,
Mid-Town of Nemjihlar, Lanarkshire ; Charles
Edmondstone, Esq., ot Cardross Park, Dumbar-
tonshire ; W'illiam Hunter, Montford, near Ar-
drossan ; John Brock, Barns of Clyde, near
Yoker ; John Johnston, Carbarns, near W'ishaw ;
James Fulton, Jameston, near Maybole ; Colin R.
Dunlop, Clyde Iron Works ; Alexander Miller,
High Mains, near Dumbarton ; Laurence Drew,
Carmyle, near Tolcross ; Thomas Bowman, E.
Hallhill, Old Monkland ; Robert Law, Shettleston;
John Snodgrass, Cardonald Mill, near Paisley ;
Lome Campbell, Esq., Roseneath.

Class II. — Red Wheat. — John Paterson,
West Burn, near Cambuslang ; Charles Edmon-
stone, Esq., of Cardross Park, Dumbartonshire ;
Laurence Drew, Carmyle, near Tolcross ; Lome
Campbell, Roseneath.

The prize of £10 in Class I. was awarded to
Lome Campbell, Esq., Roseneath; and in Class
II. the prize of the same amovint to Mr. John
Paterson, West Bvuti, near Cambuslang.

The Judges expressed the highest satisfaction
with the general show of samples, and stated that,
\vithout exception, eveiy parcel exhibited reflected
much credit upon the grower. The weight of the
first prize was 67ilbs. to the bushel. The Judges
were Mr. James Tod, Haddington; Mr. Charles
Lawson, Edinburgh ; and Mr. John Finnie, Swan-
ston.

CHEMICAL AGRICULTURE,

A pubhc breakfast was held on this occasion, to
discuss various important topics touching the effect
of chemical applications in promoting vegetation,
&c. : — 1st, as regards smut in wheat; 2nd, the
utility of changing seed corn ; 3rd, the steeping of
seed corn.

Provost Lumsley was in the chair. Amongst
those present were North Dalrymple, Esq., of
Clelland, Fleming of Barrochan, Rigby Wason,
Professor Johnston, &c.

The Provost opened the proceedings ^v'ith a feW
remarks, and called on

Professor Johnston, who said the disease or
defect in corn, called smut, was essentially a che-
mical question, and must be cured by chemical
means. It was b. fungus easily discerned by means
of a microscope, and it was called Urido Segetum.
The disease originated in the stalk, which regularly
sent up a black substance through tubes in the
stalk till it reached the flower or head of the stalk,
when it showed itself in little round puffs or bahs,
so small that 2,800 were required to cover an inch.
How, then, was the smut propagated ? Little
doubt it was sown with the seed. It was so minute
that thousands of particles might attach to a pickle
of grain, and yet not be visible. It might be in
the soil also, and thus be communicated to the
seed. Rye was never attacked by smut, however
— wheat seldom — barley frequentl) — but oats still
more so. Grasses in hay and grain fields were
also attacked by smut. New seed was most liable,
but not so much so the second year. How did
this arise ? How were oats so much affected ?
Had the soil influence — had the chmate and wea-
ther influence in propagating smut ? "\Miat effect
had drainage upon it ? What effect had improved
moss land upon the smut disease ? Was the crop
in which smut prevailed injured in flour when
manufactured ? Cattle did not like the straw.

How was smut to be prevented ? First, select
best samples and the least affected by smut ; next,
wash the wheat thoroughly; thirdly, smut might
be got rid of by proper steeping.

The steeping process would kill the black dust
or smut by steeping in solution of sulphate of cop-
per, or blue vitriol, arsenic, old urine, common salt,
hme-water, &c. Mr. Johnston recommended a
good steep to bring away the crop vigorously, as
one of the best means of getting rid of smut. At
Barnbarroch, in Wigtownshire, on the estate of
Vans Agnew, Esq., he had seen a field thus
managed: — 1st part, left sown with seed, as
thrashed ; 2nd part, dressed with guauo ; 3rd part,
sown with seed, steeped in Campbell's prepara-
tions ; 4th part, sown with seed, steeped in a com-
position, the recipe of which was prepared by Pro-
fessor Johnston.

The first lot was much affected with smut, the
second less so, also that steeped in Campbell's
mixture, but the grain sown, as steeped in his
(Professor Johnston's) mixture, had only two or
three stalks of smutted grain. The recipe for Pro-
fessor Johnston's mixture is as follows : —

1. Phosphate of soda \ One pound of each in

2. Suli)hate of magnesia 10 gallons of water, to

3. Nitrate of potash \ steep 300 lbs. of seed ;

4. Common salt / the moist seed to be

5. Sal ammonia, or sul- dried with gypsiun or

phate of ammonia. / quicklime.

Mr. Rigby Wasox said he had improved a good
deal of moss land, and had been much infested
with smut. He considered seed when weakened
liable to be destroyed by smut. Strengthen the
germinating principle by selecting good seed, steep-
ing, and improving the soil, and the smut would
Boon disappear. It had done so with liim for six

492

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

years, till last year it returned in consequence of a
change of steep. He tried Campbell's mixture,
which proved a failure. The wireworm did not at-
tack properly-steeped grain.

Mr. Alexander, Southbar, had a great deal of
smut this year, and all his grain was brought from
Dalkeith market. His sandy oats were worst. The
smut did not injure the meal, and the straw was
not injured.

Mr- Fleming, of Barrochan, never had smut in
wheat, but had " blacks" in oats, which he con-
sidered differed from smut. He knew reclaimed
moss covered with clay had no smut, and he
thought land in good heart would not have it
much. He had tried many steeps for the " blacks"
in oats, but they had done little good.

Mr. Burnet, of Gadgirth, had smut in wheat,
oats, and barley, to a great extent, in crops grown
from seed brought from England as well as the
Lothians, the former being as bad for smut as the
latter; and he had tried Campbell's mixture and
other steeps ■without effect.

Mr. M'Lintock, farmer, Locknick, near Pollock.
He had always been troubled with smut, till he
steeped in guano. He used 2j gallons of water
and 5 lbs. 10 oz. of guano, to l| bushel of oats,
steeping 78 hours, and drying with ground char-
coal ; all his oats, sandy oats, were affected with
smut, except the seed so steeped.

Mr. Stirling steeped in common salt with
effect ; considered food from smutty grain un-
wholesome ; healthy ears sometimes grow on a
smutted stalk.

Professor Johnston summed up — recommend-
ed the steeping of all seeds sown, either in his
steep, guano water, or urine and salt, and re-
quested all to note their experience, and report the
rQsiilt,"^ —

ISLE OF SHEPPY AGRICULTURAL AS-
SOCIATION TO PROMOTE INDUSTRY
AND REWARD MERIT.

This Society, which for unity amongst its mera-
be^s and perseverance in well-doing, ranks high in
the county of Kent, held its 10th annual meeting
for the distribution of premiums on the 3 1 st of
October last.

There were 19 ploughs of 4 horses each engaged
in the contest, the soil a waxy clay, proving a
teazer to both men and horses ; yet the allotment
of 4^ ridges each was executed within time, and
the performance called forth the admiration of the
judges — Messrs. Giles Morgan, of Faversham;
James Fullager, of Milton ; and Richard Mitchell,
of Upchurch.

Those amateurs, and their name is legion, whose
knowledge has been confined to the tillage of fria-
ble soils, can form no just conception of the labour
and skill requisite to obtain a good seed-furrow on
this description of land. Why not iise two-horse
ploughs ? Why not drill ? Why not drain ? Why
not subsoil? &c., &c., are questions pressed ad
nauseam on the unhappy farmers of these untoward
soils, and too often a dictionary of abuse is poured

on them, ay, even in Parliament, vide Lord J.
Russell's speech ; and the conclusion is jumped at
that the neglect proceeds from a pig-headed at-
tachment to old habits, or some other equally flat-
tering cause. Yet abundant evidence is not want-
ing to the unprejudiced obser\'er that enterprise
and skill of a high order has long been in operation
to overcome, as it has partially done, the natural
obstacles in clay soils ; and if thorough-draining
were as easy to the pocket as its merits are to the
understanding, few would be slow in adopting it ;
but with wheat at 6s. per bushel or thereabouts,
the prospect of a general drainage is visionary,
unless the capital necessary be supphed by the
landlord at a moderate per centage, or by granting
long leases to respectable tenants.

We have been led into this digression with the
desire to vindicate a much calumniated body,
whoseinfluentialfriends appear to neglect them in this
their hour of trial, for not only do they appear in-
different about the abuse cast upon the clodpole,
but occasionally join in the same. Yet we contend
that if one of the two propositions we have sub-
mitted were generally adopted, the subsoil and the
drill M'ould succeed as naturally as effect follows
cause.

At the close of the field operations a numerous
party assembled at Minster to inspect, first, an ex-
hibition of roots and other farm produce ; and se-
condly, to enjoy a good dinner, at which the Rev.
J. Burton, Rector of Eastchurch, presided, sup-
ported by W. Ford Hilton, Esq., J. Todd, Esq.,
Rev. J. Yarker, Rev. H. Hilton, W. A. Munn, Esq.,
Capt. Hilton, Lieut. Guinness, R.N., — Ridley,
Esq., F. Elvey, Esq., — Robertson, Esq., the
Judges, &c., and upwards of 60 gentlemen of the
island and neighbourhood, Mr. Bowford and Mr.
Smithson occupying the Vice-chairs.

After the health of our beloved queen and the
royal family had been duly honoured, the party
was strengthened by the entrance of Mr. G. B.
Chambers, Hon. Secretary, attended by G. Sack-
ville, Esq., and others, who, from want of room,
had dined in an adjoining apartment ; when the
candidates were introduced, and received the pre-
miums from the Rev. Chairman, accompanied ^vith
observations interesting and pertinent to the oc-
casion.

On their retiring, the health of the Judges fol-
lowed, and was responded to by Giles Morgan,
Esq., who, in the name of himself and colleagues,
expressed surprise and satisfaction at the style of
the ploughing iinder the untoward circumstances
of the late unfavourable weather, and emphatically
declared the exhibition of roots and corn were of a
quality to do credit to any soil or society in the
county ; trusting the awards they had made woidd
be considered satisfactor)' by the exhibitors.

" The Na\'y and Army" was acknowledged by
Capt. Thos. Hilton, who, as a proprietor, rejoiced
in the opportunity of being present on this occa-
sion to assist in promoting the arts of peace ; at
the same time, wheneA'er duty required the sacri-
fice, the na^'y and army woidd be fovmd zealously
treading in the steps of their predecessors, always
ready to defend the throne, the altar, and the cot-
tage (apjilause).

THE PARMER'S MAGAZINE.

403

W. A. MuNN, Esq., rose to propose the health
of the Archbishop of Canterbur)', and the Clergy.

The Rev. J. Burton, as the senior present, ac-
knowledjred the compliment, expressing the doubts
he had felt of the propriety of a clergyman presid-
ing on such occasions, but time had shown him
the good eftect on the habits of the poor following
the eftorts of the society, and he no longer he-
sitated to take the chair. For the Archbishop and
his rev. brethren, he returned sincere thanks ; to
stand well in the estimation of such an assembly
was truly gratifying ; and he fervently hoped their
veneral)le head, the Archbishop, whose liberality
to this district was so well known, might be long
spared to his clergy and the church.

The toast of the Magistracy, brought up W. F.
Hilton, Esq., who, after acknowledging the com-
pliment to himself and the bench, described the
personal pleasure it gave him, after an absence of
many years, to take part in the interesting proceed-
ings of the day, for in Sheppy he first learnt the
rudiments of agriculture, and always felt a deep in-
terest in the welfare and prosperity of its inhabi-
tants {ajiplause).

"Joseph Todd, Esq., and the Landowners of
Shepjiy" was next drunk.

Mr. Todd, in reply, regretted that his residence
in another county had hitherto prevented his giving
personal attention to the welfare of the society ; but
the proceedings of the day, and the i)leasure of
meeting his tenants and their labourers, would, in
future, be a powerful motive to make his visits
more frequent, if not annual.

"The health of the Reverend Chairman" was
next drunk; who, in returning thanks, expatiated
on the evil of a want of cottages for the labouring
poor, and described pathetically the state of a family
in his own parish, which he had recently visited,
wherein he found the husband sick, with wife and
seven children all sleeping in an apartment about
ten feet square, the children actually sleeping under
the bed of their sick parent. This want of a com-
fortable home for the labourer, and inadequate
sleeping accommodation, was such a fearful course
of moral corruption, that he trusted the landowners
— whose especial duty it was— would not delay the
attempt to mitigate the evil, and provide cottages
necessary for the labourers on their propert)', with-
out which he abandoned all hope of permanently
raising the moral character of our rural population.

" F. Elvy, Esq., and Visitors" was drunk, and
acknowledged by Mr. Elvy.

The Chairman, in' eulogistic terms, gave the
"Health of Mr. G. B. Chambers, the Honorary
Secretaiy and Father of the Association."

Mr. Chambers acknowledged the comphment,
and hoped an efficient vokmteer would soon arise
to supersede him in the labours of secretary. He
felt always much indebted for the assistance given
by the various committees ; and concluded by
proposing their health as the next toast, which was
drunk with applause, and responded to by Mr.
Burford and Mr. \V. Coveney.

"The Commercial Intei'est" was hinnorously
acknowledged l)y Mr. Venable, who — alluding to

the remarks from the Chair, of want of cottages —
expressed the readiness of those he represented to
quickly remedy the evils, and invited communica-
tions from landowners on the subiect.

" The Vice-Chairman" was responded to by Mr.
Burford, who, in common with others, felt the
benefit arising from this association to the labour-
ing classes ; but contended that society also was its
debtor, inasmuch as the unity it created was the
source of extending knowledge and promoting a
good understanding between landlords and
tenants.

Various toasts and some excellent singing fol-
lowed in succession, when, about 8 o'clock, the
health of " The Ladies" was given, and dnmk with
great animation ; after which, the rev. chairman
and friends retired, the remainder of the party
shortly following the example.

An extract of the premiums distributed at this
meeting,

£ s. d.

To ploughmen 11 2 0

To shepherds 5 0 0

To labourers 7 0 0

To women 5 .5 0

To yearly servants 10 10 0

To l)oys 1 5 0

The following sweepstakes were likewse awarded
by Messrs. Morgan, Mitchell, and Fullager : —

For the three heaviest roots of mangel wurzel,
7 subscribers of Is. each, to Mr. Matson.

For the three handsomest roots of mangel wurzel,
to weigh not less than Gibs, each, 12 subscribers of
Is. each, to Mr. Pratt.

For the three handsomest Swede turnips, to
weigh not less than 4lbs. each, 8 subscribers of Is.
each, to Mr. Leese.

For the three heaviest Swede turnips, 8 subscri-
bers of Is. each, to Mr. Pratt.

For the three best white turnips, not less than
5lb. each, 5 subscribers of Is. each, to Mr. Pratt.

For the twelve best potatoes, 8 subscribers of Is.
each, to the Rev. J. Burton;

For the six best onions, 7 subscribers of Is. each,
to Mr. Matson.

For the six heaviest white carrots, six subscribers
of Is. each, to Mr. T. Coveney.

For the six handsomest white carrots, to weigh
not less than 4lbs. each, 6 subscribers of Is. each,
to Mr. Matson.

For the six best red carrots, 6 subscribers of Is.
each, to Mr. Masters,

For the six best parsnips, 6 subscribers of Is.
each, to Mr. Matson.

For the best sample of red wheat, 9 subscribers
of Is. each, to Mr. Pratt.

For the best sample of white wheat, 6 subscribers
of Is. each, to Messrs. Hilton and Co.

For the best sample of white oats, 3 subscribers
of Is. each, to Messrs. Hilton and Co.

For the best sample of canaiy-seed, 5 subscribers
of Is each, to Mr. Reed,

K K.

494,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

REMARKS ON THE AGRICULTURE OF
IRELAND.

(^Continued.)

The first remarkable circumstance attracting the
attention of a resident of Britain on landing in Ire-
land, is the great number of paupers which are to
be met Avith almost everywhere, and this early and
unfavourable sympton of the social state of the
country exercises a powerful influence over the
mind of the spectator, producing impressions not
easily afterwards removed. The circumstance of
such a considerable proportion of the Irish being
obliged to subsist on the bounty of their country-
men is deeply to be deplored ; but other causes are
to be looked to as producing this state of society
than the general poverty of the countiy, or want of
sufficient employment for any part of the able-
bodied population. Ireland, it must be remem-
bered, has been, until lately, without any provision
for the poor ; and although a Poor Law is at present
in partial operation, it has not been accompanied
by any act of settlement or vagrancy ; hence many
of the poor still prefer living on the voluntary con-
tributions of their neighbours to receiving relief in
the workhouse, to which all assistance through the
instrumentality of that law is confined. I say in
partial operation, many of the houses not being yet
opened for the reception of the paupers. iUms-
giving in Ireland has always been considered a
holy work by those classes little removed from the
paupers themselves, and the itinerant mendicant
seldom leaves the door of the poorest cottager vnih-
out all the rehef being afforded in the power of the
latter to bestow ; if engaged at their simple meal,
the suppliant is generally invited to partake ; if too
poor to spare anything in this way, a lodging, such
as can be afforded, is cheerfully given for the night.
It may be supposed that, owing to the prevalence of
the feehng just noticed, many avail themselves of
this resource who, under a difterent state of feel-
ing, would make exertions to procure a livelihood
by their own industry. Tlie disposition to give is
almost universal; indeed, no greater confirmation
of this could be advanced than the fact of a pauper,
especially if not burthened by the support of a
large family, being able to procure as much provi-
sion in one day as will be sufficient to maintain
him for two. Money is rarely or never given in
rural districts. The alms consist generally either
of oatmeal, potatoes, or milk, proper receptacles be-
ing carried about for each ; and any excess of them
which may be collected over what is actually re-
quired, is exchanged, mthout difficulty, to the vil-
lager for tea and sugar or tobacco. Under these cir-
cumstances, it is not to be wondered » at that the
confinement of the workhouse is not much relished,
as it is a poor exchange for the abandonment of the
sundiy little comforts which the strolling beggar
can more or less command. The consequence is
that even in those districts where the poor law has
been in operation for some time, strolhng beggars
are still to be seen, preferring the usual exercise of
their calling to workhouse relief. Tlie general un-
popxdarity of the poor law ajnong the rate payers,

also operates in favour of the continuance of the
system.

It will be perceived that the support of the poor
under such circumstances falls on those but httle
removed from themselves — a serious social evilj
which, however, the principle of the poor law re-
cently introduced will tend to remove. Under its
provisions, one half the rate is charged to the land-
lord, pro\dded the land is let to the tenant at the
same rate at which it is valued in the books of the
Union ; if let at a higher rate than the valuation, a
proportionate increase over half the rate is charged
to the landlord ; and if let lower than the valuation,
a corresponding reduction in the sum chargeable to
the landlord takes place. The tenant pays the
whole in the fii'st instance, but he gets a duplicate
receipt, which, handed to the landlord or his agent
serves as payment for so much of the rent. The
sum chargeable to the landlord, therefore, varies ac-
cording to the interest which he has in the land.
He is accordingly interested in the operation of the
law, his property being taxed thereby, and self in-
terest will ensiu-e his adopting every available mea-
sure having a tendency to prevent an increase of
pauperism, a result in wliich he had previously
little interest.

On these grounds, then, the introduction of a
poor law into Ireland is to be hailed as the means
of eflfecting a great improvement in the manner of
supporting the poor, unfortunately so numerous
throughout the country. The habits and feelings
of the people contribute no little to the extension
of pauperism on the grounds already mentioned.
In every country there will be a considerable
number of aged and infirm poor, which it is the
duty of the more favoured part of the community
to maintain ; but it is mistaken benevolence which
contributes to the support of a single individual
who, without such charity being exercised in his
favour, would be able to support himself; and it
cannot be questioned that among the poor of
Ireland many such may be found.

These remarks have been penned in consequence
of the importance which is attached by tourists
visiting Ireland to the abundance of paupers as
a general and unfailing index of wide-spread
poverty throughout the land. Had England been
until the present day without a poor-law, can it
be supposed that the state of society there would
have prevented pauperism from assuming such a
formidable aspect as it does in Ireland? Every
one is aware of the stringent clauses in the present
poor-law; and the influences these restrictions
exercise in preventing the increase of pauperism
is generally acknowledged. Under the operation
of the old poor-law, when relief was extended to
almost every apphcant, the increase of pauperism
became so formidable as to threaten, at no distant
day, to swallow up the entire rental of landed
property. Such is the unfortunate and un-
avoidable result of the continuance of such a
sj'stem, however much it is to be commended in
the abstract, and however severe and heartless an
opposite line of proceeding may be considered.

Scotland, so far as regards the number and
means of support of her poor, abundantly confirms

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

495

tlic truth of these remarks, were confirmation
wanting. The Scotch consider that stated and
systematic rehef of the distresses of ])overty is an
e\'il which, though to a certain extent unavoidahle,
should by all possible means be kept down to the
lowest amount. The maintenance of this A'iew is
favoured by the landholders, as tending to pre-
serve them from taxation; and the poor them-
seh'es, from habit, have scarcely an idea that their
case, though a hard one, is one calling for im-
jirovement. Cases of urgent distress are, of course,
l)romptly and perhaps liberally relieved ; but to
su])ply the poor from a stated fund, a stated
weekly support, that is a procedure considered to
be so pregnant with fatal consequences to the
moral character of the humble classes of the com-
munity, that it can only be admitted under the
most stringent circumstances. There are many
grounds of objection to this system, when carried
to its fullest extent. It, however, compels the
able-bodied pauper to depend for support on his
own exertions. The number of paupers in
Scotland is quite inconsiderable com})ared with
other parts of the United Kingdom, which is un-
questionably to be chiefly attributed to the pre-
valence of the feelings which have just been
stated to exist.

It cannot be questioned that the support of such
a large body of paupers has hitherto proved a
large burthen on the small farmers of Ireland,
though such support was so freely given ; and it
is not therefore a matter of surprise that under
such circumstances any poor-law would, to a cer-
tain extent, be impopular there. Into the merits
or defects of the present law it is not, however,
proposed now to enter. A great and important
movement is now going forward in Ireland, for
the extension of railway communication, which
wiU afford increased emplopnent to the labourer
for many years to come, and it may be hoped,
among its other ad^'antages to the country, tend
to a decrease of pauperism by affording employ-
ment to the many able-bodied paupers which may
now be found. The subject of pauperism is too
closely connected with agricultural prosperity to
render any apology necessary for the length to
which these remarks have extended.

A course of cropping stiU too much practised
in Ireland, is to grow grain crops in succession so
long as the land will produce them ; after which
it is allowed to remain in grass for several years,
to recruit itself before being again subjected to a
repetition of the same treatment. This is a general
course of proceeding under a rude and imperfect
system of culture ; but as improvements advance
it generally gives place rapidly. It is still practised
to some extent in Ireland ; but it is believed, taking
the whole cultivated svirface of the country into
account, it is now to be regarded rather as the
exception than as the rule of practice. The great
fertility of the soil throughout a large portion of
the country has materially contribvUed to per-
petuate the system which, on the superior class of
soils, continued for a number of years to yield a
large return of produce with exceedingly little
labour. In the neighbourhood of the village of

Rathowen, in the county of Westmeath, I had
lately an opportunity of seeing a really splendid
crop of oats, which was declared by the owner of
it to be the thirteenth in succession, without ma-
nure^ on the same field. The soil in this field, as
well as much of the surrounding country, is a
rich and somewhat tenacious loam of considerable
depth, incumbent on a limestone gravel substratum.
Productive as much of the soil of Ireland un-
doubtedly is, it cannot be supposed that any con-
siderable proportion of it could be subjected to
such a course of cropping, and this instance is
merely mentioned to show, in pecviliar cases, the
surpassing fertihty of the soil. The preparation
of the land for the oat crop consists merely in a
single ploughing, a short time before the seed is
sown, which is covered in entirely by the action of
the harrow ; hence it is considered that the course
of management now described affords the largest
return with the smallest possible amount of
labour. This system is, however, rapidly giving
way, and more correct principles are, to a greater
or less extent, now understood, through every
part of the country. Some years ago, oats and
potatoes might be regarded as almost the only
crops cultivated, to which, in certain parts of the
province of Ulster, flax might be added; but on
most of the rich soils throughout the island wheat
is now cultivated, and this circumstance of itself
is an index of improved husbandry, as under
slovenly management wheat mil not prove a
remunerating crop. Clover and rye-grass are
also now generally grown, instead of leaving the
surface to become gradually covered by the spon-
taneous herbage of the soil. Turnips, too, are
being gradually introduced through the exertions
of the resident gentry, on whose home farms they
have been long grown. As a consequence of all
these improvements, a perceptible change has
taken place in the quahty* of the domestic animals
for the better ; but here less has been done than in
any of the other departments of husbandry.

Improvements in the cultivation of the soil,
and in the performance of the operations of
husbandry, have also proceeded at a rapid pace
for some time past in Ireland. In the humid
climate of that country draining is, if possible,
still more essential than in Britain, as a primary
operation, before improved cultivation can be
introduced. Improvements in agriculture, of
whatever description, are known to proceed at a
slow pace ; but, notmthstanding the high charac-
ter assumed for British agriculture as compared
with that of Ireland, an intimate examination of the
state of the respective countries would show that
in the latter covmtry, under all its disadvantages,
a more active spirit of improvement is abroad
than is generally found in the latter, and a greater
anxiety manifested to accjuire information. The
changes which, in fact, have taken place in the
system of cultivation in Ireland, within the last
ten years, almost exceeds belief. Within this period-
the frequent-drain system of Mr. Smith, of
Deanston, was but little known beyond that

* In the northern parts of the island especially.

K K. 2

4D6

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

gentleman's own farm; yet at the present time a
district could not be pointed out in Ireland, of any
extent, in which that system is not in operation.
It cannot indeed be said that it is generally prac-
tised, but, considering the progress already made,
it may be safely predicted that it will be so before
many years go round. Even in East Lothian,
which is generally considered to be the best cul-
tivated district in Britain, we haA-e the authority of
a recent and accurate reporter for stating that
the Deanston system of draining is by no means
in general operation.* Considering the slow pro-
greis which this fundamental and unquestionably
important operation has made in the most favoured
part of the island, it cannot reasonably excite
surprise that much imdrained land is to be found
in Ireland ; is it not rather a matter of congratula-
tion that so much has been already done ? — and
the energy and activity displayed so far, is the
best guarantee for the success of future operations.
But in this, as well as in all other cases where
one statement clashes with another, the character
of the respective parties forms the only guide by
which a correct decision can be arrived at.
Though intimately acquainted Avith the state of
farming throughout a large part of Ireland, in
endeavouring to convey a correct idea of its
present state to the readers of the Farmer's Maga-
zine, I am anxious to place before them further
testimony than my own; and for this purpose,
fortunately, a mass of evidence is at hand, collected
within the past year from almost every quarter
of the country, and that by persons actually
engaged in husbandry themselves. The Royal
Agricultural Improvement Society of Ireland
has in connexion with it upwards of one hundred
local societies, to each of which a certain sum is
annually awarded by the parent society, to be
distributed in premiums among the farmers of
the respective districts. The secretaries of these
local societies, in furnishing their annual returns
of the allocation of these premiums, are requested
to state any remarks which may occur to them,
regarding the state of agricuUure in their several
localities, and in the last Report of the parent
society the following statements are found under
this head. Tlie extracts are given in the same
order in which they occur in the report : —

Antrim Union Farming Society. —
Thorough draining is scarcely practised at all as
yet by the farmers having small holdings ; others,
however, have done a great deal in it, and their ex-
arnple, with the benefits they will soon derive, will,
it is hoped, awaken the small farmers themselves to
similar exertion ; and, if the landlords be kind and
liberal, they may yet exert themselves to such an
extent as will afford them ample remuneration here-
after. This year there was no competitor for the
central society's premium for draining among the
small farmers. 'ITiere were five competitors for
the society's medal for thorough draining.

Ballymoney Farming Society, County
Antrim. — Since my report of last year, I have had

* See Sketches of East Lothian Husbandry, by
Mr. Sulhvan, in the Agricultural Gazette.

frequent opportunities of observing the agricultu-
ral state of this district; and it gives me much
satisfaction to state, that it is rapidly improA'ing.
The emulation excited by the society's pre-
miums, and in particular, that for the best acre of
drilled potatoes, has been productive of the greatest
benefit. The cultivation of turnips also is gradually
increasing among the better class of farmers, whose
practical example has, in many instances, been fol-
lowed by their poorer neighbours. It is, perhaps,
worthy of remark, that the farms, whether large or
small, on which turnips are grown, are invariably
the neatest and best kept. The judges of green
crops were this year of opinion that they were, with
one or two exceptions, below an average crop ; but
this seems to be a general complamt. It is also to
be regretted, that the extirpation of weeds, particu-
larly in the corn and pasture fields, is not more ge-
nerally attended to.

Carrickfergus and Kilroot Farming So-
ciety, County Antrim. — A progressive im-
provement is going forward in this district, preju-
dices are giving way, and there is a greater dispo-
sition to adopt a better system of agriculture mani-
fested. We have a considerable number now culti-
vating turnips, clover, and A'etches, and an increase
in the quantity sown by those who are doing so.
Some farmers, who a few years ago did not grow a
turnip, have this season an acre and a-half. This
crop is also better managed in the hoeing, thinning,
and weeding. Clover and grass seeds ai"e more
generally soAvn ; A^etches are also soaati, and several
of those Avho for the first time tried the spring kind
have found them so advantageous, that they have
also soAvn the Avinter variety ; also house feeding,
although not altogether, is by a number partially
adopted, and we trust soon to see such a produce
of green crops, that this mode, so beneficial to the
farmer in the increase of manure, avUI be extensively
practised in this locality. A regular system of
drainage has been commenced in only a fcAV
instances ; but everywhere there is to be seen small
pieces of land drained, and the advantages even
from this partial and imperfect mode are so CA'ident,
that Ave do not despair of seeing, ere long, a gene-
ral adoption of thorough drainage. This society
has done all in its poAver to promote this great
leading improvement, by oflfering premiums ; but
Ave fear Ave shall be obliged to discontinue them, or
leaA'e it to the landlord to aid their tenantry in this
department, OAving to the inadequate support re-
ceived from the former, several of Avhom, large jiro-
prietors, do not even subscribe to our funds, which
are very limited, lliis society has been carried on
almost exclusively by the working farmers, Avho
have contributed liberally to its support. There
are 137 members, of Avhom tAvelve are la*ded pro-
prietors, eighty Avorking farmers, the remainder
residents in the district, some of AA'hom hold land,
but do not come under either of the foregoing de-
nominations. As regards stock, there is a groAA'-
ing desire to have a better description of cattle:
some Durham and Ayrshires have been introduced
among us.

Castlebar Union Farming Society,
County Mayo. — The shoAv of cattle Avas very
small J but some good stock, particularly bulls

THE TAllMER'S MAGAZINE.

497

and cows, were exhibited, and several f(ood
ijreeding pigs were also entered for c()m[)eti-
tion. There were some good samples of oats
and barley produced in the quantities required;
and, upon the whole, although the results of the
lirst year are rather discouraging, yet from the ex-
citement i^roduced amongst the small farmers, and
the declaration from many of them, that those who
obtained the premiums then should not get them so
easily next year, it is to be hoped that much good
may be done eventually.

Castlebridgp: Farming Society, County
Wkxi^oru. — With respect to the progress of farm-
ing in this district, I have to say, that it is in a
state of manifest improvement. In all thel)ranches
of agriculture, the f;\rmers have hitherto been
nuich behind hand ; but within the last few years,
and particularly since the society has acted as a
stimulus, there has been a rapid change for the
Ijetter in stock and husbandry ; and in the quan-
tity of manure collected there is also a striking
improvement. We are, however, still behind most
parts of Ireland ; but, with the natural industry of
our farmers, with a soil peculiarly adapted to green
crops, Avith a growing consciousness of their im-
portance, which is daily gaining ground, and
becoming understood, and the superior manage-
ment shown by many of our farmers in their culti-
vation, we shall, I think, ere long, be able to com-
pete with any corn district in Ireland.

DONOUGHMORE FARMING SoCIETY, CoUNTY

Down. — There was a large stock of beasts exhi-
bited, and mostly all of the improved breeds. In
some lots, the judges found the greatest difficulty
in deciding, and in all gave their decided o])inion,
that there was no society within our reach had
made so great improvement in stock as this has
done.

Galmoy Farming Society, County Kil-
kenny.— There can be no doubt but that the far-
mers, one and all, in this district, are convinced
that, with the present low prices, there is no pos-
sibility of paying their rents but by the improve-
ment of their land ; and the only wonder is, how
much they are doing with the little of encourage-
ment they receive from their landlords. In our
large district, being nearly one third of the county
of Kilkenny, we have but four or five landed pro-
prietors who subscrdje to our funds ; and though
solicited by the secretary, the remainder neither
encovirage us by subscriptions, donations, or
personal attendance. Our last show of cattle, sheep,
and pigs was of a very superior description : and
from the number of first-rate bulls now in this dis-
trict, from purchase and breeding, the cattle must
improve.

InIstioge Farming Society, County Kil-
kenny.— A great proportion of the land in this
society's district being much subdivided, the
holders were so solicitous to raise a sufficient sup-
ply of potatoes during the last season, when
several failures had taken place, that additional
quantities were planted so late as the end of June.
From this cause more indisposition to sow turnips
than ordinary was felt amongst the class of smaller
farmers ; and those who tried but a veiy limited
quantity was obtained. The society's judges re-

port that they lost a jiortion of their cro])s
from the effects of the dry weather exjjeri-
enced during a great part of the summer.
The cultivation competed for Is much com-
mended by the judges for fine tilth and cleanli-
ness ; and also the appearance and character of the
stock lately exhibited has been highly approved.

Iverk Farming Society, County Kil-
kenny.— The reports of the judges were extremely
satisfactory. Those on green crops expressed
themselves highly gratified at the improvements
m.anifested in the culture of turnips and mangel
wurzel. It may be satisfactory to the society to
learn that Mr. Peter Falconer, to whom their medal
was awarded, had sixty-one tons of Swc dish tur-
nips, and sixty-nine tons of mangel wurzel, to the
acre. They also report that the drill tillage is
gaining ground, against which a prejudice existed
among the small farmers, who think, that although
it increases the potato crop, it deteriorates the suc-
ceeding wheat crop. The show of cattle was
good, but they were almost entirely the property
of gentlemen and strong farmers, as the old Irish
cow still retains her popularity in this district.
The attention of our society has beea uniformly
directed to the all-important work of draining, and
with the happiest results ; for I find, that during
the eleven years that I have held the office of secre-
tary, there have been no less than 176 competitors
in that class, (all holding very small farms,) who
have drained or reclaimed 240 acres 2 roods. The
number of candidates has progressively increased
from seven, in 1833, to thirty in the present year.

Kells Union Farming Society, County
Meath. — The judges say — "In their tour of
inspection, they were much surprised and pleased
to see the beautiful and perfect manner in which
the turnip crops were grown ; we have felt much
difficulty in awarding the prizes, as we were not
instructed to take into consideration the nature
of the soil in which the several crops were grown."
The Royal Society will be surprised to hear,
that these superior crops of turnips were grown
in a district where, a few years ago, the cultiva-
tion of this crop was nearly unknown. This
society has been in existence only two years.
The first year there were twenty competitors for
green crops ; the second year they have increased
to forty-five. The show of stock was considered,
by the best judges, as very superior, and par-
ticularly in the farmers' classes. With regard
to draining, a subject of such importance to this
country, we are happy to say, it has greatly
increased ; and we are quite ])ersuaded that more
land has been drained within the last year, in this
Union, by persons encouraged by agricultural
premiums, than was drained for many years
before.

Kinsale Union Farming Society, County
Cork. — I regret our having so few competitors
for the central society's premiums, owing to the
farmers in this district holding larger farms than
laid down by the rules of the jjarent society.
The farms and crops that were inspected showed
a vast improvement ; and, from the anxiety evinced
by the working farmers, 1 trust we shall have much
greater competition next year. Our cattle show

498

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

was held on the 27th of Septembei-. There was
a very decided hiiprovement in the breed and con-
dition of the animals exhibited, particularly sheep.

Longford County Farming Society. —
This society being little better than one year in
existence, the system of green cropping (except
amongst the gentry), has not become general;
but the progress made by our agriculturist, in
May and June last, reflects much credit on him.
Seeds were issued for the society at first cost
this year, amounting to nearly two hundred
pounds in money, and sown, as directed by the
agriculturist, in the soils best suited to their
qualities. Amongst the seeds so issued, the
quantity of turnip seeds alone would be svifficient
for 120 Irish acres, and this almost exclusively
by persons who had never before sown any.
Draining is becoming generally understood ; and,
in connexion with subsoiling, seems to force itself,
as a matter of necessity, on the attention of those
whose retentive lands were heretofore a burthen
on the better portions of their farms. Altogether,
there is every reason to be pleased with the spirit
of inquiry and anxiety for information evinced by
the small farmers in this county. The stock in
this county are very good in general ; but there
is some deficiency arising latterly for the want
of thorough-bred bvdls being procured by persons
able to purchase them. There are bvit very few
in the county of a superior quality, whereas there
are a large number of inferior animals kept by
the farmers, that should not be at all used. The
Durhams are the only breed popular in this county,
by reason of their early maturity for the butcher,
to which every breeder is now endeavouring to
add the milking qualities hitherto so much neg-
lected.

LoRRHA District Farming Society, Tip-
PERARY North. — I am directed by the Commit-
tee of the Lorrha District Farming Society, to ex-
press their regret that they cannot give a very favour-
able report of the improvement of agriculture in
this district, which they attribute, in a great mea-
sure, to the want of encouragement given to the
working farmers by their landlords, with a few ex-
ceptions. Still they think there is some change for
the better, owing chiefly to the exertions of their
society, and trust that, by perseverance, they may
yet do much to benefit the farmers. The society
held their annual show on the 1st instant, which,
contrary to expectation, was well attended, and the
stock most respectable. A decided improvement
since last year, and particularly in the quantity and
quahty of the roots j and the turnips were splendid.
One gentleman exhibited twelve roots of mangel
wurtzel, weighing I72lb. ; one of the roots weighed
25lb.j another lot weighed 124lb. ; and the com-
mittee were happy to see a few farmers exhibiting
some fine turnips, potatoes, &c.

MORNE AND KiLLOWEN FaRMING SoCIETY,

County Down. — I am happy to inform you that
the agriculture of this district has rapidly improved
since the formation of our society, and is steadily
progressing. Our ploughing matches have been
of infinite service, as they have been the means of
inducing farmers here to get iron ploughs, and to
pay more attention to that branch of farming. The

cottage premiums offered by our society, which we
leave open for competition to non-subscribers, have
been the means of improving the neighbourhood
very much, by inducing the small farmers to com-
pete with each other in keeping their cottages and
offices clean, and their yards and gardens well
fenced and orderly. We have found it very dif-
cult to induce the farmers to sow turnips ; but,
owing to Lord Newry and Morne's exertions and
liberality, we have had a considerable increase
to the number this year, his lordship having
offered ten premiums for this crop, in addi-
tion to those offered by our society. The stock
of this district was rather of an inferior des-
cription, but has been very much improved lat-
terly by Lord Newry aad Morne allowing his bulls,
rams, and boars (which are all of a superior de-
scription) to serve stock belonging to the inhabitants
free of expense ; indeed, his lordship has been un-
remitting in his exertions since he came to the
country, to increase the happiness and prosperity
of the people. There is very little money made in
this district by the dairy or stall feeding : the
farmers' chief dependence is upon their potato,
barley, and wheat crops, and upon fattening pigs.
The great quantity of sea-weed gathered round this
coast enables them to cultivate these crops very ex-
tensively. Sea-weed is aA'ery great source of wealth
to this district ; it has been greatly increased within
the last few years by the liberality of the trustees of
the late Earl of Kilmorey's estates, permitting the
inhabitants, by paying a nominal rent, to lay stones
upon the Mill Bay strand : after the third year,
these stones bear an abundant crop of sea-weed.
The stones are laid about eighteen inches apart,
and an acre of strand covered in this way will sell
for £20. There are now 738 acres of this strand
thus covered in square lots, with cart-roads between
them. Guano has been used here this season upon
turnips and potatoes with great success ; it is likely
to be extensively used next year. I am sorry we
had not a greater number of competitors for the
premiums offered this year by the Royal Agricul-
tural Improvement Society of Ireland.

Newport and Westport Farming So-
ciety, County Mayo. — The sowing of turnips,
clover, and rye-grass has very much increased
this year. Of the former there have been upwards
of 120 Irish acres sown within the district, of
which 50 acres, at least, have been sown by the
smaller class of farmers. The two principal pro-
prietors (the Marquis of Sligo and Sir Richard A.
O'Donnell) have given the turnip seed gratis to aU
their tenants asking for it; and they give the
clover, rye-grass, &c., out on loan, at somewhat re-
duced prices, payable with the first half-year's rent.
Draining, on the Deanston principle, only com-
menced in this district last February, since which
there have been upwards of 14,900 Irish perches of
drains made within the district of our society.

North Ennishowen Farming Society,
County Donegal.— The state of agriculture in
this remote and mountainous district cannot, of
course, be compared with that of more favoured
places ; but there is evidently a great improvement
from v/hat it was some years ago, and the change is
greatly to be attributed to the influence of the local

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

499

Farming Society. Some years ago green crops
were almost unknown in this district; now, though
l)y no means general, they are frequently to be met
with : indeed, I think the cultivation of clover will
soon be ycr-.' much practised among small farmers.
\'etches arj v. ly generally sown, from their being
ready for use in the first season, and enriching im-
l)Overished and worn-out land. Our ploughing
matches are in general very respectable, and create
great interest in the neighbourhood; we have
had twelve or thirteen iron ploughs entered for
competition ; and when the society was first estab-
lished, some years ago, there was not one iron
])lough in the district, except among the gentry.
I am sorry to say our show of black cattle and
horses is rather of an inferior kind, our premiums
not being large enough to induce persons to im-
port a better descrijjtion of stock.

Saintfield and Kilmore Farming So-
ciety, County Doaa'n. — ^I'he locality in which this
infant society is situated has not been so prominent
in those agricultural pursuits which distinguish
some of the neighbouring districts. Green cropping
and house feeding have yet to be introduced. The
principles of effectual draining, and the judicious
accumulation and application of manures, followed
up by the above, will be our study, aided as we are
by your very generous assistance. We decline any
further remarks, awaiting the results of another
year's experience.

Seaford and Hollymount Farming So-
ciety, County Down. — Upwards of 160 head
of cattle were exhibited ; and one of the judges,
who has acted as such since the formation of this
society, observed the very great imjirovement
that has taken place in the breed and general
appearance of the cattle.

Skibbereen Union Farming Society,
County Cork. — I have much pleasure in being
able to report, that improvement in agriculture,
])articularly in the cultivation of green crops,
draining, and ploughing, is making a very rapid
advance in the Skibbereen Union; and I daily
discover a keen desire among the farmers to
obtain information from experienced agricul-
turists.

Sligo County Farming Society. — Very
distinguished success has attended the operations
of this society during the past year. The number
of competitors both in husbandry and stock has
increased. A spirit of emulation has been excited,
and a desire for improvement, even in remote
parts of the county, is manifest to the most careless
observer. Ploughing matches have been insti-
tuted, and, although draining has been but little
attended to, still there is every prospect that it will
be carried on to a much greater extent than here-
tofore. Its importance is acknowledged by all.
Two model farms have been estabhshed in this
county ; one near the county town, on the estate of
J. Wynne, Esq., of Ilazlewood. It is managed by
his steward, and exhibits, in a veiy perfect manner,
a system of husbandry suited to the smaller far-
mers. The four crop rotation is followed. The
other model farm is near Collooney, on the estate
of E J. Cooper, Esq., Markree Castle. The farm
contains about 40 acres, and is intended as an

agricultural school for his tenant's sons, who are
to receive instruction gratuitously. It has only
been estabhshed about two years, and is already
available.

Strade and Ballynure Farming So-
ciety, County Antrim. — This society, during
the past year, has kept a regular pace of improve-
ment, both in stock and in the cultivation of green
cro})s. The cattle of the last show were much
superior to those exhibited at any of the preceding
shows, and the crops generally well cultivated,
although somewhat hghter than last year, owing to
the coldness of the beginning of the season.

Thurles Union Farming Society, County
Tipperary. — Turnips, as a fallow crop in this dis-
trict, have only been occasionally cultivated by a few
gentlemen, and in some instances again discon-
tinued by them, and initil this year scarcely at-
tempted by the farmers ; I believe only one gentle-
man (John Trant, Esq,, of Dovea) has cultivated
them extensively, having for the last few years from
30 to 50 acres grown on the estate. His crop this
year exceeded 35 acres, and it elicited the marked
and well-deserved jiraise of the judges over its
whole extent. There was scarcely a weed to be
seen, and it is unnecessary to state that the produce
was equal to the high state of cultivation. Between
three and four hundred acres of this estate has been
drained, under the direction of Mr. Ellis. Upon
some of this reclaimed ground (part of it bog), the
greater part of the turnip crop has been grown this
year, besides another portion being under crops of
wheat and barley (upwards of 60 acres was reaped),
and much of it laid down to permanent pasture.
Tliat the efforts of the society, in directing the at-
tention of all classes to the cultivation of turnips,
has not been unavailing, is evident from the num-
ber of competitors in all classes this season. The
spirit of improvement is now becoming manifest
among some of the farmers : there has been anim-
provement among the competitors for draining and
farms this year ; and, at the same time, the neigh-
bours of the successful competitors are beginning
to follow their example.

TiRKEERAN FARMING SoCIETY, CoUNTY

Londonderry. — In no other district in Ireland
are early prejudices more easily overcome than
among the farming classes in Tirkeeran ; give
them ocular demonstration of the absurdity of any
system to-day, and to-morrow that system will be
either wholly or partially abandoned. Show the
agriculturists of Tirkeeran the propriety, the im-
menss practical utility of introducing artificial
grasses, r.nd turnip feeding for the use of their
cattle, and, slow as agricultural improvements
generally are to come forth, in a very few years the
scenes of misery and staiTation which, during a
severe winter, or a cold or protracted spring,
passed before the eyes of their fathers, are sure to
disappear, and are no longer dreaded. Last year
their first attempt at a regular cattle show was a
miserable display — almost a failure. A stimulus,
however, was imparted ; the first impulse was
given, and this year we had the satisfaction of wit-
nessing an exihibition every way worthy of the im-
proving spirit of the district.
TuAM Union Farming Society, County

500

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Galway. — The hpirit of emiilation is now on the
wing ; it is very strikingly evinced in the different
localities. Furrow draining— the groundwork of
all agricultural improvement — is executed upon a
pretty extensive scale, and upon the most scientific
principles, particularly so amongst the tenants of
Mr. Lambert, of Brookhill. Green cropping and
house feeding are also carried out upon a far more
extended scale than last year ; and the cultivation
of the different green crops, generally speaking, is
unexceptionable, but particularly so on the estates
of Castlehacket and Headford, and the townlands
of Carranular and Lisgeavy. Upon the Castle-
hacket estate we were gratified to observe not only
an extensive cultivation of green crops, but also a
general approximation to the a})proved rotation sys-
tem. Tlie improvements in the cleanliness, order,
and general appearance of the cottages of the
small farms are very apparent ; and we beg leave
to instance those on the estate of Sir George
Staunton, at Clydagh, as the most striking. In
that district there is scarcely a house that does not
merit a premium. We have also witnessed consi-
derable improvements in the management of the
dvmg hills and manure heaps ; the great increase
in and quality of which, the small farmers frankly
admit, is solely attributed to green cropping.
With respect to the crops we were called upon to
view, we are of opinion that the turnips will barely
reach an average return. In several places we ob-
served the progress of the plant completely arrested
by mildew, but in no instance could we attribute
the deficiency of the crops to neglect of cultivation.
Mr. Mangan, one of the competitors for the Royal
Agricultural Society's medal, to remedy this defi-
ciency, has resorted to a very novel experiment.
He has a healthy and promising crop of wheat
growing between the intervals of the drills; we
consider it would be premature as yet to hazard an
oiiinion in reference to the probable result, but we
recommend Mr. Mangan to let the community at
large have the benefit of the experiment. The
potato crop, under the drill system, as far as it
came within our notice, promises to be unusually
productive, and in one instance, upon the farm of
the Rev, Mr. Walsh, of Headford, yielded an
average return of nine pounds weight per lineal
yard, nine drills to the perch of 21 feet square,
and tested in different parts of the field. If this
method of calculating the produce be correct, and
of which we have little doubt, from the appearance
the rest of the field presented, the return per Irish
acre would amount to forty and a-half tons per acre.
We had this season two ])loughing matches ;
one in February, at Castlehacket, at which thirty
ploughs started ; another in September, at Dalgin,
at which we had nineteen ploughs : and I am
quite certain we would have double the number,
were not some small farmers much engaged in
getting in the harvest. We had also, at each
place, a private ploughing match, open to all per-
sons residing in the imion, on paying an entrance
fee of 7s. 6d. ; the amount of such fee was divided
mto three prizes, and given to the successful
ploughmen, making a diti'erence of 5s. between
each ; and the president, Denis Kirwan, Esq., of
Castlehacket, gave to the owner of the first plough

a "silver challenge goblet," to be won twice by
the same person before it becomes his property.
At our first match it was won by Mr. Partrick
Mangan, of Tuam, and at our last ploughing
match, by Mr. C. Jamison, of Headford. 'Hie
competitors in the different matches and classes
seemed to vie with each other in the neatness and
order of their horses and tackling ; and I am,
indeed, happy to add my testimony to that of many
others, that in this district a spirit of emulation
exists in our husbandry, which must leave its
fruits behind.

TULLAMORE UnION FARMING SoClETY,

King's County. — The exhibition of stock this
year, although not so largely attended as here-
tofore, yet showed a considerable improvement
in the quality, and particularly young stock, as
calves, heifers, &c., &c. ; but the exhibition of
green crops far surpassed any of the preceding
years, both in the quality and quantity of the
produce. The society is also extending ; districts
of the Union, which heretofore sent nothing to
the exhibition, either in stock or green crop, have
this year taken away some of the principal prizes
given by the Society.

Westmeath Farming Society. — With great
pleasure I report the continued prosperity of this
society ; its members are increasing every year,
and we are in hopes of being, through the liberality
of the landlord, enabled to supply the only defi-
ciency in our society, viz., the want of a practical
resident agriculturist. I should not wisii that the
number of competitors for the turnip prizes should
be taken as a proof of the number of turnip sowers
in the district, as, from my own knowledge, I can
assert that not more than one crop in every ten
sowed is entered for competition. The culti-
vation of clover is advancing still more rapidly
than that of turnips, but is not as yet sufli-
ciently used for house feeding, being first mown
for hay, and the second crop pastured; in some
instances, however, house feeding is perfectly
carried on.

{To be continued.)

FARMERS' CLUB HOUSE.

The monthly meeting of the committee took
place on Monday, Nov. 4. Present, Messrs. W. An-
derson, R. Baker, W. Purser, Mr. Fisher Hobbs,
W, Shaw, T, Knight, J. Beadel, — Smith, J. Tyler ;
Mr, Knight in the chair. Several new members
were proposed for election at the next monthly
meeting, Mr. Baker, of Writtle, was elected chair-
man of the monthly meetings for the discussion of
agricultural subjects, and Mr, W. Fisher Hobbs
vice-chairman.

Soon after five o'clock nearly fifty members of
the club assembled in the reading-room, when Mr.
Shaw having taken the chair, the question ap-
pointed for discussion, viz., the merits of guano
and other artificial manures, was opened by Mr.
Baker. Several gentlemen, amongst whom were
Mr. Anderson, Mr. T. Ellman, Mr. Hill, and Mr.
Pocock, took part in the discussion, during which
much useful practical remarks were elicited.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

501

REPEAL OF THE MALT TAX.

On Monday, November 4, a meeting of British
agriculturists was held at the Farmers' Club House,
3"J, New Bridge-street, Blackfriars, to take into con-
sideration the question of the repeal of the malt-tax.
The following at present constitutes the list of members
of the committee, but the numbers increase with every
post : —

James Ellis, Barming, Kent

RouERT Baker, Writtle, Essex

Thomas Ellman, Bedinghaui, Sussex

Walter Andersox, Oakley, Bedford

Thomas Weall, Beddington, Surrey

Edward Wvatt, Chidham, Hants

William Purser, Copple, Beds

W. F. HoBBs, Marks Hall, Coggeshall

Henry Rowland, Coulston, Surrey

C. G. Whittaker, Barming, Kent

Robert Pattenden, 247, High-street, Borough

John Ban kin, Upminster

J. G. Fenn, Ardleigh, near Colchester

F. B. Elvv, Bonhill, Galsting, Kent

William Shaw, 346, Strand

Francis John Brittons, Hornchurch

Philip Nunn, Halsted

Georgb Hooper, Lambourn Hall, Abridge

James Wyley, Highborn, Stafford

Philip Matthews, Burton

H. C. Wentworth, Roffey Hall

Thomas Phillips, Great Baddow

Samuel Jonas, Ickleton, Saft'ron Walden

Samuel Willis, Fryeruiug Hall, near Ingatestone

Charles Page, Southminster, Essex

William Pavitt, Brickhouse, Boreham

John Perry, The Warren, Writtle

W, H. Rust, West Wickham, Cambridgeshire

Thomae Rust, Foucher's Good Easter, Essex

Thomas Clapton Rolfe, White Notley, Essex

Joseph Reeve, Warden's Hall, WiUingale

Samuel Reeve, Trueloves, Ingatestone

— TuRPiN, West Wickham, Cambridgeshire

R. D. Fyson, Esq., Fordham, near Newmarket

John Teverson, the Valley, Great Wilbraliam,

J, S.SuRRiDGE, Coggeshall, Essex [Cambridgeshire

Samuel Adams, Great Waltham, Essex

T. J. Skinner, Marls, Epping

Charles Phillips, Margaret Roding

William Worcester, Wakes Colne, near, Hal-

Thos. Stebbing, Paglesham [sted, Essex

George Gale, Helion's Bumpstead

C. PococK, Sulham, Reading

John Hudson, Castle Acre, Norfolk
Jeffrey Mayne, Rayleigh
John Pope, Symonsburgh
James Brown, Coalsdon, Croydon

D. Hyland, Burneest, Hurst Green
William Phillips, near Braintree
James Russell, sen., Horton Kirby
Frederick Stanford, Yoxford
James Jillett, Braiswick
Jeremiah Smith, Springfield, Rye
S. Mills, Elston House, Devizes
George Mumford, Downham Market
R. B. Harvey, near Harleston
William Rason, Eastbourne, Sussex
Samuel Francis, Grays, Essex
Thomas Knight, Edmonton, Middlesex
John Tyler, Layton

Rev. T. C. James, Brentwood, Essex

H. Higgins, Fawley, Ross

R. W. Crowdy, Farringdon

James Parkes, near Haverill, Suffolk

William Huxley, Post Hall, Witham, Essex

John Meeson, Grays, Essex

Rev. J. C. Gamble, St. Helen's, Lancashire

James Grove, Great Baddow, Essex

Wm. Lovell, Theddingworth, near Leicester

William Shaw, jun., Overton Grange

W. E. Washbourne, Sandridge, Surrey

T. CoNGREVE, Leamington, Hastings

Charles Pinfold, Walton, Fenny Stratford

William Tanner, Patcham, near Brighton

Stephen Martin, Hellingby

Thomas Algar, Terling, Essex

William Balls, Burrell, Cambridgeshire

Samuel Blyth, Cressing Temple, Essex

Richard Algar, South Hanningfield Hall

John Clift Algar, South Hanningfield.

Charles Davey, Weathersfield, Essex

George Dobito, Kirtling Hall, near Cambridge

Benjamin Foakes, Great Dunmow, Essex

S. F. Bawtree, West Mersea Hall, Essex

Robert Franklin, The Park, Thaxted

Peter Grain, Shelford, Cambridgeshire

Jos. Watts Green, South Hanningfield, Essex

Samuel Jonas, West Wickham, Cambridgeshire

James Leonard, West Wickham

R.M. JAauEs.Esq., EasbyAbbey, Richmond, York

William Layton, Esq., Woodhouse, near Ely

Charles Moseley, New Barns, near Ely

George Morris, Park Hall, Gosfield, Essex

Charles Leonard, Castle Camps, Cambridgesh.

William Mumford, South Hanningfield, Essex

Charles Milburn, Great Baddow, Essex.

T. Lovell, Winwick Warren, Northampton

Thos. Swinnerton, near Nuneaton, Warwick

George Gower, Dilham, Norfolk

H. S. Grimmer, Haddiscoe, near Beccles

J. Brickwell, Leckhamstead, Buckingham

Robert Everitt, Westacre, Norfolk

Edward Beck, Huxpley, llougham

G. R. KiTTON, East Basham, near Fakenham

G. Shackell, Reading, Berks

Edward Purser, London Manure Company,

London
Jno. Snepp, Hareman, Hurgt Green
Wm. Ram, Newland Hall, Roxwell
Rev. John Wing, Steventon, Beds.
Cyrus Gillett, Mark's Hall, Norwich
John Freeman, E. Rudham, near Rougham
Wm. Hart, Woodham Mortimer Hall, Maldon
John Sewell, Caldecote, near Stoke Ferry
Randon Hunter, East Loxham, near Litcham
Samuel Selmer, Beckley, Sussex
Robert Matson, Wingham, Kent
Benjamin Francis, Rougham, Norfolk
W. R. Lawford, Leighton Buzzard, Beds
Thomas Grim wood, Chelmsford
John Ambrose, Copford, near Colchester
Robert Mumford, Kirby, Essex
John Fuller, Beechamwell, near Swaffham
John Parmeter, Leeds, Billingford
Henry Duke, Chichester

Mr. Ellis, of Barming, being called to the chair,
opened the business of the meeting by stating that it
was an old adage that it was " better to be born fortu-
nate than rich." After having laboured between 20 and
30 years upon this subject, although his efforts had
hitherto been in vain to effect so desirable an object as
the repeal of the malt tax, it had now proved his good
fortune to be surrounded by so respectable and influen-
tial a meeting, who, he was sure, were all warm in the
cause of the labourer, now cold enough by drinking
water (Laughter, and Hear, hear). The object wluch
the meeting had in view was to endeavour to obtain a
better supply of a wholesome beverage for the labouring

502

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

classes ; and they all must have seen how much they
were suffering from the want of it. Perhaps no greater
proof of the want of consumption, and the bad effects of
a high tax, and severe restriction in making of malt,
could be found than in the fact that in the ten years,
ending in 1728, the average of malt individually con-
sumed was 40 gallons and a fraction ; and when a high
duty and severe restrictions were afterwards laid on,
the same individual consumption was reduced under 16
gallons; and thus showed that 13,500,000 of people in
the latter period did not consume as much as 5,500,000
during the first period. He was sure that the meeting
agreed with him as to the necessity of a change. He
could hardly call beer a luxury — it was a most essential
necessary to the health and support of every labouring
man. For a man to do field labour, and to be compelled
to drink nothing but either tea or water, was more
than human nature could put up with. The labouring
classes had suffered severely, they had borne their
sufferings patiently, and he hoped they would still con-
tinue to do so. It was the object of that meeting to
obtain some amelioration of their sufferings (hear,
hear). They were all disposed to give them a larger
supply of beer, if they could afford it ; it had cost
him iridividually during one period of three years no
less a sum than 2,080/., for beer, but he could no
longer afford it ; therefore he was reluctantly reduced to
the necessity of giving them a much less C|Uantity ; but
he was sorry to say tliat his people were, in conse-
quence, worse off. He should be very glad to sow 10,
or 15, or 20 acres of barley, and malt it, and give it
to the labouring poor, if the legislature did not call
upon him to pay four or five times the rent of the land
for permission to give away the produce (hear, hear).
That they could not afford ; and, therefore, the labourer
had the mortification of seeing that the malt tax operated
so severely and injuriously upon him as to prevent him
deriving advantage from the tod of his hands, and
although, if there were no tax, he could get a sufficient
quantity of good home-brewed beer, he was now compelled
to drink water. If he had no fear of being charged with
repeating what might be called a cuckoo note, that he
had frequently brought forward this subject with all his
energy during the last 30 years, and during the whole
of that time he had never met with a man hardy enough
to say that the agricultural labourer ought not to have
beer (hear, hear) ; and without the least fear of con-
tradiction he would say, that it was nothing but the high
duty on malt which prevented him having it ; and he
did hope that the legislature would attend to the remon-
strance, the petition, and the representations which
he was sure would go from that meeting, and which
would be much better explained by the gentlemen who
would speak to the resolutions, than he could possibly
attempt. He knew his want of oratorical powers,
and, therefore, nothing but his zeal in the cause
could tempt him to occupy the proud position in
which that meeting had placed him. He had no
doubt that, however people might talk about the
property tax, every one must think that it was far
better to tax almost anything rather than the labouring
man's beverage. If they only looked at the juatice of
the case, they would soon see how much the interests of
the labouring jjoor had been neglected in the reduction
of the taxation. At the termination of the late war,
they were all pleased that 16,000,000/. of property tax
were taken of ; but then the labouring man was not at
all relieved by that, for he had paid none before {hear,
hear). It M^as true that half the duty on foreign wine
had been taken off, but then the labouring man never
drank it ; and, therefore, as he never paid any part
of the duty, he consequently was not relieved by its
reduction to one-half. He had hoped that long before

this, the legislature would have thought it right to have
taken the desperate condition of the agricultural labourer
into their consideration — a class of men who were
crushed to the ground by their extreme privations.
Ultimately, he was sure, the repeal of the malt tax must
take place (hear, hear). With this observation he
would conclude.

Mr. Baker then rose to move the first resolution.
He said it was with great pleasure that he proposed
the resolution in his hand, upon this most important
question, connected as it was with the agricultural
interest, whether they viewed it as affecting the land-
lord, the tenant, the labourer, or the community at
large (hear, hear). It had been iaid, in Sacred
Writ, that " Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that tread-
eth out the corn" (hear, hear) ; and he thought they
might apply the same obligation to him by whose toil,
and skill, and labour, barley was produced (hear, hear).
The condition of the labourer had at length obtained
special attention on the part of the public (hear, hear);
all other things had progressed, and had gone on pro-
gressing, for the last century, but the labourer
had been retrograding in an extraordinary degree ; he
had been prevented from obtaining a beverage that was
necessary to give him strength to perform his labour
(hear, hear). He was sure that none of the gentlemen
who then heard him were actuated by mere selfish
interests ; they had not come forward to complain that
the price of barley was not sufficiently high — neither
in order to maintain that price ; it was not their
intention to endeavour to get rid of the malt tax that
they might be benefited in a pecuniary view, but in
order to relieve the labourers of the kingdom, who
were compelled to toil day after day, and week after
week, v.ithout having the satisfaction of tasting one
drop of ale to comfort them in their labour, except such
as they could get from the beer-house. That these
beer-houses had produced much evil there was no
doubt, but he could not charge the evil upon the
labourer ; for if the legislature did not give him the
opportunity to brew at home, he was nesessarily forced
to procure his ale or his beer from one or other of those
most iniquitous dens. He went there to procure perhaps
only a single pint, but when he was once seated in the
house, he was easily induced to take two, and thus
one-fourth of the whole of his day's earnings was
immediately gone in the obtaining of that which was
not half sufficient to satisfy his appetite. The next
night he expended another portion of his earnings,
and by this course of conduct the family were at
length obliged to apply for assistance at the union-
house, from the labourer's propensity to drink — a pro-
pensity which had been produced because the legis-
lature had prevented him from obtaining a goodand whole-
some beverage at home. During the last century the po-
pulation had nearly quadrupled, but for the last fifty years
they had been almost stationary as to the quantity of beer
produced, and it must be evident to every one that with
an increasing population the labourer could not have the
same means as formerly of obtaining ale, for the consump-
tion would have necessarily increased in the same ratio as
the population had done. He considered that beer was al-
most as necessary as bread (hear, hear) , and the labourer
would, if possible, obtain it at any price. The malt-tax
pressed unequally upon society — it was a most unjust
tix, and had no parallel. They all knew that the con-
sumption of beer in a farm-house was formerly double in
quantity what it was now, and the only reason why the
quantity had been so diminished vs as the high price of the
art'cle from which that beer was produced. It had
been said that if the tax upon malt were removed, the
price of barley would necessarily be increased, and thus
the labourer would be prevented from obtaining any

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

603

benefit from its removal. This argument was not
based on truth ; he thought that no one could argue ,
from an increase of consumption in an article now
limited in its production, but that the growth would
extend, or the value of the article advance. Now
he was sure that the value would not advance (hear),
but he was equally sure that the growth would
increase in a tenfold degree (hear, hear). All those
soils that were now not calculated to grow barley
fine enough for malting purposes while the tax stood
unrepealed — all those soils would come into cultivation
for the growing of barley, for making of malt, were
that tax removed ; therefore a new field would here be
opened to give full employment to the agricultural
labourer, by bringing his power to bear upon the soil
{loud cries of " Hear, hear"). This point bethought
of the greatest consequence at the present moment
{hear, hear) , because by this means most of the unem-
ployed labourers, now in considerable numbers, would
be employed in the production of barley for the pur-
poses of malt; and the farmer, who was, perhaps, now
obliged to feed out his barley that he could not con-
vert otherwise, on account of its not being sufficiently
good, would then malt it (hear, hear). There were
two ways in which this would assist the farmer — it
would equalize the value of his barley, and procure liim a
fair and remunerating jjrice. They had seen barley
below 1/. per quarter. It was true that the price was
now rising, but that was only on account of the
quantity being reduced ; but when the price was low
they soon had a large importation of foreign corn,
and they were necessarily compelled to submit to a
price far from remunerating (hear, hear). Whenever
barley rose to a price beyond that at which it might be
supposed to arrive — from such consequences as a short
supply, as at the present moment — barley of an in-
ferior quality did not come into use for malting ; and
thus the price was kept up beyond that at which the
best article might otherwise have been used. If the
malt tax were repealed by the legislature, a greater sym-
pathy would exist between the employer and the em-
ployed; labour would be more cheerfully performed, and
we should thus obtain a hearty concurrence of that
good feeling which ought to exist, and which used to
exist, between master and man. The tax upon malt is
an unequal tax, because beer is consumed principally by
the labouring classes ; the strength of beer which is
brewed for agricultural purposes, is something like three
hogsheads from one quarter of malt making 1 GO gallons of
beer, and if the cost of this quantity of malt be 40s.,
you obtain four gallons of an article better for the pur-
pose than could now be obtained at four times the
price ; four gallons of ale would thus only cost one
shilling per gallon ; now a single gallon costs as much
as four would do. He would, therefore, ask if this tax
were removed, whether the labourers would not brew
their beer in their own houses ? Before he sat down he
must allude to one important point : the duty upon
malt had realised to the revenue somewb.ere about five
millions sterling per annum, and they were told on all
hands that before they petitioned the legislature for the
repeal of so large an amount of taxation, they should be
ready to propose a remedy. Well, he was ready to pro-
pose a remedy, and that remedy was — a continuance of
the property tax (hear, hear, and loud cheers). He
considered a property tax superior in a ten-fold degree
to a tax upon malt. Nothing could be more just than a
property tax, and if a sufficient sum could not be raised
at 3/. per cent., he would, without hesitation, say, let
it be increased to a sufficiently high jjcr-centage to pre-
vent a deficiency (hear, hear). If their opponents
could offer no other reason for their opposition to get-
ting rid of the malt tax than that of the substitution of a

property tax, that would be to him a sufficient reason for
attempting it ; for by this means we should be removing
a large amount of taxation from the shoulders of those
who were incapable to those who were capable of paying it
(hear hear). He would nottakeupany more of their time,
further than requesting thehearty co-operation of the ag-
riculturists of England, for without hearty co-operation
they would fail (hear, hear). They must he prepared for
serious opposition to their measures; wherever they went
they would find their opponents attempting to smother the
agitation of this subject. It had been said that the
government would be placed in financial difficulties by
the removal of this iniquitous tax ; he did not wish to
place them in an improper situation in this respect ; the
way was clearly open to them, and he was sure there would
be no difficulty if the government would act but fairly
and honourably, as they ought to do towards the agricul-
turists f hear, hear). He would not propose any measure
that would paralyse the arm of government (hear, hear),
he would not stand forward for onemoment if he supposed
it would have such an effect ; but when he found this tax
pressing most oppressively, injuriously, and iniquitously,
he might say, upon the labouring agricultural classes, he
felt himself bound, fully and explicitly, to state his
opinions, regardless of all consequences. Though they
had been for many years unsuccessfully attempting the
removal of this tax, circumstances were far more favour-
able for such a course than formerly. The agricultural
classes were growing into importance every day (hear,
hear). By the assistance of agricultural societies they
had been enabled to speak out ; and though it might
not produce a sudden impression upon the mind of the
public, it did make an impression. He did not appre-
hend that they might attain the repeal of this tax in a
week, in a month, in a year, or in a session, but if they
persevered they would assuredly gain it. Let them put
their shoulders to the wheel, and not call upon Hercules
for assistance until they had seen that they could not
obtain assistance among themselves ; then, if they could
nor, let them call upon those above for assistance. He
would rather have this measure carried by the farmer
and the tenant than by those above them. He had
great pleasure in offering to the opinion of the meeting
the resolution which had been put into his hands, which
was as follows : —

' ' That it is the opinion of this meeting that the malt
tax is unjust in principle and oppressive in its operation,
inasmuch as it is inflicted almost entirely upon the work-
ing classes of this country, and more especially upon the
agricultural labourers, who are by its operation taxed to
such an extent as to prohibit the use of the beverage
best adapted to their wants, unless it is obtained through
the medium of beer-houses, the demoralisation arising
from which has of late become so grievously apparent."

Mr. Anderson, Oakley, seconded the resolution. He
entirely concurred with every sentiment uttered by the
gentleman who preceded him, and he would use every
exertion in his power to accomplish the object which they
all had in view.

The resolution was then put, and carried unani-.
mously.

Mr. Weall then proposed the second resolution,
which was as follows : — " That the operation of the tax
limits the consumption of barley to such an extent that
in plentiful seasons it falls far below a remunerating
price to the farmers, whilst, on the contrary, in seasons
of scarcity the use of the inferior descriptions of barley
cannot be made available ; and as a considerable propor-
tion of the consumption of malt is used by the farmers,
it becomes a charge on them to the full value of the bar-
ley, and in those counties where barley is grown exten-
sively it amounts to a sum as great as the whole of the
rent."

504

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

After reading the resolution, Mr. Weall said there never
was a season when the wants of the labouring man should
be more attended to than at the present moment. They
had all heard of many agricultural meetings having taken
place, and of many speeches having been made, on behalf
of the allotment system and of general emigration. On
these subjects there were great differences of opinion ;
but as it regarded the necessity of attending to the wants
of the labourer, they were all agreed. He did not believe
there was any county or parish in this kingdom where they
would find that there was one agricultural labourer more
than was necessary for the tillage of the soil (loud cries
of Hear.) They had all been told that the farmers should
give employment to the labouring men ; but they had
never been told how they were to procure the means of
paying them (It is true, and Hear) , government having
taken 20 or 25 per cent, from the price of corn by the
new duty. Everything had been so altered by the new
tariff and the new duty, as to make a reduction in prices
of full 20 per cent. ; and, in addition to this reduction in
price, the expenses were now 60s. per acre, whereas
formerly they were only 40s. Could that state of things
go on long ? (loud cries of No.) The malt tax pressed
with unjust severity upon the poor man. Some years
ago the beer duty had been taken off, and it was said at
that time that it was a great boon to the farmers of Eng-
land ; but he had then told them it was no boon — it was
not worth one farthing to the farmer, but was only a
boon to the brewer. (Hear, hear.) He should have
felt pleased beyond everything had the malt duty been
taken off, because the farmer and the labourer would
then both have been materially benefited. What boon
was it to the labourer, or to the farmer, in consequence
of having no opportunity of getting his beer at home, to
oblige him to resort to the beer-shop, and thus reduce
him to poverty and destitution ? If he had had the op-
portunity of making malt in his own house he would not
have gone to the beer-house. It was one of the greatest
boons that landlords could bestow that farmers should be
furnished witli sufficient means for the accommodation of
labourers on their farms. Let the men have an interest
in the soil ; let the man come back into his garden when
he has finished the other employments of the day ; let
him have some comfortable home-brewed beer, and he
will become a better servant of his employer, a better
father to his family, and a better subject to his sovereign.
(Hear, hear.) He hoped they would not meet any
obstacle to the reduction of this tax ; they must not be
satisfied with having made an attempt to reduce it ; as
had been said before — they must all put their shoulders
to the wheel, determined not to relax in their eflbrts till
the citadel had been gained. The manufacturing interests
were always awake, but the farmers of England had long
shown too much lukewarmness and apathy — they had
long been content in allowing others to attempt the re-
moval of their difficulties. The agriculturists were, liow-
ever, now upon the alert ; they must meet together ; the
principles of humanity and interest called upon the
farmers and landlords to care for the labourer ; let him
have an interest in the soil, and then he will be more
valuable than at present ; let everything be done to keep
him at home, and from the beer-shop, which has proved
the ruin of so many. (Hear, hear.) He had no hesita-
tion in saying, that these were the places where great
mischief was concocted — wliere great robberies and bur-
glaries were planned. They never found the contented
quiet man, one who was fond of his home, to belong to
this class ; and the.-efore they ought to be anxious that
every comfort and convenience should be brought home
to the labouring man, to induce him to remain there.
It had been said that this measure brought to the govern-
ment a large revenue, and that they could not at present
afford its removal ; but it had been, almost from time

immemorial, the custom of aU ministers of the day to lay
a tax upon that description of property from which there
was no escape. In respect to the price of barley. He did
not believe that if the malt duty were taken off, it would
be very difterent, if at all ; but it would increase its
growth. Mr. Weall concluded by moving the resolu-
tion,

Mr. Purser seconded the resolution. He coincided
with every word that had fallen from the preceding
speaker, and should be happy to give every assistance in
forwarding the common object.

The second resolution was then carried unanimously.

Mr. J. Ellman said a duty now devolved upon him
which he could not but say he was happy to undertake,
though he must crave the indulgence of the meeting for
the observations he should make. Before moving the
resolution which had been entrusted to his care, he would
trouble the meeting with a little history of the malt-tax,
and with his reasons for having laboured so heartily as
he had done. His first reason was to be found in
consequence of the very reduced circumstances of the
tenant-farmers of England, of whom he himself was
one. They must all know and feel that although the
prices of farming produce have been so very much
reduced, that their expenses had been little, if at all,
diminished. The great difficulty with which tenant-
farmers had to contend at the present moment was that
of giving employment to the labouring classes, and it
was his desire to be instrumental in so necessary an
object. That was his great inducement in offering his
opinions to that meeting. They had been told of many
plans for ameliorating the destitute condition of the
labouring classes, but at none of the county meetings
which had been held had they been told of a right plan.
They had been called upon to employ the labourers ;
they had been reminded to use science ; but the meeting
would all agree with him, that it was useless to call
upon a man to use the means which he did not possess.
He did not mean to tell them that the farmers did not
possess science, but that they did not possess sufficient
science to employ all their labourers (hear, hear).
They had been recommended to lay out their capital in
the draining of land and in cutting of hedge-rows ; but
let him ask how was the tenant-farmer to acquire the
means to make these improvements (hear, hear) ?
When he heard these recommendations he was always
happy in listening attentively to them, and he longed to
see them brought into operation (hear) , and he longed
for the time when the landlords and the land proprietors
should come forward and drain the land, charging a fair
interest for the sum expended ; but they must look a
little further, and consider the best means of giving that
relief to the labouring classes of which they stood so
much in need. Every person present was aware that
the reason why the labourers were not more regularly
in constant employ was the want of means on the
part of those who employed them (hear, hear).
The reduced means of the tenant-farmer had placed
him in such a situation that he cannot give full
employment to the labouring classes ; and unless he
do so their distresses must continue. It had been
recommended in some cases, and perhaps unwillingly,
that a reduction of wages should take place ; but what
was the consequence of a reduction of wages .' With a
decreasing consumption, by reducing the wages of the
labourer they were merely taking money out of one
pocket and putting it into another ; or, he would rather
say, putting money into one pocket by taking it out of
another. Labourers could not bear even a small reduc-
tion, and a small reduction could be of no material
benefit to the farmer ; therefore liis object was, to
remove some of the burdens which pressed upon agri-
culture, and which burdens prevented the employment

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605

of the labourer (hear, hear). When he mentioned the
word " burden," he was sometimes met by this state-
ment— " You are protected in consequence of the
burdens that do press upon agriculture." He answered,
' ' We are not protected adequately to the burdens which
do j)ress upon us." He maintained, even if they took
off tlie whole of the malt tax, that then they would not
be protected ; he could not, therefore, for one moment
consent to throw the whole weight and difficulty u})on
the labouring poor. A small tax was first placed upon
malt in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, but the tax was
extended in 1711, and what was the consequence?
Why, open rebellion in .Scotland (hear, hear), though
at this time it was only increased to four shillings per
quarter. From that time there had been frequent
additions made to this tax, and it had invariably
happened, that as the tax upon malt had increased the
consumption of barley decreased. In 1723, it appears
that the duty on malt was 4s. per quarter, the population
of England about 3,500,000, and the consumption of
malt 4,339,995 quarters. In 179G, the duty was 10s. 6d.
jicr quarter, the population 7,500,000, the consumption
3,517,750 quarters. In 1842, the duty on malt was
21s. 8d. per quarter, the population 14,000,000, the
consumption 3,869,549 quarters. By this statement, it
appeared that as the duty has increased, so has the
consumption fallen off. It is a curious fact that, in the
year ending January 5, 1840, previous to the 5 per cent,
duty on malt, the consumption of malt was 4,082,367
quarters ; in 1842, 3,869,549 ; and in 1843, still less.
This shows that the least advance of duty decreases
consumption. Tliese facts clearly showed that the
increase in the duty on malt had decreased the consump-
tion of beer. And what had been the effect .-' At the
very time when we required more labour for our popula-
tion we actually had less. The increase in the duty on
malt had decreased the consumption, and had thus
thrown out of employ the labouring classes ; and it was
with the view of giving them employment that he had,
for the last fifteen years, exerted himself for a repeal
of the malt tax. Before he concluded, he would
take the liberty of calling their attention to an im-
portant statement made lately at Litchfield by Col.
Anson. That gentleman said that the condition of
the farm labourers was a matter which required the
serious consideration of both the landlords and the
occupiers of the soil. It was one of the most difficult
subjects to meet at the present day. It was impossible
in all places, at all times, and in all circumstances, that
regular employment should be found for them ; but when
that employment was known to be insufficient and pre-
carious, it was more incumbent on the landowners and
occupiers of the soil to do everything in their power to
better their condition. It was only employment which
the poor required, and the farmer desired nothing more
than to be enabled (which at present he was not) to meet
the wants of the labouring classes, by affording them
sufficient employment at liberal wages ; and that he
might supply food to the community at large at the
cheapest rate, he desired to make use of the produce of
the soil to the best advantage. Now, this brought him
to the subject of the feeding of cattle ; and while there
were some differences of opinion respecting the tariff, as
to whether it afforded a sufficient protection to the Eng-
lish grazier; while there was a large importation of
foreign meat into this country, it was absolutely neces-
sary that the English grazier should be enabled to feed
his cattle to the best advantage (hear, hear). It had
been stated to him by a gentleman whom he had
hoped to have seen at the meeting that day, Mr.
Hudson, of Castle Acre, Norfolk, that he consumed
no less than 200 tons of oil-cake every year, and he said
if the duty on malt were repealed, that he would use

nothing but malt in feeding his cattle (hear, hear) ; and
if one man would use 200 tons, he should like to know
whether the consumption of barley would not be much
increased, and much additional amount of employment
given to the labouring classes {hear, hear) ? There had
been several objections raised against the repeal of the
malt-tax which required answers. It had been said that
the government could not spare the tax, and if this tax
be repealed, the property tax must necessarily be con-
tinued. He did not believe that the objection would be
repeated ; upon reflection, he felt convinced that those
persons who had made them would not tender those ob-
jections in future, because he was sure that they could
not mean to tell him, in other words, that government
could not afford to give full employment to the people
(hear, hear) ; that government could not afford to place
the farmers in a position to act the best for a com-
munity ; that the government could not afford to allow
the poor man and the labourer to have his beer at his
own fireside ; that it could not afford to draw the poor
man from the infamous hell that it has sent him to —
the beer-shop ; and that the government could not afford
to put the farmer in a position to give, as Colonel Anson
obsei-ved, full employment to the labouring classes at
liberal wages (hear). He would not take up more of
their time, although he was perfectly prepared to go into
the subject at much greater length, as they would have
future opportunities of discussing these points. He
would do his best in his humble manner to effect the
repeal of so iniquitous a tax. He concluded by moving
the third resolution : — "That the committee be requested
forthwith to adopt such measures as they may consider
proper for the purpose of carrying out the object of this
meeting, reporting their proceedings to another general
meeting, to be convened by the committee as early as
possible."

Mr. Shaw had great pleasure in seconding the reso-
lution which had just been moved. He felt it quite un-
necessary to occupy the time of the meeting, for he was
sure that every one who had come there was fully con-
vinced of the impolicy of the malt tax (hear, hear).
The few observations that he should address to them
would have reference to the working operations of the
committee. It was not enough for the farmers of Eng-
land to meet in that room and give their assent to the
resolutions proposed, and then be contented with the
part which they had taken. The repeal of the malt tax
would not be carried without putting into operation the
great machine which was now fashionably brought into
use upon all occasions — viz., a pressure from without
(hear, hear). Scarcely any measure, especially since
the modern school of politics had been introduced, had
been carried without that pressure, and nothing but the
united co-operation of the farmers of England could in-
sure their success. They ought to use the same measures
that had been adopted by other parties on other subjects.
Governments were made of squeezable materials (laugh-
ter, and Hear, hear), and they might depend upon it
that if the farmers did not squeeze something out of
them, others wovdd. He would therefore urge upon every
one present to use his individual exertions in forming
committees and getting subscriptions, both of which
were necessary in order to procure a repeal of the malt
tax ; for he was sure that if they worked with energy
they must succeed. He concluded by seconding the
resolution, which was carried unanimously.

Mr. Fisher Hobbs had great pleasure in taking part
in the proceedmgs of the day, and was sure that they all
felt with him that it was a duty they owed to society to get
rid of a tax that oppressed the labouring orders much more
than any other. As practical men, they must agree with
him that the want of the wholesome beverage of beer
amongst the labouring classes had tended very much

506

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diminish their comfort and their strength, and in numerous
instances cause desease and death amongst them. They
must all have seen, while going through the union houses
throughout the kingdom, numerous children who had
lost their fathers from being obliged to drink water, and
in many instances where they drank spirits, from not
having it in their power to procure the wholesome
beverage of beer. Some men, with large families, had
drunk water till they brought on the disease of con-
sumption. If they used proper exertions to get this tax
repealed they must succeed. The moral condition of our
labourers requires that the government should no longer
withhold this boon, for it would improve his moral con-
dition, as well as recruit his health and strength. After
some further observations, Mr. Hobbs concluded by
stating that it would be evident to all, that the operations
of the committee could not be carried on without funds,
and, therefore, he would propose a resolution to that
effect, viz. — " That a subscription be immediately com-
menced in aid of the above object, and that the com-
mittee do use their strenuous endeavours to increase the
same."

The resolution being seconded by Mr. Whitaker,
was carried unanimously.

Mr. Baker again rose, and stated that it was compe-
tent to every gentleman present to put his name down
upon the list of the committee ; they had already one
hundred names in that list, of the most influential agri-
culturists in the kingdom from every ])art. They had
received letters from a vast many more, who, although
they declined to act upon the committee, gave their
hearty assent to the means to be adopted ; and others
had promised, by their subscriptions, to aid them in their
work. They had also received letters from the secre-
tai-ies of various agricultural societies, conveying resolu-
tions expressive of their approval in the measures which
had been adopted, and tendering their hearty co-opera-
tion in the cause. There are some also in the back-
ground who do not at present appear, and they
thought it better not to call upon members of parlia-
ment in the first instance, but to show them that the
cause had been taken up in such a manner that they could
not fail m joining them. There are gentlemen connected
with the malting trade who have stated their acquiescence
in it. A very influential maltster, who met him on his
way up to town, said to him, that whatever might be the
opinions entertained upon this subject, his experience
testified that the loss by the malt tax to retail maltsters
was greater than any advantage they could obtain by
holding government money in their hands. Upon every
quarter of malt lost by bad debts, a large proportion was
lost of hard cash paid to the government. Some of the
maltsters supposed that the repeal of the tax would
destroy the monopoly that they enjoyed, and therefore
they could not expect from them hearty co-operation in
this measure. Last week he met with one of the most
influential brewers of London, and he said it was im-
possible that we could carry this measure ; he said that
we ought to be content with the price of barley, for we
got 40s. a quarter for it ; but then he forgot to tell us,
that the farmers this year had only half a crop. (Hear,
hear.) This same brewer told me that they had got our
seed introduced into foreign parts. The growth of bar-
ley abroad was extending by the introduction of English
seed, especially Chevalier from this country, and that
would of course go far to interfere with the growth of this
kingdom. This same London brewer told me that he
had purchased 2,500 qrs. of barley from Stael, of a qua-
lity nearly equal to our own growth, at 30s. per qr. ;
duty, and with all expenses paid, it would only cost him
34s. per qr. He felt convinced that this fact would suffi-
ciently warrant him in calling upon the agriculturists
of England to get the malt tax repealed.

After it had been agreed to, that the maximum of sub-
scriptions should be limited to one guinea each person, a
vote of thanks to the chairman for his impartial conduct
in the chair that day was unanimously agreed to ; and
this preliminary meeting separated.

Many of the gentleraeu present banded in their sub-
scriptions to the Secretary.

DEATH OF THE RIGHT HON. LORD
WESTERN.

(from the ESSEX HERALD.)

We regret we have to announce the death of Lord
Western, which took place at Felix Hall, about nine
o'clock on Monday morning. Connected as his lord-
ship was for so many years with this county, as one of
its representatives in Parliament, as well as chairman of
the quarter sessions, and known as he was throughout
the kingdom as one of those leading spirits who, while
he stood forward to assert the claims and defend the
rights of agriculture, sought, by judicious improvements
and experiments, to set an example for advancing it as a
science, we are sure that that regret will be shared not
only in Essex, but by large classes throughout the
country. His lordship had long felt the gradual decay
and the increasing feebleness of a ripe old age, for he
was verging towards fourscore, and for some years had
taken no active part in political or public aifairs, though
occasional letters from his pen showed that his mind, so
far from sharing the body's decline, was still clear and
vigorous. Finding himself inadequate to bear the
fatigues of its duties, his lordship resigned the chairman-
ship of the sessions some years since. For the last few
weeks a medical gentleman had remained constantly in
the house, little hopes being entertained of the venerable
lord's recovery.

His lordship, who was the son of Charles Western,
Esq., of Riven Hall, by the daughter and heiress of
William Bolland, Esq., of London, was born in 1767 ;
and after being educated at Eton and Cambridge, entered
Parliament for the borough of Maldon, in 1790. He
attached himself to the old whig party, and to these
principles he ever remained consistent, refusing to trim
and modify them to suit modern tastes and modern
circumstances ; and this rigid consistency latterly
rather alienated him from the party with whom he had
so long been accustomed to act. He continued to sit
for Maldon till 1812, when he obtained a seat for the
county, and remained in the House of Commons till
1 832. During this long pei'iod of 42 years he often took
an active part in the business of the house, particularly
on the corn-laws and the currency question. Whenever
the agricultural interest was concerned he was sure to be
found at his post, and his speeches, from his great
practical knowledge of the subject, were always listened
to with attention. If not the author, he was one of the
leading promoters of the corn bill of 1815 ; and he ever
remained a staunch advocate for protection, opposing
as strenuously the proposed fixed duty of the whigs as he
did the doctrines of the League ; and only last year, on
the formation of the Protection Society, he liberally
contributed to its funds. With respect to the currency,
he was opposed to the principles which have of late years
been adopted ; he attributed much of the embarrassment
and distress which have at diff'erent periods prevailed to
this cause ; and he endeavoured, most laboriously, both
by his speeches and his pamphlets, to enforce his own
views on this subject.

His lordship steadily supported the liberal party in
their long struggle for reform ; and he contributed to
the ultimate triumph in 1831 ; but the passing of the
Reform Bill cost him his seat for Essex. On the divi-

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

507

sion of the county undei" the provisions of that measure, I
he became a candidate for the northern division, but he
was defeated by Sir John Tyrrell and Mr. Baring, a cir-
lumstance which, it was understood, induced Lord
3Ielbourne, as a reward for his long and consistent servi-
ces, to call him to the upper house immediately, by the
title of Baron Western, of Riven-hall ; and his political
friends in the county also testified their esteem for him by
presenting him, at a public dinner at the Shire Hall,
attended by 400 gentlemen, with a splendid piece of plate.

Since that period his lordship had lived in comparative
retirement, seldom taking part in the debates of the
House of Lords. A great portion of his time was sedu-
lously devoted to practical improvements in farming ;
and in this department his name will long rank with
tliose of a Spencer and a Coke, as a benefactor of agri-
culture. His farm was a leading object with the agri-
cultural tourist in this part of the kingdom, as Felix
Hall, filled as it was with objects of virtu, principally
collected in Italy, was highly attractive to the antiqua-
rian and the man of taste : and a welcome and ready
hospitality was always extended to those who called to
inspect either the farm or the mansion.

Lord Western was never married ; he has no brothers ;
and the title, we believe, is extinct.

REVIE^^^

LECTURES TO FARMERS ON AGRICULTURAL
CHEMISTRY.
By Alexander Petzholdt.
London : Taylor and Walton, 1844.
This most useful and interesting work has just ap-
peared ; we regret we have not space to give a fuller
notice of it, or make an extract of some of the interest-
ing matter it contains. We cannot but agree with the
talented author in saying — ' ' To do as their fathers have
done, especially when they can refer to predecessors
successful in the pursuit of fortune, is deemed to be an
unquestionable proof of wisdom. But this is a great
error. As time advances, circumstances change ; and
as every other interest around him improves, the farmer
must arouse himself to find better means of cultivating
his land, and surer methods of obtaining good crops
than were known to his forefathers. He will have the
foreign corn grower to contend with, and where can he
look for asistance except to the discoveries of science '
What better method of travelling could at one time have
been dreamed of than the mail coach ? Yet science has
established railways. What success more brilliant could
be expected than was achieved by the British navy during
the last war ? Yet it has been decided that a knowledge
of abstract science is indispensable to the future protec-
tion of the country. In like manner the next generation
of farmei's, if the soil is to be cultivated with success,
must be acquainted with the natural sciences, with
botany, geology, and, above all, with chemistry. When
the scientific principle upon which the art of agriculture
depends shall be fully known, and the practice founded
on it generally followed, the amount of our present crops
will be as much a subject of tradition as the pace of the
old stage coach, which dawdled away twelve hours in
accomplishing a journey of seventy miles. But is it
wise, it may be asked, to postpone the benefits of science
to the next generation .' Would it not be well to seize
at once on every assistance offered for the advancement
of this supremely important art .' Doubtless it would ;
and if but few persons, after they have arrived at man-
hood, can become qualified to be discoverers in the
science, no man need refuse to benefit by the discoveries
of others. In order to do this, a certain amount of in-
formation on scientific subjects is indispensable. The
farmer must know something of the composition of the
various plants he cultivates, and of the manures which

he carries on his lands, before he can derive any advan-
tage from the statements made of the benefit of this or
that substance to various crops. A very little such
knowledge, provided it be really scientific, will enable
him to escape being misled by interested persons, or
from purchasing materials as manures which are either
useless in themselves or arc sold at ten times their real
value." We consider this an excellent book for the un-
initiated in agricultural chemistry.

AGRICULTURAL SUGGESTIONS.

The preparation of seed-corn, the seasons and
methods of sowing, become daily of more im-
portance. We look through the columns of the
agricultural magazines and journals, and perceive
that these subjects are constantly agitated ; but, at
the same time, there is not one individual sug-
gestion, one mode of jjractice, or one recorded re-
sult, which does not form matter of doiibt, dispu-
tation, or almost rude contradiction. An attempt
to bring about uniformity of opinion would be
hopeless and futile ; but there are general prin-
ciples which cannot be disputed legitimately, and
these it is proposed from time to time to advert
to, not that there can be either hope or expectation
that the farmer of ordinary routine will bend, or is
capable of bending his attention to any one of
them, but with the view to stimulate inquiry in
quarters more or less influential. Such are our
societies wherein questions are agitated with free-
dom, and experiments noticed and duly recorded.

The first subject which now presents itself is the
steeping of seed-corn, with a view to increased pro-
ductiveness : the practice and theory of it, to a
certain extent, are not new ; bvit we are indebted to
Mr. James Campbell, of Dundee, for bringing it
again before the agricultural public, at a time when
chemical science is in a position to bring it to the
test of severe and correct experiment. A very few
years have passed since every phenomena of affinity
and attraction would have been referred to fictitious
agencies. To Lavoisier and Priestley we are in-
debted for the first dav\m of that light which has
already increased to effulgence. Now, therefore,
when a preparation or combination of sahne bodies
is annoimced, the agricidtural chemist is prepared
to determine its applicability to the object pro-
posed ; and thus in the steeping of seeds, the
chemical ultimate elements of those seeds being
known, it becomes comparatively easy to decide
whether by artificial means the vitality and pro-
ductive power of the seeds can be increased.

Mr. Campbell has acted upon these principles : so
did his predecessor ninety years ago. But the latter,
in his attempts to explain, did little more than
" darken counsel by words without knowledge."
We shall look at the facts as they now actually
exist, referring it to our rising agricultural colleges
to determine (for it is their pecuhar office) whether
the theory be or be not based npon philosophical
truth. The seeds of corn contain vegetable albu-
men, starch, and farinaceous meal ; hence their
ultimate elements are oxygen, hydrogen, and
carbon, in difterent proportions, those of the starch
being in a condition whence, by a slight modifica-
tion, they may assume the condition of grape-
sugar. A considerable quantity of nitrogen is

508

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

found in gluten and albumen. Now, in preparing
his steeps, Mr. Campbell has endeavoured — so he
tells us — to realize " that boast of science which
some years ago prophetically asserted that the time
would come when one might carry in his pocket
matter sufficient to manure an acre of land."

It is impossible at present to say whether " the
boast" must pass as such, as the vain impulsive
imaginings of a visionary mind, or whether Mr.
Campl)ell has made good his own assertion — that
"after impregnation with the liquids the seed pos-
sesses toithin itself elements which not only afford
additional nourishment to the grain during the
progress of gennination, but communicate to the
expanding vessels of the plant an aptitude to ab-
sorb food, both from the soil and atmosphere."

Since the above sentence was written, the post
brought a foho-sheet of testimonials, tending to show
that success jvistifies theory, though it is admitted
(as was manifestly seen in Berkshire with the bar-
ley) that "the last spring and summer, on
account of the long continued drought, were, on
the whole, exceedingly unpropitious to the success
■ of the experiments \vith the corn-steej^ing prepara-
tions," as indeed had been the case, according to
Dr. Buckland, with trials of true-imported (juano.

Willing to i)rove all things, and to do our ut-
most to assist agriculture in every possible way
(yet perfectly prepared to doubt till facts reveal the
trvith), it is very painful to witness the apathy of
the farmer, and his unwillingness to dej^art from
ordinary routine.

No etFort was spared to urge a trial with wheat
during the present season, but without avail ; and,
therefore, unaided by any one, excepting a scientific
gentleman, a neighliour, who is determined to
devote his land to experiment, a comparative trial
with two sorts of wheat steeped, and one not
steeped, is in progress on the same spot, with the
the express object of determining at the same time
(season and casualties permitting) the value of the
steejjs and the utility of dibbling, in order to report
accurately the results to the Royal Agricultural
Society.

In the course of preparation l)y steeping, it be-
came necessary to ascertain how far the seeds were
impregnated by the ^salts, which, in this case, ap-
pear to be nitrate of potassa and sulphate of am-
monia. After drying, the seeds not sown were
kept for a considerable time, and then tried for
ammonia by moistening the husks of three of each
sort with a solution of potassa. The ammoniacal
odour, excited by the more powerful affinity of
the sulphuric acid for the potash, could not be
mistaken ; it was perceptibly pungent ; bvxt, had it
not been so, the white fumes which became visible
ujion presenting the glass stopper of a muriatic
acid bottle would have decided the matter.

Thus, two facts of importance were substantiated
— 1st, that the seeds had imbibed a powerful dose
of nitrogenous salts ; and 2nd, that they had re-
tained those salts for a considerable period ; and
this leads to the consideration lohether the corn so
replete tvith salts are not armed against grub and
ivire-worm. At a meeting lately held in Scotland,
among other questions concerning the effects of
diverse steeps (blue vitrioHor one), that of the we-

worm was considered, and it was asserted that a
solution of common salt, so strong as to sustain an
egg, would effectually guard the seed without in-
juring its vitality. If common salt will do this, the
salts of ammonia, from their acrid pungency, ought
to be far more available ; therefore, it becomes im-
portant to try the efficacy of such steeps for the ex-
press purpose of security ; and then, if it appear
that prolificity is at the same time increased, two
valuable objects will be realized by one application.

There is another point which ought to be kept in
view when ammoniacal steeps are employed; it refers
to the drying ofthe seed after the required immersion.
Mr. Campbell now observes that in the " Direc-
tions for use" instructions were given as to the
mode of drying the seed, but these were only in-
tended to be put into use in the case of " its being
necessary to keep the grain some time before sow-
ing. The grain should be soivn whenever it is taken
out of the steep, being, in that state, free enough
for broad-cast, and a short time employed in
dripping Avill render it fit for drill-sowing."

This is all very well now, but farmers have been
sadly perplexed in the process of drying, and some
writers have been at pains to recommend a very
singular method of performing it.

If any drying, beyond simple exposure to a cur-
rent of dry air, be required, the corn being spread
thin on a floor, the farmer must at least be cautioned
to avoid the ajjplication of lime. We have heard
and read a great deal of the fixation of ammonia
by gypsum and sulphuric acid, and this fixation is
effected by the affinity that exists between ammo-
nia and the mineral acids ; but although it be fixed
or neutrahzed during its condition of a neutral
salt^that is, as a sulphate, nitrate, or muriate, yet
its attractive affinity is comparatively feeble ; and,
therefore, if lime — even lime water — be applied to
seed imbued with any one of the aforenamed salts,
the acid will be seized by the hme, the ammonia
set free and evolved in a state of a pungent gas. The
steep, therefore, so far as the ammonia is concerned,
would thus be rendered effete and valueless.

It is to be regretted that science is too often con-
verted into a mere nomenclature, and really it is
painfully amusing to witness the existing glib effu-
sion of terms, when it is manifest that too many
who utter them are perfectly ignorant of the ele-
ments to which they refer. Here we find another
powerful argument for the institution and effectual
"appointment" of agricultural colleges. It has been
our aim and earnest effort to bring about this great
object; years have elapsed since the thing itself
was hinted at, and from that moment we have
given the public no rest — in season and out of sea-
son, urging, intreating, and appealing to the best
feelings of those who are powerful and influential.
And we now repeat our urgency, while we perceive
the first steps towards an advance, and welcome
the possibility that agriculture may in time take
rank among the sciences. But of one thing the
public may rest assured, that whatever local benefit
may be derived from a few institutions, there wiU
be no such thing as a general diffusion of accurate
knowledge till every county, every locality of any
importance possess its own institution, capable of
determining its own peculiar capabilities. J. T,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

509

ON THE AD\'Ax\TAGES OF BONE MA-
NURE TO THE AGRICULTURE OF
CHESHIRE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — Ha\'ing within the last ten j'ears traversed
over a great extent of the county of Cheshire, and
almost wholly on agricultural investigations, many
■ opportunities have been aflbrded me of examining
the extraordinary ert'ects of bone manure on the
different soils in that county. Perhaps some de-
tailed account of what I have seen may be interest-
ing to many of your farming friends located in
other parts of the kingdom.

Cheshire, it is well knouoi, is a great cheese-
making county, and within the last 20 years a -vast
extent of its pastures have undergone an almost
inconceivable amelioration from the application of
bone manure. In the year 1838 1 ins])ected a
farm in Ashley Township, Bucklow Hundred.
The occupier of this farm — a tenacious soil — had, in
about nine months up to August, expended £250 in
bones, all of which he had applied to his pastui'e
lands; at that time so poor that the herbage on seve-
ral fields in the month of August, though no stock
had l)een on them during the summer, was so scanty
that not more than 20 stones of hay could have been
obtained from them; indeed, this was the computa-
tion made at the time by a practical friend who
accompanied me, our business being entirely to
examine the land in its conditions both i)rior to
and after being 1)one-dusted. The bones used in
this case were what are understood as boiled
bones, that is, they are stewed in a digester at a
high degree of heat, for 30 or 40 hours, and in
this process a considerable proportion of the gela-
tinous and oily matters are extracted from them.

It will, perhaps, be necessary here to observe,
that the land we examined had been under the
management, or, more properly, mismanagement of
being disposed to growing grain; but whether in
corn or grass, it had been from time immemorial
extremely poor; the then occupier having only
the previous year taken hold of it, and his purpose
was to keep it in grass pastures for dairy stock.

In the second year of his tenancy, 1839, the stock
of cows here were only seven in number, the farm
98 acres ; in 1842 the cow stock had been increased
to 24; and in the autumn of that year the farmer
told me his keep was so abundant that he purposed
buying sheep to consume the autumnal grass with.
In November last I again inspected this farm : the
weather had then been wet for several weeks, and
I was sorry to see so much good herbage almost
lost for want of the bone-dusted land being suffi-
ciently drained.

Another farm I inspected is 137 acres, about
one-half of which is strong loam on clay, and the
remainder rather a light ferraginous soU, resting
on shale marl, or red sandstone ; 1 7 acres of this
farm are permanent meadow, G5 acres pasture, and 35
m consecutive husbandry. The tenant of this farm
has only been here four years, and in that period
has expended £300 in bone dust, besides effecting
other improvements in draining, marling, and ma-
nuring. I went over this farm the first year of the

tenant's occupancy; he had then 24 dairy cows,
3 farm horses, which the farm woidd barely keep,
and all his young stock were sent to a pubUc ley.
In 1843, stock on this farm was 30 dairy cows, 4
horses, 11 heifers and yearlings. Instances of this
character, and so decidedly exhibiting the value of
bone manure to the grass land of every character in
the county, except the arid sands, near Delamere,
may be adduced from every district within it.

Mr. Thomas Stretch, of Aston-by-Sutton, an
excellent farmer, gives it as a general estimation
from his own experience, that one ton of bone
manure applied to an acre of pasture land, will, in
many cases, make it of three times its former value
as to productiveness, supposing it had not been so
treated before. Mr. Wild, of Waverham, Mr. War-
burton, of Sandiway, and Mr. Wright, of Norley, all
great improvers, and each of them occupying more
or less extent of porous soil, all bear testimony to
the great advantages bone manure has been to
them in almost every department of their opera-
tions.

Bone manure has been less introduced into the
Hundred of Worral than any other division of the
county; there are, however, from what has been
done, sufficiently gratifying residts to encourage
extensively the practice; indeed, I never heard of
a single failure from bone dust in that part of the
county. On the sterile clays, ill covered even with
the least nutrition of vegetation, bone manure soon
effects a decided change. The hypnum tribes or
mosses, and the carex panicea, or pink grass, soon
disappear, and a fine rich sward of the noblest
grasses to be seen on the best grass lands take their
place.

On an estate in Aston-juxta-Mundrum, Nant-
wich Hundred, a piece of land, which previous to
being bone-dusted scarcely grew any other plant
than the carex, is now a beautiful jjasture of
trifolium pratense, or perennial red clover ; cow
grass, or trifolium medium perennial ; trefoil, or
trifolium procambus. Precisely similar results have
followed from bone manure in the township of
Cholmondeston, in the same district.

On all tenacious soils the change in the vegeta-
tion is veiy nearly the same as last described.
StiU, in the quantity actually produced, there ap-
pears to be much difference. In December last, I
examined a field, part of Brereton Hall Farm,
Broxton Hundred. A few perches of land in the
middle of the field in question had been top-
dressed with bones in the April preceding ; about
24 cwt. to the acre had been used. From July to the
time I was there, no stock whatever had been al-
lowed to pasture the field ; and on the piece bone-
dusted there did not appear any very decided in-
crease of grass. Mr. Weaver, the tenant of this
farm, stated to me, that from his own experience
and observation, he was led to conclude that bone
manure on lands of like character to his farm did
not so much increase the quantity as the qauJitij
of the food grown, and tliat the greater weight of
cheese produced from bone-dusted land was more
consequent on the imjirovement or change in the
grass than in any incrcn^e of weight from a given
space. This view of tlie sul))ect is also entertained
by Mr. Shoi'e, of Woody Hall, and many other

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610

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

farmers in different parts of the county. Notwith-
standing this e\ddence, vvliich is undoubted as in
respect to many instances, tliere is, nevertlieless,
abundant proofs that bone manure increases the
quantity of grass produced, as well as the nature of
the herbage. In the early part of September, 1840,
I examined the effects produced by this manure on
a farm at Huxley, the property of George Wilbra-
ham, Esq. The occupier of this farm stated that
his stock was scarcely ever seen grazing on any
other than boned land ; and it was stiU so full of
keep, I could have mown in many places a good
swathe from it, principally cow grass or marl clo-
ver, white clover, and perennial trefoil ; at the
same time, the fields where the stock would not eat
were both bare and thin.

Bone manure is now becoming very common in
turnip cultivation ; I beheve good guano would be
a great auxiliary to bones for a turnip crop ; it
would assist the young plant in its earliest stage,
and the bone would support good growth in its
later stage, and also feed the succeeding crop. On
clover root, bone is perhaps the most efficacious of
all manures ; about one ton to the acre broken
small should be applied in autumn or early in
spring ; by this management a clover crop is fre-
quently increased twice what it would be under
other circumstances. Mr. Lea, of Brereton, tenant
to Mr. Swinburne, adopts this system of manuring
with spirit, and acknowledged to me that he was
amply repaid his outlay the first year.

Bone saw-dust from the comb manufacturers and
knife-handle makers is used about Mobberly for
both turnips, clover, and pasture land ; and the best
clover crops I have seen this year had been top-
dressed ^vith about 8 cwt. of bone saw-dust ; other
crops, both wheat and oats, on the same farm,
were much injured by being over-luxuriant. Mr.
Eckersley esteems it as one of the most econo-
mical of manures ; he says it is as quick in its ope-
ration as guano, produces better crops, and is more
lasting.

Much disparity of opinion exists with respect to
what particular constituent part of the bone is the
great fertilizing principle. Chemists contend it is
the phosphate of hme which is one considerable
component part (See Sir H. Davy's Agricultural
Chemistry, Lee. 6, p. 262) ; and according to the
analysis of Fourcroy and Vauquehn, this substance
exhibits in the bones of different animals in the
follo\ving proportion, viz..

Ox bones : —

Of decomposable animal matter, , 51.0

Phosphate of Lime 37.7

Carbonate of Lime. ,....., lO.O

Phosphate of Magnesia. 1.3

100

M, Merat Giiillott has given the follomng esti-
mate of the composition of the bones in different
animals : —

CahT. . . . 54.0 Phos. hme. 0. Garb. lime.

Horse.. 67.5 „ 1.25 „

Sheep.. 70.0 „ 0,5 „

Now, from these analyses it would appear that if

the fertilizing properties of bones are owing to the
phosphate of lime they contain — and I have heard
Professor Playfair state that such was the fact —
horse-bones would, therefore, be the most valuable
as a manure. Such, however, is not the case, and
this I wiU maintain as well estabUshed ; horse
bones are neither so good for the agriculturist or
the size manufacturer as neat cattle bones, nor do
they command the same price for either pm'pose.
I believe it is acknowledged by scientific men that
pure phosphate of lime will not ferment or attain a
high degree of heat spontaneously ; if this be the
fact, the bones which have been operated upon by
the distiller for the purpose of extracting oily or
gelatinous matter, still contain considerable ingre-
dients, because every farmer weU knows that boiled
bones, if laid together in considerable quantity, will
almost arrive at torrefaction of their own accord.

Some farmers prefer the boiled bone, on account
of its more immediate effect; some contend it \viU
be equally lasting to the raw bone ; others, how-
ever, are of a contrary opinion. For the last 10 years
I have had rather extensive opportunities of exa-
mining the effects and hearing the arguments both
pro and con on this question, and from my own ex-
perience I am decidedly in favour of the raw bone,
taking care they are not of those old dry sorts as
are occasionally imported ; I would also have them
broken small, and their effect will be as soon seen
as the other, and of its permanency and consequent
value I can instance a case on land now in my own
occupation. I commenced the tenancy of this in
1829; it had then been boned 35 years by the pro-
prietor at the time ; he collected the bone in a
commercial district, had them brought home, and
broken with a sledge-hammer. The land I aUudeto
is a tenacious soil, of deep staple, and some parts
naturally drj' ; others, and a great proportion, very
wet, Avith scarcely any other vegetable covering
than the small carex or pink grass ; the naturally
dry parts were, howevei', acknowledged to be the
most fertile pasture in the district, and had been so
from a few years after the bones were laid on. It
win be right to state that this land had not been
ploughed since the attempt at improving by bones.
On becoming tenant to this land I immediately set
about draining the wet parts ; in this operation we
found, at from five to six inches below the surface,
abundance of bone in much larger pieces than are
usually used now. I felt some regret, from the ap-
pearance of the land, that so much value had been
lost for so many years, and, from my then expecta-
tions, for ever lost; indeed, I thought the bones
could be of no use whatever, having continually,
and for so long a time, been in a wet situation j
however, when my draining operations had been
done about twelve months, the coarse herbage be-
gan to disappear, and the naturally wet portions of
the land is now clothed with the finest descriptions
of permanent grasses, and, I may add, equally luX'*
uriant with the best parts of the farm.

The earthy parts of a bone are so hard and so
little acted upon by atmospheric influences, that
the soluble material, and which, in my opinion, I
esteem as the most important source of fertility, is,
as it were, only let loose in extremely minute par*
tides to nourish any crop, unless powdered smaU,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE,

511

and thus exposed to the immediate effect of soils
and seasons.

In concluding this notice on bone manure, I
would just observe that a great waste or non-effect
has been occasioned by laying it on wet land, or te-
nacious land not properly drained, or not laid down
in ridges or butts of suitable form, so as to throw
all the top water into the drains or water furrows.
I would also remark that all land injured by super-
abundant moisture should be effectually drained,
before attemi)ting any other permanent improve-
ment; when help of any kind is applied to the ge-
nerality of lands, it makes the surface more tender
and liable to be poached in wet weather by the cat-
tle treading upon it ; hence the convincing neces-
sity of being effectually laid dry.

I am, sir, yours respectfully,
A Lancashire Agriculturist.

Near Manchester.

LOUGHBOROUGH AGRICULTURAL
ASSOCIATION.

'ITie quarterly meeting of the Loughborough
Agricultural Association was held at Messrs.
Fowlers', the King's Head Inn, on Thursday, the
26th September. There was a numerous and
highly respectable attendance. S, B. Wild, Esq.,
was in the chair, and Mr. Fowler occupied the
vice-chair.

The Chairman, by way of preliminary to the
proceedings, read the circular convening the
meeting, and stating the subject of discussion
which was to be introduced, namely. The present
Custom op Tenant Rights, and in what

WAY THEY may BE IMPROVED. He (the

Chairman) trusted that no gentleman in possession
of information, and inclined to impart it to others,
would wait until called upon by himself, but that
he would afford them the advantage of his science
and experience without that preliminary, other-
wise it might happen that those who were able
to give such information, might be unkno^vn
to himself, and consequently overlooked. He
begged, however, to call upon Mr, Paget to lead
the discussion.

Mr. G. Paget, of Sutton Bonningtnn, on rising
to introduce the subject above-mentioned to the
meeting, said he did so by the desire of the com-
mittee of that institution, and for this reason he
did not feel himself at liberty to refuse when called
upon by the Chairman to lead the discussion,
though well aware there were many others there
who possessed a far greater knowledge of the
question than he did, and who would be able to
bring much more practical information to it than
he was enabled to do. But he trusted he should
always be ready, as far as lay in his power, to assist
in developing any subject which might be brought
before the meeting. When he thought of the
vast importance of the subject, he wished the
task had fallen into other hands, seeing that upon
the excellence of the relation between landlord
and tenant depended so much the improvements
which were likely to take place in farming, that

the importance of the question could scarcely be
overrated. Upon this arrangement depended how
far a tenant could expect to reap the value of any
improvements he might introduce, and how far
he might feel at liberty to spend his time and ca-
pital upon improving the property of another with
a prospect of advantage to himself. In fact, a
fair tenant-right must be the first step towards
good farming {Hear, hear). Agriculturists had
had their times of trial, and he was afraid they
would have still further trials. {Hear, hear). Let
them then make the most of those times of adver-
sity, and if they could improve their property, by
lessons from sad experience, he thought it possible
that in future they might not look back upon
them with any ill-feeUng. He thought even that
times of adversity, by leading to increased exertions,
might be more useful than those of prosperity. He
was quite sure that the greatest improvements had
taken place in times of a low price for agricultural
produce. He thought it very likely they might
have those low times again ; if so, he trusted they
would be met by increased exertions and self-
reliance {Hear, hear). Perhaps it would be better
for him shortly so review the relation of landlord
and tenant — to begin, in fact, from first principles,
and from those principles to arrive at the relati^^e
rights and duties of each party, and, judging from
those rights and duties, they might be the better
able to trace what should be the feeling between
them. It appeared to him that the origin of rent
was simply this : — that the landlord had a certain
machine which would produce food, and the tenant
was able to obtain a certain quantity of produce
by the working of that machine. He (the tenant)
knowing the cost and knowing the value of the
produce, was willing to give the landlord a certain
portion of the profit for the use of the machine.
That portion must depend upon the general profits
of the countiy. The tenant would first expect
to obtain the usual rate of profit for himself; the
residue would be paid over to the landlord. This
he would take to be the " rent." Suppose, by way
of illustrating this position, that any of themselves
should be able to obtain £5 for every £lOO of capi-
tal, and supposing that by farming they would
obtain £10, they would be willing to pay to the
landlord £4, retaining £6 for themselves. He
merely took this imaginary case to show that the
rent of land must depend upon the profit derived
from the sale of produce over the cost of produc-
tion; the tenant taking first the visual interest for
his capital and payment for his labour. It was
obvious then, that increased profits arising from
improvements must ultimately increase the rent,
because it increased the value of land. In fact, aU
the science they could bring to bear to increase the
produce, and all the machinery to decrease the cost
of production, must eventually increase the rent
and find its way into the landlord's pocket. It
was true that the best educated, most active, and
industrious tenants, would be the most prosperous,
Ijecause, paying the usual rent of the countrj', they
obtained a larger produce at less cost, and, there-
fore, gained a larger increase than the usual profit
of the country. If, then, the landlords were so
much benefited by improvements, he thought they

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might be fairly called upon to take their share of
the expense necessary to detain so desirable a
result. He did not think it should be considered
entirely as a tenant's question, because he was
sure there were a great many improvements which
the tenant could not, and which it would not he
prudent for him to make, which yet would answer
exceedingly well for the landlord himself to under-
take. The distinction would be this — that such
improvements as would last for a short time only,
as in tillage, manuring, and in the general working
of the farm, would fall to the share of the tenant ;
but improvements which would last for a long
series of years made at a great expense, and from
which it would take some time ere the tenant
could reap any benefit, the landlord should bear
the greater share {Hear, hear). It was on that
account that he (Mr. Paget) did not look to the
legislature for their interference, for the remedy
lay Avith themselves. The way, in his opinion,
to get an improved tenant-right was by an increase
of knowledge, coupled with an increasing desire
between landlord and tenant to meet each
other fairly as to the things which should
tend to the benefit of each. The usual tenant-
rights of that neighbourhood he had been kindly
furnished with by Mr. Stokes. In the county
of Leicester it consisted generally of two-thirds
of the fallow crops of wheat or seed, and labour,
and upon all brush crops, ploughings, workings,
seed and sowing, and the payment of lime bills
and carriage put on the last year of the occupation,
and also for manure which has been bought ; no
allowance being made for hrae or manure when
one white crop has been taken after it has been
put on the land. The manure on some farms be-
longs to the landlord, on others to the tenant.
In all cases, where the manure belongs to the
landlord, the hay and straw are valued at a con-
suming price, and where the manure belongs to
the tenant, the hay and straw at the full value —
no allowance to the tenant for turnip fallows or
improvement, on account of the crop, to the land.
Now he (Mr. Paget) should much prefer that
in all cases the manure should belong to the
tenant, because the capital laid out and the
skill employed required a larger return than, in
the event of his leaving, the improvement would
be valued at to him. He did not deny that it
might be valued fairly, because no in-coming
tenant would object to paying a reasonable price
for improvements upon the land. Tlie custom in
the county of Derby, as regards the tenant-right,
was two-thirds of the fallow wheat, and in most
parts of the county one-half of the brush crops
of wheat, barley, and oats, or beans, seed, and
labour, with the payment for any lime put on the
land for the crops, with carriage, and also of
manure, if purchased. The turnips are consid-
ered a sufficient remuneration, without any allow-
ance to the out-going tenant for extra manure or
culti\'ation. The manure generally is the property
of the landlord. In the county of Nottingham the
custom was very much the same. Now, he (Mr.
Paget) should say, that the defective part of the
custom of tenant-right was, in the first place, that
no purchased manure, or even lime, was allowed

for, if one white crop were taken. They were quite
sure that the whole value of manure was not ex-
hausted by one white crop [Hear, hear). There
were many manures which remained in the land
for some years. In Lincolnshire it was customary
to consider that bones remained for seven years ;
and in all manures it might fairly be stated that
it required some years before the extra value could
be taken away. They re-produce themseh-es in
the increased produce, and so manure upon the
ground would be increased in quantity probably
as much as the value of manure bought. In Scot-
land he knew that a good dressing of lime was
calcrdated to last fourteen years. If that were
the case generally, surely one white crop was not
a sufficient remimeration. In Norfolk, marl was
supposed to remain more than twenty, and even
thirty years, in the ground. He beheved the
benefits from it had been observed for more than
thirty years. As far then as manures themseh'es
went, he could not think there would be much
difficulty in changing the custom of the country.
The greatest difficulty appeared to be in the costs
for draining, irrigating, and in buildings ; and here
this difficulty must always arise. Could a tenant
be remunerated for costs incurred, which it would
possibly take 15 or 20 years to repay, and where
the farm would, in 15 or 20 years, be as much
benefited as at the time of the outlay ? He con-
fessed it appeared to him that the only way of
solving the difficulty was to consider it the part
of the landlord to make the permanent improve-
ments, such as draining, irrigating, building, &c.,
and that the tenant should pay a reasonable
per centage for them {hear, hear, and applause) ;
he was sure it was the fairest way ; he was sure
it was the most economical plan. Six or five per
cent, would remunerate the landlord very well
for an expense which, in twenty or thirty years'
time would still yield the same profit, while 12 or
13 per cent, for the probably short period of his
occupancy would not more than remunerate the
tenant. In conclusion, the speaker observed he
had simply thrown out those hints in order rather
to hear the opinions of others, than to give his
own. He would conclude, however, by proposing
as a resolution for their adoption, " That it is the
opinion of this meeting that the custom of tenant-
ricjht in the Midhnid Counties does not give suffi-
cient security to the tenant for his improvements."
Mr. Paget resumed his seat, amid considerable
applause, and, in returning thanks, on his health
being proposed from the chair, and heartily res-
ponded to, expressed his satisfaction that the
meeting had so kindly taken the \\dll for the deed
in his desire to be of use to them. He hoped,
however, that' at least his remarks might have
the effect of eliciting the opinions of others ujion
the subject.

Mr. C. Stokes, of Kingston, seconded the reso-
lution, and said, that in rising to make a few re-
marks upon the subject so ably and so fully intro-
duced by Mr. George Paget for discussion, he
would obsen^e that it had j^been often and truly
said that the interests of the landlord and tenant
v/ere the same. If he thought the important sub-
ject they were then met to discuss Avould in the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

)13

sliglitest degree cause a separation of those interests,
he would not take any part in it. (Hear, hear.)
I'rom considerable practice and experience in
\aluing tenant-rights, and from the most mature re-
flection, he was fully convinced that the present cus-
toms of tenant-rights are capable of great improve-
ment to the mutual advantage of both parties (cAee'rA')y
and he trusted he should be able to show to the
meeting that the landowners and occupiers would
be equally benefited by adopting an improved
system. {Applause.) Without any intention of
detaining the meeting with many details on the sub-
ject, he should state a few facts, showing how the
present customs aftect the tenant farmers, and
injure the landlords. They had heard from Mr.
Paget's statement that if he (Mr. S.), or any other
occupier of land, were to put on 500 quarters of
lime, or one hundred pounds worth of manure,
and take one white crop before quitting the farm,
that they would be debarred from all claim to re-
muneration for such lime or manure ; although
every intelligent agriculturist knew that the bene-
fit derived from the use of lime extends over a
period of from eight to ten years, and that of ma-
nure not less than four. Here, then, were two
cases at once clearly showing that some part of the
capital of the out-going tenant is left unexpended,
and for which he could make no claim. Now,
what was the effect of these customs on the occu-
piers ? Did not prudence and common sense at
once admonish them to be cautious in applying
capital in the management of their farms ? and from
this cause much less lime, manure, and artificial
dressings were used than otherwise would be,
under a more liberal system of tenant rights. He
would recommend that no buildings should be
erected but by a special agreement in writing
between the landlord and tenant ; that all draining
should be done by the landlord, and, where this
could not be done, the tenant to be allowed a certain
number of years' occupation for remuneration, or
compensation to be made, if he quitted before that
time ; and that an allowance should be made for all
lime, manure, oil-cake, bones, or any other manure,
according to the time such manures might be found
to improve the condition of the land. He would
now call their attention to the great benefits that
would be conferred upon the landlords by adopting
an improved system of tenant-rights. He con-
sidered it would place landlords in a much better
situation, in their connexion with their tenants, by
enabling them to call upon them to apply more
money in the cultivation of their farms, by the ap-
plication of manures, lime, and any other neces-
sai7 improvements. Another great advantage,
arising from the use of more money in the cultiva-
tion of land, was, that it would require tenants
with moi"e capital to occupy farms {hear, hear),
thereby giving greater security to the landlords for
their rents, and increasing the respectability and
intelligence of the tenants ; and by introducing a
system of good cultivation, the value of the estates
of the proprietors would not be deteriorated, nor
would the owners be obhged to occupy farms out
of condition for two or three years, at a conside-
rable loss, before they could let them. He trusted
he had clearly shown it was for the interest of the

landowners and farmers that an improved system of
tenant-rights should l)i' ado[)ted, ])y which a greater
outlay would be made by the tenant, the land kept
in higher condition, and greater security given to
the landlords Avithout that loss which they now
sustained by bad farming on their estates. A
much greater return would be made from the land,
which was of the greatest importance to the puldic,
and still more so when they reflected upon the
great increase taking place in the amount of our
population every year. {Applause.) He was aware
that much had been said about placing confidence
in landlords, and no one entertained a higher opinion
of the character of the noblemen and the gentle-
men landowners of England than himself. He
believed that, generally, they desired to see their
tenants prosjierous and happy ; but this was a mat-
ter of business, not of honour. The interests of
both parties should be fairly arranged without injury
to either, so that the security of the tenant should
be increased, and the outlay of his capital
encouraged ; which would not only have the etFect
of benefiting landlord and tenant, but, as he (the
speaker, believed, of producing an increased supply
at a less cost. Mr. Stokes sat doAvn, amid very
general cheering.

Mr. Henson, of Walton, agreed ^vith the pre-
ceding speakers as to a want of a better defined
tenant-right ; but at^starting, the question did not
strike his mind as it did that of Mr. Paget. A
piece of land was to let, the landlord fixed his price
upon it, and if one did not take it another would.
This had been the case ever since he (Mr. H.) had
been in business. The great thing was, to bi'ing
the landlords into the mind that the tenant's right
was not sufficiently secured ; then, to fix upon some
definite plan which could be adopted within the
circle of that association. With regard to what
had been said as to liming, he thought if he could
get it at a cheaper rate, he should lime oftener.
Mr. Stokes said ten years, but he thought a mode-
rate dressing every six years would do very well.
[Mr. Stokes : I was speaking of a full dressing.]
He thought a plan might be adopted of paying, as
it were, by instalments — in this way, manure
certainly lasted, at least, four years ; therefore, a
tenant on quitting his farm would be entitled to
one-fourth, one-half, three-fourths, or even the
ivhole expense, provided he had had no crop at all
(hear, hear) ; and the same with regard to lime,
extending the time to six years and reducing one-
sixth every year until the above period had ex-
pired. Some gentleman present would probably
furnish him with a better plan than his own as to
other manures, he (Mr. H.) not having had much
experience in them. As far as draining went, he
thought it should extend to ten years, and that
would make it easy for both parties ; and he had no
doubt, that as many of the landlords had supported
them hitherto in carrying out their views, so they
would again. If this plan were carried out, then a
man disposed to farm might lay out his capital
with some degree of certainty as to having it again,
and a better rent might be given. Not that he
supposed the landlords expected a better rent than
they had now — if they did they would be mistaken
— but the rent would be more certain by reason

6U

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

of their farms being in the occupancy of good
tenants, who would use the land well. [Hear, hear.)
Some were of opinion that long leases were de-
sirable. Now, he did not believe that the land-
lords would take an unfair advantage, but it might
so happen that from unforeseen circumstances the
tenant might be induced to leave the farm. He
might hear of a better situation ; his death might
occur ; or the landlord might take an objection to
his tenant ; and in the event of any of these con-
tingencies, the farmer would not reap the benefit of
the money he might have expended. He thought
the landlord should bear the expense of the im-
provements in building, irrigating, and erecting
flood gates (where the latter happened to be neces-
sary), for, though the tenant might get his ten or
twelve per cent., he did not think that an equiva-
lent for his outlay. (Cheers.) If some plan were
adopted for the increase of their security, a great
deal more money would be expended by the
tenants in lime, manure, bone-dust, &c.

Mr. G. KiLBY, of Queniborough, on rising to
address the meeting said, the importance of the
question to which their attention had been called
that day was so great, that it concerned every
owner and every occupier of land in the country.
That importance must be taken as an apology for
any remarks which, though but a small occupier,
he might feel himself called upon to make. They
had been highly gratified by the remarks of Mr.
Paget, and, indeed, of all the speakers they had
heard. Mr. Paget said, the rent was the portion of
profit which went to the landlord ; he (Mr. Kilby)
only wished that after the rent was paid there might
always be a profit remaining for the tenant. CA
laugh.) The matter of tenant-right was of great
importance, and that of fixity of tenure was per-
haps greater; indeed they were so intimately
woven together, that it was almost impossible to
keep them separate, as it was, however, his inten-
tion to do. The tenant-right, he considered, was
not exactly a matter between the landlord and
tenant, but between the off-going and incoming
tenant. Therefore the question was, whatever
alterations might be made, how far would it affect
the interests of tenants generally. The interest of
the landlord would not be affected in any degree.
He would appeal to Mr. Stokes, whether everj^-
thing was not valued from the off-going to the in-
coming tenant ?

Mr. Stokes : — I beg to state that the land-
lord is considered to be the responsible person as
regards the tenant-right.

The Chairman thought the question of leases
was a fair part of the discussion, if the speaker
were disposed to enter upon it.

Mr. Kilby resumed: — He thought the present
question was one of such high interest, that it
would take their whole time to discuss it, and he
would, consequently, rather confine himself to it.
As to the question whether the landlord paid the
tenant-right or not, it had not been the case
\vithin his own experience, for as far as he had
ever been concerned, the incoming tenant always
paid what the out-going tenant received. It had
been said, that the tenant-right in this county was
below the mark. The custom of this county

might differ from that of any other ; he would,
therefore, read an extract from Bayldon, a person
who was, perhaps, as good an authority upon the
valuation of rents and leases as could be referred
to:—

"Tillage (says that author) implies ploughing,
harrowing, fallowing, manuring, and all other
operations performed in the annual culture of
arable land. There is no direct law to point out
the extent of a tenant's right in the property of
tillages that remain unexpended at the time of
quitting land, except where held under lease or
agreement ; and if the tenant cannot prove that
any valuation was paid by himself, or his pre-
decessors, at the time of entry, he is entitled to
none at the time of his removal. [So, continued
Mr. Kilby, the tenants-at-will are completely at sea
as to what is right or not.] As to the growing
crop, there is an old-estabhshed custom founded
upon an ancient law, that ' He who sows the
corn shall reap the crop ;' but, if the tenant sows
after the notice to quit is given, the landlord
can reap the crop, because the tenant has no right
to sow corn when he knows that he will not have
possession at the time of reaping. This law does
not relate to contracts or leases. If a tenant
plovxgh up any grass land without leave from his
landlord, and does not leave as much of the farm
in grass as on entry, he is liable by the law to
remunerate the landlord for the damages thereby
sustained, which are generally determined by
charging half of tillages, which are required for
a perfect fallow, and a proportionate quantity of
hay, seeds, and sowing. As to manure it is a
settled principle, that Avhat is made from the
produce of the farm cannot be removed, but is
handed over to the incoming tenant when no
agreement exists. [Mr. Stokes : — It depends
upon the custom.] Lime. — By some valuers its
influence is supposed to cease after four white
crops, and is estimated accordingly, and six years
on pasture land. So, if applied only one year,
six-fifths of its primitive value is due to the off-
going tenant. The custom of the country allows
a ^'aluation for lime upon arable land, \vhole tillage
after fallow or turnips, half tillage after one white
crop, and no A'aluation after two white crops —
[there is this difference, observed Mr. Kilby,
between the custom of this county, that there is
no allowance after one white crop] — but the cost
of carriage, spreading, and watering, is added to
the cost of lime. Ashes, earth, or clay, when taken
from the farm and properly burnt for a manure,
are valued according to the labour and expenses
which have been incurred ; aUoAving full tillage
when laid upon fallows or turnips, and valued
before producing a crop of corn, and half tillage
after one crop. Bones. — A valuation of six
years is allowed when laid upon pasture, and four
years on grass successively mown. On arable
land, one tillage more is allowed for bones than
farm-yard dung. After one white crop has been
taken, two-thirds of their value and the labour in
producing them are allowed ; after two white
crops, one-third remains ; and after three the
valuation ceases, but this varies in different coun-
ties. Draining, — It is a prevailing custom to

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

515

allow a valuation upon draining for 10 years, |
making a deduction of one-tenth of the value of |
tlie drain for every year that transpires betwixt j
the time it is made and the time of valuing. If
llie drain has been made one year, nine-tenths of
ils cost is allowed, and so on in proportion till the
expiration of the 10 years. A valuation upon this
labour cannot be demanded by law unless it has
been contracted by agreement, or the ofF-going
tenant can prove his having paid for draining when
he entered upon the land."

Now, draining was the basis upon which the
good culture of the land must be placed. It ought
not, however, to come into contact with the rent.
He believed it was the opinion of owners and
occupiers of soil, that the improvement effected
thereby would last for a century. If properly
drained, in fact, there Avas no telling when the
])rofit from it Ai'ould cease ; therefore it was veiy
certain that the landlord should be at the greater
proportion of the expense of that portion of im-
])rf)vement on a farm. If a proper system of
drainage were to be generally carried out, he was
of opinion that the value of land would be in-
creased to such an extent that it was impossible to
estimate what this country would produce. There
were other improvements, too, which rested with the
landlord, but before he went further, he Avould
state that he did not think the landlord should
drain entirely at his own expense, and without the
tenant contributing aught towards it. By no
means : the tenant should contribute something,
because he would reap a certain portion of benefit.
He thought no tenant could reasonably object to
the payment of five per cent, on the cost of every
tile his landlord might lay down. There was,
however, another matter to be considered, namely,
the putting the tiles in the ground ; which was an
expense generally borne by the tenant. [Mr.
Thornhill : — I put all mine in at my own expense.]
So did he (Mr. Kilby), but he thought the land-
lord should bear that expenditure, and a very
great improvement, indeed, would be the result.
He had copied from the same author he had pre-
viously quoted, the valuation of the tenant-right
of 241 acres of land, a portion of which was
arable. From his valuation, what belonged to the
out-going tenant of 240 acres amoimted to £1,001
l6s. iM. That appeared a vast amount of capital
to be laid out and paid by the incoming tenant,
but he thought it very right that a liberal allowance
should be paid to the out-going tenant for the
improvements he might have effected. If that
were more generally the case, they would not be
running over each other's heads quite so fast as
they now were to get farms ; nor would men of
straw so easily get hold of them. The more capital
there was laid out upon land, the better for the
landlord and the better for the tenant. But when
they considered the rapid increase of the population
of the countiy, it was of some importance that
every acre of land should be occupied, and those
impr vements introduced tending to produce the
greatest quantity of food for the people generally
{hear, hear). It might be considered at first that
the interests of landlords and tenants-at-will
were separate j but he contended that they were

inseparable, and he would like to see more of an
amalgamation of their interests than at present
exists {hear, henr). He wished for the time to
come when the landlord shall say to his tenant,
" So long as you manage my land as you ought to
do, I will take care you have a share of the profits
arising therefrom. I do not wish to put the whole
profits into my own pocket, but you shall share
them." If, (Mr. Kilby proceeded,) they could get
to such a state of things as that, each of them
would be on a better footing than they now are.
He hoped, however, we were coming to the time
when this system would explode entirely, and l)e
no more seen. They all knew, if the landlord had
been changing his tenants year after year, or even
somewhat longer periods, to what a degraded state
of cultivation the land was reduced to, and so it
goes on, till he is obliged to take it into his own
hands, and eventually breaks and runs away
{laughter), and the sooner he did so the better.
Mr. Kilby concluded by apologizing for the length
of time he had trespassed upon their time, which
arose solely from a heart-felt wish to see the soil
of this country cultivated in the best manner, and
a good understanding existing between landlord
and tenant {cheers).

Mr. R. Smith, of Hathern, late of Dishley, said
it might be anticipated from him that upon the
present subject he should have a few observations
to offer to the company : they would be but few,
but the first point was, whether the present subject
was simply a discussion to define whether an
alteration was necessary in the present position of
the tenant-right between landlord and tenant, or
his out-going and in-coming tenants. If that were
the only point to be discussed, everything that
covild be said on the question had been said. But,
differing from all those who had gone before him,
with regard to the particular systems upon which
the tenure ought to be based, he Avished to know
from the chair whether he shovdd be in order in
giving his opinion upon those systems at the
present moment. He felt doubtful upon the
point, but would hear the chairman's decision.
He would observe that he saw no reason why any
measure should be confined to a district of some
ten miles round, or even to the midland counties.
What was wanted was a legislative enactment for
the country at large. Why should a tenant's right
on the south side of a bridge or a river be placed
in so different a position to his neighbour on the
north side of it ? He would be sorry to oftend the
feelings of any person ; but if he were to give vent
to his, he might make use of words that might be
offensive to some, for there were few there who
did not know that he had suffered heavily as a
tenant or occupier in that neighbourhood; and
although he was not an occupier now there to any
extent, he felt it to be a duty incumbent upon him
to stand up and defend the rights of the tenants
of that neighbourhood as much as if he were one
of the largest occupiers. If the chairman would
inform him, however, whether the subject he had
mentioned was the only point for discussion, and if
there were other resolutions to be brought forward,
he should reserve what he had to say to a future
period.

616

THE FAll.MEll'S MAGAZINE.

The Chairman said, the only f/round he was
r.ware of, npoii which to settle the question, was the
circular by ^\■hich the meetiiiir was convened. It
was there stated that there was to be a subject in-
troduced upon the cpestion of tenant-rights, and
upon what way they might be impi-oved. Of
course, the application of the words to his (the
Chairman's) mind, was exceedingly comprehensive,
and he was of opinion that they were at liberty to
take imder their notice and deliberation any mode
by which the tenure might be improved [hear,
hear).

Mr. Smith then proceeded, and looking upon the
subject as fairly launched, and based upon the ])rin-
ciple of free and full discussion, said, it had been
alluded to, and very justly, by Mr. Paget, and re-
plied to by Mr. Kilby, as to what was the basis of
rent. It was perhaps as indefinite and difficult
to describe how the rent was to be fixed as a prin-
ciple of right between landlord and tenant. The
only jn-inciple upon which he had seen that the
rents could be placed upon a proper basis, and the
only one of equal justice, would be a corn-rent.
Then the landlord, by the price of corn, knows
what is made, and would get his remuneration, the
tenant his, and the labourer his, in proportion to
his employment. With regard to the building and
draining, the landlord certainly ought to be at that
expense, and the tenants pay a per centage, be that
per centage what it might. It would be infinitely
better to pay even more than 5 per cent, than not
to ha-\'e thorough drainage, and every improvement
required. The tenant ought to be so situate that
he could employ his capital and his industry to the
best advantage. Suppose a landlord was involved
himself, was the tenant, because he happened to be
placed under him, not to improve the land ? Were
his labourers to be deprived of their labour and
employment from the same cause ? He said No !
Make it a legislative enactment that for the buildings
erected, the pemianent improvements, and others
which were made at the expense of the tenant,
at the expiration of his tenancy he should receive a
proper remuneration for such expenditure. Then,
with the present state of agriculture and the pro-
gress of science, he was certain there would be no
limit to the ultimate expenditure of capital in the
cultivation of the land, nor lack of energy on be-
half of the tenantry, if they had the security they
ought to have. Then, instead of sending
the labourer to other countries, it would be
found there would not be enough here to do the
work required. AVhat a sanng would be effected
in the poor-rate, and what profit to the landlord
himself ! If these first principles were agreed on,
let them be laid down more clearly, and let them be
improved ; but, he repeated, the measure must be
universal in its operation. Further, he would take
the thousands of acres at present in this kin.'xdom
uncultivated, and ask how much would not tlie in-
terests of the industrious poor be advanced by their
culture? That they would be most materially
benefited there could not be a shadow of a doubt.
He was provid to have an opportunity of expressing
his feeUngs upon the subject, and he hoped to see
it taken up by all other societies connected with
agriculture ; he hoped to see it made the topic at

their meetings, and so be disseminated through
the kingdom. After some further observations, the
substance of which appears in the latter part of Mr.
Smith's address, that gentleman thanked the meet-
ing for the patience with which they had listened to
him. He was of opinion that a general legislative
enactment would be sooner obtained than the appli-
cation of any plan within a district often miles only,
and felt sure it was only for the tenants to join
cheerfully hand in hand to ensure success {conti-
nued cheerinr)).

Charles Paget, Esq., of Ruddington, and
sheriff' of the county of Nottingham, said — It had
been a great object with him for many years of his
life to be a good farmer ; and since he had gained
the opinion of Mr. Stokes that he had succeeded at
last, it was a source of high gratification to him.
He had listened to the discussion Vv'ith great interest.
It was second to none in importance to the land-
lord, to the tenant, to the labourer, and the com-
munity at large; and he was glad to see the tenantry
was alive to its importance, for it Avas impossible
the landlords could make those alterations unless
called upon to do so. From the opportunities he
had had from his connection with large land-
owners, he knew their feeling was decidedly with
the tenants. He knew there was a want of that
security which would induce a tenant to lay out his
money upon the land (and in saying that he threw
no reflection upon the landlords themselves) ; but
they would suppose a tenant had entered on a
fanu ; he had been there fi\'e years, and had ex-
pended £1,000 upon improvements ; the landlord
dies ; a minor probably succeeds, and the trustees
send over to value the land, and it is valued as it is
found {hear, hear). Look again at the man who
was compelled to sell his land, which might arise
from various circumstances. The person about to
purchase examines it, and expects rent from it as
he finds it, and the tenant's outlay is sunk [hear,
hear). He could adduce many instances to showthat
there A\'as a want of a fair, honest, and safe tenant-
right. There could not be the slightest doubt that
it would be equally beneficial to landlord and
tenant. The tenant who occupied his land under
such advantageous circumstances as were required,
could afford to pay a better rent than he who was
placed under restrictions with regard to improve-
ment. He trusted that woidd not be the last dis-
cussion which would take place in the country on
this subject. The resolution by no means confined
it to a district of ten miles, llie discussion shewed
that the arrangements \vere not sufficiently safe for
the security of the tenant farmer. It was better to
confine themselves to what they knew. Other
parties would follow their example ; and, if that
were so, he did not hesitate to give them his deci-
ded opinion, that A'ery shortly they would have the
reform they wanted {much cheering).

The Chairman said — You know it has been my
desire — and that desire has frequently been ex-
pressed by me — that more, many more, of the
larger landed proprietors should be amongst us
{hear, hear) ; for I am quite certain that the very
great advantages Avhich we might deriA'e by co-
operation cannot be eflfected by a section only of
those deriving their substance from the produce of

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

517

fannint? (Iicar, liear). I am qiiitc aware that the
tenant-ri^ht is not siifticieutly uniform, fixed, and
.satisfactory to induce the capitahst to expend his
money in producing the largest growth from the
soil. This is a loss to the tenant, it is a loss to the
landlord, and it is a loss to the community. I my-
self would go greater lengths than some of you
haA'e projjosed, and not with the ohject of semng
the tenants only, but because 1 believe it to be for
the common good {cheers). I do not think this
discussion is restricted simply to the yearly tenant,
but I think it may be extended to those who are
mider lease ; not those that have fixed rules laid
down in their present leases, but prosi)ective as to
the tenure on those terms. The land has been re-
presented to you, not inaptly, as a machine. If
tlie tenant, by his skill and industry, is enabled to
produce a facility in the working of that machine, I
consider he is entitled to remvxneration for his
talents, as well as for his capital. If he can pro-
duce one quarter's increase of corn per acre on his
farm, he, and he only, for a certain term of years
at least, is entitled to that increase produced by his
skill, his industry, and his outlay. I should i)ro-
pose, that if the farmer had been so happy in his
conceptions, and so industrious and adventurous in
can-}'ing them out, that if he were from any dis-
agreement wth his landlord to leave his farm, or
some accident should occur to the continuance of
his tenure, he should haA'e some compensation for
bringing the land into the condition in which it is
found. I do not see that the valuers have any
right, except for their own private information, to
say — " How much have yovi expended ?" because
the person, for want of skill, might throw away a
A'ast sum of money. The farmer who should marl
his claj', or throw lime upon chalk, would deser\'e
no remuneration ; but if, on the other hand, he had
employed these important aids to farming in a judi-
cious manner, to him, and to him only, let the cost
be what it would, should be derived the profit
accruing from his good management It may be ob-
jected that such a procedure might subject the
landlord to annoyance from a tenant to whom he
had an ol)jection ; but, if it were so, the landlord
would be at liberty to pay him for the disad\'antage
of his instant removal ; or, if it were inconvenient
to the landlord to do this, he should continue to
the tenant the quiet possession of the farm for a
certain number of years, by way of compensation.
I M'ould say with regard to the machine — the word
has fallen rather musically upon mine ear — that if
in a manufactory one of the artizans em])loyed
were to discover a defect, which by some ingenuity
he could amend, he would not go to the owner of
the manufactory and say — " It is for your advan-
tage that I have made this discovery" — but he
would take out his patent, and reap the benefit
arising therefrom himself. If it should happen to
the tenant farmer, then, that he could impro^'e his
culture, by the same reason, is he entitled to the
advantage. With regard to irrigating, draining,
and building, if the plan I suggest were adopted,
they would come under the same category. Though
it might be excessively inconvenient to some pro-
prietors to be at the least expenditure, it certainly
could not be inconvenient to allow the tenant pos-

session until he had derived a rent (hear,
hear). It is true the theory of rent is as
Mr. George Paget has descril)ed it. I fear persons
here will say it is not vmiformly the practice ; and
if in this densely populated covmtry we could have
any law laid down to protect the tenant from being
deprived of his fair gains, it would be an induce-
ment for him to lay out his money with the full
consciousness that nothing but his own stui^idity,
or want of industry, could deprive him of his pro-
perty again (applause). Gentlemen, I again thank
you. Perhaps it would have been sufficient had I
done so without detaining you with any observations
of my own {''No, no"). That response satisfies me
that I have not misused your time; and I feel gratified
that I have been enabled to throw in one spark
amidst the blaze of your information (applause).

The resolution moAcd by Mr. Paget was then
put and unanimously carried, after which

Mr. KiLBV i)roposed that a committee asso-
ciation be formed, with power to add to their
number, to consider the present system of tenant
right, and report to a future meeting their opinions
thereon.

Mr. G. Bakewell, of Lockington, seconded
the motion.

Carried unanimously.

DRAINAGE IN NORFOLK.

At the present time, when different modes of
drainage are so generally discussed both at our
agricultural meetings and in private circles, the
following remarks on that subject, extracted from
the Royal Agricultural Society's Prize Essay on
the Agriculture of Norfolk, by Mr. R. N. Bacon,
will not be uninteresting : —

" Draining is one of the most valuable dis-
coveries in agriculture, and a practice which,
though introduced to a certain extent upon all
farms, and in some districts of the county for the
last fifty or sixty years, has yet much to accom-
phsh before the heavy lands of Norfolk will be
brought into a state of cultivation co-equal -with
the less tenacious soils. A very decidect opinion
has already been expressed in another portion of
this report, that this advance can alone be hoped
either from the grant of leases, or by the land-
owners bearing a portion of the cost of improve-
ments of such vital importance to their property
in the present and future state of agriculture. No
man will sow that which he may not be permitted
to reap. Security of tenure till production repays
expenditure is the one thing necessary. On
no other condition can desirable improvements
be anticipated. A case in point will be conclusive.
A tenant in East Norfolk occupied a farm com-
posed of a heavy clay soil. He was enterprising,
inteUigent, energetic. He set to work to improve
this occupation, which he held under an agreement
that could only remain in force so long as the
jn-esent proprietor lived — his being only a life
interest, The tenant drained to a very large extent

618

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

TOth tiles, in the best manner. His improved
system and liberal outlay brought him first-rate
crops, where turnips never grew before, and the
farm was in a course of tillage most creditable to
himself, most beneficial to the property. The
landlord being an aged person, the farmer applied
for a lease, which was promised so long as the
existing proprietor had the power to grant. But
the heir refused to join in the agreement, because
the farm might then obtain a higher rent, and
the improvement ceased. Can it therefore be
expected, with such examples, to say nothing of
the various unexpected contingencies which en-
\'iron and confound the best expectations — can it
be expected that improvements, the most expensive
a tenant can undertake, will make a progress so
desirable to the pubhc, the proprietor, and the
tenant } A nation suffers from a want of a supply
of food equal to her people's demand. There are
all the elements of production at hand — capital,
skill, industry ; but a misunderstanding of the
trae interests involved, and in some cases perhaps
a pervasion of right, prevents their being called
into action for the general good. We shall give
a contrary example. A tenant of a large occu-
pation upon Lord Leicester's estate took a farm
under a long lease. He commenced by throwing
down the old fences, because they were irregular,
laid out his farm afresh, and raising miles of new.
He thoroughly drained the whole with tiles to an
enormous extent in the best manner; the lease
has been renewed once if not twice, and there is no
hea\y-land farm under a finer tillage, or producing
more abundant crops.

" In under draining cold wet lands, making the
eye of the drain secure and durable is a point of
the greatest importance. One of the best modes
of effecting this is by embedding tiles in clay,
worked up to a fair consistency, for not less than
five yards in the leading drain resting the lower
tile at the eye upon a large stone fixed in the earth
under it, so that the water when issuing from the
drain falls upon it. The leading drain is made
entirely with tiles. The other drains, both as to
depth and distance, must be regidated by circum-
stances. On strong soils they may be placed at
from six to eight yards apart, and not less than
thirty inches deep — filled up with stones'—at the
rale of from three to four bushels per rod, a
larger quantity being used where it meets the
leader.

" On springy soils, which have generally a sub-
stratum of black sand, the drains are dug from
ten to fourteen yards apart, and from thirty-six to
forty inches in depth, the bottom being from three
to four inches wide; these are filled up at the
rate of from six to eight bushels of stones a rod.
Where tiles are used, they are in general covered
■^vith a few stones, and ling or straw twisted into a
band.

"The next best method pursued on stiff clay
land is to dig the drains not more than six yards
apart, and fiU them up with alder, willow, or
rushes. The two former being preferred, as their
smooth surface is less likely to disturb the sides
of the drains, and from their nature they remain
longer without decaying. The bushes are then

covered with ling, furze or straw, and by peat
earth cut into long wedges, according to the size
of the drains into which they are dropped, within
six inches of the bottom. In draining the drains
are drawn as much across the land as practicable,
consistently with a not too rapid fall of water.
Wet springy land is best drained in the summer,
when the springs are low. The following is the
expense of draining an acre under these systems : —

Draining with Stones, &c,

£ s. d.
200 tiles for leading drain 10 to 12 rods. .080

20 loads of stone for 5 score, at Is 1 0 0

Digging 5 score drains, at 5s. a score . . 1 5 0
Laying the eye, &c 0 1 0

£2 14 0

Expense of draining about three acres of land with
tiles, wood, and hng; drains 16| feet apart.

£ s. d.
17 score, 13 rods, at 4s. 6d. including

eyes, &c 4 0 0

2h hundred of alder wood, at 12s 1 7 0

f of a load of Ung 0 16 0

275 tiles 0 11 0

£6 14 0

About 8s. 9d. per score.

Another system is the following ; —
Suppose a piece of land, thus —

the falls being formed at *, draw out the furrows
six yards wde ; then dig them with the draining
spade twelve inches long and six wide at the top,
decreasing to five inches; then dig with a five-
inch spade ; and lastly, \vith one three-and-a-half
at the top, and decreasing towards the bottom to
the size of the tile. The drain wiU then be a
yard in depth. Lay down the tile thus u because
the curved bottom wiU offer a less surface for
the settlement of silth, and the drain will be kept
clear by the water passing with more force. Cover
up the tile with turf from hedge-rows, as the
water percolates better through these than clay,
and finally fill up with earth. By this mode every
drain serves itself independently of another, and
thus any stoppage can be at once ascertained and
rectified, which is not the case under the system of
bush-draining into a leader.

'" The effect of this system of drainage upon
our neighbourhood,' says a highly intelligent
occupier, ' is that turnips are now generally grown
where thirty years ago there was certainly not a

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

S19

Swede, and but very few whites. The effect upon
ilie population is that they are better em])loyed;
indeed, of good labourers there is not a sufficiency,
and there would be a still greater want of them
if the lease-system were adopted.' Nothing can
be more conclusive than this testimony of an
occupier of long standing and great means of
observation.

" Another tenant, whose family has occupied
the same farm above a century, which is a strong
wet soil, says : —

" ' With regard to under-drains, I make them
about thirty-six inches deep. At the top they
are about seven inches wide, at the bottom one
inch and three-eighths. The soil is taken out with
three different-sized spades ; the top one, the
common spade ; the middle one, five inches wide
at the top, and two inches three-eighths at the
bottom, and fourteen inches long ; the lower spade,
two inches three-eighths wide at the top, and one
inch three-eighths at the bottom, and fourteen
inches long. In using the middle and lowest
spade (particvilarly the lowest), it is very necessary
to have a good workman, as it is essential the
sides of the lower part of the drain should be
well cut with the spade before the soil is forced
out. After which, all the loose soil, &c., is taken
out with a scoop made a proper size, to follow
each spade. AVith regard to the filling up, I
should at all times prefer the tile or pipe, and have
no doubt but that they are cheapest in the long
run; but where the landlord does not find the
material or a share of the expense, the cheapest
and best plan I consider to be the following : — Fill
the lower part of the drain with alder or willow ;
they are preferable to any other wood ; they will
last longer in the water, and, being smooth, are
much less liable to disturb the sides of the drain,
which is of the greatest consequence. I prefer as
small a quantity as possible, for when a drain is
filled too full of wood, I consider when the wood
becomes decayed it is much more liable to choke
up from being broken in by a horse's foot set
directly on it, or any other accident. On the
alder or willow I put a portion of yoving green
furze or ling, tight upon it, sufficient to prevent
the soil running in. After which, it is filled with
the soil ; and then pressed down with one wheel of
a cart, loaded to any weight that may be thought
necessary, which is always best done when it is
quite dry. In the main drain, and at all the eyes,
viz., at the commencement of each drain for about
fourteen yards, I put a portion of stones between
the wood and furze. In the first instance I
ploughed them out with a common plough, as that
saves a great portion of labour. I pay sixpence
per rod (seven yards to the rod) for the above
method. I consider under-draining to be the veiy
best piece of husbandry that can be done on cold,
wet, or springy land, for without it you can grow
neither quantity nor quahty of corn : you may
grow straw, but not corn. I always prefer drain-
ing wet springy meadows in the summer, when the
springs are low.' "

LLANDOVERY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

The Annual Cattle Show of this society took place at
the Castle-yard, Llandovery, on Wednesday, the 25th
of September. The utility of agricultural societies, pro-
perly conducted and duly patronised, becomes more and
more apparent every year. Upon referring to the
Highlands of Scotland, which may be deemed the cradle
of such societies, we may see the happy and successful
results of liberal patronage, combined with persevering
industry, in the improvement of stock, and the profit-
able cultivation of lands which had for ages been con-
sidered too sterile, bleak, and barren — alike profitless to
the proprietor and the labourer. Many considerable
districts in Wales, and among them may be noticed that
in which the exertions of this society are now so bene-
ficially called forth, possess large tracts of apparently
worthless land, which, by judicious patronage and ener-
getic exertion, may be rendered beneficial to the com-
munity, and return a compensating profit for the outlay.
We were induced to make these prefatory remarks by
hearing of the general improvement that has taken place
in tlie upper part of Carmarthenshire since the establish-
ment of the above society. The stock in the show-
yard this year, both in numbers and quality, far ex-
ceeded any hitherto exhibited at Llandovery, farmers
of all grades, from the gentleman amateur to the
hard-working tenant, devoting their attention to
the improvement of their stock and the cul-
tivation of the land; the appearance of the former,
as before stated, was very gratifying, and the insijector's
report of the improved cultivation of wheat, turnips,
&c., as well as the extension of draining, was also cheering.
Soon after three o'clock the members and visiting friends
sat down to dinner, the chair was taken by the President
of the Society, David Jones, Esq., of Glanbrane Park,
supported on his right by Capt. Eyres, C.B., R.N. ; L.
Lewis, Esq., Gwynfe ; and John Morgan, Esq., Mayor
of Llandovery, &c. ; and on his left by D. Jones
Lewis, Esq. ; Rev. J. Bishop ; and F. Green, Esq., of
Court Henry, ike. The vice-chair was occupied by D.
Lloyd Hai"ries,Esq.,who was also ably supported. Among
the numerous company we noticed W. Jones, Esq.,
banker, Mr. Dubuisson, Capt. Cross, Mr. Williams (of
Pipton), Mr. Charles Bishop, Mr. H. Lloyd Harries,
and several other influential gentlemen, farmers, &c.,
from Llandilo and neighbourhood, and also from Bre-
conshire. Letters were read, apologizing for the
unavoidable absence of the Hon. Col. Trevor, M.P,,
Saunders Davies, Esq., M.P., and other friends. Due
attention having been paid to the repast, and the usual
loyal, patriotic, and appropriate toasts being given and
heartily responded to, the President called upon the Hon.
Secretary to read the reports of Mr. Williams, of Pip-
ton, as judge of the cattle, sheep, pigs, and horses ; and
Mr. John Evans, of AUtycadno, as inspector of wheat,
draining, green crops, &c., which were as follows : —

Mr. Williams's Report.

No. CATTLE.

2— Best aged BuU, diaries Bishop, Esq., 3/.
8— Best yeariing Bull, ditto, 21.
14 — Best Hereford Cow, ditto, 31.
21--Best ditto Heifer in Calf, Edward Jones, Esq.'s

Executors, 21.
26 — Best ditto yearling Heifer, ditto, II.
32 — Best ditto pair of yearling Steers, ditto, 21.
36 — Best black Cow, Mr. Thomas Jones, Tanner's

Hall, 31.
40— Best black Heifer in Calf, Mr, M, Griffiths, Glan-

tondeb, 21.
55 — Best red Highland Cow, Mr. D. Joseph, 3/.
60— Best ditto ditto Heifer in Calf, ditto, 21.

620

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

65 — Best ditto ditto yearling Heifer, L. Lewis, Esq.,
Gwynfe, 11.
For Charles Bishop, Esq.'s Silver Cup, value Five
Guineas.
45 — Best pair of two-year-old Steers, Mr. Davies,
Neuaddfach.
For the Hon. Col. Trevor's Silver Cup, value Five
Guineas.
52 — Best Cow and Calf, Mr. James Havard, Llan-
dovery.

SHEEP.

70 — Best Lowland young Ram, Mr. William Jeffreys, II.
74 — Best ditto aged Ram, Charles Bishop, Esq., 21.
76 — Best pen of five Lowland Ewes, D. Lloyd Harries,

Esq., 21.
87 — Best Highland young Ram, Mr. D. Joseph, 1/.
88— Best ditto aged Ram, Mr. D. Edwards, Troedy-

rhiw Cayo, tenant and nominee of D. Saunders

Davies, Esq., M.P., 21.
93 — Best pen often Highland Ewes, L. Lewis, Esq.,

Gwynfe, 21.

PIGS.

100— Best Boar, Rev. J. Morgan, Talyrhyn, 21.
105— Best Sow, Mr, J. Powell, Castle Inn, 1/.

HORSES.

110 — Best Hackney brood Mare, Mr. Thomas Jones, 21,
116 — Best cart ditto, D. Jones, Esq., Blaenus, 21.
122 — Best Hackney Filly, rising three years, Mr. Powell,

Castle, 21.
125 — Best Cart Filly, rising three years, Mr. Jones,

Cynghordy, 21.
For the late Edward Jones, Esq.'s Premium of Two
Sovereigns.
128 — Best Hackney Filly, i-ising two years, Mr. Thomas

Jones.

CHEESE.

For the Llandovery Premium of Two Sovereigns.
Best Cream Cheese, D. Lloyd Harries, Esq.

Mr, Evans's Report.

WHEAT.

The Hon. Col. Rice Trevor, M.P.'s, Silver Cup, value

Five Guineas.
For the best Field of Wheat of three acres and above,
Mr. James Havard, Llandovery.

DRAINING.

1. Mr. Evan Humphreys, Cwmgigfran, 516 perches, 5/.

2. Mr. Thomas Davies, Nenaddfac, 386 ditto, 3/.

3. Mr. D. Evans, Dolauhirion, 220 ditto, 21.

TURNIPS.

First Premium, Mr. Davies, Froodvale.
Second ditto, D. Lloyd Harries, Esq.

POTATOES.

Mr. J. M. Richards, Penrhiwcrychan, 21.

cottagers' potatoes.
John Howells, Down, Gwynfe, 1/.

best managed farm.
Mr. Thomas Thomas, Glanrafonddu-ganol, Talley, 3/.

SERVANTS.

David Davies, at Mr. Roger Evans, Pencarreg, Llan-

ddeusant, 17 years, \l.
Sarah Evans, at Mrs. Morgan, Penybont, Llansawel, 17

years, 1/.
Ann Evans, at Mr. Thomas Evans, Cwmcrymlin, Llan-

gadock, 17 years, 10s.

Such has been the rapid and steady improvement of this
society, that a member of the Breconshire Society stated
at the dinner-table, after the show, that, although their
society was a very old one (being the oldest but one in
the kingdom, and their attention devoted to the rearing
and fostering a good breed of stock had secured them

animals worthy of Herefordshire), if the Llandovery
Society kept progressing for a few years longer as they
had hitherto done, it would call for the greatest exertions
on the part of the Breconshire farmers to prevent their
being put to shame on comparing stocks. — In front of
the show-yard were exhibited an assortment of very use-
ful and economical implements, from the manufactory
of Messrs. Hodges and Wright, agricultural machine
makers, Brecon, amongst which we noticed a portable
thrashing machine, wherewith two boys might easily
and effectually thrash ten bushels of grain per hour ;
and also a corn crusher, an excellent machine for pre-
paring corn for the consumption of cattle, pigs, and
horses. T. W. Lawford, Esq., sent for exhibition a
patent cliafF-cutter, on Earl Ducie's plan, having a ser-
rated-edged knife, revolving similar to an endless screw,
with regulating adjustment, so as to cut the straw to any
required length. Another very superior chaff-cutter
was exhibited by D. Lloyd Harries, Esq. ; both cutters
were highly approved of. An excellent plough, suitable
for light soils, which had been exhibited at the Royal
Agricultural Show at Southampton, and won two pre- .
miums of ten pounds each and a silver medal, sent down
by the Rev. Sir Erasmus Williams, Bart., was much
admired. The weather was very fine, and tlie proceed-
ings of the day gave general satisfaction ; friendship,
unanimity, and cheerfulness pervaded all classes ; and
the company kept up the hilarity with much eclat to a
late hour. — Camirian,

ON STIFLE BURNING.

Sir, — Residing in a district in which stifle
burning is a good deal practised, and having been
in the habit of doing a little on my own farm, I will
simply state what 1 consider to be its advantages
and its disadvantages.

Its Advantages. — On heavy and tenacious
soils its effects are decidedly good, in producing a
freer action, and pulverising the land, making it
work more kindly for the succeeding crops. Stifle
burning is usually a preparation for a turnip crop :
in moist seasons they are very good on this plan of
management. On what is termed dead-natured
kind of land, of which there is a considerable
breadth in the neighbourhood of Bradford, in
Wilts, stifle burning has a beneficial effect; al-
though this system has been repeated on the same
fields, no bad result has occurred ; but the crops,
both green and white straw, are improved.

Its Disadvantages. — On thin stone brash
land, which is already too light, it must be injuri-
ous, as it certainly makes all soils porous ; and as
this kind is improved by being made firmer, I
think it would be better not to burn the earth at
all, but only the vegetable matter which works to
the surface.

ITiis preparation can only be proceeded with
in A'ery dry weather, therefore it cannot always be
depended on as a regular plan for procuring a crop
of turnips, which the summer of 1843 fully proved;
other manures were then resorted to as a substi-
tute. The expense attending it is also a disadvan-
tage ; on an average not less than one ton of straw
per acre is used, which, added to 10s. per acre for
manual labour, makes it more expensive than a
moderate dressing of bones, which I consider to be
superior.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

521

The old system of paring and burning is un-
doubtedly excellent, as an active manure is pro-
tluced by burning the turf, couch, &c., without
weakening the soil. Although it has been much
spoken against, and altogether prohibited by some
landed proprietors, farmers on light soils would
feel a great loss if denied this privilege of paring
and burning.

I am, sir, yours obliged,

A Farmer near Bradford.

Sept. 16, 1844.

Sir, — An account of stifle burning in your va-
luable paper, and the astonishing eflects said to be
produced by it, have induced me to say a few words
on the subject.

Mr. S. Mills states that he has tried it on SO
acres. " These 80 acres haA'e been valued by a
highly-respected sxuTeyor at Is. 6d. per acre.
After the piece had been submitted to stifle burn-
ing, crops of turnips and oats had been grown that
could not be exceeded on land for which £3 per
acre was given."

Now, this at first sight ajipears startling, but
on consideration it is not so. Let us know the year
in which it was done ; we shall then know what
sort of a season it was for turnips, as it is well
known that in some years land of a very ordinary
quality, and in the hands of bad fanners, have
equalled the crops of the best cultivators of the soil
on far superior land. Again, it requires from half
a ton to a ton of straw to the acre ; now this must
be highly blameable, to consume straw with fire
when it can be used to a much greater advantage
when made into good fold-yard manure.

One ton of wheat straw M'ill produce as much
as 360lbs. of ash, but generally not more than 345
lbs. ; oat straw 200lbs. ; therefore, as wheat straw
produces the most ash, it is the best ; and, taking
half a ton per acre for lighting the fires, it would
cause a loss by burning of 940lbs. per acre, or on
the 80 acres burnt, a loss of above 33 tons, the 80
acres requiring 40 tons to light the fires.

Couch-grass (root andleaA'es) produces 350lbs. of
ash from a ton when burned.

Now, from the abo^'e remarks it must be very
evident great waste is caused by burning. Fire is
in general one of the greatest enemies agriculture
has to contend with ; it is certainly one of the
greatest assistants the slovenly farmer has at his
command. The dressings of hedges, the couch and
weeds harrowed from the land, the cleansings of
ditches, are burned to get tliem out of the way : no
thought is taken of the waste produced by fire, or
the increase the manure heap would receive from
the addition ; no, nothing is thought of but to get it
out of the way, and fire does it with a vengeance.
But the burning of couch is by far the most
injurious on land where bones have been used.
When the couch has been harrowed up, examine it
minutely, and you will perceive many small parti-
cles of bone adhering to the roots of the couch,
which of course will be consumed ; in fact, to burn
couch on boned land is to burn bones.

The only recommendation stifle burning ap-
pears to possess, is the employment it gives to the

labourer j and it appears very doubtful to me if it
would not give more employment to labourers if the
weeds, &c., were collected into heaps and fer-
mented ; at any rate the land would be much be-
nefited, as I consider there is nothing so des-
tructive to land as the very general but slovenly
use of fire.

Mr. Bi-own would confer a great favour on
your subscribers by giving a description of the soil
and subsoil, and if any other manure has been
used; how long he has pursued the system, the
quantity of seed sown, and produce of crops per
acre. I am, sir, yours,

Thomas Kier Short.

Martin Hal!, Notts,

AN ESSAY ON THE AGRICULTURE
OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF
AXMINSTER.

[from the SHERBORNE JOURNAL.]

The soil of this immediate neighbourhood being
composed of so many different sorts, it would be
presumptuovis for any writer to imagine himself
capable of conveying to the reader the best and
most advantageous mode of management which they
so differently require, without having first devoted
some time in study and experience. Still, the
^^a■iter begs his brother agriculturists Avill not
imagine he has taken up his pen with the intention
of teaching those who are more learned and more
experienced than himself. The writer's chief
object is to excite his brother agriculturists to
follow a more modern and better course of ma-
nagement, ere we can arrive at that pitch in the
knowledge of agriculture which is so manifest
in other parts of the country. The writer first
begs to caU the attention of his brother farmers
to the advantage of a change of manure, particu-
larly on land where lime has, from time immemo-
rial, been the chief manure. The writer is confi-
dent (from experience) lime manure is of httle
service to land of the same or like soil to that
from which the limestone was taken, particidarly
if applied in the autumn for wheat ; the heavy
rains during the winter following undoubtedly
wash off and destroy the chief properties ^^dlich
lime contains, consequentlj' the croji receives but
little benefit. The many different soils which
are found on a farm, and even in a field, in this
neighbourhood, render it difficult and uncertain
to follow any deteraiined course of management,
though a change in manure will, for certain, be
found to answer on all of them. To gi^'e a prefer-
ence to those particular manures recommended by
the most practical men of the day, would be super-
fluous. The extraordinar)' effects of the g\iano on
wheat and turnips have been astonishing to many,
though its effects, beyond one season, have not
proved of much benefit ; to dispense with an al-
ternate lime dressing would be dangerous in the
extreme. Lime has proved, and ever will prove,
a good material for the farmer ; it will decompose
all roots and vegetable matter, and is a great de-

522

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

stroyer of slugs and other insects, if applied to
the land in its flowery and quick state. Though
much has been said by many writers of the day
on manures and the general management of the
corn lands, there is yet wanting a general economy
in every description of outlay, to enable the tenant
to meet the heavy and increasing expenses of the
times. Great praise is due for the vast improve-
ments that have been making during the last ten
years, not only to the agriculturists, but also to
the landowners ; the latter seem anxious to meet
the hea-^y depression of the times, and the former to
look fonvard -with hope for an increase of pros-
perity; and if we, the agriculturists of this
immediate neighbourhood, wish to meet our de-
mands, we must not only change the system of our
forefathers, but that of our own day, not allowing
it to be useless for us to attempt to compete with
our much advanced neighbours ; therefore, " let
us not jnit our hands to the ploiir/h and look bacJc"
as it is quite evident there is required perseverance
in studying the many important branches of Eng-
lish farming — perseverance in all things is required
in managing a farm to advantage : it is quite cer-
tain, while bread is made use of, agriculture, like
many other things, will never cease to impro^•e.
With regard to the breed of our stock in this
neighbourhood, improvements are easy to be ac-
complished ; the small expense of breeding a bull
from those exhibited at our last cattle show will
undoubtedly, in a few years, Avipe off the neglect
of former times. The advantage which may be
obtained on sheep farms over those of heavy clay
lands, or lands not calculated for sheep, is very
great indeed. There is no doubt the fold equals,
if not surpasses, all other manures for corn lands
yet discovered; but, as aforesaid, a change will
be. found beneficial. On land of the description
before alluded to, two successive corn, or other-
wise termed yellow crops, should ever be avoided.
Such an absurd practice is too frequently adopted in
this neighbourhood, even on lands calculated for
turnips, or any other artificial food for stock, llie
time will ere long arrive when the green crop will
supersede that of the yellow, and prove of greater
value to the farmer. It now becomes the duty of
every agriculturist, first, to promote his artificial
food; and, second (by increasing his stock), to con-
sume it; thereby the farm-yard manure (which
will ever prove the best) may be easily obtained.
It is quite obvious, at the present moment, that
England cannot grow corn to meet the foreigner; and,
alas ! the farmers of England have great reasons
to look forward to be beaten from their own mar-
kets ; therefore, our cattle must and ought to be
our chief concern and our eai'nest object, not
only for the benefit of ourselves, but of all the
world.

In returning again to the arable lands of this
neighbourhood, it is quite certain nine-tenths
of the lands (not already drained) are more or
less in need of draining. This cannot be the duty
of the tenant-farmer without a long lease and
rent accordingly ; therefore, if the landlord wishes
to see liis land well managed, and his rent paid
up, he must meet his tenant in all necessary im-
provements ou the estate, not only for the good

of themselves, but for that of the public at large.
The introduction (in other parts of the country)
of the subsoil-plough has proved a great advantage:
indeed, every practical farmer must admit, the
more and deeper the soil is pulverized the better,
though in this immediate neighbourhood its general
use cannot be anticipated. The very bad rotation
of cropping the corn lands of this immediate
neighbourhood is still persevered in, and in spite
of sound judgment, or the practical knowledge of
chemistry. The practice of sowing any yellow
spring crop on a lea piece of land ought ever to be
avoided, and is done only by those cjuite destitute
of a thorough knowledge of farming. The most
advantageous rotation of cropping all arable lands
(calculated to produce artificial food for stock)
is to sow your lea ground to wheat in the autumn ;
manure it with the fold, &c., before and after
sowing the same; the winter following, plough
up your land, and let it remain so until the spring ;
then fallow it well for turnips or other artificial
food, and, with a moderate dressing of lime, farm-
yard, or other manure, according to the change
before mentioned, a prosperous crop may be anti-
cipated. After feeding the same oflT with sheep
or stock of any kind, the land is then in a good
state to produce the most prolific crop of bai'ley,
Avith a crop of young grass the year foUoAnng.
The foundation of good farming being now laid,
the fourth crop, viz., the young grass crop, is con-
sidered by old farmers the one which restores
rest to the land. The rest which is too often given
to the land at this stage, in the rotation of crops,
is of little or no benefit, nor does land require the
sort of rest so bestowed. It is often the case that
young grass is mown once or twice during the
summer ; whereas, if the same had been fed off
with stock, the rest would then, undoubtedly,
have been given. Experience will convince every
agriculturist the land does not require that sort
of rest given by the farmers in this neighbourhood ;
through a better rotation of cropping and manage-
ment, it will bring forth its crops yearly " and in
due season," like the garden does its vegetables.

In farming corn lands to advantage, great care
should be taken in cleansing the land (prepara-
tory to turnips) from aU noxious weeds. Too
little is thought in this neighbourhood of a change
in seed : the seed vxndoubtedly requires a change
of soil ; and, in Uke manner, the soil requires a
change of seed. The experiment of sowing the same
seed on the same or like soil, for three successive
years only, will fully prove its absurdity. This
may easily be accounted for, not only by the change
of soil, but also by the change of climate ; it Avill
undoubtedly prove the sample to be much better,
and the first crop more abundant ; consequently,
corn-seed, and manure of every description (hke
most other things), require a change. In leaving
the subject of corn lands, the Aviiter is anxious
to make a few remarks on the management of mea-
dow and pasture lands. The generality of meadow
and pasture lands in this neighbourhood certainly
exhibit a better state of management than the ara-
ble lands ; but still there is a great deal of improve-
ment here to be accomiilished. The principal ob-
ject to be attended to, in the management of the

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

ineadows in this beautiful valley (near tlie Axe)
is, that care should be taken to prevent the lodging
of superfluous water after floods ; manure on land
in this situation cannot be much wanted. Pasture
lands in a higher situation will also benefit through
a change of manure. Too little is thought of the
liquid manure in the farm-yard. The barton (like
the corn field) requires the attention of the farmer,
(ireat advantage may be easily obtained through
the formation of tanks or reservoirs, for preserving
the liquid manure. The most proper place for a
tank is near the dung mixing, when, at every op-
portunity, the liquid may be taken from the tank
and thrown over the solid manure or compost
heap, and being often saturated with the liquid,
it will undoubtedly retain (for a time) its chief pro-
perties ; but still the most advantageous, and also
the most proper, application of hquid manure, is
to apply it over the land in its liquid state. This
is accompUshed by means of a machine invented
for the purpose, and which will, before long, be
found in the possession of every practical and good
farmer. The absurd practice of hauling out faiTn-
yard manure on land during frosty weather, ought
to be avoided ; the best and the most proper time
for spreading manure of this kind is during stormy
weather. It is certain the frost, sun, and wind,
dry up and destroy the chief proj^erties which it
• contains.

In concluding this subject of " Agriculture" in
tliis immediate neighbourhood, the writer does
not anticipate that any great advantage will be
gained by the reader's perusal of these few remarks.
Essays may be written, and works of experimental
knowledge may be published; but all mil never
make a good farmer without perseverance and study
in all the many branches of English farming. Agri-
culture is now making rapid strides, and would
our landlords afford us (their disconsolate ten-
ants) that countenance and support to which we
are so justly entitled, it is certain that, in the next
ten years, we should see such improvements in
this principal branch of our national industry
in this neighbourhood, as would enable us to
overtake our much-advanced neighbours ; there-
fore, punctuality and attention to business must
be regarded in every day's labour, and a good
farmer wiU never be at a loss to do what is each
day required to be done. In aU the various occu-
pations of this life, none can more require the
constant attention and attendance of the master ;
no business can be of more importance to the public
at large, and aU who make use of the good things
of this life ought ever to regard a good farmer as a
friend to his country, and an ornament to his
neighbourhood.

" God speed the plough."

J. B,

IRRIGATION IN EGYPT.— The land, naturally
inundated, is sown only once a year usually, and that is
after the subsidence of waters. But the tracts subjected
to artificial inundation will annually yield three crops,
being first sown at the same period as the districts above

mentioned with wheat or bai-ley ; a second time, after
the vernal equinox, with indigo, cotton, millet, or some
similar produce ; and again, about the summer solstice,
with millet or maize. I was much pleased that during
my visit the state of the crops fully accorded with their
relative condition in the time of Moses, during the
plague of hail, for " the barley was in the ear, and the
flax was boiled," when I saw them, and would, there-
fore be smitten ; but " the wheat and the rye would not
be smitten, for they were not grown up" (lixodus, chap.
X., V. 31, 32). Gratifying too was it to be informed,
that the custom referred to in Ecclesiastes, " Cast thy
bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many
days" (Ecclesiastes, chap, xi., v. 1), is now illustrated
by the agriculturist casting his seed on the mud before
the water has quite subsided ; afterwards a little dry
mould is usually apread over it by hand. The machine
used for irrigation, so frequently erected on the banks
of the Nile, must excite curiosity. It is composed of a
vertical wheel, round which are fastened two parallel
cords, reaching a little below the surface of the stream ;
to these are attached, at equal distances, earthern pots,
which fill successively by dipping into the water as the
wheel revolves, discharging their contents, when raised
to the highest point, into a trough, from which the fluid
is carried by a trench into the intended locality. But in
order to set this wheel in motion, a small vertical wheel
with cogs is fastened to the opposite end of the same
axis, it being from sLx to eight feet in length, and in a
horizontal position ; with it is a third and larger cogged
wheel, whicit, being turned by oxen or cows, sets the
two first in motion. At spots more remote, spacious
pits are dug to receive the water, whence it is drawn up
by a simple machine formed of two upright posts, with
a horizontal bar between them, to which is affixed a
lengthy lever, having a vessel at its smaller extremity ;
this, being filled by lowering and raising the pole, then
discharges itself into a trough placed for the purpose.—
Stent's Egpyt.

THIN SOWING & MR. CAMPBELL'S STEEP.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — Through the medium of your paper, I beg to
inform my brother farmers of the result of my experi-
ment with Mr. Campbell, of Dundee's, composition for
steeping grain, seeds, &c., previous to sowing. Last
spring I wrote to Mr. Campbell for 20 gallons, inti-
mating to him, at the same time, in case he had set me
down as one of the flat-fish, that I put no faith in it what-
ever, but would give it a trial. Twelve bushels of oats
were steeped carefully in the liquid, according to the di-
rections; this quantity absorbed all the liquid. A five
and a half acre piece, after two-year-old grass, was se-
lected, of exactly the same quality of land ; three acres
were sown with the steeped oats at the rate of 4 bushels
per acre — Mr. Campbell having held out that not only
less seed was required, but that his mixture superseded
the necessity of manuring — the cost being 30s. or 10s.
per acre ; the remaining two acres and a half were sown
at the rate of 6 bushels per acre, unsteeped. The whole
has been carefully harvested, stacked separately, and
now thrashed out and measured up. From the three
acres steeped the return is 14^ quarters : from the two
and a half acres unsteeped the return is exactly 20 quar-
ters, being 3 quarters 1 bushel per acre in favour of
the unsteeped, or 60s. — double the rent of the land —
per acre. I must state that the whole got 2 cwt. per
acre of guano, as I was determined to run no risk of a

624

THE MUMER'S MAGAZINE.

total failure, and all hai'vested the same day ; and this
brings me to the present crotchet of thin sowing. Dur-
ing an experience of 40 years, I have always sown 4
bushels per acre of wheat, from 2 to 3 of barley, accord-
ing to the state of the land, and 6 of oats, per imperial
acre. The question is not — how small a quantity of
seed can be disposed of on an acre ? — but what is the re-
turn ? I am satisfied, had I sown Mr. Campbell's
steeped seed at the rate of 6 bushels per acre instead of
4, the returns from the steeped and unsteeped would
have been about the same ; there is no rational reason
that it should not have been so, the land being exactly
the same quality, and equal justice done to the whole.
We all know that less seed would be required in a gar-
den than in a general soil of a farm ; therefore, what Mr.
A. or B. may find sufficient on their land, can be no ge-
neral rule whatever ; therefore it is absurd to be pub-
lishing such balderdash, A farmer must regulate his
seeding by his own experience and observation, as all
other matters on his farm; and, if he does not possess
either observation or discretion, I would recommend
him to drop the trade of farmer.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

R. Barclay Allardice.
Uri/, Stonehaven, N. B., Oct. 26.

P.S. — The weight of the steeped and unsteeped corn
I find to be exactly the same, viz., 411bs. per imperial
bushel ; and here is another answer to the thin sowers,
who, I suspect, will not soon get fat.

HORNCASTLE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

[from the eastern couxties herald.]

The annual meeting of the members of this
society was held at Horncastle, on Thursday, the
3rd October. The competition for the prizes
given by the society for ploughing, plashing, &c.,
touk place at Fulletby, about four miles from
Horncastle, on the farms of Messrs. Brothwell
and Darxbney. There was an increase of about 31
candidates over the entry of last yeai*, and the work
done by them was of a most superior description,
good judges saying they had never seen it sur-
passed. But the most interesting feature in the
meeting was the importance of the subjects touched
upon after dinner, and the practical manner in
which they were discussed. The allotment system
— breaking up grass land — dibbling corn — and
the employment of labourers during the ensuing
Avinter; points of the greatest importance to the
labourer, the farmer, and the landlord, were those
which were principally touched upon ; and to Mr.
Loft, of Trusthorpe, who princijjally provoked
and led on the discussion, is entitled the thanks
of the agricultural community for having so
boldly broached such important subjects ; and we
hope that the example he set here Avill be adopted
at succeeding meetings of this description, as
nothing, we believe, can tend more to promote
the welfare of the agriculturists than the useful
discussion by practical men of the most important
topics relating to farming, &c.

the dinner.
The dinner took place in the Assembly Rooms,
at the Bull Inn, and was attended by almost all
the gontry and leading farmers of the tOAvn and

neighbourhood, amongst whom were Wm. Elm-
hirst, Esq., West Ashby; J. H. Short, Esq.,
Edlington Grove ; J. B. Stanhope, Esq., Revesby
Abbey ; Captain Smart ; the venerable Archdeacon
Goodenough; the Revds. Thomas Best and A.
Veitch ; Dr. Boulton; Messrs. Loft, Trusthorpe;
Dennis, Greetham; Hill, Wincely; Hobson,
Woodhouse; Richardson, Asgarley; Wingate,
Hareby; Bell, Revesby; Bonner, Langton ; Thim-
bleby, East Kirby ; North, Thoresby ; and Turner,
Parkinson, Clitheros, Conington ; Parkinson,
Sharpies, Overton, Armstrong, Scott, &c., Horn-
castle. Sir Hemy Dymoke, Bart., the President
of the society, was chairman. Grace having been
said by the Archdeacon Goodenough, the President
gave the health of "The Queen," which was drunk
with all the honours. " The Queen Dowager,"
and " The Prince Albert, and the rest of the Royal
Family" followed. The Chairman then proposed
" The health of the Bishop and Clergy of the
Diocese." He associated with the toast the name
of a gentleman who was so well known to them,
that he had no need to descant on his many vir-
tues— "The Archdeacon Goodenough" {loud and
most marked applause).

The Archdeacon Goodenough returned thanks.

The Chairman then gave the " Army and
Na^y," which was responded to by Captain
Smart.

The President had great pleasure in propo-
sing the next toast, which he was sure would be
drunk with enthusiasm ; it was "Success to the
Horncastle Agricultural Society." He was grati-
fied at seeing so many gentlemen round him.
There was this year, he was glad to find, a large
increase in the number of entries ; this was cheer-
ing, as it showed the great interest taken by the
labourers in this society. Amongst them there
was an increase in the class of undei'-drainers —
last year there were fourteen, this year nineteen.
He had heard from the Judges that the manner in
which this important kind of work was done was
most excellent {hear), and they had had a difficulty
in awarding the ])rizes. There ^\'ere 47 ploughs
in the field, and the work done by them was of a
superior character. The under-drainers had
worked very hard, and deserved to be rewarded in
some manner for their exertions. He gave some-
thing for that purpose last year, and he should
have great pleasure in doing the same this {cheers).
He should be exceedingly sorry if it created a
feeling of jealousy amongst the other classes. The
reason he did it was that the work was of a much
more laborious character. There could be no
doubt that these associations have been productive
of a great deal of good in the country. No
gentleman could ride through Lincolnshire
without seeing the improvements that had taken
place (cheers). There was one subject to which
he would jiarticidarly call the attention of the
meeting; it was of the greatest importance
— he meant the employment of the agricultural
labourers {loud applause). He did not wish to
dictate to them what they ought to do ; there were
many large agricultural parishes in the neighbour-
hood of such places as Belchford and Tetford, &c.,
which were not naturally placed with regard to

THE FAHMEirS MAGAZINE.

525

labourers; the la'jourers for the most part resided
in the latter-named places, and when they had no
work in their own parishes, they were thrown upon
the farmers of the places where tliey resided for
support, and who naturally had less means of
employment for them, which was very hard u]ion
them. He thought if meetings of such })arishes
were held, and the matter ])roperly taken into
consideration, it would he advantageous. Some
parishes, his own for instance, had not a suflicient
(juantity of labourers within it, and therefore
they were obliged to go elsewhere for them, so that
to them his remarks would not aj)ply (hear). He
wished also to mention another subject of equal
importance to the labouring classes, he meant the
carrying out of the allotment system more
generally. He had no do\ibt that it did good, and
not only to the best labourers, but also helped to
reform the idle and vicious ones, and, he was
satisfied, had prevented many a man from becoming
a poacher and sheep-stealer (hear). He would not
longer detain them ; he was thankful for the atten-
tion v/iih which they had listened to him, and pro-
posed " Success to the Horncastle Agricultural
Society'" (loud applause).

There were several prizes awarded to deserving
ploughmen, labourers, shepherds, and female
ser^'^nts.

The list of prizes was then read by the Secre-
tary : —

PREMIUM.S.

To the farmer's son, not being in business for
himself, or recei^'ing wages from his father, li\'ing
on a farm of not less than 150 acres, who shall
plough in the best manner half an acre of land,
within four hours, the furrows not to average more
than nine inches wide, nor less than four inches
deep, a silver cup, value £5, awarded to Thomas
Scholey, son of John Scholey, of Sotby.

To the working foreman on a farm of not less
than 300 acres, who has lived the greatest number
of years in the service of one family, or on the
same farm, not less than 5 years in some one
situation, the quantity of tillage to be taken into
consideration along with the greatest responsibility,
James Espin, servant to Mr. Hobson, AVoodhall,
£4. Six candidates.

To the labourer who shall bank, cut, and lay
eleven yards of quick-set fence in the best manner,
within 4 hours, John Stancer, servant to Mr.
Hurdman, of Ashby Puerorum, £3. To the second,
William Richardson, labourer to Mr. Broth well.
West Ashby, £2. To the third, Henry Crow,
labourer to Mr- Floyer, Cawkwell.

To the labourer who shall slash or cut ujnvards
at different heights, in the neatest form, and bank
22 yards of quick-set fence, time to be determined
by the committee, Thomas Bailey, labourer to
Mr. Thomas Rockliffe, £2. To the second, James
Eley, labourer to Mr. G. Gilliat, Horncastle, £l.

To the labourer in husbandry who shall cut an
under-drain not less than thirty-three yards long,
and put in draining tiles on flats half the length,
m the best and most workmanlike manner, the
depth of the drain and time for doing the work to
be determined by the committee, Richard Goy,
labourer to Thomas Hodgson, of Stainton, £3. To

the second, Wm. Calthorpe. labourer to Mr.
Brailsford, Toft Grange, £2. To the third, Robert
Burnett, labourer to Mr. Elsey, Hemingby, £1.

Scholey, the winner of the silver cup, having
been called in. Sir Henry Dymoke addressed
him in a|)propriate terms.

The Rev. T. Best proposed the health of the
worthy President and Chairman in a neat speech,
in which he highly eulogized Sir Henry Dymoke,
as a kind and sincere friend, an excellent neigh-
bour, and a most excellent landlord, as those who
had the pleasure of living under him could testify.

Sir Henry Dymoke said, he had had great
l)leasure in accepting the office of President of
the Society, and thanked the gentlemen who had
so well supported him. With regard to the
successful candidates, he said they came here and
worked very liard, and stood in need of some
refreshment, and they went to the alehouses, and
some, he was sorry to say, got more drink than
they ought to have done. He wished to suggest
that, another year, a subscription should be made,
or some other means taken for the purpose of
providing them with some refreshment (hear, hear).
He thought he might congratulate them that the
prospects of agriculture had been last year of a
more cheering character, and that since the corn-
laws had been settled they had obtained, not quite
so high, but more steady prices, almost fixed
prices, wliich were much better than now high now
low (hear). Wool also was fetching a fair price.
He had not heard of any scarcity in the crops.
The spring corn had, he knew, turned out most
satisfactory. He then noticed the subject of rail-
roads, which are now in agitation, and which, he
thought, would 1)e of great advantage to this part
of the country. The incorporated Wakefield and
York line, along the banks of the Witham to
Boston, would be of great benefit to this to\vn, as
it would be the emporium of the Eastern side of
the division. The traffic from South Spilsby,
Alford, &c., must of necessity flow through this
town. From the nature of the country it would be
impossible to construct railways in those directions
that \\'ould be remunerative. He had no personal
interest in the railways, but he made these remarks,
belie\'ing the Wakefield line would be a most
useful one (hear). He concluded his remarks by
saying he should always be ready to assist this
society with his purse and presence, and proposed
" the healths of the County Members, Lord
Worsley, and Mr. Christopher." (Hear, hear.)

Captain SMART*proposed " the health of Wm.
Elmhirst, Esq., the Vice-President of the Society."

Wm. Elmhirst, Esq., responded, and proposed
" the health of J. B. Stanhope, Esq."

J. B. Stanhope, Esq. — Gentlemen, I cannot
thank you sufficiently for the kind manner in which
you ha\'e drunk my health, on this the first occa-
sion I have had the pleasure of attending the meet-
ings of this society. I regret I have not had an
opportunity of being here before, and I regret it
the more since I have experienced your great kind-
ness. I trust that when we become better ac-
quainted, I shall ha\-e better opportunities of being
useful to the society (hear). I have a toast put
into my hands to propose ; it is the healths of gen-

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526

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tlemen who have had a very onerous duty to per-
form— the Committee, who are entitled to your
warmest thanks for the vahxable services they have
performed {hear). I was glad to hear the remarks
that have been made on the subject of furnishing
the labourers with a dinner. I hoi^e before long
we shall be able to do so in the North Lincolnshire
and other societies.

Mr. Dennis, of Greetham, returned thanks on
behalf of the Committee, and proposed the health
of the Judges.

Mr. George Nicholson, of Tetford, retvu-ned
thanks. He said he had been to many agricultu-
ral meetings, but he had never seen such work or
such competition, and he believed no other county
could show such work as had been done that day ;
he wished to say there was one man who had been
a few minutes over his time in ploughing, and they
were obliged to keep to the time ; had he finished
sooner, he would, in his opinion, have been entitled
to the second prize ; and there was one httle boy,
who was scarcely higher than the plough hales,
who had obtained a prize, that showed what could
be done by early and patient attention.

Mr. William Loft, of Trusthorpe, said— I
rise in compliance with the call of our worthy Pre-
sident, to propose to you the next toast. It is one
which I have great pleasure in proposing, and will,
I am sure, meet with your applause. It is the health
of our worthy secretary, Mr. George GiUiat {hear,
Tiear). He is to our society what the mainspring is
to a watch— without him we should stand still
{laughter). The duties he has discharged are of a
very arduous nature, and the manner in which he
discharges those duties cannot but have met Avith
your approbation. Our chairman has told us that
this year there are thirty-one more entries than
there were last, and I beheve it is entirely owing to
Mr. GiUiat's indefatigable exertions that this in-
crease has taken jjlace. With regard to the society,
so much as been said heretofore, and its character,
objects, and prospects have been so well explained
by our worthy President, that I shall hot trouble
you Avith any remarks upon it; but there was some-
thing which fell from the President in his able ad-
dress which I wish to notice. It is with respect to
the promotion of the profitable employment of the
industrious labourer. I heard his remarks with a
great deal of pleasure, and agree most cordially
with them ; but I wish he had gone a little further,
and as well as calhng upon us to keep our labourers
employed, had gone on to show how it might be
profitably done. I am not one of those who desire
to look forward with dark forebodings. W'e have
had, thank God, a good han^est, and it has been
well got in in a short time. It is now over, and
I am soiTy to say, I see but a poor chance of em-
ployment for the labourers unless some means be
found out of the usual course {hear, hear). I have
been at many meetings of these societies. I have
heard the labourers praised. The farmers jn-aised,
and the farmers of this county in particular, I may
say, lauded almost to the skies for their enterprise,
their skill, their exertions, their kindly feeling to-
wards their labourers. I have heard aU this from
landlords, and I may say I think with some justice.
Yes, the farmers have done their part and the la-

bourers have done theirs j but with all due defe-
rence I beg to say it, and as I feel strongly upon
the subject, I would wish to speak the more
guardedly and cautiously, the landlords have not
done their part in promoting the employment and
welfare of the industrious classes {hear) — they have
not done all they might do. There was one thing
in which they can materially assist them, particu-
larly such as have been here to-day — by breaking
up of grass land {loud applause). The subject was
mentioned at a meeting at Lincoln by a gentleman
now present, and by one of the judges. There is a
great deal of grass land (I should call it waste land)
that might be broken up Avith the greatest advan-
tage {applause). At the meeting I have alluded to,
Mr. Stanhope said he could not imderstand how
worn out grass land could be taken up with advan-
tage. I know very Avell that it would be utterly
profitless to break up the worst descriptions of
grass land. But the land that I mean should be
broken up is not of the worst quality, but of a mid-
dle description — land fuU of water, and generally
producing nothing but a most luxuriant crop of
rushes {laughter and applause). You are all prac-
tical men, and I knoAv will bear me out in what I
am saying. You must break up grass land if you
woidd increase the value of your farms, the amount
of your produce, and the demand for labour,
"SA'Tiich farm is it that does most good to the com-
munity ? I answer, and you Avill aU answer, that
which aflfords the greatest amount of labour and
yields the greatest quantity of food, and I say by
this means you will give employment to more la-
bourers and greatly increase the produce. I knoAV
that great improvements haA'e taken place in this
part of the county of late years, by breaking up
what is called grass land. I can recollect, and my
life is not a long one, when you might travel from
this very town of Horncastle to Caistor, and see a
large tract of wold land, covered with gorse and
bracken, and now they produce plentiful crops of
wheat, of seeds, and of turnips {great applause). I
know that landlords generally entertained a great
prejudice against ploughing up grass land, but
where they have permitted it, it has been attended
Avith the best results {hear). I occupy a farm at
Market Stainton, AA'here I have had liberty to break
up upAvards of 100 acres. It is noAV only tAvelve
years since I entered upon it, and I Avill A'enture to
say that I groAV three times more corn, and keep
more stock by half, and I am sure I haA'e no hesi-
tation in saying that if the property Avere brought
to the hammer, it Avould make from £15 to £20 per
acre more than in its original state {great applause).
I knoAv there is a great abundance of land in this
county which is noAV almost profitless, Avhich
might be made to produce a great deal of corn,
employ a large amount of labour, and be greatly
improved in value by this process. But I have
Avandered aAvay from the object I had in rising to
address you, and my friend must begin to think I
have forgotten liim. I am afraid I have tried your
patience — {" go on," " go on") — but, as I said be-
fore, it is a subject on Avhich I feel very strongly,
and sincerely I hope the landlords' hearts aaoII be
as open to correction as their ears are to receive in-
formation {cheers). I Avill say no more, but give

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527

the health of Mr. Gilliat, oxir indefatigable secretary
and treasurer {loud applause, which lasted some
time).

Mr. Gilliat returned thanks, and proposed the
health of the gentlemen who had so kindly lent
them their land, Messrs. Brothwell and Daubney,
of Fulletby.

Mr. Broth WELL returned thanks and gave
" The Town and Trade of Horncastle."

Mr. Overton responded, and said it was al-
ways with feelings of pleasiu-e he rose to respond
to this toast. The Avorthy President had made
some allusions to the improvement of the mind,
and Capt. Smart had enlarged upon the same point
Avith regard to the army. They had liad that day
a pleasing instance of the power of intellect in the
triumph of the deaf, the dumb, and the lame, over
a host of competitors. He was highly pleased w'iih
the project of giving the successful candidates a
dinner at the same table wth the company. He
thought the idea had originated with Mr. Stanhope,
and he congratulated him upon its adoption (cheers).
It was not for him to adopt the language of a far-
mer ; they well knew he knew nothing about it, and
it would be foohsh in him to attempt it, but as
confirmatory of what had been said by Mr. Loft
on the subject of grass land, he wotild relate a con-
versation he had the other day with a most success-
ful farmer. He went to visit (in company with a
friend) a gentleman, who occupied a large farm
over the Witham, and looked over his farm, but
looked in vain for a piece of grass land. He (Mr.
O.) said, " where is your grass land ?" " I have
none," said the friend, " and none I want ; its only
the old-fashioned folks on the other side of the
Witham (laiir/hter) that want grass land." Mr. O.
stared at him, and began to think that his horse
would only be badly off for provender, but he
found he need not ha^'e feared ; his horse was well
supplied with corn and seeds, and his friend, who
is a most successful and intelligent farmer, had no
more grass land than his house paddock. From
the position which he (Mr, O.) occupied, he was
brought so much into contact Avith the labouring
poor, that their ways, habits, and methods of dis-
posing of their httle funds, were almost as fami-
liar to him as his o\vm business, and he knew what
a great boon a good garden was to them. Give
them the allotment system properly conducted, and
you make them feel themselves possessed of a foot-
ing in society they were before strangers to, and
you are doing more good to them by encouraging
their industrj', than in lavishing thousands on their
necessities. He thanked them for the kindness
with which they had heard him ; he hoped they
would never come here without meeting ^dth a
kindly welcome from the inhabitants of Horncastle
{loud cheers).

The Chairman proposed the health of the
^^•orthy Vicar of Horncastle, Dr. Madely (hear).
From the state of his health he had been incapa-
citated of late years from attending meetings of this
description, but he would be well represented by
his excellent curate, the Rev. Mr. Flowers, who,
though he had not been long resident among them,
by his attention to the poor of his flock, had met
with the greatest approbation {cheers).

The Rev. W. H. Flowers returned thanks.

Jas. Banks Stanhope, Esq., said — Since the
speech I made, some remarks have been made on
what I said at a meeting at Lincoln, and as I wish
not to be misunderstood upon the point, I trust
you Avill bear with me a few moments. Mr. Sills,
one of the judges at that meeting, made an obser-
vation about ploughing up grass land, and I said
there was a good deal of grass land I should be
very soriy to see ploughed up, and Mr. S. said it
would be advantageous. I have since thought the
matter over a good deal, and have talked \vith
several gentlemen on the subject, and I think
nobody would plough up good land, and, at the
same time, noliody would keep bad {hear, hear).
I am but a young agriculturist, and I do not wish
to do in a hurry what I should afterwards be sorry
for {hear). It is easy to say. Plough up grass land.
I know it is so much easier to plough up grass
land than it is to restore it to its pristine condition ;
that we ought to well consider the matter, and only
go upon good grounds. Only the other day I rode
down into the Fen ; I was shown a piece of land,
and was asked what it was. It might have been
anything for what I could see. I was told it was
seeds, but there really was nothing on it. I was
afterwards told that that very field had been one of
the best grass fields in the county {hear). It be-
hoves gentlemen to be very cautious and know
what they are doing before they disturb such land.
We have been told the benefits that would arise
from ploughing up the 'grass land that is covered
\vith rushes, and of the emi)loyment it would afford
to the labourer; but, gentlemen, I should first
wish to employ the labourers in thoroughly under-
draining that land {hear, hear). I would then
manure it well, and give it a fair trial ; and if it did
not then turn out well, and it would be more ad-
vantageous to plough it up, so let it be. I am
often asked to plough up old meadow land. Now,
gentlemen, I have hved a great portion of ray life
in Middlesex, and have seen the management
adopted there ; and I should like to see better
management here {hear, hear). I have closes of
meadow land on my own farm which used formerly
to be very productive, and now bring almost
nothing. I am going to drain and manure them
also, and hope to succeed in bringing thern back to
good condition. I trust eveiy one who lives near
me (I see only two or three of my own tenants here)
m\\ bear me Avitness that I have done my best to
keep the labouring poor in full employment {loud
cheers). But I cannot accede to remarks which
would lead me to make such extensive alterations
without due consideration. This is the principle I
have gone upon (cheers). I assure you I do so
from conscientious motives. If I find by experi-
ence that the labourers can really be benefited, I
shall be always ready to do the utmost in my
power to promote so valuable an object (cheers).

Mr. Loft rose and said, he thought Mr. Stan-
hope had misimderstood him. If he had mis-
represented what Mr. S. had said at Lincoln, he
was very sorrj', and begged pardon ; but he
thought, with deference, that the observations of
Mr. Stanhope did not apply to what he had said. He
perfectly agreed with Mr, Stanhope in what had

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fallen from him respectinp; the poor meadows and
best grass lands, and should be equally sorry to
see them broken up ; but what he had referred to
was the middle description of land, which, he con-
tended (and he challenged any one to contradict
him), might be broken up with the greatest advan-
tage to the interests of all concerned in it. It did
not follow that because a tenant might mismanage
and neglect it for a year or two, that it should not
be broken up. The landlord had always the
remedy in his own hands — try the tenant — give
him leave to break up this sort of land. There
was the landlord or steward to look over him, and
if he mismanaged or neglected it, why turn him
out and give it to one who would manage it pro-
perly, A tenant cannot ruin the land in a year or
two. Generally speaking, however, a tenant was
afraid to ask for pennission to plough, and if he
did summon up courage and asked the landlord,
and he gave him leave to break up a piece of land,
he was so fearful of offending that he generally
asked for the very worst corner of his farm — a
piece of cold clay land that would bring nothing ;
and so instead of doing good, he did himself and
it harm. He (Mr. L.) maintained and challenged
contradiction, that to plough up middle land would
in no way injure the landlord. Mr. Stanhope had
said he would have it properly drained. No doubt
land ought to be thoroughly drained before the
jjlough was allowed to come upon it ; there was no
use in ploughing land that was full of springs. It
could produce nothing until it was properly
drained. Mr. S. had also said that he would
manure it well, but where would they get manure ?
With wheat at 40s. a quarter, they could not do it
out of their pockets ; they must get their manure
from their farms. And they knew perfectly well
that the land he was speaking of would require no
manure for many years, but be affording a supply
for the poorer meadows. He again urged them to
break up the middle land. Another gentleman
had mentioned the allotment system ; he (Mr. L.)
had no doubt it had done good in many parts, par-
ticularly in the south of England, but he did not
think it very good in Lincolnshire. Here the
lahoiu-ers were fully employed, and earning more
than in any other county. Go where you would
on this side the county, and you would find that
the labourers' gardens were worse cultivated than
any other land. He would give them an instance.
He had some cottages on his farm, they were
good cottages too, and each had a rood of land
attached to it, and he thought they were not dearly
let at £3 a year. His labourers were industrious,
but their gardens were the worst cultivated land in
the district. In fact the land was not cultivated at
all. They dug their potatoes at this season, and
never went into their gardens again until spring.
They would not cultivate them. He had offered
them to others, but they would not have them at
any price ; and that was land worth £80 an acre.
He had no doubt it would do good in thickly popu-
lated districts, where the working classes had
everything to buy at a dear rate, but amongst farm
labourers garden ground was but httle valued.

The Rev. W. H. Flowers.— I mil not attempt
to argue on the merits of the allotment system, but

state simi)ly and briefly the plan pursued on the
estates of Lord Gainsborough. Each labourer has
three half roods of land which he is compelled to
cultivate under the strictest regulations. He pays
at the rate of £2 an acre rent. The gardens are
divided into parallel strips of land of half a rood
each, on which white corn, potatoes, and pulse are
grown alternately. Judges go round every year to
examine the allotments, and award the premiums
to the best cultivators. No farms in the county
are better cidtivated, and Rutland is a weU-culti-
vated county. The gardens must be turned up
with the spade, and I have heard the labourers say
that the wheat crop will pay their rent, whilst the
potatoes and beans enable them to keep a pig and
provide vegetables for themselves [cheers). Almost
all have pigs, which furnish them with manure for
their gardens. Lord Gainsborough's gardens are,
therefore, a great benefit to the men. They keep
them from poverty and idleness {cheers). I be-
lieve their wages average about 12s. a week, and
that in other respects they are as well off as the
labourers of this county {cheers).

The Chairman intimated that as they had been
considering the propriety of allowing the labourers
to dine with them, he thought it would be proper '
they should come to an understanding upon the
subject, and make the requisite arrangements. A
long and interesting conversation took place on the
subject, which we regret our limits forbid our in-
serting. It was at length finally determined that
at the next annual meeting the labourers should
dine at the same board, and the committee were
empowered to make arrangements with the land-
lord of the Red Lion Inn, where the next dinner
will take place, for carrying the project into effect.
This settlement of the question gave universal satis-
faction.

Sir Henry Dymoke proposed the health of a
gentleman who was always resident amongst them,
and whose life was spent in doing good to all
around him — his worthy friend Mr. Short {great
applause).

J. H. Short, Esq., briefly responded, and the
manner in which he was received showed how
much he is respected amongst his friends and
neighbours.

Mr. Geo. Gilliat proposed jirosperity to the
Alford Agricultural Society, which he might say
was the parent of this ; he should associate with it
the health of its worthy president, Mr. Loft.

Mr. Loft, in reply thereto, as president of the
Alford Agricultural Society, returned thanks to the
company ior the very warm manner in which they
had drunk success to the Alford Agricultural
Society. It was certainly the predecessor of this,
but this had followed so closely on their heels that
he did not know whether it would not outrun
them. He then proceeded to make some remarks
on the ad^'antage of dibbling corn, by which he
thought they would be enabled to save a good deal
of seed, and afford a considerable increase of
labour. He had had a little experience in it, and
had made some calculations from those experi-
ments. He had not dibbled, properly speaking,
his com in, but the land was trenched with a hoe,
and the seed scattered in as thinly as possible.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

529

He had not furnished his calculations on all the
different kinds he had sown, but on two or three
he had, and the result was, from so small a quan-
tity as four and a-half pecks to the acre he had
obtained six and seven strikes. He had calculated
the first outlay in labour at almost £2 an acre ;
of course, as it was new, they did not suffi-
ciently understand, and did not go the cheapest
way to work about it. He had since been tohl l>y
a friend that he had some dibbled at a cost of nine
shillings an acre, and they would save more than
that in the cost of seed ; and even if it did no
other good, it afforded additional employment to
the labourer, liesides the no small advantage of not
being dependent upon the weather for sowing, as
dibbhng may l)e done when the land cannot be
sown in the ordinary way. He wished farmers
would try the experiment on a small scale at first,
and if they found it answer, they might go on in-
creasing.

Several other speeches were made by different
members, but the length to which our report has
run forbids their insertion. The Chairman vacated
the chair about half-past eight o'clock. J. B.
Stanhope, Esq., was immediately voted into it, and
the company continued enjoying themselves until
midnight.

STEWPONEY FARMERS' CLUB.

The tenth monthly meeting of the Stewponey
farmers' club was held at Stewponey, on Mon-
day, Oct. 7 ; and among the members present
were Mr. John Robins (chairman). Lord Lyttelton,
J, H. H. Foley, Esq., the Rev. G.Wharton, Messrs.
Yardley, Beddard, J. Beddard, Burgess, Thomp-
son, Mantle, &c. The minutes of the last meeting
having been read by the secretarj', the chairman
called upon the Rev. G. Wharton (Mr. Amery
whose turn it was to present a paper being pre-
vented by illness) to read his essay " On the best
method of bettering the condition and increasing
the comforts of the agricultural labourers, by such
means as are in the power of the owners and
occupiers of land." The Rev. Mr. Wharton then,
after some introductory observations, referring to
the circumstance above mentioned, read the fol-
lomng ; —

In the printed lists of subjects for discussion, it
is admitted that the condition of the labouring
classes needs amelioration : it is unnecessaiy,
therefore, to use any argmnents to establish the
proposition. Now, when amendment is required,
there must be something to be amended. It is
requisite, therefore, to ascertain what this is, before
the remedy can be pointed out ; it is requisite
to ascertain precisely the evils of the present
condition of this class, and also whether they
are of that nature that they can be removed or
lessened by the means in the power of the o^vners
and occupiers of the soil. The evils, I beUeve, are
ignorance and poverty; the latter almost the
necessary consequence of the former ; and the re-
sults of these exdls are a want of self respect, and a
low standard of morality. Poverty often conduces

to crime. It was from this condition that Agra, as
we read in the book of Solomon, besought God by
prayer to protect him. " Give me," said he,
" neither poverty nor riches : feed me with food
convenient for me, lest 1 be full and deny thee, and
say. Where is the Lord? or lest I be poor and steal,
and take the name of my God in vain." The in-
ference to be drawn from this petition is, th:.t
poverty is an evil, and that it is productive of dis-
honesty ; and experience proves that the inference
is a legitimate one. Such are the evils and their
consequences ; and both, I think, are capable of
being lessened, if not removed, by means in the
power of landlords and their tenants.

In agricultural districts the population is gene-
rally scattered over a large extent of country, and
the labouring classes, therefore, have seldom an
opportunity of sending their children to a well con-
ducted school, where their minds would be subject
to proper discipline, at an age when they are capa-
ble of being influenced. This early discipline I
consider of as much importance to them in after
Ufe as the knowledge which they may there acquire
of letters and figures. Should the parents them-
selves be sensible of the advantages of subjecting
the infant mind to early discipUne, the distance of
their dwellings from a good school is often an in-
surmountable obstacle, while their children are
yoving ; and yet this is generally the only period of
their lives at which they can be spared for the
purpose of ac(juiring any knowledge of the mere
rudiments of education. For as soon as children
are able to contribute a trifle to the scanty earnings
of their parents, poverty compels the parents to
avail themselves of the labour of their children,
and to send them to perform any kind of work for
which they may be considered equal. Thus they
grow up to manhood in ignorance, and without
much fitness, if any, to emerge from this state.
Instead of being sent to school when young, where
they would have been trained in habits of industry
and obedience, and taught to read, and thus placed
in a position to acquire knowledge from the purest
sources, they are allowed, in consequence of the
chstance from school, to spend their time in wander-
mg up and down the fields and lanes, making ac-
quaintance with every disorderly character in the
neighbourhood, and thus acquiring the destructive
habits of idleness and profligacy. With no better
preparation than this for the discharge of their duty
as ser\'ants and as members of society, they are
sent into the world, and what wonder is it that if
the majority of them tm-n out unmanageable and
worthless characters. They were never taught to
think, or to use their faculty of reason ; and the
consequence is, that many of them are little better
than mere machines, so far as any usefulness is con-
cerned. They possess the physical power requi-
site for usefvdness, but, from want of mental culture,
they have not the abiUty to apply this power judi-
ciously, either to their own or their employer's ad-
vantage. Ignorance is therefore an obstacle to
their own success in life, and also to their useful-
ness in the station in which they may be placed. If
then we would desire to see any improvement in the
condition of the labouring classes, we must adopt
some plan for giving them an education suitable to

530

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

their station in life, and, by attending to the culture
of their minds, to afford them an opportunity of
rising in the scale of rational beings. In their
cottages again the agricultural labourers have not
always that accomodation which is calculated to
produce either principles of self-respect or of
virtuous conduct. These are generally too small,
badly situated and planned externally, and badly
arranged internally. They are often much dilapi-
dated ; the roof is not impervious to wet, and the
walls are not proof against wind or rain. Near
them, and sometimes close to the door, is placed
the pigsty, and adjoining to this are the dung heap
and cess pool, both emitting offensive odours, and
filling the air with pestilential vapours. The interior
corresponds with the exterior ; there is one comfort-
less room on the ground floor, and perhaps a small
oneadjoiningthis,servingthe double purpose of pan-
try and lumber room; here also is sometimes found
the wash tub. Upstairs there is often only one
room, without any ceiling ; and if the roof be of
tiles or slates, it is so badly pointed, that there is
free access both to wind and snow. The window is
not always made to open, nor is there always a fire-
placev If there are too rooms, and there are seldom
more than two, the entrance to the second is through
the first. Sometimes, but not always, there is a
door. It is, however, of little importance whether
there be a door or not ; for it commonly fits so
badly, or is so much out of repair, that it is useless
for the purpose for which doors are intended.
Such are the cottages in which the labouring
classes are generally compelled to live, lliere are
some of a better description, some that are as
convenient and comfortable as the houses of more
favoured individuals ; stiU the great majority of
the cottages in agricultural districts are of the kind
which I have described.

I have been in many cottages where there is only
One room down stairs, and only one sleeping room.
In one of these I found a family of ten persons, four
males and six females. The father was a wdower :
two of his sons were grown up, and four of his
daughters : yet all these slept in one small room,
not twelve feet square. I have been in many others
where six or eight individuals, males and females,
were obliged to occupy one equally small chamber :
and where there are not two sleeping rooms, adults of
both sexes, members of the same family, are com-
pelled to occupy the same apartment . And what is
the natural consequence of this intermixture, but
the loss of that modesty which is indispensable to
both males and females, if they would become
respectable members of society ?

But the evils arising from this indiscriminate
occupation of the same sleeping room is increased
by the want of cottages, and the too high rent
visually charged for them. The number of cottages
on most estates is not sufficient to accommodate the
work people necessary for the cultivation of the
land J the consequence is that some must be con-
tent with lodgings : and as rents are commonly
too high, a labouring man with a large family is
often tempted to get something towards his rent by
taking into his house one or two male lodgers.
In fact, the larger his family, and consequently the
less able he is to spare any part of his house, the

greater the necessity for an increase to his income
by taking lodgers, though this must be done at the
expense of the comfort of himself and family.
He takes lodgers therefore : the sons sleep in the
lodgers' room : his daughters in that of himself and
wife. But how frequently have the parents cause
to regret this step in the ruin of one or more of
their children ! In some instances, then, poverty
compels the poor man to act in opposition to his
judgment : and there are other instances in which
he is led to do this, by a desire to please his em-
ployer, who has no cottage in which to place
another labourer, whom he finds it necessary to en-
gage, and without whose labour it is impossible for
him to manage his farm.

I have already alluded to the high rent of cot-
tages. These vary from Is. 9d. to 28. a week,
exclusive of rates. There are some few at lower,
bixt many at higher rents. Some of these cottages
have sviitable gardens ; many have none, or gar-
dens too small to be of any value. Now the
average weekly earnings of a labourer will not
exceed twelve shilfings, even in this neighbour-
hood, while in many districts it ^vill not exceed
ten shilhngs, supposing him to have constant
employment, and not to be kept from work by ill-
ness. Of this sum, however, be it ten, or be it
twelve shillings, one fifth part at least must be set
apart for rent. If other men were compelled to
set apart so large a portion of their income for
rent, a man who has £300 a year would pay a
rent of £50, and another who had £3,000 a year
would pay a rent of £500 for his dwelling; and
yet, to ' keep the quality of the accommodation in
view, his house at this rent might not be large
enough for his family, nor in a fit state for oc-
cupation. But would it be prudent for a man
having such an income to pay one-sixth of it for
rent ? And if he was compelled to do this, would
he be able to meet all other proportionable demands
upon his purse ? Certainly not. Yet the labourer
is often obliged to pay this disproportionate rent
for his miserable dwelling, and to struggle on in
poverty, without any prospect of ever being in
more comfortable circumstances. And if he shoidd
not be fortunate enough to rent his cottage from
a landed proprietor, but from one of those indi-
viduals who rent cottages merely for the sake of
obtaining the greatest possible interest for their
outlay, his rent must be paid punctually ; and
should he not be able to do this, either from scar-
city of work, from loss of time through sickness,
or from the increasing expenses of an increasing
family, his furniture is seized and sold, or rather
given away, and he is left to take a shelter for his
wife and children wherever he can find one. House-
less, friendless, and broken-hearted, the workhouse
is soon his only resource ; and thus, a man who
wovild have reared his family by the labour of
his hands, could he have had a cottage at a rea-
sonable rent, is driven, by high rents, to become
a burden to his parish. And this is not the only
evil : both parents and children lose their feeUng
of indei>endence, and not unfrequently are indis-
posed to make any effort to regain it. All, there-
fore, become iiermanent paupers, and the proge-
nitors of a race that will carefully tread in their

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

631

steps. It will not, I think, be denied that the rents
of cottages are too high, even if they were
large enough for a poor man's family, jiro-
perly arranged, and in good repair. But when
it is borne in mind that they are commonly defi-
cient in all these requisites, the rent is most unrea-
sonable. The condition of a labourer's cottage
often exposes himself or his family to sickness ;
and this to a poor family, badly fed, badly clothed,
and badly lodged, and without the means of ob-
taining either medical assistance or the improved
diet necessary for the re-estabhshment of health,
is a dreadful scene. It is not, however, a scene
to the poor man only, but to the whole commu-
nity. Diseases of a mild nature, when neglected,
often terminate in others of a violent kind, which,
extending throughout the whole neighbourhood,
are seldom subdued before many have fallen victims
to their ravages.

Ignoi'ance and poverty, then, are two evils to
which the labouring classes appear to be doomed ;
and if we would improve their condition — if we
would see them possessed of greater comforts
than they at present enjoy, we must endeavour
to find a remedy for the evil, at least as far as
it is in our power, as owners and occupiers of the
soil.

And how this is to be done I shall now proceed
to point out as briefly as possible : but I must
beg to change my plan, and jiostpone the conside-
ration of the remedy for ignorance, in order that
I may first state the remedy for poverty. This
I look upon as the first step ; for a man who is
in want and misery, who has not even the neces-
saries of life, who has not food to satisfy the
cravings of his appetite, is not in a fit condition
to be benefited by the cultivation of his mind.
He asks for food for his body, and not for food
for his mind. Satisfy the body first, and then
the mind may be attended to with some hope of
success.

No one will, I think, presume to say that land
will, for any long time, continue fruitful without
cultivation ; or, in other words, that land permitted
to lie waste will long be of any value to its pos-
sessor. It may, therefore, be fairly concluded
that the value of land depends in some measure
on its being cultivated. If, then, land will not
continue to be valuable without being cultivated,
cultivators are indispensable ; and if there be
cultivators, there must be houses for their accom-
modation ; and if houses are to be provided, who
are to provide them ? Doubtless those individuals
whose land is to be improved in value or rendered
valuable by the labour of man. To the building
of cottages, however, I know that many persons
object ; and the ground of their objection is that
property in cottages is a bad property ; or, in other
words, that they are a bad investment for money.
To this objection my reply is that the landed pro-
prietor ought not to consider the building of cot-
tages as an investment, or to expect the rents
to be obtained from them to pay him interest for
his outlay. This interest ought to be looked for
from the increased value of the land, arising from
the employment of the occupiers of cottages ; for
I repeat it, it must be borne in mind that if land

be not cultivated it will soon be of little value ;
and that no one, therefore, is so much benefited
Ijy the labourer as the landowner himself.

I do not, however, wish it to be implied that
the labourer is to pay no rent for his cottage ; all
that I contend for is, that the rent of a cottage
ought not to be regarded in the light of interest
of the money spent in its erection, but that this
interest will arise from the improved value given
to the soil. To provide, however, for repairs and
other contingencies a small rent should l)e charged,
and this ought not to exceed Is. a week, or
52s. a year : the rates ought to be paid by the
owner. For this rent a labourer ought to have
a cottage in proper repair, sufficiently large for
his family, with every necessary convenience,
and at least one quarter of an acre of ground for
a garden. Each cottage should have not fewer
than three sleeping rooms unconnected with
each other. On the ground floor there should
be a kitchen or dwelling room, a pantry, and a
place for coal, tools, &c. The pantry should be
partly under ground. The sleeping rooms should
be ceiled, and have fire-places and windows made
to open : the windows of the kitchen, pantry, and
coal place should also be made to open. The po-
sition of the cottages is another thing to be con-
sidered ; for this position greatly aflfects the cha-
racters and comforts of the agricultural labourer.
If they are erected, as is frequently the case, in
remote and lonely parts of an estate, the soUtari-
ness of their situation tempts to the committing
of many petty offences. There is no human eye
to observe them, and men are prone to forget that
there is over them an eye that sees in darkness
as well as in the light, in the most retired and
quiet corner as well as in the pubUc and busy
haunts of man. , If, again, they are situated nearer
to each other, and form a kind of village or ham-
let, the position of this village or hamlet is frequently
selected ^vithout any judgment. It will often be
found at one corner of an estate ; or, if the estate
be a large one, many workmen are so far from their
employment that they lose daily one or two hours
in going to their work and returning from it.
Thus their strength is wasted for no useful pur-
pose, and they are rendered unfit to perfonn a
proper day's work for their employer : or, if they
experience no ill effects from walking the distance,
they waste that time which might have been
profitably spent in the cultivation of their own
gardens. This is a great loss to a poor man. But
there is another toil. He must take with him his
food for the day; his breakfast and dinner are
consequently cold and comfortless meals ; and they
are at the same time more expensive than if he
could sit down by his own fire side, and with his
family partake of food that is warm, no matter how
simple. Warm food satisfies hunger much sooner
than that which is cold, and it is, therefore, less
expensive. I have seen a valuable book on cottage
economy, in which are receipts for many cheap
but savoury dishes. One most important receipt,
however, is omitted, namely, a receipt for placing
a poor man in a situation to dine with his mfe
and children, and thus affording him an opportu-
nity of partaking of the savoury dish ; for, imtil

632

THE FARMEU'S MAGAZINE.

this is the case, receipt books, as far as he is con-
cerned, are useless. Tliis necessary absence from
his family is a disadvantage to them and a depri-
vation to himself ; for he has little opportunity of
obsm-ing the conduct of his children, or of ad-
ministering timely reproof or correction. The
consequence is that they grow up self-willed and
disobedient, immanageable by the mother and a
source of trouble to the father.

For these evils there appears to me only one
remedy ; and that is the universal adoption of a
plan, carried out very extensively in some parts of
the kingdom, namely, the erection of a number of
cottages on e\'ery farm for the accommodation of
the necessary labourers. These should be all
in sight of each other, and so near to the farm-
house that the workmen might have their meals
with their families. 'ITie chief advantages of this
plan are obvious : but there is one that might l)e
overlooked if not mentioned, and this is the oppor-
tunity which it affords the farmer to superintend,
as it were, the family of his workmen, and to be-
come acquainted with their habits and character.
It would enable also the farmer's family to have a
personal knowledge of the famihes of the labourers.
This personal knowledge would create in their minds
an interest in their comfort, and dispose them to
show the labourers many kindnesses which they
are unable to do at present. The result would be
advantageous to both employer and employed. In-
tercourse with the family of the employer would
tend to improve the moral and social condition of
the labourers, and to create in their minds a feeling
of attachment to himself and his family ; and the
employer would consequently have servants that
would serve him faithfully, not with eye service,
but with the service of the heart and affec-
tions. ^

In this way a remedy might be found for some
of the evils of poverty. The labourer, being now
placed in a more favourable condition, as far as his
house and bodily comforts are concerned, could be
found to be more disposed to receive advice and
instruction from his superiors in rank and intel-
ligence. The next thing, then, to be done is to
afford him the necessary means of escaping from
the trammels of ignorance. This is to be done
chiefly by the establishment of a school in such a
situation that it will not be at any great distance
from the cottages belonging to several farms. The
school should be managed by a competent mistress,
who ought to be a single woman, or, if married,
one who has no children. She should be required
to instruct boys until they are eight years of age,
and girls until they are fifteen. I do not think'' it
advisable that the children should have their edu-
cation without any weekly payment, for I have ever
found that instruction which is given is not valued
as much as that which must be paid for. When
children can attend a school without payment, the
parents are apt to keep them at home too frequently;
but when they have to pay for them, they take care
to send them more regularly. The weekly charge
may be regulated according to circumstances ; but
it should vary from threepence to sixpence. This
sum the labourer would be able and willing to pay
when placed in better worldly circumstances. The

mistress being allowed this sum with each pupil,
she would require little or no pecuniary assistance
from the owners and occupiers of land beyond the
use of a cottage and school-room, which should be
found for her at a small or merely nominal rent.
The school should always be under the superin-
tendence of some persons residing near it, and of
the clergyman of the parish. The appointment of
the mistress should be in the same hands. Accord-
ing to the extent of the estate, there should be one
or more of these schools ; where one estate is too
small to support a school, two or more landed pro-
prietors should jointly provide the building for this
purpose, and assist in supporting it. The children
should be taught reading, writing, and arithmetic,
and be carefully instructed in the devotions of
Christianity liy means of the Church Catechism
and other expositions of scripture. The older
children should also read daily a portion of scrip-
ture, and ])e taught to attend to what they read by
Ijeing questioned upon the subject. If any remain
at school long enough, they might be instructed in
English grammar and English composition, so far
as to enable them to communicate with their parents
and friends, should they in the course of years be
remoA'ed to a distance from home. The girls
should, of course, be taught to knit, to do plain
needlework, and previously to their lea^'ing school
they ought to have some instruction in the making
and mending of their own garments.

For the education of boys above eight years of
age, who are then able to walk to a distance, one
good school should be established for every forty
boys. This should be a self-supporting one, the
master merely provided with a house and school-
room. Adjoining to this house there should be a
few acres of land, which the master should be al-
lowed to rent, and to cultivate by his pupils. On
this plan, where it is practical)le, I think little or
no payment for education would be required 1)y
him, and the boys would be trained to work at the
same time that they were acqviiring a competent
knowledge of reading, writing, and arithmetic, to
render them much more useful servants and better
members of society than if they were l)rought up,
as the majority of them now are, in idleness and
ignorance. I must confess that I do not speak of
this kind of school from experience, as I have
never visited one, but the plan appears to me ex-
cellent. Such schools, I read, have been establish-
ed in different parts of the country, and with com-
plete success. An account of a school of this
description at Willingdon, near Eastbourne, Sussex,
is given in the advertising sheet of Johnson and
Shaw's Farmers' Almanac for the present year. It
appears that the master has twenty pupils, and that
his weekly charge for each is only one penny. The
pupils are engaged in their lessons from nine to
twelve each morning, and from two to five in the
afternoon in cultivating the land. The master
rents fi\'e acres of land, for which he pays 3/. an
acre, and for his cottage he pays a yearly rent of
10/.; yet, in the year 1842, his clear profits from
this land were 40/. It is observed that the season
was an unfavourable one in that part of the coun-
try. There are some interesting particulars in the
account, and in the following pages, to which I

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

533

beg to refer you. You will find its commencement
at page 121.

At Willingdon, it appears that the master i)ays a
liigh rent for his house, hut, as I have already ob-
served, I 'think this ought not to be required of
him. This school ought to be under the same kind
of superintendence as the girls' school ; and here,
too, the elder boys should be taught the English
language grammatically. Every effort should also
be made to gi\'e the \\hole of the boys a soimd
religious education, for, without this, secular know-
ledge will Ije of no real benefit to them, nor will
they be found to be more useful members of
society.

As there will often be manifested on the part of
parents some indiffei'ence about the education of
their children, I hope the families of their em])loyers
would make use of the op])ortunity given them by
the situation of the cottages of their workmen, to
visit them frequently, and to impress \ipon them
their duty in this respect ; for without some atten-
tion on their part, it is impossible that any plan
for the amelioration of the condition of the labour-
ing classes can he successful.

The employers might, in fact, use some authority ;
they might refuse to employ children who were not
able to read and write, and who could not produce
a good character from the managers of the school.
This plan would certainly be efficacious, though
circumstances would sometimes occur to render
a deviation from, it indispensable, and then the rule
might be relaxed.

It is time, however, that I look to the division of
the subject in the printed directions ; and the first
thing to be considered, I find, is the propriety or
impropriety of keeping labourers in farm-houses,
whether hired as yearly or weekly servants. The
keeping of labourers in the house would never, I
think, be resorted to by a reflecting farmer, unless
he were compelled to do this by the want of cot-
tages for their accommodation. If hired by the
year, they are, under present circumstances, the
most troublesome part of a farmer's establishment,
and certainly the most expensive. And if they
were subjected to early training and mental culture,
though they would by this means be nuich im-
])roved in many respects, and be less headstrong
and self-willed, yet, if economy be an object,
labourers who find their own provisions are much
to be preferred, as these are generally found more
industrious and obliging. As to hiring by the year
or week, I do not think it of any importance which
plan is adopted. Weekly hiring, however, is pre-
ferable, if it be properly understood what length of
notice is to be given by the employer and the em-
ployed.

It may not be imjiroper here to suggest a dif-
ferent plan with regard to the payment of the wages
of labourers. Instead of paying the whole of their
wages in money, it ought to be left to the option of
the labourer whether he will take some part of them
in such produce of the farm as he may need for the
support of his family, his emjjloyer being expected
to let him have wheat or other grain, as well as
potatoes, at the market price. When the whole of
their wages is paid in money, and they are obliged
to go to small shops, as is usually the case in coun-

try districts, their small earnings are made much
smaller by their paying for these articles an exorbi-
tant ])rice ; or it would assist them much if their
wages were paid the day before the market day at
the nearest town, as they would thus be enabled
to buy such things as they needed at the best
market.

What sort of cottages are requisite I have
already stated; for, to quote the language of a
clergyman at the meeting of the Waltham Agricul-
tural Association on the 28th of last month,
" There is no greater bar to improvement in the
labourers' condition than the ])resent state of their
dwellings. The crowding of large numbers into
small cottages is producti\'e of the worst evils and
the greatest immorality ; and there is no doubt that
the efforts made to improve their dwellings would
be amply repaid by the moral improvement of their
inhabitants." He concluded by stating " that he
would maintain, unflinchingly, that landowners
and farmers, but especially the clergy, were bound
to attend not only to the spiritual happiness, but
also to the domestic comforts of this numerous and
important class of our fellow-creatures." I assent
cordially to these propositions ; but I go a step fur-
ther, and assert that if we do not first attend to
their domestic comforts, there is but little prospect
of our doing much, if anything, to promote their
spiritual happiness.

If the plan which I here lecommend be carried
out, and I sincerely hope that it will be, or some
other which is preferable, the first and most im-
portant step will have been taken for the im-
provement of the condition of the labouring
classes.

The next question is the allotment system. For
this there will be little or no need, as far as agricul-
tural labourers are concerned, when to every
cottage is attached a clear quarter of an acre of
garden ground. Anj' farmer mil tell us that land
near the homestead is much more valuable to him
than that which is at a distance, as there is a great
saving in the expense of conveying the manure and
reconvej'ing the produce home, in addition to many
other advantages. And it is a common proverb
" that money saved may be considered money
gained."

On the same principle a garden close to a cottage
is more valuable to a poor man than an allotment
at a distance. He can expend in it every spare
half-hour, and his wife and children can also per-
form much of the lighter work in its cultivation.
He is kept more at home also, and out of tempta-
tion from evil company. If, on the contrary, he
has an allotment, it is probably at a distance. On
this account he cannot devote all his spare time to
it, as much is spent in going thither and l)ack
again. On his way, too, he will sometimes en-
counter an evil person, v.ho will induce him to
waste in frivolous conversation the time which he
ought to have deA-oted to his garden. He cannot
so conveniently, also, avail himself of the assist-
ance of his wife and children ; for when the latter
are not under the eye of the jiarent, they will prefer
play to work.

[We deeply regret that imperative calls upon our
space prevent us from giving more than a sum-

634

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

mary (on the present occasion) of this excellent
paper from tliis point.] The rev. gentleman then
went on to consider the allotment system and its
effects ; after which he ohser^'ed that there were
numerous instances of labourers whose lives had
been uniformly meritorious, hut that these must he
taken to be exceptions to the general rule ; after
which he noticed that many of the faults of
labourers were to be attributed to the neglect of
those who enjoyed greater privileges, A brighter
day was however appearing, and the christian
philosopher and the patriot were at length
awakened, and had determined that the condition
of the labourer should be improved. The rev.
gentleman then briefly summed up his observa-
tions, and concluded by thanking the company for
the patient attention they had given to his re-
marks.

An animated and prolonged conversation ensued
on various points noticed in the rev. gentleman's
paper, after which it was proposed by Lord Lyttel-
ton, seconded by J. H. H. Foley, Esq., and unani-
mously carried, " That the thanks of this meeting
be given to the Rev, G. Wharton for his very valu-
able essay." On the motion of Mr, "iardley,
seconded by Mr. Burgess, the following resolution
was then ordered to be entered upon the minute
book : — " That the recommendation of Mr, Whar-
ton to attend to the comforts of the poor, by letting
them cottages conveniently arranged at a moderate
rent, by proAnding gardens attached to them, or in
allotments situated as near as possible, and by pro-
viding schools for the education of their children,
deserves our most serious consideration, and ought
to be put in practice. With regard to keeping
farm servants in the house, it was the unanimous
opinion of the members that the plan would not be
adopted so generally as at present, unless farmers
were compelled to do so by want of convenient
cottages," The resolution was unanimously passed,
and the meeting separated.

LIVERPOOL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

KEPORT OF THE INSPECTORS OF FARMS AND
CROPS.

Having laid before the committee, and the other
members who have attended the annual meeting,
an account of the crops and cultivation of those
farms which we have been called upon to
inspect, it now becomes our duty to make a few
remarks as to the state and progress of agriculture
in the district, so far as we have had opportunities
of judging, during the past year.

We are happy to say the drainage of land is
greatly on the increase ; at the same time we must
confess, very much remains to be done. The
expense of this improvement is so great, that it
cannot be expected it will either be effectually or
extensively done by the tenant, and especially by
the tenant occupying from year to year, under a
law or custom which allows him nothing for his
improvement in the event of quitting. It appears
to US desirable, for various reasons, that the expense

of draining should be borne wholly by the landlord,
upon some reasonable terms to be agreed upon.
One of the most important of these reasons is,
that the drainage is more certain of being done ;
not in a temporary, but in a permanent manner,
and not partially, but thoroughly, and so that the
whole of the rain-water shall percolate through the
soil into the drains on the spot where it falls, and
the expensive operation of guttering be entirely
dispensed with. The noble patron of this society
has, for some years, practised what we are now
recommending ; and has drained, during the year
ending June last, between eight and nine hun-
dred acres, with 1,560,386 tiles, of the small
size, and 164,755 of the large size, and along with
which were used 1,818,978 soles of slate. The
length of these drains was 307 miles and 849 yards,
and the total cost for labour and materials was
£5,374 5s, lid. In addition to the above, 137,930
tiles, of the large size, and an equal number of soles,
have been used in the fiUing up of old ditches, at a
cost of £434.

Whilst on this subject we would notice, that
draining on the Deanston system (down the fur-
rows), with drains from four to seven yards apart,
is now the most practised ; and, we beheve, answers
better than any other. The cutting of drains deep
is evidently more approved of; and we think the so-
ciety has adopted an excellent rule in requiring that
all drains for which their prizes are given, shall,
if sufficient fall can be had, be not less than
30 inches deep.

Judging from the additional claimants for marl-
ing this year, it would appear the practice is on the
increase.

We regret there have been no claims made for
the planting of white-thorn hedges. It must not,
however, be inferred from this, that this description
of improvement is declining ; as we have seen,
on several farms in the district, works of this kind
going on upon an extensive scale ; and it is
generally accompanied with the eradication of old
hedges and most of the timber trees, and the
formation of fields of an extent more suited to the
size of the farm and its rotation of cropping, and
affording much greater facihties to the fanner in
the occupation of his land.

It may, perhaps, be expected we should make
some remarks as to the crops. It is difficult to
give a faithful account of so extensive a district
as that of this society; but, from what we have
seen, we think the wheat crop has been generally
good, Oats have been a light crop. Barley short
in the straw, but quite an average, and good in
quality.

Beans, after promising fair for a good crop, did
not realize the farmers' exjiectations ; this may
probably be attributable to their being attacked
with an insect, consequent upon the dry season,
and just at the time of their going out of flower.
The season for gathering the corn crops was unu-
sually early and favourable, the harvest having
commenced on the first week in August, and the
principal part finished by the first we«k in Sep-
tember.

The hay crop has been unusually light this sum-
mer, and the pasturage very short, which is ac

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

685

counted for by the long drought of May and June.

The deficiency has, however, in some degree been
supplied by the second crops of clover (which have
not only been good, but generally well got),
and by the abundant supply of after-grass.

Potatoes, in many instances, did not vegetate
well, and the consequence is, a partial failure in
the crop. There are, however, in many places,
apparently good crops. We regret to state that
the rot — a disease which the farmer is still at a loss
how to account for or prevent — has again made its
appearance.

Turnips have been sown this year to a greater
extent than usual, but perhaps never came up worse ;
and there are now many acres of land in a compa-
ratively naked state, where second and third sow-
ings and transplantings have failed. All this is
naturally attributed to the drought. But it seems
only right to state, that even this year there are
at present many flourishing crops of Swedish
turnips, and perhaps few more so, considering
the extent, than the crop of Mr. Robert Neilson,
of Halewood, which has recently come imder our
notice.

In a field of clayey loam, of 30 statute acres,
there are growing 18 acres of transplanted turnips,
and 1 2 which had been so^vn : the Avhole, with the
exception of about one acre of the sown turnips,
are looking remarkably well. Mr. Neilson watered
the transplanted turnips during the drought, in
a very economical manner, with a mixture of
guano and water, and to this he attributes his
success.

Experiments with guano are becoming very
general, and there are now many instances where a
genuine article, judiciously applied, has had a
surprising effect on various crops. On the other
hand, there have been many instances which have
come to our knowledge in which it has done no
good ; but these have mvariably occurred when the
manure was apphed in a diy state, and a season
of drought has followed, which was the case last
spring, or when there was reason to suspect the
guano was not genuine. As numerous instances
are daily recorded of the effects of guano and
other light manures, which are generally more or
less interesting to all, we will mention the result
of one or two experiments which came under
our notice during the inspection of turnips last
year : —

Swede Turnips grown on a light alluvial soil
at Lytham, by Thomas Chfton, Esq.

AVeight of Turnip.
With farm-yard manure, 1
from 15 to 17 tons per sta- \ 32 tons 4 cwt.
tute acre J

acr™. f '!"':. ^.T;.^.'' I 29 tons.

With gallaxoide, 5 cwt. \ ^^ ^
per acre | ^^ ^ons.

A crop of Swedish turnips, grown by Henry
Hoghton, Esq., on Cranshaw-hall farm, Bold, in
a poor soil incumbent on clay, 25 tons 5 cwt. per
acre were gro^vn with 2| cwt of guano only. In
this instance no comparative experiment was made
with any other manure.

Whatever difference of opinion may exist among
farmers as to the benefit to be derived from guano,
there appears to be none as to that of another ma-
nure, which has been used for many years, and
with the greatest success, in Cheshire — we allude
to bones. When applied upon the clover roots
and pasture lands of that county, the effect, espe-
cially on clayey soils, is truly surprising; and
upon sandy and peaty soils turnips are grown
with it at a less expense than with any other manure.
William Longton,
Henry Whitk.

premiums awarded.
Class 1. — Best Cultivated Farms, &c.

To Mr. Charles Smith, of Ashton-upon-Mersey,
(solely dependent upon fanning), for the best
cultivated farm of 158 acres — £10.

To Mr. James Langshaw, of Speke (solely depend-
ent upon farming), for the best cultivated farm
of 98 acres— £5.

To Michael Hughes, Esq., of Sherdley-house, near
St. Helen's, as owner and occupier of a farm of
155 acres, for laying 9,417 yards of drains, chiefly
with cinders, for most effectuaUy draining 10
acres thereof — the medal.

To Mr. John Taylor, of Newton, by Daresbuiy, as
tenant and occupier of a farm of 162 acres, for
laying 9,640 yards of drains, -with 23,150 tiles,
15 inches long, for most eflfectually draining 16
acres thereof — £8 .

To Mr. Edward James Pemberton, of Sankey, as
tenant and occupier of a farm of 125 acres, for
laying 17,182 yards of drains, chiefly with cin-
ders, for most effectually draining 17 acres thereof
— £6.

To Mr. Robert Neilson, of Halewood, as tenant and
occupier of a farm of 175 acres, for subsoiling in
a most efficient manner 99 acres thereof — the
society's medal.

To Mr. WiUiam Atherton, jun., of Speke (solely
dependent upon farming), as tenant and occupier
of a farm of 102 acres, for laying down well to
permanent grass 14 acres thereof to meadow or
pasture — £4.

To Mr. Robert Birch, of Netherton, as tenant and
occupier of a farm of 210 acres, for having judi-
ciously covered with marl 27 i acres thereof with
114 cubic yards per acre — £3.

To Mr. John Davies, of Childwall, as tenant and
occupier of a farm of 126 acres, for having judi-
ciously covered with marl 34 acres thereof with
64 cubic yards per acre — £2.

To Mr. James Birch, of Sefton, as tenant and occu-
pier, for making the best reservoir on his premises
for the reception of dung water — £3.

To Mr. Allen Beckett, of Sutton-hall, near Preston-
brook, as tenant and occupier, for judiciously
cutting, laying, and plashing 2,276 yards of
fencing — £3.

Class 2. — Crops grown in 1843.

To Thomas Chfton, Esq., of Lytham-hall, as owmer
and occupier, for the liest cro]) of Swedish tur-
nips, of 25 acres, being 32 tons 4 cwt. to the acre
— the society's medal.

To Mr. John* Da^'son, of Gronant, as tenant and

530

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

occupier, for the best crop of Swedish turnips, of
16 acres, being 30 tons 2 cwt. to the acre — £5.

To Mr. Thomas Wild, of Weaverham Wood Che-
shire, as tenant and occupier, for the best crop
of Swedish turnips, of 5 acres, being 26 tons 18
cwt. to the acre — £4.

To Mr. John Heyes, of Knowsley, as tenant and
occupier, for the best crop of Swedish turnips, of
3 acres, being 27 tons 8 c\i1;. to the acre — the
society's medal.

To Mr. Richard Dobell, of Leftwich, as tenant and
occupier, for the best crop of Swedish turnips, of
2| acres, being 27 tons 15 CAyt. to the acre —
£2.

To Mr. John Dawson, of Gronant, as tenant and
occupier, for the best crop of mangel Avoirzel, of 3
acres, being 31 tons 17 cwt. to the acre — £3.

Clas.s 3. — Live Stock,
horned cattle.

To Mr. C. H. Sidebotham, Ashley- cottage, near
Altringham, for the best bull of any breed, under
four years old, belonging to any person within
the limits of the society— £15.

To Sir Thomas de Trafford, Bart., TrafFord-park,
for ditto, above one year and under two years old
— the medal.

To Mr. William Palin, Stapleford-hall, for the best
bull of any breed, above two and under four
years old, belonging to any person solely depend-
ent upon farming — £10.

To Mr. William Atherton, Upholland, for the best
bull of any breed, above one year and under
two years old, belonging to any person solely de-
pendent upon farming — £5.

To Sir Thomas de TrafFord, Bart., Trafford-park,
for the best cow or heifer of any breed, in milk
or in calf — the medal.

To Messrs. Robert and William Chadwick,
Liverpool, for the second best ditto ditto — £3.

To Viscount Hill, Hawkstone, for the best two-
year-old heifer of any breed — the medal.

To Viscount Hill, Hawkstone, for the best yearling
heifer of any breed — the medal.

To Mr. Richard Dobell, Leftwich, for the best cow
of any breed, in milk or in calf, belonging to any
person solely dependent upon farming — £5.

To Mr. Wilham Longton, Rainhill, for the second
best ditto ditto — £3,

To Mr. Robert Parry, Borras-hall, near Wrexham,
for the best two-year-old heifer of any breed,
bred by and belonging to any person within the
limits of the societj% solely dependent upon farm-
ing—£3.

To Mr. William Atherton, Upholland, for the
second best ditto ditto — £2.

To Mr. William Pahn, Stapleford-hall, for the best
one-year-old heifer of any breed, bred and be-
longing to any person within the limits of the
society, solely dependent upon farming — £3.

To Mr. Thomas Chapman, Hutton, near Preston,
for the second best ditto ditto — £2.

To Gilbert Greenall, Esq., Walton-hall, Cheshire,
for the cow or heifer of any breed, showing the
most symmetry, fat, and weight — the society's
medal.

To the Earl of Derby, Knowsley-hall, for the second
best ditto ditto — £2.

To Mr. John Martland, RufFord, for the best
stallion for the general purposes of agriculture —
£8.

To Mr. John Simpson, Liverpool, for the second
best stallion ditto — £4.

To Mr. John Simpson, Liverpool, for the best
three-year-old colt for ditto — £5.

To Mr. William Hunter, Hutton-grange, near
Preston, for the best two-year-old colt for ditto —
£4.

To Mr. William Atherton, Upholland, for the
best yearling colt, gelding, or filly, for ditto —
£3.

To Mr. Peter Almond, Lunt, for the best two-year-
old gelding or filly for ditto — £4.

To Mr. John Birch, OiTell, for the best three-year-
old gelding or filly for ditto — £5.

To Mr. John Woodward, Daresbury, for the best
brood mare for ditto — £5.

To the Executors of Elizalieth Molyneux, Crox-
teth, for the second best brood mare for ditto —
£3.

To Thomas Weld Blundell, Esq., Ince-Blundell-
hall (not being solely dependent upon farming),
for the best pair of horses for the general pur-
poses of agriculture — the silver medal.

To Mrs, Margaret Howard, Knowsley (being solely
dependent upon farming), for the best pair of
horses for ditto — £5.

To Mr. WUliam Brownbill, Kirkby (being solely
dependent upon farming), for the second best
pair of horses for ditto — £3.

SHEEP.

To R. C. Lowndes, Esq., Low-hill, for the best pen
of three yearling long-wool lambs — £3.

To R. C. Lowndes, Esq., Low-hill, for the best
long- wool ram, under three years old — £2.

To R. C, Lowndes, Esq., Low-hill, for the best pen
of five long-wool lambs — £2 10s,

To Viscount Hill, Hawkstone, for the best pen of
three-yearling short-wool ewes — the medal.

To Viscount Hill, Hawkstone, for the best short-
wool ram — the society's medal.

To Mr. John WiUiams, Celyn, near Northorp, for
the best pen of five short-wool lambs — £2 10s.

To R. W. Barton, Esq., Caldy, near Birkenhead,
for the best pen of five fat ewes — £2.

For the best pen of five fat wethers — £2 — no merit,

PIGS.

To Mr. William CawsoU, Salford, for the best

boar of the large breed, not more than two years

old— £4.
To Mr. George Mills, Lytham, for the second best

boar ditto — £l.
To Gilbert Greenall, Walton-hall, Cheshire, for the

best boar of the small breed, not more than two

years old — the society's medal.
To Harold Littledale, Esq., Liscard, for the second

best boar ditto — £l.
Mr. James Cooper, Windle, for the best breeding

sow of the large breed, not more than three years

old— £2 10s.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

587

Mrs. Alice Holden, Liverpool, for the second liest

ditto— £1.
Gilbert Greenall, Esq., Walton-hall, Cheshire, for

the best breeding sow of the small breed, not

more than three years old — the society's medal.
Mr. Thomas Welsh, Toxteth-park, for the second

best sow ditto — £1.
Mr. James Foster, Liverpool, for the second best

fat pig ditto — £2.
Mr. Philip Jopson, Everton, for the best fat pig of

any breed, not more than eighteen months old —

£1 10.

EXTRA STOCK.

Earl of Derby, Knowsley-hall, to the landlord who
shall keep the best stallion of any breed to serve
the mares of his tenantiy gratis — the silver medal,

Charles Scarisbrick, Esq., Scarisbrick-hall, to the
landlord who shall keep the best bull of any
breed to serve the cows of his tenantry gratis —
the silver medal.

Henry Hoghton, Esq., Bold-hall, to the landlord
who shall keep the best bull of any breed, to
serve the cows in a public lej' for cattle, and which
has served from the r2th May preceding the show
— the silver medal.

Mr. John Simpson, Liverpool, for the best pair of
draught horses employed in Liverpool — £4,

Messrs. Jump and Sons, Liverpool, for the second
best ditto — £2.

Class 4. — Rewards.

To John Huyton, farmer's man-servant to Mr.
James Lyon, of Melling-cum-Cunscough, for 25
years' servitude and good conduct during that
period — £4.

To William Travers, farming labourer to Michael
Hughes, Esq., and his late father, of Sherdly-
house, for 46 years' ser\'itude and good conduct
during that period — £4.

To John Hitchmough, farming labourer to J. Ire-
land Blackburne, Esq., M.P., and his late fa-
ther, of Hale-hall, for 39 years' servitude and
good conduct during that period — £2.

To Thomas Basnett, labourer to Mr. Allen Becket,
of Sutton-hall, Cheshire, for having cut, laid,
and plashed 2,276 yards of quickset fencing —
£3.
(Given by the Right Honourable Lord Lilford.)

SWEEPSTAKES.

Short-horned bull £1 Is. each; Mr. C. H. Side-

botham, £'4. 4k.
Short-horned bull, two years old, 10s. 6d. each;

Mrs. Elizabeth Scotson, 10s. 6d.
Short-horned bull, two years old, lOs. 6d. each ;

Sir Thos De Traftbrd, Bart., £l Is.
Cow of any breed, 10s. 6d. each; Sir Thos. De

Traflbrd, Bart., 10s. 6d.
Fat neifer of any breed, £1 each ; Gilbert Greenall,

Esq., £1.
Short-horned heifer, one year old, 10s. 6d. each;

Viscount HiU, 10s. 6d.
Short-horned heifer, one year old, 10s. 6d. each;

Viscount Hill, £2 2s.
Bull calf, under one year old, 10s. 6d. each; Vis-
count Hill, £11 s.

Cow calf, under one year old, lOs. 6d. each; R.

C. Lowndes, Esq., 10s. 6d.
Stallion for agricultural purposes, £1 each; Mr.

John Martland, £2.
Brood mare for agricultural purposes, 10s. 6d.

each; Mr. John Woodward, £1 is.
Ram, 10s. each; Viscount Hill, 10s.
Ram, one shear, 7s. each; Viscovmt Hill, 7s.
Boar, 10s. fid. each ; Gilbert Greenall, Esq., £2 2e.
Sow, 10s. 6d. each; Gilbert Greenall, Esq., £l Is.
Swedish turnips, 5s,; Mr. James Little, 15s.
Scotch cabbage, 5s. ; Mr. William Taylor, 5s.
Sample of white wheat, 10s. 6d. each ; Mr. Thomas

Harrison, £1 lis. fid.
Mangle wurzel, 5s. ; Mr. Thomas Ainscough, £1.

IMPLEMENTS.

To Mrs. Cartmell, of London-road, Liverpool, for
exhibiting a good assortment of agricultiu-al im-
plements, the silver medal.

To Messrs. Ireland and Longton, of Manchester,
for exhibiting two farmer's fire engines, the sil-
ver medal.

To Messrs. J. and C. Whalley, of Liverpool, for
exhibiting a veterinary stomach pump, the silver
medal.

To Messrs. J. and C. Whalley, for exhibiting a
general collection of agricultural implements, the
silver medal.

To Messrs. Cartmell, of London-road, Liverpool,
for exhibiting an improved steel-yard and patent
machine for weighing grain, the silver medal.

To Mr. James Richmond, of Salford, for exhibit-
ing a number of agricultural implements, of
superior workmanship, the silver medal.

To Mr. David Harkes, of Mere, near Knutsford,
for exhibiting a good general collection of imple-
ments, the silver medal.

To Mr. Abraham Vickers, of Manchester, for ex-
hibiting a churn, upon a new principle, highly
commended by the Judges, the silver medal.

To the Earl of Sefton, for exhibiting a hquid ma-
nure cart, the silver medal.

To Mr. James Cuthbert, of Liverpool, for exhibit-
ing two ploughs and a Scotch cart, the silver
medal.

To Mr. Robert Xeilson, for exhibiting a self-tipping
cart and other excellent implements, used on his
farm at Halewood, the silver medal.

JUDGES OF STOCK, ETC.

For Cattle. — Mr. Torr, of Riby, near Brigg,
and Mr. Hall, of Wiseton, near Bawtry.

For Horses. — Mr. Joseph Woolf, of Hashng-
ton-hall, near Sandbach, and Mr. William Den-
ham, of Derby.

For Sheep and Pigs. — Mr. Samuel Wiley,
Bransby, near York, and Mr. William Pybus,
Whiston.

For Implements, Seeds, and Roots. — Mr.
Richard Clybum, Uley Iron-works, Gloucester-
shire ; Doctor Sillar, of Rainford ; and Mr. John
M'Farhne, of Speke,

538

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

WINGERWORTH FARMERS' CLUB.

At the monthly meeting of this useful and
flourishing society, the chair was filled by Mr.
Brown, the vice-president. There was a numerous
attendance of members.

The subject for discussion was the proper mode
of preserving potatoes and other esculent roots.
The discussion was opened by Mr. F. Browne, of
Lings, the secretary, who observed, that in his
opinion the great bulk of the potatoes grown by
small farmers and labourers were got and pitted
before they were mature. This caused an \m-
natural heat in the pits, and a moist rot, not
sufficient to entirely destroy the potato, but which
still produced a disease in it. The potatoes thus
diseased are planted in the ensuing year, and thus
the disease is jjerpetuated, and the next crop
injured. Were the sets to be examined before
planting, it would be seen that those affected by
this disease are marked by httle specks, like the
mildew on apples, which increase, and ultimately
destroy the nature of the potato. He did not get
his own potatoes till the tops had lost all their
juicy nature, nor did he pit them while in a wet
dirty state. When they were in a fit condition for
pitting, he took the third part of a thatch-sheaf,
and tying it together in two or three places, he
inserted a slender stake in the middle, and drove
it into the centre of the pit. He then piled the
potatoes round it. He preferred an oblong-shaped
pit. Where there was a large quantity of potatoes
he would use more than one sheaf and stake. The
thatch becomes a conductor, carr}ang off the heat
from the potatoes. After completing the piling,
he would cover the whole ■with straw, turning
down the ear-ends of the central sheaf before
covering the heap with soil, ^\'^len the plan is
apphed to turnipSj it was unnecessary to turn down
the eai'-ends of the upright sheaf. He would
keep the pit open tUl severe weather sets in, as
potatoes might be kept too dr}% in which case they
would be liable to dry-rot. The main thing was to
keep out the frost.

In the conversation which ensued, Mr, N.Bacon,
of Boythorpe, observed that he highly approved
of the secretary's observations as far as they
regarded potatoes, but he did not consider that
the plan would suit turnips. Before remarking on
that point, howeA'er, he would obserA^e that the
bottoms of turnips ought to be cut off in a slant-
ing direction, so as not to take off much of the
turnip. Again, if the top was cut close off, it
caused the turnip to rot : half an inch of the top
ought to be left. Both turnips and potatoes would
spoil by the tops being cut. In pitting turnips
he never used any soil : he preferred to cover them
with straw, and lay thatch upon them. He laid
two or three pieces of wood do^vTi on the ground
(if dry), so far apart that he could back a cart
between them, and then had the turnips shot up
by 10 loads together. He covered up the heap
with straw. Wet does not hurt turnips, providing
the frost is kept out. If he found his turnips
commencing to grow again in the heap at May-day,
he did not regret it : if they were safe from the
frost they would be sure to grow again. He had

pursued this plan for 30 years, and had never
pitted his turnips.

The Secretary had seen turnips pitched, and
the tops thrown on them, with good effect.
Another member merely shot them lip in the
stack-yard, and covered them with litter.

Mr. Bacon considered that the secretary's re-
marks, about allowing potatoes to remain in the
fields till they were ripe, were very good ; but if
he were to do so they would be all stolen {a laugh).
He dare not let his potatoes stay till they were
ripe. The proper place for keeping potatoes was
certainly the earth, although if covered with
straw they would do as well ; or if the heap were
covered Avith sods, with a pipe-hole left to allow
the potatoes to sweat — which they will do at first,
like turnips. He had seen turnips pitted, 10 loads
together, and completely spoiled by being covered
with soil. It will run off the straw, but every
spadeful of soil furnishes a lodgment for moisture.

The Chairman mentioned a case which he had
seen where turnips were pitted, but covered with
stacks : this plan was found to answer.

Mr. Bacon suggested that turnips might be
preserved in the following way : — Open two
furrows in a field, and throw the turnips in : then
plough two more furrows, so that the turnips are
covered with earth, and they Avill be found as good
three or four months afterwards, as when put into
the ground. By this plan there was not the bulk
of turnips together, consequently there was no
possibility of their becoming heated, so as to
spoil.

The Chairman observed that in one of the
most celebrated districts for potato growing, they
were got before they were dead ripe, and it
was considered that the scad was thereby im-
proved.

The Secretary rephed that potatoes so got
were apt to become green, and the seed would
deteriorate year after year, tiU it became hardly
worth the trouble of setting.

The Chairman rejoined that in horticulture,
potatoes could be procured much earher by the
seed being pre\nously placed on the surface, and
thus exposed to sun by day and cold by night. If
pitted, the seed would be worth nothing for early
potatoes. He did not know how far this would
suit for field culture. The failure of potatoes in
the years from 1835 to 1839 was one of the most
extraordinary and mysterious events that had ever
occurred. During the three subsequent years the
potatoes seemed to be recovering, and now he
heard no complaints. Many people had used the
same kind of seed for 20 or 30 years before 1835,
and it had never failed; while that year was
marked by a total failure.

It was obserAxd that cut potatoes had often
failed from dry-rot, while Avhole potatoes had
escaped ; but it was replied that this might have
arisen from the fact that potatoes wiU often ger-
minate only in the head, and so the set which did
not contain the head would of course fail.

The time for getting turnips was then discussed.
The Secretary and other members considered
that turnips ought to be got by the middle of
December : what they gained in bottoms they lost

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

639

in tops. Whatever mode of preserving was
adopted, it was dangerous to delay getting them
beyond the latter part of December. The Chair-
man obser\'ed that on the mountain limestone the
turnips would not stand weather so well as in
this district. They were very rich and luscious,
but were so tender that they would not even stand
carting : they had, in consequence, to be pitted in
the fields. The more luscious they are the more
liable they are to rot. After a summer like the
one just ended, the turnips on most soils become
nearly all woody fibre.

The subject of preserving cabbages was then
started, the Secretary observing the leaves of
cabbages furnish a kind of food of which the
cattle are veiy fond ; and it was advisable to break
off the lower tier of leaves, to be thus used as food.
By this means cabbages stand the frost better.
Last year, he found that the hearts of those of his
cabbages, from which the leaves had not been thus
broken off", decayed ; while the rest stood the frost
well. The Chairman remarked that cabbages
pulled up by the root, and hung up, would keep
for SLX months.

It was observed that to allow turnips to remain
in the ground till they began to grow again in the
spring does the land more injury than the previous
year's crop, llie turnip, too, is spoiled, all the
nutritious matter passing from the bottom into
the new top.

The meeting then passed an unanimous vote of
approval of the suggestions of the Secretary
for the preservation of potatoes, and of those
of Mr. Bacon for the preservation of turnips.
It was also agreed that the next meeting
should beheld on the 19th November; subject,
" the best method of feeding and managing store
cattle during the winter months," to be opened by
Mr. E. Holland, jun.

We understand that the members of this club
contemplate the raising of a fund for the purchase
of implements of the best kind, the expensive
nature of which renders it out of the power of
small farmers to procure them.

BRITAIN ABLE TO FERTILIZE HERSELF.

At the dinner of the Nottinghamshire Agricul-
tural Society, held at the To\ATi~Hall, Newark,
Dr. Robinson, the well-known agricultural chymist,
on being introduced by the chairman, after some
remarks on the progress that scientific informa-
tion was making among the agriculturists in other
parts of the country, said, as the subject of artifi-
cial manures had been noticed by the hon. member
for the county (Mr. Gaily Knight), and with which
he had connected the name of Liebig, he begged
to remark that, as much as he respected that great
name, he did not altogether agree with him on the
subject. He (Dr. R.) did not think, as the learned
professor did, that the agriculturist would even-
tually draw on the laboratory of the chj-rnist for
his fertihzing mixture. It was a great law in
nature, pointedly and indehbly laid down, so that
nothing might be lost in the great creation, that

animal and vegetable matter in an unvitaUzed
state constituted a sufficient and salutary source
of nutriment to vegetation. Growing nature was
quite satisfied with the debris of the generation
which preceded it, and with the excrementitious
or viseless parts of the present. (Consequently,
increase in popidation ensured an increase in ma-
nure, and of the most valuable kind, provided
sufficient care was taken to render it available.
To eft'ect this purpose chymistry could lend her
powerful aid.

We understand that it is the doctor's intention
to make a stand on this point, and to see turned
to a valuable and efficient use the sources of
fertihzation we possess within ourselves; "for,"
added he, with much emphasis, " I should like
to see my country as independent of other nations
for its fertilizers, as it can be for its corn."

DIRECTIONS TO MAKE CIDER AND
PERRY.

WITH RECENT IMPROVEMENTS.

The apples being ripe, and laid in a heap a
fortnight, uncovered, about eighteen inches deep —
but pears should be taken ripe fi-om the tree — they
are then ground in the cider-mill, which consists
of a circular stone in the form of a solid broad
wheel, about four and a-half feet in diameter, four-
teen inches wide, and weighs about 18 c%vt., is
supported on its edge, and drawn by a horse in a
circular trough of stone, about nine feet three
inches diameter, and about the depth of twelve
inches including the wooden rim upon it, and
similar to a bark-miU. In this trough two bushels
of apples are ground at a time, and not more, with
a handful of wood charcoal strewed amongst them,
until the kernels and rinds are broken small, as
much of the strength of the cider depends upon it ;
and this fact was communicated in the agricultural
report of the Rev. John Duncomb, in 1813, by an
experiment made by Dr. Sjmionds, of Hereford.
" He made one hogshead entirely from the rinds
and cores of apples, and another from the pulps of
the same fruit ; the former was of the most unusual
strength and liigh-flavoured, the latter was watery
and possessed not one recommendation."

A horse, with a man and boy, will grind suf-
ficient pommage to make two hogsheads of cider
in a day, which is placed in open tubs twenty-four
hours. It is then pressed between several hair
cloths, and the cider is taken to the fining house,
and put into a vessel to ferment ; but periy drops
without it, if the pears are not mellow, and is
afterwards fermented. In a few days, it will
throw off the must ; when that appears it is
drawn off into tubs, and about one pound of
fresh pulverised charcoal is stirred in it, and is
left for some hours or until the next day, when it
is put into the dropping bags to fine and stop the
fermentation, and with a dozen of them made with
thin calico of sixpence the yard, suspended from
frames, the cider is passed through, being pre-
viously dredged inside Nvith pulverised charcoal.

540

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

For a short time the cider will run muddy through
the bags ; by continuing to fill them it will soon
become clear ; the muddy cider in the tubs is then
removed. From one to two hogsheads a day will
fine by this process, but some fruit fines quicker
than others ; it should not be quite mellow. A mix-
ture of good apples With yellow pulps, and red and
yellow, make the best cider ; pearmains, Blenheim
oranges, and Bromleys, in equal quantities, make
excellent cider. The dropping bags must be
replaced by clean ones the next morning, to filter
the cider left in the tubs and bags.

The cider being now fine, and retaining the full
flavour of the fruit, it is put into a cask in a cool
cellar, with the bung oflf"; within a few days,
another fermentation will commence, and the cider
will have a pearly whiteness, being the commence-
ment of the acetous fermentation; it must run
through the charcoal bags as before, as soon as it is
perceived, but it will pass through four of them,
quite fine, in less time than it previously lan
through the twelve. Keep the bung oft' till Feb-
ruary, and then put four good unbroken hen-eggs*
into a wine hogshead with a few lumps of wood
charcoal. Bung it down, being filled with cider
to eight inches from the bung.

Every vessel used must be quite clean, and free
from the acids of bad cider or other bad liquors in
the wood, or the whole will be spoiled.

N.B. — The charcoal bags are valuable in filtering
water ; they cost sixpence each.

GYPSUM AND SALT FOR FIXING
AMMONIA.

Sir,— I have pleasure in further explaining the
reasons for recommending the mixture of salt with
gypsum, for fixing ammonia, in the dung heap.

Gypsum alone does fix ammonia; salt alone
does not (the decomposition robbing the ammonia
of more acid than it returnsf). But gypsum is so
little soluble (requiring full 400 times its weight of
water), that it diff'uses itself slowly, and perhaps
imperfectly; whilst the admixture of salt gives it
attraction for moisture (evidenced by its keeping
generally damp), promoting at the same time the
gradual formation of muriate of lime,J which is ex-

* Some people use for the quantity two ounces
of Isinglass.

t Salt, with carbonate of ammonia, forms sesqui-
earbonate of soda, taking 3 equivalents of carbonic
acid for 2 of muriatic, and thus setting free one of
ammonia. Accordingly, mixed with fermented
urine, it rather increases than reduces the smell.

X Gypsum consists of sulphuric acid and lime ;
salt (practically) of soda and muriatic acid. When
mixed moist, a portion of soda goes to the sul-
phuric acid, and a corresponding portion of muri-
atic acid to the lime

L Su
M So

tremely soluble and diftusive, and a most active
fixer of ammonia, as before said. In this way, a
mixture of the two answers better than either
alone.

Acids are doubtless the most decisive fixers of
ammonia; and of these the sulphuric is the
strongest and cheapest (except sour matters gene-
rated about the homestead), but still much dearer
than gypsum.

Vew farmers can get home the sulphuric acid,
carriage and risk included, under 3d. per lb. ;
whilst if they get home their gypsum at 2s. Cd. per
cwt., this, containing 57 * per cent, sulphuric acid
(of commercial strength), toU give 63 lbs. for
2s. 6d., or less than Ad. per lb. Free sulphuric
acid is thus six times dearer than gypsum ; besides
that, if too little is used, it might not fully fix the
ammonia; if too much, it would make the dung
sour, which is not always admissible, even with
sulphuric acid. But the acid being neutrahzed in
gypsiun, we may be sure to add enough, without
danger of overdoing (in moderation) ; \ cwt. to
the ton Avill be safe and effective.

But gypsum and salt are both cheap and active
fertilizers, increasing and quickening the eflRcacy of
the dung heap, independent of their relation to the
ammonia ; the salt also killing seeds, roots, and
vermin, if such are in the dung.

And further, they supply four of the essential
ingredients of inorganic food for plants ; sulphuric
and muriatic acids, soda, and lime; which, like
most other manures, generally act the better for
pre\nous working in dung or compost.

These reasons will perhaps satisfy Mr. Jackson
for my general preference of gyjisum and salt
mixed, but are not intended to settle the point, as
he desires *' once for all ;" as there are exceptions
— for instance, where peat, already containing gyp-
sum, is largely em2Jloyed in the dung heap, or
where refuse matters containing sulphiu'ic acid are
added. In most of these cases, however, salt [l
cwt. to the ton) would probably still benefit the
dung heap. Yours, &c,,

J. Prideaux.

Oet. 4, 1844.

This decomposition is very limited at one time, but
is repeated as the muriat lime is exhausted in fix-
ing ammonia, which is thus —

the muriatic acid taking ammonia, and the lime
carbonic acid.

* Gypsum contains (in round numbers) —

Sulphuric acid 46

Lime 33

Water 21

100
and commercial sulphuric acid retains fuU half as
much water as in gypsum — 46 x 11 = 57.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

541

MILK AND BUTTER versus BEEF.

Mr. Alton, the author of a popular work on
"Diary Husbandry," in a communication addressed
to tlie Editor of the Ayrshire Agriculturist, makes
the following statement : —

" Dairy husbandry is far too much neglected in
Britain. In Scotland it was, till of late, confined
to the Bailiary of Cunningham, in Ayrshire, and at
present it only extends to the western counties ;
and in England it is not duly attended to, except
in Cheshire, and some few districts ; although the
jirices of milk, and of everthing into which it is
formed, have advanced, during living memorj',
three times more than what grain has done ; and
the food of cows, when given to dairy cattle that
are in good plight, yield more than double returns
to what the same quantity of food can yield, when
used in fattening cattle for the butcher. I have
seen fresh butter sold in Kilmarnock market at
four-pence half-penny per lb. of 24 oz., and at
one shilling and nine-pence same weight ; the
average price, for many years past, being about
one shilhng and four-pence per lb. of 24 oz. I
sold good full milk cheese in 1778 at four shillings
and three-pence per stone of 16 lb. and 24 oz. per
lb., and I have seen it sold at from 14s. to l6s.
per stone, the same weight — the average, at least,
10s. per stone — while the average price of oat-
meal has not advanced more than one-third of
the price during the last sixty years.

" It was stated by the Right Hon, Sir John Sin-
clair, when President of the Board of Agriculture
(and it has never been disputed, so far as I know),
that the same quantity of animal food that would
add 112 lb. to the weight of an ox would, if given
to a proper dairy cow, enable her to give in return
900 Scots pints of milk. One hundred and twelve
lbs. of beef would not generally bring more than
from £3 to £3 5s., while 900 pints of milk, sold
in towns at Gd. per pint, would bring £22 10s. —
at 4d. per pint, £15 ; in butter and milk £11 ; and
in full milk cheese £8, or more. If so (and
these facts cannot be denied), it must be an unac-
countable prejudice that confines dairy husbandry
to a few counties in Britain, and to import thou-
sands of tons of butter from Holland and from Ire-
land— cheese from America, and much of a bad
quality from Holland."

BENEFICIAL RESULTS FROM TRENCHING
LAND.

In the Ayrshire Agriculturist for the present
month, a correspondent — Mr. George Duncan —
^vrites as follows : —

" I have been in the practice, for the past twenty
years, of trenching ground to various depths, from
one foot to three feet ; and I would consider it a
very indifferent soil if, at sixteen inches deep, it
could not be brought to the surface and jiroduce
much better crops than it did formerly. But re-

member that the first crop must be a green one ; it
may be beans, ])otatoes, or turnips, and the succeed-
ing crops may be the usual rotation.

" This sort of trenching has been done in Ayr-
shire lately, at the cost of four pounds sterling jier
acre ; and I tnily believe that in many cases it may
pay the outlay in the first crop. The trenching
shoidd be done as soon after harvest as possible,
that the new soil may lie through Avinter above
ground ; and nothing should be allowed to set foot
on it (except in hard frost) till April, when the
plough must drill it uj), for the dung to be laid in,
the ])otatoes planted, covered in by the plough, the
roller passed over ; then it rests till the potatoes are
brairded, when you may give a dressing of lime,
should you think it necessaiy. On this grovmdthe
green crop is easily kept clean, the weeds being
buried below. There are many other ways of
trenching, but what I ha\'e described above is the
cheapest. There are some descriptions of land
where the subsoil is of so bad a quality that it
woidd be dangerous to bring it to the surface, as
crops would not grow well on it for many years ;
andthe way to improve the depth of this description of
ground is to subsoil it. Subsoihng by the plough is
already generally understood ; but to do it with the
three-pronged fork or grape, is, to have as many
men -with these implements, following the common
plough, as can loosen the bottom of the furrow to
the required depth, to allow the surface water to
pemieate freely. Tlie implement for loosening the
subsoil should be made very stout in handle, hose,
and prongs — the prongs to run straight down, and
to have no lift, as it is called, such as the common
spade or grape has.

" I can confidently say that, even after draining
is done to good purjjose, in all cases when the land
has been long in cultivation, trenching is indispen-
sable, as relates to good farming and remunerating
crops. The fresh earth, long rested a considerable
depth imder the surface, and now turned up, seems
what is wanted as a chief ingredient to grow tur-
nips and clover healthy and plentiful. This \vill
be found to be a fact in agriculture."

DAIRY MANAGEMENT.

FROM MR. LANKTREE's " CATECHISM."

Q. Whether is it more profitable to fatten cattle,
or use them for dairy purposes ?

A. Dairy management, if cleverly conducted, is
undoubtedly the most productive. It gives a con-
stant and ready supply of money to the farmer, a
clean and delightful employment to the females
of his establishment, and great faciUties for keep-
ing a large and healthy stock of sAvine, which
thrive well during the summer on clover and
buttermUk, with very few potatoes.

Q, But has not the price of butter been very
low and discouraging of late ?

A. It has, indeed, to those who made it on the
old plan ; but there were some who found out a

N N

542

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

mode to make well of their butter, and discovered,
nigh at hand, a valuable market, where high prices
were given for a good article,

Q. "NVliat market was that ?

A. The home, or London market.

Q. And how does butter manufactured for the
London market differ from that usually manufac-
tured for the foreign market ?

A, Being required for immediate consumption,
it is not made half so salt ; and is, in all respects, a
very superior article.

Q. HoAv, then, is this superior buttei* to be
made ?

A. That question involves Several details, which
you had better consider separately ; but I would
remark, generallyj that cleanliness, care, and expe-
dition, are qualities essentially necessary to enable
any person successfully to compete for high prices
in the London butter market. Cleanliness, both
as to the place and vessels in which milk is kept,
and the women who have charge of it, can scarcely
be cai-ried to excess. This, combined with the
most careful attention in every particular, and with
expedition in making and sending the butter at
once to market, Avill be very likely to obtain its
object — a high price and speedy return.

Q, Have you any directions to give i|^ relation to
the dairy or milk room ?

A, Study to fix it where it will neither be over-
heated by the summer sun, nor chilled by the
blasts of winter) at about fifty degrees of even tem-
perature; an apartment partially underground (with-
out much light), which is dry, and well ventilated,
is likely to answer weU. It should be flagged or
tiled, and shelved round ; and pro\dsion should be
made for heating it with a stove in winter, if neces-
feai-y.

Q. is it Aot JFouii'd, when coWs are house-fed on
clover or turnips, particularly the latter, that the
milk and butter acquire a rank taste ?

A. Perfect cleanliness and attention to the vessels
in which milk is set will generally' ensure sweet
butter, no matter how the cows are fed ; but if this
fail, a little saltpetre put into the pail at milking
time wU effectually cure it.

Q. After milking, is there anything particular
to be done with the milk ?

A. It is to be strained, as usual, through a fine
brass-wire strainer into proper vessels, and kept in
them until it is I'eady for the churn.

Q. Wlaether is it better to milk cows that are
house-fed twice only, or three times a day ?

A. Three times is better for the cow, and will
produce more milk to the farmer.

Q. What do you call proper milk-vessels ?

A. Some prefer wooden vessels, which are lasting
and good, if made of oak or lime-tree ; but these
are "very liable, if not dihgently attended to, to
impart a disagreeable taste to the milk. Glazed
earthenware ^vill do veiy well if kept clean; but
zinc vessels are probably the best.

Q. Would you advise to churn the whole milk,
or the cream only?

J. tliewhole milk will give the finest butter;
but, if you are making cheese, churning the cream
only may 1>e found Convenient-.

Q, Should warm water be used in churning ?

A. Not a drop, if possible; it spoils the appear-
ance, and injures the quality, of the butter. In
summer weather the milk will be often found of the
proper temperature, which is from sixty to sixty-
five degrees of Fahrenheit. In Avinter it is better
to set the churn in a tub of warm water, so as to
bring the milk to a proper heat. When the milk is
churned in this way, the butter comes off in a fine
solid body, and is much pleasanter to dress.

Q. How is it to be dressed ?

A. Let it be well washed in a pickle of salt and
water, made the previous night, and strained before
use, and afterwards in clear fresh water as often as
necessary, until the milk is entirely expelled and
the water remains clear. It should be well wrought;
and, if a large churning, only one-half of the butter
at once, to secure its being well done, and to guard
against spotting or pinrows ; but it should not be
too much wrought, lest it become tough and waxy.
It is then to get a YiHIq prepared salt, at the rate of
about a tea-spoonful to the pound of butter, and,
after being well haired, it may be considered fit for
the firkin.

Q. What do you call prepared salt f

A. There are several kinds of salt. You should
get the very finest, or basket-salt. It is pure and
finely ground; and to every pound of this you
should add an ounce of powdered loaf-sugar. This
is prepared salt, and will make delicious butter.

Q. Is there anything particular to be attended
to in relation to \he firkins f

A. Yes; these mvist be made of clean white
staves and hoops, smoothly dressed inside and out,
well seasoned, and of wood not likely to impart a
strong taste to the butter. The staA'es should be
strong, and thoroughly jointed, so as not to allow
any leakage from the pickle, which is apt to give an
unsightly appearance to the casks, as well as to
injure the quality of the butter.

Q. How should butter be packed in the firkin ?

A. The firkin should first be prepared f6r the
reception of the butter by being filled with warm
brine, which is to remain in it for twenty-four
hours. This wiU saturate the wood, and extract
any bad flavour that may be in it. Let it be then
rinsed and cooled, and let a piece of white calico,
steeped in brine, be placed over the bottom ; after
which the butter may be put in, and well pressed,
so as to exclude any air or water. After each
churning has been deposited in the firkin, a piece
of white calico, similar to what was placed at the
bottom, should be laid over the top, and two or three
inches of brine poured on this, which will effec-
tually exclude the air, and preserve the last churn-
ing exactly in the state in which it Was pat^ked,
until the next is ready to be put into the firkin,
when the brine is poured off, and the calico lifted.
The last-made butter is to be well pressed into the
former, and covered up as before, and a piece of
neat fresh cahco is to be placed at the top,

Q, Butter made on this plan would not do to be
long in gathering ?

A. No> a cask shovtld not tontain more than a
week's butter. Tlie more expeditiously a firkin is
filled the better will i>e the butter. There can he
little Variety in colour or quality, both of which
change mateii^Uy when it is kept a few weeks.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

543

Q. How are farmers to get this butter into tlae
liondon market ?

A. In any locality wliere there are a few spirited
farmers keeping cows for dairy purposes, let them
form themselves into a society ; and, for the pur-
pose of defraying some necessary expenses, let
them pay in proportion to the number of their
cows, say sixpence for each cow ; appoint a factor,
to whom they can send their butter weekly for
exportation; and an active committee, who will
minutely look into the accounts, and the proper
execution of the wishes of the members. They
should be select as to the individuals they would
admit, lest, if any were careless in the execution of
their work, it should bring discredit on their
society, and reduce their prices.

Q. Could the old plan of butter-making for the
foreign market be impro^'ed with advantage to the
farmer }

A. Very much. In every particular, except that
more salt is required for the foreign exportation,
the foregoing details should be carried out, as far
as practicable. Much less salt, however, than was
usually apphed, will make a very superior article ;
and the quality of the salt itself wiU make a great
difference.

Q. Is there any reason why there should be
greater attention paid to the making of butter now
than formerly ?

A. Yes. So much attention has been given to the
subject, and so much superior butter has been lately
manufactvued, that those who will not bestir them-
seh'es and improve their manufacture, will shortly
find themselves unable to realize any price for the
butter whatever. ■ A fine field is open for honour-
able ambition to farmers' wives and daughters ;
and they have now an opportunity, not merely to
bring a great increase of comfort to their own
homes, but to exalt the national character, by suc-
cessful competition in the race of agricultural im-
provement.

ON PLOUGHING OLD PASTURE LANDS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHAMPTON
MERCURY.

Sir, — ^Time has passed on since I last addressed
you upon the subject at the head of this letter, and
it has brought some facts before me which I shall
now take the liberty to communicate, with some
reflections thereon, trusting that if no good results
arise from them, they may at least be read with
candour by those who may differ from me. By the
kind consideration, and with the consent of the
proprietor, two pieces of old turf of the second
class were ploughed this spring, after proper drain-
age, in the parish in which I reside, and sown with
oats in the usual way. The produce of the first
piece is estimated at 70 bushels per statute acre ;
the second piece, only a part of a field, produced 64
bushels per acre ; and I have no doubt of the suc-
cessful cropping of this land for a series of years,
in the hands of the present good managing tenant.
A part of this field, containing about fourteen acres,
remained unploughed, and was not stocked in the
spring, but mown for hay in, July. The produce

was gathered in, the whole amoimting to about fi\-c
tons, and but httle herbage has grown since. It is
easy to see the relative position of the occu])ier
with regard to these two pieces of land, wthout
going to figures. I am aware that it will be said
the excessive drought that has lasted so long this
smnmer is the cause of the failure of the grass land,
and it is fully conceded to be the fact, and this fact
strengthens the evidence in favour of ploughing,
inasmuch as it gives the farmer a greater control
over the elements, in order that they may be made
subservient to his interest. The master may pass
over the grass land and make his silent remarks,
but has no power or control over it. But not so in
the other case : he can plough deep ; he can hoe
and harrow ; thus pulverising the soil, rendering it
capable both to attract and retain moisture ; apply
various manures, gi\^ng a stimulus to the young
plants, and enable them to resist in a great degree
the inclemency of the season, whether from exces-
sive heat or excess of rain ; and there remains but
little doubt that when all the sciences connected
mth agriculture are brought fully to bear upon the
land, the fanner will have, if not a complete, a suc-
cessful control over the elements, so far as produc-
tion may be concerned. It may be observ'ed also
that this (^scription of land was put into grass at a
period when the ]3opulation of this coimtry was li-
mited and small, and that there has been a vast
accumulation of vegetable matter going on for gen-
erations, laid up in store by Pro\adence for the sup-
plies of the future, all of which might easily be con-
verted into food for man, and a retui'n given back
which would produce food hereafter. Wlren we
consider the to^vn near to which I am writing, with
its twenty thousand inhabitants, and such a towa
springing into existence every twenty days, there
is a loud call for the best energies of the British
farmer, as well as the consideration of the owners
of landed property. The wants of this vast and in-
creasing popidation must be supplied, and here will
be found a great resource, and go far to meet the
demand. There is capital enough pent up and
sighing for an outlet, abundance of labour half em-
ployed, and a number of yoimg men ready to direct
and manage the business, while at the same time
we are dejiendent upon a foreign supjjly of grain to
the amount of two miUions of quarters annually.

It is futile to s\ippose that any government can
resist the claims of this increasing population;
their wants must be supphed, and if \ye neglect or
refuse to supply them, that supply will arise from
another quarter, to om- disadvantage. There has
been a frightful sacrifice of property this season
upon grass land of all descriptions, and more es-
pecially upon that description which I conceive
ought to be ploughed, and by so doing it would
enable the tenant to pay his rent and meet his just
demands.

Allow me to ask what has all this to do with the
field whose gate is barred by strong covenants and
heavy penalties against the entrance of the plough ?
Ti-usting this subject will have the consideration
which it deserves of some of your able correspon-
dents, I remain, yoiu-s respectfully,

Thos. Underwood.

Hardingstone, Oct, ^tJi, 1844.

N N 2

514

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

NORTON FARMERS' CLUB. — LECTURE
ON AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY.

On Monday, November 18, the adjourned monthly
meeting of the above club was held at the Bagshawe
Arms. W. J. Bagshawe, Esq., presided. A good deal
of interest prevailed, owing to an arrangement having
been made for the delivery of a lecture on agricultural
chemistry, by Mr. Haywood, lecturer on chemistry at
the Sheffield Medical School.

Mr. Haywood pointed out the importance of a know-
ledge of chemistry to the successful practice of agricul-
ture ; and called the attention of the members to those
elementary constituents of soils on which the growth
and development of plants and animals is mainly de-
pendent. Mr. H. pointed out the absurdity of using
oil as a manure, which consisted of carbon simply, with
the elements of water. Supposing it to consist entirely
of carbon, one gallon would not contain so much as a
score of turnips, and consequently could not possibly
form them. On the contrary, the quantity of carbon
given off by the breathing of five men would supply an
acre ; and all Sheffield, about 20,000 acres. Guano,
which must be considered the most important manure
we possess, from its contaming all the elementary con-
stituents of plants in a most concentrated state, and in
the best form for assimilation, contains a large quantity
of nitrogen. Its value had often been estimated by the
quantity of ammonia it contained ; but this was quite
fallacious. The smaller the quantity of *ee salts of
ammonia, and the larger the quantity of unformed am-
monia, the better ; for the more it will yield in the soil.
Its value, however, depends more on the quantity of
phosphates it contains than on nitrogen in either form.
Too little value had generally been put upon African
guano, in consequence of its containing the salts of
ammonia in a free state, and altogether containing less
nitrogen than the Peruvian ; but, as the phosphates in-
crease as the nitrogen diminishes, it is possible that the
African wiU in practice be found the best. English
guano, of which there is a great variety, is generally
made from night-soil, dried by means of gypsum or
lime ; but, as these seldom contain more than one-
fourth the quantity of the elementary constituents of
crops possessed by the real guano, its value must, of
course, be estimated in the same proportion. He then
called their attention to that most important of all the
constituents of plants, the phosphates. These were as-
similated by plants for the purpose of supplying bones
to animals. Phosphates were also contained in the
blood, muscle, and brain of animals ; and, conse-
quently, formed an important part of their food.
Wheat, peas, beans, hay, and all crops on which ani-
mals can live, contain them in large quantity ; and, as
they extract them from the soil, an addition of them as
manure is absolutely necessary. Were we to preserve
all the excretions of men and animals, we should also
preserve all the phosphates consumed by them during
their lives, except that portion they carry with them
to their graves, which is very small compared with the
whole quantity taken during their lives. If this quan-
tity was again added to the soil, it would not be impo-
verished in a series of ages. This, however, is not the
case ; for all these valuable materials are suffered to run
to waste from all the large towns in England. This
process, being in operation for a series of years, was
found to have exhausted so much from most of our
soils, that nutritive food could no longer be produced.
This was particularly the case on grass land, where the
whole of the phosphates have been carried into large
towns, in milk, cheese, and cattle. Bones were found to
be a remedy for this evil ; but it can only be a very par- '■
tial one, for I find that every man will take and give off |

in one year about as much phosphate as will be equiva-
lent to about 601bs. of bones. London alone wastes
more than the annual importation of bones can supply.
The preservation ofphosphates, then, becomes of national
importance ; for, if this immense waste is suffered to go
on, a great part of the land in England must, sooner or
later, go out of cultivation. He concluded by explain-
ing the phenomena of mildew and fioney-dew. The
former he stated to be caused by the rapid evaporation
of water from the leaves of plants after a wet spring,
when the salts the water contained were left on the sur-
face of such plants as were already nearly matured,
while others which were in a growing state appropriated
them to their uses ; hence this effect on late Swedes, and
not on early ones. Honey-dew was caused by an excess
of carbon in the plant, which could only occur in dry
weather, when the other ingredients could not be fur-
nished for it to combine with. A discussion ensued on
the subject, in which the talented lecturer explained
several matters required by his audience, in [a clear and
lucid manner.

BALLINASLOE FAIR— October, 1814.

MOM*. MC:iiwHs
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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

545

CUCKFIELD AND WEALD OF SUSSEX
AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION.

At the annual meeting of the Cuckfield and
Weald of Sussex Agricultural Association, held at
Cuckfield, eleven ploughmen started as competi-
tors for the Society's premiums, five with a two-
horse, and the remaining six with three-horse
ploughs. 'ITie task was to plough half an acre of
land ; and the work generally was done in a very
excellent manner, evincing considerable improve-
ment since the establishment of this association.
The match took place on Handley Farm, occupied
by Mr. Stephen Wood ; and in the adjoining field
there was a Show of Lean Stock, Seeds, and
Roots, also for the Society's premiums. Of stock
there was a verj"^ good show ; the animals were not
so numerous as on some former occasions, but the
quality was excellent. A two-year-old colt, and a
mare, with foal at foot, shown by W. C. Mabbott,
Esq., of Lewes, were much admired. There was
a first-rate exhibition of pigs ; and a small quan-
tity of roots were shown.

The following speech of Mr. Wood, of Hickstead,
contained the most practical remarks made during
the evening.

Mr. Jame.s Wood regretted that so much time
was usually taken up at these meetings Ijy toasts,
not that he disapproved of those which had been
given this evening, for he had joined heartily in
them all ; but he thought there should be opi)or-
tunities of comparing notes on agriculture more
frequently. He believed that there were differ-
ences of opinion as to the good qualities of stock,
because they often wanted their stock for dif-
ferent purposes. A dairy cow, for instance, was
different from a cow for fattening for meat. He
thought his bullock was appropriate for one pur-
pose, but not for another; he thought his heifer
was not appropriate for a dairy. His sow was not
one which he much commended, although it
gained the prize. He judged of pigs by the hams ;
he thought those which possessed the best hams
were the best pigs ; and on that principle he had
shown a better pig than the one that gained the
prize. The judges were not with him on this ; and
he should like to receive some information as to
the points of animals, and the reason why the
prizes were awarded to them. That, he thought,
would conduce much to the improvement of agri-
culture. Merely bringing the best stock, and
purchasing that which could be fed to the best
profit, would not enable them to meet the times.
They met under different circumstances from last
year ; then, they obtained higher prices for lean,
and he believed also for fat stock. The farmer must
now seek the means of raising stock at lower
prices {hear, hear) ; and that was the practical ob-
ject of these societies. If they did not do this,
they would not attain the end for which they had
formed these societies — to enable the tenant farmer
to carry on his land and use his capital profitably.
He considered that the tenant farmer, in order to
obtain any prizes from such a society as this,
ought to be able to bring forward animals that
would pay, and not merely good animals produced
\vithout profit on the capital invested. {Hear, hear.)
With respect to the various modes of cultivation.

improvement in agriculture formed one of the
society's objects, and induced him to join the
association. He had proposed a sweepstakes for
the best agricultural machinery introduced to this
meeting; and he felt himself justified in bringing
forward his thrashing machine, not merely on
account of its novelty, but because he thought it
was likely to realize profit to the tenant farmer in
this, as it had done in other districts. He thought
this county was competent to compete with any
part of the kingdom ; but they must introduce a
system that would enable them to work cheaper
and bring things into the market cheaper. In in-
troducing the thrashing machine, he did not throw
labourers out of employment ; on the contrary, it
was calculated to find more labour — to find more
employment for the agricultural labourers — to in-
crease that portion of Her Majesty's subjects
which he was for increasing, rather than for in-
creasing the number of manufacturing labourers.
He could not conceive that the country would be
benefited by increasing the number of the manu-
facturing labourers over the agricultural labourer ;
and if he conceived that machinery would tend to
lessen the number of agricultural labourers, he
should be opposed to the introduction of farming
machinery^ But by the use of this thrashing ma-
chine, instead of reaping his wheat at 10s. or 12s.
an acre, he mowed and cut the stubljle at the
same time at 10s. per acre; the stul:)ble under other
circumstances costing 3s. per acre. By this means
he saved 3s. or 4s. an acre. If he had to thrash his
wheat in the common mode, he could not mow it,
because the expense of thrashing would be so
great. By using the machine, he was able to cul-
tivate more land. Why should he keep a quantity
of poor pasture, with just enough herbage to keep
stock growing, but not fattening ? By introducing
machinery and employingit in thevv'ayhehad named,
he was enabled to stick a plough into the land
again immediately, and cultivate it for another crop.
Without having the materials to feed their stock,
it mattered not what breed they had— they could
not bring it to market at the present prices and
compete with the foreigner. But he would not
touch upon this, lest he should introduce politics.
He wished they had an opportunity of reducing
prices by home competition ; he did not see why
they should be brought into comj^etition with
foreign nations, when they could produce cheaply
by competing among themselves, without any im-
])ortation from abroad. With respect to the food
for cattle, without using the thrashing machine
and mowing his wheat, and sticking the plough in
again immediately, he could not produce the crops
of mangel Avurzel which he had shown to-day.
He had produced the mangel ^vurzel, and was
pleased Avith it, because it was that sort of cidtiva-
tion which was profitable to the tenant farmer.
He had followed the example of an Essex man,
Mr. Fisher Hobbs, whose system was to plough
his land and manure it well, immediately the other
crop was off at this time of the year. After plough-
ing the land with a three-horse plough, he sub-
soiled down to 1 5 inches, not minding the clay.
He had been ploughing with four oxen, and a
horse before them, drawing as deep a furrow as he
could, which they knew might be very deep at this

546

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

time of the year, and then putting on seven horses
to a subsoil plough. By this means he had ob-
tained from a poor field the crops which gained a
prize to-day. Before he pursued this system, his
land produced only four sacks an acre ; after using
the subsoil plough and manure, the produce was
seven or eight sacks ; and next year he hoped to
have ten. (Hear, hear.) If the Weald soil would
produce roots, it would be put on the same footing
as the forest land to the north, and would have a
superiority over it in being able to raise that quan-
tity of corn which he belie-\'ed the millers preferred
to any other, namely that grown on stiff clay soils.
If the thrashing machine would enable them to do
that, it would enable them to grow more than the
cottage allotment system. This Avas the system
which enabled the Scotchman to undersell in the
London market, and the Smithfield jobbers to buy
up stock and send it to Steyning, and imdersell
him in his own market. If the Sussex farmers
coidd do this, they would not, be in their present
condition, working without remunerative profit. He
thought knowledge of a A^aluable kind wovdd be
gained by meeting oftener; and he should be
much obhged to any old farmers to put questions
to him. fie thought he had shown good cause for
using machinery in agricultvire, that *ie use of
that machinery would not diminish the number of
labourers employed, and that it would increase the
wealth of the tenant farmer ; and if he had suc-
ceeded in showing that, he had succeeded in show-
ing that it would have the effect of increasing the
prosperity of this countrj^, and of carrying her
strength further than any thing else could do. A
great deal had been done for the encouragement of
manufactures, which had thrived entirely by ma-
chinery; but little had been done for the encou-
ragement of agriculture by machiner}^ If agricul-
ture were pushed by machines and other means, as
it ought to be, he was satisfied that it would attain
to that extreme of prosperity which they had all
seen, and the world at large had seen our manu-
factures had risen to. (Hear, hear.) As to other
points of cidtivation, such as the groAvth of flax
and other things, as he had not experienced the
advantage of them, he should not, on the present
occasion, make any allusion to them. He could
only say that he had tried box-feeding, as recom-
mended by Mr. Warnes, of Trimingham, Norfolk,
whom he had had the pleasure of meeting on seve-
ral occasions, and had found it answer entirely —
putting the beasts into a small space, allo\ving
them room to turn, and giving them hnseed. An
observation was made to him the other day by Mr.
Warnes, that in our stiff clays, instead of ruining
us, as flax was said to do, it would ameliorate the
soil in the same way as the roots of tares, altering
the texture of the soils in a way which a worthy
friend of his, Mr. Botting, one of the judges, had
thought impossible : for he believed Mr. Botting
had said that he considered that they should not be
able to alter the texture of our land, and that they
should be compelled to plough with, four horses in
a hue, and not be able to grow roots, so as to feed
beasts without permanent pastures of grass. Mr.
Wi^od concluded his observations, by expressing a
Avish to hear the oinnion of other fanners.

DRAYCOT PAROCHIAL AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.

The annual meeting and exhibition of this society took
place on Tuesday, Oct. 8. The company was not nu-
merous but very respectable ; it seemed to bear the appear-
ance of a collection of people intent on some useful object,
rather than of mere idle curiosity. Amongst the strangers
we noticed R. Phillips, Esq. ; Charles Smith, E^iq. ; H.
Smith, Esq.; J.Caltlow, Esq.; J. R. Marsh, Esq.; C
Alkins, Esq. ; — Adamthwaite, Esq. ; Thomas Brmdley,
Esq.; C. L. Minton.Esq.; &c., &c.

The Ploughing Match took place on Monday, in a field
adjoining the village. There were several competitors,
both men and boys, and the work was executed in so su-
perior a manner as to claim general commendation, as af-
fording a convincing proof of the utility of giving encou-
ragement to so useful and necessary a branch of agricul-
tural operations.

The show of Stock and Implements was more numerous
than in former years, and the whole was considered of
superior quality. As might be reasonably expected from
the unpropitiousness of the season, the exhibition of roots
was not so good ; yet it was evident from what was pro-
duced, that much attention and skill had been devoted to
this department of rural economy, entitling the exhibition
to great praise.

It is gratifying to announce that the skill displayed by
the judges called forth universal admiration, as the cotta-
gers' pigs, to whom was awarded the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
prenaiums in the North Staffordshire Agricultural Society,
obtained the same at this show.

We were pleased to notice that in the centre of the yard
a standing was erected for cheese ; and so great was the
competition, that there were no less than 15 entries. There
was no object in the whole yard that was more noticed than
the cheese-stand, nor any that excited more visibly the
feelings of the spectators, when the judge gave his judg-
ment, and the favoured cheese was marked.

THE DINNER
took place in a large building near the Draycot Arms.
About 60 persons sat down to dinner, Mr. Benjamin Bond,
the respected agent of Sir E. M. Vavasour, presided, sup-
ported on his right by the Rev. Mr. Dunne, Mr. J. R.
Marsh, and Mr. Cattlow, and on his left by Messrs. Leech,
Knight, and Jenkinson, the judges. Mr.Meakin and Mr.
Warrilow were the Vice-presidents. Amongst the com-
pany we observed — Mr. C. L. Minton, Newstead ; Mr.
C. Alkins, Shelton; Mr. Adamthwaite, Oakhill; Mr.
Ritchie, Tean ; Mr. John Hallam, Newcastle ; Mr. James
Meakin, Cinderhill ; Mr. Thomas Smith, Hanley ; Mr.
Weston, Goldhurst ; Mr. Earp, Uttoxeter (the judge of
the cheese at the show) ; Mr. Hammersley, Tean ; Messrs.
Hawley, Bradbury, and Beech, Longton ; Mr. Charles
Burton, Cheadle Eves ; Mr. Veysey, Manchester.

After the cloth was drawn,

The President opened the business in a neat speech,
explaining that in consequence of the unavoidable absence
of Sir E. M. Vavasour, he was for the second time under
the necessity of officiating at the head of the table, a place
which the worthy baronet himself would so much belter
have graced. The President then proposed in succession
the toasts of " the Queen ;" " Prince Albert, the Prince
of Wales, and the rest of the Royal Family;" "the
Army and Navy." They were received with applause,
and the first of them was drunk with the customary
honours.

The President called upon the Rev. Mr. Dunne to
propose the next toast.

The Rev. Mr. Dunne, in proposing the toast, " Success
to the Draycot Parochial Agricultural Society," said,
though he was always gratified when he had it in his power
to do anything to benefit his neighbours in the parish of
Draycot, yet he was sorry to appear before them on that
day with the present toast in his hands. He was sorry,
because the occasion for it arose from the absence of Sir
Edward Vavasour ; and as a day when the sun did not
break out was always a drawback to the life and animation
of tbeir meeting and exhibition; so their society and

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

547

meeting- and dinner necessarily suffered considerable abate-
ment of their lite and interest, when tiie countenance of
their respected and beloved president and landlord did not
shine upon thera. Sir Edward, he regrelted to say, was
kept away by ill health. IJis heart and thoughts were
Willi them he was certain, from the knowledge he had of
the interest which he look iu the success of their society,
and nothing bul the distinct opinion of his medical adviser
that his attendance there on that day, and the discharge of
the duties of chairman in that style of interest and anima-
tion with which Sir Edward was known to diicharge such
duties, would be necessarily prejudicial to his health, had
deprived thera of the pleasure of seeing him amongst them.
This was the great reason why he regretted his present
position in having to address them on the chief topic of
the day. He could also wish that his representative, their
worthy chairman, had rather less modesty and humility, as
he would have brought to the subject much more
knowledge and experience than he (Mr. D.) possessed,
or could be supposed to possess. He had accepted
the duty, however, on the grounds on which he be-
lieved it had been imposed, They knew he was no
great farmer— but they thought he was attached to
the parish, and attached to tiie people in it. They
believed that he took an interest in that society, and
■wished to promote the useful objects for which it had been
establislied ; and if he knew himself, they were not wrong
in that opinion. It was a pleasure to him to attend the
committee meetings, to assist in forwarding the business
of the society, and to observe any gratifying results of its
labours; and ho supposed, therefore, from those symptoms,
that he must have an attachment to their little Moorland
society. He wished his experience was equal to his zeal
and sincerity, and he should have accepted the toast with
greater alacrity. That agricultural societies were bene-
ficial to the country, by promoting the diiTusion of know-
ledge in their own particular line, and by creating a spirit
of emulation in all classes haviugr any connexion with the
cultivation of the soil, seemed to him undeniable. It was
not many years since they had their beginning, and yet so
general was the conviction tiiat they were really useful,
that they now found them established in all parts of the
country, and landlords, tenants, labourers, and servants
were everywhere found taking an interest in their success.
That alone did satisfy him that good must result from
them ; for such union of men of all ranks could only be
based on truth ; therefore, when he found the peer, the
large proprietor, the yeoman, the tenant, the cottager, and
the servant, all united in upholding and extending an in-
stitution directed to some object of which they were com-
petent judges, he was sati&fied that the thing was good and
useful. In truth, how could the meeting together of
numbers of men who took an interest in farming, and who
had a real solid interest in it ; many of them too men of
knowledge, and having at their command the investigations
and discoveries of scientific men; others, men at least of
sound sense, of long experience and observation, men whose
lives had been spent in that particular pursuit, and whose
observation had been sharpened by the pressure of diffi-
culties, by hard times, and bad seasons ; it was impossible
that the meeting of such persona together, and the inter-
change of their views and ideas, should not lead to the dif-
fusion of con ect knowledge, and should not be productive of
much practical improvement. Some might possibly be too
sanguine in their calculations of the results, and might
imagine that agriculture was not destined to go on im-
proving by a slow and steady march, but by the progress
which they anticipated in cfiemistry and mechanics, was
about to make a spring which would lift them up into the
heavens almost at once. For his own part he was not too
sanguine, and certainly did not think it would be wise for
any of them to fold their arms and sit quiet on the strength
of such anticipations. Science might do much ; the diffu-
sion of useful knowledge, and the invention of new imple-
ments, as well as the diicovery of some cheaper means cf
draining, might open large sources of improvement; but,
nevertheless, depend upon it that a curse had been laid on
the stubbornsoil in punishment of man's first sin; doubt not
but it would continue to contend with man, by producing
briars and weeds where he aimed at producing corn ; and
that they should find, to the end of the chapter, the greater

part, perhaps too the happier part, of mankind eating their
bread in the sweat of their brow. They had most of them
heard of the water cure, in which a mun after a good so;ik-
ing in water was made to sweat by being wrapped in a
dozen blankets : medicine and art might do much, but per-
haps hard labour and a good thorough sweat any day in
the harvest month might do quite as well ; and if plenty of
cold water were indispensable, they might continue their
labours in the fields during the sowing season. But enougfi
of this. Without anticipating too much, it was sufficient
for them to know that great good was effected by these
societies ; that much practical information was diffused,
that emulation was excited, and that a stimulus was ap-
plied to the mechanical arts in the invention of new im-
plements. He knew some might think that what had
been said could apply only to more extensive associations,
and that a parochial society like their own could not con-
tribute much to those great results. For his own part, he
did not wish the fable of the ox and the frog to be acted by
them; they would not undertake to swell out against the
Royal Agricultural Society of England, nor even to make
an attempt on a smaller scale against a more humble rival,
the North Stafl'ordshire Society, particularly as it would
appear from the report of the late meeting at Stone, that
some were already disposed to enjoy a laugh at the rnention
of Moorland farming. Let them proceed in their own
humble way, and they would find advantages even in the
limited extent of the district to which their society directs
its attention. One object was to excite emulation, and this
was more easily effected among neighbours than where
competitors lay at a distance from each other. A man was
more worked upon by the example of his next neighbour,
whose system of farming was always under his eye, and
whose crops bore testimony every day to him of superior
management, than he would be if he lived twenty miles
away from him, and he seldem had the opportunity of re-
marking either upon his system or its results. A small
society like their own, had at least this advantage, that it
was more easily managed, and had not the same difficulty in
classifying soils, so as to open the way for fair competition.
But, after all, why need they compare two things that did not
stand in opposition one to the other? It was not as if the
success of one interfered with the prosperity of the other.
Their first thought was to drink success to their own society,
because charity began at home ; but they would have no
objection to toast the great association ; and were there
one that embraced the whole world, they should fill a
bumper te it. The objects of the two classes in no wise
interfered. In point of time the smaller ones had the pre-
cedence, and even now they seemed to him like the smaller
wheels of a carriage, which preceded the larger ones, very
much to the advantage of the latter, and of the veiiicle
which was supported by them. They serve as training
ground, on which the persons who were disposed to com-
pete at the larger societies might first exercise themselves,
and by their success there, might be encouraged to try
their strength on a more extensive course. It was enough
for them to see the good that was efl'ected in their own
parish— to observe how attention to agricultural improve-
ment had enclosed their wastes, had cleared their riddings,
covered their heath and common with corn and grain
crops, cut down the alders, and was fast banishing the
rushes and sedges from their fields. There was another
subject to which he was anxious to direct their attention,
and which could not be overlooked consistently with the
interest they professed in the welfare of the parish — a sub-
ject which, though the consideration of it might for a
short time longer be staved oft", must before long be
forced upon them— he meant the employment of the agri-
cultural population. It was a distressing, a deplorable
sight, to see a man seeking labour, and not able to find
it ; begging leave to toil, and not listened to. There were
many, no doubt, who could not, from the smallness of their
farms, find employment for labourers; but where labour
could be advantageously increased, it must be the duty of
the occupier to give employment to the labourers of the
parish, and not for the sake of saving a few pounds to
throw their poorer neighbours out of work ; and to prefer
a little money in hand before the improvement which they
might efl'ect in the soil. He had remarked more men out
of work in the neighbouring parishes this summer than he

548

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

could remember to lifive iscea in any former year. During
the winter and spring nionilis', that was during the time
when draining and otiier works carried on by the landlord
•were in operation, their labourers were fully employed ;
but not so, he was sorry to say, afterwards. The number
of hands unemployed during: the summer was for their
small population very great. It was true the hay harvest
beinfr unusually short afforded Jitlle work, but then that
little was unfortunately made less by the influx of Irifh
labourers, who, flying' starvation in their own country,
came to them in numbers sufficient to do all the harvest
work in the parish, and that at the very lowest rate of
•wages and remuneration. Whut was to be the end of this
he knew not, unless some timely remedy be applied ; nor
could he pretend to determine what the remedy should be ;
but he trusted there was sufficient wisdom left in the
country to see the evil, and study such a remedy — sufli-
cient sense and virtue in the owners of the soil, to enter on
the consideration of it ; sufficient, also, of selfishness in
those who occupy the land, and pay poor-rates, to make
them open their eyes to the subject ; and, also, a sufficient
degree of manly sense and determination in the labouring
classes not to sink passively into that state of abject
misery and half-starvation, seen in his own wretched
country (Ireland), without, by their petitions and other
legal means, making their voices heard in vigorous pro-
testation. They had an immemorial right to live on the
produce of that soil which their forefathers had cleared, and
made productive by their labour. He spoke not of one
particular parish, nor would he be understood to say that
every inhabitant of Draycot had a clear right to find la-
bour in his own parish, at a rate of wages that he deemed
sufficient ; but taking their country throughout, he repeated
that the people of England had an immemorial and a na-
tural right to live on the soil of England, by the produce of
their labour : they had a right, like their forefathers that
Bleep in the church-yards, to reap the harvests, to plough
the lands, and to do the other works necessary to the occu-
pation and cultivation of the land. It never could be al-
lowed to come to this, that the population of a rural parish
should lie by for want of work during the harvest months,
while straHgers to the parish should come in and do the
work. Gray, in his elegy in a country church-yard, had
these lines referring to those who lie buried there: —

" Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield ;
Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe hath broke ;
How jocund did they drive their teams afield —
How bowed the wood beneath their sturdy stroke."

Unless some remedy were devised for the evil of which he
complained, the poet who wrote an elegy over the next
generation must find some other terms to describe their
lives and labours. In the encouragement which he de-
lighted to give to this society, he considered that he was
encouraging good farming— and as he knew that the ca-
pabilities of the soil were not drawn forth without great
manual labour, he felt happy that he was at the same time
advocating the employment of that class who must live by
the labour of their hands. If the various mechanical in-
ventions of new implements furnished new facilities for
cultivation, in order to be a real good to the country, they
must be directed to increase the productiveness of the
soil, when taken jointly with the same amount of employ-
ment to the labourers, but must not be looked to as a
substitute for that manual labour, without which the peo-
ple of this country could not live. If machinery took pos-
session of one description of work, the owners and the oc-
cupiers of the soil must devise profitable labour in another
direction, and must not complacently put the profit they
derived trom an invention into their pockets, and leave the
people to live how they could. He begged, in conclusion,
to give thera " Success to the Draycot Parochial Society."
(Mr. Dunne's speech was repeatedly applauded during the
delivery).

The President read the report, and the list of the award,
of the judges, as follows: —

REPORT.

In drawing up their report for the present year, the com-
mittee have to congratulate the society on the prospect be-
fore them, which bids fair to be^good, because the

improvement has been gradual and steady. The peculiariity
of the season, and the long continued drought in the
early part of the year, was unfavourable to the growth of
turnips ; but these crops are at present more promising than
there had been any reason to anticipate. In adverting to
the state of the weather, it should be noticed, that, if un-
favourable for turnips, it was not so for fallows, which are
generally in excellent condition. And the providential
change of weather, at a very critical period, was such as
to prove of the utmost importance as regards both man and
beast, and, consequently, to call for expressions of most
profound gratitude. The committee feel also called upon
to notice with marked approbation the increase of hand-
tillage in the parish, the adoption of improved methods of
manuring the lands, and the advantage accruing to the
tenants on the estate from the gift of Guano to the amount
of lOOl. by the Patron and President, the honourable Sir
E. M. Vavasour, Bart.

Nor would it be consistent with their duty to omit
mention of the improvement of stock, particularly young
stock ; or of the improvement of the breed of Leicester
sheep, of which they are gratified in being enabled to record
an unexceptionable proof in the premiums obtained at the
recent agricultural show at Stone, in the first and second
class for ewes. Neither is this the only circumstance con-
nected with the late and first meeting of the North Stafford-
shire Agricultural Society on which the committee have to
offer their congratulations. The Draycot Agricultural
Meeting, which originated in an humble " Pig Show,'' has
been productive of such good results as to qualify the
cottagers of Draycot to step beyond the precincts of their
own parish, and confidently to challenge competition in
the whole of North Staffordshire ; and that there was no
overweening presumption insucli a challenge, is established
by the fact, that the cottagers' pigs from Draycot carried
off every prize at Stone. 'I'he next point to be adverted to
is, that the cottage gardens and allotments (as reported by
the judges) were found in very good condition, and clearly
exhibited the great efforts which had been made with
limited means and time to make the most of the land under
cultivation.

In closing their report, the committee consider they are
not outstepping the province assigned to them, if they
venture to remark, that in all agricultural operations the
grand point to be attended to is the profitable return for
the outlay. Many plausible and specious theories may
court and attract observation, but the practical farmer will
do well to adopt nothing without previous proof. It would
be unwise to convert an estate in the occupation of a
number of tenant-farmers into a theatre for trial of fancical
experiments on an extensive sale, Such trials may well be
left to the agricultural colleges now establishing at more
than one locality in the country, from whose experience
and science, in the progress of time, much benefit may
ultimately be derived to the community at large.

In conclusion, the pleasing duty remains of thanking the
several subscribers in general for their support to this local
society; among whom they beg to name C. Smith, Esq.,
Kev. Dr. Stocker, P. B. Broad, Esq. of Manor House, G.
Robinson, Esq., of the house of Messrs Coutts and Co.,
John Cattlow, Esq., Cheadle, Thomas Brandon, Esq.,
Cheadle, Mr. John Fallows, Alton, and Mr. John Holmes,
Cheadle ; and of thanking the President and Patron in
particular, not only for his continual liberal donation of
20/., but for the intention which he has been pleased to
announce of presenting two short-horned bulls to its mem-
bers, to promote the improvement of the breed of cattle on
the estate, directly, and the neighbourhood indirectly.

LIST OF A-VVARDS.

Ploughing Match. — 16 ploughs started. — First, 1 1. I5s.
to Robert Hughes, ploughman of Mr. James Meakin ;
2nd. ll. to Thomas Lowe, ploughman of Mr. Thomas
Lymer ; 3rd, 17s. to Richard Shingler, ploughman of Mr.
Jno. Bond ; 4th, 15s. to William Burgess, ploughman of
Mr. William Bowers ; 5th, 10s. to John Gough, plough-
man of Mr. Joseph Lovatt; 6th, 8s. to James Bayley,
ploughman of the late Mr. William Chadwick.

Cottage Allotments. — For the best cultivated and
most productive crop, 1/. to Obadiah Cope ; 2nd, 159. to
Charles Cope ; 3rd, 10s. to Mary Warrilow ; 4lh, 7s. to

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

549

James Shingler, jun. ; 5tli, 5s. 6cl. to George Lovatt; 6tli,
2s. 6(1. to James Wooldridge.

Cottage Gardens. — To Cotlaofers not keeping more
than one cow. — For the best cultivated garden, l5s. to
Thomas Shiugler; 2nd, lOs. to George Lake ; 3rd, 7s. 6d,
to John Wooldridge; 4th, 5s. to Joseph Hummersley ; 5lh,
2s. 6(1. to John Warrilovv.

HousF.noLn Servants in Agriculture,— To the
male servant, wlio shall have lived the longest time with
the same family, 1/. to Joseph Crowder, four years nine
months with Mr. William Lymer; to the second, 10s. to
John Flint, three years nine months with the Rev. J. K.
Dunne. To the female servant, who siiall have lived the
long(>st lime with tiie same family, 1/. to Mary Lowe, six-
teen years with the Rev. J. K. Dunne ; to the second, lOs.
to Julia Thorley, three years with Mr. Thos. Weston.

The followin* Piizes were given by the Rev Dr.
Stocker : —

To female servants natives of Draycot for longest service
in the fame family, either as household or as farm servants,
■whether in or out of the parish ; 1st, 18s. to Kitly Gosling,
nineteen years with Mrs, Wragge, of Red Hill, near
Stourbridge ; 2nd, Hs. to Sarah Horribin, eleven years
nine months -with Mrs. Porter, of Tean Hurst ; 3rd, 10';. to
Elizabeth Ridge, ten years nine months with Robt. Philips,
Esq., Ileybridge.

Pics.— Eleven Entries. — Prizes for cottagers not keeping
a cow — For the best fat pig of its age, 2/. to John Wool-
dridge; 2nd, U. 10s. 10 John Hinckley ; 3rd, U. 5^. to
Joseph Ilammersley ; 4th, 15s. to Jane Perry; 5th, lOs.
to Joseph Warrilow ; 6th, Ss. to Richard Ridge.

Cheese. — Seventeen Entries.— For half a cwt. of the
best factor's cheese made in the parish, 21. lOs;, to Mr.
John Sherratt; 2nd, 1/. 10s., to Mr. John Bond; 3rd,
1/., to Mr. Thomas Perry.

Cattle. — Forty-two Entries. — For the best bull, 1 1. IDs.,
to Mr. William Bowers ; 2nd, 15s., lo Mr. Simon Fowler ;
for the best cow in milk, 15s., to Mr. Thomas Lymer ; for
the best pair of twiuters, 15«., to Mr. John Bond; 2nd,
10s., to Mr. George Fielding; for the best pair of stirks,
15.<.,)o Mr. John Bond ; 2nd, 10s., to Mr. John Cope.

Sheep.— Twenty-four Entries. — For the best long wool
ram, ISs., to Mr. Joseph Warrilow ; for the best short wool
ram, 15s., lo Mr. John James ; for the best pen of five long
woo! store ewes, 1/., to Mr. John Bond ; lor the best pen of
short wool ditto, 1 1., to Mr. John James ; for the best long
wool ram lamb, 5s., to Mr. John James ; for the best short
wool ditto, 5s., to Mr. George Fielding.

I\\RiMERs' Pigs. — Twenty Entries. — For the best boar
kept in the parish, 1/., to Mr. William Bowers; for the
best gilt for breeding in 1844, ]l., to Mr. Joseph Warrilow ;
2nd ditto, Ss., to Mrs. E. Saunders ; for the best fat pig,
fed by the exhibiter, 1/., to the same.

Summer. Fallows on Stuong Land. — For the best
wheat fallows, cleaned, manured, drawn up and guttered
by the first week in October, 21. , to Mr. James Meakin ;
2nd, 1/. 10s., to Mr. John Sherratt; 3rd, 155,, to Mr.
Joseph Warrilow.

Growth of Green Crops.— Class 1.— For the best crop
of not less than three acres of Swede turnips, 2^, to Mr.
John Bond ; 2nd best, 11., to Mr. William Bowers ; ditto
of common turnips, 1/., to Mr. William Bowers ; 2nd best
ditto, lOs., to Mr. John Sherratt. Class 2.— The best crop
of not less than one acre of Swede turnips, 11. 10s., to Mr.
Thomas Perry ; the second best ditto, 15s., lo Mr. Thomas
Lymer; ditto of common turnips, lOs., to Mr. William
Lymer; 2nd best ditto, 53., to Mr. Thomas Lymer.
Class 3.— The best crop of not less than a quarter of an
acre of Swede turnips, 1/., to Mrs. Dorothy Cope ; 2nd
ditto, 10s., no claimant ; for ditto of common turnips, Ifis.,
to Mr. William Fielding; 2ad ditto, Ss., to Mr. William
Saunders. Class 1. — Not less than an acre of the best
cabbage, 11., to Mr. John Bond; the second best ditto,
10s., to Mr. William Bowers. Class 2.— Not less than a
quarter of an acre of the best cabbage, 15*., to JVIr.
Thomas Perry ; for the second best, 7s. 6d., to Mr. William
Fielding.

Sweepstakes. — The only sweepstakes that filled was for
I a fat pig, won by Mrs. Elizabeth Saunders and Mr. William
Bowers.

After reading the list of awards, the President proposed

the health of "Sir E. M. Vavasour, the Patron of the
Society," which was received with applause, and drank
with honours.

Mr. Cattloav proposed "The Royal Agricultural
Society," and in doing so, described it as consisting of
many of the principal landlords and tenants from all parts
of the kingdom. It offered large premiums for the best
implements, produce and stock, thus inducing what might
be termed the aiistocracy of agriculture to compete.
Though not the first originated, it might now be conridered
the parent of all other agricultural societies : lor the
benefits of its example were felt in the counties, and,
lastly, at the parochial meetings, of which they had so
good a specimen that day. What a contrast it attbrded to
the time when the farmer stayed at home, and farmed as
his father had done before him, credulous of all improve-
ments of which he heard or read ! ^Applause.)

The President acknowledged the toast, on behalf of the
Royal Agricultural Society, and proposed the health of the
Rev. Mr. Dunne, and the Rev. Dr. Stocker. (Applause.)
Mr. Dunne they had amongst them ; and to Dr. Stocker
they were mdebled for drawing up the report which had
been read. The toast was drunk with three times three
cheers.

The Rev. Mr. Dunne, in acknowledging the toast,
mentioned that although few parishes had benefited more
by draining than Draycot, yet the work was not yet fully
done ; for there were already one thousand two hunded
acres that might be improved by drainage, and it was the
intention of Sir Edward to complete the whole within six
years — (Apphitse) — thus laying the foundation of increased
prosperity for the farmer?, and he might add, the labourers
also. He (Mr. Dunne) must, however, lament that the
rage for agricultural improvements was destroying what to
him had always been a source of pleasure : he alluded to
the removal of the beautiful thorns and ash-trees. {Applause
and larigluer.) The thorns which used to be such an
ornament to Totmonslow in particular, were all removed ;
and he understood there was not an ash tree within reach
of a cultivated field, but was threatened with the same
fate. CApplause.)

The President prefaced the toast of "The Duke of
Sutherland, and the North Staffordshire Agricultural
Society," with some appropriate remarks, and it was drunk
with honours, in the most flattering manner.

Mr. C. L. Minton rose, in obedience to numerous calls,
to acknowledge the toajt. He said when he entered the
room he expected to have enjoyed perfect ease and free-
dom, and to have been a listener to the speeches of others,
rather than to have spoken himself. But since the toast
had been so handsomely proposed by the chairman, and so
heartily responded to by the company, he should be want-
ing in affection and duty, both to its patron and to its inte-
rest, if he were not to assure them that he took a deep inte-
rest in its success and prosperity. They had drunk success
to the society, and perhaps they would allow him to ad-
vance some reasons why they should wish it success. In
order to do this, it would be necessary to consider what
were the principal objects and tendency of the society. He
(Mr. Minton) felt himself incompetent to do full justice to
the subject, but by their kind indulgence, he would endea-
vour to enumerate a few of those principal features which
characterised this society. The first to which he would
draw their attention was the improvement in the breed of
stock. On this head he had frequently heard it advanced,
that much had already been effected. Now, though it must
be justly allowed that great improvements had been brought
about in late years by an attention to this department,
and a better introduction of stock into the county ; still it
must be allowed, by all unprejudiced minds, that there was
more need of still greater improvement. In proof of this
assertion— fur assertions were of little or no avail without
proof — he would draw their attention to the meeting at
Stone, and ask them what were the general remarks they
heard, and what were the particular observations they
ma(le themselves. He (Mr. Minton) had no doubt in his
own mind, that they were similar to what were made to
him, or what he made to others—" that the stock was not
quite equal to his expectations." It might be objected that
this arose from the restrictions which Lord Sandon had
said justly and (airly e;i^cluded the cattle of the rich, and

550

THE PARMER'S MAGAZINE.

also prevented any cattle being shown for premiums which
■wai5 not bred by the exhibitors. But provided this obvious
deficiency on that occasion should not be a satisfactory
proof, he thought it was fully evident to every farmer who
was in the habit of attending the fairs and cattle markets,
that he seldom could find such good stock as would answer
his expectation, and make a suitable return. He (Mr.
Minton;, no later than Monday last, at Newcastle fair, had
heartl it stated by a respectable and large dealer, from the
south of this county, that the stock was so inferior to his
demand, that he was unable to purchase any which would
suit his customers. Now, gentlemen should ask them-
selves what was the necessary result of this. Certainly,
all must know that if a man could not purchase the article
he wanted in one market, he must go to anolher ; and con-
sequently the money which ought to be laid out by deal-
ers ill our own county fairs, and brought home to our pro-
fit, was carried into another county, for the profit of others,
either through our own neglect, or from a want of due
attention to the improvement of our own stock. Now he
thought he had fully proved what he had advanced, and
the question which they would ask themselves was— how
are we best to effect an improvement? 'Jhe answer he
should give was — "Encourage such societies as this;"
where they would have an opportunity of seeing the best
stock of the neighboui hood, and also of purchasing. As
an illustration of this, he would narrate an incident which
he had that day heard. They were all well acquainted
with the celebrated bull of the late Mr. Chad wick, to whom
that neighbourhood was indebted for the introduction of
the animal into the county. It was purchased from an
eminent breeder, Mr. Highfield, in Lancashire— a gentle-
man who succeeded his father in a small farm, beyond
the boundaries of which he hud seldom travelled during
his father's lifetime, either to know or see the improve-
ments which were going on in the breed of cattle. Me
had what was considered a very good stock; but being
induced by a friend to go to Liverpool, and see the show
of the agricultural society, he there discovered, to his as-
tonishment, that his own, which he had fancied to be the
best, were very inferior to what was exhibited. He re-
solved to purchase the best young' bull that was offered
for sale; and having done this, he effected such improve-
ments as had rendered him one of the first breeders in his
neighbourhood; and also enabled him to confer a great
benefit on the country at large, and as they themselves
knew, on this neighbourhood in particular. Now he (Mr.
Minton) could easily pardon this young man for his first
high opinion of his own superior stock. It was very
natural for every one to think their own the best, until
they had the opportunity of comparing it with others. In
most village schools there probably might be found some
one or two boys, so superior to all the rest, that their
parents and teachers looked upon them with pride, as pro-
digies of ability and learning; but remove these boys to a
larger school, or to one of tlie universities, and then by a
fair comparison their real talent would be seen ; and it
would often be found, that though they had abilities supe-
rior to any in their native village, yet they were inferior to
most of their new associates, and that it required the dili-
gent cultivation of their powers, either to maintain their
positions, or laudably emulate the attainments of their su-
perior competitors. Now to afford the opportunity of in-
stituting a just comparison, was one of the objects which
the North Staffordshire Agricultural Society were anxious
to effect, and hence he thought he had fairly shown that
there was suflicient necessity for proposing premiums to
encourage the improvement of stock ; and that therefore
there was at least one good reason to drink to the society's
success. Another great object that the society proposed to
effect, was to introduce a superior cultivation of the farms.
Now, after the remarks that Lord Sandon so ably made at
the dinner, at Stone, it would be needless for him (Mr.
Minton) to raise any question on the subject. His lord-
ship then said there was no doubt a great deal of good as
well as some bad farming, but he would ask, were there
still any rushes left in North Staffordshire— was the best
breed of cattle to be found in every field— was draining
carried out to the utmost extent ; in fact, had landlords
and tenants done the utmost of their duty 1 The response
of that meeting was, " Hear, hear," and applause; which

testified, by their own lips, that all theie things were not |
yet accomplished. Now he (Mr. Minton) did not know a i
better means of promoting so desirable an object, than that i
of offering premiums as a stimulant for the best cultivated '
farms; thus calling forth the skill and ptrseverance of the
farmers ; and also affording them an opportunity of visiting
those farms which had obtained premiums, and which for
the want of such a society might have remained unknown
and unseen, except by the residents of the immediate
neighbourhood ; and he had no doubt that the honour
conferred upon those who gained the prizes, and the ad-
vantages which theirvisitora would derive from wilnessing
the benefit arising from such good farming, would act as
laudable incentives to encourage them to imitate the exam-
ple, and aspire to the same honour. But though much of
this good might be effected by this, as well as by the skill
and industry of the farmer; yet the society had not lost
sight of giving encouragement to the invention and im-
provement of agricultural implements ; and though the
noble Lord Talbot, who had so kindly acted as vice-president
at Stone, had prudently advised them to avoid too much
complexity in the inachiaery, still it must be confessed
by all, that such improvements might be effected by the
ingenuity of the mechanic, as would materially assist the
operations of the husbandman, and consequently diminish
the expense of the cultivation of the soil. This he con-
sidered a second good reason why they should drink
" Success to the North Staffordshire Agricultural So-
ciety." But there appeared a third reason, in the pre-
miums oflTered by the Society for the encouragement of
meritorious labourers and servants. Feeling that he had
already trespassed so long upon their lime and patience
(Cries of " Go on, Go on,"), and as this subject had been
so ably noticed by the rev. gentleman at the chairman's
right hand, he should only say, that there could not be a
greater advantage secured to the farmer and to the coun-
try, than by giving to the labouring classes public rewards
for their good conduct and good services ; and also encou-
raging those social and moral duties, which rendered them
happy in themselves, a benefit to their employers, and an
honour to their country. But there was another reason
for wishing success to the Society, and it was of such im-
portance, that the farmers and company present, would
not think that he had done his duly if he omitted to notice
it. It was, the great utility of these societies in bringing
landlord and tenant together. This srood old custom had
nearly been supplanted by the new fashions of the day ;
but he (Mr. Minton) was happy to congratulate them that
this good old cuitom was reviving ; and the time, he hoped,
was not very far distant, when they would hear of every
landlord presiding at such meetings as these, and all others
in which his tenants and neighbours had an interest. It
was impossible to overrate the benefits which would result
from such an intercourse. There the landlord would pub-
licly avow his attachment to lii« tenantry, and slate the
principles which would actuate him in his conduct towards
them. The tenant, conscious of the sincerity of hia pro-
fesfions, and relying on the integrity of his principles, would
be inspired with increased altachment to the landlord. And
the eonfidance thus mutually created, would prompt each
to a better discharge of their respective duties. Now he
(Mr. Minton) defied any one to look around him, and vvit-
ness the gratifying spectacle of the tenants and friends of
Sir Edward Vavasour assembled on that occasion, and not
confess that such meetings were of practical bentfit. It
had been his happy privilege to have met the tenants of
Draycot under the presidency of their esteemed landlord ;
and he had heard from Sir Edward's lips language convey-
ing his sentiments of attachment, and of his desire to im-
prove the land, and advance the science of farming in this
neighbourhood, which he had no doubt would increase
their mutual interest. He might here mention the fact
which had been this day stated, thai Sir Edward had 1,200
acres ol land wanting draming in this parish, and he had
promised to accomplish it within six years, 'i'here was
also anolher subject which he was glad to hear noticed,
though he regretted that what was a joy to him was a sor-
row to the rev. gentleman who had named the circum-
stance. It was the determination of Sir Edward Vava-
sour to fall all the ash trees, which were an hindrance to
the cultivation, and a loss in the produce of the soil. No

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

651

doubt the rev. gentleman, in expressing his sorrow, had

looked upon these trees as an additional ornament to the
country ; but if he knew, as a practical farmer, the incon-
venience experienced from tlieir extendtd roots,
sapping the land of its fertility, and breaiiing the farmer's
implements in its cultivation — if he considered the
vast extent of land wliich their wide-spreading boughs pre-
vented from receiving the genial influences of heaven, thus
rendering the space shaded by them unprofitable to the
farmer— he felt certain the rev. gentleman's benevolence of
heart and goodness of feeling would take exactly the same
view, he (Mr. Minton) entertained, that tlie removal of
timber useless to the landloid and country, and an injury
to the tenant and consumer, was well worthy of the con-
sideration of a landlord, since it occupied land from which
a tenant had no return to meet his payments— the poor
man no bread to satisfy his hunger— and the country no
produce to increase its wealth. No landlord who loved
his country would have his land encumbered by trees, or
overstocked with game. He (Wr, Minton) did not know
how they were situated at Draycot with respect to game ;
but he had understood that their worthy landlord had ex-
pressed his intention of not preserving it on any part of the
estate without compensating the tenants, 'i his was but
equitable. If a tenant took a farm at a certain rental, and
afterwards found another man's stock turned into his pas-
tures, as well as his own, he would consider himself most
unfairly treated; yet what difference was there between
such a case and letting a farm at its full value, and then
stocking it with game which the tenant was to maintain .'
Why, in common justice, instead of the tenant paying
rent, lie ought to receive wages for taking care of the
game. This subject had recently been brought forward
by one of high rank and fortune, and it vva^ under the
shadow of that worthy nobleman's opinion, that he (Mr.
Minton) now stood forward to vindicate the rights of the
tenant farmers. At the la«t Lichfield meeting but one.
Lord Haiherton -himself a practical farmer— had declared
it to be impossible to cultivate his lands, particularly green
crops— now tiie fashion, and it might uho be said, the
mania of the day— he had found it impossible to cultivate
the land to advantage, where it was overstocked with
game ; and he was determined to have all the game de-
sttoyed, except on those portions of his estate which he
appropriated to preserves. Those landlords who would
not listen to the requests of their tenants, or credit their
seemingly interested statements, would surely rely on
this statement from Lord Haiherton's own lips ! But
whether they did or not, he (Mr. Minton) hoped the
farmers would not fail to avail themselves of the oppor-
tunities afforded by meetings of agricultural associations,
to speak out boldly and manfully, yet respectfully, till
they compelled the game-preserving landlords to do what
was just and right, and deterred them from what was
injurious to the country, a loss to the farmer, and a
disgrace to ihemsielves. He repeated, he hoped by these
meetings they would bring back the tivne? when the
landlords were glad to come amongst thein, to preside
at the rent-day table, to rejoice in the prosperity of their
tenants, sympathise in their sorrows, advise them in dif-
ficulties, and' relieve their distresses. These associations
also had a tendency to combine all interests, manufac-
turing, commercial, and trading, as well as agricultural ;
for who was there that did not feel some interest in the
successful cultivation of the soil? and thus the union for
a common object tended to overcome groundless [jea-
lousies of each other's success. In concluding his speech,
Mr. Mintonsaid he thought he had said enough to show
the farmers that there were abundant reasons why
they should not only drink "Success to the North Staf-
fordshire Agricultural Society," but show their sincerity,
by coming forward to join it. Let them aid it also by
their means, and thus prove that its success not only had
their best wishes, but was promoted by their cordial
efforts, (The plaudits which repeatedly interrupted the
speaker during the delivery of this address, were renewed
at its close, and long continued.)

Next followed the toasts of " The Agricultural La-
bourers of the Parish," " The Staffordshire Potteries" —
acknowledged by Mi. Marsh, as residing in the neigh,
bourhood, aiid connected with the district by property ;

"The Successful Candidates," — acknowledged by Mr.
Bowers, who in return proposed " the Judges." (Cheers.')
Mr. Leech, one of the Judges, in returning thanks for
the compliment, made some remarks on the improvement
of stock. At the Cheshire meeting, the other day, Lord
Combermere recommended long. horn bulls; but he (Mr.
Leech) thought none were so profitable as shorl-horns, and
few better were to be found than they had seen that day.
In some correspondence he had had with Mr. ToUett, the
inquiry had been started, whether the milking properties
could not be cultivated as well as the feeding of a cow ;
but no satisfactory conclusion had yet been come to on this
po:nt. Excessive feeding was often more costly than pro-
fitable. When they went to the great cattle shows, people
were often surprised at the apparent perfection of the ani-
mals, but they would be more surprised if they were told
the expense. (Laughter.) The late exhibition of the
North Staffordshire Agricultural Society he considered was
crippled, because no gentleman was allowed to show for
the first and second prizes ; and he would recommend a
relaxation of the rule. With respect to the Draycot show,
he could safely say he had felt more pleasure in attending
it than the meetings at either Derby or Stone. The farm-
ing was in few places managed better, and the old couplet
might almost be applied to them—

" When and whore you sow ycur wheat,
Tlieu and there grow hedges neat."
CApplaiae.)

Mr. Minton stated that it was the original intention of
the fraraers of the rules of the North Slaflibrdshire Agricul-
tural Society, that any member should exhibit stock for
premiums which had been in hi« possession bona fide from
the commencement of the year. He believed a proposition
would be made to alter the rules, so as to throw open the
premiums for aged stock to general cumpetition ; still,
however, requiring the young stock to be the property of
the breeder. A further alteration proposed was, that no
male animal should be exhibited that was not calculated to
produce slock.

The President proposed the health of " The Lord-
Lieutenantof the County— the Patron of good farming," in
some complimentary remarks. (Applause.) Also, the
health of Messrs. Charles and Henry Smith, the Lords of
the Manor, pro tew, who had shown their interest in the
society by subscribing 5L each annually to its funds, and
had that morning in the show-yard given him an additional
5/. for the same object. (Drank with applause.)

The toast of" the Strangers who have honoured us with
their company on this occasion" was drank with cheers;
and called up Mr. Adamthwaite, who made a few suitable
observations, and concluded by proposing the health of
Mr. Bond, the woithy chairman, to be drunk with three
times three, Laiicas/iJre /((s/iiou. (Mr. Adamthwaite him-
self timed the cheers, and the "Lancashire fashion" we
must say is far more inspiriting than thai of this county.)

The President, on proposing the health of " the Wives
and Daughters of the Farmers of Draycot,'' alluded to the
show of cheese in proof that they deserved high commen-
dation for their domestic management. Without attention
to the dairy and household, faiming would be an unpro-
fitable pursuit: —

" Housekeeping and husbandry, if they be good,
JIust love one anotlior like children in blood ;
Tlie wife, too, must husband, as well as the man,
Or away goes your husbandry, do what you can."
{Applause.)

Mr. Leech, in proposing the health of the Committee,
alluded to the excellent library and reading room, which
were under their superintendence.

The Rev. Mr. Dunne acknowledged the toast, and
proposed " The Press," connected therewith the names of
the proprietors of the Stafonlshire Adver tiser &ad this piper,
respectively.

Mr. Upcott replied very suitably.

Mr. Cattlow proposed the health of "the Vice-Presi-
dent,''whichwas drunk with cheers, and acknowledged
by Mr. Meakin.

The Chairman now retired with a portion of the com-
pany, it being about seven o'clock, but a numerous party
stayed, and enjoyed ^ convivial evening much longer.

652

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

THE COLONIAL WOOL TRADE OF THE
UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN.

{Concluded.)

In resuming our review of the progress of this now
nationally important branch of England's commerce,
we will next draw the attention of our readers to what
an ay be truly represented as the father colony of the
wool trade ; namely, the Cape of Good Hope. As al-
ready mentioned, the first public sales that took place
in this country, of wools from the British possessions,
consisted of fleece imported from the Cape of Good
Hope, and were but pickings, &c. In our opening ar-
ticle upon this subject it was mentioned that the first
public sale occurred at Garraway's Coffee-house, Change
Alley, in the year 1817. We have been corrected on
the point, as it was in the following year that for the
first time the fleece passe :1 from seller to buyer through
the medium of an auctioneer.

In no other of the Colonial possessions of Great
Britain where the breed of sheep is carried on for the
purpose of supplying wools to the mother country have
there been so many fluctuations in the clip as in the
Cape of Good Hope. This is chiefly, if not wholly,
to be attributed to many and severe droughts that have
occurred in this portion of the British dependencies ;
by which, on too many occasions, the fairest prospects
of the flock-masters have been blighted, and immense
injury has been done to his stock. In another point of
view, the agriculturists of the pe, Canear the frontiers,
have had most troublesome customers to deal with,
the Kafirs having long been wholesale robbers of flocks
of sheep and cattle ; thus disheartening, to a very con-
siderable extent, those whose avocations lead to the
extension of sheep-breeding, &c. But still, under the
manifold disadvantages which have been encountered
by the colonists, for some years past, a steady and
marked improvement in the wools received here from the
Cape has been shewn ; and authorities upon such points
will shortly be quoted. We have alluded to the fluc-
tuating amount of the produce of the flocks of the Cape
of Good Hope ; and the following figures will show how
severely the flockmasters in this colony have occasionally
suffered from the cause stated. In 1816 the imports
were 9,623 lbs. ; in 1819 they were 20,655 lbs. ; in
1821 they were 12,652 lbs ; in the following year
49,028 lbs. ; in 1826 the receipts were but 4,192 lbs. ;
in 1827 they were 44,441 lbs. ; but, after that period,
the progress of exportations from the colony were very
generally in a state of rapid progression and improve-
ment.

It does not appear that any very considerable degree
of importance was attached by the manufacturers of
this country to Cape Wools for many years after the
first public sale took place. Scarcely a quotation higher
than lOd. to Is. per lb. is recollected to have been paid
for this species of import^ from the colony. In 1825
there were offered somewhere about 100 bales, the prices
of wliich ranged from about Is. to Is. lid. per lb.
Strong complaints were then made by the buyer of the
dirty condition of the Cape as well as of wools from other
colonies.

The imports from the Cape in this year were 27,619
lbs.; in 1826, 4,192 lbs.; in 1827, 44,441 lbs. ; in
1828, 29,326 lbs. ; in 1829, 37,619 lbs. ; in 1830,
33,407 lbs.; in 1831, 47,868 lbs. ; in 1832, 83,257
lbs.; in 1833, 93,325 lbs. ; in 1834, 141,707 lbs.;
in 1835, 191,624 lbs.; and in 1836, there were im-
ported 331,972 lbs. The value of Cape wools in most
of the years above quoted ranged low, but in the month
of September, 1837, there were some improved qualities
put up, and these fetched readily Is. lOd, to 2s. per lb.

The importations this year were 408,011 lbs., and in

1838, 422,5061bs.
" It is with much pleasure," states a circular of May,

1839, " we notice the improvement in the getting up of
the Cape wool, it being less dry and husky than hereto-
fore, although the contents of the bales still show great
irregularity and variety of quality." At the sales of the
month there was a good competition for Cajje wools, and
superior quality sold at Is. lO-Jd. per lb. ; and in August
some improved flocks were offered which showed an in-
creased length and firmness in staple, and were rapidly
growing in the estimation of the manufacturers. Re-
commendations were sent out that increased exertions
should be made in the breeding and management of the
flocks. The same advice may be repeated now.

The highest price realized for Cape wools this year
was 2s. Id. per lb. for superior qualities, and Is. 7id.
per lb. for fair and good samples. The importations in
1839 were 626,214 lbs. — the largest receipts hitherto.
It will be remarked that the production of wool in the
colony from this period continued rapidly to increase.

At the February sales of 1840, a large declaration of
Cape wools was announced — 798 bales — and the fleece
was rapidly bought up, as well as at the subsequent
sales of the year. Washing was still complained of, and
prices consequently did not advance. At the October
sales 1,206 bales of Cape wools were announced for sale,
and a slight advance was realized. The highest value
paid for fair qualities this year was Is. lOJd. per lb.,
and for good Is. 6d. per lb. The importations this
year were given at 751,741 lbs.

A great increase in the demand for Cape wools spring-
ing up in 1841, and the arrivals having been large, a
heavy market prevailed throughout the year. At the
heavy sales an unusually large proportion of the wools
offered (1078 bales) were exceedingly well got up, and
extra fine flocks held full prices, while inferior went at a
decline of 5 to 7 5 per cent.

In the following season a high range of prices was
submitted to, so much improvement was there shown
in the breed and general management of the flocks.
The admonitions from this side the Atlantic appear to
have had at length due attention. At the September
sales the highest rates yet obtained for the wools of the
colony were paid. About 5,000 bales were sold by
auction.

The highest prices realized in 1841 were, for superior
flocks, 2s. to 2s. 3d. per lb., for good. Is. 7^d., and for
fair quality Is. 5d. per lb. The importations were, in
1841, increased to 1,079,910 lbs.

Not so much spirit was shown the following year in
the market for Cape wools, but prices were very fairly
supported for anything like good qualities. In general,
the supplies this year were below an average as to con-
dition and staple. At the AprU sales there were excep-
tions. " Some of the flocks (states an authority) deserve
great commendation, and the continued improvement in
the flocks of the new clip gives an assurance that the
buyers will not be disappointed in the ultimate proof of
these descriptions." In commenting upon the imports put
at the September sales it is said : —

" The rapidly increasing quantity of Cape wool, and
the improved quality of many flocks, cause itto be much
in request ; and the exertions making by the wool grow-
ers at the Cape, by judicious and careful management ^
and crossing, are already becoming evident in many in- ^
stances ; they are, however, at present, the exceptions to '
the general bulk. These parcels, nevertheless, serve to
show how much has been done in a short time, and we
would particularly draw the attention of the colonists
to the marked difference in price which these lots con-
tinue to produce."

Good combing properties in the imports from the colony

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

553

were shown, viz., length, soundness of staple, and
elasticity ; but the highest range of values this years was
only for sujierior. Is. 10 jd. per lb. ; for good, Is. 8d.
per lb. ; for fair, Is. 61b. per lb. ; for superior lamb, 2s.
per lb. About 6,400 bales were put uji at auction this
year. The imports in 1842 were 1,205,768 lbs.

The character which had been established for the wools
from the Cape was increased by the generality of the im-
ports of the past year. At almost all the sales of the
season these supplies '^went off well, [In all about
5,500 to 5,600 bales were declared, and the following
CDmplimentary remarks were made of the condition and
breed of the wools that were consigned to the trade
here. In reference to the concluding series of sales, of
the previous year's clip, held in April, 1843, it is
said : —

" It will be obsei-ved the quantity of Cape wool is
considerable : though much of it was of fair quality and
11 excellent condition, we think it realized very moderate
prices. If there was more uniformity in the packing of
these wools, they would inspire confidence in the
buyers, and amply compensate for the small expense
incurred.

" By such means only can colonial wool command an
advance in prices; all prejudices are removed to its in-
troduction into every woollen district ; it stands now
fairly in competition with English and foreign wool ;
nothing is wanting but a determination on the part of
the growers and shipjjers to make their wools as market-
able as possible. Perfection is — high condition, sound
healthy staple, and regularity in packing ; we know all
this can seldom be fully accomplished, or would be
attained at too great a cost, but much may be done."

Again, on reference to the quotations put up at the
August sales, it is mentioned — " Cape wool continues to
be much in request, and a general improvement in the
growth is evinced in the importations of the present sea-
son. We have seen a few bales of very superior quality,
approaching in value to the finest Saxon fleeces, being
from recently imported sheep of pure breed ; and we
have no doubt that the care and attention now bestowed
on many of the Cape flocks will, by judicious crossings,
give satisfactory results."

The extreme quotations obtained this season were,
for superior. Is. 9id. per lb.; for good and fair.
Is. 5d. per do. ; and for lambs'. Is. 6d. per do. The
importations in 1843 were 1,728,453 lbs.

The principal feature in the course of the sales of
wools imported from the Cape of Good Hope, this year is a
further advancement in the prospects of the flockmasters.
Very nearly 8,200 bales were offered at the various
sales of the year, and commendations almost constantly
were bestowed upon the wools. Thus, at the close of
the April season, it was said: — "From the Cape of
Good Hope a quantity of the new clip has been received.
The manifestly improved condition and colour of some
of these flocks drew particular attention, and they
realized very full prices, and the result of the sales gene-
rally has been highly cheering and satisfactory."

Of the wools put up at the June sales it was said —
" We (the brokers) have great satisfaction in referring
to the annexed prices of Cape wool, the increasing quan-
tity, and the care and attention bestowed on many con-
siderable parcels, are fully appreciated, and the compe-
tition for wools from thence was of a most spirited cha-
racter." At the following series some most excellent
flocks were offered, and sold at a higher value than ever
before had been realized for Cape wools. At the sales
for the last and the present month, there were declared
2,339 bales of Cape wools, the largest number hitherto
announced for one series.

The extreme prices obtained this year were, for one
very excellent bale, 2s. lOd. per lb.; for another,

2s. 3d. ; and for another, 2s. per lb. ; for sujierior
combing. Is. Hid. per do. ; average. Is. 4d. per do. ;
and fair. Is. 7d. per do. ; superior clothing. Is. lOd. per
do. ; and average lambs'. Is. 0\d. per do. It is esti-
mated that the importations from the Cape of Good
Hope, this year, will not be far short of 2,000,000 lbs.,
if not in excess of that quantity.

Before i)roceeding to the progress of the w^ool trade
of another, and a comparatively new colony, we may
here correct an error in the report of last week, r^ative
to the capital of the Van Diemen's Land Company ; it
is 1,000,000/., in shares of 20^. each.

So rapid an advance in the tide of prosperity has not
been recorded in the history of the colonial possessions
of Great Britain, as that which has, within the compa
ratively short space of a few years, taken place in the
new settlement at Port Philip. Eight or ten years ago
the idea was thought all but chimerical, that wools, in
any quantity, would be expected from the colony. It
was not until the year 1838 that the imports from the set-
tlement were considered of sufficient imi)ortance to have
allotted to them a i)roniinent line in the wool circulars,
and thus nearly 1,000 bales wereannouncedforthe October
sales. They were then represented as being for the most
part " sound in staple, though generally not well got
up." The highest price realized this year was 2s. per
lb. The imports from the colony is thus spoken of in
the following year : —

' ' The wool from Port Philip shews the germ of future
excellence, being of kindly and healthy growth ; but the
washing and general management it is to be hoped
arises from the difficulties consequent on a new settle-
ment ; the state of the wool is heavy with grease and
dirt."

We do not find a higher value paid for Port Philip
this year than Is. lO^d. per lb. The August sales of
1840 brought forward 1,313 bales from the new colony.
Upon them it thus was stated : — " The importations
from Port Philip now form a considerable proportion of
the sales, and are much in request, but there is yet
ample room for improvement in growth and manage-
ment."

At the following series of sales 1,400 bales were put
up. The highest value paid this year was Is. ll^d. per
lb. It was not until the July sales of 1841 that any
large parcels of Port Philip wools were offered. The
samples shewed a healthy 'growth and a general im-
provement. At the August sales a larger quantity
(3,065 bales) was declared than on'any previous occasion.
The samples gave promise of excellence, and they had
increased rapidly in the estimation of the manufacturers,
as they were well fitted for combing purposes. The ex-
treme value reahzed this year was Is. 6d. per lb.

It was not until the June sales of 1842 that any fea-
ture of interest connected with Port Pliilip wool took
place ; then 1 ,900 bales were offered, and principally of
an unfavourable description. In the foUowuig month
1,151 bales were declared, and sold at heavy prices.

The September sales included 4,108 bales of Port
Philip wools. It will be observed how rapidly the im-
ports from the colony had increased by the declarations
announced. The official returns do not specify separately
the annual quantities received, nor is there any private
statement compiled that can safely be relied upon. At
the December sales 2,612 bales from the new colony
were offered. In this year the highest prices paid were
for lambs', first quality 2s. Oid. per lb., second do. Is.
5d., for good combing and clothing Is. 8jd.

There were not any considerable quantities of Port
Philip wools announced for sale till the month of June
in the past year, when 3,360 bales were declared, the
lambs' realizing high values. The bulk was, however,
ill-conditioned, The August sales brought on 2,790

564

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

bales. At tlie October and November sales prices
rallied, the condition of the wools being much improved ;
the highest prices obtained in 1843 were for lambs', 2s.
Ojd. per lb., and for good combmg and clothing Is. 8d.

In the present year there have been declared for sale
not less than 11,770 bales of Port Philip wools. Early
in the season, and until the first series of the new clip
came forward, prices ruled low ; but at the June sales
some samples from the colony were exhibited of a very
superior character, and they sold at a higher value than
ever before has been paid for Port Philip fleeces, viz.,
2s. 5d. per lb. This certainly must be an encourage-
ment to the flockmasters of the colony for them to im-
prove their flocks. At the August sales 4,930 bales of
wool from the new colony were declared, a portion of
the lambs' again realizing excellent prices. The closing
series of this year had in it 3,252 bales, and mostly of
appi'oved condition ; the highest range of prices last ob-
tained were, very superior lambs' 2s. 3d., and a few lots
2s. 5d. per lb. ; for good clotliing Is. lid., and for good
combing Is. 9d.

Late advices from Port Philip state that the prac-
tice of recent introduction — that of boiling down sheep
for the production of tallow — is being carried on to a
very great and increasing extent. How far this may
militate against that due attention to the flocks, by
which alone prime wools can be shipped to this country
from thence, remains to be seen. The subject is cer-
tainly one of great interest, and a correspondent in the
colony has forwarded to us the following remarks upon
it:—

The future prices of Colonial wool must be governed
in a great measure by the success of a new and very
important branch of trade which has I'ecently sprung up
in Australia, that of reducing sheep by boiling, for the
sale of the tallow they yield. Had it not been for this,
stock would unquestionably have gone lower, and wool
might have ranged cheaper ; but then the question arises
how far mere grazing pursuits would have continued to
attract the attention of men of enterprise and capital in
our southern posessions, for sheep have already been
ruinously low, compared with former periods, and agri-
cultural pursuits would soon have been at a premium
compared with mere pastoral occupations, which the in-
jurious squatting regulations even now are rendering
more than ever uninviting. Two establishments in Port
Philip alone have conveniences for producing a ton of
tallow each per diem ; whereas we well remember, upon
the fact of sheep being boiled down at all being men-
tioned a twelvemonth since, an old gentleman of our
acquaintance lifted up his eyes in half- wondering in-
credulity, and requested us to furnish him with some
evidence of a fact so startling, which eventually we did.
When we observe that sheep have been sold as low
as 2s. 6d. each, our readers will readily comprehend
how it is that a profit can be gained from melting down,
snd we subjoin a Port Philip account current, trans-
mitted to us from Melbourne by a vessel recently
arrived : —

Henry Anderson, Esa. in account with Willis

AND Lloyd,

Dr. Cr.

To reducing 303 sheep, I By sale of 303 skins

including casks, coo- | at 5d £6 6 3

perage, and cartage By sale of 006 legs at

to wharf, at Is. 5d... £21 0 8 I 6d >.. 15 3 0

£21 9 3 1 £21 9 3

Average weight of the above sheep, 65 lb.

Caul and kidney fat, nett weight 3,230 lb.

Carcass fat, nett weight • • . • 5,065 "

Total 8,315 1b.

Showing an average weight of of 27 J lbs., say at 3d., equal 6s.
lOJd. per head. (Signed) "Wiius AHD LioxD.

" Mr. Lloyd, of the Breakwater Steam Melting esta-
blishment, writes us that he can melt 500 sheep per diem,
and states : —

" We have given the result of tallow that may be cal-
culated on from sheep stock, our most anxious study ;
and have arrived at the following conclusions, which we
are certain will be found correct. First, that a sheep of
the ordinary Merino breed , weighing 55 lbs . , is j ust in nice
condition for the butchers' shambles, and will pi-oduce at
the melting establishment 20 lbs. of tallow, and for every
pound the animal weighs over 55 lbs., four fifths will be
tallow. Second, young sheep, say two-toothed, will not
produce as much as four-toothed and upwards of same
weight."
Statement of the relative quantities of Tallow obtained

from six flocks of sheep, of different average weights.
A flock averaging 4-tlbs. produced 15j lbs. tallow at 28s. percwt.,

and netted 3s. 2d. each sl)eep.
A flock averaging 471bs. produced 16^ lbs. tallow at 20s. per cwt.,

and netted 3s. 2d. each sheep.
A flock averaging 48 lbs. produced 16 lbs. tallow at 28s. per cwt,

and netted 3s. 3d. each sheep.
A flock averaging 52 lbs. produced 19 lbs. tallow at 28s. per cwt.

and netted 4s. each slieep.
A flock averaging 54 lbs. produced 19J lbs. tallow at 28s. per cwt.,

and netted 4s. Id. each sheep.
A fldck averaging 65 lbs. produced 27J-lbs. tallow at 2Ss. per cwt., m

and netted 6s. lOd. each sheep. ■

We repeat again that these are facts of the utmost im- "
portance to the wool trade, since the staple never can go
below the relative value of tallow, and the rapid increase
in the flocks of Australia will henceforth be more mar-
ketable.

The following extract from a Port Philip contemporary
of a late date is worthy of notice here : —

' ' The eventually beneficial competition of Australian
with German wools, long ago foretold by the father of
our colonial wool-growers, the late John ]Macarthur,
seems now to be taking place upon a considerable scale.
It appears, from the information of the gentleman re-
ferred to, that a number of the small German sheep-
owners are reduced to a state of bankruptcy, and that
the large flockmasters are extensively curtailing their
establishments. The immediate causes of this occur-
rence seem to have been, that by reason of the scarcity
of food, and the costliness of bringing the wool to mar-
ket in a state fit to compete with the Australian produce,
sheep were beginning to be practically found not to pay
the grower. Hence it was confidently calculated, that
in the ensuing season, the German wool crop would have
fallen off" at least one-fourth, the growers not being able
to carry on their ojierations for want of capital. It is
furtlier represented, that the West of England manufac-
turers and clothiers have been, and are still manifesting
a further inclination to be large purchasers of Austra-
lian wool. They are rajjidly discovering the superiority
of our raw material, and thus the extension and compe-
tition in the home market is placed beyond a doubt.

"When it is recollected, in addition, that in conse-
quence of the settlement of political disputes between
Great Britaui and the United States, the American mar-
ket is rapidly reverting to its ordinary state as regards
demand, rational anticipations of advantage may be en-
tertained. It is'difiicult, moreover, to fix a limit to the
amount of good that may accrue to us from the open-
ing of the China trade, in the matter of British fine
woollen manufactures.

" Upon the whole, we may safely look to a decided
advance in the price of Australian wools, a prospect
which, pleasing at all times, is most consolatory in the
present condition of the colony."

It is nearly thirty years smce that the attention of
parties connected with the immense possessions of British
supremacy in the East Indies began to turn their atten-
tion to flock-keeping as a means of commercial enter-
prize. In so vast a territory, possessing extent of paS"

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

655

turage illimitable, with some of the finest rivers in the
world for the rapid transit of the produce of the flocks
iti the interior to the sea-board, there to be shipped to
the mother country, strange is it, indeed, that tliis lu-
crative branch of agricultural industry should have all
but lain dormant, until the year 1833 or 1834. The
merchants connected with the trade to the East Indies,
scarcely dreamt that m'ooI could become a staple of
export from the East Indies. But soon after tlie com-
mercial privileges of the East India Company were
abolished, the trade in wools took a rapid stride in the
advance. Great as has been the increase in the impor-
tations of wools from the East Indies within the last few
years, it is a trifle to what may be expected to arrive ere
the twentieth of a century shall have elapsed. Of the
quality and condition of the wools hitherto received from
our East Indian possessions, we shall have a word or
two to say anon.

In about the years 181 7-18, there were imported from
the territories of the East India Company somewhere about
1 ,000 to 2,000 lbs. of wool. The experiment was not then
thought much of, for in 1819 not a single entry of the
staple was made at the Custom House. A few specu-
lative parties, however, thought better of the trade, and
in 1820 about 8,000 to 8,100 lbs. were imported here.
In 1821 the ari'ivals were 1 8,200 lbs. ; in the following
year, 9,454 lbs. ; in 1823, but 437 lbs. ; in 1824,
7,190 lbs. ; and in 1825, nil. For nearly ten years after-
wards, the probability of the East India wool trade being
brought to a point worth carrying on for profit was a
mere speculative idea : thus, in 1828-9, and the four fol-
lowing years, scarcely a bale was received. In 1834 a great
deal of interest was produced, by the import of from 770
to 800 bales of wool from India into London, and abovit
650 bales into Liverpool, which went off at prices from
45d. to lO'^d., and 14|d. per lb. Now, niafk thei-esult
of enterprise well-directed. In 1835 the imports were,
of East India wools, 292,092 lbs. ; in 1839 they were
2,103,546 lbs. ; and in 1842, 4,195,768 lbs. A rapid
declension occurred last year, but from causes to be
hereafter referred to. The productive power of British
India as to wool, and many other articles, is yet in its
infancy.

About the year 1836 to 1838 the wools fi-om the East
Indies began to have a " local habitation and a name"
in the lists of sales publicly and periodically announced
in the city of London, and perhaps at Liverpool. In
the latter season good qualities realized from 9M. to
lOM. per lb. The complaints then existing of the bad
colour and condition of the wools ■were of frequent
occurrence, and, indeed, down to the present day are oft
repeated. The general advice to the East Indian
flockmasters then as now, is " Pay more atten-
tion to the condition and staple of your wools."
L^p to 1842 scarcely a price above 9d. or 9^. per
lb. could be had. The year 1842 brought forward a
large quantity of wool; not less than 3,450 bales. In
1843 there were put up about 2,700 bales ; and the
highest value paid for good white fleece was lOd.
per lb. In the course of the present year about 1,600
bales have been offered. The highest range for very
good was lid. per lb., and fair from 8d. to 9fd. per lb.
In the year 1843 there were ofltered publicly about 2,800
bales, and in the present year not move than 1,400 to
1,500 bales. There has been scarcely a single sale of
East India wools for many years past, without the re-
mark being made, that wliere the quality and colour
was not good, a deficiency of purchasers prevailed. Low
and ill-conditioned wools have universally been sold
with much difiiculty.

The following are the actual importations of wools
from the East India Company's territory from the
period when the first returns were made up mth accuracy.

In 1833, 3,7211bs.; in 1834, 67,7631bs. ; in 1835,
292,6921bs. ; in 1836, l,086,2891bs. ; in 1837,
l,880,6031bs. ; in 1838, l,897,2C.Glbs. ; in 1839,
2,103,5461bs. ; in 1840, 2,354,016lbs. ; in 1841,
2,838, 5571bs. ; in 1842, 4,195,7681bs. ; and in last
year, l,888,0231bs.

The new settlement at the Swan River has not pro-
gressed in the exportation of wools by any means so
rapidly as was, in the first instance, expected. In 1832
the imports from this colony were officially reported at
2691bs. In the following year there were no arrivals ;
and in 1834 but 5531bs. were received. The year 1835
was a blank as to imports from the Swan River ; but
183G brought us 4,837ll)s. There were not any wools
received in the following year from these settlements ; but
in 1838 there were imported 23,020 bales. From the
following season the exports from the colony have
gradually been increasing. In 1839 they were 21 ,2131bs. ;
in 1840, 42,7481bs. ; in 1841, 48,.5901bs. ; in 1842,
51,6171bs. ; and in 1843, they were 110,6211bs.

About eight or ten years ago only was it that imports
from the Swan River settlement attracted attention.
At the July sales in 1836 a small parcel was in the cata-
logue, and realized from 2s. Id. to 2s. 4d.perlb. Much
care appears to have been taken with these wools, as we
do not find that such values have since been realized for
the produce of the flocks in the colony. In 1 839 there
were 103 bales declared for one sale; but up to 1841
the prices ruled from Is. 6d. to Is. lid. per lb. At the
September sales of the last named year the wools were
thus spoken of: — "The wool from Swan River is at
present very uneven, but shews improvement in quality
sufficient to justify the expectation of remunerating
prices for care and attention in its cultivation." " The
wools were not of a desirable description, but generally
sound in staple, and fit for combing purposes." At
these sales there were 226 bales declared ; the largest
quantity previously ottered at one series. In the two
following years the prices ranged only from Is. 32d. to
Is. 6d. per lb., the total quantity put up in both years
being but 665 bales.

Not more than 626 bales of Swan River wool have
been declared this year, and not a feature presented
itself as to fleece or condition. The highest prices for
good combing and clothing were Is. lOd. per lb., for
lambs' Is. 8id., and one lot Is. lid. per lb.

From South Australia signs of rapid advance in the
numbers of the flocks are apparent. Within the last
four or five years the quantities of wools announced for
public sale have gradually been augmented. The im-
portations into the United Kingdom from this fresh
settlement are thus officially made — In 1840 (the first
year in which a correct statement is given) 51,5901bs. ;
in 1841, 7.59,9001bs. ; in 1842, 690,3961bs. ; and in last
year, l,387,5141bs.

Up to the middle of 1841, scarcely a price was paid
above Is. 6d. and Is. 9d, per lb. The wools were badly
assorted, and too trifling in quantity to aftbrd then an
opinion for the future. At the July sales, however,
there were declared 1,250 bales; but ill-conditioned
and of poor breed. Clothing and combing went
at Is. 2d. to Is. 5d. per lb. In the following year
there were offered not less than 2,800 bales, and
the fleeces became in more request. In some
of the samples good combing properties were
found — length, soundness of staple, and elasticity.
Prices not higher than Is. 7'id. per lb. were obtained
for combing and clothuig quahties, and Is. 5d. per
lb. for lambs'. Last year the sales amounted to not
more than 2,500 or 2,600 bales. The highest prices
for average flocks were Is. 5d. per lb. ; most of the
fleeces were \eiy low in quality. For the present
year there have been offered but 2,200 bales from the

556

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

colony. Of the June sales, a circular before us states :
— " The wools from South Australia were better got up
tlian informer years, and the prices obtained will, we hope,
ofter encouragement to future improvement." For
good combing and clothing, the highest value paid this
year was Is. 9d. per lb., and for lambs' Is. 5d. per lb.

A very few remarks will be requisite in disposing
of the last colonial possessions of Great Britain from
which wool in any quantity is exported, in bringing to
a termination a brief, but, we trust, a faithful record of
the " Rise and Progress" of the wool trade of this
country's distant possessions. New Zealand has not
had a prominent place yet among the colonies of
England, where the extension of flocks and the
export of wool may be deemed the primary object of
the colonists. Difficulties, past and at present, have
most materially checked the development of the
resources of this appendage to the crown of Victoria ;
whether the result of the apathy of the colonial Minister,
or of ,the settlers themselves, is not our province to
discuss. New Zealand figures but once in the author-
ized statement of the imports of wool from British
possessions, i.e. in 1842, when 262 lbs. are reported
to have arrived. But in 1839 there was a few samples
offered at public sale, well got up, much care and at-
tention having been paid to them, for which 2s. per lb.
were paid. Ten bales were sold at auction, in August
of that year. Until September, 1841, there was little
alteration in value. At the September sales in that
year, 8 bales were offered, " of fair quality, but so ill-
managed as to afford little idea of what it is hoped may
be exported from that colony." It is not until the
months of June and August in the present year, that
we find any further quantity declared for sale ; at
which about 100 bales were in the lists. Average
flocks sold (highest price) at Is. 7d. per lb. In the
sales of September and October (the last of this year),
42 bales were declared, and realised Is. 3d. to Is. 4d.
per lb. for average flocks. It cannot be stated that even
up to the present time the colony has progressed much
in the improvement of its wools expoi'ted, or in the
increase of its flocks. Better success may, however, be
in store for the active colonist there, as elsewhere.

The highest values that have been realized for colonial
wools, in the years already commented upon, were for
the best-conditioned fleeces, and of- well approved-of
marks. Tested by these standards, the following marks
and prices for the best wools offered at the two last
series of sales will act as a guide to the reader, of the
general advance that has been made in the British
wool-producing colonies in improving the staple, and
the care in its management. To avoid the necessity of
having wood-cuts for the various marks, we intend to
express them in writing. All connected with the trade
will easily understand us. We commence them with
the imports of —

Australia Wools. — The Australian Agricultural
Company lately put up 490 bales, of which 190 sold at
Is. 6d. to Is. 11 Jd. per lb., and the rest at 2s. to 2s. 2id.
per lb. The more prominent marks for other flocks
are S.A.D, (in a diamond) ; highest prices, Is. lid. to
2s. l^d. per lb. Australian Wool Comjiany — for snow-
wMte, 2s. l|d. ; superior, 2s. 2d. to 2s. 4|d. per lb.
ICELY, for years a favourable and well-known
mark, Is. ll|d. per lb. ; H.Mc.A., P.Mc.A., and
J.Mc.A. (three of the oldest marks connected with the
Sydney wool trade), exports are still much commended;
Coghill— prices, 2s. 2d. to 2s. 6d. per lb, ; O.X. (in a
diamond), 2s. 3id. per lb. ; L.J. P. (in a double tri-
angle), 2s. Id. per lb. ; A.M.L., 2s. per lb. ; N.S.W.,
2s. per lb. ; M. (two commas over), 2s. 2^d. per lb. ;
R.L., 2s. O^d, per lb. ; G.X. (in a diamond), 2s. 0^1. ;
and N.S.L,, 2s. 2d. per lb. The following marks showed

an evenness in quality and condition, and were com-
mended :— B.M., D.Mc.I. , D. (in a diamond), T.B.W.P.
(with L. joined), T.C. & Co., H. (in a diamond),
R.J.H. (in a diamond), J.W., W.L.E., T.O., Cobb,
Lord Western (with a crown over). Is. 8d. per lb. ;
W.K.R., Rothery, &c., &c.

In order to make the statistics of imports of wools from
the colonies as uniform and correct as possible, it maybe
useful to give the quantities received from New South
Wales into the United Kingdom since separate returns
were first given by authority. This is the more neces-
sary as a similar course has been adopted as respects the
arrivals from Van Diemen's Land, the East Indies, &c.
In 1827 the imports from New South Wales were
320,6831bs. ; in 1828, 967,8141bs. ; in 1829, 913,222
lbs.; in 1830, 973,3301bs. ; in 1831, 1,134, 1341bs. ;
in 1832, l,425,6571bs. ; in 1833, 1,969, 6681bs. ; in
1834, 2,225, 8231bs. ; in 1835, 2,668,4401bs. ; in 1836,
3,008,0221bs. ; in 1837, 4,606,9151bs. ; in 1838,
5,323,4111bs. ; in 1839, 6,894,8631bs. ; in 1840,
7,000, 7271bs. ; in 1841, 7,993,0601bs. ; in 1842,
8,745,8261bs. ; in 1843, ll,942,5571bs. ; and the
arrivals before the current year closes are expected to
reach 14,000,0001bs.

Van Dieman's Land Wool. — The principal
marks on wool from Tasmania were these • — T.A. (in a
square), 2s. 5d. per lb., highest price realized ;
S.H., 2s. 7d. per lb. ; T.W. (in a circle), 2s. 8d. per
lb. ; L.J. (in double triangle), 2s. Id. per lb. ; L.W.,
2s. 2Jd. per lb. ; W.C, 2s. 3Jd. per lb. ; G.P., 2s. per
lb. ; J.R., 2s. 5d. per lb. ; J. Bisdee, 2s. 5d. per lb. ;
E.B., 2s. 2d. per lb. ; J.R., 2s. 6d. per lb. A flock
marked with a figure looking like a man running was
extolled for its evenness ; and scoured Saxon sold at
2s. to 2s. 6d. per lb, ; superior, 2s. to 2s. 4d. ; and
lambs', 2s. 5d. per lb. Van Diemen's Land Company's
Wool imports, highest at Is. 9d. per lb., I,X, at 2s. to
2s, 5d, per lb., very excellent in quality; L., 2s. ; and
lambs' 2s. 5d. per lb. The wools that were very even bore
marks thus— R,W., D,T., G,S, ; lambs', 2s. 2id. per
lb. ; Wm. Sharland, Three O's, 2s. 2id, per lb. ;
P.W., 2s. 2d. for lambs' ; a half- moon, thistle, J.R.N.,
S.C. (with anchor between), J.B., P., D.C.

Cape of Good Hope Wools. — Prize Wools :
(mark J.R.T. with C.W. below), 2s. lOd. per lb., the
i£'50 prize cup, given by the Cape Agricultural Society;
2s. 5d. ; the ,£'50 prize cup and 2s. 3d. per lb. ; the
£26 prize cup ; J.R. (in a circle), Is. 9d. per lb, ; A,Z.
(in a diamond), very good; the same, S.M.. P.K.,
H.Mc.W.U.

Port Philip Wools. — C.C., good. Is. SJd. ; very
good D. cV E., 2s. 3d, ; R, &. B,, Is. 5d, per lb. j O.
(in a circle), 2s. O^d. per lb, ; J.W.P., J,D., T.L.
(lambs', 2s. 2^d. per lb.), very even as to staple and
condition.

Swan River Wools. — B., Is. 8d. per lb. for
lambs'. The other best marks were T.T.H., J.M.L.,
H.F., M.P., and W. (m a diamond).

Adelaide Wools. — H.H., Is. 5d. per lb. Good
marks, W.B., A.H., and S, &M, ; C,J,, Is, 6d, per lb.

And now has ai'iived the period of acknowledging, as
promised, the authorities to whose periodical comments
upon the colonial wool trade, the quality and condition
of the arrivcds as they are sampled for sale, and many
other facts which were valuable to us iu framing the re-
marks we have made in the progress of the articles
which have appeared in the Mark Lane Express. Our
authorities have principally been — Messrs. J. and T.
Simes and Co., Messrs. Marsh and Edenborough, Mr.
Marsh, sen., Messrs. Loughnan and Hughes, Messrs.
T. Southey and Son, Mr. Richard Dutton, Messrs.
Lord and Hall, Messrs. Hazard and Ferry, and Mr. R.
Dutton,

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

557

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY
OF ENGLAND.

The Council resumed their sittings for the session, at
the Society's House in Hanover-square, on Wednesday,
the 6th of November ; present, William Miles, Esq.,
M.P., in the chair; Viscount Hill, Colonel Aus-
ten, Thomas Raymond Barker, Esq. ; Samuel Bennett,
Esq. ; French Burke, Esq. ; Humphrey Gibbs, Esq. ;
T. B. Brandreth Gibbs, Esq. ; Stephen Grantham, Esq. ;
Henry Handley, Esq. ; W. Fisher Hobbs, Esq. ; W.
H. Hyett, Esq. ; John Kinder, Esq. ; Francis Pym,
Esq. ; James Allen Ransome, Esq. ; Professor Sewell ;
William Shaw, Esq. ; and Professor Solly.

Finances. — Mr. Raymond Barker, Chairman of the
Finance Committee, laid before the Council the Report
of the Society's funds on the last day of the previous
month ; from which it appeared that the amount of
invested capital was 7,700/., and the current cash
balance in the hands of the bankers 928/. This report
was then confirmed, and cheques ordered for the various
payments recommended by the Committee.

Colonel AusTEX called the attention of the Council to
the large amount of arrears of subscription still re-
maining unpaid, notwithstanding the constant reference
of the Finance Committee to the subject, and the reduc-
tion of no less than 1,223/. of arrears during the last six
months ; and trusted that some still more vigorous and
decisive step would be taken by the Council to ensure
the payment of the subscriptions as they became due
from year to year, and thus remove the anomalous con-
dition under which the accounts of the Society were
placed by the omission of annual payments, and the
consequent accumulation of arrears.

Mr. Pym, Mr. Fisher Hobbs, and Mr. Kinder
having stated the success which had attended the efforts
they had made in their respective counties of Bedford-
shire, Essex, and Hertfordshire, as Honorary Collectors
of the Society's subscriptions from the members residing
within those districts, expressed their willingness to con-
tinue their exertions in the care of such collection, and to
aid the Council in extending the system of such friendly
co-operation through members of the Council to other
counties. Mr. Pym then gave notice, that at the
monthly Council, to be held on the 4th of December
next, he should move : — " That County or District
Collectors should be appointed for the purpose of getting
in the Subscriptions of the Society."

Elections of Council. — On the motion of Mr. Ray-
mond Barker, seconded by Mr. Shaw, the Council
resolved unanimously, that Philip Pusey, Esq., M.P.,
Chairman of the Journal Committee, should be requested
to accept the office of a Trustee of the Society, vacant
by the decease of His Grace the Duke of Grafton.

Mr. Thomas Lockley Meire, of Cound Arbour,
near Shrewsbury, was elected a member of Council,
in the place of the late Mr. Edward Gough, of Gravel
Hill, near Shrewsbury.

Implements at Southampton. — Mr. Parkes, Consult-
ing Engineer to the Society, communicated to the
Council the doubt and difficulty under which he this
year laboured in drawing up his report on the trial and
exhibition of implements at the Annual Country Meet-
ing of the Society, from the circumstance of his acting
at Southampton simply as the mechanical referee of the
Judges, and not, as formerly, as an actual judge himself;
an arrangement which to a considerable extent placed
him under the condition of an ordinary inspector of the
implements, and excluded him from the more immediate
communication with the judges at the trials which de-
termined their awards, and which was essential to his
being enabled to make a complete and satisfactory report.
The following resolution was then passed ;—'* That it is

the opinion of the Council, after considering the letter
addressed to them by Mr. Parkes, that Mr. Parkes
should draw up the report from the reports of the Judges,
for which they are solely responsible ; but that upon all
trials which he himself viewed, it will be competent for
him to make any remarks he may think necessary, as
well as upon the whole mechanical appearance of the
show."

Mr. Shaw gave notice that at the next Monthly
Council, in December, he should move — "That the
trials of implements be in future made at such time and
place as the Society may find best adapted to the circum-
stances, and not confined to the Annual Country Meet-
ings of the Society."

Shrewsbury Meeting. — Earl Spencer, Chairman of
the General Shrewsbury Committee, addressed a com-
munication to the Council, in reference to the arrange-
ments of the Annual Country Meeting to be held at that
place next year ; and Mr. Brandreth Gibbs reported the
result of his personal visit to Shrewsbury, and his inter-
view with the owner of the fields intended for the trial
of implements, and which had been now placed, agree-
ably with the instructions of Mr. Shelley and Mr. Miles,
the stewards of that department, under proper cultiva-
tion for that purpose. Mr. Gibbs also reported that
Earl Spencer and Mr. Taylor had undertaken the trial
of the wheat selected at Southampton for cultivation in
reference to the Society's Prize.

Prize Essays. — Mr. James Adam Gordon, of Naish,
near Bristol, addressed to the Council a communication
in which he proposed to place the sum of 30/. at their
disposal as a prize for the best Essay on the influence of
Electricity on Vegetation. The Council ordered their
thanks to be given to Mr. Gordon for this liberal offer,
and referred the consideration of the subject to the next
Monthly Council.

Mr. Shaw expressed his regret to find that all the
Essays to which the prizes of the Society had been
awarded had not been published in the Journal ; for
although the one in which he was himself much inter-
ested, "On the mechanical properties of the plough,"
had been placed, he was informed, in the hands of its
lamented author, the late Rev. W. L. Rham, for revision
and extension, and remained incomplete at the time of
his decease, there were other essays to which prizes had
been awarded, but which had not yet been published.
The Chairman explained to IMr. Shaw, that independently
of the essays which it was thought not desirable to pub-
lish under their present form in the Journal, there were
several others whose appearance was delayed in conse-
quence of the extent to which the pages of the Journal
had been occupied by the Prize Reports on the Farming
of the various counties already selected for consideration,
that on the county of Norfolk having proved so volumin-
ous, that its author had preferred its entire publication
en his own account, to the requisite abridgment of its
details for the Journal.

Ashes of Plants. — The Marquis of Northampton, and
Sir John Johnstone, Bavt. M.P., communicated to the
CouncU a proposal on the part of the Bi'itish Association,
that the Societyshould join with that body in contributing
a sum of money from its funds for the purpose of obtaining
a complete series of analyses on the ashes of plants from
various localities, to be made under the immediate
superintendence of Professor Graham, who had liberally
placed his services, on this occasion, gratuitously at the
disposal of the two Institutions. The consideration of
this question was posponed until the monthly council in
December.

The communications of M. Hugues on his sowing
machine having been referred to the Journal Committee,
and his offer of a model accepted, thanks were ordered
for the mimerous donations made to the Society, and the

0 0

658

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Council adjourned for a fortnight, until Wednesday, the
20th of November.

A weekly Council was held at the Society's House,
in Hanover Square, on Wednesday, the 20th of Nov.,
present, Tliomas Raymond Barker, Esq., in the chair;
F. Burke, Esq. ; James Dean, Esq. ; Humphrey Gibbs,
Esq. ; B. T. Brandreth Gibbs, Esq. ; M^illiam Fisher
Hobbs, Esq. ; Professor Sewell ; William Shaw, Esq. ;
John ViUiers Shelley, Esq. ; and Thomas Tweed, Esq.

Lectures. — Communications were received from the
Duke of Richmond and Mr. Pusey, M.P., announcing
the progress of the arrangements for Lectures to be de-
livered before the Members at their ensuing Christmas
Meeting, in the second week of December, when the
rooms of the Society would be thrown open in the even-
ing as formerly for their accommodation, and the
General Meeting held as usual on the Saturday of the
same week.

Belgian Carrots and Wheat. — Mr. Mechi, of
Leadenhall-street, favoured the Council with samples of
the Belgian Carrot grown on his property in Essex, ac-
companied with the following communication in refer-
ence to their cultivation, and that of the wheat, of which
he had sent specimens for their inspection on a former
occasion : —

" 4, Leadenhall-street, London,
Nov. 16, 1844.

"1 send a few carrots of my Tiptree growth. They are the pro-
duce of a black sandy field (nine acres), forked 12 Inches under the
plough, and dressed with dried night-soil (which, however, I con-
sider much inferior to Guano, so lar as 1 have compared them).
They were several times hoed with a deep bean-hoe. I consider
the removal of their lateral fibres obliges the tap-root to go down
in search of moisture and food ; the sanae remark applies to
Swedes. Had the season been an ordinary one, I should have
had an enormous crop of carrots ; but they struggled hard with
14 weeks' drought, and only then came to one-half or three-quar-
ters of a plant. We filled up the bl.anks with Swedes. Still they
■will afford useful feed. Forty acres of my wheat (specimens of
which I sent you) averaged over 4 quarters per acre ; weighing
64 to 661bs. per bushel (one field produced 5 quarters 1 bushel).
The two fields of March-sown wheats failed, owing to the
drought(somany green ears unripe); only 2 quarters per acre of
middling quality.

(Signed) '■ J. J, Mechi."

The Council ordered their thanks to be returned to
Mr. Mechi for the favour of this inspection and com-
munication ; and, on the motion of Mr. SheUey, it was
resolved, that inquiry should be made of Mr. Mechi,
whether the four Belgian carrots he had sent to the
Council were fair specimens of the average crop of the
nine-acre field referred to in his communication ; and
also the amount of tail and head wheat, and off how
much land grown.

Socket Drain-pipes. — Mr. Henry Dixon, of Witham,
in Essex, favoured the Society with specimens of the
socket drain-pipes made by him for the use of his own
land; and which he informed the Council were par-
ticularly applicable to loose springy soils, and from their
construction could not fail to be safe. He had found
that it was not necessary, as some had supposed, to have
the pipes made with holes in their sides. The pipes in
question might be made of any length ; the most con-
venient one having been found by Mr. Dixon to be from
fifteen to eighteen inches ; and the cost of the socketing
as effected by the Ford's patent machme which he
employed, from half-a-crown to three shillings and six-
pence per thousand. Mr. Dixon enclosed with the
pipes a curious evidence of the facility with which the
roots of trees will destroy drains if carelessly placed :
it consisted of a cylindric mass of fibres from the roots
of a willow tree growing about five or six feet from
a drain which had been put down only twelve months,
the pipe from which the fibrous collection was taken hav-
ing been a four-inch socketed one. Thanks having been
ordered to Mr. Dixon for the favour of these specimens

and the communication which accompanied them, Mr.
Fisher Hobbs fully corroborated the statement then
transmitted to them by Mr. Dixon, whom he well knew
as a landowner to a considerable extent in his own
neighbourhood, and as a disinterested promoter of agri-
cultural improvement. An interesting discussion then
ensued, in which Mr. Hobbs, Mr. Shelley, and Mr.
Dean favoured the Council with the results of their own
experience in reference to the accumulation of large
masses of water suddenly formed under peculiar local
circumstances of surface in the case of continued rains,
and also in that of springs issuing in considerable
volume from the sides of lulls.

Mr. Shaw presented copies of his Translation of
Thaer's Rational Principles of Agriculture, and the
Farmer's Almanac for the ensuing year ; and Professor
Low, of Edinburgh, his work on Landed Property, and
the Economy of Estates.

The following presents and communications have also
been received : —

The Health of Towns' Commission : Two volumes of

their First Report
Mr. R. N. Bacon : Prize Report of the Agriculture of

Norfolk
Mr. H. Stephens : Book of the Farm. Parts 20 and 21
Professor Buckland : Address to the Mayor of South-
ampton and Artesian Well Committee
Mr. Dollond : Description of an instrument invented by
him, for the self- registering of atmospheric changes
for any period, as indicated by the barometer, ther-
mometer, hygrometer, electrometer, rain-gauge,
wind-gauge, and evaporator, and transferred mecha-
nically every half-hour to the self-recording cylinder
of the machine
Mr. Munn : Description of the Bar and Frame Bee-
hive (invented by him), and Abstract of Wildman's
Guide to the Management of Bees
Geological Society : Proceedings. Vol. IV. ; No. 98
Statistical Society : Journal, for September, 1844
Royal Asiatic Society : Journal. No. XV. ; Part 1
Agricultural and Commercial Society of Guiana : Laws

and Regulations
Royal Society of Lille : Memoirs and Programme of

Prizes
Royal Society of Lyons : Annals of Proceedings
Highland Society : Quarterly Journal, for October
Farmer's Magazine, for October and November
Veterinarian, for September, October, and November
Western Agriculturist. No. 2
Jamaica Agricultural Society : Proceedings
Canadian Agricultural Journal. Nos. 8 and 10
American Agriculturist. No. 10
Albany Cultivator. No. 9
Dr. Whitlaw : The New York Farmer and Mechanic.

No. 2
Mr. M'Nab : North British Cultivator
Mr. B. Love : Chapter on Working People
Messrs. Roake and Varty : Mr, Newnham's Pamphlet
Mr. SkiUing : Farmer's Ready Reckoner
Mr. Saunders : Paul Pry's Letters to his Countrymen

(on improving the condition of the Irish cottager)
Professor Tilley : Inaugural Lecture on Chemistry, in

Queen's College, Birmingham
Mr. Westwood Baker : Prizes of Rutland Ploughing

Meeting
Mr, Lilley : Agricultural Tour in Ireland
Sir John Tylden : On the Conversion of old Hop-bines

into Manure
Messrs. Herring and Co. : Analyses of Guano
Mr. Morant : On the Quality of Common Salt as a

Manure
Mr. Evans and Mr. Gee: On the Re -publication in

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

559

Welsh of the Cottage Tracts on Gardening and Cot-
tage Economy in the Society's Journal

Mr. Babington : On the Botanical Designation of
Italian Rye-grass

Mr. Frere and I\Ir. Jesty : On the Mustard Plant

Rev. Jos. Nodder : On the Distribution of the Society's
Journal among Farmers' Clubs

Mr. Saul : On an Improved Turnip and Potato Machine

Mr. Bowden : Sample of M'Kibbin's Improved Roofing
Felt

Mr. Sheppard : On Guano and Gypsum

Mr. Rea : On Dutch Butter

Mr. Towers : On Results of Dibbling

Mr. WUls : On Allotments

Mr. Waldron : On Drainage of Land

Mr. Stevenson : On Bruising Oats ; and on the Sub-
terranean Telegraph

Mr. White : On Unemployed Labour, and Spade Hus-
bandry.
The Council then adjourned for a fortnight, to the 4th

of December.

NEW MEMBERS.
Henry Drummond, Esq., of Albury Park, near
Guildford, Surrey, was elected a Governor, and the fol-
lowing gentlemen Members of the Society : —
Bate, Robert, Tlie Square, Bridgewater
Bick, Michael, Park Hall, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire
Brentnall, Benjamin, Fildon, Hemel Hampsted, Herts
Bunn, liOckington St. Lawrence, 60, King William

Street, City
Butler, Captain, Bowling Green, Faringdon, Berks
Davy, Robert, Ringwood, Hants
Drury, John George, St. George's Street, Canterbury
Galpine, Richard, Lymington, Hants
Gamier, B. N., Drayton Lodge, Norwich
Grant, John, Dartmouth, Devonshire
Green, Rev. Thomas, Vicar of Badby, Daventry, North-
amptonshire
Gibaut, Moses, Mainland, St. Lawrence, Jersey
Hannay, Rev. James, Ashley, Stockbridge, Hants
Harper, George, Belvidere, Whitchurch, Salop
Hill, Clement Delves, Sandford Hall, Salop
Hume, John, Beau Regard, Jersey
Humphreys, John, Evan Hall, Oswestry, Salop
Jones, W. Tilsley, Gw3mfryn, Aberystwith, S. W.
Paddon, Joseph, Fareham, Hants
Perceval, Hon. and Rev. Charles George, Calverton,

Stony Stratford
Price, Walter E., The Elms, Kentchurch, Herefordshire
Manning, C. I., Cranford Bridge, Middlesex
Morgon, William, Brampton Park, Huntingdon
Ormerod, George, D.C.L., F.R.S., Sedbury Park,

Chepstow, Monmouthshire
Robinson, George, Wolverhampton
Roper, John, Foscott, Buckingham
Sanders, Samuel Lockers, Hemel-Hempsted, Herts
Smith, Benjamin, Colebrooke Park, Tonbridge, Kent
Southampton, Lord, Whittlebury Lodge, Towcester,

Northamptonshire
Swan, William Robert, Wallsend, Newcastle-on-Tyne
Talbot, Hon. and Rev. W. Chetwynd, Ombersley,

Worcester
Thomson, Henry, Primrose, Clitheroe, Lancashire
Thruston, John, Market Weston Hall, Harling, Norfolk
Williams, Leigh, Famham, Surrey
Wingfield, John, Onslow, Salop

Wynne, John Lloyd, jun., CoedCoch, Abergeley, Den-
bighshire.

UTILITY OF BANKS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — Your correspondent " Daniel l)ul)ious,"
seems very sore on the subject of banking; but
I think he will find, on consideration, that banking
has raised us to our present state of commercial
greatness, by the facility with which persons of
respectability are enabled to raise money to effect
bargains, and carry on a regular course of business
without any pause or difficulty. In the " Law's
delay" of closing a transaction, who supplies any
deficiency until it is completed? the Country Banker.
Who satisfies the collector of excise on whst is
called his sitting day in country towns ? the
Country Banker. If the tradesman employs
a number of workmen, and regularly requires
money on a Saturday night to pay wages, who
enables him (despite of every disappointment
himself may have received) not to disappoint his
workmen and labourers of their hard-earned pit-
tance to provide for the coming week ? the Country
Banker. In short, through whose means are
the parliamentary and parochial taxes, govern-
ment duties, and various other imperative demands
so regularly met ? I have no hesitation in an-
swering, the Country Banker !

" Daniel Dubious" says, in effect, that it behoves
every honest man to expose and crush the system ;
but I think, and do not imagine myself singular
in the opinion, that every prudent man should
support it, and endeavour to extend the confidence
necessary to its existence, and not ask questions
tending to poison the minds of the community.
I am, sir, your humble servant,

Nov.n. W.

GURNEISM.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — " Fibrous Covering," or, as it seems now
to be called, " Gurneism," having made so much
talk in this neighbourhood, I have been induced to
give it some little consideration ; and I am strongly
impressed %vith the idea that, instead of being a new
discovery, it was found out ages since, and for-
gotten, having been proved perfectly useless.

One gentleman has inserted a long letter on the
subject in the Farmer's Magazine, and several
newspapers, without coming (perhaps I ought to
beg his pardon) to any decision ; in fact, he seems
to blink the question. And yet he appears to hold
a learned position in the " Stratton Agricultural
Club," and has, consequently, been applied to by
many persons (according to his o^^^l assertion), in-
quiring the chemical, electrical, philosophical, and
all the numerous family of " als," that cause the
improvement in grass so covered, or, to create a
new word, " Gurneised."

Now, I consider that nothing has been answered,
but merely referred to those who are practical far-
mers ; when it is very evident that men who are
merely practical cannot give any such information.
However, it woidd almost appear by his letter that
a straw too Uttle or a straw too many would

0 0 2

560

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

altogether destroy its usefulness, which in-
duces me to believe that this wonderful discovery
is " not worth a straw."

If we cover a plant, and thereby force it by
shielding it from the weather, we find it to grow
and look fair to the eye, but is it not charged
with unnatural heat ? And when again exposed,
would it not be so checked that all which it acquired
in its sheltered state would be rendered of a very
inferior quality ? Just such, I consider, would be
the case wth grass if deprived of that light, heat,
and air, which, to my unlearned and unpretending
imagination, appears to be what it naturally re-
quires ; but, in this age of wonders, who can pre-
sume to say — "So far shalt thou go, and no
farther ?"

Has that French philosopher yet brought his
discovery to perfection — that of making bread of
sawdust f Byron called i\a?. the " age' of cant j"
and such it has been for a long time, on which now
appears, as a rider, the age oi pretended knowledge.
Fudge ! Fudge !

I am. Sir, your most obedient servant,

Fyworthy, Nov. 20. A. Z.

AGRICULTURAL QUERIES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — I shall esteem it a great favour if you, or
any of your valuable correspondents, M'ill answer
the following queries through the medium of your
valuable magazine.

Many casualty horses are sold to the knackers
for a fdw shiUings only, and conveyed in a most
disgusting manner to London for the boilers.
Could they not be more beneficially disposed of
by the farmer at home to improve his manure
heap ? and if so, what is the probable average
value of the bones of a horse to be ground, and
how many bushels would they make ? And what
is the average value of the flesh of a horse for
manure, and what is the best method of securing
and appropriating it ? Would it be advisable
to place it in the tank — to place it in the dung-heap
— or to cover it with quicldime and earth at any
convenient corner of a field ?

I am, sir, one of your constant readers,

Nov. 1. Essex.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — I should feel obliged if either you or any
of your correspondents would be so kind as to give
me any information with respect to the use of gas
hme as manure. I have this year bought what is
made at a neighbouring town for the year, but am
at a loss as to the best mode of applying it to the
land, and to what crops. I spread about a load to
the acre on some red clover soon after the first
crop was taken from the ground ; we had a good
second crop, and so we had on another field not
gas-hmed. ^Ye have applied it at the rate of al^out
two loads per acre on part of our summer fallows ;
what will be the result of course we cannot predict.
We have also apphed it to grass, wthout much
ajjparent benefit.

None of the farmers whose opinion I have asked
are able to give me the desired information ; but I
understand a certain chemist in the neighbourhood
asserts that it contains every property it possessed
before undergoing the process of purifying the gas,
and also several other quahties in addition. Now
whether this be really the case, or whether it is
that " the wish is father to the thought," seeing
that the worthy gentleman is one of the shareholders
in the said concern, is a cjuestion not only of some
importance to me, but not altogether without in-
terest to the community.

Hoping that some one of your correspondents
who has used gas lime \vill favour me and the
wide circle of your readers with the benefit of his
experience, I beg to subscribe myself.

Sir, your obedient servant,
A Young Farmer.

Near Wakejield, Noveinber 19.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK-LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — Permit me, through the medium of your valu-
able journal, to put the following queries, to which,
through the kindness of some of your intelligent corre-
spondents, I may obtain replies : — 1st. Is the applica-
tion of guano for the growth of wheat on land pre-
viously much wheated profitable ? if so, what quantity
per acre, when the best time for application, and how to
be applied ? 2nd. Is the application of guano to
the growth of oats a profitable speculation ? the results
of experiments might be stated, the quantity applied,
and the mode and time of application. 3rd. Has it been
found from experience tliat any other of the artificial
manures can be more profitably used for the purposes
before mentioned ? State the kinds, the quantity, the
mode of application, and the results.

Your insertion of the foregoing queries will much
oblige A Member of Rhins of Galloway

Farmer's Club.

Sir, — There were some very good observations on
stifle burning, by a " North Wiltshire Farmer," in your
useful paper of the 14th October. The writer also added
that he procured superior turnips with the ashes
soaked with the contents of the liquid manure tanks ;
and I shall esteem it a favour if the ' ' North Wiltshire
Farmer" will have the kindness to detail his mode of
applying them, and if he adopts any plan for rendering
them dry enough to be delivered by a drill machine
adapted for sowing bone-dust and other pulverized
manure in a dry state ?

I remain, Sir, your constant reader,

A Devonshire Farmer.

Sir, — In the early part of the year I observed in your
journal a notice of some under -draining, in which the
drains were made eighteen or twenty inches deep, fit for
the reception of the pipes or tUes, by means of a plough,
and without being dug out by spades, as is the common
custom. I shall feel obliged if some person will inform
me, through the medium of your paper, where such a
plough is to be seen, the nature of its construction, the
manner in which it works so as to turn the furrow up
to the surface, and any other particulars connected there-
with.— I remain, sir, your obedient servant,

Under Drain.

Maldon, Essex, Nov. 15.

A correspondent inquires the most effectual means of
destroying and preventing a return of weavil in a granary.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

561

Sir, — Having observed some remarks in your paper
some eight or ten months since resjiecting the use of
bran as a manure, I should be glad if some one whose
eye this may meet, would be so kind as to give some in-
formation as to the necessary quantity per acre, and
mode of using it on grass lands '

Yours respectfully,

Taunton, Nov. 19. An Old Subscriber.

Sir, — Will you be so kind as to givemeyour oi>inion,
through the medium of your journal, whether or not
the following clause in an act of parliament would
exempt salt (to be used as manure) from toll, and I shall
be your obliged subscriber, H. S. W.

" Provided always, and be it further enacted, that no
toll be demanded or taken by virtue of this act for any
horse, beast, or other cattle or carriage employed in
carrying or conveying, or going empty to fetch,
carry, or convey, or returning empty from carrying or
conveying (but having been employed only in carrying
or conveying on the same day), any produce of lands
grown on one side of the river, and carried over the said
bridge for the purpose of being stacked or housed on the
other side, for the benefit of the owner of such produce,
and any dung, soil, compost, manure, or lime, for im-
proving any lands lying within the distance of four miles
by the ordinary carriage-road of the centre of the said
bridge : Provided also, that for and in respect of all
horses or other beasts drawing any waggon, cart, or
other carriage laden with lime for the improvement of
lands lying beyond the said distance of four miles, one-
half of the tolls made payable by this act only shall be
demanded and paid ; anything in this act to the contrary
thereof notwithstanding."

[We think this clause would not exempt common salt
from toll. If, however, the " manure" was only par-
tially composed of common salt, as, for instance, co-
piously mixed with earth, &c., so as to be evidently a
mixture fit for the dunghill only, it would then be free
from toll.— Ed, M. L, E.]

A correspondent mquires what use is made of the
Mimoza bark, which is imported from South Australia ?
What price does it bring in London ? Is the trade in it
steady and constant, and likely to remain so ? and who
are one or two of the principal merchants who import
it?

ANSWERS TO AGRICULTURAL QUERIES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

Sir, — In answer to "Archenfield," relative to
salt and lime as manure, I should recommend him
to mix, in a dry state, five quarters of lime, and
two quarters and a half of salt, for every acre he
intends to dress, and allow the mass to remain un-
disturbed for three months. In this way two salts
are formed — carbonate of soda and muriate of
lime.

On my farm which is a hea\7- soil, subsoil yellow
clay, I use this mixture as a top-dressing for wheat,
oats, and barley, applied in March or April. I
find by this application both straw and corn im-
proved in quality; the latter also in quantity.
Before I used the above dressing, I had always a
great quantity of light corn. As the salts are
not volatile, I should in all cases recommend

them as a top dressing. I am not in the habit of
growing turnips or mangold wurtzel.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Melton Moivbraij. M. A. K.

TO THE DEVONSHIRE FARMER AND SUBSCRIBER.

Sir, — In reply to your inquiry — through the medium
of the Mark-lane Express, of the Ith inst. — I beg to
say that the patent drills of our present manufacture are
such as you describe having seen at the Southampton
meeting, in July last, for which we obtained the first
prize. This drill has an improved, simple method for
the alteration of the cog-wheels, to regulate the quantity
of seed per acre ; also the centre on which the box rests
is raised or lowered by a screw, and figured with num-
bers to correspond with the cogs in the barr>l-wl:ccl ; so
that the wheels are properly geared when the box is in
any position, and the outside coulters are by this arrange-
ment placed so near the travelling wheels as to admit of
the wheel track being used as a guide for the wheel to
return in when joining the work, and the rows are thus
deposited at equal distances.

Any further information you may require on the sub-
ject of drills will be duly answered by

Your obedient servants,

R. Garrett and Sons,

Leiston Works, Saxmundham, Suffolk,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MARK-LANE EXPRESS.

Sir, — In your paper of the 14th instant I find a
letter signed " Utilitarian," asking any of your nume-
rous readers to give him a cure for the Misk in calves.
I have frequently tried the recipe below, and have al-
ways found it a perfect cure, although many persons
consider it certain death, and that almost instantaneous.
If I had a hundred calves attacked with that disease, I
would apply this recipe to all, and I believe without
causing the death of one calf. Hoping you will give
this recipe an early insertion in your valuable paper, and
trusting " Utilitarian" will be equally benefited as my-
self, I am, sir, your obedient servant,

A Constant Reader.

Recipe. — Asafoetida, 3 ounces ; horse aloes, 3 ounces;
1 quart of vinegar : to be boiled together till all is
dissolved. Give each calf a table spoonful in each nos-
tril every third day, taking care to keep the head well
up, so as to prevent waste. Generally three applica-
tions wUl effect a cure.

East Sussex, Oct. 31.

Sir, — In perusing your raluable paper of the 14th
instant, I observed a letter addressed to you, and signed
" Utilitarian," intimating that several of his neighbours
had had their weaned calves attacked by a disease called
the hoose or husk, and asking the cause of the disease,
and the best means for its cure and prevention. The
disease, as he very justly observes, is occasioned by
worms in the trachea or wind-pipe, which, occasioning
violent irritation, produces a constant hoosing or cough-
ing, highly injurious to the animals. As to the cause of
the disease, I am at a loss to ascertain further than that
I have always found it most prevalent in dry summers,
and generally occurs about Michaelmas ; and if proper
medicines are not given, the organs of digestion become
much impaired, and consumptive symptoms soon fol-
low. The disease often runs through the whole herd,
occasioning great mortality. When the disease first
makes its appearance, no time should be lost. The
treatment that I have used for several years past for the
cure (not only of my calves, but several of my neigh-
bours'), and which has in no single instance failed

563

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

where it has been administered properly and in due
time, is as follows : — Directly the disease makes its
appearance, I take a quart of blood from each animal,
and give the following drink immediately : Flower of
sulphur, a quarter of an ounce ; elecampane, powdered,
a quarter of an ounce ; gentian, powdered, two drachms;
tumeric, powdered, two drachms ; liquorice root, pow-
dered, two drachms ; aniseed, powdered, two drachms ;
antimony, powdered, two drachms ; in a pint of new
milk, warm. I repeat this drink the third day, and it
is requisite that the calf should fast two hours before
and after the drink. If the calves are taken up and
bled to the quantity of a quart, and this drink adminis-
tered before the disease makes its appearance, it is ray
decided opinion, from experience, it will never fail to
prevent the disease from taking place.

If you consider the above worthy of insertion, or a
sufficient answer to the inquiries of " Utilitarian," I
beg you will make what use of it you please.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

Ashurst, Kent, Oct. 18. W. H.

BURNING CLAY.

Sir, — In answer to " J. C. C," of Exeter, who asks
the best manner of burning clay, I beg to say that last
summer I burned, with coal called the Blacksmiths'
Coal, which cost 3d. per cwt. at the pit, 213 square
yards of heavy red dirt in a road, the cost of which was
8d. per pard. I also burnt in a road several yards of
clay with bean haulm, and two faggots to a heap, which,
when burnt, produced two loads of ashes of the best
description ; and I am quite sure the burning of heaps
of clay in this quantity is much better than burning it
in heaps of 100 loads, which was the plan adopted with
the first bank burnt. The fire is to be kindled on the
ground ; as soon as it burns briskly, throw on some fine
earth ; and as soon as the fire appears through the layer
of dirt, which it will do in about an hour and a half, add
a little more bean haulm or coal, and another layer
of dirt. By following this plan, a man will burn five or
six heaps per day. The heaps are to remain for two or
three days before being cleai'ed of the small portions of
earth which remain imburnt on the outside of the heap.
I also pursued this plan with some fallow, and found it
to answer exceedmgly well.

Somerton, Nov. 14. J. L.

TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, — Seeing last week that a correspondent wishes to
be informed through your valuable paper how to bum
clay, and no one having given the required information,
1 send you a method I have successfully jiractised for
several years. The fuel used is the small or refuse coal
from the pit hills. The man who is to bui-n the heap
picks out some of the largest pieces of coal, with which
he makes fires about two yards apart along the side of
the heap. Wlien they are sufficiently burnt, he covers
them over with the clay, mixing a few shovelfuls of the
small coal with it. As he proceeds, when he has dug a
piece about a couple of yards in width, down to the bot-
tom of the heap, and thrown it upon the fires, so as to
make a solid bank, from afire which he keeps burning
for the purpose, he lights another row of fires in the
trench that is formed, placing them opposite to the
spaces between the first fires ; and so goes on, covering
them over with the clay, and scattering some of the
small coal amongst it until the heap is finished. It then
remains until it is burnt out. If your correspondent
chooses to follow this plan, he will find it to answer his
purpose. The clay will be burned red, but not so hard
as to prevent it breaking down easily, and becoming an
excellent manure. A Derbyshire Farmer.

Nov. 15.

HOP DUTY.

An account of the duty on hops of the growth of the
year 1844, distinguishing the districts, and the old from
the new duty : — Barnstaple, £17 7s. 3|d. ; Cambridge,
£26 14s. Uid. ; Canterbury, £38,637 15s. 6d. ; Corn-
wall, £2 16s. lid.; Derby, £273 Os. 2|d. ; Dorset,
£24 7s. lOfd. ; Essex, £821 7s. 5id. ; Gloucester,
£12 Is. 7fd. ; Grantham, £40 3s. lid. ; Hants,
£11,083 8s. njd-; Hereford, £25,142 3s. IHd. ;
Hertford, £562 16s. 6Jd. ; Isle of Wight, £7,296
17s. 8d.; Lincoln, £1,086 7s. lOd. ; Lvnn, £11 lis.
2d. ; Oxford, £10 Os. O^d. ; Reading, £2 10s. 2|d. ;
Rochester, £113,960 IBs. ; Salisbury, £16 18s. 2d. ;
Salop, £6 8s. 3id. ; Stourbridge, £1,327 3s. 5fd. ;
Suffolk, £615 12s. 3id. ; Surrey, £9 lis. 3d. ; Sussex,
£49,587 5s. 2^d. ; Wales, Middle, £55 lOs. llfd, ;
Wellington, £73 18s. 4id. ; Worcester, £5,265 17s,
lid.— £256,240 15s. 2fd. Old duty, at 1 12-20d. per
lb., £140,332 17s. 2^ 12-20d. ; New duty, at f 8-20d.
per lb., £103,716 17s. 11 8-20d. ; Additional duty of
5 per cent, per act 3 Vict. c. 17, £12,201 Os. Ofd.—
£256,240 15s. 2fd.

G. F. COTTRELL,

Accountant-Genera] .
Excise Office, London, November 16, 1844.

We are much gratified in observing that the estab-
lishment of farmer's clubs progresses. At a meet-
ing of the committee of the North Derbyshire Ag-
ricultural Society, recently held at Chesterfield,
it was resolved to take immediate steps for the
establishment of a farmers' club. On Tuesday
last, at a meeting held at Doncaster, a resolution
that a club, to be called the " Doncaster Farmers'
Club," should be established, was passed unani-
mously. Sir J. Boileau has suggested the pro-
priety of establishing a college, and the erec-
tion of a room for agricultural lectures and
experiments in agricultural chemistry, at Nor-
wich, and has most liberally offered to sub-
scribe 100/. towards the expenses. Knowing the
spirit of the farmers of the county of Norfolk, we
consider that the proposition will certainly be car-
ried out. We have always contended, and we still
do contend, that education is the speediest and
most effectual mode of effecting improvement in
agriculture. — Mark Lane Express.

A correspondent supplies us with the following ad-
measurement of sis heifers, as to the increase in height
and girth, during a run of grass from May-day to

Michaelmas-day : —

May 13. Oct. 14.

Height. Girth. Height. Girth.

Age.
yrs. mo.

4

2

0

10

7
5

52

49i

53

544-

50

48

71
70
72
75
71
67

53

50^

53^

57

53

49i

77
76
76
79

77
72

No. 4 an os.
-Doncaster Chronicle.

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

663

METEOROLOGICAL DIARY.

Barometer,

Thermometer,

Wind and

State.

1 Atmosphere.

Day. 1 8 a.m

lOp.m,

Min.

Max,

lOp.m

Direction,

Force,

1 8 a.m.

2 p. m.

1 10 p. m.

Oct. 22

in. cts.
29.75

in. cts.
29.90

38

54

37

N. West

calm

1
fine

sun

fine

23

29.90

29.80

29

50

45

S. East

calm

fine

cloudy

cloudy

24

29.76

29.71

46

48

45

N.N.E.

var.calm

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

25

29.79

29.87

43

49

43

N. N.E.

gentle

' cloudy

cloudy

fine

26

29.90

30.10

46

53

46

N, N.E.

gentle

1 cloudy

cloudy

fine

27

30.20

30.24

40

54

44

N.N.E,

gentle

I cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

28

30.20

30.12

39

48

40

N,N.E.

gentle

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

29

30.07

29.96

37

47

43

East

lively

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

30

29.87

29.83

41

44

44

East

gentle

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

31

29.83

29.68

43

50

44

East

brisk

1 fine

sun

fine

Nov. 1

29.55

29.30

43

46

44

E, by South

strong

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

2

29.14

29.26

40

44

42

E. by South

brisk

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

3

29.36

29.43

37

42

38

E, by North

lively

cloudy

cloudy

fine

4

29.43

29.27

38

46

33

North

gentle

cloudy

cloudy

fine

5

29.22

29.24

34

45

39

N, by E.

gentle

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

6

29.25

29.28

35

46

33

S. West

gentle

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

7

29.46

29.46

32

47

45

S. East

gentle

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

8

29.12

28.95

40

54

34

S. East

variable

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

9

28.98

29.10

43

55

43

South

gentle

fine

sun

nne

10

29.18

29.05

35

45

37

E, to S.W.

strong

fine

cloudy

cloudy

11

29.18

29.50

36

46

39

W, by N.

strong

fine

sun

cloudy

12

29.45

29.50

39

54

52

W, by S,

variable

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

13

29.53

29.80

46

53

45

W.by S. N,W,

variable

cloudy

cloudy

fine

14

30.0

30.10

41

51

51

S.E. by E.

gentle

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

15

30.10

30.26

42

55

51

W, by S.

brisk

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

16

30.19

30.26

47

56

49

S.W, S. by W.

variable

cloudy

cloudy

fine

17 30.26

30.26

49

54

51

W.byS.

calm

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

18 30,28

30.20

49

53

50

W, by S.

gentle

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

19i 30.20

30.19

47

50

47

W, by S.

variable

cloudy

cloudy

cloudy

20 30.19

30.22

46

54

46

W, by N.

gentle

cloudy

cloudy

fine

21 30.31

30,30

35

46

33

N. West

gentle

fine

sun

fine

E

STIMAT

ED AVERAGE.

Barometer,

Thermometer.

North?
East ar
South s
West ai

High. 1 Low, 1 Mean.

High,

1 Lo-vi

^. 1 Me

an.

ind N. Efist. Winds. . fi davs.

30.27 1 29.69 1 29.77

62

1 23

1 4'

2.9

id to Sout
md South
id to Nort

h.. 5

Real Average Temperature

oi the p

eriod.

West. . . ,

. . 9

h

.. 10

High. 1 Low.

1

Mean.

49,64 1 40.5

1

45,7

Weather and Phenomena. — October 22, a fine day — hazy cold night — 23, rain — change after
hoar-frost — 24, rain all day — wmd — 25, rainy morning — 26, small rain, changeable — fine evening — 27,
serene, though without sun — 28, the same — clear evening, and keen frost for two or three hours — 29,
gloomy damp weather, indicated by hygrometer — 30, rain — damp chilly day — 31, beautiful day —
cloudy night, November 1 , rain — liigh wind — 2, rain for seven successive days — two nights fine (i.e.,
3rd and 4th) — 9, first fine day — warm and sunny, but cold damp evening — 10, rain nearly all day — 11,
fine, but windy — 12, rainy day — strong wind in evening — 13, profuse rain all preceding night, and till
2 p.m. — 14, small rain and mist — 15, dull and sombre — slight misty drizzle — high wind after sunset —
16, drizzle till noon — clearing towards evening — 17, damp and overcast — 18, rain — gloomy throughout
— 19, drying air, though duU — cloudy — 20, gradual clearing to a fine and cooler night — 21, very fine
cool evening — becoming frosty. Sixteen days more or less wet.

Lunations. — October: Full moon, 26th day, 5 h, 5 m. morning, November: Last quarter, 3rd
day, lOh. 19 m. morning; new moon, 10th day, 9 h, 36 m. morning; first quarter, I7th day, 1
h. 31 m, morning.

Remarks referring to Agriculture. — By the table it will be seen that in the whole of the
above period there have been only five sunny days ; the account is almost balanced as to rain, wliich
coming in gluts, though seldom hea\'y and violent, has saturated the ground, and somewhat interfered
with wheat so\\ing j that was rather late, yet not unfavourable. The ground, also, has been too cloddy

564

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

for the clean housing of potatoes. We never recollect less frost, or a milder, more equable temperature.
The winds have corresponded pretty nearly to their estimated quarters. The greatest elevations of the
mercury have occurred during the last week of October, with wind north-easterly, and from the 14th to
21st November, when it blew from the opposite quarter. These anomalies are unaccountable, but on
the last occasion the indication points to a cold dry peiiod. Every animal on the farm ought to be pro-
tected and guarded ; more care, more cleanhness, and warmth are required as positive duties, and they
would well repay the outlay and trouble.

AGRICULTURAL REPORT.

GENERAL AGRICULTURAL REPORT FOR
NOVEMBER.

As is almost invariably the case at this period of
the year, the weather experienced during the whole
of the past month has been somewhat vacillating ;
nevertheless, it has proved seasonably fine in almost
every particular. It is true that, at its commence-
ment, the progress of both ploughing and sowing,
in the lowland districts, was somewhat impeded
by the almost continuous — though not very
heavy rains, except, indeed, in some few local-
ities—which fell in all parts of the United
Kingdom. Subsequently to the 18th, scarcely any
moisture worthy of notice has fallen; while the
atmosphere — notwithstanding a few dense fogs have
been experienced — has been much clearer than
usual. Under these comparatively favourable
auspices, field labours have gone on remarkably
well. In the forward counties, the whole of the
wheats, or nearly so, have been sown, with the land
in most admirable order ; while m the north there is
no reason whatever to complain on this head. On
the early sown fallows, the young wheats — which
have been shghtly checked by a few frosts— are
looking remarkably strong and healthy ; while on
the later ones they are coming up very regularly.

It is now generally ascertained that the produce
of this year's wheat crops is fully equal to that
grown for a considerable time past. This fact is
fully attested by the decided heaviness which has
prevailed in the demand for that article during the
whole of the month, and the miserably low prices
at which it has been selling. The fluctuations in
value— as we long since predicted— have been
trifling in the extreme, yet that of the middhng and
out-of-condition parcels has declined from Is. to
2s. per qr.

The growth of potatoes, this year, appears to be
one of the largest and best almost ever remem-
bered, not only in England, but also in Scotland,
Ireland, and the Channel islands. The article
will, no doubt, be selling at very moderate rates
during the winter months.

We regret to observe that the turnip crop does
not turn out so well as was expected. This,
together with the shortness of other Avinter keep,
has added considerably to the difl!iculties of our
graziers, numbers of whom have been compelled to
send their beasts to market in less than a half fat
state, thereby suffering numerous pecuniary losses ;
in fact, we have no hesitation in saying, that the
past has been one of the most unprofitable years to

them Avithin the memory of the oldest person living.
The demand for oil-cake, to supply the place of
natural food, has been extremely brisk ; owing to
which, the price of that article has advanced, in the
London market, to £l3 per 1,000, with every pros-
pect of a further rise. As might be expected, the
quotations of hay have advanced in all quarters,
as much as £5 15s. per load having been paid
for it.

As the consideration of the working of the tariff
is so peculiarly within our province, we shall
here devote a few remarks to it. In the first place,
we shall allude to the imports of foreign stock.
During the past month they have considerably
exceeded those of any pievious one, not only as
respects numbers, but quality. These arrivals,
added to those returned for the former months
of the present year, form the following totals :

Head.

Beasts 3,880

Sheep 1,102

The above are wholly exclusive of the supplies
in preceding years, which, on a rough estimate,
may be called 4,500 beasts and 2,200 sheep. As
to the stock received since our last, it has proved
by far superior to any hitherto brought forward :
and we have the best authority for stating that the
beasts have " died" — i. e., carried a full average
quantity of internal fat — remarkably well ; con-
sequently, they have been in favour with the
butchers. The shipments are now almost wholly
taking place from Rotterdam — only three beasts
having been imported from Spain in the course
of the month. Immense quantities of game and
poultry, including about 130 tons of potatoes, have
been received from France and Holland ; but they
have sold at a dreadful sacrifice.

Our advices from Ireland and Scotland state
that, though the weather has been very wet, farm-
labours are sufficiently forward. Potato raising
has engrossed much of the attention of the
growers, and its result appears to be highly satis-
factory.

The following is our usual monthly statement of
the supplies and prices of fat stock exhibited and
sold in Smithfield cattle market. The former have
been as under : —

Beasts 12,560

Sheep 123,200

Calves 1,040

Pigs 2,600

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

566

The rates have ruled thus : —

Per Slbs., to sink the ofFiils.

s. d. s. d.

Beef from 2 4 to 4 2

Mutton „ 2 6 „ 4 2

Veal „ 3 0 „ 4 0

Pork „ 3 0 „ 4 0

The quality of the heasts this month has proved
the most inferior we almost ever recollect ; hence
the few prime Scots, &c., offering have found
buyers at somewhat improved rates. AH other

kinds of stock have met a very dull sale, and prices
have ruled extremely low.

The arrivals of slaughtered meat up to Newgate
and Leadenhall markets have not been to say large,
yet the supplies of that killed in the metropolis
have been rather extensive. Prime beef and
mutton have been in fair request, but, otherwise,
the trade has ruled dull, and prices have not been
supported. Beef, from 2s. 4d. to 3s. Gd. ; mutton,
2s. 4d. to 3s. Sd. ; veal, 3s. to 4s. ; and pork,
2s. 4d, to 4s. per Slbs., by the carcass.

CALENDAR OY HORTICULTURE.— DECEMBER.

1. Retrospect. — The general complaint is that |
apples and pears will not keep this year. Some will '
not, certainly ; nor do we wonder at it, when the
great and early heat is considered : everything that ,
light and solar power could effect throughout May j
and June was effected, but imassisted by a due
supply of moisture. We are fully persuaded that
perfection in maturity and quality must mainly de-
pend upon a balance of power in the great natural ■
agents. Many stone and pomaceous fruits were {
coddled by a solar heat, far above 100° in the di-
rect ray ; added to which, so soon as any saccha-
rine quality was developed, myriads of wasps were
on the alert, and wherever a fruit was touched,
though only to the extent of a pin-hole in its rind,
decay was established, which, as is always the case,
manifested itself more rapidly after the fruit was
detached from the tree. Marie Louise pears were,
in some intances, obliged to be gathered in Sep-
tember ; consequently, three or four in a dozen
have either become rotten at a wound, or " sleepy"
and decomposed throughoiit by a disruption of the
cellular tissue. Vegetables are, however, strong
and good ; potatoes have turned up much better
than was anticipated ; turnips are rather small ;
onions very fine in some places — extremely small,
tardy, and immature in others.

2. Heat is an agent so little understood, that to
speak decidedly of its source and instrumentality,
would be to compromise that modesty which our
very imperfect knowledge of causes demands. Of
its applicability, however, experience warrants a
strong opinion. Any inflammable material, apply
it how one may, can yield only a certain quantity
of radiated heat. Tlie hot water system has un-
questionable advantages, but its economy is more
than questionable. We see daily the most pleasing
results — so far as moisture, equabilitj'', and sweet-
ness are concerned — in the use of that small cylin-
drical jjoiler which places the fire within the case
of water, and propels it, first into a tank, thence,
through brick-cemented gutters, into two houses,
and back into the boiler ; but as coke is the fuel
used, in order to avoid smoke, the expense is
greater than would be occasioned by a furnace ter-
minating in a common brick flue carried round a
house.

An improvement, therefore, is indicated, which
would combine the tank, conduits, and smoke-

flue, and it might be effected economically and du-
rably in the following manner : — Let the boiler be
a cast-iron oven, oblong in figure, representing the
common brick fire place of an ordinary stove or
vinery — furnished, like it, wth grating, door, and
ash-pit door. Such iron furnaces we have seen
adapted to two vineries, that had cost £lO each,
but had remained perfect in condition, without re-
pair, since they were put up, al)ove 20 years ago.
The only difference in the construction would con-
sist in the furnace being dou])le on each side, at
the top, and at both ends, leaving a space in front
for the door, and another at the further end for the
exit of the smoke ; this latter ought to consist of a
square neck, rising and contracting, so as to repre-
sent the neck of a well built flue. The dimensions
of the furnace, and the width or space between the
inside and outside plates, must be regulated by the
size of the building to be heated. V/ithin this
double case is the water, which, at an average, we
may estimate at 7 or 8 gallons. The exit or " flow
pipe" will be of cast-iron, and pass from the top of
the upper end of the furnace-boiler into a channel
constructed, most economically, of six-inch paving-
tiles at the Ijottom and sides, accurately cemented
together, and coated, also with " Parker's Compo-
sition." The channel might be single or double,
with an intervening tile ; in either case the water
woidd pass on and re-enter the boiler by a return
pipe, with a rapid descent toward its bottom. We do
not enter into minutiae, our object being to point
out an efl!icient boiler, easy of construction by any
clever founder, which could be heated briskly, ra-
pidlv, or moderately, and be maintained in action,
withour attention, during the nights, by the com-
monest slate-coal, cinders, or brieze. The vice of
the cylindrical boiler is the rapid combustion of ex-
pensive coke. One strong cast-iron furnace-
boiler fixed in brick-work, exactly as the old hot-
house stoke ovens, would never be cold, and yet
might always be disciplined according to the object
and wish of the gardeners, by the cheapest com-
bustibles ; added to which, the chimney, by passing
along the entire back wall, would receive and ra-
diate the whole of that heat which is conveyed along
with the smoke.

The cost of the cast-iron might be considera-
ble in the first instance, but there an end ; no
re-fixing — no wearing out in a life time ; and, we

566

THE FARMEH'S MAGAZINE.

should think, little or no chance of a failure in

effect.

Further observations upon the water channels,
or gutters, must be deferred till our next ; it will
now suffice to say that every particle of the heat
must be appropriated, 'ttath the single exception of
that which in this, as in every structure, will pass
through the chimney shaft.

Operations in the Kitchen Garden.

The weather must decide their time and extent :
if frosty, and with the land locked up, we
should say, coat the ground about every raspberry,
currant, and gooseberry bush, with three inches of
stable mamire, half reduced leaves, or horse drop-
pings from the scrapings of roads. These latter,
mixed as they are with sand, &c., form an excellent
top-dressing.

Cover over, in the same way, the rows of aspara-
gus, rhubarb, &c. ; and interpose between and
around artichoke plants masses of leaves raked
from the fields or coppices ; they save the useless
trouble of landing-up, and manure while they
protect.

Cover by mats, and surround the frames contain-
ing tender vegetables with leaves or littery dung.

Pick off decayed leaves from the cavdiflowers,
give plenty of air in mild days, covering close at
night.

In open weather trench and manure. Manure
acts in a double manner. In trenching rest grass
land taken into the garden, dig out, if the good soil
permit, tM'O spits ; reverse the turves upon the sub-
soil, after having loosened that with a fork; itpon
the turf add three inches of the freshest dung, full
of urinous salts, and cover that with the first spit of
the next trench ; incorporate the reduced spit-dung,
guano, bone-dust, or whatever is used as dressing
with the up])er spit. The fresh dung will evolve
ammonia, and the gas will all be husbanded in the
earth; the older, or pulverized manures at top, will
gradually decompose, and yield those gases and salts
which the plants can absorb, and thus the ground
■will be durably enriched.

Trenching is a prospective operation ; therefore
the bottom should be durably manured, as by that
process, land will remain in heart three years, and
after that time a second trenching AviU bring up the
humus prepared at a considerable depth below the
surface.

Sow peas and beans as succession crops, drawing
earth to the stems of the first sowings ; or what is
better, bring dry earth, of which a store shoidd
always be kept under cover, and lay a little of it
on each side of the stems. Support the peas by

spray of the spruce fir, if at hand, or by close
branchy sticks ; these will defend also from cold.

Fruit Department,

The open ground requires httle to be done ; but in
the event of misty weather, when the gooseberry and
currant shrubs are coated with moisture, a dredg-
ing with powder of lime will fix upon mosses and
liverworts, and entirely destroy them, rendering the
stems clean, and the bark healthy. After this dusting
it will be advantageous to place a good layer
of horse droppings, scraped from the pubhc roads,
on the surface above the roots.

On the first of the month begin to excite the
earhest vines; raise the heat to SS'*. Syringe freely
the stems ; and repeat the operation very often,
increasing the heat weekly five degrees, to 70°.
At night, however, the average need not exceed 60°
at any time, unless when the blossoms expand, as
then there should be no check.

The peach wdl not bear a heat much above 50'',
and to do that the species must be the Noblesse
(or Melhsh's favourite), the Gallande (Bellegarde of
some), and perhaps the Royal George. This tree
requires moisture, and early fumigations.

The pines in succession pits are to be kept at
65" or 70°, in fuU growth, or at least so as to avoid
a check; those in the fruitlng-house, hitherto
drj'ing off (if that system be pursued), are watered
and excited about Christmas.

Greenhouse, Pits, and Flower-Garden,

Give air freely to aU plants under glass, in fine
open weather; cover well in frosty weather ; light
fires to exclude frost ; 35* is warm enough for
hard-wooded plants, 45*^ for succulents and fine
geraniums.

Cover the quarters or beds devoted to peat plants
with semi-decayed leaves, sand, and heath-mould,
three or four inches deep. If leaves have fallen
thickly over shrubberies and borders, they protect
well, and had better be left on tiU the cold rains and
severe frosts of winter be over ; but sweep lawns
and gravel walks.

Plant Stove.

The cauti-house nicely attended to, preserving
57° to 62*^ at night, acts so equally and generally
as to keep uji a succession of beauties; thus the #
Gisucrse are in fuU bloom ; Gardenias rich and 1
thriving ; Euphorbias fine as in ' summer, cum *
multis aliis. This is a condition which the dry,
irregular heat of the old brick flue could not in-
sure. The system is not cheap, but it affords
great satisfaction, and, as such, is worthy of
much attention in respect to future improvement.

REVIEW OF THE CORN TRADE

DURING THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER.

As the time approaches for the re-assembling
of parliament, the parties connected \vith the Anti-
Corn-Law League begin to show symptoms of
their intention again to recommence the agitation
for a repeal of that remnant of protection still

allowed to British industry. That the object of
these gentry is solely their own aggrandizement,
is now too well understood, even by that portion
of the community which was at first duped by
their shallow pretences, to render their future

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

56,

movements very dangerous, still their misrepresen-
tations must not be allowed to go forth uncon-
tradicted, and we call upon the friends of the agri-
culturists to watch their proceedings. After
the experiments of the tariff and the Canadian
Corn Bill, it would scarcely be prudent to rely
too confidentily on the existing ministry, and it
behoves all those interested in the land to be fully
on their guard to repress further encroach-
ments. With this caution we shall for the present
dismiss the subject of the repeal of the corn-laws,
and turn to that of the malt-tax. That a most
favourable period has arrived for claiming an
alteration in this impolitic tax is acknowledged
on all sides ; and we ax'e well pleased to observe
that judicious steps are now being taken to estab-
lish a right understanding between those most
interested in obtaining a relaxation of this
impost on the poor man's luxury. Most respect-
able and influential meetings (the proceedings at
which will be found in another part of our pub-
lication), have been held during the month, and
the requisite steps to ensure a cordial co-operation
between all classes of agriculturists have been
so far proceeded with, that but little doubt exists
petitions so numerously signed as to claim atten-
tion will be ready for presentation on the meeting
of the legislature. We sincerely trust that this
movement may meet with success ; farmers have
long enough been made the stepping-stone to
advance other interests, and it is high time that
something should be done by which they, as well
as the rest of the community, may be benefited.

The repeal of the malt-tax, by encouraging a
more extensive growth of barley, would be of
essential service to the occupiers of poor land;
whereby increased employment would be given to
the labourer wUhout doing injury to any class of
her Majesty's subjects. The only objection which
can be urged against the measure is the falling-ofl:'
it will cause m the revenue ; but as ministers have
for some time had a surplus over the yearly ex-
penditure, enabling them to make a reduction in
taxes, it may well be asked where could a relaxa-
tion be made, calculated to do a greater amount
of general good than that of the malt-tax?

The weather was during the first half of the
month excessively wet, and on the heavy clays
a stop was put to out-door work at au early period.
On this description of soil much of the land
intended for wheat has therefore not yet been
sown, but on the whole, autumn labours were
well advanced before the termination of October,
and the season thus far has been rather favourable
than otherwise. At one time fears were enter-
tained that the seed in the ground might be
injured by an excess of wet; but as the rain
ceased about the middle of the month, ajjpre-
hension on this head has again subsided, and there
is, as far as our future pi'ospects are concerned,
no grounds for despondency.

In the early districts the young wheat blade is
well out of the ground, and its appearance is
generally healthy, indeed, in some cases, rather
too luxuriant for the period of the year. A
moderate degree of frost would be highly beneficial
as well to check any tendency towards rankness

of plant, so as to improve and fertilize the condition
of the soil. The most important immediate ad-
vantage which would result from a keen frosty
air would undoubtedly be the hardening of the
grain in the stacks. The protracted damp wea-
ther has so deteriorated the quality of the corn as
seriously to diminish its value, whereby the sale
has not only been rendered exceedingly difficult,
but the difterence occasioned in the value of his
produce has been much felt by the farmer.

For many weeks ])ast, the condition in which
the wheat has thrashed out has been universally
complained of ; even in those districts where the
harvest was got in vmder the most favourable
auspices, the samples have of late come to hand
rough and soft ; whilst in the southern portions
of the kingdom, where a good deal of wheat was
carried in the commencement of August, during
damp weather, the quahty has been afiected to a
much greater degree by the recent exceedingly
humid atmosphere. This cause more than any
want of demand, has imparted a very dull char-
acter to the trade, and from week to week prices have
tended downwards. It is true that old and really
fine dry qualities of new wheat have varied little
in value ; this circumstance has failed, however,
to be of benefit to the farmer, as he had none of
the former, and scarcely any of the latter to dispose
of, the whole of last year's growth having suffered
more or less from the efiects of the continued
wet weather. Beyond this cavise nothing has
transpired to account for the downward movement ;
on the contrary, a small advance might have been
more reasonably expected. From the low price
of wheat, as compared with the value of other
grain, the former has ever since harvest gone
into consumption rapidly. Of old English the
stocks have long been exhausted, and of free
foreign there is less in the country than has been the
case for many years. That this is the case may be
easily proved by the quantity imported, and as the
relative amounts entered for home consumption the
last three years, from January to the end of I*^o-
vember, given in juxta ])osition, may prove of
interest to our readers, we beg to direct their atten-
tion to the following table.

1844.

3,546

1,981

3,075

30,880

\Mieat, duty paid.

Month ending
February 5 . . .
March 5 .....

April 5

May 5

June 5 63,328

July 5 80,978

August 5 365,917

Septembers.... 114,113

October 5 28,903

November 5. . . . 18,092

1843.

2,135
1,850
2,752
3,340
9,303
3,434
3,591
85,521
742,546
2,671

1842.

5,278

3,952

3,027

15,932

81,825

105,657

268,097

2,095,345

59,901

95,200

Totals 760,805 857,143 2,752,214

From this statement it will be remarked that
there is a material decrease even in the last year,
and it must further be observed that owing to the
importations of 1843 having been far below what
had been the case for many previous years, it
may fairly be presumed that the surplus which

568

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

might have been Ifift on hand of the 2,750,000
quarters on which duty was paid in 1842, must
have been worked up pretty closely before the com-
mencement of the pi'esent year, leaving only the
760,000 qrs. imported since to be accounted for.
Of this latter quantity small parcels have, from
time to time, been taken by the millers for mixing,
and we doubt whether, at the present moment, more
than 350,000 to 400,000 qrs. of free foreign wheat
remain in the kingdom. In connection with this
fact it must be borne in mind that we have now
arrived at a period of the year when shipments
from the Baltic must cease, whilst the reports fiom
the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, &c., are not of a
character to lead us to fear that any supplies of
moment will reach us from that quarter. These
considerations are worthy of being noticed by the
British farmer, inasmuch as they prove that for the
next two or three months he is not likely to have
much foreign competition, and it will therefore in
some measure depend on the judgment he may
display in regulating the supply to the demand
whether any further depreciation in prices occur.

Though the value of barley has recently given
way Is. to 2s. per qr., the terms still paid for this
grain are relatively higher than those obtainable
for wheat, and as foreign merchants are more
likely to direct consignments of the former than
of the latter to this country, prudence on the
part of the British grower seems to dictate the sale
of that commodity which commands the more
remunerating return, and which, at the same time,
is threatened to be the soonest interfered with by
foreign importations.

The duty on v/heat is at the maximum point, with
scarcely a prospect of its receding ; that on barley
has recently fallen to 3s. per qr., and from the present
position of the averages a further reduction is by
no means improbable. These facts ought also to
have their due weight in determining the probable
future range of the value of the respective ai-ticles.
Should the foregoing suggestions prove of the
slightest service to our friends, we sliall have ac-
complished the object for which they were penned.
Our aim has been to give a clear statement of
things as they actually exist, leaving to those whom
it may concern to draw their own conclusions.
Here we must bring our speculations as to the
probable future to a close, and occupy our remain-
ing space vnih the past.

In taking a retrospective view of the trade during
the month, we cannot avoid repeating the fact that
a decided and by no means a favourable influence
has been produced on business by the state of the
weather. Millers have been compelled to use
extraordinary care in selecting wheat, the condition
of the majority of the samples brought forward
having been so indiflerent as to render the
articles unfit for grinding without a large ad-
mixture of old. This has naturally tended to
counteract operations, and the difficulties have
been further augmented by buyers expecting a
concession in price equal to the deterioration
produced by the atmospherical influences in the
quality, which concession the growers have
been extremely unwilling to make. In this
position of affairs, purchasers deemed it ex-

pedient to confine their operations to as narrow a
compass as was compatible with their actual wants,
and they have bought merely from hand to mouth
until they gradually succeeded in depressing prices
Is. to 2s. per qr. A fall to the extent named, has
been acceded to without imparting any additional
activity to the trade ; meanwhile the stocks in the
hands of merchants and millers have become
greatly reduced, and a firmer feeling has gradually
gained ground as the month has advanced. As
regards the London market, a combination of cir-
cumstances have existed which have prevented any
rally occurring so early as at Liverpool, and some
other large consuming towns. J

The regular weekly shipments made from the I
different ports on the east coast for Mark-lane,
were, by the extremely boisterous weather experi-
enced in the early part of the month, delayed;
many cargoes shipped in October and the begin-
ning of November were two or three weeks
making the passage round. The mUlers being,
ho\\'ever, av/are that a considerable quantity had
been dispatched from that quarter for the London
market, waited from day to day in expectation of
the arrival ; this, and the inferior order in which
the Kent and Essex samples came to hand, sufficed
to impart a dull tone to business in the early part
of the month. Since then the long-looked-for
Lincolnshire supply has come forward ; 7,057 qrs.
during the week ending l6th, and 13,597 qrs the
foUomng week. Nearly the whole of this large
arrival has gone direct to the manufacturers, they
have consequently had little occasion to appear at
Mark -lane as purchasers ; and the utmost difficulty
has, therefore, been expeiienced in effecting sales
of the moderate quantities which have been
brought forward by land-carriage samples from the
neighbouring counties without accepting lower
terms. Good qualities of Wheat have all along
been held firmly at previous prices ; and though
less money has been taken for the ordinary runs,
the reduction submitted to has not been more than
equivalent to the diminution of the intrinsic value
of the article, from the effects of the weather. A
considerable proportion of the worse-conditioned
part of the supply has been bought by the starch-
makers, whereby the market has been much re-
lieved. There is cei'tainly no accumidation of
stocks at the port of London, the weekly arrivals,
though on some occasions large, having been pre-
ceded by periods of comparative scarcity, have
gone into immediate consumption when received.

The indifferent order in which the Wheat of our
own growth has come to hand, has obliged the
millers to purchase free-foreign for mixing, and a
steady vent for the latter has therefore been
afforded. The certainty that no addition of impor-
tance to the quantity here can be made by fresh
importations from abroad till spring, and the nar- J
row compass into which the granaried stocks have
been worked up, have imparted additional confi-
dence to holders, and, so far from any influence
having been produced on prices by the downward
tendency in quotations of English, the value of
fine Danzic and Rostock ^^^leat has rather ad-
vanced than receded. The highest price we have
heard of this month was 59s. per qr. for a lot of

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

569

superior Danzic, and 56s. per qr. has been realized,
in many instances, for the best descriptions of
Rostock.

lliese rates show a shght improvement on pre-
vious terms, but it must be remarked that the
advance has only extended to really fine varieties,
the demand for ordinary sorts havingf been
the reverse of lively. Tlie arrivals from abroad
have been on a limited scale, amounting to only a
few thousand quarter.s weekly. The principal part
of the same has been landed in bond, importers
having apparently determined to speculate on fu-
ture events rather than pay the 20s. duty. In
wheat under lock scarcely a transaction has oc-
curred, and the value of the ai-ticle must be re-
garded as 20s. per qr. (the existing rate of duty)
below the price of similar qualities free, not the
slightest demand having been experienced either
for export or on speculation. The stock in bond
consisted, on the 5th of November, according to
the latest official return, of 363,372 qrs. in the
kingdom, and 123,263 qrs. in London.

The millers have not enjoyed a very profitable or
agreeable trade of late ; the difficulties they have had
to overcome in selecting qualities suitable for making
good flour, the high prices they have been obliged
to pay for the best runs of English and fine free
foreign wheat, together with the competition occa-
sioned by the continued imports of Canadian flour,
have rendered it sufficiently arduous to obtain pro-
fit on their outlays. Tlie top price of town-made
flour has remained stationary, but this has been
more a nominal than an actual indication of the
value of the article. Very good London-made
households have been selhng at 37s., and Norfolk
at 33s. per sack, whilst for Canadian 24s. to 26s.
per barrel have been the current rates.

In the commencement of the month very high
prices were paid for Barley at Mark Lane, superior
malting samples having commanded 40s. per qr.,
and other sorts corresponding terms. Increased
supplies of English, with rather liberal arrivals of
foreign, and the prospect of the latter being freed
at a low duty, subsequently caused a reaction. In
the first instance, only distilling sorts (of which by
far the greater part of what has been received has
consisted) felt the influence ; these kinds were
generally quoted >s. to 2s. per qr. lower as early
as the 10th inst., and have not since recovered
that abatement ; whilst all other descriptions, low
qualities of foreign alone excepted, have recently
become difficult of disposal. The latter being
mostly used for feeding purposes, may be regarded
as cheap in comparison to other articles. Thin but
sweet barley, of 48 to 50lbs. weight per bushel, has
been selling at 27s.; and 52 to 53lbs. qualities at
2Ss. : these rates are moderate, in proportion to
oats, beans, and peas ; and, whilst the last-named
articles maintain their present value, attention is
likely to be directed to the low-priced barley. The
late check to the upward movement in prices of
this grain is likely to disappoint importers in get-
ting the duty down to so low a point as at one
period appeared probable. The averages continue
however, to come high from some of the western
and north-western markets, and the last general
return for the kingdom was 35s. 2d. per qr. It is

therefore not unlikely that this grain may be ad-
missible for consumption at a duty of 2s. per qr.
in December.

The arrivals of Malt coastwise have been on a
moderate scale throughout the month, and our
own maltsters have hitherto brought forward A'ery
little for sale. In the early part of the season
there were many complaints of the malting pro-
lierties of the ])resent year's growth of barley, but
it is now foimd to work better than was at first
expected. Really fine parcels have been rather
eagerly taken by the ale-brewers, at high rates, but
the demand for secondary kinds has latterly be-
come somewhat sluggish.

A protracted period of easterly wind prevented
arrivals of Oats reaching this country from Ireland,
and for two or three weeks the receipts from thence
were trifling in the extreme. About the middle of
the month the vessels all came to hand together ;
but the market had meanwhile become so bare that
the circumstance of a somewhat liberal arrival
failed to ])roduce any effect on prices, and the ad-
vance of Is. per qr. previously established was
well supported. From our own coast and Scotland
the receipts have been of the most scanty nature,
and superior parcels of feed have lately been selling
at Mark Lane at 26s. per qr. Under these circum-
stances a steady rise has taken place in the ave-
rages ; it will, however, require a further consider-
able advance to bring down the duty ; and the
importers of foreign do not seem disposed to wait
for such an occurrence, as the principal part of the
cargoes hitherto received have been offering free
from on board ship, at prices varying from 22s. to
24s. per qr. In bond the transactions have been
confined to the sale of a small parcel or two of
Dutch brews for shipment to the West Indies, at
19s. to 20s. per qr.

Beans have come very sparingly to hand, and
as the crop is now believed to be even more de-
ficient in quantity than was reported at haiwest
time, holders have from week to week raised their
pretensions, until moderately good ticks have ad-
vanced to 35s.; old to 36s. and 37s.; whilst
for handsome old pigeon beans as much as 40s*
to 42s. per qr. has been realized.

The most important rise has, however, been on
Egyptian beans in bond ; this article has lately
been currently selling at 26s. per qr., being nearly
5s. per qr. above the rates at which similar cpiali-
ties were obtainable a month cr six weeks ago.
The duty fell to 5s. 6d. on the 14th inst., with a
prospect of its receding to a lower point in the
course of the ensviing month.

Peas of all descriptions have been inquired
for, and have commanded enhanced terms ; good
maple and grey have found a fair vent at 34s. to
36s., and fine new boilers at 38s. to 39s. per qr. It
is found, upon trial, that very few samples of peas
of this year's growth break well, and foreign of
approved quality have consequently excited a fair
degree of attention. Similar sorts as might have
been bought at 35s. in October, liave since realized
37s., and as the season may be said to have only
just commenced, whilst the quantity here is un-
usually small, still higher prices may be fairly
calculated on. In bond the stock consisted on,

570

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

the 5th of 8,524 qrs. in the kingdom, and 1,594 qrs.
in London, with the duty at a high point.

Very little change has occurred since the period
of our last review, in the position of the grain
trade abroad. By the most recent advices from
the north of Europe, we learn that the wet wea-
ther experienced in most of the countries bounded
by the Baltic about harvest time had caused much
of the corn to be indifferently secured. This had
become more and more manifest as thrashing
had been proceeded with, and complaints regarding
the quahty were very general. This, and the con-
tinued rains during the sowing season had given
confidence to holders, and prevented any decline
taking place in prices, though the accounts from
hence were on the whole regarded as discouraging.

from Danzig we learn that with the exception
of a few frosty days in the early part of the month
the weather had remained unusually mild for the
season ; but though the navigation was altogether
free from ice, shipments to Great Britain had
nearly ceased. A fair extent of business appears,
however, to have been done there in wheat on
speculation, and considerable purchases had also
been made to supply the consumption of Konigs-
berg, where the stocks of wheat and rye have
been greatly reduced. The highest price paid for
wheat at Dantzic dviring the month has, we believe,
been 33s. per qr. for a parcel of very superior high-
mixed — the gro\\1;h of 1S42, and weighing 62| to
63lbs. per bushel.

This purchase was made by a local speculator
with a view of holding over till spring. For the
general runs of high mLxed the terms paid varied
from 27s. to 29s, per qr., free on board ; and in-
ferior descriptions of 54 to 57 lbs. weight have
been selling there at equal to 24s. to 27s. per qr.

Vessels were scarce, and freight had risen ma-
terially.

A letter from Memel states that great inconve-
nience was felt in that neighbourhood among agri-
culturists, owing to the extreme scarcity and high
prices of fodder. Wheat was also dear, and in-
stead of receiving good supplies from the sur-
rounding districts, it had been found necessary to
have recourse to the Dantzic market ; in this posi-
tion of affairs nothing had been done for export.

From Konigsberg we learn that the best descrip-
tions of wheat had realized equal to 35s. to 36s.
per qr. free on board, but we are inclined to think
that these prices are not likely to be maintained
after the roads shall have become hardened by
frost, so as to allow supplies from the farmers to
come to hand.

In the neighbourhood of Stettin, Rostock, in-
deed all over Pomerania, Silesia, and Mecklen-
burg, the wheat harvest appears to have turned out
much better than further to the north, and good
quality may be expected from thence. As yet the
farmers have brought forward very small supplies,
and the stocks in the hands of merchants being
small, little business has been done. At Rostock
a few contracts to ship good 61 to 62lbs. wheat in
spring have been closed at 26s. per qr. free on
board, and, as buyers have recently been more nu-
merous than sellers at the terms named, the next
advices mil probably come higher.

At Hamburgh the business of the month has been
chiefly in barley, the transactions in wheat having
been confined to the demand for local consvimption.
Rather important shipments of the first named ar-
ticle to England have been made, besides which
considerable contracts for dehvery in spring have
been closed there. Fine Saale Barley on the spot
has commanded from 27s. up to 29s. per qr. free
on board, whilst for good qualities, to be shipped
from the Danish islands in spring, 21s. 6d. to 22s.
per qr. free on board, including freight to this
country has been taken.

In oats, beans, and peas very little business has
been done at foreign ports, o^ving to the want of
supplies, the yield of these articles having ap-
parently been equally short on the continent as
with us.

Our own impression however is, that the scarcity
has beeii a good deal exaggerated, and we feel
tolerably certain that in the spring of the ensuing
year rather important supplies of spring corn, as
well as of wheat, wiU find their way to Great Britain,
from the very quarters where so grea*; an outcry
is now being made of deficiency in the produce.
From the United States we have letters of recent
dates ; a tolerable extent of business had been done
at New York in flour, partly for shipment to Liver-
pool, and its value had rather advanced.

The Canadian farmers seem to be dissatisfied
with the prices obtainable for wheat at Montreal
and Qviebec, and the supplies of the article had,
we are informed, fallen off materially ; this circum-
stance, and the diminished stocks in consequence
of the large shipments of flour to Europe, had oc-
casioned holders of the latter article to raise their
pretensions, and on the 26th of October good brands
were worth 24s. to 25s. per barrel.

The accounts from the Mediterranean ports are
of so little interest as scarcely to merit notice, and
at the Black Sea ports quotations (considering the
cost of the transit from thence to this country, and
the difference in quality) remain relatively higher
than in the Baltic : from the latter quarter the
British farmer must prepare to expect the greatest
share of competition.

CURRENCY PER IMPERIAL MEASURE.

NOVEMBEU 28.

Wheat, Essex and Kent, new, red 46 48 White 46 50 54

Old, red 48 50 63 Do 62 56

Rye, old 30 34 New.... S6 —

Barley, Grinding, 28 32 Malting 36 40 Chevalier 41 42

Irish 26 28 Bere... 26 —

Malt, Suflfolk and Norfolk 58 63 Brown.. 56 60

Kingston and Ware 60 — Chevalier 65 —

Oats, Yorksh.& Lincolnshire, feed 22 23 Potato.. 24 25

Youghall and Cork, black.. 21 22 Cork,white22 23

Dublin 22 — Westport 22 23

Waterford, white 22 23 Black.. 22 —

Newry 22 z3

Galway 21 '2i

Scotch, feed 23 24 Potato.. 25 27

Clonmel 22 23 Limerick 23 24

Londonderry 22 23 Sligo .... 22 23

Beans, Tick, new 36 37 Old, small 36 40

Peas, Grey 36 37 Maple.. 36 37

White 86 38 Boilers., 38 40

Flour, Town-made 45 Suffolk 33 35 per sk. of 280 lbs.

Stockton and Norfolk 33 35 Irish 34 37
FOREIGN GRAIN AND FLOUR IN BOND.

Wheat, Dantzic 32 36

Hamburg 30 —

Rostock 80 —

BabL£T, 25 29

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

571

IMPERIAL AVERAGES.

Week ending. .Wheat,

Nov.

Aps-r

Oct. 12tli

19th

2Clh ....

2nd

Qth

16th

.-., eg^ate uverag:e of
the six weeks which
repulales the duty.
Duties payable in
London till Wed-
nesday next inclu-
sive, and at the Out-
ports till the arrival
of the mail of that
day from London , .
Do. on grain from
British possessions
out of Europe. . .^ .

Barley.

Oats.

Uye,

Beans.

83 6
34 0

34 0

35 7

36 1
85 9

20
20
20
21
21
21

0
8
11
2
6
0

37 10

38 0
89 3
99 3
34 C
34 2

36 11
86 9

37 0
86 8

37 11

38 4

84 11

21

1

30 10

37 3

4 0

6

0

6 0

6 6

0 6

2

0

1 6

2 0

Peas.

COMPARATIVE PRICES OF GRAIN.

WEEKLY AVERAGES by
the Imp. Quarter, from the
Gazette, of Friday last,
Nov. 2and, 1844.

s. d.

Wheat 46 4

Bablbx 85 0

Oats ill 9

Rye 84 3

Beans 38 4

Pbas 35 7

AVERAGES from the corres-
ponding Gazette in the last
year, Friday, Nov. 24th,
1843.

8. <I.

Wheat 51 7

Barley 82 4

Oat3 18 II

Rye 30 5

Beaits 32 4

Peas 34 0

Account shewing the Quantities of Corn, Grain,
and Flour imported into the United Kingdona, in
the month ended the 5th Nov., 1844; the Quantities
upon which Duties have been paid for Home Con-
sumption during the same month, and the Quantities
remaining in Warehouse at the close thereof.

Oiiantitv Quantity en-i Quantity
^ ^ tered for Iremaining in
consumption.! warehouse.

Species of Grain.

Wheat, from
Possessions ...

Barley, do

Oats, do

Peas, from do...
W'heat, foreign .

Barley, do

Oats, do

Rye, do

Peas, do

Beans, do

Indian Com, do.
Malt, do

Flour from British Pos-
sessions

Plour, foreign ' j

imported.

qrs. bush.

402
151
212

88

25893

80267

193r,3

710

3315

1.'5676

2700

cwts. qrs.lbs,

41077 3 23
14083 2 16

qrs. bush. qrs. bush.

516 4

151 7

212 0

88 1

17575 5

268865 0

21100 8

507 1

939 4

30335 4

6014 2

cwts. qrs. lbs,

161 2

0 2

363210 6

9793 7

877-11

8524

8734

550

7

5
0
4
2
5
6
cwts. qrs.lbs.

46597 1 16 1.S379 3 22
2774 1 24)257848 2 27

STOCK OF GRAiN IN BOND IN LONDON
NOVEMBER 5.

Wheat. Barley. Oats. Beans. Peas. Rye. Flour.

qrs. qrs. qrs. qrs. qrs. qrs. cwts,

123,268 6,047 34,184 1,012 1,594 — 2,586

PRICES OF SEEDS.

November 25.

Linseed, English, sowing 52 58

Baltic — — crushing 38 42 per qr

Linseed Cakes, English. .11/. Os.to \2l. Os. per 1000

Do. Foreign.. 61. 0. to 91. 15s. per ton.

Large, foreign .... — —

Mediter. & Odessa 38 40

Carraway 44 46 new .. 48 50percwt.

Coriander 15 18 percwt.

Mustard, brown, new.... 12 17 white. ,14 18 p. bush,

Rapeseed, English, new . . 23/. 25/. per last.

Hempseed 35 38 per qr.

Trefoil — — old.. — new —

Rye Grass, English — — Scotch— — nominal.

Tares, Winter 5s. 6d. to 63. 8d.

Tares, old ... . — — new — — per qr,
Canary, fine 53 66 per qr. new, 51s. to 57s.

PRICES OF HOPS.
BOROUGH, Monday, Nov. 25.

The transactions in Hops have been rather limited, but
there is no particular alteration in the market ; for although
the yield exceeds the quantity calculated upon by some,
the stock of old Hops on hand is so trifling as to leave
fair room for the consumption of the existing yield, since
an unfavourable year would find us badly provided.

WORCESTER, (Saturday /«*<.)— There has been
no alteration in our market since the duty was declared,
prices being fully maintained. There is, however, but
little doing, owing to the scarcity of Hops on hand.
There were only 83 pockets of new, and 9 of old Hops
weighed to-day, and 7 pockets of new, and 53 of old in
the week.

POTATO MARKET.
SOUTHWARK, WATERSIDE, Nov. 25.
During the past week the supplies have been liberal
from most of the shipping districts, and in consequence
of the previous shortness of the supply there has been a
ready demand for the best, but for the second-rate
samples went oiF heavily.

York Reds 60 to 70

Perth do 55 to 60

Early Devons do — to 65

Cornwall do — to 65

Jersey Blues 50 to 55

Do. Whites 45 to 50

Kent & Essex Whites. 50 to 55

LEEDS DOCK-SIDE

Kent & Essex Kidneys 55 to 6)
Wisbeach Kidneys .. 60 to 65

Do. Blues 50 to 55

Do. Whites 55 to CO

Guernsey Blues 50 to 55

Do. Whites 45 to 50

Prince Regents 55 to f 5

POTATO MARKET.

Nov. 22. — The arrivals this week are very small. Prince
Regents are selUng from lid. to Is., and the best
Prince Regents are very firm at Is. per weigh of 4 libs.

WOOL MARKETS.

BRITISH.

LEEDS, Nov. 22. — There has been rather more
done in sales of wool this week. The manufacturers
still limit their purchases to their present wants ; but
as they are all of them light in stocks of wool, it
has been in more general inquiry. Last week's prices
have readily been obtained, where sales have been
effected.

WAKEFIELD, Nov. 22.— There is nothing new
to report of the state either of the long or short wool
market ; consumers generally merely buy to supply
immediate requirements, and the trade stiU rules dull
upon the whole, but in deep combing wools there are
parties willing to buy in anticipation, where they find
holders disposed to meet them by a little submission in
price from late rates.

LIVERPOOL, Nov. 23.
Scotch. — There has been rather more doing in laid
Highland Wool this week, and on the whole rather a
better feeling ; there has also been more doing in white
Highland at full prices. There has been little or no de-
mand for either cross or Cheviot Wool, but as the sales
are by no means large we keep our quotations as before.

s. d. 8. d.

Laid Highland Wool, per 241bs .... 8 9 to 9 6

White do. do 12 9 13 0

Laid Crossed do., unwashed.... 10 3 11 6

Do. do., washed 11 6 14 0

Do. Cheviot do. unwashed .... 11 0 13 0

Do. do.. washed 14 0 18 6

White Do. do 24 0 27 6

Foreign. — There has been more inquiry this week
for all descriptions, and hope to be able to report more
business in our next.

672

THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE.

FOREIGN WOOL.— CITY, Nov. 25.

The market for wool is steady generally, and we think
the advices from Sydney, of an advance there, will be
likely to strengthen it.

The dates from Sydney are to July 30. It is stated

that a gentleman had imported a few sheep of a peculiar

character, known as the improved breed of Kent. The

crossing of these with pure merinoes was represented to

have produced an animal witli a fleece of fine combing

wool of a very superior description. Wool, owing to

the rise in London, had advanced at Sydney 2d. to 3d.

per lb. ; but most of the clip had already been sold to the

merchants, and the growers therefore would not I'eap

much benefit. Fleece of first quality was quoted Is. 2d.

to Is. 3d. ; do., second, Is. to Is. Id.; and inferior,

9d. to lid. per lb. There Avas no fine offering. First

quality skin wool, very white, was at Is. Id , inferior at

6d. to 7d., and superior sheep-skins were 2s. 3d.

Freight to London and Liverpool was l^d. per lb., with

an appearance of a further rise, owing to the scarcity

of shipping.

Accounts of the 12th instant from Frankfort-on-the-
Oder state that the fair there had not gone off quite so
well as could be wished. The total quantity of goods
was 75,000 cwt., but the attendance of buyers was rather
limited. Cloth and woollen goods, owing to the ad-
vance in wool, and the higher rates consequently asked
for fabrics, were not in brisk demand. The raw staple,
however, was in decided request, and 4,000 to 5,000
cwt. sold quickly at improved quotations.

EAW HIDES,

at per stone of 141bs.

s. d. s.

Beststcers& heifers 5 6 5

Middling hides..-. 4 8 5

Inferior ditto .... 4 2 4

I SHEEP & CALF SKINS
Per skin,
d. s. d.

10 Market calf 6 6

4 Long wooUcdsliefp 2 6

6 I Short ditto 2 0

s. d.
8 0
3 9
3 0

PRICES OF MANURES.

Subjoined are the present prices of several sorts of
Manure : —

Hunt's Bone-dust, 17s. per qr.

Hunt's Half-inch Bone, I5s.
per qr.

J. T. Hunt's Artificial Guano,
9^ per ton

Hunt's Stufi' Graves, 51. per ton

Eape Dust, 6/. 6s. per ton

Eape Cake, 61. per ton

Bags, 41. to 4/. 10s. per ton

Graves, 6/. 10s. per ton

Gypsum, at the waterside, 35s.
per ton

Agricultural Salt, 32s. per ton

Carbon, 12s. per qr.

Humus, 14s. per qr.

Soap Ashes, 10s. per ton

Patent Disinfected Manure,
13s. 6d. per qr.

Highly Concentrated Manure,
30s. per qr.

Nitrate of Soda, 16s. per cwt.

Nitrate Potash (saltpetre), 25s.
to i6s. per cwt.

Petre Salt, il. 10s. per ton

Willey Dust, 4/!. 4s. per ton

The Urate of the London Ma-
nure Company, 4Z.4s. per ton

New Bristol Manure, 8s. per qr.

Hunt's new Fertilizer, 13s. 4d.
per qr.

Preparation for Turnip Fly,
10s. 6d. per pakt., sufficient
for three acres

Chie fou, 2 Is. per cwt.

WolverhamptonCompost( Alex-
ander's), 12s. perqr., subject

to carriage to London, or
forwarded from Wolver-
hampton

Guano, Peruvian, lOZ. 10s. ;
Bolivian, 9/.; African, 6L6s.
to 7t. 10s. per ton, according
to analysis

Potter's Artificial Guano, III.
per ton.

Muriate of Ammonia, 20s. to
2Js. per cwt.

Muriate of Lime, 6s. per cwt.

Clarke's Compost, 3/. 12s. 6il.
per hhd., sufficient for three
acres

Alknlies, 28s. and 42s. per cwt.

Soda Ash, 14s. to I Gs. per cwt.

Chloride Lime, 28s. per cwt.

Sulphuric Acid, l^d. per lb.

Sulphur for Destroying Worm
on Turnips, 12s. per cwt.

Sulphate Soda, 6s. per cwt.

The Liverpool Abattoir Com-
pany's Animalized Manuring
Powder, 21. lOs. per ton

Manure Powder, 16s. per qr.

Boast and Co.'s (Bow) Inor-
ganic Manures, from 6s. to
lis. per cwt., according to
crop

Boast's Guano, 91. 9s. per ton

FothergiU's Gypsum, 35s. pei
ton.

Fotliergill's Phosphate of Lime,
14s. per cwt.

Superphosphate of Lime, 8s. do.

PRICES OF SHARES.

Div
Shares, per Ann.

9,.^00
10,000
15,000
6,610
SG,Ol)0
50,f-00
42,000

50,000

10,000
19,000

.56,000
141,000

10,800
10,918
10,918
10,918
20,000

10,000

25,000
25,000
37,500

10,.500

8,000

8,000

5,000

16,1)00

8,000

5,100

7,968

11,475

4U'5000Z

41,250

54,450

43,000

36,000

43,077
l^l-iO
46,200

33,000
38,000
90,000
8,000
13.000
13,000
13,000
30,000

4155000i

978500/
20,000
36,000
1 0,2.56
3,136
12,208
19,000

3/5^psIi
I5s Od
i/I6spsh

ir.O.N RAILWAYS.

25,000
2,600
9,600

26,000
7,000

18,000

22,000
66,000

28,000

45,000
7,500

6,700
6,700

25,300

18,000

6s. p. sh
iil per ct

lOZperct
lO/per el
10/per ct

57s6dpc

71 per ct
71 per ct
71 per ct

s; per ct

10/perct
lOZperct
lO^perct
10/per ct
IO/|erct
lOZper ct

I /5s psh
.5/ per CI

•5/ per Ct

4/7s6dps

37s6d p

ts

2/ p sh

4Z-(s psh

2/13spsh

2/ 5s
15s

Price per
Share.

!)8 a J

69 a 70
34 a 5

a 0
3

4 a n

2J a i

13J a
s Pm

9 a 8J
i:8^al7§
15J a 15
I39.i a 9
87
252

Birmingham and GlouccsterlOOZ sh pd
Do. New, iss. r.i dis. .. 25/ sh 17^/ pd

rtristol and Excler 100/ sh 70/ pri

Do. and Gloucester .... 50/ sh 3't/ jid

Caledonian 50/ sh 5/ pd

Cambridge and Lincoln 25/ 1;/

Chester and Holyhead 5/ pd

CMchester and Brighton . , . . . . .5/ pd

• hurnct Valley w/ pd

Direct N'lrthern 50/ sh 2.!^ pd

Diss, Becclps, & Yarmouth. 2o/sh 1 J/pd
Dublin & Belfast Junction 50'sh 2.J/pd

Ditto and Galway 2J/ pd

Eastern Counties 25/ sh 25/ pd

Do Perpetual.. 6/ 13s 4dsh W 13s4dpd

Ditto ditto. No. 2

Ely and Bedford 25' 5h 1/ pd

Grand Junction 100/ sh pd

Ditto Half Shares 50/ sh pd

Ditto Quarter Shares 23/ sh pd

Great Southern & Western (Ireland),
60/ sh 5/ pd

Great North of England 100/ sh pd

Ditto New 40/ sh 5/ pd

Great Western 100/ sh 75/ pd

Ditto Halt Shares 60/ sh pd

Ditto Fiftlis 20/ sh 12/ pd

Guildford Junction.... 60/ sh 20/ pd

Harwich 20/ sh 1/ pd

Hull and Selby 50/ sh pd

Do. Quarter Shares.. .. 12J/ sh 10/ pd
Kendal Windermere ... 25/ sh IJ/ pd
Lancaster and Carlisle... 50/ sh 10/ pd
Leeds and Bradford ... 50/ sh 5/ pi
Liverpool & Manchester. . . . 100/ sh pd

Ditto Half Shares 50/ sh pd

Ditto Quarter Shares .... 25/ sh pd

London & Birmingham Stock

Ditto New Thirds 32/ sh 2/ pd

Ditto New Quarter Sliares 25/sh2/ pd
London & Blackwall . . Av. 16/ 13s 4d

London and Brighton 50/ sh pd

Ditto Loan Notes 10/ sh pd

London & Greenwich .. Av. 12/ 15s 4d
Preference or Privilege. .Av. 18/ 17s2d
i/5s psh London & South West... Av.41/6s lOd
Ditto Eighths, Regist. 6/ 5s p sh 15s pd
lOsOd p s London 4c Croydon .... Av. IS/ 15s yd
Do. Guaranteed 5 per Ct.. 9/ sh 2/ pd

London and York 50/ sh 2j' pd

Lynn i.nd Ely 25/ sh ij/pd

.Manchester &; Lced.s .. 100/ sh 70/ pd

Ditto HalfShares 50/sh80/ pd

Ditto Quarter Shares .... 26/ sh 2/ pd
Manchester & Birniing.. 40/sh40/pd51 a 50^

Do. i Sbares 10/ sh 2/ pd

Midland Stoct|l08 e. n.

Ditto Fifths 2/ pd

Ditto Birmingham & Derby .... Stock
Newcsil&Darlingt June. ..25,'sh21/ pd

North British 5/ pd

Northern &. Eastern .50/ sh 45/ pd

Do. Scrip .. iss. 5 dis. ..50/ sh 25/ pd

Do. i Shares 12/ IDs sh pd

Norwich and Brandon. . . .20/ sh 6/ pd

Ditto New 10/ sh

Portsmouth Direct. .. . . 50/ sh 1/ pd

Preston &Wy re 50/ sh

Ditto,SerondPreference,18t2, 25/shpd
Sheffield and Lincoln... 25/ sh 1^/pd
Sheffield aiidManchesterlOO/sh 82iJ/pd

Ditto i Shares 25/ sh 8' pd

Shrews., Wolverham., Dudley, Birm.,
50/ Bh 2i/ pd

South Devon 50/ sh 5/ pd

South Eastern and Dover Ave-
rage 33/ 2s 4d
Ditto New, iss. 18 dis. ..60/ sh 4/ pd
rhainps and Medway . . . Av. 19/ 5s 8d

Trent Valley 20/ sh 2/ pd

Yarmouth and Norwich 20/ sh 20/ pd

Ditto New 20/ sh 5/ pd

York & North Midland .... 50/ sh pd

Ditto Half Shares 25/sh 25/ pd

Ditto Scarboro' Branch 10/ pd

Ditto Selby Scrip 20/ pd

Ditto Extension 25/sh

SCOTCH RAILWAY.
Edinburgh & Glasgow .... 30/ sli pd

14

5/ per ct

1/ Is

lO/percl
10/perct

4J/per ct

I2i

217 a 18
.•<8 a 7J
26i a 7i
6i a i
47J a J
IIS
9i a|

75g a 6

i7i a 16

2J a 3

II5.Jal5
50 a 40^

SO

50.i a 50

57j a 6J
35i

121 a i

94i

II a 4

i7 a

fi

Hi

a 11

7^ a

i

.!5

102

» 3.1

•U

x4

12 a

'*

iU a

i

H

)in

58i

END OF VOLUME XXI.

Printed by Joseph Rogerson, 'M, Norfolk-street, Strand, London.

INDEX TO THE TEMTH VOLUME.

(second series.)

Agriculture, 326

Agriculture in the neighbourhood

of Axminster, essay on, 521
Agriculture, science of. Professor

Johnston's lecture on, 389
Agriculture in Ireland, remarks

on, 384
Agriculture, Vonlliaer's system.

By C. W. Johnson, Esq.,

F.R.S., 192
Agricultural aphorisms, to the

landlords and tenants of Essex,

462
Agricultural chemistry. By a

South Derbyshire Farmer, 88
Agricultural chemistry. By Pro-
fessor Brande, 33
Agricultural chemistry, lecture

on, at the Norton Farmers'

Club, 544
Agricultural chemistry, on its

uses and abuses, 191
Agricultural chemistry, and

Highland Society's show of

seed wheat, 491
Agricultural coUege, &c., 97
Agricultural improvements. By

I, J. Mechi, 4, 212, 214, 216
Agricultural implement clubs,

229
Agricultural inteUigence, 68
Agricultural performance, extra-
ordinary, 179
Agricultural Protection Society

of Essex, 98
Agricultural queries, 67, 179,

273, 373, 467, 560
Agricultural reports, 70, 181, 275,

369, 469, 564
Agricultural sale at Eastwich

Park, Surrey, 301
Agricultural Suggestions. By J.

Towers, M.R.A.S., 177, 507

Agricultural Societies —

Abingdon, 433

Arundel, 483

Breconshire, 440

Cuckfield and Weald of Es-
sex, 545

Dray cot, 545

East Cumberland, 437, 448

Herts, 435

Heigh ton, 491

Highland, 491

Horncastle, 524

Isle of Ely, 434

Isle of Sheppey, 100, 492

Ledbury, 387

Liverpool, 534

Llandovery, 519

Loughborough, 511

North Derbyshire, 430

Pembrokeshire, 258

Rutland, 301

Scotland, 243

Stamford, 441

Stewponey, 41 1, 451

Tyneside, 443

Vale of Evesham, 436

"Wantage, 433

Wetherby, 429

Wiltshire, 359

Yorkshire, 217

Yorkshire East Riding, 259
Allotment system and game laws,

483
Ammonia, sulphate of, 371
Ammonia, gypsum, and salt, for

fixing, 540
Answers to agricultural queries,

67, 179, 274, 374, 468, 561
Arable land, expenses and pro-
duce of, 229
Averages, imperial, for the six
weeks wliich regulate the duty,
78, 187, 280, 383, 475, 571

BaUinasloe fair, 544

Banks, country, their issues, 202,
364

Banks, Joint Stock, 395

Banks, utility of, 559

Beccles Farmers' Club, fifth an-
nual report, 12

Bone manure, its advantages to
the agriculture of Cheshire,
509

Britain able to fertilize herself,
539

Campbell's, Mr., steep and thin
somng, 523

Cart, a Mexican, 66

Cattle, disease amongst, 347

Cattle, disease of, 16

Cattle, epidemic amongst, 357

Cattle, fatal disease in, 367

Cattle, gorse as food for, 66

Cattle, influenza amongst, 359

Cattle Insurance Association, 468

Cattle, new and extraordinary
complaint amongst, 341

Cattle, rearing, with a view to
early maturity, 219

Cattle, researches on their fat-
tening and formation of milk,
418

Cattle, short-horned, extraordi-
nary sales of, 374

Cayley, Edward Stilhngfleet,
Esq., M.P., memoir of, 81

Cheese making, experiments in,
179

Chemistry, its application to agri-
culture. By W. Maddick,
jun., 195

Chemistry, lectures on, by Dr<
Murray, 225

Cheshire, farming of, 311, 397

u

INDEX TO THE TENTH VOLUME.

Cider and peri"}', directions how
to make, 539

College, agricultural, 97

College of Chemistry, 489

Commons Inclosure Bill, Lord
Worsley's,426

Corn, on harvesting, 222

Corn, the most approved method
of mowing, 248

Corn trade, Canada, great in-
crease of the, 341

Cow, criteiion of a good one,
427

Dairy management, 541

Dairy management in Belgium,

37
Drainage in Norfolk, 5l7
Drainage of surface water from

hea\7 land. By I. J. Mechi,

216
Draining and deepening the soil,

on. By J. Sproule, 17, 101
Draining the Haarlem lake, 203
Draining, thorough, 336
Ducie's, Earl, statement of the

cost of growing wheat, 113
Ducie's, Earl, speech at Covent

Garden in favour of free trade,

117
Ducie's Earl, example farm, 349
Dung heaps in farm yards, 230

Enclosures, small, and large
hedges, remarks on, 347

Engineers, institution of civil, 65

Essay on fat and muscle. By
W. F. Karkeek, V.S., 232

Euston, Earl of, and game laws,
486

Exhibition of stock and imple-
ments at Penwith, 14

Experiment on winter fallow and
subsoil ploughing at Polmaise,
201

Falkirk tryst, 242
Fallow, on winter, 201
Farmers versus free trade, 52
Farmers' Clubs —

Barton, 470

Beccles, 12

Bromsgrove, 231

Darhngton, 427

Doncaster, 562

East Cornwall, 1 1 1

Gloucester, 362

Great Torrington, 416

Kirtle Water, 205

London, 64, 177 253, 500

North Cornwall, 220

Norton, 38, 544

Rhins of Galloway, 357

Rugeley, 24

Farmers' Clubs —

Stewponey, 7, 352, 529
Stratford, 90
Stratford on Avon, 222
West Firle, 428
Wingerworth, 538
Farming of Cheshire, prize re-
port, 311, 397
Farming in North Wales, 382
Farm yards and dung heaps, 2 30
Fat and muscle, essay on, 232
Fibrous covering, Gurneism, 335,

466, 559
Fruit trees, principles appUcable
to their management, 424

Game laws and allotment sys-
tem, 483

Game laws and the Earl of Eus-
ton, 486

Gorse as food for cattle, 66

Grain, comparative prices of, 78,
188,283, 380, 475,571

Grain, comparative merits of the
different modes of reaping, 342

Grantham, Mr. Stephen, memoir
of, 477

Grass land, on renewing old, 435

Guano, its value and uses, 452

Hames, Bencraft's patent, 201
Hedges, large and small en-
closures, remarks on, 347
Hedge rows of Devon, 396
Hop duty for 1844, 562
Hop duty calculations, 178
Hops, prices of, 78, 188, 283,

380, 475, 571
Horses, the treatment of — the

bearing rein, 301
Horses and oxen, the compara-
tive advantage in the employ-
ment of, 350

Insurance office, The Royal
Farmers', annual meeting of
the shareholders, 84

Ireland, letters from, by the
editor of Bayldon on Rent and
Tillages, 41, 108, 207

Irish agriculture, remarks on,
384, 494

Irish Waste Land Improvement
Society, 348

Irrigation, accounts of experi-
ments on a limited scale, 360

Irrigation in Egypt, 523

Irrigation, remarks on, by Geo.
King, C.E., 198

Labourer, condition of the, 53
Labourers, on the diminishing

means of farmers to employ

them, 99

Labourers, wages of agricultural, ^

349
Labouring Classes, Society for

Improving the Condition of,

64, 334
Land at Rodmorton, expenses

and profit of half an acre, 335
Letter from Mr. Daniel Banton

to the Editor, 95
Letters from Ireland, 41, 108,

207
Liebig, professor, at Glasgow, 490

Malt tax, on the repeal of the,

463
Malt tax, meeting in London to

repeal the, 501
Manures, experiments with arti-
ficial, 339
Manures, farm yard, economy of,

293
Manures, observations on the
management and apphcation of,
61, 254, 327
Manures, price of, 79, 189, 284,

380, 476, 571
Manures, special, experiments

with, 265, 304
Memoirs of —

Cayley, Edwd. S., Esq,,

M.P., 81
Grantham, Mr, Stephen, 477
Richmond, Duke of, K.G.,

287
Pusey, Philip, Esq., M.P.,
F.R.S., 1
Meteorologicd diary, 206, 368,

464, 563
Milk and butter versus beef, 541
Moss, to free land from, 69

North Wales, farming in, 382
Northamptonshire Farming and
Grazing Society, 49

Orthopaedic Institution, 462
Oxen and horses, comparative

advantage in the employment

of, 350

Pasture lands, on ploughing old,

543 f

Penwith exhibition of stock and

implements, 14
Planting trees, on, 197, 355, 393
Plough, Rutland, 252
Porter and ale, the constunption

in London in 1843 and 1844,

463
Potato, the cultivation of, 303
Potato, the rot in, 468
Powel, Col.' presentation of tes-

timonialto, 295

INDEX TO THE TENTH VOLUME.

m

Prize essay on drainage in Nor-
folk. By Mr. R. N. Bacon,
517

Pusey, Philip, Esq., M.P.,
M.R.S., memoir of, 1

Ram sale at NortWeach, 183
Review of the com trade, 74, 184,

279, 3/6,471, 566
Reviews —

Lectures on agricultural

chemistr}% 507
The song of the British
farmer, 65
Richmond, Duke of, memoir of

the, 287
Royal Agricultural Society of
England, 54, 126, 249, 338,
557
Rugely Farmers' Club, report of

the, 24
Rutland plough, 252

Scotland, Highland and Agricul-
tural Society of, 243

Seeds, on steeping. By Henry
Biggs, 15

Seeds, pricesof, 78, 188, 283, 380,

475, 571

Shares, prices of, 80, 190, 286,

476, 571

Sheep, on the breed of, 31
Southampton meeting, list of im-
plements, seeds, &c,, &c., ex-
hibited, 130

Southampton meeting, award of
the judges of implements, 160

Southampton meeting, report of
the, 161

Sowing, thin, and Mr. Camp-
bell's steep, 523

Sparrows, curious calculation of
damage to farmers by, 112

Steam, on its application to agri-
cultiu-al purposes, 92

Stifle burning, on, 359, 394, 395,
520

Stock, sale at Mr. Fisher Hobbs,
336

Stock, the Lowther stock sale,
470

Tallow, 66

Thrashing machine, patent peg,

204
Tile draining in Ayrshire, 232
Trees, on planting, 197, 355, 393
Trenching land, beneficial results

from, 541
Turnip crop, 349

Von Thaer's system of agricul-
ture and German Farming.
By Cuthbert W. Johnson,
Esq., F.R.S., 192

Western, Right,
death of, 506

Hon. Lord,

Wheat, cost of growing, 50,

271
Wheat, expense of cultivating,

32
Wheat, experiment on the growth

of, 204
Wheat, improvements in the

dibbUng of, 302
Wheat, mummy, 274
Wheat, observations on insects

which prey upon it during its

growth and in the granary,

470
Wheat, on mowing. By a tenant

farmer, 115
Whitfield example farm, the,

51
Whitfield example farm, the cost

of growing wheat, 50
Whitfield farm, 51
Whitfield farm, the, 50
Whitfield farm, By R. L,

Townsend, 122, 125
Winter fallow, 201
Wool, foreign, duty on, 48
Wool markets, 78, 188, 284, 380,

475, 471
Wool trade, the colonial, of the

United Kingdom, 452, 552
Woollens, Belgian, for the

Chinese market, 461

Yearlings, management of, 96

I

THE EMBELLISHMENTS.

Portrait of Philip Pusey, Esq., M.P.

Page,
to face Title.

A Yearling Heifer

. 1

A Short-horned Yearling Bull

. 81

Portrait of E. S. Cayley, Esq.

. 82

Improved Essex Boar

. 191

Orlando, winner of the Derby

. 191

Portrait of the Duke of Richmond

. 287

Mr. Hazledine's Dung Water Tank

. 293

The Vase, presented to Col. Powell

. 300

A Short-horned Biill *

. 381

The Princess, winner of the Oaks

. 381

Portrait of Mr. Stephen Grantham

. 477

A Devon Bull * a

. 477

i^^'