ep a ¢ T 7 y - : 7 7 - ‘ r nu oe ih Py i i ay ad , ¥ i i \ ) ; +o . - : ; . q ‘ ‘ i . ‘ - = y e 1 j ‘ | : i ‘ . ch * i tx 2 ’ . ; 1 ’ F i i - THE JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND. VOLUME THE TWENTY-FIRST. PRACTICE WITH SCIENCE, LIBRARY NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1860. Bi] i al ~O433 Vo| ik THESE EXPERIMENTS, IT IS TRUE, ARE NOT EASY}; STILL THEY ARE IN THE POWER OF EVERY THINKING HUSBANDMAN. HE WHO ACCOMPLISHES BUT ONE, OF HOWEVER LIMITED APPLICATION, AND TAKES CARE TO REPORT IT FAITHFULLY, ADVANCES THE SCIENCE, AND, CONSEQUENTLY, THE PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE, AND ACQUIRES THEREBY A RIGHT TO THE GRATITUDE OF HIS FELLOWS, AND OF THOSE WHO COME AFTER. TO MAKE MANY SUCH IS BEYOND THE POWER OF MOST INDIVIDUALS, AND CANNOT BE EXPECTED. THE FIRST CARE OF ALL SOCIETIES FORMED FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF OUR SCIENCE SHOULD BE TO PREPARE THE FORMS OF SUCH EXPERIMENTS, AND TO DISTRIBUTE THE EXECUTION OF THESE AMONG THEIR MEMBERS. Von Tuan, Principles of Agriculture. CONTENTS OF VOL. XXI. STATISTICS :— Meteorology, for the six months ending June 80,1860 .. ..) Public Health ditto ditto COM? voce he» Wid Price of Provisions ditto ditto sp ed Loeaes WL Weekly Average of Wheat... A yeni Meteorology, for the six months ending December 31, 1860 Sou aes Public Health ditto ditto * Se Seve Price of Provisions ditto ditto andy Lace eee pV ARTICLE PAGE I.—On the Agriculture of Berkshire. By J. B. Spearing 6 aril Il.—The Mechanical Condition of the Soil favourable for tke Growth of Seed. By Professor Tanner aa 46 IlI.—Essay on Recent Improvements in peat Denotes, By : James Fulton... aan (ea ee 1V.—Recent Improvements in Dany Pais: By. Toren Heats 82 V.—On the Composition of two Varieties of Kohl-Rabi and of Cattle-Cabbage. By Dr. Augustus Voelcker .. .. 93 VI.—On the Composition and Nutritive Properties of Mangold- pulp (the Refuse of Beet-root siiehusheti BY Dr. Augustus WVoelcker ..- .. VII.—On the Chemical Properties ‘of Soils. By Dr. Sy es Voelcker .. .. . 105 VIII.—The Drainage of Whittlesea Mares any W. Wells on.a.) 84 IX.—The Proper Office of Straw on a Farm. By Henry Evershed 153 X.—Statistics of Live Stock and Dead Meat for pierce in the Metropolis. By Robert Herbert .. .. 173 XI.—Report of Experiments on the Growth of Red foteen by different Manures. By J. B. Lawes, Hsq., F.R.S., F.C.S., and Dr. J. H. Gilbert, F.R.S., F.C.S. Parle. Sales XII.—On the Moveable Steantetht cine: By 2. Hi Hrere: 2, .. 201 Lo XII.—Remarks on the Composition of the Blood, and principally D with Reference to those Diseases of Cattle and Sheep in which i the Fluid undergoes important Pathological Changes. By ™ James Beart Simonds, Professor of Cattle Pathology at the aa Royal Veterinary College, aoa ee to the Heys al = Agricultural Society, &e. ai . 206 < XIV.—On the Feeding of Stock. By P. He Brent af .. 218 = ' XYV.—On the Modifications of the Four-course Rotation: faech Modern ae eon have rendered advisable. 156 JD} PNMOKEtb) pice. om -. 258 XVI.—Report upon the Past ana Brewer State of ino Reaonlints of the Danish Monarchy ; its Products, with Comparative Tables of Exports. By Harry Rainals ab -. 267 XVII.—On the Application of the Manure of the Farm. By Proleseen Tanner. Prize Essay .. .. 329 XVIII.—On the Chemical Composition and Gomanarcial Vilas of Norwegian Apatite, Spanish Phosphorite, Coprolites, and other Phosphatic Materials used in England for Agricultural Purposes. By Dr. Augustus Voelcker.. .. .. « . 850 il CONTENTS. ARTICLE PAGE X1X.—Statisties of Live Stock and Dead Meat for Consumption in the Metropolis. By Robert Herbert >. toe SOG XX.—On a Course of Cropping adopted in Kent. By R. Heathorn 385 XXIJ.—On the Composition of the Yellow Lupine, and a Soil suitable to its Culture. By Dr. Augustus Voelcker.. .. .. .. 389 XXII.—On the Present Aspect of Steam Culture. By P. H. Frere 401 XXIII.—On the Composition of Oxen, Sheep, and Pigs, and of their Increase whilst Fattening. By J. B. Lawes, Esq., F.R.S., F.€:s., and Dr. J. Hl. Gilbert; i.R:S.,, Cisne eee oS XXIV.—Report on the Exhibition and Trials of Implements at the Canterbury Meeting. By H. B. Caldwell, Acting Senior Steward) ss, <2 ss ss ce ie), Metro XXV.—The Canterbury Meeting. By P.H. Frere... .. .. .. 518 XXVI.—Report on the Riding Horses and Ponies shown at Canterbury, with Remarks on the present Breed of Riding Horses. By J. Earle Welby Seer eer ure ec Ay Hl XXVII.—M. L. de Layergne on the Rural Economy of France since 1789.) By F. Ro dela Dréhonnais, |<. | 22 eeueeeeeneeoel| MIscELLANEOUS COMMUNICATIONS AND NovTICcES we, eel, Gide ep EES APPENDIX. ae List of Officers of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, 1860-61 i, xxxiii Memoranda of Meetings, Privileges, Payment of Subscription, &c. ii, xxxiv Report of the Council to the General Meeting, May 22, 1860 ee ili Half-yearly Balance-sheet, ending December 31,1859 .. .. .. .. v List of Stewards, Judges, &c., at the Canterbury Meeting .. .. .. Vv Prize-Awards of the Judges of Live-Stock: Canterbury Meeting .. .. vii Special Prizes given by the Canterbury Local Committee >. ogee Commendations of the Judges of Live-Stock : Canterbury Meeting .. xvi Prize-Awards of the Judges of Implements: Canterbury Meeting.. .. xxi Commendations of the Judges of Implements: Canterbury Meeting .. xxiii Prizes given by the Canterbury Local Committee .. .. .. .. .. XXiV Awards of Prizes for Essays and Reports, 1859-60 wo sot enero Report of the Council to the General Meeting, December 12, 1861. Xxxv Half-yearly Balance-sheet, ending June 30,1860 .. .. .. .. XXXVill Country Meeting Account, Canterbury, 1860.50 2c) | i.e ieee xl Prizes for Essays, 1861 wisi || (ja) slot yiisinl @ cael tS eo xli Rules of Competition for Prize Essays... 6. ee ee we ewe iil Prizes offereditore6l: Iiceds Meeting .5 <3) 22) (2s) sue use Dene: Members’ Privileges of Chemical Analysis si, sist). (aie gC RID, Members’ Veterinary Privileges.. -. 22 2 +5 an oe we we lv DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER. q i is ired to collect together all the Appendix matter, with Roman numeral folios, and Ate (hace eee each volume of the Journal, excepting Titles and Contents, and Statistics, k&e., which are in all cases to be placed at the beginning of the Volume: the lettering at the back to include a statement of the year as well as the volume ; the first volume belonging to 1839-40, the second to 1841, the third to 1842, the fourth to 1843, and soon. — ; ‘ eee In Reprints of the Journal all Appendix matter (and in one instance an Article in the body o the Journal), which at the time had become obsolete, were omitted; the Roman numeral folios, however (for convenience of reference), being reprinted without alteration in the Appendix matter retained. Geological Map of Berkshire to face p, 1. Lithographie Plan illustrating the Effect of Different Manures on the Growth of Red Clover - .. to face p. 187. .- - - oe CONTENTS OF PART L, VOL. XXI. STATISTICS :-— PAGE Meteorology, for the six months ending June 30,1860 .. .. IL Public Health ditto ditto as baltt gaaree Price of Provisions ditto ditto iad Ae asen L Weekly Average of Wheat .. .. «6 +e ee 0 ae ee we VIE ARTICLE , PAGE I.—On the Agriculture of Berkshire. By J. B. Spearing Bes egal IJ.—The Mechanical Condition of the Soil favourable for the Growth of Seed. By Professor Tanner an aed 46 IlI.—Essay on Recent Improvements in ret Beadtice. By Games HUMON ss | oa ae) es oe) Mae den ia 1V.—Recent Improvements in Dairy Practice. By J osopl Hesdiie 82 V.—On the Composition of two Varieties of Kohl-Rabi and of Cattle-Cabbage. By Dr. Augustus Voelcker .. .. 93 VI.—On the Composition and Nutritive Properties of Maxieold- pulp (the Refuse of Beet-root ee: if Dr. Augustus Voelcker .. .. e oy. 97 VII.—On the Chemical Properties of Soils. By De ‘Adie Voelcker .. .. - bs . 105 VItl.—The Drainage of Whittlesea Mere Be W. Wells sae hieat (BA TX.—The Proper Office of Straw on a Farm. By Henry Evershed 153 X.—Statistics of Live Stock and Dead Meat for accom in the Metropolis. By Robert Herbert .. .. 173 XI.—Report of Experiments on the Growth of ned ‘Slogan ie different Manures. By J. B. Lawes, Esq., F.R.S., F.C.S., and Dr. J. H. Gilbert, F.R.S., F.C.S. Partl. .. .. .. 178 XII.—On the Moveable Steam-Engine. By P. H. Frere .. .. 201 XIII.—Remarks on the Composition of the Blood, and principally with Reference to those Diseases of Cattle and Sheep in which the Fluid undergoes important Pathological Changes. By James Beart Simonds, Professor of Cattle Pathology at the Royal Veterinary College, hoe aes to the ie Agricultural Society, &c. oe ee. ir -. 206 XIV.—On the Feeding of Stock. By P. Ef Frond Bee Vie e ra HLS XV.—On the Modifications of the Four-course Banaion, which Modern Improvements have rendered advisable. By P. D. CKGUIMY UM MERI cdi yee, st wa) eee lt eat tee EDS i CONTENTS. APPENDIX. PAGE List of Officers of the Royal Agricultural Society of Eneland, 1860-61 i Memoranda of Meetings, Privileges, Payment of Subscription, &ce. .. ii Report of the Council to the General Meeting, May 22, 1860 RAR Mesee ill Half-yearly Balance-sheet, ending December 81,1859 .. .. .. « Vv List of Stewards, Judges, &c., at the Canterbury Meeting .. .. .. v Prize-Awards of the Judges of Live-Stock: Canterbury Meeting .. .. vii Special Prizes given by the Canterbury Local Committee .. .. .. xiv Commendations of the Judges of Live-Stock : Canterbury Meeting .. xvi Prize-Awards of the Judges of Implements: Canterbury Meeting.. .. xxi Commendations of the Judges of Implements : Canterbury Meeting .. xxiii Prizes given by the Canterbury Local Committee .. .. .. .. «.. XXIV Awards of Prizes for Essays and Reports, 1859-1860 .. .. .. ,. XXvVi Prizes:for Wssays, 186U sais) net wk, Sle tele eel eon RR SOT Rules of Competition for Prize Essays .. 2) 7.. 92.1.) la) en oom Members’ Privileges of Chemical Analysis eebcderre tex os. og SSS Members” Vietétinary Privileges\9 9%. <0) ‘sie eel | sel akestnny ERED ' DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER. The Binder is desired to collect together all the Appendix matter, with Roman numeral folios, and place it at the end of each volume of the Journal, excepting Titles and Contents, and Statistics, &c., which are in all cases to be placed at the beginning of the Volume: the lettering at the back to include a statement of the year as well as the volwme ; the first volume belonging to 1839-40, the second to 1841, the third-to 1842, the fourth to 1843, and so on.. In Reprints of the Journal all Appendix matter (and in one instance an Article in the body of the Journal), which at the time had become obsolete, were omitted ; the Roman numeral folios, however (for convenience of reference), being reprinted without alteration in the Appendix matter retained. Geological Map of Berkshire Sou ie sic, olny Laity) leh GeRteee ILONaCEND ills Lithographic Plan illustrating the Effect of Different Manures on the Growth of Red Clover JOU Sh zilen) yee 4 eehh ous ese oR COMI GSORD SRL 1 SPATISTICS OF THE WEATHER, PUBLIC HEALTH, PRICE OF PROVISIONS, &c., &e., FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDING JUNE 30, 1860. Chiefly extracted from the Quarterly Report of the Registrar-General.— The Corn Returns and Diagram are eu epared from Official Documents expressly for this Journal. WiOli SOX. A ON THE METEOROLOGY OF ENGLAND DURING THE QUARTER ENDING MARCH 31, 1860. By JAMES GLAISHER, Hsq; FE: Biee SEC. OF THE BRITISH METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY, Tue weather during this quarter was remarkable for a long con- tinuance of low temperature, frequent and great changes in the pressure of the atmosphere, and an almost continuous succession of gales of wind. The warm period which set in on December 24, 1859, continued to January 24, 1860; the excess of the temperature from January 1st to the 24th averaged 4°°1 daily; on the 25th a cold period set in, which at first was not severe, but became so afterwards, and con- tinued, with very few and trifling exceptions, to the end of the quarter. The average defect of the 67 days ending March 31 was 12° daily below the average. Both the days and nights in January were warm; in February both cold, particularly the nights; and both were cold in March, but the nights less so than the days. The mean temperature of the three months was 38°8; that of February, the coldest month, 35°-7; of March, 41°-1, but little warmer on the average than that of January, 39°°7. The mean pressure of the atmosphere in January and March was below its average by t inch; in February it was slightly in excess on comparison with the preceding 19 years, and within this period the mean reading of the barometer has not been so low in January as it was in this year. The temperature of the dew-point in January was $° in excess, differing but little from the excess of the mean temperature of the month, and therefore the degree of humidity was very nearly that of the average for the month. In February and March the tempera- ture of the dew-point was more below its average than that of the air, and therefore the air was in both months more than usually dry. The fall of rain was slightly below the average. Gales of wind of unusual duration were frequent throughout the quarter. The mean temperature of the air at Greenwich for the three months ending February, constituting the three winter months, was 37°°4, being 0°-4 below the average of 89 years. ( ur) “oBvagv ot) ddoqe sayusis snd (-F ) udys 04} vy} pu ‘oSv19Av oy} AojIq soyyuSis snuytu (—) uSis dy} 4Vq} PUTUT UF ott10q aq ITA 4] 91qGU} SITY} Surpyat U[—aALON ® UL inode, jo #3190, | 107 OSELAL | | jo aanyvsodwma y, Se Sn eee ea ee eae | ba ee ee 0.9¥ GaG | 9 | Le QS £.04 I.0- gv I- z7$$ | gore— Bae 6z €— (Zoe a OD ANE qsoysiy | yseaoy | ung | ung ung uBeTt ums ung a PGS sod eed es La o\ SEReY. hos Sos t= 6¥S | Shr. - Beas 6 f= 6L i" ysaeiy | 4 CG GAG LO ¢ gt 9-9£ $.o— TeI $+ 655 | plow+ £99.62 9- og Arensqoyy 0.9% eRe al | acs me Me Gort Sele Zi 0.0 Q.1 9- ers gvz.= | vr$.6z I— gg |: Aavnuer 5 creer! | ro) “UL “ur ‘si | "Bi “Ur “ul Dee i | sop pur ‘soe | ‘siuak GF JO *savak 6T ‘sivak 61 ‘suvak GL “qq3IN WISIN | “o0F 08 Mojeq | ‘sameyy ASVIVAT | *JUNOULY | Jo asvsioav | ‘uvayyT | Jo osviaav eh) i\g JO OSvIBAB | “UBT YT SHINOTY ie al [en PA0CV | yaaajeg | 107y | ony zo | WOE MIC Wor} “BI Woy “WIC Woy “BIC Suypeay | Sarproy | | lt i ; : qsoysipT | yseaoyT |- yest = = 09st | svat 91 SUBEN JO HOQWINNT | es duuoy “Urey “IVY JO JOO GND v *AojomoIeg JO “Ayrprungy Jo JO WSIOAL Surproy aolBaf "SSRI UO Lo}VMLOULII[ J, JO Surpvayy = = — —= = = = == | ee a ae = a sare 1.0— | €.% ZIO. - g6r. | +.0+ €.71 g-I- 6.£¢ I.I- b.9e: |) f.o= v.o+ | g.9€ |** uvazy E.O- | ve 4610; — |e YOz8. “| Some | care ber= | 0,58 | o.f= | HegE | b.0-¢) t.of | 1.ry [55 youd £.0- o.t | t£o0.= Olan IeI+ vez t.v- WiaOee oy Veer QVEE oi. Gee = Qt - L.S€ j|+* Aveniqay | | | j H qoul T.0+ Se 600,-+ Viz. L.ot+ | Z.o1 g.o+ Cages a els t= Tepe | For 9.f+ L.6€ j°* Arenuer 43 | “sd “ul “ur | ° | ° ° | ° ° ° ° ° ° = — — | Ee — *sivod GE | *suvok 61 ‘sina GL *sunok GI | ‘svat 6L | ‘savak GT | *sivad 68 jooSvioar) ‘uvayy jooSeiaae | ‘unayy | Joosvsoa| ‘ueoyT | jooswaoar ‘uveyy joosvioav| ‘uray jJoosvrioav | Joosvioav | *uvojy “SHLNOJY mol “YI | WOly “IC , WOT “BI wolf YI | | TONS “LT | Tos "Yd | Wor YI ; : ee: | pets = , ‘0981 “ITV JO JOoq d1qnD | sinodv, jo Saabialy seh a! Ea sailed | RENEE NS | aE ON THE METEOROLOGY OF ENGLAND THE QUARTER ENDING JUNE 30, 1860, By JAMES GLAISHER, Esq, F.RB.S., SEC. OF THE BRITISH METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY. Tue cold weather which set in on January 25, and which was prevalent to the end of the last quarter, continued, excepting the 19 days following May 8, till the end of the present quarter. The mean daily deficiency of temperature for the 388 days begin- ning April 1 amounted to 3}°, and for the 34 days ending June 30 was as large as 44°; the average daily deficiency for these 72 days was 35°. The remaining 19 days, viz., from May 8 to May 26, were warm, and their temperatures were daily in excess of the average to the amount of 34°. Both the days and nights in April were remarkably cold, and to an almost equal amount; in May both were somewhat warmer than usual; and in June both were cold, particularly the days, the mean temperature of which was lower than in May, although it is usually higher to the amount of 7 degrees. The temperature of April was 3°6 in defect; that of May 1°-0 in excess ; that of June 4°-4 in defect, as compared with the averages of the preceding 19 years. The month of April was colder than any April since the year 1839, and we must travel back to the year 1821 to find so cold a June. The mean pressure of the atmosphere in April was a little above, in May a little below, and in June much below, the average. The range of the barometer readings at extreme southern stations was 1:2 inch in April; 1:0 inch in May; and somewhat less than an inch in June; these values gradually increased on going north- ward to 1:9 inch in April; to 1:3 inch in May: and somewhat more than an inch in June at extreme northern stations. The temperature of the dew point in April was 3°4 in defect, being very nearly the same in amount as that of the air; and there- fore the degree of humidity was of its average value; in May it was 0°8 in excess, being somewhat less than the excess of tempera- turé of the air, and the air was slightly drier than the average ; in June its defect was 1°°3, whilst that of the air was 4°°4, so that the air in June was remarkably humid. The fall of rain at Greenwich in April was 0°8 inch in defect; in May 1°8 inch in excess, and in June 3-9 inches in excess. The total fall was 10-7 inches, being 4'9 inches over the average for this quarter. Gales of wind have been frequent during the quarter. The mean temperature of the air at Greenwich, for the three months ending May, constituting the three spring months, was 45°°9, being 0°°5 below the average of the preceding 89 years. *aSv1aav oy} adoqe sagiudis snd (+) udis orp yur puv ‘oPn19av oy} Aojoq sayrusis snuyur (—) usys oy} vq} purur ut oUIOG aq ]ITAL 4] AIC’) SIT) Surprar uj—"1 LON iy |Meristan: Iv S€ St r.£5 | 6.¢+ L.o I+ 6€5 | L¥o.— gil .6z £+ 6L ** Uvaqy eqs | ISeaoT ung ung twang uvayit ung ung : rein Shei |e = fates Lz € ° z.6§ | 6.€+ Q-S T+ z£§ | o6r-— | £19.62 6+ 2 Po arena L.64 9.9% €1 gt 2 0.b5 Q-I+ 6.€ z- g£S | g10.— gbl.6z I- GL oe = 8 ATT 0.17 g.6r I gt €1 zor g.0— OI $+ 6¢5 | Voo.+ 96L.6z ° (ie Tudy ° ° ° “ul “ul sad "813 ‘ul “ul = — ———_— |——_—_}— = — | ; leeaeeta lose |*o0F puv| ‘o0E *suvak oF ‘sarod 61 *savak 6T ‘sara’ 61 SIN [a AUNT ou rene More ‘soUNI,T, | JO edvioav | yunoury| yo oSvradav | ‘uvayy | Jo oBraoav ‘unayT = Jo asuiaae “UvoTY @reor | Sutwor | t™ | uaesied | sosy | “enrgo | mom SE WOLF “HAC | | WOE “BIT WO “IC | SHLNOTY Surpeay | Surproy | JOIPAL | | qSoysiH{ | ySoA\ory jooiny | - = | ‘09ST pus SUM JE SITSIN JO 1OquINNy -erodmay, | “uInyy “ary Jo yor oIqng v | “To}UTOAVET JO *Syrprun yy Jo “SSBIN) UO JOJOMLOWLIOTT, JO Sarpvayy JON Ne AL | pas aoe z.o— | £.€ zto.— | 96z. Nei 2 da fm E20 [eatery L£i—| vily | €.2e— | g.r— | §.05 | *> uroyy z.0— | o.+ L1o.— | LS€. GiV— | “Se O ea eee 0! Lee Oz Let—= | ets | Vel eS | ig. eS ea) ee auny To | $.€ fro.+ | €r&. L.o+ | 6.0z g-0+ | t.9b Gross) OOo | O.re a eetem || ees | umeG +.o— este 1fO.— | Qize I.0— 1.91 b.€— | L.9€ F.f— I.0ov | 9.€— 6.t— 6.77 ve! Sera: "13 "sid “UL | “ul ° ° | ts) | ° ° ° | ° ° | ° | = ————w — = — | =| *sumak 6T *sival 6 *savak 61 ‘sivad GL | | ‘stwat 6T | ‘savak gL | ‘sanak 68 | “| jo aSriaav | ‘uvayy jo aBr1aav ‘uve}{ | Joesvioav| ‘Uvayy | Jo oswIasv ‘uvayl | Joosvierv) ‘uvayy Jo odvsoau|yjoostieav| ‘uvayy | WOE “BIC WOLE “YUL wWory “YI wOYy “YC WHOLE “WIC Wory “IC | Woay “YI : ‘SHLNO}\ “ITY JO 100.7 91qND «mode A Jo mage Ayieq—ary *qulog ANT suoryvtodeacy | ay ‘O98T NR Bd10T OSE : inodwA Jo 7419 A jo ainqwsadua y, ‘OO8T ‘OG ANOLE ONIGNT waLAVAYH AHL DNIVAGC YAHLVAAA uw, CD STATE OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH. 1st Quarter.—122,642 deaths were registered in this quarter. The mortality was about 2-472 per cent., or slightly above (2-460) the average of this season—in the absence of epidemics always the most fatal in England. The rate of mortality in the chief town districts was 2°613; in the small town and country districts 2-338 per cent. The latter rate is above, the former below, the average of those districts respectively. The deaths in the quarter, at the rates actually prevailing in the healthier districts of the country, would only have amounted to 88-708. Consequently, the deaths from causes induced by the unfavourable sanitary condition in which large numbers of the people live, amount to 33,934. 2nd Quarter.—The deaths registered in the three months that ended June 30th were 110,878, a larger number than was returned in any previous June quarter (1848-59). The annual rate of mor- tality in the quarter was 2-228 per cent. of the population, while the average of ten previous spring quarters was 27195, ‘The excess no doubt was caused in some measure by badness of weather and dearness of food. If the mortality had been at the rate of the selected healthy districts instead of the actual rate, the deaths in the whole of England and Wales last quarter would have been 85,283, or 25,595 less than the actual number. PRICE OF PROVISIONS. 1s¢ Quarter—The average price of wheat was 44s. 5d. a quarter, while in the corresponding quarters of the two previous years it was respectively 46s. 5d. and 40s. 8d. Beef was sold on an average at 53d. a pound by the carcase at Leadenhall and Newgate Markets ; the average of the highest prices of the best beef having been 634., of the lowest prices 3d. The inferior beef was 1d. a pound lower than in the winter of the preceding year; so the price fell 21 per cent. ‘The superior ‘beef only fell from 63d. to 64d. The average price of mutton was 53d. a pound ; inferior mutton 4$d.; superior 6id.a pound. York Regent potatoes sold on an average at 130s. a ton at the Waterside Market, Southwark. 2nd Quarter.—Wheat has risen in price ; the average in the three months ending June 30th was 52s. 8d. per quarter. In the same period of last year it was 47s. 3d., and in that of 1858 it was 44s. 1d. The dearness both of bread and meat has been sensibly felt by the labouring class. The average price of beef was 5d. per lb.; that of mutton 64d., as sold by the carcase at Leadenhall and Newgate Markets. York Regent potatoes sold at the Waterside Market, Southwark, at an average price of 142s. 6d. per ton. (wil...) THE PRICE OF PROVISIONS. The averaGcE Prices of Consols, of Wheat, Meat, and Potatoes; also the AVERAGE Quantity of Wheat sold and imported weekly, in each of the Nine Quar‘ers ending June 30th, 1860. Wheat and Average Prices of Wheat sold | Average | in the 290 | Wheat Flour a | dy . Citi d entered for Aveo |Wheat per! ‘Towns in |, Home | Meat perlb. at Leadenhall uarters <1 nels | Consumption Potatoes "4 Se hase spepene ae at Chief Ports) and Newgate Markets | (York Regents) ending | “Gor | England | Returns." | of Great (by the Carcase). | _ per Ton M 8 7 Britain.* at Waterside |Money). ‘rs 1 2 | pe ey a! Market, ey Average number of Reef. Mutton, Southwark. Quarters weekly. 1858 £. : June 30} 97! | 44 1| 92,955 86,551 | 4¢d.—6d. | 44d.—63d.| 140s.—185s. . : Mean sid. Mean 52d. Mean 162s. 6d. Sept.30} 964 | 44 71] 97,307 82,373 | 4¢¢.—64d.|43d.—63d.| 65s.—gos. ‘. 3 . Mean 53d. | Mean sad. Mean 77s. 6d. Dee. 31 98k | 41 9 | 110,437 54,413 4d.— 63d. | 44d.—63d.| _80s.—95s, " ; Mean 5d. Mean sid. Mean 87s. 6d. 1859 Mar. 3m | 958 | 40 8 | 103,637 46,139 |42d.—62d. | 48d.—v7d. | 80s.—1o00s, Mean 53d. | Mean 52d.| Mean gos. June 30 | 923 Aree za G5 14) 99,533 4id.— 63d. 5d.—7d. | 85s.—ri0s. Mean 53d.| Mean 6d. Mean 97s, 6d. Sept. 30 953 44.0 85,707 50,291 43d.— 61d. 43d.— 63d. 65s.—105s. Mean 5id. | Mean 52d.| Mean 85s. Mace st i. 6k | 43,'4 | 127,365 44,911 4d.—6id. | 43d.—62d.| 85s.—120s. Mean 54d.| Mean 5d. Mean 102s.6d. 1860 Mar. 3 |. 948 | 44 5 | 114,218 22,300 | 32d.—63d. | 48d.—62d.| 115s.—145s. | Mean 53d. | Mean 53d.| Mean 130s. June 30 | 947 | 52 8 | 101,106 62,272 | 43d.—6$d. | 54d.— 74d. | 125s.—160s. Mean 5$d.| Mean 63d. |Mean 142s.6d. | Col. I 2 3 4 5 6 7 * Nore.—The total number of quarters of wheat sold in England and Wales for the 13 weeks ending June 30th, 1858, was 1,208,420; for the 13 weeks ending September 30th, 1858, 1,264,996; for the 13 weeks ending December 31st, 1858, 1,435,678 ; for the 13 weeks ending March 31st, 1859, 1,347,277; for the 13 weeks ending June 30th, 1859, 1,254,682; for the : 13 weeks ending September 30th, 1859, 1,114,191; for the quarter ending December 31st, 1859 (14 weeks), 1,783,050; for the 13 weeks ending March 31st, 1860, 1,484,837; and for the 13 weeks ending June 30th, 1860, 1,314,386. The total number of quarters entered for _ Home Consumption was respectively, 1,125,165; 1,070,845; 707,367; 599,807; 1,293,925; 653,789; 583,848; 289,906; and 809,535, SS agiegigse*t zfgfizi's evrtl sx gbotgr Lor‘bol‘t Sgo'zbl'r glittzoty WoOpsury poeyiug jo y1oduyz “3Q] °c “yno “Sub "Sub “SD “sD "30D “SD or os o1 /6E b/zv £/£€z L/EE o1/fP “2: 9) BO JOLesBIO AY: “1vVaW ONV wooTy “AZIVIN ‘svad ‘SNVAL "SLVO “LATAVE “LVAH MA H mA I | “MaAMMKAOAG oLvioe SOMETMNOKH OM EMO NtH On A MDreotro COMNnH OD EAH P | *ANOE OL AUVONVSE AO Wd | swaquieoeq | *19QUIdAON saquiea0y | "1990100 Lem 4qsn3ny | z 4 oy "I Sit /\g “Areniqay | ‘Arenuee “SNUNLAY INGNWNYGAOD HOUT LVAAHM AO Ad ANVYAAV ATMAAM—'6CST STATISTICS OF THE WEATHER, PUBLIC HEALTH, PRICE OF PROVISIONS, &c., &e., FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1860. Chiefly extracted from the Quarterly Report of the Registrar-General._— The Corn Returns are prepared from Oficial Documents expressly for this Journal, Zs VOL. XXI. Ds c 3) ON THE METEOROLOGY OF ENGLAND DURING THE QUARTER ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 1860. By JAMES GLAITSERER, Wyo, 5. Ris: SEC, OF THE BRITISH METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY. Tur weather during the quarter was very remarkable for continued low temperature, frequent rain, large amount of cloud, little sun- shine, and bad weather generally. The temperature within the three months reached its average on 9 days only, and fell short on 83 days; the mean excess on the 9 days was less than #°; whilst the average daily deficiency for the 83 days exceeded 4°. The mean temperature of July was 4°°3, in August 3°°8, and in September 3°-7, in defect, as compared with their respective averages from the pre- ceding 19 years. As compared with the year 1859, July was 10°-5, August 5°8, and September 3°°3 colder. The mean temperature of the three months ending September was 56°°2, and once only, viz., in 1817, has the mean temperature of the same months been so low since the year 1771. The mean temperature of the four months ending September is still more remarkable ; its value was 55°"), and there is no other instance, as far as trustworthy records extend, of a temperature of so low a value for these four important months. The mean pressure of the atmosphere in July was a little above, in August much below, and in September below their respective averages. The pressure in August was less than in any August in the preceding 20 years. The pressure was less in August than in July at extreme southern stations by 0:25 in., increasing gradually to 0°40 in, at northern stations. It was greater in September than in August by 0°15 in. at southern stations, gradually increasing to 0°33 in. at extreme northern stations. The temperature of the dew-point was below its average in July and August to the amount of 1°-6, and in September to 0 -09. The fall of rain in July was 2°8 in., in August 3°7 in., and in Sep- tember 3:1 in.; amounting in the three months to 9-6 in., and being 2-1 in. in excess. The fall of rain from January 1 is 25:1 in., being 6°9 in. in excess. The mean temperature of the air at Greenwich for the three smonths ending August, constituting the three summer months, was 56°'7, being 3°°4 below the average of the preceding 89 years. roBvsaav oy} oAoge sagiuzis snd (Gin UTIs ON] VY} pure ‘oPes9.rv oy} Mopod Sogjusys suru (—) uss oy} yer] puywa uf aTUIOG oY Tess yy] aycyey Siq) Bipeor Wiy-—a1oyx *Ayrpreanyy Jo 3G uboTY Jnquiaydag ‘+ qsnSny dee AVL *SHINOJ *O98T - ‘+ uRoyy aaquia}dag ‘* gsn3nyw oe o- Aine *SHINOJ ‘098T 0.$$ 9.09 I.7+ e+ € 160.0—| 172.62 qsousiyy uvayt ung 0.§$ 4.95 | Lot €+ LES 1lo.o-| 19L.6z 0.55 6.09 €.1+ ° gzs | brz-0-} 955.62 L.1S 9.79 T.O-+ L+ PES fvo.o+] $9.62 ° ° “ul “sua *s13 “uy “ul *svak ef Jo *savak GL *sivak 61 “WEN “Somer, oBv19AT “yunowly | jo advioar ‘uvayT | Jo aBv1dAv “uray Suypeay ayy go | MOIS DIT mous BIG Wolf “PIT souStH - pe SEA 4] SIYSIN JO JoquN NY ~aeauie L “IVY JO Joo o1qng v *rojomMOINg Jo JO 9310 M Sulpvay *ssvin U0 loyaMOULIEY,, Jo Burprayy Z.0- f.c— | blr br Seal 92 sae oie = T.0O- | o.I— g.Lt chi ote. Dial im ||| ae Laat £.0- | Tev— y.S1 Sea g.t- 0.95 | gf Z.0- g-I— | 1.61 £625 6.¢- g.0S £.v- 43 ° ° ° ° ° ° *savak 61 | | ssuvak 61 *sivok 61 *sivak 61 jo ade19Av jo oFvi0ae jooseiaav | “uRayy *uvoyl jooSeioar| ‘uvayy joadsvioar molj “gid | TOL} “YT WO.ls “YI woyy "Wid | -asury Ayreq—iry “quiog Macy “uorye10dvagy “ITY JO 3007 D1GnD ev ut InodeA Jo 4F9 A, \ ‘mode, jo 9040.4 O}}Selq jo oinjesoduray, ‘OORT ‘OE WAANALIAG PNIGNA UALAVA AHL PNIUNG WAHLVAAA AW, ( bear }) ON THE METEOROLOGY OF ENGLAND DURING THE QUARTER ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1860, By JAMES GLAISHER, Esq, F.RB.S., SEC. OF THE BRITISH METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY. Wirn the exception of the last ten days in October, and the first ten days in December, the weather has been cold throughout the quarter. The deficiency of temperature was large about the 12th of October, was about 3° below the daily average in November, and was very large from the 18th to the 29th of December, the cold having been singularly severe between these days, exhibiting a great contrast to the weather at the beginning of the month. On De- ~cember 5th and 6th the excess of temperature above the average was 9°; from the 18th to the 23rd it was each day from 7° to 10° delow; as much as 15° on the 24th; 16° on the 25th; and 14° on the 29th. On the 7th day the temperature in the neighbourhood was as high as 54°,and on the 25th and 29th was as low as 7° and 8°. These latter temperatures are very remarkable for December. In the year 1846 the mean temperature of December was 32°-9, being -3°4 lower than inthe month just passed. In the year 1852 it was 47°-6, or 11°°3 warmer than in 1860. 'This was the hottest December in the last 20 years. The mean temperature of October was 1° above, of November was 2$° below, and of December was 4° below their averages as found from the observations of the preceding 19 years. The pressure of the atmosphere was slightly above its average in October, and below in November and December, being smaller in December than in any December for 20 years. The fall of rain was slightly deficient in the quarter, and amounted to 32 in. in the year. This was exceeded in the years 1821, 1824, and 1852; but is greater than in all other years since the year 1815. The mean temperature of the air at Greenwich for the three months ending November, constituting the three autumn months, was 48°°3, being 1°-1 below the average of the preceding 89 years. XUI -) ( *aQUAIAV of} OAOL SayTUBIS snd (+) UTS oq) Ww} puv ‘oTe19Aav oT} Aojoq Soyrudys snurur (—) Udjs oy} yey} PUyLA Uy oUTOG oq [ITA 9} 91GB} SIN] Suypvor U[—"ALON L.0$ O.% lr gf g-5¢ | t.0=- I+ Lys €lo.o—| 199.62 ** UBdTT yaya | 4Seao'y ting wing uvayt ung O.€F | ost Zz 6r g.6£ 6,0+ I- 195 off.0—| 164.62 qaquis0eq, Oth |" ¥.1% z gt DaQy || Terr €+ o0S$ | ¥90.0—| 969.62 Taq UIaAON Byes | ole fr € g.1§ | t.I— t+ ivS | PLr.o+] 959.62 ** 19q01009 o. (| ° ) “UL “si *s13 “uy “Ul : , : *o0€ *savok oy ssn 6T | ‘svat GT wan —e }. Lang | Mord ‘soulvy,y, | Jo aBvioav jo aBviaav| ‘uveyy | JO estacav *uvoyT Samer | Sunesod 10 4V om - WOAF “YL Woay “WIC | WOT “WIC *‘SHLNO]L qsaqarH qSaMo'_y Jo any ‘0981 BUAL FT SIUBIN JO TOQUINN | -yyoduuoy, *IPV JO 00,7 o1qng 8 | *rajamoing Jo +Aqyprunyy jo ETO, Bal ae ai JO WqSIO MA | SULpBoy “SSBIN) UO JOJOMOULIET, Jo Surpvay I.0— 6.2 z10.— er $.o— | 11 0.0% g-I— | +.17 6.1-— ‘+ Uap +.0— Lae Sf0.— | 6x 6.0- 9-2 Gabe g.€- ageity o.v— Jaqui0aq Z.0— Eat 610.— | Léz. z-O— | ¥.11 6.g£ O.~— 6.6€ L.t— aq UIdAO NT z.of+ | LE 610.+ | off. $.0- 1.91 9.Lv 6.0— 1.6% 6.0+ ** 19q0}00 "13 813 ‘ul “ul ° ° ° ° ° ° “sanad 61 ‘savad GT sina 61 ‘suvad 6 “sivad 6T joaSvioav | ‘uvayy Jo aZviaav ‘uvayy «| joosvieav| “uvayy ‘uvayy | joosnioav| ‘uvapr | jo odvroav MoI} “YL O Wl} “HY! ULI “Ih i * iF BIC wWoly “HI o Hd FBI TOL “ST ‘SHENOTL “IY JO 300, 91qND “nodv. A Jo ‘oduvy Ie —aTy 4qujog Mod ‘uoyyviodagy ‘098T v Ul anodv Jo 94319 A4 e010 O1}SU1q jo aanjureduray, ‘OOST ‘1g UIANIOIG ONIGNA UdLuvynh AHL PNIUNG UAHLVAAA IDL, ( Xiy 3 STATE OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH. 1st Quarter.—The excess of births over the deaths in the quarter was 77,639; so the natural increase of the population of England and Wales was at the rate of 844 daily; and if the rest of the popu- lation increased equally fast, the natural increase of the United Kingdom must have been at the rate of 1266 daily. The increase exceeds any on record. 86,423 deaths were registered in the three months ending in September, or less by 17,916 than the deaths (104,339) registered in the corresponding quarter of last year. To every six deaths in the last there were only five in the present summer. The rate of mortality was 17; whereas the average of the season is 20 per 1000. The reduction of the mortality is ob- servable in the town and in the country districts; but it is by far the greatest in the town districts. The average number of deaths in the town districts during the summers of 1850-9 was 52,861; whereas the deaths in the last summer were 45,495: in the country districts during the same periods the deaths were 43,697 and 40,928. The rate of mortality in the town districts fell from 23-75 to 18°42 per 1000; in the country and small town districts from 17°59 to 15°87, or 5°33 degrees in the town and 1°72 in the country districts. 2nd Quarter.—The births exceeded the deaths in the quarter by 59,691, and that was the natural increase of the population. In the year the natural increase of England and Wales was 260,930 souls— 713 daily. If Scotland and Ireland increased at the same rate, the natural increase of the population of the United Kingdom must have been at the rate of 1069 daily. 102,557 deaths were registered in the last quarter of the year 1860, and the annual rate of mortality during the season was 2:024. The mortality was 0:158 below the average. Upon making up the account for the year, the deaths are found to be 422,500; and the annual rate of mortality 27115; ora little more than 21°'in 1000. The average of the preceding ten years - is 22: so one life in every 1000 living was saved. Yet the mortality of England and Wales is still greatly in excess of the rate expe- rienced in the least unhealthy districts. The deaths, instead of 102,557 would at that rate have been 79,283; so during the 92 days 23,274 persons died unnatural deaths in the least unhealthy country in Europe. The densest districts are still the unhealthiest. In the town districts the mortality was at the rate of 23 in 1000; in the country districts 18 in 1000. It is gratifying to find that the mor- tality of the town districts has declined from 25 to 23, and of the country districts from 19 to 18. ee 3 lt PRICE OF PROVISIONS. 1s¢ Quarter—The prices of provisions have been high during the thirteen weeks. Taking the corresponding weeks of 1859 as the starting point, the price of wheat rose 34 per cent., beef 7 per cent., mutton 11 per cent., potatoes 59 per cent. The average prices during the thirteen weeks were: wheat 52s. 1d.a quarter, beef 5}d., mutton 63d. a pound by the carcase in the Leadenhall and Newgate Markets; York Regent potatoes 135s. a ton at Waterside Market, Southwark. The prices of the lower qualities of beef were stationary (44d.), and the prices of the higher qualities rose from 6td. to 7d. a pound. ‘The prices of the lower and higher qualities of mutton rose 3d. and $d. in the pound in the twelvemonth, and were respectively 54d. and 74d. a pound during the thirteen weeks, 2nd Quarter.— Wheat was 56s. 9d. a quarter, or 31 per cent. higher in price than it was in the corresponding quarter of 1859. Beef at the Leadenhall and Newgate Markets was sold, by the carcase, at 47d. a pound, or nearly $d. less. Mutton was, on an average, 53d. _a pound, and remained the same as in the last months of 1859. The potato crop partially failed, and York Regents, at the Waterside Market, were sold at 122s. 6d. a ton, or at the rate of 14 1b. fora penny. ‘The price of this universal article of food rose progressively jin the last three months of the three years 1858-59-60 from 87s. 6d. ‘to 102s. 6d. and 122s. 6d.a ton. To supply its deficiency other anti- scorbutie vegetables, fruit, or herbs are required, zu) THE PRICE OF PROVISIONS. The AveraGE Pricus of Consols, of Wheat, Meat, and Potatoes; also the AVERAGE Quantity of Wheat sold and imported weekly, in each of the Nine Quarters ending December 31st, 1860. Wheat sold | Bh sate Average Prices of entered for Average | in the 290 Average! Price of | Citiesand | i Tica Home Meat per lb, at Leadenhall Quarters pee age peu a pil ce a Consumption P Potatoes Consols | Tain 4 Wales tae at Chief Ports} and Newgate Markets | (York Regents) ending : : -% > of Great by the Carcase). per Ton Money) mene Sere Britain.* (by ) at ree i | = ket, Wales. an 2 Average number of Beef. Mutton. Southwark, | | Quarters weekly. 1858 ecm F 5 Palys y Dec. 31 | 982] 42 9 | 110,437 545413 4d.— 63d. | 44d.—63d.| 80s.—95s, | e f | Mean 52d. Mean 54d.| Mean 87s. 6d. 1859 Mar. 31 | 958 40 8 | 103,637 46,139 |4%¢.—63d. | 48d.—7d. | 80s.—ro0s. | Mean 5%d.| Mean 57d. | Mean gos, Junerze)|| 922, 947 3) 96,514 99,533 43d.—6id.| 5d.—7d. | 85s.—rr0s, . : Mean sad. Mean 6d. [Mean 97s. 6d. 85,707 50,291 | 44d.—62d. | 44d —6$d.| 65s.—r05, ; ‘ Mean sid, Mean sad. Mean 85s. Sept. 30 | Ne) a oles £ Oo Dee. 31 96! 43 4.| 127,361 44,911 4d.—64d. | 48d.—63d.| 85s.—120s. : 4 Mean 54d.) Mean 5 $d. | Mean 102s.6d. 1860 , Mar. 31 | 948 | 44 5 | 114,278 22,300 | 3#d.—63d.) 42d.—62d.| r15s.—r45s. Mean 54d. | Mean 5$d.| Mean 330s. June 30} 94% | 52 8 | 101,106 62,272 |49¢.—68d. | 54d.— 74d. | 125s,—160s, Z: a : Mean 5d. | Mean 63d. |Mean 142s.6d. Sept. 30] 93%] 59 1} 66,539 | 139,142 | 44d.—7d. |54d—7Ad. | 125s.—1455. | Mean 52d. | Mean 634. |Mean 135s. | Dec. 31 | 932+] 56 91. 73,770 | 197,396 | 33d.—6}d.| 42d —63d.)115s.—130s. “ : Mean 47d. | Mean 5#d.|Mean122s.6d. Col. I 2 3 4 5 6 7 | * Nore.—The total number of quarters of wheat sold in England and Wales for the 13 weeks | ending December 31st, 1858, was 1,435,678; for the 13 weeks ending March 31st, 1859, 1,347,277; for the 13 weeks ending June 30th, 1859, 1,254,682; for the 13 weeks ending September 30th, 1859, 1,114,191; for the quarter ending December 31st, 1859 (14 weeks), 1,783,050; for the. 13 weeks ending March 31st, 1860, 1,484,837; for the 13 weeks ending June 30th, 1860, 1,314,386; for the 13 weeks ending September 30th, 1860, 865,007; and for the 13 weeks ending December 31st, 1860, 959,006. The total number of quarters entered for Home Consumption was respectively, 707,367 ; 599,807 ; 1,293,925; 653,789; 583,848 >. 289,906; 809,535; 1,808,848 ; and 2,566,145, ‘ ne ‘ - , ' « a “ 1 t ‘ ° 1 ys % t i | , . ¥ = — ra | - . i ‘ . ’ ’ ¢ : ‘ 4 ‘ F H ’ 5 BERKSHIRE. GEOLOGICAL MAP AN \) A a 8 =| a] bP % 2 oe Q q ° S cy} cs) a 4 at Oo) 2 a! § Kass = Biba ane a x fu s ol B 2 + 4 A g 4 a 3) A ~ fe} ry ce c ie See S . =z to & £ hae CRETA Upper Greensanil . EA] zs) 4 London Clay. . =| > Gault . oT =] m Lower Bagshot . To face page 1, A Oxford Clay 5 fo} Bt) . Lower Greensand , a ’ { Reading Reds (Plastic Clay) { d/OTD- RN. Ai OF THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND. I.—On the Agriculture of Berkshire. By J, B. SPEARING. ' Prize Essay. INTRODUCTION. Berne a practical tenant-farmer connected with the county of Berks by a residence, first of ten years on the western border of the county, on a farm of 600 acres, and then by one of ten more years on the eastern side, on a farm of 800 acres, I have had ample opportunity of becoming acquainted with its soil, its farming, and its people: this has induced me to attempt writing the subjoined Report, trusting that any defect in style or com- position may be dealt with leniently. Berkshire, from its small extent, is not classed among the first of our English counties; but from the fertility of much of | its soil, the progressive spirit of its agriculturists, and its various | improved modes of farming, it is entitled to a very prominent position ; and moreover acquires additional interest from the fact that, on its eastern boundary, stands the castle-residence of our Queen and the Prince Consort: and it is a subject of congratula- tion to the farmers of England that his Royal Highness has be- stowed on agriculture a full share of that time and attention which he has so successfully devoted to the peaceful arts and sciences. All who take an interest in agriculture have seen or heard of the Shaw Farm and Royal Dairy with their magnificent build- ings, and of the Flemish Farm and Norfolk Farm in Windsor Great Park, and have either witnessed or read of the many useful experiments and trials of implements carried on there; they have also seen many specimens of the different breeds of stock from the Royal Farms at the annual shows of the Royal Agri- cultural Society, the Smithfield Club, and the Birmingham Cattle Show, at each of which his Royal Highness has frequently been a successful competitor. The Royal Farms might of them- selves afford sufficient materials for a voluminous report, far exceeding the limits which can be assigned to them in this place; I shall content myself, therefore, with a brief account of them under the head of Characteristic Farms. VOL. XXI. B 2 Agriculture of Berkshire. From the very able Report by Mayor, in 1809, it will be seen that the farming of Berkshire at that time was much more fully developed than that of many other counties, and that everything was not left for this generation to do ; but when we compare its present state with the past, we find that many very extensive improvements have taken place, and these for the most part within the last twenty years: indeed we may safely say that the whole system of farming since the date of that Report has been revolutionized, and ihe was then considered very far advanced would now be thought extremely antiquated. The talented author points out many of the obstacles which then stood in the way of improvement, the greater part of which are removed at the present day: among the most prominent was the want of enclosures, for much of the arable land at that period was in open or common fields; the whole has since been enclosed, with one exception, viz. Charlton, a hamlet in the parish of Wantage, where I am told, by a meatdenea in the immediate neighbourhood, that the land w fould be increased thirty per cent. in value a enclosed. The system of taking tithes in kind is stated as an- other grand obstacle to agricultural improvement, one which the Tithe Commutation Act has removed for ever. The want of leases is said to be another drawback, although it appears from the author’s statement that they had been more generally granted in Berkshire than in many other parts of England, for he says, “the progress which agriculture has made in the county above some others may in a great measure be ascribed to that per- manent security which a numerous and respectable yeomanry have in their possession. ‘That security is the very soul of improvement; and even unlimited capital in the hands of a prudent man will never be partially risked without the fair prospect of a return, not depending on the will of others, but on his own judgment and industry.” ‘There is no longer any reason why the want of leases should check improvement, there being but few landlords.who will not grant them on equitable terms to enterprising and respectable tenants. Poor-rates are spoken of as another and an increasing burden, varying, in 1809, from five to eight shillings in the pound, ae in some cases rising even higher. The New Poor-Law Act of 1834 has placed the poor in a very different position; and while it has made them more self- reliant and independent, has lessened the burden of poor-rates, which do not now exceed 2s, 4d. in the pound in some parts of the county and 38s. in others; the average of the whole county being 2s. 104 d. in the pound. { shall have occasion to refer to this Report elsewhere, and have only done so here to show, not so much the improvements that have taken place, as the facilities afforded for such improve- Agriculture of Berkshire. 3 ments. 1 will not, however, pass on further without congratu- lating my brother-farmers that one recommendation in that Report has never been adopted: I refer to the preservation and encouragement of the growth of timber. The author, after lamenting that the quantity of timber was most perceptibly diminishing in our island; that every kind was nearly doubled in price; and that no sooner did a young man come into the possession of his estate than he frequently began to strip it of its timber in order to discharge the debts he had often wantonly contracted, suggests, that when neither the interest of descendants nor the public welfare have any effect on the conduct of pro- prietors of woodlands, it is time that the control should be dele- gated to other hands, and that the sanction and enactment of laws should be called in as auxiliaries to effect what a sense of duty fails toaccomplish. ‘A law therefore,” he says, ‘‘ to restrain proprietors from cutting down trees not arrived at perfection, and to compel them to plant two in a suitable situation in the room of each one felled would neither be arbitrary nor unjust.” I need hardly say that fifty years ago such opinions may have been held with some degree of reason. Since steam-power has brought to our shores the produce of the immense forests of Canada and the north, which is superior in quality to our own for most purposes, at a cost which has greatly lowered the price of timber ; and since iron has been largely used for ship-building, we need hardly be apprehensive of that want which he so much dreaded. All practical men are pretty well agreed that timber and corn cannot ‘be grown together to advantage; that hedge- rows are a great bar to agricultural improvement; the British farmer, therefore, invariably rejoices when the axe is put to work. Sratistics oF PopuLaTion, ArEA, Rates, anp County EXPENSES. Berkshire is an inland county of very irregular form, extend- ing from 51° 19’ to 51° 48’ N. lat., and from 34’ 30” to 1° 43” W. long. ; its extreme length is 48 miles, greatest breadth 29 miles, and circumference 208 miles; it comprehends an area of 734 square miles; and, according to the population returns of 1851, 451,040 acres, or, according to the assessments to county- rate, 490,358 acres. There are various accounts of the area of the county, but I believe the above to be the most correct. ‘The ‘Parliamentary Gazetteer’ says that it comprehends an area of 752 square miles, and consequently 481,280 acres, or, according to the population returns of 1831, 472,270 acres; these figures are evidently taken from Arrowsmith’s great map of England ; and as there are many insulated parts in the county, in the neigh- B 2 a Agriculture of Berkshire. bourhood of Wokingham and Twyford, belonging to Wiltshire,. I have no doubt they are included, Mavor, in his Report to the Board of Agriculture, gives three different accounts of the area of Berkshire—one taken from the Trigonometrical Survey, by Government, which, including its insulated parts, computes it at 464,500 acres; another, taken from the Report published by order of the House of Lords in 1805, which states the area to be 744 square miles, equal to 476,160 acres; and a third, taken from Rocque’s Map of Berk- shire, published in 1761, which gives 438,977 acres. Berkshire is divided into twenty hundreds, viz., Hormer,. Ock, Ganfield, Faringdon, Shrivenham, Wantage, Kintbury Eagle, Lambourne, Faircross, Moreton, Reading, Compton, Charlton, Theale, Sonning, Wargrave, Baynhurst, Cookham, Bray, and Ripplesmere ; contains four boroughs, viz., Reading, Wallingford, Windsor, and Abingdon; twelve market-towns, viz., Abingdon, Reading, Newbury, Windsor, Wallingford, Maidenhead, Wokingham, Faringdon, Hungerford, East Usley, Wantage, and Lambourne. There are twelve unions in the county, containing 234 parishes (of which about one-third are in Oxfordshire, Hampshire, and Wiltshire), viz., Abingdon, 38 parishes ; Bradfield, 29; Cookham, 7; Easthampstead, 5; Far- ingdon, 31;° Hungerford, 20; Newbury, 18; Reading, 3; Wallingford, 28; Wantage, 33; Windsor, 6; and Wokingham, 16. The annual value, as assessed to the county-rate, is 681,2010. Cost of police-force for the year 1859, at 24d. in the pound, was 70951. 16s. 103d. ; and other county expenses, at 3}d. in the pound, 10,6432. 15s. 33d. The population of Berkshire, according to the returns in 1841, was 161,759; and in 1851, 170,065, of which 84,927 were males and 85,138 females, being an increase of five per cent. in the ten years. The following is an account of the Poor-rates, not including those parishes which are attached to the unions but belong to other counties :— Amount Raised | Amount Expended | Amount Expended from Poor-Rates. | for Relief to Poor. | for all purposes. ES £. &. For year ending Ladyday, 1857 101,226 77,805 101,849 ” a9 1858 95,048 74,888 101,669 PuysicaL FEATURES AND Rivers. Berkshire is bounded on the north, for a distance of nearly 105 miles, by the river Thames, which separates it from the counties of Gloucester, Oxford, and Buckingham ; on the east Agriculture of Berkshire. ; 5 by Surrey ; on the south by Hampshire ; and west by Wiltshire. The climate is most healthy, and varies with its altitude and _aspect: some elevated portions of the chalk-hills are bleak and cold; the valleys, on the other hand, are very mild and salu- brious. The most elevated portions are a series of downs, a continuation of those on the northern part of Wilts; they reach an altitude of 893 feet near the White Horse Hill, and terminate very abruptly near Streatley, causing the bold and_ beautiful scenery for which that neighbourhood is celebrated. Here it seems as if by some extraordinary convulsion of nature a passage had been made for the Thames through the chain of hills which pass from Berkshire into Oxfordshire, and extend on through Buckingham. The latitudinal position of Berkshire places it among the most forward counties in England in respect of temperature. The amount of rain-fall, as registered at Whitewortham, in this county, for the year 1859 was 27°65 in. The following meteorological account for the year ending Michaelmas, 1859, was taken at Oxford, on the northern, and Aldershot on the southern, boundary of the county :— OXFORD. ALDERSHOT. Months. ‘Temperature. Rain. Months. Temperature. Rain. From From Oct. 1, 1858, |Highest.! Lowest.| Mean. | Inches. || Oct., 1858 | Highest.) Lowest.| Mean. |Inches. to Oct. 1, 1859. ; to Oct., 1859. 1858 1858 October .. | 66°9 | 31°0 | 50°2 2:0 || October 69°5 | 30°0 | 50°9 |] 1°5 November | 54°8 | 15°4 | 89°1 0°8 || November} 55°5 | 19°0 | 39:0 | 0°6 December | 53°2 | 28°0 | 40°2 2-0 || December | 52:0 | 25:0 | 40°8 | 1°8 1859 1859 January .. | 53°5 | 28°0 | 40°5 | 0°8 || January | 51°5 | 27°0 | 43°2 | 1°0 February | 56°0 | 29°5 | 42°9} 1:7 || February | 56°5 | 30°0 | 43°9 | 1°5 March 64°0 | 22°0 | 45°G | 1°5 || March .. | 68°0 | 26:0 | 46°6 | 1°5 April .. | 74°5 | 27-0 | 45-0 | 2°5 || April .. | 80-0 | 26-0 | 48-6 | 2-8 Mays. -- | 72°0-| 37°0 | 52°38 Dg Nias) era |) 784) | 53225° || 56) | poe2 June.. 77°0 | 42°5 | 60°5 |. 2°2 || June .. | 82°5 | 41°5 | 61:2 | 2-4 July ee | 86°0 | 51°0 | 65°1 2°8 || July .. | 93°0 | 44°0 | 67°5 | 1°6 Angust .. | 81°0 | 47°0 | 61°4 3°8 || August .. | 87°3 | 46°5 | 63°5 | 2°2 September 71°5 | 39°0 | 55°4 | 3°5 || September] 76°7 | 40°5 | 56°4 | 5-0 Total .. Total .. The average depth of rain in Berkshire for a series of years is 22-199 in. ; consequently we might infer from the Tables that the year ending Michaelmas, 1859, was more than usually wet, yet so far as agriculture is concerned, exactly the contrary was the case ; for a season cannot, in an agricultural point of view, be Bole ie Agriculture of Berkshire. called a wet one simply because a large amount of rain has fallen, nor a dry one because the rain-fall has been small ; for, although the land received four inches in one day, it may still have been on the whole in a dry state if this ran off quickly and did not saturate the soil. It will be seen that by far the greater portion of the rain which fell in this year fell during the six months in which the temperature was highest, and the power of evaporation great; whereas a very small amount fell during the six months in which the temperature was lowest and the power of evapora- tion small. I have chosen to give the meteorological account from Michael- mas to Michaelmas, considering it most useful for all agricultural purposes, as it satisfactorily explains why, during the last sum- mer, greater distress for want of water was experienced on the hills and dry parts of the county than for many years past. If there is a small amount of rain during the autumn and winter quarters, when alone it saturates the soil and raises the springs, no ordinary amount in the spring and summer quarters can have that eflect ; consequently it may safely be inferred that a winter deficient in rain-fall will in most cases be followed by a summer in which a want of water will be materially felt: I name this as such seasons much affect agricultural progress. ‘The increased application of steam power to agriculture gives additional im- portance to the question of the supply of water in dry seasons, by the construction of tanks and ponds in high situations. Instances are not wanting where the cost of drawing water to supply the steam-engine when threshing, has been equal to one- half of the whole cost of threshing by horse-power. Rivers.—The principal river of Berkshire is the Thames: it enters the county at St. John’s Bridge, one mile south of Lech- lade, in Gloucestershire, and passes the towns of Abingdon, Wallingford, Reading, Henley, Maidenhead, and Windsor. The Kennet enters the county from Wiltshire, near Hungerford, passes Kintbury and Newbury, and falls into the Thames near Reading, running 25 miles in Berkshire. The Lambourne rises in the chalk-hills near that town, passes Eastbury, East- garston, Great and Little Shefford, Weston, Welford, Easton, Boxford, Bagnor and Donnington, and falls into the Kennet, near Newbury, running about 14 miles. The Loddon rises near Aldershot, Hants, enters Berkshire at Swallowfield, passes Loddon Bridge and Twyford, and falls into the Thames near Wargrave, running 12 miles in Berkshire. The Ock rises near Uffington, in the Vale of White Horse, passes Wantage, and falls into the Thames at Abingdon, running about 20 miles. There are two lines of canal in the county. The Wilts and Berks extends from the Thames near Abingdon through the Vale of Agriculture of Berkshire. 7 White Horse to the western border (entering Wiltshire beyond Shrivenham) and joins the Kennet and Avon Canal at Seaming- ton, near Melksham, being 52 miles long. The Kennet and Avon Canal starts from the Kennet above Newbury, and enters Wiltshire a little below Hungerford. GEroLOGICAL FEATURES AND AGRICULTURAL DeEscRIPTION. Berkshire is a purely agricultural county, having no mineral productions. Its scolosicad features embrace the Bagshot sand, London and Plastic Clay, the Chalk, the Greensand and the Gault; the Kimmeridge Clay, the Coralrag and Oxford Clay, inchgded within the Cuinonoie or ‘l'ertiary, and the Mesozoic or Secondary systems, as classified by geologists. Although there are many varieties of soil, yet, for the present purpose, it is not necessary to make more than three agricultural divisions. 1st Division —The Bacsnot Sanv,and strong loamy soils of the London and Ween Clay formation, as shown on the accom- panying map. 2nd Division. 1A Cwak, numbered 3. 38rd Division —The VALE, tiataberod 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. The 1st Division, commencing at the extreme east of the county, includes the whole of Windsor Park; it forms a very irregular junction with the Chalk, first taking a direction towards Twyford, thence to the south of Reading, and occupying a narrow strip on the whole south side of the county. In rising the Runnymead, between Staines and Windsor, we meet with the Bagshot Sand, which occupies the upper surface; it includes a portion of Windsor Park on the south, and extends to Ascot Heath and nearly to Wokingham, and thence to Swallowfield on the south side of the county: this sand, however, is shown prin- cipally on the other side of the Blackwater River in the adjoin- ing county of Hants. Extensive heaths and plantations of fir- trees form the principal feature of this surface, but the valleys, where admixed with vegetable matter, afford a light tillage, whilst a slight deposit of gravel is found in some places on the sand, as seen on the Norfolk Farm in Windsor Great Park. The subjoined account of what has been done by R. Gibson, Esq., of Sandhurst Lodge, shows the extent to which this heath- land is capable of being improved ; so that a soil which formerly only produced firewood is now worth to rent at least 1/. per acre. The land was first well trenched, to the depth of from 2 to 3 feet, so as to break through the iron rust which generally prevails in that locality ; about 38 waggon-loads of chalk were then applied to the acre, and, where the land was light, a coating of clay or loam. In some places draining was required to the depth of 3 feet. The first crop taken was rape or turnips, with the appli- 8 Agriculture of Berkshire. cation of good yard-manure. This land has grown Swedes averaging 20 tons per acre, and this year considerably more, in only the fourth year of its cultivation. It has also grown good clover, oats, and rye, and this year exhibits some promising wheat ; the first crop is produced at a cost of 20]. per acre, which time is likely to repay. In the neighbourhood of Wokingham, where there is a good depth of soil before coming to the clay, the land is grateful and productive, but the light sands burn quickly, and in wet seasons the corn becomes yellow and does not yield well; this land seems calculated for the production of wheat and oats with advantage to the grower. A considerable breadth of beans is planted, but the soil is not strong enough to be called good bean land. The red or broad clover grows well ; barley is bad in quality and yields hardly more than half as much produce as oats: with proper management all descrip- tions of root-crops may be successfully grown. The land requires to be kept in good condition by constant cleaning, being subject to a running grassy kind of couch, as is often the case on a light soil with a wet subsoil. The larger holdings in the district have within the last nine years been much improved, both by laying small fields into large ones and by draining, which has been attended with great success; many holdings, however, are still small and badly cultivated, in some instances from want of judg- ment, in others from lack of sufficient capital, and in not a few cases from these two wants combined. The grass-land, in general, produces little and that of middling quality, although some of it is very useful, but it is not good stock-land, in consequence of its cold subsoil. The London Clay (on which the Bagshot Sand rests) is indi- cated by a heavy tillage and by brick-yards at the boundary of the sand and clay. It commences at Old Windsor and extends to the parish of Winkfield, forming as irregular a junction with the Plastic Clay as that does with the Chalk ; this London Clay is again shown at Wokingham, also near Reading, and on the south side of the Kennet, more or less occupying the cap of the hills to the edge of the county: beneath this London Clay crops out the admixed soil, the sand and clay of the Plastic Clay formation with varied “depths f rof sandy flint-gravel, as shown in the neighbourhood of Reading ; it constitutes a happy mixed soil, haying an ample supply of calcareous matter abraded from the chalk, the next stratum below. These clay-soils are mostly characterized by small enclosures and the growth of the oak and the elm. ' The heavy land in this district grows good wheat, beans, and oats, and, when drained, heavy crops of roots. There is also a light sandy loam, on a yellow sand subsoil, near Bagshot Agriculture of Berkshire. 9 Heath, which is very suitable for any kind of crop except beans, and yields exceedingly well; but when the subsoil is gravel instead of sand, the land is equally noted as being bad and un- profitable. The rent, including tithes, is from 26s. to 36s. per acre. White wheat is grown, yielding about 44 qrs. per acre ; Tartar oats, 10 qrs.; barley, 5 qrs.; beans, 4 qrs. Most of the land is drained in this district on the system to be described under that head. The size of the farms is from 100 to 400 acres. On the south of the Great Western Railway, between Theale and Newbury, in the parishes of Aldermaston, Brimpton, Crookam and Thatcham, there is a considerable deposit of gravel, in some cases sufficiently deep to obliterate the broad geological features of the soil, in which case its agricultural character becomes very similar to that of the valley of the Kennet below Newbury. Mavor includes the greater part of this division in the Forest district ; he speaks of the sand as almost unsusceptible of culti- vation, and of the strong clay-soil as much wanting draining, which alone he considers essential for its improvement and the full development of its productive powers; he makes an excep- tion, however, in favour of His Majesty’s farms in Windsor Great Park, where, he says, draining had been carried on with a royal spirit and with the greatest success. Much of this district at that period was unenclosed; the improvement which has taken place in it since the date of that Report is greater than in any other part of the county. Windsor Forest at that time in- cluded the parishes of Old Windsor, New Windsor, Winkfield, Sunninghill, Binfield, Easthampstead, Sandhurst, Finchamp- stead, Barkham, Wokingham, Arborfield and Swallowfield, and parts of Clewer, Bray and Hurst, the unenclosed portions of which amounted to about 24,000 acres; these were enclosed by Act of Parliament in 1813, The lands requiring it have been drained on the best and most approved plan, the sands much cultivated, and in many instances made to produce luxuriant crops of roots and corn. 2nd Division—Tur Cuarx.—This division occupies the whole centre of the county, and nearly one-half of its area. The sheep downs, which run up to the range of hills known as the Ridgeway or White-Horse Hill, form its northern boundary : this range of hills enters Berkshire, near Ashbury, and terminates at Streatley. The ground slopes gradually to the valley of the Kennet, where the Chalk forms a junction with the Plastic Clay ; extending eastward, the hills run almost parallel with the Great Western Railway to Reading, Twyford, Maidenhead, and thence nearly to Windsor. The nature of the soil in this division is extremely varied, 10 Agriculture of Berkshire. and requires lengthened description. The margin of the Thames (varying much in width) from Old Windsor to the Wallingford Road Station, on the Great Western Railway, is an alluvial soil, being an admixture of the London and Plastic Clay, Bagshot Sand, and flint-gravel, forming a rich gravelly loam. In this valley the land in many places is ploughed nearly to the edge of the river; where it lies low there is a considerable width of meadows which are subject to floods. Seldom can so great a diversity of soil be seen in so small a compass as that which lies between the Great Western Railway and the valley of the Thames from Maidenhead to Reading: here we have sharp gravels, good loams, and tenacious clays, with all the inter- mediate gradations; the chalk which underlies the whole ap- proaches at some points close to the surface, whilst at others there is a varied depth of gravel. The presence of the chalk beneath the heavier lands is an important feature, affording, as it does, a simple drainage, with or without pipes, according to circumstances; in the stiffest clays they have only to bore through to the chalk, and all surface water is removed. There isa field in the parish of Cookham possessing a special interest ; it consists of ‘Thames deposit, and grows crops of corn of very great bulk, without any supply of manure. The Kennet Valley has a mixed soil, composed of the sand and clay of the Plastic Clay formation, together with flint-gravel and — much vegetable humus; in some instances a deep peat exists on the surface, as seen in the meadows between Kintbury and New- bury. The slopes of the valley formed by the river Lambourne, and by the stream which passes through Hampstead-Norris, Fril- sham, Bucklebury, Bradfield, and Tidmarsh, as well as the bottoms themselves, are of a superior quality, composed generally of a rich gravelly loam. The other valleys, and most of the hills, are capped with a mixed soil of plastic clay and sand, and are fertile just in proportion to the quantity of sand mixed with the clay. The greater part of the parishes of East Garston, Fawley, Farn- borough, Shefford, Welford, Chaddleworth, Wickham, Boxford, Leckhampstead,Brightwaltham, Peasemore, Catmore, and Beedon, are of this uniform description, and are very productive. The clay is not very tenacious, and, although very wet in rainy weather, soon transmits the water through to the chalk below, and is dry again; the clay, however, is sufficiently thick on the caps of some of the hills to justify geologists in classing them with the London and Plastic Clay of the first division, as shown on the map. ‘This clay is used for making bricks at Beedon, Frilsham Common, and Upper Basildon, &c. Where there is a deficiency of sand, as in Lambourne wood- lands, the soil is cold and less fertile ; nothing improves it so much Agriculture of Berkshire. 11 as chalking, which is generally done at a cost of 40s. to 42s. per acre, by sinking a shaft through the clay and drawing the chalk up by means of a wheel and basket, to be spread on the ground at the rate of 16 or 18 bushels to the pole, early in the autumn, before the frosts set in, which pulverise it and make it mix readily with the soil. About two years after land has been treated thus, it ploughs one horse lighter than it did before. Where this clay prevails, the enclosures for the most part are small, and bounded by trees; where either no sand is mixed with the clay, or where it is too deeply deposited on the clay, the soil is very poor and sterile. The deep sand is shown on a strip of land commencing at Wickham Heath, in the parish of Welford, and running nearly to Newbury, and more or less so on some of the commons lying in the line between Newbury and Basildon: this description of soil is of little value for agricultural purposes, but grows good fir-trees where they have been planted, and a considerable quan- tity of heath and birch, which is used for making brooms. As we approach the old ploughed lands on the downs, the soil is composed of a thin hazel mould on rubbly chalk, and where the hills are very abrupt the chalk rises completely to the surface ; but in the newly broken-up down-land there is a covering of black sandy vegetable mould, full of fibres, with an admixture in some places of flints. The latter is the most unproductive, but with continual ploughing, and bringing to the surface the rubbly chalk from below, the mould, modified by this admix- ture, gradually assumes the hazel colour of the older cultivated lands. The large boulder or Sarsden stones, lying on the surface of the downs in many places, but more particularly at Ashdown Park, near Lambourne, are sandstones, the remains of stratifica- tion that is not to be seen, and are identical with the Grey Wethers of Wiltshire, constituting the Druidical temples at Stonehenge, Abury, &c. This division, in addition to its fertile valleys, can boast of the best class of strong lands which, with good farming, will yield in favourable seasons most splendid crops. As a necessary conse- quence the variety of soil causes great variety in the value. The a land lets at from 18s. to 45s. per acre, including tithes, as under ;— Simess Valley of the Thames, from Semel) | | YARD. —_~ ee Entrance. Beale of Feet, Ez ye 20 ze eae 2 z 2 we we v0 ROAD. CHALKPIT FARM BUILDINGS, ENGLEFIELD, BERKS.—R. Benyon, Ese. 32 Agriculture of Berkshire. It will be seen by the subjoined plan that the buildings are extremely convenient; they do not perhaps present to the eye so compact and uniform an appearance as some others, but in their selection great practical judgment has been displayed without any useless expenditure of money. They afford good accommodation for a considerable quantity of stock, and facilities for making a great deal of manure ; consequently they are pecu- liarly adapted for large arable-land farms. There is stable-room for 16 horses, with water turned on in each stall from a‘pond at a considerable elevation above, which supplies the whole farm- stead. The manure is taken from the stables into an adjoining yard, which is open, but provided with a shed ; it is here mixed and trodden down by the young cow-stock. There are also loose boxes for 42 beasts; a commodious cowhouse, with open and spacious yard; piggeries, well arranged, with breeding-styes opening into a yard with shed. Here are to be seen the much- wanted rick-sheds, which I shall refer to elsewhere. The machinery, which is by Messrs. Clayton and Shuttleworth, is very superior, and the arrangement for thrashing, grinding, pulp- ing, bruising, chaffcutting, &c., on the upper floor is very con- venient. The farm horses are good, they are bred on the pro- perty, and are slightly crossed with the Flemish blood. About 200 head of superior short-horn cattle are kept for dairy and grazing purposes ; a dry flock of 600 sheep, to fold on the land, and pigs of the improved Berkshire breed. The implements are of the best description; Scotch carts are used instead of waggons, and Smith’s steam-plough has worked on the property for some time with most satisfactory results. The attention which is being paid to the dwellings of the poor on the estate and to many other improvements connected with them, which the short residence of Mr. Benyon on his property has only enabled him partially to carry out, characterises him as one among that body of English landlords of whom the farmers of this country are justly proud. I have to thank Mr. Benyon for the plan with which he has kindly furnished me, and for the information he has allowed me to obtain. HomeEsTEADS AND MANURE. To say that the homesteads of Berkshire are good and in most respects well maintained is no more than correct, but the site of many of them is far from well chosen, nor do they in all cases meet the requirements of the several occupations. In such instances the misfortune is that they are too good to pull down and of little value as they stand ; for, under the present system of farming, it is impossible to cultivate the land to the best advantage with a misplaced or badly-arranged farmstead. Agriculture of Berkshire. 33 In a great many places we find the buildings have been erected from time to time as occasion required, without any regard to unity of design or uniformity of style, and are so ill-connected as to render it impossible to carry off the water from them, which is allowed to saturate the manure in the yards, and, after extracting much of its valuable property, to run off, through some drain, to the nearest pond, cesspool, or ditch. The Berkshire farmers are quite alive to the value of good manure, and do not spare expense in making it by keeping their yards well filled with stock and well littered with straw, of which they have an ample supply in consequence of so great a portion of their land being arable, which also their covenants often prohibit them from selling. The average quantity of rain that falls is no more than is required to moisten and make the manure, when the buildings are so arranged that the water from them can be carried off and not allowed to run into the yards; but where they are unconnected, as I before described, much injury is done to the manure which the farmer has no means of remedying: even if he turns the drainings to a good account, as many do, he still remembers that it is first robbed from his yards. The large sheep-farms in the centre of the county are notorious for the inconvenient situation of the homesteads. In most cases the farms are laid out so as to take in a portion of the vale, hill, and down-land, and run in narrow strips of not more than half a mile in width, and of two or three miles, or even more, in length ; here we almost invariably find the homestead placed at the extreme end in the village, with a few plots of meadow around it. Hence arose the necessity of constructing what are generally called the “down farms,” which often consist of one or two barns, a shed, stable, yard, and cart-house, with one or two cottages. A few carthorses stand here, and here some of the corn is stacked that the straw may be converted into manure near at hand, in order to save the carting both of corn and manure. On some farms there is a lone barn or two in addition to these, where a yard is made for the sheep to pick over the straw grown close at hand and make it into manure. This state of things is very unsatisfactory in one respect, and must undergo a change as the condition of the poor improves. No respectable man with a family cares to live in these lonely situations, where, in addition to other inconveniences, his chil- dren are almost deprived of the means of education. « Under- carters and boys of good character, who are required to attend to the horses, mostly object to such isolated places, where they are deprived of the means of improvement, and, in most instances, their comforts are uncared for: consequently, we often find the most unsatisfactory characters settled in these localities. VOL, XXI. D d4 Agriculture of Berkshire. It is not to be supposed from these remarks that the country is destitute of modern homesteads: several such have been built, within the last few years, for the use of the tenant-farmer, an instance of which may be seen on the property of J. C. Garth, Esq., of Haines Hill, near Twyford, who, in addition to the very compact and. convenient covered homestall, with most perfect machinery, which he has erected on the farm in his own hands, has built, within the last few years, two homesteads of similar construction for tenants, and has commenced a third. The cottages on this estate have also been greatly improved. Another very compact covered farmstead may be seen at General Dunn’s, Inlease, near Hunger- ford. These, with many others, which I cannot here particu- larise, show that the spirit of improvement is abroad. Although the farmers of Berkshire may justly be proud of their ricks, soneatly made and beautifully trimmed, yet I should much rejoice to see them done away with, and rick-sheds adopted instead ; for if there is one improvement required more than another at the present time, I believe it to be this. Every practical farmer must be aware of the damage which ricks sustain in the summer by being left open and taking rain before they are thatched, —in many instances to an incalculable amount. The expense of thatching and trimming is of itself considerable, and this work comes too at a time when hands can ill be spared for the purpose. Moreover, a change of weather often occurs before the task is cempleted, and the ricks have to be covered up, or, in too many cases, left open to take damage. Al this would be obviated by the substitution of the much-desired rick-sheds, such as are to be seen on the farm I have spoken of, belonging to R. Benyon, Esq., of Englefield. In all the modern homesteads there is a great disposition to do away with barns, but the farmers will be very loth to give them up and entail upon themselves the necessity of making an extra number of ricks, until something is introduced to take their place. Much more may be said on behalf of rick-sheds, such as the facilities they afford for thresh- ing, stacking straw, &c. Under this head the annual saving to the farmer would be quite equal to 3 per cent. on the outlay, without reckoning anything for the damage he now sustains. The only objection I have heard of as at all likely to be raised against them is, that they are liable to be infested with rats and mice. I do not think, however, that this objection can be main- tained, as such injury may easily be obviated by any one who will only take the trouble to seek a remedy. No one can have any excuse for his premises being stocked with these vermin. I may be considered severe in my strictures on the preservers of these, if I use an expression which I have often employed,—that rats and mice and slovenly people are generally found to be y Agriculture of Berkshire. 35 located together. Some may say that this riddance is easier to talk about than to accomplish; but having, in more than one instance, entirely extirpated these pests from situations where they once swarmed—an undertaking in which their proximity to water rendered the task peculiarly difficult—I feel authorised to speak decidedly on the subject. No extraordinary means are required, but simply to keep a tidy rick-yard, with no heaps of loose straw or litter lying about, and to keep the barns well cleared out as soon as the corn is threshed. The stock can then be easily killed down; and if afterwards a trifle is paid for each rat killed, if the ricks are dressed in the usual way and some good cats are kept, another invasion of rats need not be feared. To prove that there can be no objection to placing corn on the ground, I have, within the last four years, taken down ten or twelve rick-stands, as from observation I found, when the ricks were threshed, there were always fewer mice in those standing on the ground than in the others on stands, The mice are brought home at harvest in the corn, and when put on stands are pre- served there; whereas, when put on the ground, they get to the outsides of the rick, and are either killed or make their escape. Farm Horsss. . This county is not eelebrated for any particular breed of horses. A good many farmers, who have the accommodation of a few pieces of pasture land, breed two or three colts yearly, which are broken-in when two years old. For the first two years two colts are generally reckoned to do the work of one horse ; by this means one of the oldest horses is sold out each year and the team is kept young. But the greater part buy at the local fairs in the neighbourhood the colts which are brought by dealers from the north: by buying in two or three every year and then selling the oldest horses, efficient teams are kept up. Others still continue the practice of buying good colts at from 35 to 45 guineas each, and then of making up two or three of their best horses yearly, of which high prices are made for the London drays ; in this case the older horses are often nearly worked out. About four horses toevery 100 acres of ploughed land are kept on the heavy soils, and three to the 100 acres on the lighter soils, where the threshing, chaff-cutting, &e., is done by steam-power. On the whole the horses are good and well chosen, so much so that I may almost venture to say the character of the horses shows the character of the soil on which they work: on the light tillage lands they are clean and active, sometimes crossed with the Suffolk ; on the heavier soils they are rather less active and more powerful, but not of the old fashioned hairy-legged breed, a specimen of which is now seldom seen in the county, although D 36 Agriculture of Berkshire. at the date of Mavor’s Report such seems to have been the pre- vailing breed. The horses are generally driven three in a plough in the winter months, and two in the summer, on the light soils ; but, on the heaviest, four are sometimes used. One acre per team is considered a fair day’s work when fallowing or ploughing ley- ground, and 1} acre of tilled land; they generally work 8 hours, from 7 o'clock to 3. Some, whose farmsteads are central, rest. them an hour in the middle of the day, and work an hour later ; but this does not answer when the fields are far from home. Neat Carrie. From the small proportion of grass-land it will naturally be inferred that neither dairies nor grazing form a very prominent feature in the county ; but as the principal part of the grass-land is in the Vale district, it calls for a special notice. Here dairies. for the most part prevail, the management of which is such as has been often described. Most farmers rear a few calves, but generally they are sold at about 10 days old ; the cow-calves being bought by the dealers to send back into the districts from whence they obtain the heifers in calf: in some instances the same calves are repurchased when rising three years old, when, as it is termed, they are down for calving. The cattle are mostly of the short- horn or rather Durham breed, without regard to pedigree; but there are more pure-bred bulls used than formerly ; several of the landed proprietors keeping first-rate short-horn bulls, of which they allow their tenants and neighbours the use: consequently a very visible improvement is taking place in the quality of the cow stock. Some oxen and steers are kept for eating the poor grass in the summer and for feeding and making manure in the winter. In the upland district, dairies and grazing form quite a subordinate feature. At Mr. W. Champion’s of Calcot, near Reading, however, a good breed of short-horns may be seen. On those farms which have a considerable proportion of pasture some short-horn cows are often kept; where there is but little, two or three Jersey cows, or a cross between Jersey and short-horn, suffice for supplying the family with milk and butter. Some of this cross produce large quantities of butter: I have been told of one which last year gave 400 lbs., besides fattening her calf. A few teams of oxen are worked (mostly of the Devon breed) on those soils which are suited to their hoofs, but they are not much in favour or in very extensive use. Pies. Berkshire has ever been celebrated for its breed of pigs, and most justly so, where proper attention has been paid to their Agriculture of Berkshire. 37 selection ; but, as no animal degenerates so quickly, the greater judgment is required in saving proper ones for stock. Most farmers breed their own, let them run the yards and stubbles as stores, and afterwards fatten them for market. Some prefer selling them out as stores, particularly in the grass district; others, instead of breeding, buy in at about three months old to work their yards, and sell out again as strong hogs, or fatten them out when there is a prospect of their paying. Some few have sought to improve the Berkshire pigs by crossing them with the Suffolk, Sussex, and other breeds, and named them (or rather: should say misnamed them) the Improved Berkshire. The quality of this cross, although it may appear successful for a time, cannot be kept up ; consequently these gentlemen find (or will find) that they have a breed of animals deficient in constitution, de- ficient in natural flesh, and worthy of anything but the name of an improved Berkshire, which I believe can only be justly given to the pure-bred animal, the offspring of carefully selected stock. I may be thought severe, but I speak from experience, as I fell into this error myself some years since. Having previously been suc- cessful in exhibiting pure Berkshires, I was tempted to try to improve them by crossing, and so far succeeded as to obtain a prize for a boar-pig, called the Improved Berkshire, at one of the shows of the Royal Agricultural Society. I could not, however, keep up the quality of this breed by any means. The store pigs were much more tender, and required more nursing; they fattened well, but were deficient in lean; and the bacon lost con- siderably more weight in cooking than that of the pure-bred pig : consequently I was obliged to clear out, as my expectations were not realized, and begin again with pure blood. Had I not pre- viously known the good qualities of the real Berkshire, I should have been satisfied with this cross. SHEEP. Sheep-farming forms a very important feature in this county. There are three descriptions of flocks kept, viz.—regular breed- ing-flocks, breeding-flocks for selling and grazing, and dry flocks. As their management engages so much time and attention, and the profit derived from them formsa considerable item in the farmer’s balance-sheet, it will be desirable to speak of each sepa- rately, more especially of the regular breeding-flocks, which are the most numerous, and are, with a very few exceptions, of the Hampshire or West-country Down breed. There is, however, a pure Southdown flock on the farm of Sir R. Throgmorton, at Buckland, and two or three cross-bred flocks in other parts of the county. The number of sheep kept per acre is from 1} to 2— é.¢., at the commencement of the year we find, on a farm of 500 38 Agriculture of Berkshire. acres (exclusive of Downs), about 450 ewes and 400 tegs; of these tegs about 160 of the best ewes are drawn out for stock, and kept in a flock by themselves upon Swedes and hay, both cut for the most part; the others, living by the side of them, have, in addition, 1 lb. of oil-cake or 1 pint of beans per day, and are sold out in the spring at some of the fairs, or sent to the London market, in which latter case they are generally shorn first: occasionally, however, in the preceding autumn some or all of the wether lambs are sold out at the later fairs instead of being wintered, according as the prospect of keep is favourable or the reverse. The ewe-flock, consisting of 150 two-tooths, 150 four-tooths, and 150 sixth-tooths, lamb down in the early part of fFe- bruary: a lambing-pen is made, in the corner of the field where their food is, with thatched hurdles, or the ewes are removed to a convenient lambing-yard at the homestead, where they are fed on hay with turnips or mangolds; as soon as the lambs are strong enough they are removed into the field. The lambs soon learn to run forward and feed on the green top, and are often supplied with a few peas, and some cake, and chaff. The roots are generally made to last until the beginning of May (where there are no water-meadows), by which time, in most seasons, the early rye, winter-barley, and vetches are fit to feed. The ewes are generally taken from the lambs at the end of May or beginning of June; where there are downs the ewes are driven to them daily, and folded at night either on fallows or an inferior piece of grass, as circumstances and the quality of the downs require ; some of the downs are good enough to get the ewes up into condition without any other assistance, others are in- ferior, so that the stock on them require a good fold of grass at night. The sale or draft ewes, being the 150 oldest, are soon drawn out from the others and kept better, to get them fit for sale; some few sell them immediately they are taken from the lambs, in the wool, but most shear them, and sell them out about August. After the lambs are weaned they require two kinds of food, and generally, so long as the vetches last, they have a fold of grass with them; soon after the hay is cleared they get a run out on some of the inferior grasses which are not likely ‘to produce good after-feed, and, when the vetches are finished, they fold on the best lattermath. Here it is that the lambs often get a check which it takes them months to recover from ; for in dry seasons, such as the last two have been, their supply of food is scanty till the rape is fit for use, which is not often the case till the middle of August. Upon this the lambs are sure to thrive if they have not been too much checked Agriculture of Berkshire. 39 before, particularly if they have a piece of sainfoin to run out on. After the rape is cleared, the forward turnip-land, which is to be planted with wheat, is next fed off; here the ewes fold behind the lambs, and clear up after them. The rams are turned to the ewes about the end of August or beginning of September. These are extensively purchased from the well-known flocks of Mr. Humfrey, of Oak Ash, near Want- age, and Mr. Stephen King, of Old Hayward, near Hungerford, who have long been celebrated as breeders of Hampshire or West- country Downs; Mr. T. Fuller, of Compton, near Ilsley, has also been a successful breeder for the last few years. Breeding-flocks for Selling or Grazing.—As cross-bred sheep have increased much in favour witiiin the last few years, those who produce them have been obliged to sacrifice their own stock and go into the market for their ewes; these are pur- chased at the fairs in this county and Hants about July and August, and are the sale or draft ewes from the regular breeding- flocks: younger ewes may now and then be bought, but they are comparatively few. The ewes are put to white-faced rams, of the Gloucester or Leicester breed, and throw their lambs very early. Some fatten their lambs and ewes together; others treat them as store-stock, and sell out in the autumn; and a few fatten their tegs, and send them to the London market in spring, after taking their wool. This description of flock is very remunerative when ewes can be bought in at a reasonable price : but, when this plan is too generally adopted, an undue demand is created for them, and they sometimes cost more than they make when fattened, and, if they are not fattened, but sold again (sometimes to breed another lamb), a considerable sacrifice has to be submitted to. Dry-flocks.—Several of these are to be found in different parts of the county, although they bear a small proportion to the whole. These, in many instances, are bought in as lambs or two-tooth sheep in June and July, and sold out in the following April and May, for the most part fat. Some farmers keep fat- tening out and buying in, as they have room and feed ; here the cross-breed are decidedly in favour. About two sheep per acre of these two last descriptions of flocks are kept in most seasons : but the number varies according as the prospect of keep is good or bad. It would be out of place here were I to recommend one description of flock in preference to the other; the farmers of this county generally are too good judges to suppose for a moment that it is a matter of fancy or opinion as to which they should keep: circumstances over which they have no control ought, and I believe do, most frequently decide the 40 Agriculture of Berkshire. question. Much may be said in favour of each, and each also has its drawback. ‘Those farms on the best soils, which are mostly of one uniform description of land (upon the natural produce of which sheep thrive), may be considered most | adapted for dry-flocks and the fattening of ewes and lambs; while, on the other hand, those soils which are very variable, with downs and down-lands attached, are certainly best cal- culated for breeding-flocks. Nothing has improved in this county so much within the last fifty years as the breed of sheep and the cultivation of those roots on which they so much subsist, for, at the date of Mavor’s Report, in 1809, he speaks of the Swede or Ruta Baga as one of the most recent introductions, and the horned sheep of Wiltshire and the native Berkshire nots as the principal breeds of sheep kept at that period: these are, happily, quite extinct. AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY. Nothing affords a better criterion by which to judge of the improvements that are taking place in a district than the cha- racter of the implements in use. In this respect Berkshire is by no means in the background. In passing through different parts of it, we find, in almost every parish, many of the most modern inventions. The iron ploughs by Messrs. Howard, Barrett, Hart, Plenty, Haslam, Ball, and others, have entirely superseded the old wooden plough. The Cambridge and other improved rollers are much preferred to the smooth ones. Iron and link har- rows are year by year getting into greater favour. Cole- man’s and Bentall’s scarifier is acknowledged by many as a great boon. Drills are so much used that we occasionally hear an old- fashioned farmer complain that they have spoiled all the seeds- men, and that it is difficult now to find a carter who knows how to use the seedlip. Drills used to be kept in different districts for hire, but now most of the farmers prefer keeping their own. The waggons are light and well made, and are still used by many in preference to harvest-carts, although these are patronised in different parts of the county, and I believe are gradually in- creasing in number, more particularly on level farms where the fields are not too far from the homestead: the other carts are heavy and clumsy in the extreme, and call for great improve- ment. Chaff-cutters are more general than formerly: most people are now persuaded that it is both economical and de- sirable to cut hay into chaff, apart from the great advantage thus afforded by being enabled to mix together good and inferior hay, with sometimes a portion of oat or barley straw. ‘Turnip- cutters and pulpers are much used ; the latter are daily getting Agriculture of Berkshire. 41 more general for mixing mangold and other roots with chaff for neat cattle and cow-stock. A few horse-power threshing-machines are to be seen here and there, and occasionally a hand-machine is used by those who have at times a surplus of labour, but I cannot say that they have any other recommendation than that they give employment, in some cases, to those who might otherwise be discharged. The combined steam threshing-machine has become so general as to have nearly silenced the sound of the flail in some parts; however, there are still many practical men who prefer threshing out the greater part of their Lent-corn with the flail; first, because the fodder comes out regularly for the use of the cattle in the yards, and secondly, because there are on most farms some men, with large families, who are glad to do it, as they are thereby enabled to earn a few shillings per week more, which in the winter season is a great help to them. Machines, in some cases, are kept by the farmers for their own use; the engine, when not required for threshing, being used for grinding corn, cutting chaff, bruising, &c.; large farms can employ a 7 or 8 horse-power engine to great advantage in this way, as I have learnt from my own experience. The greater part prefer hiring a machine, many of which are kept for letting out in different parts of the county. Some only winnow the corn ‘once ,and sack it; it is then mixed in a heap and winnowed again before it is sent to market: others finish it at one operation, but this plan is open to objection. A rick is seldom of one uniform quality, consequently a sample taken, to sell by, from any one part is not a fair sample of the whole, and I have heard dealers say they have had more unpleasantness since the introduction of this system than they were ever subjected to before; another objection is that this machine, although cleverly constructed and quite a masterpiece of skill, is nevertheless very complicated, and after it has been in use a considerable time the wear and tear becomes very expensive, from the great number of bearings —something or other is constantly breaking or getting out of order, causing great hindrance from stoppages during the process of threshing. This is now generally performed out of doors, by taking the machine to the ricks, which consequently are made in the fields more frequently than they used to be, by no means to the advantage of the general neat appearance of the county. As the ricks are threshed, the straw is stacked or rather thrown together in a very slovenly way, to be removed again at a con- venient season to be made into manure in the yards; there can be no economy in this plan, as straw is never moved so cheaply as it is in the harvest, at which time it should always be taken as 42 Agriculture of Berkshire. near as possible to the yards where it is likely to be wanted. 1 do not mean to say that no one is ever justified in stacking in the fields corn grown at a great distance from home if the teams are required elsewhere; but I have often seen this done when sufficient horses were left in the stable to convey it home, with no additional expense except that of an extra boy or*two to drive the teams. The steam-plough has hitherto been but little used, there being only four in different parts of the county, two of Smith’s and two of Fowler’s ; in each instance they have given entire satisfaction, and answered every expectation. From the great number of reports that have been published on the subject, embracing the experience of the occupiers of every description of land, the account of the quantity of work performed, and the proportion of horses dispensed with, it is pretty certain that the steam-plough will ere long be much more extensively used even in this county, where the proportion of strong land, to which it is most applicable, is small, if we compare this with other districts. Mowing and Reaping Machines.—During the last two summers the mowing-machine has been extensively used on meadow and pasture Seah with very satisfactory results; but many farmers object to them Yor the upland grasses, more particularly the clovers, as they leave the crop spread over the ground, so that it cannot possibly be raked into swathe in such a way as to prevent a large portion of the leaves being lost under the scorching sun of June and July. The reaping-machine has been introduced in several instances, but has not been attended with that success which it has met with in many other counties: this cannot be attributed so much to any defects in the machines as in the parties intro- ducing them. No implement of modern times has so taxed the ingenuity of the manufacturer as this, so that it requires consider- able discretion and nicety of adjustment in working it; but these, however, have not been the only difficulties which the reaper has had to overcome. Where it has been purchased solely with a view to saving a trifle in labour, or in order to let the discontented labourers know that the farmer was independent of them, it is not surprising that the result has been altogether unsatisfactory, and that an amount of prejudice has been created which time only can eradicate; but, on the other hand, where it has been em- ployed with the view of benefiting both parties, it has generally been successful, and willing and efficient hands have been found to work it. By using one the last three years, I have been en- abled to secure my harvest as quickly as others, and with as little expense, without employing an extra hand. ‘There certainly are crops which a reaping-machine cannot cut to advantage; but by giving the labourers the benefit of it where it can work, they are Agriculture of Berkshire. 43 quite willing to cut where it cannot, without additional pay : consequently the benefit is mutual. I am therefore disposed to speak very favourably of a machine which enables a farmer to secure his harvest with pleasure to himself and satisfaction to his labourers, and at the same time to be independent of a class of people who one half the year travel about the country earning the money which the regular labourers ought to have the privilege of earning, and who often spend the other half in a very questionable manner. _ Lasourers’ WAGEs AND ConDITION. So far as means go, the condition of the labourer may be con- sidered satisfactory ; the average weekly pay is 10s. to 11s.; in the lower part of the county it is rather less, and as we approach nearer to London somewhat higher. Carters and shepherds have ls. per week more than the day-labourer with rent-free cottage and from 2/. to 5/. as wages, paid at Michaelmas at the termi- nation of a year’s service; under carters and shepherds re- ceive from 6s. to 8s. per week, and from 3/. to 6/ of yearly wages; plough-boys and shepherd-boys from 3s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. per week, and from 1/. 10s. to 2/. 10s. wages; the practice of allowing beer is almost discontinued, excepting in the hay-making and harvest, when the men get three or four quarts of ale, and boys two quarts per day. As much of the work as possible is done by the piece :—reaping 10s. to 12s. per acre, more in some instances for lodged crops; mowing barley and oats 3s. 6d. to 4s. 6d.; mowing grass 3s. to 4s. ; flat-hoeing turnips once 5s., twice 9s. to 10s.; hoeing beans or peas 4s. to 6s.; threshing barley by flail 1s. 8d. to 1s. 10d. per quarter. The following account of the earnings of an ordinary married Jabourer, with the assistance of his wife, during the wheat and barley harvest, is from the labour-book on a farm in the central district of the county, and may be taken as a fair average :— 1859, SEG iseQuaker, endins Meareh 25 -. ..' -- «. - 7% 1 8 2nd 4, SUMOSL OME N se Vi see ae OD 2S ord - September 29) 25: ms te! ae 15) Od 4th “ WDGCGIOB Gen! Bite den) im see LO- LO. 19 40 8 2% being 15s. 63d. per week. The labourers are generally paid in money every week, many farmers paying on the Friday to give them the opportunity of spending their money on the Saturday to the best advantage : others pay on Saturday, and a few only once a fortnight. Women are seldom seen in the fields during the winter months; but in weeding, hay-making, and harvest-time, they are extensively em- ployed. 44 Agriculture of Berkshire. The dwellings of the agricultural labourers are good where they are in the hands of the landed proprietors: these have generally three bed-rooms with 30 or 40 poles of ground attached ; they are in most cases let at 1s. per week. Landlords no longer look upon the cottages as a tax or burden on the estate, but consider them as necessary and important appendages, and in some cases a great ornament. But there are other cottages belonging to different owners in various parts of the county which are only worthy of the name of hovels ; and yet are in many cases let at double the price of the former, “sein barely any garden at- tached to them. These unfortunately frequently belong to those who take no interest in the moral or social condition of the agri- cultural labourer ; they are, however, gradually decreasing in number every year, and there is good reason to hope that ere long every poor man’s home will be such as he can feel a pleasure in returning to after the toils of the day are over, there to spend his leisure hours in a neat and well-kept garden, for the careful cul- tivation of which there are now many inducements in almost every district—horticultural societies being very general, which give to cottagers prizes for flowers, fruit, vegetables, and the best- cultivated gardens. Garden-allotments do not prevail so much as they did; but adjoining the towns they are still to be seen, and are a great boon to the poorer inhabitants. In the agricul- tural districts where the gardens are very small, allotments, not exceeding 40 poles each, are sometimes let to the poor by their wealthier neighbours at a moderate price. The clergy are ever forward in promoting and encouraging every work which has for its object the improvement of the labouring classes. ‘There are but few parishes without coal and clothing clubs, to which the poor contribute a few pence weekly, the subscriptions of the wealthier parishioners being added to their contributions at the end of the year. There are also several excellent Benefit Societies, from which the poor man, by paying a small amount monthly, is provided with medical attendance and from 8s. to 12s. per week, in case of illness. Where these are unconnected with the public-house they are generally under the management of the clergy, and are patronised by the respectable inhabitants. Education has advanced with rapid strides during the last ten years. I may say every village has its daily school ; in addition to which most clergymen have established night schools, where the working classes have the privilege of attending andl improying themselves. These are calculated to produce much good, more particularly to the young men between the ages of 16 and 23, who, from the pernicious system of hiring at statute-fairs, are taken at that age from their homes, and from every one interested Agriculture of Berkshire. 45 in them, to lodge in hovels and sleep on beds frequently less comfortable than those of the cattle they tend. Thus, unheeded and uncared for, the only wonder is if they do not form vicious and depraved habits, and fall easy victims to vice of all kinds. This is but one of the many evils resulting from these fairs, and I rejoice to see there is a prospect of doing away with them, and that steps have already been taken to that end. In comparing the present with the past, we find, from our gaol statistics, that there is a great diminution of crime, and that our gaols are nearly empty. This may, in a measure, be attributed to the establishment of the County Police-force, which does good ser- vice, not so much by the amount of crime which it detects, as that which, either directly or indirectly, it is the means of preventing. From all these facts, which I have felt it my duty to give, many may infer that the general condition of the labourer is so satisfactory that ere long we may look for extraordinary results. I should be sorry to create such an erroneous impression, and distinctly state that I anticipate nothing of the kind until the moral tone of that class immediately above them has reached a higher standard. Where that bond of sympathy and friendship which should unite the employer and employed does not exist, or only ina very small degree, we often find that farmers do not scruple to discharge their labourers when work is scarce, and they can do without them ; and, as a matter of course, in the summer, when the labourers feel that they are of importance to the farmers, they either strike for higher pay or take their labour to a dearer market. Surely remedies may be found for this state of things. In my humble opinion, the first is to provide constant employment for a regular staff of labourers, and, by a judicious introduction of machinery, so to equalise the work on the farm as not to require extra hands in the summer season ; next, to let the labourers feel that they are not looked upon as mere machines, who are only valued for the amount of work they can perform, but that they are trusted, treated kindly, helped and respected, in proportion as they help and respect themselves. We shall then find that our interest will be theirs, and that the facilities now afforded them for improvement, decent living, and the formation of industrious habits, will be more appreciated and more pro- ductive of good results. As this is not an essay on agriculture, but a report of facts as they exist, I feel bound, in conclusion, to thank those gentlemen and friends who have so very kindly and readily furnished me with information on the different subjects contained in it, and for the great courtesy I have received from all those whose farms 1 have inspected. If practice cannot, compete with science, and 1 am unsuccessful, it will not be from want of subject-matter, but 46 The Mechanical Condition of the Soil from inability on my part to make it worthy of commendation ; still I shall not regret having made an attempt, through which I. have obtained much valuable information, and have extended and renewed my acquaintance with many of the practical farmers of Berkshire. Moulsford, Wallingford, Berks, February 28th, 1860. 1l.—The Mechanical Condition of the Soil favourable for the Growth of Seed. By Professor Tanner. Prize Essay. Tue cultivator of the soil will find in the preparation of the land for the reception of seed his most laborious duties and those which demand his greatest judgment and skill. When these are accomplished he has, comparatively speaking, little else to do but to commit the seed to the ground, leaving the work he has carried thus far to be completed by the secret operations of Nature, directed by His will who established the law that seed- time and harvest shall not fail. Plants, having passed through several stages of growth and performed the earlier functions devolving upon them, have the last but most important duty of life reserved for the period of their greatest perfection and beauty. This duty is the formation of seed, endowed with powers capable of reproducing plants similar to those by which the seed has been formed. In the seed we have one of the most interesting examples possible of the wise provision made for the perpetuation of the various forms of vegetation. In it the powers of vegetable life lie dor- mant until aroused by the conditions favourable for their develop- ment, and when these are present the seed forthwith springs into action and growth, In speaking of vegetable life we naturally associate with it the co-operation of some mysterious power, by which the vital energies of the plant are stimulated to action ; but although we cannot fully understand the primary principle of life, yet an examination into the changes which take place in the growth of seeds will remove much of the mystery which is often attached to it. ‘To this end, we may take the seed of wheat as a familiar specimen for our examination. It is particu- larly worthy of notice that the seed consists of two distinct parts —the germ, which is the true seed; and the nourishment stored for the growth of the germ. The position of the germ is indicated by a sear or cicatrix upon the skin, but it is a minute body and forms but a small proportion of the entire seed. It is always favourable for the Growth of Seed, 47 placed adjacent to the bulky portion of the seed, consisting of stareh mixed with gluten and albuminous matter, and the whole is enclosed in a coat of dense vegetable matter. The growth of the seed consists in the development of the germ into a perfect plant, and is known as germination. Sup- posing the conditions of growth to be favourable, the. first pre- liminary is a softening of the coat of the seed, by which means water gains an entrance,,and having pervaded the mass causes it to swell freely. When the water reaches the germ of the seed the gluten or albuminous matter near to it undergoes a chemical change, and we have a very important-and powerful body formed which is known as diastase. Whether or not the germ in any way participates in this change, we have no proof; but, if not, it is certain that at least by its presence it exerts a controlling power, The same addition of moisture to any other portion of the seed would not produce the same effect, for this agent (dia- stase) is only found in close proximity to the germ, and its exist- ence in the seed appears to be simultaneous with the first stage of germination. Upon the diastase thus formed devolves the important office of preparing food for the growth of the germ ; for the bulk of the seed, although abundant in quantity and exactly suitable in its constituent elements, is not ready for use until it has become soluble in water, and thus been made capable of entering into the circulation of the germ. ‘This is accom- plished by means of the diastase, by the agency of which the necessary supplies are prepared, so long as the store of food in the seed is needed. An immediate extension of the cellular matter accompanies the entrance of the food into the circulation, and we have the external evidence of life by the sprouting of the seed. In whatever position the seed may be placed, the radicles at once strike perpendicularly down into the soil, and the tender rootlets fix themselves there with but little delay. As soon ‘as this is effected, the gemmule grows in the opposite direction and becomes developed into the stem and leaves of the plant. The conditions which control the growth of seeds are, the presence of air, moisture, and warmth; and, to produce healthy germination, all are required in definite proportions. When seed is protected from these agencies it will retain its powers of growth for long periods of time. Thus, wheat, preserved in Egyptian mummies between 3000 and 4000 years, has, after that lapse of time, germinated and produced a large increase. The preservation of the power of growth is entirely dependent upon the seed being kept from those agencies which would excite its vital energy: moisture is the first essential for germination, as it is in consequence of the chemical action excited in the seed by the entrance of water that the seed is aroused to action; and 48 The Mechanical Condition of the Soil after this process of growth has been excited, if it become checked, it cannot be renewed. This shows the necessity of keeping seeds dry when they are not required to germinate. Moisture alone is not sufficient for this process of growth, as the seed requires a supply of atmospheric air to enable the necessary chemical changes to proceed. Stagnant water in the soil must of necessity be unfavourable to germination, because it renders the land cold and excludes the free access of air, both of which conditions are prejudicial. The exceptions to this rule are very few: one, however, may be found amongst agricultural seeds in the floating sweet water- grass (Glyceria fluitans), grown in our water-meadows, in which instance immersion in water is absolutely necessary for the growth of the seed. In this case we have a seed which has the power of extracting its supply of air from water,—a power which but very few other seeds possess. The supply of air Is as necessary for these aquatic seeds as for any others; for if we drive out the air from water by boiling, they can no longer germinate. For the same reason, seeds which are buried deeply in the earth remain there for many years, not because they want moisture, but because it is unaccompanied by the presence of atmospheric air. The earth raised from wells, or brought from railway cuttings, or ploughed up by a furrow of extra depth, often becomes covered by a growth of vegetation, the produce of seeds which have long been dormant in the soil. Warmth is another essential condition for germination, which, within moderate limits, is rendered more rapid by an increase of temperature ; but it must be accompanied by a proportionate increase of moisture, otherwise it becomes destructive. The action of heat promotes chemical changes in the seed, but a free supply of water is necessary, not only that it may exert a like chemical influence, but also because it enters largely into the more delicate body into which the dry matter of the seed has to be transformed. Thus we see that healthy germination depends upon the combined action of the three agents—heat, water, and air, The opinions which are entertained respecting the influence of light are conflicting. ‘Some consider that light retards the pro- cess of/germination, whilst others consider that it does not influ- ence it prejudicially. The experiments which have been made, although far from conclusive, are calculated to favour the former opinion; for the growth, although equally perfect, has not been as rapid under the action of light as when the seed has been covered from it. We know that, as soon as the seed has made sufficient growth to throw out its leaves, the action of light is favourable, its presence enabling the plant to decompose carbonic favourable for the Gro vth of Seed. 49 acid and to retain the carbon for its own, whilst the oxygen is thrown off into the air. But at this earlier stage of existence, or, in other words, during the period of germination, growth is favoured by an action just the reverse of this. The seed and its sprouts want to absorb, not to throw off oxygen, and to emit instead of taking in carbonic acid. During germination, then, the action of light would tend to paralyse the vital powers of the seed, and limit its growth to the hours of darkness, instead of allowing the development to be continuous. Another great advantage gained by covering the seed is the more. equable supply of moisture which is preserved beneath the surface, as well as the better opportunity afforded to the roots for firmly fixing themselves in the soil. After this hasty glance at the general principles involved in the germination of seeds, we may proceed to notice the special requirements of the various crops which come under the care of the agriculturist, and to describe the preparation of the land which is most successfully adopted in each case. It may be as well for me to remark, that although the composition of the soil is an essential point in the preparation made for each crop, yet it does not come within the scope of this Essay to notice the means by which we regulate the presence of those fertilisers which are necessary for luxuriant growth. Wheat.—The mode of preparing land for being sown with wheat will be regulated by the previous cultivation it may have received and the natural character of the soil. The heaviest clay soils are generally prepared by bare fallow: this plan being found, in the majority of cases, productive of the best crops of corn from this description of land. When this plan is properly carried out, the tillage which the field receives brings it into a nice condition for the seed-wheat to make its growth. Close and adhesive as these soils naturally are, it has been found necessary to adopt a method of cultivation by which the character of the soil shall become thoroughly changed. Under the action of a properly-managed fallow the soil becomes broken up by the frosts, baked by the sun’s rays, and crumbled again by the fall of rain ; and these influences, combined with the inversion and inter- mixing effected by implements employed upon the land, change it from being close and adhesive in its character into the con- dition of a well-broken soil fitted for the growth of seed. There is much difference even amongst heavy clays as to the degree of fineness to which it is desirable to reduce the soil whilst under fallow ; but the general feeling is that the soil should not be rolled, so as to bring it intoa fine state, unless the land is fou! and it is necessary to give the seeds of any weeds which may be in the soil a better opportunity of growth. Even then it is VOL. XXI. K 50 The Mechanical;Condition of the: Soil considered that we run a great risk of getting the soil pasty or muddy when rain falls upon it; and, unless under the circum- stances named, it is better to keep the soil in a state of small lumps rather than reduce them into a dusty condition. The same care is necessary in preparing it for the seed-wheat. The last ploughing should leave the land in ridges, and the ploughed earth should not be broken down or crushed until the time of sowing. An early preparation of these soils is advisable, so that the» work may be accomplished whilst the soil can be thrown together in a dry state, after which it may remain untouched until the seed-time. Narrow lands will generally be found best for soils. of this class, so that, in carrying out the sowing, the drill and harrows may cover the width between the two furrows, and the horses walk in the furrows, so as not to trample the land. If a fallow has been well managed, so that the land has been thoroughly cleaned from weeds, in case of a wet seed-time, | should have no hesitation in sowing the land broadcast, rather than wait to drill the seed with the risk of injuring the condition of the land and the certainty of delaying the time of sowing. Clays of this strong character are exceedingly sensitive of: moisture. They rapidly absorb it from the air, and when the rain falls, the interstices in the surface soon become closed so as to obstruct its passage. If, whilst the soil is im this soft state, it be pressed, a firm adhesion of the particles takes place. The cups thus formed in the soil by the horses’ feet continue to hold water long after the other ground has become dry. The clay soil, which expanded when it absorbed water, is disposed to contract again as it dries, whilst the adhesion formed by pressure still remains. If this adhesion is objectionable to the growth of the seed, as | shall show it to be, it ought to be avoided ; and for this reason the sowing of such land should be carried out as early as the climate of the district will permit, and the greatest care should be taken to avoid the injurious influence of treading the soil or pressing it by the use of implements, which may cause its adhesion. Few can at present estimate the full amount. of injury occasioned on these soils by the treading of horses on their work,—an injury which probably will only be rightly estimated when we supersede this portion of their labour by steam-cultivation. After the seed is sown, the harrowing must only be carried out so far as to cover the seed, for the reduction of the surface to a fine tilth is very objectionable; rolling should certainly be avoided. The injurious effect of a fine surface arises from its disposition, in case of violent rain, to form a muddy coating, which, when dry, acts as a crust upon the surface. This cover- ing interrupts the free entrance of the atmospheric air into the favourable for the Growth of Seed. 51 soil, and thereby checks the germination of the seed, and renders it irregular. In the same manner, but in a greater degree, when, by compression, we get an adhesion of the soil, the seed thus enclosed is deprived of the access of air, and cannot make its growth. The stronger and more adhesive the natural character of the clay may be, the greater is the caution necessary to have it well prepared for the seed early in the season, so that it may be sown in good time, and the surface left in a tolerably rough state. These clods of soil will be a good shelter in the winter months, and, by the return of spring, will have mellowed down into a nice mould, valuable to the young plant when the impor- tant operation of spring-rolling is carried out; but care must be taken in doing this not to get on to the land too quickly. Now, although | advise that the field be left rough after sowing for the winter months, I must not be supposed to suggest a negligent mode of finishing the work of preparation; for | admire a neatly- finished field of corn, and look upon it as an indication of general good management. The surface may be allowed to remain rough; but, as soon as the implements have finished their work, the labourers should proceed to make clean and sufficient furrows and water-gutters, so as to prevent any lodgment of water upon the surface. This should be done whether the land be underdrained or not. Fertilising as the passage of the water undoubtedly is, I would very much rather not retain it upon the land for this purpose during the winter months. The next preparation for wheat we have to notice will be upon land which has produced a crop of autumn-feed or early roots—for instance, rape, vetches, cabbage, mangold, potatoes, &e. The soils upon which this system is adopted will be rather lighter than those we have noticed, so that we may de~ scribe them as medium clays. These terms are necessarily com~ parative and also much under the influence of climate ; fora clay of medium character in a wet climate will require more care- ful management than a strong clay in a dry climate, and thus we often find an apparent discrepancy in evidence and opinion, when, in fact, persons are disputing upon circumstances which do not fairly admit of comparison. I have’ nothing to say here on the question whether for a strong clay a bare fallow is prefer- able to a crop of autumn-food, or otherwise ; I will only observe that the majority of the occupiers of strong clay lands, who argue against bare fallows as unnecessary, live in the drier climates of England, where the difficulties arising in the manage- ment of such clay soils, are much reduced. I prefer, however, to take the course of cropping as it may exist, and therefore, with- out further comment, proceed to notice the preparation of wheat upon clay soils after an autumn green-crop or beans. E 2 52 The Mechanical Condition of the Soil As these crops admit of a system of hoeing being carried out, the land will not have much weed upon it when the crop has been removed, but may be supposed to bein good working condition ; the early operations may differ according to the nature of the preceding crop, but they again meet when the surface has been cleaned. After beans the land may be better for being skimmed and having the weeds burnt; but, should the ground be too hard for this to be readily done, the use of the plough will be pre- ferable, which should be preceded by forking and picking any couch-grass that may haye established itself. The surface should be cleared of any weeds (except annuals) which may be there, and ther. the more immediate preparation for wheat- sowing will commence. A single ploughing is enough for getting the land into good order, if summer-tillage has been satisfactorily carried out. The vetches, rape, and part of the cabbage will be generally consumed upon the land, and thus it will often happen that the rain falling upon it will cause the surface to become hardened by the treading of the stock ; but if, from this or any other cause, the land is too hard and incapable of being prepared by one loughing, then a second ploughing must be given, and, if pos- sible, 10 or 14 days should elapse between them, so as to let the soil regain the necessary degree of firmness for the seed. Wheat, whilst it requires the necessary supplies of air and moisture for its germination, cannot flourish unless it can root firmly, and it is for this reason that, where one ploughing will do, it is always desirable to ayoid a second immediately before the sowing. It is seldom any matter of difficulty, when dealing with clay soils, to secure the necessary degree of firmness, although after vetches the land is sometimes disposed to be puffy in its con- dition; this is, to a great extent, corrected by the treading of sheep, when the crop is consumed upon the land ; but, when one ploughing is enough, the natural cohesion of the soils will gene- rally secure a sufficient firmness in the land. When wheat has to be sown after an autumn-crop of green food upon light land, the firmness of the soil requires to be care- fully attended to. It is generally objectionable for wheat to be sown upon this plan in the southern districts, though in the north of England it is frequently practised, but then measures are adopted to consolidate the land. The crops of autumn-food, which gene- rally precede wheat on light land—viz., rape, turnips and rape, and common turnips—are always consumed upon the land by sheep, and the great point, after ploughing the land, is to follow with a Jand-presser, and give it time to gain firmness before the wheat is sown; when this firmness cannot be gained naturally, favourable for the Growth of Seed. 53 sheep are often turned upon the field to tread it thoroughly. This, although answering the purpose exceedingly well, cannot be looked upon as a satisfactory plan; but it must be admitted that no rolling produces equal firmness. When this difficulty con- tinues, notwithstanding that the press-roller has been used, and time given to the land to settle, so as to sow upon a stale furrow, the better remedy will often lie in a change of the course of cropping, so as to sow upon a clovyer-ley, which is decidedly the more frequent and desirable preparation for wheat on these light soils, There appears to be a strong objection to ley-wheat in some of the northern counties, and, in such cases, the only remedy will be to sow the land whilst it is wet, as this can scarcely fail to give it all the firmness which is required. The great advantages of clover-ley for wheat consists in the firm furrow which can be turned over when it is ploughed, to promote which object our best ploughs effect the inversion of the furrow, without materially breaking it. Upon clay soils, and even upon strong loamy soils, a careful ploughing of the clover-ley is found to produce a sufficiently firm seed-bed for the wheat, espe- cially when it is allowed to lie for some time to get settled, so that the seed may be sown upon a stale furrow. The use of a share or skimcoulter with the plough, as it assists in burying the turf more completely, is generally desirable, otherwise the clover is apt to spring up between the furrow-slices, which is very objectionable. As the land gets lighter in its. character, the well-known land-presser comes in as a valuable help. These implements are generally made with two pressers, which, following immediately after two ploughs, very completely compress the two furrow-slices turned over, and give the land the required solidity. I have fre- quently found it an excellent plan to use a small drill in con- nexion with one of these pressers for sowing clover-ley, when the land is disposed to be rather adhesive in its nature, especially in wet seasons. Such land can often be ploughed up quite dry enough for immediate sowing ; but, before a sufficient breadth of it can be prepared for the day’s work of a large drill, it gets too wet to be worked, and often has to lie a considerable time before it is again ready for drilling; whereas the use of one of these press-drills admits of the ground being pressed, sown, and har- rowed close after the plough, whereby an early and good seed- time is secured. Another important condition at the time of sowing is the degree of moisture present in the land. Upon clay soils I con- sider the seed should be sown whilst the land is as dry as pos- sible: it will be sure to receive moisture from the fall of rain, but wetness in the land causes the particles of the soil to 54 The Mechanical Condition of the Svil bind together, to the prejudice of the crop. As the soils get lighter there is less objection to working them when wet ; in some cases, indeed, this becomes necessary, in order to give them the required firmness. It is not often in the south of England that a wet time is selected for sowing ; but, when rain comes on after the work has commenced, I have known it to be continued until the soil was quite muddy, and yet no disadvantage has resulted ; on the contrary, the plant has proved firmer on the portion sown wet than upon any other part. This, which may be safe upon one soil, will often be very injurious upon another apparently of the same character. Soils which have a sufficient proportion of sand or grit intermixed with them are thus preserved from that adhesion of the particles of the soil which would take place in stronger land, so that, in their case, the germination of the seed is but little delayed, whilst the treading of the land when wet, gives it a greater degree of firmness, and this is favourable to the stability of the plant. ‘The line which appears to separate those soils which are injured from those which are benefited by being worked when moist, is the proportion of sand or grit which the soil contains, and also the condition of the clayey matter with which it is mixed; and this can at present only be safely decided by local experience. The rules which regulate the quantity of seed-wheat to be sown to the acre are simply these :—the early sowings require less seed, whilst for the later sowings the quantity should be gradually increased ; and, again, as the soil and climate become more favourable to the growth of wheat, less seed becomes neces- sary. The first sowings will take 5 or 6 pecks of seed to the acre, whereas the latest will reach up to 8 pecks, and upon poor land it will range from 7 to 10 pecks: local experience must here also be called in, to decide as to the time of sowing, for it is im- possible to lay down any definite rule which can be taken as a safe guide. That comprehensive word climate seems to regulate this point ; for neither the character of the soil, proximity to the sea, elevation, nor any other individual influence, decides the practice, but that peculiar knowledge which renders local expe- perience alone worthy of confidence.* The months of October and November embrace the sowings of our principal wheat-districts, but we must extend our time * Tf all that really constitutes climate could be duly taken into account, in- cluding excess of dryness on dry soils, of wetness on heavy soils ; prolonged exposure to keen winds ; alternation of hot days and frosty nights; sudden burst of summer weather, &c., with due allowance for the mechanical defects of the soil, its susceptibility under changes of temperature, and its limited straw-producing power, as well as for possible injury from birds and insects, we might then base our practice on knowledge rather than experience, but the result would not be suc- cessful, if any one element had been overlooked in our calculation.—P. H. F. favourable for the Growth of Seed. dD from the middle of September to the end of the year to include all the sowings of autumn-wheat. Exposed situations, which require a strong and well-rooted plant to withstand the winter- storms, require an- early sowing and a liberal seeding, and so also do soils upon which growth is slow from any other cause. The milder district of the West of England permits the sowing of autumn-wheat to be carried on as late as the end of December, for the almost unchecked growth of the winter enables the plant even then to get quite forward enough for making a good start in the spring. The influence of soil upon the quantity of seed is accounted for by the fact, that on rich land more stems will be thrown up from each root, than if the soil be poor; and to make up this deficiency, and also to enable the crop more thoroughly to search for nutriment in the land, more plants are necessary ; and a larger allowance of seed is the consequence. The depth most desirable for the germination of seed-wheat depends upon the closeness or adhesive character of the soil. The seed should be placed in that position which will secure to it such a supply of moisture, warmth, and air, as will most rapidly promote healthy germination. It is clear that these con- ditions cannot be secured im soils of a different texture at one uniform depth. Upon loamy soils of medium character we find the depth of about 1 inch superior to any other, but as the soil becomes lighter and more sandy in its nature the depth may be advantageously increased to 14 or 2 inches. In a dry season, a less depth than 1 inch can seldom be looked upon as sufficient to secure to the seed a necessary degree of moisture; and a greater depth than 2 inches is not desirable, because the plant has then generally to raise itself in the soil so that its roots may commence their duties within a moderate distance of the surface. ‘The mode of plough- ing in seed-wheat with a 34 or 4-inch furrow is clearly wrong, for the wheat will not establish its roots in the soil at this depth, and the germination must necessarily be delayed in consequence of this increased depth. If I make any difference in the depth of seed upon soils of this character, I let the early sown wheat be deposited rather deeper than that which may be sown later, and my reason is because the early sowings have plenty of time for making their growth, and, therefore, a full depth insures a firmer root, whereas with late sowings this delay cannot be allowed, for the young wheat will then gain more by appearing more quickly above the ground; but even these variations in depth should not range more than half an inch either way. The lighter the soil becomes, the more important it is to sow at a considerable depth, as this favours the stability of the plant, and 56 The Mechanical Condition of the Soil the stronger the land, the greater the necessity for keeping near to the surface. The three modes of sowing wheat, viz., dibbling, drilling, and sowing broadcast, have each their respective merits and advo- cates. Dibbling is the system which most perfectly fulfils our ideas of the requirements of vegetable growth; but there are many difficulties in the way of its general adoption, from the large amount of manual labour required, in consequence of the imperfect action of the implements made for this pur pose. Drilling is the process which is most extensively adopted, and is decidedly the best and most economical mode of depositing seed- wheat. The great preventive to its more constant adoption } 1s the fact that, as the implement i is heavy, tender soils are injured by the onic over the land in wet seasons, and these soils must have more time given them to become dry an ready for sowing hence it often becomes desirable, in order that we may ay edi a late seed-time, to sow the seed broadcast. The advantages of the drill are very great in the opportunity afforded for hoeing the land, but when the system of horse or hand hoeing is not pr ached silt of the benefit of drilling is lost. After the seed has been sown it should be covered by the use of the harrow, but the less. the land is worked the better, and especially upon strong soils. The roughness of the surface will be rather desirable than other- wise, for protecting the wheat-plant during the winter-months. For sowing spring-wheat the soil need not be brought to as firm a condition as for the autumn sowing, but the difference is only one of degree, and such as enables us at once to see the cause which renders greater solidity essential for autumn sowing. When wheat is sown upon land which is not sufficiently firm,, the plant fails in the severe weather of winter ; on the other hand, when the seed has a more solid seed-bed in which to establish itself, the roots are enabled to become more fibrous in form and vigorous in action, and in this manner they obtain a secure hold upon the soil from which the winter frosts cannot dislodge them. The great necessity then for a firm seed-bed for autumn- wheat is to insure the stability of the plant during the winter ; consequently there need be no surprise that in spring we are less anxious about our land-pressers. The preparation of the land in spring for wheat is therefore far less troublesome than in the autumn. After the roots have: been removed from or consumed upon the ground, the land is once ploughed and a favourable opportunity taken for sowing it in due course, when the soil is in dry working-order. A second ploughing is seldom given, for the reasonsill assigned, when speaking of the autumn-sowing. Early sowing is im- portant for this description of wheat, and as a rule none,, favourable for the Growth of Seed. 57 excepting the April wheat, should be sown later than February in the eastern, and March in the western districts of England. Barley.—The soils in which barley flourishes most luxuriantly are free-working loams, and it is by no means uncommon for such land to be distinguished as barley-land. This preference arises from the natural habit of growth in the barley, which requires a considerable freedom of action for the development of that bunch of fibres of which its root consists. In the prepara- tion of land for its growth this has to be remembered ; for, if the character of the soil is not naturally of the description required, we are compelled to adopt measures for rendering it as much so as possible. ‘The firmness which was so necessary for wheat is objectionable here, and the more completely it is de- stroyed the better.* ‘The course of procedure will depend upon the nature and the quality of the land. It is very seldom that barley is now cultivated except after a root-crop, and I shall pre- sume, therefore, that a root-crop has been consumed upon the land. Upon the lightest class of barley-soils there is great danger of the manure being washed through the soil; on such lands, therefore, the use of the plough is avoided at this time, as the inversion of the soil would favour the loss of manure, and the aid of a culti- vator suffices to loosen the soil for the seed-bed. Other soils axe brought into a sufficiently loose and free condition for sowing, by means of a single ploughing, but by far the larger breadth of our barley-soils requires further preparation. Soils which have only a moderately adhesive character become considerably hardened by the treading of sheep in feeding-off roots, and the hardness is often much increased by the drying action of the sun and air at the latter end of the season. As soon as the ground is clear of sheep it should be ploughed up, and if in any way dis- posed to bake it should be either rolled or harrowed immediately afterwards, as the nature of the soil may render most desirable : it should remain in this state until the time for sowing approaches, and then be ploughed a second time. If this does not bring the: soil into a sufficiently free working condition the use of the roller and drag will be required. If the second ploughing is preceded by the use of the drag, it will materially favour the work, and this should certainly be done if the soil promises to give trouble, for, in this way, we shall find after the succeeding ploughing that the bottom portion of the surface-soil will have lost much of its firmness, In this or some similar manner the soil must be reduced to a free working condition ready for the seed, for it is the worst of * That is to say, within four or five inches of the surface. According to my experience any loosening of the subsoil by double ploughing on light land, in a dry climate, is prejudicial to the barley crop.—P. H. F. ————— —————a SS Saas 58 The Mechanical Condition of the Soil policy to sow barley upon a badly-worked soil. In the busy time of spring-sowing a farmer is tempted to sow barley quickly and dispense with extra tillage when the soil appears to be in fair condition; but I have often seen that it is unwise to lessen the tillage by being in too much of a hurry, as the superior con- dition given by a second ploughing and additional tillage makes a very material difference in the crop. ‘The time thus lost in the sowing of the land is soon regained by the more rapid growth of the young plant, which is often observed to maintain the vigour of its early and prosperous career unabated up to the time of harvest. When a strong loamy soil has to be prepared for barley, especially after it has been hardened by the treading of sheep, we are often obliged to modify our course so as to secure (if possible) the assistance of frost. With this object the land is ploughed up as early as may be after the sheep are removed, and -is laid up so as to catch the frost. If the soil gets thoroughly frozen, the after-working of the land becomes comparatively easy, provided reasonable care is taken in selecting the proper time for cross-ploughing and working the land for the seed. The most laborious and difficult preparation for barley is when land of this description is ploughed up in a close condition, so as to be smeared by the mould-board, and, instead of getting any frost upon it afterwards, becomes hardened by exposure. It then requires a vast amount of labour in the shape of rolling, dragging, and ploughing, before it can be reduced to a fair state for sowing, and after all does not afford a satisfactory seed-bed for the barley. I do not know any kind of corn which suffers so much in its quality as barley, from being sown in an unfavourable seed bed ; this is, however, much more evident upon land of a strong and adhesive nature than elsewhere, probably because its mechanical condition is less under our control. ‘The benefit derived from the action of frost enables us to grow, on such soils, barley of fair malting quality ; but, if we do not plough in time for the frosts to act upon the land, the produce is rarely fit for the maltster, and can be only employed for feeding purposes. The best qualities of barley, as well as the largest crops, are produced from soils very free and open in their character, and these indicate the condition to which we should endeavour to bring any soil upon which this crop is to be sown. ‘To promote the same freedom in the soil, the seed should always be sown when the land is dry ; for as we have seen in the preparation for wheat, that a wet seed-time was conducive to that increased firmness of the soil which was then our object, so now, when we wish to avoid this effect upon the land, we should in every way avoid the cause. favourable for the Growth of Seed. 59 The use-of the drill is very generally preferred for sowing barley to every other mode ; and for early sowings on light soil is par- ticularly desirable, because it gives an opportunity for hoeing the ground before the clover-seeds are sown. Upon the stronger description of land a very large proportion is sown broad-cast, because thus there is less compression of the soil, and a larger breadth can be quickly sown, just when the land is in the best condition to receive it. The usual quantity of seed sown is from 24 to 3 bushels per acre, but upon soils of inferior quality as much as 4 bushels per acre are sometimes used. For late sowings the quantity is increased, because the plants have less time to establish themselves, so as to produce a sufficient plant. The difference of seasons has a greater influence upon barley than upon any of our corn-crops ; for sometimes the early- sown crops are the best, and at other times the last sowing excels all the others. This generally arises from the alterations produced in the mechanical condition of the land. If, for in- stance, a piece of land has been well prepared for barley and brought to that degree of fineness which is so desirable for it, and after the sowing a long continuance of wet weather sets in, it is more than probable that the soil will run together and form a crust, alike unfavourable to the germination of the seed and the subsequent growth of the plant. On another piece of land of a similar character sown perhaps a month later, but not thus prejudiced by the weather, the seed grows freely, the plant continues to flourish up to the time of the harvest, and produces a decidedly better crop. If this were a constant result the diffi- culty would easily be overcome by a later sowing, but next season possibly the circumstances may be reversed ; dry weather may favour the rapid growth of the early sowings and delay the germination and general development of the late-sown barley. The time of sowing may be stated as including the month of April ; in some cases commencing a little earlier, and in others being prolonged beyond that period. The depth for sowing the seed is not subject to the same variations asin the case of wheat; one inch may be considered sufficient in all soils to secure its healthy germination. The condition in which the land is to be left after the sowing in some measure depends upon the time of performing that opera- tion. When the barley is put in early, the land may be well harrowed and left without rolling; but as the later sowings are generally accompanied by the clover-seed, these are harrowed and rolled to a fine surface. The object in leaving the one unrolled is to prevent the surface from running together after rain. In the latter case there is less risk on this account, as most of the stormy rains of April are by this time passed, 60 The Mechanical Condition of the Soil and the more genial weather of May gives less cause for anxiety. Oats.—This grain is usually sown either after roots or else upon a fresh-broken turf of grass or clover-ley. The natural energy of the root of the oat is much greater than that of barley, so that this plant rather resembles wheat in its powers of penetra- tion. ‘This circumstance has a great influence upon the pre- paration which is desirable ; when oats are to be sown after roots, the ground is usually ploughed once, and time given to the surface to become mellow under the action of frost, before sowing. There is scarcely any difference between preparing grass or ley for oats, the chief modification being earlier ploughing i in proportion to the toughness of the turf, Anold turf, which must necessarily have got very tough, should be broken up not later than December ; whilst a two or three year old clover-ley would not require to be ploughed so early. It must be admitted that early ploughing of the turf is in no way objectionable, and in many respects advan- tageous, as the vegetable matter becomes rotted by the action of the weather, In ploughing turf up for oats the skim-coulter should be used, so as to favour the entire covering of the grass; and it is often found that the land-presser is also of service for the more complete laying of the turf, so that the furrow may have a solid bearing with no hollow spaces beneath it. After the turf has been turned over and fairly established, either with or without the aid of the land-presser, the ground may be left until the seed- time comes. During this interval frosts are almost certain to have crumbled the surface and produced a nice light mould for the seed ; such land will then present the most desirable seed-bed for oats—a soil well charged with vegetable matter, firm beneath, yet easy of penetration for the rooting of the plant, with a surface light and free in its character for the germination of the seed. This firmness of land for the root must be distinguished from the hardness with which wheat will contend after it has once made a fair growth. I have known instances in which portions of fields have been so fearfully trodden during the winter (by no means an unusual circumstance in hunting-districts when a large number are in at the death), that all vestige of the wheat-plant has been destroyed, and yet at the following harvest the crop on such portions has been very superior. This the oat could not stand against, for, whilst it requires a firm soil, it cannot flourish in a hard soil. Nothing suits the oat better ioe a turf ploughed down; and, conversely, as a general rule there is nothing preferable to the oat for strong turf. In the north of England where the turf even of a clover-ley becomes too rank for wheat, the oat comes in as favourable for the Growth of Seed. 61 the substitute ; and cases are very rare in which either wheat or barley can displace the oat from old and rich turf newly ploughed up. 1 do not here include clover-leys and such artificial grass-turf, but I think, with these exceptions, there is no corn-crop which will penetrate and break up an old turf as well as the oat; the reason is because turf presents just that condition of soil which meets the requirements of its roots, and, if the seed requires a light covering, this is generally produced by an exposure of the soil to frost and a light tillage of the land. ‘To favour this result the turf should be ploughed whilst moderately moist, but the surface should not be broken down for sowing until it is in dry working order ; the same degree of moisture which favours the solidity of the turf, would, if the surface be cultivated at the same time, render it close and adhesive and quite unfavourable to the ger- mination of the seed. The sowing of oats commences in February, and in some of the midland districts as early as January, but the great bulk is sown in March. There is a very general feeling in favour of early sowing, and the practice is certainly altering in that direction. When oats are sown upon turf, it becomes much more necessary to sow early, than when they follow a root-crop or bastard fallow. The great objection is the influence of frost, which frequently gives a bluish tint to the blade, but, if the land is in fair condition, will not materially injure the crop. > pratense .. .. | Commonred clover .. 0 to. $/12 to 12) 2 >» pratense perenne | Cow-grass 0 to 3/12 to 14] 2 > epens .. «~. | White clover |. .. 0 to $} 3to 2] 12 The inference which may be fairly drawn from these results is, that seeds of this class should be laid as near the surface as possible, so that the covering of the soil shall be of the thinnest character. A slight covering, however, is desirable for the purpose of retaining moisture ; for seed placed upon the surface is naturally subject to the drying influence of the air, which, after germination has commenced, may so check the growth as to prove destructive to its existence. In field-culiure VOL. XXI. F 66 The Mechanical Condition of the Soil we cannot rely upon the germination of seeds which are un- covered, because we cannot regulate the supply of moisture ; still we see that the depth of the covering has an important influence on the thickness of the plant, and must shape our pro- ceedings accordingly. This explains the variations in the success attendant upon different modes of preparing for grass-seeds, As these seeds are usually sown with a corn-crop, the early preparation of the ground is carried on without regard to their special requirements. ‘They are sometimes sown imme- diately after the corn is in the ground and the land has been well harrowed ; but, unless in the case of a late sowing, this plan is objectionable, because they then sprout and show their tender leaves above the ground too soon, being exposed to injury by the cold nights at the end of April and beginning of May ; also because the ground is then in too loose a condition to secure the seed from sinking too deeply into the soil. If the soil has been worked to a very fine condition and is then rolled, the seed may be sown without much loss, a cross-rolling being sufficient to cover it when sown. ‘This extra rolling, however, in case of much rain, might be very prejudicial to the growth of the seed- corn. Asa general rule, it will be far better for the grass-seeds to be sown after the corn is well rooted in the ground; the soil will then become settled, and there will be less disposition to allow these small seeds to sink between the particles of the soil beyond the proper depth. The benefit of a slight covering in a great measure explains the greater thickness of the clover-plant when sown upon barley-land which has received eztra tillage, and has thus been brought to a fine tilth, for the seed thus sown is well placed for immediate growth. If the surface is at all crusted over, a very light harrowing should first be given; after this the seed may be sown and then rolled down. Should the surface be free and slightly rough, so as to crumble readily beneath the pressure of the foot, the seed - may be sown without previous working and then rolled in: but in case the surface is Judged to be too rough for this treatment, it must be rolled lightly, harrowed if necessary, and again rolled after the seeds are sown.- A careful use of the roller is generally the best means for covering the seeds, but it must always be done whilst the ground is dry and works freely. Another great advantage gained by sowing after the corn is up, is the shelter and protection given to the seeds and also to the young plants. A moderate: degree of firmness in the soil beneath the seed is not objectionable, as the roots are powerful in piercing the soil, and a sufficient degree of freedom is usually possessed by land sown with spring-corn, Turnips and Swedes.—Various as is the practice of different favourable for the Growth of Seed. 67 districts in preparing land for these crops, still all agree as to the condition of soil to be attained. These crops flourish on deep and free soils, and especially the turnip, which is far less calcu- lated for strong land than the swede. Upon soils which are naturally strong and adhesive, by good cultivation and manure luxuriant crops are grown ; but the great point still to be secured is that fineness and looseness in the condition of the soil which enables the roots of the plants to gather nourishment and make their growth. By ploughing the stronger class of soils before winter, and by active tillage in the spring of the year, these necessary conditions are secured, and thus the tenacious and adhesive qualities of many soils are for a time, at least, changed, and deep tilth is secured, well adapted for the extension of the roots in search of food and moisture. The lighter class of soils are brought into a proper mechanical condition with much less difficulty, so that, instead of the preparation having to be com- menced before winter, it is often found desirable to grow a crop of spring-feed upon the land, in the expectation that after it has been consumed, one or two ploughings will prove sufficient to prepare for the turnip-crop. It is by no means uncommon for the land to be prepared as if for being sown, fourteen or eighteen days in advance. The land in such cases is harrowed down fine and left in this condition, so that the seeds of any weeds may make a growth, which will be destroyed when the surface is moved in the sowing of the turnip-seed. Respecting the cleanness of the land and its friable condition as a preparation for these crops, there will be scarcely any difference of opinion ; but as regards the moisture of the Jand there will be considerable diversity observable: whilst some cultivators endeavour to get their soils as dry as possible, others regulate their proceedings so as best to preserve the moisture in the soil. ‘Thus, in the practice just mentioned of working the land fine and leaving it undisturbed for a time, so that the seeds of weeds may sprout, some would plough the land up and let it dry for the reception of the seed, whilst others will be equally particular not to move it farther than by harrowing the surface, for fear of drying it. It is not only in this particular instance that there is such contradictory practice, but it pervades all the preparation imme- diately preceding the sowing of the seed. I have had a fair share of experience in the growth of turnips and swedes, and have always found the dry seed-bed to be decidedly preferable. The cause is not difficult of explanation. When seed is deposited in a soil which has been properly cultivated and there is a moderate degree of moisture, it speedily germinates. The hot weather which we are accustomed to have at this time causes a rapid F 2 oS The Mechanical Condition of the Soil growth, and the young plant quickly appears above the surface ; init the w armth which has thus far been productive of apparently good results has probably by this time robbed the soil of so much of its moisture that the supplies to the plant decrease at the most critical time of its existence, and unless rain falls the crop is lost ; or if the turnip-beetle should commence an attack there is but little hope of the plant gaining the mastery. The case is very different when the seed is deposited in a dry soil: there it lies uninjured, waiting for rain, and does not begin to germinate until it gets it, The rains in June generally afford a tolerably liberal allowance of water when they do come, quite sufficient to carry the seed well through its first stages of growth, until it has a rough leaf and a strong root. The delay is immaterial as regards time, but not so as regards the safety of the crop. If the seed does germinate during those intervals of dry weather, zts existence is really dependent upon a timely supply of rain; but so long as growth has not commenced no fear need be entertained for the crop. Dryness at the time of sowing becomes of greater im- portance as the land gets lighter in its nature and more easily dried by the heat of the sun. The quantity of seed sown to the acre varies from 2 to 6 lbs., according to circumstances. One very frequent cause of failure is mixed seed, of which only a portion will grow. This is easily detected by growing a given number of seeds ina pan, When the seed is of good quality, an allowance of 4 lbs. per acre is ample, but not excessive ; indeed, I consider that the risks which the plant runs in its early days render a decrease in the quantity of seed very poor economy, and this becomes evident when we consider how large an outlay is dependent upon the safety of the plant. & (59 [o'clock o clock o'clock} & = = | 5 i a reat | Lbs.|Lbs.|Lbs., Oz. | Oz. | Gals. | Gills. Lbs.) Deg. | Deg. | Deg. | Days.!Lbs.|Lbs.|Lbs.! Deg. | } | | | | judiciously encouraged and directed, cannot fail to raise dairy practice from an empirical process to a scientific art.* Temple Marghill, near Glasgow. * Besides the implements and apparatus referred to in this Essay, I am in- formed that the following are worthy of notice:—Travis’s patent cheesemaking apparatus, for cutting, soaking, and pressing curd, and taking off whey by pipe or valve : price for 26 gallons, 9/.; 65 gallons, 12/.; 80 gallons, 15/. 10s.; 100 gal- lons, 16/. 10s.; 120 gallons, 17/. 10s. Corne’s registered cheesemaking apparatus, for filtering the whey from the curd, This apparatus is mounted on wheels, and can be moved to any part of the dairy for convenience. MacAdam’s patent whey- separator, for remoying the whey from the cheese-tub without the labour of lift- ing. It can be fitted to any tub: price, with flexible tube, 2/.; with telescope- tubes, 2/. 10s, A curd-mill, price 2/7. 5s, made by Messrs. Young, Vulcan Foundry, Ayr. Single and double cheese-presses, prices 2/. 10s., and 41. 15s., also by Messrs. Young. A thermometer, adapted for curd as well as milk, price 5s., made by W. Twaddle, Glasgow.—P. H. F. MON. xx Ts G GENERAL REMARKS. ( 88 ) 1V.— Recent Improvements in Dairy Practice. By Joseru Harpine. Tue spirit of improvement which has so largely pervaded the agricultural world during the last twenty-five or thirty years is not more manifest in the production of corn and meat than it is in the manufacture of butter and cheese ; and though the latter branch has not derived as much benefit iow the mages of national or local agricultural societies as the former, it has yet made great progress both as to the quantity and the quality of its products, To the attainment of this object nearly every well- informed and intelligent dairy-farmer has contributed his part. In detailing these improvements I may not, perhaps, be expected to go into alle dairy districts of Eneland, and to particularise every improvement which has taken place in each of them; my experience, as a Somersetshire man, milking a dairy of my own of trom 70 to 75 cows, will enable me to speak from personal and practical knowledze as to the improvements, in all their details, in the dairy practice of my own county, more especially in the manufacture of cheese. I believe, however, from the knowledge which I have of other dairy districts, such as Gloucester, Wilts, Leicester, Derby, and Cheshire, that any disinterested person taking upon himself to write upon the subject could not fix on a district better calcu- lated to answer the requirements of the Royal Agricultural Society of England than the county of Somerset. — It is true that this county is not much noted for its butter; but as a district for making cheese, due regard being had both to quantity and quality, it is not surpassed in Great Britain. Here is made what is termed the “ Cheddar cheese,” which is always quoted in the London market at a higher price than any other (Stilton excepted, which is not a fair example), Here, too, an example has been set in the improvement of mnaehinery, aianaile, and mode of manufacture, which has given a stimulus not only to all the surrounding districts, but even to Scotland.* But my business is not so much to eulogise the dairy practice and produce of this or any other district, as to detail, in a simple and intelligible manner, any improvements which have tended to increase the quantity, improve the quality of these products, and at the same time to reduce the labour of manufacture. * See a pamphlet published by the Deputation sent by the Ayrshire Agricul- tural Association to the various cheese-making districts in England, to ascertain the best and most remunerative method of eheese- -making, and reprinted in the Journal of the Bath and West of England Society, 1857. Recent Improvements in Dairy Practice. 83 Increase in Quantity. In order to show an increase in the dairy produce of any given district, it would be necessary to know its aggregate amount at different periods; but as, to the best of my knowledge, no records exist which furnish this information as derived from any dairy district in England, it will be impossible to contrast our present average produce with that of former years. The only course, therefore, which we can adopt is to take a single farm which may be considered a fair specimen of the district in which it is situated. A farm of 150 acres in this county, of fair quality, divided into 110 acres of pasture and 40 of arable, would, some years ago, probably have been stocked with 30 cows, 5 or 6 heifers (to keep up the stock), besides a few horses. The arable course would have been 1 fallow, 2 wheat, 3 beans, 4 wheat again, 5 clover mown twice, then fallow again ; barley being grown occasionally on suitable soil.* It was thought that on the pasture-land no more cows could be kept than the one-half would maintain in summer, the other half being mown for winter-keep; that would give (allowing 3 acres per cow) 90 acres for 30 cows, and 20 acres would be left for the young stock and horses, The arable land at this time received the greater part, if not all, the manure. A farm of this description would now keep 50 cows. The larger part of the arable land would be in grass and roots, corn being grown only on the decay of the grass plant, which, instead of being mown would be grazed by the cows, and admit of being stocked a fortnight earlier in spring than the meadow-grass: the straw would be cut into chaff and mixed with roots, meal, oil-cake, or some other substitute to make it equal in nutriment to hay. ‘The roots would be chiefly grown by artificial manures, and a portion of them fed off by dry sheep, so that a consider- able part of the yard manure could be spared for the pasture- land. Although I have spoken above only of an increase of 20 cows, | know some farms on which the extra number is even larger. Where the farm is wholly pasture, as is the case with a large number of the dairy-farms in this county, there cannot be as large an increase of produce as is stated above. Yet even here, as the land is made to carry as much stock as possible, the increase in the number kept is considerable. Some farmers will feed nearly all their land and sell the cows in the autumn, looking forward to replacing them in the spring of the year. This seems to be an expensive mode of increasing dairy produce ; but where * Clover is not so much sown on dairy-farms as it would be if it could be safely fed by cows, G2 84 Recent Improvements in Dairy Practice. the land produces a large quantity of milk the grass is of far more value than the hay. Others, again, have adopted the plan of preserving a few acres of aftermath (after being fed once) till the spring; the young grass is thus drawn up by the shelter which the old affords, and consequently comes to feed earlier than it would otherwise do. This feed is valuable for turning out the cows by day ; it thus both lessens the consumption of hay and increases the yield of milk, Among my acquaintance the farmer who realises the largest amount of profit per cow, lives in Leicestershire, and makes both butter and cheese. His farm is a loamy soil, not much affected by drought or wet, so that it is generally ina grow- ing state throughout the summer, He keeps only cows and young stock. The cows have the first feed of every field, the heifers following them in the round of the farm. A man brings up the rear to clean up the droppings, so that the field is clean and fresh for the cows on their next round. The building of houses and yards for the accommodation of the cow has not a little tended to an increase of produce, inas- much as it has enabled us to keep the stock off the land during the winter months. The grass consequently grows earlier in the spring, and enables us to mow earlier, so as to secure a better feed on the aftergrass. The introduction of artificial manures has rendered us great assistance, especially for the arable lands, although the pasture likewise feels the effects of the change. Bones have been used on the pasture, but not to such an extent nor with such success as in Cheshire. Besides all this, nearly all the wet lands have been drained, and the wide and useless hedgerows grubbed up, so that our atmosphere has become dryer and more healthy. Nature has lent a helping hand, and we have in consequence a longer summer and a shorter winter. A large quantity of cheese is made from some of the hills which formerly only fed a few half-starved sheep and cattle. Some of these improvements may seem to be of small importance to the casual reader; but when carried out through a whole district, as in this county, the effect is great, and these, I believe, are the chief causes which have led to the dairy produce of this county being increased, within a few years, 25 per cent. Reduction of Labour in the Manufacture. Under this head, speaking first of butter, I may state that the improvements are not so great either in the mode of making, the utensils employed, or the reduction of labour, as in the case of cheese, because two very simple processes only are required to accomplish the object, namely, “ churning” and “ working.” Churning is a simple process of agitation, and whether it be Recent Improvements in Dairy Practice. 85 accomplished by a vertical, a longitudinal, or a rotatory motion, the effect is the same ; and notwithstanding the many attempted improvements in the construction of the utensil employed, there is not for general purposes, anything superior to, or that is likely to supersede, the old barrel-churn. In it, either a large or a small quantity of butter, and that of the best quality, may be produced. As to the working the butter—which is generally performed by the hand—the object i is the extraction of all the buttermilk. Some persons use small wooden spades, others envelope their hands in a cloth, but nothing of this kind can be termed a “ late improvement.” The greatest step in advance consists in the fact that observation and the introduction of the thermometer has enabled us to lay down a rule for the temperature to be maintained in churning. It is found that if the cream be put into the churn at from 55° to 60° in summer and not less than 60° in the winter, it will be churned in good time, that is, from half an hour to forty minutes, and, if properly worked, will pro- duce good butter. If it be churned at a lower temperature it will be too long in churning, and will require heating during the process. If fakiore that temperature, it will “‘ come” too soon and will be frothy and oily; in both cases the butter will be inferior. Until a comparatively recent date, it was a diffi- culty in cold weather to get the butter churned ; the process not unfrequently occupied several hours, and I have known the produce to be thrown away as utterly useless after all, This difficulty is now entirely overcome. Experience, moreover, has taught us that although, if milk be allowed to stand till it becomes stale or sour before the cream is removed from it, the butter thus made will not be good; on the other hand, if the cream be taken while the milk is sweet, the cream may be kept until it becomes sour, without the butter being materially affected. The process of butter-making varies in different countries. In Scotland, Ireland, and Wales they churn the milk, and, when this is done properly, I believe that the butter, for delicacy of flavour, cannot be surpassed. In the making of cheese a much greater improvement has been effected, in consequence of its having received more atten- tion than butter-amaking, cheese being the staple commodity of the district, and, when well made, more remunerative to the farmer. For many years past it has been our object to produce the best cheese with the least possible labour,—an object we have, in no small degree, accomplished. Within my own recollection, a week, at the least, may be said to have been occupied in making a Gheese, —that is, from the time the milk was coagulated till the Bees was taken from the press to the Gheesroaah During this time it was turned in the press twice every day, and had salt 86 Recent Improvements in Dairy Practice. rubbed over it by the hand every morning. I have known, in a dairy of 50 cows, 52 cheeses to be thus tur ned twice a-day, giving a vast amount of unnecessary labour to the dairy-woman ane expense for cloths to the farmer. This state of things exists to this day in some of our largest cheesemaking districts. The machinery and utensils, too, were of aamle description. The presses were either a large stone raised by a screw, or a box filled with some heavy ees and suspended between two upright posts and lowered or raised by ropes and pulleys. I should have thought it almost incredible that there should exist a cheesemaking district in England that had not partaken of the universal Se in the cheese-press, had I not learnt a lesson the other day. A friend of mine was travelling in a railway carriage in Lancashire in which some, farmers were dis- cussing the merits of an improved cheese-press lately introduced into their district, when one of them, convinced of its supe- riority, said, “I do not think I shall lay out much money in a stone-press again.” The utensils were generally made of wood, and the whey, however large the quantity, had to be ladled out of the tub with a heavy wooden bowl. The curd, when put into the vat, was broken into small pieces by the hand, so laborious a work that I have seen dairy-women whose finger-joints were grown large and stiff in consequence. After the cheeses were intro- aibed to the cheese-room, they had to be washed and scraped before they became marketable, which was not generally the case until they were from four to six months old, although they were what we should now term thin cheese. In many imstamees the cheese was kept until the following spring. ‘The process of manufacture was unsystematic and irregular, without regard to an even or proper temperature 5 consequently the cheese was of unequal quality—some good, some bad—from causes unknown to the dairy-women. This was the state of things when improve- ment in the machinery and utensils began to be studied. It is just, however, to state that, with regard to the cheese-tub, a few wealthy and enterprising men thought it desirable to substitute copper in lieu of wood many years before this general movement took place. These tubs were made rough and at a great expense, many of them costing from 40/. to 60/. apiece, according to the number of cows kept. About thirty years ago the first improved cheese-press was exhibited in Wells market, in this county, and, though extremely simple, proved to be a step in the right direction. I think that prizes have been awarded to it in its incomplete shape more than once by the Royal and other Agricultural Societies. The principle of its construction was that of the lever in its simplest form. The subject was immediately taken up by the mechanics Recent Improvements in Dairy Practice. $7 of the neighbourhood, who gradually improved upon the cheese- press until the model now in general use was produced. It consists of a screw and lever, the former working in a brass socket, and serving as a fulcrum * for the latter, by which the pressure, produced and regulated by a weight attached to the opposite end of the lever, is convey ed to ri cheese. When the screw is reversed the lene drops on to a pin, the pressure is with- drawn, and the cheese may be removed. ‘This is decidedly the best implement for the purpose that has yet been invented. It is manufactured in large numbers by the best agricultural imple- ment makers in this and the adjoining counties. About this time copper, and sometimes brass, began to be used more frequently for making cheese-tubs, but, being too expensive for general use, tin was successfully substituted and continues to be employed to the present time. It costs one- third the price of copper, and will last for twenty or thirty years. All the other utensils of the dairy which were formerly of wood, such as bowls, pails, &c., are now made of tin, which saves a vast amount of labour eine expense in brushes. The vessels are in some cases improved in shape as well as in material ; the cheese-tub, which was flat at the bottom, is now made convex to facilitate draining off the whey. A large brass tap is soldered into the bottom of the tub, inside of which is a strainer made of fine gauze, wire, or other material, to prevent small particles of curd from escaping. The whey flowing from this tap is conveyed 1 ina pipe leading from the floor of the “dairy to a tank or cistern in the piggery, from whence it is pumped for use. That the milkers may not enter the dairy, a tin receiver is placed outside the house, into which the milk is poured and conveyed to the cheese-tub by a conduit, at each end of which is a strainer to prevent any filth from the yard from passing into the cheese-tub, It is a mistaken notion with many practical cheesemakers, and all theorists, that an exceedingly fine strainer is necessary in order to separate the whey from the eurd. If the cheese be well made, the curd itself is the best strainer or filterer; but where there is a large bulk of whey to be,drawn off from the curd, it will flow through the tap with great force, so as to carry away par ticles of ee if something is sok placed inside as a strainer. To obviate Ae a new aad valuable instrument, called the Whey Separator, hak just been invented by Mr. Robert McAdam, of Garsty Hill, near Crewe, Cheshire, for which he has taken out a patent. It is made of brass, and is a telescopic tube, one end of which fits on inside the outlet in the bottom of the tub; to the other end is screwed a receiver, which floats on the surface of the whey, which enters * See illustration, p. 92. 83 Recent Improvements in Dairy Practice. its perforated brass under-surface, and is thus conveyed down the tube to the brass tap at the bottom of the tub, the tubes sinking into each other as the whey subsides. This separator costs about 40s.; it is the best thing of the kind I have’ ever seen, as it takes the whey from the surface, where it is most free from curd, and prevents the mass of the curd from being disturbed by the whey on its passage to the outlet. The curd-breaker generally in use for breaking up the coagu- lated mass is either the shovel-breaker or the revolwnee breakers The former is made of wood in the shape of a shovel with a bent handle ( ); through the lower end of the handle, at right angles to it, 9 or 10 brass rods are inserted, extending about 6 in. on either side, and secured at each end by a strip of wood about 14 tenes in length. The revolver is made of rods of iron, set in a framework fitted to the inside of the tub, where it is made to revolve upon a vertical axis bya handle at the outside of the tub like that of a churn. The vats, which were formerly made of turned wood, are now made of staves like a cask. In not a few instances tin is em- ployed for the purpose, but I scarcely think it will come into general use for our thick cheeses, The staye-vat has recently been improved by being made to open at the side at one of the joints between the staves, corresponding to opposite joints across the top and the bottom ; the opening is sufficiently wide to allow of the cheese being easily liberated from the vat when reversed for the purpose. To accomplish this, there are four projecting screw- holes: one at each end of the two severed iron hoops which encircle the vat, one at the top and one at the bottom. When the vat is closed, two of these screw-holes will be opposite each other, and through them a screw-bolt is inserted which keeps the vat together; by loosening these bolts the vat is enabled to expand and the Theres | is easily liberated.* An apparatus has been invented for cheese-making by Mr. Keevil, of Wiltshire, and is in use in that and some “other dis- tricts, Wein, though not applicable to the Somerset or Cheddar mode of making, is, I believe, of service in making the Wiltshire cheese. It consists of a tin tub, down the side of which there runs a strip of gauze wire, 3 or 4 inches in width, which allows the whey to escape to a brass tap at the bottom. A breaker is used, similar to the revolver above described, but Mr. Keevil has altered the round rod to a flat knife-shaped piece of iron, thus altering the principle of breaking the mass to that of cutting. Instead of a vat into which weights were put for the purpose of pressing the curd in the tub, a perforated circular piece of tin is * See illustration, p. 92. Recent Improvements in Dairy Practice. 89 used, fitting the inside of the tub, to which pressure is applied by a screw running through a strong cross-piece of iron, fastened to the opposite sides of the tub. The cheese-tub is on a raised platform, and can be made to incline at pleasure, so as to allow the last drop of whey to escape. A much more useful apparatus for our improved method of cheesemaking has been invented by Messrs. Cockey and Son, of Frome. Its object is to save the labour of carrying the milk to and from the boiler for heating previous to the introduction of the rennet, and also of carrying the whey for scalding the curd. A small boiler is placed in a desirable situation, from which hot water is conveyed by pipes to a chamber underneath the tub, where it can be turned off or on at pleasure by stop-cocks. One advantage in this apparatus is, that during the summer nights cold water may be let into the chamber underneath the eyening’s milk, which is thus rapidly cooled down to the tem- perature of the water. This expedient is very valuable for keep- ing the milk sweet till the morning, as we make cheese only once a day. The apparatus is extensively used in this and some other counties, During the winter months the cheese-room and dairy are heated from the same boiler. The Improvement in the Quality of Cheese is due partly to what is here technically called “ slip-scalding” and to increased attention bestowed on the manufacture, and partly to more careful storing in the cheese-room. In all these cases the thermometer and the clock have greatly assisted in reducing cheesemaking to a regular system. The process is now conducted in the following manner. The morning’s milk is mixed with the evening’s at a temperature of about 80° (varying 2° or 3° in the spring and autumn), the rennet then is added, and an hour is allowed for the curd to form, when it is carefully broken up ; and here commences the system of slip-scalding, now generally adopted in preference to the old method. ‘The scalding whey is now added to the curd in its pulpy state, before it has Sedans to subside and get hard. Experience has shown us that a finer description of cheese is produced upon this principle, which is adopted by the best cheesemakers in this county. ‘What is here called scalding is the raising the mass of curd and whey to the tem- perature of 100° Fahr. By Cockey’s apparatus, hot water is introduced into the chamber by pipes placed underneath the tub to accomplish this purpose ; otherwise, hot whey is poured into the mass, which in both cases is being well stirred, until the desired hes is obtained. The curd is chen allowed ie subside, and, after the whey is drained off and the curd becomes dry, instead of being broken by the hand, it is passed through the 90 Recent Improvements in Dairy Practice. curd-mill, after which salt is added and mixed with it in the proportion of 1 lb. to 56 lbs. It is then put into the vat and press, where it remains three days, after which it is taken to the cheese-room. The cheeses are made from 9 to 14 inches in thick- ness, some even more, ‘They are only turned twice in the press, and that is when the cloths are changed. The method of keeping the cheese in "the cheese-room has also been improved. At one time we thought it desirable to keep them in a low and even damp temperature, but the cheese was then a long time in getting ripe, and a fine mellow flavour was not readily obtained. We now introduce them at once from the press to the cheese-room, which is kept at a temperature of from 50° to 70°, as the case may be; and we find that the cheese ripens faster, acquires a richer flavour, and can be sold much sooner ; so that our thick cheeses are often cut over the counter at three months old, sometimes even less; though a few years since the same sized cheese would have required eight or nine months to acquire the same degree of ripeness. This system of making has diminished the make of whey butter. .Where we made one pound per cow, we now make one pound for every seven cows, and sometimes less; the quantity is so reduced that we often do not think it worth the risk of imparting sourness to the cheese, but turn the whey off to the pig-tank. Some persons tell us that we lose a great deal of valuable food in our whey, as proved by the bacon fatted from it. When bacon is fatted from whey alone this must be the case; but the whey from a cheese well and carefully made would not fatten a pig in six months. To the cheese consumers of London, who prefer an adulterated food to that which is pure, I have to announce an improvement in the annatto with which they compel the cheesemakers to colour the cheese. The improvement is not in the smell, which remains as unpleasant as ever; neither is it in the taste—that is as filthy as ever ; but it consists in this—that we now get annatto in a liquid state, instead of a cake, which saves the trouble of rubbing out. I have now enumerated the principal improvements in dairy practice that have enabled us to send into the market a superior article, increased in quantity 25 per cent., at a reduction of the original labour of more than half. Although we have attained this result by studying, as far as our observation and experience go, the state of the curd through the various stages and ma- nipulations which it undergoes, and have acquired, so far, some knowledge of what we are doing, we have not yet arrived at perfection. Cheesemahing, as a science, is not understood. I could ask a dozen questions, which suggest themselves at Recent Improvements in Dairy Practice. 91 the various stages of the process, and which cannot now be answered. We have now a valuable body of rules laid down for our guidance; though strict observation and practical experience are, of course, requisite for their successful application. But this is not enough. A wide and unexplored field is before us, into which we should enter. Milk, as taken from the cow, is of a peculiarly rich and delicious flavour. The object of the gheese- maker should be to preserve that flavour throughout the process, and leave it to ripen in the cheese; but the accomplishment of this design is not always certain (especially i in thunder weather), in the absence of an instrument with which we are not yet pro- vided. Liebig and other chemists tell us that milk, in its pristine state, possesses a quantity of sugar, which, in the process towards decomposition, produces lactic acid. Alkalies are also present which neutralize the acid until an increased amount of the latter is generated, when the milk becomes sour. Believing this to be true, and knowing that heat promotes the fennatian of the acid, ace the temperature of the atmosphere is 65° we act cautiously lest we should make the cheese sour, and, no doubt, our precaution is frequently attended with success. But there are other agents besides heat which promote the souring of the milk, even when the atmosphere is as low as 60°: over these we have no control at the time, besides being generally unaware of their existence until it would be too late to seek a remedy, if any such were known to exist. The instrument, then, which we want is one which will show us the exact amount of acid present, that we may know when to introduce the rennet, and in what quantity. It is true, we have litmus-paper, but this only indicates the presence of acid without measuring the quantity present. Whilst searching for such an instrument as this among opticians and chemists for'several years past, I have been recom- mended to try one or two chemical methods, the best of which is by Dr. Cameron, of Dublin. None of these tests, however, are sufficiently simple to be of much use to the practical dairywoman, who wants an instrument effective and simple, by which she can as easily test the amount of acid present, as she can by the ther- mometer ascertain the degree of heat. Another desideratum is a chemical knowledge of the constitu- tion of the curd and whey throughout the process.‘ It is not likely that this investigation should be carried out by the unaided efforts of any practical man ; but with assistance, such as the Royal Agri- cultural Society of England could render, this object could be at- tained, and the result would be that cheese could be made (as it ought to be) upon principles scientific and, consequently, unerring. 92 Recent Improvements in Dairy Practice. ‘Eres fs Be as a ; ‘| " li at, cdl iii MAT Moo fh) AOA i URC f ———y [| RANA 4 3 5 —s- = < 3 = a cay a ‘Aa ‘AA | TM —- —— sa AQUOS UUL00 ANANTH 3-4ths of an inch to a foot. The above press is the only one I have in use for 72 cows; the other principal utensils are—cheese-tub, 2 milk-coolers, curd- mill, 6 vats for summer use, 6 smaller ones for the spring and autumn. The press was made by Stokes, of Dean, near Shipton- Mallet, and cost about 97. See = ——=) The expanding Cheese-vat. Marksbury, near Bristol. a Caen) V.—On the Composition of two Varieties of Kohl-Rali and of Cattle-Cabbage. By Dr. Aucustus VoELCKER. THERE are two crops which deserve to be more extensively culti- vated than they are at present: the one is Kohl-rabi, the other Cattle-cabbage. Both crops have this in common, that they are not injured by frost, provided that the young plants are not planted out too early in the spring, in which case they get over-ripe before the winter sets in, and in a rainy and warm autumn or mild winter are certain to be spoiled. If Kohl-rabi or cabbages, therefore, are intended as winter food for cows or sheep, they should not be planted out too soon, nor should the whole crop be put out at one time. When the seed has been sown and the young plants set out at proper intervals of time, a regular succes- sion of cabbages or Kohl-rabi may be kept up as easily in the field as it is in a vegetable garden, and a supply of very nutritious and wholesome food be secured at periods of the year when other food is scarce. Kohl-rabi especially stands the frost remarkably well. In Germany, where a small variety is grown in gardens for the table, it is not considered good until it has stood at least a week’s hard frost. As food for lambs it far surpasses white turnips, and is equal to any kind of green food with which I am acquainted. With proper management it may be grown so as to come in at the lambing season ; and even should the bulbs sprout abundantly and become themselves deteriorated or unfit for food, still I believe that sheep-breeders will not regret having reserved a Kohl-rabi field for the lambing season, instead of one of white turnips, because the tops and sprouts of Kohl-rabi, unlike those of the white turnip, are very nutritious. The Kohl-rabi is a plant which belongs, as most readers of this Journal are aware, to the cabbage tribe. Its leaves consequently resemble in taste, composition, and nutritive properties, those of the cabbage much more than those of the turnip, which latter are more watery and far less nutritious. I much regret that I had no opportunity last season of ob- taining the leaves of Kohl-rabi plants for analysis; but as it is my intention to examine this season a large number of bulbs of Kohl-rabi, I shall at the same time direct my attention to the composition of the leaves. In the mean time the subjoined analysis of two varieties of Kohl-rabi may be of some interest to those who intend to grow this crop. The bulbs were kindly supplied to me by Mr. Innes, steward to Colonel North, who was a successful grower of Kohl- rabi last year, and has formed a decidedly favourable opinion of 94 On the Composition of two varieties of its practical feeding value. The varieties analysed by me are known to seedsmen as the Green-top and Purple-top Kohl- rabi. Composition of Green-top and Purple-top Kohl-Rabi. a. General Composition. Green-top. Purple-top. Water .. Sekt) eee ODF OZO 89-002 Substances soluble i in water mee Dry matter 7°588) Dry matter , Substances insoluble in water 4°720 13°98 3-410} 10°998 100-000 100-000 b. Detailed Composition. Green-top. Purple-top. ° IWiater( yc. ~sepeRbE dy ecisay iets, Pe omit OOROL 0 89-002 Oily ee a Mme 227 ‘177 *Soluble protein ‘compounds See es Bb | eG 2°006 Sugar, gum, and pectin.. .. .. -. 6:007 4486 Salts soluble in water .. .. 2. a “970 ‘919 tInsoluble protein compound .. 30 “300 269 Digestible fibre and insoluble pectinous *} 2-993 1-996 compounds .. aie “ Woody fibre (cellulose) 55 Was) oa» IEZ630) 1°106 Insoluble mineral matters .. .. + 197 "139 100-000 100°000 | ‘*Contaming nitropeni)) J.) v.20) .2) ie "829 821 fContaining nitrogen -.. .. «=. « 048 043 otalemitrozenyy ee se eee en aot 364 Percentage ofashi.. 2.) ..) 1.) se DNGY 1058 It must not be inferred from the preceding analytical results that purple-top Kohl-rabi is necessarily more watery than the green-top variety. My observations only apply to those bulbs which I had an opportunity of examining. 100:00 100-00 Detailed Composition. In Natural State. Dry, Water: .. S.o8s gasattes 91°84. a *Soluble protein compounds.. .. .. + “64 787 Gum, mucilage, a little sugar, and free acid 1°98 24°31 Soluble mineral matter 38 4°75 +Insoluble protein compounds “69 8°50 Woody fibre eo A TERMLI OS ok 3°99 48°97 Insoluble mineral matter .. .. 5 “48 5°60 100°00 100-00 *Containing nitrogen .. .. “09 1°26 Containing nitrogen .. .- «- «« “11 1°36 ' The second sample thus contains about 1 per cent. more of water, but does not otherwise materially differ in composition from the first. presented rather an uninyiting appearance. Both samples had: a greyish+white colour, and The surface portions of a heap of the pulp turned almost black on. lengthened expo- sure to the air. “ Notwithstanding the somewhat disagreeable appearance and acid taste of the pulp, pigs from the first ate it up greedily when Mangold-Pulp (the Refuse of Beet-root Distillerics). 99 it was given to them unmixed with any other food. Cows and sheep at first would not touch it; on mixing the pulp, however, with clover-chaff they did not object to it, and by degrees seemed to acquire a liking for the mess. I shall presently give an account of some feeding experiments instituted with a view to ascertaining’ practically the comparative fattening value of the pulp and of fresh mangold-wurzel. But as many persons entertain very erroneous opinions respecting the relative value of the different constituents of food, and their adaptation to particular purposes, and as it may be at all events interesting to most to trace the changes which mangolds undergo in the process of distillation, I shall briefly endeavour to describe these changes. We shall best comprehend this matter by com- paring the composition of the pulp with that of the mangold-root from which it is made. ‘Two specimens of yellow-globe man- golds, analysed by me some time ago, were found to contain in 100 parts :— Composition of Yellow Globe Mangolds, ue 2. UNGHE emg Ss Ves ese cha msl cep) se) OTe 88°450 Sugar, gum, and soluble pectin compounds .. —_7°408 7538 Soluble mineral matters... ... .. .. «+. L*356 "952 *Soluble albuminous compounds .. .. .. “956 *887 tInsoluble albuminous compounds... .. .. 144 104 Cellular fibre and insoluble pectinous com- ze! , , pounds (crude fibre) Bete EES G8 Wee i eee 129 Insoluble mineral matters-§ .. .. ..° .. 113 O74 —" Sa 100°000 100°000 *Containing nitrogen hyo OB. wee +153 142 +Containing nitrogen She <5. Sees *023 O17 Mota MtvOeen OA cin aie 176 "159 A comparison of these analyses with the preceding analytical results, representing the composition of pulp, will show— 1. That the proportion of water in the pulp is increased nearly 33 per cent. ; 2. That the sugar has almost entirely disappeared in the pulp 3 3. That the proportion of crude woody fibre is very much larger in the pulp than in the root itself ; 4. That notwithstanding the larger amount of water in the pulp, it contains more albuminous or flesh-producing matter than the mangold-roots ; 5. That the roots contain more soluble albuminous matters than the pulp; and 6. That the proportion of soluble mineral matters is more con- siderable in the roots than in the pulp. Hoe 100 On the Composition and Nutritive Properties of In short, all the soluble constituents of mangolds, more espe- cially the sugar, are much more sparingly present in the pulp than in the root ; and the insoluble matters, especially crude woody fibre, are more abundant in the pulp than in the root itself. Since there is nearly 34 per cent. more water in the pulp than in the root, the comparison of the pulp in its natural state with the fresh root does not bring out as strikingly the changes which mangolds experience in the distiller’s hands as would be the case if both contained the same amount of water. I have, therefore, calculated the composition of the two mangold-roots in a perfectly dry state, and placed in the subjoined Table the results side by side with those which represent the composition of the two specimens of dried pulp. Composition of Two Specimens of Mangold-wurzel and Pulp, | dried at 212° F. Mangolds, Orange Globe. Pulp. R 4 solubl ti LS 2, ye mam ugar, gum, and soluble pep MONE cee ey ae Abs Saoanae ee ii 5898 65:26 23:98 24:31 Soluble mineral matter .. .. 10°79 8°24 6°17 4°75 *Soluble albuminous compounds 7°62 7°68 6°67 7387 tInsoluble albuminouscompounds 1°14 “89 8°25 8:50 Cellular fibre and insoluble pec- ar a Gi ; tinous compounds (crude fibre) saat Lina: reo eRe Insoluble mineral matters 5 90 “65 571 5°60 100°00 = =100°00 =100°00 ~=—- 100-00 *Containing nitrogen .. .. 1°22 1°23 1:07 1°26 Containing nitrogen .. .. 18 14 1:32 1°36 Total nitrogen .. .. 1-46 1:37 2°39 2°62 Equal to protein compounds 8°76 8:57 14°92 16°37 a There is scarcely any sugar included in these numbers. The preceding figures suggest the following observations :— 1. In the same state of dryness mangold-wurzel contains 21 times as much sugar, gum, and soluble pectinous compounds as the pulp. The average proportion of these soluble organic matters in the two roots, dried at 212° Fahr., and analysed by me, is 62°12 per cent. In the dried pulp the average of the two samples is only 24:4, There is thus a difference of 37°9, or 38 per cent. in round numbers, in favour of the mangolds. 2. On the other hand, in the same state of dryness, the pulp contains nearly double the quantity of albuminous compounds that is found in the root. The average proportion of albuminous compounds in the dry mangolds is 8°66 ; in the pulp it is 15°64—thus leaving a differ- ence of 7 per cent., in round numbers, in favour of the pulp. Mangold-Pulp (the Refuse of Beet-root Distilleries). 101 3. Mangolds contain much less crude fibre than the pulp, with an equal proportion of water. The average amount of crude fibre in the two mangolds dried at 212° Fahr. is 18°92; the mean of fibre determinations in the two specimens of pulp, 49°09. We have thus a difference of 30 per cent. of crude fibre in favour of the pulp. Minor differences which will be observed in the composition of the pulp and the root itself may be left unnoticed, for they are less striking in themselves and immaterial in a consideration of the comparative feeding value of the two substances. A careful consideration of the differences just pointed out in the composition of pulp and roots will enable us to decide with no great difficulty :— 1. That, weight for weight, pulp similar to that analysed by me cannot possibly have the same feeding value as good mangold- wurzels, 2. That such pulp, however, is a refuse material which pos- sesses high feeding properties. To prove that the pulp examined by me is not equal in nutri- tive value to the good mangolds, I need only state that the latter were found to contain nearly 34 per cent. more dry matter than the pulp. In materials containing so much water as exists in mangolds or pulp, this difference alone is sufficient to settle the question, whether a ton of pulp is as nutritious as a ton of man- golds. The average percentage of dry matter in the two man- golds examined by me is 12°05. é: saps eermelLgo6 ’ Gum, sugar, mucilage, and digestible fibre 5. bike) ei AO eae, *Albuminous compounds (flesh- -forming matters) .. 26°37 Woody fibre (cellulose) .. .. «2 «2 « «» 18°92 Wimneral mavters (ASH)pe cl) use) scutes! tise nee Ola 100:00 * Containing nitrogen... .. 50. Ge 4°22 The clover-hay chaff contained 20: 12} per cent. of water, 6°89 per cent. of ash, and 1°52 per cent. of nitrogen. Mangolds and pulp had the composition which has been given already in the preceding, pages. Although my analyses and feeding experiments have proved the pulp to be inferior in feeding properties to mangold-wurzel, { am of opinion that the pulp i is a very useful feeding material, which, at 10s. a ton, the price at which it was sold, is certainly not dear. I would observe, in conclusion, that more ‘favourable results than mine have been obtained with pulp in numerous experi- ments carried out in France. It should be borne in mind, how- ever, that in France, Champonnois’ method of distillation has almost entirely superseded Leplay’s, and that French writers expressly state that the pulp produced by Leplay’s process is much inferior to the pulp of distilleries where Champonnois’ system is adopted. The differences in the composition of the pulp used in my experiments and that generally produced in France may thus explain discrepancies in the results, and pro- bably justify the opinion of several French authorities, who con- sider the pulp, weight for weight, to be, if not superior, at least equal in nutritive properties to mangolds. Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, June, 1860. VIL—On the Chemical Properties of Soils. By Dr. Augustus VOELCKER. ‘THERE are many persons who, on reading the papers which from time to time appear in our chenneal and “agricultural journals on the powers of soils to absorb manuring manors receive the im- pression that sandy soils have not the power of retaining ammonia, whilst clay soils are imbued with this property in so eminent a degree, that no amount of rain is capable of removing any of the- ammonia absorbed by them. 106 On the Chemical Properties of Soils. These impressions, though natural, are not founded on fact. It will be one of the objects of this communication to show by many experiments the fallacy upon which these erroneous impres- sions are based. If soluble fertilizing matters were rendered completely insoluble when brought into contact with the soil, it would indeed be difficult to understand the use of soluble manuring matters, or to doubt the policy of resorting to mechanical means of cultivation, such as subsoiling, stirring, &c., which have the effect of render- ing soluble mineral matters contained in the soil in an insoluble state. But does not daily experience teach us that such fertilizers are much more effective than the same materials in an insoluble or partially soluble condition ? It has indeed been stated by a high authority, that since soluble fertilizing matters are rendered insoluble-in contact with soil, plants must have the power of taking up their food from the sail in some other form than that of simple solution. It is here taken for granted that soluble matters become quite insoluble in contact with soil. Many people, on being told that plants do not take up their food from the soil in the state of simple solution, assume that they take it up in a solid form. . It is not my intention to expound in this place Baron Liebig’s views on the assimilation of the food derived by plants from the soil. The changes which fertilizing matters undergo in contact with soil are, as we know, so numerous and so little understood, and the . precise combinations in which mineral food is taken up by plants so little known, that it would be extremely hazardous to propound in detail a new theory respecting the assimilation of mineral food by plants. Baron Liebig, therefore, wisely refrained from expressing his views on this subject in that clear and precise manner which generally distinguishes his writings, and very pro- perly contented himself with “indicating that our present views respecting the absorption of mineral matters by plants are not quite correct. Professor Way’s and my own researches certainly have shown that manuring matters in contact with soil undergo remarkable changes, and “fully justify the statement that plants do not take up mineral food in the simple state of solution in which we add it to the soil in the shape of manure, but in totally different states of combination. Again, if sandy soils had not the power of retaining soluble fertilizing matters, it would be difficult to comprehend how, not- withstanding the oceurrence of heavy thunderstorms or long- continuing rains, the effects of superphosphate or guano, or even sulphate of ammonia, are clearly seen in the increased produce raised on such soils by the aid of these manures. On the Chemical Properties of Soils. 107 The quantity. of water running through the soil at such times, is amply sufficient completely to dissolve the soluble manuring matters. If it were, therefore, quite correct that sandy soils had not in any degree the power of absorbing soluble manuring _ matters, they would be removed by the rain into the subsoil, neighbouring diteh, or drain, and could scarcely produce any effect upon vegetation. Experience teaches us that the same kinds of manure produce very different practical results upon different soils. It must be ad- mitted that the composition of different soils varies considerably, and that this circumstance, no doubt, accounts to some extent for the variations in the practical results. There are, however, many apparently similar soils, that is to say, soils in which the analysis shows like quantities of the same constituents, such as potash, soda, lime, magnesia, phosphoric, sulphuric and silicic acid, and all the elements present in the ashes of plants, in which, notwithstanding, the same kind of manure produces a different practical result. This appears to me to indicate that the analysis of soils, as usually performed by chemists, does not afford in all cases a sufficient guide to estimate their agricultural capabilities, nor to point out the kind of manure which is particularly well adapted for the special crop which we wish to raise. Even a detailed analysis of a soil gives only the _ proportions of-the- different soil-constituents, but generally without reference to the states of combination in which they exist in the soil; and isaltogether silent on the property possessed by all soils, in a higher or lower degree, of effecting striking and important changes in the manuring -matters which are placed upon the land. That this property belongs to every soil has been recently shown by me and others who have investigated this subject. It has likewise been shown that some soils possess the power of modify- ing the composition of manures much more thoroughly than others. It is, therefore, reasonable to connect the agricultural capabilities of soils in a great measure with their power of retaining certain fertilizing matters with avidity, and of modifying others ina most interesting and unexpected manner. It is hardly necessary to dwell upon the importance of an accurate knowledge of the inherent capacity of soils to work up, so to speak, the crude fertilizing matters into new combinations ; to allow the free percolation of other—it may be less needful— substances, and ‘to provide for a constant supply of food which is neither so soluble.as to injure the produce, nor so insoluble as to remain inactive. The investigation of the exact circumstances under which these properties manifest themselves demands our serious and imme- 108 On the Chemical Properties of Soils. diate attention. We stand on the threshold of a wide and fertile field of research, and cannot hope to make any material progress in the practical cultivation of soils and the economy of manures until this subject has been to some extent investigated in a truly scientific manner, independently of all direct application. Useful applications will as assuredly follow from the sure esta- blishment and clear recognition of scientific principles, as good works from the principle of Christian love deeply engraven in the heart of man. It must, therefore, ever be the primary object of every student of nature to increase our knowledge of scientific facts, and thus to furnish the materials from which principles can be deduced. and upon which rational theories can be built. Perhaps no theory in physical science is absolutely true; nevertheless if it fulfil the chief purpose of every good theory, that is, the arrange- ment of existing scientific facts in a comprehensive form, and their preservation as a common inheritance to mankind, and so leads to an extension of our knowledge of material things, no theory, however erroneous subsequent researches may prove it to be, can be called vain. No one who has carefully examined the curious and mysterious properties of soils in relation to manuring matters will hastily propound a new theory on the nutrition of plants whilst our range of observation fis as limited, and our chemical facts as imperfectly ascertained, as is now the case. Such presumption would, in the end, only bring discredit upon the author. The description of chemical facts and the proofs upon which they rest is necessarily a hard and dry subject to the uninitiated. It is nevertheless of great consequence to preserve in a Journal like that of our great national Agricultural Society faithful accounts of original researches in agricultural chemistry, how- ever uninteresting and abstruse they may appear to the practical man. The present communication deals chiefly with chemical facts, having a more remote but nevertheless important bearing upon practical agriculture. 1 wish it to be regarded as the first instal- ment of a series of similar researches, which will probably occupy me for the rest of my life, however long I may be permitted to retain my energies and zeal for the promotion of agricultural progress. First Series oF EXPERIMENTS ON THE ABSORPTION OF Caustic AMMONIA. The object I had in view in instituting this first series of ex- periments was simply to ascertain the quantity of ammonia which a given quantity of different soils of known composition On the Chemical Properties of Soils. 109 removed from a weak solution of caustic ammonia prepared with distilled water, and to compare the results with those ob- tained by other observers from similar experiments on other soils, The ammonia solution used in the subsequent experiments was of the same strength as that before used, and contained 23°24 grains of ammonia (N U;) in the gallon, or °332 grains of ammonia in 1000 grains of liquid. The soils employed in these and all following experiments were :— 1. A calcareous clay. 2. A fertile loam, containing a little lime, mixed in equal proportion with the clay subsoil on which it rests. 3. The surface and subsoil of a heavy clay field, con- taining scarcely any sand. 4, A sterile sandy soil, containing much organic matter, and scarcely any lime. 5. Pasture land, being a vegetable mould containing abun- dance of organic matter and a fair proportion of sand and clay. These soils were preferred to others for experimental purposes on account of their widely differing physical and chemical pro- perties. They afford good examples fof some of the more fre- quent and important varieties of British soils. First Experiment, on Calcareous Clay. The soil used in the first experiment contained, in 100 parts :— Moisture .. . wae eee ihees we RS Organic matter and water of coribaaation oA) Soon: EOS Oxides OiionbandealwMinay sheet ce, lee. oe cory LEAD MAOGaterOWMTMNEelsacs | sc lee we ae, on Pee. oc. LOPB2 SRIIPHALGKOMIME Tose eae ee tt lem ee gs aca Magnesia .. Bote Do) doe, MED Rene “bil: Potash (in acid solution) .. 35, "Mod? oo do ft oe 32 MOGM@MEaCdysOltion)) 4 sel ioe ep) ew we Pee 05 Phosphoric acid... ee cyte od 10 Insoluble silicates and sand (chiefly clay) Soliman aa a OHS 100:00 Submitted to a mechanical analysis it yielded :— Moisture .. . cat Miser ae ee Organic matter and water of combination BP tle) LPIEOS Carbonate MIMIC EME MNS been ESL. con tc OOS CIRVEPCIE MS) so lee. fied lived) “os ce | ee D206 Nand@ecmmeermeemnree tee, fo ER kk DAES 100:00 3000 grains of this soil were shaken up in a glass-stoppered 110 ‘On the Chemical Properties of Soils. bottle with 14,000 grains of ammonia solution, containing 23°24 grains of caustic ammonia in the imperial gallon. In the course of the day the bottle was repeatedly shaken, and the liquid then left to subside, After standing for three days the soil had all settled to the bottom, and the greater part of the liquid could be drawn off in a perfectly clear condition. This liquid was slightly tinged with yellow. 2000 grains of this clear liquid were then carefully neutralised with a standard solution of sulphuric acid of known strength. It being known how much of the test acid was required to neutralise the ammonia solution before contact with soil, the amount of ammonia retained in the soil could be readily cal- culated :— Ammonia. Grains, Before contact with the soil the solution contained in LOOO'STHINSS Sor Vel we) Ge) Laan ces sees octamer Aftericontact) s.5, .0- ec eer” pet) ca, aie en ean ety Difference vet) oe GeO 197 grains of ammonia were thus removed from each 1000 grains of solution, consequently 2°758 grains of ammonia were removed from 14,000 grains of solution and retained in 3000 grains of soil. In this experiment accordingly 1000 grains of soil ab- sorbed 9193 grains of ammonia. A repetition of the same experiment gaye precisely the same results. The clear liquid poured off the soil being slightly yellow, it occurred to me that the organic matter (humus acids) in the soil possibly might have neutralised a-small portion. of the free ammonia of the ammoniacal liquid employed in the experiment. As the test-acid cannot indicate any ammonia when previously neutralised by the organic acids of the soil, the proportion of ammonia retained. by the latter may be stated rather/tos high. In order to verify this supposition, I distilled some of the yellow- coloured liquid with caustic potash, in an apparatus which was so constructed that all chance of traces of potash being carried over with the distillate was entirely avoided. ‘The distillate was collected in a measured quantity of acid of known strength, and the amount of ammonia distilled over, carefully determined, Proceeding in this manner, 1000 grains of liquid, after contact with soil, contained ‘143 of ammonia, Before contact with soil it contained °332 grains. Consequently, “189 were removed from every 1000 grains of liquid, or 2°646 were removed from the whole quantity of liquid employed in the experiment, and retained by 3000 grains of soil, or 1000 grains of soil absorbed "882 grains of ammonia. Not taking into account the amount of free ammonia neutralised by the organic acids of the soil, On the Chemical Properties of Soits. ill 1000 grains of the latter, as we have seen, absorbed 9193 grains of ammonia. The difference between ‘9193 grains and ‘882 grains is ‘0373 grains, and represents the quantity of ammonia neutralised by the organic matters contained in 1000 grains of the soil. ‘This difference is very small, but it nevertheless con- firms my supposition, and -at the same time affords a good proof of the delicacy of the method employed in these experiments. Second Experiment, on Fertile Loamy Soil. Equal parts of surface and subsoil were mixed together. The surface soil is a friable sandy loam; the subsoil is stiffer, con- taining less sand and more clay, The mechanical analysis of this soil and its subsoil gave :— a Surface-soil. Subsoil. OEGN Siu ER iN RE! st gist ses hguey eI ONO oalg Way es. as Sede use. ek) ask OOS 41°79 Lime, magnesia, &e. Siey cae, caw ao, AO “47 Organic Matter ins “Wwe bee ak ae OAS 2°59 100:00 100-00 Submitted to detailed chemical analysis, the soil and subsoil were found to contain in 100 parts :— ie : in .. Surface-soil, Subsoil. Organic matter and water of combination... 438 2:59 TT wk oe aw awe LD 5:39 Oxide of iron PEL LEAC awe cae) lene ee? SD 716 LL, BES BA SS Si Ses “iis 26 oan ip eePRE ook tise. Wnste giocy, “Sas 13 1°22 Test 3. So AG Ute See “49 88 Soda .. oo) vee seam Meni Liste dnrnat ies 28 Phosphoric ee et 12 aig Chlorine ee ees ute ie! ane ae eae ACO trace. Suipomriciacid * ie eu Se A 06 02! Carbonic acid .. ate otegs ooh “SL 1-79 Insoluble silicate and sand oe oot? S831 - 80°24 Consisting of :— } Silicic uel hi ER Rh Reese OOo LL 62°61 PATHE str ser tices, cee cea BOS 14:55 Me, cae Se awe otal) RW) Tawi Laude 85 IPSICSIVEMETSSE Is ks sc ecole “50 °23 Lie a ola 25 Lee Y/ ST eS a fe ee CR ee “09 “21 100-00 100°00 .* Containing nitrogen .. «. .. “182 “09 Equal to ammonia .. .. .. .. °220 sala 3900 grains of this soil and subsoil were mixed with 14,000 grains of the above ammonia solution, and, after repeated shak- ings in a well-stoppered bottle, allowed to settle for three days, by which time the liquid became perfectly clear. The greater 112 On the Chemical Properties of Soils. portion of the clear solution was then drawn off, and the ammonia contained in it determined in precisely the same manner as in the preceding experiment. Ammonia. Grains. Before contact with soil the solution contained in HOOO jorains) ey ise: ecie Verey sey Sve ee ae CsI AfterCOntact:. as caine! Se) Sui) aes Sey Peron Go ae Difference .. AOL 5c 217 Thus we see that 217 grains were vemrorell from each 1000 grains of liquid, or 3:038 grains from the whole liquid, and re- tained by 3500 grains of soil. 1000 grains of soil therefore absorbed *868 of ammonia. By distillation the amount of am- monia in the liquid after contact with soil was found to be ‘181 grains, in 1000 grains of liquid, or 2°814 grains from the whole liquid, Accordingly 1000 grains of soil absorbed -804 grains of ammonia. Third Experiment, on Stiff Clay Land. The mechanical and chemical analysis of the soil and its subsoil furnished the following results :— Mechanical Analysis. Subsoil. Surface soil. Moisture SO 9°46 3 Organic matter and water of combination 4°87 4°80 Sand. Je Spee Se en Cee ret) ean OeaG 10:97 MMe. i Wor Bee eet Bees eee ee ete SI; 2°19 Clay ce sc] Pec Mee ae Seen tern, Mem OZZO 78:13 100-00 100:00 Chemical Analysis. Subsoil. Surface soil. Moisture .. 9°46 ‘ Organic matter and water of combination.. 4.87 4°80 Oxides of iron and alumina Reems 17/3 yo) 7°85 ID NOHO MO El og 644 55 be ag as 06 04 Carbonate of lime apt con anal coq eee 2:08 DHipuate ofalime ss. er. miei nee 13 15 Magnesia .. Sinise Maes Basan oe “39 Alkalies and loss .. , “45 Insoluble siliceous matter (chiefly clay). 65°71 80°85 10000 100-00 Equal parts of soil and subsoil were mixed together, and 3500 grains of the mixture shaken up with 14,000 grains of ammonia solution, and treated as before mentioned: — Ammonia. Grains. Before contact with soil the solution contained in LOOO;erains yeti es nto ee eel ce |. «a pee emmmne After contact. "Aan ce Saree yes! ¢ oe | cca “189 On the Chemical Properties of Soits. 113 Consequently “189 grains of ammonia were removed from every 1000 grains of solution, or 2°646 grains from the whole solution; 1000 grains of soil therefore absorbed -7543 grains of ammonia, Fourth Experiment, on Sterile Sandy Land. 100 parts of the soil, dried at 212° Fahr., contains :— Oxide of iron and a little water of combination .. .. 5°36 Okrides. of or and alIMINa pn.) poeercenes nee rire d (O10: REN GMALA TON MGs ges vec g ab: sie * ee ae win ais *25 PAGS ANG MACNESID “ook ce ce te ese, “49 Phosphorie acid pM CeO SS AE Ce EM tteds Wulpburtengeleics cas) jana! | os) (lL [lash Lie Hea es 08 SOMIUPSIIGU ea sin pe Toe Piece ee Is. oe etooeae 100-00 On the Chemical Properties of Soils. 115 Submitted to chemical analysis it yielded :-— INGISCULG TH Meetse. cl we oe yee 2°420 Organic matter Ete Haan ge -& 11°700 Oxides of iron and alumina .. .. .. ~=11°860 Ganbonatesol Lime... en: ce fen s 1°240 UpMate OF IMIG! Ces Se ee, we ne “306 MPROSPNOMC ACIC sc. cece Seer se 080 Ghiordevof sodium (ss. 7 OO 3 03 Potash (soluble in acid).. .. '.. .. 910 SolmOlesSWICa ek oa Sap svete use say hysisiod Kes 4090 Insoluble siliceous matters .. .. .. 67°580 100°248 3500 grains of this soil were shaken up in a stoppered bottle with 14,000 grains of ammonia solution, and the operation con- ducted in every respect in the same manner as in the preceding experiments :— Arnona: Grains. , Before contact with soil 1000 grains of solution COMAMNO en unes | Jog Meee iss epeW (see Kd wpe dee COO After centact with soil 1000 grains contained .. ., ‘O71 "261 Thus, *261 grains apparently were removed from every 1000 grains of liquid, or 3°654 grains from the whole solution, Ac- cordingly 1000 grains of soil would have absorbed 1-044 grains of ammonia. But in reality the amount of ammonia absorbed by this soil is not so large. A glance at the foregoing composition of the soil shows that it is rich in vegetable matter. This fully accounts for the deep brown colour which the ammonia solution assumed after contact with the pasture land. It became thus necessary to distil the liquid before determining the ammonia. The following result was obtained by distillation :-— eae rains Before contact with soil 1000 grains of liquid contained °332 After contact s 5 Ps 188 144 Therefore -144 grains of ammonia were removed from every 1000 grains, or 2‘016 from the whole solution, and taken up by the soil. 1000 grains of soil accordingly absorbed only -576 grains of ammonia. In the preceding experiments the following quantities of am- monia were thus absorbed by 1000 grains of— 2 sar rains. 1.) Caleareous soil i, 0 4. sR. ws $882 2. Fertile loamy soil and clay subsoil .. 804 3. Heavy clay soil.. eo aanrse ovet) wot 4. Siermesmdy S0ll.c 4. .. ».. «+, 868 3, Pastitemenes ys ws eC. Ces DTG Te 116 On the Chemical Properties of Soils. It is worthy of notice that the sterile sandy soil absorbed as much ammonia as the calcareous clay, and even rather more than the heavy clay soil, thus proving that the property of absorbing ammonia is not confined to clay soils, but that it is shared by light sandy soils. It has been too generally assumed that sandy soils do not possess the power of retaining any ammonia; but the preceding experi- ments show unmistakably that this opinion is not founded on fact. If soluble manuring matters were indeed very readily washed out of sandy soils, it is certain top-dressing with nitrate of soda, or sulphate of ammonia and other soluble manures, in nine cases out of ten, would produce little or no effect upon them ; for these top-dressings are usually applied at a period of. the year when rain falls in abundance, and every facility is afforded for the removal of these soluble matters. Experience, how- ever, teaches us that such top-dressings are particularly valu- able on sandy soils, which could not be the case if these did not possess a power ascribed by many persons solely to clay soils. Although it is no doubt the case that heavy rains wash into the drains useful manuring matters, and that clay soils possess in a higher degree the power of retaining fertilizing substances than sandy. soils, nevertheless we need not, on the approach of a heavy thunderstorm, be apprehensive that all the sulphate of ammonia or guano which may have been applied to some light sandy land only a few days ago, will be entirely washed away. Again it may be noticed that the soil taken from the pasture, which abounds in vegetable matter, absorbed the least ammonia. The question naturally arises, Is the cause of this difference due to the presence of organic matter, or to any other pecu- liarity in this soil? lf am unable to answer this question at present, but think it possible that the presence of a large quantity of organic acids in a soil may be unfavourable to the retention of ammonia. Future and extended experiments are needed to confirm or refute this supposition. In the mean time I may direct attention to the well-known fact, that on certain old pasture land ammoniacal manures produce little effect, whereas these manures generally increase the produce of grass in a re- markable manner. In all specimens of soil taken from old pastures, upon which ammoniacal manures have little or no effect, I find a large excess of organic matter. It is just possible that this excess of organic matter prevents the retention of ammonia by the soil; but I have no opinion at present as to the precise mode in which this is effected. ? ) I would also notice specially that the soil employed in the third experiment was the same heavy clay soil which Mr. Mechi kindly sent to me for experimental purposes, and with respect to On the Chemical Properties of Soils. 117 which I have published some filtration experiments in Part L., vol. xx. of this Journal. For the latter experiments I used liquid manure, which, in addition to a great number of chemical fer- tilizing matters, contained only 3°36 grains of ammonia in the imperial gallon. It might certainly have been expected that 20,000 grains of soil would have absorbed this small quantity of ammonia, the absorption even then being only at the rate of 168 grains of ammonia to 1000 grains of soil. Notwithstanding the large quantity of clay in Mr. Mechi’s soil, and the small quantity of ammonia in his liquid manure, only 1°81 grains of ammonia were absorbed by 20,000 grains af soil, and 1: 55 grains remained in the liquid after tinea days’ contact weit it. Ta this experiment 1000 grains of soil thus absorbed only ‘0905 of a grain of ammonia. In my remarks on this experiment, I express the opinion that a stronger solution of ammonia passed through Mr. Mechi’s soil would have parted with a much larger proportion of ammonia than in this experiment. The proof of this is now given. In the former experiment 1000 grains of this clay soil removed only °0905 of a grain of ammonia from a very dilute ammoniacal liquid; in the present experiment the same quantity of the same soil absorbed about eight times as much, or *754 grains of ammonia from the stronger solution, containing 23°24 grains, of ammonia per gallon. It must, however, be remembered, that whereas I employed in my usmer experiments highly complex liquids, in my present trials simple solutions of caustic ammonia were used. The quantity of ammonia which a soil is capable of absorbing must no doubt depend in some degree on the conditions under which the ammonia is present in the liquid. The preceding experiment is, therefore, not quite conclusive. In order to satisfy myself beyond doubt whether more ammonia is really removed from a stronger than from a weaker solution or not, I instituted a second series of experiments, which I must briefly desctibe: Srconp Series oF AxBsorPTioNn EXPERIMENTS WITH STRONGER AMMONIA SOLUTIONS. A solution of ammonia in distilled water was prepared, con- taining about twice as much ammonia as that used in the: first series. To speak more exactly, this stronger solution contained 47-11 grains of ammonia per gallon, or 673 grains of ammonia in 1000 grains of liquid. The clear ammoniacal solution having been poured off the soil as com pletely as was possible in each sis theriawe experiments of the first series, the liquid remaining with the soils in the bottles 118 On the Chemical Properties of Soils. was weighed, and the amount of ammonia contained in this liquid ascertained in each case by calculation :— 14,000 grains of the stronger solution, containing “673 grains of ammonia in 1000 of liquid, were now added, and the bottle well agitated several times during the first day, the liquid being afterwards allowed to subside. After three days it became clear. A quantity sufficient for making three or four ammonia determinations was then drawn off in a perfectly clear state. The amount of ammonia contained in the remainder of the solutions left in the soils from the first series of experiments being known, and likewise the quantity of ammonia added in the stronger solution, the ammonia in the liquid after contact with the soil determined the proportion absorbed from the stronger ammoniacal liquid. The same plan was adopted i in all five experiments, and in each experiment the same quantity of ammonia solution was used. First Experiment (Calcareous Soil). Ammonia Grains Quantity of ammonia left in bottle se *732 A a in 1400 grains of fresh liquid we) Ores 10° 154 1000 grains of mixed liquid contained *531 grains of ammonia. Ammonia, Grains. After contact with soil the solution contained in 1000 grains ‘431 Before contact with soilit contained .. .. .. «. « “Dol 3 “100 Consequently ‘100 grains were remoyed from each 1000 grains of liquid, or 1:9120 grains from the entire solution employed in the experiment, and taken up by 3000 grains of soil. 1000 grains of soil thus absorbed °6373 grains of ammonia, in addition to ‘882 grains of ammonia absorbed in the 1st Experi- ment with a weaker solution. The total quantity of ammonia taken up by 1000 grains of the soil in the two experiments thus amounts to 1°5193 grains. econd Experiment (Fertile Loamy Soil). Ammonia. Grains. Quantity of ammonia left in bottle e ioe ae eon Ae n added in fresh solution .. .. 97422 9°859 1000 grains of mixed solution contained ‘554 grains of am- monia, After contact with the soil the solution contained in 1000 grains -410 grains, therefore ‘144 grains were removed from every 1000: On the Chemical Properties of Soils. 119 grains of liquid, or 25632 grains from the entire solution used in the experiment, and absorbed by 3500 grains of soil; or LOOO grains of soil absorbed *7323 grains of ammonia, in addition to 804 grains of ammonia absorbed in the 1st Experiment, thus giving a total of 1°5363 grains of ammonia in both trials. Third Experiment (Heavy Clay Soil). Ammonia. Grains. Quantity of ammonia left in bottle... Ys (766 (846 #5 33 added in fresh solution .. .. 97442 10°288 1000 grains of mixed solution contained Ae aaouhag ctor lis) After ‘contact with soil 1000 grains of solution contained “450 065 Therefore ‘065 grains were removed from every 1000 grains of liquid, or 1-294 grains from the entire solution, and absorbed by 3500 grains of soil, Ammonia, rains. 1000 grains thus absorbed in the 2nd Experiment .. °8697 Andjimthe Ist Experiment .. <5 .. «. <«« «. . 21 hoy Thus -2651 grains of ammonia were removed by 49,000 grains of water from } 1b. of soil. This quantity of soil absorbed from a strong ammoniacal solution 4°655 grains of ammonia. By deducting 2°651 grains of ammonia, 7. e. the amount washed out by seven successive washings, with 7000 grains of water each, we obtain 2004 as the quantity of ammonia which was retained by the soil, after all the washings with water. More than half the ammonia originally absorbed by the soil was thus again removed by washing with water. It appears thus distinctly that the power of soils to remove am- mona from solutions is very much greater than their property of yielding it again to water. Indeed even a very much larger quantity of water than that which falls annually upon our fields in the shape of rain is incapable of washing out of the soil such a proportion of am- monia, as can be of any account in relation to the quantities incorporated with it in the shape of natural or artificial manures. In the experiments before us the weight of water which was passed through the soil was twenty-eight times as large as the weight of the soil, and yet little more than half the quantity of ammonia absorbed by the latter was extracted by this immense amount of water. In nature such excessive washings by rain are not likely to occur; we need not therefore fear that the ammonia absorbed by the soil we cultivate will be removed by the most heavy rain-storms to anything like the extent in which it was removed in my experiments. At the same time it is well to remember that each shower of rain renders soluble some ammonia which may have been previously absorbed by the soil. ‘The best fertilizimg matters, if presented to plants in great abundance, exercise an injurious effect upon their growth, or, at any rate, favour an unhealthy development of one part of the vegetable organism at the expense of another. Thus wheat or barley grown on a dung-heap becomes rank and attains a great size, but will hardly flower, and never produce any grain. This is accounted for by the fact that farm-yard manure contains far too much soluble manuring matters to be beneficial to the healthy development of the crops which we cultivate. On the Chemical Properties of Soils. 129 It is one of the functions of soils to check the accumulation of soluble fertilizing matters, and this function it performs in many instances by rendering insoluble, or, to speak more correctly, by greatly reducing the solubility of those important fertilizing matters which would otherwise induce an unhealthy or abnormal growth of plants. «Considering the structure of the spongioles of the roots of plants we readily comprehend how important it is that such matter should be able to find its way into the vegetable organism. Whilst thus it is the particular function of the soil to prevent the loss of ammonia from manures, such as guano, sulphate of ammonia, &c., which we are in the habit of applying to the land, provision is made that the ammonia, when it becomes fixed by the soil, should not be rendered so entirely insoluble as to be of no direct benefit to plants. In short, all soils, clay as well as sand, store up ammonia with great eagerness, and part with it reluctantly. Srxru Serres.—ABsoRPTION OF AMMONIA FROM A SOLUTION CONTAINING CHLORIDE OF AMMONIUM. In this series of experiments I endeavoured to ascertain the amount of ammonia which soils of known composition absorb from a standard solution of sal-ammoniac in water. The solution used in the following experiment contained 79°80 grains of chloride of ammonium in the imperial gallon, or 25:20 grains of ammonia; or 1000 grains of this solution contained 1-14 grains of chloride of ammonium, or ‘36 grains of ammonia. The soils experimented upon were the same as those used in the First Series of Experiments, namely :— 1. A calcareous clay. 2. A fertile loam. 3. Stiff clay soil. 4. Sterile sandy soil. 5. Pasture land. In each case 3500 grains of soil were mixed with 14,000 grains. of a solution of chloride of ammonium, containing °36 grains of ammonia in 1000 grains of liquid. After standing three days the clear liquid was drawn off, and the ammonia contained in it obtained by distillation with caustic potash. The operation was conducted in each case alike, and the following results were obtained :-— Ammonia. Grains. No. 1. 1000 grains of soil absorbed .. .. °68 No. 2. Oe me; soto) CUS No. 3. AP - oom (eee SO No. 4 FA My Bee oct Sie: No. 5 4 . 2? 29 ee ee ie a VOL. XXI. K | \) I} i 130 On the Chemical Properties of Soils. It will be noticed that the proportions of ammonia which are absorbed by the five different soils from a solution of sal- ammoniac, containing 79°80 grains of this salt in an imperial gallon, vary considerably. In the case of the sandy soil very little ammonia indeed was absorbed, This is rather singular, since the,same sandy soil ° absorbed a good deal of ammonia on being brought into contact with a dilute solution of free ammonia. We thus see that a soil may absorb free ammonia in consider- able quantities, and yet not have the power of separating and fixing ammonia from an ammoniacal salt, such as sal-ammoniac. SEVENTH SERIES.—ABSORPTION OF AMMONIA FROM A SOLUTION OF SULPHATE OF AMMONIA. A. solution of sulphate of ammonia was prepared, containing 77°70 grains of sulphate of ammonia per imperial gallon, or 20°16 grains of ammonia. 1000 grains of liquid therefore contained ‘288 grains of ammonia. The same soil was used in this as in the preceding Series of Experiments. In each case 3500 grains of soil were shaken up in a well-stoppered bottle with 14,000 grains of the solution of the above strength. In these experi- ments—- Ammonia. Grains. No. 1. 1000 erains of soil absorbed .. .. “608 No. 2. 5 a soe tert ORO) No. 3. se 5f oicl) sot) ONG No. 4, As » sen exh 208 No. 5. Piss 35 bo “448 Here again the sandy soil absorbed but very little ammonia. There seems thus to be something or other wanting in this soil which prevents it from exercising a decomposing influence upon ammoniacal salts similar to that manifested by the four other soils. I am informed that farmyard manure, guano, and other fertilizers of recognized value, produce little effect upon the crops growing on this sterile sandy soil. Excursu Serres.— RETENTION OF AMMONIA FROM A SOLUTION OF SULPHATE OF AMMONIA. In the Fifth Series of experiments I have shown that a soil which absorbed a certain quantity of free ammonia from a tolerably strong solution with which it was brought into contact, again yielded small quantities of ammonia to repeated washings of distilled water. ig It appeared to me desirable to ascertain whether similar results would be obtained on washing a soil which had absorbed a certain quantity of ammonia from a solution of sulphate of ammonia. | | On the Chemical Properties of Soils. 131 To this end, I prepared a solution of sulphate of ammonia, which contained 188:720 grains of ammonia in the gallon, or 2696 grains of ammonia in 1000 grains of liquid. 4 Ib. (1750 grains) of calcareous soil used in First Series was mixed in a stoppered bottle with 7000 grains of this solution, then left at rest for three days, after which the clear liquid was drawn off, and the ammonia contained in it determined by distillation :— Ammonia. Grains. Before contact with soil 1000 grains of solution contained .. 2°696 After contact 35 of PS 2-000 696 Therefore *696 grains of ammonia were removed from every 1000 grains of liquid, or 4°872 grains were removed from the whole solution, and retained by 1750 grains of soil; 1000 grains of soil thus absorbed 2-784 grains of ammonia. A comparison of this result with the amount of ammonia absorbed from sulphate of ammonia in the preceding experi- ments, shows that much more ammonia is removed by soil from the stronger ammoniacal solution than from the weaker one. The liquid was drawn off as much as possible, and the amount of that which could not be removed ascertained by weight ; 7000 grains of pure distilled water were next added ; after three days the clear liquid was drawn off and weighed, and the am- monia in it determined by distillation in the usual way. Proceeding in this manner, the soil which had absorbed 4°872 grains of ammonia from a strong solution of sulphate of ammonia was washed five times with 7000 grains of water each time :— Ammonia, Grains. The first washing removed .. .. .. ‘278 The second ,, nn Se aoe ise a ODS: The third ,, Ot cba on Sea eee: The fourth ,, ae eee eet LO The fifth a Ar oy. fe ou ers 2°382 35,000 grains of water, or 4 gallon, thus removed 2°382 grains of ammonia from the soil, which had absorbed 4°872 grains of. ammonia. At the conclusion of the experiment the quantity of ammonia which remained in } lb. of soil amounted to 2-490 grains, or very nearly half the quantity which it absorbed in the first place. These results are conformable with those obtained in the Retention Experiments, where a solution of free ammonia was employed. ; K 2 132 On the Chemical Properties of Soils. Ninta Sertes.—RETENTION oF AMMONIA FROM A SOLUTION oF CHLORIDE oF AMMONIUM. The soil used in this series of experiments was the same as. that employed in the Third Series. The solution of sal-ammoniac contained 211°40 grains of am- monia in the gallon, or 3:02 grains in 1000 of liquid. 4 Ib. of soil and 7000 grains of solution of sal-ammoniac of this strength, were mixed together, and the amount of ammonia absorbed by the soil ascertained as before. ‘The whole quantity of soil absorbed in this experiment 5°60 grains of ammonia. 1000 grains thus sepa- rated 3°20 grains of ammonia from the solution of sal-ammoniac. Here again we observe that the amount of ammonia which a soil is capable of removing from solutions of ammoniacal salts depends upon the strength of the liquid with which it is brought into contact. The soil was next washed four times with 7000 grains of water, and the proportion of ammonia removed in each washing deter- mined as before :— Ammonia. Grains. The first washing removed SO ont OL, The second ,, an Ae phe ee ig (BES) The third ,, AG OS! oak, coow | Meili! The fourth ,, I iat i, She or ae ih MeO) 2°365 28,000 grains of water thus removed 2°365 grains of ammonia from } Ib. of soil, which in the first place absorbed 5°60 grains of ammonia from a strong solution of sal-ammoniac. After washing with a considerable quantity of water, the soil thus retained 3235 grains of ammonia, instead of 5°60 grains. Thus,whether a soil has absorbed free ammonia, or ammonia from a solution of sulphate of ammonia or sal-ammoniac, water passed through it will wash out a certain quantity of ammonia. But in each case the power of a soil to retain ammonia is very much greater than its inclination to yield it again to water. It is hardly necessary to remind the reader that in the absorp- tion experiments with salts of ammonia the acid of the salt passes through the soil in combination with lime or other mineral matters of the soil, whilst the ammonia alone is retained. I may notice, however, that the watery liquid which passes through a soil mee aplutione of ammoniacal salts are filtered through it, contains a larger quantity of mineral matters than is the case wes pure water is filtered through the soil. It would thus appear that ammoniacal salts have the property of rendering the minerat matters of the soil soluble. But the details of experiments on this subject, and an account of their bearing on agriculture, must be reserved for a future communication, On the Chemical Properties of Soils. 133 In conclusion, the more prominent and practically interesting points which have been developed in the preceding pages may be briefly stated in the following SUMMARY. 1. All the soils experimented upon have the power of absorb- ing ammonia from its solution in water. 2. The sandy soil absorbed as much ammonia as the clay soil. 3. The pasture land, and probably many other soils rich in organic matter, retain less ammonia than soils in which organic matter does not occur in excess. 4, The differences between sandy, calcareous, and clay soils, in their power of absorbing ammonia, is not so great as is gene- rally believed. 5. Ammonia is never completely removed from its solution, however weak it may be. On passing a solution of ammonia, whether weak or strong, through any kind of soil, a certain quantity of ammonia invariably passes through. No soil has the power of fixing completely the ammonia with which it is brought into contact. 6. In the preceding experiments all the soils absorbed more ammonia from the stronger than from the weaker solution ; that is to say, the absolute quantity of ammonia which is absorbed by a soil is larger when a stronger solution of ammonia is passed through it. But, relatively, weaker solutions are more thoroughly exhausted than stronger ones. 7. Soils containing much organic matter (humic acids) at first absorb less ammonia from weak solutions than others poor in vegetable matter. But subsequently they take up more ammonia if it is presented to them in stronger solutions. 8. A soil which has absorbed as much ammonia as it will from a weak solution, takes up a fresh quantity of ammonia when it is brought into contact with a stronger ammoniacal solution. 9. All the soils not only absorbed free ammonia, but likewise remoyed a certain quantity from solutions of ammoniacal salts. 10. In passing sulphate of ammonia or sal-ammoniac through a soil, the ammonia alone is absorbed, and the acids pass through ‘in combination with lime or other mineral matters. 11. A larger proportion of mineral matter is dissolved in a soil when dilute solutions of ammoniacal salts are filtered through it than is the case with pure water. 12. Soils absorb more ammonia from stronger than weaker solutions of sulphate of ammonia and chloride of ammonium. 13. Not only the strength, but likewise the quantity of the ammoniacal solution which is brought into contact with a soil, 134 Drainage of Whittlesea Mere. appears to influence the amount of ammonia which the latter is capable of retaining. 14. In no instance is the ammonia absorbed by soils from solutions of free ammonia, or from ammoniacal salts, so completely or permanently fixed, as to prevent water from washing out ap- preciable quantities of the ammonia. 15. The proportion of ammonia, however, which is removed in the several washings, is small in proportion to that retained by the soil. 16. The power of soils to absorb ammonia from solutions of free ammonia, or from solutions of sulphate of ammonia or chloride of ammonium, is thus greater than the power of water to redissolve it. 17. In practice no fear need be entertained that in ordinary years heavy showers of rain will remove much ammonia from ammoniacal top-dressings, such as sulphate of ammonia, soot, guano, and similar manures, which are used by farmers for wheat, barley, and oats. 18. On the other hand, in very rainy seasons, appreciable quantities of ammonia may be removed from land top-dressed with ammoniacal manures, even in the case of stiff clay soils. Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, June, 1860. VIII.— The Drainage of Whittlesea Mere. By W. WELLs. AT various intervals within recent years there have appeared, either as articles in this Journal or as independent works, notices bearing more or less directly on the subject of the large tract of country known as the Great Level of the Fens. Some of these notices have been most ably written, and have taken comprehensive and scientific views of the nature of the Fens, of the past and present systems of draining and cultivating them, and of the large question of their general improvement, as contrasted or going hand in hand with the marvellous strides that have been made of late years in the cultivation of what a fenman would call the Upper Country. It has been suggested that, as a sequel to the notices alluded to above, or rather as an illustration of the subjects which they have treated in a general and comprehensive manner, a short account of the draining of Whittlesea Mere would be appro- priate and not uninteresting; and it is hoped that although no great addition to the details of scientific or practical agriculture can be offered in giving this account, it will yet be considered that a record of the blotting out from the map of England of one Drainage of Whittlesea Mere. 135 of its largest inland sheets of water, and of the conversion of its bed into the site of thriving farms, as well as of the operations now being carried on for the reclamation of the peat-bog which surrounded the Mere, may fairly claim a place in the pages of the chief agricultural journal of the country. To those whose attention has not been directed to the subject of the Fens it may be as well to observe shortly, that the Great Level of the Fens—that is to say, the great district of low coun- try beginning near Ely in Cambridgeshire and extending to the Witham in Lincolnshire, containing in round numbers some- thing like 750,000 acres, comprehends and is nearly synter- minous with the so-called Bedford Level, a name given to a vast tract of fen-country, which in the reign of Charles I. was placed for purposes of reclamation and drainage under the control of certain individuals, forming a corporate body, of which the Earl of Bedford was the chairman. At a later period this Bedford Level became subdivided into three smaller levels, which bear respectively the names of the North, Middle, and South Levels; and it was in the Middle Level—we happily speak of it now in the past tense—that, in advertising phraseology, that well-known fresh-water lake Whit- tlesea Mere was situated. On arriving from the south by the Great Northern Railway at a point within five miles of Peterborough, the chimney of the steam-engine, which now maintains the drainage of the Mere and surrounding district, is plainly visible three miles off toward the east. The steam-engine is placed at the easternmost corner of the Mere, which formerly extended thence in the shape of a blunted crescent, the convex side being towards the north, to within half a mile of the spot we suppose the traveller to be passing. Of the possible readers of this paper not a few may call to mind excursions from Cambridge to the Mere, with either boat- ing or skating intentions. The occasions of the Mere being frozen over were always held as a jubilee by the whole country side. Stalls were erected, bands of music played, and the scene presented all the appearance of a large fair. The best skaters from all parts of the Fens assembled, and putting on their “ pat- tens,” as the skates are locally named, decided the claims of districts or individuals to skating superiority. Whittlesea Mere, in its ancient state, comprised 1600 acres, bat at the time when the works for its draining were com- menced the ordinary water-acreage had diminished to little more than 1000 acres. Around the shores a margin of silty deposit had been formed, which, though often dry, was liable to submersion upon the slightest rise of the water in the Mere. 136 Drainage of Whittlesea Mere. Beyond this margin of silt, which varied in breadth from 50 to 500 yards, and was valuable from the excellent reeds it grew, there extended, especially towards the south and west, where the level of the surrounding land was lowest, a large tract of peat-moss, which, though generally free from water during summer, was constantly flooded in winter. On the north and east sides the level of the surrounding land was higher—sufficiently high in- deed to be cultivated by the aid of windmills, and, approaching more nearly to the borders of the Mere, left less room for either the inner circle of silty reed-shoal, or for the outer circle of peat- moss. In addition to the area contained in the Mere, the reed-shoals, and the peat-bog, there was much adjoining low land, more or less under cultivation, which would naturally be included in any scheme for the draining of the water and waste land on which they bordered. At different times various schemes had been suggested for draining this district, but none had ever reached a state of maturity. One by Sir John Rennie attracted considerable attention at the time. The chief feature of this was the draining by the river Nene, which bounds the Middle Level on the north, as the Ouse, by which the present drainage is effected, bounds it on the south. At first sight the Nene appeared the natural outlet for the waters of the Mere, but there were reasons against its selection, among which it may be sufficient to notice that, besides moral difficulties, which then, as now perhaps, seem to be connected with the outfall at Wisbeach, the point of dis- charge was too far from the sea, and would be liable to the over- riding of the freshes or upland floods.* In 1839 notice was given of an intention to apply to Par- liament for a Bill to enable the owners of lands in and around Whittlesea Mere to drain that district. The design remained for some time in abeyance, in consequence of the Nene scheme having in the meanwhile been brought forward. When the latter scheme was abandoned, a fresh application to Parliament was notified, but withdrawn in deference to the wishes of many landowners in the Middle Level, who proposed that an applica- tion to Parliament should be made in behalf of the Level gene- rally, for the enlargement of the powers of the existing Middle Level Act, so as to combine with the draining of the Mere and * This paper would be incomplete if the opportunity were not taken of recording the name of one individual with whom the scheme for the drainage of the Mere originated, and upon whom subsequently devolved the carrying out all the works of improvement. The name of Mr. John Laurance of Elton will long be remembered in connexion not only with the draining of Whittlesea Mere, but also with many other public and private works in the Fens, in which he has taken an active part. Drainage of Whittlesea Mere. 137 district around it a general improvement of the whole Level, by rendering the rivers therein more capable of receiving and carry- ing the upland waters from the Mere and its neighbourhood. After some delay a general measure was agreed upon, and resulted in the Middle Level Act of 1844; under the large powers of which Act, enabling lands in the Level to be taxed for purposes of drainage, a sum of 200,000/. was raised to carry out the contemplated works; and under a subsequent Act a further sum of 230,000/. has been expended. It will be unnecessary to describe these works further than to say that the principal feature was that the point of discharge for the waters of the Middle Level was brought some 6 miles farther down the river Ouse than heretofore, and that a cor- responding fall of 6 feet was obtained. This was obtained by means of a noble cut 11 miles long, 40 feet wide at bottom, with an average width of 70 feet at top, and terminating with appro- priate sluices, so constructed as to allow advantage to be taken of the still further increase of fall, which it was with just fore- sight considered would be gained on the completion of even a part of the works contemplated by the promotion of the Norfolk Estuary scheme. These great works of improvement, however, had not as direct a bearing as could have been desired on the draining of the Mere and the adjacent land, for which, notwithstanding the largely-increased fall that was obtained, a natural drainage was not and cannot under any probable circumstances be obtained. Unluckily the interests of navigation had to be considered in determining the question of the height at which the water, by means of the outfall sluice, should be maintained throughout the country, and the height so determined on in the Act, as the level of the water in summer, is such as to necessitate the lifting up to this nayigation-level, by means of machinery, the drainage- waters of the Mere and low lands adjoining. During winter the Act forbids the water to be held up at all in case of flood, and full advantage is taken at the sluices of each low tide. Preparations were immediately made for discharging the water of the Mere and the surrounding district into the rivers destined to carry them to the outfall in the Ouse, whenever the works in the Level should be reported as sufficiently advanced ; and in the summer of 1851 the great Marshland Cut and other principal drains had been so far constructed or enlarged that the moment for emptying the Lake, as it was often called, had arrived; and accordingly a point nearest to one of the exterior rivers haying been chosen, the bank was cut through, and the long pent-up waters allowed free passage to the sea. This may appear to be at variance with what has been said above—that no natural drainage was afforded to Whittlesea Mere 138 Drainage of Whittlesea Mere. by the new works. The explanation of the apparent contradic- tion is easy, by contrasting the relative condition of the Mere and the Middle Level at the moment of the main drains being completed, and at a later period when the bottom of the Mere and the adjoining land had been for some time dry. The old state of things was this :—For purposes of navigation a minimum height of 10 feet of water was maintained throughout the Level; isis 60 say, 10 feet above the low-water-mark gauge in the Ouse at Lynn Bridge, from which all the calculations as to the height of the water in the Middle Level are taken. The bottom of the Mere being 7 feet above the gauge, there remained 3 feet as its ordinary depth of water. When the great Marshland Cut was opened, and the connecting dykes up to the Mere deepened, the water throughout the ber el was reduced to 5 feet on the gauge, giving theretore a fall of 2 feet from the bottom of the Mere. This was quite sufficient to create a free flow of the waters by the new passage or cutting through the bank, and accordingly for many days the stream «continued. to diseharre itself into the exterior river. At no time after the first twenty- four hours was there any rush or torrent, but as the weight of water behind diminished, the current became less and less rapid, until at the end of three weeks a sluggish stream was with diffi- culty maintained through the shoals to the place of exit. For- tunately a favourable wind prevailed, and assisted materially in propelling the water over the higher ground which existed between the point of discharge and the low places in the middle of the lake where the water lingered the longest. This outpouring of the contents of the Mere then was doubt- less so far a natural drainage, but the winter-level rose frequently to 10 feet on the gauge, so that but for the surrounding banks — the old 3 feet of water would soon have returned to its secnsiomied place. The present state of things is this:—The bed of the Mere has sunk from being 7 feet above datum (the gauge at Lynn) to 3 feet 6 inches ; from this, as the least depth that is consistent with the proper cultivation oh soil, 2 feet must be taken, leaving 1 foot 6 inches as the corresponding level on the gauge; and as the water is held up in summer to 5 feet 6 inches for navigation, and cannot in winter be run lower than about 4 feet 6 inches even with the additional fall obtained by the Norfolk Estuary works, it will be readily seen that it is hopeless to expect ever to obtain a natural drainage for the Mere and the surrounding land. Long before the last pools of water had disappeared from off the bed of the Mere large crowds of people from all the sur- rounding neighbourhood, and even many from distant parts of the Fens, all assembled. Some perhaps from a desire to be pre- sent at the last moments of a venerable friend whose fortunes Drainage of Whittlesea Mere. 139 were now reduced to the lowest ebb: others perhaps with whom the love of stewed eels preponderated over sentiment, from the prospect of a ready and abundant gratification of their taste. Of the hundreds—it would be no exaggeration probably to say thousands—who had assembled, nine out of ten came provided with sacks and baskets to carry off their share of the vast number of fish, which, wherever the eye turned, were floundering in the ever-decreasing water. Some more ambitious speculators brought their carts, and gathering the fish by the ton weight, despatched them for sale to Birmingham and Manchester. Contrary to expectation, no fish of very great size was taken; the largest ascertained was a pike of 22 Ibs. So deep and tenacious was the mud, that even with boards attached to the soles of the shoe, it was a matter of extreme labour to move about; and an undue anxiety to seize a lively eel or vigorous jack was sure to lead to an irrecoverable downfall, or to a set-fast in some ungainly position. It is impossible to imagine a more singular scene, and as the fading light of a blood- red sunset fell on the vast multitudes of figures scattered in all directions over the dreary waste of slimy ooze, it left on the mind the same sort of impression of the supernatural as is left by some of Martin’s ambitious pictures. Among the many novelties in the exhibition of 1851 the model of the now well-known Appold Pump attracted the attention of the promoters of the draining of Whittlesea Mere, and after some encouraging conferences on the subject with Messrs. Easton and Amos, it was determined to erect one at a spot suitable for main- taining the drainage of the district; and by the middle of December in the same year, a 25-horse engine and an Appold pump were ready for use. It was calculated that the pump would lift 16,000 gallons a minute with a 6-foot lift, and of course more in proportion as the height of the lift was decreased. Nor was it long before this calculation was put to an unexpectedly severe test. The summer after the completion of the engine was actively employed in shaping the unbroken expanse of mud into some- thing like an agricultural tract. Dykes were made—roads marked out—boundaries of farms arranged, and in some cases the terms for letting the embryo farms actually agreed upon. Everything looked promising for the future well-being of the new-born district, when, on the 12th of November, the water in the outer rivers being swollen by heavy rains, and pressing against the newly-formed banks with a force they were unable to withstand, a breach was made, and in a few hours Whittlesea Mere was itself again, Disheartening as was this untoward event, it showed—at the least calamitous moment that it could have oceurred—where the weak point was; it necessitated the testing to the utmost the 140 Drainage of Whittlesea Mere. powers of the engine and pump, and it resulted in perfect con- fidence being felt that it was master of the situation. It was reckoned that 1000 acres were covered again with water to a depth of 2 feet 6 inches, and that if the pump could raise 20,000 gallons a minute, it would take twenty-three days inces- sant pumping to clear off that amount. This calculation proved correct, and in little more than three weeks the land, but cer- tainly not terra firma, was again everywhere visible. The banks having been “repaired and fortified, the work of reclamation, and preparing for the cultivation of the soil, was actively resumed. The completion of the main dyke, leading from a point in the high land, not very far from the present Holme Station, 34 miles long, ona averaging 30 feet in width, was an arduous undertaking, owing to the treacherous nature of the bed of the Mere, through which, for nearly two miles of its length, it passed. Frequent slips occurred, and continued to occur Tere after its first completion. From the main dyke a number of smaller dykes branched off, passed through the silty bed of the Mere, penetrated into the surrounding bog. aaa tapping it in all directions, brought a never-ending flow of water to be discharged by the engine. The effect of this network of drains was quickly visible. The bed of the Mere was soon covered with innumerable cracks and fissures, deep and wide, so as to make it a matter of no small difficulty to walk along the surface, while in the surrounding bog the principal effect was the speedy consolidation of its crust, which, by the end of the first summer afforded, even in those places Which had been long impassable, as safe and! firm a footing for a man, as it now does throughout almost its whole extent for a horse. It was no easy matter to reduce the Mere-land into a state to receive such seed as should be first sown; the adhesive condi- tion of the surface making it impossible to use horses even when shod with boards, if indeed the wide fissures did not render it dangerous to try the experiment. The whole area therefore had to be prepared by hand—over the largest part light harrows were first drawn by hand—the seed was then sown, and the harrows used a second and sometimes a third time, at a cost of about 5s. or 6s. per acre. Other parts were dug or forked at an average cost of from 25s. to 30s. per acre. Of such a depth were the cracks, that even this process, with all the subsequent operations attending the first crop, by no means got rid of these obstinate scars, which continued until the cultivation of three or four years at length obliterated them. Coleseed and Italian ryegrass were the first crops taken. When the new land was in its raw and wettest state, the latter did some- what better than the former, but as the soil dried the coleseed throve better, and in the reclaimed reed-shoals and adjoining Drainage of Whittlesea Mere. 14h skirt-land, good crops of it were grown in even the second and third year, the value of which was on an average 30s. and 40s. per acre respectively. The rich alluvial soil, thickly studded with shells, and largely impregnated with animal matter, was, after these preliminary croppings, available at once for the production of wheat and oats, and the wind, which, in the autumn of 1851 was curling the blue water of the lake, in the autumn of 1853 was blowing in the same place over fields of yellow corn. While however the uncovered bed of the Mere, and the reed-shoals, yielded so generously to the hand of improvement, the more arduous task remained of bringing into profitable cultivation the large tract of peat-land surrounding them on the south and south-west sides. On this unproductive tract, as has been said, a heavy tax had been imposed, and it was a matter of deep interest to devise the readiest and most effectual way of bringing it into a remunerative condition. To subdivide the district into fields, to pare and burn the surface, and to obtain from the broken-up peat-soil some in- different crops of coleseed and oats, would have helped at any rate to civilize the appearance of the country, and possibly might haye shown some margin of receipts over and above the drain- age-taxes payable on the land, but undoubtedly it would not have paid as a farming operation, and no tenants would have been found to sink their capital in such an unpromising specu- lation. The ordinary method of improving the black peaty soil of the Fens is to give it a coating of the underlying gault, but the prac- tical use of the gault is limited by the depth at which it lies beneath the surface. It is excavated from narrow trenches at regular intervals in the field which is about to receive a coating of it, and the expense of the operation depends entirely on the depth at which it is found; at 4 or 5 feet the men in the trenches can throw it out with ease, and the advantage to the land being great, and the expense not more than from 4. to 5/. per acre, it is a highly remunerative process ; but at 9 or 10 feet the case is different: and as the benefit to be derived from an ordinary coat- ing of gault does not last more than seven or eight years, there is of course a certain depth beyond which it would be unre- munerative to attempt the process of raising it. In the case of the district we are considering, this point is far xceeded, the average depth at which the gault lies below the surface being about 15 feet. The above-named process is there- fore inapplicable here, and consequently another method of ferti- lizing the peat-tract has been adopted. It consists in covering the bog with soil conveyed by means of a portable railway from certain points in the old bed of the Mere, where it can either be 142 Drainage of Whittlesea Mere. spared without i injury, or where the taking it away isa positive advantage by increasing materially the capacity of the main and other dy] kes. Indeed in determining the execution of the works connected with the portable railway, the enlargement of the main drain communicating with the engine was almost as important a consideration as fertilizing the bog. Owing to the very considerable subsidence of the level of the district* the drains had generally lost much of their original depth ; and in the main drain, where it passed through some of the lowest land in the old bed of the Mere, the water constantly supplied even in dry weather from the neighbouring bog, and in wet weather from the uplands as well, would, if ag kept down by frequent pumping, rise more or lege speedily up to and above the level of the adjoining fields. The depth and consequent capacity of the main drain being far too small, the engine, when set to work, in little more than two or three hours, completely exhausts the water ; while from the continuous supply in any but very dry weather, it becomes again in a few hours’ time full to overflowing, and the engine has to be started again on its Sisi- phzan labour. This constant getting up and letting down of steam is a very uneconomical system, and a remedy, or, at any rate, a mitigation, suggested itself in the idea of greatly increasing the capacity of the main drain towards its lower end, which while furnishing by means of the railway a large supply of the Mere soil and of the gault, which, with a thin stratum of peat between, underlies the silty bed of the Mere, would create for the water descending from the more distant portion of the tract to be drained a kind of reservoir, where it might be stored up till the engine, after en- Joying the lengthened intervals of repose thus afforded, should be again summoned to its duties. ° The combination of adv antages offered by thus improving the main drain and utilising, as described, the rich material exca- vated from it were so palpable, that in no long time the idea was acted upon. It was at first proposed to carry the work out on a very con- siderable scale, with a view to the relief in working the engine to be gained by the enlarged main drain, and this would certainly have been a desirable object, but considerations, partly of a pecu- niary nature and partly connected with the difficulty of dealing with a large tract of land suddenly requiring cultivation, deter- * The extent of this subsidence has been gauged by means of piles, which at the commencement of the draining were driven in three of the lowest places in the bog into the underlying bed of gault, and were then cut off level with the sur- face. The tops of the piles when measured this summer were severally 4°9, 5°5, and 6:1 feet above the surface; showing a subsidence of more than 9 inches a year since the draining has been completed. In the same period, as has been said, the bed of the Mere has been lowered 3°6. Drainage of Whittlesea Mere. 143 mined the adoption of the plan on such a scale as would enable works, such as building, road-making, and the like, to precede, if necessary, the so-called ‘dry warping” of the bog. The original scheme embraced 24 miles of rail, a stationary steam-engine of 25 horse-power, wire-rope proportioned to the length of railway, 200 trucks, &c.; the estimate for the whole plant and for every contingency being all but 5000/. “Taking 1500 as the number of acres to be covered with soil 6 inches deep, it was calculated that the cost per acre would amount to 141. 4s.; from this would have to be deducted the incon- siderable sum that the plant would sell for at the expiration of the work. For the smaller operation 14 mile of iron railway, 1000 yards of portable wooden flanged rails, 50 trucks, and 10 horses, are the principal items of the plant employed, the cost of the whole amounting to about 1500/. It is found that with this force, in favourable weather, an acre and a half can be covered to the depth of 4 inches ; and a calculation, made in September last, as to what was the actual cost of the work at that time, showed that at 4 inches it was 12/. ls. 5d., and at 6 inches deep it was 147. 17s. 6d.* In this calculation, however, the acreage over * CompuTEpD Cost of Dry-Warprine, per Acre, on Holme Fen, the property of William Wells, Esq., as obtained from the Audited and Certified Accounts, allowing 200 acres more only to he done with the present Plant, or 270 acres altogether. From Statement No. 2: mh) £S evade LEE IGA VOM EOAUS |) Ge sh we oe as te we 319 8 Rails, trucks, &c. Ca) aOR. ace ico mies BG. 4l| UTE Bes UNSLCUR <0" 32 S33. aS Sa Ae 22,070 RIETUCURSMI TEM) Jes) ac se os. 00) oe SG Carriage oc 6G SAR SCR ene, aes 116 3 Ponies, &c., horse Sain) “est Wray bylaws SORE! oe 39 18 6- Trucks, rails, &c. co. S6ah) BAe 6S a) bop oe Ooi) i) 339 18 6 From Statement No 3: Hams arucks, horses, &C. .. .. «2 . w«. | 105 0 8 Rails, &c. SEs) UseNi ine) \isemhrcer anni ita C> 6 ER RE cial sce. ociph omy aie neil) ‘sey 35 13 6 : 214 1 8 Estimated to be required : + mile more portable railway .. .. .. .. | 2830 0 O 2 horses Oo Sen eh lst Sod 50" ‘OF 6 FRICKE SEIT5) 8. -s o--) tc. =. | 100) 0 0 380 0 0 Deduct estimated val f pl oe educt estimated value of plant at completion one-fourth only 34 2 a ma 233 10 0 Net cost of plant .. .. .. wees “we 700 LOP <2 i Estimated 144 Drainage of Whittlesea Mere. which to spread the cost of the plant was only taken at 270 ; whereas a far larger extent might have been included, and the expense, so far as the cost of the plant 1 1s concerned proportion- ately reduced. The average distance to which the soil is Reed is about 1: miles. It is hoped that a very small increase of plant, which is about to be made, will, by affording a more economical arrange- ment of the work, admit of nearly an acre more per week being covered.* Many questions, bearing upon the success of this undertaking as a remunerative work, can only receive their full answer in the result of experience. For instance: as every additional half- inch of soil increases materially the cost of the work, it is all Estimated acreage warped .. .. .. « -- 70 Estimated acreage to be warped .. .. .. .. 200 270 Average cost of plant per acre 2/. 11s. 10$d., say .. Sole 68 Horse keep, &c., for 6 opine avis each a. -lalie. 312 0 Guys oo 40 —so 26) 59 fog Hod) Ga 85a 33 EG) Horse-keeper AO SoH! 4c0.) dda woot, Jaga dn. ap 0 8 0 (PS EOOSISO WEA Sing 00! 66 ‘hoo Bo So be 4 516 0 317 4 6-inch warping: Excavating and spreading 807 cubic yards, at 22d, per yard 8 8 2 G@ostiperiacre ‘of 6-inch) Works) se.) ys) vies hs etlee stele ote) n-ne eee ae 4-inch warping: Deduct one-third cost of above excavating and spreading .. 2°16" Costsperacreiofa4-inch-worky i c.0 J. -meesie estes ss) st 0 ed | el On If.an estimate were made now under a comprehensive scheme, designed to embrace the whole Fen, at the reduced rate of cost to which different items have been brought in the course of actual working, its amount would be very moderate indeed as compared with the above statement. As an instance of reduction in prices, it may be stated that the first length of portable railway was purchased at the price of 11s. per yard, whereas the last was furnished by Messrs. Verzette and Sons at 5s. 6d. * The following items of the plant and labour may be useful :— Portable flanged wood-railway per yard, from 4s. to 5s. 8d. Permanent iron-railway per yard, 3s, 9d. Trucks, each, from 5/. 10s. to 6/7. 10s, Horses, each, about 25/. Labour, excavating, filling, spreading, per cubic yard, from 22d. to 3d. Cubic yards to cover 1 acre 6 inches deep = 807, Ditto ditto 4 inches deep = 538. | Drainage of Whittlesea Mere. 145 important to ascertain the exact measure to be applied with a view to a permanent improvement.* In the ordinary gaulting in the Fens—costing, as has been said, from 42. to 5/1. according to the depth of the pits—a top- dressing of not more than 14 inch, or, at most, 24 inches, is laid on. This becomes, in the various stages of cultivation, first in- corporated with, and finally lost, as it were, in the peat soil; so that at the end of seven or eight years the process has to be repeated. . In the case of the operations by rail, it was obviously essential that the work should be a permanent one—done for once and all, and it was decided to try a covering of 6 inches of soil for arable, and 4 inches for pasture-land. At 6 inches deep there may seem some danger of the soil, under an ordinary system of cultivation, being, as in the case of the thin coatings of gault, mixed up with and finally lost in the bog beneath; but it has been thought that, rather than go to the expense of a deeper covering, it was worth while to encounter this remote risk. Care must be urged upon all who may occupy the warped land not to disturb by too deep a cultivation the peaty subsoil beneath. Scarifiers, grubbers, and many implements other than the plough, may beneficially be employed; and even if the plough be em- ployed, and uniformly at the shallow depth which a coating of 6 inches of soil allows, there would, at any rate, be none of the disadvantages of a hard and impervious pan. It is hoped that 4 inches of the alluvial deposit from the bed of the Mere, or of the underlying gault, will be sufficient to secure a good permanent pasture. As, however, supposing the rate at which the works are now proceeding to be maintained, it will be some years before the whole district is reclaimed, there will be an opportunity of noting whether a correct judgment in these matters was originally arrived at, and modifications may very possibly have to be made, as well with respect to the thickness of the coating of soil as to other details, One very important process in the reclamation of the peat-bog must not be forgotten, without which, indeed, experience has shown that half the value of the warping would be lost. The stagnant water must be drawn off, as far as possible, from the * Since the above was written, an analysis made by Professor Voelcker of the blue gault or clay-marl underlying the alluvial bed of the Mere has been made, and gives such highly satisfactory results, that it seems doubtful whether it may not e expedient, for the sake of covering the area of the bog more rapidly, and thereby obtaining a more speedy remuneration, to diminish considerably the depth of the coating, even at the sacrifice of the permanence of the operation. A coating of 4 inches for arable, and of 3 for grass land, will now probably be adopted; and a great authority recommends even a slighter and consequently more rapid covering of the surface than this, as a matter not only of present but ultimate economy.— W. WELts. / VOL. XXI. L 146 Drainage of Whittlesea Mere. peat before the soil is laid on it. To this end, drains must be cut at intervals of 2 chains, at as great a depth as the water in the ditches which surround each division, or rather each future field, will permit,—being, onan average, about 3} feet. The drains are easily formed, in a manner well known in many districts, by leaving, at the depth of one draw of the spade from the bottom, a shoulder or ledge, upon which the excavated turf is laid, thus covering and leaving below it a channel for the water of the bog to percolate into and discharge by. Nothing can be more satis- factory than the effect that this rude subsoil-draining produces upon the character of the bog, without which precaution any attempt to warp upon the bog saturated with peat-water would be attended with comparatively little success. It may not be out of place here to suggest that there may be many large districts circumstanced more or less like the one we have been describing, where a similar method of fertilization, perhaps on a larger, and if so, on a proportionately less costly scale, might be adopted. Some of the richest soil in Ireland is in immediate juxtaposition with large tracts of bog, and although without examining the case of such districts carefully—taking into account the value of the peat for fuel and weighing many other circumstances—it would be impossible to form an opinion as to the practicability of applying such a scheme to them, yet there does certainly seem to be a sufficient similarity between the two cases to justify the suggestion that an “ Irish-Bog-Reclama- tion Company ” be forthwith formed. It must be here remarked, that, in the more recent operations, the assistance of a company of a less speculative character than the one suggested above has been called in ;—one, in short, of those associations, which, as companies sanctioned by Parliament, afford, on no unreasonable terms, facilities both pecuniary and engineering, without which, in many instances, improvements, even the most obvious and desirable, could not be carried out. It has been with the able assistance and under the careful super- vision of Mr. Thompson, the engineer to the ‘‘ West of England Drainage and Inclosure Company,” that the warping, turf- draining, and a large extent of road-making have been carried on ; and although of course the profit to the company increases to a certain extent the cost of the work, yet a large set-off may be reckoned in the advantage derived from their organised system of supervision, account-keeping, and, above all, their power of supplying experienced and trustworthy foremen. ‘The terms on which the company are carrying out the work may be calculated as an addition of between one-eighth and one-ninth of the cost ; but in justice to them it must be remembered that if the work had been carried out on the larger scale, which they were much Drainage of Whittlesea Mere. 147 in favour of, the proportion of their charges to the entire cost would have been less. Having briefly traced the fortunes of Whittlesea Mere, from the time when the possibility of draining it seems first to have assumed the shape of any definite scheme up to the present time, when a complete realization of the most sanguine views entertained on the subject has been effected, it may be interesting, before ending this paper, to observe what has been the result of the change as regards the productive power of the reclaimed district. Although 5000 acres feel the influence exercised by the Appold pump, yet inasmuch as about 2000 acres were in a state of cultivation long before, and now only benefit incidentally by being taken into a well-regulated and efficient system of drainage, it will be proper, for the purpose of the comparison proposed, to confine ourselves to the 8000 acres, covered hereto- fore with water, reed-shoals, or sedge. Although the fish from the Mere, the reed from the shoals, and the sedge from the bog, were doubtless, in their day, of some value, and employed, more especially in the case of the reeds, no inconsiderable amount of labour in their collection, it would be difficult now to give an accurate estimate of their worth ; and probably the mention of these as the sole products of the Mere and its environs will enable the reader to appreciate. sufficiently the contrasted produce of the district. Of the 3000 acres about one-half consists of the bed of the Mere and old reed-shoals. These have now for some years yielded abundant crops, under a regular system of cultivation. Of the remaining 1500 acres of peat-soil, a small portion has been, already covered with soil from the Mere, and the remainder has, by breast-ploughing and levelling, been brought into a state par- tially productive, for it will, as mentioned already, yield indif- ferent crops of coleseed and oats, and at any rate 1s now in a condition to receive the warp as fast as it can be laid on. The estimation of the produce of the first 1500 acres is comparatively easy and to be depended on, but that of the remaining 1500 must be somewhat vague, for the true value of the warped land is not yet established, and a much larger proportion will be in grass. The following calculations will however be considered, it is hoped, to give a. fair approximate representation of what the produce of the district is worth, both in money-value and in the food it will yield’for man and beast :— £. 600 acres of wheat at 4 qrs. per acre = 2400 qrs. at 40s. .. .. 4,800 500 acres of oats at 6 qrs. per acre = 3000 qrs. at 20s. ete! Wee BOOO 150 acres of seeds 150 acres of coleseed 100 acres of mangold 150 beasts at 37. increase of value ina year 450 £00 sheep at Ui ditto. 0 | ows sens ae 400 8,650 ib, YA 148 Drainage of Whittlesea Mere. 200 acres of wheat at 34 qrs. per acre = 700 qrs. at 40s. .. .. 1,400 200 acres of oats at 5 qrs. per acre =1000 at 20s... 1,000 1000 acres of grass } 100 beasts at 3/7. increase of value ina aye: ear 3800 100 acres of green crops } 1000 sheep at 1/. ditto .. .. .. «. 1,000 3,700 8,650 Total value of the produce of 8000 acres .. .. «. 12,850 The amount of food for man and horses may be calculated as follows :— * Wheat, 3100 qrs. =1 Ib. flour at 1 Ib. per day per year for 3329 persons. Oats, 4000 qrs. =2 bush. per week per year for 307 horses. Bran, 155 tons. 2 Beasts, 250 tons at 20 stone = 3 lb. per day per year for 382 persons. * Sheep, 1400 tons at 5 stone = 3 lb. per day per year for 306 persons. This comparison between the producing power of the district in its former and in its present state shows results which may well encourage enterprises of a similar character. It is true that the balance-sheet between the let-able value of the land and the cost of the operations is disagreeably affected by the tax im- posed under the Middle-Level Act, for works, without the exe- cution of which the Mere and its neighbourhood could equally have been drained. This tax averages 12s. 3d. an acre,{ and its non-imposition would have left a corresponding amount on the profit side of the Whittlesea Mere works proper. But the accomplishment of a success, on however small a scale, must be reckoned as a profit; and the satisfaction of con- templating the changed aspect of the district, as well as the improved condition of the neighbouring poor, both in respect of constant well-paid employment and better health, is alone a never-failing and substantial interest for the capital expended. Red Leaf, Penshurst. Composition of Clay, No. 1. underlying the Upper Stratum of Peat, taken From the bed of Whittlesea Mere (sent by Mr. WEL1s). Dried at 212° F. Organic matter and water of combination .. 672: Oxides ofiron andalumina .. .. .. .. 9°61 Phosphoric acid AL ae WCE Mic ace Mes “42 HUlphatevonimewaw Met ct vei lac) tee LOA: Carbonatevoflimesiiina Tee ote tee 1858 Magnesia .. sce Ay aerd ae aoe Ie ASSL 1 otash and soda ets mre eRe Paes FOR bo Insoluble siliceous matter. Cate Ris Ae es) (OOLOS 100° 00 * Taking wheat at 63 lbs. per bush. = 36 stone per quarter = 592 lbs. flour; a beast to weigh 60 stone of 8 lbs. at 3 yrs. old, and to produce 20 Ibs. ina year ; and a sheep to weigh 10 stone of 14 lbs. at 2 yrs. old, and to produce 5 stone in a year. + 13s. 9d. per acre on 1000 acres 8s, 9d, per acre on 500 acres }Mtere average 12s. 3d. 6s. per acre on bog Jand. Drainage of Whittlesea Mere. 149 Composition of Clay, No. 2, underlying the Second Stratum of Brown Peat in the bed of Whittlesea Mere (sent by Mr. WELLS). Moisture .. ' deci Fi 2°52 Organic matter and water of combination .. 4:70 Oxides ofiron andalumina .. .. .. «.. 10°68 IPaYoSyNaG hier Evo tsln BR oan ere Migen! ce 16 Sulphate of lime aaa ECAC soko 25 @anbonateroimlimers ~.8).. Liss fas) eodl ee) , LL CWanbonate ofmacnesia “S90. 2 we.) Potash and soda SS Tite + bed Uaeee foes Hie, WROZ Insoluble siliceous matter ci crewe <> GOI LL Composition of White Light Substance (peaty marl), the Upper Stratum of the bed of Whittlesea Mere (sent by Mr. WELLS). UGE STIR OR aaa na (6S ee Secelaee Bear 9°31 Organic matter (peat) 1... . we we BE Oxides ofironandalumina .. .. .. .. 1-01 IBHOSPNOMG MCI ayer cee el Ney iow vibes’ ae 03 @anhonateronillmey Hea dec mee raw ode bee G4: 77 WMEXINIIE) QeWdiee coe ete nh om at 30 pulphateoflime .. 0 6. 2. cas.) L638 Oikomintiyematter i Ve. do. 2°28 NViocdyetbrem Wy. cect Age cs) | 25584 DearehsmmM Gy, fv digas: Se . 8168 AVERT CHUM yeas cil Vices © % whet Un ieteve wie 9°45 100°00 VOL, XXI. M 162 The Proper Office of Straw on a Farm. Rye-straw. By Bousstneavurr. Nitrogenized BS) bac 1°52 Non-nitrogenized, soluble 37°10 Ditto insoluble 89°75 Mineral Prete a 2°93 Water or 18°70 100:00 Clover-hay. INDtrOPeNOUSH” aes oy Jaqeliom | deel Peete kOe Non=nitrocenous | cp se) ol) Wien eOZsO Mineral -.su Yoraie iketes Uli eal tern SFR Bommie Ln Cee Water wail fect | aot Toten! | seiool lacie coun CAO 100700 _ White Turnips, Swedes, Mangolds (by Vorucxer), and Carrots. White Turnips. Swedes, Carrots. Mangolds. Nitropenous se -wiy--ny ese ele 1°448 148 1°81 Non-nitrogenous .. .. 7799 8474 11°61 IAS, PAN BS cat eo oe 628 "623 ‘81 96 Waters i 50 en) en peooede 89°460 86°10 86-04 ———s —E 100°000 100:000 100°00 100-00 Gosfield, Halsted. From the conflicting opinions of scientific men, based on chemical analysis, as to both the feeding and manuring value of straw, and the almost contradictory statements of other writers on this subject,—the large promises of direct profit held out by some from the combination of straw-chaff with richer food in cattle feeding, contrasted with the assertions of others that how- ever high may be the true theoretic value of straw for feeding, still it will not answer to buy rich food for the purpose of mixing with straw-chaff,—we turn with satisfaction to the practical good sense of the author of the present Essay. The highest service which can be at present rendered to agri- culture is, perhaps, that of the practical man who, informing his mind, and shaping his observations by the light of scientific speculation, will address himself methodically to put things to the proof under his own eye; testing, measuring, and weighing, not estimating results, yet making due allowance for the influence which disturbing causes exercise on the average result as com- pared with the maximum effect which can be produced at some short and picked moment of time. In this sense our author seems to be truly practical, and if he leans a little to the old-fashioned side, that is the safe side for him who is not unwilling to test and try well recommended The Proper Office of Straw on a Farm. 163 novelties. If his estimates differ from those of other recent writers, they may perhaps be found to square with a sober view of average results, when others are rashly generalizing from exceptional cases. These pages are fully as valuable for the suggestions they offer as for the conclusions at which they arrive. Our author, indeed, gives us full means of estimating the amount of manure which may be made under a given course of feeding in boxes or in covered yards, in which respect his calcu- lations may be of great service in aiding us to arrive at a standard for the composition and value of farm-yard manure,—a standard with which all other qualities of such manure must ultimately be compared and measured. But boxes and covered yards are hitherto the exception and not the rule. When, how- ever, he comes to the point which most materially affects the majority of farmers, how far this problem is modified when the cattle are fed in open yards, or even when the litter is thrown out from stalls into such yards, our author does not venture to clench his statement; he has, however, at my suggestion, appended a note to his original Essay, in which he calculates approximately that the rainfall would add 464 tons of water to the 525 tons of manure on which it is supposed to fall. This estimate is, however, subject to deductions; 1st, for over- flow from the yards, and, 2ndly, from the effects of evaporation. It must, however, be borne in mind that the assumed dimensions of the yards are very small, such as are not often found except in connexion with modern buildings, where waste from overflow is carefully guarded against. If the buildings were old-fashioned, the area of the yards would probably be much larger, and the drippings from the roof would add considerably to the direct rainfall ; these two sources of an increased supply of water would probably compensate for the overflow. Very little is known as to the amount of evaporation arising from a bed of straw, the top of which is comparatively dry; but, as the surface exposed is but small, and the situation sheltered, the loss of moisture from this cause is probably not great, especially during the winter months. Taking Mr, Evershed’s calculation as it stands, without abatement, 200 tons of litter would, in open yards, furnish 989, or, in round numbers, 1000 tons of manure. Con- sidering, therefore, that he calculates the amount of rainfall for yards only of such moderate area as seem best adapted to: improved modern practice, it may be reckoned that, in the larger old-fashioned yards, the weight of manure to be carted is doubled by the rainfall.* This conclusion will be confirmed by * The result will be the same if we allow for the employment of a smaller number of yards, and, consequently, fewer head of stock kept for a longer period. M 164 The Proper Office of Straw on a Farm. regarding the subject from another point of view; that of the quantity “of manure commonly reckoned on as ready for use on a farm of a given size. If reference be made either to the requirements a old-fashioned covenants when they prescribed the quantities of dung to be applied in the course of the rotation, or the estimates of practical men when they theorized on the quantity of manure proper to be applied to each crop, it will appear that, a liberal allowance being made for the bulk of straw grown per acre, that amount ieee be increased four-fold at least to supply the amount of dung required. But not to refer to byegone estimates, I will only note that Mr. Morton, in his recent article, vol. xix. of Journal, p. 464, speaking of the horse labour performed on Whitfield farm, speaks of 1200 tons of dung being carted where only 120 acres of corn are grown. This would give 10 tons of dung as the produce of one acre of straw; or, supposing the litter, as assumed above, to contribute one-fifth of the bulk, and no straw at all to be con- sumed otherwise than as litter, we should require for this result an average yield of 2 tons of straw to the acre on autumn and spring corn alike,—assuredly a very high average. I think, therefore, that I may safely infer that in open yards the rainfall nearly doubles the bulk of the manure: the excrements, liquid and solid, representing 6 cwt. in round numbers, the litter a at s bs the rainfall * hOme* 4 . in the composition of 1 ton of manure. It is noteworthy that by using covered yards we do not so much diminish the quantity of manure which a farm can pro- duce as alter the proportions of its constituent elements: in this latter case the litter furnishes less than one-fourth of the bulk, so that 200 tons of litter would provide for 850 tons of manure ; whilst on the other hand the amount of the excrements, liquid and solid, would be doubled to attain this result, and the rain- water removed. It may be interesting to consider what the size of a farm must commonly be which can furnish 200 tons of straw for litter, after other demands have been satisfied. The following calculations are made mainly for a light land farm, under the four-course system, as it is chiefly on such soils that a great breadth of straw is grown; and certainly for such the one of straw, whether as fodder or litter, has a special importance. On these soils 200 Four yards filled the whole year round would, of course, give the same result as eight used only during six months. Practically, some modification will be made for the sake of economising buildings, if not labour; but, theoretically, it is easiest to carry out these calculations on the author’s original hypothesis. The Proper Office of Straw on a Farm. 165 acres of corn would probably be required to furnish 200 tons of straw for litter; nor, if we attempt to strike an average for the whole kingdom, will these proportions be much changed. For first, as to wheat-straw, Stephens, vol. i. 1991, cites 1 ton 7 ewt. as Arthur Young’s estimate, no account being taken of the weaker soils. He then quotes Scotch authorities, giving 1 ton 5 ewt. and 1 ton 76 Ibs. per imperial acre as the results of their experience ; and concludes by expressing his own opinion that 1 ton per imperial acre is too high an average for Scotland. Mr. Morton, in one of his latest papers on the forces used in agriculture, has estimated an acre of a good wheat-crop, tied in sheaves, at 5000 lbs., which seems to be a well-considered and just estimate. Now if of this there be of grain 8 sacks, weighing 18 st. each, the corn alone would weigh 18 ewts. or 2000 Ibs. nearly, leaving 3000 lbs. as the weight of the straw, or nearly 1 ton 7 ewt.; a result coinciding exactly with that of Arthur Young.* With respect to barley and oat-straw, Stephens’s estimates lace them at about two-thirds and three-fourths, respectively, of the bulk of wheat-straw grown per acre, or 18 cwt. and 204 ewt. respectively. We may, therefore, safely assume on the average, that one acre of wheat and one acre of spring-corn together will not yield more than 2 tons 10 cwt. of straw, or 250 tons from 200 acres of corn. I come now to the consideration of the other sources of demand upon the straw-stack besides that of litter. First we have cart-horses, consuming cut chaff:—our author speaks of 10 such horses; this would not be an adequate number for the extent of arable land we are contemplating : 13 would probably be required on an easy-working light soil—but if beasts on the average consume as much straw in the shape of fodder as horses, the result will be the same for 10 horses and 40 beasts as it would be for 13 horses and 37 beasts. I find upon inquiry that in my cart-stables there was con- sumed, besides corn and a moderate allowance of hay, by the young horses 10 Ibs. per day, and by some older mares 15 lbs., of cut wheat-straw and barley-chaff. In winter the allowance of hay would be occasionally dimin- ished, and considerably more straw eaten in consequence ; on * It is not clearly stated whether reaped or mown sheaves are intended, but this, though important in itself, does not so immediately affect the object now in view as might at first sight appear, because if the farm has not an ample supply of “‘haulm” for storing roots and other purposes, a greater deduction will have to be made from the total supply of straw to meet these demands, 166 The Proper Office of Straw on a Farm. the other hand, the short stuff from the barley-thrashing contri- butes considerably to the subsistence of the horses, and spares cut chaff, whether it may have been taken into account in the bulk of the barley crop, or not. Now if 10 horses consumed 10 Ibs. a-piece of chaff daily during say 8 months of 30 days (240 days), they would consume 10 tons 14 ewt. in all. I calculate therefore that they consume at least 1 ton of straw a-piece in the course of the year as cut chaff. Next, in the case of cow-stock, when these are economically fed, in those parts of England where the proportion of arable land is large, not less than 1 ton per head of straw should be assigned to them as food; for a cow having little else to live upon will consume nearly 40 lbs. a-day of straw. Growing steers or heifers, moderately supplied with corn or cake (say 3 or 4 lbs.) and roots, without hay, would probably consume half this quan- tity of straw. Our author speaks of 14 and 18 lbs. of half hay half straw chaff as consumed by fatting oxen under cover, or in open yards. Mr. Horsfall’s cows appear to be supplied with about 10 lbs. of wheat or oat straw per day, besides bean-straw and from 10 Ibs. to 12 lbs. of hay. From these and like premises I conclude that cattle will, on the average, eat with advantage 10 lbs. per day of straw-chaff for say 8 months, or 240 days; or 1 ton 1, cwt. in the year. The question further arises, how much straw will be profitably consumed by sheep where a feeding flock is kept on 400 acres of arable ? I do not, on a hasty reference to Mr. Bond’s excellent paper on Stock Farming (read before the Central Farmer’s Club in 1858), find any distinct answer to this question ; but the perusal of this paper led me to note, in my own book, the dietary of my flock of 13 score of ewes and lambs at the end of March, 1859. The ewes were then eating 5 fans of chaff with 1 sack of malt- combs; the lambs went forward, and had 4 stone of meal a-day besides. The fan represented approximately 6 bushels of 6 lbs. each, or 36 lbs. ; so that the ewes ate 180 Ibs. a day, or nearly $ lb. a-piece. Such an allowance, continued over 100 days, would require, as nearly as may be, 8 tons of straw. Besides the ewes I had about 120 ewe hoggets, which probably ate nearly 4 lb. of cut chaff, when the old ewe ate 2 lb. per day: 100 such hog- gets would, at that rate, eat 5000 lbs. in 100 days, or upwards of 2 tons. 80 fatting wethers also consumed a considerable amount of cut straw-chaff with their cake; but as the amount of straw-chaff eaten by sheep varies very much with the weather and the temperature, I shall content myself by asserting that 8 The Proper Office of Straw on a Farm. 167 tons of straw may be economically used during the winter, for sheep feeding, on a farm of 400 acres of arable land, where a breeding flock is kept. Thus we shall require for the fodder of 50 head of large stock, whether horses or beasts, at least . . . . . 90 tons. For sheep . ag ie : ave. ony For storing roots, when na esdl is reaped, waste from thatching, making foundation of stacks, &c., say 5 ,, Potal: ous. . 63 tons of straw; or fully the excess over 200 tons which 200 acres of average corn can be expected to produce. This note, like the statements which prompted it, is intended to be suggestive rather than conclusive ; for throughout we are only opening, not deciding, the important question of the proper use of straw on a farm—a fitting subject for deliberate discussion in some future numbers of the Journal. The article before us does not profess to dispose of the scientific question of the value of straw for fodder by calculations based on chemical analysis; neither can it appeal to well- conducted experiments, instituted for the purpose of determin- ing the relative values of (say) hay and straw, whether bean or white straw, incombination with cake and roots. These remain among the desiderata of agriculture. The scientific debate seems to lie chiefly within the following limits :— No very broad or permanent distinction appears to exist be- tween wheat, barley, and oat straw ; that variety which is most congenial to the climate and soil of each district seems to be most palatable and most nutritious for the use of stock in that district. The amount of water in well-harvested straw seems to vary from 10 to about 14 per cent. ;* the mineral ash from about 5 to 7 per cent. The two together may be taken to con- tain nearly 20 per cent., or one-fifth of the whole substance. Of the remainder some state less than 2 per cent., others more than 3 per cent., to consist of albumen, or, as others write, albuminous matter. Two and a half per cent. may be taken as a mean estimate.t There is besides a small quantity of oil, variously stated at from } to ? of a lb. per cent. Some readers will recollect that recently Professor Nesbitt stated at the Farmer’s Club, that 2 per cent., or even 1 per cent., * Tfan exceptional analysis gives from 25 to 30 per cent. of water, this may perhaps be accounted for by early cutting or want of the usual stacking. + Stephens, when estimating the straw crop of an imperial acre of wheat at 3000 Ibs., speaks of 40 Ibs. (1°35) per cent. of gluten, a low estimate ; whilst he assigns to “oil or fat” 100 lbs. (or 25 per cent.), a high estimate. 168 The Proper Office of Straw on a Farm. was the utmost extent of oil that could be found in wheat-straw ; the above differences, therefore, lie within narrow limits. But we have a residue of nearly 80 per cent. of carbonaceous matter, and it is about the feeding value of this matter that the conflict of opinion really takes place. On the one side it is urged that the chief part of this matter is woody fibre, of little value, only one-tenth thereof being soluble in water, or capable of being digested; on the other side, that about half of these substances exist in the form of starch, sugar, and gum, capable of digestion and assimilation, and of rene inte use for the supply of ie organs of respiration as far as is required, besides being further av vailable for the formation of fat. 4 It would be a task of considerable difficulty even to state the theories, according to which starch may be converted into sugar, or either of these into fat, within the animal economy. Certain chemical agents are more efficacious than simple water in rendering these carbonaceous substances soluble ; and there may be juices in the animal economy, whether acid or alkaline, that produce results analogous to these within the stomach of the animal; moreover, some chemical processes, such as that of fcaneneinen if not carried too far, may assist and prepare the way for the digestive process within. It may be that the admixture of some other kinds of food with straw may conduce to the development of these gastric juices, and to some extent exercise a condimental influence on the digestive process, Practical men long ago liked to have the straw chaff for the cart horses stored some time before use, so that it underwent a gentle heating. This process is now often carried further, whether by the ‘bruising of the clover or grass and weeds which grow together with the barley in the thrashing, or by the admixture of water or small quantities of green clover or roots with the chaff when cut. But however capable of digestion part of the tissues of the straw may be in themselves; however we may be learning to assist nature, by, in some rude manner, cooking this food ; however even the admixture of other kinds of food with straw may aid the process of digestion as well as of nutrition, yet truly scientific men must hesitate before they admit that by some unseen unexplained process the obedient particles of oxygen, hydrogen, &c., actually do fly hither and thither, and re-arrange themselves just as we should wish them to do, for the formation of fat and oil; whilst practical men, however decidedly they may affirm that cut straw mixed with other food 7s ser- viceable already, however hopeful they may be that further The Proper Office of Straw on a Farm. 169 knowledge and experience will render it more serviceable, can hardly, from the results of their experience, support those estimates of the value of common straw, which are based on the above-named theories of nutrition: we cannot speak of oil and fat, starch and sugar, as certainly convertible substances, —if not convertible terms. Thus far we have been speaking of the worth of wheat, bar- ley, and oat straw, but there is perhaps a more important be- cause a more valuable kind of straw, that of beans and peas, still to be noticed,—the former kind being specially worthy of at- tention from the greater breadth that is grown. It may be worth while to compare Professor Way’s analysis of bean-straw, as given by Mr. Horsfall in his Essay, with two analyses of hay derived from the same source, Bean-straw, Hay, 1st Crop. Hay, 2nd Crop. MONE teen aioe acse i-wsit wit. LAT 12°02 ala ey Albuminous matters .. .. 16°38 9°24 9°84 Oil and fatty matters .. .. 2°28 2°68 6°84 Starchandeum .. .. .. 81°63 39°75 42°25 Woody fibre)... 4. 1... 25784 27°41 19°77 Mineral matter athe Govier 9°45 8-90 9°43 100-00 100-00 100°00 In these analyses several points are worthy of notice. First, the general similarity of the constituents of the bean-straw and the first crop of hay, with the important exception that the former is stated to contain 16 per cent. of albuminous matter, against only 9 in the latter; in either case a quantity widely differing from the 2 or 3 per cent. assigned to such substances in the analyses of wheat, barley, or oat straw. Again, the difference between the first and second crop of hay should be observed, because it probably arose from the latter being cut before it arrived at full maturity ; and similar yariations would probably be found in the straw of cereals if cut at different stages of their growth. The increase of oil and fatty matter, starch, and gum, accompanied by a proportionate decrease of woody fibre, is very instructive, and would suggest as early cutting of all plants, for the sake of the fodder, as is compatible with the maturity of the grain, But if, according to analysis, bean-straw would appear to ap- proximate to the value of hay, if not to surpass it, how comes it that its merits have not been more generally recognised and appreciated ? The best answer will perhaps be found by pointing to the somewhat similar fate of rape-cake. Until Mr. Pusey, prompted probably by the teaching of chemical analysis, advocated the use of rape-cake as food, it was called oil-dust, and used almost exclusively as manure, 170 The Proper Office of Straw on a Farm. Mr. Pusey called attention to the fact that, examined under the recognised heads of chemical analysis, it was equal to linseed, then the only oil-cake in use for feeding, in its constituents. The practical man has never been able to extract as much virtue out of it as out of linseed-cake (unless it be for dairy pur- poses), and that perhaps chiefly in consequence of its heating qualities and pungent taste, properties of which the analysis took no account. And yet its merits for food are so far recognised, that some farmers, myself among the number, think it almost a sinful waste to drill in nice fresh rape-cake as manure. In like manner, toughness of structure and unpleasantness of flavour may have stood in the way of the use of bean-straw ; yet the first objection may be overcome, and the second perhaps even converted into an auxiliary, in like manner asso many acids and bitters have been converted into stimulants. On some few clay farms, where roots are scarce and a breed- ing flock is kept, the value of bean straw has been partially recognised as winter stover for the ewes, which, however, only pick over the dried leaves and smaller stalks at the barn-door ; but in this manner, as also when it is furnished to cart horses for winter stover, but little of the crop is consumed as food, the great bulk being converted at once into manure. No observations on this subject, however incomplete, especi- ally if they would guard against exaggerated estimates as to the convertibility of straw into flesh and fat, can pass without notice the feeding experiments of Mr. Horsfall. That gentleman has undoubtedly had great success with his stall-feeding, on a system in which straw plays a very important part; and undoubtedly he has rendered great service to agricul- ture, by the public-spirited manner in which he has been at the pains to communicate the results of his valuable experience to the world at large. His practice combines two or three distinguishable and pecu- liar features :— Ist. His food is chiefly steamed; and much may depend on the sound discretion exercised, as to the amount both of moisture and of heat to be left in the mixture at feeding time. When I have known the steaming process to be imperfectly tried, the animals became restless, and the food passed too quickly through them, probably from want of due precaution in these respects. Again, the materials used by him under the denomination of straw are various, and generally blended together; so that it remains uncertain to which, or to the combination of which, the chief merit of the result is due. * He uses wheat-straw; and, again, the husks of the oat (not The Proper Office of Straw on a Farm. 171 oat-flight, but the husk or refuse of fine oatmeal) ; and, thirdly, bean-straw. ; Speaking from conjecture, I should assign the lowest place to the first-named and the highest to the last-named ingredient, with an inclination, perhaps, to attribute the most benefit to that element which has been tested and tried the least, in accounting for an unusually successful result. There is much that calls for further investigation in these ex~- periments ; but we may congratulate Mr. Horsfall on his success, and try to emulate it, with the assurance that the comparison of attempts, whether successful or the reverse, will ultimately dis- close the point on which success hinges, if, as we can hardly doubt, that result be attainable. The importance of the subject of the economical production of beef cannot be doubted at the present moment, when the system of fattening stock at a loss, with a view to being remune- rated by an increased produce of grain, seems to be drawing to an end, whilst the demand for meat is on the increase. The more a man feels assured that statements of direct profit by stall-feeding bullocks will not bear inspection, or, at the best, only apply to exceptional cases, the more anxious he must be that more economical methods of producing beef should be recognised, than those which have hitherto prevailed. If we would see how, in theory, a high value may be assigned to straw, we need only take the hypothesis that it contains 30 or, as a maximum, 40 per cent. of gum, starch, sugar, &c., and that these substances are worth 1d. per lb. One ton of straw would then contain ;*°, of 2240 lbs. of starch, &e., which at ld. per lb. would give us the following value : 3395 x 2240d. = 3 x 224d. =*A2* = 56s. per ton; or, in the case of 40 per cent. of gum, starch, &c., 749; x 2240d.=4 x 224d, = " F eee ee at = a a : ? ee = : : 5 * — gUIY'T "Sq OSLE IJIN arnUR]Y presurey SUOZ SL I “(GEST Ul JOT Yove Jo J[eH wo any, *d ‘sy[es-vimowULy ) UOIPIPpY UL satnULY [LAGULPAL YPLAX 0 Quope Joy}le Seu pur atnuLypy pavfunre gy UW M—Z opertars) Baer, ol dite Soy elroy, | & oe aes A 6 eee. ae es " ie oe +, amry Jo ayeydsoydiadus ,, pue ,SaleyxTY Pex ,, 9 ans. St DP Ce aa pe eames 2 | E + + © CeIsausEyy Jo y|TIng ‘sq{ O01 PUT “epos Jo FRUAINS “GL OOL “UseIOd JO ayEA[NS “SqQ[ OO) SOMBATY POX, ¢ Soeeregt. 0) -|eGl"07 (Ol Ps ahs :. ™ 3 . P 2 Y 2 . a a : : (, BULL] JO ayuqdsoydiodng ,, pur ‘Ysezog JO axed [NS “SqT OOF ¥ Sime Gel yee OMe fe . . : . ewe . ae Ge: . . . . ‘ ec . . : ysuiog Jo ayeydyns ‘sq 00g ¢ ie BS CEO sie oe F ie : oo ste z 5 ep (2.1 43 “ds “ploy od {Ng ‘sqy Fall PUB YSE-aUOKT SQL OSI) BUILT JO O7BUL soydredns é wae 8 0 Sus ee Scie aie = Wis Sig ay a eke . . . . . : «cee . . . . ‘ os” paanuemu l *Sq[ ‘SLD S}A9 ‘SUOJ | “ST “SID *S}ALD “SLOT | "(GEST Ur su otuvs dY}) UOTe saInuL]Y [LAOUIJY YPIAL 10 ‘painuraluy)—*] Saluag “Avyy se ; "nO | payepnojee WusIe ay | se “YsoTy WBA | = = si “ERT JO TAOTO ay Lo} “ara Od ‘SINTON VN Sei “1es1 ‘f pue T Jaqumiaydas yng ‘ay red “TONdOUud "TEST ‘Nosvag aNooag doadoug Jo LNAOWY oy} pue ‘CAAO'IAN YY SHUANVIY JO LNAOWY pUL NoIdMsa( of} SuULMOYS—"] IJ] Alay], ‘SAUANVIT LNAUATAICE Aq UAAOTY GAY, JO HLAOUL) CY} WO SLNAWTUTAXGT ‘au YW Udd ‘GANIVIAO 186 Report of Experiments on the ably well, and was very regular throughout the plots. It was therefore left without further treatment during the winter of 1851-2. Those who have paid attention to the spread of disease in clover, on land which is said to be ‘“ clover-sick,” will have observed that, however luxuriant the plant may be in the autumn and winter, it will show signs of failure in March or April, the spread and final limit of the disease being, however, subject to great variation, In the month of March, 1851, symptoms of failure became apparent on many of the experimental plots. It was quite plain however that the spread of the disease was much more extensive and rapid on some of them than on others. And, since such a great variety of manures had been employed, it was thought very desirable to determine the effect of the different conditions of growth so provided, in aggravating, or lessening, the progress of the failure. Accordingly, on April 15, when the disease had extended pretty nearly to its limits, and the surviving plants were showing vigorous growth, a plan of the plots, with the patches where the plant had died off, carefully laid down by measurement, was made, of which the annexed Diagram is a copy. | The black lines show the division of the plots at the time the plan was taken. The dotted line, along the centre of the plots marked Series 2, shows the division between the portion which was manured with ammonia-salts in 1849, and that which was not so manured ; and, as already described, the plots of ‘‘ Series 2,” of 1851 and afterwards, to which farmyard-manure and lime were then applied, comprised a portion of land on each side of the line indicated on the plan by this dotted line; that is to say, a portion which had, and a portion which had not, been manured with ammonia-salts in 1849. The shaded portions show the patches where the clover-plant had died off. On the first glance at the Diagram, it is seen that the plots which had not been manured with either farmyard-manure, am- monia-salts, or rape-cake (Series 1), were by far the freest from disease. The next in order in this respect was that half of Series 2 indicated below the dotted line; that is to say, the por- tion of the dung and lime plots which had not been manured with ammonia-salts in 1849. The other half of the plots of Series 2, namely, the portions which had received ammonia-salts in 1849—the plots of Series 8, which had also received ammonia-salts in 1849—and those of Series 4, which had been manured with rape-cake in that year, all show a very great failure of the plant. It is, however, equally clear, that the Plots 4, 5, and 6 of these Series (with the exception of Plot 6, Series 4) were much less affected than Plots 1, 2, and 3 of the same Series; that is to say, PLAN OF EXPERIMENTAL CLOVER PLOVS.. APRIL 1852. The aded- Peortons represent: the places whee the Flanti had | died off PLOT 3 PLOT 4. en — + \ SERIES 4 . » SERIES 3. - SERIES 2. / SERIES |. qT Sam ik e » ’ , @ ’ Noet Lone Phe PT me heliex 1861. SERIES 4 — é i s ew v i ie ‘aime . ei ere a = Ss 2* yoaN 2 A) e. Cnmanuret Wel ea 7 SERIES’ 3.4 pie naes Lah, E \ House a) Aiate e Phosphate _ 1851 oe Meet Mhulies 1954 el A and Phasphate 1851. raphiate 1348 Amménan Sand Potass q 71549 © rronaaar, Potass, ugg Paphate. 1863 Arnananen aye xfraced: Mates 180 ronta Marci Aihalies an? Pyphate 18nd Fr : a) Besa ad a | 6 < \ P a x! Ld | ® e 8 | Dung and time, and Sosphate Wet Dung and lime, Pung and Lane Potass, and Phosphate 1861 - yy und Line and « halves W514 — Dung and bane Moved Mthaties and Vhasphate 1861 | Annona and phy) Munna a Anamenia, Potass, and Ploghate 189 Anamona and Maret Whales 1849 mena Mael AMbhalies ante Phosphate 1800 SERIES 2.4 |- (Aes a alla eae my i - se aicaeaeanaaiaeiaiiaiie-aaiaeenanes: | sama -- : —- % 2 Dung wand Lime i851 Dung and Lume and Phosphate tit % Dungy and bane, and AEE 5) Com see Dig and. Lime Fotass, and Phosphate 1851 Pung and Lane, ands Maced Mhalies ISP | Dany and bane, Mie AMhatres, anid. Phosphate 1851 Cnmanured 1849 Phosphate 180) Potass 1349 Potass and Phosphate 149 - Mina. Uhatis 1849 Mined Mules, and. Phosphate 1809 in @ zs Sate ~— = |) a | a y oe — } ® s 6 . . . < e SERIES |. Cunaniurd Yuosphate IS86t 189 Fs 3 Petasy 1861 1Sn9 a Potass, and Phovphate 135 & Id. «Mined Mhates W851 be % 1849 Q a’ Whales eet Paras MST & ad A s) ~ ©. 4 7 > - E : ‘ ® . ; a —— SSS = ais = — ———— = a = ———— ae Sar PLOT | PLOT 2 PLOT 3. PLOT 4. PLOT 5. PLOT 6. Growth of Red Clover by different Manures. 187 although the ammonia-salts and the rape-cake seemed to have provided conditions in the soil very injurious to the healthy development of the Clover, the sulphate of potash, and super- phosphate of lime (Plots 4), and the sulphates of potash, soda, and magnesia, both with and without superphosphate of lime (Plots 5 and 6), obviously greatly mitigated the injury, whilst they seem almost to have prevented it, up to the date now in question, where they were used without either ammonia-salts or rape-cake. In some cases, as will be readily seen from the number and the size of the patches, the produce was considerably reduced by the disease, But there was still, upon the whole, a good plant remaining, and such variety of result in regard to the disease, according to the manure employed, that it was thought quite worth while to continue the experiment. Acordingly, the crop was cut on June 24, fresh manures were applied on June 26, and a second crop was cut August 29. In Table IV. are given the amounts of produce obtained at the first cutting, the descrip- tion and amount of the manures applied, and the amount of produce at the second cutting. The produce of the first cutting of the clover, in 1852, is given in the first two columns of the Table (1V.). . It will be seen that it is in no case equal in amount to 2 tons of hay peracre. On comparing the amount of crop on the plots of one Series with that on those of another, it is seen that it is generally the highest where only the mineral manures were used, that is, in Series 1. It is the next best in Series 2, where, in addition to mineral manures, dung and lime had been used in 1851. It is less in Series 3, where, with the same mineral manures in 1851, as in Series 1 and 2, ammonia-salts, with or without mineral manures, had been employed in 1849; and it is the worst in Series 4, where rape-cake had been supplied in 1849, and soot, lime, &c., in 1851. The results within each Series, however, show a greater produce where sulphate of potash and superphosphate of lime, the “mixed alkalies,” and the “mixed alkalies” and super- phosphate of lime together, were employed. There was then, as before, some benefit arising from the use of mineral manures, especially those which contained potash and phosphoric acid. And as the object of the experiments was to ascertain whether by liberal manuring, and especially by a supply of the mineral constituents which the Clover crop removes so largely from the soil, it were possible to grow the crop year after year on the same land, an abundant top-dressing of mineral con- stituents was applied on June 28 (1852), after the removal of the first cutting. The second division of the Table (IV.) shows the description, and amount, of the manures employed ; and the third division the amount of crop obtained on August 29. The ts on the Lupervmen Report of D 9 e¢ tlor eet ble om olo git)’ * %* ¢ ¢& ,, awry jo azeydsoydiadng,, pus ‘eisousepy Jo ayeyding ‘sqroo. | 11 € FL 0)9 & LT &) 9 TieONss Gy (k0e 0). TW |||-es Qi; JE sea 2 3 YAS 08 46/70) Ib Spee 3 3) : 4 on lope 2 (0:02 D6" Ore26 4 20 tons Farmyard Manure .. .. .. \3. 6 0 Sil osmium 5) | oF (4m TOn | mel De Qh ils 6 [5s Tae ss Tous ae SERIES 3. 1 | ALE “SF =. Gr ar 0) OF U6 2 \28 live Qt 10 | 0% 14 Omer 3 || 20 tons Farmyard Manure, and 5000lbs.)} 3 6 2 4/0 16 1 15 4 freshaburntwUiMel a. <5 ss -eg coiimoumloe GF 12) \€O.miieommed 5 (han 8h OF “2 “OM Sieg 6 3 5 0) 22)|+@) 16) OlNne The figures in the Table show that the produce in this sixth season of the attempt to grow Clover continuously on the same land, and after two years of entire failure, was in every case small, Comparing Series with Series, the crop is the best where the farmyard manure alone was employed ; the next best, where the Farmyard manure and Lime were used ; and it was the worst where no manure was now employed, and where, for the most part, mineral manures alone had previously eae employed. Still, comparing the results within each Series, there is again ey ieuce of some increase on those plots which had formerly received manures containing potash, and phosphorie acid. The plant of 1855 died off in the succeeding winter. The land was ploughed up and allowed to remain fallow during 1856 and 1857. Growth of Red Clover by different Manures. TSE In the spring of 1858, it was decided to take a crop of Barley, without manure, before making any further attempt to grow Clover. It was, however, not thought worth while to determine the produce of Barley on each of the many differently manured Cloyer-plots separately. Accordingly, only the main divisions, represented by the Series 1, 2, and 3, of 1854 and 1855, were adopted. The produce of Barley, per acre, over each of these three portions of land, is shown in Table VI. Experiments on the Growrx of Rep Crover by Dirrerent Manures. Taste VI.—Showing the Manurgs applied for CLover in 1854, and the Propuce of Barty in 1858, after the removal of a small Crop of Clover in 1855 (the Sixth Season), and a Fallow in 1856 and 1857. PRODUCE OF BARLEY per Acre, Xc., in 1853. Plot, | MANURES . Weight Total Total Nos. | Per Acre, for Clover, in 1854. Dressed | per Bushel Total Ae Produce. | Corn. | of Dressed! Corn. tie (Corn and Corn. | - Straw). Series 1. 1 2 bush. pks. Ibs. Ibs. lbs, lbs. S|$Unmanured .. .. .. «| 58 0] 52:0 | 3181 | 3417| 6598 5 6 SERIES 2. 1 2 20 tons Farmyard Manure .. | 65 2] 52°0 | 3562 | 4016 | 7578 5 6 SERIEs 3. 1 2 3 |(20 tons Farmyard Manure, and ots 7 » 4 5000 lbs. fresh-burnt Lime Si Ml ea ea do |, 5 6 It is obvious, that although the land was incapable of yielding a crop of Red Clover, it embraced all the conditions requisite for the production of a very luxuriant crop of Barley. The lowest produce, that on the plots of Series 1, of this “ clover-sick ” land, was 73 quarters of Barley per acre, of 52 lbs. weight per bushel. The highest produce, that on the plots of Series 2, where the 192 Report of Experiments on the Farmyard manure alone had been applied in 1854, was about 84 quarters ; and that where the Farmyard manure and Lime were used together (in 1854), was just 8 quarters of Barley, weighing 524 lbs. per bushel. After growing this luxuriant crop of Barley, one more attempt to grow Clover was made, but without any further manuring. In the spring of 1859, Clover-seed was sown, without a corn crop ; but by a mistake of the seedsman, Cow-grass, instead of Red Clover, was sent, and the error was only discovered when it was too late for correction. The crop was cut in September, The amount of produce on each plot is recorded in Table VII. which now follows :-— EXreRIMENTs on the GrowrH of Crover by Dirrerent MANURES. TasLe VIJ.—Showing the Manurzs applied for Crover in 1854, and the Propuce of Cover in 1859, after the removal of a small Crop of Clover in 1855 (the Sixth Season), Fallow in 1856 and 1857, and after removing a Crop of Barley in 1858. PRODUCE OF CLOVER per Acre, September, 1889. Plot, MANURES — nal Res More, HoriGloyer Anis os: Weight Fresh, Weight calculated as Cut. as Hay. Series 1. jtons. cwts. qrs. Ibs. ltons. cwts, qrs. lbs. 1 ) 2 Qe. QQ) Ov Tit okey BS. 2 3. 5) (28s Oana 3 * A Bh alls RG naive Soe] el 1 emer Jogo! 4 (Unmanured <2 +. 24 os oo > 3.10.8 @ la) 3 awe Salil (3.92! 2 22.| 2 aoe Gy) J AS cA: aA] 8. a1 heey ed Series 2. 1 (313.3. 8 | ie ye a 2/] 4 2 eee lal 4, DL ik) 4 11 22/1 7 Oa : 20 tons Farmyard Manure .. .. eres : 99 | 1 2 ee | 5 oY: Be) Ue 3 8} 1 8 3 1 6 Hii 6.0 2). Sala i. 25a SERIES 3. 1 |"4 13 2° 22a aes ae 2 ;4>10 1 7760 heme 3 | { 20 tons Farmyard Manure, and 5000 lbs.}} 4 15 0 22; 1 7 1 10 A\( freshly-burnt Limes geen en ss «c) | 2, 5 1 sea URC eee 5 5 OFS 8} 1 9 0 12 6 5 4 3 AA LL yalO 6 Growth of Red Clover by different Manures. 193 As in the case of the last crop of Clover, that of 1855, the year after the heavy dressing of Farmyard manure on one-third, and of Farmyard manure and Lime on another third of the experimental] land, the so-manured portions, again, in 1859, yield a some- what larger crop than the corresponding plots of Series 1, which had no such application. The plots of each Series, however, yield somewhat more produce in 1859, than they did in 1855. The crops are, however, in all cases, insignificant, being gene- rally equal to not much more than 1 ton of hay per acre; but there is still slight indication of improvement where the mineral manures containing potash, or potash and phosphoric acid, had been liberally employed in the earlier years of the experiment. The plant continued to look tolerably well throughout a good part of the winter (1859-60), but as the spring advanced it died off rapidly, and, at the time we write, the end of June, the sinall proportion of the original plants that still survive have a very stunted and unhealthy appearance. From the numerous results which have been recorded, in the foregoing pages, of experiments in which Clover has been sub- mitted to a very great variety of manurial, and other conditions of growth, it is evident that no direct supply of manure, in the ordinary form of farmyard dung, or of the current artificial manures, is capable of restoring the soil from which a heavy crop of Clover has been taken, to a condition of immediate productive- ness for the same crop. In the experiments in question, not even the most complex conditions, and the repeated supply of those constituents which are found most to increase the Clover-crop when it is grown in the usual manner, after an interval of several years, have restored the Clover-yielding capabilities which the soil possessed at the commencement of the experiment, in 1849. Before entering upon any consideration of the probable causes of the failure of the Clover in the experiments which have been already described, it will be well to give the results of some experiments conducted on a small scale in the kitchen-garden at Rothamsted. The soil was in ordinary garden cultivation, and has probably been so for two or three centuries. [Early in 1854, =}, of an acre (about 9} square yards) was measured off and sown with Red Clover, on March 29. From that time to the end of 1859, fourteen cuttings have been taken, without any re-sowing of seed. In 1856, this little plot was divided into three equal portions. Of these, No. 1 has been kept continuously without manure ; No, 2 was manured with gypsum; and No. 3 with sulphates of potash, soda, and magnesia, and superphosphate of lime. Table VIII. shows the amount of produce obtained, both green, as cut, and calculated as hay, per acre; but as the space VOL, XXI. : O 194 Report of Experiments on the allotted to each experiment was so extremely small, the results must by no means be taken as absolutely correct. ‘They can, indeed, be only looked upon as rough approximations ; but, as such, they may be trusted as indicating the large amount of pro- duce of Clover that has been taken from this garden soil, and as affording some idea of the relative amount of produce under the three different conditions of manuring. The estimated total amount of green Clover obtained in six years from this garden soil, without further manure, is nearly 126 tons per acre—equal to about 264 tons of hay, or to an average of nearly 44 tons of Clover-hay, per acre, per annum. The produce was considerably increased by the application of gypsum, and still more so by that of the sulphates of potash, soda, and magnesia, and superphosphate of lime. In four years, the increase by the use of gypsum amounted to about 154 tons of green Clover, or about 34 tons of hay—nearly 1 ton of hay per acre per annum. ‘The increase in the four years, by the use of the alkalies and phosphate, is estimated to amount to 28} tons of green produce, or rather more than 6% tons of hay— equal to nearly 1} tons increase of hay per acre per annum. It is worthy of remark, that it was in some of the very same seasons in which these heavy crops of Clover were obtained from the garden-soil, even though grown year after year, and without fresh seed, that we entirely failed to get anything like a moderate crop of Clover in the experimental field, only a few hundred yards distant. The failure in the latter case would, therefore, appear to be connected with the conditions of soil in relation to the plant, rather than to those of the atmosphere. We now come to another and not very satisfactory part.of our task ; namely, that of endeavouring to seek, among the various causes of Clover-failure which have been suggested, for some explanation of the signal failure of the crop in our experimental field. The comparison of the results in the garden with those in the field, seems to lead to the exclusion of some of the reasons enu- merated in the early part of our Paper, as having been brought forward to account for the Clover failure. It may be well, how- ever, to make a few passing remarks on some of them. With regard to the attacks of Insects:—Those who have ex- amined the plants on a field of Clover failing in the ordinary way, will probably sometimes have found a small insect in those plants which are beginning to show signs of dying off. It is generally found near the junction of the root and crown. Now, as ex- perience teaches us that the plant seldom suffers serious injury if a sufficient number of years has elapsed since Clover was grown before, 195 rrowth of Red Clover by different Manures. ar e ri Aa "ete 82 savok % 4Sey $ =] a9 fe 01 & 9 6 91 86 | F#I & 8 SI (omnes £q asvarouy [e}0J, q 1 st § 1} -|Bl t Of Br lee Ge @ 96 |9e g SI ee in © St og {3 Pe eee Ee Se jz j 06 & 9 onporg jenuuy osvaoay % 8 8. 6 GG $6 @ 9 61 Sl 6 £4 Gt ¢ € Il FOL | io § & 16 L 0 SI- SZ sivak F 4se] ‘sonporg | ae (2) ve os ee oe ee *s on oe Toe ee DS Sno |G Ol So . 0 0 61 0% { ‘onpoig jenuuy eSriaay wien vr eat , & h ei = 2: eS 1@ € EL Get | ** savod g ‘sonporg [ejog, Es 0 9 Y I (i oy £ 0 G & G I St Lt ek GC Ole Ft cI ¢@ L£T OL Vas ssunjng C— 6981 8 Leas g GI §s & 5 7) la ae & ¢ Lé \8 FG If ff St} 6t 0 ; Ae. FL tars ssunyng E—8S81 G 0 9 L Ol L. Bi. rit 0.8 9 CL. Og €¢ 8h 8° 9ST 08 € Gc Ole 2G as ssuning €—LSsl 9 I GL & So i. 61 ¥ OL og v I € g 6% 06 € 8+ GE [he (eS i] €Z ee ssanjng 6—9G8I = “a Ke % jez 1 8 An re we ar 03 0 OL 68 “s+ sSunimg e—eesi ts se *“t is ewig @e & Pig i eg a 0 § st Ol 4 ees ssuryqyng C—PrSsl “sq[ ‘Sib ‘s}o *su0} | ‘sqy ‘sub ‘syaio “su0} | ‘sqy ‘sxb 's}M0 ‘su0} | ‘'SqT ‘sub ‘670 ‘suU0z ‘sql ‘stb ‘849 ‘soy | ‘sq] ‘sub ‘s}Qo ‘S107 ——s —- — "gest ‘7% Avy “9e81 ‘2o Avy ‘ *gegl ‘cu Avy ‘g9cst fn Av pond fe iiey UAT parjdde ; ‘pomurmey paride sa pandde “poinuvuo yy pu ‘epog ‘yse}0{ Jo ‘ameter pur ‘epog ‘qsejog jo ‘onsds aye sqeyding yay | | MSC AD EAL soyydins WM ME ‘AVE SV GaLvIn91vO ‘NTaUp CAHSITAL GUoOV Add TONGOUd CALVWILSA i *A[MO paag Jo SuIMog sud Woy {tog uapawy jo sjorg oures oT UO AJaArjNoeSMOD SIVAX g UMOIS HAAOTO Jo ‘auoy Jad Toadoug pazounjse oy SULMOS—- "ITA @ILV, ’ 196 Report of Experiments on the before, it would appear that the prevalence of the insect, and its consequent injury to the plant, is the result, rather than the original cause, of the diseased condition. In fact, it is probable that the success of the attack of the insect upon the plant, may be mainly due to the weak or unhealthy condition of growth of the latter ; and that, had the plant been perfectly vigorous, the insect would not be so freely developed, or its injury would at least be more successfully resisted. Excrementitious Matters.—There is evidence of various kinds to show that plants give out certain substances by their roots to the soil. It is not probable, however, that any mineral constituents which may be so rejected during the growth of one Clover-crop, are prejudicial to the growth of a similar crop on the same land for a number of years to come. If the failure of the Clover-plant, when repeated too soon upon the same land, be due at all to the excrementitious matters left by the former crop, it is much more probable that the injury is in some way connected with the organic matters which have been rejected. Unfortunately, we are not yet able, by the aid of chemistry, to distinguish those organic compounds of the soil which are con- vertible into the substance of the growing plant, and those which are not so. Nor do we know how far the excreted organic mattefs may be necessary complimentary products. in the formation of some of the essential constituents of the plant. Experience teaches us that when a crop of Clover is eaten by sheep folded upon the land, animals dislike the growth which immediately succeeds. It might be inferred, therefore, that, in such a case, the plant had taken up from the soil, certain matters which it had not finally elaborated. Whether these organic substances would, in process of time, be converted into living plant-matter, or whether they would wholly, or in part, be rejected as excrementitious organic compounds, to undergo in the soil certain chemical changes before being adapted for plant- food, we are not able to determine. In connexion with this question, of whether or not the failure of the Clover-crop be due to the injurious influence of excremen- titious organic matters, left by the last crop of the same kind, attention may be called to the fact, that in the case of the failure in our field experiments, two years of fallow, and one year of barley, intervened between the poor crop of Clover in 1855, and the almost equally poor one in 1859. A priori, we should certainly be disposed to think, that any deleterious matters left in the soil by the Clover-crop of 1855 would, under the circumstances in question, have undergone pretty complete decomposition during the three succeeding years. At the same time, it should be re- membered that, in 1852, the plant of Clover suffered very much Growth of Red Clover by different Manures. 197 more where Rape-cake, or Salts of Ammonia had been applied in 1849, than where mineral manures only had been employed. Exhaustion of the Soil.Some of the plots in the experimental Cloyer-field have doubtless been subjected to great exhaustion of certain constituents, by the removal of the whole of the produce, without adequate restoration by manure. On others, however, there has been considerable accumulation of constituents. Cal- culation shows, indeed, that, on many of the plots, there have been much larger quantities of every “mineral” constituent supplied in the manures, than have been removed in the total produce, during the entire period of the experiments. Of certain organic constituents, however, including nitrogen, more has been taken off in the crops than has been supplied in the manures. But if, in the cases in question, the produce grown without manure, be deducted from that grown with it, it then appears, that the manures have provided yery much more, not only of the mineral constituents, but of nitrogen also, than was contained in the-increase due to the manures. It cannot be supposed, therefore, that, in the instances here referred to, any of the ultimate elements of the crop could be wanting. It should be remembered, too, that in some of the experi- ments mineral manures alone were employed, in others mineral manures and ammonia salts, and in others large quantities of farmyard dung, mineral manures, and ammonia salts, and so on ; so that the proportions, and conditions of combination, in which the different constituents were supplied, were very variable. How then are we to account for the fact, that whilst, under the conditions described, the Clover-plant would not grow healthily in the experimental field, we have been able to cut fourteen crops from seed sown ‘six years ago in a garden only a few hundred yards distant? Are we to suppose, simply, that the ultimate constituents required by the Clover, were more abundantly ayailable to the plant in the garden soil? or is it that they there existed in different states of combination? It will not be out of place to make a few observations bearing upon the Jatter supposition. According to Mulder, who has investigated the organic com- pounds of the soil, the vegetable matters, rich in carbon, decom- posing in the soil, go through a gradationary series of changes before being finally converted into carbonic acid. He supposes ‘the intermediate compounds to constitute a series of acids, which combine with ammonia, and with fixed bases, in the soil, forming so many organic-acid salts. Now, if we were to suppose that some plants (Clover for example) required for healthy growth a ‘certain proportion of their food to be presented to them in the form of such carbon-compounds, more complex than carbonic acid, and perhaps combined with ammonia, we should then the 198 Report of Experiments on the more easily comprehend why it should be necessary for a certain period of time to intervene before again cultivating certain crops on the same land ; for, we could easily understand that this might be requisite for ihe gradual formation and accumulation of a sufficient amount of the compounds i in question. Whatever may be the precise chemical character of the carbon compounds of the soil, more complex than carbonic acid, there are numerous facts in Hexthenieamet and even in agriculture, leading to the supposition that some plants take up a part at least of their carbon from some other form of combination than carbonic acid. In one of our experimental fields we have grown very large crops of wheat for 17 consecutive years, without the supply, by manure, of a single ounce of carbon, The crops have been consider- ably greater on some plots where no carbon has been supplied in the manure, than on others to which it had been very largely supplied. There are, indeed, good reasons for supposing that carbonic acid is, at any rate, the paar if not the exclusive source, of the carbon of many of the plants yielding food largely to man and other animals—which, by their respiration, return so much carbonic acid to the atmosphere. Were it not so, as forests make way for the growth of food, the proportion of carbonic acid in the atmosphere would gradually increase. The cultivation of the cereal crops, which enter so largely into the food of man and other animals, seems admirably adapted for preserving the equilibrium in the composition of the atmosphere ; for an acre of wheat will decompose as much, or more, carbonic acid, liberating a corresponding amount of oxygen, as an acre of the foes which it may have supplanted. Provided the soil yield a sufficient supply of the necessary mineral constituents, the amount of carbonic acid decomposed by a cereal crop over a given area, will very much depend upon the amount of nitrogen, in an available condition of com- bination, and distribution, within the soil. But the direct supply of nitrogen to the soil in the form of ammonia, which so much increases the vigour of growth of Graminaceous crops generally, and consequently the amount of carbon which the plants will assimilate from carbonic acid, so far from effecting the same result in the case of Leguminous crops, is generally injurious to them. In the early years of our experiments, both upon Clover and upon Beans, the application of the fixed alkalies as manure, and espe- cially of potash, caused a considerably increased assimilation of both carbon and nitrogen over a given area ; whilst the direct use of ammonia-salts, which are so efficacious in the case of our Grami- naceous crops, had either little or no such effect, or was more frequently injurious, in the case of these Leguminous crops. Where the supply of mineral constituents is sufficiently kept up, the supply of ammonia is as efficient as ever in enabling the wheat Growth of Red Clover by different Manures. 199 growing in the experimental field to assimilate an increased amount of carbon from carbonic acid. The alkalies, potash, &c., have ceased to be as useful as manures for the Leguminous crops, as they were at the commencement of the exper ‘shed tal period ; yet, so far as the atmosphere isa source of constituents to these plants, its supplies must be the same now as formerly. ‘The decline in the beneficial influence of the potash, &c., would appear, there- fore, to be connected with some defective condition within the soil. If we were to assume that the Leguminous plants required a certain portion of their organic food to be supplied to them in the form of certain organic compounds in the soil, it is evident that the beneficial action of the potash, &c., would cease when these organic compounds were exhausted. On this assumption, too, it would seem intelligible, on the one hand, that an ordinary soil should require a considerable period of time after the growth of a Leguminous crop, to become again fertile for the same crop, and—on the other, that a garden soil, liberally manured with organic matter, perhaps for cenaedias: should support a con- siderable number of such crops in succession. It is further worthy of remark, in connexion with the beneficial action of the alkalies as manures for Leguminous crops, and with the supposition that these crops may require a portion of their organic food in the form of certain carbon compounds which are more complex than carbonic acid, that it is chiefly by the aid of the alkalies that the organic compounds of the soil are rendered soluble. On recently cleared lands in America, where there is such a great accumulation of vegetable remains, the em- ployment of ashes, and of gypsum, as top-dressings for Clover, has been attended with remarkable success. Vegetable ashes have been found to be beneficial to the crop in this country also, which, independently of the mere supply of potash, &c., may be partly due to the action above referred to. Gypsum, however, is by no means to be depended upon as a manure for Clover in this country. The action of gypsum has been very variously ex- plained upon high authority. The following distinct explanations are on record, namely :—that it serves as a supply of sulphuric acid—that it serves as a supply of lime—that it serves as a supply of sulphur—and that it serves for the fixation of ammonia. It is perhaps not less likely that its beneficial action may be con- nected with changes in the organic matters of the soil. M. Risler has indeed shown, that an aqueous solution of gypsum will take up more organic matter from soil, than will water. We are far from asserting that there is evidence enough to show that the failure of Clover, when grown too frequently on the same land, is altogether due to the want of a sufficient supply of certain organic compounds in the soil. At the same time, we think that the facts of horticultural and agricultural practice, as 200 Report of Experiments on the Growth of Red Clover. well as the evidence of direct experiment, must lead to the con- clusion, that the view—that the organic compounds of the soil are only valuable to plants as a source of carbonic acid—requires modification. It is, indeed, probable, that some plants derive a considerable amount of their substance from carbon compounds other than carbonic acid, and that others depend for their carbon mainly, if not exclusively, upon carbonic acid. Those of our crops which, in the course of cultivation, are subjected to pretty natural conditions of growth, and which accumulate the greater portion of their substance during the period at which the sun’s rays are known to be most power- ful in influencing the decomposition of carbonic acid by plants, appear to depend chiefly on that source for their carbon, ‘Those, on the other hand, which are grown under somewhat abnormal conditions, and which store up a large amount of succulent pro- ducts of a comparatively low degree of elaboration, are probably partly dependent on other carbon compounds, yielded by the soil. The Leguminous crops, again, though generally coming more within the former than the latter category, still seem to be dependent, for luxuriant growth, more or less upon a supply, within the soil, of complex organic compounds. But whatever may be the precise result to which investigation may lead, in regard to the questions here involved, it may, at any rate, be pretty safely affirmed, that we shall not arrive at the true explanation of the phenomena upon which depend some of the most striking advantages of a rotation of crops, until we are better able than at present, to define the relations of the different crops to the different sources of carbon, and of nitrogen. The practical conclusions from the inquiry may be very briefly stated :— When land is not what is called ‘clover-sick,” the crop of Clover may frequently be increased by top-dressings of manure containing potash, and superphosphate of lime; but the high price of salts of potash, and the uncertainty of the action of manures upon the crop, render the application of artificial manures for Clover a practice of doubtful economy. When land is what is called “ clover-sick,” none of the ordinary manures, whether “ artificial,” or natural, can be relied upon to secure a crop. So far as our present knowledge goes, ‘the only means of in- suring a good crop of Red Clover is to allow some years to elapse before repeating the crop upon the same land. ( 201 ) XII.—On the Moveable Steam-Engine. By P. H. Frere. ‘Turse notes on the moveable steam-engine are designed for the information of farmers who reside in those parts of England where it is not yet naturalized ; where, consequently, the prices charged for work done have not yet been properly adjusted, or the cost and liabilities incurred for repairs and renovation adequately determined. ‘Such readers may gather useful hints from details which to others may appear commonplace. They must bear in mind, however, that the experience recorded has been drawn from a neighbourhood where the yield of grain is large in proportion to the bulk of the straw grown; where the land is chiefly arable, and, therefore, much employment is pro- vided for the machine in a small circuit; where the farms, also, are large, so that the work goes on consecutively for several days without the delay and waste of time caused by removal; and where the occupation-roads, though not good, are passable. Each reader must, therefore, decide for himself what allowance he must make in applying the conclusions arrived at to his own neighbourhood. In the eastern counties the hired steam-engine is now in such general use that competition has done its work; prices have found their level, and the same profits cannot be made as rewarded the enterprising men who first set them going, or even the owner of the solitary horse-power machine of the district, in times gone by. Where the engine and machine have been pur- chased with judgment, a good model and sound workmanship have given a fair profit; but several men, possessed of small capital and little knowledge, have lost money by the speculation, by their want of discretion. "To show how loss is incurred, I may state that I bought a machine for 105/., worked it for 5 months, found that it was not up to the mark, laid it by for a time, and then returned it to the maker, who gave me 10/. for it. .Bad debts, too, will arise; I have had one of about 50/. As regards the amount of work done, 40 quarters of grain may be considered an average yield from one day’s wheat-threshing from sheaves chiefly mown. This will increase in a good year up to 45 quarters from mown wheat, and 55 quarters from reaped corn. We once threshed in a day of 10 hours, at Michaelmas, 75 quarters of wheat. For barley, a yield of 35 quarters is reckoned a fair day, and 40 quarters a good day for say 84 hours’ work in autumn and winter. 524 quarters is our maximum: they were threshed in March. The regular price of the district was 1s. per quarter for wheat 202 On the Moveable Steam-Engine. and barley, or 35s. a day for the hire of engine and machine, with engineman and feeder ; but the price per day has given way to 32s., unless elevators are furnished, when the old charge of 35s. is aamintained: These elevators dispense with the services of 2 men (or 3 when the straw-stack is high), and are, therefore, well worth the extra charge of 3s. Reaped wheat, without the use of elevators, would now be threshed at about 10d. a quarter. Oats are not much grown in my district: they are charged at the same rate as athens corn, or threshed by the day. We sometimes undertake to furnish extra labour, besides the engineman and feeder, at the charge of ls. 6d. per quarter. In this case, the work is thus distributed : the engine-owner finds, besides the use of the elevators, 2 hands for corn+stack. 1 lad to cut bands for feeder. 1 man to tend sacks and clear away cavings. The hirer will still provide labour For supply of water and coals. For loading carts with corn and driving away. For stacking straw. For removing cavings, colder, or short stuff. This arrangement sometimes suits holders of small occupations : but, to the machine-owner, a short job, even at a higher rate of pay, is not so remunerative asa good bout of threshing ona large farm. It will be observed that these calculations are made for threshing in the field, such being our general practice, based on the following reasons. In the case of wheat, we now set little store by the chaff, and can always easily preserve as large a portion of it as we care to mix with cut straw for the Sant Tienes ; unless, therefore, we cart straight from the field into the barn, for early threshing on a wet day in harvest, the wheat is mostly threshed where it is intake in the field, to save double handling of the sheaves. The labour of the yardman and odd horse at odd times, in taking the litter home to the yard, is but little increased im con- sequence of threshing in the field, and that increase is but little felt. The loss oeearioned by the dropping of the stray ears and locks of corn, from the loads when in progress from the stack to the barn, is fully equivalent to the waste arising from grain shed round ihe threshing-machine, where a Baill measure of grain would,'if scattered, make a great show. Some old harvest-waggons, which the hilly nature of the farm compels me to retain in use, are very serviceable for receiving and conveying home the cavings or short stuff derived from the barley for the use of the stoclti nor are they to be despised as On the Moveable Steam-Engine. 203 moveable straw-stands when the wheat-straw requires stacking. The late incendiary fires have unhappily deterred many neigh- bourhoods from concentrating their stacks around the homestead, according to the old practice. The common consumption of coals is at the rate of 6 cwt. per day when barley is threshed, or 7 ewt. for wheat. ‘The coals are furnished by the hirer, and their consumption will be a good deal modified by the kind of water with which he supplies the engine; with good soft clean water, drawn from a tank filled from a slated barn, less coal will be burnt by 1 ewt. or 13 ewt. a day than when the water comes froma dirty pond. It is a happy circumstance for the owner of the engine that the hirer has such an inducement to supply clean water, as the injury done to the engine and boiler (the tubes of which become furred up and foul whenever dirty water is used) is a matter of far more importance than the saving of 1 cwt. or 2 cwt. of coal. For some years we have never used a flail. The prejudice in favour of fresh*flail-threshed straw from the barn-door, for fodder, lingered on in my bailiffs mind for some seasons after | had begun to employ steam-power, Chance removed it in this way. We gene- rally arrange to use the white land barley-straw for fodder, and that grown on heath land for litter. One year the fodder ran short, and we had recourse to some heath barley-straw, which had been machined and stacked some time before, to eke out our supply for food. ‘The stock were observed to eat this straw with more relish than any of the growth of that year. From that time the flail was doomed. ‘The preference shown was accounted for in this manner :—lIst, all the dust-had been well-beaten, shaken, and blown out of the ‘straw by the machine; and, 2nd, the straw, which contained some admixture of layer, had been bruised in threshing, and appeared to have undergone a second gentle heating after it was stacked, and to have benefited by it ; but, be the explanation what it may, we were satisfied of the fact, and have since acted on our conviction. My machines only winnow the corn once; a single dressing then fits it for market. The advantage of a light machine for draught on hilly ground and indifferent farm-roads, and the difficulty of dressing at once, so as just to suit the market, have determined me, after some hesitation, to abide by the older and simpler form, in preference to the new double-dresser. A connexion with steam-power let out on hire is conducive to the well-being of a farm in several ways :—1st, as an encourage- ment to steady and intelligent labourers ; these are selected from the farm at first to feed the machine, and are then promoted. to the charge of the engine ; an opening for advancement is thus. afforded to a class which stands much in need of such a stimu- Q04. On the Moveable, Steam-Lngine. lus.* 2ndly, the work of threshing is most continuous during those months in which other labour is rather slack ; it decreases as the spring advances, and labourers become more in request, nor are the machines again called actively into play until the wheat is reaped, and the greater part of it stacked, Some additional hands are cheretore made available for the farm connected with the engine, at the time when labourers are most wanted. Again, the occupier of land is able to superintend the working of a steam-engine to greater economical advantage than a man of another class, for iron is near at hand, with a nae at command, and an poate oul hour to spare fo inspecting the work ; more- over, he can, without inconvenience, accommodate a small farmer with extra hands, if required, and easily lend one or two horses on an emergency, and when roads are bad and fields wet, to assist an removing the machine and engine—a task which generally devolves on the next hirer. [ shall conclude my statement with a brief abstract of expenses for repairs and other,outgoings ; 1st, for one engine and machine, in the year ending Michaelmas, 1856, and then for two in 1857, 1858, and 1859. In each case they were in pretty constant employ from September to Lady-day, and had nearly half work between Lady-day and harvest. Expenses of Steam-Engine and shreshing Machine. Expenses on one Machine from Michaelmas, 1855, to Michaelmas, 1856. SS, hes Bill sgl Ogee mine coe aes Gunee sd eae) Un oon no Wages. “in a ER ees ae Rm) Op aie oats Labour, largess, &e. cer (ita ene ee eee LOO ae) 96 16 8 1856—1857 Repairs oh lin: ACES. OS LOG OW 3 a eee eae | Le 12 tO Insurance .. sa. go) gl tel UL . Paid for hire of engine, largess, Se. 5. ORIG) © Wages... i) Raine. Gel la G2 Li £142 6 3 A second machine and engine were at work during part of this year. * To men of this class, wages of 2s. 6d. instead of 1s. 6d. a day, with some extras, are a considerable direct gain apart from contingencies. It is the interest of the engineman to put the feeder into the way of managing the engine, for which he gets several little services done in return, so that a succession of engine-driyers possessed of competent knowledge is readily provided if necessary. On the Moveable Steam-Engine. 205 1857—1858 (‘T'wo Machines), ue sande Wages SGLUS LE tevL ath Ltt DSeuete VOL. OLLO IBIXENSES! Me Gk ee es te LOPS 2 iHirevof enginey itn. fee) ea i WE 270 Repairs— eee Suet. Campenten so eceiveca seaseen. O..04 0 Messrs, Ransome).. eye ey”, Blacksmith .... Wie Gea: Clayton and Co. .. Gy aL 0} Hurrell (foundry) 3 5 O Parker (Straps) .. «. Loe G) nO on J = oO lon £154 4 6 1858—1859 (‘Two Machines), eee (as Wages SPC Vis cee Abeta PST Le YL Expenses— Li. Ss ds Lodgings, largess, &e... .. 2 7 6 Barcelsicce. ts oo sv O12 0 Carriage of engines ata ener e OO = LORSae CO Brasses repaired with patent metal . 216 2 Cloths 216 0 Insurance for one ‘tmachine and e engine 7 7 Clayton, bill for oil, brasses, and brushes 29 17 0 Extra oil bill... ww) £10" 0 Hurrell, for casting g files, prasses, &e. oar TP at 79) Parker (straps) . weyhy (em. je TS we2t LO Mending straps .. .. 21.8.0 Ransome and Co., repairs, “tarpaulins, He, 1s 8 Wanpenicrwue th ss pel tee sees, | LOS Blacksmith CoH Sornvee et, Peel Se 6 1a 0 In addition to this expenditure, 10 per cent. on the prime cost was included in each year’s account for depreciation, without, however, the residue being regarded as realised profit.; The calculation of 10 per cent. was adopted as the ‘usual allowance made on machinery; but, as Mr. Wells has well shown in his paper on Steam Cultivation,* the agricultural locomotive engine is exposed to an unusual amount of wear and tear. Ist. From the horizontal position of the piston, “ which, without great care, rapidly becomes oval-shaped.” 2ndly. From the concentrated form of the boiler, the tubes of which are difficult to clean, and wear rapidly away. drdly. From the injurious effect of bad roads during removals, and the constant oscillation of the engine when at work. * A Lecture delivered to the Farmers’ Central Club, June, 1860, by Mr. J. Wells, of Booth Ferry House, Howden. 206 On the Moveable Steam-Engine. 4thly. (We may add) From the evil effects of exposure to dust and wet. Mr. Wells concludes that the wear and tear of a locomotive must be estimated at fully 20-per. cent. above that of a fixed engine. Considering, however, the large items already inserted in ites annual nCconue for repairs’ of tubes; boilers, &c., for the engines, and considering, on the other hone, how improvement is constantly superseding older threshing-machines, it appears to me safe to estimate the spn eraser both of engine and machine at 20 per cent. XIII.— Remarks on the Composition of the Blood, and principally with Reference to those Diseases of Cattle and Sheep in which the Fluid undergoes important Pathological Changes. By JAMES Bearr Srimonps, Professor of Cattle Pathology at the Royal Veterinary Golleset Veterinary Inspector to the Royal Agri- cultural Society, &e In a lecture on the structure and diseases of the organs of respiration and circulation, published in the Society’s ‘ Journal,’ Vol. X., page 570, et seg., some observations were made by me on the component parts of the blood, several of which it will be necessary to repeat here, with a- few additions, for the sake of unity and completeness. Inthe present’ paper, however, it will be my aim to avoid as much as possible entering on disputed points of the physiology of the fluid and. of the several assigned causes of the changes it undergoes under ordinary circumstances both within and without the vessels. To attempt this would draw me from the practical object I have in view, and perhaps render the paper less attractive to the majority of the readers of the Journal. The slightest reflection on the organization of an animal body will suffice to show that it is composed of solid and fluid parts. It is not, however, so well known that the circulating fluids com- pose no less than a third part of the weight of the individual animal, and that all the so-called solid parts of the frame were at one time in a state of fluidity. The fluids met with are various, consisting chiefly of the blood, the lymph, the chyle, and other secretions. The latter named, as well as the lymph, depend immediately on the blood itself for their existence, while this, in its turn, has its chief source in the chyle—the fluid which is produced in the animal organism by the processes of digestion and assimilation of the food on which the creature subsists. The several changes which the food undergoes before it becomes con- On the Composition of the Blood. 207 verted into chyle have been fully set forth in the lecture before referred to, and this being the case it will be only necessary to direct the reader’s attention to the explanations therein given. In comparing the quantity of blood with the entire weight of an animal, it will be found difficult to arrive at the exact propor- tion they relatively hold to each other, but it is sufficient for our present purpose to state that'the amount of blood is usually estimated at from one-fourth to one-fifth of the entire weight of the body. If we were to attempt to give a popular definition of the blood, it might be described as a fluid which circulates through the heart, arteries, and veins, carrying: with it the materials which are indispensably necessary for the maintenance of life, heat, nutrition, renovation, and secretion, building up the organism of the young animal and supporting that of the adult andaged. To effect the passage of the blood from one part of the system to another, various organs are employed and several forces brought into opera- tion. The chief organ for this purpose is the heart, which may be regarded as a central pump, having in connexion with it two sets of vessels—the arteries and veins : the former of these being trans- mitting, and the latter returning conduits. Besides these vessels there are intermediately placed between them, as it were, another set, called, from their small size, capillaries, to which we shall have occasion, hereafter, more particularly to allude. It is well known that in all the higher orders of vertebrate ani- mals the blood, as it appears to the unassisted vision, when drawn from its vessels, is red in colour. This redness, however, does not depend on any inherent colour in the fluid itself, but is due to an innumerable number of red corpuscles or cells which are floating within it. If, then, these’ bodies are removed from the blood, the true liquor sanguinis which remains behind will be found to be of a pale straw colour, resembling in this respect the blood of the invertebrate class of animals. It can be readily imagined that a fluid, which nature employs for such multitudinous purposes in the animal economy, is likely to be very complex in its elements, and such indeed is the case. To analyze these, even imperfectly, it is necessary, as a general rule, that the blood be first removed from its vessels. On this being done, it will be found shortly afterwards that a remarkable change takes place in it, and that it is now no longer fluid but has assumed a solid form. This phenomenon is among the most in- teresting which belong to the blood, and clearly indicates that the fluid possesses an inherent capability of conversion into organic structure. From the time of Hunter down to the present period, the correct explanation of the phenomenon of coagulation— clotting—has occupied the attention of our ablest chemists and 208 On the Composition of the Blood. physiologists ; and perhaps it is not too much to say that, not- withstanding all the light which has been shed upon it, some darkness still enshrouds the solution of the problem. The time which elapses before the blood becomes solid will vary considerably, depending on many adventitious circum- stances. The coagulation is usually effected in ten or fifteen minutes, but in some instances many hours and even days will pass before it is completed. Before alluding more particularly to either the clotting of the blood or the variations in the time required for its accomplishment, it will be necessary to describe the principal component parts of the fluid. On setting aside the coagulated mass and keeping it at rest for a short period, a transparent fluid is found to exude from it, which can easily be decanted off. This is the serum, or so-called watery part of the blood. Tue Serum.—Under all ordinary circumstances this consti- tuent of the blood remains in a fluid condition, while the quantity which is exuded will be in proportion to the time the coagulum remains at rest, until the expiration of about thirty hours; after which, however, but little more will be expelled naturally, although a still greater amount can be obtained by drying the clot. It is therefore evident that by the act of coagulation the serum is me- chanically enclosed in the solidified mass, and that subsequently, by this undergoing a certain degree of condensation, the greater part of it is squeezed out as water is expelled from a sponge by the application of pressure, Thus obtained, the serum is found to be a viscid fluid of a yellowish colour and having an alkaline reaction. Its specific gravity varies from about 1-025 to 1:050. It is a very important element of the blood, containing not only the watery and saline materials of that fluid, but also the albuminous matters in a state of free solution, In short, it may be said to include the principal portion of all the constituents of the blood with the exception of the fibrine, the hematine, and the globuline. The proportion which its several parts bear to each other will materially depend on certain conditional circumstances, such as the kind of food on which an animal is fed, the state of its health, the uses to which it is put, the temperature to which it is exposed, "ke. Notwithstand- ing these disturbing causes, if the vital forces are still active, the balance is fairly maintained. Thus, speaking in general terms, every 1000 parts of serum contain about 780 of water; and although this quantity, even in health, is subject to variation, and may sometimes rise to 790 or sink to 700, the first-named quantity is nevertheless present as arule, Any diminution in the amount of water is quickly compensated for by the thirst which it creates, while any excess will be as rapidly removed by the skin On the Composition of the Blood. 209 and kidneys,—in the one case as a chief constituent of the per- spiration, and in the other as that of the urine. Albumen exists in the serum at about the rate of 7 per cent. ; it may rise a little above this, or sink as low as 6 per cent., con- sistent with health. In a plethoric habit of body there is a relative increase of the albumen; and on the contrary, in a debi- litated condition, a diminished amount. The chief use of the albumen is to form fibrine by a higher degree of vitalization. Besides this, albumen is consumed in the production of the gela- tine of the simple fibrous tissues, and in several of the secretions, as well as in the formation of those structures which are either epidermoid or horny. The source of the albumen is from the pro- tein compounds of the food, and its proper proportion in the se- rum is regulated by its constant consumption for the above-named purposes. The presence of this material is easily demonstrated. Thus the addition of any mineral acid to the serum will throw down the albumen in the form of a dense white precipitate ; or if the serum be exposed to heat, the coagulation of its albumen will take place. A temperature of about 165° of Fahrenheit will generally be required for this purpose, unless an unusually large amount is present, when a lower temperature will suffice. If, however, the albumen exists in a less than usual quantity, a much higher temperature will be required to effect its coagulation. A qualitative, but not a quantitative analysis of the serum, in so far as albumen is concerned, is thus obtained. A microscopic examination of solidified albumen does not, however, show that im acquiring this condition it has assumed any definite or struc- tural form. It is at most granular, It has already been stated that we possess no other means of ebtaining serum except from coagulated blood. Nature, how- ever, can readily separate it in large quantities from the other constituents of the liquor sanguinis. We observe this under many circumstances, and frequently when an animal is ina weak and debilitated condition from disease. It is then that the serous part of the blood exudes through the capillary vessels and accumu- lates in the areolar tissue or in some of the great cavities of the body. The diseases which commonly pass under the term dropsy are especially referable to a cause of this kind. These effusions may differ, and even considerably so, from pure serum in the proportions of albumen and saline matters which they contain ; but nevertheless they are essentially of a serous nature, as is shown by their analyzation; and as such they afford a proof that the serum is capable of being expelled from the living vessels apart from the other constituents of the blood. SALtTs OF THE Bioop.—The saline matters of the blood are various, and are met with in the serum. They consist chiefly VOL. XXI. E 210 On the Composition of the Blood. of the phosphate of lime and magnesia, the tribasic phosphate of soda, with the chlorides of sodium and potassium. Besides these there are some other salts, which, although important in a physiological point of view, need not be especially men- tioned in a paper of this kind. The phosphate of lime exists in considerable proportion, for when separated from the blood it is required to give strength and solidity to the bones, that they may be enabled to support the weight of the animal and resist the force of the muscles in the various movements of the frame. Tue Frierrwe.—This constituent of the circulating fluid may be considered as the basis of nearly all the solids of the body, It exists in the blood in a state of perfect solution, but possesses the remarkable property of becoming solid either within or without the vessels, and whether separated or not from the other com- ponent parts of the blood, provided this becomes stagnant, The coagulation of the blood is entirely due to the presence of the fibrine. The power of the fibrine to become solid led at one time to its being designated “ self-coagulable lymph,” a name by which it is described by John Hunter, in his great work on ‘The Blood and Inflammation,’ The term fibrine is, however, the more appropriate one, as expressing the fact that the material in solidifying arranges itself in the form of threads or fibres. The means which are usually adopted to obtain fibrine con- sist of whipping the blood with a small bundle of twigs, im~ mediately on its being drawn from the vessels. ‘The fibrine under these circumstances adheres to the twigs particle by par~ ticle, until the whole of it is separated from the other component: parts of the blood. On washing the mass thus obtained to free it from the small quantity of red colouring matter which it had, enclosed, the fibrine is found to consist of white, tough, and elastic fibres interwoven together, and crossing each other in every pos- sible direction, A microscopic examination of the smallest por- tion of one of these filaments reveals the further fact, that it also is made up of minute threads arranged in a similar manner to that of the whole mass. The quantity of fibrine existing in the blood rarely exceeds three parts in every thousand in health; but like the albumen, it also is liable to variation, being both increased and diminished, according to different conditions of the organism. In a full habit of body, and especially if inflammatory action should supervene on this state of the system, the proportion of fibrine quickly increases until, according to Andral, in cases of active inflam- mation of the viscera it may amount to ten parts in a thousand. All pathologists admit a great increase under these circum- stances; but there are few who place it quite so high as Andral. On the Composition of the Blood. 211 Among the advantages consequently which are derivable from blood- letting in inflammatory affections, we must name that which arises from the withdrawal of a portion of this excess of fibrine by the operation. ‘The benefit, however, is frequently not so great as might at first sight appear, arising from the cir- cumstance that so long as inflammation persists, there is a suspen- sion of the vital functions of the affected organ, and consequently a constant accumulation of fibrine, none of that substance being consumed for the nutrition of the diseased organ, In diseases of the opposite character to those just alluded to, this important element of the liquor sanguinis is diminished in uantity, often sinking below even one part in a thousand. lace a deficiency of fibrine is associated with typhoid fevers, as likewise with many other diseases of an asthenic nature; which are not found to yield until an increase of the fibrine begins again to take place., In the cattle plague of Eastern Enscee-iea pathology of, which terrible scourge was recently investigated and reported on by us to the Society, the presence of the materies morbi in the blood leads to an exudation of the fibrine from the capillaries of the mucous membranes. The blood of such patients does not clot after death, but remains perfectly fluid in all the larger vessels, and particularly in the veins, from being thus defri- brinated. Convalescence is a sure sign of the reappearance of the fibrine ; and if, at that time, blood be experimentally drawn from an animal, it will be found to form: a soft gelatinous mass, the density of mio) willilikewisedbacin proportion to the extent of the re-established health. A loss of fibrine also so far alters the viscidity of the blood, that it does not circulate so perfectly through the capillaries as it otherwise would do, which produces a tendency to conges- tions, hemorrhages, &c. From what has beer advanced it will be inferred that nutri- tion is mainly due to the fibrine, and as an appropriation of it., for this purpose takes place in the systemic capillaries proper to each organ, so, on comparing its quantity in the arterial with that in the venous blood, a slight difference will be observed. According to Miiller the proportion is as 29 to 24, the larger amount necessarily existing in arterial blood. Chemically considered, there is not much difference between albumen and fibrine, ead on the contrary, both the physical and vital properties of the two. fluids vary, as we have seen, to a very considerable extent. Much more might be said respecting this constituent of the blood, but it is unnecessary to add to these remarks, except to state that united with the serum, as we find it within the vessels, it constitutes the true liquor sanguinis, Pp 2 212 On the Composition of the Blood. We shall now proceed to a consideration of the red cells —the colouring matter of the blood. : Tue Rep Certs.—It has already been said that the redness of the fluid is entirely due to certain cells which are floating within it, commonly designated the red particles. These bodies exist in such vast numbers, that many hundreds may be said to be present in every drop of blood, and it has been estimated that, on the whole, they constitute no less than an eighth part of the entire quantity of the circulating fluid. The discovery of the red cells is‘ said to have been made by Malpighi, a celebrated Italian anatomist, who flourished in the latter part of the seventeenth century. Since his time they have excited the liveliest atten- tion on the part of all investigators of the blood, which has led to a more complete knowledge of their structure, as well as of their uses in the animal economy, than had previously existed. The aid of the microscope is indispensable even for obtaining cognizance of their presence, and our more extended knowledge of them is, in a great measure, due to the improvements which have of late years been made in the defining powers of this instrument. In man, and in most of the mammalia, the red cells are circular in shape, but in birds, reptiles, and fishes, they are oval. The exceptions to the circular shape in mammals are met with in the camel, the alpaca, and their allied species, in which the cells have, as in birds, an oval form. It is not to be inferred because the red cells are round that they are therefore globular shaped bodies; for, having flattened sides, they rather resemble the form of an ordinary coin. Correctly speaking, even their sides are not flat, but slightly concave, so that the cells may be described as bi-concave circular discs. This is their more general, and it may be said perfect shape, but as they readily imbibe fluid through their pellucid and colourless walls, so, by an addition to their contents, will their sides become first flat and afterwards convex, according to the amount of this which is absorbed. Their size is likewise liable to great variation in different animals, and even in the same animal it is not uniform, In man their diameter varies from the 3455 to zoo of an inch, and their thickness is about 75459 of an inch. According to the measurements of Mr. Gulliver, given in an appendix to Gerber’s ‘Elements of General and Minute Anatomy,’ the average diameter of the red cells of the horse is g/J5g of an inch, of the ox zk, the sheep 5,),5, the pig gu'yp, and the dog zs);5- In the goat and deer tribe they are smaller than in the sheep, reaching their smallest known size in the Napu musk deer, in which their average diameter is said by Mr. Gulliver not to exceed the y5455 of an inch, Gradation in On the Composition of the Blood. 213 their size in ruminants seems to prevail, the cells becoming smaller with the diminution of the size of the animal, This, howeyer, is so far from being the case among the mammalia in general, that it is ordinarily stated that the bulk of an animal has little to do with the size of the red cells of its blood, It would appear, however, from recent investigations of Professor Quekett that the calibre of the capillary vessels of each individual animal is to be taken as a more correct standard of the size of the red cells than anything else—the two rising or falling together, A great deal of discussion has taken place in former times, as to whether these cells were, or were not, nucleated in mammals ; different observers of equal eminence maintaining opinions the very opposite of each other, The matter is one of some im- portance, as elucidating the probable means of their reproduction. Like every other part of the organism, they undergo changes which result in their ultimate dissolution or breaking up. If then they were nucleated it is evident that they would follow the same law as all other cells of this class in their reproduction, namely, the setting at liberty of their nuclei by disintegration, which would then develope into new cells. The opinion that they possess a nucleus has doubtless had its origin in the circumstance that, when viewed as transparent objects, their bi-concave form gives them an appearance of having dark centres, from the refraction to which the rays of light are exposed, That this is the true cause of the phenomenon, is proved by placing these bodies in a fluid less dense than that which they contain, when, by their imbibition of a portion of this, the dark spot disappears; they being thus changed from ‘bi-concave to flat-sided or even double-convex discs. This procedure would, on the supposition that they were nucleated, tend, however, to bring the nucleus more into vision, The converse also is equally true, namely, the rendering the dark spot more distinct by emptying them of some of their contents, which is accomplished by placing them in a fluid of greater density than that which is located in their interior. It is a singular fact that, when viewed in connexion with the blood-cells of other creatures, those of mammals should be wnnu- cleated, In birds, reptiles, and the amphibia, the red cells possess a nucleus ; they are also very much larger than in the mammalia, a circumstance which affords many advantages for the study of their structure, &c., in these creatures. The proportionate quantity of the red cells to the other con- stituents of the blood has already been said to be as much as an eighth part. The quantity, however, is liable to much variation, depending on certain conditional states of the system. In animals of robust health it is always large, as also in those that are well fed and which undergo a fair amount of exertion 214 On the Composition of the Blood. and breathe a pure air. Wild animals are said to have a rela- tively increased quantity when compared with domesticated animals, especially such as are placed under circumstances the very opposite to those we have just named. Dr. Carpenter, in his ‘Manual of Physiology,’ says that it has been ascertained that even sex has its influence over the number of the red cells—the blood of the male possessing a larger proportion than the blood of the female. He also states that, estimating 1000 parts of the blood of a male to contain 132 parts of red cells, this quantity may rise to 186, or fall to 110, without the manifestation of disease; and that in the female, taking the average at 120, it also may rise to 167, or fall to 71, without producing any untoward results. Facts of this kind are of the first importance to the pathologist, and hereafter we shall see the influence these changes have in rendering animals sus- ceptible to diseases which specially affect the blood; and that, while they point to the means which ought to be adopted for the prevention of disease, they render distinct also those which should be had recourse to for the restoration of animals afflicted therewith. Important as the red cells may be in maintaining the health of an animal, they are evidently in so doing more immediately con- nected with respiration than with nutrition, and hence they are sometimes spoken of as the respiratory element of the blood. Their chief use is thus shown to be that of preserving the heat of the body. It is well known that all mammalian animals possess a power of maintaining a heat of their own, equal to about 99° of Fahrenheit, independent of the external influences by which they are surrounded: hence the term ‘“ warm-blooded” animals, This heat is evolved in every part of the organism, and is chiefly due to the union which is effected between the oxygen of the atmospheric air and the carbon of the system, leading to combustion, with its necessary evolution of heat and the forma- tion of carbonic acid gas. A second cause of animal heat is to be found in the union of oxygen with the hydrogen of the system, forming watery vapour. By some it is likewise considered that electricity plays a not unimportant part in the production of the heat of the body, while others have attributed a portion of it to the changes which are ever taking place in the conversion of the fluids into solids in the building up the frame. ‘The latter, how- ever, would appear to be quite equalised by the reconversion of the solids into fluids, which is as continuously being effected. The red cells are the chief conductors .of.oxygen into the system, as they are also the conveyors of the carbonic acid out of it; and in order to perform these essential offices, it is first necessary that they be brought into tolerably close contact with On the Composition of the Blood. 215 the atmospheric air, which is effected by the passage of the blood through the lungs. By the act of inspiration the atmospheric air is conveyed by the windpipe and bronchial tubes into the air- cells of the lungs, where it is only separated from the blood itself by the thin walls of the air-cells and those of the capillary vessels which ramify upon them. The capillaries are arranged upon the air-cells after the form of a minute network, and they are so closely placed to each other, that although the vessels themselves do not exceed the 3,/55th part of an inch in diameter, the spaces between them are considerably less than this. Thus the blood may be said to be spread out after the manner of a thin film, and every portion of it is consequently brought freely into contact with the atmospheric air; the delicate intervening tissues offering no real impediment to this taking place. The oxygen being seized upon by the red cells of the passing current, is by the onward flow and further distribution of the blood carried throughout the entire body, and thus reaching the capillaries of the several organs and tissues, it here unites with the carbon of the system, evolving heat, as has been previously explained. In the expiratory act the carbonic acid gas—formed by the union of the oxygen and carbon—and the watery vapour—the product of the oxygen and hydrogen—are expelled from the system, by which means the blood, being first depurated and then reoxygenated by a fresh inspiration of atmospheric air, is again fitted for the purposes of life. With these interchanges of gases, the blood is likewise well known to become altered in its colour, being rendered of a bright red hue by the absorption of oxygen while circulating through the capillaries of the lungs, and of a dark Modena red by that of carbonic acid while in its onward movement through the capil- laries of the general system. Scarlet-coloured blood is commonly called arterial—as arteries supply all parts with the fluid for their support—and dark red blood is designated venous, being found within the veins after it has served its several purposes. In order to explain the phenomenon of this change of colour, it is necessary to state that the red matter of the cells is con- tained in their interior, and is designated hamatine. Mixed with this is another fluid, called globuline, which is closely allied to albumen in its chemical composition. With the hamato-globu- ine are found the salts of iron—to the extent of about 6 per cent. —proper to the blood; so that the contents of the cells may be said to be very complex in their nature. The alteration of the colour of the blood was until lately be- lieved to be due to a chemical change wrought in the iron of the hemato-globuline by the successive influences of oxygen and car- 216 On the Composition of the Blood. bonic acid—this existing in the form of a per-oxide in arterial, and a prot-oxide in yenous blood, More recent investigations eg however, disproved this, which is known as the Liebiguas theory, by showing that when the hemato-globuline is liberated from the cells, it does not change its shades of hue by an exposure to the gases in question; and further, that after all the iron is re- moved, its red colour still remains, The absorption both of oxygen and carbonic acid by the blood. is found to produce a physical change in the condition of the red cells. Thus by the influence of the first-named the cell-walls. are contracted or shrivelled, while by the latter they are dilated or expanded. ‘These alterations in form necessarily lead to an alteration in the refraction of the rays of light, and it is now thought, that the bright-red hue of arterial and the dark hue of venous blood are mainly due to this simple cause. The action also of carbonic acid on the salts of blood contained within the serum is said to have an influence in producing the Modena red. colour, In concluding this part of our subject we may incidentally direct attention to the fact, that the inhalation of ether, chloro- form, and other similar aeeinene agents, produces a dark- coloured blood, which is found under such circumstances to be flowing not merely through the veins, but the arteries also, and of necessity but imperfectly supporting the various functions of organization and life. We come now to speak of the only remaining constituent of the circulating fluid, which it is necessary to direct special attention to, namely— Tue Wurte Corruscies.—These bodies, although exceedingly numerous, are considerably less so than the red. It has been. computed that about one white to fifty red cells exists in a healthy state of the system, and in almost every other respect the white differ from the coloured cells. In size they exceed them ;; for while the average dimension of the red cell about the 3s/p9th of an inch, these measure as much as the 5,55. Their form also is different, the white cells being globular-shaped bodies and not flattened discs. Again, their contents are found to be granular when viewed with a microscope, which gives. them a dark dotted-like appearance totally unlike the red cells, Physiological anatomists are not agreed as to the origin and use of the white cells ; but by most they are regarded as identical with the cells which are met with in the chyle before this fluid is. mingled with the blood proper: and certainly they would appear not to be essentially different from chyle cells when micro- scopically examined, Some haye viewed them as ministering: On the Composition of the Blood. 217 directly to nutrition, by the setting at liberty of their contents, which are then found to have a tendency to fibrilisation ; while others have thought that they were the elaborators of the albumen into fibrine. Others, again, consider that they originate the red cells by a higher degree of development, and this probably is their chief use. The circulation of the white cells through the vessels is slower than that of the red ; and as they are often found close to the sides of the interior of the capillaries, as if adhering thereto, and out of the principal force of the passing current, this circumstance has given support to the view of their ministering immediately to nutrition, The opinion receives some further confirmation from the fact that wherever active development is going on, there is always found a relatively greater number of these cells. The blood of plethoric animals is rich in white cells: besides which these bodies seem to have a remarkable tendency both to: increase in number and to accumulate in the vessels when diseases of an inflammatory nature supervene on such a state of system. In that abnormal state of the blood also, which is. ordinarily termed buffy blood, and which belongs especially to many inflammatory affections, the white cells help in a great degree to make up the so-called sizy or buffy crust of the blood. We thus see that variation in their number and also in their comportment within the vessels takes place when disease exists, showing that they, in common with every other constituent of the blood, undergo important changes under such untoward circumstances, We must not, however, anticipate that which has to be stated with reference to blood-diseases; and, therefore, having now described the chief constituents of the circulating fluid, and shown the several important offices which each fulfils in the promotion of health and development, we purpose to conclude the present paper, intending in our next to speak of the circu- lation of the blood and the phenomena connected therewith, with an especial view of explaining the pulse and the changes it undergoes both in frequency and character, depending on certain morbid states of the system. Besides this, it is our in- tention to direct attention to some of the maladies which have their origin in a changed condition of the blood itself. (To be continued. | (° 218») XIV.—On the Feeding of Stock. By P. H. Frere. TueE object which I have in view in the following article is to speak of those modifications in the management of stock which the experience of the last eight years, in connexion with the changes of the times and the gleams of light cast upon the subject by scientific research, has induced me to adopt, reserving for a future occasion an account of those changes in the culture and cropping of the land which were in unison with, if not a necessary consequence of, the system adopted. This paper may be considered as the first portion of a retro- spect of the management of a light-land arable farm, in a dry part of England, better suited for the growth of corn than for pasture or even roots; consequently, the conclusions drawn and the estimates of cost involved will at best admit of exact appli- cation only under similar circumstances, not only in the soil and climate, but-also in the cost of labour both of men and horses, varying as these do both in the weekly wages paid or expense incurred for keep, and in the amount of work executed at that cost. The farm in question consists of 460 acres, running in a long strip from the high grounds in Cambrideestine which border upon Essex and Suffolk to the old limits of Newmarket Heath. It is all arable, with the exception of about 8 acres of indifferent meadow. About 80 acres on the higher ground are slightly capped with clay; 210 acres on the slope are a light chalky loam, and 160 are heath-land, varying from a brown sandy loam toa black heath sand, resting on a chalk rubble. My ‘chief encouragement in taking the farm into my own hands in 1851 was derived from Lord Portman’s account of his management of Shepherd’s Corner Farm, in Dorsetshire, as stated in detail in the fourth and eighth volumes of the ‘ Journal.’ My aim was not so much to reap an immediate profit, as to avoid loss, and look to the increased value of the stock and crop, as well as of the land itself, for my ultimate reward. I believe that I have realised this aim. I believe likewise that more sanguine expectations would have met with disappointment. In comparing my home management with the most approved theories of modern farming, I shall plainly state the chief points of conformity or divergence without always justifying my prac- tice. In some cases, if the master had been more at home, and at leisure, more of change would have been attempted. What was done was carried out by a practical man, responsible to his employer to make the farm pay its way, and consequently left to -On the Feeding of Stock. 219 act ultimately upon his own judgment. The course taken, there- fore, was in the main such as approved itself to the mind of the practical man, not the experimental farmer. Stock.—I give the precedence to this branch of farm manage- ment, because of late years it has been the surest staff on which the farmer could lean, because rotations and cultivation must accommodate themselves to this object, and because though all are conscious that we can no longer rely as heretofore on the corn-crops for paying the rent, perhaps none of us have been able sufficiently to throw off the trammels of custom and association, which led him to look for profit first to the stack rather than to the stall; a view which the unreasonable custom of taxing the turnip-crop with the duty of doing all the scavenger’s work for the whole rotation, besides leaving a dressing of manure behind without any allowance made, tended greatly to foster. With regard to stock, both soil and situation led me to look to the sheep rather than the ox, and very little examination of the results of feeding sufficed to justify this preference. The custom of the district, which consists mainly of arable- land and grows a great breadth of straw, was, and still is, to buy lean beasts in the autumn at fairs, and either to fat or sell them fresh in the spring. I have tried this system in many ways, but could hardly ever arrive at a satisfactory result. At the very best, the price made by the bullock when fat only amounted to four-fifths of the purchase-money and cost of food on the average of a lot, but more frequently only to three-fourths or two-thirds. If I went into a fair I had a dread of bringing home pleuro- pneumonia as the consequence of heating and chills from over- driving, if not as the result of direct contagion; or else of buying beasts that had been so unequally kept that they would not answer the whip when put to good food. Stock bought at auctions on farms of established character made exorbitant prices, and even then, perhaps, the event proved that the animals had, in anticipation of the sale, been too much pampered for steady feeding. If the stock were “held over” and sent out to graze in summer, a risk of infection was incurred, and no security obtained for an adequate and steady supply of feed, The conclusion, therefore, at which I arrived, was to keep no more beasts than I found necessary for making my straw into good manure, and, as far as might be, to rear my own stock from the first, buying nothing but the very best calves that I could procure, with the conviction that a difference of 5s, in the price of a calf will often put 5/. on to the value of a good 3-year-old beast, the food being the same. These calyes are kept in small lots from the time of weaning 220 On the Feeding of Stock. up to the last, and do not often disagree. T hey rarely go outside the yards, and if a flush of grass in spring tempts us to let them have a run with the cows we generally repent it.* Mown sainfoin affords them a cooling food in summer, and if a gap occurs between the first and second cutting of this and of the clover crop, there is a small reserve of mangold to meet the exi- gence of the moment, Animals thus selected, thus reared from the first, never stinted, never forced (except for a few weeks at the last), in comfort as to their lair, their comrades, and their feeders, will sometimes pay for their food ; but this result is very exceptional where beasts are bought and fatted according to the common course of management in the eastern counties, In confirmation of my opinion that yard-fed beasts, even with economical management, successful growth, and a good sale at last, will hardly ever be found to leave a direct profit, if all expenses are fairly taken into account, I have been at the pains to trace out the history of two calves, reared on my farm and sold at Christmas, 1857, at the age of 3 years and 4 or 5 months, for 951. the pair. If the two had thriven equally well up to the last, the price would have been 100/., but, even with this draw- back, I think the picture will on the Sahel represent the bright side of grazing, these two calves being the pick of the lot, one of them possessing special powers of thriving and the price made being indubitably good for the age of the stock. I shall pur- posely leave my calculation without altering a figure, as I made it step by step and year by year in the rough draft, in ignorance how the balance would be found to stand at the last, when the sum of the items in this, one of my most successful attempts in grazing, came to be cast up. Estimate of Total Cost of Yard-feeding a 3 years and 4 months old Beast Sor Christmas Beef. 1854 to 1855, £ 1854, Michaelmas. Valuation, 6 calves, 187. ; 2months-oldcalf 3 52 weeks’ keep, at 2s, vot) sinters Sho La a ase BS 8 1855. Valuation at Michaelmas, 6 head at 7/.; the best 7/. 10s., estimated loss 14s. ' * At the present moment (June, 1860), I am informed that one yearling has probably lost three stone from going out to grass for a month, though kept in the: yard at night, and receiving a, bait of cake, The whole lot have decidedly gone back: they would not have been sent out, but that this trying winter, and this wet and cold spring, have reduced the swathe of sainfoin to about one half of last year’s bulk. On the Feeding of Stock. 221 1855 to Michaelmas, 1856. Keep per day. Per week, CECE tise. Barley-meal, 4 peck... Maul creed soekie oC Cake (rape or linseed), 3 Ibs. 5 eee ee) POORROGCcl ea - sq es ya se 08 | ws Os BA WeekeuReepratel Aialll wets ve lelases ee & 1G = 12 6.0 1856. Valuation, 6 head at 147. ; the best worth 157. : loss, Dem Gie wclian S dal yess se hoe, we se, oe de PA DG, 1856 to 1857—Keep to Michaelmas. Per day. Per week. Salads 2 peck of bean meal .. Be a) 4 Ibs. of oilcake at 15d. per stone es ceo Mustain Saat 2 10 PRULBIDGO ev twa! ae 8 we dee ce) eg wa wer RO , BAAWeRKS KEG AG edi S045 eal Pies ee rack S =420, 16, 10 1857. Valuation (nominal) 357... 1. .© co «se os art 0 1857—Keep from Michaelmas to December. Per day. Per week. Sara Specks ofmneall\ wot aer(r ies est % wate gerih es Tht 6 Ibs; of cake .. aid ou 9 Turnips, 1 bushel at ha. See eet ec se pL) GO Meany, IMRES Ce OSS cee oy, ve te ice eee LO OiwecrsMkeep at Tash Wi. heaven sel car ld 10 = 6 -4..6 Price made tii. MOSS A see pid as cee LOLUNCOS tee LL 3G The price put upon the barley-meal in the year 1855-6 is calculated as follows: 4 bushels of barley (worth with grinding about 16s.) will give about 22 pecks of meal. To fix, therefore, the value of 34 pecks of meal, we have— Pecks. Ss. Pecks. Fide) CA a Ss ae : Stu ids 16x35 56 a) A aw aes 2 6 nearly. At this price I think the barley-meal cost more than it was worth, but it is not set above its value at that time. The price of the bean-meal is thus arrived at: it is reckoned that 4 bushels of beans will give between 19 and 20 pecks of meal, The sack of beans and cost of grinding are valued at between 19s, and 20s., so that one peck of meal is taken to cost nearly 1s. 222 On the Feeding of Stock. The cake eaten by the young stock in 1855-56 varied with the season of the year. In winter some rape-cake was used; in summer, linseed. Not to overburden the estimate with details, a mean value between the price of linseed at 1s. 4d. per stone, and rape-cake at 11d: per stone, has been taken, which, allowing for a little waste, may be fairly set at ld. per lb. The turnips are valued at 24 Md. a bushel, allowing. 40 heaped bushels to the ton—or at the a of 8s. 4d. per ton. If we now proceed to criticise this estimate, the first objection that may be made to it is that the quantities are estimated partly by measure, partly by weight. Our practice has been amended of late in this respect, so that, when practicable, all quantities are now taken by weight. When this is generally done, and a uni- form standard of weights: established, we shall generalize more easily, if not more safely, ' than we can do at present. Ist. As to the estimate of 5/. 4s. for one year’ s keep of a calf from 3 to 15 months of age, it is not easy to-give this calcula- tion with more precision. The calves were supplied at first with malt-combs, bran, ‘oil-cake, and meal mixed with cut hay without stint. ‘The quantity consumed was always varying and steadily increasing, They soon ate 1 lb. of cake a-day, and pro- bably for the last six months 2 lbs. per day ; or, at last, if other nutritious substances hke-bran and ee were withdrawn, at the rate. of 3 lbs. of cake per day.* The valuation only shows a loss so far of 4s, when the young calf has been valued as high as 45s. ; so that thus Yar ‘I think there is not much to..be. dissatisfied with. But when we come to the next year 1855-56, the keep allowed was not judicious : the half-peck of barley-meal at 2s. 6d. was a mistake, but the prospects of stock-farming were encouraging, and a desire’ was felt to push the young beasts on: ‘The allowance of food tine would have been substituted for this in 1858-59 would have been pro- bably— For Yearlings. Per week, Per day. a Val, Slbs. oficake .. .. Pree ih Ih ate) 2 lbs. malt-combs or bran on het OU Site ROOtSROLIStOVCr i s- es as ep OG 11 or say 3s. Od. Imsteadtots; ss) 9 eee 4 9 The cost of cake, but not that of keep, meh be diminished am summer when green stover came in, * According to an estimate of Mr, R. Bond (at the Discussion of the Central Farmers’ Club, Dec. 1858), calves, from the second to the eighth month, should be charged at the rate of 1s, 6d. per week; and from the eighth to the fourteenth month at 2s, _ t Or at the rate of about 5 guineas per ton. On the Feeding of Stock. 223 Now this estimate of 3s., instead of 4s, 9d. per week, for the second year’s keep would make the difference -between 12/. 7s. and 7/. 16s. on the year, or of 4/. 11s., and leave us with only a loss of 12. instead of 5/. 11s. on the picked animal, valued at 15/. at 2 years and 3 months old,—a value as high as is, I think, com- monly attained at that age by animals kept in good store condition. If we now proceed to, the year 1856-57, the fattening process may be considered to have commenced, id that under densi circumstances ; for, as meat was scarce, a butcher had promised to give 50J. a-piece for the bullocks in 15 months’ time if they were fatted to his satisfaction,—an encouraging offer, as the weight attained would not probably much exceed 100 stone, of 14 lbs., so that the meat would cost nearly 10s. per stone. The butcher was highly satisfied with the quality of the meat, which I myself also proved: it was nicely mottled and quite fat enough. This is noteworthy, because many..will think that the beans, and consequently the albuminous element supplied, had undue promi- nence in the diet. I can only say that repeated observation of benefit received from mixing or substituting bean-meal for that of other grain, has led to its constant use on the farm at some inconvenience, because beans are not grown on the land and are not plentiful in the neighbourhood, If my experience differs from that of others in this respect, a reason may be found in the fact that I mix meal and cake almost exclusively with cut straw-chaff, whilst others may use hay freely for the purpose ; and in my case the albumen in the bean may be required to supply the defect of nitrogenous substances created by the sub- stitution of straw for hay. The supply of two-thirds of a peck, or between 8 and 9 lbs. of unmixed bean-meal is not, however, a practice to be upheld. Under like circumstances the propor- tions would now be thus varied :— Ibs. Ibs. Instead of bean-niesh. PsGvc sees #00) |oecan-meal tse 8 sy) Oul-cake) “e.. .... --.. f4 |..Wheat or Perlogeay meal Dipace'S . — | Oil-cake ce era 12 — aS would be substituted. - The whole cost of keep famiehed!. to a 2-year-old would now, except for special reasons, but little exceed that of a yearling, costing in winter— Per day. Per week, Ste Ge 2 Ibs. of cake (rape, cotton, or peeeetl atabout Id. .. 1 2 2 Ibs. of meal, at 13d. per stone Be die dt 2 lbs. of malt-combs and bran... .. ate 2 OES Turnips, 2 bushels, at 24d. .. .. OFS Say, 3s, 6d. per week oo on YE 224 On the Feeding of Stock. In summer, if green stover is given, or a little mangold, according to circumstances, the cost with some 2 or 3 Ibs. of cake will not be much reduced. I shall show farther on, that on such keep well-conditioned stock may pay their own way, espe- cially if the times give them a little help. Coming to the keep given in the last 9 weeks of preparation for the market, which hag been estimated above at nearly 14s. per week, the experience of 1859 would both vary the materials and diminish the cost. The allowance made last autumn, under like circumstances, was— Per day. Cost per week. 2: ads 6 lbs. of linseed «. (8stoneat 15d.) 3 9 6 lbs. of meal, half bean, half wheat, at ld. a 3 6 6 Ibs. of hay .. .. (8 stone at 54d.) 1 44 6 Ibs. of locust-beans (61. “Lbs. per ia 3 stone, at 10d., nearly .. bee) cee tee 2 6 84 lbs. of swedes pelted ticeriteas . (88. per ton*) 2 of 13 2 It will be observed that here the albuminous substances are nomen oe sO * Ce caog 9 all ale} 9.0. seu el aie eae rea eam +P) We have seen’ that their ‘cost has been ‘at least 221. 9s. 8d., so that 8s. 6d. is the lowest price that can save us from material loss even under these favourable circumstances. But in these estimates no account has been taken hitherto of the value of the straw eaten, the cost of cutting it into chaff, the cost of attendance, or. of.insurance against risk (no trifling con- sideration in these days of pleuro-pneumonia) ; all these are out- standing charges against the manure account. And first, as to the expense of cutting straw into chaff, the author of our Prize Essay estimates this at 6s. per ton, and he is right in the main even where horse or steam power is employed; he puts 4s. per ton as a minimum price when the work is done under the most favourable conditions. If then we assume that the beasts receiving no hay consume 20 Ibs. of cut straw in a day, or 140 lbs. per week ; the cutting this quantity at 6s. per ton would cost 43d, per week ;* at 4s. it would cost 3d., or if done by hand 63d.;{ and we must ask further, what is the difference between the value of the straw, and that of the excrement derived from the straw ? On this head, however, our information is very imperfect ; for ,Ton. s. 1:62: 1402-4) ibs. st. ‘cwt s. d. Ors Des x20 Ox 123: 1407s 7Ay 3: , ; 12 x +4 12 ee S02 = 3x— 44x 8 xZd 8 3 9 = 3X = 5 = 454, Our custom is to pay for this by the score of fans at 3s. per score. The fan aa of six bushels, weighing about 63 lbs. a-piece, or 39 Ibs. the fan, We fore have, therefore, eh 8. 39 xX 20: 3:: 140: A. & d. 7 _3x12x He % 39 X Be = = 63d, nearly, On the Feeding of Stoc'. 227 Practical men have failed hitherto to examine and collect those data from which alone conclusions could safely be drawn, and consequently scientific men have not been armed for those inves- tigations which would belong to their province of research. But farmers cannot wait until science has spoken authori- tatively ; they must act directly, and therefore their practice must be guided by the safest approximate estimate which they can form. On the question of the value of the excrement derived from the consumption of 1 ton of straw as food, there will not, I think, be as wide a divergence of opinion as on that of the worth of that same amount in its primary state as straw. Those who set the highest}value on straw for feeding pur- poses rest their views chiefly on the supply of carbonaceous matter which it contains, and its fitness for digestion, assimilation, and combustion tn the animal economy. The worth of the residuum would, in their view, depend chiefly on the minerals contained in it, to which they might not attach so much import- ance as writers of a different school. Hence those who put the highest value on the straw may pos- sibly put the lowest on the residuum. All, therefore, whether they value straw at 35s. per ton, or at 20s., may concur in estimating the residuum at about 10s. per ton, and in charging the stock with at least 10s. per ton for the nutriment extracted, the only point with which we are here concerned. At this rate the animal eating 140 lbs., or 10 stone = ~ of 1 ton 10 x 12d, per week must be charged i = 7d. for straw con- sumed in a week. The item of attendance yet remains to be assessed. A man at 11s, a-week, with a boy to help him at 4s. (in all 15s.), will be wanted for 30 head of stock, giving an average cost of 6d. per head. : We thus arrive at a charge of For straw consumed is » expense of cutting straw » attendance [ie ali Wie cen, awe per week as an outstanding claim against the value of the manure. If, further, we adopt the ‘estimate of the author of the Prize Essay on Straw, that a beast fed in box, or covered yard, makes 1 ton of manure per month, and allow 8s. per ton as a fair value for manure of such quality; if, moreover, we allow 24 lbs. per Q 2 228 On the Feeding of Stock. week for litter required in a covered yard, or, in round numbers, 1 cwt. per month at 1s., we shall have the following charges against the manure account :— sa tid: 4 weeks’ chaff-cutting and straw for food » 4810 4 weeks’ attendance, at Gd. <5...) ts) esl cel ae OO Straw used for litter, about 1 ewt. .. 1B) TiO s. ‘a, Value ofmanutre ) 5) 925), ae como Per contra outgoings... .. GY leaving us only 1s. per month as insurance against risk and losses, and for profit. This estimate is based upon the quantity and value of manure made by feeding in boxes, because such is the only manure of standard value in which the proportion of excrement (liquid and solid), litter, and water, can be accurately determined ; but the question before us turns solely on the value of the excrement, which depends only on the food given, quite independently of the amount of water or litter with which it is combined. If the water be nearly doubled, and 1 cwt. more of litter provided, at the extra cost of 1s., the 2 tons of manure thence resulting would be fairly valued at 4s. 6d. each. We have hitherto been looking at the comparatively favourable side of the picture of stall-feeding, let us now take a case in which the unfavourable features predominate, yet without the intervention of any disaster. The lot referred to consisted of seven young beasts, of which one home-bred (neat, but small) was by a bull of Mr. Jonas Webb ; two others were purchased for me by one of the best farmers in Cambridgeshire by auction, at the farm on which they were reared, and kept by me for one year as store-beasts, and the re- maining four (very well-bred young stock) were bought in like manner at a sale close to home, ready to be fattened, and con- sidered to be well bought by a very well-known Cambridgeshire farmer, who was himself a purchaser at the same time, and about at the same rate. ‘These details are material, because success in grazing does no doubt greatly depend on the judgment shown in the selection of store-stock. My detailed account will commence only from Michaelmas, 1859; but a retrospective glance over the year 1858-59 will be also desirable. At Michaelmas, 1858, my home-bred, No. 1 of this lot, was valued at 11/.; Nos. 2 and 3 were bought shortly after Michael- mas, at 13/7: No doubt these latter were bought very dear; at such a rate as to make the purchaser hesitate; but store-stock On the Feeding of Stock. 229 were high at the time, and disease very prevalent, so that it was important to secure healthy animals whose antecedents were well known; it may, however, be admitted at once that they cost 1J. per head more than they ought to have done. On reference to the memoranda of the year the following entries are found :— Store Beasts—Keep per day. Per week. S. 1d. 4th week—12 lbs. of linseed cake per week .. ee 12 lbs. of rape cake per week 0 10 Chives or malt-combs, 4 bushel .. 0 6 | bo for) 10th week—18 lbs. of linseed, instead of 12 Ibs. 18 lbs. of rape, instead of 12 lbs., with a consequent increase of 8d. in the cost. 20th week—6 lbs. of bean-meal per day substituted for the oil- ‘cake, &c. On this basis, therefore, the keep cannot be estimated (exclu- sive of straw, chaff, and litter) at less than 2s. 9d. per week, giving a total of 7/. 3s. on the whole year. The home-bred having been valued the year before at 11/., and increased in value to 15/., shows Bat Ge Againof .. SoTea ct an oh ite meta Ot O To meet an expenditure ates 10 geetl AGeO And consequently a loss on the year’s s ‘feeding of i a owe. 0 I find Nos. 2 and 38 valued in a lot of seven at Michaelmas, 1858, at 14/. a piece; they were worth 2/. a~-head more than two of this lot, but rather less than the other three, so that they can- not have been set at more than 15/., showing a rise in price of only 27. on the year, and a loss of 5/. 3s. in consequence partly of the general fall in the value of stock at that time, and partly of the dear rate at which they were purchased. I will now give in more detail the expense of the keep of the 7 beasts during 28 weeks from Michaelmas, 1858, the mean time of their feeding, as they were drafted two or three at once at the commencement of the 28th, 29th, and 30th week from Michaelmas : : Cost of 7 Beasts. Ln) Ser Os No. 1.—15l., home bred ate. ee “Same ee HOMESCOLCHY ory seen we Res’ as | AD OO 55 51" ditto aay ve ACh EVOO a 4-161. , bought second meek i in 1 October sang ee 55 5.16, £ ditto - ay ree Le 2 ae . Las. a oe oa oe nc oc An ee 7191, 12s. ; } 2) 80,0 230 . On the Feeding of Stock. ee Sane) ‘Brought)forwardis i... see) tes “OZ 4056 Cost of Keep. nit 7 weeks from Michaelmas for the 3 first beasts, 313 6 at 3s. 6d... ae "} 6 weeks’ keep of the 4 Tast bought, ae he The cost of 7 beasts before tyingup.. .. « 1017 6 =1017 6 Keep per day. Cost per week, See 8th week—3 peck-of wheat-meal .. S$) co. en) 0) 4 lbs. of cake, 15d. Ree stones. is, ae 2 Turnips, &c. 3 49 eG To 18 weeks’ keep of 7 beasts, at .. 9) 040790 21st week—2 peck of meal (wheat and bean ager 5 38 4 Ibs, of cake .. cy 2 6 4 of fan of cut hay + gsr! ocehinopaael ae Swedes, 5 bushels per week : ih (0) To 3 weeks’ keep of 7 beasts at .. .. 10 = 10 15 8 3 24th week—6 lbs. of meal oe 6 lbs. of cake... a. ah, Sekdee MCE el eaee CD OS lbs: of locust bears’. <. “sc. wen eo soe LG ik @) Hay, as before Swedes, as before .. 5 weeks’ keep of 7 beasts, at .. .. Cost per head ee Se. Pee Aly 83 (0. Average pricemade .. » ... 2210 O uogsiperhead) “Fe in. ee «6 LS NO These beasts were sold in one lot at an average of 22/. 10s. per head, but we had our own estimate of the weight and value, which was as follows :— 3 Stone * : No. (14 Ibs.) £. 8. h& 1 2.) eoebSiworthWatiSeGa«. . 2D 1 16 Disc deseo * a oe pe eelOO Suse emo os + ah set 24h10) <0 * & sgl a a5 4 Tomo 210) db Bec) teed Pe 59 ae. wo, Le 6 in. me 40 a y) nea see ce DOMED Rise! (eee ee + As ican s)eilsy 1) 7) 359 157 1 9=Cash £15710 O Average 51 stone 4 lbs., making, at 8s. 9d. per stone, 221. 8s. 6d.,, or very nearly 22/. 10s., the price given. _ Now if these estimates were not correct, at all events they On the Feeding of Stock. 231 indicated impartially the comparative weight assigned to each beast ; and if we refer back to the estimated value of each at the commencement, we shall see how much the result varies in each instance in an economical point of view. The cost of keep for the 3 first beasts for 28 weeks will be found to be 117. 9s. 9d., or say .. Swe we Sw Agd tothis their primeetst .. ~~. ws we ws Ce, CL DO And the total outlay perheadis .. .. .. «. « 2610 0 Indicating in case of No. l.alossof .. .. Rs ce nee |G i £3 Rion Noss On Serre RUE Gag 30 @ ai sit CORUNOUIS Ofbeaig ty Semel peal lash, (2 oO. 0 But the case stands very differently with the four last. These are severally chargeable for keep with 12/.:— ERS 7d: The priceiof No. (Sjwas: .6 1. ee ee 616 OO Add keep se Tae op Mas Peel Wr 5 Fert TE 0 ERICEMN EN ey ac! ive Yeieufl «se het cen oe ee 10 GRCRIVALUC, oe Cee Soe oc ioc: ROMMEL OAD Mosseure “lode Led ca8 actlBee Rome enero: ume i—_— ji _— — 1 120} 130 10 133 3 140 7 136 | —4 16 2 114 118 re 117 | -1 127 10 135 8 21 3 lll 117 6 116} -1 127 11 133 6 22 4 101 lll 10 109 | -—2 118 9 124 6 23 5 99} 108 9 108 0 114 6 127 13 28 6 99 102 3 104 |, , 2 114 10 127 13 28 7 97 102 5 104 2 113 9 120 ii 23 8 97°} 102 5 103 1 113 10 118 5 21 9 96} 100 4 102 2 112 10 115 8 19 10 94 99 5 985) — 1 106 8 112 6 18 | | | | | 9 | Totals} 1028 | 1089] 61 1094 5 | 1184} 90 | 1247 63 | 219 * Rather more than £, of the live weight, Food. A Sei Bile Ei: Rape-cake, 5 weeks, 34 stone, 67. 10s, per ton .. 014 38 Linseed-cake, 3 weeks 1 day, 9/. per ton .. Lien0: 3 Turnips, 4 ton per week, at 6s, per ton é 110 6 Value of Lambs, Feb. 15, 35s. ... ; LOO 2015 O Price, April 27, 50s. - 20) 0) 0 Profit™ 5. ee oe ay 0) 1853.10 Hogeets on Linseed Cake. No.of | Weighed {-Weighed | Weighed Total Gees. vena. March 15. ER Koa 12. eee Trina 1 123 135 | 12 144 9 Rata 2 109 122 13 133 11 24 3 107 | 116 9 128 12 21 4 107 116 9 123 7 16 Bera) S06 114 8 119 5 13 6 105 112 7 124 12 19 7 | 104 110 6 119 9 15 8 98 108 10 116 8 18 9 97 102 5 111 9 aes 10 94 100 6 109 9 is: | | ee ree | a — —_——_—— —— ————S— Totals. .7| 1050 | 1135 85 | 1226 91 176, | | Food. Laas Linseed-cake, 7 Ibs. per day, 65 days, at 9/. per ton oe OL RO Swede turnips, 15 or 16 lbs. a-piece per day, a 10 cwt. per week, 91 wecks, at 6s. per ton DE sh M0) 10 Hoggets at 35s. os 17 10 0 Cost... AE - ZO elo nO Sold, April 2ist .. on 2D VOMNO Profit 5:0 One good result followed from the experiment being pro- longed after the rape-cake was abandoned, namely, when Lot 1 was put to linseed-cake, and immediately began to show a larger increase of weight than the other lot, it became at once manifest that the bad success attending the use of the rape-cake was in no way due to the animals which had been experimented upon. The immediate object of the next experiments was to decide upon the expediency of rearing half-bred lambs, the ewes being On the Feeding of Stock. * If the 5 tons of turnips consumed be valued at 8s. instead of 6s. per ton, their cost will be increased, and the profit consequently diminished by 10s. in each instance. On the Feeding of Stock. 245 crossed with a Leicester ram. ‘With this design a ram was bought of Mr. Powlett in 1853 and put to the inferior Norfolk ewes, that inferiority being often in point of colour, not of size, and consequently a matter of fancy. The question to determine was whether the cross-bred would have so much the advantage in wool, and in early maturity, and weight for the butcher, as to compensate for the diminished value of the ewe-hogget, which would be no longer in request for breeding purposes. The decision was against the cross-breeding : because although the gain in meat during the process of fatting was considerable, still the growth during the winter was less vigorous, and the value ultimately attained not greater. The effect on the wool was dis- appointing, amounting. only to the difference between 584 lbs. and 60 lbs. on 10 fleeces in one year, and that between 66 lbs. and 69 Ibs. on 11. fleeces in the next: a difference which the improvement since made in the wool of the black-faced breed would quite efface, as our ewe-hoggets now average 7 Ibs. throughout in a good season, and selected fleeces weigh 9, 10, and 11 lbs, apiece. To determine these points, in February, 1854, one lot of 10 black-faced and a second lot of 10 half-bred Leicester and black- faced hoggets were put into two pens. and fed alike on swedes and linseed-cake for 2 months and 11 days. At the commence- ment the first lot weighed 62 lbs. more than the second ; at the end 8 Ibs. less., The butcher reported that the dead weight of the former 10 was 652 lbs., that of the latter 668 Ibs. ; showing a difference of 16 lbs. in dead weight, corresponding to one of 8 lbs. in the live weight, and all this in spite of one of the second lot being ill, without which drawback the aggregate weight of the second lot would probably have been increased by 20 lbs. In the following season, 1854-55, the comparison between the half-bred Leicester and the Norfolk was renewed. The selected lots were weighed in July and September, that any variations in the earlier growth and development of the two breeds might be noted, and an eleventh supernumerary hogget was added to each lot to guard against accidents. Every sheep, however, throve well, so that the trial was in this respect thoroughly satisfactory, for the lots were very level and the progress very uniform. It is to be remarked that lot 2—that with Leicester blood — weighed 8 lbs. more than lot 1 in July; but in September the scale had turned by 10 lbs. in favour of lot 1. At midwinter this had increased to 57 lbs. in favour of the hardier sheep; but again, by the 15th of May, under the fatting process and in a milder season, the advantage of lot 1 had diminished to 15 lbs. The two lots, when sold, were considered by the butcher to be: of equal value: lot 1 the turn heavier, but lot 2 rather more 246 On the Feeding of Stock. ripe. Further experience, therefore, told rather in favour of the black-faced sheep, which had started with no advantage, gained more in winter than they Jost in spring, sold as well, and left within 3 Ibs. as much wool as the other breed. Each, lot made 50s. a head out of the wool; the average weight, reckoning the percentage of meat in 100 lbs. of live weight at 54 lbs., would be nearly 79 lbs. at the end of the experiment, or a little over 10 stone at the time of sale, after a fortnight’s run at grass, on which the sheep did not thrive. The season was not so favour- able for sale as some, but still the debtor and creditor account shows a gain of 3/. 18s., or nearly 3s. 6d. per head; but the turnips were only charged at the “time’s price” of 3d. per week. If they had been charged at 4d. per head, the profit would have been reduced by 17. 18s. 6d. A careful examination in this season of the result of feeding hoggets, classed according to their size and forwardness, led me to adopt a practice (which I have since continued) of selling my cull lambs for the market price, and holding the best. We have seen that— Loss. , Gain. Leystas £.s. d. 22 picked wethers showed a gain of .. BO. ut 316 0 The next best 40, with 2 deaths, showed ¢ a losstof; st * q vel O yao avis The next: best.40 a gain re Sa dba, [os oes 3.6 8 The next best 25 i actin ear othe 0 0 0 The next best 22alossof .. . . « 48 8 cates Moreover, four more deaths occurred, which cannot be exactly assigned to the several lots; but undoubtedly they fell chiefly, if not exclusively, on the two weakest classes. It will be seen that in 1854 the butcher reported the dead weights of the 22 experimental sheep; he was doubtless im- partial between the two breeds experimented on. His report is, I believe, trustworthy in other respects, though he probably did not weigh until just before cutting up the carcase, The ewe-hoggets were always weighed at 11 a.m.; by this time they were full of food, which will account for the proportion of meat, at 15 months of age, not exceeding 54 per cent. The question remains, what proportion did the meat bear to the total live weight when fatting commenced, say in January? I regret that I have no data for a correct reply, and cannot say whether 48 or 50 per cent. would most nearly represent the true ratio; yet upon this point must depend the total gain of meat during the process of fatting. With these explanatory observations it is hoped that the fol- lowing tables will be intelligible. On the Feeding of Stock. 247. Taste I.—Showing the Live Weights of 10 Black-faced Wether Hoggets at the dates stated below, with Rate of Increase and Weight when Dead.—1854. Feb, 14) March 14. {I April 11, [In mists Dead’ | contage ‘ F se, ; ibecneae ag | . 14, rch 14, |Increase p crease x aa) 5 [Increase,| weight, ene age Ibs. lbs. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs.» lbs. 123 134 11 142 8 142 oe 78 54 116 121 5 132 ll 135 3 71 52 109 118 9 132 14 126 6 67 53 105 114 9 125 ll 122 3 67 54 Hot 104 113 9 125 12 122 3 65 53 104 113 9 120 @ 120 Ar 63 52 103 lll 8 118 7 117 1 61 52 103 107 4 115 8 116 1 66 56 96 106 10 113 7 113 oo 55 49 94 101 7 112 11 112 30 59 52 Total > é etait 1057 1138 (81) 1234 (96) 1225 XT 652 |10)527 Wool 58} Average 52 The same for a Lot of 10 Cross-bred Leicester and Norfolk Wethers.—1854. , Fasted Dead Per- Feb, 14.) March 14, {Increase.) April1l, Increase. and Shorn; /Increase. Weieht,| centage | April 22. | Bn. of Meat. Ibs. lbs. Ibs. lbs. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. 110 122 12 152 10 132 e 72 54°5 108 118 10 131 13 132 1 re 54°5 104 118 14 129 11 132 3 72 54°5 101 116 15 128 12 130 2 67 Lob Lot 2. 98 116 18 128 12 127 —1 70 55°1 98 115 17 128 13 125 —3 69 55*0 98 112 14 126 14 124 —2 68 a5" 2 94 110 16 123 13 121 —2)| 68 56°2 ) 93 103 10 117 14 116 -1 60 ale 7 91 | (Il) 102 11 | C111) 106 4 | (Ill) 94 —12} 50 53°2 | ee 995| 1132 |(137)'| 1248 | (116) 1233 |(—15)| 668 | 541-4 Wool 60 Average 54°]4 24 On the Feeding of Stock. TABLE IJ.—Showing the Weights of 11 Black-faced Wether Hoggets at the stated intervals.—1854 & 1855. i | Fasted and July 11. Sept. 21.) Jan. 19. Feb. 16, |March 16.) April 13.) Shorn; April 17. Ibs. lbs. Tbs, Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. 96 99 126 136 138 159 142 89 CHES I alt) 130 137 159 141 88 94 115 127 131 155 140 88 94 112 122 130 144 131 85 93 111 121 129 143 130 Lot 1. 84 90 110 118 127 140 127 80 88 107 114 121 139 127 80 88 103 112 119 139 126 lr 49 85 101 Ty 116 133 122 79 83 100 106 114 128 1138 78 80 94 104 109 128 112 nor } 926 | 989 | 1199 | 1301 | 1371 | 1567 | 1411 weight Besides a3 926 989 | 1199 1301 1371 wool, Increase 63 210 102 70 196 Average | : z ae 3 weight \ 84 90 109 118°3) 124°6 142°4 128 | | rn 66 wool Increase from May 15 Jan. 19 to May 15. Ibs. lbs. 168 2 161 41 158 43 150 38 147 36 145 35 141 54 140 37 135 34 132 32 130 36 Eee et ~ | Totat 1607 Pete } ios 1567 40 Average bs: increase The same for a Lot of 11 Down and Leicester Hoggets at the stated intervals. —1854 and 1855. | | } Fasted and | Increase fron» | July 11.|Sept. 21.) Jan.19., Feb. 16. March 16. April 13.*| Shorn ; May 15. | Jan.19 | | April 17. | | to May 15. lbs. Ibs. Ibs. | lbs, lbs. Ibs. lbs. Ibs. lbs. 95 95 INS} sO 142 156 139 162 47 89 95 110 | 122 132 144 130 146 36 88 93 108 | 117 127 142 126 146 38 85 90 LOZ a 125 141 125 145 38 85 89 105 117 125 141 125 145 40 Lot 2. 84 89 105 | 116 124 140 125 144 59 84 89 104} 115 123 139 124 145 39 82 87 102} 1138 123 137 122 142 40 82 86 99 112 121 137 120 140 41 81 84 94 111 119 | 1386 120 140 46. 80 82 93 | 107 117 135 119 139 46 soe \ 935 | 979 | 1142| 1277 | 1378 | 1551 } 1375 1592 450 weight i Besides wool, a0 935 979 | 1142 1277 | 1378 oe 1551 Increase 44 163 | 135 101 173 “6 41 Besides wool 69 | | * J was not present at this weighing, and doubt its accuracy. On the Feeding of Stock. 249 Tanne III.—Estimate of the Cost of Feeding 22 Hoggets, 11 Black-faced, and 11 half-bred Norfolk and Leicesters in 1854-1855 1854. ESAS GE Value of 22 hoggets at Michaelmas, at 31s. per head 34 2 0 Keep to Jan. 1, 1855, at 3s. 9d. per head : 4 8 0 16 lbs. per day of linseed cake, at 10 guineas per ton, “ok 13 weeks .. .. ie Ontong 6 2 lbs. per day ditto, at. tr. per ton, for 8 weeks . 612 0 Turning for 21 weeks, at 3d. per head per week 5 15 6 Cost of keep until the end of the experiment ba ge WA AW) To 2 weeks’ keep at’grass with linseed cake .. .. .. 114 O 59 8 0 Per Contra. ; a Seats Price of sheep .. =e cee ep DOOR O Wool, 4 tod 23 lbs. at 34s, ber Soe Asse (One eG) 63 4 0 Lay tsi 1a: Motalirecelpts), |<} Lecu; ive Ves sacsaq Con ae O CGS eer as tea sspethcspeiy cote hey cvs! Ode Loh LO Profit 316 0 I now come to the general account of the cost of the breeding and dry flocks, and of the profit made on them respectively. And, Ist, of the breeding-flock. For the purpose of comparison, I shall again avail myself of the calculation made by Mr. Bond for his flock of 500 ewes, as given in the description before alluded to. Mr. Bond states that he has seen reason to substitute Hampshire for Southdown ewes ; that his practice is annually to buy 2 and 3 shear sheep of this description, which will rear lambs for three or four seasons, and then, as he states, to fatten them as crones up to the value of from AAs, to 54s. per head. His estimate of cost is as below, the food being charged at cost price :— Goes eee Attendance, .. . som SO OREO Autumn quarter, 3s. ‘per week | per § scor@ .. 43-15 0 Winter quarter, 5s. s 5 so OL BORO Spring quarter, 15s. % as 243 15 0 Summer quarter, 10s. 9 A oo L62R1ORNO PM, eas eek DOH 0 Tey. Ce Ce | 80 O10 DOPE ME Se ee oop fo +4, ove, GOO. 0 | ~] oo for) or foo) 250 On the Feeding of Stock. Per Contra. Lou she xd, Produce— 1857—600 lambs (at about 29s. 6d. es oe) bs) (SOe SONEO Wiool,, Gltods' 3. (2 oe tie GAA, 10) 30 Total. “den! Sev tee eee OZS a aU BO Cast! na) oe eerg) wows TEER SRKO Rohit est ces inn) bigs 0 aol) QODATE EO £.. $85 00. 1858—650 lambs, 60 tods of wool eS Oe Ome Cost a cies tou LOOMIOMED, Profit: j. jes os tee UesueecoomloMEO This statement (as well as the details of management and the arguments which it sums up) is generally so correct that on most points it may be adopted as the basis of our calculations ; but one item seems either undercharged on the one side or over- estimated ‘on the other. It is calculated that the crones—now 6 shear sheep—after bearing 3 or 4 lambs on the farm, are to be sold fat at the same price at which they were originally bought, towards the end of the summer quarter. During this quarter,(which may be taken to occupy the time from the middle of May to the middle of August), only 10s. per score, or 6d. per head, is allowed for both ewe and lamb (or lambs), Of this sum nearly 4d. would be required for the keep of the lamb, leaving 2d. for that of the ewe: quite enough to keep it in a store condition, but not to prepare it for the butcher. Between one-third and one-fourth of this flock of 500 ewes is drafted annually ; so that, making due allowance for deaths, fully 6 score crones will have to be fatted and an extra cost incurred, which in my case would not fall short of the following item :— s. d, For cost of extra keep of 6 score crones, for 13 weeks, at 10s, per score Sos oe sep OUR MOP EU Mr. Bond’s pastures, however, may enable him to realise this result more economically than I could do.* The charge for the spring quarter (from the middle of February to the middle of May) of 15s., or 9d. per head per week, seems ample. Two verifications .of this are appended, applying to crops of turnips on very weak soils. * It may also be observed that Mr. Bond makes no allowance for expenses of washing, dressing, shearing, and sales, for which in my case 20/. will be charged. On the Feeding of Stock. 251 1859, March 19th—Cost of Keep of a Ewe Flock, 13 score. ’ Cost per Week. Lae stu Os 2 acres of white turnips (a poor crop), at 27. or 83d. per head... Sle on nee Ss Ope O Malt-combs, 1 sack per day Rite Nice ree? Hasome eile ling” 6 Wheat chaff, Sianiper day’. ah) cet ean, OEM, 3 (yriiyne 12) Meal, malt-combs, and bran, for lambs, 4 stone per day, at 1s. per stone See te! vee wil OMeO i hOmeo (Per score, 11s. 7d. nearly.) Later in the season, when the flock was removed on to some of the poorest land in cultivation, the account stood thus :— Cost per Week. Se Sie Os 43 acres of turnips, 33¢. per head a OPO MowtUoroil cake eo. ee foe 'TO85. Od. @harged to the land} ... . « 28 O 47 0 Charged to flock.. .. pel eit eae SO Malt-combs, 2 bushels per ‘day in enstn | site OTD. a Wiheatchat asabover™ <.) (cs oo oe OU S Lambs’ food, 4 stone, as above ie” ae SA Sad Zee) (Per score, 14s.) In this case the inferior quality of the roots called for an extra supply of artificial food, which was given as much for the sake of the land as of the flock, and hence the deduction made. It will be observed, however, that we have still the margin be- tween 14s. per score of expenditure and Mr, Bond’s estimate of 15s. Or again, the following statement will fairly represent the total cost in one spring quarter :— Artificial Food. 4 weeks, 1 ewt. of rape cake per day, 28 cwt. at 7s, (nearly Dine « Ho pe Dy Oo) 4 weeks, 4 bushels of beans per day, at 4s, 6d. Bap Cy Wy En) O 5 weeks, Zasbushels' of beans per'dayy «ks 4. 20. oe §6=—2'5 15 0 — 13 5019 O MP 198. 59 475. 6a _Average of artificial food per week 1B si) * Cost of cutting by hand 35 fans, at 3s. per score AB 8 Loss on the straw, 12 ewt. at 6d. 4. « su ose OO (An outside estimate) — Ws As the season advanced less straw chaff would be consumed, and the saving effected would furnish increased supplies of meal for the growing lambs. 252 On the Feeding of Stock. Cost per week in Spring Quarter. Et Average cost of corn or cake ‘East, LO Turnips so On ree MDE Ssh gy 2b Cut chaff (average) So a) @ 4 stone of meal, &c., for lambs a 1 oo Kone E73 SOOO Average cost per week sy og. W) aley 0 Or within 2s. of the estimated cost for 13 score ewes at 15s., viz. 9/7. 15s. Having thus to a certain extent substantiated Mr. Bond’s esti- mate as a very liberal allowance for keep in the spring quarter, I will adopt his rate of charge for the three other quarters and compare my own balance-sheet with his. But I must first explain that I keep 265 ewes, breed all my own, selecting the best for my own use and valuing them at 10s. per head above the price made of the remainder when sold. We reckon the average value of the ewes kept to be 55s.; this year (1860) they are worth 65s. They will breed 7 lambs, and be better mothers to the last than to the first of these; they are then worth about 26s. as crones. The flock has been estimated at an average value of 45s. per head. ‘The cost of rams is very vari- able. Sometimes we give 20 or 25 guineas for a lamb which does us hardly any service; sometimes we buy one for 10 guineas, which stands us in good stead for three seasons. ‘The actual cost incurred for rams bought, hired, and bred during the last four years was 195/. 5s. The average loss of ewes is esti- mated at 10 a season, worth 45s. a head. More have been lost by a supply of over-succulent food after lambing than in the lambing-yard. The losses for these last six years, as well after as before weaning, have been:—1854, 6+3 =9; 1855, 1142 =138; 1856, 7; 1857, 7+1=8; 1858, 18; 1859, 15; giving an average of over 11 a year, which excess is due to want of caution in 1858. About 50 lambs are left as ram-lambs, involving an extra cost for keep amounting to 10s. per head; part are sold at the end of July, and all on sale are disposed of by the beginning of September. The old rams sold, together with the fleeces, pay for the keep of all the rams. The following is then my calculation of ones — * Varying from 10s., as above, to 5s., seuhatng to the coldness of the weather. On the Feeding of Stock. 2538 : Sionuse Gi. Attendance .. dence ce 0. 10 Keep of 18 score ewes, autumn qui arter, ‘at 3s, perscore 25 7 O o> a winter quarter, at 5s. perscore.. 42 5 0 “ . spring quarter, at 15s. per score "12615 0 summer quarter, at 10s. per score 84 10 0 Extra Keep for 50 ram Lambs ssa tp lOs ie seer siicct mas) ee com OO Tnterest.on 6502. (ewes 600/., rams pee (o:'h G6h leer. OM Loss, 10 ewes at 45s... sa ee co aa LO) 0 Rams ts RSMo ee! Se Sse OO SOM © Draft of 45 sheatlings, at BBs. : sepebest, GIZ3Vit5 oxO Expenses of sales, washing, shearing, and dressing oe PAD (Oy 0) 586 2 0 On the other side of the account we have in 1858 :— £iii Sadi 89 ram lambs sold ee epe so Wait panded ade 4 huss OG! O} a0) ae he tas, 4dr 0. 10) bats SOc as ies) ae cs ds pals awe gO OD. Le: 90 cull lambs sold ae eae wee toe he LUO LOO 195 lambs kept as hoggets, at 35s., and accounted for in the next YORE we | ee eae pen ioe 341 5 0 Crones, 31 at 22s." .. Se co pote O Ewes’ wool, 40 tod 13 Ibs., at 29s, Sota cater Wate Sah 343 Total of lambs.—Total receipts .. .. .. 77614 0 EXPCHSESIM thee? lao)? vas, ey OCOL Mo nO Profit .. sot io) seamen LUO Th. 10 Tn 1859. Leitsnh.d 43 ram lambs sold Po Mrto.) ct cor eet pepe mee ca CIO) 2 ditto kept Rees Meth oa. ashe dd eee LO (ONO SRRRUBIRINOME (es y ch ye jes et Ss we LO oO 65 cull lambs sold SPL eset a eee ClO 201 store lambs kept, at 35s... cb no co Louslealay 30, Hwesewool,.dftod,at 39s, .:. ... <= T2383 .0 Crones (say) 30, at 25 5s.t 65 boy) Bod Bast PenBes RO) 320 Total No. of lambs.—Total receipts .. .. 786 3 0 Hixpensesifi ter 4% + Suc! O86 <2) 20 Profit... sep iccsbanct (DOF pile AO Mr. Bond’s gain of 2917. 15s. in 1857, and 2331. 15s. 1858, shows an ayerage profit at the rate of nearly 22 per at on 12007. of live stock. The above statements, on the other hand, show an average price of 242 per cent. on a capital of “g Sold early in the quarter, so that their keep is charged in excess. + An unusual number of crones were drafted in this year ; but as on the other side of payments the draft of ewes is taken on on average, the entry for receipts from crones must be adjusted accordingly. 254 On the Feeding of Stock. 650/., with larger allowance made for the cost of replacing the ewes and other contingent expenses. I now come to the other branch of sheep-farming,—that of preparing wethers for the butcher or shearling ewes for the flock. About 200 lambs are held over the winter, at an average value of 35s. a-piece, or 350/. for 200 lambs. Nearly 120 of these are ewe-hoggets, the remaining 80, wethers, such as are left after the 50 best male lambs have been selected as rams. -The ewe lambs are the more valuable. If 38s. 6d. be the price put on 120 ewe-hoggets and 30s. on the 80 wethers, the aggregate value will be 351/. instead of 350/., and the comparative worth of the two classes fairly represented. Both lots live together until the end of January, and are kept in good store condition for the sake of the staple of the wool as well as for the growth of the young sheep. If they live entirely on turnips, they probably consume 14 ewt. of bulbs per head per week (besides leaves and stalks), or at the rate of 22 lbs. per day (we have seen that ina yard, with two-thirds of a pound of cake, hoggets ate 16 lbs. of turnips). If artificial food were given, this consumption would decrease. If we value the turnips at 6s. 8d. per ton, 14 ewt. would cost 6d. per week, a sum much higher than the customary price of the neighbour- hood warrants, even for swedes when consumed on the spot. Such a value, therefore, can only be regarded as new or theo- retic, adapted to.the present times, when roots are no longer to be subsidiary to corn, but to pay their own way. As the season advances, however, the hoggets receive nearly half a pound of rape-cake per day, which may be considered to increase the cost of their keep by 2d. a week. If, however, we take a comprehensive view of the 20 weeks, beginning from Michaelmas, during which the ewe and wether hoggets are together, we may fairly balance the earlier weeks, in which rape and white turnips are eaten at a cost of 4d., against the later weeks, when swedes and rape-cake cost 8d. a head per week, and consider 6d. a week as an ample average estimate of keep throughout the entire period. Besides the cost of keep, losses by death and other small expenses should be allowed for. I find that the losses from 1856 to 1859 inclusive were 9, 4, 6, 5 respectively, and the average sum received for the damaged stock about 2/. If 6 be taken as the average number of deaths, and 2/. as the price of each lamb lost, 122. will be the value of the lambs, from which 21. may be deducted for sale of skins and carcases, leaving a loss of 10/., or of 1s. per head on 200 hoggets. Dressing the hoggets will cost 17, 10s., washing and shearing 2/. 10s.; a charge of 5d. per head will cover these expenses. The cost of keeping the ewe-hoggets from the time of parting On the Feeding of Stock. 255 to Lady-Day may be estimated at 6d. per head per week ; from that time till the end of July (when they are sold or put into the flock), 4d. per head. The wethers are fatted on richer food and sold in the course of May. It will be expedient to make out a separate debtor and creditor account for ewes and wethers, which will be drawn up on the same basis as those already given, but more briefly stated on account of the length to which this paper has run, Such being a general scheme of the cost of the dry flock, we may test its accuracy by rendering a distinct account for special seasons. In 1858 no minute records of changes of food were preserved ; the season was not very favourable, and, as will be seen, a good price being set upon the turnips and contingent expenses allowed for, no profit was made. The account of the wether and ewe hoggets is kept distinct, that each may tell its own tale; the fatting sheep being most beneficial to the farm if the direct return made by them be nearly equal to that derived from the ewes. 1858.—Debtor and Creditor Account of 190 Hoggets. Michaelmas, 1857. s. d eye: Gs Valuation of 190 hoggets, at 35s. per head : 3382 10 0 62 wethers,'at 30s. .. .. 98 0 O 122 ewes, at 38s. ae Mad ZO LGM sO 6 losses by death .. .. 714 0 —. 332 10 0 Payments. Cost of 62 wether hoggets, at 17.10s. .. «2. Keep of 62 wethers, per head, per week, &c. :-— POMWECKS HAN OA. “145 san -2s «0s £0°10) 0 WAWCEKSMaISHs) » al ae se 2. 0 8 0 IAMGVOMONSes es) Gs es ws es «(COC OO Expenses, shearing, dressing, &. .. O O 5 PNGRENGHNCG as) os. 2s ec Oeydl ¢f Total keep of 62 wethersat .. .. 1 1 O0O=65 2 0 Totalpayments .« «« -« © -«. « 158 2 0 Receipts. For 62 wethers, soldat 48s. .. .. £183 6 0 7 For wool, at (nearly) 7s. 5d. per head , 28 0 0 —— 156 6 0 Uo Ve ae es 116 0 On the Feeding of Stock. Payments on account of Ewe Hoggets. ee Saas 122 ewe hoggcts, at 38s. curr Som ee ac 231 16 0 Keep of 122 ewe hoggets, ne head, Py ee &e. :— 26 weeks, at 6d... 3 ae EO) WoO 12 ditto, at 4d. Se Oa Share of losses.. eS eeeies OO: aLaO Expenses, shearing, Oy Og, G8 OO sS Attendance Op lee Keep of 122 ewes, at .. 1 0 0122 0 0 Total payments! 4..9-ue-| 92-1 Ge. te ee ODOR OME Receipts. oy SNM. CSP a7: For 70 inferior ewes, sold at 46s, .. 161 0 O For 50 picked ewes, at 56s. .. .. 140 0 0 301 0 0 Wool, at (nearly) 7s. 6d. per head.. 45 11 O Totaltreceipts™ “tay eee see ces eens eee 346 11 0 THORS: Aes See es Vices, Wee Weems Tea (0; No. of hoggets, 6. Losses by death, balance of valuation 714 0 Allowed for keep, 5s. per head 1s Kee (0) 9 4 0 Allowance for losses, 1s. per head on 184 hoggets 9 4 0 Received for damaged stock, ‘Yas | We San Seo fs 312 0 121630 Dedudt" «e642 57% oc2t se eee eee es le 9 4 0 Pixcess:op allowance 28), 26 Fecetyens) veer one! det 3812 0 coor tere Loss on wethers Wo) Ditto on ewes ese 3) Ce 1 Texcess of allowance for losses 3 12 0 Totalilossa ese een mecca tee ce DD 10 Wool. Wethers Us: GRR Senn ee dy, 296 10) 08 wes iS |. Reem hee eee 4D: al OO Received for 43 tod 15-lbs. at 31s. 6d..cash..... 68 11 0O On the Feeding of Stoch. Cost of Wether Hoggets—1859. (or 3s. per lead.) £. d 59 lambs, at 30s. $8 10 0 19 weeks’ keep, at 6d. for ‘59 hoggets 28 0 G 5 weeks, with 3 lb of cake, at Si. for ditto 91% 0 4 weeks, with 1 lb. of cake, at 10d. 917-0 Share of losses, at 1s, per head 219 0 Share of expenses for dressing . DeAs 5'6 Attendance 3. 50) 0 Total payments .. 145 8 0 Reecipts. £. Rs d, For 59 sheep, at 46s... 135 14 0 For wool, 59 fleeces at 8s. 6d. 2, hb 6 160 15 6 Expenses . 145 8 0 Profits on wethers i {6 (or 5s. per head.) era Cost of Ewe Hoygets. fa ae 129 ewe hoggets, at 38s. Sete Seis 245 2 © 26 weeks’ keep, at 6d., 129 ewes .. 83 17 0 16 weeks’ ditto, at 4d. on 34 8 0 Share of losses, at 1s. per head 6-940 Share of expenses .. 213, 9 Attendance (besides the shepherd). HOY 0) 0) Receipts. £3 aait ad: Price of 2 ewes, at 47s. 6d. . 118 15 0 57s. 6d. Sie: wal 2G Wool (ihe balance) 8s. 6d., nearly . 5. DORON MO 401 17 G6 (Osteo ech Pedal tiga sOCa, oO RG e se et rake oe!) ESAS The following is a brief recapitulation of the points which it has been the object of this paper to establish :-— 1st. That bullocks purchased lean for the purpose of fatting leave a greater deficit in the balance-sheet than the worth of the manure made will compensate, when corn is at present prices. 2nd. That bullocks may be steadily and economically reared and fed so as to avoid a loss, and gain the benefit of the manure. VOL. XXI. 8 208 On the Modifications of the Four-Course Rotation, Sc. drd. That a ewe flock leaves a good profit when well managed, with a liberal allowance made for keep at received rates, 4th. That a dry flock may be kept without loss, or with a moderate profit, according to the season, if the turnips consumed be valued at 6s. 8d. per ton. XV.—On the Modifications of the Four-course Rotation, which Modern Improvements have rendered advisable. By P. DEBELL TUCKETT. THE object of a rotation of crops is two-fold. 1st. To alternate with the narrow-leaved cereals those plants which, from their producing a large surface of foliage, are especially fitted to extract from the air the carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, needed for the formation of the organic portions of all our crops. 2dly. By recurring to the same crop only at more or less extended intervals, to avoid the exhaustion of those various inorganic matters in the soil which are required by our crops in very different proportions, and for the supply of which we have to trust partly to the soil itself, and partly to the manures which we apply to it. The Norfolk four-course rotation, as originally introduced, consisted of— Inthe first year. (95) 2, durnips. 4 Second year 5; 2.) Barley, », third year Fe ure CLONer, >) | dourth year 3) ce) Wimeat and nothing could be better adapted to the first of the above objects. The broad leaves of the turnip and the rich foliage of the red clover, obtain from the air a vast quantity of vegetable matter, which, if the crops are consumed on the land, or returned to it in the shape of manure, remains for the production of suc- ceeding crops. ’ } But experience has proved that a greater variety of cropping is desirable, and that one, if not more, of those crops cannot be successfully grown so often as once in every four years. In considering the modifications that are thus rendered advis- able, it is proposed first, to notice such variations of the four- course shift, as retain its main feature—a fallow or root-crop once in four years; and afterwards to proceed to other courses, such as the five and six course rotations. 3 oh The great difficulty in the Norfolk four-course rotation, 1s the failure of the clover plant. If sown every four years, especially on light soils, the land becomes clover-sick, and the clover misses plant. Hence the first and now universal modification, On the Modifications of the Four-Course Rotation, Se. 259 is the partial substitution of other crops in the third year of the course, so as only to repeat the red clover once in eight or even sixteen years. In many counties it is usual to sow a mixture of white clover and trefoil for feeding, with half the spring corn; and often one or two pecks of English or Italian ryegrass are added to increase the feed, This addition cannot be recommended; for, though the quantity of keep is considerably increased, it is dearly paid for by the damage done, especially by the Italian variety, to the succeeding wheat crop; a fact which I have not only repeatedly observed myself, but which I find to be admitted by farmers in almost all parts of the country; and I believe that the admixture of ryegrass is rapidly decreasing in the best-farmed districts.* If grown at all, it is far better to sow Italian ryegrass as a dis- éinct crop. Various reasons are assigned for this failure of wheat after ryegrass ; but, without discarding all other causes, I think there can be no doubt that ryegrass is too nearly allied to the wheat plant to be a good preparation for it. But even, without ryegrass, we can reckon upon a better crop of wheat after mown clover, than after grazed seeds; and many agriculturists consider a better one still after clover twice mown. This fact, though generally admitted, is at first sight somewhat anomalous ; but it appears to be explained by the large amount of roots formed by red clover, when allowed to stand for hay, White clover and trefoil would not, of course, under any circum- stances, produce so much either feed or root as a good plant of red clover; but keeping the plant constantly fed down from spring to autumn, must naturally check its development under ground. If, as has been stated as the result of experiment, the weight of roots per acre is more than doubled by letting the elover stand for a second crop, we have an amount of vegetable ‘matter, principally derived from the air, which forms a valuable flressing for the following crop of wheat, though it cannot, of course, supply the place of the inorganic substances carried away ‘am the hay crop. * Necessity has compelled me to sow rye-grass largely and repeatedly on soils too light and poor to grow clovers with any certainty ; but hitherto I have had no cause for regret. Under the management adopted the land has improved in the production both of corn and of green crops. The rye-grass is always folded off by sheep in hurdles and is stocked early, as soon as it begins to flower. With these precautions no evil results need be apprehended from this crop. In a moist season on a burning soil its produce will far exceed that of any other plant ; whilst the thick bed of roots which it leaves behind is of essential service in improving the mechanical condition of such a soil for the following corn crop. The evil influence of this crop depends on its seed being allowed to ripen, a process so rapidly performed as often to take the farmer by surprise. On the same soils all attempts to grow rye as a green crop, whether for mowing or folding off, were :attended with evidently injurious effects on the following corn crop.—P. H. F. s 2 260 On the Modifications of the Four- Course Rotation, Sc. From the above considerations I am inclined to think that considerable benefit would result from allowing clover or seeds to stand till they have made considerable growth, and then folding them off like rape or any similar green crop. I am aware that in a backward spring this would be apt to try the: patience of the flockmaster ; but, especially on light soils, where: shading the land in summer is an advantage, I should expect an increase both of feed and of vegetable matter left im the soil as the result.* The trifolium incarnatum may sometimes be advantageously substituted for clover, I have found it very useful, when clover has missed plant, sowing it on stubble after harvest, and har- rowing and rolling it im. It yields a large crop of rather coarse hay. * T entirely concur with the author in the opinion here expressed. The use of hurdles and a fold has enabled me much to increase my stock, and yet to dispense with hiring feed; whilst in the late hot summers my sheep have had an abundance of keep, when some of my neighbours’ fields were nearly as bare as a fallow. When we once admit the advantage of letting a crop grow unchecked till it is fit for the scythe, for the sake of the ulterior benefit which may be derived from the full development of the root (independent of that of the blade, as in this case the land is robbed of the upper growth), the advantage to be gained from allowing the plant to attain maturity in cases where the upper growth is likewise to be turned to account upon the spot as dung, can never be gainsayed. There is no special virtue in the seythe’s edge; the stumps of plants left by the sheep’s tooth will be quite as favourably cireumstanced for renewed growth as if they had been mown, if only judgment be shown in regulating the fold according to the weather, so as to eat off the feed just “to the right pitch.” The reason of the benefit derived from allowing the plant freely to develope itself is obvious. Each leaf that expands is a new mouth—it is a feeder as well as food. A store of leaves is to the plant its stock-in-trade ; the closely-gnawed root struggles on like an insolvent tradesman, who is never allowed to acquire capital, and consequently can never thrive; whilst, to the freely-growing plant, the more it has, the more is added, until it attains its full growth and is ready for the process of fructification, from which point its constitution begins to deteriorate for the purpose of food. The only drawback or limit to the use of the fold arises from the fact—lst. That lambs dislike restraint. 2ndly. That it is distasteful to them to fold the same ground a second or third time. It may, however, be observed on the Ist point that lambs of the improved breeds are not nearly so restless as the older races, and are more easily trained to bear restraint; and, on the 2nd, that where summer-soiling with green food is carried on, as well as a good breadth of land reserved for hay, it will not be hard so to shift the lambs’ feeding-ground that they shall not have to go twice over the same piece. The field first fed may be afterwards cut for soiling, whilst that mown for hay will provide after-feed for the lambs. Experience will soon show whether the after-growth springs most freely after the scythe or a properly-regulated fold. It is probably not wise to combat the natural repugnance of the lamb to feed after the fold; for this instinct may be a safeguard against evil influences, too subtle for our philosophy in its present state. The mortality which in some districts has of late carried off many of the older lambs has been attributed to want of attention to this warning, nor can any more plausible reason be assigned for the loss. The degree, however, to which the surface of the land is tainted probably varies according as the soil is wet and tenacious or dry and porous. On sandy soils lambs may be folded twice without injury ; and the older sheep, being less dainty and more hardy, may generally follow where the lambs have fed before.—P. H. I’. On the Modifications of the Four-Course Rotation, §c. 261 Sainfoin to stand for one year only has been substituted by Mr. Coleman for clover on the light sands and chalks of the Earl of Leicester’s farm, at Holkham, and he assures me with very satisfactory results. He recommends sowing one-third of the spring corn with clover, one-third with inate and sainfoin in place of ryegrass, and one-third with sainfoin alone, taking care that the clover follows the sainfoin in the aa ae course. It has hitherto proved almost impossible, on these remarkably light sands, to insure a crop of clover; but by this change the difficulty appears to be to a great caepait overcome. The red clover is found to stand muc ih better, and although the sainfoin seed costs about 30s. per acre, Mr. ‘Cok eman finds he can in- variably grow more feed than will cover the extra expense. The quantity of seed used is four bushels per acre in the husk. Mr. Coleman has sown it on barley in April or May, rolling the ground previously, so as to insure a firm seed-bed, w hii is very important, and only just covering it with soil. On clay soils beans or peas may be advantageously alternated with clover, taking in the third year :— One-fourth .. .. Red clover for mowing. One-fourth ... .. Seeds. Two-fourths .... Beans or peas. This course is very commonly adopted on the stiffer soils of Buckinghamshire, the eastern counties, and many other districts. It is true that the bean crop is not a very paying one, taking into account its expense and uncertainty, but it leaves the land in a much cleaner state than clover; and on mixed arable and pasture farms on clay soils, where winter food is scarcer than summer keep, I think the general experience is in favour of this course. On the farm of that justly celebrated agriculturist, Mr. Hudson, of Castle Acre, | have seen a crop of peas followed by turnips. The peas were Mintoe’s Early Grey ; they were cut at the end of July, when not quite ripe, and laid out on an adjoining clover ley to ripen ; and by the employment of a large strength of horses, the field of 16 acres was manured, ploughed, and sown with turnips the next day, I have alluded first to the modifications in the third year of the four-course shift, because it is in that part of the rotation that they have been most extensively introduced ; but it is not only the cloyer crop that needs a change. It does not fall within the province of this report to discuss the causes of the extensive destruction of the turnip crop, whether by fly, fingers and toes, or mildew; but I think that the great increase of these diseases in those districts that have long grown 262 On the Modifications of the Four-Course Rotation, Sc. turnips, does suggest the desirability of cultivating a variety of green and root crops. There can be no doubt that, with our improved implements, autumn cultivation and artificial manures, a crop of tumips may be grown on any land, however stiff, provided it has first been thoroughly drained; but the damage sometimes done in wet seasons by the treading of sheep in feeding off, or by the carts and horses, when the crop is drawn, seems at present to limit the breadth that can be profitably cultivated on such soils. Both rape and tares are extensively substituted for a portion of the turnip-crop, and on many soils with decided benefit. ‘The former can generally be fed off before the land has become very wet, whilst early sown vetches afford a most valuable supply of green food, either for mowing or folding, after the turnips are consumed, at a time of year when keep is often very scarce. I observe that the cultivation of mangold wurzel is steadily increasing throughout the country. It produces a greater weight per acre than any other of our root-crops; and, according to the analyses published by Professor Johnston, contains about 15 per cent. of solid matter, whilst the turnip contains only about 12 per cent. It is true that from being sown a month earlier than swedes, mangold requires an extra hoeing ; and that the fact of its not bearing frost entails an additional expense in getting it in; but against this may be set its exemption from fingers and toes and mildew ; and on deep soils, where the treading of sheep is not beneficial, it will be found desirable to grow as much as ean be readily drawn off and secured before the early frosts, On chalk and limestone soils, white mustard is not an unusual green crop. I have found it very useful for late autumn keep, sowing it as an extra crop ona wheat stubble, which may be raised by a Bentall or scarifier. Many persons recommend ploughing it in asa preparation for turnips, but experience on this point is very conflicting. In some cases great benefit has vesulted to the succeeding crop, whilst in others there has been no perceptible difference. Jam inclined to think that the effect of a green crop ploughed in, depends very much upon the amount of vegetable matter which the soil contains at the time,* and that on most soils feeding off is the most economical plan. By turning to account the choice afforded between the fore- going and other crops, and by ploughing up and cleaning as * The mechanical effect must not be overlooked. In this respect, a green crop ploughed in will exert a greater influence, whether for good or harm, than a dressing of fresh farmyard-manure. A good result may be anticipated on stiff soils if mustard is ploughed in in the autumn, and barley sown the following spring ; whereas, if wheat sowing follows immediately on the ploughing, frost may injure the wheat-plant in consequence of the open state of the Jand.—P. Hi. F. On the Modifications of the Four-Course Rotation, §c. 263 much of the wheat-stubble as possible in autumn, so as in fact to constitute a winter-fallow, the necessity for bare summer-fallows is almost removed. Still, on thoroughly heavy soils, there will be cases where a field is very foul, or the season adverse, when, unless steam- cultivation come to our aid, we must be content to go without a crop. As regards the white straw-crops in the four-course shift, the chief alteration requiring notice is the substitution of wheat for a part of the barley or oat crop. And if land be in good condi- tion, and prices offer a sufficient inducement, there is no reason why wheat should not, at any rate on moderately heavy soils, be grown after such of the root and green crops as are cleared off early enough to admit of its being sown in good season. Mangold wurzel is now almost universally followed by wheat ; and out of some hundreds of farms, in various counties, on which I have had opportunity for ascertaining the point, I could refer to but very few on which the breadth under wheat has not of late years considerably exceeded that of barley and oats together.* It is very observable that the proportion sown with wheat has extended during the last five or ten years, but, doubtless, present prices will somewhat check this tendency. Some farmers, and good ones too, take a crop of oats or barley after the wheat-crop, “thus forming a five-course rotation; but on the class of soils which will best bear this addition to the white straw-crops, few farmers will wish to increase the breadth in barley and oats at the expense of that in wheat, which is, to a certain extent, the effect of this change, whilst on stock farms the loss of green and root-crops will be felt as a disadvantage. On land, where barley is apt to become coarse, a better sample is obtained by thus sowing it on a wheat etch ; and so important is this considered in Hampshire, that it is there not uncommon to take the crop of barley immediately after the wheat in the four-course rotation, and to follow the clover with the root-crop. In the neighbourhood of a town and railway station in Essex, where special facilities exist for procuring manure. and food, I have seen the above five-course rotation carried out with apparent * It is very important for us to ascertain to what extent the wheat-plant, with its penetrating root and protracted period of growth, exhausts the soil more than barley. In the case of wheat, Mr. Lawes’ experiments indicate a great defect in the amount of nitrogen removed in the crop, and remaining in the soil after har- vest, as compared with that supplied to the soil for the growth of the crop. What account can be given of this deficiency, except that these elements have been used up by the plant in its long battle with an inclement season, as well as in the pro- cesses of flowering and ripening the seed, which are common to both wheat and barley? An experiment, recording the comparative results arising from the alter- nation of wheat on the one hand and barley on the other, with a green re i a series of years on the same land, might do good service to agriculture.—P. H 204 On the Modifications of the Four-Course Rotation, Sve. advantage, and the land kept in high condition and very elean ; but in ordinary agricultural localities | have observed that it is seldom persevered in to the full extent of the farm. No doubt the four-course shift is often followed from ne- cessity, being required by the terms of the agreement on which the farm is held; but I find that in the case of several large estates, embracing a great variety of soils, where this five-course is permitted, scarcely any of the tenants avail them- selves of it, except to a very limited extent, though they make full use of their privilege of growing beans in place of a portion of the clover. Still I think it very good policy, on the part of landlords, to give tenants the option of pursuing this system, by permitting three-fifths of the arable land to be in white straw-crops. The more liberty there is given, the more inducement there will be to good farmers to lay out money in improvements, whilst the restriction even of a five-course shift will be sufficient to act as a check upon bad ones; and it should always be borne in mind that neither agreements nor stringent covenants as to cropping can ever convert a bad farmer mio, a good one, It is scarcely necessary to allude to the five-course rotation, which is followed in some hilly districts, and on thin poor soils, where the clover is allowed to stand for two years, as this is a system which modern improvements, by lessening the difficulty and expense of cultivation, are rendering less and less necessary. The six-course rotation, so common in Scotland, has of late years considerably extended in this country ; and there is reason to believe that it would be adopted still more frequently if farmers were unrestricted by their agreements. In this case we have :— In the first year .. .. -Turnips or other root-crops. », second ,, -- 4 Barley or oats. iy Osthire ys -- «» Clover or seeds, yy | pounth ,, ai) ose, Wheat, spe umtinthy ee -. + Beans, peas, potatoes, &c. ” sixth ,, a ate Wheat. 1 have had opportunities of observing this system, as pursued on a lias clay in Leicestershire, and also on a mixed soil in Gloucestershire, and it appears to me to offer several advantages on moderately heavy soils, especially on those mixed arable and pasture farms, where the root-crop does not form so important an item in the farmer’s calculations as it does on the lighter soils. The risk of failure in the turnip and clover crops is diminished by their recurrence only once in 6 years. The reduced breadth of turnip or fallow land will generally prevent the necessity for bare-fallowing, even on stiff soils, provided that the bean-crop is On the Modifications of the Four-Course Rotation, §e. 265 kept properly clean; whilst the breadth in wheat is increased to one-third of the arable land. On light turnip-soils any diminution of the proportion of fallow-crops will probably prove unprofitable ; but it cannot be denied that clay-soils, if kept clean, are capable of producing more than one crop of wheat in four years, with turnips, barley, and clover between. In illustration of this, I may refer to an experiment made in Lincolnshire by a thoroughly good farmer, who usually adheres to the four-course shift. In the year 1850 he broke up 10 acres of inferior grass-land on the lias clay, and took 7 crops in suc- cession, Viz. :— PhS hOR names OBtss In 1854 .. .. Beans. GOs cof iaky Oats: pyigod 2.) ce ea Wheat, epleba. Ss Wheat. js, 18560 2) 5.4 Barleys Peliepore <5 |oe) a\Wiheat: | The only manure applied. was a moderate dressing of dung for the beans in 1854. All the crops, with the exception of the first, were good. I was present when the seventh—the barley of 1856—was dressed up, and found the produce of the 10 acres to be 553 quarters of tolerably fair quality. The field was by no means foul, though it was then fallowed. This also shows how much may be produced by poor, cold, clay, grass-land, if broken up—land that, whilst it remains in grass, is scarcely worth any rent at all, I should, however, be the last to recommend such an excess of cropping as the above, which must, of course, end in leaving the newly broken-up land no better than that which has been under the plough for many years. The capability of clay-soils to grow a crop of wheat oftener than once in four years is also strikingly proved by the Rev. S. Smith’s Lois Weedon Husbandry, where a crop of wheat is grown every year, the air and soil being the only sources of manure; for, however sceptical we may be as to the profit derivable from this system, there is no doubt of the fact that moderately-good crops of wheat have been grown for a number of years suceessively.* In the north of Lincolnshire, on the heavy clays in the neigh- bourhood of the town of Brigg, and on the Carrs of the Ancholme Level, I have met with two or three peculiar rotations, which come under the head of six-course rotations. These deserve a passing notice, although they are hardly likely to be adopted in other districts. K * But in this case, as in the last-named instance of successive corn crops, the wheat was grown on land lately broken up from pasture, and that not of inferior quality.—P. H. F. VOL. XXI. | 266 On the Modifications of the Four-Course Rotation, §¢. On the clay-soils the rotation is— Ist year.. .. Rape or turnips. | 4th year .. .. Clover ley. 2nd*,, .. «. | Oats or wheat; Dthiges, . Msce uicewwlOatse Ord ees ice Clover Gthy 7. cc awn) Wneats On the peaty-soil of the Carrs— Ist year.. .. Rape or turnips. | 4th year .. .. Clover. 2nd ,, =. ats. 5th ,, .. -. Clover ley. Oldies bs aes Wheat: 6th ,, .. .. Half oats, half wheat. Or, Gthayedne es son em Outise (way x5 ae jee oe Wiheata The first of these rotations is adopted from the great expense and uncertainty attending the turnip-crop on such heavy soils, the breadth being thereby diminished to one-sixth ; whilst, on the black peaty soil of the Carrs, the liability to “ fingers and toes” prevents turnips or rape from being sown so often as once in four years, and on this land clover is apt to be smothered if sown with the first corn-crop. On one clay-farm in the same district I found the following rotation pursued :— Ist year.. .. Turnips; fallow. | 6thyear .. .. Wheat. 2nd “2 -- Barley; wheat. ithe. se) aa ons Biol 5) sa co saelsh Sth x, ) i-of sane banleye Ath (ji) 4. - 2nd yearisiseeds: Sth ,, .. . Red Clover. a Oats. Oth eee. E Wheat. The small additional quantity of feed obtained from the seeds is certainly not a sufficient reason for growing oats before wheat in the fifth year of this course.* The foregoing are some of the deviations from the four-course system that have come within my own experience or observation, and I have endeavoured to point out, as briefly as possible, what appear to me to be their principal advantages and disadvantages. Amidst all the diversities of soil and climate, and the various other circumstances that operate on our choice of crops, it would be idle to lay downa universal rule ; but I think we may venture to conclude that on light soils, adapted for sheep, it will be gene- rally expedient to follow the main features of the four-course system, with such variations as may prevent the too frequent recurrence of the same crops; whilst on clay-soils the choice will probably lie between a modified four-course and a six- course rotation. * The extra feed may be the chief inducement on the lands in question; but with the moist climate and low temperature of some districts wheat following immediately after two years’ seeds runs too much to straw.—P. H. F. 33, Holford Square, London, February, 1859, ee ec 6 ne ( 267 ) XVI.—Report upon the Past and Present State of the Agriculture of the Danish Monarchy ; its Products, with Comparative Tables of Exports. By Harry Rarnats, British Vice-Consul, Copen- hagen. May, 1860. Published with the sanction of the Foreign Office. DENMARK is essentially an agricultural country; the surface of the soil offers few impediments to cultivation, and, as the king- dom and the duchies are alike devoid of mineral wealth and have but few factories, the rural population is almost excluded from other occupation than that of agriculture; but, if the source of prosperity of the Danes is chiefly confined to hus- bandry, that vocation is nevertheless varied by the cultivation of grain and plants, by the dairy, the breeding of horses, the fatting of cattle, &c. Among the causes on which agricultural prosperity depends, there are scarcely any of greater importance than the climate and the geology of a country. The climate of Denmark is, in this respect, more favourable than might be expected from its northern situation, In con- sequence of the flatness of the country, its western position, and extent of sea-coast, the mean annual temperature is higher than in many more southern countries: it is 6°58° Réaumur, while that of Berlin is 6°79°, that of Dantzic 6°31°, and that of Berne 619°. There are countries enjoying a higher mean temperature where, in consequence of severe frost, no grain can be produced. But that which in this country more especially advances agricul- ture is the favourable relation between the climate of winter and that of summer. The winter commences late, and is generally not very rigorous ; thus the laburnum and the walnut-tree grow luxuriantly here, while they are frequently destroyed by pases in Prussia and in Mecklenburg, and the vine can uncovered resist the cold better than in the most northerly vine countries, though, in consequence of the greater heat in spring and autumn, its fruit is more likely to come to maturity there than here. While Denmark has no frost which prevents the thriving of many trees and plants, its summer sun is so powerful that it ripens those fruits which do not come to maturity in milder climates. ‘Thus Edinburgh, which is situated in the same lati- tude as Copenhagen, has a mean temperature of 7:11° Réaumur, while the latter has only 6°58°, and the average temperature of winter in Edinburgh is 3° higher than at Copenhagen ; 3 never- theless, peaches seldom ripen in Scotland, while they constantly do so here. VOL, XXI, U 268 Agriculture of Denmark. Nearly all the corn and fodder crops of central and northern Germany can be produced in this country with little or no risk ; the quantity of rain which falls during the year (calculated at a depth of 20 inches), in conjunction with a suitable degree of warmth, favours the growth of pasture. If more rain fell, a large proportion of the rich clayey-soil of the country could not be cultivated. The time of the principal rainfall is also advan- tageous ; thus, it rains least in March and April—the time for ploughing, harrowing, and sowing,—and most between May and October, when its influence on the growth of corn and grass is most beneficial. 4\ Denmark is generally free from continuous drought or heavy falls of rain, nor is she much exposed to hailstorms, so destruc- tive in mountainous regions; but, as the time of harvest draws near, heavy storms frequently damage the grain and frustrate the hopes of the farmer. Though the severity of the winter is not great, still, as a general rule, field-labour is suspended from the latter part of November until the commencement of March; but in this respect there is great variety in different districts. The light sandy soil can be ploughed during the winter, provided it is free from snow or ice, and the well-drained fields may be worked a week later in the winter and a fortnight earlier in the spring than other lands. In the south of Denmark field-labour may generally be continued fourteen days longer than in the north. The result of this interruption of work is an increased activity in ploughing during the autumn, and still more in spring, so much so that these periods are frequently busier than even the time of harvest; but, for the same reason, more time and atten- tion can be given to the thrashing and winnowing of corn, and similar work, during the winter months. The Danish farmer is obliged to lay in a larger stock of winter fodder than is necessary in most other countries; as a general rule, all cattle are stabled in the middle of October, and the grazing can scarcely be said to commence until the latter part of May; sheep are generally stall-fed from the latter part of November to the close of April. The geological condition of Denmark offers few impediments to agriculture. Rocks do not interfere with tillage, except on some parts of the island of Bornholm. Cultivation is not checked by great elevations, except on the “ Himmelberg ” in Jutland, which has an altitude of 550 feet; but in other respects the surface of Denmark offers so much variety in soil that the mode of culture in one district entirely differs from that of another. Along the Agriculture of Denmark. 269 west coast and in central Jutland the soil is very sandy; on the east coast sands and clay-loams prevail; on the islands of Funen and Sealand, clay-loams; and on the islands of Lolland and Falster, stiffer clays: in many parts, especially in Jutland, are found considerable tracts of heath, moss, and bog. One of the latter, measuring about 22 English square miles, called the “ Vild-Mose,” and situated in the north-west of Jutland, it is now proposed to drain and cultivate. In some districts the marl reaches the surface; in most places it is so near that it can be used as a fertiliser without great difficulty or expense. A great many rivulets or inlets of the sea intersect the country, and the meadows on their borders are extremely rich. The formation of territory on the west coast of Sleswig and Holstein, which may be regarded as the gift of the sea, deserves special notice. Every sea ‘that rolls from the ocean towande the west coast of Sleswig and Holstein holds in suspension some fine particles of sand and clay, which are readily deposited when the waves approach the shore and lose their force in consequence of the shallows ; this operation is assisted by the presence of nume- rous small islands, against which the waves are broken. From this clayey slime (called “ Slik”) the marshes are formed. The deposit brought by each tide is extremely small; fifty years are often required to form a foot of soil, but there are cases where a much shorter period has sufficed—for instance, during the great ice-floe of 1839, when in ‘one night the deposit was 8 inches deep near Husum. ‘To assist the action of the waves, the inhabitants have thrown out low dams just under water, which prevent the deposits from being again carried to sea by the ebb. These dams are constructed of poles, branches of trees, straw, and clay. Nature, too, has rendered assistance by assigning to the sandbanks a peculiar plant, called the “ Queller ” (Salicornea herbacea), without leaves, but with horizontally shooting arms, which impede the flow of the water and become a kind of embankment for the collection of these clayey deposits. In this manner the margin of the ocean rises in the course of time so much above water that it is inundated only during spring-tide. Nature then supplies this land with an unusually fine and plentiful herbage, after which it is called “ Foreland,” and is chiefly used for the grazing of sheep. When a sufficient “ Foreland” is formed, the construction of dykes commences. The highest spring-tide known was that of 1825, which rose 19 feet dhove highwater-mark ; to guard against such a risk, the dykes in Sleswig vary in height from 22 to 24 feet ; in Eiderstedt and Holstem from 30 to 40 feet. The new dykes are substantially built, with the side towards we 270 Agriculture ef Denmark. the sea sloping, so as to break the force of the waves. The section below represents their outline. Marsh Nga "ml On the first 12 feet there is only a rise of 1 foot; higher up this rise increases to 1 in 6 or 1 in 4 feet. The top, from 16 to 18 feet wide, is called the ‘Crown,’ and serves as a highway. ‘Towards the dena they are steep, and built with terraces for the sake of strength. The earth for their construction is taken from pits, which must, however, not be close at hand, lest they should. weaken the foundation. The dykes are generally covered with grass-turf, and are placed at some distance from the sea, that they may not be exposed to its continuous action. Where this precaution is not observed the slope must be paved, but, as stones must be brought from Norway, this is a most expensive process. Already in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries dykes existed, but they were small and badly constructed. ‘The largest naEnber was built in the sixteenth century. They begin at Hoyer, in the north of Sleswig, and stretch as far as ‘ Wedel, * near Altona, a distance of 188 English miles. A piece of land ahus embanked is called a “ Koug,” and the total area they cover exceeds 900 English square miles, Within the last eighteen months something like 12,000 acres of land, near Hoyer, in Sleswig, have in this way been rescued argue sea and cultivated ; it is supposed that eighty years ago this tract of land formed part of the ocean. In the course of time new deposits have formed a fresh foreland, and new dykes have been constructed outside the old ones, and thus land has con- tinued to be wrested from the sea to such an extent that’some of the oldest dykes are situated at a distance of 9 English miles from the coast. ‘Those in the marshes, no longer necessary as a protection against the sea, are yet indispensable as highways, it being impossible to male roads on the marsh-land level, because it is frequently inundated from the interior of the country. The marsh-land being flat, with but a trifling elevation above the sea, the water from the high-land of the interior finds no natural outlet. Self-acting sluices are therefore constructed, which close as the tide rises and open again as it falls, the double gates opening Agriculture of Denmark. 271 towards the sea as soon as the exterior pressure of the tide is withdrawn. When, however, the tide has for some time been higher than usual, the water in the marshes thus headed back collects in such quantities as to flood the level in a way that would be destructive to any roads there constructed. Cottages are built in the marshes on artificial hills, or sometimes even on the terraces of the dykes; round them a few trees may be seen, but otherwise the marshes are treeless; even hedges do not exist, but the fields are separated by ditches. ‘To cross these ditches the inhabitants of the marshes (both male and female) avail themselves of leaping-poles 8 feet long. It appears singular that such gigantic undertakings as the dams, the dykes, fhe locks, &c., should pay, but yet the fact is established. The marshes of the duchies of Sleswig and Hol- stein are considered some of the most fertile districts in the world ; grass, corn, rape-seed, and beans thrive there with extra- ordinary hema iance ; whilea cow, as a general rule, gives but 8 to 10 quarts of milk daily, those in the marshes give 20 to 30; while oats and barley in good soil give 12 to 14- fold, they yield 30 to 42-fold in the marshes. I may name Mr. Exley, the eminent writer on the National Economy of Denmark, as my authority for these statements. Some remarkable features are presented by the small islands called ‘‘ Halligerne” on the west coast of Sleswig, at a distance fom the marshes of from 5 to 30 English miles. They are gene- rally inhabited, but cannot be cultivated, as they are frequently inundated at high water. The houses, or cabins, are therefore built on artificial mounds formed 20 feet high, called ‘‘ wharfs” ;—at spring-tide, however, the water frequently penetrates into the houses, and the inhabitants must then escape to the lofts, where they sometimes remain several days surrounded by he ocean, The loft, or roof, does not rest on the house, but upon strong poles driven ee into the earth; it sometimes happens that qe walls of the house are washed away, whilst the inhabitants remain in safety under the roof, but at times they are unfortunately drowned. They area tough and hardy people, who, strange to say, love their impoverished islands too well to be indueed to. remove elsewhere by the promise of prosperity. These people. belong to the Frisian race, and never marry out of it. They are neither farmers nor fishermen, but shepherds; 100 sheep suf- fice to support an ordinary family. To the houses on the. “wharfs” are attached enclosed grounds, where the sheep seek shelter at very high water; but, nevertheless, many of them are drowned. [By the side of each house is found a cistern, where- rain-water is collected; it is the sole water-reservoir of the inha-- bitants of these singular islands. 272 Agriculture of Denmark. The Danish monarchy contains at present (1860) of— English Square Miles, Arable Jand ce ome oe ice 14,520 Heaths oA - Entrance, Stable Platform, for or Stable Fiorned “ Diele.” for Cattle. Horses. Extrance. B.—GRoUND PLAN. 9 the whole building is found on one side of the “ Diele ;” in it the food for the family and labourers is cooked, it is used for brewing and baking, and for boiling fodder, willed required for the saaitley and by it the dwelling-house is warmed. In both duchies a door communicates from the platform (Diele) with 278 Agriculture of Denmark. the dwelling-house ; in this door is always to be found a large pane of glass, which enables the farmers to observe everything going on in the « Diele.” Frontage an a Yeruan Rae House in Helen and in the South of Sleswig, constructed upon an improyed system. The use of stacks is the exception rather than the rule, pro- bably from want of practical knowledge how to build them. In years of rich harvest they are to be met with, because the barns are then too confined to hold the corn; but they are so badly constructed and insufficiently protected against weather or ver- min that it is generally calculated that. corn from the stack will weigh two pounds less per barrel (about four bushels) than that in the barn. In Holstein, where the climate more resembles that of northern Germany, and is consequently more rigorous, stacks are still less in use. The social condition of the people of Denmark has been much improved since a free constitution was granted in 1848. Every subject of the State now enjoys a direct influence on the affairs. of the country, which has proved of great importance to the agriculturists, who, to a great extent, now have it in their power to remove those hindrances which, by earlier law, have been placed in the way of husbandry. The financial state of the country has also been made more secure, for-no taxes or imposts. can now be levied without the sanction of the representatives, so that it is impossible for any government, however arbitrary in other matters, to assess the population beyond its fair means of payment. The election-laws of the country seem, however, based on too extended a principle to secure to the Diet a sufficient number of members belonging to the better-educated classes. The taxes may be thus divided :-— 1. The royal taxes, required to defray the expenses of the Government in general the defence of the country, the univer- _ sities, schools, Ke. Agriculture of Denmark. 279 The county taxes: for the special expenses of the county, such as roads, schools, the salaries of the police, minor officers of justice, Kc. 3. Communal taxes: to defray the cost of the minor roads, waterworks, schools, &c. 4, Tithes: levied for the support of the clergy and the main- tenance of the parish churches, &c. The kingdom of Denmark employs a very remarkable mea- surement called ‘‘ Hartkorn,” as a basis for the proper dis- tribution of the taxes, and for ascertaining the fertility of the soil, the meaning and origin of which I will endeavour to ex- plain. Until 1664 the nobles, the clergy, and the large landed proprietors, assessed the taxes of the yeomen (Bénder), and for such pur poses ee registers of lands, with their rentals (called *¢ Land-books,” or ‘ Matriléler ?) din ‘aiieke were entered all the different hits oa splitter? in corn, money, or manual labour— which the yeoman had to pay to the lord of the manor. In these registers a special column was kept in which the collected taxes of each yeoman were transformed into an equivalent quantity of rye or barley, or, as these were called, “ hard-corn,” whence the word “ Hartkorn.” In 1664 the Government undertook the dis- tribution of taxes, but the said registers (‘‘ Land-books,” or *“‘ Matrikler,”) were taken as its basis, and this means of taxation was consequently most unsatisfactory and unjust. In 1681 | another form of register was introduced, based upon the extent and quality of the lands assessed, and consequently more just in principle than its predecessor ; ; but, as the measurement and survey were very incomplete, it failed to give satisfaction, and a new form of register (also callec “ Matrikel ’ ”) was couinenecd in various dieuriees between 1806 and 1822. This was founded on the same principle, but more correctly executed than that of 1681, and became law in 1844. The lands were first surveyed and measured with great care, and afterwards a value was put on them, or their quality stated. ‘To settle the value or quality of land ithe best soil in Denmark was taken as a basis, and had the relative numerical value of 24 assigned to it; the worst soil was 0; and between these limits all the land in the kingdom was valued. ‘Two hundred and eighty-eight thousand square feet, or about 63 acres of land, of quality No. 24, were assessed at 1 ton (Tonde) of Hartkorn; of land with a lower number or rate of taxation, a comparatively larger area was required ; for instance, of soil rated as No. 12, the quantity taken was double that of No. 24, &c. The taxation for woods, meadows, bogs, mosses ata heaths, was made, in a somewhat different manner, with reference to the 280 Agriculture of Denmark. number of loads of hay which could be obtained, or the head of cattle that could be grazed on a certain area. The term ‘“ Hartkorn,” which originally signified a certain quantity of rye or barley, has thus, in the course of time, been changed to represent a certain area, together with a certain quality of land, and to designate the basis of the land-tax. The use of ‘“ Hartkorn” as a means of assessment, forms a practical medium for ascertaining the quantity and quality of land, and is of great service in fixing the value of any particular property ; because when its area, its assessment in “ Hartkorn,” and its stock of cattle, &c., are stated, a fair idea of its value is obtained. The taxes of late years on a ton of ‘ Hartkorn” may on an average be taken, at from 31. 6s. 8d. to 31. 11s. 1d., and be thus subdivided :—Royal and county taxes, 1/. 7s.; communal taxes, ll. 4s. 9d.; and tithes, 12. 2s. 6d. to 11. 7s. This makes an average of from 18s. to 1/. per individual on the whole population of the kingdom; but if to this be added the town-rates and the indirect taxes, paid both by the town and rural population, taen the annual taxation of the kingdom may be calculated at 1/. 11s. 6d. to 11. 16s. per head: an assessment which the general prosperity of Denmark readily admits of. As the “ Hartkorn” is a relative expression for the fertility of the soil in the kingdom, it is not without interest to state its distribution :-— Acres Tons of ; of Land. Hartkorn. The Island of Sealand .. .. (with its districts) has 1,663,027, with 113,778 i iHumen!” fre. a T51,747 ,, 56;909 5 Lolland and Falster -, 375,577 ,, 30,152 ES Bornholm i 132,810 .,, 6,048 The Peninsula of Jutland .. ae 5,619,168 ,, 170;9738 In the islands 124 acres of land, in Jutland 32%, and in the whole kingdom 214, are, on an average, equal to a ton of ‘¢ Hartkorn.” Some idea of the extraordinary difference in the fertility of soil in various districts may be given by stating that in the north- east of Jutland about 138 acres of land are required to make 1 ton of “ Hartkorn,” while in the parish of Frederiksborg, 23 miles from Copenhagen, 81 acres suffice. The greatest average fertility in the kingdom is found on the islands of Laaland and Falster. Next come, in the order in which they are named, the south of Sealand, Funen, the north of Sealand, central part of the east coast of Jutland, its southern part, its northern part, and finally, the west coast and centre of Jutland ; but the latter is so sterile that in it large tracts of land lie uncultivated. The pro- portion between the cultivated and uncultivated area of land in ea Agriculture of Denmark. 281 the Danish monarchy will be seen from this comparative Table :-— Geographical Square Miles. Mrablevian@vand-marshes .. 92. 6. * oe, ce oe) we SONG Heaths and quicksand.. .. ah Cuero) Moss-land and uncultiv rated bog- meadows - sthees aad. 74 Voth lie i oe See Sa a a soe ee 49 Wakes ~.. . s- a a9 Roads, hedges, dy kes, ditches, and building- grounds aed Miatali Me xb mets | Pa.W SOs0 In the duchies of Sleswig and Holstein no means of assess- ment or of ascertaining the value of land, like that of “* Hartkorn,” exist ; in almost every district the local measure differs in name and content, so that it is next to impossible to give satisfactory information on this head. Here the basis of assessment is the <¢Plov” (plough), as “ Hartkorn” in the kingdom. By a “Ploy ” was originally understood so much land as could be cul- tivated with one plough. Ass early as the commencement of the thirteenth century the term was used in legal enactments. It had, however, reference only to arable land under cultivation, and consequently not to woodland, heaths, bogs, &c., but when these, in the course of time, were cleared and cultivated, the value of land assessed under the head of ‘ Plov” varied con- siderably. This mode of assessment underwent a revision in the years 1643-52, but only the greatest errors and injustice were thereby removed. Different properties are now frequently met with having lands of equal quality, where in the one case 150 acres, in the other 300 acres of land constitute one “Ploy.” It is therefore impossible to state the positive quantity of land required to make a “ Ploy,” but on an average it may be cal- culated to be equal to about 14 tons of “ Hartkorn,” or 175 acres of land of average quality. Certain properties which, up to that time, had been free from all taxes, and were not divided into ** Plove,” were, by a royal decree of 3lst December, 1800, ordered to be taxed, and had therefore to be so divided. On this occasion it was decided that these new “ Plove” should be calculated at 125 acres of land each, and this was the first in- stance when a fixed quantity of land was assigned to a “ Ploy.” This question of measurement of land in the duchies is one that has of late been often made the subject of debate, both privately and in the provincial Diets of the duchies; part of the population of both duchies earnestly desire the introduction of a practical system, as that of “Hartkorn” in the kingdom, but, so long as the present system of election to the Diets of the edhies exists, this proposal will meet with great opposition 282 Agriculture of Denmark. from the preponderating influence of the nobles and large pro- prietors. In Sleswig, for instance, this class, though it only numbers twenty-one voters, sends nine menibers to the As- sembly, and, as it is for the interest of these proprietors to retain the old measurement, their party will probably oppose the intro- duction of any new system, however beneficial to the country at large. Those small aise who have much improved their iad and would, by a new law, be subject to higher taxes, will also continue to oppose a change. The Duchy of Sleswig is ea at the rate of 19,257 “ Plove,” the Duchy of Holstein fon 16,812 “ Plove.” Tur system or Lire-Lease or Forcep Lrasenoup (called ** Foesteforholdet”), or the relation between landlord and lessee, is a question which in Denmark has had the greatest influence on the progress of agriculture and on the condition of the smaller farmers or yeomen (Bénder). Since the constitution of 1848 was granted this question has caused much contention between the two principal political parties of the country—the supporters of the yeomen, and those of the larger proprietors. In the earliest time, and up to the twelfth and thirteenth century, the rural population was divided into two classes, the yeomen (Bonden) and the bondmen (Treellen). The yeomen were all on an equality ; they alike took part in wars, they had votes in the election of the kings, and were entitled to be present at the “ Ting,” where legal trials took place, &c. In the thirteenth century, however, the foundation was laid for a greater distinction between the different inhabitants of the rural districts, inasmuch as some of them were chosen men-at-arms (Hoermeend), and took upon themselves to meet fully equipped for war, when called upon by the King. As a recompense the King gave them large tracts of paeliaay ated land, whereby the foundeteal of feudal estates was laid in Denmark. These proprietors became later the all-powerful feudal lords; independent of such pro- perties the King gave them considerable privileges, which in- creased as the importance of these lords augmented, so that the yeomen who did not become men-at-arms or feudal lords were, to a certain extent, their subordinates. About this period the system of Life-Lease (Fcesteforholdet) commenced. Good land, except that in the possession of the feudal lords, had now become scarce, and the waste land was not worth cultivating; it was therefore not strange if the yeomen, who had no property of their own, and the Bondien who were liberated as civilization advanced, sought to obtain a livelihood by renting or leasing land from the feudal lords. It was utterly impossible for these latter to cultivate all the large grants of land which they had received from the King, and they therefore readily leased it Agriculture of Denmark. 283 to these yeomen or bondmen on condition that they cultivated and built upon it, paid an annual ground-rent (Landgilde) in corn or money, or gave a certain number of days’ personal service on the proprietor’s estate; this latter manorial service was at first only required when the proprietor’s estate lay close to the land leased, and was later called “‘ Hoverie” (villenage). These leases (Foeste) were for the lives of the lessee and his wife, for a term of fifty years, or for the lives of two persons named. When a leaseholder died the land was leased on payment of a fine (Indfcestning) to another person, who, as a general rule, was a son of the deceased, or related to him. At first this system was a mutual advantage ; the lessee, though subordinate, was nevertheless almost an independent man, who could give notice to quit the property, if it did not suit him, and go where he liked ; but in the course of time circumstances changed and he became less free ; the “ Landgilde,” or ground- rent, was raised, the manorial service was increased and made more arbitrary, so much so that the yeoman was frequently called upon to work on the estate of the feudal lord at the period when his own land required most of his time and labour. In their despair these yeomen at different times sought to throw off the yoke by revolting, but these attempts were put down, and they were then more than ever oppressed, and, by the introduction of “ Vornedskab ” (bondage, without the right to quit their home- stead), even deprived of personal liberty. “Whe feudal lords, then, not only considered the yeoman’s leasehold, but himself, as their property, and he was not permitted to ae the estate on which he was born, without the sanction of the owner and the payment. of a sum of money. The privileges of the feudal lords were enlarged, and the oppression exercised on yeomen increased to such an extent, that, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, they became almost an article of merchandise—sold and bought as cattle,—whilst the few vain attempts made from time to time by the govern- ment to promote the interest of this class, failed. In the middle of the sixteenth century there were but 5000 free yeo- men in Denmark, and of these the largest number, 3400, was in Jutland, where their position, in consequence of the non- existence of the “* Vornedskab” there, was altogether better than on the islands. On the latter scarcely any yeoman had property of his own; thus, on the island of Sealand, only 185, and on that of Falster only 2, such were to be found. The condition ‘of the yeomen appeared at this period to have reached its worst point, but the following centuries proved that such had not been the case. When German princes ascended the Danish throne, Danes were supplanted at court by Germans, VOL. XXI. x 284 Agriculture of Denmark, and these were soon enriched by the munificent gifts of their royal master; from this period it was rare to see natives of Den- mark in the councils of the King, and after a while the feudal lords were compelled to cede their large fiefs to German favourites who had been invited into the country. If the Danish noblemen had to some extent oppressed the yeoman, yet instances were not wanting where they protected him against oppression from without; but the foreigners felt no such sy ympathy, The obligation to reve on the estate of his birth (Stavnsbaandet), and the villenage (Hoverie), were the chief means employed by the German “nobility to subjugate the yeoman. The ‘“ Vornedskab,” by which the yeoman was deprived of the liberty of removal from the estate on which he was born, had long existed on Sealand, Lolland, and Falster, and the surround- ing minor islands, and continued until the eighteenth century. In 1702 Frederick IV. did away with this obligation with respect to all yeomen or their descendants born since his acces- sion, 1699. All farm-servants from Jutland, or elsewhere where *¢ Vornedskab ” had not been introduced, were at liberty to settle free from ‘ Vornedskab” where it existed; the lords of the manors were forbidden to sell their bondmen, but these could purchase their own freedom at a price not to exceed 5/. 10s. The beneficial effect of the royal clemency was already apparent when, twenty-two years later, a sudden change took place i in the King’s pr inciples of government, and induced him to issue the law ‘of Stay nsbaand,” similar to ‘* Vornedskab,” but applicable to the whole of the kingdom save the island of Bornholm. In 1724 a royal deeree was issued, in accordance with which all males from the age of 14 to 35 were bound to remain on the estate to which they belonged, and this ordinance was the founda- tion of the “Stavnsbaand ” (forced tie to homestead ). In 1742 this state of bondage was extended to boys in their ninth year, and in 1764 to those in their fourth year ; in 1746 an ordinance was issued by which every soldier who had served his time was bound to return to the estate whence he had been recruited, and there receive a farm on forced lease (Feeste). Although, this might be supposed to be an advantage, it was entirely the reverse. In consequence of the tyranny of the landed proprietors, many of the peasants or young yeomen emigrated, and it was only by force that they could be made to take land on lease (Feeste). The best proof of the depressed state of the country is found in the fact that the population decreased very considerably in the middle of the eighteenth century. The system of bondage was thus accomplished, and appeared, if possible, more oppressive than before, for the yeomen could Agriculture of Denmark. 285 not forget the liberty they had tasted in the commencement of the century. But in 1784 the Regent, afterwards Frederick VI., began to take part in the government of the country, and a brighter prospect then arose for the yeomen. The improvement of agri- culture, then in a very depressed state, and the emancipation of the yeomen, were the foremost objects of this prince. In 1788 the law respecting the ‘ Stavnsbaand ” was repealed, and a commission appointed to regulate the rent and services of the tenants holding hereditary leases, or leases for life; by this act the yeomen were restored to the liberty of which, for cen- turies, they had been deprived. The other great drawback to the yeoman’s advance and wel- fare was the manorial labour (Hoverie) to which the proprietors of estates were entitled, the oppressive use of which right had gone hand-in-hand with the “ Vornedskab” and “ Staynsbaand.” This service appears to have been at first called for in a mild and humane manner, inasmuch as only the yeomen who lived in the neighbourhood of the manor were required to perform it, but in course of time, when the estate was enlarged, it became more arbitrary and ruinous to the interest of the yeoman, This service was first changed by Frederick VI., as Regent. The royal decrees of 1791, 1795, and 1799, set a limit on this forced labour, and had also for their object the reduction of the number of tenants of compulsory leases. When subsequently a yeoman took land on lease (Fceste) the number of days of labour on the estate, or its equivalent in money, was fixed. Finally, by the law of July 4th, 1850, it was decided that all manorial labour was to cease, and in its place a fixed moderate annual rent to be paid, as soon as one-third of the yeomen bound to per- form it, or the proprietor to whom it was due, demanded it ; con- sequently it may now be considered as abolished in the king- dom. In Sleswig and Holstein, where the condition of the yeomen had been even worse, inasmuch as they were serfs, the system was abolished in 1797 and 1804, and, as a result, 20,000 serf-families were liberated ; yet in some parts of Holstein and in South Sleswix manorial service can still be called for. By numerous decrees and Jaws the Danish government have endeavoured, during the last sixty years, to improve the position of the tenants under compulsory lease (Feeste) ; the system is still retained, but upon very different and much more favourable con- ditions, and the expression ‘‘ compulsory ” is scarcely applicable to the system at present, except to distinguish it from that of landlord and tenant as understood in England. Of late years many of these lessees have, by purchase, become the proprietors x 2 286 Agriculture of Denmark. of their leaseholds. On all crown-lands such property has beer sold to them, and many landed proprietors seem inclined to follow the example. Moreover, an attempt has of late years been made in the Danish Diet to pass a law compelling owners of estates to sell their leasehold tenements to the tenants in posses- sion, at a price to be fixed by a commission appointed for the purpose, less the value of the fine (Indfe sstning) paid, in propor-- tion to the unexpired term of the lease. The arguments of the friends of the yeomen lessees are to the effect that the landlords are in reality not the sole proprietors of these leasehold tene- ments, because by law they are depriy ed of the power to dispose of them, but that each lessee has, in accordance with certain old, very obscure, and ambiguous legal enactments, a certain claim on them as part proprietors; they further argue that the constitution of 1849 (which enacts that expropriation can take place when the public weal requires it) justifies expropriation in this instance. The supporters of the landed proprietors insist that public interest (as the framers of the constitution understood it) has nothing to do with the question at issue, and that the para- graph in the constitution cited is only applicable to pro- perty situated in localities required for purposes of public con- venience ; they demand that landlords shall be at liberty to continue the present system, with the option to sell or add such property to their manors when leases expire. In all probability this leasehold system will, in the course of some years, be abolished by voluntary sale to tenants, without recourse to so unjust an act as that which would by law compel landlords to. sell their properties: the present proprietors have obtained pos- session of them by purchase or inheritance, whatever their an- cestors may have done, and the holders of the leases in moderm days have voluntarily entered into the relations they now com- plain of. No doubt earlier their condition was wretched, but now their personal and political liberty is as great as that of other classes. ‘To benefit them further, at the expense of the large landed proprietors, appears as undesirable as it would be. unjust. Tue Rurat PorpuLaTioN oF THE Danish Monarcuy is divisible into three great classes, viz., the nobility and large landed proprietors, the yeomen who are proprietors or lease- holders, and the labourers. Tue Esrares or THE Nosirity of the kingdom, though they form a separate division, do not at present retain any of these especial privileges, which, in earlier time, were very great. They owe their origin to King Christian V., w he in 1671 created the Agriculture of Denmark. 287 orders of Count and Baron, but these may now be regarded in the same light as other proprietors, Of counties there are 18, of baronies 14, and of other entailed estates 37, in the king- dom; by the constitution of 1849 no property can now be entailed. In Sleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg, there are 276 privileged estates, either entailed or not; in either case the privileges belong to the proprietors, whether by entail or purchase; they chiefly consist in freedom from certain taxes, in voting at election of members to the Diet, or of clergymen, judicial officers, &c. In Sleswig some of these privileges have been rescinded of late years, The second class of properties in Denmark Proper consists of large estates (Herregaarde), which, though not entailed, formerly possessed privileges now abolished ; of these there are at present in the kingdom 793. In the duchies such estates can scarcely be said to exist. A separate subdivision of these estates is formed by those belonging to different public, charitable, or other institutions. The University of Copenhagen, for instance, possesses land to the extent of 40,500 acres; the college of Soré 58,750 acres ; the provincial municipal corporations in the kingdom 80,625 acres, Kc. The total area of such estates in the country may be estimated at 31,500 tons of “ Hartkorn” (893,750 acres). But most of the land in Denmark comes under the head of Yeomen-farms (Bondegaarde), as every property is called having an area of land varying from 1 to 12 tons of “ Hartkorn,” or 125 to 150 acres. Of the 377,860 tons of ‘ Hartkorn” in Den- mark the said farms comprise 314,843 ; the larger private estates 35,264; the municipal corporation 6456, and properties of less than 1 ton of “Hartkorn” 21,297. The yeomen-farms in the kingdom number about 70,000, of which about half have from 4 to 8 tons of “ Hartkorn.” In Sleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg, there are about 32,000 similar farms, called Hofs or Boel, besides smaller ones. There is a great variety in the size or extent of the properties in the different provinces. Thus on the islands, and especially on Sealand, there are comparatively many more large estates than in Jutland, and in the north-east part of Jutland more than in the rest of that province, The northern part of Sleswig consists principally of yeomen’s farms; but the south-east coast of Sleswig and the east coast of Holstein contain the greatest number of large estates which is to be found in the monarchy. Statistical accounts bearing on these duchies are, however, very deficient on the subject of agri- 288 Agriculture of Denmark. culture. Far the largest quantity of arable land in Denmark is, as shown, in the hands of the yeoman class, and only about 10 per cent. of the whole belongs to properties having more land than constitutes 12 tons of “ Hartkorn.” The yeoman-farmer culti- vates his own land, and it is quite an exception if he lets part of it. The proprietors of large estates (Herregaarde) frequently farm themselves, with the assistance of a bailiff, who directs the details of the husbandry. The English tenant-system is here exceptional. Of the 1715 properties having above 12 tons of “‘Hartkorn” of land (including entailed estates), there were in 1850 only 388 thus let. A few years ago this system was more in vogue, and the rent was then frequently so low that the ex- perienced tenant (Forpagter) could make money. But the advance in corn-prices, improvements in cultivation, and the increase in the value of property, caused rents to be raised to an extent disproportioned to the true increase in the lJand’s value ; the landed proprietors, unable correctly to estimate the change of times, and observing the prosperity of the old tenants, demanded too high rents, and consequently the able farmer declined to speculate, though persons without means sometimes did so, to the ultimate loss of the owner. The tenantry-system having decreased, that class which for- merly rented land now prefers investing money in its purchase ; but as their capital is seldom large, and generally only sufficient to satisfy the vendor, they frequently buy to disadvantage. It is not uncommon that a man with 1000/. buys a property worth 5000/., and is obliged to pay from four to six per cent. interest on a large part of the value of the property, which, as a rule, does not pay ; whereas if a larger capital were employed the farm might yield a good profit. A sufficient working capital is very uncommon among the agriculturists of this country. The high prices paid for landed properties at the end of last and the commencement of this century, as a. consequence of speculation and high grain-prices, fell to the opposite extreme between 1810 and 1826, partly on account of the deranged state of the finances, and partly on account of wars; so that estates now worth 5000/7. were then sold for 2501. to 3507. But, with improved financial administration and the revival of com- mercial confidence, the prices of landed property rose again until 1857, when the monetary crisis produced an effect which con- siderably reduced their imaginary value, and doubtless has caused speculators to be more careful Gia during the period 1856-57, when almost ridiculous prices were paid. The price of landed property in Denmark may now, on an average, be said to be between 220/. to 3301. per ton of “ Hart- Agriculture of Denmark. 289 korn,” neighbourhood of towns, quality of land, &c., causing variations. ‘The average annual rent of land may in a like way be stated as between 10/. and 117. per ton of ‘ Hartkorn.” Tur RELATION BETWEEN MASTER AND SERVANT has materially changed of late years, Earlier most of the labour on large estates was performed by the bondman (‘“ Hoveripligtige”), and only superintendents and herdsmen were living on the property. But when manorial labour (“ Hoverie”) was abolished the organization of a new system became necessary, the result of which may be thus given :— On some estates labour is performed by young, mostly un- married men, who reside on the premises and receive board, lodging, and fixed wages. They are generally engaged for six or twelve months. But as an additional number of workmen is required during summer, especially in harvest time, cottage- labourers, together with their wives and children, are engaged for such periods. Sometimes they are paid day-wages, but more frequently they receive a round sum for the season, whether the harvest is early or late, and the payment is usually made in corn. Other proprietors prefer not having their farm-labourers on the estate, but in cottages in its immediate neighbourhood. The advantage of this system over that where the servant can leave at a few months’ notice, seems to be, that a certain number of labourers can be counted upon, who, from long experience, are well acquainted with the agricultural system adopted on the property. As a general rule, they are married, and do not readily quit their cottages, on account of the difficulty of finding others on estates farmed on similar principles. This system also secures, in the wives and children of the cottagers, a sufficient number of cheap female labourers, whereby the cultivation of esculent plants is facilitated. While these two systems are almost exclusively practised on the larger estates, they are also frequently adopted by the yeomen- farmers. Farm-Waces do not vary much ina country like Denmark. The season of the year, the neighbourhood of towns, &c., have, however, a distinct influence on them. In Denmark Proper, before 1846, a male farm-servant received, as a rule, board and lodging and 2/. 15s. to 31. 15s. a year, but since then, on account of the great rise in the price of food, &c., the amount of such wages has been doubled ; in some instances even a greater increase has taken place. At present a farm-servant receives about 5/. 10s. per annum, besides board and lodging: the latter may be calcu- lated at 8/. 5s., making a total of 13]. 15s. A female servant generally receives 3/..7s. annually, besides board and lodging. 290 Agriculture of Denmark. If the farm-servant lives in a neighbouring cottage, and is paid, as earlier stated, in corn, the expense may be thus given :— £. side Rent of cottage with } acre of garden-land eye ilaKoy (0) Pasture and food for 1 cow, 2 sheep, andl pig .. .. 217 4 12,000 pieces of turf er Neen eee 0 15 10 5 barrels of rye, at 13s. 6d. 3 barrels of barley, at 11s. 3d. 6 010 3 barrel of buck-wheat, at 9s....{ “ ~~ “" “= ® ; 14 barrel of malt, at 10s, F . Cash oe fal GS ee Se eee coe eae 4 NO. 14 4040 The farm-servants of the yeomen (both male and female) gene- rally receive half their wages in wool, linen, cotton goods, flax, &c., and by this means their masters pay perhaps one-quarter less in wages than larger proprietors. In Holstein wages are a little higher than in the kingdom or in Sleswig. The wages for day-labourers may be eetmated atatrons 10d. to ls. dd. for males in the summer, and about 7d. in the winter; for females at from 8d. to 10d. in the summer, and from 54d. to 7d. in the winter, but they receive no board or lodging. The wages of those engaged during harvest only are generally paid in kind, and may be estimated at one quarter of rye, and one quarter of barley for a man, and 5} bushels of rye and 5} bushels of barley for a female, for the season. The Danish farm-labourer is generally well off, and, while he is without family, is able to save part of his wages, as is sufficiently proved by the large sums of money placed in the savings-banks by this class. Agricultural improvements have of late increased the demand for farm-labour; many Swedes have, therefore, been engaged, especially in Jutland ; but, as they are considered inferior work- men, and are frequently persons of indifferent character, the Danish labourer is preferred, and generally receives to the extent of Il. 2s. 6d. to 1. 13s. 9d. higher wages annually ; the German labourers, who of late have emigrated to this country, are a superior class, and are much employed in the brick-yards and in cutting turf. The system of living in Fellowship, with equal Division of Land, seems early to have existed here as well as elsewhere, and it was no doubt the proper course for the colonization of the country. ‘Two reasons probably led to its adoption, viz., the protection it afforded against robbers and wild beasts, and the facility pro- vided for the cultivation of land. In Denmark, when a new tract of land was to be cultivated, several persons united for the Agriculture of Denmark. 291 purpose. They first took possession of grounds, sufficient land for their immediate wants, and built a village thereon. ‘The land was not at once divided into as many equal parts as there were families, for by such division all parties would not have been fairly treated, but it was in the first instance divided into lots, according to the quality of the soil and the facilities for its cultivation; these were again subdivided into as many allot- ments as there were families. By this means every yeoman in the village obtained a share of equal size and quality; but the allotments were spread in various directions between those of other owners ; and instances are mentioned where one individual has had alletments of land in eighty different places. This system, well suited to the period, proved the reverse in course of time, inasmuch as no one could undertake improve- ments in the cultivation of his land without the consent of all his fellow-occupiers, whilst much time and labour was lost in con- sequence of the distance between the different allotments, and in some cases their distance from the village. This distribution was, however, continued in Denmark until the close of the last century, when, together with the bondage and forced lJabour, it was abolished. By royal, decrees of 1781 and 1792 the redis- tribution of all lands thus held was ordered to be made in such manner that the land of each individual should, as far as pos- sible, be collected in one place. The next step to be taken was to place the farm-house in the immediate neighbourhood of the land belonging to it; but there are still many yeomen living in villages with their land at a great distance. The Mode of Agriculture employed under this system varied of course much from that which has since been introduced. For- merly the land was divided into inner and outer fields; the first were used exclusively for the cultivation ot corn, while the other was employed as pasture for the cattle. The inner or tilled land surrounding the village was divided into three fields, of which one was sown with spring-seed, generally barley, the second with winter-seed, generally rye, and the third was nearly unemployed, as the miserable grass it produced was scarcely of any use: but during last century the practice of fallowing was introduced. The increase in the population (amounting in Denmark to 58 per cent. since the commencement of this century), as well as in the value of land, caused this system to be given up. The next step taken was to place part of the outer field under cultiva- tion, which then, year after year, was sown with corn until the soil was exhausted, when it was left for bad pasture, and a further piece in the outer field was cultivated in like manner. By this means the land was so impoverished that want of proper food for cattle, and a consequent reduction in the stock, was the 292 Agriculture of Denmark. result. Manure became so scarce that the inner field, which had generally been manured every third year, could then only receive a dressing once in six, or even nine years; so that the land produced year by year less corn, and more weeds. As soon, however, as living in fellowship was abolished in Denmark, the course of cropping was also changed. The mode of agriculture next adopted in Denmark Proper was introduced from Figletemns and was called “ Kobbelbriig” (inclosed pasture-land). The climate and the soil of Holstein were pecu- liarly well adapted for pasture, and the neighbourhood of large towns was advantageous for the sale of dairy-produce, to which great attention was there paid. As at that period no artificial grasses were known, after the pasture had been broken up by the plough for the production of corn-crops, the fields were left to produce those grasses which, by slow degrees, Nature furnished, and to rest as pasture for many years before they were again capable of producing corn for a succession of crops. ‘This more modern system may be thus yas divided into twelve inclosures, each of which was in the first year fallowed, then sown with—1, rape ; 2, wheat; 3, barley; 4, oats; 5, oats; and then left for six years in grass. Or thus:—1, fallow; 2, wheat; 3, rye; 4, peas; 5, barley; 6, oats; 7, oats; and 5 to 6 years grass, &c. Later, when clover and artificial grass-seeds were introduced, rich pas- ture was obtained even in the first year, and the rotation of crops was therefore thus modified :—1l, fallow; 2, rape; 3, barley; 4, oats; 5, clover; 6, clover; 7, tares and oats mixed ; 8, wheat ; 9, peas; 10, oats; 11, clover; 12, clover. This rotation, by the frequent use of clover, soon impaired the soil, and consequently has become less general, even in Holstein. Its introduction into the kingdom at the close of last century was due to the necessary abolition of the earlier agricultural system, and to the fact that many natives of Holstein hook up their abode in the kingdom on account of land being cheap. At the present moment ‘tive rota- tion may still be faunal on many estates in Jutland, but modified by local circumstances thus :—7 fields cultivated with 1, fallow ; 2, rye; 3, barley; 4, oats; and 3 years clover and grass. On the Danish islands the rotation of crops is frequently as fol- lows :—1, fallow; 2, wheat; 3, peas; 4, barley; 5, oats; and 3 years clover: or 1, fallow; 2, rye; 3, barley ; 4, peas; 5, barley ; 6, oats; and 2 years clover. But much de spends on the quality of the soil, neighbourhood of towns, facilities for labour, and many other bircumistamees In the fuetves this is the usual rotation :— 1, fallow; 2, rape-seed; 3, wheat or rye; 4, barley; 5, oats; _ 6, oats and clover; 7, clover for mowing; 8, 9, 10, and 11, grass, ae) and, to a small rtedt tares and peas; or this:—1, buck-wheat ; Agriculture of Denmark. 293 2, rye; 3, rye; 4 to 7, grass; and, in fertile soil, barley and wheat. ' The advantage of the English method of avoiding two crops of cereals in succession has of late become clearer to the Danish agriculturist, and in some places it has been adopted. On one estate in Funen, in the neighbourhood of Svendborg, the Scotch mode of husbandry has been introduced; but it is doubted whether the climate and other local circumstances will admit of its more general application. The land must certainly receive higher culture before the English mode of agriculture can become general in this country. This is not said with a view to censure the Danish farming, which must be admitted to be good, all circumstances considered, but it is evident that, where the popula- tion on an English square mile is under 100, the cultivation of land cannot be as extensive as in Norfolk, Suffolk, or Lincolnshire, with a population of above 200 to the square mile, or as that of Belgium, with above 340 inhabitants to the square mile. For the same reason the land in Jutland (with a population of 59 to the square mile) is less cultivated than that on the Danish islands, with 150 inhabitants per square mile. With the excep- tion of England, Holland, and Belgium, Denmark is scarcely second in husbandry to any country in Europe. AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. The application of steam-power to agriculture is almost un- known here, but the Danish farmer follows, with great interest, the improvements made in farming implements abroad, and, when they are practically useful, all local impediments taken | into consideration, adopts them. But he looks with suspicion upon all such improvements as appear complicated. As Den- mark is not a manufacturing country, its youth is not educated to look upon machinery with confidence, as in England; nor has it the same chance of obtaining practical knowledge. The Danish farmer has difficulty in properly estimating the value of complicated agricultural machinery, the labourers in using it, and the country mechanics in repairing it. In the latter fact may perhaps be found the great drawback to the use of such machinery, for the only mechanics that can repair it generally live at such distances that, if broken, it could not be made use of again until next season. Less complicated machinery, ‘as the patent chaff-cutter and winnowing-machines, may frequently be met with even on the yeomen-properties. The thrashing- machine, particularly the smaller English one, has of late years been introduced on the larger estates ; reaping-machines, which formerly were only mentioned here with a smile, are now being introduced ; but local difficulties will, no doubt, limit their 294 Agriculture of Denmark. general use. Seed-drills have, on larger farms, replaced the system of sowing by hand, saving of eel and Jess dependence on weather being the result of their use. Their superiority has now been generally admitted. Of other machines, such as those for cutting roots, for crushing oil-cakes and corn, a few may be found, but they are exceptional, and cannot be said to have any Pelmence on the agriculture of the country. Ploughs and harrows are generally well constructed, but rollers are very inferior; they are always made of wood, aad conse- quently not heavy enough for their purpose, though, from their peculiar construction, they are too cumbrous for the horses to draw. Of harrows, two kinds are used, both with wooden frames and iron teeth, The one is rectangular, and serves for light work ; the other, called the Swedish, is triangular, and is aged for deep harrowing. The latter is now concuieed as indis-= pensable as the plough. Some years ago a very clumsy, heavy, wheel-plough was in common use ; it required two men, with four, sometimes six, horses. This is now entirely superseded by the swing-plough (after Scotch or American models) which re- quires only one man and two horses, and does its work better. Some of these are made entirely of iron, others are of wood and iron; the former form an important iets of the Danish iron neo -(Newae the latter are made on the farm or by the village blacksmith and wheelwright. The hand implements have only attracted attentfon of late years; those now used are generally made after American models, TREATMENT OF THE Sort.—The soil is usually well culti- vated. The fallow, first introduced at the end of the last and the beginning of the present century, is now common on all the large farms, and even on those of some yeomen, yet the latter, as a rule, ‘do not appear to understand that the succeeding crops of corn repay the additional labour and the temporary loss consequent upon allowing the soil to rest one year as fallow ; they therefore frequently sow a mixture of tares and oats, or some leguminous plant instead, and their land consequently suffers much from weeds, though they freely use the plough and harrow. The land on large estates is invariably better cultivated than that of the yeomen. The fields are generally ploughed once or twice in autumn and again in spring, after which the Swedish harrow is applied. The Danish farmer, though he carefully cultivates the surface of the land, is unwilling to “plough to a greater depth than five or six inches, if as much; on a few of the larger estates the soil is, however, sometimes ploughed deeper. The scythe is used for harvesting corn; and it is here believed that a labourer can do four times as much work with it as with a Agriculture of Denmark. 295 sickle ; this saving of labour is of the more importance from the necessity of gathering the ripe corn before the storms, so frequent in this country, destroy it. In Jutland, as soon as the corn is cut, it is tied up in sheaves and placed in heaps, but on the islands it is usually allowed to lie some days before it is sheaved ; the first method is, however, rapidly superseding the latter. As earlier stated, the corn is generally placed in barns, and only in very fruitful years is recourse had to stacking. During autumn, but especially in winter, the corn is thrashed; on many of the larger estates this is done by the assistance of machinery, but om the smaller farms the flail is invariably used, and with it a man can generally thrash from 5 bushels to 1 quarter a day ; machinery is objected to because the straw is injured byit. Barley is usually thrashed with the flail, or horses are used to tread it out; the hummelling machine is scarcely known here, but of late the thrashing machine has been used for barley. The corn is’ cleaned by the assistance of either machinery or sieves. During the last twenty or thirty years much has been done in Denmark in the way of agricultural improvements. The land has been cleared of stones found imbedded in large quantities in the earth, the fields levelled, and deep ditches cut at a distance of from twenty-eight to thirty feet from each other (in lieu of drain- ing),—a system by which, however, more than ten per cent. of land is lost. Three other improvements deserve special notice, viz., the clearing and cultivation of heath and bog land, irriga- tion of meadows, and drainage. Crearine of Waste Lanp.—I have stated earlier that the Danish monarchy has 3256 English square miles of heaths and 1606 square miles of mosses and bog-meadows, of which the greatest area is found in Jutland, namely, 2618 square miles (about 1,675,520 acres) of heaths, or about one-fifth of the area of that province. The cultivation of these heaths and bogs is a question all-important to the government and to private indivi- duals; that of the bog-meadows has generally been undertaken by the latter, whereas the government has paid special attention to that of the heaths. For the purpose of colonizing them, many peasants from Phalzel (the Palatinate) were, at great expense, induced to settle in Jutland in 1759, where they continued for a long period to receive support from the government. The mode of cultivation varies of course much, but the first step taken is to burn the surface of the turf, as, when this has been done, the soil is easier to work, and the burnt ashes prove valuable as manure. Rye, buck-wheat, or tares and oats mixed, are generally sown first on heaths, or, where the soil is of a better class, oats. The first crop on the reclaimed bog-meadows is generally barley, to render the soil more friable ; then rapeseed, 296 Agriculture of Denmark. to pay expenses of cultivation; and lastly, oats are sown once, or perhaps several times, before the land is used as pasture. Large tracts of Resehe and bog-meadows still exist, but year by year their area is decreased, aml the latter will, no doubt, before long be entirely sac pahe But the eultin ames of the heaths proceeds somewhat more slowly, because the soil is fre- quently of such bad quality that it is not likely to pay, or only after a long lapse of time. Some of the heaths have been planted with trees, and to these I shall refer under the head of Woods and Forests. Irrigation OF MeEapows.—In Denmark, numerous bays, rivulets, and inlets of the sea, or lagoons, intersect the valleys of the country. The principal of these lagoons—the Liimfjord— formerly had but one outlet, a narrow channel connected with the Cattegat, from which mouth it stretched, in a westerly direc- tion, with owe windings, across Jutland, expanding, in various laces, into large sheets of water, containing small islands. In 1825, oan ing a violent storm, the earn Se een the North Sea and ine Liimfjord was broken down, so that the northern portion of Jutland became insulated ; but this new channel is so shallow that it cannot be used for navigation, whilst the opening to the Cattegat has also decreased in depth, so as to be available only for very small vessels. In the valleys thus intersected there is much rich meadow-land, which may perhaps account for the fact that artificial irrigation has only been recently and to a small ‘extent adopted. The artificial water-meadow was first intro- duced thirty or forty years ago from Hanover. At first natives of that country were chiefly employed to lay out the necessary works, but, as they proceeded on a large scale without considering that the supply of water in Denmark did not equal that of Hanover, their speculations failed, and this failure tended to discourage the introduction of the system. Within the last ten or twenty years, howev er, irrigation on a smaller scale has been carried on, principally in the western and southern parts of Jut- land, and the abundance of hay consequently produced on an indifferent soil has proved of great importance to the large cattle- breeders in that province; it has also been carried out on the east coast of Jutland, but not on the islands, where the fall of water is seldom sufficient for such a purpose. Within a year or two the irrigation system of the model-farms in England has been practised by a few of the larger landed proprietors in this way :—the manure is dissolved in water, and, by the assistance of pumps, forced through subtemaneael iron pipes to the different fields, where, by the use of the hose, it is spread over the land. he iaodaeion of this method is too ‘recent to enable an opinion to be formed whether it will prove Agriculture of Denmark. 297 remunerative in this country, but farming is scarcely sufficiently advanced to make its general adoption at present very probable. DRAINAGE was not practised in Denmark until within the last ten or fifteen years, and is as yet only in its infancy; as the usual prejudice against innovations has in this instance been surmounted, the great drought of our -late summers and the crisis of 1857 are no doubt the causes why the practice has not been more generally adopted here, for its great advantages are admitted by large as well as small farmers. There exist no official statements as to the area of land which has been thus improved, but I am informed, upon good autho- rity, that from 12,000 to 15,000 acres of land have been drained, namely, about 5000 on the islands and the remainder in the peninsula, On the islands of Lolland and Falster, resembling the English fen-counties, drainage is much required, but, the country being flat, it will be attended with considerable expense. On the island of Sealand about two-thirds of the land will require drain- ing, but here the land is more undulating. On the island of Funen the north and north-western districts are flat, and the soil a stiff clay, much requiring drainage. The central part has lighter: soil, and will not need it. In the south the land is rich and hilly, and much resembles that of Sealand. On the surrounding small islands draining will scarcely be required. In the peninsula the soil varies so much that it is difficult to ‘pass any opinion as to the extent of drainage required ; it is, however, principally needed on the east coast, whilst on the west it is almost inapplicable, as the land frequently lies so low that it is at times inundated by the sea. The general expense of draining in Denmark may be estimated at 2/. 15s. to 51. per acre, depending on local circumstances. As land is seldom let for a longer period than four or eight years, tenants rarely undertake any drainage ; in some instances, however, a special contract is made to the effect that the land- lord defrays the expense of draining, and the tenant pays from five to seven per cent. on the capital employed. By this arrange- ment both parties are interested in getting the work well, but also cheaply, executed. Young Danish farmers now frequently travel in England, Belgium, and Germany, to obtain practical know- ledge of the different methods of drainage, but the Government has taken no steps to facilitate draining operations. Manure.—lIts inestimable service has so long been generally admitted that it is surprising that in an agricultural country lixe Denmark, no true interest has been shown, until the last ten or twelve years, in the improvement of this important branch of husbandry. A great deal remains to be done, but yet 298 Agriculture of Denmark. the care taken in collecting, preparing, and preserving manure, liquid as well as solid, has very much increased of late on the larger properties. On nearly all those of the yeomen the old indifference on this head remains unchanged, and the manure, with its rich fluids, is wasted to a very great extent; the capital thus annually lost to the husbandman is immense. ie those dis- tricts where the soil is rich the least care is taken of manure ; where it is barren, as in some parts of Jutland, attention has more readily been drawn to its great importance, and, as it is scarce there, it is often mixed with turf and bog-soil. Maruinec.—This operation has been used for a long period in some districts of Holstein (the north-east), but it is only within the last thirty or forty years that it has been introduced into the kingdom. The large landed proprietors have adopted the practice, and invariably admit its usefulness, but the yeomen- farmers are still behindhand in its application. On the island of Bornholm marling may almost be said to be unknown; in Jutland it is not very common, principally because the marl has to be brought from great he nages. In the less fertile districts of the country succulent plants, such as buck-wheat, are not uncommonly cultivated for the purpose of being ploughed into the soil, by which means the fertility of the land is much improved ; on the coasts sea-weed is much used as manure, but, as a general rule, it is not applied when fresh gathered, wien is, no doubt, a mistake. Another kind of manure (that made) of fish), Bice bere acknowledged as very powerful, might be employed to a great extent in Denmark, and would no doubt prove most useful ; it is, however, almost entirely neglected, though many of the Pehabitants of the Danish coasts are occupied i in fishing. The heads and entrails of the fish to be dried, and those found dead in the nets, are generally used to feed pigs, or thrown into the sea: a very rich supply of manure is thus neglected. In Norway factories have been established to utilise this raw material, and have proved most beneficial ; it appears singular that neither the government nor any private persons in Denmark have paid attention to this subject. Many of the artificial manures which have been used with so much advantage in England and elsewhere (as gypsum, bones and horns, oil-cakes, &c.) have been tried, but have not found favour in Denmark. A manufactory of patent manure (animalized carbon) has for some years been established near Copenhagen, by an English firm, ‘Messrs. J. Owen and Son. From 1837 to 1846 fis manure was much used, especially on the island of Bornholm, but, the results of ite adoption not having proved satisfactory, it has since been discontinued and replaced by another artificial manure (superphosphate of lime) Agriculture of Denmark. 299 from the same establishment. This is sold at 7s. 6d. per cwt., and appears to have met with approval. Mr. Owen informs me that he sold 3000 tons (English) in 1857, at 8/. per ton. Guano has only of late been tried (it sells at 15s. 9d. per cwt.), but does not seem to have given satisfaction, probably because the quality imported is inferior and mixed. From the little favour which artificial manures have met with in Denmark, either on account of the average good quality of the soil, or from want of skill in their application, one good has resulted, namely, the greater attention which has been paid to the home supply of manure, and consequently to the fatting of cattle, Kc. A large quantity of corn, formerly sold, is now used as food, and thus indirectly transformed into butchers’ meat, butter, &c. ; if the sale of such corn gave a greater direct return, nevertheless the additional manure’on the land, and its consequent increased productiveness, will ultimately prove more advantageous. Tue Propucts or Danish AGRICULTURE. Florses.—F rom the earliest times Denmark has been renowned for its excellent horses, and formerly the cavalry of many countries was supplied from hence; even now the export of horses is of great importance to the husbandman, although it has decreased in comparison with earlier times, probably because the breed of horses abroad has improved, and that of Denmark degenerated. The most valuable properties of the horse of this country are beauty, strength, and constitutional hardiness; it is easily fed, but cannot compete with the Arab or the thorough- bred English horse. When horse-racing was introduced into. Denmark some twenty years ago, the horse of this country had no chance against those brought from England or Germany. An attempt was made to improve its speed by a cross with English race-horses, but the result was a loss of strength and hardiness. Later the Government, as well as private individuals, have en deavoured to improve the native horse by a cross with the York- shire coach-horse, and since 1852 a stud of forty stallions of this race has been kept at Kolding in Jutland. Opinions vary muck here as to their influence on the breed of the country, and although they must prove valuable in districts where there is a scarcity of native stallions, yet this will scarcely be the case in the country at large, as their requirements, comparatively speak- ing, are too great ; moreover, the climate does not appear to suit them, and their prime cost is too high. The qualifications of the Danish horse differ materially in the yarious provinces, in consequence of the mode of treatment adopted. In Jutland, especially in the northern districts, in the neighbour- VOL. XXI. : Ne 300 Agriculture of Denmark. hood of Randers, Viborg, Skive, Thisted, and on the island of Mors, it is well cared for: in these districts breeding is more extensively carried on than elsewhere in the country, and from thence the ex- port of horses takes place, almost exclusively, both to foreign coun- tries and to the different provinces. On the island of Sealand only few horses are bred, and but little care is bestowed upon them. On Bornholm some are reared ; they are principally exported to Sweden and Germany, but are not considered very good, and frequently suffer from diseases. In Sleswig and Holstein, prin- cipally in the marshes, the horses are of greater size than in the kingdom, but their legs are weak in proportion to the body, and consequently cannot bear very hard work; some of them are handsome, and well adapted for carriage horses. The number of horses at present in the Danish monarchy can- not be stated correctly, as the latest statistical reports on the subject bear the date of 1838 for the kingdom, and 1845 for the duchies. Such statistics are, however, promised this year (1860). At the periods referred to there were in the kingdom 254,449 horses in the rural districts, 12,373 in the towns, and 58,198 colts and foals, making a total of 825,019. Sleswig had 59,000 and Holstein 70,000 horses of different ages. No returns exist as to Lauenburg. ‘The annual increase by breeding is estimated at 24,000. The export of horses depends much upon political events, or rather upon the demand for horses abroad for cavalry purposes. The largest export is to Prussia, Mecklenburg, Hanover, Ham- burg, Liibeck, and sometimes to France. During the last five years the export has been as follows :— 1854 .. .. 13,020 horses, whereof to England 142 BSD) = ee) 1 ce 2286 Se 53 LBB eases as wee Me é he 40 AIS Din del canoes " * 20 IRS gogo ten | EHUBY ae a 6 1e59 ye Dione 3 KS 21 On an average the price of horses exported varies from 16/. to 30/., though some few are of much higher value. i Horned Cattle.—1t is generally considered that the breeding of cattle ought to form one of the most important sources of revenue to the Danish farmer ; yet, for want of sufficient care, it does not, comparatively speaking, now hold as important a position as earlier. Until within a few years the breed of cattle here was deteriorating from want of proper attention to the quality and pairing of the breeding stock, inefficiency in practical know- ledge in its selection, foolish economy in rearing the young cattle, and, finally, bad keeping and tending; but of late years Agriculture of Denmark. 301 very great improvements have taken place in all these respects, and at present good, if not superior, cattle may be found on the larger estates all over the country. Of the different breeds I will specially mention that of Jutland ; it is of moderate size, well formed, and hardy ; the cows give a great deal of milk ; if well fed, this race fattens rapidly, and the quality of the meat is good. It appears well adapted for Jut- land, because it thrives on good as well as on indifferent soils. The Angeln race (in Sleswig) is a variety from that of Jutland ; in this district special attention is paid to the production of milk, and the Angeln cow is scarcely inferior in this respect to any, if well fed; but if not, it scarcely gives as much milk as the Jutland cow. The largest horned cattle in the Danish monarchy are to be found in the marshes of Sleswig; the cows there are well known for the quantity of milk they give, which is, how- ever, not as good as that of the Angeln race, but they do not thrive except on this rich pasture-land. Various attempts have been made to improve the different breeds, but without great success, In 1804 the Government imported horned cattle from Switzerland and the Tyrol, but they did not thrive, and have disappeared. English and Scotch bulls have of late years been imported ; among others the Ayrshire race, but although the cross has at times appeared advantageous, yet the general opinion is not in favour of it. On the west coast of Jutland, and in the marshes of the duchies, successful experiments have been made in crossing with the English “short-horn” race, but the general objection to this practice is, that the Danish cattle thereby lose their qualities of frugality and hardiness, and become less suited to the climate and other local circumstances. What I have stated on the subject of statistical returns with respect to horses is applicable to horned cattle and other animals, The number of horned cattle in the Danish monarchy was :— Tn the Kingdom of Denmark in 1888 .. .. 850,000 heads. In the Duchy of Sleswig in 1845 .. .. .. 280,000 re In the Duchy of Holstein in 1845 .. .. .. 250,000 ,, The total number would now doubtless not fall short of two millions. The quantity of milk obtained from the several races of cows, in different districts of the monarchy, varies, as before stated, from 8 and 10 to 20 and 30 quarts per day ; those on the heaths of Jutland and Sleswig give the least, those in the marshes the most. The most extensive dairies are to be found on the large estates on the east coast of Sleswig and Holstein, and the next on those y 2 302 Agriculture of Denmark. in the Danish islands, and in a few districts of the east coast of Jutland. On an average it is calculated that on the larger pro- perties on the islands and in Jutland, each cow gives annually from 75 to 90 pounds of butter; but in the duchies, more especially in Holstein, cows are known to give as much as 154 pounds: whereas the yeoman farmer seldom obtains more than 60 pounds. It is usually calculated that the profit on a cow varies from 2/. 15s. to 3/. 7s. 6d. a-year, but, by good feeding, it may be brought to 4/. 10s. Formerly the cattle were ill-fed during winter, and, when turned out on pasture-land, they were excessively meagre, but of late years a favourable change has taken place in this respect ; now cattle are fed during winter on corn, esculent plants, oil-cakes, &c., and when turned out into the fields they are strong and healthy, and consequently give better returns. But there is still great room for improvement in the mode of feeding, inasmuch as sufficient attention is not paid to the digestive properties of the food given to cattle, and it is some- times supplied too often, viz., seven or eight times a day; again, too sudden changes are made from one kind of food to another, whereby temporary illness is frequently caused. With respect to the buildings and utensils of the dairies, I may observe that the first are very indifferent ; as a general rule, cold in winter, warm in summer, damp, badly ventilated, &c. Latterly attention has been drawn to these defects, especially in Holstein, where a profitable dairy-system has existed for centuries past, and consequently early reforms may be looked for. Wooden pans have hitherto been almost exclusively used to keep the milk in; now and then earthen vessels were met with ; within the last few years, however, iron pans have been introduced ; they are large, roomy, and, comparatively speaking, do not require much space; they are easily kept clean, and in the course of time they will doubtless prove cheaper than those of wood, but their prin- cipal advantage is, that in warm weather the milk is quickly cooled and the formation of cream thereby facilitated. The dairy management of yeomen farmers is, as earlier stated, very bad, but on the larger estates all over the country it is otherwise. Butter from the latter has of late fetched high prices in the London market, but I am informed it has principally been sold under the name of “ Kiel” butter on account of the discredit earlier attached to that produced in the kingdom. Though the consumption of butter is greater in Denmark than in any other country (in Denmark 20 to 30 pounds, in England 6 to 8 pounds, in Prussia 2 pounds per head annually), yet it forms, next to grain, the most important article of export. During - the last twenty or thirty years the shipment of butter has greatly increased, and from Holstein it has nearly doubled. In the com- Agriculture of Denmark. 303 mencement of this century the export from the Danish monarchy varied from 57,488 cwt. to 86,232 cwt. ; from 1830-34, it averaged 116,336 ewt. annually until 1856, when it reached 180,886 cwt. In 1857, 1858, and 1859, it fell considerably in consequence of want of grass from continued drought. During the last six years it has been :— z anit Barrels. 1854 .. .. 81,406, whereof direct to England 4,574 1855 .. .. 78,645 L 3 4,261 1856... «= 82,855 . 53 5,560 TSB. lan OS.CO0 . - 1,376 TODSR sn eee ODI 269 5 1,406 1859.2.. .. 66,412 ks a 1,133 Of these quantities from two-fifths to three-fifths came from Holstein, and, comparatively speaking, more from Sleswig than from the kingdom. In the beginning of this century about 1000 barrels were annually imported into the kingdom from the Duchies of Holstein and Sleswig, but this is changed, and many thousand barrels are now annually sent from the kingdom to the duchies for the purpose of being there resold for exportation. Formerly large shipments of this article took place from Kiel direct to England ; now that route is no longer used, and conse- quently the export to England appears, by the above table, very small, whereas the fact is, that large quantities are annually sent there indirectly, by way of Altona and Hamburg, to which places more than half of the butter exported now goes; Norway takes from 13,000 to 19,000 ewt., and Liibeck from 2600 to 3500 ewt. The sum which the sale of butter annually brings into the country varies from 550,000/. to 800,000/., or about one-third of that produced by the export of grain. The price of this article has very much increased within six or eight years: while from 1840 to 1852 it varied from 2/. 5s. 6d. to 2/. 14s. 6d. per ewt., in 1853 and 1854 it began to rise, until, in 1856-1857, it reached 4/. 15s. to 5/. 6s. sterling per cwt., which prices, with slight variations, have since continued. Cheese.—Until some few years back the production of cheese was of little importance in the kingdom of Denmark, where only common cheeses were made; it was otherwise in Sleswig and Holstein, whence from two to three million pounds were annually sent to the kingdom, and one million pounds abroad, but these cheeses were of inferior quality (cost price 23d. to 3d. per pound). During the last ten or twenty years the proprietors of some of the larger estates have paid special attention to the manufac- ture of this article, and considerable quantities are now produced, which fetch from 5d. to 7d. per pound. However, the importa- tion from abroad has not decreased. |) Agriculture of Denmark. The import and export of cheese to and from the Danish monarchy during the following years may be thus given :— Imported. ' Year. Ibs. Ibs. 1854 .. .. 417,833, whereof from England 7,087 1855 .. .. 374,032 BS a 10,674 1856 .. .. 447,374 53 y 8,708 1857... .. 477,014 = 53 7,218 1858 ... .. 480,279 x . 6,033 1859 .. .. 463,288 $5 . 7,042 Keported. & Year. £ Tbs. Ibs. 1854 .. .. 821,194, whereof to England . 21 1855 .. ..: 966,205 se . 838 1SbOUe wee LOCO 5, # ie 1857 .. .. 1,008,891 ‘ fe 267 UBB Sin ccs sah T 22,582 * spe 28 1859 -... ... 635,939 : » B84 Though the quantity exported is nearly double that imported, nevertheless the value of the latter is greater on account of its superior quality. More than half of the cheese imported comes from Holland, the remainder from Hamburg, Liibeck, Norway, and England ; half of that exported goes to Sweden and Norway, the remainder to Mecklenburg, Liibeck, Hamburg, and Eng- Jand. ‘The annual consumption of cheese in the rural districts is about 30 pounds, in the towns it averages 16 pounds per head. Fatting of Oxen.—Up to the commencement of the last century fatting and exporting cattle were among the principal sources of income to Denmark. At that time stall-feeding was the special privilege of the great landed proprietors, and, in consequence, there were then more than 350 estates in Jutland alone where oxen were stall-fed. This privilege was rescinded in 1788; this fact, together with the increased profits derived from the dairy by the emigrants from Holstein, the imposition of an export duty, change in the state of trade, and, finally, cattle disease (which, in the year 1745, reduced the number by 285,160 head), induced many landed proprietors to exchange their oxen for cows ; the fatting of oxen has since then constantly decreased, but now there seems a chance of a favourable change: it is at present carried on principally in the northern and western dis- tricts of Jutland, and in the marshes of the Duchies of Sleswig and Holstein. The cattle exported from Jutland are of two kinds, either such (aged from five to eight years) as are sent direct to a market at Copenhagen or Hamburg, or those (aged from three to five years) which are sold to be fatted on the rich pasture of the marshes, and thence sent to England or Hamburg. In cen- tral Jutland and in the north and west parts of that province the Agriculture of Denmark. 305 latter plan is principally adopted, and from thence between 25,000 and 30,000 horned cattle are annually sent to the marshes. The former plan is followed in the east and north-east districts of Jutland. A greater desire has been evinced of late years to fatten cattle in Jutland, in consequence of the fe.cilities afforded by direct trade with England, and there can be 0 doubt but that increased steam-communication and greater commercial inter- course with Great Britain will assist in removing the Danish farmer’s fear and prejudice against starting his cattle for a distant market, and at the same time relieve him from the loss sustained by sending them thither indirectly. Besides the large number of live cattle, a considerable quantity of salted and smoked meat is exported. This trade has increased very largely within the last thirty years. In 1831 the export of smoked and salted meat was only 706,000 pounds, while, ten years later, in 1841, it was 3,256,382 pounds; a decrease took place for a short time, but the export was again increased, though the consumption in the country is considerable. ‘Thus it is cal- culated that in the towns 90 to 100 pounds of fresh meat and 45 to 50 pounds of pork, and in the rural districts 22 pounds of meat and from 45 to 50 pounds of pork, are annually consumed by each individual; while in Prussia the consumption is calcu- lated at only 35 to 45 pounds per head. The export of horned cattle, calves, smoked and salted meat from the Danish monarchy during the last six years may be thus stated :— To England. P Year. aoe Calves. Maas ae Pager To England, Oxen. Calves. Pounds. Pounds. 1854 54,408 11,936 21,312 3 2,976,745 206,000 1855 50,678 13,974 19,392 . 2,027,361 357,031 1856 44,902 14,886 18,354 30 2,181,270 425,635 1857 51,247 13,770 19,980 4 2,881,949 324,298 1858 39,403 12,466 15,183 2 2,455,885 398,832 1859 50,170 10,083 22,196 se | 2),704,759 173,905 England receives the largest part of the oxen exported, next come Hamburg (from which place a large number is doubtless again sent to England) and Liibeck. The calves exported are principally sent to these latter towns. The largest quantity of meat is sent to Norway, next come Hamburg, England, Danish West Indies, Sweden, and Greenland. The reduction in the export of 1858 arose from the drought of the previous summer. That the export direct to Fngland has greatly increased within the last fifteen years will become evident when a comparison is 306 Agriculture of Denmark. made between the above table and the one to follow. I must, however, observe that the export of meat to England has at times been greater than in 1845; whereas very few head of cattle were sent there previous to that year. In 1845 were exported to England 57 heads of oxen, and 44,694 pounds of meat; in 1847, 3020 heads of oxen, and 100,590 pounds of meat. In the year 1853 the largest export of oxen to England. took place, viz., 23,878 heads. Oxen are rarely used for draught purposes except in the pen- insula. Sheep.—By the latest published statistical tables it appears that there were in Denmark Proper in 1838 1,700,000 sheep ; in Sleswig, in 1845, 180,000, and in Holstein in the same year 140,000. In these duchies large flocks of sheep are only met with on the foreland outside the dykes of the marshes. With respect to the kingdom, the number of sheep in Jutland is three- fold that on the islands, because they can thrive on the almost barren and hilly land of that province, where cattle cannot. On the heaths of central and west Jutland the sheep proves the most important, and frequently the only domestic animal. By its frugality and hardy nature it enables the yeoman farmer of these barren districts to obtain a subsistence. The native Danish sheep is between 2 to 24 feet in height, and about 3 feet long. When in good condition it weighs on an average 50 to 55 pounds. It is hardy, and easily fed, has very little wool on the body, short wool on the legs and _ tail, generally of a rough, coarse texture. It is shorn twice a year (spring and autumn), and gives on an average 24 to 3 pounds of wool. It is found on the heaths of Jutland, where a better race cannot exist, because it has to live in the open air during a great part of the winter. In other parts of Denmark the sheep are of a mixed breed. Of foreign breeds may be found the Merino sheep. In 1797, 300 of these were imported from Spain for one of the royal sheep-folds, which, in 1824, counted 1600 of this race. It soon spread over the country on account of the finer wool, which fetched double the price of other kinds: but as this sheep re- quires a care and attention which the smaller farmer cannot bestow, it is only to be met with on the larger estates, where German shepherds are then generally employed. The interest taken in the Merino sheep has, however, of late much decreased, partly because the race, by cross-breeding, has deteriorated both with respect to quality and quantity of wool, and partly because from the increase in the consumption of mutton the farmer finds more profit in selecting sheep for their flesh than for their wool. The “ Dishley” and “Southdown” races have therefore been Agriculture of Denmark. 307 introduced with a view of breeding sheep in which both meat and wool of superior quality may be combined. On the island of Bornholm the sheep are very inferior: of late an attempt has been made to improve the breed by the introduction of English rams. The yeoman farmer employs nearly all the wool of his sheep in home manufacture ; the large sheep proprietors sell theirs to the weavers, of whom there are forty-two in Denmark, or to the cloth manufacturers, of whom there are twenty-six ; but the cloth produced is generally coarse ; the finer sorts used in the country are imported principally from England, Germany, and Belgium. Of the wool annually produced in Denmark the largest quan- tity is used in the country. Of manufactured woollen goods the export is but small: in 1859, for instance, only to the value of 18,000/., while during the same year 670,779/. worth of such goods was imported, showing how little the country is able to supply its own requirements in this article. The export of sheep and wool, and the import of wool, may be thus stated :-— eur. | Bepere or] Weneraan® | Export of Woot, | WREtEah! | Import of Wool Number. Number. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. 1854 32,305 12,887 3,675,266 1,026,512 1,691,502 1855 25,768 9,798 3,362,165 1,015,669 1,689,224 1856 28,962 LO S175 3,420,823 1,286,858 1,481,827 1857 35,675 17,756 3,155,549 1,258,070 1,385,424 18538 © 28,714 10,033 33901,415 2,147,506 1,128,989 1859 | 40,445 18,371 3,621,387 2,114,461 1,045 ,624 { England imports the largest number of sheep ; next come Ham- burg and Liibeck. Nearly all the wool imported comes from Iceland: of late years the importation has, however, fallen off, in consequence of disease among the sheep there. The wool sent to England is mostly of the coarser kind; the rest goes to Sweden, Hamburg, Liibeck, Norway, and Holland. Swine.—But little attention is paid here to the rearing of swine, at least on the smaller farms. Of late years more pains have been bestowed on the building of sties, as well as the improvement of the race, by a cross with hogs imported from England, or the better class reared in the country. The English swine are highly esteemed here, on account of their prolific nature, their great weight in flesh, and because they thrive on little food, and supply pork of fine flavour. It is chiefly on the Danish islands that the Yorkshire race has had a considerable influence on the breed. The Jutland pig is larger, but not as 308 Agriculture of Denmark. easily fed as the smaller one of the islands ; it has not been much crossed by foreign breeds, and in some parts of this province, for instance, the south-west, the aboriginal race is still to be found. Danish history states that one hundred and fifty years ago wild boars were so plentiful that Christian V. in 1692, in one boar-hunt on the island of Sealand, killed thirty-three of them, and in Jutland their final extermination took place within the memory of man; they are still to be met with in the forests of Lauenburg. According to the statistical reports, there were in Denmark Proper in 1838, 320,000 pigs, in Sleswig, in 1845, 44,000, and in Holstein 68,000 ; but since then the number must have greatly increased. As the fatting of swine is most profitable where there are dairies, it is natural that the duchies should, comparatively speaking, have the largest number of them, and, for a similar reason, they are more numerous on the islands than in Jutland. The export of swine from the Danish monarchy has considerably increased during the last fifteen years, and may be said, on an average, to be.four times as great as during the years 1836-1846. The export of pork has also increased, but not in the same pro- portion. The swine are principally exported from Holstein, and almost exclusively to ‘Wamburg and Liibeck; about 1000 are annually sent to Norway. The pork (whereof eight-ninths is salted and one-ninth smoked) was formerly sent chiefly to Hamburg, but now England and Norway share in the exports, in almost equal proportion with that city, so that these three places receive from three-fifths to four-fifths of the entire quantity exported; of the remainder Sweden, the West and East Indies, and Greenland, receive a considerable share. Export oF SWINE AND PorK. SWINE. Pork. Year. =? Me. ; 5 Whereof to >, Vhereof to In Number. coseieah Pounds, England. 1854 43,957 78 4,051,276 657,571 1855 43,418 48 4,889,079 1,540,499 1856 50,180 3 3,926,407 1,076,328 1857 43,706 7 4,040,631 760,566 1858 40,802 21 3,540,071 827,083 1859 55,769 186 5,784,845 1,787,973 CULTIVATION AND PRODUCT OF DIFFERENT Crops. Corn is the chief article of export from Denmark ; it is conse- quently tie produce on which the interest of the agriculturist is Agriculture of Denmark. 309 mainly concentrated. Rising civilization, increased value of land, and, above all, the demand from consumers abroad, espe- cially in England, for corn of the finer sort, now oblige farmers to bestow great attention and care on the quality of their grain, Earlier this was not the case, and at the close of the eighteenth century the Danish corn stood lowest on the list in English grain-markets. This bad corn, nevertheless, found a profitable market in Norway, when Christian VI. in 1735 had forbidden the import of foreign corn into Denmark, and forced Norway to take its corn from thence. Writers on agriculture show that at that period corn was sold consisting of 32 per cent. rye, 38 per cent. weeds, 174 per cent. chaff, dirt, &c., 4 per cent. corn- cockle, 2} per cent. peas, 2 per cent. oats, 2 per cent. wheat, 1 per cent. barley, and 1 per cent. tares. After the repeal of the law referred to in 1788, and more espe- cially after the separation of Norway from Denmark in 1814, mer- chants were compelled, in their own interest, to take the quality of the grain more into consideration, and at present it is the exception when eyen the yeomen farmers deliver “ dirty corn ;” and evidence is everywhere found of a strong desire to supply this article in superior quality ; and consequently great attention is paid to the selection of seed-corn and the preparation of grain for sale. Good seed is obtained by the use of larger and better winnowing-ma- chines, by frequent purchase of clean and heavy seed from abroad, or from the better districts of this country (for instance, from the north-east part of Holstein), by the introduction of different kinds of wheat from England and Scotland, and by interchange of seed among the farmers of the country, especially of those kinds which most readily degenerate, &c. Improvements in these respects have, as is usually the case, been commenced by pro- prietors of large estates, and in the districts where these are numerous, the soil rich, and shipping ports are at hand, the benefit has been most marked, And this example has been followed by the yeoman farmer. Where the advantages have not been so apparent, reforms have been made more slowly. Progress in this respect is most noticeable on the islands, and in the fertile districts of the peninsula. A strong motive for additional care and attention arises from the fact that it is becoming more and more the usage with the dealer to buy his corn by weight and measure. Formerly all grain was bought by measure alone, and the merchant, for fear of offending the vendors, did not dare to pay different prices, though the qualities varied considerably. The old practice is doubtless still common in many parts of the country, but where the larger estates are situated, grain is sold according to weight and mea- sure, and it is believed that this practice will soon become 310 Agriculture of Denmark. general ; before such time it cannot be expected that the yeomen farmers will pay sufficient attention to the delivery of good, weighty, and clean corn. But the improvement in quality of the grain is also, in a great measure, due to the Danish corn-merchant, who of late years has paid great attention to its treatment after delivery to him. Many of the dealers have imported and use grain-drying apparatus to prevent mildew, and bestow great care on the sorting, winnow- ing, and casting of corn. This is the more necessary from the fact that in purchasing from the yeomen in small parcels, often of different quality, they are only able to obtain a merchantable article by great care in the sorting, &c., before shipment. Wheat.—The sort most cultivated in this country is the hardy red wheat, not much subject to blight ; until within the last twenty or thirty years this was the only kind grown, and its indifferent quality was the reason assigned for wheat not being more gene- rally sown ; foreign varieties were then introduced ; for instance, Wheathington wheat* from England, which, however, did not prove sufficiently hardy for the climate, and, again, from Poland ; but this did not succeed either, because it suffered too much from blight. About fifteen years ago another kind of English wheat (here called Manchester wheat) was introduced, which proved suitable, and is now largely cultivated all over the country. As land has been improved by cutting ditches, by artificial drainage, and by a better supply of manure, the cultivation of wheat has become more general, so much so that before long it will probably replace rye on the more fertile soil, although on the more sterile land of Jutland rye will continue to be the staple grain for food. In Holstein and in the marshes of Sleswig the cultivation of wheat has long exceeded that of rye. Twenty years ago four-fifths of the wheat exported from the Danish monarchy came from these duchies, while at present they do not supply half of the total export. The production of wheat in the whole monarchy is now calculated at nearly a million of quarters, and of this quantity the duchies supply about 450,000 quarters. The wheat from Denmark Proper is seldom as weighty as that from Holstein or the Baltic provinces, but it is not far inferior in quality. As an average weight of the wheat produced in the kingdom, 128 to 131 pounds Dutch per barrel (equal to 614 to 63 pounds English per bushel) may be given. The Holstein wheat is generally a couple of pounds heavier. The export of wheat during the last twenty or thirty years has increased largely ; from 1830 to 1839 the annual export did not * A white wheat, probably named after the importer, Agriculture of Denmark. all * exceed 95,000 quarters, while from 1854 to 1859 it averaged about 390,000 quarters. Rye.—This species of grain may truly be called the bread- corn of Denmark. In Jutland, more especially on the heaths and on the west coast, scarcely any other is known. On the Danish islands there is not half as much rye produced, com- paratively speaking, as in Jutland, whilst in the duchies its cultivation is only general on the heaths: it is never sown on the marshes, and consequently the kingdom supplies the duchies with a considerable quantity of this grain. Formerly the old Danish dark-brown rye predominated all over the country, but early in this century a different species was introduced from that part of Holstein called the “ Provsti” (north-east district); it is lighter in colour, heavier, thin-husked, and more productive ; wherever the soil is good it has superseded the old Danish rye, which is now, on account of its hardiness, chiefly cultivated in the less fertile districts of Jutland. A third kind of rye im- ported from Belgium (campine-rye) seems likely to supplant that last named ; it is not as light in colour or as weighty, but it gives a much larger crop, and is for that reason much esteemed. Good Danish rye is in weight equal, and sometimes superior to that from the Baltic provinces: on an average the best will weigh from 120 to 122 pounds Dutch per barrel (or 574 to 584 pounds English per bushel) ; in Jutland it generally weighs less, in Holstein more. Above 2,400,000 quarters are annually produced in the Danish monarchy, but, as it forms the chief bread-corn of the country, the export is but small. During the years 1854 to 1859 it averaged only about 240,000 quarters; at an €arlier date, however, no rye was exported, but imports of that grain took place. Barley may be mentioned as the most important article of export from Denmark, and, next to oats, the largest grain crop of the country. On the Danish islands more barley is cultivated, comparatively speaking, than in Jutland; in the duchies it is raised to any extent only in the marshes. Of the 2,400,000 quarters of barley, the annual average produce of the monarchy, not one quarter comes from the duchies of Sleswig and Holstein, which formerly, in less fruitful years, were even supplied fror the kingdom. In all the fertile districts of the country the two-rowed barley (Hordeum distichon), which has a fuller kernel, has, to a great extent, supplanted the six-rowed barley (Hordeum hexastichon). On the west coast of Jutland, however, the six-rowed barley is most common, because it is the hardiest, requires less rich soil, and is better adapted for an inclement and stormy climate, as it ripens earlier and is not so easily destroyed by wind. The 312 Agriculture of Denmark. Chevalier barley was much in vogue, ten or twenty years ago, in * some of the provinces of Denmark, but has never become general on account of the length of time it requires to ripen. The Danish barley is of superior quality, and usually sur- passes that of the Baltic provinces in weight; it is therefore much esteemed in foreign markets. Asa general rule, it has a weight of 110 to 114 lbs. Dutch per barrel (or 53 to 54 Ibs. English per bushel), but sometimes exceeds it. In the north- west part of Sealand, in the neighbourhood of Callunborg, the finest barley of the country is to be found, and here it sometimes weighs from 118 to 120 Ibs. or.even 122 lbs. Dutch per barrel (563, 574, to 583 Ibs. English per bushel). I am, however, informed that complaints have of late been made, especially in England, against the Danish barley, on the ground that the beard is broken off too close, for the sake of gaining weight and compactness in the sample, by which operation the kernel loses its germinating power, whereby its value, as malting barley, is diminished ; this, together with the heavy malt-tax in England, is the reason why Danish barley of late years has, comparatively speaking, been quoted at a higher price in Hamburg than in London. Since thrashing machines have become more general in Denmark, the farmers often use them for their barley, by which great labour is saved; but no doubt the barley suffers more by such operation than when thrashed with the flail or trodden out by horses. Corn-dealers complain that, since the thrashing machine has been used for such purpose, the kernels are often cut in two, and the principal brewers of this country object to purchase barley thus thrashed. The export of barley from Denmark is now, and always has been, larger than that of any other kind of grain. During the last twenty years it has considerably increased, though not in the same proportion as other grain. From 1830 to 1840 the annual export of barley was about 380,950 quarters; from 1855 to 1859 it, however, averaged 660,000 quarters. Oats.—T his is the largest crop grown in the Danish monarchy. In Jutland it is especially cultivated, and forms about forty-two per cent. of the entire harvest of that province ; it is also largely _ raised on the Danish islands, but not to the same extent as in Jutland or the duchies, where, especially in the marshes, it grows most luxuriantly. The yeomen farmers prefer a narrow- kernelled and pointed species of oats, called the old Danish, but on the larger properties the common white variety, introduced from England and Mecklenburg, is chiefly cultivated. The average weight of the Danish oats is 78 to 82 lbs. Dutch per barrel (or 374 to 394 lbs. English per bushel). Agriculture of Denmark. 313 The Danish monarchy produces annually, on an average, 3,571,000 quarters of oats, of which half in Jutland. ‘Though the production is larger than that of any other kind of grain, yet the export is but third in order, the home consumption being very large. The annual export does not now exceed 370,000 quarters, but twenty years ago it was only about 140,000 quarters. Buch-Wheat is principally cultivated where the soil is least fertile. In Jutland, especially on the west coast, it constitutes one-tenth of the entire grain harvest. In the duchies it is also grown, particularly in the more sandy soil of their central dis- tricts. Its cultivation is not generally profitable, because of the great uncertainty of the yield, which varies from two to sixteen fold. The export of buck-wheat is very variable. In 1854, 66,736 quarters were exported ; in 1857, only 12,540; in 1858 and 1859 the export averaged 25,437 quarters, of which Holland and Belgium receive the largest quantities. ‘The average weight of the buck-wheat is about 110 to 114 lbs. Dutch per barrel (or 53 to d4 lbs. English per bushel). Peas.—The culture of this plant is confined to some particular districts. On the islands of Moen and Falster they constitute about twenty per cent. of the harvest, but they are also cultivated on the islands of Bornholm and Laaland and in the southern parts of Sealand. In the duchies they are met with only in the marshes, the north-east districts of Holstein, and on the island of Femern. Different varieties are grown, among which may be mentioned the green and the grey vegetable peas, and the small green and grey, used as fodder for cattle. The export of peas is trifling, though it has increased within - twenty years from about 24,000 to 42,000 quarters. Beans are cultivated only in the most fertile districts of the duchies, principally in the marshes, where they grow luxu- riantly. Since 1845 the export has more than doubled, and now averages 25,000 quarters. Potatoes.—About twenty or twenty-five years ago the cultiva- tion of this root increased to a great extent in Denmark, till it became the principal food of the yeoman and the peasant, but the disease which attacked it in so many countries in 1845 also affected it here, and since then its production has materially decreased ; thus, previous to 1845, about 1,140,000 bushels were annually exported, while, since that time, the export has scarcely reached half that quantity; they are principally sent to Hamburg and Norway. From the potato a spirit is distilled, of which a considerable quantity is used in the country and some exported to Sweden. But, while the potato has of late received less atten- tion, other plants have received more ; for instance, beet-root, cabbages, and turnips ; and it is evident that in a few years they 314 Agriculture of Denmark. will form an important branch of the agriculture of the country. On most of the larger properties one or more acres is assigned for their exclusive growth. The general drawback to more extensive crops on such estates is the want of a sufficient supply of labour ; this objection, however, is not so applicable to the more numerous farms of the yeomen, on which, no doubt, these plants will soon enter more extensively into the rotation. Though many varieties of garden cabbages are raised, they cannot be considered as forming an object to agriculturists. Rape.—This plant was early and extensively grown in Holstein for the seed, and during the first thirty years of the present cen- tury it took an important position in the agriculture of that duchy ; from thence it was introduced into other parts of the monarchy, and, in consequence of the high price it fetched, and its great productiveness, was highly approved of ; but during the last twenty years it has been much less cultivated, not only on account of the decrease in the yield (caused by injuries received from insects and worms in the flowering season), but also because it was often entirely destroyed by the frost in winter, so that the land had to be reploughed in spring ; and again because it proved exhausting to the soil, and, finally, because grain-prices have in- creased so much that the balance of profit is now in their favour. The general opinion is that, as the system of converting agricul- tural produce into meat and butter, by feeding cattle with cereals, &c., advances, so the cultivation of rape will diminish. The only districts in the monarchy where it is yet met with to any extent are those of the north-east of Holstein and the marshes, especially the latter. Among the different species of rape cultivated may be men- tioned winter rape (Brassica Napus oleifera), which, in fayour- able years, gives better returns than the “ Riibsen” (Brassica Rapa oleifera), which, on the other hand, is less infested with insects. The first-named is grown in the kingdom, the last in the duchies. Between 1830 and 1839 the export of rape averaged 96,143 quarters annually, in 1840 it rose to 133,297 quarters, but in 1855 it did not reach 37,000 quarters, while in 1859, 105,663 quarters were exported ; of these quantities two-thirds were the produce of the duchies and one-third of the kingdom. Holland receives about half, and England, Belgium, and Hamburg the remainder. The export of rape-cakes averaged, between 1830 and 1840, 11,000,000 of English pounds annually ; since 1844 it has increased, and reached about 22,000,000 Ibs. ; the largest quantity is shipped to England. Flax.—The cultivation of this plant is generally decreasing in Denmark; it is to be met with in most districts, but on so limited a scale that it seldom more than suffices to supply the Agriculture of Denmark. 315 personal requirements of the producer, and is far from sufficient for those of the whole country. The superior and cheaper yarn brought from England and Germany, together with the increased demand for finer linens, cause the farmers to hesitate before they grow a plant which is even more exhausting to the soil than rape, and demands an expensive and laborious treatment. Another reason why less attention is paid to the production of flax may be found in the fact that, with one exception (at Frederiksborg), no flax-spinnery of any importance exists in the country. In the north of Funen, where the Government established one in 1793, the largest crop of flax was then raised, but since this spinnery has been discontinued it has decreased ‘also there. Between 1,000,000 and 2,000,000 Ibs. of flax are annually imported, principally from Russia, independent of from 2} to 3} million lbs. of linen and yarn, obtained from England, Belgium, and Prussia, Of flax-seed, the import exceeds the export by 11,000 to 14,000 quarters annually. Hemp.—The same may be said of this plant as of flax ; its cultivation decreases annually, and it is only raised on a limited scale in particular districts ; for instance, on the island of Samso and in the neighbourhood of Rendsburg. The import of hemp therefore averages from 34 to 54 million pounds annually, and takes place principally from Russia. Hops.—This plant is principally cultivated in gardens, and only to a small extent. Angeln, in Sleswig, and the north-west of Funen make exceptions in this respect, but the hops raised in Funen are not considered good, and are chiefly sold to the yeomen farmers for domestic use. Close upon 1,000,000 Ibs. of hops are annually imported into Denmark, principally from Germany. The cultivation of other plants, such as tobacco, carraway, _ mustard, &c., is so extremely small in Denmark as scarcely to deserve attention. The influence of the British corn-law of 1845 on the grain- trade and husbandry in general of a country like Denmark must of course have been most favourable. Formerly, the corn of Denmark was largely exported to Norway, but the trade created by this law was soon turned to some, though not the best, account, because the grain of the country was then not suffi- ciently good to suit the English market, and consequently, while the exports in the early years after 1845 increased largely, they decreased for a time afterwards. But, by improved agriculture, better corn has been raised, more attention has been paid to winnowing and sorting it, &c., and the result has been a considerable increase of trade with Great Britain, The accom- panying table (marked E) first shows the general export of the VOL. XXI. Z 316 Agriculture of Denmark. agricultural products of the Danish monarchy for the six years 1854-1859, then the separate export to Great Britain and Ireland before and after 1845, and finally, that for the six years 1854- 1859. GarDEN CuLture.—Except on the larger properties little attention is paid to gardening. In the northern and western districts of Jutland even fruit-trees are rarely met with. In a few places the yeomen farmers seem to feel an interest in garden- ing, particularly in the south of Funen and on the island of Taasing, where, attached to each yeoman-farm, is found an en- closed piece of land planted with fruit-trees, hops, and orna- mental flowers. In the south of the island of Sealand, and on Moen, the yeomen farmers cultivate a good many fruits, especi- ally cherries and plums. In Sleswig, by Sundeved, and on the island of Als, great attention is paid to fruit-trees; and here may be found a most excellent apple, called “ Graasteen,” introduced from Holland or Italy by the Duke of Augustenburg, and called after his estate, where it was first planted. The attention of the Danish government was long ago directed to this subject. Christian I]. was the first who invited certain Dutch families to settle in the country, for instance on the island of Amager (near Copenhagen) ; the cultivation of vege- tables forms their principal occupation ; a taste for gardening is also visible on the island of Nordstrand (on the west coast of Sleswig), where these settlers have, by great labour, reared many fruit-trees, though the inhabitants of the marshes in Sleswig have in vain tried to do so, Woops AnD Forrsts.—Though Denmark has less woodland now than a century ago, yet the islands and the east coast of the peninsula are well supplied. At the close of the last and the commencement of the present century, the woods and forests suffered much by a general and ill-planned system of felling trees. Between 1764 and 1774, a great deal of crown-land, with the woods appertaining to it, was sold to private persons, who, to obtain large returns for their money, felled and sold the trees; this lasted until 1805, when a law was published for the king- dom, compelling those who thus cut down trees to plant others in their place: by this law the country is secured against the destruction of its woods, which not only benefit it by the fire- wood and timber they supply, but also by the protection they afford, in an agricultural point of view, against storm and weather. No law of the kind applies to the duchies of Sleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg, and the fate of the woods there is doubtful. According to statistical returns the woods and forests of the Danish monarchy cover about 880 English square miles, or 4 per cent. of the total area of the country; they may be thus Agriculture of Denmark. 3l7 subdivided :—Those on the islands and in Jutland cover about 345,000, those in Holstein 62,500, those in Sleswig 50,000, and those in Lauenburg 42,500 acres of land. The largest in Den- mark is the “‘ Grib-forest,” on Sealand, which covers an area of 22 English square miles. Of all the trees grown in the country, the most important is the “beech,” which can scarcely be surpassed in any part of the world. It is the national tree of Denmark, and constitutes five- sixths of the woods. The oak comes next, of which two kinds are found; the summer oak (Quercus pedunculata), and the winter oak (Quercus sessiliflora). ‘The former is the most com- mon, the latter being now only found in a particular district in Jutland and on Bornholm. This tree is usually only found in small groups in the beech-woods, yet in some places, as on Laaland and in Holstein, considerable oak-forests are to be met with. The fir, which was formerly the principal tree of Den- mark, appears to have been so totally exterminated in the be- ginning of this century, that nearly all the specimens now found have been planted since that time; but as they grow quickly even in indifferent soil, and consequently give good returns, great attention is paid to their culture, and they will perhaps at some future day again take the lead in the forests of Denmark. Besides the above, the elder, birch, aspen, elm, maple, lime, and other trees, are met with. Of these, the elm and the birch have earlier been of great importance in this country, but they are not so now. A favourable change has of late taken place in the general management of the woods and forests, particularly the large forests and those under the superintendence of government or of keepers specially educated for the purpose, and required to pass examinations previous to their appointment. But the smaller woods, belonging to the yeomen farmers, are often badly managed, and afford indifferent returns. Those on the island of Bornholm, with the exception of the royal woods, are ill cared for. Several thousand acres of land, unsuited for agriculture, are annually planted with trees, almost exclusively firs; this is more particularly the case with a great part of the barren land in Jutland, and is done partly on private account and partly on that of government. The firs thus planted, though they do not grow very rapidly in this sterile soil, exposed as they are to the stormy weather, are yet likely to give a better return than that at present derived from the heaths, as miserable pasture for sheep. On one estate in Jutland, “ Frijsenborg,” the property of Count Frijs, 448,691 fir-trees were planted lately in one year. The use made of the timber is two-fold: for building pur- poses and for firewood. Formerly, when there was plenty of % 2 318 Agriculture of Denmark. oak in the country, the timber in most houses was of that material, but it is now found cheaper to import fir and pine timber from abroad, the firs of this country being too young for such a purpose. The oak of the country is exclusiv rely used for ship- building, and is not sufficient to supply what is required for that purpose. The import of timber is therefore considerable : thus, about 400,000 to 500,000 cubic feet of oak, 5,000,000 to 6,000,000 Babi feet and about 80,000 Commer fasts OF fir are annually imported. The oak comes principally from Pomerania, the fir chiefly from Norway and Sweden, but also from Prussia, &c. The forests of beech are most valuable in supplying fuel; in woody districts it is exclusively used; where there is less woodland, peat replaces it. The import and export of wood for fue. are about equal; for, while Hamburg and other places are annually supplied with about 20,000 fathoms of beechwood, a similar quantity of fir for fuel is imported from Prussia. PEAT is, as already stated, the chief fuel in the districts des- titute of wood, and, fortunately for Denmark, there are many turf-bogs in the country; they cover an area of 1650 English square miles, or about 8 per cent. of the monarchy; they are spread nearly all over the country, with the exception of the marshes in the duchies, where, from the absence of wood as well as of peat, fuel is obtained with difficulty ; as a substitute, a kind of turf, which is dug at low-water from the bottom of the sea, on the coast, and the straw of wheat and stems of rape are fre- quently used for baking purposes. The supply of peat varies much in quality. That found in Jutland, spread to no great depth over a large surface, is very loose and light, seldom weighing more than 16 to 26 pounds per cubic foot; it burns easily, but does not give great heat. The bogs or pits in Sealand, though less extensive, are deep, and give a more compact turf, which affords greater heat ; one cubic foot of this turf generally weighs 35 pounds. The people are not economical in working the peat-bogs, partly from their great extent and partly for want of draining, which prevents digging to a greater depth than 5 or 6 feet ; this is particularly the case in Jutland. On Sealand some Facer turf-cutters have of late been introduced, who, by greater skill, are able to dig deeper, so as to effect a great saving ; they adopt the Westphalian method of kneading the turf in wooden boxes, thereby producing a superior peat. On the island of Bornholm, which is destitute both of wood and turf, coal is found about 16 to 20 feet below the surface, in layers extending to a depth not yet ascertained. ‘These seams are of various thickness—from a couple of inches to a couple of Agriculture of Denmark. 319 feet. The coal is found principally on the west coast of the island, by Rénne and Hasle. Formerly each yeoman dug for coal on his fields as he pleased ; lately, however, a company has been formed for the purpose, but it does not appear to have shown great energy, for the greatest depth reached in the pits is 80 feet. The mines have consequently not given the returns which they probably might give under better management, but they prove of great service in supplying the island. The total annual production is from 6000 to 7000 English tons of inferior quality, very sulphurous and ashy, giving but little heat, and incapable of being burnt to coke. With respect to heat, 94 ewt. of Bornholm coal is equal to 6 ewt. English coal. The very small general importance of this supply will be evident when I mention that, in 1859, 413,116 tons of coal were imported into the monarchy exclusively from Great Britain. FreLp Sports have ceased to be an occupation for profit, as was once the case, when the forests were more extensive, and the game and wild beasts more plentiful. As late as 1772 wolves were found in Denmark, and, until the commencement of this century, wild boars; the latter are even now to be met with in a royal forest in Lauenburg. Deer, once so plentiful, are now found only in the royal and private parks. One royal park (Jeegersborg), a few miles from Copenhagen, contains about 200 stags and 800 does; the number of hares and foxes has of late materially decreased, and continues to do so, On the west coast of the peninsula a few wild rabbits may be met with. The swan, the wild goose and wild duck, partridges, snipes, fieldfares, and, on the heaths in Jutland, the heath-birds, are the most common birds in Denmark. The west coast of the pen- insula is often frequented by a large number of sea-birds during a brief period of the season, in particular by a species of wild goose. On the island of Ertholm, in the Great Belt, and on the islands on the west coast of Sleswig, a number of eider-ducks are found. Of old the right of killing game was restricted either to the proprietors of the large estates or to the king; the latter generally transferring his right to the “ Amtmond” (county sheriffs), who obtained a considerable revenue by leasing out their privilege. After the constitution of 1848 was granted, such an exclusive privilege was, in the opinion of the country, contrary to the idea of liberty and equality, independent of the damage suffered by the unprivileged. In consequence the game-law of 1851 was issued, by which the yeomen and all others are allowed to kill game on their own land ; but it appears doubtful whether this general right has not proved injurious, for the game, useful as 320 Agriculture of Denmark. food, was soon reduced in number, as well as the birds or animals that destroy insects, vermin, Ke. There are many intelligent farmers who, without wishing to see the present game-law repealed, desire to have some clause added by which protection should be afforded to such birds and animals as seem by nature destined for the destruction of vermin, &c., which of late years have increased enormously, causing greater damage to the farmer than any he suffered from the depredations of wild birds and beasts. FisHertes.—In olden times the number of fish in the Danish waters was very large. Saxo Gramaticus (the chronicler of the twelfth century) says of the Oresund, “ that it was so full of fish that ships could scarcely get through, and that fishing-apparatus was not required, as the fish could be caught by hand.” This statement is of course exaggerated ; yet it indicates that there must have been great abundance of Bah. which is further attested by the existence in earlier times of many fishing villages on the borders of the Sound, which disappeared as the number of fish decreased. The same historian says of the Liimfjord, ‘ that fishing appeared to afford as much revenue to the inhabitants as agriculture.” It is not easy to ascertain the cause of the great decrease which has taken place in the supply of fish on the Danish coast, except in the Liimfjord, where it is supposed to be due to the irrup- tion of the North Sea, whereby the water became salter and the current stronger. The last time that the fisheries in the Liim- fjord gave large profits was in 1828: so many herrings were then caught that 100,000 barrels were exported ; since then the returns have been very small. Though the supply of fish has decreased, there can be no doubt that fishing might be made remunerative, but this does not at present appear to be the case, as only about 23 per cent. of the population are occupied in that way, while agriculture, as earlier stated, gives employment to more than 60 per cent. of it. The only reason that can be assigned for this is, that the in- habitants find employment in the fields as profitable, more easy, and less hazardous than the life of fishermen; but it might be otherwise if these were supplied with better tackle, and taught the best and most economical way of curing and ‘salting fish. They are so ill provided at present that frequently, when a large and unexpected number of fish is caught, they are obliged to throw many into the sea again, or use them as food for pigs, &e. On the fertile coasts of Sleswig and Holstein scarcely any natives are employed in fishing, but small smacks come from Blankenese (in the Elbe), and take all they catch to Hamburg. On the west coast of Jutland, from the barren nature of the Agriculture of Denmark. 321 land, nearly the entire population is engaged in fishing, and principally lives upon fresh or cured fish; near the Scaw the inhabitants chiefly maintain themselves by catching flounders. Further south, on the east coast, where the soil is more fertile, few persons are thus occupied, and these only when fish are abundant. This may be said of part of the bay of Randers, where a great many salmon are sometimes met with, In like manner herrings are found plentifully in the firth of the ‘Slie,” in Sleswig, and sprats in the bay of Kiel. It is surprising that the several wide bays and inlets in Denmark are seldom visited by herrings, while the “ Slie,” with a narrow passage, is rich in this fish. The right of fishing in the “Slie” belongs in part to the inhabitants of “ Cappel” and in part to the proprietors of entailed estates along the said firth or bay. The herrings caught here are smoked in Cappel, and thence sent to different parts of the country. The sprats caught in the bay of Kiel are also smoked, and exported in considerable quantities. On the Danish islands the principal fisheries are on the borders of the Great and Little Belts, where many eels and herrings are caught, and on the east coast of Sealand, from Copen- hagen to the north of the island. On this latter coast several villages are situated, where the population maintain themselves entirely by fishing, and principally supply Copenhagen, Elsi- nore, and other places with fish, such as cod, mackerel, sprats, soles, &c. On the island of Bornholm considerable salmon and herring fisheries exist. Oysters and dolphins are found in certain districts. The dolphin, which, in the spring, enters the Kattegat and Baltic from the North Sea, is caught only in two places in any number, viz., near Middelfart, on the island of Funen, and “ Jeegerspriis,” on Sealand; in the latter place there is a special guild, esta- blished in 1693, and called the “ Dolphin-hunters’ Guild,” which consists of thirty members; at this place about 1000 dolphins are annually caught. The oyster-banks are not of great import- ance ; the principal ones are those near Frederikshayn, and on the west coast of Sleswig, from Fano to Pelworn; the oysters from the latter banks are exported vid Flensburg to St. Petersburg, Copenhagen, or Germany, under the name of Flensburg oysters. About 200,000 are annually taken by Frederikshavn, and more than 3,000,000 on the west coast of Sleswig; these banks are government property, and are leased to private individuals for about 2500/. annually. Of late years oyster-banks have been discovered in the “ Liimfjord,” in Jutland, and it cannot be doubted but that others must exist in Denmark. A few seals are shot near the Danish coasts. From the mismanagement of the fisheries, there is little or no 322 Agriculture of Denmark. export of fish, whereas from 10,000,000 to 11,000,000 pounds of salted, smoked, or dried fish, are annually imported, principally from the Faro islands and from Iceland. A considerable quan- tity of fish is annually sent from hence to Prussia, not of native produce, but principally in transit from Norway, &c. Bres.—In 1838 there existed in Denmark Proper 85,000 bee- hives, and about the same number in the duchies, where more care was bestowed on them than in the kingdom. Most atten- tion was formerly paid to the bees on the east coast and on the heaths of the peninsula, where the wild flowers and the buck- wheat afforded them a suitable nourishment. Each yeoman has generally a couple of ill-made hives, which he manages badly, in the old-fashioned way. But the great interest of late created in Germany by the treatment of bees by Mr. Dzierzons (a clergy- man in Silesia) has fortunately awakened a similar feeling in this country; in the keeping of bees great improvement may therefore be looked for by the introduction of Mr. Dzierzons’ system. The annual export from the Danish monarchy averages 45,000 to 50,000 English pounds of honey (whereof 16,000 to 18,000 pounds to England), about 110,000 pounds of wax (of which only 400 or 500 pounds to England), and 10,200 gallons of mead, of which nearly all goes to Norway. Tron.—Denmark has no mines, but near the bogs, especially in Jutland, a ferruginous ore is to be met with at a depth of one to two feet; it is said to contain from 30 to 50 per cent. of iron, and is called ‘“ Mose-ahl” (bog-metal). Earlier, when communication with foreign countries was attended with diffi- culty, this ore was used by the yeomen for smelting purposes, but never in larger manufactories. From old deeds of conyey- ance and other documents it is seen that taxes were frequently paid with this ore. About twenty years ago an attempt was made to use it on a larger scale, and it was found to yield 26 per cent. of iron, easily smelted, suitable for cast, but not for wrought iron, The experiment failed, and since then no notice has been taken of the ore. AMBER is washed up on the Danish coasts, but, in most places, in very small pieces and quantities, and of late not so frequently as earlier, On the west coast of Jutland, however, it is gathered in stormy weather in such quantities that its collection proves remunerative ; the annual value of the produce may be stated at about 8007. Of other mineral produce met with in the Danish monarchy may be named gypsum, from Segeberg in Holstein, where 6000 to 7000 barrels are annually obtained. Cement-stone is found on Bornholm as well as lime-stone ; the latter, when polished, re- sembles black marble Agriculture of Denmark. 3 - Saur is extracted from sea-water on the Jutland coast. Near Oldesloe in Holstein exists a brine-spring, which annually fur- nishes from 700 to 800 English tons of salt. Tue pvomestic InpustrRY oF THE RuRAL PoPpULATION OF DenMARK is not only of importance in its pecuniary results, but from its influence on the moral and social condition of the people. The women in the agricultural districts commonly manufacture all articles of woollen and linen clothing used by the yeomen and peasants. The number of domestic weaveries in Denmark Proper was some years ago about 17,000: they are found more particularly in the poorer and less fertile districts, especially on the island of Bornholm. The product of these weaveries is readily disposed of to domestic servants and the working classes, who look more to strength than appearance. During late years the number of these weaveries has somewhat diminished, probably in consequence of the improved condition of the yeomen, who are now frequently clad in better kinds of cloth. Wool-knitting is a national employment. In the heath-districts of Jutland, where it is most practised, children from four to five years old are taught, and consequently obtain great expertness in the art. Not more than from 1s. 6d. to 2s. 6d. a week can, as a general rule, be earned by knitting ; but then this frequently does not interfere with other occupation. ‘Thus while the shepherd watches his flocks, or when the labourer is going to the fields, he knits stockings, mittens, &c., without interruption: if the female servant is cooking, or sent to the fields to milk the cows, she knits all the time. Something like 30,000 to 35,000 English pounds of wool are thus annually turned into something useful, principally under-waistcoats, drawers, stockings, socks, and mittens. The quality of the under-waistcoats and drawers is so good that they are sought not alone in the country, but also abroad; but the foreign demand has resulted in less attention being paid to the quality than the quantity produced. The making of Pillow-Lace was introduced into the Danish monarchy from Westphalia in 1646, and was chiefly adopted as a trade in “'Tonder” and its neighbourhood (in Sleswig). More than 1500 females are constantly engaged in this way, and about 10,000 others seek an occasional occupation by such employ- ment. This lace is strong and beautiful ; it is generally made to order, and for account of some trader who supplies the thread and patterns. The bargains made are so close that these indus- trious people gain but a miserable pittance, seldom exceeding 23d. to dd. a day. Making Wooden Shoes is principally the occupation of the peasants in the woody districts of Jutland : 600,000 pair are thus annually produced for sale, independent of those made by the 324 Agriculture of Denmark. farm-servants for themselves. They are in general use, not only among the rural population, but also among the labouring classes in the towns. None are exported. Potteries —The yellow Bornholm stone-ware and porcelain are of superior quality, and many graceful water-vases, figures, &c., are manufactured from them, But the only product of domestic industry in this branch is the black clay-pots, commonly used for boiling purposes all over the country. They are manufac- tured by females, principally in the south-west districts of Jut- land, and are not only used in the country, but exported to some little extent. Brick-Works.—The use of bricks in modern farm-buildings has been already referred to. It has lately been forbidden by law to use timber as the framework of houses in towns, and the manufacture of bricks has very considerably increased in conse- quence. Nearly all over the country brick-clay is to be met with, and in some places, of a superior quality. In the duchies 400 ‘gigs orks exist, furnishing annually 100,000,000 of bricks, besides 5,000,000 to 6,000, 000. of tiles, and abou ,000,000 of pantiles. In Dri Proper there are 800 brick- anand but they are on a smaller scale than in the duchies, and only supply 100,000,000 of bricks, besides a considerable number of draining- pipes. The fuel principally used is peat, but, when the works are situated near the coast, a considerable quantity of coal is used, Though the number of bricks produced in the Danish monarchy is considerable, it does not suffice for the consumption of the country, and consequently importation takes place. Pusiic AND Private InsTITUTIONS AND SOCIETIES FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF AGRICULTURE. I have frequently had occasion to allude to the general pros- perity of the agriculture of Denmark, but, however considerable this may already be, its future development must materially depend upon the theoretical and practical information and know- ledge gathered, and the intelligence with which they are spread. It must be admitted that the Danish agriculturist is not remark- able on account of his power of invention, his quickness at devising expedients, his shrewdness or ingenuity; yet the dif- fusion of general knowledge among this class is considerable, and its steady advancement is provided for by the establishment of schools, and the education of intelligent teachers. Denmark may be proud of the progress made in this respect within the last twenty years. During this period fourteen public schools, for young men above the age of eighteen, have been established in different parts of the country, having as their special object to give the pupils a thorough agricultural educsbioe! Such a system cannot fail to prove beneficial to the future farmers of the country. Agriculture of Denmark. 325 These schools are almost exclusively established through the liberality and public spirit of private individuals, who have been supported in their honourable undertaking by the Government, by public institutions, and agricultural societies. ‘These schools have generally from 300 to 400 pupils, principally of the yeomen- families, and the favourable result of such institutions is already visible on the farms of this important class. The government founded in 1856-1858 a school on a large scale for the education of all persons directly or indirectly con- nected with agriculture, gardening, or the veterinary science, which bears the name of the “Royal Veterinary and Agricul- tural School,” and is situated in the neighbourhood of Copen- hagen. Young men here obtain an excellent and very cheap education, which, no doubt, will prove most useful, whether their future calling be that of a cultivator of land or a public func- tionary, indirectly connected with the veterinary science, agricul- ture, or gardening. ‘Though the formation of this school is but of recent date, yet it has already done some good service, and the government has been fortunate in the selection of managers and teachers. Of equal importance is the “ Royal Society of Rural_ Economy” of Copenhagen, founded in 1769, which ever since has had a most important influence on the husbandry of the country. It has promoted, and, in some instances, offered prizes for treatises and books on this science; it has given pecuniary assistance to men who wished to travel for the purpose of gathering practical knowledge ; it has caused lectures to be given on agriculture ; it has furnished different schools and parishes with books, newly- invented implements, &c. Its capital is above 16,000. inde- pendent of considerable annual subscriptions. Public agricultural meetings are frequently held in different districts. On these occasions the exhibition of animals, agricul- tural implements, and produce takes place, discussions are held, and prizes distributed. With a similar object a general meeting of agriculturists, from all parts of the country, is held every other year, in some locality previously agreed upon. The number of original writers on agriculture has consider- ably decreased during the last ten or fifteen years, and this branch of literature is at present too much confined to translations from German or French works, neither suited to the circumstances of this country nor appreciated or understood by the general farmer of Denmark: I am, however, informed that one of the able directors of the “Royal Veterinary and Agricultural School of Copenhagen” is preparing an original work on the subject, and have no doubt that it will prove a most valuable acquisition to the agricultural literature of the country. 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For this purpose it will be ad- visable to treat the subject under two distinct heads, according as the animal excreta may or may not be intermixed with straw. Cuass I.—AnimaL MANURES, INTERMIXED WITH STRAW. This includes the most expensive manures which are pro- duced upon our farms. We have in that heterogeneous mass so familiarly known as farmyard-manure the great representative of this class. The evidence of practice is agreed respecting its great value, and the improvements which have been introduced into agricultural practice have a powerful and direct tendency to increase the quantity and improve the quality of this product of the farm. Our attention has now to be directed to a subsequent stage—its application to the land. If we appeal to practice alone for an answer to the question before us, viz., What is the best period of the rotation and the best time of the year for applying the manure of the farm? it will at first sight appear almost impossible to elicit such a reply as will enable us to establish any definite rules, in consequence of the widely-varying customs of different districts. But this want of agreement need not cause us much surprise; for it is clear that as the conditions of soil and climate vary they must be met by corresponding modification in our practice. I do not know any branch of farm management in which the truth of this principle is more evident than in the use of dung. There is scarcely any crop for which farmyard-manure has not been used with advantage; and throughout every month of the year we have instances of its successful application. In explaining and justifying this diversity of usage, we must take the result of suc- cessful practice as our primary guide; for science can rarely do more than explain the causes of a success already achieved, and cannot be recognised as an independent authority. Acting upon this principle, we will first notice— 330 The Application of the Manure of the Farm. Tue Practice or Apptyinc Dune To our HEAvy Sorts, sucH AS CLays AND Criay-Loams. Fallows.—On clay soils the manure is commonly applied to the fallows, and my own experience leads me to consider this to be a judicious practice. If, in some cases, lime is used as a substitute for dung, this will arise rather from the difficulties of providing an adequate supply of the latter than from choice. The combined, or rather consecutive, use of the two substances will generally be found highly beneficial. The time for applying the dung will depend upon the condition of the land, as well as upon the other and more urgent demands both on the supply of manure and the horse-power of the farm. After the cultivation of the wheat and bean crop has been attended to, the fallow-land and that under preparation for roots will demand attention ; so that however desirable the autumn application of manure to the summer fallows may be in an abstract point of view, practically these fields will rarely be clean enough to warrant this pro- ceeding, even if manure can be spared for the purpose. It is clearly impolitic to lay on dung in the autumn or early winter, unless we have been able to conquer the weeds, which, if undis- turbed, would gain strength and ascendancy from this supply of nutriment. Moreover, except in those few instances in which stall-feeding during the summer is carried out, the autumn stock of manure will be the product of the previous spring, and con- sequently become thoroughly rotten, and for this reason be less valuable for the fallow ground than for a crop. ‘The condition of the dung has an intimate connection with its application, -and the question may fairly be asked, Whether the condition must not regulate the time of its application? ‘To which we, however, reply that this condition is under our control, and may be made to accommodate itself to the general economy of the farm. Throughout the management of a fallow two objects have to be kept in view :—Ilst, The improvement of the texture of the soil, so as to fit it for the growth and extension of the roots of the crop; and 2ndly, The liberation and development of fertilizing matter for the nourishment of the plant. The strong soils upon which alone fallows have been found desirable are so close and retentive in their character that there is some difficulty in pre- serving a free passage for roots. This important mechanical condition of the soil is attained by various tillage operations, which we denominate fallowing, as well as by the use of manure. It will be evident, upon a moment’s consideration, that the less decayed the dung may be the greater will be its firmness and The Application of the Manure of the Farm. 331 rigidity, and consequently the mechanical influence which it is capable of exerting upon the soil will be in the same proportion, Thus, when fresh dung is ploughed into a strong clay soil, it offers a certain amount of resistance to its particles again re- turning to their former close and adhesive condition ; whereas, if thoroughly rotten manure were used, it could offer no resist- ance, but the entire mass would again become compact. In the latter case, the soil is enriched, but no additional facility is given to the roots to obtain the supplies which are added for promoting the growth of the next crop; in the former instance the fresh manure adds food for the crop and offers facilities for its use. We have other reasons which favour the application of dung to the fallows whilst the fermentation is in its earliest stage. In the fermentation of dung, we have important chemical changes taking place amongst the elements which enter into its compo- sition. The great object in fermenting manure is to bring waste matter from the animal body and certain products of vegetable life into such a condition that they can again be useful for the support of vegetation. ‘This fermentation of the dung may be carried out in two ways: the one will materially diminish its fertilising powers; but by the other plan the .change may be controlled so that the manurial properties may, in a great mea- sure be preserved, although some slight loss is inevitable. I have estimated, from the analyses given by Dr. Voelcker* as the results of an examination of farmyard-manure in its fresh and also in a well-rotted condition, that the ingredients in very superior manure, calculated at their market-value, are worth ls. per ton more when the dung is in a fresh condition than when it has become thoroughly decayed. ‘This loss is experi- enced when the manure has been carefully fermented for experimental purposes ; but when the decomposition takes place under careless management—when, for instance, the drainage from the manure is not carefully preserved—the waste is far greater, so as materially to affect the finances of the farm. In the application of dung in the early stage of the fermentation, we have this change taking place in the soil under circum- stances which ensure us against loss; for we know enough of the power of these retentive soils to be assured that what is entrusted to their custody will be safely retained for promoting vegetable growth. The best evidence as to the store of fertilizing matter obtain- able from the soil by tillage is the fact that some are disposed to rely exclusively on this supply for their successive crops. * Royal Agricultural Society’s Journal, vol. xvii. VOL, XXI, 2A 3382 The Application of the Manure of the Farm. Without entering into the merits of this mode of culture, or attempting to define either the limits of fertility thus obtainable or the economical advantages or disadvantages attendant on such a system, we at once recognize the great value of this supply and the importance of employing all ordinary means for its development. In the use of farmyard-dung we may materially assist this decomposition of the soil: for, when the manure is added in a fresh and unfermented state, whilst its decay is taking place in the land it promotes the decomposition of the materials in the soil, and thus renders them available for vegetable growth. In this manner we not only add a certain quantity of manure to the land, but, by applying it so that its decay shall take place in the soil, we gain from the inert and inactive portion of the soil a further contribution of fertilizing matter. ‘This influence would be considerably reduced—I might almost say lost—if the same manure were employed in a well-rotted condition, because it will have passed through its fermentation, in which stage it exerts this influence. This is, therefore, an additional reason for checking the decomposition of the manure until it has been applied to the fallow-land. If there is a sufficient supply of dung free for the fallow and the land is tolerably clean, there can be no objection to its application before the winter-ploughing ; but neither of these conditions is usual, and hence land intended for fallowing seldom receives any dung before winter. The reasons Piven above favour the application of the dung as early as the land is ready for it. When lime and dung are both to he used upon a fallow, care must be taken not to apply them at the same time, otherwise, from their combination on the surface, ammonia will be set free and lost in the atmosphere. But, with due precaution, the two may be employed in the same season, not only without loss but with great advantage. ‘The dung may generally be applied in a fresh state before the second spring-ploughing, after which the lime may be spread on the surface and worked into the soil. The combination of these fertilizers under the surface of the land will from the after-tillage increase the benefit derived from the employment of each separately. As the sun has great power at the season of the year when farmyard-manure is commonly spread on the fallows, the labour of the field should be so ad- justed that the plough may follow the cart closely enough to bury the dung before it has lost its moisture. Fallow-Crops.—Vhe action of manure on these crops is very similar to that on fallows, so that the further consideration of its application resolves itself into a notice of the special require- ments of each crop. ~ Mangold-Wurzel is one of the most valuable roots cultivated ——— The Application of the Manure of the Farm. 333 upon stiff land. Three modes of applying farmyard manure are in use :— Ist. That of ridging the land, spreading the dung between the drills, and splitting the ridges in the autumn, Qnd. That of ridging the land in autumn, but delaying the application of manure till spring. 3rd. That of laying on the manure in the autumn, and either covering it by a deep ploughing, or by working it into the soil by the steam-power cultivators. It may be urged, on behalf of the first method, that as an early sowing of the seed is important, and the difficulties of spring- tillage on a retentive soil in a wet season are considerable, nothing should be postponed until the spring except the actual sowing of the seed. On behalf of the second method, we may remark that the many demands on the stock of manure in the autumn, and the convenience of doing the carting to distant fields during the winter frosts, will frequently render its adoption desirable. ‘The advocates of deep cultivation who are fortunate enough to have a grateful subsoil will generally adopt the third method, with perhaps as much eye to the permanent improve- ment af the soil as the immediate benefit of the root-crop. This method has the further advantage of effecting a more equal distri- bution of the manure throughout the soil, and in this respect we avoid an important defect of the ridge system; for although by ploughing or cultivating across the ridges when the land is prepared for the succeeding crop, we may then obviate much of the future evil, still it should be more generally known that the quality and weight of the root-crop itself are often prejudicially influenced by the manure being retained within such narrow limits. Swedes and Turnips.——The farmyard-manure used for these crops has very generally been applied to the land just before the last ploughing in spring ; but we have many modern instances where on strong soils an effort has been made to give the soil the benefit of an early admixture of long manure. In such case, the stubble having been cleaned during the autumn receives its allowance of dung before it is ploughed-up for the winter. This practice has been found to succeed so well that its extension is rapid upon stiff soils. Amongst the advantages which result are, the security of the manure from loss by bad management and the favourable action exerted upon the land—points to which we have already referred. To these we may add others which are of great importance. We have every reason to believe that, in proportion as we expose our soils—and clay soils more especially —to the action of the air and changes of temperature, in the same degree do we thereby develop their properties and bring a & 2 J84 The Application of the Manure of the Farm. into action fertilising matter which would otherwise remain in the land in a dormant condition. This is equivalent to an addi- tion of manure; for the materials of the soil which are thus ren- dered useful were previously existing in a condition unfit for the support of vegetation. ‘The application of the dung before winter co-operates very powerfully in promoting this action, and we are at the same time adopting the surest plan for enabling the soil to absorb from the atmosphere some of the ammonia which is present there. So that not only do we thus preserve our manure from waste, but we enable the soil to develop and obtain further supplies of fertility; nor must we overlook the increased effi- ciency of the dung consequent upon its more complete distribu- tion throughout the soil and the superior feeding qualities of the crop. Potatoes.—The disease which has for so many years attacked this crop renders it necessary that the use of farmyard-manure be accompanied by some degree of caution. It has been observed that fermenting manures—such as dung—have a tendency to communicate decay to the plant. We have, therefore, two courses open to prevent the crop being thus injured :—1st, to substitute an artificial manure possessing a preservative cha- racter, or, at least, devoid of any unfavourable influence; or 2ndly, if farmyard-dung be employed, to counteract, as far as possible, its disposition to communicate decay. .The latter point will be best attained by having the manure spread upon the land in the autumn and ploughed in before winter. In pre- paring the land for planting in the spring the manure will be well distributed through the soil; and thus, whilst the land is enriched by the dung, its natural tendency to promote decay will be diminished. Cabbage.—In the growth of this crop the use of farmyard- manure is generally desirable, but circumstances render it ad- visable to apply the manure at the same time as the young plants are set out upon the land. Well-rotted dung is generally pre- ferred, because the plant comes into full activity very soon after it is planted out. The cabbage is a gross feeder, and can scarcely have too much manure when the production of large autumn cabbage is desired ; but if the crop is required for spring use it must not be forced with equal freedom. As in the case of swedes and turnips, so here also the slower-grown plant is the one which best withstands the severity of the winter-frosts and affords the best food in the spring. ‘This must not lead us to deprive the cabbage intended for spring use of its usual supply, but rather to take measures for its distribution throughout the soil. In this way the keeping qualities of cabbage may be very ynaterially increased. The Application of the Manure of the Farm. 334 Beans are generally sown upon land which has received a dressing of farmyard-dung. It is customary to spread the dung over the land, which being ploughed in, the seed is either drilled or dibbled. This crop luxuriates, under the influence of manure, to a far greater degree than other corn-bearing plants which we cultivate, and hence the regularity of the practice of using manure for it. In applying dung to a corn-crop there is frequently a danger of producing straw rather than corn; but with the bean this is very seldom the case. If the quality of the land is such that the dung produces haulm (or straw) to such an extent that the pods die off instead of filling with corn, we may find a simple remedy at hand by cutting off the tops of the beans with a large reaping-hook. The growth of the stalk being thus checked, the energies of the plant are at once directed to the pro- duction of seed, the blossoms cease to die off from want of nourishment and the pods are gradually developed. The position of the seed-pods in the bean gives it this advantage over other corn-crops. Wheat, Barley, Oats—The use of dung for these crops on stiff soils is by no means extensively carried out, although there are some neighbourhoods in which it is general. There is scarcely any practice which is apparently more contradictory. The em- ployment of dung upon some soils insures the production of a good crop of corn, but upon other land it would with equal cer- tainty destroy all our hopes of a satisfactory yield. When we are dealing with a rich clay, it is seldom that we can venture upon applying dung for corn, as it would cause a large growth of straw to the prejudice of the yield of grain. Other soils of a lower standard of fertility receive the manure with manifest advantage. We cannot, however, explain the differences observed by any comparative degrees of fertility which the soils may possess; and with our limited scientific knowledge upon the subject it is not desirable to speculate upon the controlling cause. Practically, we know that one farmer does not fear for his crop of corn, provided he can get straw enough; whilst on other land a good crop of corn may be confidently looked for, provided we do not get too much straw. It will be sufficient for distin- guishing those soils upon which manure may be advantageously used if we say that, where the growth of the straw has to be encouraged, the application of dung may be practised; but on the other hand, when the soil is predisposed to yield a rank growth of straw, its use is seldom if ever safe. It is more than probable that by judiciously prepared artificial manures we shall, ere long, be able to supply our corn-crops with the nourishment required for the production of grain, without that danger of an 336 The Application of the Manure of the Farm. over-growth of straw, which we have to contend against in the use of dung. I am encouraged in this hope from the satisfactory results of an investigation on this subject which Iam prosecuting at the present time, When farmyard-manure is employed it is almost always suc- ceeded by a wheat-crop, the use of dung for oats or barley being very exceptional. We shall subsequently have an opportunity of seeing, even more fully than has yet been explained, that when manure cannot be applied directly to the wheat-crop we may attain the desired result by allowing another crop to intervene. As an instance of this, I may mention the practice of applying dung for beans, or upon clovers when it cannot be used for wheat. This answers a double purpose: for it promotes the growth of crops which thrive under its direct action, and these crops leave the land enriched with materials required for the wheat. Artificial Grasses—Upon these crops the use of dung is generally attended with highly satisfactory results, and the exten- sion of this practice is very desirable. Advisable as the appli- cation of dung in its early stages of fermentation may be for stiff soils, when it is to be ploughed into the ground, the case is different when it has to remain upon the surface. Dr. Voelcker has shown that in a well-fermented sample of farmyard-manure we have the ammonia present chiefly in the form of a humate which is readily dissolved by water but is not volatile, and there- fore it is well prepared for being washed into the soil as soon as rain falls upon it, but is safe from being dispelled either by the heat of the sun or the passage of wind. For these and other reasons, the dung intended for our artificial grasses should always be carefully fermented, so that it may be rotten when spread upon the land. Upon stiff soils the autumn is the usual time of application. The valuable powers which clay soils possess for the preservation of the manure added to them renders a frequent application unnecessary, and thus we find a well-manured fallow or fallow-crop generally relied upon for carrying the Jand through its course of four or five years’ tillage without additional help from the farmyard, If, however, the fallow-crop has been re- moved from the land, it becomes desirable and economical to apply some manure to the seeds in the manner stated. Another cause which has led to the extension of this practice is the oppor- tunity it offers for drawing this bulky manure to the land during a period of comparative leisure, instead of delaying the cultivation for swedes by its use for the root-crop. In these instances artifi- cial manure is entirely relied upon for the root-crop, and thereby a considerable saving of time and labour is effected during this _urgent and critical seed-time, The Application of the Manure of the Larm. 337 Tue vusE oF Duna upon Cray SolLs. Summary. Time of Application.—In reviewing the remarks made upon the use of farmyard-manure on these soils, the general evidence indi- cates that great advantages result from the application of dung in the autumn and early winter months. So far as the arrange- ments of the farm permit, this appears to be desirable. On no condition should the dung which is to be ploughed under the soil be retained in the heap during the winter months, simply for the sake of fermenting it before its application. The dung will undergo the necessary changes far more safely in the soil than in the heap ;, therefore when there is an available supply of dung, and the opportunity for its application to the land, it will be advisable to allow the soil to have it in its own custody with as little delay as possible. This will not justify us in restricting its use to the fall of the year, although it is un- doubtedly the best time. The spring demand will still continue for some crops as already pointed out, but a preference will, as far as possible, be given to the use of dung in the autumn and early winter months. Crops.—The fallows, fallow crops, and artificial grasses, take the precedence of other crops for receiving the dung which is to be applied to the land; and, under the variations of soil and systems of husbandry already pointed out, each of these in its turn receives the preference. There are certain manifest advan- tages in using dung for these crops, because under good manage- ment they do not impoverish the farm, but rather act as accumu- lators of fertility. Although the application of dung for corn- crops answers exceedingly well in some districts, there is reason to believe that its use upon the preceding crop of clover will be attended with even better results. The use of dung for corn is quite exceptional; and it is probable that under improved management it will become even more uncommon than at the present time. Tue usE or Dune upon Licut Sorts, such As SANDS AND Sanpy Loams. Fodder-Crops.—There is a great diversity of practice in the use of dung for these crops, arising from the difficulties which attend its employment rather than from the want of a desire to have its assistance in promoting their growth. The use of farm- yard-manure very much favours the produce of these crops both in quantity and early maturity. The Trifolium (Trifolium in- carnatum) is the only apparent exception ; but this is more to be accounted for from the plant requiring a firm seed-bed than from 338 Lhe Application of the Manure of the Farm. any other cause, for the existence of fertilising matter in the soil is as necessary for promoting the growth of this crop as any other, The chief reason for the use of dung not being more general, is the delay which its application would cause at the time of sowing. If there be sufficient manure and labour avail- able to permit a moderate dressing of dung to be laid upon the Jand without delaying the time of sowing, its employment is decidedly advisable. A doubt often arises, when the supply of dung for roots is limited, as to the relative advantages of using manure for the spring feed, or of keeping it entirely for the root- crop 3 but there is a very general opinion entertained that the turnip crop is decidedly improved by the use ef a portion of the dung upon the spring crop which precedes it. These crops being consumed upon the ground, the soil again receives the chief portion of the materials previously drawn from the land ; but their services do not end here, for during life they have gathered stores of fertility not only from the seil, but from the atmosphere, and the latter consequently become an addition to the soil gained by the vital energies of the crop. The more such a crop luxuriates, the greater the addition thus obtained, and consequently a liberal use of manure is productive of the best results. It is clearly, therefore, no loss to the root-crop, if for this object it is deprived of some portion of the dung usually allotted to it; because the spring food produced, by being con- sumed on the land, returns to it nearly all it has drawn from the manure, together with an increase the land could not otherwise have had. The usual practice of applying manure shows a marked differ- ence in the quantity applied for these crops as compared with what would be used for roots, as from one-third to one-half of the entire quantity is seldom exceeded. This may need an explai.a- tion, because it appears inconsistent with my preceding remarks. This detrease in the quantity is not because the crop wonld not have been benefited by more manure, but rather because these sandy soils are generally deficient in their powers of preserving manure. For this reason they quickly lose their fertility and need fresh supplies, and hence they are called hungry soils. Thus a moderate application of dung is made, which shall be only as much as the plant can use before the passage of water through the soil causes material loss. The less the power of any soil to retain manure, the greater the care required to supply a more moderate quantity. It is for this reason that many farmers of sandy land do not apply any dung to these crops, and others do not apply their manure until the spring, the growth during the autumn and winter being so exceedingly slow, that by the time the plant becomes aroused into energy by the return of spring, The Application of the Manure of the Farm. 339 the manure applied would have been washed out of the land. Unlike the occupiers of retentive clays, the farmer of sandy land has to contend against a wasteful soil, which requires him to be discreet in the use of manure. How far it is an economical pro- cedure to overcome this prejudicial character in our light soils by the use of clay or marl, is a matter of serious importance to the occupants of such land. Root-Crops.—Upon our sands the use of dung for these crops is not generally in favour, but in the same degree as the land becomes more loamy in.its character, or, | might say, as the pro- portion of clayey matter in the soil increases, so the application of dung for roots becomes increasingly desirable. The reason scarcely needs explanation, as it is manifestly dependent upon the preservative powers of the land. We also find that the con- dition of the manure varies in the same manner; for those soils which have the least powers for retaining manure require it in the most decomposed condition—in fact, ready for immediate use by the growing crop. In the case of clays and clayey loams, we have seen that great advantage resulted from using the dung as fresh as possible, because the decay in the soil proceeded without loss, and in a more advantageous manner. In our sandy soils, it is directly the reverse; the slow fermentation would here be attended with considerable sacrifice, and consequently the manure must be prepared by a careful fermentation before it is added to the land. As the soil approximates more and more closely to a loam, so may the manure be advantageously applied in a less decomposed condition. The rule previously named still holds good—that, so far as the preservative powers of the soil will permit, the fermentation will be advantageously conducted be- neath the soil in preference to being carried on in a manure-heap. Apart from a consideration of the fertilising ingredients of the manure, we have other reasons for carrying out this rule which are forced upon us by its mechanical influence upon the soil. The sandy soils, from their want of adhesive power, require compression rather than any increase of their loose character ; for although plants require a freedom in the soil for the extension of their roots, still when there is not sufficient firmness in the land to enable them to maintain a steady attachment to it, they cannot flourish. Growth is most luxuriant when these opposing tendencies are nicely balanced, as, for example, in our loamy soils, which possess in a sufficient degree the superior qualities both of the clayey and sandy soils. Our efforts are therefore directed to render our clay soils less adhesive, but to make our sandy soils more so. Whilst, therefore, we take advantage of the rigid character of long dung to keep our clay soils open, we find it advantageous to overcome this influence in the dung intended for sandy soils. This is best done by a well-conducted fermenta- 340 The Application of the Manure of the Farm. tion, for we can thus reduce the dung (if so required) even to a soapy condition, in which it can be dug by a spade, and not in the least degree capable of rendering the-soil more porous and open. The “following rule (which practically corresponds with the former) may be given to indicate the manner in which we should regulate the mechanical condition of the dung according to the requirements of the land :—That in the same degree as the proportion of clay in the soil is found to increase, so may the dung be most advantageously applied to the land ina less fer- mented state ; and, conv ersely, as the land becomes more sandy, so the dung should be applied in a more rotten condition. Artificial Grasses.—These are exceedingly valuable to the cultivator of sandy land, and the application of dung is here found very desirable. ‘There are two periods in their growth when the manure is applied, varying according to the custom of the farm. When the employment of farmyard-manure for the root-crop is found to be attended by a loss of its fertilising con- stituents, it is desirable to apply it to the artificial grasses. This is attended with many advantages, which are worthy of more general acceptance. In the use of dung for young seeds, it should be applied after it has been been carefully rotted in the heap, and it should be spread on the land either in the autumn or following spring. Early in the autumn is certainly the best time, because then the plant has the opportunity of making a good growth and establishing itself in the ground by a firm root before the winter stops its progress. It has thus prepared itself for a vigorous growth in the succeeding season, and this is much more important than is generally supposed. The use of dung for seeds upon sandy land has peculiar advan- tages, because we thereby enlist the powers of vegetation to com- pensate in some degree for the absence of power in the soil to retain manure. In adding dung to the land for a root-crop, a long time necessarily clapses before the crop attains to a state in which growth is rapid, or in which it can quickly make use of the manure. All this time the manure is suffering waste in the soil. When dung is applied to the young seeds, we have a crop ready to take advantage of it, and possessing powers of rapid growth by which the materials of the manure are, to a great extent, taken up at once by the crop, which consequently makes an unusually rapid growth, This growth above-ground is accompanied by an equally rapid development of the root beneath the surface, which becomes a source of power for pro- moting the growth of the following season, and also serves to keep the manure from passing into the porous soil beneath. These are advantages of no ordinary character, which are thus - placed within the reach of the cultivator of sandy land. Many persons are accustomed to feed their young seeds before The Application of the Manure of the Farm. 341 winter, but this is decidedly objectionable. It is argued that if not thus eaten, much of the herbage will perish uselessly, and therefore it may as well be eaten as not. Such an argument is fallacious; for if you could only consume that which would otherwise ‘fall, you would still be but a small gainer, You would gain a certain quantity of food, but you lose a certain amount of fertility from the land, for the manure does not fully compensate the land for what is consumed, and here the profit would end. The loss, however, is very much greater in con- suming the clovers (and especially if it is done by sheep, and this is the usual stock), for much more is fed off than would have fallen. The growing centres of the plant are damaged, the growth of the crop is held in check, and as a necessary con- sequence the extension of the root is equally influenced. As a result of this practice we often find the land, which ought to have had a good crop and a regular plant, has failed in places, and not realised the expectations formed from the appearance in the autumn. The healthy and luxuriant growth resulting from the early application of well-rotted dung, may strongly tempt the farmer to stock his seeds in the autumn; but if he yields to this temptation, the promise of the future will be sacrificed for a very inadequate immediate advantage.* The second mode of applying dung to artificial grasses is at a later period of their growth, viz., during the summer preceding their being broken up for corn. But, as in this case the benefit of the corn-crop is the primary object in view, a consideration of this practice belongs rather to the next division of our subject. Corn-Crops.—The porosity of much of our light land renders it advisable that the crop which is generally looked upon as the chief source of profit should have a preferential claim upon the manure, Consequently, we see it customary on some farms to apply dung for the corn-crop before ploughing the land for wheat. ‘Taking the best example of farming, we find that when the land is sandy it is considered desirable to apply the dung some time before the ground is ploughed. If the manure were simply buried in the land, the slow growth of wheat would not enable it to take full advantage of its fertilising properties ere it would be washed beyond its reach. The case is exactly the same as that of the root-crop already named, and the necessity for an intervening agency is equally great. This our improved practice has supplied; and hence it is found desirable to spread the manure intended for the wheat, in a well-rotten condition, * This principle of action, which is sound as a general rule, will hardly be violated if the flockmaster runs his hoggets over the layers on sandy soils, with a view to consolidating the surface, so long as they only pick the top of the feed, and that before frost sets in—P. H, F. 342 The Application of the Manure of the Farm. some six or eight weeks before the clover-ley is going to be ploughed up. This encourages a rapid growth of the plant, both above and below the sround, by which the manure is eed into vegetable matter, and the residue neeeevell by the organic matter thus produced. In this way the manure is preserved for the use of the crop, notwith- standing the deficiency of a preserving power in the soil.* Tue Use or Dune upon Sanpy Solts. Summary. Crop.—I consider we are justified in stating that as the pro- portion of sand in the land increases, so does it become more important to apply the dung upon the ‘artificial grasses, in pre- ference to its more direct intermixture with the soil for roots or corn. As the soil becomes more tenacious by the admixture of clay, and thus becomes either a sandy loam or a loamy soil, we may exercise greater freedom, and plough the dung into the land for the root-crop. So long as the soil has not saticene tenacity of character to preserve the manure for the required period, it is clearly advisable to accept the aid offered by the artificial grasses, because they constitute the best guardianship which can be ob- tained under the circumstances. In addition to this valuable property possessed by these grasses, there is no crop which is better prepared to make a rapid growth, or which in its growth abstracts from the air more valuable fertilising matter. The latter property is not to be overlooked, for we have every reason to believe that the artificial grasses have a special power of deriving nutriment from the atmosphere as well as from the soil, and on this ground are worthy of our especial attention. Time of Application.—W hether the dung should be applied to * After repeated experiments on the application of manure, in November, in April, and in July, I have come to the conclusion that July is the earliest time when this work can be done with advantage on sandy soils, even when the crop is not mown. I have laid on first-rate London manure in November, and found but little good done to the spring-feed, and still less to the corn-crop following. I find the action of manure taken fresh from the yards in July so satisfactory that I feel no inducement whatever to keep back the more costly well-rotted manure for this purpose. With the uncertainty how the season may alternate between showers and a powerful sunshine, I cannot wish the ammonia in the dung to be in a forward state of development. If the supply of food is small at first, but increasing as the herbage grows round, through and over the dung, waste will be most effectually prevented. If a small admixture of cow-grass and Dutch clover has been sown among the grasses, July is the season at which the development of these plants can be best promoted—plants which, besides producing superior herbage, contribute by the net-work of their roots to the formation of that compact turf so valuable on these soils. The grasses run away with the chief part of the nutriment if the manure is applied in spring. Ina word, with soils that have no bottom a waiting race is the safest.—P. H. F The Application of the Manure of the Farm. 543 the seeds when young, or shortly before ploughing for corn, must depend on the variations of soil, climate, and management. Under a liberal treatment and judicious forbearance in stocking the land, the earlier application will generally be the preferable with especial regard either to an abundant supply of sheep-food or to ample crops of corn, but the result will turn upon liberal management. If, for example, the seeds having made a good growth are twice mown, it is very clear that this light land will not be in as good a position for growing a crop of corn as if the dung had heen applied at a later period. The total influence exerted by the manure may under these circumstances be as large as is attainable, but it will not have been concentrated for the special advantage of the following corn-crop. In these remarks I have advisedly paid particular attention to those soils which are characterised by the extremes of sand and clay, because as we have soils of every shade of character, the modification of any general rule must inevitably be left to the discretion of the occupier in each particular instance. I have also said but little as to the quantity to be applied. It has been shown by chemical investigation that the most powerful fertilising ingredients constitute but a very small proportion of the bulk of farmyard-manure—so much so, as seldom to exceed 50 lbs. in a ton, Small as this proportion may be, it is also very liable to waste to such an extent that Dr. Voelcker has shown* that under bad management ‘‘ two-thirds of the manure was wasted, and only one-third left behind for use.” Since, therefore, the quantity of fertilising matter depends much more on the food consumed by the stock and the general management of the manure than on the quantity applied, within orlinen y limits we cannot satisfactorily indicate the right number of loads, or even the weight that should be applied, when the body to be used is so inconstant in character and composition. Yet that there are definite limits to the economical application of manure was clearly shown by some interesting experiments conducted by the late Mr. Pusey and reported in the Journal of this Society. A field prepared for mangold-:vurzel and manured in the follow- ing manner gave these results :— 26 loads of dung produced .. .. 284 tons per acre. 13 loads of dung produced .. .. 274 3 Land without manure... .. 153 Here we observe that whilst the fret 13 loads of dung pro- duced an increase of 12 tons of roots, a further addition of 13 loads only produced 1 ton of roots. At this point the employ- ment of artificial manure comes in with peculiar value so as to increase the produce of the land profitably when it is beyond the * Journal of Royal Agricultural Society, vol, xvii. t+ Vol, yi. 530, 344 The Application of the Manure of the Farm. power of farmyard-dung to do so, Thus we find in the same experiment that when artificial manure was employed instead of the extra 13 loads of dung, there was a further increased yield of 82 tons per acre, whilst, as stated above, the increase from the use of the extra dung was only | ton, Cuass I].—Anmau MANURES WITHOUT STRAW. Although manures of this class are, generally speaking, depo- sited upon the land by the animals themselv es, yet even here we can exercise a more important control than is at first sight appa- rent, ‘This class includes all manures produced on the farm by the consumption of the growing crops, and therefore comprises such as are produced by grazing and folding. In connection with the grazing of cattle and horses, little can be done but to knock about and spread their droppings—a work which will more than repay the cost of the labour of the old man or boy so employed, by obviating the growth of rank and sour herbage, which the stock will refuse to eat. By the practice of folding we can very completely regulate the application of manure. As a rule, it is only applied to sheep, although in some exceptional cases it has been adopted for horned stock and for pigs. Even sheep-folding has too often been restricted to the consumption of the turnip-crop on the land; but I shall endeavour to show that still greater advantages have been derived from the extension of this system to other crops. By a regular division of the field into folds we gain the very important advantage of an equal distribution of the manure over the land, Unless the field is thus apportioned off, the sheep will resort to their favourite lairs, and these spots cat receive too much manure, whilst other parts of the field will have scarcely any, ‘The corn is consequently too rank in the former places, and is likely to be laid; but on the latter parts the crop is not strong enough. The redler distribution of the manure favours a more even growth of the corn-crop which is decidedly advantageous. It is only right that in restricting sheep from resorting to their favourite lairs we should notice why they give such a decided preference to these spots, such preference being certainly the result of an instinctive guidance; and therefore it were well to be assured that in counteracting this natural desire we provide an adequate substitute. ‘Two conditions generally influence the preference shown by sheep—shelter and dryness of soil. The former can be readily supplied by the use of light hurdles covered with thin boarding or by wattled flakes, both of which can be shifted as easily as ordinary hurdles. If it be intended to have a more permanent fold, a double row of hurdles stuffed with straw gives even more shelter ; but for all ordinary purposes The Application of the Manure of the Farm. 345 either of the former will answer every purpose. Their general use will be found extremely remunerative; for, whether the flock may be for breeding or feeding, the importance of one or two sides of each fold being thus sheltered will be very great. The dryness of the land is not so directly under our control ; for, although drainage will do much to improve it in this respect, still much more than this is in many cases required before the land becomes sound for folding; and such land will generally render large folds necessary. If we prevent the flock selecting its own lair at night, it is alike our duty and our interest to pro- vide artificially that which they seek to secure naturally. The practice of folding not only influences the distribution of the manure, but in some cases—as, for instance, with the clovers and other growing crops—it inereases the quantity produced. As each portion of the field is successively folded off and cleared of stock, an immediate and uninterrupted growth takes place; whereas, if the sheep have freedom to run oyer the entire field, they continue eating the youngest growth in preference to that which is older, and which constitutes by far the greater portion of the feed. It is needless to say that this mode of eating the crop must prejudice the growth during the time the sheep are on the land. In the one case the growth is checked for a day or two; in the other probably for four or five weeks, or as long as the crop in the field is being eaten, In consequence of the growth of herbage being more scanty, a smaller quantity of manure must be produced. This deficiency of growth is neces- sarily accompanied by a decreased absorption of fertilising matter from the atmosphere, which is one of the most valuable properties possessed by our clovers. The prejudicial influence resulting from the ordinary mode of feeding our crops of clover’ also has an important influence upon the quantity of stock which the land is capable of maintaining. The higher the productive power of the land, the greater will be the difference in the number of stock which can be carried under the two systems, In most cases one-half more stock can be kept equally well, but in other instances it has been more than doubled. A further advantage may be realised by taking advantage of the fact that plants are most nutritious just before attaining their maturity. If the supply of keep be so regulated that advantage can be taken of this knowledge, not only will the stock thrive better, but the manure made by them will be of superior quality. This system is well carried out by Mr. Hope, of Fenton Barns, whose practice is to cut his first crop of clover for hay, and to let his second growth come almost to maturity, and then feed in the manner spoken of. His experience is, that land so treated is as rich in condition as when pastured all the season without the removal of a crop of hay, This is no solitary testimony, and 346 The Application of the Manure of the Farm. therefore I feel justified in stating that, under a judicious system of folding, we may safely anticipate an equal distribution of the manure, an increase in the number of stock which can be kept, the production of more manure, a considerable improvement in the quality of the food grown, and consequently a more valu- able manure. Another mode of enriching the land is by the system of night- folding —a practice which is extensively and advantageously earied out in some of the south and south-eastern counties of England. During the day the flocks graze over the downs, commons, stubbles, or leys, and return at night to be folded upon land intended for corn or sometimes for roots. In some cases they are brought back to consume vetches, mustard, or roots ; but in either case the tillage-land gains manure at the cost of the rougher grazing-land. The shepherd should always take care to move his flock about gently in the fold for some time before turning them out for the day, as the sheep thus deposit their manure where it is wanted. Another form in which we have to deal with animal manures without straw is met with when stock are kept upon open sparred floors without bedding. ‘Some dry material—such as peat char- coal, burnt clay, peat ashes, or the ashes of weeds—is generally mixed with such manure to facilitate its application by means of the drill. Some have imagined that the manure is injured by being mixed with fresh ashes: this may have arisen from the caustic condition of the alkalies contained in the ashes; but by exposure of the ashes to the air in a dry shed this would soon be overcome. This manure, being of very soluble character, is best adapted for application on light land, in moderate quantity, and in close connection with the seed. Liquip-MANURE. This constitutes the third variety of animal manure without straw. It consists of the liquid excrements of the stock inter- mixed with more or less water; but it is often distinguished as tank-water from the receptacles in which it is collected. So far as these tanks act as reservoirs for the drainage of liquid which would otherwise be lost, their value is unquestionable ; and there is scarcely a farm upon which the system may not be adopted with advantage. It has, however, in many cases been carried out to such an injurious extent, that it becomes ‘important that some line should be drawn to indicate the limits of successful application. The rule wpon which we may safely base our pro- ceedings is, that it is not desirable to separate the liquid from the solid portions of the manure where they can be used together. In the various modifications of the box or pit system, by ‘which the liquid and solid portions of the manure are kept together, we The Application of the Manure of the Farm. 347 find that combination which is most advantageous for the general purposes of vegetation. In this combined form we have a manure which more completely supplies the wants of the growing plant than either the solid or the liquid can separately accom- plish. After the food of the animal has been digested and passed into the intestines to yield to the animal system the nutri- ment it contains, the portion which remains unabsorbed con- stitutes the solid excrement of the animal. This residuum will consequently be deficient in such substances as the alkalies and phosphates, which after being taken up into the system are again to a certain extent voided in the urine. The food of the animal in its original state may be taken as the type of the perfect plant, which has been divided by the processes of animal life into two distinct portions ; and it is only when these are re-combined that the manure becomes fully adapted for the support of vegetation. Under certain circumstances it does not appear advisable to carry out the box or pit system; and thus, by the adoption of stalls, &c., we have the natural separation of the solid and liquid excrements to a great extent maintained. The former is gene- rally removed to the manure-pit, whilst the latter runs away to the tank. The best mode of using this liquid manure is a dis- puted point; but various reasons induce me to think that we cannot do better than employ it in conjunction with the solid matter from which it had been separated. The solid manure on being removed from the animal soon undergoes a fermentation, that it may again assume a form adapted to the support of vege- table life. The value of the product depends on this process being duly regulated; and the presence of moisture is indis- pensable for preventing a too rapid or violent action. To this end what liquid can be as beneficially applied as that which will restore those elements of fertility which have passed away from it into the urine, at the same time that it checks undue heating. By the aid of a pump and hose the tank-water can be easily dis- tributed oyer the fermenting manure, which should be mederately compressed, but not so tightly as to prevent the passage of the liquid through its mass. Many manure-pits are constructed so that they may drain into the tank. This is a good plan, for it enables the liquid to be freely used without fear of adding too much to the heap. I ama decided advocate for the use of the liquid-manure with the dung of the farm, for I believe that in their combined use both act with increased advantage. The adoption of this mode of using the liquid-manure will, under a careful course of management, remove the necessity for further question as to the use of this fertiliser; but for those cases in which it is allowed to become intermixed with other water, or in which it is wished to apply it to the land in a VOL. XXI. 2B 348 The Application of the Manure of the Farm. separate condition, further comment is necessary. We have been gradually brought to the conclusion, that although liquid- manure does possess valuable fertilising powers, yet these gener- ally exist in such a diffused state that the cost of application exceeds its value, and hence it is a very generally accepted rule that the distribution must be accomplished by its own power of gravitation, or under some cheap pressure. When liquid-manure can be distributed over the land in an inexpensive manner, it becomes important to consider the influence exerted by its dilution. In the general practice of irrigation we observe the fertilising influence of the ingredients, thus added to the land, very much increased in consequence of their being presented to the roots of the herbage in a very diluted form—a condition in which it is especially favourable for the requirements of the plant. Nor are we without evidence that the action of any given quantity of liquid-manure may in like manner be in- creased by a similar dilution; but in the practical application of this experience we have first to consider the cost of distribu- tion, and then increase the dilution in proportion to the porosity of the land. This addition of water simply effects a mechanical change in the liquid-manure, but there are chemical changes which alter its composition, and which must not be overlooked. A somewhat similar fermentation takes place in liquid-manure to what we observe in farmyard-dung, whereby we have am- moniacal salts formed in it. It has been doubted whether this change should be allowed to take place before or after its application to the land. If the liquid-manure is to be applied to a light soil, it will be desirable for this, change to take place before it is used, because we cannot have it too well prepared for at once promoting vegetable growth. It may not be as necessary when applied to soils containing an admixture of clay ; for, although we are not at present in a position to say that the same production of ammonia will take place in the soil, still we have reason to believe that no direct loss will ensue. Hitherto the evidence of experience has been strongly in favour of keeping the liquid-manure in the tank until it has fermented, but this experience, it must be added, has been chiefly derived from trials on light soils. It is possible that future trials may show, that upon stronger and more adhesive soils, the manure may be used fresh with greater advantage; but at present the fer- mentation before distribution is generally accepted as the best plan. We have next to notice the crops upon which its employment has been successful. Here we have conclusive evidence that upon our natural and artificial grasses its use has been most beneficial. The Italian rye-grass has produced under its stimu- The Application of the Manure of the Farm. 349 lating action crops of unparalleled weight and quality; and upon grass land most satisfactory results have been produced. It has also been applied to corn-crops successfully, but great care is here necessary, for if the land is naturally disposed to a large growth of straw, there will be considerable danger in its use. There are many soils (to which I have before made re- ference) from which there is sure to be a good yield of corn, provided there is straw enough; upon such as these this straw- producing manure will be suitable. It must not be looked upon as a direct stimulant for increasing the production of corn (for its immediate tendency is rather to encourage a growth of grassy herbage, and therefore of straw), but it may be taken advantage of indirectly to encourage the production of corn as in the instance named. The best time for applying liquid-manure is during the period of the crop’s growth, and especially in the earliest stages. Moisture and nourishment added to the land during either of those months of the year in which the climate favours a rapid growth, may be relied upon as being valuable assistance for increasing the crop. The more active the disposition for growth the more welcome will these supplies prove, and consequently we find the use of liquid-manure (if properly diluted) is most efficacious in the summer, when the energies of the plant are most active, the supply of moisture most grateful, and the nourishment of the manure most needed for the structure of the growing crop. Some discretion, however, is necessary in select- ing the proper time for its application. ‘If we observe the natural supplies of moisture in the form of rain, we see ine plant in some degree prepared for it, by a moist atmosphere, and a cloudy sky: hence, in applying liquid-manure, we should as far as possible imitate this example, and avoid the scorching rays of the sun by reserving our supply until the cool and moist hours of evening are approaching. ‘This precaution is less necessary when the ground has just been mown, but even then it is desirable. Although, as I have stated, liquid-manure may be applied to the best advantage when the powers of vegetation are in full activity, its employment in the winter may not always be objectionable if there is an abundant supply, but it must be remembered that it is not every soil which can derive benefit from its use, Sandy soils, for example, which have but weak powers for the preservation of manure, derive little advantage except during the period of vegetation, but this objection does not apply to soils of a more retentive character. Queen’s College, Birmingham. SSS RS 28 2 350° Chemical Composition and Commercial Value of XVILL.—On the Chemical Composition and Commercial Value of Norwegian Apatite, Spanish Phosphorite, Coprolites, and other Phosphatic Materials used in England for Agricultural Purposes. By Dr. Aucustus VoELCKER. WHEN superphosphate of lime was first introduced into agri- culture, it was exclusively prepared from raw or boiled bones. It was then sold more frequently under the name of dissolved bones and of German compost than under that of superphosphate. Animal black or bone-charcoal, in the shape of refuse from sugar-refineries, and South-American bone-ash, were soon recog- nised as valuable materials for the production of artificial manures. In some respects these refuse matters were found even superior to bones for making superphosphate. They are now eagerly bought up by manure-merchants, and extensively em- ployed in the manufacture of phosphatic and other artificial manures, The timely discovery of fossil bones and phosphatic nodules in the Suffolk crag, and of chalk coprolites further provided an abundant source of phosphates in our own country, to meet the yearly increasing demand for those artificials which owe their efficacy principally to the valuable phosphate of lime which they contain. But raw and boiled bones, animal black, South- American bone-ash, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire coprolites, are not the only materials that are employed at the present time in the manufacture of superphosphate. Apatite from Norway, phosphorite from Estramadura, Sombrero phosphate or Crust guano, American phosphates of various kinds, and certain phosphatic guanos, are likewise imported into England in con- siderable quantities, and converted, by means of sulphuric acid, into valuable manures, to the mutual benefit of producer and consumer, Manure manufactories are now spread over the length and breadth of the country, and in all these works the staple product, under whatsoever name it may be sent out, is in reality, in nine cases out of ten, superphosphate of lime. The consumption of this kind of manure, large as it is at present, is increasing every year, and is likely to increase for years to come. It must not be supposed that the large demand for phosphatic manures is the result of extraordinary exertions on the part of the manure-mer- chants, or is due to a prevailing, and it may be passing, faith in this class of fertilizers, It rests on the universal experience of farmers that no description of manure repays a judicious outlay so well as this, especially when applied to root-crops. Whilst other kinds of fertilizers have been tried on a large scale, Phosphatic Materials used for Agricultural Purposes. 351 and not been found to realize the expectations raised, superphos- phate and similar phosphatic manures have maintained a firm hold in the good opinion of the agriculturist. Far be it from me to undervalue the great utility of Peruvian guano, nitrate of soda, and nitrogenous manures. ‘These are excellent fertilizers for wheat and corn-crops in general ; but considering the cir- cumstance that a good root-crop lies at the very foundation of an improved system of agriculture, and that this crop is more signally benefited by phosphates than by any other fertilizing constituent, I believe the farmer is right in attaching the highest importance to phosphatic manures. At all events, he has found by experience that in most cases in which it is deemed desirable to make up a deficiency of yard-manure, it pays better to purchase superphosphate and similar manures for the root- crop than to buy nitrogenous manures for the white crops, It is certainly remarkable that whilst the direct application to the land of nitrogenous constituents has been by some considered useful only in special cases, and by others superfluous or even undesirable, nobody has ever expressed any doubt as regards the economical benefits that generally attend the use of phosphoric acid; whilst nitrogenous manures in the case of some crops, such as peas and beans and clover, have been found even to be injurious, every kind of produce has been more or less benefited by the direct application of phosphates in an available condition. Whereas ammoniacal salts and other purely nitrogenous fertilizers, when applied alone to swedes, turnips, and probably other root- crops, have, generally speaking, failed to increase the produce,— the exclusive use of soluble phosphates has, in almost every in- stance, largely benefited these crops. Again, we can increase the proportion of nitrogenous consti- tuents in the soil by other means than by their direct application in the shape of manure. Thus, after a good crop of clover, I have found that the amount of nitrogenous matters in the soil is very much larger than it was before the clover. If, therefore, we can succeed in growing a good crop of clover, we at the same time enrich the land with nitrogenous matters, and provide for the succeeding white crop that kind of food for which it appears to be specially grateful. The fact that a good crop of wheat may be confidently anticipated after a good clover-crop is generally admitted ; the power of the clover to accumulate nitro- genous matter in the soil, which explains this result, may not be as fully recognised. Moreover, whilst few soils contain more than traces of phosphoric acid, nearly every kind of agricultural produce contains this acid in very large and often preponderating proportions ; its presence being further required to furnish the phosphorus which largely enters into the composition of albu- 352 Chemical Composition and Commercial Value of men, gluten, legumine, and indeed all albuminous compounds. How large then is the demand for those constituents which even the best soils supply but in scanty proportions! We can thus understand why their direct supply in an available condition is of more vital importance to our cultivated crops than that of any other fertilizing substance. Generally speaking, phosphatic manures produce a more marked effect upon root-crops than upon cereals. At one time it was supposed that root-crops removed more phosphoric acid from the soil than white crops, and on that account required to be more abundantly supplied with phosphates. But this expla- nation is as little correct as all others in which no account is taken of the respective periods of vegetation of green and white crops, and the different mode in which these crops take up the food at their command in the soil. The roots of swedes and turnips, unlike the deep penetrating roots of the wheat-plant, with their numerous fibriles, feed, comparatively speaking, upon a small portion of the cultivated soil, and their whole period of vegetation is very much shorter than that of our cereals, espe- cially that of wheat. Whilst the wheat-plant is thus enabled to search for proper food in a considerable depth of soil, and by degrees accumulates in its organism the requisite amount of phosphoric acid which is distributed in ‘small quantities in a large mass of soil, turnips, swedes, and mangolds, in consequence of the peculiarities of their growth, do not find at their disposal available phosphoric acid in sufficient quantity to supply that weight of bulbs which we now look for in average seasons. Hence it is that manures, rich in soluble phosphates, produce such a striking effect on root-crops, no matter what the character of the soil may be on which they are grown. Although superphosphate and bone-dust do not generally benefit wheat to the same extent as turnips, these and other phosphatic manures are very efficacious when cereals are grown on light sandy soils or land naturally very poor in phosphoric acid. I do not purpose to institute at present a minute inquiry into the relative utility of the various organic and mineral con- stituents which constitute the food of plants, nor to extend the preceding observations, They are merely offered as suggestions which to some extent, at least, explain the fact that the sale of phosphatic manures has been steadily increasing from year to year, and has now assumed gigantic dimensions. The supply of bones is totally inadequate to meet the present large demand for superphosphate and similar fertilizers. It is fortunate, therefore, that England possesses an abundant source of phosphates in the extensive Suffolk and Cambridgeshire coprolite deposits, and that the enterprising character of English- Phosphatie Materials used for Agricultural Purposes. 358 men renders available for the use of farmers the discoveries of phosphatic deposits in Norway, Spain, America, and other countries, The composition of most of the phosphatic materials which are used at the present time by manure-manufacturers in England has been carefully ascertained ; but many of the analyses are scattered in scientific journals, and not readily accessible to the agriculturist or manufacturer. Several phosphatic materials again have only recently been, imported into England, and of these no trustworthy analyses have been as yet published. Of others we possess careful analyses made from picked specimens, but no published account of the composition of the materials in the state in which they actually occur in commerce. I propose, therefore, to give an account of all the more important phos- phatic Rigievials now in use, and briefly to describe their general appearance and more éhachetetiatic physical properties, stating the localities where they are found, their composition as ascer- tained by me, and some particulars which may be of interest or practical importance either to the farmer or to the maker of artificial manures. The following is a list of the substances of which I shall treat :— 1. Norwegian apatite. 2. Spanish phosphorite. 3, Cambridgeshire coprolites. 4, Suffolk coprolites. 5. American phosphate (Maracaibo guano). 6. Sombrero, or Crust-guano. 7. Kooria Mooria guano. 8. Other phosphatic guanos. 9, South-American bone-ash. 10. Animal-black, or bone-charcoal. 11. Bones. There are a few other phosphatic materials which now and then find their way into commerce, but to these I shall either not refer at all or only incidentally. 1. Norwecitan APATITE. Apatite, a hard and. often well-crystallised mineral, chiefly composed of phosphoric acid and lime, is found in this country in Devonshire, Cornwall, and Scotland, but not as yet in sufficient quantity to allow of its being collected for technical purposes. In America it is found imbedded in granite at Baltimore, in gneiss at Germantown, in mica-slate in West Greenland ; in granite at Milford Mills, near Newhaven, Connecticut; at Topsham, in Maine, in granite, and in various other localities mentioned in detail in Dana’s ‘ Mineralogie.’ On the Continent 354 Chemical Composition and Commercial Value of it is found in several places in the Tyrol and Switzerland, also in Bohemia, Saxony, Bavaria, Sweden, and Norway. Most commonly it occurs in thin seams, imbedded in crystalline or voleanic rocks, but seldom in sufficient quantity to repay the cost of working. Mineralogists distinguish several varieties of apatite. Some specimens are regular crystals, others crystalline, others foliated or conchoidal, The colour varies as much as its crystalline structure ; but, generally speaking, apatite has a light green or a reddish polar! The apatite which at present is imported into England from Norway is found chiefly at Krageroe. ec specimens of red-coloured apatite furnished, on analysis, the following results :— No. j, No. 2, Eb 7ERONAO OO WHER § G5 ao ap oo ae 43 43 Waterofcombination ,. .. .. .. «. “40 “40 *Phosphoriciacid’ iy) mascew ses) eee eels 41°74 Lime .. BO te er a abn Sse 54:12 {Chloride of calcium EP toe pores PI 1:61 Magnesia .. Ral aos 50 a 20 Phosphate of iron and alumina Be eas 66 “45 Insoluble siliceous matter .. .. .. .. 1:24 837 Alkalies SE as. So Mea on © ced He 30 99°67 100°22 * Equal to tribasic phosphate of lime een 90°74 90°44 + Containing chlorine... ae 1°03 1:03 These specimens had a Bet red colour like ironstone, and yet they contained but very little oxide of iron. ‘Two other samples of very light green-coloured, almost white, apatite from Krageroe, were found to contain :— No. 1, No. 2. EhYAOCOH VO WEWI® co, 36 oa oo bo ong 298 Water of combination BAe Sede Me 23 198 APN SONOOO NOE) Oo. of oh 09 60 On eel) 42°28 Lime .. Saecmmnaee walt “ont OOTG2 53°35 +Chloride of calcium Eee reefer May ee sls a Opal 2°16 Oxide of iron oad RCE ie ersceein gd thse #4 ale 29 92 Alumina 58 metite mxOGule CO tS ene 38} Potashwere iar. Wecegimes ete ards ct ete 04 Sodajmyrenmccuunes wee then eee ae 18 ae Insoluble siliceous matter oat | SOC oct aoe "82 tS) 100°36 1007196 * Equal to tribasic phosphate of lime bone, earth) 89°37 91-60 + Containing chlorine cic a0 4:09 1:38 It will be seen that these aa of Norwegian apatite con- tain a very high percentage of phosphate of lime, only a small amount of foreign impurities, and no carbonate of lime whatever. They are also perfectly free from fluorine, which is present in Phosphatic Materials used for Agricultural Purposes. 355 most other varieties of apatite. The amount of chloride of calcium, I find, varies from 2°16 to 6°41 per cent. in pieces chipped off the same block, showing that large blocks are not always uniform in their composition. The preceding analyses were made some years ago. Quite recently I analysed a sample of ground Norwegian apatite, which yielded the following results :-— Moisture (driven off at 212°F.) .. .. .. *24 Wratesiof combinationn “aikido ish te ee *66 WIMOws | a eek ene aeiss a Oc omk cal Ope *Chloride of calcium Pe ae Misch mated [esse 2°53 WITS asad bigs [cance WBS atom ote “74 WXideLOlOl Mea” “ag Peach ae wl Se ae! Fee 1°29 PAINTS atleast wa sath Saya Us ater e onal ce 55 Potash 5) RE BA ce ee ae ce ce *36 SoU aeRO CNRS | dpe eo Sb) od) coe ta "29 tPhosphoric acid... {ae Woah sea face sO0s00 Insoluble siliceous matter | Se Bahr eee. PRG 100°07 * Containing chlorine . 1°62 + Equal to tribasic phosphate of lime ae Ca 0, ) 77:33 P O, = bone-earth).. .. oe This sample, like all those from a sid: in Norway which I have hitherto examined, does not contain a trace of fluorine. It is likewise free from carbonate of lime, but contains more siliceous matter, and also more oxide of iron and alumina than the cargoes imported from the same locality in former years. These impurities necessarily reduce the percentage of phosphate of lime, which, however, is still very considerable in the last- mentioned sample. I have already noticed that the composition of the unground mineral is not quite uniform. In some pieces fragments of quartz, hornblende, and other foreign minerals, can be seen with the naked eye. In order, therefore, not to be misled by the analyses of picked specimens, it is necessary to reduce to a fine powder a considerable quantity of the mineral, say five or ten ewts., and to have an analysis made of such a mixed average sample. 2. SpaANisH Puospuorrre (EsrraMADURA PHOSPHATE). This mineral occurs in immense quantities at Lagrosa, near Tuxillo, in Estramadura. It is here associated with nated apatite ‘and quartz, and forms solid beds that alternate with limestone and quartz. This Spanish phosphorite has a fibrous structure, a light yellow colour, and a considerable degree of hardness. Reduced to powder, and placed upon a heated piece 356 Chemical Composition and Commercial Value of of sheet-iron, it becomes beautifully phosphorescent—hence its name. In Estramadura this phosphorite. has been employed as a building-stone. Professor Hausmann, of Gittingen, in his classical Handbook of Mineralogy, published in 1847, says with respect to the Spanish phosphorite, that building purposes are probably the only use to which this mineral can be applied. We in England of. course know how to turn phosphorite toa better purpose than that of building houses with it. The fact, however, that such a valuable mineral is, or, more correctly speaking, has been, used for building purposes not many years ago, shows plainly in what immense layers it is to be found at Lagrosa, It is to-be-regretted that the want .of adequate means of transport and other raedinee have hitherto prevented this valuable deposit from being brought in large quantities to the English market. Serena large cargoes of Estramadura phosphate, it is true, found their way hither two years ago, but the importers lost money by the speculation, although ihe mineral was sold at a rate quite high enough in comparison with the then current price of bone-ash awl Be phosphates. The following analyses were made from average samples, fairly representing the composition of the different cargoes :— Composition of Spanish (Estramadura) Phosphorite. No. ], No. 2, ' Moisture and water of combination .. .. .. «. 68 1°42 Lime és boy ods. Nisew Beene Late cae eee eee 41°47 *Phosphoric acid’. eet B86 33°55 Oxide of iron, alumina, magnesia, and. determined } is 7 fluorine @ difference ol ve Insoluble wiliecona matter v Ae ea MA oso pice ea 18°37 100:00 100°00 * Kiqual to tribasie phosphate of lime (bone-earth) .. 78°79 72°69 It will be seen that the Spanish phosphorite is not equal to the best samples of Norwegian apatite. It is, however, a valuable mineral, since it is rich in phosphate and free from carbonate of lime. Like Norwegian apatite, the Estramadura phosphorite must be reduced by means of powerful machinery to a fine powder, and afterwards treated with sulphuric acid, before it can be economically employed for manuring purposes, Fibrous phosphorite has also been found at Amberg, in Bavaria. This phosphorite resembles, in composition and struc- ture, that of Estramadura, but is distinguished from it by con- taining some iodine. Bavarian phosphorite has lately been raised in some quantities, Phosphatic Materials used for Agricultural Purposes. 357 and is used in Germany for the making of superphosphate, but as yet it has not found its way into England. Another species of phosphorite, distinguished by the name of osteolith, was discovered some years ago near Hlanau, in Germany. It occurs in thin seams in a volcanic rock, is soft and almost white, and very rich in phosphate of lime. Unfor- tunately the seams of this osteolith are not of sufficient thickness to repay the cost of excavation, consequently no practical appli- cation has been made of it as yet. 3. CAMBRIDGESHIRE COPROLITES. The phosphatic nodules of the lower chalk are known in commerce under the name of Cambridgeshire coprolites. Their physical character and the localities where they are found are so well known that I need not dwell on these points. The composition of different average samples, obtained by reducing to powder several tons, varies to some extent. In some more carbonate of lime and insoluble siliceous matter occur than in others, and consequently the amount of phosphate of lime in different samples fluctuates to a: certain degree. In commercial analyses it is usual to determine the amount of phosphate of lime or bone-earth by digesting the finely-powdered coprolites in hydrochloric acid, filtering off the solution from the insoluble siliceous matter, and precipitating the phosphates with ammonia. However careful the analyst may be to employ ammonia perfectly free from carbonic acid, and to avoid contact with the air, some carbonate of lime invariably falls down with the precipitated phosphates. It is necessary, therefore, to redis- solve the latter in hydrochloric acid, and to throw them down a second time with ammonia. If this be neglected, the amount of phosphates in coprolites, and in all other phosphatic substances containing carbonate of lime, is determined too high. By way of example, the following commercial analyses of powdered Cambridgeshire. coprolites are given :— General Composition of Cambridgeshire Coprolites. No. 1, No. 2, No. 3. No. 4, No. §, No. 6, Moisture and a little oreenic matter. ct Shit | fon) |° Bs |" a-a5'|' ator anaes Phosphates .. \: 62°32 61°04 59° 67 61°06 61°40 61°96 Carbonate of lime, | a2 ae face ee 28°49 | 27°67 | 30°65 | 28°37] 28-37 | 29-36 mined by difference) Insoluble siliceous mat- ter : aa 6°15 120 6°19 6°12 6°22 5°24 ——— | | | | | 100°00 | 100-00 } 100-00 | 100°00 |} 100°00 | 100-00 358 Chemical Composition and Commercial Value of “As both chalk-coprolites and Suffolk-coprolites contain much fluoride of calcium, by determining the amount of phosphates in the usual way by precipitation, fluoride of calcium is thrown down with the precipitate, in consequence of which the amount of phosphate of lime (bone-earth) is stated three to four per cent. higher than it is in reality. The true amount can only be correctly estimated by determining the percentage of phosphoric acid which they contain, and calculating from this acid the amount of bone-earth. In order to ascertain the true proportion of bone-earth in coprolites, and at the same time the exact quantity of other constituents which take up the sulphuric acid with which coprolite powder is mixed in the manufacture of superphosphate, I have made several detailed analyses of average samples of Cambridgeshire coprolites, and obtained the following results :— Detailed Composition of Average Samples of Cambridgeshire Coprolites. No. ]. No. 2, No. 3. Moisture and organic matter .. .. 4°68 4:01 3°52 Ibi oat poten bcce. coe) Lcdee noe. weal 45°39 46°60 WEVA EY Meco st coe) pay coer peda | lity) “48 1:06 ONCE OLR Wigoe eco of do oot 12 1:87 2°08 Alumina .. ao fess Bese k eLOO 2°57 1-41 *Phosphoric Reider eee en wees ROOSLO 26°75 27-01 TC ATDONICIACIGs Mase!) hcei oka 6°66 5118 5°49 sirifolabu(n Ol Ge ig Bo daar ‘76 1:06 { Wes 2 Chioridetofisodium 7-5) 2) eee use “09 traces traces Potash MeO | ost a 32 "84 not Soda .. ghal Merce “50 73 { determined Insoluble siliceous matter .. cole Bes zt 64 6°22 6:04 Fluorine and loss 25) fy coe o mE 4°95 6-79 100-00 100:00 100-00 * Equal to tribasic phosphate of ae 54°89 5712 58°52 (bone-earth) . t+ Equal to carbonate of lime 2. ae 15°13 11°66 12°47 Amount of phosphates, see coe “ 61°40 60°81 in the usual way by precipitation It will be seen that in the second sample the amount of phos- phates obtained by precipitation is, in round numbers, four per cent. higher, and in the third sample two per cent. higher, than that resulting from the more accurate method of determining the percentage of phosphoric acid, and calculating from it the amount of bone-earth. Powerful machinery is required for reducing coprolites to a fine powder. Coarse coprolite powder is not easily acted upon by acid, and has little or no effect upon vegetation. It is there- fore advisable to reduce coprolites to a minute state of sub- division, and to digest them afterwards with a quantity of acid sufficient to saturate all the carbonate of lime and other con- Phosphatic Materials used for Agricultural Purposes. 359 stituents, and to render the insoluble phosphates completely soluble. This precaution is not always observed by manufacturers, and hence superphosphate made from coprolites is often of an inferior quality. Properly dissolved, they are converted into a most efficacious turnip-manure, for soluble phosphate of lime made from coprolites is in every respect as good as soluble phosphate made from bone or any other source. 4. Surrotk Copro.ites (PseuDO or Fase Copro.ires). These phosphoric deposits occur in the more recent tertiary strata, as a layer varying from three to eighteen inches in thick- ness, between the coralline crag and London clay. The Suffolk crag is exceedingly rich in fossils, consisting partly of the frac- tured and rolled bones of cetaceous and other animals, with some fish-teeth, and chiefly of rolled water-worn pebbles, which were formerly supposed to be the fossilized excrements of saurian and other animals, for which reason they were called coprolites, Professor Buckland, however, showed that they are not true fossil excrements, but in all probability calcareous pebbles which have undergone a peculiar metamorphosis, and become impreg- nated with phosphoric acid by long-continued contact with decaying animal and vegetable substances. The name pseudo or false coprolites, which Professor Buck- land proposed for them, has been generally accepted by the scientific world. In commercial phraseology, we have to under- stand by Suffolk-coprolites, or crag-coprolites, or pseudo-coprolites, the mixed fossil bones, fish-teeth, and phosphatic pebbles which occur in the Suffolk crag. These phosphatic matters are distinguished from the grey- coloured ‘chalk-coprolites by a brownish, ferruginous colour, and a smoother appearance. They are very hard, and yield on grinding a yellowish-red powder. Analysed in the manner usually adopted in commercial analyses, the composition of several samples of ground Suffolk coprolites may be illustrated by the following tabulated results :— General Composition of Suffolk Coprolites. | No.1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, Moisture and a little organic : ’ % ‘ Ye matter ; “| 4°61) 3:80] 4:11 | 6:28| 4°74 Phosphates.. .. 56°52 | 60°21 | 61°15 | 60°99 | 44°20 Carbonate of lime, ‘magnesia, fluorine, &c, Carernir Dw 25995 | 20°77 | 22°39") aie Aa 20"92 difference ) amy he Insoluble siliceous matter as 12°92 14°22 12°35 10°99 30°14 eee 100°00 | 100°00 | 100°00 | 100°00 | 100°00 360 Chemical Composition and Commercial Value of In good samples of Suffolk coprolites the amount of insoluble siliceous matter varies from 10 to 14 per cent.; No. 5, there- fore, appears to be a very inferior specimen. Besides fluoride of calcium, they contain a good deal of oxide of iron and alumina, which partially, at least, are thrown down with the phosphates when the latter are determined by precipita- tion with ammonia, as is usual in commercial analyses. In this case the amount of phosphates will be stated in excess. The true value of these pseudo-coprolites, therefore, can only be correctly estimated if the phosphoric acid which they contain is accurately determined. ‘This has been done in the subjoined analyses, which at the same time represent their detailed com- position. Detailed Composition of Suffolk Coprolites. No.1, No. 2, Moisture and water of combination with a trace of 576 o.RA organic matter snthived? 2ilt Gul Rees ARP Lime a Bollpsa ausue ~saeldesowagere eee dee HADES 88°20 Maem esa... Pesci Wass Pesan ote, ) Aecuy. cal levy Bucs “B84 1°34 EHOSPhHOriGvacids. ep) se Wing Nee) Gece en eee Ur eeCOLOR, 24°24 OxidevoPitén 300 os REO? ee AE ae a 4°81 MAMTA SRR. cB SRS) ah, ERY ODE af 8°72 +Carbonicpacid pwr its saceiod ete [peo tebe peeBiOs 5°37 Ulphurictacidl! a. les gas aeeeneene a fees wee eee 87 1:40 Rotash 4 sek ys.d ive. Goudenee Sec) nes aeee nes 78 “56 NOGA mere cee fe” othe, Wacemaeea mem tine Maden wa arse 25 1:18 @hiorine*:.. 4... 44.0492 SOAR. SSH eae. etraees 07 Hluorinevand'doss, rasi/ vec. uss) beadesetitess a ole 4°31 Imsolnbletsiliceotisymatter \ ecu weesne wes) det) fier enmnee Oca 12°27 100-00 100°00 * Equal to tribasic phosphate of lime (bone-earth) 61°30 522 + Equal to'carbonate of lime ~2.° 2 =s. 3.5... Lis64 12°20 No. 1, it will be seen, is a very superior sample; No. 2 repre- sents a good average sample of Suffolk coprolites. In two other samples, in which the amount of insoluble matter and phosphoric acid alone was determined, | find :— No. 1, No. 2, Insoluble siliceous matter .. .. .. 12°56 11°05 Phosphoriciacidie.. tas)" ss tee Way toro 24°26 Corresponding to bone-earth.. .. 50°87 52°56 The remarks already made respecting the conversion of chalk coprolites into superphosphate apply, with equal force, to the pseudo-coprolites of the Suffolk crag. A new process for converting phosphatic nodules into effective manures has quite recently been communicated by a Frenchman— -a M. Roblique—in the ‘Comptes Rendus.’ This gentleman recommends us to mix pulverised phosphatic nodules with = iia” Phosphatie Materials used for Agricultural Purposes. 361 50 per cent. of their weight of sea-salt, and to expose this mix- ture to a current of steam placed in a furnace or cylinder at a temperature a little below red heat. If, as is sometimes the case, the nodules do not contain a sufficiency of silica, the deficiency must be made up previous to the operation, M. Roblique remarks: ‘The reaction of silica on chloride of sodium (salt) in contact with the vapour of water is well known, resulting in the formation of silicate of soda and hydro- chloric acid. In this special case the latter acts on the phosphate of lime, from which it takes two equivalents of lime, and gives rise to chloride of calcium and: biphosphate of lime. All the phosphoric acid does not, however, combine with the lime; it sometimes forms a considerable quantity of phosphate of soda. The same process thus furnishes in the dry state, without excess of acid, both silicates and phosphates, which readily yield to plants not only silica and phosphoric acid, but also a considerable quantity of alkali.” I have not been able to learn if this plan has been tried on a large scale and been found practicable. If, by any cheap method not necessitating the use of sulphuric acid, coprolites could be brought into a state in which the phosphates they con- tain can be readily taken up by plants, a great saving would be effected. 1 question, however, very much whether this new plan can be successfully carried out on a large scale, but think it well worth a trial. 5. Maracarso or Monx’s Istanp Guano (AMERICAN PHOSPHATE). This singular phosphatic mineral was originally introduced into commerce under the name of Maracaibo Guano. It is also known as Columbian Guano, also as Monk’s Island Guano, and is sometimes simply described as American Phosphate, It occurs in large lumps, in which are frequently pieces of quartz- rock imbedded. These lumps are hard, and have a compact interior of a chocolate-brown colour, and a grayish-white mam- millated exterior, resembling an enamel. Between this enamel- looking portion and the compact interior is a lighter brown porous structure. It is reduced under a millstone with some difficulty into a brownish-gray powder. Burned in an open platinum capsule, it turns beautifully white, showing that it contains organic matter, which imparts a chocolate-brown colour to the lumps in their natural state, A fair average sample, prepared by reducing to powder por 362 Chemical Composition and Commercial Value of tions taken from several blocks, was submitted to a careful analysis, which furnished the following results :— IMOISHUITG: fee ee feo: Mita Peete ete umisot Weist gh omen) *Organic matter and water of combination .. .. 7°93 Tames. act! ine RRP 5 WN RPE. eee RO OEE Maonesias! ss. ccs ves else) gemu” eltureatan wee ereemelialad PhOsphoriciacid <.)5 fs east) gee) ies p Roepe ROA Sulphuric Acid pe se) een) cl) ec ienc ee Ene mC Soluble‘silicarandisand’\. es, sc! ae eaten 99°16 22 Containing ynitrop en y <= ile sei iin -aete sien 139 Eiqualliito ammonia eusat Null eae ee ie “169 By dissolving this mineral in hydrochloric acid and _ precipi- tating the solution, filtered from the sand, with ammonia, 76°71 per cent. of phosphate of lime and magnesia (bone-earth) were obtained. The filtrate from the phosphate contained no lime whatever, but no less than 4-90 per cent. of phosphoric acid. It is thus clear that Monk’s Island Guano contains a phos- phate which has a different constitution from that of ordinary tri- basic or bone-phosphate of lime. On uniting the sulphuric acid with lime we obtain 7°77 per cent. of sulphate of lime, and, de- ducting the lime in the sulphate from the total quantity of lime found in the analysis, 36°28 per cent. of lime are left, which are united with phosphoric acid. The magnesia takes up 2°11 of phosphoric acid, and yields 3:28 of phosphate of magnesia (2 Ma, O, PO;). There thus remains 39:23 of phosphoric acid to unite with 36°28 of lime. From these data it appears that this singular and highly valuable phosphate consists chiefly of a mixture of pyro-phosphate and ordinary tribasic phosphate of lime. Since this substance con- tains a phosphate richer in phosphoric acid than ordinary or bone phosphate, and is free from carbonate of lime, it is rendered soluble with much less sulphuric acid than is required for dis- solving bone-ash, apatite, and other phosphates. Monk’s Island Guano, therefore, is a peculiarly valuable and excellent material for preparing artificial manures that are rich in soluble phosphate of lime. 6. SomBprero Rock, or Crust GuAno. This valuable phosphatic material occurs in one of the West Indian Islands, and of late years has been imported into England in some quantities. Sombrero Rock, as the name implies, is quarried in the islet of Sombrero. A large portion of this islet _ has been quarried away already, and sold both in America and in England as Crust or Sombrero Guano, ‘This is not a very Phosphatic Materials used for Agricultural Purposes. 368 appropriate name, for this material is not a guano deposit, but in reality the rock itself, of which the islet of Sombrero consists almost entirely. Although fragments of bones are not often found imbedded in the rock which is imported into England, it cannot be doubted that the latter is a true bone-breccia. I have in my collection a specimen of Sombrero Rock, in which several pieces of bone are distinctly visible. ‘These pieces of bone are perfectly white, and free from organic matter. The rock varies considerably in colour, texture, and other external characters. Whilst some is porous and friable, other specimens are of con- siderable density. Most samples have a light yellowish-green colour, which is, however, sometimes varied by a bright green or bright yellow, a violet, bluish, or pinkish hue. On the whole, this rock is reduced to powder with tolerable ease. I have carefully and minutely examined some average sam- ples taken from a bulk of several tons, which gave the following results :— Composition of Sombrero Rock or Crust Guano. | No. 1. No. 2, | No. 8. | No. 4, | No. 5. Moisture .. .. {| 9°06! 7:51 | 10°09 | 4:22 | 2°94)! Water of combination and a little organic}| 4°38 | 6°19 | 4:90} 6:57] 5:94 TRMUETO Wad) wie vee *Phosphoric acid -. | 34°41 | 35°09 | 34°11 | 84°76 | 35°52 | 32°51 | 34°34 Lime... .. .. «. | 36°17 | 38°19 | 38°42 | 39°07 | 37-99 | 35°95 | 37°52 Magnesia .. .. .. “36 *44 “41 *52 aah 2°74 Alkalies and fluorine EsS60 i) 87 |) Gil eke a) ene? 1173 Oxide ofiron .. .. | 2°82 | 3:22 | 2°85 | 2°98] 3°70\) 41.40 ? Alumina .. .. .. | 6°89 | 4:26 | 4°23 | 6:23 7-55} Carbonic acid .. .. 1°55 1°36 1°68 1°75 “96 1-14 1°45 Sulphuric acid .... 66 “44 36 *36 +42 en é5 Chlorine .. .. Seal; sagy}) Sal hy Megat saa) cm Wels 1°84 1°04 1°03 1°41 2°05 114 1°88 (ee) ee ee ee EE ee 100°00 |100°00 |100°00 |100°00 |100°00 |100°00 |100-00 - * Equal to tribasic fone | Insoluble ~ siliceous matter... os phate of lime (bone-}| 74°55 | 76°02 | 73*90 | 75°31 | 76°90 | 69°42 | 74+40 Se TD i a Ala ae ’ | i Sombrero Rock has been used in America for agricultural purposes, it is said, with considerable success, when simply reduced to powder. Such a practice cannot, however, be recom- mended ; for this, like most mineral phosphates, requires to be treated with sulphuric acid in order to become really efficacious as a manure. It will be noticed that there is not much carbonate of lime, but a good deal of alumina, and in some samples also a good deal of oxide of iron, The proportion of phosphate of lime VOL. XXI. 20 364 Chemical Composition and Commercial Value of in this rock is as high as in good samples of South American bone-ash. Phosphatic rocks similar in composition to the Sombrero Rock have lately been discovered in the Anguilla Isles, forming part of the Leeward Islands.* 7. Koorta Moorta Guano. A considerable portion of the Kooria Mooria guano imported into England is bought up by manure manufacturers, and by means of sulphuric acid converted into useful turnip-manures. Although this guano may be used by itself as a manure for turnips or Swedes, it is better to add to it some sulphuric acid (say one-third of its weight), with a view to changing a portion of the insoluble phosphates, in which it is rich, into the more efficacious form of a soluble~phosphate. . Kooria Mooria guano varies considerably in composition, as the following analysis made in my laboratory will show :— Composition of Kooria Mooria Guano. No.1, | No. 9, No. 3, No.4, No.5, | No.6, | No.7, Moisture .. .. .. | 9°63 | 5°94| 4°12] 9°58]|' 5°43.] 6:21 | 7984 *Organic matter.. 5°68 | 8:49) 3°49) 5°19 | 11°45} 5°01) 3°28 Phosphates of lime} | and magnesia Gone 53°93, 46°39 | 55°21 | 56°09 | 35°04 | 61°20 | 60°03 earth E Satntate oflime .. | 4°37:| 11°78] 14°79 | 2°82) 13°88] 8:39), 2°68 Alkaline salts and 6-48 magnesia (chiefly 5°12} 1°97) 6°09} 5°33] 5°68) 8°68 common salt) Insoluble siliceous : on . 90° 99.87 se] | 17° matter (sand) eh 19°91 , 22°33 | 20°42 | 20°28 | 28°87 | 13°51 | 17°54 10000 100-00 100-00 |100-00 {100-00 100+00 pos ag * Containing nitrogen +33 | “B0'] 21 | +26 || *ean/fi: “Serieliemb Equal to ammonia “40 ee 8361) 25)|) "Sl ihy 40 34 “31 | | Kooria Mooria guano, it will be seen, contains but little organic matter, and hardly any ammonia. It is generally met with in commerce in a tolerably fine powder, offering its phos- phates in that finely divided state which enables plants to assimi- late them more readily than those found in coprolites or other like substances which have become completely fossilized. 8. Oruer PuospuHatic GUANOS. There are several species of African and West Indian guanos which at present are occasionally used in the manufacture of * Vide Communication by Sir Roderick Murchison, in Journal, vol, xx. p, 31. Phosphatic Materials used for Agricultural Purposes. 365 artificial manures. They are generally distinguished from the Peruvian by the almost entire absence of ammonia and soluble phosphates, by the small quantity of organic matter, and by the large proportion of insoluble phosphates which they contain. On the latter the commercial value of these guanos chiefly depends. They usually contain a considerable quantity of gypsum, and occasionally carbonate of lime besides. If a guano is to be used as a manure without any further preparation, the presence of car- bonate of lime, though it does not add to, does not detract from its value; but if the guano is to be employed as the basis for superphosphate, or for drying artificial manures containing soluble phosphate, the less carbonate of lime it contains the better. If guano containing carbonate of lime is mixed with sulphuric acid, all the carbonate must be saturated with acid before any soluble phosphate can be formed ; and again, if such a guano be added as a drying material to a manure containing soluble phos- phate, the carbonate of lime of the guano, taking up the acid which keeps the phosphate in a soluble state, renders the latter insoluble. In either case more acid is required for the produc- tion of a given amount of soluble phosphate than is wanted if phosphatic materials free from carbonate of lime are employed. Saldanha Bay guano, South African, Pedro Keys, Swan Island, Baker Island, Birds’ Island guanos are some of the in- ferior phosphatic guanos which may be used either by them- selves, or better after having been treated with some sulphuric acid. As the composition of nearly every cargo of these guanos varies greatly, the analysis of particular samples is of no general interest. I therefore pass them over as well as the analyses of some other kinds of phosphatic guanos which occasionally find their way into the market. 9. Bonr-Asu. Bone-ash of good quality unquestionably is one of the most valuable materials for making superphosphate of lime. Indeed, it is far too good to be used for agricultural purposes in any other form. Most of the bone-ash of commerce comes from South America, and possesses, like other commercial articles, a variable composition, arising chiefly from the mechanical im- purities, such as sand and earth, with which it is always more or less contaminated. The following commercial analyses of different samples of South American bone-ash will give an idea of the extent of this Variation :— 366 Chemical Composition and Commercial Value of Composition of South American Bone-ash. (Commercial Analysis.) | Carbonate eae Moisture Phosphates of Lime, Insoluble No. | Moisture. | oreanle and Organic ann Maen | Fluoride of praiee Total. mater. (Bone-earth). Calcium, anal (Sand). 1 7°60 | 2-29 6 67°58 9°36 13°17 | 100 2 2°05 | 38°52 3 74°08 12°59 7°76 100 3 | 10°76 | 3°76 ¥ 55°36 7°45 22°67 | 100 4 14°50 | 2°56 | vi 65°89 9-44 7°61 100 5 12°52) 1°20 | - 66°33 717 12°78 100 6 eee esl6 237 64°44 | 9°18 | 10°06 100 7 14°38 | 67°99 10°45 ‘7°18 100 8 ? i 7°75 | 68°97 7°62 15-66 100 9 uaa eeace 10°49 60°63 9°99 18°89 100 10 7 lb Nagle 9°04 66°71 7°34 16°91 100 11 ¥ ik ibe OEE} 66°33 7°95 15°89 100 12 SM ids bpp hiilat BME 75°76 8°57 6°91 100 13 COM dh tte. aula OS 66°59 8°42 11°01 100 14 By el bab: 8:08 61°61 9°40 20°91 100 15 = etuliee 773} 72°65 9°45 10°17 100 16 «dale ts 9°68 64°70 7°63 17°99 100 17 ig See | ie br. 75°05 12°02 6°06 100 18 ee. TE: 8:07 65°26 12°26 14°41 100 19 ee La ole Wonatey 63°17 11°62 12°24 100 20 id LP eal ek9259 70°45 10°72 9:24 100 21 E Rs Oe apes 8°66 | 9:02 100 22 ere avi Pen ean 73°48 10°43 4°18 100 23 oe 2) S820 gBoras 10°33 3°90 | 100 24 = ere 5°63 | 77°15 10°36 6°86 | 100 25 sl, we) | BT] 64-87 | SO 85 aoe ele 26 Ah Se 17°31 59°67 | 829 14°78 100 BAe te des 5°44 75°81 10°47 8-28 100 2B Ne | ose fl, 8526 ODO pel 032 10°92 | 100 Bg Te TP Ae fo sae tee isgnae . Wee ae" a8 17°53 | 100 BOE EVP aES eel ra 8°60 | 69°09 7°18 | 15°18 | 100 The above were made in the manner usually adopted for commercial analyses. It will be seen that, generally speaking, samples poor in phosphate of lime are also poor in carbonate of lime, lime not united with phosphoric acid, and alkaline salts ; and the samples rich in phosphate of lime likewise contain a higher percentage of the latter constituents. Thus, the sample which contained 66°33 of bone-carth, yielded 7:13 of carbonate of lime, &c.; and the sample containing 64°70 of bone-earth, yielded 7°63 of carbonate of lime, &e. ; wialee that which gave 70-45 of bone-earth yielded 10- 72 of the latter constituents ; and another sample in which 75-05 per cent. of bone-earth were found yielded 12:02 of carbonate of lime, &e. Considerable allowance of course must be made for the natural variations in the composition of the bones which produced the ash. It is well known that some bones contain more carbonate Phosphatic Materials used for Agricultural Purposes. 307 of lime and likewise more alkaline salts than otherss We must not, therefore, expect to find always in the richest samples the highest percentage of carbonate of lime, &c., nor in those poor in bone-earth necessarily a correspondingly low percentage of the last-mentioned constituents. But, generally speaking, a higher percentage of carbonate of lime and alkaline salts will be found in good samples of bone-ash than in those that are inferior. This we may naturally expect, for as pure bones contain a cer- tain amount of carbonate of lime, &c., the less sand a sample of bone-ash contains, and the more perfectly the bones are burned, the more phosphate of lime and likewise the more of all the other incombustible constituents it necessarily must contain, On the other hand, if bones are imperfectly burned and con- taminated with much sand, they naturally must yield an ash which is not only poorer in phosphates but in all the ash- constituents of bones. At all events, bone-ash must contain more bone-earth and more carbonate of lime and other mineral matters than the bones which furnished the ashes. In commercial analyses, however, the proportions of carbonate of lime, &c., are frequently stated to be far smaller than can be the case. This mistake arises from the faulty determination of the bone-earth. When determined in the usual way, the precipi- tated bone-earth invariably contains a good deal of carbonate of lime. The phosphates are therefore given higher than they are in reality, and, as it is usual to determine the rest of the lime which is not united with phosphoric acid and the alkaline salts together by difference, the latter constituents are consequently stated too low. Thus an analysis lately brought under my notice gives the composition of a sample of bone-ash as follows :— Charcoal AAA eo? cca RE 2: NPD a 21 IGM eh eln leh oe |) 3. tee) Abdo) 8 Water :. . tet ee’ ‘ 3°8 Carbonate of lime Sy coe ie) GOspHate Of MMe. a. ye mee ws ee OUD 100-0 Another chemist, who analysed the same bone-ash, gives the following results :-— INfGIsHCm ese eat 2-0 300 Carbonaceous matter 3 Siliceous matter A Mkisaisadt Keune Phosphate oflime ,. 4. .. .- « 84°84 Carbonate of lime (4°48) &e. .. 5 100°00 In both analyses the amount of phosphate of lime is given too high, and that of carbonate of lime and alkaline salts too low. 368 Chemical Composition and Commercial Value of The first analysis, more especially, has evidently been done in a very careless manner, for bone-ash prepared from pure bones does not contain so high a percentage of phosphate of lime as this sample of the commercial article is reported to contain. The proportion of charcoal, moisture, and sand—three matters not properly belonging to pure bone-ash, amount to 10 per cent. inround numbers. Deducting these accidental constituents, and calculating the results for pure bone-ash, the latter would contain no less than 97°66 per cent. of bone-earth. It is hardly con- ceivable how such absurd results as those contained in the first analysis can be committed to paper by an analytical chemist. If these were solitary instances I would take no further notice of analyses the incorrectness of which is proved by abundant internal evidence. But unfortunately this is not the case. Bone-ash is usually sold by importers at a price depending upon the percentage of phosphate of lime in it, and hence it is not the interest of dealers to have the determination of bone-earth made by a chemist who states the amount correctly, but rather to employ an analyst who, adopting an expeditious and incorrect method, makes the percentage of phosphates 3, 4, and even 6 per cent. higher than it is in reality. The importance of this subject has led me to examine minutely the composition of pure and of commercial bone-ash. The mineral portion of pure bones or pure bone-ash has been repeatedly examined by various chemists. The more recent researches by Professor Heintz, of Berlin, deserve espe- cial notice. According to Heintz, the phosphate of lime present in bone-ash is a combination of 3 equivalents of lime and 1 equivalent of phosphoric acid; its formula consequently is 3CO+4PO0,. Although some chemists still retain the older formula 8 CO +3 PO, assigned to bone-earth by Berzelius, most agree with Heintz in considering the chief constituent of bone-ash to be the tribasic phosphate of lime. In the analyses of human and other bones, the same gentleman obtained a certain proportion of lime, which was neither united with phosphoric acid, as tribasic phosphate, nor with carbonic acid. This excess of lime is calculated in Heintz’s analyses as fluoride of calcium. Thus he states in one place that human bones contain 3°52 per cent. of fluoride of calcium; in another analysis he gives 3°82 per cent. of fluoride of calcium in bones dried at 212° Fahr, It should be mentioned, however, that no direct fluorine determina- tion has been attempted, but that the result has been obtained by calculation, Every chemist is acquainted with the fact that bones contain smal] quantities of fluorine ; but, at the same time, considerable difficulty is experienced occasionally in obtaining with recent bones a deep etching upon glass, even if large Phosphatie Materials used for Agricultural Purposes. 369 quantities of bone or of bone-ash are employed in testing for fluorine. It strikes me that such an etching would be readily produced if bones really did contain from 3°52 to 3°85 per cent. of fluoride of calcium, as calculated by Heintz. More- over, such a proportion of fluoride of calcium would admit of at least an approximate determination. I have endeavoured to determine quantitatively the proportion of fluorine in recent bones and in bone-ash; but although I have carefully tried all known methods for determining small quantities of fluorine, I have utterly failed in all attempts, and am inclined to think that the proportion of fluoride of calcium in recent bones is very much smaller than Heintz imagines it to be. To verify this supposi- tion, I added 1 per cent. of finely-powdered fluoride of calcium to pure phosphate of lime, and then was able to ascertain the amount of fluorine with tolerable precision. This is not the place to mention the details of my experiments, but the conclu- sion to which they seem to lead is that recent bones contain only a small amount of fluoride of calcium, and not 34 per cent. in round numbers as stated by Heintz. This much is certain, that the mineral portion of bones contains a certain quantity of lime, which is neither united with carbonic acid, nor with phosphoric acid as tribasic phosphate. If it be highly improbable that this excess of lime exists in bone-ash entirely in the state of fluoride of calcium, the question naturally arises, In what combination does it occur? As lime and phosphoric acid unite together in so many different propor- tions, and as many of these compounds are basic in their cha- racter, it is highly probable that bone-ash contains a more basic phosphate of lime than has hitherto been supposed to exist. It is a matter of considerable practical importance that the composition of the precipitate which is obtained on adding caustic ammonia to a dilute solution of bone-ash in hydrochloric acid should be known with certainty. This precipitate, con- sisting of phosphate of lime and a little phosphate of magnesia, is usually called bone-earth. It was considered by Berzelius to be a combination of 8 equivalents of lime and 3 equivalents of phosphoric acid ; its formulaaccordingly is 8C O + 3 P O.,. Other chemists assign to it the formula 3 C O + P O,. Indeed, most scientific chemists of the present day have, for good reasons, given up the older formula, and consider bone-earth to be prin- cipally tribasic phosphate of lime,—that is a combination of 3 equivalents of lime and 1 equivalent of phosphoric acid. In commercial analyses the amount of bone-earth is usually determined by precipitation ; but since some chemists very pro- perly prefer to ascertain the total amount of phosphoric acid in the article submitted to analysis, and to calculate subsequently 370 Chemical Composition and Commercial Value of the phosphoric acid as tribasic phosphate of lime, the ammonia precipitate, which is still erroneously assumed by many to be 8CO+43PO0,, is recalculated as tribasic phosphate of lime, This practice deserves to be strongly condemned, for it leads to wrong results, giving invariably the amount of tribasic phosphate much higher than it is in reality. Great discrepancies in the determinations of phosphate of lime in bone-ash, &c., by different analysts, are a source of constant annoyance and frequent disputes between seller and buyer, As long as the practice prevails of ascertaining the phosphates simply by precipitation, such dis- crepancies must remain matters of almost daily occurrence, It is, of course, a much more expeditious plan to determine the phosphates by precipitation than to ascertain correctly the amount of phosphoric acid ; but if we consider the difference that an error of 3 or 4 per cent, of phosphate of lime will make in the value of a ship’s cargo, we shall admit that accuracy ought not to be sacrificed to expedition. There is, indeed, ground to fear that analyses are carried out ina too commercial—nay, often a too interested—spirit, such as is calculated to bring analytical che- mistry into disrepute. It is therefore the duty of all desirous of carrying out analytical investigations in a manner consistent with truth to raise a strong opposition against the mode in which more especially commercial analyses of bone-ash and animal charcoal are frequently executed at present. I have myself repeatedly analysed the ammonia precipitate from bone-ash, and arrived at the conclusion that, under the most favourable circumstances, it never contains less than 3 equivalents of lime for 1 equivalent of phosphoric acid, Generally, however, it contains an additional quantity of lime, or, more correctly speaking, carbonate of lime,—for I find it extremely difficult to prevent more or less carbonate of lime trom falling down with the phosphates when precipitating the latter with ammonia. This is especially the case when the pre- cipitation is effected in a hot solution, Notwithstanding the entire absence of carbonic acid in the ammonia used for preci- pitation, and the observance of every precaution to exclude the air from the precipitated phosphates, some additional lime beyond the proportion required to combine with phosphoric acid to form tribasic phosphates is invariably found in the precipitate obtained from a boiling-hot solution, even after the precipitate has been re-dissolyed and thrown down again a second or third time. If, on the contrary, the precipitation is effected in the cold, and the phos- phates are re-dissolyed in acid after washing with ammonia- water, and thrown down again a second time with pure ammonia from a dilute cold solution, I find their composition agrees closely with tribasic phosphate of lime. Thus from a sample of bone- Phosphatie Materials used for Agricultural Purposes. 371 ash, which yielded an amount of phosphoric acid corresponding to 82°59 of tribasic phosphate of lime, I obtained 82°48 per cent. of phosphate by precipitation, But unless these precautions are carefully observed and the phosphates are washed with strong ammonia-water, discordant results are obtained. At the best, the method of determining the amount of phosphate of lime by precipitation is liable to furnish results that cannot be relied upon. In proof of these statements the following instances may be cited :— Two separate determinations in bone-ash gave 75°84 per cent. and 73:29 per cent. of bone-earth by the ordinary method of precipitation. In another sample, I obtained, by throwing down the phos- phates once, 79:03 per cent. By re-dissolving the phosphates in acid and precipitating a second time, 76:21 per cent. were obtained. On analysing the 79-03 per cent., I obtained 34°95 per cent. of phosphoric acid, corresponding to 75°72 of tribasic phosphate ; whilst the precipitated phosphates in the second determination (76°21 per cent.) furnished 34°89 per cent. of phosphoric acid, corresponding to 75°59 per cent, of tribasic phosphate. A sample of animal charcoal gave— Phosphates precipitated once .. .. «2 « « V7°46 Re-dissolved and precipitated a second time .. .. 73°63 Again re-dissolved and thrown down a third time.. 72°96 A direct determination of phosphoric acid in the same sample of animal charcoal furnished 33°34 per cent., which, calculated as tribasic phosphate of lime, gives 72:23. These results thus show that the amount of bone-earth is stated too high if the phosphates are thrown down only once; that a tolerably near approach to truth is obtained if the phosphates are re-dissolved in acid and thrown down a second time; and, that lastly, perfectly accordant results are obtained if the phos- phoric acid is determined, and from it the amount of tribasic phosphate is calculated. Since bone-ash, animal charcoal, coprolites, &c., are chiefly purchased for the sake of the phosphoric acid which they con- tain, all possible care should be bestowed to obtain an accurate determination of that constituent which mainly regulates their commercial value. In purchases of bone-ash, the dealer generally guarantees a certain amount of phosphate of lime or bone-earth ; but since a question may arise as to the precise meaning of these terms, I would suggest, as far more satifactory both to the purchaser and the honest dealer, that the seller should guarantee the percent- age of phosphoric acid; or, to render the change in present 372 Chemical Composition and Commercial Value of usages less abrupt, phosphoric acid, equal to say 74 or to 76 per cent. of tribasic phosphate of lime, as the case may be. If this suggestion were generally adopted, all squabbles respecting the composition of bone-earth would be set aside. By stating the amount of phosphoric acid which was actually found in the analysis, and the corresponding percentage of tribasic phosphate of lime, it would be seen at once that a reliable method, and not the uncertain process of precipitation, had been employed by the analyst. The correct determination of phosphoric acid is attended with a good deal of trouble, and necessitates much care and experience on the part of the operator. The method of analysing bone-ash which I have adopted in my laboratory yields most satisfactory results ; and, as it may be useful to others, I will give a brief outline of it. Moisture and organic matter are determined as usual. About twenty grains of finely-powdered bone-ash are carefully dissolved in hydrochloric, or better in nitric, acid ; the solution is evaporated to dryness in a waterbath. By this means any pyrophosphate which may be present in the bone-ash is converted into the ordinary phosphate, and the soluble silica which always, occurs in commercial bone-ash is rendered insoluble. ‘The dry residue is taken up in the smallest. possible quantity of nitric acid, and the sand filtered off; the solution passing through the filter is heated to the boiling-point, and precipitated with an excess of oxalate of potash or ammonia, The oxalate of lime held in solution by the liberated oxalic acid is thrown down with the first precipitate of oxalate of lime by neutralising the liquid with caustic potash or soda, by adding afterwards an excess of oxalate of potash or soda, and boiling. The oxalate of lime is removed by filtration, and the filtrate and washings evaporated to a small bulk, and finally the phosphoric acid precipitated with ammo- niacal sulphate of magnesia. ‘To prevent any oxide of iron or alumina, which occasionally are present in commercial bone-ash, from falling down with the phosphate of magnesia, it is desirable to add a little tartaric acid to the liquid before precipitating the phosphoric acid. The precipitated phosphate of magnesia has to be set aside for at least twelve hours before it may be safely collected on a filter. As an excess of oxalate of potash has to be used for the determination of lime, and an excess of ammoniacal sulphate of magnesia for the determination of the phosphoric acid, oxalate of magnesia is formed, which, after standing for a time, separates and falls down with the phosphate of magnesia, unless a very large amount of ammoniacal salts is present. I find, indeed, that the phosphate of magnesia obtained in this kind of Phosphatice Materials used for Agricultural Purposes. 373 analysis is almost always contaminated with oxalate of magnesia, and therefore make it a general practice to redissolve ae par- tially-washed precipitated “phosphate of magnesia in ammonia, and to throw it down a second time. ‘The magnesia precipitate must be washed with strong ammonia water, The lime precipitate generally continues a variable and often altogether insignificant proportion of phosphate of iron and alumina. In ordinary analyses, it is hardly necessary to take any notice of the traces of phosphate of iron, which exist in good white samples of bone-ash. For very minute analy ses, I distolue the lime precipitate, after having been weighed, in hydrochloric acid, precipitate the solution maith ammonia, collect precipitate on a small filter, wash and redissolve on filter, and precipitate a second time in the cold. The phosphate of iron and alumina, after washing, is free from lime. Its weight is determined, and deducted from the first weight of the lime precipitate. In order to obtain the phosphoric acid contained in the phosphate of iron and alumina, the precipitate is dissolved in hydrochloric acid, a little tartaric acid is added, then ammonia, and finally the phos: phoric acid is determined as phosphate of magnesia. If necessary, a separate determination of carbonic acid ae sulphuric acid is made in the bone-ash. As regards aceuracy, this plan of analysis leaves nothing to be desired. A proof of this is furnished in the subjoined analyses of the same sample of bone-ash; two of them were made by myself, and two by my first assistant, Mr. Sibson. Though all ordinary care is taken in preparing a sample for analysis, itis next to impossible to obtain a perfectly homogeneous powder. The trifling discrepancies in the results of the four separate analyses are due, perhaps, in a higher degree to this circumstance than to the method of analysis. Composition of a Sample of Bone-ash. ist Analysis, | 2nd Analysis. |} 3rd Analysis. |4th Analysis. Moisture .. 6°84 6°34 6°35 6°35 Organic matter (chiefly charcoal) | 3°38 2°83 3°26 2°84 *Phosphoric acid... ..° 2. .. 84°95 34°48 34°89 84°83 Re oes weredes: El key hes = te 44°35 43°93 43°59 43°99 Magnesia .. . : i WAG) fil OT Insoluble siliceous matter (sand) 8°43 9°34 9°39 8°83 Carbonic acid aud alkalies (de- termined by loss) .. .. *t 123 Y= at as eS eee S| ees 100*00 100°00 100°00 100° 00 * The phosphoric is equal to tri- basie pane of lime (bone-}; 75+72 74°71 75°59 75°46 earth) .. : | Average per centage of bone- earth ui 30 75°32 = old Chemical Composition and Commercial Value of The same bone-ash was likewise submitted by myself and by Mr. Sibson to an analysis, in which the ordinary precipitation method was adopted, and the following results were obtained :— Voelcker. Sibson. NCS) Cnet: § ck cmt a cio: Acie he 6°34 6°35 Orcanicamaitier sy pices ono NODS o'09 Aas) aa) Gn aa co. oo) ae TSO 76°70 Carbonate of lime Nevkt Lact Lashe Rete tone 534 Alkaline salts fAIK 3 [a ee. 2°68 2°52 Insoluble siliceous matter oan iraak ator 8:43 9°39 103-04 103°39 In explanation of these results, I may observe that the excess in the analyses is principally due to the circumstance that all the lime which is not united with phosphoric acid is introduced here as carbonate of lime. The alkaline salts likewise help to increase the excess, for in reality the greater part of the alkalies occurs in bones as such, or in union with phosphoric acid, the total amount of which is mentioned in the analyses already. The direct weight of the thoroughly-heated residue, which is obtained on evaporation of the liquid from which the phosphates and the lime have been removed, therefore gives the alkalies too high. In reality commercial bone-ash contains seldom more than 1} to 2 per cent. of carbonate of lime, and the lime which is not in union with phosphoric acid, nor with carbonic acid, must therefore be present in some other state of combination, Some of it, no doubt, is present as fluoride of calcium and some as silicate of lime; silicate of lime is not a normal constituent of bone, but it is produced when bones are reduced to ash in large heaps. The silica, which is usually attached to raw bones in the sbape of fine ASsnGl at a high temperature, decomposes some of the carbonate of iene which bones naturally contain, and gives rise to silicate of lime. It might, perhaps, be supposed that bone-ash contained some caustic Pane arising from the high temperature at which the bones are sometimes sburned. But this is not generally the case, as | have proved repeatedly by determining the amount of car- bonic acid in the natural sample, as well as after having moistened and heated it with carbonate of ammonia. Had there been any caustic lime present in the bone-ash, the portion treated with carbonate of ammonia would have yielded a larger amount of carbonic acid than the sample analysed in its natural state, whereas both furnished almost identical results. Again, commercial bone-ash contains a little sulphate of lime, but its quantity is quite insignificant. In all the following analyses, phosphoric acid and lime have Phosphatic Materials used for Agricultural Purposes. 375 been carefully ascertained ; in several the magnesia, sand, car- bonic acid, and the small amount of sulphuric acid and are of iron and alumina which generally occur in bone-ash, have been determined :— Detailed Analysis of South American Bone-ash. No. 1, No. 2, No. 8. No, 4 | ‘No. 5, POISCUUGs sey str) al ee. xe 4°83 9°91 se 5 : : 10°30 Organic matter ac, Se We 4°06 1°75 2°03 pt *Phosphoricacid .. .. .. | 35°38 | 33°89 | 32°52 | 38°12) 29°56 MIGIMEG 6s). ve | 41°27 39°53 37°84 Hew 34°48 Lime not aiited with " phos- : | : : 92 4°45 1°02 phorie acid 3°53 4°07 1°9 5 Insoluble siliceous matter (sand)! 6°95 8°32 6°51 3°90 20°24 Nlwonebia tS. Pov ed) ee es °97 "99 1°48 @anhoniciatidiivd. sey axeoececly ws *78 “84 sw °77 Sulphuric acid . 4 oA ate oe °37 Oxide of iron and alumina Se te re 32) 5°67 | 3°68 SAS ANTES Oe p20 is, tee hee | ee - 1°39 *84 ered difference) Alkalies, carbonic acid, and loss) 301 oe Ry Fic ee 100*00 | 100*68 | 100°00 | 100-00 | 100-00 76°65 73°42 70°46 82°59 64°04 *Forming together tee! (tribasic phosphate of lime) For analyses required for practical purposes, it is, indeed, unnecessary and often impossible to determine accurately all the constituents besides the phosphoric acid; but whether two or half-a-dozen constituents are determined, the analytical results should be correct, and be stated in such a manner that manufac- turers and agriculturists who prefer making their own super- phosphate, can make use of an analysis as the basis for calculating the amount of acid which will be required for rendering the bone- ash soluble. The method most commonly used for determining the phosphates, as well as the present mode of stating the results, are equally objectionable. I would, therefore, recommend for adoption the method and the mode of stating the results adopted in analysis No. 4. In this, it will be seen, phosphoric acid, lime, and sand are the only constituents that have been determited separately ; moisture and organic matter are ascertained together, and all the rest by difference. aN Pure Bone-asu. I have asserted that the amount of phosphate of lime found in commercial bone-ash i is frequently overstated, and that the 376 Chemical Composition and Commercial Value of constitution of pure bones is well known, and affords a ready means for checking such errors, It has appeared to me more desirable to prove this assertion by the results of direct investiga- tions of my own than to base it upon calculations derived front published analyses of bones, With this view I prepared samples of ox and horse bones, selecting the cleanest and hardest. ‘The bones, after being care- fully scraped, were broken into small pieces, which were soaked in cold distilled water for a week, in order to remove any soluble salts. After that time they were reduced to powder ; this was repeatedly washed with distilled water. The bones thus purified were next burned in a platinum capsule at a moderate heat, the ash was again washed repeatedly with distilled water, then moistened with carbonate of ammonia in order to convert any caustic lime which might have been produced during burn- ing into carbonate. Direct experiments, however, showed that the heat employed was not sufficiently strong to drive off carbonic acid. Although both the bones and their ash were washed with a great deal of water, it was found impossible completely to remove the alkalies. Even the hardest bones contain some potash and soda. By long washing, the amount of alkalies may be dimi- nished, but hitherto I have not been able to obtain a bone-ash perfectly free from alkalies, though I have washed small quantities for longer than a fortnight on a filter. Prepared in this way, the ash of horse and ox bones, in a perfectly dry state, was found to consist of :— Composition of the Ash of — Horse-bones, Ox-bones. *Phosphoric acid .. .«. e. ..- 40°29 39°81 Mime? 5. ec Pee een ee p eee DOLOW 55°48 Maomesia Sis Sanita fos!) oe 84 80 Rotashy sce erth Vat ect sts Le 25 “AQ OOM), [acd ue Tos 4) ogee tek pecah is 08 “60 Carbonic acid at ec St a Se 2°99 3752 Sulphuric acid traces “04 Chlorine traces 06 99°41 100°75 * Corresponding ta tribasie phosphate ne ” of lame'(bone-eariii) fee *} ore sorts The ash of the ox-bones was not washed quite so long with water as that of the horse-bones, rather more potash and soda. they have been actually obtained in the analysis. and contains for this reason 5 These results are here stated as In bone-ash, Phosphatic Materials used for Agricultural Purposes. 377 the phosphoric acid is united with magnesia and with lime, and the carbonic with lime. The traces of chlorine and sulphuric acid, in all probability, are present as sulphate of soda and chloride of sodium. By uniting together the analytical results in the same manner in which the constituents occur in bone-ash, we obtain for the ash of— Horse-bones. Ox-bones. Tribasie phosphate of lime, 8Ca0+P O,. | Consisting of— | Phosphoric acid .. .. .. .. | 38°77 88°38 RG asa) a pes seed fein: 45°24 44°77 ; ——| 84:01 |— 83°15 Phosphate of Magnesia, 2 Mg O, P O,. Consisting of— ER ena tc ins tp eee ee *84 “80 Phosphorit deid 1 w6 ne) 1°51 1°43 — 2°35 — 2°23 Carbonate of Lime. 86°36 85°38 Consisting of— LT ee Oey eee eo meee 8°80 4°48 Carbonic acid. eee ses ae 2°99 8°52 ———— 6°79 |—— 8°00 Lime, neither united with phosphoric mit! 5:97 6°18 nor with carbonic acid Boke gl? afi tia re WOE eadivess. |ie sey eee ads aan, + x °25 ps “49 SLD Ga) Gol ee Ie gece eee ee ae *03 * “51 Chloride of sodium | traces a Aydt Sulphate of soda . | traces = 07 | 99-40} .. | 100°74 In perfectly pure bone-ash thus we find no more than 854 to 86% per cent. of phosphate of lime and magnesia (bone-earth). It will be noticed that pure bone-ash is much richer in carbonate of lime than the commercial articles, after deduction of sand and other accidental impurities. There is no silica in pure bone- ash, and it is the silica in the shape of fine sand which, driving out carbonic acid from the carbonate of lime, causes the differ- ence in the proportion of carbonate of lime found in pure and the commercial bone-ash respectively. After uniting the lime and magnesia with phosphoric acid, and the carbonic acid with lime, it will be seen a considerable quantity of lime remains over. I do not think it probable that all this lime is present in the shape of fluoride of calcium. The state of combination in which it may exist, is of com- 378 Chemical Composition and Commercial Value of paratively speaking little importance to the manufacturer of artificial manures. But the fact pointed out in my analyses, I believe for the first time, that there is in bone-ash, and of course also in bones themselves and in bone-blaci;, a considerable excess of lime over and above the lime in the phosphate and the carbonate, will explain why a larger proportion of oil of vitriol must be used for producing a certain amount of soluble phosphate from bone-ash than appears to be necessary according to pre- vailing theory. The theory of the formation of soluble phosphate from insoluble bone-earth has been perfectly well known some years; it is not affected by apparent discrepancies between so-called theoretical calculations and actual practice. In the case before us the simple fact is, that in all the analyses of bone-materials a considerable quantity of lime has been overlooked or been supposed to be united with phosphoric acid. As this excess of lime, which I have pointed out as existing in all bone-materials, takes up sul- phuric acid when such material is employed for making soluble phosphate, more acid is required than has hitherto been supposed. It is a common complaint of manufacturers of superphosphate, that the materials which they use do not produce the quantity of soluble phosphate which they ought to yield. There is, how- ever, nothing surprising in this complaint, for it originates in a proceeding that rests on calculations in which altogether erro- neous data are employed. Instead of 77 per cent. of phosphate of lime, as supposed, the bone-ash employed in all probability only contains 73 per cent.; and instead of 2 or 3 per cent. of carbonate of lime, there is an additional quantity of lime, equal to 5 to 8 per cent. of carbonate of lime, to be saturated before any soluble phosphate can be produced. 10, AnrimaL CHarcoaL (Bonre-Biack). The animal charcoal or bone-black which is used by sugar- boilers for decolourizing crude sugar is far too valuable a material to be used for agricultural purposes. When it has served for some considerable time as a decolourizing agent it loses its effect, and then is revivified by heating in cylinders, This re- vivifying process is repeated many times, until most of the carbon in the black is burned off; it is then sold to manure- manufacturers as a refuse material, under the name of animal charcoal. Like all refuse materials, its composition - varies greatly. Some samples are very rich in phosphates, others poor. The amount of sand is usually very small; in some samples I have found a large proportion of carbonate of lime. Phosphatie Materials used for Agricultural Purposes. 379 The subjoined analyses illustrate the differences found in samples of various qualities :— Composition of Animal Charcoal (Bone-black). No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 5, No. 6, | No. 7. SS — ee ea Moisture and organic\) 35.96 | 9-52 | 30°15 | 27-98 | 17°38 | 12°63 | 12°54 matter Bipates 6 Time and 60°75 | 82°48 | 55-01 | 49-69 | 68°53 | 68-41 | 70°16 magnesia . Carbonate ene mag- nesia, (by dif-}] 5°96] 6°19] 8°81 | 13°90 | 9°42 | 14:97 | 12°77 ie Tnsoluble siliceous mt-| - 3°03] 1:81] 6°03 | 8-43] 4-67] 4:69] 4:53 { 100*00 100-00 {100-00 |100+00 {100-00 |100+00 |100- 00 11. Bones. Bones are used for agricultural purposes in the following states :— . a. Bone-dust. b. Boiled Bones. c. Bone Shavings. a. Bone-Dust. Before crushing, raw or butchers’ bones are now generally boiled out in an open cauldron, and by this means deprived, in a great measure, of their fat. As an article of commerce fat is the most valuable constituent of bones. As a manuring agent it has no value whatever, or perhaps, more strictly speaking, its presence is undesirable, inasmuch as it retards the decompo- sition and solution of the bones. Far from being injurious, the removal of fat from the bones decidedly improves their agricul- tural value. The following is the average composition of a number of samples of bone-dust analysed by me :— NIGMS ONES Ms Sey io) er 2A we, ow 12206 *Organic matter... .. ar bh ley eos Phosphates of lime and magnesia ia (bone-c ear arth) wey | 40704: Carbonate of lime (determined by difference) oe | 116599 Alkaline salts and oe Card common salt) 1°91 eee | ee °38 100:00 * Containing nitroseniem sttak pisishhiccy tics ces Sey oe 3°69 EqualitorammOMiae ee S Feet as (en. slat as 4°49 VOL, a - Pears of lime and magnesia (bone. ‘| 49°28 52°99 | 52°70 | 49°72 Carbonate of lime (determined by dif. Die 4 ; 2 ference) ae Poe ae OP ons a re acae Ady $388 IATcalinetsallts tec, a ice, Acie, Jee.) cee ece 4°55 2°59 2°84 2°78 and erwin ce Sse vee me ere 1°07 *65 36 “Zi 100*00 | 100-00 { 100-00 | 100-00 * Containing nitrogen Equal to ammonia In decayed bones the proportion of organic matter is not quite so great as in sound bones, and the phosphates are rather higher. But the differences are not sufficiently striking to require any comment. In the preceding analyses, the lime which is left in solution after the phosphates have been removed has likewise been determined quantitatively. Calculated as carbonate of lime, it amounts in the four analyses to 8°60, 8-71, 7:50, 7-78, respectively, b. Bowled Bones. The bones from which glue-makers have extracted a certain portion of gelatine and nearly all the fat are known in commerce under the name of boiled bones. It must not be supposed, how- ever, that boiled bones do not contain any organic matter, nor furnish on decomposition any ammonia, The following two analyses show the contrary :— Composition of Two Samples of Boiled Bones. WHORE) ogy oe) ss, oh06 770 *Organic matters... 5 -. “2e45 25°27 Phosphates of lime and magnesia (bone- earth) 60°48 43°73 Carbonate of lime Ae sh ice, ae me: 9-77 Alkalinetsaltgieteese uae lect. + st ne bs ‘43 Sand Steam Culture. 401 any supply of fertilisers. A chief desideratum, therefore, for these soils is a new plant, that will either form a network of small roots itself, or, at least, not prevent other plants from com- mencing their career under its shade. I was disposed to attribute the failure chiefly to the chalk ; it appeared to me that when the tap-root struck on the chalk rock the plant was poisoned. Professor Voelcker does not confirm this view. He writes, “* Allow me to suggest that the presence of lime in your soil is not likely to be the cause of the failure which you have experienced. Iam not acquainted witha single cultivated crop that is injured in any way by the presence of lime in the soil, and I imagine that a leguminous crop would be the least likely of all to be hurt by lime.” He considers that we must look deeper for the cause of sterility which is connected with these black soils, not only in reference to lupines but like- wise to other crops, and has kindly promised that he will endeavour to trace out the baneful influence. Cambridge. XXIL—On the Present Aspect of Steam Culture. By P. H. Frere. Four years have now passed since Mr. Fowler’s Steam Cultivator (in competition with that invented by Mr. Smith, of Woolston), first appeared on the trial-ground of ‘the Royal Agricultural Society at Chelmsford, and again at the adjourned meeting at Boxted Lodge; and it is two years since the 500U. prize was awarded to Mr. Fowler at Chester, as the inventor of that “ Steam Cultivator, which in the most efficient manner turned over the soil, and was an economical substitute for the plough or spade.” Since that time a very able Essay has appeared in this Journal, vol. xx., 1859, by Mr. J. A. Clarke, giving—1st, a history of the various efforts, made on different principles, to provide a substitute for the horse-plough ; and 2ndly, rendering an account of our practice so far as it was established down to the close of the autumn of 1858. Moreover Mr. J.C. Morton has read before the Society of Arts a very striking and suggestive paper on ‘The Forces used in Agriculture,’ with special reference to Steam ; and finally, in June, 1860, Mr. Wells, of Booth Ferry House, Howden, read to the London Central Farmers’ Club a valuable paper, on which great pains had evidently been bestowed, on ‘The Use of Steam Power in Agriculture.’ Moreover, statements have appeared in our newspapers, in which a profit of thousands of pounds was spoken of as realised ; and yet practically steam cultivation is still struggling into notice, 402 Steam Culture. with much of obscurity about its path, with many misgivings on the part of bystanders who consider themselves practical men, and yet with the brightest and, as I trust, the best-founded promise for the future. It may be questioned how, in this Journal, subjects should be regarded, which are confessedly in a somewhat transitional state, and how far statements should be sanctioned and yiews admitted which a larger experience may hereafter modify. To this objection, it may be replied—Ist, that the principle of pro- curing a record, however imperfect, of an existing Agricultural Status, has been recognised in our long series of County Essays ; and 2ndly, it may be urged that it is more important that the Society should promote the accomplishment of a design by testing statements already promulgated, and by suggesting inquiry on those heads on which information is still defective, than that it should simply chronicle triumphs already per- fected. The object of these pages, then, is to review, however imper- fectly, the present aspect of steam cultivation, not with the hope of speaking authoritatively on any of the points at issue, but rather of promoting investigation, and enlisting public attention, in anticipation of the larger experiments and more exact discus- sion which the next Leeds Meeting promises to afford. The subject has already assumed far other proportions than those which caught the eye at Colchester and Boxted, where it was held that because (according to an estimate accepted by the judges), the ploughing could be done by horses for 7s. per acre, whereas by steam it was estimated at 7s. 2d., therefore, that the prize was not won according to the terms specified in its an- nouncement. Most thoughtful men will now admit that the main question before us is—whether clay lands shall, for the first time in the history of civilization, receive an adequate and reasonable amount of tillage ; and that one of our difficulties is + soberly to estimate the indirect gain to which this improvement will lead, even if the power employed should be as costly, or nearly as costly, as that which it replaces. Whether we appeal to science or to history, we shall alike be told that, of late, strong soils have been unduly depreciated. The chemist speaks confidently of the stores of mineral wealth locked up in them ; and the antiquarian knows well, that when all farming processes were alike rude, the strong soils were the. spots most often chosen by the gentry for their residences, and those on which the hand of the tax-gatherer lighted most heavily. Partial improvements adapted to light soils have for some time disturbed this balance; but a capitalist seeking in- vestment in land, if he notes the signs of the times, may even Steam Culture. 403 now see cause to give the preference to strong soils, and that in consequence of the prospect opened for them, by the united in- fluences of improved drainage and steam cultivation. But whilst the indirect benefit to be conferred on clay soils by the substitution of steam for horse power, should occupy the first place in our anticipations, the prospect of direct profit is bright if somewhat ill-defined. The judges at Canterbury from their calculation on the work done for a short time, under the pressure of competition, estimate that land requiring “ rather more than the traction power of 4 horses moving at the rate of 24 miles an hour,” to draw an ordinary iron plough, can be ploughed by Mr. Fowler at the rate of 11 acres per day, at a cost of 4s. 6d. per acre. On the other hand, the value of the work when done, may be tested by the fact that some spirited owners of a Fowler near Warwick, besides culti- vating their own farms, find that their neighbours will gladly pay them 20s. an acre for ploughing stiff land, besides providing coal and water, which together cannot add less than 2s. an acre, making a total cost of 22s. Nor is Smith’s Cultivator less highly appreciated—one of its earliest and most practical employers, Mr. Pike, having done work and supplied the use of his ap- paratus to his neighbours, at the rate of 25s. per acre for the double operation of breaking up and crossing, they finding coal and beer. “Intervalla vides humane commoda.”—Surely the margin between 4s. 6d. and 22s. (with probably a not very dissimilar one in the case of Mr. Pike), is sufficiently broad to excite attention and stimulate enterprise ; surely it is sufficiently broad not only to ensure a man against those risks and contingencies which beset all human enterprises, but likewise to guarantee a good profit. And yet if we take into account the extra strain, and the risk of breakages and stoppages arising from breaking up a hard pan for the first time to the extra depth of 2 or 3 inches, or if we look to the alternative cost of horse-labour under such circumstances, or to the value of the work when done, which of us will assert that the hirers do not get their money’s worth ? But if this wide discrepancy between the theoretic limit of the cost of doing the work and the value of the work when done, augurs well for the development of steam-culture, it likewise shows how very much we are at sea as to the economical aspect of the subject, and how wide a divergence there is between the estimates of the sanguine and interested and the anticipations of the wary or prejudiced. The practical questions which this discrepancy suggests are self-evident ; let us then try to examine its origin and diminish its extent, rather than enlarge upon them. 404 Steam Culture. Those who intend to hire will welcome any degree of light that can be thrown upon the subject, whilst those who let out culti- vators as a trade will probably stand better with their customers the more thoroughly the subject is gone into. Before, however, proceeding to examine the question in detail, it.may be well to point out certain misconceptions, and un- practical and inaccurate methods of calculation, which, if admitted, cannot but impair the value of the results arrived at. 1st.—We must base our estimate of cost per acre, not on the amount of work done during a short “spurt” at a trial, but that accomplished on the average by competent workmen without overtaxing the engine. 2ndly.—In comparing steam and horse power, we must put to the credit of steam, not the force generated by the engine, but that directly applied to the plough or cultivator: the difference between the two being wasted by the uneconomical and com- plicated means employed in steam cultivation for the application of the power. In short, we must look not so much to the horse power exerted, as to the number of ploughs kept going, and the work done. 3rdly.—As we only credit the horse with what an average animal can do without overdriving, we must deal with the steam engine in the same way. 4thly.—When horses are disposed of, the capital saved must be estimated on their average value, not that of the horse in its prime ; and in the case of bullocks, the capital saved is their value in working trim, not when made fat. 5thly—We may, in the problem before us, fairly combine with the cost of the horses that of those implements used by them, for which the steam apparatus offers substitutes, but not the cost of all farm implements used by horses, such as drills, waggons, carts, horse hoes, &c., &c.; and still less, the total dead stock on the farm. If an entry be made on one side of the account of the saving of keep caused by the sale of horses, credit must be given on the other side for the amount of work which they would have done for their keep. 6thly.—In estimating the amount of work that will be cut out for the steam power at home, on a farm of a given size, we must not forget that by early and more thorough cultivation by this means we hope to make a good fallow with fewer operations than either valuers or writers calculate on, or farmers execute by horse power. 7thly.—On calculating the cost of a horse’s keep, his food has been generally valued at the consuming price, with the exception of corn; for our purpose the corn must be likewise reduced to Steam Culture. 405 that rate of charge, or else the horse must have credit for the value imparted to the manure, by its consumption. 8thly.—The interest, depreciation, and cost of repairs should be charged on the whole year, and not on those days (or weeks) only on which the implements are at work. If the year’s work is but small, the repairs may be set at a lower rate, but the interest will remain the same, and the charge for depreciation will not be much affected. 9thly.—Before framing a general estimate based on reports of different degrees of correctness and authority, a good deal of care must be exercised, in scrutinising these constituents, and elimi- nating their inaccuracies: otherwise, the least trustworthy report will tell most upon the result, and the greater its inaccuracies, the greater will be its individual influence. To return then to our subject. The elements of which the problem consists are not very complicated, and some points are pretty well determined. We have a large amount of evidence as to the work which may on an average be executed in a day of ten hours without straining the engine or over-taxing the agility of heayily-shod farm lads. As to the quality of this work there is no difference of opinion—be it ploughing or cultivating it is the best of its kind; and, again, the cost of the labour of the men employed is well known, and deemed satisfactory, inasmuch as it differs little from that required to carry out horse-work, The cost of coals bears a pretty constant ratio to the amount of work done ; practically, when the engine is working at a high pressure, the consumption of fuel seems to be proportionately rather larger, although an interesting law with respect to the latent heat in steam might lead us to a different anticipation.* * The law of latent heat as regards steam is very interesting. It would appear first, that 5 times as much heat is required to convert water at 212° into steam as sufficed to raise it through 180 degrees, 7.e. from 32° to 212°, 54 X 180 making 990 or nearly 1000, the latent heat of steam at 212° is therefore estimated as 1000; or, to adopt Bourne’s definition from his ‘Catechism of the Steam-Engine,—“‘ The latent heat of steam is 1000, by which it is meant that there is as much heat in any given quantity of steam as would raise its constituent water 1000 degrees if the expansion of the water could be prevented, or would raise 1000 times that quan- tity of water one degree.” Under the commonatmospheric pressure, the heat indi- cated by the thermometer being added to this gives a sum of 1212°, which sum it appears is a constant—that is, under any condition of pressure it represents the sum of the latent heat and of the indicated heat proper to that pressure; in other words, at higher temperatures and pressures the latent heat diminishes exactly as the indicated heat increases. For example, if we work with a pressure of 45 Ibs. on the square inch (=3 atmos- pheres), the heat indicated will be 275°, the latent heat 937°, making together 12129; if with 60 lbs. pressure (= 4 atmospheres), the indicated heat will be 294°, latent 918°, and their sum, 1212°, still the constant quantity. These observations are adapted from an able account of the steam-engine in Stephens’s ‘Book of Farm Implements.’ The author continues: “From this is deduced the important truth that by no alteration of pressure will a greater: eco- © 406 Steain Culture. These slightly variable items—the cost of labour and that of coals—exercise a mutually compensating influence on the aggregate of the day’s expenses ; for, as a rule, wages are higher in the manufacturing districts where coal is cheaper. The cost of removals lies in a small compass, but will vary considerably in different localities, and at different seasons. In order to deal fairly by the steam cultivator we must assume that the size of the fields and’ the condition of the roads are well adapted to its introduction, The more questionable points are :—I1st, How much the culti- vator must earn in a season, above its working expenses, to pay interest, cost of repairs, and depreciation in value ;* and, 2ndly, over how many working days this charge may be distributed. In both these respects, the case of a cultivator worked by a pro- prietor on his own farm only will differ from that where the im- plement is let out for hire, and in full work during the whole season. And yet, unless there be definite economical advantages or disadvantages in the one mode of management or the other, the charge per day must be identical. Another difficulty arises with respect to the actual available power of the engine when economically worked, the difference between nominal and real horse-power being ill defined, and on the increase. On these two elements, the expenses of re- pairs, &c., and the amount of force acquired, the cost of steam- power depends. When this is determined we have still to com- pare it with that of horse-power, a power of which the value and efficiency vary considerably at different seasons of the year. And since steam-power will be available as a substitute at those times in which horse-power is in especial request, the latter must be set above its average value for the purposes of our comparison, An AVERAGE Day’s Work. First, in the case of Fowler’s Cultivator. On strong land five acres of ploughing seems to be a good average day’s work, allow- nomy of fuel be obtained ; but that, on the contrary, the consumption of fuel in raising a given quantity of water into steam is the same, whatever be the amount of pressure.” ‘This conclusion is hardly self-evident. The object being to generate steam-power, and that power depending on its elastic force, and that force on the pressure to which it is subjected, it would seem that any process is economical which with the same heat creates a greater force by the agency of ‘increased pressure ;” the consumption of fuel may be identical, and yet a great economy may be effected. : Be this as it may, Mr. Fowler’s engine at Canterbury did not appear practi- cally to economise fuel by working at a higher pressure than his competitors. * The expression “ wear and tear” hardly represents, in a definite manner, the two separate considerations of the annual outlay on repairs, and that depreciation which is as much due to modern improvements as to the general wearing out of the parts. Steam Culture. 407 ing for accidents and removals. To accomplish this on the very stiffest clays to a depth of five or six inches a 12-horse engine must be worked at times with a pressure of from 70 to 80 lbs. on the square inch: such work costs 1/7. per acre when done less perfectly by hired horses, The farm of Mr. E. Holland, M.P., in Gloucestershire, is of this nature; and Mr. Redman’s wet stiff land near Swindon, seems to come into the same category ; as, “this wet autumn, he ploughed for wheat about 44 inches deep at the rate of 5 acres per day, using 3 furrows,” with a 12- horse engine. Mr. J. King, in Warwickshire, states he can plough from 5 to 6 acres of clay from 7 to 8 inches deep, and from 7 to 8 acres of light land 10 inches in a day, with a three-furrow plough and a 10-horse-power engine; as this plough is in constant work for hire, the attendants are, probably, more experienced and alert than common labourers. In less tenacious clays, a 10-horse engine, worked only with a pressure of from 45 to 50 Ibs. on the square inch, will go over the same extent of ground to a depth of 7 inches. Such is Mr. Saltmarshe’s experience in Yorkshire. In these cases a question will arise whether the fourth plough should be removed that the work may proceed at a quicker pace. Mr. Saltmarshe is of opinion that the rate at which the steam plough should travel should be not less than four miles an hour, whenever this speed is readily attainable. But he is also an adyocate for working with moderate pressure, and says the pres- sure-gauge should be set at 60 lbs. ; so soon as this pressure is indicated it becomes desirable to take off a plough. Probably, the five acres may be alike accomplished by four ploughs work- ing at a lower, or three at a higher speed ;—the latter course being preferable. On loams combined with chalk, at Fawley Court (Mr. Majori- banks), 6 acres of good 3-horse work were executed at a depth of 6 or 7 inches by a 10-horse engine, on an average deduced from 405 acres. Mr. R. Stratton, of Broad Hinton, with a 12-horse power engine, could probably show a higher average, as he has frequently in summer ploughed at the rate of an acre an hour. Besides turning a furrow, Fowler’s plough will subsoil to a total depth of 14 inches, when deep autumn cultivation for roots is desirable. In this manner, 24 acres, or half the quantity ploughed, may be gone over on clay soils in a day. This seems an admirable mode of working the land; better than attempting to turn over a very thick block of clay to be weathered. Mr. Arnot (on whose farm, near Carshalton, the steam-plough was at work during the Smithfield show), in preparing for roots 408 Steam Culture: in 1859, ploughed 44 acres per day to a depth of 12 inches, This was on a:free-working sandy loam capping the chalk.* Fowler's Cultivator for breaking up fallows and wheat stubbles. —Under thissystem the plough is generally preferred to the culti- vator; although Mr. J. King finds, in Warwickshire, that the smashing up of all seeds at midsummer, and of wheat and bean stubbles after harvest, is especially approved of by those who hire his implement, although it does not appear either that his charge is lower, or the area tilled larger, than where the plough is used. When the cultivator is used to cross work already ploughed, it is calculated that it will go over nearly 10 acres, but some autho- rities state that dragging only 44 inches deep may be effected more cheaply by horse than by steam power. When a bean stubble is broken up, the quantity stirred will be about 7 acres. Mr. Smith's Cultivator.—W ith this implement and an effective: 8-horse-power engine provided with a double cylinder, working on strong land, about 5 acres of layer or stubble may be smashed up to a depth of 7 or 8 inches in a day; in crossing the same work 8 acres may be got over. This statement is based upon Mr. Smith’s own estimate, corroborated by Lord Hatherton, who: gives a general average of 6 acres at a depth of 12 inches ona lighter soil; of Mr. Pike, who, speaking from long experience, assigns from 5 to 6 acres to breaking up to the depth of 7 or 8 inches ; 8 acres to crossing; and from 10 to 12 to scarifying at a lesser depth with this cultivator also. When dragging is to be subsequently done at a less: depth, practical and experienced owners sometimes prefer horse-power. When one of these implements, belonging to Mr. P. Faux, was tried on Whittlesea-mere—on that light peaty soil as he in- forms me—it stirred 12 acres per day to a depth of 7 or 8 inches, and that without going into the field. Thus we arrive at the conclusion that, on the average, the cul- tivator does not accomplish much more than half the work indi- cated as the theoretical maximum attainable. Is this surprising? Does not the analogy of steam-threshing bear it out? On THE Amount oF WorK DONE IN A SEASON. Let us consider this question rather from the point of view of a farmer who confines himself in the main to cultivating his own farm than that of an owner of a cultivator let out for hire. In that case the amount will be limited, 1st, by tne season * Unless the supply of manure at hand was large, perhaps a greater weight of roots would have been grown if the furrow-slice had not been so thick, and a subsoiler had worked below. + In this district excellent new roads have been made, whilst some of the adjacent fields will hardly bear a horse’s weight, Such a cultivator, on broad wheels, is: specially adapted for such a locality. Steam Culture. 409 adapted to the work, and, 2ndly, by the extent of work which existing occupations can commonly provide. The autumn season is the most important. With a few stolen days in August, and 20 days on an average in September, October, and November severally, 65 working days may probably be se- cured, and a not less number in March, April, May, and June, or more, if more be then required—making in all 130 days in a year. But would as many days as this be often required ?—be- cause here the superior efficiency of operations performed by steam-power comes into play. I have Mr. Saltmarshe’s authority for saying that 90 days’ work would suffice for the steam cultiva- tion on 500 acres of land of any kind with one of Fowler’s 10-horse engines. Mr. Holland assigns (approximately) 90 days to the cultivation of 400 acres of arable of an unusually tenacious quality. On Mr. Saltmarshe’s estimate 130 days would suffice for upwards of 700 acres of arable, a very large holding on those strong soils which we are specially considering. It is for this “culture on a great scale” (to modify a French phrase) that Fowler’s plough is specially adapted ; here there will be breadth in every arrangement; the engine will not generally interfere with the fixed machinery in constant requisition at the home- stead, and roads, fields, ponds, and watercourses will adapt them- selves to new requirements. But what is the total of these first- class occupations? To secure a market we must include the 2nd class, say of from 400 to 500 acres, on which this economical question will arise—— Will you have a powerful engine to despatch your work in 80, 90, or 100 days, and then make itself generally useful where it can?—or will you descend to an infe- rior power ? In the first case, the work will be most seasonably and effec- tually done, and with less manual labour ; but more capital will be called for—and, therefore, unless a contribution is received in consideration of the other uses to which the engine is put, the items of interest and depreciation must press rather heavier on the cultivator. In the last case, the owner may find that though he is sufficiently armed at first, still as our ideas and modes of action extend and enlarge, he may before long wish he had a little more steam at his command. It is, therefore, the wisest policy to get power enough, though 80 or 90 days in a season may suffice to do the work now as- signed to the steam-engine.* In the case of Smith’s Cultivator, Mr. Pike considers that 90 * In confirmation of this view it may be asked, How much, in these days of elevators, double-dressers, and the combined threshing and chaff-cutting, is a fair eight-horse-power second-hand engine depreciated in comparison with a six- horse-power engine that can simply thresh? 410 Steam Culture. days’ work suffice for his 350 acres of strong arable land; at that rate, 100 days would be nearly enough for 400 acres; and as- suming that, on an average for both smashing up and crossing, 6 acres form a day’s work, the whole amount of tillage effected would be 600 acres, as large an account as is generally given of a year’s performance, although Mr. F. T. Robertson, near How- den, cultivated 788 acres 8 inches deep between April and November 23, 1859 ; and Messrs. Armstrong and Topham, in a season and a half, between August, 1858, and November 26, 1859, broke up 636 acres and crossed 330. We may, therefore, assume that Smith’s Cultivator will gene- rally accomplish its task in about 100 days on occupations of the size and nature for which it is best adapted; that is, good-sized clay farms, provided with moderate roads, where there is no fixed steam or water power, and, consequently, the engine may !be worked for about 60 days ina year for other purposes than culti- vation ; two-thirds of the cost of the engine being charged against cultivation, and one-third against other lighter uses which will sometimes be little more than exercise. This arrangement will generally suit any but the needy farmer who forces his corn into market directly after harvest. The cultivator, then, be it Fowler’s or Smith’s, will generally accomplish its task in about 100 days in each season. In either case, if there be no other steam-power, more than half as many days, but not more than half as much force of the engine, may be employed on other farm work, in which case the cultivation will pay all costs arising for the tackle, but only two-thirds of those incurred for the engine. Tue Cost or Manvuat LAasour AND WATER-CarT. On this head we shall see that theoretical estimates are rather in excess of the cost practically incurred. For the Fowler, the Chester Report estimated these items at 18s. per day ; Mr. Holland sets them at 14s. 9d.; Mr. Saltmarshe, for labour 12s., for water-cart 3s.; Mr. Risman, at 12s. for men, or, including 3s. for horse in water-cart, 15s. ; and these instances may suffice. For Smith’s cultivator, the average cost of manual labour seems slightly to exceed that of Fowler’s. The Duke of Man- chester sets it at 14s.; Lord Hatherton at 16s.; Mr. Pike at 11s. 8d. (besides beer, about 2s.) ; and Mr, Faux at 15s, Per- haps 15s. per day may be considered the average, but to this ossibly must be added 3s. for the horse used in water-carting. The Chester Report assigns 1/. 1s. to these items. The evidence of experience is in this case decidedly to be preferred. Steam Culture. 411 But the chief cause of the difference between the estimate 18s. and 15s. is worthy of notice. The Chester Report provides for a trained engineer at 5s. per day ; practically an intelligent farm-labourer at 3s. is employed, and, on the whole, with good reason, though probably the saving in Wages may be attended with some increased cost for repairs, arising from imperfect management. The extra cost of 2s. per day does not nearly represent the cost of retaining an engineer. We have seen that for cultivation the engine will not. be generally required more than 90 or 100 days in a year; if 60 or 70 days of work done for other purposes be added to these, the aggregate will still be under 200 days, and for 100 wor king-days more the engineer will be a dead weight. On 200 working-days, then, an engineer will cost 2s. extra, or 20/., and on the remaining 100 days, even if he makes himself neetel: and earns ls. 6d., sls difference between that sum and 35s. will come to 17/. 10s., making the total extra cost for a trained engineer 37/. 10s., or, supposing he can help in harvest, 35/. at least. When we come to the item of repairs of engine, this conside- ration will again come before us. These, it may be, from less skilful management and rougher work, will have to be set at 20J. a year (or soot 5 per cent, on 3802, the price of a 10-horse engine) above the allowance usually minde for machinery, and yet such an arrangement may be the most economical that the circumstances of the case admit of, for we see that the extra cost. of an engineer would amount to nearly double that sum, or 10 per cent. on the engine. For coals the theoretic estimate of 1s. per cwt. on half a ton is the safest, for the average cost of delivery on the spot must not: be overlooked. Farmers will do well to consider the difference in the power of different qualities of coal to generate heat—their evaporative: power. Thus, peiebelibic to Stephens * (1964), Newcastle caking-coal takes 8h lbs. , nearly, to raise a cubic foot of water into steam. Staffordshire. takes more than 11 lbs. Different Welsh coals stand to one another in the extreme relation of nearly 6 to 10 in respect of their heating powers. Mr. Stephens wisely suggests that our agricultural pacictics should institute experiments ‘as to the evaporative powers and best method of management of the various qualities of coal used in our agricultural districts.” It may be asked, in connexion with this item of the water- cart, how much water will generally be required inaday? The * Stephens’s ‘Book of Farm Implements.’ VOL. XXI. 2F 412: ;. Steam Culture. most concise answer which I can give is that, according to Bourne,* 1 Ib. of coals will generally raise from 6 lbs. to 8 lbs. of water into steam ( 1 Ib. of the best coals will suffice for 94 lbs. or 10 lbs. of water). A rough calculation may be based on this information, allow- ing a good deal for water wasted. Cost or RemovA.s. Here, again, practice gives in a lower estimate than theory, the former allowing at the rate of 2s, a day, the latter 4s.; the difference between a dry and wet season will perhaps cause a greater discrepancy than this. On this head a self-propelling Fowler will perhaps cost as much, for assistance, as a horse-drawn engine adapted to a Smith, for draught. The former will require the aid of from 2 to 6 horses, according to circumstances: if we take 4 as the mean, and allow for a removal once in 4 days occupying half a day, the re- sulting average charge of 1 horse for half a day may be set at 2s. The sum of these items for Fowler’s plough would be— S. Labour of men and water-cart .. 0 2... ae 15 Coals delivered Soe) eae oie 5 hey Removals ee eee ee NT ace ate ip lo asda actA nA eles ines sha tT 28 or 28s. per day. Cost oF Stream Power. We now come to that which I cannot look on otherwise than as the most obscure, as well as the most important, fea- ture in our subject. A writer familiar with the ever-varying conditions of horse-labour as it exists, and not equally expe- rienced in analysing the various elements on which the total cost of steam-power depends, or fully able to anticipate the various modifications of our system to which its introduction will lead, may be struck by the neatness and simplicity of the estimates of cost which accompany the accounts of steam-trials, and hardly perceive that, on a purely theoretic basis, estimates of horse-labour might be prepared equally simple and precise, and probably not less wide of the mark. As to the defects of these theories of cost:—I1st.—The day’s work calculated by rule of three from a short trial probably does not represent the average day’s work of the season any more nearly than that of the steam threshing-machine can be deduced * Catechism of the Steam-Engine, Question 146. Steam Culture. 413 from noting the time required to fill a few sacks without inter- ruption—an instance which may perhaps serve us for a guide as well as an illustration. The reputed average day’s work is here practically fixed at 70 sacks, by the alternative offer commonly made to the hirer, of 35s. per day, or 6d. per sack; although in theory 10, 11, or even 12 sacks may be threshed in an hour: so that the day of 10 hours ought to produce half as much work again as is practically accomplished. 2ndly.—These calculations are commonly based on the estimate of 200 days’ work done in a year; but under what conditions (especially with great dispatch of work) is such an amount of employment to be reckoned on? If on the lands occupied by the | owner, must not that occupation be quite exceptional? if on the lands of several occupiers, will not the condition ef hiring be introduced, and necessitate the revision of many items in conse- quence of the greater cost of removals and the less economical conditions under which the workmen (and perhaps the engine itself) are engaged ? In making these calculations it must not be overlooked that, supposing book-estimates to be right as to the amount of plough- ings, draggings, harrowings, rollings, &c., which went to making a fallow, not on foul spots only, but throughout the shift, yet that the operations performed by steam-power being more ef- fectual, will be fewer in number. Consequently, whether I demur or not to such an estimate stated as an axiom, as that a farm of 600 acres has 1000 to be ploughed annually, I cannot anticipate that for steam-power the same amount of work would be provided on that area, The number of days’ work, then, which will be furnished in the year on such a farm will have to be diminished, but the annual charge cannot be reduced in like proportion, and must therefore be assessed at a somewhat higher rate upon each work- ing day. It is very easy to say, set down 15 or 20 per cent. on the out- lay for wear and tear, that being the general allowance for ma- chinery ; but how different are the nature and prospects of those ° different objects which come under the common name of ma- chinery! Some machines are so thoroughly established that we can fairly reckon on their being worn out before they are laid aside. In other cases the manufacturer is indifferent about their export, because he feels pretty sure that they will be superseded at home before they come into general use abroad. Again, machines (even twins) differ as much in quality and durability as any two horses, and in the smaller ‘class it is harder to strike an average. Again, how much depends upon usage and | management, and yet in our case it has been shown that agricul- 2¥F 2 414 Steam Culture. tural machines are entrusted to rough hands for rough work, and that it is not worth while to arrange otherwise, even if an extra 5 per cent. on repairs is involved. Before we come to particulars, let us look at the experience derived from steam-threshing. In this case the united cost of engine and drum is a little over 300/.: the former, costing two- thirds of the outlay, is a well-established machine ; the latter, costing one-third, still in a state of transition, The repairs on each probably bear about an equal proportion to their prime cost. The two are commonly let out at 30s. per day; if they are severed as much is charged for the 100/. drum as for the 2002. engine. Thus the charge of joint hire is 1-200th of the whole cost, but that on the drum alone 1-133rd, at this rate of charge. An owner would probably charge himself 10s. instead of 15s. for home use of either at leisure times. I have been challenged to point out owners who have made money by letting threshing- machines, and this challenge from a well-informed quarter went to show that success is not general or profit excessive ; it could not be taken up, because those who had managed best and had most experience, had no accounts to show. I think myself happy in meeting with one exception in Mr. Turnill, of Sawtry, and make the following extract from a letter written by him to Mr. J. M. Heathcote for my information :— ““We have three portable engines of 8-horse-power each, with threshing, shaking, and winnowing drums with each; one, bought in 1856, the engine cost 255/., the drum 120/., together 375/.; the second, bought in 1857, the engine cost 2567. 5s., the drum 128/., together 384/. 5s.; the third we bought secondhand, in 1859, at less than half the original cost, but it cost near 100/. to put it in repair, because it had been badly used. With respect to the repairs of the two we bought new, the first two years of working the repairs on each engine amounted to 10/. per annum; on each drum, 12/. 10s.; for the third and fourth years each engine has cost 30/., and each drum 20/. per annum ; making an average for the four years of 20/. for the engine, and 167. 5s. for the drum. I have no doubt, however, that the repairs in the next two years will be greater than in the two last, as many of the parts want replacing. Besides all repairs, I believe that from 10 to 12% per cent. per annum may be set down for depreciation, as in the course of 10 or 12 years they will be unfit for use. Mr. Frere must bear in mind that our engines are let out on hire, and are continually in work for eight months in the year, which will increase the repairs and depreciation over those that are only used by a gentleman on his own farm. 2°14 7°60 | 10°68 weight.| weight.| 9” Means ° «3 « si 1°64 8°96 | 11°48 223 1413. | 1769 SERIES 4.—5 Sheep in each pen, 10 athe | iy Barley (ground) . . | fel be Tg 10°59 | 13°11 118 2 isp ae a {| 165 } toros| 12°50] 111 Barley (ground and | | : c O., 3 { teeped) . . . . | pMangolds ius 1261) 15°73 4 { 2, ee Malt-dust |= Vat i0°70 | 13°31 Malt nad Mait-dust | “ s 5 5 { (extra quantity) . . ey 11°63 | 14°42 Means. .. 13°81 46 Cotswolds— 20 Weeks . 40 Leicesters— 20 Weeks . 40 fg hah ethers —20 Weeks 40 Cross-bred Ewes— 20 Weeks . 40 a Domne ~ 26 Weeks . 40 Sussex ows ns— 26 Wee fy j } 5 4 tt SERIES 5.—Different Breeds of Sheep. — \ Oileake and clover c ay ot le } ey Means . is Swedish A l turnips. | 3°52 337 3°53 3°48 12°40 11°16 11°69 Ov 15°68 16°43 3°51 3°31 and of their Increase whilst Fattening. 437 Taste I1.—Amounts of Nitrogenous Compounds, of Non-nitrogenous Compounds, and of Total Dry Substance, consumed—(1) per 100 lbs. live-weight, per week ; (2) to produce 100 lbs. gross Increase. Pras. Consumed Consumed Non- DESCRIPTION OF FOOD. "per 100 Tee sHvewelght, to produce 100 lbs. Nitro- per week. gross Increase. genous — Sub- Total Total | Stance Pen § | Non- Dry a Non- Dry to 1 Nos. é L 4 Nitro-| nitro-| gyp- | Nitro-| nitro- | gyp5- | Nitro- iven in Limite es “1 | genous | genous | gt genous genous » | genous Quantity. Given ad libitum. | "Sup- Organic) “Guo | Sub- Organic aia Sub- stance.| Sub- | chiding stance. | Sub- | cluding | stance stance. | Mineral | Stance. Mineral Jin Food. SAEAIEE): } SEES: Serna ie my Pin in each pen, 8 weeks, 1 INGE io ca, « 8°84 \7°6 28°0 138 275 437 1°99 2 agi z au Deh lentil 813 19°8 29°3 114 278 412 2°43 3 tea * eh, 17°8 27°1 161 372 566 2°31 4 fatinn- teen and bran 6°87 20°0 28°2 121 351 496 2°91 5 | None } 2°91 19°3 22°5 57 378 452 6°61 6 | Bean and lentil meal 4°55 21°1 26°3 7 337 420 4°65 i ian a a i a} Indian-meal . . 3°95 22°53 27°1 58 332 401 5°69 ean an enti . oe ° a ; 3 s{ miealandibran . \ 5°20 rt | 28°3 73 309 398 4°26 io Bean and lentil meal 5°19 13°7 20°1 198 523 770 2°64 jedion- oe 3 7 | ae | 3°90 18°7 23°7 130 620 785 4°77 eanand lentil mea Eee . ~e ° ve nf sand Indianement \ rom al 4°96 | 170 | 234 | 114 | 391 | 540 | 3243 Bean and lentil mea ndian-mea ran . . we 5 ~ “6 2) eins lanyd yA ella imei ti >} 612 | 20°1 | 272 | 107 | 350 74 | 3°28 : Means plein MWe. 5°69 19°) 23°9 112 376 511 3°36 : SERIES 2.—3 Pigs in ene pe pen, 8. aa 1 ahs i tae r ‘ 6°69 14°5 22°2 146 317 484 2°17 ‘2 >| 31bs. barley-meal . . 8°29 22°6 32°] 137 37 533 2 72 3 wbran. . . .|p*Bean and lentil 1) g-73 | 2070 | gore | 152 | 348 | 5e5 | 229 af 3 bb A 7 6780 | 20°6 | 286 | 125 | 378 | 525 | 3-04 5 3°91 | 23°56 28°3 64 385 461 6°02 o{ paper 517 | 20°0 | 26°0 g1 | 352 | 459 | 3°67 “7 | Lb. bra ee Barley-meal . . 4°06 23°2 28°2 66 378 460 at it lb. Deas, 14 Ib. 8 ae meal, and 1 4°64 7°2 22°7 100 312 491 3°71 rani . « Mixture of | part bran, 2 parts barley-meal, } cae oa = 5 of and 3 parts bean and lentil meal, ad lib... | fO6> | 20°6 | 28°4 17 362 Sor \y 10 ' 10 piptlicate of pen 2 Sra, a, a 7°03 | 21°9 30°3 110 342 413 ixture of 1 part bran, 2 par ean an enti °c . ° nf{ meal, and 3 parts barley-meal,adlib, . . }s 86 ala 28°4 88 320 a29 |e 12 Duplicate arpen tule eyed 6 sf! . | 6°08 22°1 29°4 87 321 425 Means) a6. 6 ss | 6°15 20°6 27° 107 354 480 3°32 SERIES 3,—4 Pigs i in each pen, 8 weeks, 1 | Dried cod-fish . . lf aewisee }5-30 ee | 2377 | 104 | 326 | 464 | 3:13 2 D capac Apes Indian-meal . . 4°36 16°6 22°1 15 287 382 3°80 3{ Dried cod-fish bran and I Indian-meal (equal jou 19°5 | 270 | 10s | 368 | sil | 3r41 Mixture of 2 parts bar-| 4 |Dried cod-fish . . 4 H ley-meal, and 1 part | )}5"95 21°0 28°9 98 346 476 3°53 Nitty Geo GSMS 5 | Ditto eo. Mealy 6! ig 5°76 25°7 33°0 80 357 458 4°47 Mearis! s)Oisiar 6 ON 5°42 19°9 27°0 93 337 458 3°62 SERIES 4.—3 Pigs in each pen, 10 weeks. ae 1 } Lentilsand bran}, .| Sugar 4... «4 2] 4°89 19°9 25°8 81 330 427 4°07 2 Ditto ep |starct << . 4°90 20°0 25°7 81 329 425 4°07 3 Ditto » | Sugar and starch. 2] 4°85 22°9 28°6 7 351 439 4°71 4 | Lentils, bran, sugar, and starch, each ad lib. res 70 22°4 29°0 &2 320 417 3°90 Means she rere Te a 00 | 21°3 | 27'3 79 | 332 | 427 | 4-18 ee ee ee ee eee eee 438 On the Composition of Oxen, Sheep, and Pigs, amounts are, however, much less than the actual figures show, when due allowance is made, both for those of the non-nitrogenous constituents of the food which would probably be indigesti- ble and pass through the animal unchanged, and also for the different respiratory and fat-forming capacities of the portions which are digestible and available for the purposes of the animal economy. It must further be remembered that, even if all due allow- ance, such as is here supposed, were made, the amounts must still cover all variations—whether arising from differences in the external conditions of the experiments, from individual pecu- liarities in the animals themselves, from the different amounts stored up according to the suitableness of the foods, as well as from the many other uncontrollable circumstances which must always interfere with any attempts to bring within the range of accurate numerical measurement, the results of those processes in which the subtle principle of animal life exerts its influence. On the other hand, with a general uniformity in the amounts of available non-nitrogenous constituents consumed (by a given weight of animal within a given time, and to produce a given amount of increase), those of the nitrogenous constituents are found to vary, under the same circumstances, in the proportion of from 1 to 2 or 38. Nor (excepting in a few cases) can this great variation be attributed to difference in the condition of the nitrogenous substances in regard to digestibility and assimila- bility. The pig requires much less of mere bulk in his food than either the ox or the sheep. Whilst the fattening food of the latter animals is principally composed of grass, or hay or straw, and roots, with a comparatively small proportion of cake or corn, that of the pig comprises a larger proportion of corn, and its dry substance consists, weight fot weight, of a much larger proportion of digestible or convertible constituents (starch, sugar, &c., and highly-elaborated nitrogenous compounds), and contains maul: less of effete woody-fibre, than does that of oxen and sheep. Notwithstanding the generally richer character of his food, the fattening pig is found to consume a much larger quantity of dry substance in relation to his weight than the sheep. He at the same time yields a larger amount of increase in proportion to the dry substance of the food consumed. For practical purposes it may be assumed, that sheep, when fed liberally upon good fattening food composed of a moderate proportion of cake or corn, a little hay or straw chaff, together with roots or other succulent food, will yield, over ‘a con- siderable period of time, 1 part of increase in live-weight for from 8 to 10 parts of the ‘dry substance of such mixed food, The and of their Increase whilst. Fattening. 439 quantity of dry substance of food required will vary between these limits, according to the exact description and quality of the food, and other circumstances. But 9 parts of dry substance of food for 1 of increase in live-weight may be taken as a very fair average result for sheep, with good food, and good management. In the case of liberally-fed pigs, 1 part of increase in live- weight should be obtained from 4 to 5 parts of the dry substance of the fattening food. In reference to the point just referred to, it may be considered that oil-cakes and foreign corn will, on the average, contain rather more than six-sevenths, and home-grown corn, hay, &c., rather less than six-sevenths, of their weight of “dry substance.” In the same way, it may be reckoned that the commoner sorts of turnips will, on the average, contain about one-twelfth, swedes about one-ninth, mangolds about one-eighth, and potatoes about one- fourth, of their weight of “dry substance.” Sheep (and oxen also), fattening on food of recognised good quality, may give a maximum amount of increase for a given amount of dry substance of food, although the latter contain as much as 5 or even 6 parts of non-nitrogenous substance to 1 of nitrogenous compounds. The latter proportion is about that in which the two classes of constituents exist in the dry substance of the cereal grains; but in these the proportion of the non- nitrogenous substance which will be indigestible woody-fibre, will be less than in the mixed diet of sheep and oxen. Hence, supposing the relation of the total non-nitrogenous to the nitro- genous substance to be the same in the two cases, the proportion of the really digestible non-nitrogenous substance will be some- what less in the mixed diet of these animals so fattening, than in the average of cereal grains. When pigs are fattened almost exclusively on corn, they do not appear to require more than | part of nitrogenous to about 5 or 6 parts gross non-nitrogenous substance, to yield the maximum amount of increase in proportion to the dry substance of food con- sumed. But, since there is a less proportion of indigestible woody-fibre in their food than in that of sheep and oxen, it would appear that they can give a maximum amount of increase, with even a somewhat smaller proportion of the nitrogenous to the digestible non-nitrogenous constituents, in their fattening food. The above proportions are those upon which the respective animals will frequently attain the greatest rate of increase during the later stages of feeding. With these the increase will, however, probably be very fat. In the earlier stages of growth and feeding, a somewhat higher relation of nitrogenous constituents is desirable, if not even essential, for the best progress of the animal. 440 On the Composition of Oxen, Sheep, and Pigs, It should here be" particularly observed, that taking into con- sideration the cost of many of the foods which are high, com- pared with that of those which are low in their percentage of nitrogenous substance, and also the higher value of the manure from those which are rich in nitrogen, it is almost invariably the most profitable for the farmer to employ stock-foods containing a larger proportion of nitrogenous constituents—even up to the end of the feeding process—than is essential for the maximum rate of increase. From a view of the whole of the evidence bearing upon this branch of the subject, it may be concluded, that when stock-foods contain a certain amount of nitrogenous substance below which few of our current fattening food-stuffs are found to go, it is their supply of available non-nitrogenous, rather than that of their nitro- genous constituents, which rules both the amount of the food con- sumed, and the increase in live-weight produced. When it is considered how large is the share of influence which the demands of the respiratory process must have upon the amount of food consumed, it can hardly excite surprise that, at least consumption, should be chiefly regulated by the supply of com- pounds rich in carbon and hydrogen, rather than nitrogen. That the amount of increase should also bear a closer relation- ship to the amount of the non-nitrogenous than to that of the nitrogenous constituents of food, will doubtless appear to be incon- sistent with the generally-adopted notion of the highly nitrogenous character of animal bodies, and especially with the also frequently implied assumption that in the current food-stuffs the proportion of nitrogenous substance is likely to be often insufficient to supply the amount required for the production, or restoration, of the nitro- genous compounds of the animal organism. The questions here arise—what is the composition of the animals the farmer feeds?—what the composition of their in- crease whilst fattening ?—and what the relation of this to that of the food consumed ? . II. On THE Proportion, AND RELATIVE DEVELOPMENT, OF THE DIFFERENT ORGANS AND Parts, OF FATTENING OXEN, SHEEP, AND Pics. Before discussing the chemical composition of the animal bodies, and of their increase, it will be well to consider the proportion which the various organs (or other more arbitrarily separated parts) bear to the entire body, in the different descriptions of animal, and also the proportion, and tendency of development, according to the condition of growth or fatness. In fact, it is the judgment of the character of the slaughtered animals in these and of their Increase whilst Fattening. 441 respects which determines, in the view of the practised eye, the quality and yalue of the meat that the feeder has produced, To obtain the experimental data relating to this branch of the subject, 2 calves, 2 heifers, and 14 bullocks, 1 lamb and 249 sheep, and 59 pigs, have been operated upon. ‘The plan adopted was, to determine the live-weight just before slaughtering; and, as soon as possible afterwards (so as to lessen the error arising from evaporation) to determine the weight of the carcass, of each of the internal organs, and of some other separated parts. The animals are classified according to description, breed, con- dition of maturity, or kind of food; and, in the Tables which follow (III.-[X. inclusive, pp. 443 to 449), the average results only (both actual and percentage), are given. For further details the reader is referred to the ‘ Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society,’ Part I., 1859, where both the actual weights, and the percentage proportion, of the separated organs and parts, of each of the 327 slaughtered animals, are recorded, f A. few words may first be offered directing attention to the more prominent points of distinction between the different de- scriptions of animal—oxen, sheep, and pigs—in regard to the amount, and the proportion in the whole body, of their respective organs and parts. ‘These are illustrated by the average results, recorded side by side, in Table III., respectively of 16 heifers and bullocks, of 249 sheep, and of 59 pigs. The proportion of the stomachs and their contents constituted. in the oxen about 114, in the sheep about 73, and in the pig only about 1} per cent. of the entire weight of the body, The pro- portions of the intestines and their contents stand in the opposite relation, Thus, they amounted to about 6} per cent. in the pig, to about 34 per cent. in the sheep, and to only about 2? per cent. in the oxen. These distinctions are of considerable interest, and are per- fectly intelligible when taken in connection with the fact that in the food of oxen and sheep there is so large a proportion of indi- gestible woody-fibre, and in that of the well-fed pig so much less, and at the same time a comparatively large proportion of starch— the primary transformations of which are supposed to take place chiefly after leaving the stomach, and more or less throughout the intestinal canal. Taking together stomachs, small intestines, large intestines, and their respective contents, the entire bodies of the oxen yielded an average of rather more than 14 per cent., of the sheep a little more than 11 per cent., and of the pigs about 74 per cent. With this great variation in the proportion of the receptacles and first 442 On the Composition of Oxen, Sheep, and Pigs. laboratories of the food, with their contents, the further elaborating organs (if we may so call them) with their fluids, appear to be much more equal in their proportion in the three cases, _ This point 1s approximately illustrated in the fact that, taking together the recorded percentages of “heart and aorta,” “ lungs and windpipe,” “liver,” ‘ gall-bladder and contents,” ‘“ pancreas,” ** milt or spleen,” and the ‘ blood,” the sum is for the oxen about @ per cent., for the sheep about 7} per cent., and for the pigs about 6 per cent. If from this list we exclude the blood, which was more than one-third of a per-cent. lower in the pig than in the other animals, the sums of the percentages of the other parts enumerated, would agree still more closely for the three descrip- tions of animal, Lastly, in regard to the distinctions between the different de- scriptions of animal: of the masses of internal ‘loose fat,” with its connecting membrane, the oxen yielded on the average about 41 per cent., the sheep about 7? per cent., and the pig little more than 1} per cent. The pig, therefore, with its much less propor- tion of alimentary organs, has also a much less proportion of the fat which surrounds them. With regard to the much larger amount of this sort of fat indicated in the sheep than in the oxen, it may be remarked that a considerable proportion of the sheep which contribute to these recorded: averages were, compared with the oxen, in more than a corresponding degree of maturity and fatness. A rapid survey may next be taken of the relative development of the several organs and parts, as the animal progresses in ma- turity and fatness. An examination of the Tables (IV.-I[X.) shows that the internal organs and other “ offal” parts pretty generally zncrease in actual weight as the animal passes from the store or lean, to the fat or to the very fat, condition; but that, excluding the loose fat— which increases not only in actual weight but proportionally— their percentage proportion in the whole body as invariably dimi- nishes as the animal matures and fattens. The carcasses, on the other hand, invariably increase both in actual and in percentage amount, as fhe animals mature. The above remarks apply generally to oxen, sheep, and pigs; but the data relating to the sheep comprise ie most complete gradationary series foe their illustration. Thus, the average actual weights per head of the collective stomachs and intestines, and their contents, zcreased from about 13% lbs. in 5 store or lean sheep, to about 15} Ibs. in 100 fat sheep, and to about 164 lbs. among 45 very fat ones. Again, the heart and aorta, the lungs and windpipe, the liver, the gall-bladder and contents, the pancreas (sweetbread), the milt or spleen, and the blood, and of their Increase whilst Fattening. 443 Taste III. Summary.—Mean Actual Weights (Ibs. and ozs.), and Mean Percentage Proportion in the entire Bodies, of the different Organs and Parts of different Descriptions of Animal. Oxen, SHEEP, AND Pics. Mean Actual Weights (Ibs. and ozs.) Mean Percentage EN ae in the bt oy of ‘ Means of 2 | . 249 Sheep o 5, | 249 Sheep o DESCRIPTION OF PARTS. Means of Be Means of + Frare 16 Heifers differ ent Means of | 16 Heifers different Means of Breeds, Breeds, Set B and conditions of 59 Pigs. B ae conditions of | 59 Piss. eee: Fatness, ae Fatness, Age, &c. Age, Ke. Ibs. 025. Ibs. ozs. Ibs. ozs. Stomachs co Lotiens 35 13°9 3 12°3 3°17 2°45 5 9 Contents of stomachs 92 12:8 | 7 10:4 2 10 44 8°34 4°98 ; 1°28 (and vomit) st Wanbratct esse ce 5 23 2.9 7 1°8 1 2°3 2°02 4°63 0°54 ae conn} 17120) 2 7-6] 4 84) 1-60/ 1:61 | 2°20 ete tines. and} yg 7s0)| By Ise | & 6 orga PMA [ci disOneg ie are contents fae oe i Intestinal fat S03 Mee 26ers agence. 02D.) aot nag 2°24 2°04 1°06 = | Heart and aorta 5 LOvG6. | OY" 10'4) 2 ORES G 0°50 0°43 0-29 = | Heart fat 5s ao ota | OF 9 7*8 56 0°31 0°32 on & | Lungs and windpipe SSNs |e 58:30 | Sa oe T 0°81 0:99 0°76 a ee 4512°8| 6 1I6|-7 101] 4:01 3°97 3°65 “> | LOI GR oe a 14 13°3 2) be4 3 4°5 1°31 152 eg a = . a = poe adder and con ' 015°7| 0 1:5} 0 21] 0-09 0°06 0°06 = GeO E DEE | w \ Pancreas (“sweetbread”)) 1 1:0) 0 3:3] O 6-6], 0:09 0-14 @-19 & | Thymus-gland (‘‘ heart- 3 4 8 c = bread ”) he POs Op 86 me = | Glands about the throat)} os . = (“ throatbread’’) } ae. ore Oe > s Milt or spleen 60), oe 1 13°9 0 4:0 0 4:7 0°16 6°16 O-14 } DIEGO ee @ 9°1 0 O°8 Os (255 0°05 0.03 0°03 2G, 90 ee ie A Ove ~ ie onal PAIGE! eke ee 0 12°0 we * 0°06 ae * Tongue Gog woo wiccot : d Ir 5032 d 0-48 eee we ail] FOF Tk a6 aga {} ¢ Hide, or skin and wool | 84 9°5/18 0:4 os 7°49 11°73 ats Feetand hoofs .. .. |» 20 0°6 x OF 269 177 i. 0-08} Tail a Nae” ont ae 1a aS} on * 0°10 56 * Diaphragm (‘ skirts ”) op 250; |) Op 6354: s 0-41 0-14 we Miscellaneous trimmings Slovan (Ob 6s. 0) 0): 8:8 0°30 0-12 0°26 Total “ Offal’’ parts .. .. | 489 14°0/] 61 11°5 | 85 4:6*| 38°85 40°17 16°87* le 50 eC COMED NgEOC 680 12°0 | 91 12°5 {176 5-3") 59-3 59°74 62°57* oss by evaporation, error am 5 Z ; Recut, Sook } 20 7:1f] 0 22} 1 21] 1:84] 0-09 | 0-56 Live-weight after fasting .. [1141 1+1 153 10-2 212 12 | 100-00! 100-00 | 100-00 * In the case of the Pigs, the head (with brains), feet, and tail, are included with 7 hal Seedling ig ny ie with carcass, and not with the offal, as + These quantities relate to the toes only. } Penis or womb included here ~~ VOL, XXI. 2H A44 On the Composition of Oxen, Sheep, and Pigs, Taste LY. Mean Actual Weights (Ibs. and ozs.) of the different Organs and Parts of— Catyves, Herrers, AND BuLiocks. Means of DESCRIPTION OF PARTS. Ae aie ee 2 Heifers Calves. Heifers, Bullocks. TAURI losis. lbs. ozs Ibs. ozs. Ibs. ozs. Ibs ozs. Stomachs 3p 645 32. 0 Bass (327/ 35 13°9 Contents of stomachs. Ame ote) 70H 12 So. Ube 92. 12*8 Caul fat : 50 2 Os) 23 4 23 27, 23 259 Small intestines and conterits te Oy 5 15 4 1S a7; Li, 1250 Large intestines and contents .. a/c! ND, 13 10°0 IS 7X0) Intestinal fat 2 14 364 43 26m os Dhue oe Heart and aorta . We Rio 7p AVG 5 14°4 5. 10*6 *, | Heart fat ; 0 35| 1 14 3 6°9 Bs. 858 = | Lungs and windpipe.. 3 4:8 6 6°5 97 10"! 9) - 3:6 © | Blood .. . ‘ WL. 1225 | 380, 12 47 Vor2 45. 12°8 S IPhg\y mee MeOo SB) oe 4 2°8 1z 35 15 1°6 14 18°93 = | Gall-bladder and contents. aaah ase 0. 2 O 10°8 1, 2085 0. 1537 -, | Pancreas (“ sweetbread ”’) idee sa GH . © ( Thymus gland (‘‘heartbread”) .. | ae we Ls * % \ Gland b thesthn “eth Tb Gy | OF §9°2 On 1d 0’ 1047 = ands about the throat (‘‘ throat- 0 57 Ouipeas On 55 g DEGadhp\ Ree) Wrists Secenh tshalicion sere Muli Maltvor'spleon os vicexs sets icen ov 0 13 y A te Sic 1 13:9 3 | 2 | Bladder a) Ato ie afl 0 92] 0 9-1 oa, Jee, oa om ote Go Be da po . OF 745 Brainesci. fos acide oe wathcaceeice OM On 12 Tongue o- ee es ee ae ew | 13 9°56 21 7 } 32 0.5 30 10°7 Lice; Sacre alo? MEAG ON Wto. | cc } Hides! ia dae aw take ane) haba ie) gpleagese |) 655 1d 87 493 | Ste. (9%5 Feat Ly cen cee EE |b Ld’ 10 20 13 20 0°6 Me ite a eg OP 0 5:2] OF 12°8 1’ aS 1 1°9 Diaphragm (“ skirts”)... a ape t Z ae is Miscellaneous trimmings Bee syne ies . 4 6 tal < ff 1” parts . ey oo ics ae 84 0°5 | 35k 6°5 452 13°6 459 14:0 Total “0 & 6 HK 158 3:5 | 474 10 7108" Seal 680 12 Loss by evaporation, error in v in weighing, 8 8-0! 27 13°5* 19 0:8 20 «71 &e. se Lahey ee 50 | Live- -weight after fasting .. vent ‘oro oni) 200) | 12 853 14 1182), 125, | WEA ee See * This amount includes the wombs of the Heifers, one of which was with Calf. and of their Increase whilst Fattening. 445 Taste V. Mean Actual Weights (Ibs. and ozs.) of the different Organs and Parts of— SHEEP. Means of Gradationary Series. Miscellaneous, 5 SI 78 Hant renee are hee ious of different | 100Sheep | 45 Sheep | pown Sheep, | Drevisond | 249 Sheep DESCRIPTION OF PARTS. Breeds, of different | of different moderately Modes of | of different , killed in he Pore G Fattened, on| Feeding, Brees, ; rt 2: i ond tion! ae | Fattened. Fattened, on . iy kena ‘i ot fora About About 1 Fatness. atness, ; tto lh Age, &e. legen: 14 Year old. | 14 Year old. | year ola, nant Src 14 Year old. Ibs. 028. | Ibs. 02s. | lbs. ozs. Ibs. ozs. | Ibs. 02s. Ibs. ozs. Original weight .. .. 5c 102 7 99 1°8 | 124 7:2 ws LO ie Final weight, unfasted 99 O | 156° O*°8 | 202 7°5 | 148° O° | 179 15°2 | 1ép'15-4 Fasted live-weight .. | 93 0°8 | 145 5:3 | 192 03] 141 6:7] 170 12°2 | 153 10°2 Stomachs 211°5| 8 98| 4 19] 38135] 811-2] 3 123 Contents of stomachs 6 2°5 @ 825 6 14°8 9. 9:9 Ge fe] 7 10°4 Caul fat fic P) aintets) Ge Les 9 10°5 G. Ay 98 Led yh Small intestines and , ar eee ty 2 a6] a1aee) ai an} Bay | 2 Gal a ae Large _ intestines ; . e ’ ; eee || 22s | 21 3 09] 3 2:3] 215-9] 92 15-2 Intestinal fat Oe 1 2°6 2 7:8 4 3°6 on ea) 4 5°6 Bap bo. “3, | Heart andaorta..| 0 7-1/ 0 93] O11 O14]. O1ls1] 0 10-4 S Heart fat 0 4:9 0 4°8 O 10°7 0 9°6 0 11°3 0 7°8 lo Lungs and windpipe 1 1°5 I 822 15925 L.. 8 Wg) 1. 8-3 S Blood .. AN 73 6 0:2 7, 225 5. 9°4 6 88 6 1°6 Peja Laver 2. o. it Miso 2 8:2 2 8:8 2 0°6 Pe AS: 2) 524! = ) Gall-bladder and } aT . . . = . S eoutents’ * > my OF! Q 1:4 0 1°8 0% 195 oO 1°93 OF Iss 2 | Pancreas (“ sweet- ‘ 2 3 : ' : ¢ bread”) .. OF 25 0 3°5 0 31 0 34 0 393 0 3°3 2 Glands about the S throat (“ throat- 0 0°8 ne ee oe o Ss ls breads lh) sow on 3 | Milt or spleen ., 0 2°6 04 O 4:4 0 3°6 0 4:7 0 4:0 8) 00 0 0:8 @ 087 0 0°9 Bo 0 08 0 0-8 EAU eel, com ot 3 5:9 4. 5*2 4 12°3 Ane Org: 4 11°4 4 81 Sats: Nias oom Wool-.- «+ we Lois 18 9°8 20° 0*9 16 425) 18° 7°9 18 0°4 Feet and hoofs Diaphragm (“skirts”)| 0 4:1 oo 0 3:4 oe . 0 3°74 Miscellaneous trim- . : 5 ; aes at 0 1:4) oO 1] -0. 30 oe 0 2°0:], o- 3-0 Total “ Offal”’ parts: .. 42 12°0 58 14:2 68 12-1 60 8*2 64 10°6 61 11°5 Careass . o- 49 11°8 85 11°1 | 122 14°9 80 6°3 | 106 5:7 91 12*5 Loss by evaporation, s : , i eee 0 9:0} 0-12°0-|. 0 5:3] 0 82) —0 4:1] 0 22 Live-weight after fasting 93 0°8 | 145 5°38 | 192 O°-3 | 141 6°7 | 170 12:2] 153 10°2 74 181 Wy? AAG Tasie VI. On the Composition of Oren, Sheep, and Pigs, Mean Actual Weights (Ibs. and ozs.) of the different Organs and Parts of— Pies. ‘DESCRIPTION OF PARTS. “Original weight . Final weight, unfasted _ Fasted live-weight Stomachs -) Contents of stomachs j Caul fat | Small intestines Be ‘| contents .. Large intestines. ae eontents .. Intestinal fate, |< “mud- | geon,” &c. 205) Heart and aorta . Lungs and windpipe Blood Bis ue aS Liver .. Gall-bladder tents Pancreas bread”) .. Milt or spleen 4 Bladder 4 Penis 4 Tongue Toes ; Miscellaneous mings “and con- ( ae Separate parts of the “ Oftal.” oe “Total “ Offal” parts.. .. “Qareass (including head with brains, feet, and tail) ‘Loss by evaporation, aia in weighing, &c. de Live-weight after fasting .. pote Fattened on different descriptions of ood. Means of | 12 Pigs. 9 Pigs. Seema) ee Food : Food: Bran, with, Bean and limited Lentil | Quantity | Meal, with of Bean limited and Lentil; Quantity Meal, or | of Indian Indian Meal, Meal, or Bran, or both. | or both. Ibs. ozs. | lbs. ozs. 140 12°5)142 9°4 191 71/239 5°4 182 12°4|227 6°9 3. 0°6 2 13 © 1A) i 12 5 10°3 4 14:8 9 14 9 54 . 1 10°8 3 4 0 85 0 9:9 PZ 1 10°2 TE BM) Gy 2 Ways) 3 14:3 OF S251 Ops2a (0) Sayit &1 0 4:7 0 5:4 Oms9 (O) ail 0 €°8 OMS 4 Oma 1 03 0 2:9 0 33 ORO 0 11°8 85 61] 40 4:2 146 7°5/|186 14°4 | 0 14°8 0 43 182 12°4|227 6°9 | Meal, or | Bran; or | all ad lib. 15 Pigs. Food : Indian Meal, with limited Quantity of Bean and Lentil Ibs. ozs. 143 7°5 235 10°7 234 12°7 2 11°4 Way) 3 14:9 | 10°8 35 158 OT li2io 1! 40:4 234 12°7 12 apis 6 Pigs. Food: Food : Sugar, or Dried Starch, Cod-fish, or both, with with Indian limited Meal, Quantity | or Bran of Bran | and Indian and Lentil Meal. Meal. Ibs. ozs. | lbs. ozs, 95 5°3}163 13°3 185 4 /287 13:3 177 6.6/278 O 2) 0:8 3 29 10:9 6°8 3 13'2 4 81 8 143 ih il ey 2 143 0 89 (0) alplel LS 16:4 1 9-4 6 5:2 8 94 3 Ol Go} ef 02:4 O28 () hl 3'7 0 56 O72 ()) Bier O56 O 92 OM 1 3:3 0 273 0 3 OSS Ono 80 11°4] 57 10°4 144 95/239 6 Pee lore 0 15°6 17/72 8656)\ 2780 2 Pigs. Put to Feed in Store condition, Fattened, Ibs. 02s. 130 8 180 0 170 8 2 15°3 0 128 6 10 o °o So wteo ooo 31. 10°2 T38h) 3970 3 4°3 170 8 3 Pigs. Put to Feed when half Fat, 59 on..same Fattenelll Food waa Pigs and mo- derately Fattened. Tbs. 02s, | Ibs. ozs. 185 10°7]134 5° 181 - 5°3}220) TI 172 10°8 |212 12 1 11°3 2 104 0 14:3 1 23 3 Wp 4 84 5 103 & Sm L 82 2 Sb 0 81] 0 9 1 12°3 1 on 5 1227 7 10°71 2 10°71 3 45 0 24] 0 24 0.54 0 6 0 4°5:| (0) aa 0 26 0 2°5 0 68| 0 “We 0 13°6 1 0°2 - 0 2 0104} 0 88° and of their Increase whilst Fattening. Taste VII. 447 Mean Percentage Proportion of the different Organs and Parts in the Fasted Live-weight of— Catves, HEIFERS, AND BULLOCKS. Means of DESCRIPTION OF PARTS. Sail | oped louamen | 2 Helene Calves. | Heifers. | Bullocks. aa ae Stomachs ale Ma sje ak becvoeahte @ 1°37 Soe) 3°09 3°17 Contents of stomachs nh clea cape Cera aphons 1°89 8°40 8°33 8°34 Canltat. sey th os Soe wc 1°08 2°69 1°93 2°02 Small intestines and contents ee foe 2313. |" 1°80 1°57 1°60 Large intestines and contents .. .. 1°30 1-44 i 1°24 Tntestinaletat. trie -se del ee N83 3°02 Qa12 2°24 bent ond aorta. 2. » <9) .s6 yextieh. Jos 0:60 0°48 0°50 0°50 Se Heart fat aA eo arco Tc Woe 0°08 0°22 0°32 O°3l ss | Lungs and windpipe egtécon’ armor 1°32 0°75 0°82 0°81 _ © | Blood .. AG hoy Ear: 4°68 3°60 4-07 4:01 Se baver . ~.:. ee Aeon 1°67 OB 1°28 1°3k | Gall-bladder and contents... .. .. 0°05 0°08 0:09 0:09 ~ | Pancreas (“sweetbread”’) . os ay . . . . - > / Thymus gland (‘‘ heartbr ead’ ie : ee Sa Nw ue) eth n ee 0°67 0°07 0:06 0°06 z | Glands about the throat G throat- ; 5 “ | 0-05! O03] 0-03 a. bread ”’) eet 2 el) | Miltiotispleens =. ¢s 0 ==) <0; @s 0°32 0°15 0:17 0°16 a 3 | Bladder .. \ o-15{ 0-06 | 0°05] 0-05 B | Penis Lae i 0-04 a rearS@ st MAlMr dev) ch vice oe 0°07 0°06 OHO Ce ibs Maicie Yon ce cy Mie aig (sie 5°46 251 | on : ee ea | 2°71 2°69 Hide “3 = ee Oe CE ROP TREO 6°94 | 7°74 7°46 7°49. Feet and hoofs Pt ML Sonate fais 2°18 1°72 1:78 Leh Tail Ae St SE 65. PON te 0:09 0°09 0°10 Diaphragm (« ‘skirts oy Bo. san ict 0-44 0°53 0°39 0°41 Miscellaneous trimmings oe ob 0°49 0°27 0°30 = eas es a Total “ Offal” pas Sears Een aad lado sOs | 410254). 88°54) essaee Carcass . og 63°13 | 55°58 59°84 | 59°31 ee by evaporation, ¢ error in i goee| 3°33 3-174! 1662 1°84 100-00 100-00 | 100°00 | 100°00 * ‘This amount includes the wombs of the Heifers, one of which was with Calf. 448 On the Composition of Oxen, Sheep, and Pigs, Taste VIII. Mean Percentage Proportion of the different Organs and Parts in the Fasted Live-weight of— SHEEP. Means of Gradationary Series. Miscellaneous. 78 Hants | 21 Sheep See 100 Sheep | 45 Sheep | Down | °f various different of of Sheep, Breeds | 249 Sheep DESCRIPTION OF PARTS. Breeds, | different | different | mode- [97d Modes) of killed in | Breeds, | Breeds, rately of different Store mode- ex- Fattened | Feeding, Breeds, condition rately cessively on of more | conditions fora | Pattened. | Fattened. | different than of standard Foods. | Average | Fatness, About 14 | About 1} Fatness. | Age, &c. of com- | Year old. | Year old. | 14 to 14 parison. Year old, | About 14 Year old. Stomachs a 2°94 2°49 2°14 Pe? 2°17 2°45 Contents of stomachs zs oa iss 6°16 4°49 3°62 6°83 3°85 4:98 Caul fat a oes ie 2°92 4°13 4:99 4°67 5°18 4°63 Small intestines and contents # 2°32 1°92 1°19 1:63 1°33 1°61 Large intestines and contents 2°93 1°89 1°59 2°23 1-75 1°92 3 Intestinal fat 1:28 1:70 PANO) 2°23 2°55 2°04 i) Sin Heartiandlaortas jae) o- Gage) =e 0:48 0-40 0°36 0°51 0°41 0°43 ¢ | Heart fat. w+ vase oe, | 80°32 | "0,20. |" To*35") F044 ibaaen Memonae ® | Lungs and windpipe 50 “40 | 99 Wait 1°04 0°83 1:06 0°92 0-99 3 | Blood .. oy, ae abe 4°81 4-14 S273 3°95 3°84 3°97 SS elaiverws =. Bet vers 1°61 WS 745) 1°33 1°44 1°37 BP) 4 | Gall-bladder and contents... 0:07 0:06 0:06 0:07 0°05 0°06 : a | Pancreas (‘“‘sweetbread”) . . 0:13 0°15 0°10 0°15 0°12 0°14 a © | Glands about the throat oe throat- 0°06 7 =| bread ”) or ae oe of ee se ee : a q@ | Miltorspleen .. .. +. «| O-17| O17 | Or14] 0°16) O17} 0-16 vo CaiBladders*’ 5f MRR ieee es 0°05 0-03 0°03 3 0°03 0°03 Headsavss si OR38 Ve San) 3 3°64 3:00 2°53 3°27 2°74 2°93 Skin of. REM Te aWiGollnmee Bie Lock Mista te 14°09 12°83 10°46 11°50 11°01 O73 Feet and hoofs is De sis Diaphragm (‘“ skirts”) | 20. 30 0°30 an 0°12 bn a5 0°14 Miscellaneous trimmings .. .. 0-10 0°13 0-11 80 0°07 0-12 Total “ Offal” PALis: Sele srt ese eras 45°55 40°52 35 78 42°84 87°98 40°17 Carcass . AD " 53°42 58°97 64°05 56°85 61°91 59°74 Loss by evaporation, error | in weigh- } 1°03 0-51 0-17 0°31 oll 0°09 eee. Sesh a Hae Se AA! Ad d 100°00 | 100-00 | 100-00 | 100.00 | 100-00 | 100°00 and of their Increase whilst Fattening. 449 Taste IX. Mean Percentage Proportion of the different Organs and Parts in the Fasted Live-weight of— Pies. Moderately Fattened on different descriptions of Food. Maange of 9 Pigs. 12 Pigs. 15 Pigs. 12 Pigs. 6 Pigs. 2 Pigs. 3 Pigs. Food : Food; Food: Food: Food: Put to Put to ! Bran, with} Bean and Indian Sugar, or Bey Reed in | Feed when = qr limited Lentil Meal, with} Starch, od-fish, tore half Fat, DESCRIPTION OF PARTS. Quantity | Meal, with} limited or both, with condition, | on same nee of Bean limited | Quantity with | Indian and only Food Pies and Lentil} Quantity | of Bean limited Meal, half as last, ia Meal, or | of Indian | and Lentil} Quantity | or Bran | Fattened, | and mo- Indian Meal, Meal, or of Bran | and Indian derately Meal, or Bran, | Bran; or | and Lentil Meal. Fattened. or both. or both. | all ad lib. Meal. Stomachs * es ‘ - . fi : “9 ic eeaceakies 1°66 L207 1°18 1°16 7 1°81 0°99 1°28 Caul fat .. 0°52 0°49 0°57 0°59 0°51 0°47 0°52 0°54 ) Small intestines ao 3°05 2-19 1°69 2°15 1°66 3°98 2°36 2:20 contents Large intestines atl 4°91] 4:16] s:28!| 5°05| 2-76] 4°34] 3-38| 4:04 contents . Intestinal fat, ‘“‘mud- gt " E My . : - 4 r geon, "le. _ oral a35 | 1°37 | 0-63] 4°03] (0°67) © 0°87] 1°06 Heart and aorta... 0°29 0'27 0°27 0°31 0°25 0°28 0°29 0°29 Lungs and nr 0°88 0°73 0°68 0°79 0°57 0°85 1-06 0-76 Blood... 3°97 4°08 3°43 3°59 3°11 3°04 3°37 3°63 Liver 35 55 eit 1°43 1°70 1°26 1°87 1°56 Os) Gall-bladderandeon-}) g.97 | 05 0-05 | 0:08| 0-06! 0:05} 0-09} 0-06 tents Pancreas (“ ‘sweet t ’ 5 ' é Z bread”) ~ .. a 0°18 0°22 0°20 0-18 0°19 0°17 0°18 0-19 Milt or spleen ee 0°16 0°15 0°13 0°14 0°12 0°17 0°15 0-14 Bladder®y, O32 <2 0°07 0:09 0:07 0°08 0-06 0°06 0:10 0°08 IPeNiIS® aGay hunks 0°23 0-22 0°21 0°20 0°21 0-18 0°24 0°21 PROUPUG joa ua tsb: buasin 0°54 0°46 0°45 0°53 0.43 0°49 0°51 0°48 Toes ale 0:09 0:09 0°08 0-08 0:07 ae ais 0'08 Miscellaneous trim} 0°18 | 0-32| 0°29] 0-12] 0-21! 0-35; O40] 0°26 mings o- . - f otal << « Offal ” parts .. 19°26 17°85 15°38 17°38 13°67 18°78 16:07 16°87 ‘Carcass (including head ay brains, feet, and 80°22 82°07 84°18 81°44 85°98 79°26 83°39 82°57 tai ae : Loss by evaporation, error in weight, SC rf 0°52 0°08 0°44 1°18 0°35 1°96 0°54 0°56 100-00 | 100-00 100°00 | 100°00 | 100°00 | 100°00 | 100:00 | 100-00 450 On the Composition of Oxen, Sheep, and Pigs, blood, all taken together, give an average actual weight per head —for the five store sheep of 7 lbs., for the hundred fat ones of 113 lbs., and for the forty-five very fat ones of 124 lbs. The rate of increase in actual weight as the animals fatten is, therefore, rather greater for these last-mentioned organs or parts than for the collective stomachs and intestines, and contents. Still, they decrease—though not so much as the collective stomachs, &e.— in percentage to the whole body with the increase in weight and fatness of the animals. Thus, the percentage of the heart and other parts above classed with it is, for the average of the five store sheep 8-44, for that of the hundred fat ones 7:71, and for that of the forty-five very fat ones 6°55, Of the internal parts, the loose fat alone increases in both actual weight, and percentage proportion, with the progress of the animals. It averages in actual weight—for the store or lean sheep about 44 lbs., for the fat ones about 8% lbs., and for the very fat ones about 144 lbs. In percentage proportion it averages—for the lean sheep 4°52, for the fat ones 6:03, and for the very fat ones 7-44, The results, as regards the collective or total offal parts, and the total carcass parts, respectively, are as follow:—The total offal parts increased in average actual weights per head, from 42? lbs. in the store or lean condition, to 582 Ibs. in the fat, and to 682 ]bs. in the very fat condition, The increase in actual weight of the corresponding carcasses was much greater, namely, from 493 lbs. in the store, to 85% Ibs. in the fat, and to nearly 123 lbs. in the very fat condition. The result is, then, that although the collective internal organs and other offal parts increase considerably as the animals fatten, the so-called carcass or frame—with its muscles, membranes, vessels, and fat-—increases very much more rapidly. It follows, of course, that there is a diminishing percentage in the entire body of the total offal parts, and an increasing per- centage of the total carcass parts, as the animals mature and fatten. Thus, the percentage of the collective offal parts is, in round numbers—for the average of the lean sheep 45:5, for that of the fat ones 40°5, and for that of the very fat ones 35:8. ‘The per- centages of the carcass parts were, on the other hand—for the corresponding lean animals 53:4, for the fat ones 58-9, and for the very fat ones 64-0,* The practical importance of these facts will be better seen if they are stated in another form. Thus it follows, from the data * Tt will be noticed that the sums of the corresponding offal and carcass parts, here quoted, do not quite make up 100. The complementary amounts represent the loss by evaporation, error in weighing, &c. and of their Increase whilst Fattening. 451 involved, that of the znerease from the lean to the fat condition 68°8 per cent., and of the increase from the fat to the very fat condition 79°8 per cent., would be saleable carcass. It may perhaps be estimated that 65 to 70 per cent. of the gross increase of oxen and sheep, liberally fattening over a considerable period of time, will be saleable carcass. Calculations of a similar kind in regars to pigs, show that of their increase during the last two or three months of liberal feeding, little less than 90 per cent. (including head and feet) may be reckoned as saleable carcass. Again, the mean percentage of loose fat (caul, intestinal, and heart together) in the fat sheep, as slaughtered, was only 6-03 ; but the percentage in the increase from the store to the fat condition would be 8°91. In the same way, though the average percentage of loose fat in the very fat sheep was only 7:44, the percentage in the increase from the fat to the very fat condition would be 12°17. On the other hand, the percentage of the other offal parts (that is, excluding loose fat) was in the lean animals 41:03, and in the fatanimals 34°49; but the percentage of these collective parts in the increase from the lean to the fat condition would be only 21:96. Lastly, the percentage of the same offal parts in the very fat animals was 28°34, whilst the percentage in the zncrease from the fat to the very fat condition would be only 8°97. From the few summary statements that have been adduced, it is sufficiently obvious that, in the feeding or fattening of animals, the apparatus which subserves for the reception, the transmission, and the elaboration of the food, does not increase so rapidly as the saleable carcass or framework—with its covering of flesh and fat—which it is the object of the feeder to store up from that food. It will be seen, when we come to treat of the ‘chemical com- position of the animals, and of their increase, which of these two main constituents of the carcasses—the flesh or the fat—increases the most rapidly. From the facts given in this section, it is obvious that of the internal, or “offal” parts, at least, it is the fat which increases the most rapidly. The illustrations of the order of development of the different organs and parts of fattening animals, given above, have been drawn from the results obtained on slaughtering large numbers of sheep, at different ages and degrees of maturity, without special reference to the character of the food employed. That the character of the fattening food—even within the period of only a few weeks—has a marked influence upon the character of the development, and consequently upon that of the meat produced, is shown by a careful consideration of the results relating to the slaughtered pigs, recorded in Tables VI. and TX. in 452 On the Composition of Oxen, Sheep, and Pigs, * Taste X.—Amounts and Proportion of the Fat and of the Lean parts, (Average of GENERAL PARTICULARS OF THE EXPERIMENTS. Non- Nitrogen- DESCRIPTION OF FOOD. ous Sub- | Increase | Increase Gani Pen Num- stance to |for 100 Dry| upon 100 peuiracted NGS of | 1 Nitro- Subsane Griginal Tage= e igs. genous in Foo: eigh’ aS 8 ; Ne. SSE 8 Weight. Given in Limited Quantity. Given ad libitum. in Food. 9 3 2 lbs. bean and lentil meal 2°64 13°0 23°3 18°5 10 3 2lbs. Indian cornmeal. . 4°77 12°7 27°4 81°0 ll 3 { 2\bs. bean and lentil nsx) and 2 1bs.Indian-corn meal BYAM > .os.¢ aytiehke 3°43 18°5 42°1 81°2 | 1°99 22°9 68°9 81°9 1 3 INANE!” sikekicl ie ot sls 2 3 2lbs. Indian-corn meal . 2°43 24°3 79°6 83°0 3 3 Jolbs.bran.... » .|( Bean and lentil meal 2°31 ivy | ara | ve1e 2 lbs. bran, and 2 lbs. In- 4 5 + 3 3 3 { dian-corn meal . . . } 2°91 20°2 59°0 82°2 5 3 INONC) fe ils se. ie: KoMhouine f 6°61 22°1 51°3 85°4 6 13 2 lbs. bean and lentil meal | 4°65 23°8 67°0 84°4 7 3 |2lbsbran. . . . » . | (idian-corn meal . ‘a 5°69 24°9 745 | 83'7 21bs. bran, and 2 lbs. bean i 4 - | 8 3 { andlentilmeal. . . } l 4°26 25°3 80°3 3'5| x Bean and lentil meal, In- 4 5 . . BOGS Mtoe. moe ns. olf nearer et Iss 211 | sv | e3r9 - Bran and ease A . . . 13 3 2 lbs. dried cod-fish . . . { (equal parts) . . 3°13 21°6 519 84°6 a4 3 2lbs. dried cod-fish , . .| Indian-meal . . . . 3°80 26°2 60°1 87°3 F MEANS. Pens 9, 10, 11 aaa eee ape os poenrese len — } 3°61 “7 30°9 g0°2 Bean and lentil meal, with limited peaniity of ea 5 6 f os» 1,2,3,4 { meal, or bran, or bot AD nO 20 } 2°41 21°3 63°7 82r1 Ds ee Indian-meal, with limited quantity of par andl tent n 2 i a . re) Mt meal, or bran, PS Out ee el Boe } 4°90 23"4 66°6 se 13,14. (Dieses cod- at mith Eationsmes, oot bran ant Adadian)} 3°46 23°9 “6 86°0 General) Means) sf nj (otis ells isils wa) sl= | els “Ge! i, 3771 21°0 56°5 83°0 Neen ee TEE a ° and of their Increase whilst Fattening. 453 respectively, in the Careasses of Pigs fed on different descriptions of Food. 3 Pigs in each case). ACTUAL ee oe PARTS OF PER CENT. IN TOTAL CARCASS. Fat Parts. Total Fat Parts. | Total Lean Parts: Lean Parts: Bike |okoenh: Bee A Yost Inside Showldurs, | Brosory-| Total | Inside Ate sere . . ers, | Evapora- a af . Shoulders, | Evapora- ph OF, binaees pal eet Sees tion, &c. Carcass. tae, aide rove! Shoulder- | tion, &c. Gwith | Flitch. | Parts | | blades, | Gwith |‘ Fhitch.”|Fat Parts, | blades, Kidneys). Feet. Kidneys). Feet. Tbs. ozs.| lbs. ozs.| lbs. ozs.| lbs, ozs. | Lbs. ozs. | lbs. ozs. ae 40 1 47 7 83 5 4 4 135 0 5°46 29°7 35°2 61°7 3°15 9 4 47 15 S73 Slr 4 8 143 6 6°45 33°4 39°9 57°0 3°15 10 6 6 5 65 11 90 13 4 8 161 O 6°45 34°4 40°8 56°4 2°80 12..7% 69 2 81 9 105 10 9 10 196 13 6°32 35°1 41°4 53°7 4°90 13 0 82 1 9 1 105 11 % «8 208 4 6°24 39°4 45°6 50°8 3°60 10 11 55. «6 66 1 91 15 5 ll 163 11 6°53 33°8 40°3 56°2 3°46 lo 5 64 #1 74 «#6 98 14 5 10 178 14 5°76 35°8 41°6 55°3 3°14 12 70 4 82 9 9 6 5 2 183 1 6°73 38"4 45°1 52°1 2°80 } 2 4 ei 93 5 107 4 5 10 206 3 5°94 39°3 45°2 52°0 2°72 so ! 187 Si) 7 S| 88, *8 | 105 5 9 199 2 6°62 37°8 44°4 52°8 2°78 | 14 12 82 3 96 15 110 «67 5 lo 213 0 6.92 38°6 45°5 51°8 2°63 | ll 13 % 6 87 3 te near f 2 15 187 9 6°30 40°2 46°5 51°9 1°57 88 6 lol Oo n3 °0 oY 219 |! 5°76 40°3 46°1 51°6 2°30 114 8 | 129 1 125: 4 LP) 259 12 5°60 44°1 49°7 48°2 2°08 MEANS. 47 12 56 12 8 5 Cia | 146 8 6°12 32°5 38°6 58°4 3°03 * 67 10 719 ~«4 100 9 Tyd 186 14 6°21 36°0 42°2 34°0 37 13 103 454 On the Composition of Oxen, Sheep, and Pigs, In order, however, to get some further direct experimental evidence on the point, the carcasses of most of these slaughtered pigs were separated by the butcher into— 1. Inside fat or “ flare” (with kidneys). 2. Outside fat or “ flitch.” 3. Legs, ribs, and shoulder-blade. 4, Shoulders or “hands.” 5. Head and feet. Table X. (pp. 452, 453) gives a summary of the results of these separations. The general result is, that when the proportion of non-nitro- genous to nitrogenous substance in the food was comparatively high, the proportion of carcass in the live-weight was also com- paratively high ; and the carcasses themselves at the same time comprised a larger proportion of the fat, and a less one of the lean, parts. There cannot be a doubt that those animals which yielded the largest proportion of carcass, and whose carcasses consisted in the larger proportion of the fat parts, would be those most valued by the consumer, and for which the feeder would get the highest price.* Attention has already been called to the fact, that, taking only the price of the food and the value of the manure into considera- tion, it would be the interest of the farmer to employ the more highly nitrogenous foods pretty liberally. It was shown, on the other hand, that when the proportion of nitrogenous to non-nitrogenous substance in the food exceeded a stated amount, the proportion of increase in live-weight obtained, for a given amount of food, was either less or but very little greater. It is now further seen, that with an excessive proportion of nitroge- nous substance in the food, the proportion of carcass was less, and the proportion of the carcass itself that consisted of the more valued fat parts, was also less. In fact, at any rate during the last few weeks of the fattening of pigs, the proportion of nitrogenous to non-nitrogenous substance in the food should very little exceed that existing in the cereal grains. * In connexion with the question of the influence of the food, and the cha- racter of development of the animal, upon the character and value of the meat produced, it may here be further mentioned, that in the case of some of the sheep that were fed experimentally upon different foods, joints from selected animals were roasted, and the weights of the cooked meat, the dripping, and the loss by evaporation, determined. The result was, that both the leg and the loin of a sheep that had been fattened upon steeped barley, and mangolds, and which gave a very rapid increase, gave several per cent. less cooked meat, and lost more both of fat in the form of dripping, and of water, than the corresponding joints of a _ sheep which had been fed upon dry barley, and mangolds, and which gaye only about half the amount of gross increase within the same period of time. and of their Inerease whilst Fattening. 455 11].—Cuemicat Composition oF Oxen, SureP, AND Pics, IN DIFFERENT CONDITIONS OF GrowTH AND FarTyess. The mineral matter, the nitrogenous substance, and the fat, have been determined in certain separated parts, and in the entire bodies, of 10 animals, namely :— 1. A fat calf—of the Durham breed; 9 or 10 weeks old; taken from the dam feeding upon grass; killed Sep- tember 12, 1849. 2. A half-fat ox—Aberdeen breed ; about 4 years old; fed on fattening food ; but which had grown rather than fat- tened ; killed November 14, 1849. . A moderately fat ox—Aberdeen breed; about 4 years old ; fed on fattening food ; killed October 30, 1849. . A fat lamb—Hampshire Down; about 6 months old; killed August 17, 1849. 5. A store sheep—Hampshire down; about a year old; killed February 28, 1850. 6. A half-fat old sheep—Hampshire Down ewe; 3} years old; killed May 3, 1849. 7. A fat sheep—Hampshire Down; 1} year old; killed May 7, 1849. 8. A very fat sheep—Hampshire Down; 1} year old; killed December 13, 1848. 9. A store pig; killed May 12, 1850. 10. A fat pig; same litter as last; fed on fattening food for 10 weeks; killed July 18, 1850. Of the 10 animals analysed, the store sheep and the store pig were certainly in a much leaner condition than that in which sheep and pigs are usually, if ever, slaughtered for food in this country. Sometimes, though seldom, oxen and sheep may be killed in as lean a state as the “ half-fat ox,” and the “ half-fat old sheep.” The “fat calf,” the “ fat ox,” the ‘fat lamb,” and the ‘* fat sheep,” may perhaps be taken as fairly representing the average conditions, respectively, of such animals of reputed good quality, and admitted to be properly fattened. The “ extra fat sheep” was, undoubtedly, considerably fatter than mutton as usually killed; it was, in fact, in the condition of what is called “Christmas mutton.” The “ fat pig” was somewhat larger and fatter than the average of the animals consumed in large proportion as fresh pork ; but certainly less, and not so fat, as the average of those fed and slaughtered more exclusively for curing. The composition of the carcass, and of the offal, respectively, of each of the 10 animals, is given in Table XI. (p. 456); and that of the entire bodies in Table XII. (p. 457.) = 9 456 On the Composition of Oxen, Sheep, and Pigs, Taare XI. Percentages of Mineral Matter, Nitrogenous Compounds, Fat, Total Dry Substance, and Water, in the Carcasses, and in the Offal, respectively, of 10 Animals of different. descriptions, or in different conditions of Growth and Fatness. Mineral pha Total DESCRIPTION OF ANIMAL. Matter Compounds Fat Dry Water. (Ash). (Dry). (Dry). Substance, Per Cent. in Carcass. BataCalii snterlm desaesom «2 4°48 16°6 16.6 37°7 62°3 Half-fati@xX -cterse, frcis sole tee 5°56 17°8 22°6 46°0 54°0 Fat Ox ao. toc, Sete Ac aa 4°56 15:0 34°8 54°4 45°6 atilamby es Gs ico) tock uceull dtOn6S 10°9 36°9 51+4 48°6 Store Sheep ac. Bso. be. ME 4°36 14°5 23°8 42°7 57°3 Half-fat old Sheep .. .. «. 4°13 14°9 31°3 50°3 49°7 IESG) 60 6c eo 100, oC 3°45 11°5 45°4 60°3 39°7 Extra fat Sheepisc. w+ wo os 2°77 9-1 55°1 67°0 33°0 UOT a5 6S ea Jor oa 257 14°0 28°1 44°7 55°38 Fat Pig AM icemhn ee. Tome Nee 1°40 10°5 49°5 61°4 38°6 Meansiofiall) “ae cs as 3°69 13°5 34°4 516 48°4 Per Cent. in Offal (=sum of Parts, excluding Contents of Stomachs and Intestines). Fat Calf ope tek soe worl) Oo a em 14°6 35°1 64°9 Half-fat Ox Bk bees tis amar 4.05 20°6 15-7 | 40°4 59°6 Fat Ox we eee ee ee | BAO | 17S 26°38 | 47:2 52°8 Fat Lamb . 18: 20°1 41°5 58°5 9 Store Sheep.. O05 oD O86 2 Half-fat old Sheep .. .. «| 2° HatiSheepiy ica) jaca) s mcm seas te core 2% Extia fatiSheepl crs son jee) oreo Store Pigt- cs - sous wees oe =f ot |) 8707 14° 15*0 32:1 67°9 Fat Pig tom) cif iol bee che 2°97 14: 22°8 40°6 59° 4 S| ES Means ofall .. .. «- 3°02 Weis 21-0 41°2 58°8 For a full discussion of the composition of these 10 animals, and more especially for a consideration of the bearing of the results upon the question of the probable average composition of the meat consumed as human food, and its relations to bread, the reader is referred to our Paper in the Transactions of the Royal Society, already quoted. 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Composition of the Carcasses. Looking first to the composition of the different carcasses, it is seen, that in every instance, excepting that of the calf, there was considerably more of dry fat than of dry nitrogenous com- pounds, In the carcass of even the store or lean sheep, there was more than one and a half time as much fat as nitrogenous substance ; and in that of the store or lean pig, there was twice as much. In the carcass of the half-fat ox there was one-fourth more fat than nitrogenous matter; and in that of the half-fat old sheep, there was more than twice as much. Of the fatter animals, the carcass of the fat ox contained twice and one-third as much dry fat as nitrogenous substance ; that of the fat sheep four times, and that of the very fat sheep, even six times as much. Lastly, in the carcass of the moderately fat pig, there was nearly five times as much fatty matter as nitroge- nous compounds. From these results it may, perhaps, be safely inferred, that in the carcasses of beef, of reputed good condition, there will be seldom less than twice as much, and frequently nearly three times as much dry fat as dry nitrogenous substance. In the car- casses of sheep we should conclude, that the fat would generally amount to more than three, and frequently to four or even more, times as much as the nitrogenous matter. Finally, it may be estimated that in the carcasses of pigs hilled for fresh pork, there will frequently be about four times as much fat as nitrogenous compounds; whilst, in those fed for curing, the fat will he ina considerably higher proportion. The fat of the bones bears but a small proportion to that of the whole carcass, whilst of the whole nitrogen of the carcasses, perhaps not less than one-fifth will be in their bones. As the animal matures, the mineral, the nitrogenous, and the fatty matters, all increase in actual amount; but the percentage in the carcass of both mineral matter and nitrogenous substance decreases, whilst that of the fat increases so as to much more and of their Increase whilst Iattening. 459 than compensate for the decrease in that of the other solid mat- ters. The result is, that there is an increase in the percentage of total dry aikmaeate: In the carcasses of the leaner animals there were from 54 to 62 per cent. of water; namely, in that of the calf 624, of the store sheep 574, of the store pig 554, and of the half-fat ox 54 per cent. The Waxdasscs of all the Omics minal contained less than 50 per cent., and those of the fattest less than 40 per cent., of water. That of the moderately-fattened ox contained 454, at the fat lamb 482, of the half-fat sheep 492, of the fat sheep 392, and of the very fat sheep only 33, per cent. of water. Lastly, in the carcass of the moderately-fattened pig there were 383 per cent. of water. Between the condition in which these particular car- casses were taken for analysis and that in which the meat would be sold by the butcher, from 1 to 2 per cent., or perhaps more, of water would be lost by evaporation. The bones contain a higher percentage of dry matter than the collective soft parts. The proportion of bone is the highest in oxen, less in sheep, and still less in pigs. It is, too, the less the fatter the animal. The percentage of dry matter in the bone increases as the animal matures. From the whole of the data adduced on the point, it may perhaps be safely concluded that the average of well- fattened carcass-beef will contain 50 per cent., or ee more, of dry substance; that of properly-fattened mmntion rather more than beef—say 55 to 60 per cent.; that of pigs killed for fresh pork rather more than sheep; and the sides of pigs killed for curing still more. Lamb carcasses appear to contain a smaller propor- tion of dry substance than either moderately-fattened beef, mutton, or pork. But, of all, the carcass of the calf contains the least proportion of dry substance ; and, at the same time, its proportion of bone is higher than in that of any other of the animals. Such, then, is the composition of the carcass, or that part of the animal which it is the object of the feeder to develop as much as possible. Composition of the Offal. Upon the composition of the collective offal parts very few comments on the records given in the Table need be made. The percentage of mineral matter, mainly dependent on the proportion of bone, is generally less in the collective offal than in the collective carcass parts. It is, too, in the former less than the figures in the Table indicate; for these include a quantity of adventitious dirt, which it was impossible to remove from the hair of the oxen, but more particularly from the wool of the sheep, and especially from that of the extra-fat one. VOL. XXI. 21 460 On the Composition of Oxen, Sheep, and Pigs, The percentage of dry nitrogenous substance is in every case greater, and that of the fat very much less, in the collective offal than in the collective carcass parts. A very large proportion of the nitrogenous substance of the offal—in some cases nearly half— is due to the pelt and hair, or wool. Of the remainder, perhaps, on the average, only about as much will be used as human food as will not be consumed of the nitrogenous substance of the bones of the carcass, With the larger percentage of nitrogenous substance and the less percentage of fat, the collective offal parts have invariably a less percentage of total dry substance, and therefore a larger pro- portion of water, than the collective carcass parts. Composition of the Entire Bodies. It is, of course, the composition of the entire bodies of the fattened animals which represents that of the gross product of the feeding process. [It is this, therefore, that is of the most interest to the Farmer; and it is this which has to be considered in relation to the constituents of food expended in its production. Table XII. shows the percentage of mineral matter, of dry nitro- genous compounds, of fat, of total dry substance, and of water, in the entire body of each of the ten animals analysed. It at the same time shows how much of the total amount of each consti- tuent was contained in the carcass, and how much in the offal parts. The Mineral Matter—There is a marked diminution in the percentage of mineral matter in the entire body as the animal matures, It may be judged from the figures that from 3% to 4 per cent. (according to breed and condition) of the,fasted live-weight of fattened calves and oxen will be mineral matter. Excluding the adventitious matter of the wool, the proportion of mineral matter in fattened lambs and sheep would probably be often as little as 24, and seldom more than 3 per cent. In pigs the proportion of mineral matter is still less. In a well-fattened pig of good breed it may amount to only 14 per cent., or even less, of its standing live-weight. In a young unfattened pig there were found 2°67 per cent. of mineral matter; but in an animal of worse breed, or in a leaner condition still, it may be judged that there might be 3 per cent. , As an average estimate of the mineral matter in store animals sold off or brought on the farm, we should be disposed to adopt 41 to 5 per cent. of the live-weight of oxen, 3 to 34 per cent, for sheep, and 2} to 3 per cent. for pigs. As a general average estimate, it may be assumed that 35 to 40 per cent. of the mineral matter of the entire bodies will be phosphoric acid, and 5 to 6 per cent. potash, and of their Increase whilst Fattening. 461 The Nitrogenous Compounds.—Of total nitrogenous compounds, as well as total mineral matter, oxen seem to contain (in parallel conditions) rather more than sheep, and sheep rather more than pigs. Including bones, pelt, hair or wool, and internal organs, the entire body of a fat calf contained about 151, of a moderately-fat ox 144, of a fat lamb 121, of a fat sheep 124, of a very fat one 11, and of a moderately-fattened pig about the same amount, namely, 10-9 per cent. of dry nitrogenous substance. The store animals contained from 2 to 3 per cent. more of total dry nitrogenous substance than the moderately-fat ones. The Fat.—The fat constitutes by far the most prominent item in the dry or solid matter of the fed and slaughtered animals. Of the animals not ripe for the butcher, the entire body of the half-fat ox contained 18? per cent. of dry fat, or more than of dry nitrogenous substance, and nearly as much as of nitrogenous sub- stance and mineral matter put together. The entire body of the store sheep contained nearly 19 per cent. of fat, or more than of other solid matter, and that of the half-fat old sheep about 234 per cent., or more than 14 time as much as of dry nitrogenous sub- stance. The store pig contained about 233 per cent. of fat, or about the same amount as the half-fat old sheep, but a somewhat larger proportion to the other solid matters. _ Of the animals fit for the butcher, the entire body of the fat ox contained rather more, and that of the fat lamb rather less, than 30 per cent. of fat ; that of the fat sheep 354 per cent., that of the very fat sheep 453 per cent., and that of the fat pig 42 per cent. The body of the fat calf contained only 144 per cent. of fat, or less both in actual amount and in proportion to the other solid matters than that of any of the other animals analysed. Thus, analysis shows that the entire bodies of some of the most important animals fed and slaughtered for human food, even when in a reputed Jean condition, may contain more dry fat than dry nitrogenous compounds. This was the case with the half-fat ox, a store or lean young sheep, a half-fat old sheep, and a store or lean young pig. In fact, the two latter—the half-fat old sheep and the store pig—contained nearly 1? time as much dry fat as dry nitrogenous matter. Of the animals ripe for the butcher, an ox contained rather more than twice as much, a moderately-fat sheep nearly three times as much, and a very fat sheep rather more than four times as much, dry fat as dry nitrogenous substance. A moderately-fat pig also contained about four times as much dry fat as dry nitro- genous substance. Even a fat lamb yielded more than twice as much, The calf alone, though professedly fattened, contained rather less fat than nitrogenous matter, - yA 462 On the Composition of Oxen, Sheep, and Pigs. Taking the mean composition of the six animals assumed to be fit for the butcher—namely, the fat calf, the fat ox, the fat. lamb, the fat sheep, the very fat sheep, and the fat pig—we have, in round numbers, 3 per cent. of mineral matter, 13 per cent. of dry nitrogenous compounds, and 33 per cent. of fat, in their fasted live-weight, — 49 per cent. total dry substance, exclusive of that of the contents of stomachs and intestines. All the experimental evidence conspires to show that the so- called “ fattening” of animals is properly so designated. Even ‘*/ean” animals have been seen to contain more fat than nitro- genous compounds. After the feeding or fattening process, the percentage of the total dry substance of the body is considerably increased; and the fatty matter accumulates in much larger proportion than the nitrogenous compounds. It is obvious, there- fore, that the increase of the fattening animal must contain a lower percentage of nitrogenous substance, and a higher one of both fat and total dry substance, than the entire body of the slaughtered animal. Moreover, with the comparatively small increase in the amount of bone, and the small accumulation of soft nitrogenous parts, we should expect the percentage of mineral matter also to be very small in the increase of the fat- tening animal, TV. EstiaatTep ComposITION OF THE INCREASE OF FATTENING OXEN, SHEEP, AND PGs. It is obvious that, provided we knew the composition of an animal when it weighéd any given weight—say 100 Ibs. —and again, when, after fattening, it had reached another weight— say 150 lbs.—it would be a very easy matter to calculate the actual and the percentage composition of the 50 Ibs. that had been gained. ‘The practical difficulty rests in the fact that we cannot know the exact composition of a fattened animal at the time it was put upon fattening food, or when it had reached any given previous weight. Exercising a careful judgment on the point, we have applied the composition of the respective animals analysed in the lean condition, to the known weights of numbers of animals of the same description, when assumed to be in a similar Jean condition. In like manner the composition of the fat animals analysed has been applied to the weights of the same animals after being fattened. In the manner here described, the composition of the increase of 98 fattening oxen, 349 fattening sheep, and 80 fattening pigs —each divided into numerous classes, according to breed, con- dition of maturity, or description of food—has been calculated. The composition of the increase, so calculated, together with some i and of their Increase whilst Fattening. 463 collateral particulars of the feeding experiments, are recorded in the three following Tables : Table XIII. referring to oxen, Table XIV. to sheep, and Table XV. to pigs :— Taste XIII.—Estimated Composition of the Zncrease of Fattening Buutocks and Hreirers, [Nore.—Original weight taken at the Composition of the ‘‘ Half-fat Ox ”’ analysed. Final weight at the Composition of the “Fat Ox” analysed. GENERAL PARTICULARS OF THE EXPERIMENTS. Sie path Rapti N “ Nit um- . cae crease . itro- . A Duration Description Mi- i Total! Authority, | pesetip-| ber |o "or of upon | neral’| 2204S! Fat | Dry Ming fe Aarne ae Experi- | Fattening Food. Ori- Matter pounds (dry).| Sub- mals.) ™ment ginal (ash). (dry). stance. weigh eee | a, | 2 I Sa wks.days. Gereiehe ¢ wedish tur Male: } Heifers | 12 | 18 6 { mins hay, ana } 26°0 | 1°05 | 6°51 | 72°5 | 80°0 =) ay oat-straw Oilcake, pa Hon. = Bullocks! 50 | 29} 0 f meal, and 30°4 | 1°47 | 7:68 | G63 | 75°4 Greyt ean Se licake, Dean- MGrest } Bullocks 36 | 26t 0 | meal, and } 324 | 162 | slo | 641] 73.8 ay | turnips. Average—98 animals . . | 1°47 | 7°69 | 66°2| 75°4 * Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, vol. xvi. pp. 103-109, + Gardeners’ Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette, pp. 715 and 732 (1852.) It is obvious that the correctness of the estimates of the com- position of increase recorded in the Tables will entirely depend upon the degree of identity of the composition of the specimen animals analysed with that of those to which the analytical data are applied in the calculations. ‘The results must indeed be looked upon as only approximations; though we believe the data now supplied constitute the most reliable basis for estimates of this kind at present at command. ~ So far as oxen are concerned, we have taken for our estima- tions of the composition of increase the best experiments on record with which we are acquainted, that show, so far as can be judged, a progress comparable with that supposed in the change from the condition of the “ half-fat” to that of the “ fat- ox” analysed. In regard to sheep and pigs, we take the data supplied by our own numerous feeding-experiments, the results of most of which, so far as the relation of gross increase in live-weight to the amount of food, or its constituents, consumed, is concerned, have already been published in full, either in this Journal or elsewhere, and of which a condensed summary is given at the commence- ment of this Article. By the side of the estimates of the composition of the increase of the fattening pigs there is given, for the sake of comparison, the 464 On the Composition of Oxen, Sheep, and Pigs, TavLe XIV.—Estimated Composition of the Increase of Fattening Suexp. (GENERAL PARTICULARS OF THE EXPERIMENTS. | Calculated per Cent. in Increase. In- Per Nae Description of Fattening Food. | crease | cent. Nitro Nom Total Banat upon |Carcass}Mineral genous ecual De Breed. ‘Ans. |Duration. ar 100 in || matter | Com- eens | Sub mals. eee, Given eo Fasted | (ash).* | pounds) stance | stance. Quantities. : ad libitum. weigh ‘ (fat), ight. -| weight, Chass 10m ginal ah taken at the ee of the « Store Sheep” analysed. Final weight at the composition of the “Fat Sheep” analysed. wks, days potswolds SPH 46 19) 15 53°1 59°6 2°14 7°34 67°5 77°O eicesters . . 40 | 20 0 . seal} 4470 | 57°2 | 2°01 | 6°34 | 74°2 | 82°5 Cross-bred wethers} 40 | 20 0 Oilcake and «} (Swedish. J! ge-p | cag | Boga) eal aR | 60-6 Cross-bred ewes . | 40 | 20. 0 CrONEr DRY: ae EE 46°6 | 586 | 2°05 | 6°67 | 7270. | 40°7 Hants Downs . , | 40 | 26 0 61°4 | 59° | 2°23 | stol | 63°2 | 73°5 Sussex Downs. .| 40 | 26 0 59°9 | 5879 | 2°22 | 7790 | 63°9 | 74°0 Means. .. . 52°0 58°6 2°12 716 68°8 | 78°0 Cass II.—Original weight taken at the composition of the “Fat Sheep” analysed. Final weight at the composition of the ‘‘ Extra Fat Sheep” analysed. Cotswolds . . . 6 34. «6 0 81°0 Leicesters . . 7 34°44 Grass, i 79°9 Cross-bred wethers 8 34.4 Oileake and turnips, 3 80°4 Cross-bred ewes . 8 34.4 clover hay. &e. in fi) 79°6 Hants Downs. . 8 31). 5 the field. 3 £5°6 Sussex Downs. . 8 31.5 |} "5 || 84°1 Means... se 9 | sis “Ch Ass III. (Serres 1.})— Original weight taken at the mean composition of the “Store” aud the “Fat Sheep” analysed. Final weight at the composition of the ‘“‘Fat Sheep” analysed. 5 | 13 6 |Oileake. ... ite 23°3 | 5676 | 2°00 | 6769 | 72:0 | sor7 Hants Downs . { 5 W d3) 6, || \Oatsweas. é Hee 5°8 | 56° | 2°12 | 721 | 68°5 | 77°8 5 | 11 6 | Cloverchaff. " U gg | 53°3 | 2:19 | 7759 | ee | 75-7 Means... . 29°6 55°5 2°10 7°16 68°8 78°1 Cha! Ass IV. (Serres 2.$)—Original weight taken at the mean composition of the ‘‘ Store ” and Ihe “Wat Sheep” analysed, Final weight at the composition of the “Fat Sheep” analysed. 5 4 ; eee Ae win ~ 25°1 a oi 7 aS 5 mmseed . 2 « » over 23°6 \2 Mf Hants Downs °. 5 | 19 1 |Barley : 2 . :{{ chaff. 23°1 6°62 | 72°4 5 NO" 1) eM F oo Pacts. = 20°1 5°78 178 patos etm te ai] 25°0 6°55 72°8 CL ASS :V. (am 4, Original wane taken at the composition of the “ Store Sheep’ * plus two- thirds of the difference between the “ Store” and « Fat Sheep” analysed. inal weight at the composi- tion of the‘ “ Fat Sheep 3 analysed. 4 10 O | Barley(ground) . |) f 15°6 58°3 2°10 5p cle 0. 4{ Male Gerona), } | 161 | 579 | 210 Barley (ground C ory Hants Downs . 4)\p 10-0 { and steeped). } \ Man- 1859 Arey Ta eae Malt (ground )/f golds. 1 4 10 0 and stee ped), } | 13°9 | 58°6 | 1°92 ae mat di =a alt (groun . . . {Aes ft Tt eae 162 | 5579 | 204 Means 4.5 ce. cent| H16-0 57°6 General Means ofall . . * The amounts of “ mineral matter” are too high, owing to the adventitious matters retained by the wool; the numbers for “Class II.’’ will be most excessive from this cause; see text, pp. 459, 460, and 467. + Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, vol. xii. part 2; vol. xiii. ‘part Lis and vol. xvi. part 1. t Ibid. vol. X. part 1. and of their Increase whilst Fattening. 465 TanLeE XV.—Estimated Composition of the Increase of Fattening Pies, [Norz.—In all cases Original weight taken at the Composition of the ‘Store Pig” analysea. Final weight taken at the Composition of the “ Fat Pig” analysed. | GENERAL PARTICULARS OF THE EXPERIMENTS. Calculated per Cent. in Increase. Bec : In- Per ’ c | Num- Description of Fattening Food. crease | Cent. } 4;. | Nitro- 2h Total er upon | Carcass! neral | S¢nous = s : ~ | genous} Dry Pens.| of |Duration. ai : on uns q | Matter oe Sub- | Sub- ni- Given in Given 2 (ash).* eg ce stance. i at). ae Limited Quantity. ad libitum. woah acne The ‘*Store” and “ Fat Pig” actually analysed. wks.days. 1 a Mil . cbs Vb - Per \ ay as Li | Mixture of bran 1, bean and lentil mea Ks . re en Seah PETE 1 10 0 { and barley-meal 3 parts, ad libitum. . ~ } 8o"4 82°8 | O'S3t | T6t | GS1t | 714 Serres I.f 1 ‘ 3 INGE fen gies co ei woe) Ts 68°9 81'9 f 0°16 6°73 69°6 76°5 21 34] Indian-meal | >]! \ Bee aad { 79°6 | 830 | 0-36 | 7:29-| 65°9 | 7376 4 3 Indian-meal and bran . oe 59°0 §2°2 |—0°07 6°03 74°2 80°1 5 3 NOM 6 Pie. ce: ere 51°3 85°4 0°36 5°29 79°0 84°0 6 | 3 |), o{| Beanandlentil meal >: F 67:0 | 84:4 | O10 | Gel | vOr4 | 771 7 3 0 Pram’ ss") 5. fe eS Indian-meal 74°5 8&3°7 0°26 7°02 67°5 74°9 8 3 { Bean and lentil meal and } 80°3 83'S 0°37 1°32 65°7 73°4 bran . eerie, Bean and lentil meal, Indian-meal and bran, F -g |-o-o4 | Gos | 73°9 79°8 Pa ti Coating. }{ 59°72 | sso ; i 24 5 Weans) cus, «ys 67°5 §3°5 0°09 6°54 70°8 W7'4 Series II.t 1 3 ENoney §.) «leeks! 2, se) 45°0 —0°66 4°56 84°1 £8°0 2 3 Barley-meal . . . . . Bean and 63°7 0°03 6°37 71°9 78°3 3 3 Pranic Shs) bs lentil meal. 59°7 —0°04 6‘0T 73°8 79°8 es: 3 Barley-meal and bran. . bor’ —0°17 5°71 76°1 81°7 5 3 i SE Peeato yt Senne ees 64°9 0°07 6°46 71°6 77'8 6 3 Bean and lentil meal . . 58°6 —0°08 5°98 14°4 0°3 7 3 8 0 Koide, cpl mptramat-iemnacge Barley-meal 65°0 0°07 | 6°46 | 71°3 | 77'8 8 3 | Hee and lentil meal and 44°6 64 | 4:49 | s4-4 | ge-2 Q, Mixture of bran 1, barley-meal 2, and bean A _ : anid 5 9& 10) 6 { and lentil meal 3 parts, ad libitum . . 63°7 0°06 6°38 i1°8 183 11&12) 6 Mixture of bran 1, bean and lentil meal 2, wae A wOF ve ale | { and barley-meal 3 parts, ad libitum. . 14°6 OF |G Obie GTA a8 36 Means. . . . 61°1 —o-l0 | 5°95 | 74:6 | s0°5 Serres III.t 1 4 Bran and In- ‘ ‘ . wes et L 8 0| Dried cod-fish rset 7 ome ee Oe ts NO atic i 1 2| 4 is Indian-meal 60°1 | 873 |—0705 | G12 | 73°6 | 79°7 8 Means. . . . | 55°% | 86°0 |—0'21 | 5°69 | 76°3 | 81°8 Sertzss IV.§ 1 *| BS | : Sugar . . . | g64 | a31 | o-4s | v53 | 641 | 7271 2 | 3 |‘i9 9 <| Lentil mealandbean . .4| Starch . . . | 87°0 | 80°1 | 0°48 | 7°58 | 63°9 | 72-0 3 3 t Sugarand starch | 96°8 | 81°7 | 0°58 | 7°98 | 62°0 | 70°6 4 3 Lentils, bran, sugar, starch, each ad libitum | 106°8 80°8 0°70 8°17 59°9 68°8 Means. . . . | 94°3 | 81 (Genoralk Meare 2G. 0. 0 ue cel 0108 6°44 | 715 78°0 * The amount of mineral matter is probably in many cases too low, see text, 3 468. + These figures are somewhat corrected from those given in the Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science for l#2, where the Composition of the Increase of this analysed “‘ Fat Pig” is given as follows:—Mineral Matter 0°43, Nitrogen 1°33 (equal about 8°38 Nitrogenous Compounds), 63'4 Fat, and 71°8 Total Dry Substance. t For further particulars of the experiments, see Said of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, vol. xiv. part 2. ' f § e further particulars of the experiments, see Keport of the British Association for the Advancement of Science ‘or " 466 On the Composition of Oxen, Sheep, and Pigs, the estimated composition of the increase from the store to the fat condition of the single pig that was put up to fatten when it was, as nearly as could be judged, in a parallel state to the one analy sed as “ store,” and was itself afterwards analysed as “ fat,” and whose composition, together with that of the store animal, provides the data for application to the other cases. Noticing first the composition of the increase of the oxen, it is probable that the estimate is the most nearly correct for the 36 animals that were under experiment for 26% weeks, and whose proportion of increase upon 100 original weight was the highest. The mean of all the 98 animals gives, for the compo- sition of the increase, 75-4 per cent. of total dry substance, of which 66-2 were fat, 7°69 dry nitrogenous compounds, and 1:47 mineral matter. These figures may perhaps be taken as pretty nearly representing the average composition of the increase, over the concluding period of halfia year or more, of animals fed on good fattening food, and brought at last to a fair condi- tion of maturity and’ fatness. In passing a judgment as to the probable direction of their error, we should say that the fat and total dry matter may possibly be stated somewhat too high, and the nitrogenous matter somewhat too low. An examination of Table XIV., relating to sheep, will show that the several “Classes” of animals were fed upon different foods, and for different periods of time, and gave accordingly different proportions of increase upon 100 original weight, and also different proportions of carcass in fasted live-weight. ‘These points are of course taken into consideration in adopting, from the data relating to the animals actually analysed, a composition for the original and final weights respectively on the different Classes. Thus, in Class I., large numbers of animals were fed for a con- siderable period of time from a fair store to a fair fat condition. Accordingly the composition of the analysed ‘store sheep” is applied to the original weights, and that of the analysed “ fat sheep” to the final weights. In Class II. the animals were fed fon a fat to a very fat con- dition—in fact, to the condition of what is called ‘ Christmas mutton.” In face cases, therefore, the original weights are calculated at the composition. of “fat sheep,” and the final weights at that of the “extra-fat sheep’” analysed. In Classes III. and IV. the animals were taken in a partially fattened condition, and fed to that of moderate fatness. In the case of Class IIT. fhe period of the feeding experiment was com- paratively short; and in that of Class 1V. the food was not well adapted for fattening: Hence in these cases the proportion of increase upon the original weights averaged only about half as and of their Increase whilst Fattening. 467 much as in Class I. Having regard to these circumstances, the composition of the original weights of the sheep of Clacses. If. and [V. is taken at the mean between that: of the “store” and that of the “fat sheep ” analysed ; and that of their final weights at that of the “fat sheep” itself, From considerations of a similar nature, in Class V., the ori- ginal weights are taken at a composition two-thirds advanced from that of the “store” to that of the ‘‘ fat sheep” analysed. The final weights are taken at the composition of the analysed “ fat sheep.” The percentage of carcass in fasted live-weight, as given in the Table, shows pretty well the comparative final condition of the respective lots; and this was obviously not widely different in Classes I., III., [V., and V. It must not be supposed that the differences which the figures show in the estimated composition of the increase of the different sets of animals within one and the same Class, may really be taken as representing the variations in composition attributable to the variations in breed, food, &c. All that can be claimed is, that the results as a whole give the best indications of the composition of the increase of fattening sheep at present at com- mand, and that they pretty fairly represent the differences between Class and Class. From the figures in the Table, it would appear that the in- crease of the fattening sheep contained from 2 to 3 per cent. of mineral matter. Either of these estimates is, however, un- doubtedly too high. The error is due to the fact that there was a quantity of dirt in the wool, which added considerably to the weight of its ash; and it happened to be the greater in that of the fatter animals. Excluding altogether from the calculations the ash of the wool, the percentage of mineral matter in the increase of these fattening sheep would appear to be certainly under 2, and sometimes under 14, per cent. In the increase of the fattening sheep the average estimate of nitrogenous compounds is 7:13, of fat 70°4, and of total dry sub- stance 79°9 per cent. Thus the calculations show a rather less percentage of nitrogenous compounds, and a rather higher one of both fat and total dry substance, in the increase of the fatten- ing sheep than in that of the oxen. It would be expected that, under comparable conditions, such would be the case. The composition of the increase from the store to the fat con- dition of the analysed fat pig (see top of Table XV.) shows 053 per cent. mineral matter, 7:76 per cent. nitrogenous com- pounds, 63:1 per cent. of fat, and in all 71:4 per cent. of total dry substance. Against these numbers, which undoubtedly represent the truth very closely for the particular animal to which they refer, the 468 On the Composition of Oxen, Sheep, and Pigs, average of all the other estimates gives 0:06 per cent. mineral matter, 6-44 per cent. nitrogenous compounds, 71°5 per cent. of fat, and 78:0 per cent. of total dry substance—that is, less mineral matter and nitrogenous compounds, and several per cent. more fat and total dry substance than in the case of the single analysed fat pig. Most of the animals, the composition of whose increase is thus estimated, were, in fact, in a somewhat further advanced condition than the single animal, both at the commence- ment (as was shown by the original weights) and at the conclu- sion, as is seen by the percentages of carcass in fasted live-weight recorded in the Table. According to the figures in the Table, the percentage of mineral matter in the increase of the pigs was in all cases very small; in fact, in many cases, there was apparently a loss of mineral matter during the fattening process. From the known tendency of the pig to fatten rather than to grow, when liberally fed with the current fattening food-stuffs, we should expect that the bony framework—the chief storehouse of mineral matter— would develop less in its case than in that of either fattening sheep or oxen. Still it is not safe to assume, upon the evidence of the analysis of only two animals, that there would frequently be an actual reduction of the total mineral matter of the body during the fattening period. The more probable alternative is, that for the purpose of the application of their composition to the cases in the Table, the analysed fat pig was, compared with the analysed leaner one, of somewhat too light a frame, The following Table shows, at one view, the mean results of the numerous estimates of the composition of the increase whilst fattening, for each of the three descriptions of animal—oxen, sheep, and pigs :-— TabtE XVI. Estimated per cent. in Increase whilst Fattening. cei Mineral | Nitrogenous Total Dry Matter (Ash),| Compounds Fat. Substance. (Dry). Average—98 Oxen .. .. .. 1:47 7°69 66°2 75°4 Average—348 Sheep .. .. .. 2°34* 7°13 70°4 APY) Average—80 Pigs Rtean! be 0*06t 6°44 (fiers, 78°0 The analysed Fat Pig.. .. .. 0°53 7°76 63°1 71°4 Mean 18h ee St i0 7°26 67*8 76°2 * Probably 0°5 per cent., or more, too high, owing to the amount of adventitious matters in the wool of the sheep analysed, particularly the ‘fatter ones; see text, pp, 459, 460, and 467. + Probably too low; see text above. It may probably be estimated that the increase of liberally fed and of their Increase whilst Fattening. 469 oxen, over 6 months or more of the final fattening period, will consist of 70 to 75 per cent. total dry substance—of which 60 to 65 parts will be fat, 7 to 8 parts nitrogenous compounds, and about 14 part mineral matter. On the same plan of calculation the final increase of well-fed sheep, fattening during several months, will probably consist of 75 per cent. or more of total dry substance—of which 65 to 70 parts will be fat, 7 to 8 parts nitrogenous compounds, and perhaps about 1} part mineral matter. The increase of pigs fed for fresh pork, during the final 2 or 3 months on fattening food, may be taken at about 674 to 724 per cent. total dry substance—60 to 65 per cent. fat, 64 to 8 per cent. nitrogenous substance, and considerably less than 1 per cent. of mineral matter. The increase over the last few months of high feeding, of pigs fed for curing, will contain considerably higher per- centages of both fat and total dry substance, and lower ones of both nitrogenous compounds and mineral matter, than that of the more moderately fattened animal. It is obvious, that the composition of the increase of the animals will vary between that given above for the final fattening period, and that of the entire bodies (see Table XII.), according to the length of time included within the estimate, and to the age of the animal, and character of food, and the consequent character of growth. The composition of the increase during the whole course of existence will of course be very nearly re- presented by that of the animal at the time of being slaughtered. The latter will, however, indicate somewhat too high a per- centage of nitrogenous substance, and too low a one of fat, for the total increase during life; for at the time of birth the body will probably contain a higher proportion of nitrogenous to fatty matter than at any subsequent period. V.—RELATION OF THE CONSTITUENTS STORED UP IN THE IN- CREASE, TO THOSE CONSUMED IN THE FOOD, BY FATTENING ANIMALS, Having, in the cases of most of the sheep and of all the pigs that were experimentally fed, determined the amount of certain constituents of the food consumed to produce a given amount of increase in live-weight, and having now arrived at approximate estimates of the composition of the increase itself, we have obviously the means of calculating the proportion of the con- sumed constituents stored up in the increase of the fattening animal, We shall consider—(1.) the probable amount of each of the several constituents stored up in increase, for 100 of it con- 470 On the Composition of Oxen, Sheep, and Pigs, sumed ; (2.) the probable amount of each constituent stored up for 100 of total dry substance of food consumed ; (3.) the relation of the amount of fat stored up, to that of the ready-formed fat in the food. 1. Amounts of mineral matter, nitrogenous compounds, non-nitroge- nous substance, and total dry substance, stored up in increase Sor 100 of each consumed. In Table XVII. are recorded the estimates under this head relating to sheep, and in Table XVIII. those relating to pigs. There is evidence that, other things being equal, a highly nitrogenous food may give a tendency to a comparatively large increase in frame and flesh. At the same time, observation leads to the conclusion, that with animals fattening under or- dinary conditions, this tendency will not increase in anything like a numerical proportion to the increased proportion of nitro- genous constituents, supposing these to be consumed in excessive amount. The proportion of the nitrogenous matters in the increase is probably more affected by the age and habits of the animal than by their proportion in the food—provided of course that they are not in defective amount. Hence, and owing also to the small proportion of the respective constituents of the food finally retained in the increase, any error arising from adopting the same composition for the final weights of animals fattened on very various foods, is immaterial in forming merely general and average estimates of the proportion of the con- sumed constituents that will be stored up in the increase. Taking the figures in Table XVII. as they stand, the average of the numerous estimates relating to sheep, shows rather more than 3 per cent. of the consumed mineral matter, to be retained in the increase of the animal. Assuming the due correction on account of the extraneous matter in the ash of the wool of the sheep analysed, the result would show an average of less than 3 per cent. In Class IV. dry food alone was given, and the proportion of mineral matter to digestible organic substance in the food was very large. Hence, the proportion of the consumed mineral matter reckoned to be stored up in the increase is com- paratively very small—namely, only 1°68 per cent. Upon the whole it may be concluded, as an average estimate for sheep fattening for the butcher on a good mixed diet of dry and succulent food, that they will not carry off more, and per- haps frequently less, than 3 per cent. of the consumed mineral matter. Were it not that sheep are now generally fattened when still young and growing, the proportion retained in the increase during the period of fattening, would probably be extremely small. In fact, it can hardly be greatey, on the average, i above and of their Increase whilst Fattening. 471 Taste XVII.—Estimated Amount of certain Constituents stored up in Increas?, for 100 of each consumed in Food, by fattening SHrEp. GENERAL PARTICULARS OF THE’EXPERIMENTS. Amount of each class of Con- stituents stored up in Increase for 100 of the same consumed in Food, Description of Fattening Food. 2 Nitro- | Non- pen y Mineral] genous| nitro- ices Breed. Any Duration. tit 3 Matter) Com- | genous] gy. “i Given in Limited Given (ash).*| pounds| Sub- aon Y mails. Quantity. ad libitum. (dry). | stance, | S@2¢e- Cxuass If Leis! days. | Cotswolds 46 19 5 | 3°98 4°43 11°6 9°60 Leicesters ere 40 20 0 3°15 3°39 12°0 9°43 oa pene FH = 4 Oilcake and clover chaff '. Swedish turnips é es aa ee He Hants Downs . 40 2a, 0 3°40 4°28 10°3 8°49 Sussex Downs . 40 26 0 3°30 4°16 10°3 8°44 . Means cot 3°39 | 3°91 11°3 9°12 Cass III. (Series 1).¢ 5 13: ‘6 Gilexke) (2a elk 2 j a 4°16 4°01 | 9°33) Hants Downs . { 5 Stee Ger tw@atsi lave. 3%, vs . | Swedish turnips 5°73 707 10°0 9°45 5 13. 6 | Cloverchaff . . 5 3°98 7°44 9°0 8°49 Means = an) 4262 617 10°0 9°09 Crass IV. (Series 2).t 5 19 ; urate Spar spur ss. 65 18 2°20 6°3 pai 5 19 insee Beanand tentil-meat { 0°09 | 1°77 16°00 | 17°86 | 82°14 4 3 Indian meal and bran . = —0°01 1°21 14°95 | 16°15 | 83°85 5 3 DNODR Sc Save hoa ess), is —0°08 Vly 17°48 18°58 81°42 6 3 0 B til- Missa? 0°02 1°57 16°76 18°35 81°65 | Sip 04 | Bement tet as. A Oa ER | Me) ee ae 8 3 t eo and lentil meal rT j 0-09 | 1°85 16°59 | 18°53 | 81:47 lor ee al aera 12 3 Fete and lentil meal, Indian-meal, and bran, ae ool | 1°97 15°59 | 16°84 | 83°16 | HU bibeM ey RC HA) Sok. hitmen ote fad || sea [2 ae Wéan:.. og Me ee 0°03 1°51 16°27 17°81 82°19 Series II,t 1 3 INUNGEES ths? erotic? oS -—0°13 0°94 17°37 18°18 | 8s1°s2 © Yet is . 0°01 119 13°49 | 14°69} 85°31 5 3 aa sont iit, & ) cekane ben and lentit mea | —o'0l | 1°15 | 14°06] 15°20] 84°80 4 3 Barley-meal and bran. . . —0°03 1°09 14°50] 15°56 | 64°44 me] 8 Manolietbarotlsig. vet) 3 0°02 | 1:40 | 35°45] le's7|) 83°13 6 3 Bean and lentil meal . : —0°02 1°30 16°21 | 17°49 | 82°51 7 3 8 0 PAN yf.) | ve oo je. | ¢Barley-meal 0°0l 1°40 15°50 | 16°91 | 83°09 8 3 ee and lentil meal ont j 9°13 0°91 vis} 17°96 | 82°04 | YEN eis ides. *) Mixture of bran 1, barley-meal 2, and bean and F a 9&10| 6 | | { lentil meal 3 parts} adaoitom® x o.oo. } orol | “1°31 1a"7 | 1611 | 83°89 - Mixture of bran 1, bean and lentil meal 2, and barley- F A A isla, 6 \J L { meal 3 parts; adlibitum .... .... } 0506 166 15°88 | Iv"co | 62°40 Mea) ss, . 16 5. 6. of —O702 3°23 15°44 16°66 | 83°34 | Series III. — : J Le ee 2 a | Bran and Indian meal )|_,. é F F : 1 4 } 8 0 | Dried cod-fish . . . . {| (equal parts) . . } 8 ni | pili: Sie ay 2 4 | | Indianmeal. . . . -orol | 1°60 | 19°27] 20°86 | 79"I4 ‘(Meangiisiy. 5. \« [20704 | 1°36 | 1816 | 1949 | 80°51 Series IV, § 1 3 Lentil-meal and bran . . | Sugar OF | 176 15°01} 16°88 | 2 3 lo o 4} Lentil-meal and bran . . | Starch . Sy OLD fas 15°04 | 16°94 | 3 3 Lentil-méal and bran . Sugar and starch 0°13 | 1°82 14°13 | 16°08 | 4 3 Lentils, bran, sugar, starch; each ad libitum . 0719 | 1°96 14°36 | 16°50 | Means 013 | 1°83 | 1463} 16°60 Means of all o-v2 | 144 | 15°81 | 17°27 | * The amount of mineral matter is probably in many cases too low ; see text, pp. 468, 474, 475, and 478. + For further particulars of the Experiment, see Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science for 1852. t For further particulars of the Experiments, see Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, vol. xiv. part 2. For further particulars of the Experiments, see Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science for .c54. ages S) acm 478 On the Composition of Oxen, Sheep, and Pigs, In the case of both the oxen and the sheep, there is a striking uniformity in the proportion of the mineral to the nitrogenous matters of growth. In the pig, not only is the actual amount of mineral matter much less, but its proportion to the nitrogenous matters seems to decrease as the animals fatten. Thus, the pro- portion of mineral matter to 1 of nitrogenous substance was, in the carcass of the lean ox, 0°31, of the fat ox 0°30, of the store- sheep 0°30, of the fat sheep 0°30, and of the very fat sheep 0°30. On the other hand, in the carcass of the store-pig, the propor- tion of mineral matter to 1 of nitrogenous substance was 07183, and in that of the fat pig only 0:133. It would appear, there- fore, that the amount of mineral matter in the increase of the fattening pig will be less than in that of the sheep, both in pro- portion to the total increase itself, and to the coincidently accu- mulated nitrogenous compounds. When it is remembered that the usual fattening food of the pig consists largely of ripened seeds, containing comparatively little indigestible woody fibre, or immatured vegetable products, it will not appear surprising that 100 parts of the dry substance of its food should yield much more dry animal increase than 100 parts of that of the sheep. In the case of the sheep it was assumed (as the average of the cases wherein the food was of the most favourable kinds), that for 100 parts of dry substance con- sumed, only about 9 parts of dry increase were produced, and that 91 parts were in some form expired, perspired, or voided. Calculated in the same way, there were, in the case of the ana- lysed fat pig, only 85 per cent. of the dry substance of the food expired, perspired, or voided. And, taking the average of the | 24 lots of pigs, comprising 80 animals, similar calculations show only 82°7 per cent. of the dry substance of the food ex- pired, perspired, or voided. The relation of the ultimate elements in the total dry matter as- similated is, of course, very different from that in the total matters given off in the various ways from the system. It is not within the scope and object of the present paper to consider the com- position of the matters collectively given out from the body, and still less to determine the proportions, respectively, expired by the lungs, perspired by the skin, or voided in the liquid and solid excrements. Some illustration of the difference in ultimate composition, between the dry substance of the food, and that of the increase produced from it, will be brought to light in what now follows. 3. Relation of the Fat stored up in the Increase, to the ready-formed Fat, and other constituents, consumed in the food, &c. In the majority of the experiments with the pigs, the amount of ready-formed fatty matter in the food was determined. Com- and of their Increase whilst Fattening. 479 paring this with the estimated amount of fat in the increase, it appears (see Table XVIII.), that there were, on the average, 4 to 5 times as much fat stored up as there was so supplied in the food. In the case of the analysed fat pig, the result was obtained in as direct a manner as the nature of the question admits of; and it appeared that 405 parts of fat were stored up, for 100 consumed in food. The average of the other experi- ments shows 472 parts of fat in increase for 100 ready-formed in food. It seems not improbable that fat may be produced in the animal body by the aid of the products of transformation within it of nitrogenous compounds. But it is probable, that at least the main source of the produced fat is the non-nitrogenous cor- stituents of the food. Of these, particularly in the fattening food of the pig, the most prominent item is starch. We adopt this substance, therefore, as the basis of the illustrations of the probable amount of the constituents of the food involved in the formation of the produced fat, in the experiments in ques- tion. For practical purposes it may be assumed, that 24 parts of starch will be required for the formation of 1 part of the mixed fats of the animal body, when these have their source in that substance. If fat be formed from nitrogenous compounds, a less amount of the dry substance of the food will then be required for the formation of a given amount of fat, than when it is pro- duced from starch. If sugar be the source of the fat, a slightly larger quantity than of starch will be required. Of the pectine bodies, again, which enter so largely into the roots that fre- quently constitute a large proportion of the fattening food of oxen and sheep, the quantity required would be still more than of sugar. Table XXI. shows the estimated amount of fat stored up in increase for 100 dry matter of food, the amount of ready-formed fat in the food, the amount of fat that must have been produced from other compounds, and the amount of starch required if the produced fat were formed from it, in the cases of the nume- rous experiments with pig. It is estimated that, in the case of the single analysed fat pig, 100 dry substance of the fattening food gave 13-2 parts of fat in increase. Of this, only 3°26 parts could have been derived from ready-formed fat in the food, even supposing the whole so supplied had been taken up. At least 9°94 parts must, there- fore, have been formed in the body of the animal from some other constituent or constituents. If the constituent in question were starch, it would require (at the rate of 24 parts starch for 1 of fat) 24:8 parts of that substance for the formation j of 480 On the Composition of Oxen, Sheep, and Pigs, TABLE XXI.—Showing the amount of Fat stored up in the Increase of Fattening Pigs for 100 of Dry Matter of Food consumed, the proportion of Fat already formed in the Food, the amount of Fat that must have been produced from other compounds, and the amount of Starch that would be required if the produecd Fat were formed from it. GENERAL PARTICULARS OF THE EXPERIMENTS. For 100 Dry Matter of Food. Description of Fattening Food. t | Starch a MM ie Total akcnis < Pred Pens. ga Duration et formes duced | fo; the . 4 in ; pro- mat Given in Timid cam, | Ba | See Ba THe ANALYSED “Fat Pic.”* t wks. 4a¥S| Mixture of bran 1, bean and lentil zeal 2, ae 1 we { barley-meal 3 parts; ad libitum . } 13°20 | 3°26 9°94 | 24°85 SERigs I.f 1 3 f None. . cored oo aie ‘ 15°93 | 2°89 13°04 | 32°60 2 5 Indian-meal . | . . |? Bean and lentil meal { 16°00 | 3°66 12°34 | 30°85 4 3 | Indian-meal and bran 14°95 | 4°59 10°36 | 25°90 aS 3 NOnEN Bi-seeth-k ten 17°48 | 6°15 11°33 | 28°32 t 6 3 8 0 Heap and lentil meal. . . y 16°76 | 5°43 11°33 | 28°32 {7 3 Indian-meal . * 16°83 | 6°31 10°52 | 26°30 8 3 | {Bean 3 and lentil m meal, and 16°59 | 5°64 10°95 | 27-37 i Bean and lentil mal, a mary ae “lars Sait , 4 “ ons wz | 3. |} { { oe } 15:59] 4°65 | 10°94] 27°35 Mansy |.\: fc)” gn 16°27 | 4°92 | 11°35 | 28°38 Series IL. 1 3 None . -6 17°37 2°40 14°97 37°42 2 by | Barley-meal . ere Bean and lentil meal re i. pte Li nite 4 3 H Barley-meal and bran 14°50 | 3°08 11°42 | 28°55 5 3 INCA oe ar 6! BG 15°45 | 2°83 12°62 | 31°55 6 3 Kean and lentil meal. . . 16°21 | 2°81 13°40 | 33°50 7 3 8 0 a 4 ti en Barley-meal 15°50. | 3°27 12°23 | 30°57 ean and lentil meal, an : 5 . 8 |) 3 | iaeag and et oo: } 17718 | 3:16 | 14:02 | 35-05 e Mixture of bran 1, barley-meal 2, ang hen nid Js 9&10 6 | lentil meal 3 parts; adlibitum .. ya re 1% 29°45 2 Mixture of bran 1, bean and lent meal 2 ae 3 , N&x12, 6 J { barley-meal 3 parts; ad libitum 3 “i 15°88 | 3°08 12°80 | 32°00 Means. . 5°44 | 2°90 12°54 | 31°35 Serres III.+ Bran and Indian-meal oa . : . 1 4 5 17°05 5°40 11°65 | 29°12 8 0 Dried cod-fish . (equal parts. . . } 2 4 } z | Indian- reel sem oe (eeketeds| Oks, 13°79 | 34°47 Means) s%. 2 3. weude 18°16 | 5°44 12°72 | 31°79 Meansofall. . . . .| 1604] 3°96 | 12°08| 30°20 : * For it particulars of the Experiments, see Report of the British Association for the Advancement of cience for 1852. + For further particulars of the Experiments, see Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, vol. xiv., part 2, and of their Increase whilst Fattening. 481 of the 9°94 parts of produced fat. There would thus be of ready-formed fat and starch, taken together, 28:11 parts out of 100 dry matter of food, directly engaged in the storing up in the body of the 13:2 parts of fat; if we add to this 1:73 parts of nitrogenous and mineral matters at the same time fixed in the increase, we have 29°84 parts out of the 100 of dry matter of food, directly contributing, in the sense sup- posed, to the production of only 14°94 parts of dry increase. In the particular sense here implied, therefore, only 70°16 parts out of 100 dry matter of the food would be expired, perspired, or voided, without thus directly contributing to increase, in- stead of 85:06 parts—which represents the difference between the 14-94 parts only of dry substance actually stored up, and 100 of dry matter of food consumed to produce it. Following the same line of illustration with all the other ex- periments with pigs, the average result obtained is, that 100 dry matter of food gave 16-04 parts of fat stored up, with only 3°96 parts of ready-formed fatty matter in the food. At least 12-08 parts must, therefore, have been formed from other substances. If from starch, it would require 30-2 parts of that substance for the formation of the 12°08 parts of produced fat. ‘The ready- formed fat and the starch together would amount to 34:16 parts. There were, further, 1°36 part of nitrogenous and mineral matters assimilated. In all, therefore, 35°52 parts out of 100 of gross dry matter of food contributed in this comparatively direct manner, to the formation of 17:3 parts of gross dry increase. It will be observed that assuming starch to be the source of the produced fat, as above described, there were almost exactly 2 parts of dry substance of food thus directly engaged in con- tributing to the formation of 1 part of dry increase. It appears, too, that in the case of pigs fed on good fattening food, about one-third of the whole dry substance consumed may be so devoted. About two-thirds therefore will, if at all, only in a less direct manner, contribute to the production of increase, Of this a large proportion will serve, more or less directly, for - respiration only, or for the supply of material for the transforma- tions constantly going on in the body independently of any permanent increase in its solid substance ; and, besides the matters voided as indigestible and necessarily effete, a quantity of digestible constituents, larger or smaller according to the character of the food, and to the excess of it consumed, will pass off unused and comparatively unchanged. From a knowledge of the general character of the fattening food of both oxen and sheep, considered in relation to the amount of increase it yields, and to the probable composition of that increase, it may be concluded that, in their case as well as in 482 On the Composition of Oxen, Sheep, and.Pigs, that of pigs, a considerable amount of fat will frequently be formed in the body from other constituents of the food. As has been seen, however, only about half as much fat, or total dry increase, is bhidaed from 100 of the dry eee of the fatten- ing food of oxen and sheep, as of that of pigs. There will, in bee be a far less proportion of the dry matter of the food of the fone than of the latter animals, appropriated in the (so to speak) direct production of increase, It ap pears then, that a considerable proportion of the fat—of which the increase of the so-called fattening animals so largely consists—may be formed in the body from other constituents of the food, Of the nitrogenous compounds, on the other hand, it is probable that frequently as little, and even less, than 5 per cent. of the whole consumed will be found finally ane up in the increase of the animal. In fact, if the animals are to store up as much as they can do of matters not containing nitrogen, a very large amount of nitrogen must pass through the “body, beyond that which is finally yetained in the increase. Since it is found, that by far the larger proportion of the solid increase of the fattening animals is really fat itself ;—since it is probable, that at least a great part of the fat are up in the body is derived from starch, and other non-nitrogenous constitu- ents of the food ;-—since so large an amount of non-nitrogenous constituents is required to ee the respiratory demands of the system ;—and since the current fattening foods contain so very much more of nitrogen than is eventually retained in the in- crease—it can hardly excite surprise that the comparative yalue of foods, as such, does not depend upon their percentage of nitrogenous compounds. Practically—provided the amount of nitrogenous compounds be not actually deficient, which in or- dinary fattening foods is seldom the case—the amount of in- crease is much more frequently dependent on the proportion in the food of the digestible and assimilable non-nitrogenous com- pounds, than on that of the nitrogenous ones. It would, in fact, be more nearly true to say, that in our current food-ciat ire digestible and assimilable non-nitrogenous constituents are ge- nerally in relative defect, than to say that the digestible and assimilable nitrogenous compounds are so. As, however, the manure from highly nitrogenous foods is the most valuable, it frequently becomes the interest of the farmer, having répatd to it, to purchase and use those having the higher amounts of nitrogen. The comparative values of food-stuffs, even as such, are, however, not to be unconditionally determined by the percentage of either the total nitrogenous or total non-nitrogenous constituents. The and of their Increase whilst Fattening. 485 records of the numerous ultimate analyses of foods which have been hitherto made, are, it is true, of high value and interest in a statistical point of view. But now possessing them, as the basis of certain general estimates, the next desideratum is—to examine more closely into the nature and condition of the prox- imate compounds of food-stuffs—to distinguish those which are digestible and assimilable from those vehicti are not so—to de- termine the relative values of the comparable or mutually replaceable portions—and above all, to fix our standards of com- parative value with more of reference to direct experimental evidence on the point, and to existing knowledge of the com- position of animal bodies, than has been hitherto usual, or even possible. The main conclusions from the whole inquiry may be briefly enumerated as follows :— I.—Foop anp INCREASE. 1. Fattening oxen, fed liberally upon good food, composed of a moderate proportion of cake or corn, some hay or straw chaff, with roots or other succulent food, and well-managed, wiil, on the average, consume 12 to 13 lbs. of the dry substance of such mixed food, per 100 Ibs. live-weight, per, week; and should give 1 lb. of increase for 12 to 13 lbs. dry substance so consumed. Sheep fattening under somewhat similar circumstances (but with a less proportion of hay or straw), will consume about 15 lbs. of the dry substance of the mixed foods, per 100 lbs, live-weight, per week; and should yield over a considerable period of time, 1 part of increase in live-weight for about 9 parts of the dry substance of their food. If the food be of good quality, oxen and sheep may give a maximum amount of increase for a given amount of total dry substance of food, even provided the latter contain as much as 5 parts of total non-nitrogenous to | of nitro- genous compounds, 2. Pigs, fed liberally upon food composed chiefly of corn, will consume from 26 to 30 Ibs. per 100 Ibs. live-weight, per week, of the dry substance of such food. They should yield 1 part of in- crease in liv e-weight for 4 to 5 parts of the dry substance of the food. They may give a maximum amount of increase for a given amount of dry substance of such food, if it contain as much as 5 or even 6 parts of total non-nitrogenous to 1 of nitrogenous compounds, [The cereal grains contain on the average rather more than 6 parts of total non-nitrogenous to 1 of nitrogenous compounds ; and the leguminous seeds often not much more than 2 parts to 1. 484 On the Composition of Oxen, Sheep, and Pigs, Oilcakes and foreign corn contain rather more than six-sevenths, and home-grown corn, hay, &c., rather less than six-sevenths, of their weight, of “dry substance.” Common turnips generally contain about one-twelfth ; swedes about one-ninth ; mangolds about one-eighth, and potatoes about one-fourth, of their weight “of dry substance.” | 3. With as much as 5 or 6 parts of total non-nitrogenous to 1 of nitrogenous compounds, in the dry substance of the fat- tening food of oxen, sheep, and pigs, the increase will probably be very fat. In the earlier stages of growth and feeding, a lower proportion of total non-nitrogenous to nitrogenous com- pounds is desirable. 4. Taking into consideration the cost of the foods, and the higher value of the manure from those which are rich in nitro- gen, it is frequently the most profitable for the farmer to employ —even up to the end of the feeding process—a higher pro- portion of nitrogenous constituents in his stock-foods, than is necessary to yield the maximum proportion of increase in live- weight for a given amount of dry substance of food. IJ.—Proportion or Parts. 1. In proportion to their weight—oxen contain considerably more of stomachs and contents than sheep, and sheep con- siderably more than pigs; pigs considerably more of intestines and contents than sheep, and sheep more than oxen. Oxen, sheep, and pigs, have nearly equal proportions of the other internal organs: namely, heart and aorta, lungs and windpipe, liver, gall-bladder and contents, pancreas, and milt or spleen, taken together. They have also nearly equal proportions of blood ; but the pig rather the least. | 2. In proportion to their weight—sheep yield rather more in- ternal loose fat than oxen, and pigs very much less than either. 3. As oxen, sheep, and pigs mature and fatten, the internal organs increase in actual weight ; but they diminish in proportion to the weight of the animal. r 4. Of the internal offal parts, the loose fat alone increases both in actual weight and in proportion to the weight of the body, as the animals mature and fatten. 5. As oxen, sheep, and pigs mature and fatten, the total ‘* offal” increases in actual weight, but diminishes in porportion to the weight of the body; the “carcasses” increase both in actual weight, and in proportion to the weight of the body. 6. Well bred, and moderately fattened oxen, should yield 58 to 60 per cent. carcass in fasted live-weight ; excessively fat oxen may yield from 65 to 70 per cent. Moderately fattened sheep (shorn) should yield about 58 per cent. carcass in fasted live- \ and of their Increase whilst Fattening. 489 weight ; excessively fat sheep may yield 64 per cent., or more. Moderately fat pigs, killed for fresh pork, should yield (including head and feet) about 80 to 82 per cent. carcass in fasted live- weight; large, well-fattened pigs, fed for curing, will yield a considerably higher proportion. In each of the three descriptions of animal, the proportion will, however, vary much according to breed, age, and condition. 7. Of the increase over the final 6 months of liberal feeding, of moderately fat (14 to 14 year old) sheep, 65 to 70 per cent. may be reckoned as saleable carcass. Of the increase over the final 6 months of liberal feeding, of very fat (1? to 2 years old) sheep, 75 to 80 per cent. may be reckoned as saleable carcass. Of the znerease over the final 2 or 3 months of liberal feeding of moderately fat pigs, about 90 per cent. (including head and feet) may be reckoned as saleable carcass. 8. When the fattening food of oxen, sheep, and pigs, contains less than about 5 parts of non-nitrogenous to 1 of nitrogenous compounds, the proportion of gross increase for a given amount of dry substance of the food, will not increase with the increased proportion of nitrogenous compounds ; the proportion of carcass to the live-weight will probably be somewhat less; and the car- casses themselves will be somewhat more bony and fleshy, and less fat. I1].—Cuemicat Composition oF THE ANIMALS. 1. Of total dry substance (excluding contents of stomachs and intestines), the entire body of a fat calf contained about 34; of a fat ox 4845; of a fat lamb nearly 44; of a fat sheep about 50; of a very fat sheep nearly 60 ; and of a moderately fat pig about 55, per cent. Of leaner animals, the body of a half-fat ox contained 404, of a store sheep 363, and of a store pig 393, per cent., of total dry substance. 2. Of dry nitrogenous compounds, the entire body (including therefore, besides flesh, the pelt, hair or wool, bones, and in- ternal organs), of a fat calf contained about 154; of a fat ox 144; of a fat lamb 124; of a fat sheep 124; of a very fat sheep 11; and of a moderately fat pig 11, per cent. The store animals contained from 2 to 3 per cent. more nitrogenous com- pounds than the corresponding fat ones. 3. Of dry fat, the entire body of a fat calf contained about 144; of a fat ox 30; of a fat lamb 284; of a fat sheep 353; of a very fat sheep 454; and of a moderately fat pig 42, per cent. 4, In the store condition, the entire bodies of calves will probably contain from 34 to 4 per cent.; of oxen from 44 to 5 486 On the Composition of Oxen, Sheep, and Pigs, per cent.; of sheep from 3 to 34 per cent.; and of pigs from 24 to 3 per cent., of mineral matter. 5. In the fattened condition, the entire bodies of calves and oxen will probably contain from 34 to 4 per cent.; those of Jambs and sheep from 24 to 2? per cent. ; and those Ae pigs from 1} to 1? per cent., of mineral Ta by (ba wench matter of the entire bodies of the animals may be reckoned to contain, on the average, nearly 40 per cent. of phosphoric acid, and about 6 per cent. of potash. 7. The mean composition of 6 animals analysed in a con- dition fit for the butcher, shows about 3 per cent. mineral matter, 13 per cent. nitrogenous compounds, and 33 per cent. fat; in all, about 49 per cent. total dry substance, and 51 per cent. water, and contents of stomachs and intestines. 8. Even in a reputed store or lean condition, the entire bodies of oxen, sheep, and pigs, may contain more dry fat than dry. nitrogenous compounds. 9. The entire body of a moderately fat ox contained more than twice as much; that of a fat lamb more than twice as much ; that of a fat sheep nearly three times as much ; that of a very fat sheep four times as much; and that of a moderately fat pig nearly four times as much, dry fat as dry nitrogenous com- pounds. 10. The proportion of mineral matter in the bodies of oxen, sheep, and pigs, rises and falls with that of the nitrogenous compounds. 11. The carcasses of moderately fat beef will probably contain from 50 to 55 per cent.; of moderately fat mutton from 55 to 60 per cent.; of very fat mutton 65 per cent. or more; of mode- rately fat pigs 60 to 65 per cent. ; and of very fat pigs more still, of total dry substance. The carcasses of fat lamb about 50 per cent. ; and veal carcasses only from 35 to 40 per cent., of total dry sub- stance. 12. The carcasses of moderately fat beef will probably contain from 2 to 24 times; of moderately fat mutton from 3 to 4 times ; of very fat mutton from 5 to 6 times; of pigs killed for fresh pork about 4 times, and of pigs fed for curing, a considerably larger proportion, of fat to 1 of nitrogenous compounds, 1V.—CompositTion or INCREASE. 1. The increase of liberally fed oxen, over 6 months or more of the final fattening period, will probably consist of 70 to 75 per cent. total dry substance ; of which, 60 to 65 parts will be fat, 7 to 8 parts nitrogenous compounds, and about 14 part mineral matter. and of their Increase whilst Fattening. A87 2. The increase of liberally fed sheep, over 5 or 6 months of the final fattening period, will probably consist of 75 per cent. or more, of total dry substance ; of which, 65 to 70 parts will be fat, 7 to 8 parts nitrogenous compounds, and about 1? part mineral matter. 3. The increase of pigs fed for fresh pork, over the 2 or 3 final months on fattening food, will probably consist of 674 to 724 per cent. total dry substance; 60 to 65 per cent. fat, 64 to $ per cent. nitrogenous substance, and considerably less than 1 per cent. mineral matter. The increase over the last few months of high feeding, of pigs fed for curing, will contain considerably higher percentages of fat and total dry substance, and lower ones of both nitrogenous compounds and mineral matter, than that of more moderately fattened animals. V.—RELATION oF CONSTITUENTS IN INCREASE TO CoNsTI- TUENTS CONSUMED. 1. Sheep, fattening for the butcher on a good mixed diet, will seldom carry off more than 3 per cent. of the consumed mineral matter. ‘The exact proportion will depend very much on the proportion of the mineral matter to the digestible organic con- stituents of the food. They will probably carry off less than 5 per cent. of the consumed nitrogen, if the food be com- paratively rich, and more than 5 per cent, if it be compara- tively poor, in nitrogen. They should store up about 10 parts of fat for every 100 parts of non-nitrogenous substance con- sumed. 2. Pigs, liberally fed on fattening food, will probably carry off from 6 to 10 per cent. of the consumed nitrogen. ‘The pro- portion will be the less the richer the food, and the greater the poorer the food in nitrogen. They should store up about 20 parts, or more, of fat; for every 100 parts of non-nitrogenous substance consumed. 3. Sheep, fattening for the butcher on a good mixed diet, should give about 9 parts dry increase—consisting of about 8 parts fat, 0°8 to 0-9 part nitrogenous substance, and about 0-2 part mineral matter—for 100 parts total dry substance consumed. More than 90 parts of the consumed dry substance are, therefore, expired, perspired, or voided. 4, Pigs, liberally fed on fattening food, should give 15 to 18 parts of dry increase—consisting of 13 to 16 parts fat, 14 to 2 parts nitrogenous substance, and less than 0-2 part mineral matter—for 100 parts total dry substance consumed. There will, therefore, be 82 to 85 parts of the consumed dry substance, ex- pired, perspired, or voided. 488 Report on the Exhibition and Trial of Implements 5. Pigs were found to store up 4 to 5 times as much fat as was supplied ready formed in their food. If the produced fat were formed from starch, about 24 parts would be required for the formation of 1 part of fat. If the fat were so formed, about one-third of the total dry substance of the fattening food would contribute in a pretty direct manner to the formation of about half that amount of dry increase. In the sense here supposed, only about two-thirds (instead of 82 to 85 per cent.), of the dry substance of the food, would be expired, perspired, or voided, without directly contributing to increase, The comparative values of our current fattening food-stuffs, as a source of saleable animal increase, depend more on their amount of digestible and assimilable non-nitrogenous, than on that of the nitrogenous constituents. But, as a source of manure, their value will be the greater, the higher their proportion of nitrogenous compounds, XXIV.—Report on the Exhibition and Trials of Implements at the Canterbury Meeting. By H. B. Carpweti, Acting Senior Steward. Ir seems to me that when the Royal Agricultural Society has been in existence upwards of twenty years, the Senior Steward ought to be able to write a lengthened account of its progress and success—nor would this be a difficult task ; but on taking into consideration that all my information must ine derived from the Reports contained in former numbers of the Journal, to which every member of the Society has equal access with myself, I purpose to confine my remarks to the Canterbury Meeting. I much regret that this Report must necessarily be defective, in consequence of my being compelled by illness to leave Canter- bury before the trials of Implements were completed. Under these circumstances I find it impossible fully to detail the various incidents of the Meeting, but I shall make some remark on those points which seem to me to call for special notice. I ought first to mention the beautiful situation of the show- yard, its convenient distance from the town, as well as its proximity to the trial fields, which themselves lay well together. These advantages were duly appreciated by judges and officials, who, like myself, have at many previous Meetings been walled off their legs in passing from field to field. More- over the land itself was ai selected for the purpose of testing steam-cultivation, comprising various descriptions of pround, rough and smooth, flat and hilly, as is well described by the at the Canterbury Meeting, 1860. 489 judges in their Report. The situation of the trial-fields is, in my humble opinion, one of the most important objects to be kept in view, especially for the sake of exhibitors who have been often taken so far from the implement-yard that, day after day, they were seldom to be found in it. During my short stay at Canterbury I heard no complaints on this account. A great deal has been said on the subject of points for the judges’ decisions; it may, however, be observed, that in addition to the tests supplied by the record of work done, power employed, &c. &c., there have always been points of investigation suggesting them- selves spontaneously to the judge’s own mind as the results of his experience and knowledge, without which he would not be fit to undertake the various responsibilities of his office; and these considerations, while they hardly admit of being stated in numerical tables, are yet indispensable for arriving at a right decision between the competing implements, I recommend Local Agricultural Committees to watch the repairs, and ascertain the well or ill-working of the various machines that come out in their neighbourhood: this may be easily done by each man speaking to his neighbour and others at market. If, moreover, the Royal Society would extend its sphere of action in this direction, great good would be effected. The Reports of the Judges are generally satisfactory, especi- ally those on the Steam-cultivators and Threshing-machines, both of which will be read with interest. I am sorry that the judges of the steam-cultivators do not include the charge of a second engine, which ought always to be ready, in case of accidents, especially on large farms, or those chiefly consisting of clay land, on which the great object is to prepare the land for root-crops, and to plough leys for wheat immediately after harvest; under such circumstances any risk of interruption in the work becomes important. I may here remark that steam-cultivation, which is now deservedly in such great vogue, has no exclusive claim to the merit of augmenting our growth of corn. ‘Those who have speculated on its powers, and judiciously applied them, more especially in breaking up stubbles for the next year’s root-crops, immediately after harvest, have, without doubt, improved these latter, and also (if the land be properly cleaned by careful and repeated hoeings, &c.) all the crops which follow in succession. But, be it observed, this forward system has for many years been also carried out by horse-power, and bas made prosperous farmers in many counties in England. With regard to the Local Prizes and the Award of the Judges at the adjourned Trial of the Reapers, I shall say but little; but 490 Report on the Exhibition and Trial of Implements they appear to me to have taken great pains to arrive at a right decision, Speaking however from my own experience, both asa Judge at the Royal Agricultural Society’s Meetings, and as a farmer, on in Norfolk Baca Wiltshire, | must say that I can see little use in a reaper which has not a side delivery. This remark applies especially to the long and bulky straw-crops of Wiltshire. Those who have had experience of the labour of raking off a good crop of corn, will, I am confident, bear witness to the severity of the work. Tt wisal 7 in Wiltshire a Siacinne which drew the corn on to the platform, so that the man had only to rake it off, and yet the work was too severe for a strong man to keep up for any length of time. In the Kentish trial, the crops are described by the Judges as “average.” I am told that the longest wheat was only 3 to 4 feet high, and the barley about 1 foot. The Judges were, no doubt, influenced in their decision by the cheapness and portability of the Prize Implement, as well as by the crops on which it was tried; and if these latter fairly represent the produce of the district, for such a district that im- plement may be the best. It must not be overlooked, however, that the prize was a local prize, awarded by Local Judges; and if, on the one hand, they might fairly select for the prize the reaper best suited to their own neighbourhood,—with them, on the other hand (and not with the Royal Agricultural Society), must rest the chief respon- sibility of the decision, In this last fact may perhaps be found a reason for the objection made by some implement makers to Local Prizes. To return, however, to the Prize-reaper, the dynamometer made it take two-thirds of the power of the machine which had the side delivery, and which, by the Judges’ Report, was cutting more, by three acres per day. It may therefore be doubted whether even for the generality of wheat-crops the prize imple- ment will be found preferable ; but if we take the case of a good barley-crop, with a strong clover ley, which must be laid and left in a swathe until it is properly weathered for the stack, I think the importance of securing a side delivery will appear a still graver matter of consideration. In support of this view let me refer to a passage in a speech of Sir James Graham, delivered in Carlisle in, I think, 1851 :—‘“ Before these machines will be of much use to the farmers of England, they must be made self-acting, and deliver the corn without the aid of the man who now works so hard.” I believe these words to be perfectly true. In the preceding remarks I have strongly advocated a side delivery, because after having long felt an interest, and paid at the Canterbury Meeting, 1860. ° 491 attention to the subject, I have been led by my experience to see its importance to those who wish to get well through their harvest ; and I consider that any man acting as a Steward of the Royal Agricultural Society, if he has formed a deliberate opinion on a matter within his department, should not shrink from stating it. I am decidedly of opinion that too much time and attention are devoted to the Miscellaneous Department, and that the Report of the numerous articles it contains occupies too much space in the Journal. I also hope that the Council will decide what articles are, for the future, to be included in the Miscel- laneous Department. I beg leave to express my best thanks to all the officials for their repeated acts of kindness, and for the readiness with which, throughout my term of office, they have tendered their assistance and support. On this head my own personal acknowledgments are especially due. I will now conclude this Report (a duty which has devolved upon me one year before the proper time) by again saying how sorry | am that I was unable to be at my post during all the trials of the Implements, and that my account of the Meeting is so poor and tncomplete. Lackham House, Chippenham. Report of the Judges for Steam Ploughs. There were five competitors entered for the prize offered “ for the class of applications of steam-power to the cultivation of the soil,” who describe their entries in the following terms. No. 1. Coleman and Sons, Chelmsford, Essex.—Patent double 5-prong cul- and manufactured by exhibitors. Constructed on the principle of the exhi- tivator for steam-power ; invented by R. Coleman, of Cheimsford ; improved bitors’ original cultivator, but, by a novel and simple movement, is made to pass sideways into new work when the implement arrives at the land’s end, so as to render turning unnecessary. Price 42/. No. 2. Robey and Co., of Lincoln.—Complete set of patent steam-ploughing tackle ; invented and improved by Chandler and Oliver, of Bow; and manu- factured by the exhibitors. Consists of 10-horse-power portable double- cylinder engine, with the exhibitors’ patent steel fire-box. The cylinders are placed on top of boiler. It has Chandler and Oliver’s patent drum-ploughing windlass, which revolves on engine’s hind travelling-axle, and driven by gearing from fly-wheel shaft; is fitted with governors, link-motion, reversing- gear, and is self-propelling, with one horse steering in front. Water-tank is fixed underneath the boiler to carry a supply of water while travelling by steam; tender to carry engine-driver and fuel, stoking-tools, spanners, &c. ; waterproof cover, strong wood travelling-wheels, snatch-blocks, anchors, rope- porters, and 1200 yards of steel-wire rope. Price, inclusive of ploughs, 545/., subject to 23 per cent. discount for cash. Patent 3-furrow balance-plough and cultivator combined ; invented and im- VOL. XXI. 21 492 Report on the Exhibition and Trial of Implements proved by Chandler and Oliver, of Bow, and manufactured hy J. and F, Howard, of Bedford. Price 617., subject to 24 per cent. discount for cash. No. 3. Thomas Beards, of Stowe, Bucks.—Hight-horse-power portable double cylinder steam-engine; invented and manufactured by Thomas Ricketts, of Buckingham. Price 2501. (New Implement.) Apparatus for steam-cultivating land ; invented by the exhibitor, and manufactured by the Buckingham Castle Iron- Works Company of Buckingham. One set of steam-pioughing apparatus, consisting of pair of drums, with fixings for attaching to portable steam-engine, with set of pulleys and blocks, anchors, rollers, &c., with 900 yards of steel-wire rope. Price 1001. Tron double-furrow plough, invented and manufactured by Howards, of Bedford. Price 6/. 6s. No, 4. Alfred Eddington, of Chelmsford, Essex (New Implement),—Wind- lass for ploughing or cultivating ; invented by the exhibitor, and manufactured by A. and W. Eddington, of Chelmsford. Driven by a portable steam-engine, complete with Fowler’s anchor for drawing ploughs or any other implement by itself; or it may be worked in combination with the following, no anchor being required. It is self-shifting without any horses, both on the headland and from field to field. Price 200/. Steam-engine; manufactured by Clayton, Shuttleworth, and Co., of Lincoln. Double cylinder, made extra strong, to work at 80 lbs, pressure per square inch, with reversing-gear, and fitted with extra safety-valve, pressure-gauge, and whistle.* Price 315/. , Steam-engine ; manufactured by Clayton and Shuttleworth ; same as pre- ceding. Price 315/. Four-furrow plough ; invented by John Fowler, Junr., and manufactured by Ransome, Sims, and Co., of Ipswich. - Fowler’s ordinary plough with steel breasts. Price 842. And lastly— No. 5. John Fowler, Jun., 28, Cornhill, London.—A 12-horse set of steam- cultivating apparatus ; invented and improved by the exhibitor, and manu- factured by Kitson and Hewitson, of Leeds. 12-horse engine (double cylinder), with self-moving and reversing-gear, windlass and tender, anchor, 800 yards of steel rope, headland rope, 20 rope-porters, 2 snatch-blocks, and field-tools complete. Price 6997. Balance 4-furrow surface-plough ; invented and improved by exhibitor, and manufactured by Ransome and Sims of Ipswich. Fitted also with scarifier- hearts, adapted to be worked by the same traction-tackle. The furrows capable of being set to plough a furrow of 93 to 124 inches wide. Price 8117. The trials were commenced on Wednesday, July 4th, on Folly Farm, the field selected presenting great capabilities for testing the working powers of the implements to be tried. The soil was a moderately strong loam on an indurated gravelly subsoil, and in some portions of the field was strongly held together by the growth of indigenous herbage. About two-thirds of the lengths ploughed were level, with a considerable inclination at the end; the level portion was in old clover-ley ; the other had been in peas sown on the ridge, and in old grass of the most worthless character. An old farm-road crossed a portion of the upper part of the field, which presented a considerable obstacle to the working of the implement (Fowler’s) in whose allotment it was. Steaza-plough trials have become so familiar to the agricultural public that * Neither the horse-power of the engines, nor the description and length of rope supplied, are specified, at the Canterbury Meeting, 1860. 493 a very brief description of the different apparatus entered for competition is all that is here necessary. Coleman’s cultivator is fully described by his entry. This may be used as an auxiliary ippplement by any possessor of power and of traction tackle. Robey and Co. have adopted Smith’s system * of traction, with the im- provement of a triangular instead of a rectangular arrangement of the rope. A double set of ploughs are carried on an iron frame ; the ploughs being shifted in and out of the ground at the end of the “ bouts ” by means of a strong lever, worked by the man in charge. The engine had two cylinders, 74 inches in diameter, with a 12- inch stroke, and was driven at the rate of 160 revolutions per minute, at a pressure of 50 lbs. on the square inch. This, allowing 3-10ths for friction, would give a mean working-power equal to 28 horses. Beard’s apparatus was upon the same principle also, differing only in its working arrangements. The winding-drums were firmly fixed by screw-bolts to the hind part of the engine, and were worked by a pitch-chain, driven direct from the main shaft. A very simple and ingenious movement distributed the rope in winding equally over the surface of the drum, preventing the over- lapping so injurious to the rope and to the regular working of the apparatus generally. ‘he plough used was a double one, made of iron in the ordinary manner; and the tackle was arranged so as to work merely up and down; the anchor-blocks requiring to be shifted frequently as the work proceeded. ‘The engine had two cylinders of 53 inches diameter, with a 103 inch stroke, and was driven at the rate of 160 revolutions per minute, with a pressure of 50 Ibs. on the square inch, which would give a OI es equal to 14°109 horses. Eddington employed a double set of apparatus to do the work. An engine, mounted on a travelling-frame carrying the winding-drums, was placed at each end of the space to be ploughed. The ploughs (Fowler’s patent), of which two sets were required, worked up to the centre of the ground and then returned to their respective starting-places. The engines being placed directly over the winding-drums, communicated motion to them very readily and also to the driving-wheels of the carriages, which were self-moying as the work advanced: while the great resistance its own weight offered to the lateral strain of the traction-rope rendered any system of anchorage quite unnecessary. ‘The engines used had single cylinders 9 inches in diameter, with a 12-inch stroke, and were driven at the rate of 130 revolutions per minute, with a pressure of 55 lbs. per square inch; thus giving a working-power equal to 194 horses. ‘The general arrangement of Fowler’s apparatus is too well known to be again described. From year to year improvements have been introduced into the working details, while the strength and finish of the engine exhibited, and, indeed, of all parts of the apparatus, were worthy of every commendation, Fowler’s engine had two cylinders 74 inches in diameter, with a 12-inch stroke. It was driven at the rate of 140 revolutions per minute, with a leds of 68 lbs. on the square inch, equivalent to a working-power of 35°68 orses, THe trials were continued during the 4th and two following days on the land already described ; when, after testing their respective powers in various ways, the following results were obtained :— * Smith’s and Fowler’s apparatus and working arrangements are described and illustrated, vol. xix., is 326, ine 494 Report on the Exhibition and Trial of Implements Names. | Area Ploughed. Time. Coals Consumed. ‘AL OR wee, hrs. min. Ibs. Robey and Co. 1 LORS 2) 16 w 224 Beards Se Qe ah) Se 1 28 91 Eddington af i O28 l 8 201 Fowler* .. .... | 02 38 | 0 40 187°" Taking these results as representing their full working capacities respectively, we find that the quantity of land quantity of coals consumed per acre, ploughed per day of 10 hours, and the would stand thus :— Names. | | Area Ploughed Coals Consumed | Coals Consumed | |perdayofl0hrs. per Acre. | perDay. | AOR SIP. lbs. | ewts. | Robey and Co. 2 By || 1e4983 8 Beards) ante, se 3. 1 127 M866 52 Eddington .. .. LOW een leo) 16 Fowler ; LINO} 10 185°76 18} | | The cost per acre we estimate as follows ; the details of working expenses are given below :t— Names. Cost Price. y aeee oe bi ae Cost per Acre. oes sche Cb A ee at 8. ds Robey and Co... 6O6e OL ISON a a aor 6 8 Beards 6 ee. 2h) er || #1356) «Gi |mllomel eeu mm 10 2 ddington yy.) f-.0| L098 Ol icine NO il 6 8 Howler tisha. 0 hore ASO Oy) 22210) 1 1D )e atl A aG * An apparent error in noting the quantity of coals consumed by Fowler rendered a second trial necessary. ‘This, however, confirmed the results obtained in the first, and was therefore not continued longer than the time reported, t Estimated working expenses per they would be at work in the year :— day, assuming 200 as the number of days Robey and Co.’ . 5, d. | Beards’. Bigvaeal: Four men 11s., two boys 3s. 0 14 0 | Five men Poms. on (il es Wiater-carting ys .. ei -nlOM a0 Water-carting ....\ le) sen OMA uO CoalssSicwte >.) sess) en tO Se s0 Coals, 54 ewt. OL 76 Oil, &e. sd) Sa yo foo, 70) ile 0) Oil, &e. 0) 180 Interest at 5 per cent., and Removal 0 4 0 wear and tear at 15 per} 0 12 13 | Interest at 5 per ‘cent., and cent., on cost price, 6067. — wear and tear at 15 per 7 13 119 12 | cent., on cost price, 3561. 6s. | 115-14 Eddington’s. £ 5 d, Fowler’s. ‘Canes Six men 16s.,three boys4s.6d.1 0 6 Two men 6s., two boys 4s. 010 0 Water-carting .. .. .. O 5 O | Water-carting .. Oi SLO Coals, 16 ewt. 016 0 Coals, 183 cwt. .. 018 6 Oil, &e. oO 2 Oil, &e. 0 1:0 wear and tear at 15 per Interest at 5 5 per ‘cent., and 4 cent., on cost price, 11981. —— cent., on cost price, 7801. Interest at 5 per cent., and wear and tear at 15 per at the Canterbury Meeting, 1860. 495 Having thus obtained the cost of ploughing per acre by the different: apparatus tested, we were desirous of comparing it with the cost of ploughing by the ordinary horse-labour of the farm ; and here we were enabled, by means of the very ingenious dynamometer of Mr. Amos and the valuable tabulated calculations of Mr. Morton,* to deal with more reliable data than mere opinions or estimates. To test the actual resistance of the soil, an ordinary iron plough (Busby’s) was used, to which the dynamometer was attached, the traction force being supplied by the nearest engine. Six furrows were drawn in different parts of the field of the same depth and width as those turned by the steam- ploughs, the dynamometer ‘giving the following results :—Average* distance travelled, 192 yards ; power consumed, 52; revolutions of counter, 21; time consumed, 3°75 min.; and showing that the force required to overcome the resistance of the soil was 692°32 lbs., or rather more than the traction-power of 4 horses, moving at the rate of 23 miles per hour.t According to Mr. Morton, the average cost of horse-power on a farm may be taken at 6d. per cwt., drawn 24 miles. In ploughing an acre of land, with a 10-inch furrow, the plough would haye to_be drawn about 10 miles: conse- quently, the draught, say 6 ewt. x by the distance 4, x by the cost per cwt., 6d., would give 12s. per acre as the minimum cost of ploughing an acre of the land in question by horse-labour, which, indeed, was the estimate given by practical farmers on the ground during the trials. The comparison, then, between steam and horse ploughing is largely in favour of the former on ground offering such resistance. The least efficient of the competing machines (Beards’) showed a saving of 1s. 10d. per acre,= 15 per cent. Robey and Co.’s and Eddington’s showed a saving of 5s. 4d. per acre, or = 45 per cent. ; while Fowler’s work was done at a saving of no less than 7s. 6d. per acre, or 68 per cent. less than by horse-labour. The second set of trials took place on the following day (7th), in an adjoining field, where the increased inclination of the surface offered far greater obstacles to tillage cultivation. Indeed, the land had most probably never before been ploughed wp and down, but always across the hill, and then evi- dently only in a very superficial manner. Directions were given for the several competitors to light up their fires, and to move, as soon as ready, to the stations allotted to them, and then to plough the area assigned to each. The length of the piece to be ploughed was 380 yards, the land having a rise of: 1 in 10 throughout the entire length, which, in one place, for a short dis- tance, was increased to 1 in 43, as is shown at A and B in the accompanying section. Fowler’s engine-fire was lighted at 9°12, and steam sufficient to move it to the new station was generated at 10°13, when the necessary pre- parations for ploughing were made, and work commenced at 11 a.m. Robey and Co. lighted up their fire at about the same time, and reached their station at 10°20. The necessary preparatious were completed at 11°25, when they commenced work. The other two competitors, Beards and Eddington, withdrew from the trial after having commenced operations. Beards’ apparatus, though quite suitable * “On the Cost of Horse-power,”’ by J. C. Morton, R. A.S. Journal, vol. xix., p. 437. + Formula for reducing the results of plough dynamometer (Amos) :— 2546 = constant number. 2546 XN _g N = No. of revolutions of counter. L T = time in minutes, L = distance in yards. i i yas ELPs S = strain in lbs. on ropes. x 11,000 H P = horse-power. 33,000 anaed-= 8 ft. = 1 yard 496 Report on the Exhibition and Trial of Implements to the ordinary conditions of tillage, was not equal to this very severe test, and, after two or three turns, during which the ploughs were with great diffi- culty held in the soil, the work was discontinued, Eddington’s system of ploughing requires an engine and winding-tackle at each end of the field; this arrangement possesses the great advantage that no anchors or snatch- blocks are required, and that, when once on the ground, the work may be commenced forthwith. In this case, however, the extreme gradient of the field presented such difficulties that the engine could not be got to its station at the upper end of the land until the trials were too far advanced to render it desirable to proceed, and it was accordingly withdrawn from competition, Section of Arssie Frexp, adjoining Forry Farm, as worked by the Steam Ploughs, July 7, 1860. ¥ oe F pn i | op: allies bo" H Fa Ld 7 ' Ss q iv : oS ; i pee faa x —— o 68 132 165 196 220 240 258 27g HE 330 YARDS. YARDS. Section taken on land worked by Fowler’s Engine. (XY. Profile as shown according to the practice of engineers, the horizontal scale being in yards, the vertical in feet. XZ. Outline as it would appear to the eye when a scale of yards is taken in each direction,—P. H. F.) The area assigned to each was exactly 14 acre. The portion allotted to Fowler was completed at 1h. 834m. The work was done in an admirable manner by the same plough-frame as had been used in the first trials. In this, however, 3 furrows only were taken up the ascent, and 4 when returning down. Robey and Co. completed their portion at 4 P.m.; but, owing to the extreme tenacity and indurated condition of the subsoil, combined with the great inclination of the surface, the power of the apparatus appeared to be overtaxed, and the work done was not equal to that performed by the same ploughs in the former trials. The results of the day’s work may be thus given :— Took up Commenced Finished Area Lighted up. Station. Ploughing. | Plonghing. Ploughed. Fowler .. .. i 9°12 10-13 | lle | TOBY Se a 4 Robey and Co. .. | 9°10 10-20 | 1125 | 4 | hia | The actual resistance of the soil was tested by the dynamometer attached to an iron plough (Busby’s) and drawn by Fowler’s engine. This showed an average draught of 1875°39 Ibs. wp, and 1220°8 Ibs. down, the hill; or a mean of 1298°09 lbs., equivalent to the traction-force of 7% horses. According to the calculations already referred to (Morton’s), this would cost 28s. per acre ; indeed, the estimates for the work done, given by practical farmers on the at the Canterbury Meeting, 1860. 497 field, were from 30s. to 36s. per acre, though it was evidently impossible for horse-labour to have turned the same furrow at all. Comparing these estimates with the data already given of the rate and cost of work done by the steam-ploughs, we find that Fowler ploughed 12 acres in 2h. 34 m.; or, in round numbers, 6 acres per day of 10 hours, at a cost of 50s. 1d. per day, or 8s. 4d. per acre; and that Robey and Co. ploughed the same area in 4h, 35 m.; or, in round numbers, 3! acres per day, at a cost of 39s. 14d., or 11s. 8d. per acre. The saving effected by the steam-plough in the one instance (Fowler’s) being equal to 60 per cent., and in the other (Robey and Co.’s) equal to nearly 50 per cent., as compared with horse-labour. Throughout the whole of the trials the quality of the work done was very satisfactory. This point, however, we look upon as secondary to the more im- portant question ‘of the application of steam-power to the cultivation of the soil ;’ as when we are in possession of a well-arranged system of steam-power, we can make use of any form of implement we please to act upon the soil, In the trials on the level land, the quality of the work done by Robey and Co. was fully equal to that by Fowler. On the hilly ground, however, the superior power and arrangement of Fowler’s machine enabled it to maintain its former excellence, while the work done by Robey and Co.’s was not equal to its previous performance. In the exercise of the functions committed to us, we therefore decide that a prize of 907. be given to Mr. John Fowler, junr., for his 12-horse set of steam-cultivating apparatus, invented and improved by himself, and manu- factured by Kitson and Hewitson of Leeds; and that a prize of 107. be given to Robey and Co. of Lincoln, for their complete set of patent steam-ploughing tackle, invented and improved by Chandler and Oliver of Bow, and manu- factured by exhibitors. We also award a commendation to Thomas Beards, of Stowe, near Buckingham, for his 8 horse-power portable 2-cylinder steam- engine, invented and manufactured by Thomas Richetts, of Buckingham, and for his apparatus for steam-cultivating land, invented by the exhibitor and manufactured by the Castie Iron-Works Company, Buckingham. Wm. Owen, Rotherham. Owrn Wats, Overstone Grange. Canterbury, July 9th, 1860. Joun Wi1son, Edinburgh. Supplementary Report. HE annual trials of Steam-Plouchs, of which details have been given in the present and in previous reports, have made known the different principles of their construction and of their working arrangements, and the results of the trials have borne testimony to the quality of their performance in the field. These trials, however, have always been carefully prepared for, and carried on under exceptional conditions, while, at the same time, their duration has been too short to give them that practical value which alone can satisfy the public as to the advantages Steam-Ploughs actually possess. It appears to us that the time has now arrived for testing, by a prolonged trial on the farm, their capability of sustaining the character they have acquired in the trial-field for economy and excellence of work. We beg, therefore, to suggest to the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society of England the desirability of a prolonged trial—say for six consecutive days—under such conditions as to soils and season as the Council may consider most suitable for practically testing their powers. Wi11Am Owen, Rotheram. Owen WaALLIs, Overstone Grange. Joun Witson, Edinburgh. ree eee ee) 493 Report on the Exhibition and Trial of Implements Report of Judges of Thrashing Machines. Horsr-PowEr THRASHING-MACHINES. The entry for trial of horse-power thrashing-machines were unusually small, being only three in number, The introduction of steam-power for thrashing has so limited the demand for these machines that little attention seems to be paid to their manufacture. The trials were conducted without the dynamometer, and in awarding the prize we were mainly influenced by the quality of the work. 'The competitors were :— Name. Stand. Article. |Price of Machine. Horse-power. Loasonds Wallisiand'Haslam.. ..\ .. .. 123 2325 54 12 6 4 MaskersandiSonsy ie cuie. aucune 95 1853 D5). ONO 4 HensmanandSon .. .. .. .«- 148 2665 73 0 0 5 | The prize of 20/7. was awarded to Messrs. Wallis and Haslam. STEAM-POWER ‘T'HRASHING-MACHINES. Owing to the non-attendance of several of the leading manufacturers, there were fewer machines entered for trial than on previous occasions: this is to be regretted, as we think it of some importance to the public to know whether the machines which had prizes awarded them at the Chester meeting still maintain their position. In offering the prize in Class III. the Society definitely stated that no machine could compete which could not be driven by 8-horse power. ‘To ascertain correctly the power taken by each machine we had the assistance of Messrs. Appold and Amos, jun., who worked the dynamometer throughout the trials, thereby relieving us of great responsibility. The number of machines entered for trial was 19, of which 4 broke down, 9 exceeded the prescribed power, and 6 only could compete for the prize. In the first trial we determined to decide the merits of each by a system of points, and annexed is a tabular statement of the results. Of the 6 machines eligible to compete for the prize we selected 4 for a second trial. Jn order to arrive at a just conclusion, and ascertain correctly their good or bad points, we decided that each machine should be subjected to a trial of 80 minutes, and the power required to drive it should be recorded by the dynamometer. We allowed each exhibitor to be sole manager of his machine, with the view to make its performance as effective as possible. The quantity of corn sacked was then weighed, and from the chaff, calder, and other refuse, was taken by one of Messrs. Hornsby’s dressing machines all the corn which otherwise would have been thrown away; this also was weighed and noted down against each machine. It was extremely gratifying to hear each exhibitor express his approval of this test, and from the accompanying Table, coupled with the workmanship, price, and general performance of each machine, we awarded the prizes as follows, viz. :— Prizes. Name. | Stand. Article. Ist Prize 307... .. | Gibbonsand Co, .. 123 283 2nd ditto 201... .. | Humphries .. .. 26 475 ord) ditto JO. py nN epesAVOLYs) c -- siss 39 713 A Silver Medal .esiiaumner! <<; | ee 65 1143 *LLANSVUYT NHOP ‘monuq, Haasor 499 at the Canterbury Meeting, 1860. | “Tepe LOATIS ¢ g cr G8-t LL-PL Oe | = o> ae waanyy “201 O}TP PAE | z oe e8 69-9 1-661 og | s* Ar0oxeg “206 OVP PUG | ¢ € 68 8-9 -F0G 0g ** soryduingy *J0€ 921g 4ST v ee 20 S-L 6-612 OSI ees C ata) *SqI “Sq “Satlojg “a ‘asnjoyy pue 7 5 ‘oyu T J : ce paysearypy, W109 | “raasod-as.0zy7 : ; S$dZ1. Lapel eqD Uo. ce Oy 1aMod-as.0 oul y, “OULe NT oe tiated cody “ ae JO WPL CEE : 1e}07, i : N “TIVIN], GNOOIG—TIT SSVIO | etIl | s9 | s9 | S29 { - Wg | 0S | 0@ | os OL | 0g | GL | 0g I-F | 61-ce Bk a) (Aojaeq) oniq | : ol GE | BOS Os | OSs | OL, | 09 az. | COL 2) 9F-F |. 4-96TL/™E9-08.| +f eee oun, ol 0G OF 0 GG GZ ce | ¢z |-0g L-G || 8.GG G9-6 | °° (Kapteg) o91¢ ates] 98, |'48" SIMON coy Age logge | Ge f Ge | es | og — | oot -L | £6860 | 99-81 | °° Gvoqan) s0qItD Se sa gar anneal age ( cat 0g G OF 09 09 | $2 | 0g 99-G | 98-09 GL-O1 | ** (Kopaeg) onta a! g GI 0g g a 09 09 | 0g OOL | 96-8 | GZ-991 | SE-8T | ** GvayM) tazs10q arret alte aa ee 06 os Ol 0Z og 0Z | OOL | 0G -9 | ¥-6h | egt-8 | °° (Aopteg) ontq G1 0% 0g ol 0G og 0L | 001 | oot 9-¢ | gu-GFI | @9-Se | °° (vag) Aroaeg Serato ecg ees? { OFS Oc FOS BOG 10s le Oost OL. || O0T «1208 #9 | G-9F | 30-4 | (Aomieq) oq = ea (ec 0% og 03* | OF OL OL | OOL | OOT | Go-zZ | 8-IEL | Ss-LT | Guay) sonmmduinzy Pell eiciscot oer { st | 06 | OS | 08 | OF | O£ | O£ | OOT | og 9-9 | 6-49 | 99-8 | °° (Aofteg) ond - at 02 0g 02 0g OL OL | OOL | OOL | S8-zZ | Gg-16 99-11 | ** Gvay Ay) suoqqry Kae) *soynUlpy > DR a | 8 Q na Q Q [o> lo] f 2 i Q a > be Ler} ol 5 a: s 2 | ok oboe @ | we 4 b 5 . ay . . @ Be | BE || eel ee eet ee each lee ee anaes S | = rH “ ep & 5 b, BE a ee ‘oue Ny 5 S Pe a g | 3 a : 4 | # Pla , P = g 2 | # - ? g | } | | meee} | | — | . 0G | OG 0¢ 0G 0s OL OL. | OOL | * * uoNoajsag Suyyworpuy syutog Jo *oN “IVIU, LSUJ— JIT SsvIp 500 Report on the Exhibition and Trial of Implements Report of Messrs. F. King and Epwarp Wuirtte on the Implements tried by them at Canterbury. The implements tried by us were chaff-cutters, grinding-mills with stone and steel grinders, linseed and corn-crushers, oil-cake breakers, turnip-cutters, and root-pulpers, all worked by power. Quality of work was our first consideration, and all the machines were tested by the dynamometer. task much easier. good work. Cuass [V.—CHAFF-CUTTERS. The able assistance of Mr. Haston, jun., made our The machines were generally well constructed, and made ‘Time of working, 3 minutes. Barley-straw used ; length tested 3-inch. —— Name of Exhibitor. H. Carson, Warminster, E. Bentall, Maldon. Richmond and Chandler, Manchester. Stand. | Article. 49 820 LOL | 1931 41 758 Price. aon IG 13 13 Power required. 20,830 .- Chaff an Award, Ibs. ee 635] 10 Remarks. Threeknives,reverse gear, an improved front feed-plate. The quality of the chaffeut, and whole arrangement of this machine, were very good, A good machine, reverse gear. Qua- lity of chaff good. Crass VI.—Grinpine Mrixs with Stone Grinders, for Grinding Agricultural Produce into Meal by Steam or Horse Power. Time of working each machine, 10 minutes. Barley used. Name of Exhibitor. Ashbyand Co., Stamford, John Tye, Lincoln. ‘Stand. } Article. 68 | 1226 121 | 2286 Price. Power required. 25,000 23,852 Meal ae produced, Award, Remarks. Ibs. £. 504 5 64 5 |*Portable ditto 551. 10s. The machines in this Class were very much improved. at the Canterbury Meeting, 1860. 501 Ciass VIT.—Grinpine Minis with Steel Grinders, for Grinding Agricultural Time of working, 2 minutes. Produce by Steam or Horse Power. Barley used. Name of Exhibitor. Hunt and Pick- ering, Leices- ter. Howard, Riches, and Co., Nor- wich, Stand. | Article, 73 194 Price. oa Ss 1276 6 10 3795 | 31 10 Power required. | produced. 4774 Meal Award. Ibs. £. 364 8 .- Highly com- mended. Remarks, This machine we highly recommend, either for grinding beans or barley into fine meal, or split- ting corn; and we think it is almost equal to the grind- ing mills with stone grinders. Cuass X.—Linsrep anp Corn-CrusueErs by Steam or Horse Power. ‘Time of working, 2 minutes. Name of Exhibitor. Turner, Ipswich Wood and Son, Stowmarket, E. Bentall, Maldon. 5 . Power Stand.| Article.} Price mencinell Lars: Oats. Gh) L148) 12) 12 35,000 Linseed. 358,000 128 | 2414 | 11 11 60 101 | 1941 | 10 10 ae | Oats and Linseed used. wee Award. Remarks. Oats. Eon ; < 27 lbs. 5 This machine Linseed, worked with 20 Ibs. much less power than any tried in this Class. Both good ma- chines, Cuass XIJ.—Omcake Breakers for Large and Small Cake, by Steam or Horse Power. Time of working, 2 minutes. Name of Exhibitor. E. Beutall, Maldon. Dray and Co., | London. Stand. | Article. 101 | 1945 165 | 3028 Price. £. s. ona d EY 0 Power Cake required. | broken. Ibs. 35,100 134 35,200 | 1493 Award. £, 7 502 — Report on the Exhibition and Trial of Implements Crass XVI.—Turnie anp Root Curtrrs. alae Stand. | Article.| Price. | Award. Remarks. — | = / Ce sly Se Picksley &Co.,| 77 | 1357) 510) 10 | This is the only Root-cutter we Manchester, | tried, which did a large quan- tity of work ina littletime. It | is a very cheap machine. | Cuass XVII.—Roor PuLpers. 200 lbs. Mangold used. N f . Exhibitor. Stand.| Article.| Price. ere Time. | Award. Remarks. 256 Gh m. sec, aes E. Bentall, 101 | 1955 | 8 18 | 32,508 | 1 26 4 A very good pul- Maldon. per; teetheasily repaired. Barnard & Co.,| 35] 619] 7 O | Seas: | Ml ik Norwich. | | | F. Kine. EpwarbD WHITTLE. OILCAKE-BREAKERS, Roor-putprers, TURNIP AND Root CurTERS AND SLICERS, CHAFF-CUTTERS, GRINDING-MILLS WITH STEEL GRINDERS, GRINDING-MILLS WITH STONE OR STEEL GRINDERS, LINSEED AND Corn CrusHEers, Bone AND BoneE-pust Mitts, &c. The implements and machines allotted to us for trial belonged to that section of the Prize Sheet which has reference to the preparation of food for stock, comprising linseed-cake breakers, root-pulpers, root cutters and slicers, chaff-machines, grinding-mills, linseed and corn crushers for hand-power, and bone and bone-dust mills for steam, water, or horse power. ‘These were nearly all tested by the dynamometer in the shed arranged for the purpose, so that the actual power required to work them was accurately ascertained. We shall, as we proceed, describe in detail the way in which the trials were conducted for each class of machines. We may observe, however, that in all cases “ quality of work” was our chief consideration ; without that the other elements of excellence, such as principle of construction, time and power required, &c., were not admitted as real claims for the prizes, &c. OILCAKE-BREAKERS. The amount of money offered for prizes (viz. 57.) in this class was divided and awarded according to the merits of the implements. Each machine was worked five minutes, and the weight of cake passed through each, the quality of work done, and the power consumed, were duly registered, with the follow- ing results :— at the Canterbury Meeting, 1860. 503 ‘ nits of ; Lbs. weight eee Sen ey Name of Maker. oncake a ip hreak that can Price. 5 Minutes.) 1 lb. of be Broken Cake per Hour ee ee ee ey | lbs. pee ees Nicholson .. as 39 71°02 468 8138 6 i. R. and F. Turner & 48 121°5 576 | 8 10. 0 Picksley, Sims, and Co. 25 603°2 300 310 0 T. W. Ashby and Co. .. 43 814 516} 3 10: 0 | Hunt and ery a 36 55°6 453 or Gx) Bentall . “ 27 37° 324 ols 6 Smith Brothers 71 133°8 852 S50) | | Johnson and Whitaker. 32 31:3 384 |5 10 0! The Ist Prize of 31. was awarded to Bentall. The 2nd Prize of 2/. was awarded to Highly commended .. Hunt and Pickering. T. W. Ashby and Co. The machines, of which a considerable number were exhibited, were gene- rally well constructed, with the exception of one, which employed twelve times the amount of power to do less work than the best machine tried, though both were made exactly on the same principle. The defect arose from the bad way in which the machine was fitted or put together. Roor-pULPERS. Of this class of machines for preparing food for cattle, only seven were tried, as the application of hand-power to this purpose is very limited, steam or horse power being found more suitable and economical, particularly as the work is generally done at the homestead. In testing these machines we had 108 lbs. of roots (mangold) weighed and given to each, recorded the time and power employed, and then decided accordingly. | Units | of Power “ | | eS Quantity Name of Maker, Time. | oe } Pulped Price. | cuting the | ‘per Hour. Work. | min. sec. “lbs gas, ds Sieg Biskop, and) Bar-\/ 4 9 | 97,480 | 1600 | 4 10 0 Picksley, Sims, and Co. 10 30 | 31,820 617 4 4.10 Hunt and Penenine 4 88 21,920 | 1440 5 0) 104 Bentall . me DO Wot. 620) l2tS 6. 6 10 Woods and Son 62 (423,000 | 1023 | 2 to James Mellard Withdrawn. lone 610 0 Johnson and Whitaker 9 48 | 29,930| 621 |315 0 | The Prize of 2/. 10s. was awarded to The Prize of 1/. 10s. was awarded to Commended .. Mr. Bentall. Hunt and Pickering, Barnard and Bishop, The work done by most of the machines was good, but the difference between them was considerable. The first prize machine reduced the roots to pulp as evenly as possible, and it was the only one that did so, the others cut the-roots into shreds, Some of The one that was withdrawn was fed on the inside of the cylinder ; the knives were fixed so ill that they choked up in a very short time, d04 Report on the Exhibition and Trial of Implements Roor Currers AND SLICERS. The machines exhibited in this class were numerous and generally well constructed ; in some of them valuable improvements had been made since they were last tried, particularly in one of Gardner’s, made by Mr. Bentall, which had a double action and an apparatus separating the dirt and small pieces from the roots during the process of cutting. We adopted the same principle in testing these machines as in the case of pulpers, viz., we had 108 lbs. of roots weighed and given to each machine, and registered the time, power, &c. Units of Power fi | Quantity H Name of Maker. Time, ae ae Sliced per} Price, ae Hour | cuting the L Work. min, sec, lbs. Se” Be, poner sent eee a 2 20] 11,120] 2777 |410 0 Carson Ss M4540) 9,500 35384 410 0 | Bentall . 29 13 |- 5,970 | 2928) | A Toso Bentall . ; DOD 7,680 2221 ple) (0) | Picksley, Sims, and Co. 155) 6,500 3381 415 0 Mellard v6 3 30 | 17,600 1851 | 510 O | Johnson and Wikitalen: his 3 43 | 10,100 1748 b) LOO) | Johnson and Whitaker 2 48 6,020 2314 | 510 O Trustees of W. Crosskill 26 , 230 948 |810 0 A Prize of 41. was awarded to .. Mr. Bentall. Mr. Carson. Mr. Bentall. A Prize of 21. was awarded to .. And commended (as a slicer also) The exhibition of chaff-cutters for hand-power was very good, the machines being generally well constructed. We tried them all with very short barley- straw, as it came from the threshing-machine; each machine worked five minutes, mechanical time, by the dynamometer. and the quality of the work, &c., duly recorded. - Units ; of Power Saeaes Name of Maker. Weight. Se eae eee Price, 1 Ib. of Hour, Chaff. PS, San Bae Page and Co. 14 1675°8 74 Oe Gardner njen during the trial fis A) Gardner Not prepared for trial. Jas. Cornes .. 16) )j| T2282 e152 sl eeeieee) Hill and Smith Ne pulley) to go to trial 610 0 Allcock . 1727°5 144/710 O Johnson and Whitaker 4 1844° 120) 4100 Richmond and Chandler 13% 1685°8 162) 415510) 0 Carson .. : 14 1798° 168 | 510 0 Picksley and Sims” 154 | 1470°9 186 |6 0 0 Bentall . 3 154 | 1590°3 186° } 6 16) 6a Ashby and Co. 104 | 1450°4 126 FG 0Rn0 Snowden ja ae 83 2889°4 102 |8 18 6 Cornes and Son 113 993° 138 |810 O The chatf cut was weighed, at the Canterbury Meeting, 1860. 505 The Ist Prize of 5/. was awarded to .. Mr. Cornes. The 2nd Prize of 3/. was awarded to .. Mr. Bentall. The 3rd Prize of 2/. was awarded to .. Richmond and Chandler, And Page and Co. received a high commendation. But very few mills were exhibited in Classes 8 and 9. We selected several for trial, but two only were tried. One of these when fed with barley did its work well, both in producing fine meal and a coarser sort for feeding purposes ; but the operation was so exceedingly slow, and the power required so exces- sive, that we felt bound to withhold the prizes altogether. LINSEED AND Corn CRUSHERS ADAPTED TO HAND-POWER. Tn this class also there were but few exhibitors, it being found very much more economical to apply steam or horse power to this work, We tried, how- ever, three machines; both in crushing linseed and oats the work was exceedingly good, especially if we take into account the power used. ‘There was nothing particularly new in either of them to call for special com- ment ; we worked them all five minutes, mechanical time, weighed the pro- duce of both linseed and oats, and recorded the power required by each mill for each kind. Units Quantity | of Power | Quantity Name of Maker, | Kind, {oiMIBE | TWEE | EESEEE | Pe, 5 Minutes.| 1 1b. of | per Hour. each. Tbs. lbs. Messrs. Tasker .. Withdrawn. Woods and Son .. | Linseed 124 | 3178*8 | © 147 15 10 O Woods and Son .. | Oats .. 10¢ | 4353°1 123 Bentall.. .. .. | Linseed 164 3115°) 198 6°65 0 erntallics (25° =. (Oats: .. 102 3282°7 124 E. R. and F, Turner} Linseed 13 2515°3 | 156 |8 0 0 E. R.and F. Turner | Oats .. 132 | 3674+1 | 160 | “eg The Ist Prize was awarded to .. .. Mr. Bentall. The 2nd Prize was awarded to .. .. Messrs. Turner. BonE AND Bonr-pust Mitts. In this class we had five bone and two bone-dust mills for trial. We tried each mill five minutes, and observed the quality and quantity of the work done, and decided as follows :*— Tor Bone Mills, The Prize of 51. was awarded to The Trustees of W. Crosskill. The Prize of 5/. was awarded to The Trustees of W. Crosskill. Highly commended .. .. .. Picksley and Sims, Commended ve us a es Oldiam and Booth. Bone-dust Mills. The Prize of 10/. was awarded to The Trustees of W. Crosskill. And commended .» « « Oldham and Booth. * The dynamometer could not be applied to these trials in consequence of the great amount of power required by some of the mills at a low rate of speed, 506 Report on the Exhibition and Trial of Implements Picksley and Sims exhibited a small but useful mill for a farmer, as it would grind about 2 tons per day in a very efficient manner, requiring only 2-horse power to work it. That exhibited by Messrs. Rankin made very inferior work as compared with the others; it ground the bones indifferently, and the screen to separate the ground bones worked so badly that it made scarcely any separation, and was completely choked up before the time for working had expired. In concluding our Report we may be perhaps allowed to add, that the absence of two very efficient Stewards, Messrs. Caldwell and Pope, caused much regret. The former was taken ill when on his way to Canterbury ; the latter, from an unforeseen cause, was compelled to return home ; so that the whole superintendence of the trials devolved upon Lord Leigh the remaining Steward. We can speak with satisfaction of the manner in which the Foremen and Yardmen generally performed their duties, and of the ready assistance which they afforded us whenever we required it. m Joun Hicken, Bourton-on-Dunsmore, near Rugby. Grorcr Marrutas HrpwEt, Cheam, Surrey. Report of the Judges of the Miscellaneous Department. The Judges of the miscellaneous implements have great pleasure in pre- senting their Report on the implements and machinery which it fell to their lot to inspect at the Canterbury Meeting. A cursory view of the show of implements at once made us sensible of a falling off in the exhibition as compared with the Warwick, Chester, and other previous meetings. This was owing to the absence of the well-known stands of many of our leading implement-makers, which we could not do otherwise than deplore. The laudable exertions of other exhibitors, great as they were, failed to supply the deficiency. The Warwick Catalogue contained 412 pages, descriptive of 245 stands; the Canterbury Catalogue contains but 296 pages, descriptive of 212 stands—thus showing a great reduction of the number of exhibitors,but a still greater reduc- tion in the number of articles shown. The Miscellaneous Judges have constantly to reply as they best can to remarks and objections made, and also to entertain suggestions offered by exhibitors in passing round upon their duties. One complains that no prize is ever offered for articles of his class of manufacture ; another, exhibiting the most general collection, asserts they are all of agricultural character; another asserts that his fire-engine is an agricultural pump; another argues that his range-grate must pass on account of the steam-apparatus attached ; another, that his blasting-apparatus is certainly entitled to pass as an agricultural appliance; another that his school-desks must pass—‘ they are for paro- chial schools.” Then we have the whole class of washing-machines, besides many articles and machinery exhibited under the following heads, 7.e.— filters, flower-stands, garden-archways, garden-seats, and implements ; pedestals, vases, syringes, &c., for garden uses, and alarum-bells for tenders of corn, seeds, &c.; then cucumber-slices, barometers, bedsteads, carpet-sweepers, office-mills, chairs and tables, copying-machines, cork-drawers, counting- machines, dish-covers, door-frames, door-mats, fire-bars, fishing-rods, foun- tain-designs, fruit-plates, gas-apparatus, grafting-tools, butchers’ knives, lanterns, lightning-conductors, meat-covers, microscopes, photographs, quoits, road-scrapers, roasting-machines, sausage-machines, sewing-machines, sign- paintings, tents, union-jack flags, urns, varnish, &c., &c., &c., in great abundance and variety. We name these to show that Judges in this class at the Canterbury Meeting, 1860. 507 must haye perplexing doubts as to the category under which articles like these should he included, useful as most of them are, but not decidedly agri- cultural. We would suggest most respectfully that a committee or commis- sion should be appointed by the Society to settle these questions. We desire to say that, in pursuing our duties throughout the late exhi- bition, we scrupulously avoided noticing any implements or machines or class of machines likely to come into competitive trial in due course in the quadrennial cycle. We had great difficulty in withholding the Society’s honowrs in this respect, as our attention was repeatedly called to what were termed new implements, or new machines, or improvements thereon. We, however, took the responsibility of referring the various exhibitors to the time when they would, according to the standing rules of the Society, be brought into full competition. Hence, it will be seen that our awards were much restricted, particularly as we had no power of marking our approval of whole stands, however much we admired them; but the honours were to be confined to meritorious implements or machines, “agricultural articles, or essential improvements.” We may, however, in this Report express our high approval of very many stands which would add great interest to any show- yard. We beg to name the following as eminently worthy of commendation :— Messsrs. John Waxner and Son’s stand of pumps and hydraulic machines ; the Trustees of Mr. Crosskill’s stand of carts, waggons, mills, wheels, axles, portable railways, troughs, pumps, &c., &c.; Richard Reid’s stand of probangs, watering-machines, pumps, &c.; Ebenezer Thornton’s stand of washing and mangling machines—the latter exceedingly eood; James Coultar’s stand of drills, &c. (we noticed his improvement in the box to the wheels). Ran- some’s mouse-traps elicited our approval. We selected Bradford’s washing- machine for a short trial, and, with a very dirty assortment of clothing, it washed them thoroughly and wrung them nearly dry in six minutes ; we gave it a commendation. Richmond, Chandler, and Norton’s was an excel- lent stand. Henry Hayes showed a capital stand of carts and waggons, beau- tifully got up. Isaac James showed a superior washing-machine. Hugh Carson kept up in full efficiency his highly-useful stand of implements. John Reynolds exhibited some very pretty rosaries, archways, stands, baskets, and other ornamental garden requisites, in wire, &c., &c. The Agricultural Engineers’ Company exhibited a very extensive and excellent collection of most useful implements, machinery, and other articles in great variety and suited to every agricultural purpose: it was so extensive as to represent nearly every firm in the kingdom. Bonds and Robinson are new exhibitors : their horse-rake and horse-hoe are two very useful implements. E. T. Quinton’s bread-making or kneading-machine met our approval. Messrs. KE. R. and F. Turner had, as usual, a good stand of their superior crushers, bruising and grinding mills, &c., &. T. W. Ashby and Co. had an excellent stand of haymaking-machines, chaff-cutters, horse-rakes, cake-mills, circular revolving harrows, &c., &c. ‘Thomas « «| 21,971,125 4,753,116 54 6,298,036 | 014 8/1 5 0 6. Central ,, + «| 21,106,985 | 4,228,542 50 4,233,688 /010 0/1 0 0 Average per Acre, Average Average 132,576,227 | 36,039,559 0°27 64,641,849 | 1 2 0/116 0 Here we see at a glance wide differences in population, and wealth as indicated by taxation, differences for which we must seek an explanation from an endless variety of local pecu- liarities, among which, apart from the quality of the soil, the stimulus given to natural resources by markets, means of communication, climate, education, and civilization must not be overlooked. A rapid sketch of these peculiarities will suffice to show that the empire of France, which on the map appears so compact, so homogeneous, so well defined by seas, rivers, and lofty chains of mountains, is in reality composed of heterogeneous parts in every possible respect. Whether we look at the topographical features of the country, and its varieties of climate and produce, or to the striking contrast presented by the several races from which its inhabitants have sprung, their divers dialects, ethnological peculiarities, diversity of tastes, habits, wants, and traditions (each at least as distinct and easily recognized as the peculiarities which in this country betray the Irishman or Scotchman), we cannot wonder that there should exist so marked a difference in the respective prosperity of these divisions, governed though they be by the same laws, and having access to the same advantages of education and social enlightenment. Among the aids to natural fertility few are of more import- ance than the means of communication afforded by public roads and railways. The following Table will show how unequal is the distribution of these advantages over the French empire. 536 Rural Economy of France since 1789. In 1857 the extent of public highways regularly kept in repair amounted to 100,207 miles, canals and navigable rivers 8457 miles, railways 5516 miles, divided as follows :— Canals and Roads, Navigable Railways. Rivers, Miles. Miles. Miles. 1. N.W. district .. .. 25,000 2106 1572 2. N.E. 0) cae Sc 16,990 1685 1281 oF We 35 Somme 18,988 1645 677 4. S.E. Ae on 12,471 1468 914 5. S.W. oa amas 14,179 1435 622 6. Central ,, os aies 12,579 118 450 100,207 8457 5516 This Table shows very forcibly that the most prosperous dis- tricts are those which are the better provided with means of communication. The first division, the North-Western, is not only remarkable for its industrial prosperity, comprising as it does the most important manufacturing districts, but for the unrivalled excel- lence of its agriculture. Although it represents only the sixth part of the territory, it contains more than the fourth part of the population, and contributes nearly half the taxes of the nation, without reckoning the heavy municipal dues of the department of the Seine. If any proof were wanted that the riches of nations directly spring up from agricultural prosperity, the statistics of the North-Western districts of France would amply suffice to establish the point. If we begin with the northern extremity, we here find Flemish agriculture quite at home in these comparatively recent conquests of Louis XIV. Flanders was the cradle of European agri- culture. “In these rich plains originated (to quote M. Layergne) that alternation of crops which has since been adopted in England and then in France, and is destined to make the circuit of the globe.” ** The origin of this discovery—most precious to mankind, inas- much as this alone can enable us on a given space to feed an indefinite population—is lost in the obscurity of the middle ages. Virgil, it is true, alludes to this practice, ‘alternis requiescunt fetibus arva ; but the Romans do not appear to have carried it out on a large scale. Its real development is due to the requirements of great towns, such as Ghent and Bruges, when at war with kings and princes. The ancient as well as modern Flemings owed much of their vigour to a generous diet ; meat and beer made them what they were, and their chiefs often belonged to the guild of butchers or bakers,” Rural Economy of France since 1789: 537 This part of Flanders exhibits also the happy results of liberal political and social institutions. In the words of M. Lavergne: “In 1789 the department called Le Nord had already one inhabitant to every 24 acres, that is to say, was at least twice as populous as the rest of France. M. Cordier justly remarks in his ‘Agriculture of French Flanders,’ that this country owed its wealth much more to its sound political insti- tutions than to the fertility of the soil, Louis XIV. himself, after his conquest, respected these ancient liberties. This district, which had for centuries been emancipated from feudal burdens and indirect imposts, was still in 1789 governed by home- appointed unpaid magistrates. ural districts, as well as towns, had the right and habit of undertaking public works ; private companies were formed when required ; and certain voluntary associations for reclaiming bogs and swamps, called Watteringues, flourished under a system of management which we should do well to imitate at the present day.” Arthur Young (an authority often quoted by M. Lavergne, as every Englishman will observe with pride and satisfaction) remarked in his tour, that the line of demarcation between French and Flemish husbandry followed precisely the line of the ancient boundary of the two countries. The difference did not depend upon the soil, for a finer plain can hardly be found than that which extends, almost without interruption, as far south as Orleans, It was despotism on the one side, with poverty-stricken neglect and a detestable system of corn-crops and fallow; and on the other freedom with a soil that never knew and never needed rest. Even at the present day Flemish rotations are much more largely diversified than those practised in England, thus indi- cating a greater advancement in agricultural science; and nothing can exceed the perfection of the means used by Flemish farmers to restore to the soil those elements of fertility which their heavy cropping has withdrawn from it. The principal feature of the agriculture of this division is the cultivation of beetroot as raw material for the manufacture of sugar, which has taken a most wonderful development—a sure test of its success. The department called Le Nord alone contains no less than 150 sugar-mills out of a total of 850 for the whole of France. This branch of industry has exercised so great an influ- ence upon the agricultural production of the district, that in the town of Valenciennes a triumphal arch was erected in 1853 on which the following inscription is engraved : “ The growth of wheat in this district before the production of beetroot sugar was only 122,569 quarters, the number of oxen 700 ; since the introduction 538 Rural Economy of France since 1789. of the sugar manufacture the growth of wheat has been 146,180 quarters, and the number of oxen 11,500.” It must not, however, be overlooked that this agricultural pros- perity is accompanied by a very serious drawback—over-popu- lation, which, according to M. Lavergne, “is not a necessary consequence, but a natural concomitant of small occupations.” The excess is estimated at one-fourth, or even one-third of the whole population. Even M. Lavergne is driven to seek for some economical, not arbitrary, limit to the subdivision of holdings, and hints that hired farms might, with probable benefit, com- prise a minimum of 25 acres, and properties held by the owner of 12 acres. It must not be overlooked that this over-population has arisen in a district where thriving and increasing manu- factures have provided a considerable outlet for the surplus increasing rural population. Among the interesting provinces comprised in the North- Western district is Normandy, so closely allied to England by the ties of race and history, and hardly less so by its scenery and pastoral features. “If,” says M. Lavergne, “I were asked which is the most happy and prosperous part of France, I should without hesitation point to Normandy ;” and yet we here find the strange anomaly of a decreasing population, and most im- pervious obstinacy in rejecting almost all agricultural improve- ment. Normandy is the land of meadows and pastures, one of the dairies of France; another of its distinguishing features is its breed of merino sheep, which of late has been most success- fully crossed with the Leicester. Paris is largely supplied by its poultry, eggs, &c., which also make their way into the London market. The system of tenure here in use is that of long leases; there is scarcely a single instance to be found of métayage, which is so prevalent elsewhere, especially in the southern provinces. The average of wages for agricultural labour are about 9s. 6d. a week, 2. Nortru-Easstern Division. This region comprises at least two most interesting provinces, Champagne and Burgundy: names not only familiar from their connexion with famous wines, but also illustrious from their his- torical associations. Nothing can exceed the contrast that exists between the North-Western region and this. Besides the great difference which, on a reference to the foregoing tables, will be noticed in the number of their inhabitants, and the amount of revenue they pay to the public exchequer, they are still more remarkably distinguished by the topographical aspect of the Rural Economy of France since 1789. 539 country and the nature of the soil. ‘‘ Instead of those vast plains softly inclining towards the ocean,” says M. de Lavergne, “this North-Eastern region consists pretty much of a confused heap of hills and mountains, the ranges of which cross each other in all directions, and some of which rise to rather a high elevation. There are few towns and many forests, but an industrious popu- lation redeem by their activity the shortcomings of the soil.” The ancient province of Champagne, in an agricultural point of view, is as uninteresting as any barren desert can be. Of the four departments into ehialt it is now divided, viz. the Ardennes, Aube, Marne, and Haute-Marne, the latter #lone presents some patches of fertile soil. Everywhere else a barren surface pre- vails, which may be described as sterile grit, chalky tufa, or schist, upon which vegetable and animal life is so poor and stunted as to have drawn upon this province the opprobrious appellation of Champagne Pouilleuse, the meaning of which epithet we shall leave our readers to discover for themselves. At an early epoch these dreary wastes presented an attraction to St. Bernard and his followers, the founders of the Abbey of Clairvault, the head of eight hundred kindred monasteries. ‘The monks were everywhere the best and earliest patrons of agricul- ture, the Counts of Champagne were kindly rulers, and this poor province enjoyed comparative prosperity ; but ilien the English wars depopulated the country, and next the curse and blight arising from direct dependence on the French crown fell upon the land. Before the Revolution its poverty was notorious. Arthur Young’s calculations show an average rent of 4 francs and gross produce of 12 francs per acre throughout ‘the province. The misery of the people, due as much to the government as to the soil; was heartrending. The Ardennes were at one time covered with a dense forest, numerous patches of which are still extant. There are no natural pastures to be found except in the bottom of the valleys; and from want of staple soil or means of irrigation it is next to impossible to create them. Rye is the principal cereal grown, for it is the only one that can be obtained with any advantage. Where the culture of wheat is possible, the yield rarely exceeds 12 bushels an acre. The basins of the rivers Seine, Marne, and Aube alone form brilliant exceptions to this sombre aspect, from their luxuriant fertility. But all this desolate and barren character which prevails over the greater extent of Champagne is most abundantly compensated by the sparkling produce of its famous vineyards. These, though limited in extent to about 150,000 acres, produce an average yearly return of nearly two millions and a half sterling, or about 16/. an acre. “Champagne,” says M. de Lavergne, “ exhibits a rural organi- VOL. XXI. 20 540 Rural Economy of France since 1789, zation which is found in many other parts of France, but which is nowhere so strongly marked as here. There are scarcely any 1so- lated homesteads. The farm-houses are grouped in villages some- times very distant one from another. The land nearest to these villages is let at an excessive rent; whilst the more distant fields, requiring expensive transport, are much less yaluable and yield less produce. This arrangement. so disadvantageous to cultiva- tion, is explained in many instances by the want of water; in others it owed its origin to the necessity of self-defence. This has been the favourite route of the most important invasions which haye menaced our national independence, from the time, nearly fifteen centuries ago, when Attila was here defeated by the Franks and the Romans. These historical reminiscences reflect a gleam of light over this organization, which is so defective in an economical point of view. The richer lands are afflicted by another evil, that of subdivision. “The interior of these villages presents a curious spectacle of rural life and activity, which extends even to the suburbs of the more important towns. At dusk, the cows are seen entering from all sides on their return from the fields, and slaking their thirst at the public drinking-places. At dawn, every morning, is heard the horn of the herdsman of the com- mune, and at the well-known sound from each door issues a small detachment of sheep to join the: general flock. At the time of harvest cartloads of wheat and oats arrive from all points of the horizon, and numerous open barns disclose their close- packed sheaves. Ploughmen and vine-dressers start together and return together from their labour, ‘This living in common has its advantage : if it checks rapid progress, it likewise prevents retrogression. ‘The whole village moves with a nearly even step, and there exists between the representatives of various occupa- tions a perpetual comparison which keeps up healthy emulation.” The greater part of Burgundy, comprising the departments of Yonne and Cote d’Or, with Ain and Sadne et Loire, belongs to the South-Eastern Mines and is especially remarkable for its unrivalled wine. The principal vineyards lie on a low range of hills, called the Cote d’ Or, which extends from Dijon to Reawie: It is on these slopes that Chambertin, Nuits, Romanée, and Clos Vougeot are situated. Next comes Franche Comté, the half of which extends over the slopes of the Jura mountains. The principal agricultural feature of this district is the rearing of cattle and the production of cheese. The system known by the name af Sruitieres has been established over all the hilly districts. It is an imitation of the associations so prevalent in Switzerland for the manufacture of cheese, . Rural Economy of France since 1789. 541 The extreme division of property, and the consequent small number of cows owned by each tenant or proprietor, render it an impossibility for any single farmer to attempt making cheeses which require as much as 60 gallons of milk at once. Hence the necessity of association. ...) su “ie. -c Lae 15 10 5 SHEEP, LEICESTERS. Woe iSlocensbiaes Mev eh Gqe ec sa os foe ae 20 10 5 For Rams of any other age .. “ 20 10 5 For a Pen of five Shearling Ewes ‘of the same flock Be 20 10 SOUTH-DOWNS. latoye tshateehalln ner Ie BS He Gee Be) Gol Sa Sa 20 10 5 For Rams of any other age .. : Ee 20 10 5 For a Pen of five Shearling Ewes s of the same flock a 20 10 5 SHROPSHIRES. Hor shearline {Rams Sesuieeae eemne 15 10 & For Rams of : any other age . av 15 10 5 For a Pen of five Shearling Ewes. of the same flock S 15 10 5 LONG-WOOLLED SHEEP. (Not qualified to compete as Leicesters.) For Shearling Rams 20 10 5. For Rams of ¢ any other age . 20 10 5 For a Pen of five Shearling Ew es s of the same flock . 20 10 5 SHORT-WOOLLED SHEEP. (Not qualified to compete as South-Downs or Shropshire Sheep.) For Shearling Rams 20 10 5 For Rams of any other age . 20 10 5 For a Pen of five Shearling Ewes ‘of the same flock . 20 10 5 Prizes for Implements and Machinery. xlvii PIGS. First Second | Third Prize. Prize. Prize. For Boars of a large breed, of any colour .. ,. .. 10 5 js For Boars of a small white breed Te RAMEE. iss 10 i) = For Boars of a small black breed Re 10 5 ac For Boars of a breed not eligible for the pr eceding classes a SRS goles each eCMRRBO IMPS MSE: 10 Manovre Disrrisurors. Misimbutorsomdnyy manures eee ck oe eee TO Ditto fOMNGuidtmaAnireh whe a) SE oO xlviii Special Prizes. Horsr-Hoss. a. Horse-Hoes for general purposes A cnn Weel fee! cae | ee ee Single-row Horse-Hoes for ridge and flat . Pere eee cee i Horse-Hoes for thinning turnips beh LS Sct hee eee ee oe eee 5 Mowrne MAcuines. For natural and artificial grasses «2 ws we we ewe sere HO ELAX-MAKING MACHINES .....- 20) ee lice Jee cise’ soe) heel eee Rearina Macuines. For cutting, with self-delivery .. sis, lackudl =.) Seige Eee For cutting the corn, without self-deliv er y aa) _octeeese we . 10 For combined reaping anderass-MoOwine..,) >... elssein=s tl @baiss is eeeed ELORSE-RAKHS= | (0) ost isch acet) yesh tase eet atte mes Waceons. Pair-horse Waggons .. .. 2. es ws Olsavye WEE 55° 65 6G 6a aS i e 5 : 10 Carts Single-horseCarts” . es:7 ise Gan) ee, Meeliiivs | Hes ui sn nee eee Mwo-horseiWartSics! “«» ccs cscs - lee beens on thease 10 iIMarvest (Carts: fs. ce we ce Reed seer Veeno) “ces eRe 5 Marketi@arts/on'springs <<) =. c-) Weimer -|) ee ee 5 MIscELLANEOUS. Awards to Agricultural articles and essential improvements therein (@Oimedals)\F." * oee ca ee eee IMC robe occ c= nec III.—SpectaL PRIZES OFFERED BY THE LEEDS LocaL COMMITTEE. LABOURERS. A sum not exceeding 1002. to be at the disposal of the Local Committee, and distributed by them amongst the Servants who may be in charge of the first-prize animals or implements, subject to such limits of service, or otherwise, as they may deem fit. Medalsif preferred .. £100 Special Prizes. xlix HORSES. Tirst | Second Prize. Prize, es £. For Blood Hunters, Mares or Geldings, five years old (2 crosses)| 20 10 Ditto ditto four yearsold ditto 15 5 For Hunting Mares or Geldings three Bes Oldm vs: os 5 66 For Coaching Stallions .. . Athy Bo Sanico ele © Ho 10 5 For Coaching Mares three years old eeu % 5 x For Coaching Brood-Mares, with a foal, or rstinted.. .. .. 5 ee For Roadster Stallions .. a 10 5 For Roadster Mares or Geldings, any age, “ander 154 Hands és 10 - For’ a pair of Dray Boe Mares ‘or Geldings, or Mare and Gelding .. 10 ar For a pair of Mares or Geldings, or Mare and Gelding, for Agricultural purposes .. sh Be 10 5 For Geldings three years old, for Acricultural purposes. 5 35 For Mares three years old ditto ditto 5 56 For Gelding Ponies under 14 hands... .. ., «. «- 5 ; For Mare Ponies ditto sy 3 5 For Mare or Gelding Ponies under 12 hands .. : 5 CATTLE. For Cows for Dairy purposes, in-calforin-milk .. .. ..{ 10 | 5 SHEEP. LONG-WOOLLED SHEEP. (Neither Leicesters nor Cotswolds, ) £ For the best Shearling Ram Ge Eye oc. oot For the best Ram of any age Se wai pcete Meum” GF For the best pen of five Bes of the same flock. eco NR date — 210 MOUNTAIN SHEEP. For the best Shearling Cheviot Ram .. oe > 5 For the best pen of five Cheviot Ew es of the same flock : 5 For the best Black-faced Ram of any age .. ° 5 For the best pen of five Black-faced Ewes of the - same flock 5 For the best Lonk Ram with dark or mottled face .. 5 For the best ae of five Lonk Ewes with dark or mottled faces, ‘of the 2 ee Ge as Ri.” f PRIZES OPEERED BY LORD LONDESBOROUGH. For the best Hunting Colt three years old... ., rs 20 For the best pen of five Leicester Ewes, of the s same flock, not ‘being shearlings 10 é ] Special Prizes. CHEESE. First | Second | Third Prize. Prize. | Prize. 38 £. = For the best Cheese, one or more, not less than 28 lbs, weight, nor less than six months old .. .. .. 5 3 5c For the best six Cream Cheeses .. .. 0. oe ve 3 an s BUTTER. For the best, one or more, Rolls or Pats of Butter, not less than 20 lbs. 50 5 ‘. For the best, one or more, Rolls or Pats of Butter, nGt less tin tbe ae) Se ee 1S ee Se +e wool. LONG-WOOLLED SHEEP, For six Fleeces, deep staple and bright fibre, for Hogs, not exceeding 9 lbs. 10 5 ale For six Fleeces, deep staple and bright fibre, for Ewes, not exceeding 6 lbs... 10 5 i For six "Fleeces, deep staple and bright fibre, for Hogs, 9 lbs. or upwards 54 10 5 as For six Fleeces, deep staple and bright fibre, for Ewes, 6 lbs, or upwards 10 5 ie For six Fleeces, deep staple, and not ‘bright fibre, for Hogs, any weight oS aes LORS ea oa For six Fleeces, deep staple, and not bright fibre, for Ewes, any weight peat Rebahiee 10 5 ° SHORT-WOOLLED SHEEP. Horisix Hoo=Fileeces’ ¢.jf uegt et bed scenes annie: 10 5 ny Horjsix Biwe-Hleeces’ \) 1 is ice eect ri ba) kee 10 5 Ps FLAX. For Green Flax, Enclish grown, and exhibited by the grower only, pulled from fields of 5 acres and up to 10 acres. 9/1 6 3 For Green Flax, English crown, and ehibited by ie grower only, pulled from fields of 10 acres and up to 20 acres... 12 8 4 For Green Flax, English crown, ‘and exhibited by the grower: only, pulled from fields of 20 acres and | ~~ upwards. 15 10 5 For Prepared Flax, t to be exhibited by the preparer “only, retted, scutched, and handled mill-scutched Flax.. 20 10 5 Retted, scutched, and handled hand-scutched Flax .. 20 10 5 [No ei to be of less weight than five hundredweight, -and all scutched flax to be vetted; scutched, and handled ~ jn 1861.) Special Prizes, ~ li ESSAY. Essay on the Best Mode of Getting in the Harvest ina Bad Season ,. 10 BUILDING DESIGNS. For the best pair of Agricultural Cottages, containing not less than three bed-rooms in each, and with suitable conveniences attached, already built, or to be built by the 1st of June, 1861, within ten miles of the Leeds ‘Town Hall, at a cost not exceeding £180 .. .. .. «. « 20 For the best single ditto, at a cost not exceeding £110 .. .. « «. 10 [The Local Committee also intend to build, on a piece of land near to the Show-Yard, the pair of Agricultural Cottages to which the first prize offered by the Yorkshire Society may be awarded, provided they approve of the design; and if they do not, they will then adopt some other design, | ¥or the best Design for Covering a quantity of Land with Dwellings, in blocks suitable for working men in towns, at rentals varying from £6 to £10 per annum, and at a cost which will allow of a return of not less than £74 per cent. per annum upon the building outlay (exclusive Omihercostolstheyland)y - J cag: ised ce | ecg es glade: ode. tac eegus Ou [N.B.—Especial attention will be paid to the modes of ventilation provided in the case of back-to-back cottages, and to the sanitary arrangements throughout. Particulars and conditions of competition may be had from the Honorary Secretaries of the Local Committee at Leeds. | CONDITIONS RELATING TO LIVE-STOCK PRIZES. 1. No bull in Class I. of any of the divisions of cattle will be eligible for a prize unless a certificate is produced of his having served not less than three different cows (or heifers) within the three months preceding the Ist of June in the year of the Show. 2. No cow in-milk (and not in-calf) will be eligible for a prize unless cer- tified to have had a live calf, either between the date of entry and that of the Show, or within the twelve months preceding the date of the Show. 3. No cow entered as in-calf (and not in-milk) will be entitled to a prize pe certified to have produced a live calf in due course subsequently to the ow. 4, No cow entered as both in-calf and in-milk will be eligible for a prize unless certified to have produced a live calf between the date of entry and that of the Show, or within the twelve months preceding the date of the Show, or in due course subsequently to the Show. _5. No heifer entered as in-calf will be eligible for a prize unless she is cer- tified to have been bulled before the 31st of March in the year of Show, nor li Conditions relating to Prizes. will her owner afterwards receive the prize until he shall have furnished the Secretary with a further certificate that she produced a live calf before the 31st of January in the subsequent year. 6. All foals must be the offsprings of the mare along with which they are exhibited for the prize. 7. The ewes in each pen must be of the same flock. 8. The three sow-pigs in each pen must be of the same litter. 9. The Judges of pigs will be instructed, with the sanction of the stewards, to withhold prizes from any animals which shall appear to them to have been entered in a wrong class, and to affix a placard of disqualification to the pens of those animals. 10. All pigs exhibited at the country meetings of the Society shall be sub- jected to an examination of their mouths by the veterinary inspector of the Society ; and should the state of dentition in any pig indicate that the age of the animal has not’ been correctly returned in the certificate of entry, the stewards shall have power to disqualify such pig, and shall report the circum- stance to the Council at its ensuing monthly meeting. 11. No horse shall be exhibited without a certificate from a Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons as to the state of the animal with refer- ence to hereditary diseases, particularly those of the respiratory organs, which certificate shall accompany the Certificate of Entry; but the above shall not supersede the usual examination by the Society’s Veterinary Inspector. RULES OF ADJUDICATION. 1. As the object of the Society in giving prizes for neat cattle, sheep, and pigs, is to promote improvement in breeding stock, the Judges in making their awards will be instructed not to take into their consideration the present value to the butcher of animals exhibited, but to decide according to their relative merits for the purpose of breeding. 2. If, in the opinion of the Judges, there should be equality of merit, they will be instructed to make a special report to the Council, who will decide on the award. 38. The Judges will be instructed to withhold any prize if they are of opinion that there is not sufficient merit in any of the stock exhibited for such prize to justify an award; should, however, the question of disqualifying a whole class arise, the Judges shall consult with the stewards of the yard, and their joint decision shall be final. 4. The Judges will be instructed to give in a “‘ reserved number ” in each class of live stock, viz., which animal would in their opinion possess sufficient merit for the prize in case the animal to which the prize is awarded should subsequently become disqualified. 5. In the classes for stallions, mares, and fillies, the Judges in awarding the prizes will be instructed, in addition to symmetry, to take activity and strength into their consideration. 6. The Judges will be instructed to deliver to the Director their award, signed, and stating the numbers to which the prizes are adjudged, before they leave the yard. ; Conditions relating to Machinery. liti CONDITIONS RELATING TO MACHINERY. STEAM-ENGINES. All engines must be fitted with a steam-indicator, in addition to the ordinary spring-balance. ‘The actual power used during the respective trials will be correctly ascertained. Drizs. The General-Purpose Drills, both for large and small occupations, must be adapted for all kinds of corn and seeds, manures dry and moist, in quantities varying from 3 to 40 bushels per acre, and to have either fore or hind steerage. The Small Occupation Seed and Manure Drill will not compete with the drill of a higher price, as its price to the purchaser will be a material con- sideration. The Turnip Drills must be adapted for the ridge and flat, and for manures both dry and moist, in quantities varying from 3 to 40 bushels per acre. Horst-Hoks, The Horse-Hoes in Class 3 should be adapted to set out turnips at various widths, and leave the plants in such a state that they can ultimately be singled by hand. Horse-Hoes should be adapted to ridge and flat work, and to work in widths. from 8 to 27 inches, The Manure Disrrieuror will be preferred which is best adapted for dis— tributing any kind of artificial manure when in a moist or dry state, and which is capable of adjustment for the delivery of any quantity from 3 to 40 bushels. per acre. . ) _ *,™ Forms of Certificate for entry, as well as Prize-Sheets for the Leeds. | Meeting, containing the whole of the conditions and regulations, may be obtained at the Office of the Society, No, 12, Hanover Square, London. DATES OF ENTRY. Crrtiricates for the entry of Implements, Cheese, Butter, Wool, and Flax, for the Leeds Meeting must be forwarded to the Secretary of the Society, No. 12, Hanover Square, London (W.), by the Ist of May, and Certificates for the entry of Live Stock by the 1st of June. Certificates received after those respective dates will not be accepted, but returned to the persons by whom they have been sent. The Prizes of the Royal Agricultural Society of England are open to general competition, (. live 9 Members’ Pribileqes of Chemical Analpsis. ‘Tue Council have fixed the following rates of Charge for Analyses to be made by the Consulting Chemist “for the bond-fide use of Members of the Society ; who (to avoid all unnecessary correspondence) are particularly requested, when applying to him, to mention the kind of analysis they require, and to quote its number in the subjoined schedule. The charge for analysis, together with the carriage of the specimens, must be paid to him by members at the time of their application. No. 1.—An opinion of the genuineness of Peruvian guano, bone- dust, or oil-cake (each sample) .. celteea) ables 5, 2—An analysis of guano; showing the pr oportion of moisture, organic matter, sand, phosphate of lime, alkaline salts, and ammonia BD 10s. 5, 3-—An estimate of the value (relatively to the average of samples in the market) of sulphate and muriate of am- monia, and of the nitrates of potash and soda .. 10s. > 4.—An analy sis of superphosphate of lime for soluble phos- phates only 33 LOS: »» D.—An analysis of superphosphate of lime, showing the pro- portions of moisture, organic matter, sand, soluble and insoluble phosphates, sulphate of lime, and ammonia .. £1, », ¥.—An analysis (sufficient for the determination of its agricul- tural value) of any ordinary artificial manure .. eile >» «.—Limestone :—the proportion of lime, 7s. 6d.; the propor- tion of magnesia, 10s. ; the proportion of lime and mag- nesia 0 lis. 5, 98—Limestone or marls, “including carbonate, " phosphate, and sulphate of lime, and magnesia with sand and clay? ar ete s» 2 —Partial analysis of a soil, including determinations of clay, sand, organic matter, and carbonate of lime .. ca peel 5 LO: —Complete analysis of asoil . £3. », 11.—An analysis of oil-cake, or other substance ‘used for feeding purposes ; showing the proportion of moisture, oil, mineral matter, albuminous matter, and woody fibre ; as well as of starch, gum, and sugar, in the aggregate Elie 2, 12.—Analyses of any vegetable product . Soils 5, 15.—Analyses of animal products, refuse substances ‘used for manure, “ec, So from 10s. to 30s. » 14. —Determination of the “ hardness ” “of a sample of water before and after boiling .. 10s. », 15.—Analysis of water of land dr ainage, “and of water used for irrigation .. As oe) bee =p illsy —Determination of nitric acid it ina sample of water . Pei Silt N.B.—The above Scale of Charges is not applicable to the case of persons commercially engaged in the Manufacture or Sale of any Substance sent for Analysis, The Address of the Consulting Chemist of the Society is, Dr. Aucustus Voetcker, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, to which he requests that all letters ond parcels (postage and carriage paid) should be directed: for the convenience, however, of persons residing in London, parcels sent to the Society’s Office, No. 12, Hanover Square, W., will be forwarded to Cirencester once or twice a week. ( W ) MMembers’ Weterinary Privileges. I.—VETERINARY INSPECTION. No. 1. Any member of the Society who may desire a competent professional opinion and special advice in cases of extensive or . destructive disease among his stock, and will address a letter to the Secretary, will, by return of post, receive a printed list of queries, to be filled up and returned to him immediately. On the receipt of such returned list, the Secretary will convene the Veterinary Committee forthwith (any two Members of which, with the assistance of the Secretary, will be competent to act); and such Committee will decide on the necessity of despatching Professor Simonds, the Society’s Veterinary Inspector, to the spot where disease is said to prevail. No. 2. The remuneration of such Inspector will be 2/. 2s. each day as a professional fee, and 1/, 1s. each day on account of personal expenses ; and he will also be allowed to charge the cost of travel- ling to and from the localities where his services may have been thus required. The fees will be paid by the Society, but the travel- ling expenses will be a charge against the applicant for professional aid. This charge may, however, be reduced or remitted altogether at the discretion of the Council, on such step being recommended to them under peculiar circumstances by the Veterinary Committee. No. 3. The Inspector, on his return from visiting the diseased stock, shall report to the Committee, in writing, the results of his observa- tions and proceedings, which report will be laid before the Council. No. 4. Should contingencies arise to prevent a personal discharge of the duties confided to the Inspector, he may, subject to the ap- proval of the Committee, name some competent professional person to act in his stead, who shall receive the same rates of remuneration. II.—Investigations, LecTurREs, AND REPORTS. No. 1. All Members of the Society have the privilege of sending cattle, sheep, and pigs to the Royal Veterinary College, on the same terms as if they were Members of the College. No. 2. The College have undertaken to investigate such particular classes of disease, or special subjects connected with the application of the Veterinary art to cattle, sheep, and pigs, as may from time to time be directed by the Council. No. 3. In addition to the increased number of lectures now given by Professor Simonds, the Lecturer on Cattle Pathology, to the Pupils in the Royal Veterinary College, he will also deliver such lectures before the Members of the Society, at their house in Hanover Square, or at its Annual Meetings in the country, as the Council may decide. No. 4. The Royal Veterinary College will from time to time furnish to the Council of the Society a detailed Report of the cases of cattle, sheep, and pigs treated in the College, Ropal Agricultural Society of England. 1860—1861. Presivent. | THE EARL OF POWIS. Trustecs. Acland, Sir Thomas Dyke, Bart. Berners, Lord Bramston, Thomas William, M.P. Challoner, Colonel Graham, Rt. Hon. Sir Jas,, Bart., M.P. Portman, Lord Richmond, Duke of Rutland, Duke of Shelley, Sir John Villiers, Bart., M.P. Speaker, The Rt. Hon. The Sutherland, Duke of Thompson, Harry Stephen, M.P. Pice-PrestVents. Ashburton, Lord Barker, Thomas Raymond Chichester, Earl of Downshire, Marquis of Egmont, Earl of Eversley, Viscount Exeter, Marquis of Hardwicke, Earl of Hill, Viscount Johnstone, Sir John V. B., Bart., M.P. Miles, Sir William, Bart., M.P. Yarborough, Earl of Other Members of Council. Acland, Thomas Dyke Amos, Charles Edwards Barnett, Charles Barrow, William Hodgson, M.P. Barthropp, Nathaniel George Brandreth, Humphrey Buller, James Wentworth, M.P. Caldwell, Henry Berney Cavendish, Hon. William George, M.P. Druce, Joseph Exall, William Feversham, Lord Gibbs, B. T. Brandreth Hamond, Anthony Hobbs, William Fisher Hood, Colonel The Hon. A. Nelson Hoskyns, Chandos Wren Howard, James Hudson, John : Humberston, Philip Stapylton, M.P. Hutton, William Jonas, Samuel Kerrison, Sir Edward Clarence, Bt., M.P. Kinder, John Lawes, John Bennet Lawrence, Charles Leigh, Lord Macclesfield, Earl of Marlborough, Duke of Milward, Richard Pain, Thomas Pennant, Col. the Hon. Douglas, M.P. Pope, Edward Powis, Earl of Shuttleworth, Joseph Slaney, Robert Aglionby, M.P. Smith, Robert Stanhope, James Banks, M.P. Torr, William ’ Towneley, Lieut.-Colonel Charles Tredegar, Lord Turner, George Vernon, Hon. Augustus Walsingham, Lord Webb, Jonas Western, Thomas Burch Wilson, Henry Wilson, Professor Wynn, Sir Watkin Williams, Bart., M.P. Secretary. H. HALL DARE, 12, Hanover Square, London, W. Consulting-Chemist—Dr. Augustus VOELCKER, Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. Veterinary-Inspector—JAMES BEART Simonps, Royal Veterinary College, N.W. Consulting Engineer—JameEs Easton, or C. E. Amos, The Grove, Southwark, S.E. Secdsmen—TuHomas Gipps and Co., Corner of Halfmoon Street, Piccadilly, W. Publisher—JOHN MURRAY, 50, Albemarle Street, W. Bankers—Messrs. DRUMMOND, Charing Cross, S.W. VOL. XXI, MEMORANDA. Appress or Lerrers.—The Society’s office being situated in the new postal dis- trict designated by the letter WW, members, in their correspondence with the Secretary, are requested to subjoin that letter to the usual address. GENERAL MEETING in London, in December, 1860. GeneRAL MEETING in London, May 22, 1861, at Twelve o’clock. Country MEETING at Leeds, in 1861. Monruty Councit (for transaction of business), at 12 o’clock on the first Wed- nesday in every month, excepting January, September, and October: open only to Members of Council and Governors of the Society. WEEKLY Councix (for practical communications), at 12 o’clock on all Wednesdays in February, March, April, May, June, and July, excepting the first Wednesday in each of those months, and during adjournment: open to all Members of the Society, who are particularly invited by the Council to avail themselves of this privilege. ADJOURNMENTS.—The Council adjourn over Easter, Passion, and Whitsun weeks, when those weeks do not include the first Wednesday of the month ; from the first Wednesday in August to the first Wednesday in November; and from the first Wednesday in December to the first Wednesday in February. Diseases of Cattle, Sheep, and Pigs:—Members have the privilege of applying to the Veterinary Committee of the Society ; and of sending animals to the Royal Veterinary College, on the same terms as if they were subscribers to the College.—(A statement of these privileges will be found in the present Appendix, p. xxxii.) CuemicaL ANALYsiIs.—The privileges of Chemical Analysis enjoyed by Members of the Society will be found stated in the Appendix of the present volume, p- XXX1. Locat CuEques.—Members are particularly requested not to forward Country Cheques for payment in London; but London Cheques, or Post-office Orders on Old Cavendish-street (payable to H. Hatt Dare), in lieu of them. All Cheques are required to bear upon them a penny draft or receipt stamp, which must be cancelled in each case by the initials of the drawer. They may also conveniently transmit their Subscriptions to the Society, by re- questing their Country Bankers to pay (through their London Agents) the amount at the Society’s Office (No. 12, Hanover Square, London), between the hours of ten and four, when official receipts, signed by the Secretary, will be given for such payments. New Mempers.—Every candidate for admission into the Society must be pro- posed by a Member; the proposer to specify in writing the full name, usual place of residence, and post-town, of the candidate, either at a Council meet- ing, or by letter addressed to the Secretary. Packets By Post.—Packets not exceeding two feet in length, width, or depth, consisting of written or printed matter (but not containing letters sealed or open), if sent without envelopes, or enclosed in envelopes open at each end, may be forwarded by the inland post, if stamped, at the following rates :— For a packet not exceeding 4 ounces (or quarter ofa pound) . . . 1 penny. be s Fa 8 , (or half a pound) « « « »« 2pence, = : “7 16° 4, (oronepound)) . <3 2 i 6 £4, ¥ - S 24 +, (oronepoundandahalf) . . 6 ,, = re Be 32, ‘Cor:twoipounds)) . 3.) Ss 5) eS {And so on in the proportion of 8 ounces for each additional 2d.] *,* Members may obtain on application tothe Secretary copies of an Abstract of the Charter and Bye-Laws, of a Statement of the General Objects, &c., of the Society, of Chemical and Veterinary Privileges, and of other printed papers connected with special depart- ments of the Society’s business, pa Ropal Agricultural Soctetp of Gngland. GENERAL MEETING, 12, Hanover Square, TurspAy, May 22, 1860. REPORT OF THE COUNCIL. The Society consists, at the present time, of— 72 Life Governors, 119 Annual Governors, 927 Life Members, 4,047 Annual Members, making a total of 5,165 names on the list. The finances of the Society have on no former occasion been in so favourable a condition. The dividend on the estate of the late Secretary amounts to 9702. 11s. 10d., being at the rate of 10s. 114d. in the pound, which has been paid into the Society’s bankers. The funded capital, which stood at 10,000/., has been raised by further investment to the amount of 12,0007. in the New Three per Cents. The Finance Committee have appointed Messrs. Quilter and Ball to be the Professional Accountants of the Society, who by frequent and close examination of the books and accounts will materially assist the Committee. The Council have elected Professor Voelcker, the Society’s Consulting Chemist, to be an honorary member of the Society. The Consulting Chemist is engaged in investigations on the following subjects :— Field Experiments on Wheat, Barley, and Turnips. The Action of Simple Saline Compounds on the Soil. The Feeding Value and Composition of Mangold Pulp. The Chemistry of Cheese and Butter. b 2 lv Report to the General Meeting. The Council having determined to select a literary and scientific Editor of the Society’s Journal, have appointed Mr. Philip H. Frere to that office, and, from the high testimonials. exhibited by that gentleman, feel confidence in hoping that he will succeed in conducting the Society’s publications with effi- ciency and talent. The arrangements for the Canterbury Meeting, to be held during the week commencing the 9th of July, are proceeding satisfactorily. ‘The Implement Yard will contain nearly a mile and a quarter of Shedding, in addition to a very large entry of Machinery in motion; and the entry of Stock, which will close on the Ist of June, is already large. The Council, in the spirit which has‘guided them on former occasions, and considering the cordial reception which awaits them in the county of Kent, have thought they could not do otherwise than defer to the strongly-expressed wishes of the locality, that this special opportunity should not be lost for directing attention to the agriculture peculiar to the district, and have been induced to accept the offer of a considerable sum, to be distributed in prizes for Ploughing on the Kentish or turnrise system, as also for Hops, Wool, and certain Breeds of Live Stock. The Council have decided, subject to the usual conditions, to hold the Society’s Country Meeting next year at Leeds, for the district comprising the three Ridings of Yorkshire. Great anxiety was evinced by many localities in the county, to be selected as the place for the Country Meeting ; but the advantages of Leeds and its neighbourhood, joined to the eligibility of the sites offered for Showyard and Trial-fields, have induced a decision in its favour, which it is confidently hoped will result in a most successful meeting. In conclusion, the Council trust that the Society will prove itself to be in a position to pursue its career with renewed energy, and that its future may be marked by increased endeavours to advance the important objects for which it was specially constituted. By Order of the Council, H. Hari Dare, Secretary. 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LZ 8. 2t0c “* D8 °F ‘GOOH ‘N'Y (peusig) Pree e e ee se ee ae tear ee as eee seenee ee gontpung Jo aleg + (Qoranie A, ) Suyaeqy Aaqunop sr eeesee suondriosqng slaquio jy "*+* suonjsodurog-azry sloquiayy see" suodriosqng s10u12s0r) ** ** MOIIsOdMIOZ ary ,S10U.10A0X) tr eer sess ss ¥503g UO SpuaprAI] * eget‘ Aqug ‘pury ur couvjeg ysey Ano treeee ggg] “t A[ng ‘saeyueg ey} Jo spuey ayy ut doULleg "SEATON "6CST “aganaoaq JO LS[TG¢ GHL OL AINE AO LsT GHL WOU ONIGNALXH ‘LNNODDY ATUVE X-ATV SHOW AT CANTERBURY: JULY, 1860. STEWARDS OF THE YARD. Stewards of Cattle. | Stewards of Implements. Mr. Minwarp. Mr. H. B. Canpwett. Mr. Fisoer Hoss. Mr. Epw. Porr. Hon. W. G. Cavennisu, M.P. Lorp Lerten. Honorary Director of the Show. B. T. BRANDRETH GrpBs. JUDGES. ‘Short-horns, * Short-woolled Sheep. CHARLES BARNETT, . J. RAWLENCE, J PARKINSON, G. Brown, G. ATKINSON. H. BEAurorpD. E.L. eee Shropshire Down Sheep. G. W. Baker ey ee Hi Hones. W. Kempe Bourne, ; x EK. Trumrer. Devons, ; J. ANSTEY, Pigs. Tomas PoTTer. Rev. E, Eimurst, Other Breeds and Sussex. J. UNTHANK, Wiu1am Lavpps, W. Carre, : A. DENMAN, Implements. B. SWAFFIELD. Steam Ploughs. Horses. OwEn WALLIs, JoHN ATKINSON, Wiuram Owen, C.E., W. BartHoLomEw, Proressor JoHN WI1son. ue ig capa 3 Thrashing Machines. Riding Horses and Ponies. Joun Brasverr, Hon. CoLonen Corron, JosrrH DRucE, J. Harte WELBY, H. THurNaLu | Mills and Bone Mill Crushers and Chaff i i E Cutters, R. H ae rane Sheep. Hand Power. 2 Steam Power. 1. ae ae Joun HickEen, Frevper Kine, Tae yore G. M. Hrewern. Epw. Warrier, Long-woolled Sheep, Kentish and Local Miscellaneous. Prizes. JOHN CLARKE, THomas Brown, Wittiam TINpALy. J. ABBOT, Local Prizes. H. BEErvor. F. Ramet, Southdown Sheep. F. Murton, Hewry Luear, Tuomas AxbgorT, J. G. Homrr, H. G. Austin, P, Purves. P. 8S. Punnett. Veterinary-Inspectors. Consulting-Engineer. ~ Proressor SIMONDS, CHARLES Epwarps Amos, PROFESSOR SPOONER. (Firm of Easton and Amos). / 1 | Award of Live-Stock Prizes at Canterbury. vil AWARD OF PRIZES. CatrLe: Short-Horns. LIEUTENANT-CoLONEL CHARLES TowNneELry, of Towneley Park, Burnley, Lancaster: the Prize of T'uirry Soverstens, for his 2 years 10 months 2 weeks and 5 days-old Bull ; bred by exhibitor. James Dickrtyson, of Balcony Farm-house, Upholland, Wigan, Lancaster : the Prize of Firrren Soveretens, for his 3 years 1 month and 2 weeks- old Bull; bred by exhibitor, Lorp FrversHam, of Duncombe Park, Helmsley, Yorkshire: the Prize of Five Sovereians, for his 4 years and 2 months-old Bull; bred by exhibitor, JONATHAN PEt, of Knowlmere Manor, Clitheroe, Yorkshire: the Prize of TWENTY-FIVE SoverzEIans, for his 1 year 4 months 1 week and 1 day- old Bull; bred by exhibitor. Francis Hawxsworto Fawkes, of Farnley Hall, Otley, Yorkshire: the Prize of Firrren Soveretens, for his 1 year 8 months and 4 days-old Bull; bred by exhibitor. Stir Cuartes Tempest, Bart., of Broughton Hall, Skipton, Yorkshire: the Prize of Five Sovereiens, for his 1 year 5 months and J. day-old Bull; bred by exhibitor. Srewart Marsoripanks, of Bushey Grove, Watford, Herts: the Prize of Ten SovereEtiens, for his 10 months and 3 weeks-old Bull-calf; bred by exhibitor, LizurENANT-CoLONEL TowNELEy : the Prize of Five Soveretens, for his 11 months 1 week and 5 days-old Bull-calf; bred by exhibitor. RicHarD Eastwoop, of Swinshawe House, Burnley, Lancashire: the Prize of Twenty Soverriens, for his 4 years and 5 days-old Cow, In-milk and In-calf; bred by William Wetherell, of Aldborough, Darlington, York- shire. Ricuarp Booru, of Warlaby, Northallerton, Yorkshire: the Prize of Tren Sovereians, for his 4 years 8 months 3 weeks and 3 days-old Cow, In- milk and In-calf; bred by exhibitor. Lapy Pieot, of Branches Park, Newmarket, Suffolk: the Prize of Five SoverEIans, for her 3 years 5 months and 1 week-old Cow, In-calf; bred by Jonas Webb, of Babraham, Cambridge. Henry Amsuer, of Watkinson Hall, Halifax, Yorkshire: the Prize of Firrren SovereEIans, for his 2 years 1 month 1 week and 5 days-old Cow, In- calf ; bred by exhibitor. Caprain Gunter, of The Grange, Wetherby, Yorkshire: the Prize of Ten SovEREIGNS, for his 2 years 7 months and 6 days-old Cow, In-calf: bred by exhibitor. Lavy Picor : the Prize of Five Sovrrrtens, for her 2 years 9 months 4 days- old Heifer, In-calf; bred by Mr. Wetherell. Caprrain Gunter: the Prize of Firrern Sovererens, for his 1 year 11 months 1 week and 5 days-old twin-Heifer ; bred by exhibitor. CapraiIn GunTER: the Prize of Ten Sovereiens, for his 1 year 11 months 1 week and 5 days-old Yearling Heifer ; bred by exhibitor. JosrpH Roprnson, of Clifton Pastures, Newport Pagnell, Buckingham: the Prize of Five Sovereiens, for his 1 year 1 month and 8 weeks-old Heifer ; bred by exhibitor. vill Award of Live-Stock Prizes at Canterbury. Cattle: Herefords, Tuomas Epwarps, of Wintercott, Leominster, Hereford: the Prize of Tuirty SoVEREIGNS, for his 2 years 9 months 2 weeks and 2 days-old Bull: bred by exhibitor, Jonn Wiuiams, of St. Mary’s, Kingsland, Leominster, Hereford: the Prize of Firrren Sovererians, for his 3 years 10 months and 4 days-old Bull ; bred by exhibitor. THomAs Rea, of Westonbury, Pembridge, Hereford: the Prize of Five Sovr- REIGNS, for his 2 years 8 months and 2 weeks-old Bull; bred by exhibitor. Witutam Perry, of Cholstrey, Leominster, Hereford: the Prize of Twenty- FIVE SoveREIGNS, for his 1 year9 months and 1 day-old Bull; bred by exhibitor, Tuomas REA: the Prize of Firrenn Soverertens, for his 1 year and 8 months- old Bull; bred by exhibitor. Lorp Brrwicx, Cronkhill, Shrewsbury: the Prize of Five Soveretens, for his 1 year 11 months and 4 days-old Bull; bred by exhibitor. JoHn Monxnousse, of The Stowe, Hereford: the Prize of Tmn SovEREIGNS, for his 10 months 3 weeks and 1 day-old Bull-calf: bred by exhibitor. THomas Epwarps: the Prize of Five Sovrerrians, for his 10 months and § days-old Bull-calf; bred by exhibitor. James T'aynor, of Stretford Court, Leominster: the Prize of Twenry Sove- REIGNS, for his 6 years 10 months and 6 days-old Cow, In-milk and sup- posed to be In-calf; bred by John Taylor, of Burton Cottage, Leo- minster. James Rea, of Monaughty, Knighton, Radnor: the Prize of FirrrEn Sove- REIGNS, for his 2 years 11 months and 4 days-old Heifer, In-milk and In-calf; bred by exhibitor. Joun WitLiAMs : the Prize of Tren SovErErcxs, for his 2 years and 10 months- old In-calf Heifer ; bred by exhibitor. Lorp Berwick : the Prize of Five Soveretens, for his 2 years 9 months and 2 weeks-old In-calf Heifer; bred by exhibitor. Lorp Bateman, of Shobdon Court, Shobdon, Hereford: the Prize of Firrrrn SovereErens, for his 1 year 11 months and 2 weeks-old Yearling Heifer ; bred by exhibitor. Epmonp Wriaut, of Halston Hall, Oswestry, Shropshire: the Prize of TEN SoverEiens, for his 1 year 11 months and 5 days-old Yearling Heifer ; bred by exhibitor. Pitre Turner, of Leen, Pembridge, Hereford : the Prize of Five SovEREIGns, for his 1 year 6 months 1 week and 3 days-old Yearling Heifer ; bred by exhibitor. JoHN WiuutAms: the Prize of Ten SoverEtans, for his8 months and 3 weeks- old Heifer-calf ; bred by exhibitor. CATTLE: Devons. Tuomas and Jonn Paumer, of Norton, Stoke Climsland, Callington, Cornwall : the Prize of Tuirry Soveretans, for his 3 years 3 months 3 weeks and 2 days-old Bull; bred by James Quartly, of Molland, South Molton. GrorcE Turner, of Barton, near Exeter: the Prize of Ten Sovererrans, for his 2 years and 9 months-old Bull ; bred by exhibitor. Joun Boptey, of Stockley Pomeroy, Crediton, Devon: the Prize of l'irrrrn SoverEiens, for his 2 years and 1 month-old Bull; bred by exhibitor. JAMES Quartiy, of Molland House, Southmolton, Devon: the Prize of TWENTY-FIVE SovEREIans, for his 1 year 2 months and 3 weeks-old Bull ; bred by exhibitor. Award of Live-Stock Prizes at Canterbury. ix James Quartiy: the Prize of Firrren Soveretens, for his 1 year and 6 months-old Bull; bred by exhibitor. Grorce TurNER: the Prize of Five SovereErens, for his 1 year and 7 months- old Bull; bred by exhibitor. : GEORGE TURNER : the Prize of Tew SovEREtens, for his 8 months and 2 weeks- old Bull-Calf; bred by exhibitor. Witr1Am Hote, of Hannaford, Barnstaple, Devon: the Prize of Ftvz Sove- REIGNS, for his 6 months and 3 weeks-old Bull-Calf; bred by exhibitor. JAMES QuartTLy: the Prize of Twenty Sovereriens, for his 5 years and 2 months-old In-milk and‘In-calf Cow ; bred by exhibitor. GerorcE TuRNER: the Prize of Ten SoverEiens, for his 3 years and 8 months-old In-calf Cow ; bred by exhibitor. Grorce Turner: the Prize of Five Sovererrens, for his 5 years 5 months and 2 weeks-old In-milk and In-calf Cow; bred by exhibitor. GrorGE TURNER: the Prize of FirreEN Soveretens, for his 2 years and 8 months-old In-Calf Heifer; bred by exhibitor. Joun Minpon, of Woodington Farm, Witheridge, Devon: the Prize of TEN SovEREIGNS, for his 2 years 11 months and 3 weeks-old In-calf Heifer ; bred by exhibitor. JoHN QuaRTLY: the Prize of Five Soveretens, for his 2 years 1 month and 3 weeks-old In-calf Heifer ; bred by exhibitor. Paiuire Hatse, of Molland, Southmolton, Devon: the Prize of FirrEEN SoveE- REIGNS, for his 1 year and 8 months-old Yearling Heifer; bred by exhibitor. Puinip Hatse : the Prize of Tex Soveretens, for his 1 year 8 months 3 weeks and 4 days-old Yearling Heifer; bred by exhibitor. Epwarp Pops, of Great Toller, Maiden Newton, Dorset: the Prize of Fivr SoveretIens, for his 1 year 7 months and 1 week-old Yearling Heifer ; bred by exhibitor. GrorGe Turner: the Prize of Ten Soveretens, for his 7 months and 2 weeks-old Heifer-Calf ; bred by exhibitor. CATTLE: Other established Breeds. Epwarp Cane, of Berwick Court, Berwick: the Prize of Ten SovEREIGns, for his 2 years and 5 months-old Sussex Bull; bred by John Verrall, of Swanborough, Lewes. Lorp Sonpes, of Elmham Hall, Thetford, Norfolk: the Prize of Tex Sove- REIGNS, for his 1 year and 8 months-old Norfolk polled Bull; bred by exhibitor. Epwarp Cane: the Prize of Ten Soveretens, for his 8 years and 6 months- old In-milk and In-calf Sussex Cow; bred by Josiah Pitcher, Westham, Hailsham, Sussex. Lorp Sonpzs: the Prize of Tex Soveretens, for his 2 years 3 months and 2 weeks-old In-calf Norfolk polled Heifer ; bred by exhibitor. SamveL CaMFIELD Baker, of The Pheasantry, Beaufort-street, Chelsea, Middlesex : the Prize of Frvz Soveretens, for his under 3 years-old In-calf Bretonne Cow ; breeder unknown. Horses: Agricultural. Rey. Steruen Terry, of Dummer, Basingstoke, Hants: the Prize of TwenTy- FIVE SOVEREIGNS, for his 5 years 2 months and 2 weeks-old Bay Stallion ; bred by exhibitor. SAMUEL CLayYDEN, of Little Linton, Cambridge: the Prize of Firreen Sove- REIGNS, for his 5 years-old Suffolk Stallion : bred by exhibitor. Jonas Wess, of Babraham, Cambridge: the Prize of Five Soveretens, for his 5 years 1 month 1 or 2 days-old Suffolk Stallion ; bred by exhibitor. x Award of Live-Stock Prizes at Canterbury. NATHANIEL GEorGE Barturorp, of Cretingham Rookery, Wickham Market, Suffolk : the Prize of Twenty Soveretens, for his 2 years-old Suffolk Stallion ; bred by exhibitor. Witi1aAM WELLS, of Redleaf, Penshurst, Kent: the Prize of Tew Soverriens, for his 2 years 2 months 3 weeks and 6 days-old Suffolk Stallion ; bred by Lord Warwick, of Warwick Castle. Isaac Rust, of Tattingstone, Ipswich: the Prize of Twrenty-FIVE SOVEREIGNS, for his 9 years-old Suffolk Mare ; bred by Mr. Lambert, of Bucklesham, Ipswich. GeorGE Carter, of Danbury, Chelmsford: the Prize of Tan SovErriens, for his 4 years-old (foal 4 months 1 week) pure Suffolk Mare: bred by * Charles Carter, Stow Marris, Maldon, Essex. NATHANIEL GEorRGE BaRTHROpPP: the Prize of Firrrnn Sovernians, for his 2 years-old Suffolk Mare ; bred by Mr. Bucke, of Cretingham, Wickham Market. JoHN CuaypeEN, of Littlebury, Saffron Walden, Essex: the Prize of Trn Sovereiens, for his 2 years-old Suffolk Mare; bred by the Trustees of the late W. C. Clayden, of Barham Hall, Linton, Cambridge. Dray-Horsks. Epmunp Oxpine, of Ratfin, Amesbury, Wilts: the Prize of TWENTY-FIVE Soverriens, for his 3 years 1 month 2 weeks and 4 days-old Stallion ; bred by exhibitor. GEORGE Browy, of Little Hinton, Shrivenham, Wilts: the Prize of Ten Sovz- REIGNS, for his 4 years 1 month and 2 weeks-old Stallion ; bred by Jos. Gay, of Swindon, Wilts. Wuu1am Root, of Chipping Warden, Banbury, Oxon: the Prize of FirrrEeNn SovereEtans, for his 2 years 2 weeks and 4 days-old Stallion ; bred by Thomas Johnson, of Priors Marston, Rugby, Warwick. Joun Brown, of Compton, Newbury, Berks: the Prize of Frvz SovEREIGNs, for his 2 years 1 month and 1 week-old Stallion; bred by Mr, Hall, of Woolhampton, Newbury, Berks. OrHER HoRSES. Epwarp Marsorrpanks, of Greenlands, Henley-on-Thames, Oxon: the Prize of Twrnty-rivE Sovereiens, for his 10 years and 6 months-old thorough-bred Stallion; bred by the Duke of Richmond, Goodwood, Chichester. JEORGE TRuMPER, of Horton, Slough, Bucks: the Prize of Firrrzn SoveE- REIGNS, for his 4 years-old thorough-bred Stallion; bred by Mr. Simp- son, Roydon, Diss, Norfolk. JoHN DeEncHFIELp, of Aston Abbotts, Aylesbury, Bucks: the Prize of Twenty Sovereiens, for his 11 years-old brood Mare; bred by exhibitor. Rosertson Russ, of Jealotts Hall, Warfield, Bracknell, Berks: the Prize of TEN Soveretans, for his 11 years-old brood Mare; bred by John Marsh, of North End, Little Yeldham, Halstead, Essex. Water Joun Burcu, of Campsey Ash, Wickham Market, Suffolk: the Prize of Firreen Soveretens, for his 8 years-old hackney Mare; bred by Mr. Stebbins, of Narborough, Swaffham, Norfolk. Sueep: Leicesters. Witi1AM Sanpay, of Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham: the Prize of Twexty Sovererans, for his about 16 months-old Ram; bred by exhibitor. Wirtam Sanpay: the Prize of Ten Soveretens, for his about 16 months-old Ram ; bred by exhibitor. Award of Live-Stock Prizes at Canterbury. Xi Witiram Sanpay: the Prize of Five Sovuretens, for his 16 months- old Ram ; bred by exhibitor. Witrram Sanpay: the Prize of Twenty Sovereians, for his 4 years and 4 months-old Ram ; bred by exhibitor. Wit1aM Sanpay : the Prize of ‘Tren Soverer@ns, for his 2 years and 4 months- old Ram; bred by exhibitor. WitiAm Sanpay: the Prize of Five Sovernians, for his 2 years and 4 months-old Ram ; bred by exhibitor. Wittam Sanpay: the Prize of Twenty Soverztens, for his 16 months-old Pen of 5 Shearling Ewes; bred by exhibitor. LIEUTENANT-CoLoneL Iner, of Thorpe Constantine, Tamworth: the Prize of Ten Soverrtens, for his 1 year 8 months and 2 weeks-old Pen of five Shearling Ewes; bred by exhibitor. Grorce Turner, of Barton, near Exeter: the Prize of Frve Sovererens, for his 1 year 8 months and 1 week-old Pen of five Shearling Kwes; bred by exhibitor. SuHeep: Southdowns. Joyas Wess, of Babraham, Cambridge: the Prize of Twenty SovEREIGNs, for his 1 year and 4 months-old Ram ; bred by exhibitor. Jonas Wess: the Prize of Ten Soverrtans, for his 1 year and 4 months-old Ram ; bred by exhibitor. Jonas Wess: the Prize of Frve Soverstens, for his 1 year and 4 months- old Ram; bred by exhibitor. Jonas Wess: the Prize of Twenty Soverrtens, for his 2 years and 4 months-old Ram; bred by exhibitor. Jonas Wess: the Prize of Ten Soverriens, for his 2 years and 4 months- old Ram; bred by exhibitor. Jonas Wess: the Prize of Five Soverrtans, for his 2 years and 4 months- old Ram ; bred by exhibitor. JoHN and AtrreD Hrasman, of Angmering, Arundel, Sussex: the Prize of Twenty Soveretens, for their 1 year 4 months and 2 weeks-old Pen of five Shearling Ewes ; bred by exhibitors. Lorp Watstneuam, of Merton Hall, Thetford, Norfolk: the Prize of TEN Sovereiens, for his 1 year and 4 months-old Pen of five Shearling Ewes : bred by exhibitor. Doxz or Ricumonp, of Goodwood, Chichester, Sussex: the Prize of Five SoverEtens, for his 1 year and 4 months-old Pen of five Shearling Ewes ; bred by exhibitor. Sueer: Kentish or Romney Marsh. FrepertcK Morton, of Smeeth, Ashford, Kent: the Prize of Firrren Sove- REIGNS, for his 1 year and 8 months-old Ram; bred by exhibitor. Frepertck Morton: the Prize of Five Sovreretens, for his 1 year and 3 months-old Ram ; bred by exhibitor. TFreperick Murton: the Prize of Frv— Soverrians added by the Local Committee, for his 1 year and 3 months-old Ram; bred by exhibitor. FREDERICK Murron: the Prize of Firrern SovEerEtens, for his 3 years and 3 months-old Ram ; bred by exhibitor. Freperick Murron: the Prize of Five Soverriens, for his 2 years and 3 months-old Ram ; bred by exhibitor. ; Freprerick Murton: the Prize of Frvz Soverrtans, added by the Local Committee, for his 4 years and 3 months-old Ram; bred by exhibitor. Witt1Am Gascoyne, of Bapchild, Sittingbourne, Kent: the Prize of Firrren Sovereiens, for his 1 year 3 months and 1 week-old Pen of five Shearling Ewes; bred by exhibitor. xii Award of Live-Stock Prizes at Canterbury. CuarLEs Neve, of Shepway Court, Maidstone, Kent: the Prize of Fivz Sovererens, for his 1 year 2 months and 3 weeks-old Pen of five Shear- ling Ewes ; bred by exhibitor. Frepertck Murron: the Prize of Five Soverrrens, added by the Local Committee, for his 1 years and 8 months-old Pen of five Shearling Ewes ; bred by exhibitor. Sueep ; Long-woolled. James WALKER, of Northleach, Gloucestershire : the Prize of Twenty SovrE- REIGNS, for his 1 year and 3 months-old Shearling Ram; bred by exhibitor. toBERT GARNE, of Aldsworth, Northleach, Gloucestershire: the Prize of TEx SovereiIcns, for his 1 year and 4 months-old Shearling Cotswold Ram; bred by exhibitor. XoBERT GARNE: the Prize of Five Soverrtens, for his 1 year and 4 months- old Shearling Cotswold Ram; bred by exhibitor. Rosert Garne: the Prize of Twenty Soverertens, for his 3 years and 4 months-old Cotswold Ram; bred by the late William Garne of Alds- worth. Rosert GARNE: the Prize of Ten Sovererens, for his 3 year and 3 months- old Cotswold Ram ; bred by the late William Garne of Aldsworth. Grorce Frercuer, of Shipton Sollars, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire : the Prize of Five Sovreretens, for his 3 years 3 months and 2 weeks-old Cotswold Ram ; bred by exhibitor. Witiiam Lane, of Broadfield Farm, Northleach, Gloucestershire: the Prize of Twenty Soveretens, for his 1 year 8 months and 2 weeks-old Pen of five Shearling Cotswold Ewes; bred by exhibitor. Wititam Lane: the Prize of TEN Soverertens, for his 1 year and 4 months- old Pen of five Shearling Cotswold Ewes; bred by exhibitor. Witi1aM Lane: the Prize of Five Soverrtens, for his 1 year 3 months and 3 weeks-old Pen of five Shearling Cotswold Ewes; bred by exhibitor. Sueep: Shropshire. ‘THomas Hortoy, of Harnage Grange, Shrewsbury: the Prize of Firreen SovEREIGNS, for his 1 year and 3} months-old Shearling Ram; bred by exhibitor. JAMES and Epwarp Crane, of Shrawardine, Shrewsbury: the Prize of Fivr SovereEIens, for their 1 year and 3-months-old Shearling Ram; bred by exhibitors. Sampson Byrp, of Lees Farm, Stafford: the Prize of FirrEEN SoVEREIGNS, for his 2 years 3 months and 8 weeks-old Ram; bred by exhibitor. ‘T'Homas Horton: the Prize of Five Soverztens, for his 3 years 3 months and 3 weeks-old Ram; bred by exhibitor. James and Epwarp Crane: the Prize of Firreen Soveretens, for their 1 year 2 months and 3 weeks-old Pen of five Shearling Ewes; bred by exhibitors. JAMES and Epwarp Crane: the Prize of Five Soveretens, for their 1 year and 3 months-old Pen of five Shearling Ewes ; bred by exhibitors. SHEEP: Short-woolled. SterHen Kine, of Old Hayward Farm, Hungerford, Berks: the Prize ‘of Twenty Sovereians, for his 1 year 4 months and 2 weeks-old West Country Down Shearling Ram: bred by exhibitor. Witt1aM Humrrey, of Oak Ash, Chaddleworth, Wantage, Berks: the Prize of Ten Soveretens, for his 1 year 4 months and 2 weeks-old West Country Down Shearling Ram ; bred by exhibitor. Award of Live-Stock Prizes at Canterbury. xiii WituiamM Humrrey: the Prize of Five Soverrtens, for his 1 year 5 months and 1 week-old West Country Down Shearling Ram; bred by exhibitor. Witrram Humrrey: the Prize of Twenty Sovererens, for his 2 years 3 months and 2 weeks-old West Country Down Ram; bred by exhibitor. Wituiam Houmrrey: the Prize of Ten Soverrians, for his 3 years 4 months and 1 week-old West Country Down Ram; bred by exhibitor. WitiramM Humrrey: the Prize of Five Soveretens, for his 2 years 4 months and 1 week-old West Country Down Ram ; bred by exhibitor. Witu1am Browne Cannine, of Chisledon, Swindon, Wilts: the Prize of Twenty Sovererians, for his 1 year 4 months and 2 weeks-old Pen of five West Country Down Shearling Ewes; bred by exhibitor. SrrrHEen Kine: the Prize of Ten Soverrtens, for his 1 year 4 months and 2 weeks-old Pen of five West Country Down Shearling Hwes; bred by exhibitor. WittraM F. Brennerr, of Chilmark, Salisbury: the Prize of Five Sove- REIGNS, for his 1 year 4 months and 2 weeks-old Pen of five Improved Hampshire Down Shearling Ewes ; bred by exhibitor. Pics. Joun Harrison, jun., of Heaton-Norris, Stockport, Lancashire: the Prize of Ten Soverzians, for his 2 years 11 months and 2 days-old white with spots large Boar; bred by John Goodwin, of High Lane, Stockport. Joun Dyson, of Adelphi Hotel, Dock-street, Leeds, Yorkshire: the Prize of Frve Sovereiens, for his 2 years 11 months 1 week and 2 days-old large white Boar ; bred by Mr. Grisewood, of Market Weighton, Yorkshire. JouN Harrison, jun.: the Prize of TeN Sovererens, for his 1 year 5 months 4 weeks and 1 day-old small Boar; bred by exhibitor. GrorGE Manauss, of Givendale, Ripon, Yorkshire: the Prize of Five Sovxr- REIG@NS, for his 3 years 2 months and 1 day-old Yorkshire and Cumber- land small Boar. Tomas Crisp, of Butley Abbey, Wickham Market, Suffolk: the Prize of Ten Soverertans, for his 2 years 8 months 2 weeks and 4 days-old small- breed black Suffolk Boar; bred by exhibitor. Tomas Crisp: the Prize of Five Sovreretens, for his 2 years 1 week and 4 days-old small-breed black Suffolk Boar; bred by exhibitor. - Wit1r1am Braptey Wainman, of Carhead, Cross Hills, Yorkshire: the Prize of Trn Soveretens, for his about 2 years and 3 months-old white Yorkshire Boar ; breeder unknown. Henry Enpracortr, of Norfolk-street, Hunslett-lane, Leeds: the Prize of Five SovEREIGNS, for his 1 year 10 months 2 weeks and 5 days-old white Boar ; bred by exhibitor. James Cuayton, of Midway Farm, Poynton, near Stockport: the Prize of TEN SOVEREIGNS, for his 2 years 5 months and 3 weeks-old large-breed white Cheshire Sow ; bred by Sir James Watts, of Abney Hall, Cheadle, near Stockport, Cheshire. Wii1aAm BrapLey Warman: the Prize of Five Sovereriens, for his 2 years 4 months and 2 weeks-old large-breed white Carhead Sow ; bred by exhibitor. Wit11am Harton, of Addingham, near Leeds: the Prize of TEN SoVEREIGNS, for his 2 years 2 weeks and 4-days-old small-breed white Sow; bred by exhibitor. Epwarp Lupp Berts, of Preston Hall, Maidstone, Kent: the Prize of Five Soveretans, for his 1 year and 8 months-old small-breed white Suffolk Sow : bred by exhibitor. Grorce Mumrorp Sexton, of Earl’s Hall, Cockfield, Sudbury, Suffolk : the Prize of TEN Soveretans, for his 3 years and 4 months-old small-breed black Suffolk Sow; bred by exhibitor. xiv Award of Live-Stock Prizes at Canterbury. Tuomas Crisp: the Prize of Five Soverriens, for his 1 year 8 months and 3 weeks-old Improved Suffolk Sow ; bred by exhibitor. JouN Harrison, jun.: the Prize of Ten Soverrtens, for his 8 years 2 montlis and 2 days-old white with spots Sow; bred by Mr. Robinson, of Lee Green Hall, Middlewich, Cheshire. Grorar Maneuns: the Prize of Five SoveErEIGns, for his 4 years 8 months and 2-days old white Cumberland and Yorkshire Sow ; bred by exhibitor. Wu1amM Hewer, of Sevenhampton, Highworth, Wilts: the Prize of Trn Sovereiens, for his 7 months and 3 weeks-old Pen of three black and white Berkshire Sow-pigs ; bred by exhibitor. Wiuiiam Hewer: the Prize of Five SovEerertens, for his 7 months and 2 weeks-old Pen of three white Berkshire Sow-pigs ; bred by exhibitor. Tuomas Crisp: the Prize of Trx Soverrrens, for his 7 months and 38 weeks-old Pen of three small-breed white Suffolk Sow-pigs: bred by exhibitor. Samuet Witey, of Brandsby, York: the Prize of Five Sovrrerrans, for his 6 months 2 weeks and 4 days-old Pen of three small-breed pure white Yorkshire Sow-pigs ; bred by exhibitor, Guorcr Mumrorp Sexton, of Earl’s Hall, Cockfield, Sudbury, Suffolk: the Prize of TEN SoVEREIGNS, for his 7 months-old Pen of three small-breed black Suffolk Sow-pigs ; bred by exhibitor. Tuomas Crisp: the Prize of FIveE SovErEtens, for his 7 months 2 weeks and 4 days-old Pen of three small breed Improved black Suffolk Sow-pigs ; black and white bred by exhibitor. Epwarp Lupp Berts, of Preston Hall, near Maidstone, Kent: the Prize of Tren Sovrretans, for his 6 months 4 weeks and 1 day-old Pen of three black and white Improved Aylesford Sow-pigs ; bred by exhibitor. Epwarp Davies, jun., of Harrington, Shiffnal, Shropshire: the Prize of Five Soverztens, for his 4 months 2 weeks and 4 days-old Pen of three white Sow-pigs ; bred by exhibitor. Spectal WBrises, GIVEN BY THE CANTERBURY LOCAL COMMITTEE. CaTIrLE: Sussex. Witu1Am Bortine, of Westmeston Place, Hurstpierpoint, Sussex: the Prize of Turrty SoverEtiens, for his 5 years 1 week and 2 days-old Bull; bred by, exhibitor. Grorce Buss, of Boughton Aluph, Ashford, Kent: the Prize of Firrrey Sovrergiens, for his 4 years and 3 months-old Bull; bred by William Gower, of Hellingly, Hurst Green, Sussex. STEPHEN Hart, of Aldington Court, Hythe, Kent: the Prize of Six Sovr- REIGNS, for his 3 years 2 months and 2 weeks-old Bull: bred by 'T. Barton, formerly of Pebsham Farm, Bexhill, Sussex. WILLIAM Doxk, of Horton Priory, Hythe, Kent: the Prize of TWENTY-FIVE SovEREIGNS, for his 1 year 6 months 1 week and 4 days-old Bull; bred by exhibitor. Tmpen Sir, of Beckley, Staplehurst, Sussex: the Prize of FirrEen SovERETGNS, for his 1 year 3 months and 1 week-old Bull; bred by exhibitor, TinpEN SmirH: the Prize of Twenty Soveretens, for his 4 years 3 months 2 weeks and 3 days-old In-calf Cow ; bred by exhibitor. Award of Live-Stock Prizes at Canterbury. xv Guore Jenner, of Parsonage House, Udimore, Rye, Sussex: the Prize of Tew Soveretans, for his 3 years 6 months 2 weeks and 5 days-old In-milk and In-calf Cow ; bred by exhibitor. Tuomas Hayntey Greason, of Woodsden, Hawkhurst, Kent: the Prize of Five Soveretens, for his 8 years and 6 months-old In-milk Cow ; bred by Charles Pilcher, of Freizingham, Rolvenden, Kent. Joun and Atrrep Heasman, of Angmering, Arundel, Sussex: the Prize of Firrren Sovererens, for their 2 years 5 months and 3 weeks-old In- calf Heifer ; bred by exhibitors, Tomas Hayiey Greeson: the Prize of Ten Soverrrens, for his 2 years 3 months and 4 days-old In-calf Heifer; bred by exhibitor. PENNINGTON GoRRINGE, of Tilton, Selmeston, Lewes, Sussex: the Prize of Frve Soveretens, for his 2 years 5 months and 4 days-old In-calf Heifer ; bred by James and Pennington Gorringe, of Tilton. Ropert Neame, of Fairbrook, Faversham, Kent: the Prize of Firrren Soveretens, for his 1 year 6 months 2 weeks and 3 days-old Yearling Heifer; bred by exhibitor. JoHN and Atrrep Hrasman: the Prize of Ten Soveretans, for their 1 year 6 months and 8 weeks-old Yearling Heifer; bred by exhibitors. PENNINGTON GorRINGH: the Prize of Five SoveErgiens, for his 1 year and 5 months-old Yearling Heifer; bred by James and Pennington Gorringe, of Tilton. Rozert NEAME: the Prize of Ten Sovereiens, for his 6 months 2 weeks and 5 days-old Heifer Calf; bred by exhibitor, Pontss: of any Breed. GxrorcE Kersey Cooper, of Euston, Thetford, Norfolk : the Prize of Twenvy Sovererens, for his 9 years and 1 month-old Welsh Gallaway Stallion Pony ; bred by David Havrard, of Defynnock, Brecon, N.W. Tomas Neve, of Benenden, Staplehurst, Kent: the Prize of Firrrrn Soverrrens, for his 5 years-old Mare Pony ; bred by Mr. Howell, of Manor Farm, Holme, Norfolk. : Rev. W. Hour Bervor, of Cowbridge, Glamorganshire: the Prize of Five Sovrerrians, for his 7 years-old Mare Pony; bred by R. N. Game, of Nash Manor, Cowbridge. Sueep: Kentish or Romney Marsh. « FREDERICK Murrow: the Prize of Tren Soverriens, for his 2 years and 3 months-old Pen of five two-years old Ewes; bred by exhibitor. Epwarp Kinasnortu, of Orlestone, Ham-street, Kent: the Prize of Five SoverEIGNS, for his 2 years and 3 months-old Pen of five two years-old Ewes; bred by exhibitor. CHARLES CoLLaRD, of Wickhambreux Court, Wingham, Kent: the Prize of TEN SovERErGNS, for his 3 years and 4 months-old Pen of five three years- old Ewes; bred by exhibitor. FrepDERIcK Murron: the Prize of Five Soveretens, for his 3 years and 3 months-old Pen of five three years-old Ewes ; bred by exhibitor. xvi Awards at Canterbury: Live-Stock Commendations. Commendations. The mark * signifies “SPECIALLY COMMENDED ;” the mark + “ HIGHLY COMMENDED;” the mark “COMMENDED” (distinctly and individually); and the omission of these marks, “GENERALLY COMMENDED” (as part of a whole class). CattLe: Shorthorns. +Joun Hanspury Brappurne, of Pipe-place, Lichfield, Staffordshire: for his 3 years 1 month and 4 days-old Bull; bred by Edmund Lythall, of Radford Hall, Leamington, Warwickshire. +Henry AmsBier, of Watkinson Hall, Halifax, Yorkshire: for his 2 years 8 months 1 week and 3 days-old Bull; bred by William Carr, of Stackhouse, Settle, Yorkshire. {THE Hon. CoLtonet Pennant, M.P., of Penrhyn Castle, Bangor, Carnarvon: for his 3 years 4 months 2 weeks and 3 days-old Bull; bred by exhibitor. jJoun Lynn, of Church Farm, Stroxton, Grantham, Lincoln: for his 2 years 11 months and 2 weeks-old Bull; bred by the late Robert Lynn, of Stroxton, Grantham, Lincoln. Joun Tompsert Noakes, of Brockley House, Lewisham, Kent: for his 4 years 3 months and 2 weeks-old Bull; bred by his Royal Highness the Prince Consort. }Henry Amber: for his 1 and 7 months-old Bull; bred by exhibitor, ;+Francis Hawksworta Fawkes, of Farnley Hall, Otley, Yorkshire: for his 1 year 2 months 3 weeks and 6 days-old Bull; bred by exhibitor. Francis Hawksworts Fawkes: for his 1 year 2 months 3 weeks and 1 day-old Bull; bred by exhibitor. tJames Dicxtnson, of Balcony Farm House, Upholland, Wigan, Lancashire: for his 1 year and 2 months-old Bull; bred by exhibitor, }LieuTENANT-CoLONEL TownE Ley: for his 1 year 10 months 2 weeks and 2 days- old Bull; bred by exhibitor. Jonas Wess, of Babraham, Cambridge: for his 9 months 3 weeks and 3 days- old Bull-Calf; bred by exhibitor. } LrEuTENANT-CoLONEL TowNneEtey: for his 8 months 3 weeks and 3 days-old Bull-Calf ; bred by exhibitor. tJoserpH Ropinson, of Clifton Pastures, Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire : for his 9 months-old Bull-Calf; bred by exhibitor, +Wuiti1aM WELLS, of Redleaf, Penshurst, Kent: for his 3 years 1 month 2 weeks and 5 days-old In-calf Cow ; bred by Mr. Marjoribanks, of Bushey, Hertford- shire. . ;Srewart Marsoripanks: for his 4 years less 2 days-old In-calf Cow; bred by Thomas Robson, of Holtby House, Catterick, Yorkshire. Francis. Fow.er, of Henlow, Biggleswade, Beds: for his 3 years 2 months 3 weeks aud 5 days-old In-milk and In-calf Cow ; bred by exhibitor. ;Josnua Price, of Featherstone, Wolverhampton: for his 3 years and 1 month- old In-milk and In-calf Cow ; bred by exhibitor. tEpwarp Bowty, of Siddington House, Cirencester, Gloucestershire: for his 3 years 3 months and 5 days-old In-milk and In-calf Cow; bred by exhibitor. tHenry Ampbier: for his 6 years and 2 months-old In-milk and In-calf Cow ; bred by Richard Dudding, of Panton, Wragby, Lincolnshire. ;Joun Gronpy, of the Dales, Stand, Manchester: for his 2 years 9 months and 15 days-old In-milk and In-calf Heifer; bred by exhibitor. +Tue Hon. anp Rev, T. H. Nort Huix1, of Berrington, Shrewsbury: for his 2 years 10 months and 3 weeks-old In-milk Heifer; bred by exhibitor. }Lapy Picor, of Branches Park, Newmarket, Suffolk: for her 2 years 9 months and 4 days-old In-calf Heifer; bred by Mr. Wetherell, of Aldborough, Dar- lington, Yorkshire, +Duxke or Montrose, of Buchanan, Glasgow: for. his 2 years 4 months 2 weeks and 3 days-old In-calf Heifer; bred by exhibitor. yJosHua Price: for his 2 years 5 months and 4 weeks-old In-calf Heifer; bred by exhibitor. Awards at Canterbury : Live-Stock Commendations. xvii {Ricwarp Boorn, of Warlaby, Northallerton, Yorkshire : for his 2 years 9 months 2 weeks and 1 day-old In-calf Heifer ; bred by exhibitor. }Ricwarp Boorn: for his 2 years 2 months 3 weeks and 5 days-old In-calf Heifer ; bred by exhibitor. {The Hon. Cotone, Pennant: for his 2 years 8 months and 5 days-old In-milk Heifer ; bred by exhibitor. TEpwarp Bow ty: for his 2 years 2months 3 weeks and 4 days-old In-calf Heifer ; bred by exhibitor. {Duxe or Monrrose: for his 2 years 6 months 2 weeks and 2 days-old In-calf Heifer; bred by exhibitor. tJosnua Price: for his 2 years 1 month and 4 days-old In-calf Heifer; bred by exhibitor. +Tue Hon. anv Rey. T. H. Nort Hitz: for his 1 year 7 months 2 weeks and 5 days-old Heifer ; bred by exhibitor. tSrewarr Margorrpanks: for his 1 year 6 months 2 weeks and 5 days-old Heifer ; bred by exhibitor. tJonas Wess: for his 1 year 8 months 2 weeks and 3 days-old Heifer; bred by exhibitor. tRicwarp Boorn: for his 1 year 5 months and 3 weeks-old Heifer; bred by exhibitor. tJonas Wess: for his 1 year 8 months 3 weeks and 2 days-old Heifer ; bred by exhibitor. {Richarp Srrarron, of Broad Hinton, Swindon, Wilts: for his 1 year 2 months 2 weeks and 5 days-old Heifer ; bred by exhibitor. 7Srewart Marsoripanks: for his 9 months 3 weeks and 4 days-old Heifer-Calf; bred by exhibitor. } LigEuTENANT-CoLonEL TowNELEy: for his 11 months 1 week and 5 days-old Heifer-Calf; bred by exhibitor. } LieuTtenant-CoLoneL Townetey: for his 10 months 3 weeks and 6 days-old Heifer-Calf; bred by exhibitor. jJoserH Pain, of Manor Farm, Crayford, Erith, Kent: for his 11 months and 1 day-old Heifer-Calf; bred by the late Colonel Austen, of Kippington, Sevenoaks, Kent. {Tse Hon. Coronet PENNANT: for his 11 months 3 weeks and 3 days-old Heifer- Calf; bred by exhibitor. tEpwarp Lupp Berrs, of Preston Hall, Maidstone, Kent: for his 10 months 2 weeks and 2 days-old Heifer-Calf; bred by exhibitor. CattLe: Herefords. j+Lorp Berwick, of Cronkhill, Shrewsbury: for his 3 years 11 months and 6 days- old Bull; bred by exhibitor. Joun Eximan, of Landport, Lewes, Sussex, for his 3 years 8 months and 2 days- old Bull; bred by Mr. Moore, of King’s Pyon, Weobly, Hereford. +Tuomas Rea, of Westonbury, Pembridge, Hereford: for his 4 years 4 months 3 weeks and 5 days-old Bull; bred by Benjamin Rogers, Grove, Pembridge. +Tnomas REA: for his 2 years 7 months and 4 days-old Bull; bred by exhibitor. +Lorp Bateman, of Shobdon Court, Shobdon, Hereford: for his 3 years 3 weeks and 2 days-old Bull; bred by exhibitor. +Wiri1am Tuner, of Ashford, Ludlow, Shropshire: for his 2 years 7 months and 4 days-old Bull; bred by exhibitor. +James Marsu Reap, Elkstone, Cirencester, Gloucester: for his 5 years 8 months 2 weeks and 5 days-old Bull; bred by the Earl of Radnor, of Highworth, Wilts. +Lorp Bateman: for his 1 year 11 months and 9 days-old Bull; bred by William Perry, of Cholstrey, Leominster. : TWitxr1aMm Taytor, of Showle Court, Ledbury, Hereford: for his 1 year 8 months 1 week and 2 days-old Bull; bred by exhibitor. 7Witt1amM Taynor: for his 1 year 6 months and 3 days-old Bull; bred by exhibitor. +Joun WiixtaMs, of St. Mary’s, Kingsland, Leominster, Hereford: for his 2 years 6 months and 4 days-old In-calf Heifer; bred by exhibitor. VOL. XXI. c xviii Awards at Canterbury : Live-Stock Commendations. jLorp Bareman: for his 2 years 10 months 1 week and 1 day-old In-calf Heifer ; bred by exhibitor. tLorp Bateman: for his 2 years 10 months and 3 weeks-old In-calf Heifer ; bred by exhibitor. Lorp Bareman: for his 10 months and 4 weeks-old Heifer-Calf; bred by exhibitor. Lorp Bateman: for his 11 months 2 weeks and 2 days-old Heifer-Calf; bred by exhibitor. His Royau Hicunrss tHE Prince Consort: for his 8 months-old Heifer-Calf; bred by His Royal Highness. His Roya Hicuness THE Prince Consort: for his 9 months 3 weeks and 6 days- old Heifer-Calf; bred by His Royal Highness. Joun Monxuouse, of The Stowe, Hereford: for his 1] months 1 week and 2 days-old Heifer-Calf; bred by exhibitor. CATTLE: Devons. }Wut11am Hore, of Hannaford, Barnstaple, Devon: for his 1 year 8 months 3 weeks and 1 day-old Bull; bred by exhibitor. {Water FarruineG, of Stowey Court, Bridgwater, Somerset: for his 3 years 7 months and 2 weeks-old In-calf Cow ; bred by exhibitor. {Joun Quarry, of Champson Molland, South Molton, Devon: for his 6 years and 6 months-old In-milk and In-calf Cow ; bred by exhibitor. Horses: Agricultural. ;Wit11AM Laws, of Little Clacton, near Colchester: for his 5 years-old Suffolk Stallion ; bred by exhibitor. tCuartes Frost, of Wherstead, Ipswich, Suffolk: for his 4 years-old Suffolk Stallion ; bred by exhibitor. 7Wit11am Sanpay, of Holme Pierrepont, Notts: for his 2 years 1 month and 8 weeks-old Stallion; bred by exhibitor. {tJoun Foster, of Bingham, Notts: for his 2 years 2 months and 2 weeks-old Stallion ; bred by exhibitor. +CuHarwes Frost: for his 2 years-old Suffolk Filly ; bred by exhibitor. {SamveL Wrrncu, of Great Holland, Colchester: for his 2 years-old Suffolk Filly ; bred by exhibitor. tJames SHEPHERD, of Cock Farm, Stoginsey, Bridgewater, Somerset: for his 4 years 1 month 2 weeks and 6 days-old Dray Stallion; bred by George Hains, Huntspills, Bridgewater. SHEEP. +LIEUTENANT-CoLonEL Ince, of Thorpe Constantine, Tamworth, Staffordshire : for his 1 year 3 months and 2 weeks-old Ram; bred by exhibitor. tWixiram Sanpay: for his 3 years and 4 months-old Ram; bred by exhibitor, {Joun Borton, of Barton House, Malton, York: for his 3 years and 3 months- old Ram; bred by exhibitor. {Tuomas Bren, of Bilton, Rugby, Warwick: for his 4 years and 2 months-old Ram ; bred by exhibitor. +Jonas Wess: for his 1 year and 4 months-old Southdown Ram; bred by exhibitor. +Tur Duxe or Ricumonp, of Goodwood, Chichester, Sussex: 6 Entries of Shear- ling Rams. JOHN ena Arrep HeasMAn,-.of Augmering, Arundel, Sussex: 3 Entries. {Witt1am Riapen, of Hoye, Brighton, Sussex: 5 Entries. Ropert Boys, of Eastbourne, Sussex: 2 Entries. Lorp WatsincHam, of Merton Hall, Thetford, Norfolk: 5 Entries. Jonas Wess: 8 Entries. Tur Doxe or Beaurort, of Badminton, Chippenham, Wilts: 2 Entries. Tuomas Eximan, of Beddingham, Lewes, Sussex: 2 Entries. Henry W. Boors, of Arlington Manor, Newbury, Berks: 2 Entries. é Sin Tuomas B. Lennarp, Bart., of Belhus, Avely, Romford, Essex: 2 Entries, Awards at Canterbury : Live-Stock Commendations. xix t+Jonas Wepn: for his 2 years and 4 months-old Ram; bred by exhibitor. tJonas Wess: for his 2 years and 4 months-old Ram; bred by exhibitor. t{Lorp Watsrnenam: for his 2 years and 4 months-old Ram; bred by exhibitor. {Jonas Wess: for his 3 years and 4 months-old Ram; bred by exhibitor. {Jonas Wess: 3 years and 4 months-old Ram ; bred by exhibitor. {tTse Duxe of Ricamonp: for his 1 year and 4 months-old 5 Shearling Ewes; bred by exhibitor. }Witxram RiepeEN: for his 1 year and 4 months-old 5 Shearling Ewes ; bred by exhibitor. {¢Tue Eart or Rapnor, of Coleshill House, Highworth, Wilts: for his 1 year and 4 months-old 5 Shearling Ewes; bred by exhibitor. {Wir11am Gascoyne, of Bapchild, Sittingbourne, Kent: for his 7 years and 3 months-old Romney Marsh Ram; bred by exhibitor. tTsomas Buaxe, of Dymchurch, Hythe, Kent: for his 2 years 2 months and 2 weeks-old Romney Marsh Ram; bred by exhibitor. ;Witi1am Lane: for his 1 year 4 months and 2 weeks-old Cotswold Ram; bred by exhibitor. +Grorce Frierouer, of Shipton Sollars, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire: for his 1 year 3 months and 2 weeks-old Cotswold Ram ; bred by exhibitor. +WuirAm Lang, of Broadfield Farm, Northleach, Gloucestershire: for his 1 year 3 months and 3 weeks-old Cotswold Ram; bred by exhibitor. +Wutx1am Lane: for his 1 year 4 months and 1 week-old Cotswold Ram; bred. - by exhibitor. +Grorce Fiercuer: for his 1 year and 4 months-old Cotswold Ram ; bred by exhibitor. +Rosert Garne, of Aldsworth,’ Northleach, Gloucestershire: for his 1 year and 4 months-old Cotswold Ram; bred by exhibitor, +Tuomas Porter, of Baunton, Cirencester, Gloucestershire: for his 1 year 83 months and 2 weeks-old Cotswold Ram; bred by exhibitor. yEpwarp Hanpy, of Sierford, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire: for his 1 year 83 months and 2 weeks-old Cotswold Ram; bred by exhibitor. tJoun Kine Tomps, of Langford, Lechlade, Gloucestershire: for his 1 year and 4 months-old Cotswold Kam ; bred by exhibitor. {Grorcre Frercuer: for his 1 year 3 months and 2 weeks-old Cotswold Ram ; bred by exhibitor. {Tomas Porrer: for his 1 year 3 months and 2 weeks-old Cotswold Ram ; bred by exhibitor. tEpwarp Hanpr: for his 1 year 3 months and 2 weeks-old Cotswold Ram; bred by exhibitor. tWut11am Lane: for his 1 year 3 months and 2 weeks-old Cotswold Ram; bred by exhibitor. tWittram Lane: for his 1-year 3 months and 3 weeks-old Cotswold Ram ; bred by exhibitor. The Class of Shearling Rams, 38 entries in all, generally commended. +THomas Porter: for his 3 years and 4 months-old Cotswold Ram; bred by exhibitor, ¢THomas Porter: for his 2 years and 4 months-old Cotswold Ram; bred by exhibitor. +Witi1am Lane: for his 3 years 2 months and 3 weeks-old Cotswold Ram; bred by exhibitor. +Wittiam Lave: for his 4 years 3 months and 1 week-old Cotswold Ram; bred by exhibitor. tEpwarp Hanpy: for his 3 years 3 months and 2 weeks-old Cotswold Ram: bred by William Hewer, of Hill House, Northleach, Gloucestershire. {Wuir11amM Lave: for his 2 years 4 months and 1 week-old Cotswold Ram; bred by exhibitor. The Class of aged Rams, 17 Entries in all, generally commended. {+ Joun Kina Tomes: for his 1 year and 4 months-old 5 Cotswold Shearling Ewes ; bred by exhibitor. c 2 Xx Awards at Canterbury : Live-Stock Commendations. }Joun Kine Toms: for his 1 year and 4 months-old 5 Cotswold Shearling Ewes ; bred by exhibitor. {Tomas Beate Browne: of Salperton Park, Andoversford, Cheltenham, Glou- cestershire: for his 1 year and 4 months-old 5 Cotswold Shearling Ewes; bred by exhibitor. }THomas berate Browne: for his 1 year and 4 months 5 Cotswold Shearling Ewes; bred by exhibitor. ‘tJames and Epwarp Crane, of Shrawardine, Shrewsbury: for their 1 year 2 months and 3 weeks-old Shropshire Ram ; bred by exhibitors. {James and Epwarp Crane: for their] year 3 months and 2 weeks-old Shropshire Ram; bred by exhibitors. +Epwarp Hoxianp, of Dumbleton Hall, Evesham, Worcestershire: for his 2 years and 4 months-old Shropshire Ram; bred by S. Bird, near Stafford. tCHaRLes Reynotps Krexine, of Yew Tree Farm, Penkridge, Staffordshire: for his 2 years 3 months 2 weeks and 1 day-old Shropshire Ram; bred by exhibitor. t+ WiL.1am Goopwin Preece, of Shrewsbury : for his 2 years 3 months and 2 weeks- old Shropshire Ram; bred by S. Byrd, of Lees Farm, Stafford. tHenry James SHEepon, of Brailes, Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire: for his 2 years 3 months and about 2 weeks-old Shropshire Ram; bred by exhibitor. }THomas Mansetz, of Adcott Hall, Shrewsbury: for his 2 years and 3 months- old Shropshire Ram; bred by exhibitor. tEpwarp Hotianp: for his 1 year and 4 months-old 5 Shropshire Shearling Ewes; bred by exhibitor. TTHE Eart or Darrmours, of Patshull, Albrighton, Wolverhampton: for his 1 year and 3 months-old 5 Shropshire Shearling Ewes; bred by exhibitor. YJoun Evans, of Uppington, Shrewsbury: for his 1 year and 3 months-old 5 Shropshire Shearling Ewes ; bred by exhibitor. Henry Marruews, of Montford, Shrewsbury : for his 1 year and 3 months-old 5 Shropshire Shearling Ewes ; bred by exhibitor. tHenry Smirn, of Sutton Maddock, Shiffnal, Shropshire: for his 1 year and 4 months-old 5 Shropshire Shearling Ewes; bred by exhibitor. +Cuartes Howarp, of Biddenham, near Bedford: for his 1 year 4 months and 2 weeks-old Oxford Down Ram; bred by exhibitor. tJoun Bryan, of Southleigh, Witney, Oxfordshire: for his 1 year 3 months and 2 weeks-old Oxfordshire Down Ram; bred by exhibitor. tJoun Bryan: for his 1 year 3 months and 2 weeks Oxfordshire Down Ram ; bred by exhibitor. JosEpH Drucr, of Eynsham, Oxford: for his 1 year and 4 months and 2 weeks- old Oxford Down Ram; bred by exhibitor. + Witx1am Humrrey, of Oak Ash, Chaddleworth, Wantage, Berks: for his 1 year 4 months and 3 weeks-old West Country Down Ram; bred by exhibitor. {SrerHEeN Kine, of Old Hayward Farm, Hungerford, Berks: for his 1 year 4 months and 2 weeks-old West Country Down Ram; bred by exhibitor. tCuarLes Howarp: for his 1 year 4 months and 2 weeks-old Oxford Down Ram; bred by exhibitor. +WitiiaM F. Benner, of Chilmark, Salisbury, Wilts: for his 6 years 3 months and 2 weeks-old Oxfordshire Down Ram; bred by John Bryan, of South- leigh, Witney, Oxon. +Joun Bryan: for his 2 years 8 months and 2 weeks-old Oxfordshire Down Ram ; bred by exhibitor. +Joun Bryan: for his 3 years 3 months and 2 weeks-old Oxfordshire Down Ram ; bred by exhibitor. +Tue DuKE or Mariporoven, of Blenheim, Woodstock, Oxford ; for his 2 years 4 months and 1 week-old Oxfordshire Down Ram; bred by exhibitor.® +Witt1Am Humrrey: for his 2 years 5 months and 2 weeks-old West Country Down Ram; bred by exhibitor. {Tne Duke or Mariporoucn: for his 8 years 3 months and 2 weeks-old Oxford- shire Down Ram; bred by exhibitor. {+Joun Wasnpourne Brown, of Uffeote, Swindon, Wilts: for his 1 year and 5 months-old 5 Hampshire Down Shearling Ewes; bred by exhibitor. Awards at Canterbury : Live-Stoch Commendations. — xxi Pras. }Witi1AM Braptey, Wainman, of Carhead, Cross Hills, Yorkshire: for his 3 years and 3 weeks-old Carhead white Boar ; bred by exhibitor. }+JosrepH Hinpson, of Barton House, Everton, Liverpool: for his 83 years 3 weeks and 4 days-old small white Boar; bred by Lord Wenlock, of Escrick Park, near York. {Tuomas Crisp, of Butley Abbey, Wickham Market, Suffolk ; for his 8 months and 3 weeks-old small black Suffolk Boar; bred by exhibitor, tGrorce B. Morvanp, of Chilton Farm, Harwell, Berkshire: for his 1 year and and 9 months-old Boar; bred by exhibitor. t+Jonn Kine Tomus: for his 2 years and 3 weeks-old black and white Berk- shire Sow ; bred by exhibitor. +Micwarx Gavins, of Fox Inn, Woodhouse Carr, near Leeds, Yorkshire; for his 4 years ard 1 month-old large white Sow; bred by John Kay, of Albert- street, Woodhouse Carr, near Leeds. tWitr1am Hewer, of Sevenhampton, Highworth, Wilts: for his 2 years and 7 months-old black and white Berkshire Sow ; bred by exhibitor. +Witi1am Harton, of Addington, near Leeds: for his 2 years 2 weeks and 4 days-old small white Sow ; bred by exhibitor. tGrorce Manetes, of Givendale, Ripon: for his 2 years and 6 months-old Yorkshire and Cumberland small white Sow; bred by exhibitor. +Tuomas Crisp: for his 1 year 8 months and 3 weeks-old Improved Suffolk small black Sow ; bred by exhibitor. }Grorce Torner,-of Barton, near Exeter: for his 2 years and 8 months-old , Improved Essex small black Sow; bred by exhibitor. tWiriram Braptey Warinman: for his 2 years 11 months 3 weeks and 5 days- old Yorkshire white Sow; bred by Joseph Coates, of Halifax, Yorkshire. tWiti1am James Sapter, of Bentham, Calcutt, Cricklade, Wilts: for his 7 months 3 weeks and 3 days-old pure Berkshire dark-spotted 3 Sow Pigs; bred by exhibitor. tSamuet Witey, of Brandsby, York: for his 6 months 2 week and 4 days-old pure Berkshire white 3 small Sow Pigs; bred by exhibitor. +Grorce B. Morianp: for his 6 months 3 weeks and 4 days-old Improved Chilton black 3 small Sow Pigs; bred by exhibitor. IMPLEMENTS. JoHN Fow er, Jun., of 28, Cornhili, London: the Prize of Ninety Sove- REIGNS, for his 12-Horse Set of Steam-cultivating Apparatus ; invented and improved by the Exhibitor, and manufactured by Kitson and Hewit- son, of Leeds. Rosey and Co., of Lincoln: the Prize of Ten Sovergtens, for their complete Set of Patent Steam-ploughing Tackle ; invented and improved by Chand- ler and Oliver, of Bow, and manufactured by the exhibitors. Wattis and Hasiam, of Basingstoke, Hants: the Prize of Twenry Sovr- REIGNS, for their Four-Horse Power Patent Portable Thrashing-Machine ; invented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibitors. Puinie and Henry Puriie Gissons, of Wantage, Berkshire: the Prize of Tuinty Sovereians, for their Portable Combined Double-blower Thrash- ing-Machine ; invented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibitors. Epwarp Humpuriss, of Pershore, Worcestershire: the Prize of Twenty SoveErEIens, for his Portable Combined Thrashing, Shaking, Riddling, Barley-horning, Winnowing, and Sacking Machine ; invented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibitor. XXll Award of Implement Prizes at Canterbury. James Savory, of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire: the Prize of Five Sove- REIGNS, for his Portable 'hrashing-Machine, with Single Blower; in- vented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibitor. With Patent Smutting and Cleaning Machine, Hueu Carson, of Wiltshire Foundry, Warminster, Wilts: the Prize of Tren SovEREIGNS, for his Chaff-Cutting Engine, for Steam Power; invented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibitor. JAMES Cornes, of Barbridge Works, Nantwich, Cheshire: the Prize of Five SoVEREIGNS, for his Hand-power Chaff-cutting Machine, with two Knives ; invented by John Cornes, sen., of Barbridge, improved and manu- factured by the exhibitor. Epwarp Hammonp Brnraty, of Heybridge, near Maldon, Essex: the Prize of THREE SOVEREIGNS, for his Hand-power Patent Chaff-cutter ; invented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibitor. ‘ RicuMoND and CHANDLER, Manchester and Liverpool: the Prize of Two Sovz- REIGNS, for their Hand-power Chaff-cutting Machine ; invented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibitors. T. W. Asupy and Co., of Stamford, Lincolnshire; the Prize of Five Sovz- REIGNS, for their Four-Horse Portable Flour Mill, with French Stones ; invented, improved, and manufactured by the Exhibitors. JouN Tyr, of Lincoln: the Prize of Five Sovreretens, for his Portable Corn- grinding Mill on four travelling wheels; invented, improved, and manu- factured by the exhibitor. Hont and Picxrertne, of the Goulding Implement Works, Short-street, Church-gate, Leicester: the Prize of Eignr SovErrtens, for their Corn Crusher, or Kibbling Mill; invented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibitors. KE. R. and F. Turnur, of St. Peter’s Iron Works, Ipswich, Suffolk : the Prize of Five Sovergiens, for his Crushing Mill for Bruising Oats, Linseed, Malt, Barley, &c.; invented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibitors. Epwarp Hammonp Brntatu: the Prize of Ture Soverriens, for his Patent Corn and Seed Crusher; invented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibitor. E. R. and F. Turner, of St. Peter’s Iron Works, Ipswich, Suffolk: the Prize of Two Soveretens, for their Crushing or Bruising Mill for Oats, Linseed, Malt, Barley, &c.; invented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibitors. Epwarp Hammond BrenTALi: the Prize of Srven Sovereriens, for his Im- proved Oilcake Mill; invented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibitor. Dray, Taytor, and Co. (late Wm. Dray and Co.), of 4, Adelaide-place, London-bridge, removed from Swan-lane, London: the Prize of THREE SoverEtens, for their Patent Oilcake Breaking Machine for Beasts and Sheep, and Tillage Purposes; invented, improved, and manufactured by N. Nicholson, of Newark. Epwarp Hammonp BENTALL: the Prize of Torer SoveREtens, for his Oilcake ' Mill; invented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibitor. Messrs. Hun and Prcxerrne, of the Goulding Works, Short-street, Church- gate, Leicester: the Prizeof Two Soverztens, for their Oilcake Breaker ; invented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibitors. Tur Trustees of W. CrossKint, of Beverley Iron Works, Beverley, York- shire: the Prize of Ten Sovereians, for their Improved Yorkshire Bone Mill, for Steam or Water Power; improved and manufactured by the exhibitors. ‘Tue Trusrers of W. Crossxinti: the Prize of Frv— Sovrererens, for their Award of Implement Prizes at Canterbury. XXiil Tmproved Yorkshire Bone Mill, for Steam or Water Power; improved and manufactured by the exhibitors, ‘nr Trustees of W. Crossxiti: the Prize of Tren Soverrrans, for their Im- proved Bone Dust Mill; invented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibitors. Messrs. Prckstey, Srms, and Co., of Bedford Foundry, Leigh, near Man- chester: the Prize of Four Sovreretens, for their Turnip-Slicer; invented and manufactured by the exhibitors. Epwarp Hammonp Bentat.: the Prize of Four Soverriens, for his Patent Gardner’s Turnip-cutter, Double Action ; invented by James Gardner, of Banbury, improved and manufactured by the exhibitor. Huau Carson: the Prize of Two Soveretans, for his Moody’s Patent Turnip- Cutter (No. 1), for Hand-power, on Iron Frame; invented by Edmund Moody, late of Maiden Bradley, improved and manufactured by the exhibitor. Epwarp Hammonp BrentTatu: the Prize of Four Sovrerrrens, for his Patent Prize Root-Pulper'; invented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibitor. . BarNARD, Bisnor, and Barnarps, Norwich, Norfolk: the Prize of Two SoverEtens, for their Patent Root-Pulper, for Power; invented and manufactured by the exhibitors. Epwarp Hammonp BEenTALL: the Prize of Two SovErEI@ns and a HAtr, for his Patent Prize Root-Pulper, for Hand-power ; invented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibitor. Messrs, Hunt and Pickrerine: the Prize of Onn SovEREIGN and a Hatr, for his Eight-knife Disc Root-Pulper, for Hand-power ; invented, improved, _ and manufactured by the exhibitors. Sprar and Jackson, Etna Works, Sheffield, Yorkshire: the Prize of Five Sovrretens, for their Set of Hand Tools used in Hop Grounds and Hand Tillage ; improved and manufactured by the exhibitors, Tue Rient Hon. Lorp Leteau, of Stoneleigh Abbey, near Kenilworth, War- wickshire: the Prize of Fivn Sovrerztens, for his Field Gate ; improved and manufactured by the exhibitor.’ MEDALS. ’ H.R. and F. Turner: a Sinver Mepat, for’ their Combined Bolting, Thrash- ing, Shaking, Riddling, Winnowing, and Barley Avelling Machine, with Elevators ; invented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibitors. Adapted for working by the three-horse engine. Wim Werks, of Maidstone, Kent: a Srrver Mepat, for his Apparatus adapted for Drying Hops ; invented by Patrick Simpson Punnett, Esq., of Chart Sutton, and improved and manufactured by the exhibitor. Commenvations. The mark * signifies “ HIGHLY COMMENDED ;” and the mark + “ coMMENDED.” ' *THE Busspy AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT Company, of Newton-le-Willows, near Bedale, Yorkshire: for their Farm Gate; invented, improved, and manu- factured by J. B, Booth, Esq., of Killerby, near Catterick. *Hiti and Suir, of Brierley Hill Iron Works, near Dudley, Staffordshire ; for their Iron Vermin-proof Rickstand, 16 feet diameter ; invented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibitors. xxiv Awards at Canterbury : Implement Commendations. *GxroRGE Foorp, Engineer, of Elwick Works, Ashford, Kent: for his Rusthalf School Desk ; improved and manufactured by Russell and Bugler. *Tue Trustees of W. Crosskixu: for their general Collection of Carts and Waggons. *JoHN WARNER and Sons, of Crescent, Jewin-street, London: for their Hydraulic Pumps, &c. *Epwarp Pacer and Co., of Bedford: for his Chaff-Cutting Machine ; improved and manufactured by the exhibitors. Adapted for hand power. *Asupy and Co.: for their Double-action Registered Oil-cake Mill, for Sheep and Oxen; invented by Smith and Ashby, of Stamford, improved and manu- factured by the exhibitors. *PicKsLEy, Sims, and Co.: for their One Horse Bone Mill; invented by Robert Burns, of Leigh, improved aud manufactured by the exhibitors. tBarnarpD, Bisnop, and BarnarpD: for their Root-Pulper for Hand Power. +E. H. Bentaxu: for his Root-Slicer for Hand Power. +Hucu Carson: for his Chaff-Cutter for Hand Power. 7W. M. Cranston, of 58, King William-street, London-bridge: for his Wood’s. Improved Grass-Mowing Machine. +THomas Bearps, of Stowe, near Buckingham: for his Eight-horse Power Portable Double Cylinder Steam-Engine; invented and manufactured by Thomas Rickett, of Buckingham. And for his Apparatus for Steam Culti- vating Land; invented by the exhibitor, and manufactured by the Buck- ingham Castle Iron Works Company, of Buckingham. +THomas KENNAN and Son, of 18 and 19, Fishamble-street, Dublin: for their Wire-Strainer. +TuHeE Sr. Pancras Iron-Works Company, Old St. Pancras-road, London: for their Stable Fittings. tCorram and Co., of 2, Winsley-street, Oxford-street, London: for their Stable Fittings. 4 opty 18 Cae the India Rubber and Gutta Percha Depot, Lincoln: for his Gutta. Percha and India Rubber Straps. t+Tuomas BraprorD, of Cathedral-steps, Manchester, and 63, Fleet-street, London = for his Patent Washing-Machine ; invented, improved, and manufactured by the exhibitor. tOLpHaAmM and Boots, of Kingston-upon-Hull, Yorkshire: for his Six-Horse Power Bone Mill, and for his Four-Horse Power Bone-Dust Mill. +Howarp, Ricues, and Warts, of Duke’s-Palace Iron Works, Norwich: for their Patent American Grist Mill; invented by Amory Felton, New York, U.S. America, and manufactured by the exhibitors. PRIZES GIVEN BY THE CANTERBURY LOCAL COMMITTEE. E. B. Exsry, of Bowhill, Maidstone: the Prize of Tairty Sovererrens, for his Plough on the Turnrise Principle. To the Ploughman, E. WatTrErRs, Srx SoVEREIGNS. J. Wiupasu, Davington, Feversham: the Prize of Twenty Sovereiens, for his Plough on the Turnrise Principle. To the Ploughman, M. Cor, Four SOVEREIGNS. J. Stumons, Rainham, Sittingbourne: the Prize of Ten Sovrerriens, for his Plough. To the Ploughman, GEorcE BaKeEr, Two SovEREIGNS. Buraess and Key, of 95, Newgate-street, London: the Prize of Twenry SovE- REIGNS, for their Grass-Mowing Machine; invented by J. A. Allen, of New York, improved and manufactured by the exhibitors. Witi1amM WEEKS: the Prize of Ten Soverrians, for his Kent Pattern Hop- Pressing Machine, adapted for Pressing Hops in Cloth for the Home Market ; improved and manufactured by the exhibitor. Awards at Canterbury : Wool. XXV toBERT BeRRiMAN, Langrish Manor Farm, Petersfield, Hants: the First Prize of Ten Sovererans, for the best Sample of Golding Hops. Eart Darnutry, Thong, near Gravesend: the Second Prize of Five Sove- rEIGaNS, for the best Sample of Golding Hops. Matruew Bert, Bourne Park, near Canterbury: the First Prize of TEN Soveretens, for the best Sample of any other kind of Hops. Groree Eney, Tong, near Sittingbourne: the Second Prize of Frvu Sove- REIGNS, for the best Sample of any other kind of Hops. Tuomas Wutre, Collard, Westgate, Canterbury: the First Prize of SEVEN SovereErans, for the best-managed Sample of Golding Hops. Ropert Berriman, Langrish Manor Farm, Petersfield, Hants: the Second Prize of Five Sovererens, for the best-managed Sample of Golding Hops. Horr THEopaLps, Godmersham, near Canterbury: the Third Prize of THREE Sovererrans, for the best-managed Sample of Golding Hops. GrorcE Exry, Tong, near Sittingbourne, Kent: the First Prize of Snven SoveEreiens, for the best-managed Sample of any other Kind of Hops. Marruew Bett, Bourne Park, near Canterbury: the Second Prize of FIvE SoveERreErIans, for the best-managed Sample of any other kind of Hops. WOOL. CHARLES CoLLARD, Wickham Court, Wingham, Kent: the Prize of TEN SovEREIGans, for the Six most valuable Kent Fleeces, combining quality and quantity, of one year’s growth, Highly Commended.—GrEorGE NEVE, Sissinghurst Castle, Staplehurst, Kent. FREDERICK Murton, Smeeth, Ashford, Kent: the Prize of TeN SovEREIGNS, for the Six most valuable Long-Wool Fleeces, Kent or otherwise, com- bining quality and quantity. Lorp WatsincuaM, Merton Hall, Thetford, Norfolk : the Prize of Tan Sove- REIGNS, for the Six most valuable Short-Wool Fleeces, combining quality and quantity. Commended.—Tuomas Horton, Harnage Grange, near Shrewsbury. (Cezar) @ssavs and Reports. AWARDS FOR 1859. Cuass V. The Prize of 201. was awarded to Mr. Pamm Desert TucKert, of 25, Gresham Street, London, for the best Report on the Modifi- cations of the Four-Course Rotation which modern improvements have rendered advisable. 1860. Cuass I. The Prize of 50]. was awarded to Mr. J. B. Sprarine, of Moulsford, Wallingford, for the best Report on the Agriculture of Berkshire. The Report by the Rev. J. C. CLurrersuck, of Long Wittenham, Abingdon, was commended. Crass II. The Prize of 20]. was awarded to Professor TANNER, of Queen’s College, Birmingham, for his Essay on the best period of the Rotation and the best time of year for applying the Manure of the Farm. Crass III. The Essays in this Class were not considered worthy of the Prize offered. Awards for Essays and Reports. XXVIl Crass IV. The Prize of 101. was awarded to Mr, J. Futron, of Glasgow, for the best Essay on Recent Improvements in Dairy Practice. The Essay by Mr. Josep Harvine, of Marksbury, Bristol, was commended. Crass V. The Prize of 107. was awarded to Mr. H. Eversuen, of Gosfield, Halstead, Essex, for the best Essay on the Proper Office of Straw on the Farm. Cuass VII. The Prize of 10/7. was awarded to Professor TANNER, of Queen’s College, Birmingham, for the best Essay on the Conditions of Seed- bed best suited to the various Agricultural Crops. (amy) Essays and Meports—PRIZES FOR 1861.—All Prizes of the Royal Agricultural Society of England are open to general com- petition. Competitors will be expected to consider and discuss the heads enumerated. I. FARMING OF YORKSHIRE. A Special Prize of Firry Sovereiens, offered by the President, the Earl of Powis, will be given for the best Report on the Improvement in the Farming of Yorkshire since the date of the last Reports in the Journal. II. AGRICULTURE OF HAMPSHIRE. Firty Sovereigns will be given for the best Report on the Agriculture of Hampshire. The principal geological and physical features of the county should be described ; the nature of the Soil and character of the Farming in its different districts or natural divisions ; its Live Stock ; Implements ; recent changes of Farm Management; Improvements lately intro- duced or still required; remarkable or characteristic Farms; the History of the New Forest should be briefly traced, and any peculiar customs connected with it described. Il. DRAINAGE. Ten Sovereiens will be given for the best Essay on the Results of Drainage at different depths on different soils as tested by the wet season of 1860, including the effect of laying down drained land flat, instead of following the direction of the ridges. The influence of subsoiling, as subsidiary to draining, should be taken into account. The effect of variations in the drainage on the crops. should be tested by ascertaining, not estimating, the yield of the several lands. A practical rule should, if possible, be deduced, which will follow the broad geological distinctions between strata, or some other definite law. Iv. THE WINTERING OF DAIRY STOCE. Ten Sovereicns will be given for the best Essay on the best: mode of Wintering Dairy Stock. Prizes for Essays and Reports. eux Vv. CROSS BREEDING OF CATTLE. Ten Sovereiens will be given for the best Essay on the general principles and results involved in the Cross Breeding of Cattle. An account should be given of the difference produced in the offspring according as the male or female parent is of a given race, of the milking as well as fattening qualities of the half-bred stock, and of the effects produced by a second cross with the original stock, or by putting half-bred animals together. VI. Ten SovereEIGNs will be given for the best Essay on the Rearing of Calves. The advantages or drawbacks attendant on allowing the calf to suck the cow should be discussed, the extent to which new milk should be given to weaning calves, and the best artificial substitutes for the fatty matter contained in the cream, considered; the diseases to which calves are liable should be described, and the best pre- ventatives in respect of diet and management, together with some simple remedies suggested. VII. HARVESTING CORN. Tn SovEREIGNS will be given for the best Essay on the best mode of Harvesting and Thrashing Corn. The comparative advantages of mowing, “ bagging,” and reaping wheat should be considered, in respect of labour of men and horses, in cutting, carting, stacking, and thrashing; of variations of climate ; of the value of the straw; and of preparation for autumn cultiva- tion ; the best position for the stacks should be pointed out, and the comparative advantage of thrashing in the field or in the barn; the benefit derived from large barns should be reviewed in relation to their cost, and the possibility of providing a less costly substitute considered. VIiil, | Ten Soverriens will be given for the best Essay on any other | Agricultural Subject. Reports or Essays competing for the Prizes must be sent to the Secre- tary of the Society, at 12, Hanover Square, London, on or before March 1,1861. Contributors of Papers are requested to retain Copies of their Communications, as the Society cannot be responsible for their return, Russ, &c. XXX Prizes for Essays and Reports. RULES OF COMPETITION FOR PRIZE ESSAYS. 1. All information contained in Prize Essays shall be founded on experience or observation, and not on simple reference to books or other sources. Com- petitors are requested to use foolscap or large letter paper, and not to write on both sides of the leaf. 2. Drawings, specimens, or models, drawn or constructed to a stated scale, shall accompany writings requiring them. 3. All competitors shall enclose their names and addresses in a sealed cover, on which only their motto, the subject of their Essay, and the number of that subject in the Prize List of the Society, shall be written.* 4, The President or Chairman of the Council for the time being shall open the cover on which the motto designating the. Hssay to which the Prize has been awarded is written, and shall declare the name of the author. 5. The Chairman of the Journal Committee shall alone be empowered to open the motto-paper of any Essay not obtaining the Prize, that he may think likely to be useful for the Society’s objects; with a view of consulting the writer confidentially as to his willingness to place such Essay at the disposal of the Journal Committee. 6. The copyright of all Essays gaining Prizes shall belong to the Society, who shall accordingly have the power to publish the whole or any part of such Essays; and the other Essays will be returned on the application of the writers ; but the Society do not make themselves responsible for their loss. 7. The Society are not bound to award a prize unless they consider one of the Essays deserving of it. 8. In all reports of experiments the expenses shall be accurately detailed. 9. The imperial weights and measures only are those by which calculations. are to be made, 10. No prize shall be given for any Essay which has been already in print. 11. Prizes may be taken in money or plate, at the option of the successful candidate. 12. All Essays must be addressed to the Secretary, at the house of the Society. * Competitors are requested to write their motto on the enclosed paper on which their names are written, as well as on the outside of the envelope. ( imei») Members’ Pribileqes of Chemical Analpsis. Tue Council have fixed the following rates of Charge for Analyses to be made by the Consulting Chemist for the bond-fide use of Members of the Society; who (to avoid all unnecessary correspondence) are particularly requested, when applying to him, to mention the kind of analysis they require, and to quote its number in the subjoined schedule. The charge for analysis, together with the carriage of the specimens, must be paid to him by members at'the time of their application. No. 1.—An opinion of the genuineness of Peruvian guano, bone- dust, or oil-cake (each sample) . 5s. 2,.—An analysis of guano ; showing the proportion of moisture, organic matter, sand, phosphate of lime, alkaline salts, and ammonia z 10s. », 3.—An estimate of the value (relatively to the average of samples in the market) of sulphate and muriate of am- 2 monia, and of the nitrates of potash and soda .. 10s. » 4.—An analysis of superphosphate of lime for soluble phos- phates only 10s. », 5.—An analysis of superphosphate of lime, showing the pro- portions of moisture, organic matter, sand, soluble and insoluble phosphates, sulphate of lime, and ammonia .. £1. » 6.—An analysis (sufficient for the determination of its agricul- tural value) of any ordinary artificial manure .. alte 5, 7%.—Limestone :—the proportion, of lime, 7s. 6d.; the propor- tion of magnesia, 10s. ; the proportion of lime and mag- nesia lds. ,, 8.—Limestone or “marls, “including carbonate, phosphate, and sulphate of lime, and magnesia with sandand clay .. £1. _» ¢—Partial analysis of a soil, including determinations of male sand, organic matter, and carbonate of lime tele a LO: —Complete analysis ofasoil . £3. ,», 11.—An analysis of oil-cake, or other substance used for feeding purposes ; showing the~ proportion of moisture, oil, mineral matter, albuminous matter, and woody fibre ; ; as well as of starch, gum, and sugar, in the aggregate £1 »» 12.—Analyses of any vegetable product . : elle -.>),13.—Analyses of animal products, refuse substances “used for manure, &c, a0 from 10s. to 30s. >» 14. —Determination of the “hardness” of a sample of water before and after boiling .. 10s. >, 15.—Analysis of water of land drainage, and of water used for ‘inrigation ... oo heeae », 16.—Determination of nitric acid ina sample of water... ao) AGE N.B.—The above Seale’of Charges is not applicable to fhe case of persons commercially engaged in: the. Manufacture or Sale of any Substance sent fur Analysis, The Address of the Consulting Chemist of the Society is, Dr. Avcustus VoELcKER, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, to which he requests that all letters and parcels (postage and carriage pee should be directed: for the convenience, however, of persons residing in London, parcels sent to the Society’s Office; No. 12, Hanover Square, W., will be forwarded to Cirencester once or twice a week. (: i>) sMembers’ Weterinary Privileges, I.— VETERINARY INSPECTION. No. 1. Any member of the Society who may desire a competent professional opinion and special advice in cases of extensive or destructive disease among his stock, and will address a letter to the Secretary, will, by return of post, receive a printed list of queries, to be filled up and returned to him immediately. On the receipt of such returned list, the Secretary will convene the Veterinary Committee forthwith (any two Members of which, with the assistance of the Secretary, will be competent to act); and such Committee will decide on the necessity of despatching Professor Simonds, the Society’s Veterinary Inspector, to the spot where disease is said to prevail. No. 2. The remuneration of such Inspector will be 2/. 2s. each day as a professional fee, and 1/. 1s. each day on account of personal expenses ; and he will also be allowed to charge the cost of travel- ling toand from the localities where his services may have been thus required. The fees will be paid by the Society, but the travel- ling expenses will be a charge against the applicant for professional aid. ‘This charge may, however, be reduced or remitted altogether at the discretion of the Council, on such step being recommended to them under peculiar circumstances by the Veterinary Committee. No. 3. The Inspector, on his return from visiting the diseased stock, shall report to the Committee, in writing, the results of his observa- tions and proceedings, which report will be laid before the Council. No. 4. Should contingencies arise to prevent a personal discharge of the duties confided to the Inspector, he may, subject to the ap- proval of the Committee, name some competent professional person to act in his stead, who shall receive the same rates of remuneration. II.—INvEsTIGATIONS, LectuRES, AND REPORTS. No. 1. All Members of the Society have the privilege of sending cattle, sheep, and pigs to the Royal Veterinary College, on the same terms as if they were Members of the College. No. 2. The College have undertaken to investigate such particular classes of disease, or special subjects connected with the application of the Veterinary art to cattle, sheep, and pigs, as may from time to time be directed by the Council. No. 3. In addition to the increased number of lectures now given by Professor Simonds, the Lecturer on Cattle Pathology, to the Pupils in the Royal Veterinary College, he will also deliver such lectures before the Members of the Society, at their house in Hanover Square, or at its Annual Meetings in the country, as the Council may decide. No. 4. The Royal Veterinary College will from time to time furnish to the Council of the Society a detailed Report of the cases of cattle, sheep, and pigs treated in the College. [These privileges are undergoing revision, The new regulations will be published when confirmed by the Council, in November: until then the old reaulations are in force. ] . ; 1 , ‘ 7 Pe. ‘ ‘ 7 . - i - “ ' i rg . ~) “ - . 3 ' ; = ‘ www.colibrisystem.com