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THE

JQURNAL

OF THE

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY

OF ENGLAND.

SECOND SERIES.

VOLUME THE TWENTIETH.

PRACTICE WITH SCIENCE.

LIBRARY
NEW YORK
BOTANICAL,

GARDEN

LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
1884.

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 PRACTICK
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 OP
THESE AMONG THEIR MEMBERS,

Von Tuer, Principles of Agriculture.

LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, STAMFORD STREET
AND CHARING CROSS,

MAR | 7 1915

(ea ’) ae

Us

CONTENTS OF PART I., VOLUME XX,

SEcoND SERIES.

STATISTICS :— d PAGE
-Meteorology for the year 1883 nop ce SGM oeilics I-IX
Report on the Hay-harvest forecasts for 1883 ial cela, Geek XRD

Imports of Corn, &c., British Wheat sold, and Average Prices x11I-xVIII
Number of Beasts exhibited: and the Prices realised for them
at the Christmas Markets, since 1843... .. 1. 4. oe XIX
Acreage under each description of Crop, Fallow; and Grass ;
and Number of Cattle, Sheep, and Pigs, in Great Britain
sndwineland 1S 16e2.and 188S | 5. c0,, 00,» os.) joer XX RAE
Importations and Average Prices of certain Foreign and
MolomaleProductions 5 <tithee Mites new tuhadA- aot isaac XXII
Statistics of Dairy Produce, and Prices Current .. ., XXIII-XXVIII

ARTICLE PAGE
I—The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. By
Frederick Clifford, of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-

Law ae Ree poi sci cs che areal
Il.—Improvement of fis Phage “of the ee bid Taney j
JONES A A eer ee ae i

IiI.—fome Field Experiments on the Nein of wees at
Rusper, Horsham. By Bernard Dyer, F.C.8., F.C. .. 113
1VY.—Report on the practice of ae at Home and Abroad.
By H. M. Jenkins, F.G.S , Secretary of the Society and
Editor of the ‘Journal’. semeh eshh Me's 126
V.—On the Domestic Veterinary Tesatinend of the Animals of
the Farm. By Professor G. T. Brown, of the Agricultural
Department of the Privy Council .. .. .. -- 246

VI.—On the Cultivated Potato. By Earl uation be da woesele

VII.—Report on the Competition for Seed Wheat, 1883. By Wm.
Carruthers, F.1.S., Consulting Botanist to the Society .. 3800

VIII.—Notes on Cart Hiei. By James Howard, M.P., of Clapham
Park, Bedfordshire .. .. oe | op Ble

I1X.—Reports of the Honorary Gonna Pesaloeit By
Eleanor A. Ormerod, F.R. Met. Soc., ; Dunster Lodge, Isle-

worth, near Bonden 4. 2. ob ee - 324
X.—Annual Report of the Consulting Botanist for 1883, By W.
Carruthers, F.R.S. aig “dup eee y

iv CONTENTS.

ARTICLE PAGE
XI.—Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn,
conducted on behalf of the Royal Agricultural Society of
England during the year 1883. By Dr. Augustus Voelcker,

E.R. s., Consulting Chemist to the Society cs Soest) See
XIJ.—Annual Report of the Consulting Chemist for 1883. By
Dr. Augustus Voelcker rae ee eye

XI11I.— Quarterly Reports of the Chemical Conninittert 1888 20) \e5 870

XIV.—Notes on the Composition of some Samples of Silage. By
Alfred Smetham, F.C.S., F.1.C., of Liverpool .. .. .. 380

Additions to the Library in 1883 .. «2 o oo «. Oot

APPENDIX.
: PAGE
List of Officers of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, 1884 .. i
Standing Committees for 1884 is ot ili
Report of the Council to the General Meeting, December 13, 1883 a v
Memoranda of Meetings, Payment of Subscriptions, &. .. .. «. xi
Distribution of Members and Council .. Bs xii

Half-yearly Cash Account from Ist July to 31st December, 1883 ee. ORIN
Yearly Cash Account from 1st January to 3lst December, 1883 = xvi
Country Meeting Account: York, 1883 so. ROME DED vee, salcence sae memvILE

Members” Veterinary Privileges +229 <2 .<iEeet) atl on nterea XxX
Members’ Chemical Privileges ee xxi
Guide to the Purchase of Artificial Manures and Feeding Stuffs 7) een
Members’ Botanical and Entomological Privileges oe oo. ELV

DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER,

The Binder is destred to coilect 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 includs 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 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,
habe (for convenience of reference), were reprinted without alteration in the Appendix matter
retaine

METEOROLOGY ; IMPORTATIONS OF GRAIN; SALES OF
BRITISH WHEAT; PRICES OF CORN AND OTHER
PRODUCE; AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS; AND STA-
TISTICS OF DAIRY PRODUCE.

—ro———

[The- facts are derived chiefly from the Meteorological Reports of Mr.
GLAISHER, and the Returns of the BoaRD OF TRADE and of the INSPECTOR-
GENERAL OF Imports AND Exports. |

METEOROLOGY.—1883.

First Quarter (January, February, March).—The mean reading of
' the barometer during the quarter was 29°796, and was 0:033 above
the mean reading for the corresponding period in 42 years; the
mean reading for February showed a slight excess, while that for
January was below the average.

The weather in January was warm, with frequent rain ; the sky
was mostly overcast. The atmospheric pressure was for a few days.
together above its average, then for a few days below ; there were
heavy storms from the 24th to the 28th days. Water was standing
in all low places, and the land generally was saturated, and not
workable.

The weather in February was mild throughout the month, with
excessive rain during the first three weeks, causing heavy floods,
and perfectly saturating the land. The atmospheric pressure was
low during the first half of the month and high afterwards. The
last week was fine and dry.

The weather in March from the 6th day was very cold through-
out the month, with but little rain, but frequent falls of snow.
The atmospheric pressure was above its average during the first
week and afterwards below. The wind, which was frequently
from the N.E. and N.W., was dry and searching; under its
influence the land dried rapidly, enabling farming work to proceed
satisfactorily.

_ VOL. XX.—S, S. A

(ie

The mean temperature of the air for the quarter was 40°0, and
was 1°2 above the average for the corresponding period of 112
years.

The rainfall measured at Greenwich during the quarter was
5:36 inches, and was 0°35 inch above the average amount in the
corresponding periods of 67 years. The rainfall was equal to 1°69
inches in January, 2°89 inches in February, and (78 inch in
March ; the amount was below the average in January and March,
whereas it showed an excess of 1°32 inches in February. At 40
stations of observation the recorded rainfall ranged from 4°68
inches at Cambridge to 11°64 inches at Bolton, 13°21 inches at
Truro, and 14°95 inches at Totnes.. Rain fell at Greenwich on 19
days in January, 15 in February, and 14 in March, in all on 48
days in the quarter.

The number of hours of bright sunshine recorded at Greenwich
during the quarter was 201°4, and was 27:8 above the average
number recorded in the five preceding corresponding periods.

Second Quarter (April, May, June).—The mean reading of the
barometer during the quarter was 29°801, and was 0:019 above the
mean reading for the corresponding periods in 42 years; the read-
ing showed a considerable excess in April, whereas it was below
the average both in May and June.

The weather in April :—At the beginning of the month there
were a few fine warm days, but from the 9th to,the 25th the
weather was cold and ungenial, snow fell generally on several
days. The days were frequently bright, and the nights cold; but
on the whole the month was dry, no rain falling at the beginning
of the month and but little afterwards, being favourable for farm-
ing operations. The month was free from thunderstorms.

The weather in May :—The first twelve days were cold, and rain
or snow fell on several days at stations north of 51°. From the
12th the weather was warm and pleasant and at times hot; this
fine weather continued to the end of the month. The fall of rain
was generally below the average. Thunderstorms occurred on six
days.

The weather in June was variable; at the beginning of the
month it was warm and fine, then for a few days it was cold and
warm alternately ; it was very cold from the 15th to the 22nd, and
unsettled afterwards to the end of the month. The fall of rain
was generally below its average, on the whole the month was
favourable for vegetation and farming work. ‘Thunderstorms
occurred on ten days.

( Ill )

The mean temperature of the air for the quarter was 53°-0, and
was 0°:7 above the average for the corresponding period of 112
years.

The rainfall measured at Greenwich during the quarter was
4:75 inches, and was 1°08 inches below the average amount in the
corresponding periods of 67 years. The rainfall was equal to 1:70
inches in April, 1:71 inches in May, and 1:34 inches in June; the
amount was below the average in each of the three months. At 37
stations of observation the recorded rainfall ranged from 3°83
inches at Liverpool, to 8:32 inches at Leicester, 8°38 inches at
Royston, 8°39 inches at Stonyhurst, and 8-61 at Cambridge. Rain
fell at Greenwich on 10 days in April, 9 in May, and 13 in June,
in all on 32 days in the quarter. ;

The number of hours of bright sunshine recorded at Greenwich
during the quarter was 474°6, and was 4:5 above the average
number recorded in the six preceding corresponding periods.

Third Quarter (July, August, September)—The mean reading of
the barometer during the quarter was 29-726, and was 0:029 below
the mean reading for the corresponding periods in 42 years; the
greatest depression was observed in September.

The weather in July was generally fine and warm till the 10th
day, followed by cold unsettled weather during the remainder of
the month; between the 14th aud 23rd day the weather was
particularly cold. The sky was generally obscured by clouds.
Upon the whole the month was cold, with rain a little above the

average amount. The hay harvest was very much checked, but
many crops were benefited by the rain.

The weather in August was cold at the beginning and warm
generally from the 13th day, with a rainfall ase than, the average
and a high barometer reading. It was a fine month for harvest
work, and the bright sunshine after the middle of the month was
favourable for ripening the green crops. The month was nearly
free from thunderstorms.

The weather in September was rather cold at the beginning of
the month, followed by a warm period which extended nearly to
the end. The fall of rain was above the average at most stations.
The harvest at all southern stations was gathered in good condition,
but, at northern stations, the severe gales of wind on the 23rd and
25th days interfered with harvest operation, and in some places
the crop was injured. There were very few thunderstorms in the
month.

The mean temperature of the air in this quarter was 59°5, and

A 2

q ve)

was 0-2 below the average for the corresponding period of 112
years.

The rainfall measured at Greenwich was equal to 6°53 inches,
and was 0°12 of an inch below the average amount in the
corresponding periods of 67 years. Rain fell at Greenwich on 16
days in July, 10 in August, and 17 in September, in all on 43 of
the 92 days in the quarter.

At the various stations of observation the rovoriled rainfall of
the quarter ranged from 5:95 inches at Somerleyton to 15:31
inches at Bath.

The number of hours of bright sunshine recorded at Greenwich
during the quarter was 421-6, and was nearly identical with the
number in the corresponding period of last year; the average
amount in the third or summer quarter of the five years 1878-82
was 408°4 hours.

Fourth Quarter (October, November, December). The mean reading
of the barometer for the quarter was 29-814 inches, and 0-068 of
an inch above the average for the corresponding period of 42
years; the mean showed an excess in October and December, but
was below the average in November.

The weather in October was cold during the first week and from
the 18th to the 23rd, and mild at other times, particularly so
during the last week of the month. The atmospheric pressure
was above its average from the 5th to the 13th, and from the 26th,
and was below at other times. The sky was mostly cloudy, with
but little sunshine; the fall of rain was less than its average at
most stations; there were no thunderstorms at stations south of
Bolton ; and there were two or three at northern stations. Fog
was prevalent on seven or eight days at stations in the Midland
Counties. Snow fell at Halifax on five days,

The weather in November was mostly cold till the 15th, and
warm from the 16th to the end of the month. The pressure of the
atmosphere was generally below its average from the 4th to the
26th, particularly so on the 6th and 25th. The sky was generally
clouded; there were a few bright days only. Rain fell very
frequently, and generally in excess of the average. A little snow
fell at different places north of latitude 51°, and fog was prevalent
at some places on eight or nine days in the month. Thunder-
storms occurred at several stations south of 51}°, and at stations
north of 54°.

The weather in December was variable till the 18th day, the
temperature being for a few days together in excess of the aver-

Cw J

age, and then for a few days in defect; from the 19th day to the
end of the month the weather was unusually mild. The pressure
of the atmosphere was variable, being alternately above and below
till the 22nd, and constantly in excess from the 23rd day, The
fall of rain was a good deal below the average at nearly every
station. Snow fell at a few stations during the first half of the
month. There was scarcely any fog till the 15th, and from this
day till the end of the month it was unusually prevalent, particu-
larly in the S.E. of England, where fog, frequently very dense,
and cloudy dull skies were all but constant. The sun was
searcely visible during the last week of the year. During the
greater part of this month, whenever the sky was clear, there was
a peculiar glow of light visible both before sunrise and after
sunset, and at times even through the clouds.

The mean temperature of the air in the quarter was 44°-9, and
was 1°°3 above the average for the corresponding period of 112
years.

The rainfall measured at Greenwich during the quarter was
5:26 inches, and was 1°93 inches below the average amount in the
corresponding periods of 67 years. Rain fell at Greenwich on
14 days in October, 21 in November, and 15 in December, or on
50 of the 92 days in the quarter.

At the various stations of observation the recorded rainfall of
the quarter ranged from 4-94 inches at Strathfield Turgiss, to 15°92
at Stonyhurst, and 17°77 inches at Bolton: A local observer—
Mr. Arthur Marston—reports the rainfall at Binham, Ludlow,
during the month of November to have been excessive ; no fewer
than 5:12 inches fell during the 30 days.

The number of nnours of bright sunshine recorded at Greenwich
during the quarter was 143°2, and exceeded by 8-9 the number in
the corresponding pericd of last year; the average amount in the
fourth quarter of the five years 1878-82 was 148-8 hours.

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HAY HARVEST

RETURN sHOWING THE NumBer OF FORECASTS SENT TO EACH ©

OTHERWISE OF

TC EOC Ls a aL...

n

ws

10.

. Scotland, E.

. Ireland, N.

Districts.

. Scotland, N.

ee

England, N.E.

. England, E.

. Midland Counties

. England, 8.

. Scotland, W.

. England, N.W...

. England, 8.W. ..

Treland, §. ..

Major Smith

. (Rev. A. Brown ..

To whom sent.

D. Melville, for the
Rey. Dr. Joass

W.S. Macdonald
G. Johnstone

{
\ . Turner

Sir J. B. Lawes, Bart.
W. Birkbeck

Charles King, for the
Duke of Somerset ..

C. Whitehead
E. P. Squarey

J. 8. R. Ballingal
W:. Calder, .. <%. “|
M. J. Stewart

ae Ohm ..

GoW. Wray «.

F. Harrison, for the
Earl of Derby sof

JJ. EF. Smith, for Lord)!

Egerton of Tatton |

(R. Neville ..
‘|J. Harle, for the a
i} of Ducie oe

| Colonel . S: P. Turber- "
vill . 7 fete

|

|

J. D. Johnstone
iW. Talbot Crosbie

IE C. Hamilton .,
iP. A. M‘Cready

D. A. Milward .. ‘ij

Addresses.

Dunrobin Gardens, Golspie
Munlochy, Inverness

Craigielaw, Longniddry ..
The Gardens, Glamis, Forfar

The Grange, Uleeby

~ WWJ. Wilson... iS) Chillinghatm Barnes, Chation)

Northumberland

Rothamsted, Harpenden
High House, Thorpe, Norwich

| Royal Agricultural ie

Cirencester ..
Gerrard’s Cross, Bucks

Barming House, Maidstone..
The Moot, Downton, Wilts ..

Eallabus, Bridgend, Islay, N.B.

Castle Hill, Dalreoek, ea
barton . J

Ardwell, Stranaer- Pee for

Leyburn, Yorkshire .. ..

| Knowsley Gardens, Prescot ..

Tatton Park, Knutsford

Butleigh Court, Glastonbury
Whitfield, Falfield, R.S.O. ..
Long Ashton, Clifton, Bristol
Ewenny Priory, Bridgend ..

Cherrymount, Moynalty
The Manse, Hollymount
Antrim Castle, Antrim..

Ardfert Abbey, Ardfert
Larchvale, Moneygall ..
Lavistown, Kilkenny

-

( XI )

FORECASTS, 1883.
OF THE UNDERMENTIONED PERSONS, WITH THE SUCCESS OR
THE FoREOcASTS.

No. of | No. of Percentages.
Fore- | Fore-_ |_——-——————___________ Remarks
casts | casts | Complete’ Partial | Partial | Total
sent. \checked. Success. |Success.| Failure., Failure.
| |

.30 30 33°3 | 40°0 6-7 |(Major Smith says that the fore-
| casts were very correct on the
gi 6 : é whole, particularly those from
# 3° ce is ay a i i 3 a ak the 24-29th July, the forecasts
| on those days being “ wonder-

n
°o
°

30 30 73°3 | 23°4 | 3°3 fs fully correct.”
aoe | O50 Ire | Arr) “3-3 3r3

(Mr. J. Wilson says that owing to a
30 30 56°7 | 30°0 | 13°3 | very severe illness he was unable

“there was a much greater har-
mony between the forecasts and

| to keep acareful record, but that
| the results than previously.”

27---+..27-}—48°2-| 3373. 1r°r | 7°4

27 27 33°3 | 51°8 | 14°9 .
24 24 Gasem2e-or| «472, 823
24. 23 47°38 | 43°5 | 8°7 nc
|
30 30 | 46°7 | 43°3 | 10°0
30 30 46°7 | 43°3 | Toro
Petes | Foro) |'23°3 | 627 |
34 28 64°3 | 32°r | 3°6 |
34 | 34 | 64°7 | 32°4 9
5t | 47 | 63-8 | 23-4 | 12°8
| a se eigen in aletter to Mr.

‘ r : eville, remarks “the weather
30 | 29 | 44°8 | 34°5 | 10°4 | 10°3 1) reports have been in great re-
30 30 43°3 | 40°0 | 16°7 quest in this neighbourhood.”
30 30 36°7 | 40°0 | 20°0 | 3.3
36 | 36 | 38°9 | 41°7 | 1379 | 5°5

( XU )

The following Report on the preceding Table has been received from the
Meteorological Office :—

“The issue of the forecasts commenced with those for England E., and the
Midland Counties on June 14th, and as the season advanced those for other
districts were added. The forecasts were issued daily, with the exception of
Sundays, and in most cases were continued for a space of about five weeks.
They were sent to Knutsford, however, for an additional fortnight, at the
expense of Lord Egerton of Tatton.

“The result of the checking shows that the general percentage of success
(88), and also the proportion of completely successful forecasts, is higher than
‘even that of last year. The larger percentages were reached in Scotland E.,
England N.E., and England N.W.; the values being 95 and 93 respectively,
while the smallest proportion of good forecasts (80) was in England 8. W.

“An important feature is the success with which thundery weather was
forecast, more particularly in the north parts of the country.

“SuMMARY OF ReEsvtts.

) :

| Percentages. Total

Districts. Names of Stations. =.) aaa aes
Complete; Partial Partial | Total of
Success. Success. Failure. Failure. Success.

(Glamorgan) = }
Moynalty, Holly mount, iy

Ireland, N... and Antrim ..

Scotland, N. .. Golspieand Munlochy .. 45 38 I2 5 83
P
Scotland, E. .. | Longniddryand Glamis .. | 3 32 3 2 *| 95
Uleeby and Chatton ate | >
England, N.E. . (iatianibertantl) Zi } 70 23 7 at’ ae 93
England, E. -- | Rothamsted and Thorpe as 33 IO 4 | 86
Midland Counties , cee oe - 40 45 | 13 | ) 85
England, S$. Maidstone and Downton 56 34 6 | 4 go
Scotland, W. ep eee. oe 55 56) al. 00h a | Or
= Leyburn, Prescot, and}| a
England, N.W. ma ccna } 64 29 7 “Viese Spee
-, (eee : Falfiela. | /

England, 8.W. “iH Clifton, and Bridgend)! 41 39 5 nt! oe 80
Treland, 8. . __ ati," Mons gall, and 51 37 9 3 88
Mean for all districts.. 53 bY dg 5° | 20 ep a Se es

“The remarks made by Mr. J. Wilson and Major Smith are worthy of
note, and it may be added that the proposal to cease the forecasts was followed
in several instances by a request for their further continuance. :

: “Tam, &e.,
(Signel) “Frepc, GASTER,
“ To R. H. Scort, Esq.,
“ Secretary, Meteorological Council.”

@ Sil 5

CORN: Importations, SALES, AND PRICES.

Taste V.—QuantTities of WHEAT, WHEATMEAL, and Fiour, Barry, Oats,
Peas and Beans, Imported into the Untrep Kinepom in the Year 1883.

1883. | Wheat.

: “es | ewts.
January .. | 4,133,531 |
February | 4,516,181
March 4,108,768
April .. | 6,070,157
May —... | 5,806,633
June Pl ,Ob 2723

: M Months} 3%977,993

July.. .. | 5,265,081

August 6,613,009 |

| September | 6,324,190 |

October ..° | 6,225,903
November | 4,771,672
December | 3,162,596

l . | |
MO Menthe} 32362,451 |
Year

partes ae

boa Barley. Oats. Peas. Beans.

eS cewts. ewts. cwts. cewts,
1,425,317 | 1,578,841 | 1,110,720 | 233,395 316,527
1,845,110 959,452 929,705 | 157,206 | 282,814
1,625,393 | 1,028,233 | 1,137,749 | 133,682 | 295,482
1,679,TOI | 1,400,823 | 1,284,789 151,789 268,182
1,295,596 | 1,254,542 | 1,322,642 | 267,780 | 263,564
| 151345479 | 1,044,239 | 1,724,395 | 142,296 | 510,889
9,004,996 | 7,266,130 | 7,510,000 |1,086,148 11,937,458
I, 102,094 612,935 | 1,396,488 100, 380 352,015
1,085,075 284,357 | 1,625,191 116,882 377,269
1,053,247 | 1,548,227 865,245 41,120 | 240,370
1,506,198 | 3,058,126 | 1,396,783 59,694 | 166,090
1,198,957 | 2,206,385 | 1,172,684 | 275,474 | 219,219
1,342,962 | 1,617,624 | 1,282,076 199,920 285,700
7,288,533 | 9,327,654 | 7,738,467 | 793.470 |1,640,663
16,293,529 |16,593,784 |15,248,467 |1,879,618 pesrerntt

Norr.—The ayerage weights per quarter of corn, as adopted in the office of the
Inspector-General of Imports and Exports, are as follow :—For wheat, 485} lbs.,
or 45 ewts.; for barley, 400 lbs., or 34 ewts.; for oats, 308 Ibs., or 2$ cwts. Corn
has been entered by weight instead of measure since September, 1864. No duty
has been charged since Ist June, 1869.

Taste VI.—Computep Rreau Vauvue of Corn ImporteD into the Dwrrep
Kine@dom in each of the Seven Years, 1877-83.

—_—_—_—_—__e_—s sn — —

1877. 1878, 1879, | 1880. 1881. 1882, | 1883,
£. £. Ze te, £5, £. &.
Wheat +» |33,820,084/27,397,487/31, 329,500 30,604, 285/31, 466, 804/34, 237,099 '31,434,883
Barley .. | 5,396,791| 5,545,802 4,798,923 4,998,442) 4 069,402) 5,541,498) 5,784,504
Oats *+ | 4,998,864) 4,553,946) 4,500,760 4,946,440) 3, /°*,013| 4,603,983) 5,043,01F
Maize oer 9,851, 236. 12,589,422) 9,802,249 11,141, 642/10, 392, 460] 6,522,070 10,314,307
Other kinds | 2,321,922] 1,463,433] 1,634,064| 1,920,787| 1,617,820] 1,637,282 2,114,289;
et Plow 6 803,327) 6,790,320) 8,505,308) 8,721,269) 9,205 ,807/10,631, 933/12, 318,144
er kinds
of Flour } 17,284) = 32,214 25 585 36,845 24,007 21,966 31,038
Total of sf
ant} 6, 29508 8,372,62460,596, 389624369, 710\0.557,31363,195,83167,040, 18

SS

¢

( xIV )

Tasie VII.—QuantitTiIEs of British WHEAT Soup in the Towns from which Returns
are received under the Act of the 27th & 28th Victorias, cap. 87, and their
AVERAGE Pricss, in each of the TwELVE Montus of the YEars 1877-83.

QUANTITIES IN QUARTERS.

1877. 1878. +1879. | 1880. | 1881. | 1882, | 1883,

quarters. | quarters. quarters. quarters. quarters,| quarters. | quarters.
First month .. | 152,557 | 146,848 | 183,223 | 124,422 | 122,533! 181,182 | 178,386
Second month 173,729 | 164,387 | 175,829 | 214,412

pees \ 213,718 | 174,025 | 234,469 | 136,613 | 164,942) 169,155 | 276,485

(five weeks) ‘
Fourth month 150,012 | 146,933 | 197,918 | 106,170 | 120,177) 142,321 | 228,550
| 227,295 | 104,125 | 130,235) 143,861 271,744

Fifth month .. 132,231 166,909
oe \ 122,390 | 137,981 | 229,307 | 127,132 ) 113,386, 112,818 | 248,770
Seventh month 77,674 82,597 | 105,139 | 71,622 | 57,333 52,130 129,768

wv
w
~~
“

oo
On
al
Leal
fe
-

oo
al
a |
Lal
ol
oO
-

wv
cl
©

Eighth month 89,759 | 119,611 | 71,525 | 54,641 49,329 42,363 | 150,769
aie oem 225,659 | 272,699 | 7 I 2|-E 1 229,765 | 29%,1
(five weeks) } 225059 [2723099 | 753374 | 1535752 | 2972354) 2295705 | 295157

Tenth month § 217,046 | 329,564 | 96,261 | 197,757 231,960 217,416 | 289,858
= —— 175,262 | 216,187 | 156,218 | 172,153 | 194,080 192,704 278,749
(live ai) f 212,627 276,943 ; 207,511 | 218,641 a5 A 7452290 | 342,517

AVERAGE PRICES PER QUARTER.

s. d. | a d. se) ee hh De hee ee
First month .. | 5I 7 5m Ir 39 3 46 2 ye a oe ah ey be
Second month | 51 8 | 52 § 38 Oo 440 | 48 10) Qo OT eo
Third month |
(five weeks) \ 5r 1 49 8 39 7 | 56 § a) 23S
Fourth month La Pm i ra 4I 0 48 2 | 44 8 46 2 41 II
Fifth month .. | OS Xo" 1 Sr 2 40 Io 45 4 | 44 6) "474 / a3. 2
ixth th
ek } 64 6 | 8 o [qr 8 | 45 (449 47 4 | 4210
Seventh month 62 9 44 11 44 6 439 | 46 8° 48 x0 prema 2
Eighth month 64 15 +} 44 7 1-49 4 44 0 #938 7 | Wabovieas 7
gr Seen \ sor | 44 x | 47 7} 41 9 | 55 4) 44 0 -| 4x 10
Tenth month .. 5307 4. 39° F 48 10 | 41 4 | 47 °o'}.397.8 | 40 's
Eleventh month | 52 3 | 4° I 49 4 43 7 45.11 | 40 10 40 3
Twelfth th 4)
ive onan st 6 | 40 8 | 46 7 | 44 2 | 44.7) 41 5 | 39

¢ XV )

Taste VIII.—Averace Prices of Brirrish Cogn per Quarter (Imperial |
measure) as received from the InsPecTors and OrFicers of ExcisE accord-
ing to the Act of 27th & 28th Vicrorta, cap. 87, in each of the Firry-
two WEEKS of the Year 1883.

Week ending | Wheat. Barley.| Oats. Week ending | Wheat. | Barley. | Oats.
_——— —_— y eS

Bi Et ae ad) -a~ a, ft 3.; &
January 6..'40 7/32 4|2r o July 7 42 4 28 11 | 23 5
January I3..) 40 ©} 32 3,20 7 July I4..| 42 2 29 2) 24 I
January 20../ 49 0 | 32 6/20 2, July 2E..| 42 2] 27°10 |,23 2
January 27.-| 40 4} 32 9] 20 10 | July 28...) 42 227-6 | 2a 8
February 3..' 49 6; 32 9! 20 11 || August 4..| 43 3 | 30 ©} 23 Io
February 10..| 40 8 | 32 10 }2r 3 August II 43 6|27 9} 23 11
February 17..| 4£ © | 33 I}2r g }} August 18..| 43 10 28 9) 23 2
February 2 40°96) 23.5 2x 7 || August 25../ 43 8 | 29 4/] 22 11
March 3 ..| 42 6 | 33 8| 21 9g /|| September 1] 43 2 30 5 | 22 2
March 10..) 42 6/| 33 7 | 22 3 || September 8| 4m 8 32 10 | 20 11
March 17.-| 42 2] 33 rf | 22 § || September15/ 4r 8 | 33 0] 20 8
March 24 2 4! 33 322 1 || September22| 4m 9 | 33 9] 20 6
March __31..' 42 0 | 33 1} 21 g | September29/ 41 0 | 33 0| 20 o
Average of | Average of ’
Winter 4I -3| 33 oO| 25 4 Summer 420 i 002 ) "> ae
Quarter } | Quarter
April J--| 42 0 | 33 2/|2£ 9 | October 6..) 40 2 34 0; rgit
April 14--| 42 I/| 33 3 2r 8 | October 13../ 40 8 | 34 4/19 4
April 2r.. 4% 8 | 32 10 25 9 | October 20.. 40 5 | 34 6) Ig 11
April 28..| 42 0 | 32 g/| 24 10 || October 27..: 40 6| 35 0! 19 g
May 5-- 42 10 | 32 4/23 2 | November 3; 40 3 34 7/19 7
May I2-- 43 ©} 3m 41.22 © || November!o| 40 1 | 34 2j| 19 §
May 19--. 43 4| 30 8] 22 9 | November17| 40 3 | 33 4/19 15
“May 26../ 43 7/| 3x 8} 22 2 || November 24! 40 5 | 32 10! 19 7
June 2.-| 43 5 | 29 3) 22 § || December 1| 40 2) 32 6/19 5
June 9--| 43 4) 28 2! 2210 December 8) 40 0 | 32 3/19 7
June 16 2 9} 25 6 | 22 r0' December 15; 39 5 | 31 7/19 4
June 23--| 42 5 | 316) 22 6 | December 22; 39 2/ 3r 8) 19 7
June 30.. 42 3) 29 8 23 5 | December 29 39 © | 3m 7/19 1
Average of Average of
Spring 42 8| 30 1f | 22 4 Autumn 49 ©} 33 3/19 6
Quarter Quarter

It will be observed from the results in the above Table that the
year 1883 was remarkable for the absence of great fluctuations in
the price of wheat, the range from the lowest to the highest being
only 4s. 10d., whereas in the previous year the range was 12s. 1d.

In 1882 the average price of wheat was 45s. 1d., in 1883 it fell to
41s. 7d., showing a decrease of 7°8 per cent.

During the last 56 years (1828 to 1883 inclusive) the price of
wheat ranged from 38s. 6d. in 1851, 39s, 4d. in 1835, 40s. 2d. in
1864, and 40s. 3d. in 1850, to 69s. 9d. in 1847, 70s. Sd. in 1839,
72s. dd. in 1854, and 74s, 8d. in 1855,

May

i tll
SEL
LC
HAI cn
NTT
ai en

a Eye 3

1883. — WEEKLY AVERAGE PRICE OF WHEAT FROM GOVERNMENT RETURNS.

A
47

¢ XVII )

TasLe [X.—Quantirties of WHEAT, BAarLEy, Oats, Peas, BEANS, INDIAN Corn or Maize,
WHEATMEAL, and Fiour, ImporreD in the Five YEArs 1879-83 ; also the CoUNTRIES

from which the WHEAT, WHEATMEAL, and FLour were obtained.

|
| 1879, 1880, | 1881. 1882. (1883.
Wheat from— | cwts. ewts. ewts. ewts. ewts.
Russia .. .. . | 7,975,144 | 2,880,108 | 4,018,895 | 9,571,021/13,293,358
Denmark * * | * | SS 4

Germany | 3. 616,419 1,608,275 | 1,361,724 | 3,083,921} 2,871,095
France . | “175793 1,446 | 6,693 75379 9,498
Turkey and Roumania .. 170,354 | 127,140 248,387 | 721,030) 1,532,011
Egypt + | 2,064,397 | 1,590,957 | 5,270,488 | 174,862] 1,174,391
Dnited States 35,976,805 |36,089,869 |36,038,074 |35 ,059,623/26,065,832
Chili 1,372,461 | 1,343,860 | 1,091,803 | 1,656,361] 2,310,126
British India .. | 887,256 | 3,247,242 | 7,308,842 | 8,477,479|[1,243,497
Australia eee os: 2,245,657 | 4,267,743 | 2,978,130 | 2,475,127) 2,691,614
British North America.. | 4,676,686 | 3,893,544 | 2,860,854 2,684,828] 1,798,056
Other ccuntries .. .. | 365,168 147,120 58,779 259,991| 1,090,966
Total Wheat e+ 59,368,140 5541975304 57,042,669 64,171,622 64,080,444

Barley <; «. . 11,541,098 11,685,527 | 9,811,051 15 4519, 850)16 593,784
Oats 13,482,607 13,862,430 |10, 336,795 |13,646,151/15,248,467
Peas 1,916,777 2,141,438 | £972,724 | 2,100,197 1,879,618
Beans .. -.. + | 2,310,TOK | 245745759 | 2,070,199 | 2,074,293) 3,578,121
Indian Cor, or Maize +» 136,078,586 |37,153,658 [33,429,722 |18,255,285/31,5 38,952

Wheatmeal and Flour from— ao) 4 ra
Germany 914,483 | 977,756 | 1,388,218 1,990,403] 1,928,769
France 355,229 279,435 203,296 | 220,269; 163,898
United States.. 6,863,172 6,908,352 | 7,696,415 79777, 262/11,270,918
British North America.. 460,435 | 521,702 260, 342 339,305| 469,460
' Other countries .. 251375239 | 1,903,337 | £,812,139 | 2,701,466) 2,460,484
a) arn ere! 10,730,558 10,599, 582 |11, 360,410 1x3 ,028, 705116, 293,529
Thdian Corn Meal 37,080 | 55.379} 254137 | 16,422] 35,817
|

* Included under “ Other Countries,”

VOL. XX.—S. S.

(ORViE VY)

TabLE X.—AVERAGE Prices of Consols, of Wheat, and of Meat; also the
AveRrsAGz Numpes of Paupers relieved on the last day of each Week ; and the
Mean TEMPERATURE, in each of the Twelve Quarters ending December 81st,
1883.

AVERAGE PRICES. PAUPERISM. /
Quarters / cose = Meat per Ib. at the M asia Average of the | Mean
| er | Meat perlb. at the Metr
eading “|W pacane | heer | man Meat Market” | veto he a ay of | PC
charged | mi ). each wee ature.
Money).| “by the England
Bank of | yond
England. ares Beef. Mutton In-door. | Out-door
x8ez 7) * Ss iol | to
Mar. 31 | 99! | 3°19 | 42-3 | 48d.—73d. 5d.—gd. | 191 578 | 591,071 :
| ; / Mean 6d. Mean 7}d. se J <5 led
/ |
~m
June 30 | rorg | 2°65 44 6) 42d.—7d. | 5d.—93d.\ 173,074 558,941 | 52°
Mean sid. Mean 73d. ; ) i oe
| |
| /
Sept.30 | roof | 3°14 | 48 10 | 44d.—72d. | 52d—od. | 164,567 | 538,0 60°00
2 Mean sid. Mean 7d. ; oe
Dee. 31 | 993 | 4°93 | 45 10 4id.—7id. 5d.—8id. | 178 ¢58 | 539,51 6
Mean éd. Mean 7d. ; | i
1882 F
Mar. 31 | 1003 «4°93 45.«#55§—(s«4$d.—7 $d. | 5$d.—o2?d. | 187,202 | 560,513 | 42°7
) Mean 6d. Mean 7d.
June 30 | r0¥] 3°00 | 46 9 | sd.—etd. | 54d.—9$d.| 170,546 | 542,134 | 53°0
| : ens 64d. Mean wid. = ey :
Sept. 30 | 993 3°67. | 47 3 | 5d.—83d. | 52d.—g3d. 165,280 | 529,921 | 58°2
| ; | Mean 63d. Mean 7d, { :
| |
Dec. 31 | 1013 5°00 40 8 | 43d.—8ld. | fid—std. | 180,228 | 534,387 | 44°8
Mean 63d. Mean 72d.
|
1883 | /
Mar. 31 | 102 3°84 | 4r 3 | 54d.—8d. | 57d.—I0ld. 189,391 | 558,064 | 40°0
| Mean 63d. Mean éd. /
| | =
June 30 | 102} | 3°57 | 42 8 | sd.—8d. | 56d.—oid. 172,858 | 5372495 | 53°0
Mean 6id. Mean 73d.
Sept.30 | 100} | 3°88 | 42 5 | 5d.—B83d. 5$d.—tod. 165,263 | 519,260 | 59°5
Mean 68d. Mean 7d.
Dec. 31 | 101} 3°00 | 40 0 | 48d.—8d. 53d.—9id. 178,715 | 518,070 | 44°9
Mean 63d. Mean 7: 7id. }

© SEX.)

TasLE XJ.—Numpser of Beasts exhibited and the Prices realised
for them at the CuristmMAs MARKETS since 18438.

Year.

1843
1844
1845
1846
1847
1848
1849
1850
i851
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856
1857
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862

1863

Beasts,

4,510
51713
5,326
Seah?)
4,282
55942
5,765
6,341
6,103
6,271
UB
6,181
7,000
6,748
6,856
6,424
7,560
7,860
8,840
8,430
10, 372

wwwowwwwwwwwn nvnwWwWw ww pw fb LM

Prices,

d. 8. d.
o—4 4
o—4 6
6—4 8
o—s5 8
7 ee
4—4 8
ao tO
o—3 10
8—4

8—4 0
2— 4 10
G54
8—4 2
Aan
4—4 8
35" O
6—5 4
45,6
So he)
Cee bee)
6—5 2

Year,

1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871

- || £872

1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
1881
1882
1883

Beasts.

7,13
753°
7340
8,110
55320
6,728
6,425
6,320
7,560
6,170
6,570
7,660
7,020
7,510
6,830
5,620
7,660
8,150
737°
53940

Prices.
ads ~-8;
3a Oy
Be 4-5
5)
Sn Aone 15
6 eres
3 6—6
3 6—6
3 10—6
4 6—6
Aa
4 4—6
4 6—6
4 4—6
4 6—6
4 6—6
4 o—6
4 o—6
4 o—6
4 8—6
4 o—6

bhRpwvnOoOhtOdk NHwDADHAONR NN DWO DR OD

TasLe XII.—AvVERAGE Prices of British WHEAT, BARLEY, and Oats,

per IMPERIAL QuaRTER, in each of the Twenty Years 1864-83.

Year.

1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873

Wheat.

Barley. Oats.
8 d. 8 a.
29 II 20) 5
29 «9 21 I0
Sao 247
40 Oo 26 «1
43 0 Fhe
39, 15 26 0
| 22 10
36052 25

374 23

40 5 25 6 «5

Year.

1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
188r
1882
1883

Barley.

wo
bo

( XX )

Taste XIIJ.—ACREAGE under each Description of Crop, Fattow,
and TreLanD,

DescrieTion of Crops and Lrve Srock.

ee rr -00_O0_0—_©(”0 Oss

GReaT Brivain.

1881. 1882. 1883.

“Corn Crops :— Acres. Acres, Acres.
WANES a OD arrrat de feos | 6 2,805,809 | 3,003,960 2,613,162
Barley‘or Bere 3. 2s ic case 2,442,334 | 2,255,269 | 2,291,991
Oats 2,90T 275 | 2,833,865 | 2,975,381
Rye eats GOs sy ode na 41,567 56,553 50,768
Beans 440,201 436,882 447,934
Peas 216,790 246,851 239,439

Torat Corn Crops .. .. 8,847,976 | 8,833,380 | 8,618,675

“GREEN CROPS :—

Potatoes SRO Ne ori4 SSO QwnOee 105 5793334 541,064 5435455
Turnips and Swedes .. .. 2,035,642 | 2,024,326 | 2,028,926
Mangold and Beetroot 348,872 333,645 329,937
Carrots and Parsnips .. .. .. « 15,519 13,442 13,338
Cabbage, Kohl-rabi, and Rape.. .. 143,128 149,941 146, 102

‘Vetches, Lucerne, and any ones crop
(except clover or grass) . : 3 Behe) 13 ol ae
ToTaL GREEN Ee 3,510,568 | 3,475,660 | 3,454,579

“OTHER Crops, Grass, &c. :—

Wlax.~ ase fettec) vane etic, 6,534 5,220 4,317
Hops oa es a tear soe 64,943 65,619 68,016
Bare fallow or uncropped arable land 795 , 809 784,425 778, 203
goo i gaara. a sare aa 4,342,285 | 4,327,392 | 4,395,922
Permanent pasture, meadow, or grass
not broken up in rotation (exclusive)| 14,643,397 | 14,821,675 | 15,065,373
of heath or mountain land) ..

Lrve Stock :— No. No. No.
Cattle 5,911,642 | §,807,491 5,962,779
Sheep .. 24,581,053 | 24,319,768 | 25,068,271
Pigs 2,048,090 | 2,510,402 | 2,617,757

Total number of horses used for
icult broken h
ee car eematy | te4zavos8 | 94134878 | 1410596
breeding Se Cee

5X0-)

and Grass, and Numer of Carrir, SHeep, and Pies, in Great Barrrarn

in 1881-83.

nn

Umitep Kincpom,
including the Islands.

Acres,

154,009
211,150

1,392,365
73459
10,904

_ 990

1,776,877

1881.

|

854,294.

44,862
4,072
34,340

36,194

147,085

21,186

1,998,402

10,091, 688

No.
3,954,479

3,258,583
1,088,041

, 489,458

1,268,997 |

2955235 |

1,248,954

Acres.
152,720
187,805
1,397,304
7,772
10,058
1,160

1,756,819

837,919
293,978
36,306
35394
42,605

345752

113,502

21,263

1,961,773

10,110,079

1883.

Acres.
94, 802
184,015
I, 380,871
725°
10,250
937

1,678,125

806 ,664
306, 767
37,908

3436

41,489
33.989 |

1,230,253

955935

24,698

1,931,101

10,191,118

1881.

Acres,
2,967,059
| 2,662,927
4, 306,391

49,084

451,310

217,926

2,341,045
394,651
20,012

177,560

|
| 1,443,434

426,509

——

153,624
64,943
817,698

6,384,172

24,767, 767

| 10,654,697

|| 4,803,212

SO

No.
3,986,847

3 571,493
1,429,930

482,469

No.
4,096,021

3,219,098

1,351,990 |

478,912

| No,

| 9,905,083
| 27,896,273
351495173

1,923,619

1882. | 1883.
Acres, Acres,
3,163,899 | 2,713,282
2,452,077 | 2,486,137
4,244,639 | 4,370,076
64, 382 58,082
447,115 458,440
248,084 240,501
10,620,196 | 10,326,518
I, 388, 307 1,359,726
2,328,880 | 2,346,216
379,974 368,811
17,271 17,184
192,638 187,685
450,187 429,312
oa
4,748,257 | 4,708,934
118,722 100, 262
65,619 68,016
806,167 803,225
6,333,064 | 6,371,799
24,963,205 | 25,288,520
No. No.
9,832,417 | 10,097,943
27,448,220 | 28,347,560
2 3»956,495 | 3,986,427
1,905,317 | 1,898,745

€ oar

Table XIV.—Cerrain Articies of Forrren and ConontAL Propucrion ImporTED
in the Yrars 1880-83; and their QUANTITIES.

1880. 1881, 1882, 1883.

Anmats, Living: ;
Oxen, Bulls, and Cows, number 350,950 282,691 309, 3%0 427,445

Calvess. Fesuak eee, 38,999 36,683 34,34¢ 47,117
SSHEODMNc! feet fee cnt pac a Gcn ; - A Rar ea
ieee... 2. SOR. 1,5 940,99 935,244) 1,124,39 2115 ,695
Swine and Hogs.. 0 51,030 24,273 15,670 38,863
Bages Court or nob on an ental 79,74] 65,007] “54401] 734948
Cotton, Raw .e « “s. Cwts. | 14,547,283] 54,952,724] 15,794,566) 15,367,874
IDES PAS Ce OL cece <5 1,896,249] 1,781,762] 1,966,969] 1,546,93¢
Guano ae” Pee xen) ost (OLS 78,965 50,072 455095 73,962
Henipysli wa (ise ted cits, 1,320,731] 1,475,421] 1,354,407] 1,440,554
Hops .. oe bay 196 , 688 146,710] 315,377 125,349
Hides untanned: Dry as OS 660,198 554,134 576,451 634,355
”» Wet. 4, 584,693 4575295 613,593 562,767
gallons.* gallons.
Petroleum 1 55». e. . tUDS 152,672 234,968] 59,135,384) 70,185,563
Oilseed Cakes .. .. .. tons 243,998 220,790 190,252 2575445
PolatOGh i teen Mestence es CNnus: 9,420,623] 4,034,577] 2,997,514) 5,149,89C ,
IBGE SS 5g" oae Moy O8Ss 54, 2,319,802! 2,046,421] 2,167,428] 2,332,701
NEES: oe ses Mash iss | ets <0 T,7735503| 1,834,480] 1,692,495] 1,797,080
Ives .. .. . greathundreds | 6,228,437] 6,306,645) 6,757,234] 7,826,674
Sard P.fthed. 2 .te Seek nt «owls 929,616 855,792 665 ,885 852,150
BG CONG tue raul bree Sa oa mS 4,370,860] 3,858,855! 2,348,060) 3,080,162
ELAMsoceaee bes mee ee 7 938, 269 747,009 548,507 602,025
Nalt*Beerk<.,. AiR ees Ff sty 289,422 248,698 227,748 286,808
Saltaeork vc. foceiecak oo =s 384,057 349,709 266,259 328,768

Clover Seeds 30 oan 271,609 2795925 354,859 317,204
Flax-seed and Linseed <<. qrs. 1,712,576} 1,829,838) 2,437,918) 2,337,867
Rape .. Barco Miers 400,694 373,028} 547,679 775 358
Sheep and Lambs’ Wool .. Ibs. 460, 33744121447 ,044, 809/483, 954, 318|494,110, 743

Taste XV.—Quvantity and Vatu of Muar Imrorrep in the 6 Yuars, 1878-83.

QUANTITIES.
1878. 1879. 1880. 1881. 1882. 1883.
| Cwts. Cwts. Cwts. Cwts. Cwts. Cwts.
Beef, Salted or Fresh .. 723,558 | 806,462 \£,008,089 |1,061,467 | 688,407 |1,087,554
Meat, ,, yy e+ | 145,493 '| 152,505 | 148,788 | 177,931 13,016 36,459

Métal.ie?.. Mu 869,051 957,967 1,156,877 |I, 239,398 70¥ 423 |I,124,013

| |
Meat, Froseryed teat 438,903 | 566,758 | 655,600] 575,929 ss0,803| 609,335

wise than by salting

Total Meat .. |1,307,954 |1,524,725 \1,812,477 |I,815,327 |I, 261,235 1,733,348.”
> ae eye § ae wo <— he

VALUES.
7 v3 £ g. £, S. £. £
Beet, Salted or Fresh .. /1, 753,066 1,919,922 |2,399,324 2,644,165 1,773,537 2,878,264
Meat, 5, BS Ue Mae 426,864 | 436,317 | 428,285 | 515,812 39,981 TII,955

Total ve ee [2,179,930 |2,356,239 |2,827, 609 391599977 1,813,518 |2,990,219

Meat, preserved tine }

wise than by salting 1,313,541 1,688,321 pe 1,638,938 |1,692,772 |1, 751,58

Total Meat —.. 3,493,471 4,044,560 4s 730,645 4,798,915 |3,506,290 |4,741,80

¢ “ERT ))

The quantity of meat imported in recent years (including pork
and hams) was 2,942,319 cwts. in 1881, 2,238,087 ecwts. in 1882,
and 2,949,105 ewts. in 1883.

The number of bulls and cows imported was 309,360 in 1882,
and 427,445 in 1883; of swine and hogs, 15,670 and 38,863 respec-
tively ; of sheep and lativbe, 1,124,391 nd 1,115,695; and of calves,
34,340 and 47,117 respectively.

In 1881 the average price of beef per lb. was 5id.; of mutton
per lb., 7id.; in 1883 the average price of beef was 63d., and that
of mutton 7$d., which prices showed percentages of increase of
12-8 and 8-8 respectively, compared with the prices in 1881.

STATISTICS OF DAIRY PRODUCE.

The following remarks relating to butter and cheese are ex-
tracted from ‘ The Grocer ’ :—

Cork Burrer Marxer.—The crash of the “butter corner” in
America, and the fear of heavy arrivals from that country, largely
contributed to the depression in the values of Cork butter in the
opening months of 1883, and also considerably influenced the
course of prices during the following season.

The quotations for the new brands opened very high, at 141s,
.for firsts and 120s. for seconds; but within a month they were
quoted at 101s. and 91s.

Thirds and fourths fetched but very poor prices all the year, and
will, very probably, occupy the same position henceforward, as the
days of inferior butter commanding anything like a remunerative
price have passed away forever. Firsts touched their lowest point
on July 6, when they were quoted at 95s. Seconds did not go
below 88s. during the year, at which figure they were quoted on
May 31, June 18, and July 7. The prices of mild-cured butters
kept within a few shillings of corresponding brands in ordinary
all through the year.

The aereake which the Wholesale Society has got of the trade
for the finer brands kept prices almost at a standstill for the
summer months, and bids fair to destroy all healthy competition
in Cork Market while the present system so completely plays into
their hands, and prevents the possibility of the Cork merchants
entering the lists of competition with this formidable antagonist.
It was only in the months of September and October, when the
Wholesale Society began to take in their winter stocks, that the
prices advanced,

( XEIV »)

From then till now there has been but little fluctuation, except
in the prices of thirds, fourths, and fifths, which, during the
months of November and December, have steadily declined until
they reached quotations for thirds, about 20s. under the price asked
for best butterine, and for fourths something about the ordinary
value of cellar-grease, notwithstanding that the butters now being
sold under those brands are the genuine produce of Irish dairies!
So far as it can be ascertained, there is a smaller quantity of butter
in the hands of the Cork merchants this January than has been
the case for very many years, and in a few weeks hence it will not
be easy to obtain any supplies of grass-made butter from the

usual sources in Cork. There was a considerable falling-off in
the supplies to Cork Market last year—something over 40,000
casks.

The commencement of the year 1883 found the Cork Butter
Market an object of very great solicitude to a large committee of
the landed proprietors in Ireland (including a great many members
of the Houses of Lords and Commons), dairy farmers, country
butter merchants, and others, whose objects, according to the reso-
lutions in their circular, were to secure—

1. The opening of the Cork Butter Market, so that all persons
who chose might be at liberty to make purchases on a market
through which passes two-fifths of the entire butter produce of
Munster, unhampered by unreasonable restrictions.

2. The abolition of the compulsory use of market brands, so as
to allow each exporter of butter to use the brand that he thinks
most likely to advance the butter trade of the country, and for the
value of which he would be directly responsible to his customers.

This committee was formed on the publication of the report of
the Duke of Richmond’s Commission in reference to the Cork
Market, which, if not a very long, was a very pregnant one.

The report was :—

“1. The Cork Market has ceased to be an institution that can
be favourably spoken of.

“2. The present arrangements evidently tend to reduce the
value of the highest classes of butter, and to unduly raise that of a
lower class.

“3. The Cork Butter Market is in no real sense an open market.
. .. The management is in the hands of a close corporation, who
discourage individual enterprise.”

Tue Butrer Trave 1x Lerru.—The trade during the whole of
the past year cannot be said to have been altogether satisfactory.
Importers rarely made a remunerative margin on their shipments ;

C RERNE ')

and dealers, owing to the keen competition, did not get sufficient
profit on their purchases to cover all the risk and the working
expenses. Thearrivals from the continent of Europe were as large
as in the previous year, but prices, on the average, were about 6s.
to 10s. per cwt. lower during the season. There have been again
great complaints of the non-keeping quality of Estate butter,
owing, it is believed, to the new centrifugal process introduced
into Denmark and Sweden, whereby a larger outcome of butter is
given at the expense of quality. Much of the Kiel and Mecklen-
burg butters, too, had too much milk in them, and became very
soon mouldy and green. Danish and Swedish factory butters were,
as a rule, improved in quality, and kept much better than the
Estate productions. The shipments from America were larger
than last year, and, on the whole, as long as the trade lasted, left
a fair profit; but, as prices have now advanced so much in New
York, importations have almost ceased from there for the season. In
Trish butter only a moderate business has been done. All secondary
kinds of continental butters have been greatly interfered with by
butterine, which has been largely imported here, chiefly from
Holland. The article is wholesome, and for some purposes very
- useful; but itis to be regretted that it is not sold for what it really
is. The direct arrivals for the past year into this port are as
follows:—From Denmark, Sweden, and Hamburg, 92,196 casks;
from Holland (principally butterine), 191,286 firkins.

ForricN Butrer.—The trade in these descriptions has again
been an extensive one during the year 1883, and fully up to the
average of former seasons, although prices, the same as those for
Irish, have been comparatively moderate. The top point for
Dutch butter was 134s. to 150s.in January and February last, from
which rates there was a rapid and continuous decline until the
beginning of June, when the quotations were only 95s. to 100s. ;
but a stronger demand arose in the two following months, and
in August 116s. to 120s. were obtained. Later on, an additional
rise took place, and the closing rates were 124s. to 136s. per cwt.
First and second qualities of Normandy butter at the commence-
ment of the year were worth 100s. to 150s. ; but general depression
setting in by the month of June, not above 90s. to 114s. were the
prices then. In the subsequent months, however, as arrivals
diminished and holders were less anxious sellers, they rose to 100s.
_ to 120s. ; again, in the autumn, to 110s. to 132s.; and finally, in
November and December, to 116s. even up to 144s. for the very
finest brands. American butter has been more freely dealt in on
proportionate terms, and an increasing trade has been done in

¢ XauI 5

butterine and other substitutes for the genuine article, at very
reasonable prices. ;
Curesr.—The official returns of the year’s imports of cheese into
the United Kindom are not yet published; those for the eleven
months gave the total as 1,687,269 cwts., against 1,564,077 ewts.
in 1882, and 1,710,698 in 1881, thus evidencing a tolerably
abundant supply of foreign sorts, amongst which American have
occupied the most prominent position. Prices of these in London
earlier in the year ranged from 46s. to 74s. for useful and choicest
qualities, but the value of the best makes subsequently declined to
. 67s., and again to 56s. to 60s. during July, August, and September,
when large quantities of new cheese were pressing on the market.
Latterly the finer grades have been sold at more money, up to 66s.,
while the inferior kinds have been disposed of cheaply, down to
40s., and some rather rubbishing and stale parcels even as low as
25s. to 35s. per cwt. Gouda and Edam cheeses have not fluctuated
much in price, the tendency having mostly been in one direction,
viz., in favour of the buyer, from 54s. to 70s., early in the spring,
backwards to 50s. to 62s. in the latter half of 1883. English
cheese, whether plentiful or otherwise, has continued to command
relatively good prices, the superior qualities as much as 80s. to 86s.,
and even the commoner descriptions have seldom been procurable
under 60s. to 65s, per cwt., with a uniformly steady demand,

Butter :
Carlow, finest, F.0.B
»» Landed
Gork, 1ets.certah ) <
20dS: . os: ..o»
3rds, new
>», 4ths
Limerick... ..

”
2?

Foreign :
Witesiand.;, <Js a.
Jersey, &. ..
RAK cis) doh Gaye
Normandy .. ..
American .
Bosch .

Cheese: 5
English Cheddar,
fine, new
aig good, new
Red Somerset Loaf. .
White or yellow
Cheddar Loaf ..
Scotch Cheddar
Cheshire, new.. ..
= good ditto
Wiltshire,new ..
aa good ditto
North Wilts Loaf, new
Derby

2? a?

‘Foreign:
American, fine

> good
Gouda ..
Edam, new .,.
Gruyeére, new ..

Average
Annual Price
in the 5 years,

1875-79.
Per cwt.

s. =
13r to 144
138 ,, 148
143 5, 148
133 5, 137
108 ,, 109
go ” gt
£24 %,, 129
132 ,, 137
94 5, 134
135 5 164
g2 ”> 151

On 55 0 Lar

72 +» 90

TT ts". 87

Nowys: 287
164 ,, 189

"8 4, 86

55 35 Vp

JO 55 19

60 ,, 68

Wai ts) | OF

14 5, 64
63 5, 67
41 +, 59

52 ty “OI
56 4, 65

76 55° 85

¢

Current Price,
Ist January,

Per cwt.

3 Se
126 to 140 |
145 - ’ F
143 55 oe
115 > .
96 9? e
128 4; 134
T2585, 1360
120 ; 5 "146
9° 5, 135
65 +, 95
NZ. 55) 80
Gao tsa the
64. a 86
ame ¥6
10 +» 14
64 5, 68
50) 55; 60
56 ,, 62
56 ,, 64
ye css 4°98

XXVIl )

Current Price,
1st January,
1881.
Per cwt.

teeta Ss.
I2z0 to I4o
141 gah
132 5, 135
MOnh a5 oe
78 a? °
120 ,, 130
Vio. sa 125
108 ,, 140
95 5» 125
65 ,, 84
76 > go
“ee a
ng? oe
aE to
Bere S
76 4, 84
68 ,, 42
56 ,, 66
Go; 66
62.29, 68
Gitee . (62

‘

Current Price,
lst January,

1882.
Per cwt.
Ss. s.
112 to 138
136 ,, 140
120) seis AE
I3X “5, X0s
82) Ns
125 5, 144 |
110 ,, 140
60°", "122
50 5, 85
76 5, 82

42 4, 82
64 5, 14
tse,
60 5, 14
60 ,, 68
42 ,, 60
56'L Fae 162
STi eas , 004
72 ” 5

Current Price,
6th January,
1883.
Per cwt.
Ss. Ss.
120 to I40
10 : aS “136

120 ,,; ee
Or 4, ‘92
125) & yy. 196
110 ,, 134
60 i rs ; go
GB¥ i582
14 +, 76
68 ,, 80
62 55 "92
ae 1 4 ws 46
2. #35, W710
62 5, 70
46 ,, 58
54 5, 62
56 5, 64
fe 50 TD

The following Quotations, &c., are extracted from ‘ The Grocer,’

Tasty XVI.—AVERAGE and Current Prices of Burter and CuEgEsE on Ist Saturpay in
January of each YEAR, from the latest actual MARKET SALES,

Current Price,
5th January,

1884.

Per cwt.

124 ,, 136
95 »5 125
WEE oh LAG
45 »” 80
Laren ke)
72 ‘ss 80
4 1. 86
4.
mai vy OG
66,5 35
Gor 750 60
4O 5, 58
54 5, 64
5 pT G6
76 5, 78

Taste XVII.— Quantity and Vauve of Butter Importep from Denmarg,

Years.

1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
| 1874

Quantities,

79437
103,613
127,013
140,851
1735574
201,558

226,053

1866-82.
ome = | Years.
£.
319,528 1875
422,479 || 1876
471,262 1877
574,981 |) 1878
767,190 1879
803,226 1880
I, 009, 322 1881
1,203,459 | 1882
T, 363,433

Quantities, / Compnted Real
Cwts. oe
206,171 I,275,870
205 5195 T, 311,234
210,322 T, 347,79!
242,427 1,517,467
281,740 1,673,452
300,157 1,777,176
279,625 | 1,691,894
304,732 | 1,850,586

SE SE I

( XXVIII >)

Taste XVIII.— Quantity and Vature of Burter Imported from the
Unitep States, Beterum, France and Honianp; and of CHEESE
Imported from the Unirep Srarss and HoLuanp, 1868-82.

UNITED STATES.

Years. | BUTTER. | CHEESE.
sti omputed i iti
ire oon Value. a Heal Vaion
Cwts. z. I CwE | 4 Es
1868 .. 7 a 37,279 | 489,117. | 1,439,380
1869 .. 17,203 84,603 487,870 1,612,325
1870... 16,915 80,928 5555385 I, 861,263
1871... 83,775 394,359 || 731,326 2,014,805
1872 .. 45,765 199,679 | 598,198 I, 701,435
1873 .. 43,406 199,639 | 790,238 2,353,182
1874 .. 36,307 188,769 849,933 2,589,776
TOTS 0 ate 40,331 205 ,900 958,978 2,786,027
T8376), «s. 118,131 593,122 936, 203 2,564,977
1877 .. 188,491 920,561 1,082,844 3,129,829
1878 .. 219,794 998,766 | 1,345,745 . 3,306,612
1879 .. 301,054 1,243,075 | 1,214,959 2,467,651
1880 .. 277,790 1,343,967 | 15,171,498 | 3,411,625
1881. 174,246 845,125 1,244,419 395553702
TSS2yec. 51,246 250,764 969,502 2,711,259
Years. BELGIUM.—Botter. wane Dor
Cwts, £. Cwts. =
1868 .. 70,456 405,987 | 393,578 2/156 a4
1869 .. 85 , 789 481,609 | «407,432 2,231,450
1870 .. 84,408 516,643 289,692 1,672,899
187T «. 945539 523,460 | 304,683 1,636,006
1872 «. 74,191 409555 355089 1,916,795
TOT ce 76,610 439,501 446,550 2,409, 861
1874 + 76,723 465,517 | 713,251 31944, 233
ae . 79+950 499,028 ane 3,387,219
1879. 51309 419,209 22,4 397325405
1877 «. 58,200 378,435 606 , 762 3,654,488
1878 .. 80,073 499,889 = = 555,272 35179,326
1879 ee 63,032 391,166 | 438,725 2,264,591
1880... 535259 302,993 531,649 2,826,586
T86rs- 50,118 285 ,606 496,724 2,720,831
1882 -- | 54,854 301,675 575,560 | 3,241,622
te | HOLLAND.
Botrer. CHEESE.
Cwts. l £. Cwts. , ee =
1868 +» | 343,322 | 1,992,414 329,565 9599547
1869 .. 415,176 | 2,253,420 426,913 | 4,262,104
1870 +. | 406,795 | 2,388,459 422,553 | 1,204,830
I87I oe 390,616 | 1,986,708 | 348,148 954,236
1872 .. | 269,091 1,358,579 329,535 942,537
1873+ 279,004 | 1,453,875 | 336,654 I, O13 233
1874 351,605 1,877,755 398,888 1,164,921
1875) «te. 357,106 1,917,910 | 370,123 1,078,594
1876 «- 402,984 2,252,909 330,435 9495413-
1877 +» | 372,134 2,084,686 341,980 | 984,855
1878 .. | 460,601 2,494,903 3555159 1,018,669
1879 + 6555377 3,331,149 275 5039 743,107
1880 .. 810,509 4,076, 399 288,666 | 810,590
1881 .. 7455536 | 3,745,885 264,626 747,052
1882... g21,182 | 4,310,830 | B1Os tse atl 866,061

a

JOURNAL

OF THE

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY
OF ENGLAND.

I.—The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. By
FREDERICK CLIFFORD, of the Middle Temple, Barrister-
at-Law.

In the ‘Journal’ for March, 1876,* I sketched and endea-
_ youred to explain the provisions of the Agricultural Holdings
(England) Act, 1875. That statute was amended in the
Session of 1876 by a short Act,f of no general interest, requir-
ing previous assent by patrons of benefices, or by the Governors
of Queen Anne’s Bounty, in cases where landlords, being in-
cumbents of ecclesiastical benefices, proposed to exercise the
powers of the principal Act. Now, a new order of things
exists. Since January 1, 1884, both these statutes stand repealed:
by the Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883§; and
when the Revised Edition of the statute-book comes down to
its date, their accustomed places in it will know them no
more.

Critics of the Act of 1875 may reasonably differ as to its
frame-work, and may differ still more upon the principle which
governed it. Few will deny that, at least, it gave us solid
standing-ground in its recognition of free contract as the proper
basis for legislation. For good or for ill, Parliament has now
embodied in statute its conviction that tenants cannot be left
to take care of themselves on a hiring of land, but must be
relieved from the results of their own neglect to obtain fair
terms, or even, it may be, from written conditions into which

* Vol. xii. s.s. Part I. + 39 & 40 Vict. c. 74.
t 38 & 39 Vict. c. 92. § 46 & 47 Vict. c. 61, ss. 53, 62,

VOL. XX.—S. S. B

2 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

they have deliberately entered. We must now assume that
such legislation is necessary and expedient on grounds of public
policy ; but, in contrast with that of 1875, it seems to offer no
assurance that legislative interference, once exercised in this
direction, may not be pushed much farther.* However this
may be, Parliament has pronounced its decree; and, happily,
it is the custom of Englishmen, whatever their previous
opinions on points of policy, to yield to the law so pro-
nounced a loyal, ungrudging obedience, trying to make the
best of it in practice, and leaving its value to be determined by
time and experience.

Has the test of time, then, shown the legislation of 1875 to
have been without value? I believe, on the contrary, that it
proved of great value, and that its authors have much reason
to be satisfied with their work. Its direct effect, though not
large, has been under-rated. It was adopted in. whole or in
part on many estates all over the kingdom. If on many more
estates landlords contracted themselves out of its provisions,
this was rarely done from a wish to deprive tenants of any
benefits which they might fairly take under it, but for other
and more legitimate causes ; because, for example, the usage on
many estates was for landlords to find the money for all or most
permanent improvements, giving out-going tenants fair compen-
sation for their improvements according to local custom;{ or
because there was a not unreasonable fear of litigation and a
desire to watch the working of the law before adopting it.
Tenants, indeed, were sometimes as eager as landlords to con-
tract themselves out of the Act, being in such cases better satis-
fied with the status quo, with the customs or conditions already
regulating their holdings.t Nor did exclusion of the Act ne-
cessarily mean dislike of all its provisions, for agreements

* “Probably at no period in our history have the powers of resistance to
agrarian measures of any kind been less powerful, or schemes of such. reform
been more numerous and wide-reaching. The present Session, beyond all its
predecessors, has been fruitful in germs which may well raise expectations as
regards their possible development.”—The Right Hon. G. Shaw-Lefeyre, on the
Agricultural Holdings Act, 1883, ‘ Nineteenth Century,’ October, 1883.

+ See Report of Royal Commission on Agriculture; evidence as to Crown and
Duchy of Lancaster lands, pp. 7, 39.

{ Thus the agents of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners report in March 1876,
that they “find a general indisposition on the part of tenants to adopt this Act,
and that ‘in many cases the tenants had already given notice to exclude it,
requiring more time to consider the provisions of the Act.”—House of Commons
Paper 163 (Session 1876). Again, in February 1876, the Oxfordshire tenants of
Lord Jersey were “unanimously of opinion that, owing to the complicated nature”
of the Act, they would rather remain under their existing agreements, provided
they had the privilege of a year’s instead of six months’ notice——Royal Com-
mission on Agriculture, Appendix to Part I., p. 296.

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 3

made with a view to exclusion often incorporated some of these
provisions, as to compensation, as to notice, fixtures, or pro-
cedure.* Thus, as its authors foresaw, the indirect effect of the
Act of 1875 was very considerable, and was invariably exerted
in the tenant’s favour, securing to him some, at any rate, of the
liberal concessions provided for in the Act, by the very agree-
ment which, in terms, excluded the Act. Such an influence,
even if it made slow way, was a thoroughly sound and healthy
influence, consistent with the best English traditions. By force
of example, by common usage, by experience of its beneficial
working where custom and agreement provided no better code,
that contained in the Act of 1875 had already done something
to improve the relations of landlord and tenant, and would
gradually have done much more.f Meanwhile it kept in con-
stant view a liberal and an authoritative series of provisions,
conceived in the tenant’s interest, and to which he might always
appeal with reason in entering upon or renewing any holding.
It reversed the presumption of law, too, in his interest, by giving
to him instead of to his landlord, under certain conditions, the
proprietary right in improvements. Moreover, it paved the way
for more substantial changes. English legislation, as a rule,

- has hitherto moved by steps, each step justified more or less by

experience of the last. Under the old conditions of tenure,
British agriculture, notwithstanding many shortcomings, had,
taken as a whole, shown more skill and enterprise, and had
developed the soil to better purpose than the agriculture of any
other country. Those persons whose position and livelihood
depended on the results showed some natural hesitation in -
departing from the ancient ways. The Act of 1875’proved that
some, at least, of the old conditions might be safely relaxed
in view of social and economic changes which had made them
onerous and unreasonable. Thus, great as was the repugnance
with which many persons viewed, and still view, the new
principle that the State should force certain arrangements upon
owners and cultivators of the soil, this feeling would have been
far stronger had it not been for our experience of the beneficial

* See Report of Royal Commission, and evidence of Mr. Sturge, Mr. E. C.
Squarey, and others.

+ As to the indirect effects of the Act of 1875 mentioned in the text, see also
the discussions, December 3 and 17, 1883, and January 14, 1884, on an able paper
on the new Act read by Mr. Willis Bund, barrister-at-law, before the Institution
of Surveyors, a body of men upon whose intelligent interpretation and working of
the compensation clauses in the new as in the old statute its success must largely
depend, and whose practical experience as law agents and valuers in all parts of
England, gives the highest value to their opinions on this subject.—‘ Transactions,’
vol. xvi. ; Session 1883-4. The Surveyors’ Institution is now incorporated by
Royal Charter.

B 2

4 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

working of the previous enactment.* This was no small gain;
nor is it all, for, as will hereafter appear, the later statute con-
tinues, in whole or in part, several substantial provisions in the
Act of 1875, together with the procedure clauses and much of
its machinery, a tribute to its authors and draftsman which
alone show that their labour has not been wasted.

ARRANGEMENT AND APPLICATION OF THE NEW ACT.

Its short title is “* The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act,
~ 1883” (§ 63). According to the modern practice of so drafting
Bills as to leave the smallest possible opening for discussion or
objection, the new Act, like the old one, opens without any
preamble. A recital of the general object which Parliament
desired to promote was never omitted from the older statutes,
and was often full and even diffuse. It served as a guide to
judges in determining a doubtful point of construction, but no
such light is afforded them here. For convenient reference, the ©
Act is divided into three Parts: the first relating to compensa-
tion for improvements and the procedure for recovering it; the
second confined to changes made in the law of distress;
the third comprising various general provisions. It will be con-
venient in this notice not to follow the sections in their exact
numerical order, but to consider together those which are
related.

Commencement of Act.—For certain purposes, as we shall
presently find, the Act is retrospective. Subject to this limita-
tion, it came into force, as already stated, on January 1, 1884
(§ 63), on and after which date the Act of 1875 and the
amending Act of 1876 before mentioned were repealed (§ 62).
This appeal does not affect (a) any proceedings pending under
the Act of 1875; (b) any right to compensation for improve-
ments to which that Act applies if they were executed before
January 1, 1884; or (c) if they were executed after that date
under a tenancy, parol or otherwise, current on January 1, 1884;
(d) any right in respect of fixtures affixed to a holding before
January 1, 1884 (§ 62). In other words, rights which have
accrued to any tenant under the Act of 1875 are not touched by
the new law. They must be enforced, of course, in the manner

specified by that Act.

* The Duke of Richmond and Gordon, who upon this question speaks with a
double authority, is of opinion that the Act of 1875 went as far as public opinion
at that time was prepared to sanction, and that the Act of 1883 could not have
passed but for the example set in 1875.—Speech at Chichester, December 5th,
1883.

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 5

Limits of Act.—The Act does not extend to Scotland or
Ireland (§ 64). Ireland, with its special legislation, stands in
no need of the comparatively mild remedies here enacted.
For Scotland an Act was passed last Session * on the model of
the English Act, and not practically differing from it, except on
some points of small importance and in the adoption of the
machinery of the Scotch law for purposes of procedure.

Holdings to which the Act applies —The Act of 1875 did not
apply to holdings under two acres, or to market-gardens. The
new law extends to holdings of any size, provided they are
agricultural or pastoral, or of a mixed character. It therefore
includes allotments and plots of land let to farm-labourers.
it also includes any holding cultivated in whole or in part as
a market-garden. It does not include “ any holding let to the
tenant during his continuance in any office, appointment, or
employment held under the landlord” (§ 54). The object
of this exception clearly is to prevent a bailiff or labourer who
leaves his employment from retaining land which would not be
let to him but for his employment, and would usually go to his
successor. In these cases, when the tenancy is from year to year,
there should be a clear expression in writing of an intention
that the land, however small in extent, should be held upon
condition of its surrender at the termination of the tenant’s
engagement; otherwise there may be frequent disputes as to
the application of the Act in respect of compensation, notice, or
otherwise.

Definition Landlord is defined (§ 61) to mean “ any person
for the time being entitled to receive the rents and profits of
any holding,” and would therefore mean any farmer or employer
sub-letting a part of his land to his bailiff or labourers.

COMPENSATION FOR IMPROVEMENTS.

Lord Ashburton, when examined before a Committee of the
House of Commons in 1836, was asked whether he could suggest
any legislative measure by which the interests of agriculturists
could be promoted without prejudice to the general interests of
the community. His reply, often since repeated in substance,
was: “JI really do not know anything you can do for agri-
culturists but to tell them honestly that no Parliamentary relief
is possible. Iam not aware of anything that can be done for
agriculture by Parliament.”t This principle of self-help is

*,46 & 47 Vict. c. 62.
t Committee on the State of Agriculture, Third Report, 1836; Minutes of
Evidence, p. 498.

6 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

abandoned in recent legislation, and the first words of the
new statute are a response from Parliament to the farmer's
call for aid. The general rights of tenants for compensation,
under the statute or by adequate agreement, are recognised
as absolute, if they comply with the provisions of the statute.
To make section 1 intelligible, however, it will be best to
begin by transferring to this place from Schedule I, the im-
provements admitted throughout the Act as—

Subjects for Compensation.—It will be remembered that the
Act of 1875 divided improvements into three classes. The
same division is adopted in the new Act, though with a different
arrangement. First come fourteen kinds of improvements, to
which the assent of the landlord is required. They are the
following :—

1. Erection or enlargement of buildings.

. Formation of silos.

Laying down of permanent pasture.

. Making and planting of osier-beds.

. Making of water-meadows, or works of irrigation.

. Making of gardens.

Making or improving of roads or bridges.

Making or improving of water-courses, ponds, wells or
reservoirs, or of works for the application of water-power or for
supply of water for agricultural or domestic purposes.

. Making of fences.

10. Planting of hops.

11. Planting of orchards or fruit-bushes.

12. Reclaiming of waste land.

13. Warping of land.

14, Embankment and sluices against floods.

Only two of these improvements are new, namely, No. 2,
formation of silos, which in 1875 were almost unknown in this
-country ; and No, 14, embankment and sluices against floods.
The rest are taken literally from the first-class improvements of
1875, with the addition of “ fruit-bushes” to orchard-planting
in No. 11, and of “ works for the application of water-power”
in No. 8.

We next come, in Part II. of Schedule I., to No. 15, Drainage,
which stands as an improvement by itself; and in respect of
which the landlord’s consent is not required, though he must
have notice of the tenant’s intention to execute it. Drainage
was included in the first-class improvements of 1875, for which
the landlord’s consent was required. It will be seen hereafter
that the notice to landlords now required before tenants begin
to drain may carry with it important consequences.

In Part IL. of Schedule I., corresponding with Classes 2 and 3

COA S OT > C9 bO

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883, 7

in the Act of 1875, come eight improvements, in respect of
which tenants do not require a landlord’s consent, and need
give him no notice. They are—

16. Boning of land with undissolved bones.

17. Chalking of land.

18. Clay-burning.

19. Claying of land.

20. Liming of land.

21. Marling of land.

22. Application to land of purchased artificial or other
purchased manure.

23. Consumption on the holding, by cattle, sheep, or pigs, of
cake or other feeding-stuff not produced on the holding.

None of these improvements are new; they are taken word
for word from the Act of 1875, but the first six were there
included in Class 2, for which notice to the landlord was.
necessary. The last two form Class 3.

Here, then, are twenty-three kinds of improvements for
which a tenant may claim compensation under the new law.
For shortness, the three classes will hereafter be referred to as
(1) permanent improvements ; (2) drainage ; and (3) temporary
improvements. ‘The next question is, Who is a tenant entitled
to claim compensation ?

Definition of Tenant.—In the Act under review, “ contract of
tenancy” is defined (§ 61) as “a letting or agreement for the
letting of land for a term of years, or for lives, or for lives and
years, or from year to year.” This definition is taken from
the old Act, with an unimportant addition, not there to be
found, of the words “ or agreement for the letting,” which seem
to be surplusage, inasmuch as a letting of land would be held to
be a letting under written agreement or by word of mouth.
But there is also an important omission, for tenancy under the
Act of 1875 also meant a letting “ at will.” It follows that, in
the very rare cases in which tenants are tenants at will, they
are not entitled to the benefits of the new Act, and that tenants
for shorter periods than from year to year are equally outside its
provisions.

The word “tenant,” then, means a holder of land on the
tenure defined in “contract of tenancy.” It also includes all
his representatives upon death, lunacy, or bankruptcy, and any
person otherwise deriving title from him, who will respectively
have the right to receive compensation for any of his improve-
ments. We have already seen that “landlord” means “ any
person for the time being entitled to receive the rents and
profits of any holding.” There only remains for present notice
the concluding provision in the interpretation clause that,

8 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

though a tenancy may have determined, the relationship of
“landlord” and ‘tenant ” will continue to exist, and the names
respectively will apply, for technical purposes of all claims
made or proceedings taken to obtain compensation under the
Act (§ 61).

General Right of Tenant to Compensation (§ 1).—Having
thus to some extent cleared the ground, we can new go back to
Section 1 of the new Act with better chances of understanding
it. Interpretation clauses used to come early in an Act as
guides to the meaning of the terms used in it. Modern drafts-

men often place these among the concluding sections, for in
passing the Bill it is necessary to postpone them until the main
provisions have been settled.

A tenant, then, who has made on his holding any one or
more of the foregoing twenty-three improvements, became
entitled, on and after January 1, 1884, “on quitting his holding
at the determination of a tenancy,” to “ obtain from the land-
lord as compensation such sum as fairly represents the value of
the improvements to an incoming tenant;” provided that, in
estimating the value of any such improvement, ‘there shall
not be taken into account as part of the improvement made
by the tenant what is justly due to the inherent capabilities of
the soil.”

It will be seen that, contrary to the corresponding provision
of 1875, compensation cannot be claimed by the sitting tenant
upon a determination of the tenancy ; he can only claim if he
quits his holding. This point was much discussed when the
Bill was pending in Parliament, and the discussion has con-
tinued since the Bill became law. One class of critics contend
that, on the determination of a tenancy, the sitting tenant
ought to have been protected against a rise of rent, justified
perhaps only by his own improvements. On the other hand,
it is contended that no such safeguard could really have been
afforded except by a system of judicial rents, as in Ireland.
A continuing tenant, on the renewal of his lease, takes out of
the soil the value of his own improvements, or otherwise enjoys
the advantage of them. If he is also compensated by his land-
lord, he is paid twice over, in money and in kind, for the same
thing. In self-protection, landlords would certainly recoup them-
selves for having to pay such compensation by a corresponding
increase of rent; in fact, the property in the improvements
would pass to the landlord, and he would thereupon be fairly
entitled to charge it on the rent. A man cannot in reason
expect to play at the same time two parts, that of the tenant
who goes, and is then properly paid for what he leaves behind ;
and that of the tenant who stays, and who then gets back his own

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 9

again. Meanwhile, a sitting tenant enjoys substantial protec-
tion against any undue rise in rent, by reason of the compensa-
tion for disturbance to which the landlord at once becomes
liable if the tenant resists a rise in rent and quits his
holding. *

“‘ Determination of tenancy,” it may here be convenient to
explain, means throughout the Act an end put to a tenancy by
effluxion of time or any other cause (§ 61), such as death or
bankruptcy. In cases where a tenant has renewed his tenancy
upon its determination from any cause, his title to compensa-
tion holds good when he quits his holding, although the
improvements for which he claims may not have been executed
during the last expiring tenancy (§ 58). There is an obvious
justice in securing to such a tenant a continued right to the
fruits of his outlay, and this provision very properly removes
all the technical objections which might otherwise have defeated
his claim. For the purposes of this section, the two months’
notice of claim, which must be given to a landlord “ before the
determination of the tenancy ” (§ 7), must be read as referring to
the last-expiring tenancy, and not to that in which the improve-
ments were actually made.

We come next in the wording of § 1, to the person liable
to pay a tenant’s compensation. In law, though not in prac-
tice, this liability rests on the landlord. No one may be
willing to rent the farm; in any case, an incoming tenant is
merely a substitute provided by landlords to meet claims which
otherwise they would have to satisfy. The landlord’s responsi-
bility fully appears in the Act; it is not a new responsibility,
but, seeing the present dearth of tenants, any practical increase
of it can hardly be viewed by landlords with a light heart.
As everybody knows, but as a good many people are apt to
forget, tenant-right has two sides; and more than justice to the
outgoing tenant means injustice and crippled resources to the
incoming tenant. In the new order of things, which seems
within measurable distance, when landlords will be competing for
tarmers instead of farmers for land, it is easy to imagine a new-
comer refusing point-blank to have anything to do with the
outgoing tenant. ‘I don’t believe the improvements are worth
what the valuers say they are worth ; the sum they fix is out of
the question. I won’t give more than so-and-so. If you want
me to rent your farm, you must pay out your late tenant, as the
Act says you must, and take from me what I think fair value
for his outlay.”

* See the able defence of the Act, already quoted, by Mr. Shaw-Lefevre, who
had charge of the Bill in the House of Commons.

10 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

What is the sum fairly representing the value to an incoming
tenant of any one or more of the twenty-three improvements
specified in the Act, after deducting in respect of each “ what is
justly due to the inherent capabilities of the soil”? Such is the
knotty problem which Parliament has set to valuers, referees,
and umpires.

The basis of compensation under the Act of 1875 was outlay
by the tenant, limited to periods of twenty, of seven, and of two
years, after which periods first, second, and third-class improve-
ments respectively were held to be exhausted. It was for the
valuers in each case to say, as they are still required to say in
cases in which that Act remains operative, whether within the
specified limits of time the improvement was or was not ex-
hausted. A tenant acquired no absolute interest extending over
the maximum period applicable to the three classes of improve-
ments. In the absence of agreement it was for the valuers,
when a tenancy expired, to fix the term of life, if any, which
was still left to an improvement. The tenant was paid in
respect of that unexhausted term, but the valuers might find that
the improvement was exhausted, in which case he would receive
nothing, though the maximum period applicable to it under the
Act had not yet expired. Thus the valuers’ task was not
an easy one, nor could they always award just compensation,
even when they found the improvement still alive. On this
point, a valuable note, appended by Mr. J. D. Dent to my
remarks in the ‘ Journal’ on this part of the Act of 1875, may
here be quoted :—“In the laying down of land to permanent
pasture, the making and planting of osier-beds, making of
gardens, of fences, planting hops, orchards, reclaiming waste
land, it is quite manifest that, for some years after the cost of the
improvements has been incurred, there can be no appreciable
return to the tenant; while, during the latter period of the
twenty years, the return may be almost sufficient to recoup the
whole cost of the operation. ‘The tenant, therefore, whose
tenancy comes to an end during the earlier period after such an
improvement has been executed, will not really be reimbursed
for his outlay in the same proportion as the one who has con-
tinued to occupy until the remunerative return has commenced.”

It must be admitted that, in principle, compensation on the
basis of value to an incoming tenant is fairer than compensation
awarded on the basis of, it may be, ill-advised expenditure by
the outgoing tenant, as provided in 1875. We see that the
methods for awarding compensation there prescribed were not
quite so simple as they looked, and did not depend on an easy
sum in arithmetic ; while, as Mr. Dent showed, they could not
always be trusted as equitable in practice. But the difficulties

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 11

of the situation are not less in 1884. No period of exhaustion
is fixed for any improvement. Valuers will not now be con-
trolled by definite rules as to limit of time and tenant's
outlay. So far, however, the experience and intelligence of
valuers may be safely trusted for dealing with any questions that
may arise with a sort of rough justice, and by the light of
common sense. Every day, under local customs or agreement,
they have to assess the value to incoming tenants, of acts of hus-
bandry, manuring, and drainage. Such questions are familiar
to them, and are disposed of without much friction. Under the
new law no material differences are likely to arise concerning
permanent improvements ; for these will hardly ever be made
by tenants except under agreements specifying the compensation
to be-given for them. Drainage, too, as will presently appear,
will generally be provided for in like manner under the alter-
native powers given by the Act; so that the chief business of
valuers will be that of assessing compensation for the eight
temporary improvements, which involve points of everyday
practice.
A difficult duty, however, now cast upon valuers is that of
distinguishing for what part of any improvement a tenant shall
-recelve compensation, and what part “is justly due to the
inherent capabilities of the soil.” Here again we may expect
that, as to permanent improvements and drainage, valuers will
rarely be called upon to make such an apportionment. If this
be so, their task will be considerably lightened. Even then
complicated questions enough will arise as to the results of
boning, chalking, clay-burning, claying, liming, marling, and.
manuring. When any or all of these improvements have been
made upon different kinds of soil, with materials and manure
varying in quality and price, applied with different degrees of
skill, and varying also in their manurial value in wet or dry
seasons, what share of the compensation must be credited to the
tenant for skill and outlay, and what to the owner to whom
belong the inherent capabilities of the soil? So wide a ques-
tion may well present itself in different ways to different minds ;
and, at first sight, it would seem to present wide openings for
- dispute and litigation. ‘The inherent capabilities of the soil,”
it has been said, are what the tenant pays for in his rent ; they
ought not therefore to be used as a set-off against his improve-
ments. True, he pays for them in his rent; and so long as he
continues to pay rent he continues. to enjoy them. When he
ceases to pay rent, he has no right to take away with him in
cash the value due to inherent qualities of the soil, whatever
such value may be; this must be left behind for the benefit of
the new rent-payer. Such seems to be the purport of the Act.

12 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

The question is how to reduce the words of the Act into prac-
tice. Lawyers may well give up such a task in despair. It is
a question from which Courts of Law, if they have any option,
will shrink instinctively, declaring it, with one assent, to be a
question for reference to experts. Yet, if experts themselves
differ, we may be sure that, in one form or other, the Courts will
have to puzzle out this question for themselves, and construct
some general principle out of facts and evidence laid before
them by experts.

To an outsider it would appear that each case must differ
from nearly every other; that landlords can contribute no data
for a sound decision; and that the only certain materials for
such a decision are those which tenants can furnish in dates and
details of outlay, and its results, as tested by the actual condition
of any improvement made upon the surface, and by the condition
of the land and crops in proof of what remains for the incoming
tenant of money sunk in the soil. We turn again to the trained
valuers, who must determine what deduction should be made
from the sum so found to represent the landlord’s share in right
of the inherent capabilities of the soil. Upon this point I
cannot do better than quote the opinion of Mr. T. S. Woolley,
a surveyor and land-valuer of great experience, in his opening
address as President of the Surveyors’ Institution * :—

“* Apart from points of doubtful construction, and the grievous
absence of guarantees against fraudulent claims for imaginary
improvements which characterize the Act, I do not myself an-
ticipate that any cases of serious difficulty or very great injus-
tice will arise under it, except in relation to the question what
proportion of any given amount of improved value is due to the
intrinsic or inherent qualities of the soil. I say frankly that,
notwithstanding the experience I have acquired during the
assiduous practice of my profession for well-nigh half a century,
I distrust my own power of determining it with anything like
perfect certainty. This would be true even in cases in which
the amount of the improved value had been approximately
ascertained ; that problem itself being absolutely incapable of
solution, except on the impossible assumption that every one
concerned approached the consideration of it with full knowledge
of the facts and perfect freedom from bias, to say nothing of
dishonest intentions. Having spoken with such candour of my
own shortcomings, I venture to express, with equal plainness of
speech, my absolute conviction that most of the existing class of
tenant-right valuers, by whom those questions will presumably
have to be dealt with, are at least as ill-qualified to deal fairly

* Vol. xvi. ‘ Transactions,’ Part I. ; November 12th, 1883.

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 13

with them. Nevertheless, by the time that tenant’s improve-
ments, of a spontaneous and unrequited kind, have become
common—and, without undervaluing a class in whom I feel the
strongest personal and indeed hereditary interest, I say they
have not been so hitherto—some more or less satisfactory rules
of practice will probably have been pretty generally accepted.”

In other words, even men accustomed by life-long training
and experience to fix tenant-right compensation will have to
grope very much in the dark for rules of practice; and the
acknowledged head of the profession can only assume that these
rules, when found, will be “more or less satisfactory.” Mr.
Woolley proceeded to deal with a hypothetical case, in order to
contribute his share towards the adoption of a fair working rule.
It is a case of permanent improvement, No. 12, reclamation of
waste land, and may be thus shortly put: —A peasant employed
at weekly wages leases a cottage and acre of garden on the edge
of a moor, and during his evenings and spare hours brings into
cultivation a portion of moor-land, thereby raising the rental
value of his holding in the course of fifteen years from 5/. to
201. Allowing for the winter months, for Sundays and other
non-working days, as well as for harvest and other seasons
’ during which he could have no leisure, an average of three
hours per day for 200 days would be a very liberal estimate of
time devoted to reclamation, and not occupied in working else-
where for wages, or in ordinary acts of husbandry for himself.
The value of this labour, equal to sixty days of ten hours each,
is set down at ds. 6d. a day, representing an aggregate yearly
value of 10/7. 10s. This sum, accumulated for fifteen years, with.
interest at 5 per cent. (an “extravagantly favourable” allow-
ance for the tenant), amounts to about 226/. But the supposed
increase in the value of the holding during the fifteen years is
4501., arrived at thus :—

£
Improved yearly value, 207., at 30 years’ purchase wrt 3a, +800
Original value, 5/., at 30 years’ purchase... .. .. «. eo 150
£450

If the peasant quits his holding at the expiration of his lease,
to whom belongs the difference between this sum of 450/. and
the 2261. a very liberal estimate of his contributions towards it ?
Mr. Woolley replies, “Obviously to the landlord, because the
dormant value, or capability of development, is his, both as a
matter of abstract right, and according to the provisions of the
Act, being ‘justly due to the inherent capabilities of the soil.’”
In this calculation “no account is taken of the benefit which
the tenant derived from the cultivation of the holding during his

14 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

fifteen years’ tenancy, because that would not be in accordance
with the principles of the Act.” Mr. Woolley adds :—

“It may perhaps be taken to indicate, as a rough-and-ready
general rule, to be modified according to circumstances, that of
any capital sum, representing the increased value to the in-
coming tenant, accruing from, or, to speak accurately, developed
by, the outgoing tenant’s outlay, about half should be held to
belong to the latter, and half to the landowner.” *

Such a basis of apportionment, publicly suggested to his fel-
low-valuers by a gentleman of position and acknowledged
. authority, is an important step towards a solution of the problem
set by Parliament. It may be added that, in the discussions
which afterwards occurred at the Surveyors’ Institution on the
same question,t the President’s suggestion was accepted by
valuers of experience, as affording a fair and reasonable basis of
settlement, subject of course to any special circumstances which
may occur in particular cases to modify any general rule.t

Differences of opinion, however, prevailed. Another sugges-
tion there made for a proper basis of apportionment may
be stated thus :—F ind out the value of an improvement to the
incoming tenant, and the outgoing tenant’s outlay upon it. The
compensation to the outgoing tenant will be based upon that
outlay ; the surplus, large or small, belongs to the owner. An
extreme case was put to illustrate the working of this rule. A
20-acre field, situated on a slope, is bounded at the bottom of
this slope by a bank which prevents the water from draining
through its natural outlet. In this water-logged state the field
is worth no more than a shilling an acre. The tenant employs
a labourer, who in one day, by digging a channel through the
bank, finds vent for the water, and the field, being thus effect-
ually drained at the cost of half-a-crown, becomes worth 214.
instead of 21s, a-year, How will you apportion this improved
yearly value when the tenant quits his holding? Answer: the
measure of his compensation is his actual outlay ; all the rest
belongs to the landlord, being due to the inherent capability of
the soil. So:—

e') 8S tees

Improved yearly value, 207., at 50 years’ purchase .. 600 0 O
Outlay of tenant on improvement paeiteltht Pireniian es 0 2 6
£599 17 6

Leaving as compensation for the outgoing tenant not 38002,
one-half the improved value, but 2s. 6d.; while the landlord

* <Transactions,’ vol. xvi. pp. 4-7.
+ Ib., ‘ Proceedings’ of December 3, 1883.
t Ib., ‘Proceedings’ of December 17, pp. 82-3,

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 15

takes 5991. 17s. 6d., because the tenant’s outlay of 2s. 6d.
has merely developed what was latent in the soil, and he
has enjoyed the improved yearly value of the land during his
tenancy, which is the substantial advantage to which he really
looked in making the improvement. Applying the principle
here set forth to manures, “an outgoing tenant would only be
entitled to the equivalent of the cost of the manure left in the
land; that is, the sum by spending which in manure the
incoming tenant might be supposed able to do as well for him-
self. This sum would be the maximum, because if the result
attained were more, it must be due to the capabilities of the
soil. On the other hand, if it were less, that would be through
the outgoer’s want of judgment, and he would suffer accordingly.
This relieves the valuers from ever having to consider what a
farm was worth to rent either at the beginning or at the end of
the tenancy, and gets rid of many of the difficulties, though it
has not removed them all.”

We may now pass from the general scheme of compensation
under the new law, and consider some of its more important details.

As to Improvements executed before the Commencement of the
Act (§ 2).—Though, as a rule, compensation cannot be claimed
for improvements executed before January 1, two exceptions
occur in which the Act is retrospective. These exceptions are
in fayour of (a) tenants who within ten years before January 1
manured their holdings, or made any of the six other temporary
improvements in Schedule I., and yet have acquired no right to
compensation in respect of them under agreement, custom, or
the Act of 1875; and (b) tenants who within the same period,
having in like manner no right to compensation, executed _per-
manent improvements or drainage-works.

In case (a), claims may be made irrespective of the landlord ;
a new contract of tenancy is, in fact, fastened upon him, which
neither party contemplated when the tenancy began, and under
which claims may be made going back for ten years, however
clear the bargain to the contrary. It looks an ugly blot on the
Act, for it allows a tenant to go back from his word, or even
his bond. In the circumstances specified, the tenant’s right to
compensation is absolute. The landlord’s protection is that
there must be proof of value to an incoming tenant. He may
also escape from this unforeseen liability if he can show that
the farm was let under its value, conditionally on the making of
the improvements claimed for, because, in making the award,
there is to be taken into account, in reduction of the tenant’s
claim, “any benefit which the landlord has given or allowed to
the tenant in consideration of the tenant executing the improve-
ment” (§ 6). It is to be assumed, however, that clear proof

16 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

must be given of valuable consideration ; mere proof, for
instance, of a low rental in comparison of real value would be
insufficient unless accompanied by an express agreement that
such rent was in consideration of the improvements. The
House of Commons, in their reasons for disagreeing with Lord
Salisbury’s amendment to this clause, expressly justified the
retrospective contravention of existing agreements, on the ground
that there was no reason for distinguishing between cases in
which the tenant’s compensation was excluded by express con-
tract, and those in which it was excluded, without contract, by
implication of law. It will be strange, indeed, if we do not
find this argument used hereafter for purposes which would, at
present, shock no persons more acutely than some of the framers
of the Agricultural Holdings Bill themselves.

What an unscrupulous or dishonest tenant may claim under
§ 2 is one thing; what he can recover is another. Probably
under the conditions of proof as to unexhausted value of his
outlay remaining in the soil, and subject to the sets-off in § 6,
the practical effect of the provision under notice will be small.
Its principle, however, and the power it gives to unscrupulous
tenants, or interested persons behind them of (to use a common
phrase), “ trying it on,” and involving landlords in uncalled-for
litigation, are not easily defensible. The second provision
applicable to permanent improvements and drainage is properly
safe-guarded. There no claim can be made unless, before
January 1, 1884, the landlord by writing ratifies the making of
such improvements; in other words, creates a claim to com-
pensation where no previous right whatever existed. Then a
vested interest accrues to the tenant, who, on quitting his
holding, will, in common with the tenant entitled to claim for
temporary improvements, receive such compensation, if any, as
the Act gives, as though it had been in force when the improve-
ments were made.

As to Improvements executed after January 1 (§§ 3 and 4).—It
will be remembered that, as to temporary improvements, tenants
now are free to make them without asking leave or giving
notice; in this, as in other cases, subject of course to agree-
ment, the restrictions upon which will be explained presently.

Owners retain the right of preventing the execution of any
works which may change the character of their property. No
compensation, therefore, can be claimed for permanent improve-
ments unless the landlord, or his authorised agent, has in
writing consented to the making of them before they were
made; and such consent must have been given since January 1.
It may be given unconditionally, in which case compensation
will hereafter be paid as the Act provides; or it may be given

7

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 17

“upon such terms as to compensation or otherwise as may be
agreed upon,” in which event compensation under the agree-
ment, if adequate, will be substituted for that claimed under
the Act (§ 3).

A condition precedent to the claim for compensation in
respect of drainage (§ 4) is, that not more than three, and not
less than two months before beginning this improvement, a
tenant shall give to the landlord or his agent a written notice,
not only of his intention to drain, but of the manner in which
he proposes to do the work. On receiving these particulars the
landlord has the following options :—

1. If satisfied with the mode of drainage proposed, he can
agree with the tenant on the terms, as to compensation “ or
otherwise.” These words imply a power to arrange by lowering
rental in consideration of the work, by finding materials while
the tenant finds labour, or by making some other equivalent to
the tenant in total or partial lieu of compensation. If such an
equivalent be substituted, the arrangement so agreed upon will
over-ride the compensation prescribed in the Act.

2. If the landlord is not satisfied with the mode of drainage
proposed, or if for other reasons he thinks it better to keep the
- work in his own hands, he can himself undertake to execute the
improvement, charging the tenant with an addition to the rent
of not more than 5 per cent. interest on his outlay, or with an
annual payment which will be recoverable as rent, and will
extinguish this outlay in twenty-five years, including interest
at the rate of 3 per cent.

3. The landlord may, if he thinks fit, dispense with notice, .
and contract with the tenant under lease or agreement, that the
latter shall execute drainage works, with fair terms as to com-
pensation or otherwise.

Thus, although the landlord cannot veto drainage, he can
practically control it. On notice, he becomes seized of the work,
and may make the tenant responsible in increased rent for an
outlay much beyond that which the tenant expected. For
example, suppose, in a case which has been put, the tenant
thinks that bush-drainage would answer his purpose, while the
landlord thinks that, if there is to be drainage, it should be
done thoroughly, with tile-drains four feet deep. Apparently to
meet any such divergence of views, the tenant may withdraw
his notice on learning what his landlord proposes. On such
withdrawal the landlord’s power to undertake the work ceases, if
it has not then been exercised. It is true that, to guard against
any too lavish expenditure by the landlord, § 4 stipulates
that, if he elects to carry out the drainage, he must do so ina
‘reasonable and proper manner.” Apart, however, from the

VOL. XX.—S. S. 23°

18 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1888.

difficulty of determining what these words may mean in given’
cases, it is clear that a tenant’s notion of what is reasonable
and proper may differ materially from that of a landlord’s. The
provision for spreading repayment of outlay over twenty-five
years points to a loan or charge on the estate by the owner, and
in this case the work must be thoroughly done.

Good sense and good feeling on both sides should prevent
any collapse of the proposed drainage if it be really required
for the proper cultivation of the holding; and in such a
case landlords ought not to use their power under § 4 for the
purpose of frightening tenants into the withdrawal of their
notices. Before giving any notice a sensible tenant who is on
good terms with his landlord, will, it may be assumed, consult
the landlord or the agent as to the kind of drainage he proposes,
so that there may be no unpleasant surprise on either side. In
any case the notice must give clear information of ‘“ the manner
in which he proposes to do the intended work,” so that the land-
lord may have before him the proper materials for deciding
upon the merits or demerits of the plan. Having supplied this
information, the tenant must take care to carry out the work in
conformity with it, or he may hereafter fail to obtain com-
pensation. The object of this section is to give the landlord an
opportunity, if he thinks fit to use it, of himself taking in hand
works which trench so nearly upon ownership, instead of leaving
them to another person; and for this purpose the Act holds it to
be essential that he should know not only what is proposed to be
done but how itis to be done. If, therefore, he lets the tenant
proceed with the work, it is presumably because he is satisfied
with the manner in which the tenant says it will be executed.
It follows that, by any material departure from the plan men-
tioned in the notice, the landlord will lose his statutory pro-
tection, and the tenant runs the risk of losing, in turn, his claim
for compensation, never having in fact satisfied the landlord in
the terms of the statute.

In exercising their powers with regard to permanent im-
provements and drainage, tenants must ascertain that notice
is only given to agents “duly authorized in that behalf;”
that is, agents expressly authorized to receive and act upon
such notices. Service under sections 3 and 4 on an agent
whose powers, for instance, were limited to the receipt of rent
would not bind the landlord. And attention must be called here
to a peculiar wording of the Act which may prove embarrassing
both to landlords and tenants. The definition of “landlord”
given in 1875 included “ the agent authorized in writing to act
under this Act generally, or for any special purpose.” There is
no definition of this kindin the new Act: §§ 3 and 4 are the

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 19

only sections in which agents are mentioned, and then only for
the purpose of signifying the consents and receiving the notices
there specified. According to a well-known rule of construction,
this express mention of agents as having powers for a special
purpose, would exclude them from the exercise of powers in
other parts of this Act where landlords are mentioned alone.
Tenants, therefore, must bear in mind that, in all cases except
those just referred to, the Act brings them into direct relations
with their landlords, to whom all the formal notices and other
communications required by the Act must be addressed.
Section 4 provides in the tenant’s interest that the landlord’s
undertaking to execute the drainage must be carried out “ within
a reasonable time,” whatever period this may cover. When is
the undertaking itself to be given? Presumably at any time
within the three or two months after which the tenant may
begin the work. It will be hard if the landlord delays to give the
undertaking until the tenant has been forced to buy materials
and engage labour. On his side the tenant must begin the work
before three months have passed after he has given notice of it,
or he will have to serve a fresh notice and begin again. It will
be understood that, in default of any agreement, or intervention

- of the owner, after notice, the tenant may do the work, and will

then become entitled to compensation under the Act.

As to Agreements.—It may be assumed with some confidence
that the effect of §§ 3 and 4 will be to force landlords and
tenants into specific agreements in most cases (and in England
these are not numerous) in which the former allow their tenants
to make permanent improvements, or execute works of drainage. .
In such cases valuers will not meet with the difficulty of sharing
the improved value of a holding between landlord and tenant,
but they will be confronted with another difficulty hardly less
serious.

The view taken by Parliament being that tenants cannot be
left to protect themselves in dealing with their landlords, it was
necessary to make void all agreements forced upon tenants with
a view to oust the Act. Parliament does not forbid agreements,
but controls them, so as to secure for tenants not necessarily the
exact statutory compensation now provided, but such adequate
return for their outlay as will satisfy the spirit of the Act. On
some holdings, and under special circumstances, especially in
executing permanent improvements, the new law contemplates
that it may be well for landlords and tenants to make their own
arrangements. But lest the policy of the Act should be defeated
by the permission thus given, “any contract, agreement, or
covenant will be void,” so far as it deprives a tenant of his
right to compensation for any of the specified 23 improve-

c 2

20 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

ments, unless it be “an agreement providing such compensation
as is by this Act permitted to be substituted for compensation
under this Act” (§ 55). It will be seen that the whole contract
is not voided, but only such parts of it as would contravene the
statute.

One might naturally suppose from the words just quoted
that we should find elsewhere in the Act some formula of sub-
stituted compensation. This is not so. Such light as is thrown
upon the intention of Parliament must be gathered from the
language of §§ 3 and 4, and from the “reservation” as to
existing and future contracts of tenancy (§ 5).

We have already seen that in the event of any agreement
being made between landlords and tenants under §§ 3 and 4,
with regard to permanent improvements or drainage, “any
compensation payable thereunder shall be deemed to be
substituted for compensation under this Act.” The landlord,
therefore, can forbid all permanent improvements, or can allow
some, forbid others, and make his own terms. He can take the
drainage into his hands or agree for its execution by the
tenant; any such agreement is recognized as binding by § 55
read in connection with §§3 and 4. The “ reservation” as to
existing and future contracts of tenancy will now be con-
sidered (§ 5).

This section consists of three paragraphs, the first and third
of which refer to contracts of tenancy current on January 1, 1884;
the second to contracts of tenancy beginning after January 1.
Dealing first with contracts of tenancy current on January 1,
§ 5 enacts that if in these cases tenants can obtain “specific
compensation” for any one of the 23 scheduled improvements,
whether by virtue of a written agreement, or of custom, or of
the Act of 1875, this specific compensation for such improve-
ment “shall be deemed to be substituted for compensation
under this Act,” though the improvement may have been exe-
cuted after January 1. It follows that, if the tenant has executed
several improvements, and is entitled by agreement, custom, or
statute, to specific compensation in respect of no more than one,
the agreement, or custom, or statute, only prevails to that extent ;
the tenant may claim under the Act in respect of the rest.
This right would be subject to two conditions: (1) that if the
tenant has received notice to quit, he can only manure his land,
and can make no other improvements; (2) that in the case of
temporary improvements, duly executed by a tenant after
January 1, and for which he cannot claim specific compensation,
the Act will be superseded by any agreement into which he may
have entered with his landlord giving him general compensation,
provided that such compensation is “ fair and reasonable,

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 21

having regard to the circumstances existing at the time of
making such agreement.”

With regard, therefore, to tenancies current on January 1,
1884, it appears that if the tenant cannot obtain specific com-
pensation, by custom or statute, for improvements duly executed
by him after that date, all existing agreements, so far as they
relate to such improvements, will be affected as follows :—

(1). If the agreement provides specific compensation for one
or more improvements, but is silent about compensation for any
other improvements, the tenant can claim compensation under
the Act in respect of those other improvements.

(2) If the agreement provides specific compensation for cer-
tain improvements, and general compensation for other improve-
ments, then the agreement prevails as to the specific compensa-
tion, but as to the rest will fail, so far as it applies to temporary
improvements, unless the general compensation it gives for
them be fair and reasonable, and compensation to that extent
may then be claimed under the Act instead of under the
agreement.

(3) If the agreement applies wholly to temporary improve-

_ments, without giving specific compensation for any, it will be

void altogether unless it satisfies the same condition by giving
a fair and reasonable compensation. In that event also the
tenant may claim compensation under the Act.

Thus, if the construction here submitted be correct, an agree-
ment entered into before January 1 may be supplemented, or
may prevail in whole or in part, or may become void in whole |
or in part, by virtue of retrospective legislation.* It should be
remembered, too, that the section applies to leases as well as to

* A member of the Council having put some questions as to the effect of the
Act on yearly tenancies with agreements for compensation which were current
at the commencement of the Act, Mr. Clifford, in reply, illustrated the principles
which he has expounded above as follows :—

1. At the period prescribed in Section 6, when existing agreements become
affected by the Act, such agreements remain in force, subject to the compensa-
tion given by the Act where no compensation, or no adequate compensation, is
given by the agreement.

2. When the Act takes effect upon an existing tenancy, I think an outgoing
tenant might, in the case put, claim the specific compensation provided for in
this agreement, and might also claim for other purchased food under the Act.
In the latter case, under the special circumstances mentioned, [viz., where an
excessive compensation was agreed to be given for oilcake and linseed in lieu of
compensation for other purchased food], the landlord might properly claim a set-
off (Section 6 (a) ).

3. Any scale of allowances which can be shown to be “ fair and reasonable”
(Section 5) would not be in contravention of Section 55. The object of the
restriction mentioned [that the tenant can only claim for quantities which shall
not exceed the average of three years previous to the last year of the tenancy]
appears to be a fair and reasonable one, and does not oust his claim to
compensation, but only subjects it to.equitable conditions.

22 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

yearly tenancies. ‘This provision as to improvements executed
after the commencement of the Act is a complement to the
retrospective enactment (§ 2) giving tenants like security for
improvements executed before the commencement of the Act.
It can only apply to permanent improvements and drainage if
the landlord stands by and neglects to avail himself of the
safeguards furnished by §§ 3 and 4. As to temporary im-
provements, one of the first results of the Act may possibly
be the service of many notices to quit, the effect of which will
be (§ 59) at once to prevent a yearly tenant from claiming com-
pensation for any temporary improvement afterwards made by
him, except for manures, that is, as the Act defines “ manures,”
in Nos, 22 and 23 in the Schedule. Section 59 also lays down
the general rule that yearly tenants cannot obtain compensation
for temporary improvements (except manures) made within one
year before they quit their holdings, or lessees within one year
before their leases expire. With all these checks upon the
operation of this retrospective enactment, its practical effect will
probably be small, at ail events in the case of yearly tenancies ;
and it is questionable whether for such results it was worth
while to make so serious a departure from sound principles.
However this may be, it will be necessary to bear in mind the
effect of § 5 upon all current contracts of tenancy terminating
after January 1, 1884.

We come now to contracts of tenancy beginning after
January 1, 1884. Here § 5 is expressly limited to temporary
improvements made after that date, and it enacts, as in the case
of current tenancies, that the agreed compensation for such
improvements shall only “be deemed to be substituted for
compensation under the Act” if it is a “fair and reasonable
compensation, having regard to the circumstances existing at
the time of making such agreement.” In other words, a yearly
tenant or lessee is to be relieved from a bargain deliberately
entered into, and acted upon probably for years without com-
plaint, if, when he leaves his holding, he or his representatives
choose to say that the agreement was not so favourable to him
as it ought to have been!

But what is “a fair and reasonable compensation, having
regard to the circumstances existing at the time of making the
agreement”? ‘This is the difficult question which valuers will
have to answer. It is eminently a question for experts. The
Courts of Law have no means of deciding it except upon skilled
evidence. The Lincolnshire land agents and valuers, through
their Association, acting in concert with the Lincolnshire
Chamber of Agriculture, have adopted the following scale of
allowances as “ fair and reasonable compensation” for the eight

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 23

temporary improvements in Part 3, and for draining in Part 2
of Schedule I., and they suggest that this scale should “ be sub-
stituted, by agreements, for compensation under the Act” :—

“1. For one-third of the cost of linseed-cake, cotton-cake, rape-cake, or
malt-culm, and one-sixth of the cost of corn-cake, malt, or other manufac-
tured feeding-stuffs of similar manurial value, which have been consumed on
the farm during the iast year of the tenancy ; and for one-sixth of the cost of
linseed-cake, cotton-cake, rape-cake, or malt-culm, and one-twelfth of the cost
of corn-cake, malt, or other manufactured feeding-stuffs of similar manurial
value, which have been consumed on the farm during the preceding year of
the tenancy.

“2. For the cost of dry bones used with green crops consumed on the farm
as follows, viz. :-—the whole cost (inclusive of railway or water-carriage) if
used during the last year of the tenancy, and half the cost if used during the

receding year.

“ 3.-For the whole of the cost of artificial manures, of approved manurial
value, used with green crops consumed on the farm during the last year of
the tenancy, and for the cost of railway or water-carriage of the same.

“Provided that the allowances under clauses 2 and 3 for the cost of bones
and artificial manures shall not exceed the cost per acre of the two next
preceding years. ,

“4. For the cost of lime used on the land of the farm, including the cost
of carriage, cartage, and spreading thereof, on a seven years’ principle, that is
to say, the allowance to be reduced by one-seventh part every year until the
seven years have expired.

“5. For the cost of claying, marling, or chalking the farm, on a twelve
years’ principle, the whole of the cost being allowed for the first four years,
and after that period one-eighth part to be deducted yearly for the remaining
eight years.*

_ “6. For the cost of bones used on pasture-land of the farm as follows,

“For dry bones, on a ten years’ principle.

“For dissolved bones, on a five years’ principle. :

“7. For two-thirds of the cost of other purchased manures used on
pasture-land of the farm during the last year of the tenancy, and for one-
third of the cost of any such manures used during the preceding year.

“ Resolved—That in default of any agreement or undertaking, or in the
event of any other failure referred to in Section 4 of the Act with regard to
improvements under Part 2 of Schedule I.,f the following allowances are, in
the opinion of this meeting, fair and reasonable, viz. :—

‘For the cost of under-draining the farm, as follows :—
“(a) When the landlord finds the tiles and the tenant the labour, on
a ten years’ principle.
“(6) When the tenant finds both tiles and labour, on a fifteen years’
principle.”

The Resolutions embodying this scale of allowances were
passed unanimously at a united special general meeting of the
bodies referred to, and are signed “ M. E. G. Finch-Hatton,
Chairman of the Lincolnshire Chamber of Agriculture; James
Martin, President of the Lincolnshire Land Agents’ and

* “Tt is considered that the tenant does not receive any benefit for the first
four years.” 7 Draining.

24 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

Tenants’ Right Valuers’ Association.” They are a valuable
contribution towards a settlement on an equitable basis of
claims arising under the Act. Mr. Martin believes that this
scale of allowances will be embodied in nearly all the farm-
agreements in Lincolnshire; and that in this case “landlords
will be quite safe from any attempts on the part of unprin-
cipled tenants to make Section 5 suit their own purpose, for no
judge will, in view of this scale being generally adopted in the
county, entertain any motion to set aside an agreement con-
taining it.” The scale, if adopted, will also, as he points out,
get rid of the necessity of defining what is meant by the
“inherent capabilities of the soil ;” and in his opinion it already
supplies, in Lincolnshire at least, a safeguard against unfair
interpretations of the Act.*

It is a question, however, whether any such fixed rules of
compensation could be adopted for general application. A
safer guide would seem to be the compensation given in these
cases by custom, where such exists, for custom is accepted by the
Courts as a local law based on what experience has shown to be
necessary and reasonable as between landlord and tenant in the
varying circumstances of different localities. In all these cases
‘the inherent capabilities of the soil” comes in as a disturbing
element to be estimated in any basis of valuation. An opinion
has been expressed that this deduction from the value of an
outgoing tenant’s improvements to his successor “need not
in practice affect the improvements numbered 22 and 23 in the
schedule,” t+ namely, manuring. It may be so; but until the
working of the Act has been tested by practice and authoritative
decision, this and other points of novelty in farm-valuations
must needs be doubtful. ‘The powers of valuers under this and
other sections must be left for separate treatment in the pro-
visions referring to them.

As to Improvements purchased by Incoming Tenants (§ 56).—
For his own security an incoming tenant, if he treats directly
with his predecessor, should obtain the landlord’s written con-
sent to the payment of any compensation for improvements
under the Act. Otherwise he will be unable to claim from
his landlord, on quitting his holding, in respect of such im-
provements. This provision is probably meant to prevent
collusion between the outgoer and incomer, the latter of whom,
quitting his holding as soon as possible after taking it, might
claim compensation upon the basis of extravagant or fraudulent
payments, though it does not follow that he would make good

* «Transactions, Surveyors’ Institution, vol. xvi. pp. 65-7.
+ Resolution passed by Central Chamber of Agriculture, December 12th, 1883.

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 25

his claim. As the landlord is primarily liable for any com-
pensation, it is only right that he should know of and assent
to any arrangement which may hereafter serve as a basis of
claim against him. On the other hand, it is fair that there
should be a recognition of the new tenant’s continuing property
in improvements, not, indeed, made by him, but purchased by
him. Of course, as to them he stands in his predecessor’s
shoes, and can only obtain compensation for these improvements
on proof of their value to the incoming tenant, and to the extent
of that value. There is no express provision requiring the
landlord to consent in the case contemplated by the section ;
but it is submitted that this consent must be withheld, if at all,
upon reasonable grounds, and could not be properly withheld
upon a decision arrived at by valuers under the procedure sec-
tions. The landlord, however, would have a clear right of
refusing his consent to any compensation merely agreed upon
between the outgoing and incoming tenants.

Compensation under the Act to be Exclusive (§ 57)—\A tenant
is not allowed the option given him by the Act of 1875 of

iming compensation under it, or by custom or otherwise. If
he is entitled to compensation under the Act in respect of
improvement, § 57 bars his remedy to recover under any other
' title for that improvement. It follows that, in respect of im-
provements for which he is not entitled to claim compensation
under this Act, he may recover under statute, custom, or agree-
ment, so that a tenant may, by possibility, be able to recover
compensation in two or three ways. It will be important,
however, for him to remember that he may be deprived of his
right to compensation altogether, unless, when entitled under.
the Act, he gives the requisite notice of claim two months
before quitting his holding.

Restriction on Improvements by Tenant about to Quit (§ 59).—
The general effect of this restriction has already been mentioned.
Lessees are not entitled to compensation for any improvements,
except manures, within one year before their leases expire: a
yearly tenant is under like restriction, and for the same period,
“ or at any time after he has given or received final notice to
quit.” A “final” notice to quit is somewhat vague; it must
mean any notice until waiver or withdrawal, so that a yearly
tenant will make at his peril any improvement other than
Nos. 22 and 23, after receiving notice, because he cannot know
whether the notice will be waived or withdrawn.

There are two exceptions to the rule here laid down:—
(a) When a tenant from year to year has begun an improvement
during the last year of his tenancy, and, afterwards receiving
notice, quits his holding at the expiration of that year. This
exception, it would seem, can hardly apply in practice except in

26 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

cases where, under § 33, the landlord and tenant have agreed to
abide by a six months’ notice.

(>) When a yearly tenant or lessee has given notice to the
landlord of his intention to begin an improvement, and the land-
lord has either assented or failed to object for a month after re-
ceiving the notice. It may easily happen that a landlord may
be absent from home and return too late to object. But for the
care which seems to have been taken to limit the agent’s powers
to specified acts in §§ 3 and 4, one would have said that the
landlord might delegate his authority under this and other
sections. A power of attorney might suffice, but as § 59 is
drawn, one of its indirect effects may be to prevent landlords
from taking more than a month’s holiday.

Rules for ascertaining Compensation for Improvements (§ 6).—
The general principles applicable to compensation for improve-
ments having now been laid down, an important provision
embodies the regulations to be observed in administering the
Act. It is assumed that a certain sum is found to be due to the
outgoing tenant, representing the value of his improvements to
the new comer, after allowing for what is due to the inherent
capabilities of the soil, But this sum may be subject both to
deductions and augmentation.

The deductions on the landlord’s side are taken from the Act
of 1875, namely :—

(1) Any benefit given or allowed to the tenant in considera-
tion of his making the improvement, such as reduced rental,
materials free or at reduced prices,

(2) If any compensation is claimed for manures, the valuers
must ascertain what hay, straw, roots or green crops have been
sold off or removed from the holding within the last two years
of the tenancy (the Act of 1875 said within the last three years),
or during any shorter period if the tenancy has not lasted so
long, and the amount of deduction will be the value of the
manure that would have been produced by the consumption of
those crops on the holding, less the amount which the tenant
has spent on “a proper return of manure to the holding,” in the
place of the produce sold off or removed. ‘ A proper return of
manure” was the term used in 1875, and is therefore so far
familiar to valuers. A tenant may be precluded by the terms
of his agreement or lease from selling these crops off the holding;
and the Act gives him no power to break his agreement in this
respect. The principle recognized in most agreements, and
embodied in the Act of 1875, is now repeated, namely, that the
holding has a first claim on the crops here specified ; and if they
do not go back to it in the form of manure, the tenant must
supply an equivalent in manure or feeding-stufl, purchased by
him and brought on to the holding for use or consiuttppitonlt

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 27

(3) Other deductions are for rent due, for waste committed or
permitted, for any breach of the contract of tenancy, and for
taxes, rates, and tithe rent-charge due or becoming due.

The landlord must be prepared with proof of all these deduc-
tions; and the tenant, too, should carefully prepare himself for
any disputed matter coming under heads either of deduction or
of claim, by preserving receipts and vouchers, with cost of
materials and labour, recording dates of manuring and other
improvements, purchases of manure and feeding-stuffs in re-
placement of produce sold, and any other data which may be
useful in resisting reductions or supporting claims. With
regard to the latter, it is true that value to the incoming, not
outlay by the outgoing, tenant is now the basis of value. In
theory, therefore, valuers ought perhaps to dismiss from their
minds a tenant’s expenditure, in determining the amount of
compensation due to him, and look only to the present condition
of the land and of any improvements above the surface. It is
obvious, however, that, in support of a tenant’s assertion as to
the existing value of his improvements, what he has spent upon
them, and the periods at which his outlay occurred, may prove
material elements in informing a valuer’s mind and enabling
. him to correct his opinion.

In augmentation of a tenant’s compensation he, too, may
allege and recover for breach of covenant or agreement by the
landlord. Alleged breaches of covenant or agreement on either
side will refer to specific acts not usually difficult to establish or
refute, though the amount of set-off or augmentation for each
breach will not be so easily arrived at; and it seems clear that
there will be no set-off or augmentation unless specific damage:
can be proved. For example, a tenant covenants to follow a
prescribed rotation of crops, and fails to do so. The contract
of tenancy would ordinarily provide for re-entry on such a
breach ; or the landlord might bring his action. If he stands
by, and does not avail himself of his special remedy under the
contract, it seems clear that, when the tenancy determines, the
deduction for the breach can only be the specific damage, if
any, which is shown to have been caused by it.

Waste is a wide term; and a tenant must always keep in
view the possibility of future deductions from his compensation
on this ground, and should obtain his landlord’s written consent
to any act by which it might hereafter be contended that the
holding was deteriorated. For example, it would be active
waste if the tenant broke up old pasture without consent, pulled
down or damaged buildings, cut down or injured timber, hedges,
plantations, coppices, or over-cropped without a proper return
to the soil. It would be permissive waste if he allowed land to
become foul, if he neglected to keep in good order drains,

28 The Agricultural Holdings ( England) Act, 1883.

outfalls, water-courses, gates or fences, or to make the ordinary
repairs of buildings for which he is liable. On the other hand,
landlords must not sleep upon their rights, for § 6 does
not allow them any set-off for waste or breach committed or
permitted by the tenant “in relation to a matter of husbandry ”
for more than four years before the tenancy determines. Upon
any serious waste or breach, therefore, notice to. quit seems to
be the most appropriate remedy, to be waived upon the tenant’s
compliance with such conditions as will reinstate the holding.
The four years’ limit corresponds with that in the Act of 1875.
The two years’ limitation will also be borne in mind. As
regards the tenant, his power of recovering for his landlord’s
breach is not limited.

It will be remembered that in the Act of 1875 the landlord
could only recover under the Act for waste or breach, and the
tenant could only recover for breach, if the latter-claimed com-
pensation for improvements (§ 18, 19). The landlord could
then, “by counter-claim but not otherwise,” obtain compensa-
tion for the waste or breach. The effect of § 6 in the new
Act appears to be to continue the same restrictions, inasmuch as
it is only “in the ascertainment of the amount of the compensa-
tion” payable to the tenant for his improvements that the
specified deductions and augmentations are to be taken into
account. It follows, as in 1875, that if a tenant has reason to
believe that the deductions which his landlord may set-off will
exceed the amount of his claim, he may defeat his landlord’s
remedy under the Act by making no claim. But the new Act
(§ 60) repeats the general saving of rights enacted in 1875, so
that, unless the Act expressly provides to the contrary, the land-
lord may, apart from the Act, exercise any powers and enforce
any rights which belong to him in virtue of statute, custom,
agreement, or otherwise, in respect of “any improvements,
waste, emblements, tillages, away-going crops, fixtures, tax, rate,
tithe rent-charges, rent, or other things.” Section 60 also con-
tains a corresponding saving of the tenant’s rights.

PROCEDURE.

Notice of Intended Claims (§ 7).—Having set forth the general
principles regulating the tenant’s compensation, and any counter-
claim by the landlord, the Act next prescribes the mode of
setting up a claim. The procedure clauses, as already stated,
are taken in substance from, and are sometimes almost identical
with those adopted in 1875 (§ 20 e¢ seq.). The clause now under
consideration, however, requires from the tenant to the landlord
a written notice of two months at least before the determination
of the tenancy, of his intention to make a claim. In 1875 only

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 29

one month’s notice was required, This notice is a vital one,
and tenants must remember that if they omit to give it within
the time specified, their right to claim compensation under the
Act is gone. ‘When a tenant gives such a notice,” the land-
lord may serve on the tenant a written counter-notice of his
intention to make a claim in respect of waste or breach. Thus,
as has been already stated, the landlord can only recover under
the Act for waste or breach by way of counter-claim to the
tenant’s claim of compensation. The period open to the land-
lord for making claims is any time after the notice up to four-
teen days after the tenancy determines. Lastly, each notice and
counter-notice must state, “‘as far as reasonably may be, the
particulars and amount’ of the intended claim.” The tenant’s
notice will be addressed to the landlord, and not the agent.
No special words are necessary, but it may run in this form :—

*‘ Str,—I hereby give you notice that under or in pursuance
of the provisions of the Agricultural Holdings Act, 1883, I
intend, on quitting my holding at the determination of my
tenancy on the day of next, to claim com-
pensation from you, being the landlord of such holding, in
respect of the following improvements executed by me, or vested
- in me by purchase, namely [ Here set out each improvement, with
the sum claimed for each and the date at which executed. It will
be convenient, for future reference, to number each head of claim.|”

This notice must be signed by the tenant, or, in case of his
death or bankruptcy, by his executors or trustee, and dated so as
to show that the requirements of the Act in respect to time of
service have been complied with. There can be no excuse for -
not serving the notice in time, as it may be served directly after
receiving the notice to quit. The only reason for delaying it is
that all acts of husbandry giving a right of claim may be in-
cluded. Any omission may be fatal to the tenant’s right to
recover compensation, not only under but outside the Act, for
§ 57, it will be remembered, bars his remedy to recover outside
the Act compensation for improvements “for which he is
entitled to compensation under or in pursuance of the Act.”
Thus, if the title in question is lost by default in serving notice,
the results to the tenant may be serious. The claim may be
amended or supplemented by a second notice if given two
months before the tenancy determines. The landlord’s counter-
notice may in substance follow the same form,

As to Service of Notices (§ 28).—It may be convenient to
note here the requirements of the Act as to the service of notice.
Section 28 applies to all notices, requests, demands, or other
instruments under the Act. Service of these may be effected

30 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

in three ways :—personally ; or by sending a written note; or by
posting a registered letter to either the landlord’s or tenant’s
*‘ Jast known place of abode.” If a registered letter be sent, it
will be deemed to have been served at the time when the letter
would reach its destination by ordinary course of post. It will
be sufficient proof of service to show that the letter was properly
addressed and posted, and that it contained, “the notice,
request, demand or other instrument” to be served. A copy of
the notice, &c., should therefore always be retained, endorsed
with a memorandum of the date and mode of service.

As regards service on the tenant there is likely to be no
difficulty or hardship; he is not usually long absent from his
home, and the initiative as regards notice will generally come
from him. But there are many landlords who travel far and
wide, and whose letters sometimes, “ like panting Time, toil after
them in vain.” Agents are almost ignored by the Act ; tenants
are bound in nearly all cases to serve the landlord with notice ;
and the landlord must himself act upon the notice. In his
counter-claim the Act secures him two months and a half within
which to serve his counter-claim, which will, of course, be pre-
pared by the agent. It is easy to imagine cases in which
notices of intended improvements, of claims, of intention to
remove fixtures, and other various proceedings by tenants, may
be sent by them just after the landlord’s departure on his travels,
with much inconvenience to the landlord; perhaps, indeed,
depriving him in effect of the protection which the Act was
meant to afford him. We may expect, therefore, that powers
of attorney will be plentiful, accompanied of course, as these
must be, by notice to the tenants of this delegated autho-
rity. Whether, in the face of the clear directions in the Act
this delegation would hold good is a point not free from doubt.
In all agreements, however, it would be useful to stipulate that
when under this Act notice is required to be seryed on the land-
lord, a copy of such notice should be sent to the agent named
in the agreement, and thereby authorised to receive such notices.

Appointment of Referee or Referees, and Umpire.-—The land-
lord and tenant may, of course, agree as to the compensation due
to the latter. If they do not agree, the difference is to be
settled by a reference (§ 8).

If they concur in leaving the matter in dispute to be settled
by a single referee, they are free to do so. Before making any
award the referee may die, or become incapable of acting. In
either case, or if he fail to act, for seven days after notice from
the parties, or either of them, the proceedings are to begin
afresh, as though there had been no appointment (§$ 9, sub-sec-
tions 1 and 2).

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 31

The parties may not be able to concur in the appointment of
a single referee. Each of them is then to appoint a referee,
giving notice of such appointment to the other, with a like
power to that just noticed, of replacing a referee in the event of
his death, incapacity, or failure to act. One of the parties
cannot stop the proceedings by failure to appoint, for on such
failure, for fourteen days after notice, the County Court is
required to act for him by appointing “‘a competent and im-
partial person to be a referee.” This appointment will be made
upon the application of the party who has already appointed his
own referee, and upon proper proof of such failure by the other
side as is contemplated by the Act. Thus, we find adequate
security against a dead-lock as regards the referees (§ 9, sub-
sections 3, 4, 5, and 6).

The result of delivering to a referee the letter authorizing him
to act is deemed to be a submission to a reference by the party
making the appointment, and neither party has the power to
revoke a submission or appointment without the consent of the
other (§ 12).

As the two referees may, and probably will, disagree, they are
to appoint an umpire before they enter on the reference ; and in
_ ease of his death or incapacity, they must appoint another. In
the improbable event of failure by the referees to appoint an
umpire, seven days after request, the County Court may again
be called upon by either party to ‘appoint a competent and
impartial person to be the umpire,’ and must make such ap-
pointment within fourteen days (§ 9, sub-sections 7, 8, and 9).

As County Court Judges had the same powers under the Act
of 1875, they may by this time have lists of competent and im-’
partial valuers to be employed in these cases; and there will
now be more employment for them, as landlords and tenants
cannot contract themselves out of the Act, and agreements sub-
stituted for the Act must be regulated by the standard of compen-
sation setup by it. Sub-section 9 is an exact reproduction of § 22
in the parent Act, and ends with the same requirement, namely,
“that every appointment, notice, and request, under the section,
shall be in writing.” This requirement is necessary with a view
to the order and regularity of proceedings, for an informal
appointment may vitiate an award, and with it any charge upon
the holding based upon the award. But, whereas the Act of
1875 made it quite clear that this business might be done by an
authorized agent, the presumption here is that the landlord must
sign all these documents and receive all the notices. If, there-
fore, he has a large estate, he will be kept busier than probably
he has ever been before, and indirectly the Act will be a check
upon absentee proprietors.

32 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

Appointment of Umpire by Land Commissioners or County
Court (§ 10).—Either the landlord or the tenant can require
that the umpire shall be appointed by the Land Commissioners.
The referees will generally be men in the district, and the same
rule will apply to referees or umpires appointed by the County
Court. ‘There may be reasons why, in the opinion of one of the
parties, it would be better to have an umpire unconnected with
the locality ; and if so, an appointment by the Land Commis-
sioners would no doubt meet this view, though the expense
might thereby be increased. The Land Commissioners are
old friends under a new name, conferred by statute in 1882,* and
the same duties were entrusted to them by § 23 of the Act of
1875. If either party desires that the umpire shall be ap-
pointed by the Land Commissioners instead of by the referees,
he must give notice in writing to the other side in informing
him of the appointment of a referee. It will be necessary also
to give the same notice to the referee on appointing him, or he
with his colleague may proceed to choose the umpire under
§ 9. If either party desires, as a middle course, an appointment
of the umpire by the County Court, avoiding a choice by the
referees or the Land Commissioners, this object, again, may be
accomplished by a notice given to the other side when the
referee is appointed, provided that both parties consent. Thus,
there are more than the proverbial three courses open in this
matter, for an umpire may be appointed :—

1. By the referees, if both sides consent (§ 9).

2. By the County Court, on application from either side, if
the referees fail to make the appointment. This is an absolute
power vested in the Court in the contingency mentioned, and is
not open to objection (§ 9).

3. By the Land Commissioners, on application from either
side; and here also either side has an absolute right to require
this mode of appointment (§ 10).

4, By the County Court, on application from either side,
unless the other side objects (§ 10).

5. In the latter case, on application from the party so object-
ing, by the Land Commissioners (§ 10).

It will be seen that, as under the Act of 1875, suitors may
require that the umpire shall be chosen by the Land Commis-
sioners in the case of an original appointment; but if once
the referees are allowed to appoint, any substituted umpire

* “The Commissioners now bearing the three several styles of the Inclosure
Commissioners for England and Wales, and the Copyhold Commissioners, and the
Tithe Commissioners for England and Wales, shall, by virtue of this Act, become,
and shall be styled, the Land Commissioners for England,”—Settled Land Act,
1882, s. 48.

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 33

can only be chosen by them, or, failing them, by the County
Court.

In the exercise of this jurisdiction, relating to the appoint-
ment of referees and umpires, the Judge of the County Court is
to act, whether he is without or within his district; or, by
consent of the parties, the registrar (§ 11). “County Court z
here and elsewhere means “ the County Court within the district
whereof the holding, or the larger part thereof, is situated ” (§ 61).

Powers of Referees. —We now have a tribunal duly constituted
in one of four different ways, for it may consist either of
a single referee, of two referees, of two referees sitting with an
umpire, or of an umpire sitting alone. This is the same
tribunal as was created in 1875, and the powers given to it are
also exactly similar. Its first duty appears to be to give notice
to the parties,of its intended sitting. After such notice, it may,
at its discretion, proceed in the absence of either party (§ 14).
Presumably a view of the holding would be the first business
which the Court would take in hand. For ensuring proper evi-
dence, it may “call for the production of any sample, or voucher,
or other document, or other evidence which is in the possession
or power of either party, or which either party can produce,” and

- which it deems necessary for determining the matters referred.

But, like the corresponding section of 1875, § 13 provides
no penalty for the non-production of documents; the tribunal
is left with the empty power of calling for them and nothing
more. Such a power may of itself suffice, as the non-production
of any material sample or document might of itself be regarded
as conclusive against a claim. The Court may administer .
oaths and take affirmations; and any parties or witnesses who
“‘ wilfully and corruptly” give false evidence will be guilty of
perjury. Large powers are therefore possessed by the tribunal
for arriving at the facts.

The Award.—This must be in writing, signed by the single
referee, or by the two referees, or by the umpire (§ 15). If a
single referee acts, his award must be ready for delivery within
twenty-eight days after his appointment. If there are two
referees, it must be ready for delivery within the same period
after the appointment of the referee last appointed ; but they
may extend the twenty-eight days to forty-nine days from this
date, or to any shorter period, if both concur in thinking such
618) of time necessary, and jointly fix the time in writing

Should the referees agree upon an award, they have an obvious
and usual means of recovering their fees by requiring that these
should be paid before parting with their award. If, however,
they disagree, and have no award ready within the period just

VOL. XX.—S. 8. D

34 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

mentioned, their authority ceases; the matters of reference then
stand referred to the umpire (§ 18), and they must sue the
parties employing them in default of payment. There does not
appear to be any imperative obligation upon the referees to
inform the umpire that he is seised of the questions in dispute:
§ 18 only says that the umpire shall make his award ready
for delivery within twenty-eight days after receiving from either
party, or either referee, written notice of the reference to him ;
so that the parties may meanwhile agree to put an end to
the litigation and expense that may follow the umpire’s inter-
vention. If the umpire cannot prepare his award in twenty-
eight days, it will be necessary that either he or one of the
parties should, within this period, apply for an extension of
time to the registrar of the County Court, who may refuse the
application, or extend the time again or again without any
limitation.

A usual course, with a view to save expense, is that an
umpire should sit with the referees, and form his own judgment
upon the facts and evidence, subject to any statement he may
afterwards receive from the referees, should they differ in
support of their respective views. This procedure rather pre-
supposes that the referees will differ, as indeed they generally
do, being chosen to represent different interests, and therefore in
a measure bound to support or oppose the claim. In practice,
if there be this joint sitting, the referees would generally be
able, when it closes, to say whether they agree or disagree ; and
the umpire would generally know whether his services would
become necessary. But there is nothing in the Act to require
an umpire to sit with the referees, and this, therefore, is a point
left to be settled by the convenience of the parties.

Award to give Particulars (§ 19).—A similar condition was
laid down by § 32 in the Act of 1875, and the valuer’s work is
now required to be even more precise. There must, therefore,
be corresponding method and accuracy in the tenant’s accounts ;
and he will often suffer pecuniary loss unless these are kept
with a view to satisfy the exigencies of the new law. The old
system of stating a lump sum for everything due to the tenant
encouraged slovenly accounts; but now, as in 1875, referees
and umpires are not to award “a sum generally for compen-
sation.” They must “so far as possible specify ”—(a) the
improvements, acts, and things for which compensation is
awarded ; (2) the date at which each was done; (c) the sum
awarded in respect of each. The same details are required
concerning the valuable consideration, waste, or breach pleaded
by the landlord in reduction of the claim, and concerning any
breach alleged by the tenant to swell it,

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 35

It will be seen that there are some saving words which carry
out in spirit an old enactment :—

>
“There was a law of Don Fernando—
*No man shall do more than he can do.’”

If the details mentioned in § 19 are not to be had by reason of
the farmer’s neglect or his muddled accounts, it is clear that the
referees cannot give them ; and it would not be just to deprive
farmers of compensation in such cases when the evidence
in their favour might be clear ahunde: for example, in the
condition of the land, as showing value to an incoming tenant.
In the Act of 1875 this same consideration was given to
claimants of compensation, and the particulars required were
to be given “as far as reasonably may be.” In the new Act
“so far as possible” are the equivalent words. Tenants, how-
ever, will do well not to rely too implicitly on this loophole of
escape, for, though their claims may not be barred by want
of the particulars specified in § 19, they will certainly risk, by
neglect in this matter, the loss of some of the compensation
which might otherwise have been given to them.

(d) Another item usually specified in the award (though the
Act does not make this imperative) will be the costs of or attend-
ing the reference. These will include the remuneration of the re-
feree or referees and umpire, and “ other proper expenses.” The
Act repeats the provisions of 1875 upon this point, and gives to
the tribunal the fullest powers of ordering the whole or any part
of the costs to be paid by one party to the other ; or of ordering
payment to be divided between the parties in such proportion as
they think just, “regard being had to the reasonableness or
unreasonableness of the claim of either party in respect of
amount or otherwise, and to all the circumstances of the case.”
(§ 20.) Speaking generally, the section seems to contemplate
that costs will follow the event. Its effect should be to prevent
either party, to use a common phrase, from ‘opening their
mouths too wide;” for unreasonable claims or counter-claims
will be punished by costs, especially if they lengthen the inquiry
and involye adjournments and delay. So, too, confused and
inaccurate accounts, adding, as these frequently must, to the
referees’ labours, and thus prolonging the reference, may
properly be visited by the same punishment. If costs are not
mentioned in the award, each party will pay his own. Sup-
posing an unreasonable claim to be mixed up with others not
open to the same objection, that fact would suggest payment by
the claimant of so much of the costs as might thereby be fairly
chargeable on him. It might, for example, appear that, but for
this item in a tenant’s claim, the landlord would not have

D2

36 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

resisted the compensation demanded. Looking at the litigation
and expense of which a reference may be the beginning, the
obvious course for sensible men is to ayoid one if possible, by
reasonable demands in the first instance and mutual concession ;
but if, as appears to be threatened, experts should be employed
to exaggerate claims and make out big bills, as when property
is taken under the compulsory powers of a railway company,
there is little hope of quiet settlements.

If costs are mentioned in the award, the party required to
pay them may have them taxed by the registrar of the County
Court, from whose decision either party may appeal to the
Judge (§ 20). It will be understood that neither registrar nor
Judge can, merely upon taxation, upset or vary the referees’ or
umpire’s decision in fixing the costs on either side.

(e) Another part of the award must be a day fixed in it (not
sooner than one month after it has been first delivered) for the
payment of the compensation and costs (} 21).

(f) Ifa landlord desires to charge his estate (under §§ 29-32)
with the amount of compensation found due to the tenant, the
award must specify “the time at which, for the purposes of
such charge, each improvement, act, or thing in respect of which
compensation is awarded, is to be deemed to be exhausted.”
This part of the award depends entirely upon the landlord; if
he requests the referees or umpire to give these particulars,
neither they nor the tenant have anything to say ; and-it is for
him afterwards in his discretion to make the charge, or allow
the compensation to be paid in the ordinary manner.

Award for Compensation under §§ 3, 4, 5.—It will be re-
membered (1) that, while the general right of tenants to com-
pensation under the Act is recognised (} 1), compensation is
only payable under the Act in respect of permanent improve-
ments upon the landlord’s unconditional assent, and in respect
of drainage upon the landlord allowing the tenant to execute it,
also without conditions ; (2) that in the event of an agreement
in either case, the agreed compensation is allowed to be sub-
stituted for compensation under the Act ($$ 3, 4); and (3) that the
like substitution is allowed in the case of temporary improve-
ments made after January 1, under then existing or future
contracts of tenancy, provided that the agreed compensation for
these temporary improvements is fair and reasonable, having
regard to the circumstances existing at the time the agreement
was made, and subject, as regards tenancies current on January 1,
to the condition that if the tenant has agreed for specific com-
pensation for any temporary improvement, or can recover such
specific compensation by custom or statute, this is to be the
compensation he receives (§ 5).

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 37

Special provision is made (§ 17) for cases arising under
§§ 3, 4 and 5. If, in these cases, tenants claim under the
Act, the substituted compensation is to be awarded by the
referees or umpire for any improvements provided for in the
three sections, ‘if and so far as” this substituted compensation
“can, consistently with the terms of the agreement, if any, be
ascertained ;” and the award, “ when necessary,” is to distinguish
such improvements, and the amount awarded for them, and is to
be subject to appeal like other awards under § 23.

The object of § 23 is not clearly expressed, but it appears to
be mainly framed with a view to make awards under §$ 3, 4
and 5 correspond as far as possible in form and substance with
all other awards, so that they may give rise to no difficulties on
appeal. We have seen that there may be no agreements under
§§ 3, 4 and 5; or there may be agreements relating to one or
two classes of improvements, and not to others; or the compen-
sation claimed may be, in part, compensation directly under the
Act, and, in part, substituted compensation. In order, there-
fore, that the award may, on the face of it, convey all the
particulars which may afterwards be essential for the informa-
tion of the parties or of the County Court on appeal, the sub-
. stituted compensation, if possible, is to be ascertained and to
form part of the award. If there be an agreement, the referees
or umpire may not be able to ascertain what the substituted
compensation really is, “consistently with the terms of the
agreement,’ which may contain reciprocal conditions not easily
appraised in money. On the other hand, this appraisement
will be easy if, as in the case of current tenancies, the right to
substituted compensation arises under custom or statute. The
substituted compensation when ascertained may be a lump sum.
It may not always be necessary to distinguish the improvements
for which it is given, as, for instance, if no question arises upon
them; but, “when necessary ”—that is, if the dispute turns
upon the amount due in respect of these improvements, or if the
other items of claim require that each shall be separately
assessed—then the lump sum must be distributed, and each
improvement must be credited with its proper share, as is
required under § 19 in awards generally.

This construction of § 17 is not free from doubt. It may be
contended that, as it is imperative on the referees or umpire,
““when necessary” to distinguish the improvements and the
amount awarded for them, the effect of the latter part of § 17 is
to authorise the referees or umpire, “when necessary,” to set
aside the agreement if they cannot ascertain the substituted
compensation payable under it, and to award in respect of each
improvement as though no agreement had been made. This

38 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

construction involves a contradiction in terms between the
earlier part of the section, which recognises that it may not be
possible to ascertain the compensation, and the subsequent part,
which makes the ascertaining of the compensation imperative in
some cases. A judge would certainly struggle to avoid such
a contradictory meaning in a statute if any other fairly con-
sistent meaning could be assigned; and the section seems open
to the more reasonable interpretation here attempted.

A doubt also arises as to the powers of the referees and
umpire with regard to agreements under § 5. Suppose that in
their opinion compensation given under such an agreement for
- temporary improvements is not “fair and reasonable. . . having
regard to the circumstances existing at the time” it was made.
Have they the power to set aside the agreement, and award
compensation under the Act? It is submitted that they possess
this power by necessary implication, or they could not com-
plete their award with the particulars required under §§ 17 and
19. If the amount claimed be 100/. or under, their decision
will be final (§ 23). Ifthe amount claimed exceed 1007. (§ 23),
their power is conditional, and subject to appeal, so that it will
be for a legal tribunal ultimately to say, except in cases involy-
ing less than 100/., whether the agreement is one to be upset or
upheld. But the Act furnishes no direct appeal to the County
Court except from the decision of the referees or umpire; that
decision must raise any point afterwards contested; and they
have not fully discharged their duties until they have made a
full award in the terms of the Act upon all matters referred to
them. It would seem, therefore, that great as this power is,
they really may, in practice, revise and set aside all the agree-
ments in question, and a tenant may always make it impossible
to challenge their decisions, if he is content to claim no more
than 1007.

Appeal to County Court.—One object of the legislation of
1875 was to provide cheap and easy methods of determining
the rights of landlords and tenants. The new Act follows the
old one, therefore, in prohibiting litigation in the High Court
of Justice by an attempt to withdraw a submission or award
from the jurisdiction of the referees and umpire or of the
County Court by making it a rule of Court, or otherwise.
The award is not to be questioned except as the Act provides
(§ 22), and will conclude the whole matter if the tenant claims
no more than 100/. If the claim exceeds 100/., the award will
also be final, unless, within seven days after its delivery, either
party appeals to the County Court on all or any of the following
grounds (§ 23) :—

“1, That the award is invalid.

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 39

“2. That the award proceeds wholly or in part upon an im-
proper application of, or upon the omission properly to apply,
the special provisions of §§ 3, 4, or 5 of this Act.

“3. That compensation has been awarded for improvements,
acts or things, breaches of covenants or agreements, or for
committing or permitting waste, in respect of which the party
claiming was not entitled to compensation.

“4, That compensation has not been awarded for improve-
ments, acts or things, breaches of covenants or agreements, or
for committing or permitting waste, in respect of which the
party claiming was entitled to compensation.” (§ 23.)

The Judge must hear and determine the appeal, and may
remit the case to be re-heard in whole or in part by the
referees or umpire. His decision on the facts will be final,
but at the request of either party he is bound to state a special
ease -on a question of law for decision by the High Court of
Justice. That is the utmost limit to which the case can be
carried, for the judgment of the High Court so invoked will be
final, and the County Court Judge is to act thereon (§ 23).
Substantially, these are the provisions in the Act of 1875, but,
with a view to discourage litigation, the limit of appeal is raised

“from 502. to 1002. Remembering that a claim of 100J. or
under may now raise the question whether an agreement is to
stand which was deliberately entered into by the parties, but
has since been repudiated by one of them and set aside, it may
be, by a single referee, this restriction on the right of appeal
is a serious one. A very limited period is given for ap-
pealing, namely, seven days after delivery of the award. It.
would seem by reference to the earlier sections that this must
mean delivery to either party. The referees or umpire should
inform both parties when the award is ready for delivery, but
no obligation rests on them to do so. Both parties, therefore,
must be on the watch, or either may find that his right of appeal
has gone. If, as under the County Court orders of 1876, an
appellant must file a copy of the award within four days after
its delivery, together with a concise statement in writing of his
grounds of appeal, the time for appeal will be still further limited.
From the grounds of appeal stated in § 23, it seems that the
whole case will be heard de novo in the County Court, with any
evidence which either party may think fit to produce for or
against the claim.

As the parties may agree respecting the compensation, it will
be well that such agreement should be in writing, and should
set forth not only the amount but the mode and time of payment.
Money so agreed, or awarded, or ordered on appeal, must be
paid, with the costs, within fourteen days after the time fixed.

40 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

In case of default, payment may be enforced by obtaining an
order in the County Court (§ 24), which will operate as a judg-
ment for debt, and will enable the creditor to issue execution.
Like the costs given by referees and umpire, those arising on
appeal are in the discretion of the County Court, upon a scale
to be fixed from time to time by the Lord Chancellor (§ 27).
Upon “the application of any person interested,” the County
Court may appoint a guardian to represent any landlord or
tenant, being an infant without a guardian, or of unsound
mind, not so found by inquisition (§ 25). ‘Any person inte-
- rested” is vague; it may be construed to include not only any
person interested on behalf of the infant or insane man,
but any person interested in a reference or in litigation under
the Act, to which such infant or insane man should be
properly a party. Since the Married Women’s Property Act,
1882, came into operation (January 1, 1883), a next friend
is not necessary in the case of women entitled to land who
married after that date, and are affected by the Act. When a
next friend is still required, as in the case of women married
before January 1, and not entitled for their separate use, § 26
repeats the provisions of 1875, which vest such an appointment
in the County Court. When a woman, married before January
1, 1883, desires to do “any act under this Act in respect
of land,” her title to which accrued before January 1, her hus-
band’s concurrence is still requisite, and the Judge of any County
Court is enjoined to examine her apart from her husband, in
order to see that she understands what she is about to do, and is
acting freely and voluntarily. ‘ Any act in respect of land” is
again very vague. All this formality of a separate examination
cannot be necessary for the purposes of notices, counter-claims,
and the like; though it may be necessary for such purposes as
the charge of a tenant’s compensation upon the land. The new
law, however, follows the old law in this phraseology.

CHARGE OF TENANT’S COMPENSATION.

Here, again, the very important provisions of 1875, autho-
rising the landlord to charge the holding with the amount of
compensation, have served as a model for the new law, though
in some respects they are varied. In 1875 the County Court
had power to refuse the landlord’s application. The Court now
retains no discretion; the landlord has an absolute right to
saddle the whole holding, or any part of it, with certain outlays
incurred in improving it (§ 29). No provision appears to be
made for including in the charge the cost of permanent im-
provements executed by the landlord, It is otherwise if these

The Agricultural Holdings (£ngland) Act, 1883. 41

improvements have, by his unconditional consent, or under
agreement, been executed by the tenant, for then the outlay is
included in the compensation, or substituted compensation,
which the landlord may charge. The subjects of charge which
appear to be authorised by § 29, are :— :

(a) Permanent improvements if executed by the tenant, and
included in his compensation under the Act. This charge can
only be made after payment to the tenant.

(6) Drainage (1) when executed by the tenant, and included in
his compensation, and paid for by the landlord; (2) when
executed by the landlord, after notice from the tenant, under
the powers in § 4, in-which case the money must have been
actually expended.

(c) Temporary improvements included in the tenant’s com-
pensation, and paid for by the landlord.

The order of charge will be in favour of the landlord, his
executors, administrators, and assigns, who will receive “ repay-
ment of the amount paid or expended, with such interest, and by
such instalments, and with such directions for giving effect to
the charge, as the Court thinks fit.”

As in 1875, a landlord must furnish the County Court with
proof of the payment or expenditure ; he must also satisfy it that
he is acting in good faith, and that there is no collusion with
the tenant for the purpose of burdening the estate with a com-
pensation not represented by any equivalent increase in annual
value. In the case of limited owners the Court may be expected
to require specific evidence in order to clear up any doubts of
this description, especially where compensation has been settled
between the parties without calling in a referee or referees.
Some protection, indeed, is afforded to persons entitled in rever-
sion or remainder. It will be remembered that landlords must
always notify the referees or umpire of an intention to charge
the holding, and thereupon the award must state “the time at
which, for the purposes of such charge, each improvement, act,
or thing, in respect of which compensation is awarded, is to be
deemed to be exhausted” (§ 19). The object of this salutary
requirement is explained in § 29, which says that where a Jand-
lord is not the absolute owner, the payment of instalments and
interest under any charge shall cease at the time when, accord-
ing to the award, an improvement will become exhausted. If
there has been no award, i.e. if the compensation has been
agreed upon, the Court in its discretion will require evi-
dence as to the period of exhaustion. It follows that, in the
case of limited owners, an order cannot charge the holding
generally with a sum the whole of which is repayable at a given
period, but must create a separate charge for each improvement,

42 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

according to the date of execution, and the period of exhaustion
when these periods vary. The result may be rather compli-
cated sets of accounts in some cases.

The improvement of the land being an object of public
policy, § 29 does not allow this object to be defeated by any
settlement of land prohibiting the creation of any charges upon
it. There is a provision, therefore, that charges under the Act
shal] not determine or forfeit any landlord’s estate or interest,
notwithstanding any deed, will, or other instrument to the
contrary.

This is a new and necessary provision in conformity with the
spirit of the Act. Another part of § 29 relates to’ limited
owners, who, under the Settled Land Act, 1882, may sell por-
tions of the settled estates, and apply the capital trust-money,
among other objects, in payment for the very numerous im-
provements authorised by that Act (§§ 21, 25), which include
drainage, irrigation, warping, drains, pipes, and machinery for
supply and distribution of sewage as manure, embanking, en-
closing, fencing and straightening of fences, re-division of
fields, reclamation, dry warping, farm roads, clearing, trenching,
planting ; cottages for labourers, farm-servants, and artisans,
whether employed on the settled land or not; farm-houses, offices
and outbuildings, and other buildings for farming purposes ;
reservoirs, pipes, wells, ponds, and other works for supplying and
distributing water for agricultural or other purposes. Section 29
of the Act now under consideration enables limited owners to
apply this capital money in payment of any money expended,
and costs incurred by them in executing under the Act any per-
manent improvements on drainage, or in paying off any charge
on a holding created under this Act, as though it were an
incumbrance which could be so discharged under the Settled
Land Act.

Section 29 therefore, carrying out the policy adopted in 1875,
gives increased powers to landlords who are limited owners, to
charge the inheritance by a cheap and simple process, instead
of being compelled to run the risk of paying out of their own
pockets for improvements from which they may derive little
benefit. In the case of permanent improvements, Parliament
seems to have thought it expedient that they should be paid for
outright by selling part of the settled estate under the Act of
1882, rather than by creating a charge under the new Agri-
cultural Holdings Act.

Incidence of Charge.—Section 30 seems to be susceptible of two
meanings, It may mean that when a landlord has the holding
or an interest, such as a life interest, equivalent in law to a free-
hold interest, the charge on the holding may continue to affect,

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 43

not only that, but all other interests subsequent to his ; but that
when the landlord has less than a freehold interest, that is,
where, in a technical sense, he “is himself a tenant of the hold-
ing,” the charge must not extend beyond the term for which his
interest extends (§ 380). Or, in a less technical and more obvious
sense, the section may merely mean that when a landlord has a
farm in hand, and may thus be regarded as “himself a tenant
of the holding,” his power of creating a charge shall be strictly
limited to his own interest. The same provision was enacted
in 1875.

Trustees, or other non-beneficiary landlords, are not person-
ally responsible for any compensation, and a tenant cannot
recover from them. They can charge the holding with the
amount due to the tenant either before or after paying him. In
the event of their neglect or failure to pay, he can, one month
after quitting the holding, go to the County Court, and, “on
proof of his title to have a charge made in his favour,” obtain a
charge on the holding, for himself, his executors, administrators,
and assigns, for this amount, together with “all costs properly
incurred by him in obtaining the charge, or in raising the
amount due thereunder” (§ 31). If an appeal is pending, the
‘tenant would of course be unable to prove his title. It ap-
pears to be contemplated that tenants will generally raise the
amount due, assigning the charge for purposes of repayment.
Indeed, § 32 gives facilities with this object both to landlords
and tenants, as in the Act of 1875, by allowing any company
empowered to advance money for the improvement of land, to
take an assignment of any charge made under the Act, upon -
such terms and conditions as may be agreed, and afterwards to
assign it “to any person or persons whomsoever.” The inter-
vention of the land improvement companies may be convenient
and useful in many cases ; but the statutory security afforded by
these charges ought to make them easily marketable.

NOTICE TO QUIT.
Time of Notice to Quit (§ 33).—This section, applicable to

tenancies from year to year, aims at the same object as was con-
templated by the corresponding provision in 1875. Instead of
a half-year’s notice expiring with a year of tenancy, it substitutes
a year’s notice, unless the landlord and tenant agree in writing
that § 33 shall not apply, in which case a half-year’s notice will
continue to be sufficient. In the case of tenants who are adjudged
bankrupt, or who file petitions for composition or arrangement
with creditors, § 33 does not apply, and the trustee in bank-
ruptcy may at once disclaim. In the Act of 1875 either party

44 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

to an existing contract of tenancy could exclude the section
requiring this extended notice to quit by notice to the other, or
by agreement without notice.* Now a year’s notice must be
given, unless both landlord and tenant agree in writing that six
months’ notice shall suffice. Another important change is that
§ 33 affects tenancies from year to year, whether they began
before or after January 1, 1884. The result is that, unless notice
was given before the new year in the case of then existing
tenancies, or unless there has since been an agreement to ex-
clude the section, a year’s notice must now be given on either
side expiring with the year of tenancy. Leases are not affected.
“Contracts of tenancy current at the commencement of this
Act,” that is, at January 1, 1884, is a term used, it will be
remembered, in § 5. Such tenancies are also affected by § 33.
According to § 61 we are, for the purposes of the Act, to inter-
pret a tenancy from year to year under such contracts as con-
tinuing until the first day on which the landlord or tenant
could, by giving notice to the other, cause the tenancy to deter-
mine ; on and after that day it is to be deemed a tenancy under a
contract of tenancy beginning after the commencement of the Act.
We must join together § 33 and § 61 to see when yearly tenancies
current on January 1 can be determined, and when therefore
the Act will take full effect upon such tenancies. All contracts
of tenancy from year to year existing on January 1 being
put an end to, as far as notice to quit is concerned, unless
expressly renewed by agreement, it follows that all such con-
tracts not so renewed can only be determined by a year’s notice
expiring with a year of tenancy. A Lady-Day holding, then, it
would seem, might be determined by a year’s notice given at
Lady-Day, 1884, and expiring at the same period in 1885; a
Michaelmas holding by a notice given at Michaelmas, 1884,
and expiring at Michaelmas, 1885; the last of the existing
tenancies to be determined being those which begin to. run at
Christmas, and as to which, if no notice were given at Christ-
mas, 1883, the earliest notice after the commencement of the
Act would be one beginning at Christmas, 1884, and ending at
the same time in 1885. According to this view, the Act will
take full effect upon all existing tenancies from year to year in
January, 1886; land let upon lease will of course be affected
only at the end of the respective terms limited in the lease.
Another view, however, entitled to respect is taken by Mr.
Shaw-Lefevre,| namely, that as regards tenancies current at
January 1, 1884, the Act will not come into full operation until

* See a case under the Agricultural Holdings Act, 1875, decided by Lord
Coleridge in 1878 (Wilkinson v. Calvert, 3 L. R., C. P. D., 360).
t ‘Nineteenth Century’ for October, 1883, p. 685.

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 45

a year later ; that is, in the case of Michaelmas holdings termin-
able (by agreement under § 33) by six months’ notice, the Act
will not have full effect until after Michaelmas, 1885; and if
terminable by a year's notice, until after Michaelmas, 1886.
This view seems to be based upon the assumption that each
tenancy existing at January 1, 1584, and unaffected by previous
notice to quit, is a new tenancy for purposes of notice, giving
an absolute term for one year, so that no notice can take
effect during that year. In the case already cited, however,
Lord Coleridge doubted whether the true view of the Act of
1875 was that under it current tenancies became new tenancies
for purposes of notice.* It may be well here to bear in mind
that there is a distinction between a six months’ notice—i.e.,
six lunar months—and a half-year’s notice. The Act provides
for a half-year’s or year’s notice, as the case may be; and “a
six months’ notice to determine a yearly tenancy commencing
on one of the ordinary feast days (as Lady-Day or Michaelmas)
means a ‘ customary six months,’ that is, from one of the usual
quarter days to the quarter day next but one following, though
such six months should exceed or fall short of the number of
days which constitute half a year. Consequently, a notice
served on the 26th of March to quit on the 29th of September
then next, is not a valid notice.” f

FIXTURES.

Tenant's Property in Fixtures, Machinery, §c. (§ 34).—Before -
the Act of 1875, tenants who, with the consent of their land-
lords, had put up at their own expense farm or other buildings,
and engines or machinery for agricultural purposes, or for mixed

of trade and agriculture, were allowed to remove these
fixtures, if they had not been erected or put up in pursuance of
some obligation by the tenant ; but the landlord had an option
of purchase, the price being settled by two referees or an
umpire. If the landlord did not exercise his option, the tenant
was bound, in removing these fixtures, not to damage the
premises, which were to be put “in like or as good plight and
condition as the same were in before the erection of the things
so removed.” f

The Act of 1875 altered the law in favour of tenants by giving
them the same property in engines, machinery, or other fixtures
affixed to the holding, notwithstanding the absence of the land-
lord’s consent ; in spite, indeed, of his dissent, unless there was

*3L.R,C.P.D. p.364 | + Morgan rv. Davies, 3 L. R., C. P. D., p. 260.
t 14 & 15 Vict. ¢. 25.

46 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

an agreement to the contrary. The Act of 1883 adopts the
corresponding section of the earlier statute with a few altera-
tions. It extends the tenant’s rights to fencing, and (what is
much more important) to any building for which, as well as for
the engines, machinery, fencing, or other fixtures, “he is not
under this Act or otherwise entitled to compensation.” The
effect of this provision will be that, if the landlord (under § 3)
refuses his consent to the erection of buildings, or the making
of fences (permanent improvements 1 and 9), the tenant may
still erect them, and, not being entitled to recover compensation
for them under the Act, will be able to remove them at the
determination of the tenancy, subject to the conditions speci-
fied, which include the landlord’s right of purchase. Another
change is made in the law. A proviso to § 53-in the Act of
1875 excepted a steam-engine from the tenant’s right to remove
fixtures, unless the tenant had given written notice of his inten-
tion to erect it, and the landlord had not objected. Section 34
in the new Act does not make this exception. It may be taken,
therefore, that ‘“‘ engine” in the section would cover the tenant’s
property in steam-engines affixed to the holding. Section 34
also provides that a tenant may remove the fixtures or buildings
“before or within a reasonable time after the termination of
the tenancy.”

In other respects § 34 follows exactly the wording of § 53
enacted in 1875. The conditions imposed upon the right thus
given to the tenant are that (1) before removing any fixture or
building he shall pay all rent owing by him, and perform or
satisfy all his other obligations in respect of the holding; (2) in
removing the fixture or building, he shall not do any avoidable
damage to any other building or any other part of the holding ;
(3) immediately after the removal he shall make good all damage
occasioned to any other building or other part of the holding
by the removal ; (4) he shall not remove any fixture or building
without giving his landlord one month’s previous notice in
writing ; (5) at any time before the expiration of this notice the
landlord may elect to purchase any such fixture or building, the
price being “ the fair value thereof to an incoming tenant,” and
being settled, in case of difference, by a reference under the
Act, as in cases of compensation, but without the right of appeal.
In other words, all awards will be final upon this class of cases.

Crown AND Ducuy LANDs.

The three sections 35-37 are a re-enactment, with few
variations, of corresponding sections in the Act of 1875.
They specifically bind the Crown in respect of Crown lands and

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 47

lands belonging to the two Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall.
The “landlord” for the purposes of the Act will be (1) for
Crown land, the Commissioners of Woods, Forests, and Land
Revenues, or one of them, or some person appointed under the
royal sign manual; (2) for Duchy of Lancaster land, the
Chancellor of the Duchy; (3) for Duchy of Cornwall land,
such person as may be from time to time appointed by the
Duke of Cornwall for the time being, or by the personage
for the time being entitled to the revenues and possessions of
the Duchy. These substituted landlords will give and receive
notices under the Act; and the machinery provided in the
Act will apply to all differences arising with the tenants on
these lands. Special provision, however, is made, as follows,
for the charge of a tenant’s compensation.

In the case of Crown lands, the compensation payable for
permanent improvements and drainage, instead of being charged
on the holding, will be charged under the Crown Lands Act,
1866, § 1, “as a principal sum to the account of the capital of
the land revenue of the Crown,” the sum so charged being
‘repaid out of the income of the land revenue of the Crown,”

‘as the Treasury may direct. Compensation for temporary

improvements will be deemed to be part of the expenses of
management (§ 35). As to Duchy of Lancaster lands, perma-
nent improvements and drainage will be deemed an improve-
ment of land within 57 Geo. 3, c. 97, s. 25, which authorises
the Chancellor and his Council to sell so much of the funded
property of the Duchy as may be necessary to repay the cost of .
such improvement. Compensation to tenants for temporary
improvements will be paid out of the annual revenues of the
Duchy (§ 36). As to the Duchy of Cornwall estates, the
compensation for permanent improvements and drainage will
be advanced from the Duchy funds arising from sales and
enfranchisements, and will be charged upon the Duchy revenue,
with a provision for repayment by annual instalments in not
less than thirty years (¢ 37 ; and see Duchy of Cornwall Manage-
ment Act, 1863, s. 8). As § 37 makes no special provision for
the payment of compensation for temporary improvements, it
may be assumed that the substituted landlord may either obtain
a charge in respect of them from the County Court in the
ordinary course, or defray them out of revenue.

ECCLESIASTICAL AND CHARITY LANDs.

The provisions made in 1875-6 with respect to these lands
are also now re-enacted. An archbishop or bishop is the land-
lord where lands form the endowment of a see, but he must

48 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

exercise no powers under the Act in respect of these lands
except with the previous approval in writing of the Estates
Committee of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners (§ 81). In
like manner, where the glebe land or other land belonging to
the benefice is let, the incumbent as landlord, before exercising
the powers of the Act, must have the approval of the patron
entitled to present upon a vacancy, or of the Governors of
Queen Anne’s Bounty, who may, if they think fit, on behalf of
the incumbent, pay to the tenant the amount of compensation
due to him, and may thereupon obtain a charge upon the
holding in their favour. This charge will be effectual, notwith-
standing any change of the incumbent (§ 39). The incumbent
may, it seems, with the approval of the Governors of Queen
Anne’s Bounty, obtain a charge on the holding. In fact, as
there is no obligation upon them to advance the money, he
must do so on their default; but it is obviously better that
this duty should be performed by the Governors. The Act of
1875 required them to communicate with the patron in exer-
cising any of these powers. They are now relieved from this
necessity.

Trustees in whom the legal estate of lands is vested for ecclesi-
astical or charitable purposes are, as in 1875, prohibited from
charging the land for compensation due to tenants, except with
the written approval of the Charity Commissioners (§ 40).

RESUMPTION FOR IMPROVEMENTS.

Another very useful provision in the Act of 1875, now incor-
porated in the new Act, is that authorising landlords to give a
tenant from year to year notice to quit part of his holding, in
order that they may resume possession of such part for any of
the eight following purposes (§ 41) :—

1. Erecting farm labourers’ cottages, with or without gardens,

2. Providing gardens for existing farm labourers’ cottages or
other houses.

3. Allotment for labourers of land for gardens or other
purposes.

A, Planting trees.

5, Opening or working any coal, ironstone, limestone, or
other mineral ; or a stone quarry, clay, sand, or gravel pit; or
constructing any works or buildings to be used in connection
therewith.

6. Obtaining brick-earth, gravel, or sand.

7. Making a water-course or reservoir.

8. Making any road, railway, tram-road, siding, canal, or
basin, or any wharf, pier, or other work connected therewith.

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 49

The only change made in adopting the corresponding pro-
vision (§ 52) of 1875 is the addition of “railway” to the
improvements specified in No. 8. The power reserved to
landlords by § 41 derives new importance from the powers
conferred on limited owners by the Settled Land Act, 1882,
already mentioned, a most useful and beneficial measure in con-
nection with which the name of Lord Cairns will always be grate-
fully remembered. Limited owners are now able to sell any part
of the settled estates, except the mansion and park, even without
the sanction of the trustees, for the purposes of improvements
authorised by that Act. - As capital may thus be easily raised
by a tenant for life for developing the settled estate, without
trenching upon his personalty, it is probable that necessary,
and even to some extent speculative, improvements will
become much more usual upon land tied up in settlement.
The authorised improvements in Lord Cairns’s Act include
most of those specified in § 41, so that the one statute will help
the other, and capital will be forthcoming in order to carry out
the various objects for which a landlord may resume possession
of parts of a holding without otherwise disturbing the tenancy.

A tenant’s interest on the landlord’s resumption is amply
secured. On receiving notice under § 41 he is entitled to
(a) compensation in respect of improvements made on the land
which is the subject of notice; (d) a reduction of rent in respect
of such land, measured not by its acreage alone, but also by
any depreciation in value which the rest of the holding may
suffer by reason of the landlord’s resumption, or the use to be -
made of the land so resumed ; or (c) at any time within twenty-
eight days after receiving notice to quit a part, he may in
writing tell his landlord that he accepts it as notice to quit the
entire holding, and such notice will take effect at the expiration
of the then current year of tenancy.

It may be assumed that any notice given by the landlord
under § 41 will be subject to the same conditions as are im-
posed by § 33 as to time in any general notice to quit, and that
therefore a year’s notice must be given, expiring with the year
of tenancy, unless both landlord and tenant have agreed upon
six months. The compensation, if any, together with the
reduction in rent and depreciation in value, if any, of the rest
of the holding, will be settled, in case of difference, by a
reference under the Act, but with no power of appeal from the
decision of referees or umpire.

Provision as to Limited Owners (§ 42).—Lest the powers of
limited owners under this Act should suffer undue restraint
so far as concerns the improvement of the land and. tenants’
compensation, it is provided that, subject to the special arrange-

VOL, XX.—S. S. E

50 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

ments made in §§ 35-40 for improvements on Crown, duchy,
ecclesiastical and charity lands, “a landlord, whatever may be
his estate or interest in his holding, may give any consent, make
any agreement, or do or have done to him any act in relation to
improvements in respect of which compensation is payable
under this Act,” as though he were owner in fee if his estate
is one of inheritance, or if he be a lessee, as though he were
possessed of the whole estate in the leasehold. A landlord who
is tenant for life, therefore, may, for all purposes of this Act,
be regarded as owner in fee. In the case of a leasehold, any
person for the time being “entitled to receive the rents and
profits of any holding” which is the subject of the lease may act
and be treated as though he had the whole estate under the
lease ; and his powers will extend over the whole term of the
lease, and will not be limited by his interest in the lease.

Provision in case of Reservation of Rent (§ 43).—Life tenants,
not excepting corporations sole and aggregate, have frequently
abused their powers by leasing settled property at low rents, in
~-consideration of fines or lump sums applied for their own
benefit, at the expense of the persons entitled in reversion or
remainder. To guard against this abuse, it is generally pro-
vided in statutes, or in the deed of settlement, that leases should
‘only be made at the best rent, or reservation in the nature of rent,
which can be obtained. It would be necessary, in strict com-
pliance with such provisions, that sitting tenants, on the expira-
tion and renewal of their leases, should have their rents raised
upon the improved value due to their own improvements. In
order to protect sitting tenants against rack-rentals imposed
under this obligation, which is often considered imperative by
trustees and others, § 43 relieves landlords from any obligation
so imposed, whether by statute, deed, or other instrument.
Henceforth they need not “ take into account against the tenant
the increase (if any) in the value of his holding arising from any
improvements made or paid for by him on such holding.” They
are not, however, prohibited from doing so; the section only
says “it shall not be necessary” for them to do so; in other
words, they are left to make an equitable arrangement in view
of the circumstances of each case.

DISTRESS.

In 1882 a Committee of the House of Commons was appointed
to consider the law of distress. The Chairman was Mr. Goschen,
and the Report and Minutes of Evidence contain a body of
valuable information as to the origin of the law, the successive
changes made in it, and its practical working. The first statute

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 51

regulating it was passed in the year 1267, but distress had existed
long before. It was the method employed under the feudal
system for compelling tenants to pay the rent or perform the
services agreed upon. ‘The statutes passed seem to have been
chiefly designed to mitigate its rigour under the common law, as,
e.g., that distresses should be reasonable ;* that things taken
in distress should not be removed from the county; that cattle
distrained should not be driven out of the hundred, &c. :{ that
no man should be distrained for more service in respect of any
freehold than was due.t The lord’s remedy was limited to
the seizure of goods which were held as pledges until payment
made or service rendered, and could then be returned to the tenant
without deterioration. In 1689 this remedy was extended to
sheaves of corn and hay, which at common law could not be
distrained, but were then allowed to be so taken for rent.§ In
1737 live-stock, grass, hops, and other produce were included
among the subjects of distraint.|| The origin of a modern rule
may be found in a statute of the year 1300, that distress should
not be made on beasts of the plough, nor on sheep, so long as

_ there was any other subject of distress.{]

The abolition in 1880 of the law of hypothec in Scotland
added to the strength of the feeling that some modification
should be made in the English law, limiting the six years’
rent for which a landlord could distrain, and also his power
over agisted cattle and hired machinery. In Scotland, however,
as the Lord Advocate informed the Committee, a landlord still .
enjoys special protection, notwithstanding the legislation of 1880,
for, when six months’ rent remains unpaid, he may sue for it
before the Judge Ordinary and obtain a decree of removal
against the tenant, unless the tenant finds security not only for
the rent due but for the rent of the next five years. Under the
law of hypothec, too, a landlord in Scotland might prevent his
tenants from disposing of their crops before the rent became
due, a power never possessed by landlords in England.

From the evidence taken by the Committee it appeared that,
on the whole, farm-tenants did not favour the total abolition of
a landlord’s right to distrain, but thought it should be retained
with modifications, on grounds set forth in the Report, the
most important of which may be thus summarised :—

1. That if it were abolished, some law or conditions in the
creation of tenancies more objectionable, and possibly injurious,
would of necessity be introduced, such as rent paid in advance ;

* 92 Henry 3, c. 4. § 2 William and Mary, c. 5, s. 3.
+ 1 Philip and Mary, c. 12, s. 1. || 11 Geo. 2, c. 19, ss. 8, 9.
¢ 25 Edward 1 (Magna Carta), ec, 10. G 28 Edward 1, c, 12.

E 2

52 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

finding security; bills of sale; stringent power. of immediate
re-entry.

2. That it is a cheap and easy remedy, rarely enforced by
landlords, but one properly belonging to them, as the credit they
give to a tenant cannot be stopped at pleasure, and their claims
are thus of necessity always accruing. Moreover, in case of a
tenant’s insolvency, landlords would, without a preferential right
over any other creditor, be in a worse position than any other
creditor, since they might not only lose their rent, but be com-
pelled to resume possession of their land seriously depreciated
in letting value by bad cultivation.

3. That the operation of a law of distress is favourable to
small tenants, who may thereby obtain credit from their land-
lords, equivalent to a considerable advance of money without
interest. Thus an opening is given to rising men of skill
and industry, but of small capital ; such men on the poorer kinds
of soil often proving the best cultivators.

On the other hand, the arguments urged against the law were—

1. That its existence “leads to undue competition for farms,
and induces owners (especially needy ones) to accept as eligible
tenants persons with insufficient means, one effect being to
raise the rent to solvent men; and that the repeal of the law
would prove an additional incentive to landowners to secure
first-class tenants.”

2. That it “impairs the general credit of tenant-farmers” by
giving the landlord “ an unfair preference over other creditors,”
whereas “there is no difference in the commercial position of
the landlord who supplies the land and the man who supplies
any other commodity.”

3. “ That it encourages bad farming, and leads to diminished
production.” *

The recommendations of the Committee, made in July, 1882,
have been closely followed in the Act now under consideration,
and no better testimony could be borne to the value of their
inquiry and the precision with which they set forth the neces-
sary changes in the law. Their first suggestion was that the
law of distress should be modified, not abolished, and that the
right of distraint should be restricted to one year’s rent, this right
only to be exercised within six months after the year’s rent had
become due. ,

* Report of Select Committee on the Law of Distress, 1882, pp. 4, 5. It is
right to mention that the report was drafted by Mr. Salt. The other members
of the Committee were Mr. Goschen, Mr. Heneage, Sir Massey Lopes, Mr. Cropper,
Sir William Hart Dyke, Mr. Blennerhassett, Colonel Brise, Mr. Duckham,
Mr. Biddell, Sir Joseph Pease, Mr. Fellows, Mr. James Howard, Mr. Akers-
Douglas, Dr. Commins, Sir Gabriel Goldney, Mr, Rendel.

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 53

Limitation of Distress in respect of Amount and Time.—Accord-
ingly, § 44 prohibits any landlord after January 1, 1884, from
distraining under § 54, on any holding to which the Act ap-
plies, for rent due more than one year before the distress is made.
There is an exception in the case of back rents due on hold-
ings which were let on January 1, 1884; arrears of rent will be
recoverable by distress on these holdings up to January 1, 1885,
to the same extent as if this Act had not passed. Another
exception applies to the numerous cases in which landlords
allow their tenants to defer payment of rent for a quarter or
half-year after it is properly due. Clearly, landlords ought
not to suffer by continuing this privilege, and, on the other
hand, tenants would think it hard to be deprived of this
privilege by a law passed in their interests. This quarter or
half-year of grace will not, therefore, count in limiting the land-
lord’s right of distraint ; the year’s rent, for purposes of distraint,
will be deemed to have become due at the expiration of such
quarter. or half-year, and not at the date at which it legally
became due.

Current tenancies, it will be seen, come under the operation
of § 44, before the Act, as a whole, takes full effect with
. Tespect to them. The section also applies to leases as well as
tenancies from year to year. Landlords have the present year
in which to recover arrears of rent by distress upon tenancies
current on January 1, 1884. Afterwards, in all cases, their
preferential right over other creditors will be limited to a year’s
rent, for which, save in the excepted cases, they must distrain
within the year. For arrears beyond the one year’s rent, they
will rank with other creditors, and must recover by ordinary
course of law.

Limitation of Distress in respect of Things to be distrained
(§ 45).—Certain incidents in the law of distress, allowing the
seizure of agisted stock, have long been felt to be harsh and
unreasonable ; and there have been cases in which this right has
been rigidly exercised by landlords. Not only did the right to
distrain extend to cattle taken by the tenant on tack ; it included,
under certain circumstances, a stranger’s cattle trespassing upon
the holding by their owner’s negligence, or (according to an old
decision) cattle straying there through insufficient fences on the
holding, if they had continued there for a night and a day, with
notice meanwhile to the owner.* Many attempts have been
made to alter the law, with a view to exempt agisted stock from
distress, and in 1881 Mr. Chaplin introduced a Bill with this
object, which passed through Committee, but did not become law.

* Povle v. Longueville, 2 Saunders, 289.

54 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

In principle something was to be said for the landlord’s right.
Cattle, sheep, or horses, taken by a tenant on tack, deprive the
landlord of his security for rent in proportion to their con-
sumption of the growing crops; and for this reason some farm
agreements prohibit agistment without his consent. The land-
lord has therefore a right to demand, in respect of agisted
stock, such a sum as fairly represents the value of the crops so
consumed ; and the best measure of this value is the sum agreed
to be paid for the agistment, if it is a bond&-fide payment, not
arranged with a view to cut down or defeat the landlord’s claim.
Beyond the recovery of this sum, the landlord’s right over
agisted stock is, to say the least, unreasonable.

Such, indeed, was the limit imposed upon the landlord’s
right in Scotland more than fifteen years ago. The Hypothec
Amendment Act of 1867* provided that, if a farm-tenant or
lessee took any sheep, cattle, or other live-stock, to be grazed
or fed, for a bond fide payment equal to the just value of such
grazing or feeding, the landlord’s hypothec in respect of them
should extend only to the amount thus paid, and no further ;
and in case of their removal the right of hypothec only ex-
tended to the amount unpaid. The Committee of 1882, there-
fore, had an authoritative precedent in recommending, as they
did, with regard to agisted stock, that “the limit of distress
should be the consideration payable for the grazing to the farmer
who takes in the stock.” But they went further, in also recom-
mending “that provision be made for the protection of ma-
chinery not the property of the tenant; also that animals, not
the property of the tenant, temporarily upon the holding for
breeding purposes, be exempt.”

Section 45 exactly embodies these suggestions. It provides
that if a tenant takes “live stock” to be fed “at a fair price,”
such stock shall not be distrained at all when other sufficient
subjects of distress can be found; and, if so distrained, the land-
lord can only recover in respect of such stock the sum agreed to
be paid for agistment, or any unpaid portion of it. “Live
stock” is defined to mean “any animal capable of being dis-
trained” t (§ 61). At any time before sale, the owner of the
stock may redeem it by paying the sum due for agistment, and
this payment frees the owner from any like claim by the tenant.
So long as any portion of the agisted stock remains on the
holding, the right to distrain continues, to the full extent of the
sum agreed to be paid for the feeding of the whole of the stock,

* 30 & 31 Vict. c. 42, 8. 5.

t+ Animals fere nature are not within this category, though it has been held
that the exception does not apply if they are kept in a private enclosure for
purposes of trade or profit, and deer so enclosed haye been distrained.

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 5d°

or, in case of a bond fide payment in part, then to the full
extent of the balance. It would seem that the landlord’s right
under § 45 might be defeated if the owner of the stock paid
to the tenant in advance, in good faith, the whole sum agreed.

In accordance with the recommendations of the Committee,
§ 45 also exempts from distraint (a) agricultural or other
machinery hired by a tenant under a bond fide agreement for its
use in the conduct of his business; and (d) live stock of alk
kinds belonging to sirabpanyy and on the tenant’s premises for
breeding purposes.

Remedy for Wrongful Distr ess under the Act (§ 46).—As for
recovery of compensation, so for the settlement of disputes as
to distress, the object of the statute is to provide the simplest
and cheapest process. It has been already stated that landlords
seldom resort to distress ; but the new limitation as to time may
make it necessary for them todo so more frequently. Disputes
will therefore be more frequent concerning alleged wrongful
levies; the ownership of stock, agisted or belonging to the
tenant; whether the price agreed ‘to be paid for the grazing is
a fair price.” These and other differences relating to distress
may be tried and disposed of in the County Court, or before the
magistrates in Petty Sessions, either of which tribunals may
order the restoration of any live stock or things unlawfully
distrained, or may decide as to the price of the grazing where
this is to be ascertained, “or may make any other order which
justice requires.” Proceedings in either Court will no doubt
be initiated upon summons taken out by the aggrieved person.
An appeal will lie from any decision to a Court of Quarter
Sessions. The appellant, however, must “ give such security to
the other party as the Court may think just,” a necessary pro-
Vision, as otherwise a tenant might appeal for the mere purpose
of delaying or escaping payment. In order to prevent any
litigious person from swelling the costs of litigation, § 48 pro-
hibits the removal of proceedings relating to distress from the
County Court or Petty Sessions into the High Court of Justice.

Set-off of Compensation against Rent (§ 47).—Another proper
and beneficial change in the law in the tenant’s interest is made
by this section agreeably to the recommendation of the Com-
mittee of 1882. “ The law of distress,” as they reported, “ enables
the landlord to distrain for the full amount of rent due, without
allowing for any counter-claim which the tenant may have
secured to him under agreement against his landlord ; and some
cases of great hardship have been given in evidence where
tenants have had to resort to action at law for the recovery of
theirclaims. Provision should be made to meet this difficulty.”
Accordingly § 47 puts an end to this one-sided state of the

56 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883,

law by providing that upon distraint a tenant may set off
against the rent any compensation then ascertained to be due
under the Act or under any custom or contract ; and the land-
lord can only distrain for the balance.

Limitation of Costs in case of Distress (§ 49)—An Act
passed in 1817* regulates the costs and charges in cases of
distress for sums not exceeding 20/. The Committee of 1882
recommended that the same scale should apply to distress for
rent up to 50/.; and they called attention to the “heavy and
_umnecessary costs incident to the processes of distress and the
sale of effects.” Section 49 goes even further than the suggestion
here made, for, leaving the existing statutory scale in force as to
distress levied generally for sums not exceeding 20/., it enacts
the following scale of costs and charges, which are to regulate
all distraints for rent above 20/. on holdings to which the Act
applies :—

‘1. Levying distress. Three per cent. on any sum exceeding
201. and not exceeding 50/. Two and a half per cent. on any
sum exceeding 50/.

“2. To bailiff for levy, 17. 1s.

“3. To men in possession, if boarded, 3s. Gd. per day; if
not boarded, 5s. per day.

‘4, For advertisements, the sum actually paid.

“5. To auctioneer. For sale 5/. per cent. on the sum
realised, not exceeding 100J., and 4/. per cent. on any additional
sum realised, not exceeding 100/,; and on any sum exceeding
200/., 3/. per cent. A fraction of 1/. to be in all cases con-
sidered 1/.

“6, Reasonable costs and charges where distress is with-
drawn, or where no sale takes place, and for negotiations
between landlord and tenant respecting the distress; such
costs and charges, in case the parties differ, to be taxed by the
Registrar of the County Court of the district in which the
distress is made.”

The power of taxation given to the County Court Registrar
carries out another useful suggestion made by the Committee of
1882.

Appraisement and Sale at Public Auction (§ 50).—An Act
passed in the year 16897 required that, before the sale of goods
distrained, they should be appraised by two persons sworn by
the Sheriff to appraise truly. By general consent among the
witnesses examined in 1882 this process was condemned.
Auctioneers were entitled to 24 per cent. for appraisement, but
it was of no practical value, except in very rare cases where

* 57 Geo. 8, c. 93. f 2 Will. and Mary, c. 5, s, 1.

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. oT

tenants wished to take to the goods at a valuation; as a rule,
appraisement was “only useful to hang a charge upon.”* It
was also said to involve considerable abuse and extortion, and
the landlord was liable to the tenant in such cases.| The Com-
mittee therefore recommended that appraisement previous to
sale should be omitted ; and, with a view to some supervision
over this class of officials, they were of opinion “that bailiffs
should be approved by the County Court Judge of the district
in which they act, and be subject to removal by him for
extortion or misconduct.”

Agreeably to these suggestions, § 50 repeals the Act of 1689
as to the appraisement of goods distrained before sale, and
further provides, with a view to secure better prices, that
the goods may be removed to a public auction-room, or other
fit and proper place, and sold there. This was another recom-
mendation of the Select Committee. If the tenant wishes the
goods to be removed, he must make a written request to this
effect, and pay the expenses of removal, and of any damage
done in removing the goods.

Bailiffs to be appointed by the County Court.—The second
portion of the Committee’s recommendation just given is
carried into effect by § 52, which provides that after January 1,
1884, all bailiffs entitled to levy distress on any holdings to
which the Act applies must be appointed in writing by the
County Court Judges, who are required to choose a competent
number of fit and proper persons to act in this capacity; and
these bailiffs may be summarily dismissed, if proved guilty of
extortion or other misconduct in the execution of their duty.
There is good reason why this class of persons, in town as well
as in country, should be held responsible for abuse of their
authority ; but § 52 deals only with holdings under the Act.

Extension of Time to Replevy at Request of Tenant (§ 51).—
The Act of 1689, already quoted, allowed a tenant five days for
replevying. The Select Committee were of opinion that the time
during which a bailiff might remain in possession should be
extended to fifteen days, and that no sale should take place
sooner if the tenant desired this delay. Section 51 accordingly
provides that, in holdings to which the Act applies, tenants
may replevy goods and chattels distrained during this extended
time of fifteen days, but they must make a written request to
the landlord, or other person levying the distress, and also give
security for any additional costs incurred through any delay of
the sale. If both parties concur, the goods and chattels dis-

* Report of Committee on Law of Distress; evidence of Mr. E. L. Cave,

‘solicitor, pp. 191, 193.

t 1b., evidence of Sir Henry James, p. 196.

58 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

trained may be sold, in whole or in part, before the fifteen days
expire. This can only be done, however, with the tenant’s
written consent.

It is seldom that a Committee’s report proves so fruitful in
legislation; both landlords and tenants have reason to be
grateful to the Select Committee of 1882 for the thoroughness
of their inquiry, and the practical recommendations which have
modified what was in some respects a harsh law, and brought it
into harmony with public opinion without any sacrifice of prin-
ciple. Whether tenants will benefit on the whole by diminishing
the landlord’s security for his rent is a question which experience
alone will settle. Other parts of the Act suggest the same
problem. That it will make tenants more independent, and
place their relations with landlords on a more strictly com-
mercial basis than heretofore, is a result which was certainly
inevitable, and may perhaps in the long run prove beneficial in
promoting the cultivation of the soil. It must make landlords
even more careful than they now are in letting their farms, for
the Act gives opportunities of which unscrupulous tenants may
avail themselves to give much trouble, and put landlords to
much expense in resisting unfounded claims. Fortunately,
neither tenants nor landlords as a class come within this
category; there is in both a fund of right feeling, of good
sense, and mutual forbearance, which may be reckoned on with
confidence in the new relations which the Act of 1883 will
develop.

Though in principle it is hard to justify retrospective legisla-
tion in favour of a class, and though in this respect and in its
interference with the law of contract the Act may set, I fear,
a bad example and precedent, still its practical results will not
be formidable in either direction. Some time must pass before
the new difficulties in valuing tenant-right are overcome, and
a fair basis of value established, though these difficulties have
been exaggerated. Doubtful points in the statute will also have
to be construed, and its practical working cannot all at once be
understood. Meanwhile its immediate effect must be to pro-
mote agreements which fairly carry out the spirit of the Act.
It is impossible, of course, to predict what the ingenuity of
draftsmen may by-and-by accomplish in evading obligations
which Parliament has sought to impose. I do not agree with
the commentators who think they have already discovered the
necessary loopholes in the Act, and that it will not be hard
for landowners to contract themselves out of it. I am sure, too,
that this will not be the spirit by which landlords will generally
be guided in acting under its provisions. Agreements adapted
to the special circumstances of various estates and holdings

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. oo

there will inevitably be; but these agreements will, as a rule,
embody the “ fair and reasonable” compensation mentioned in
the statute. In the long run it cannot be the interest of either
landlords or tenants to invite litigation by trying, on the one
hand, to escape from paying the fair compensation contemplated
by Parliament, or, on the other hand, by making unreasonable
claims in order to pile up compensation. Allowing for excep-
tional cases, which occur now and must be expected hereafter,
we may fairly trust to the self-interest of the two parties, to say
nothing of the old confidence which for so many ages has
governed the relations of English landlords and tenants, to make
the Agricultural Holdings Act, 1883, in practice a useful and
beneficial measure. That it is meanwhile “an honest attempt
to settle a difficult question” is a judgment pronounced in its
favour by a thoroughly competent as well as impartial witness.*

AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS (ENGLAND) ACT, 1883.
f46 & 47 Vict. Ch. 61.]

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS.
PART I,
IMPROVEMENTS.
Compensution for Improvements.

Section
1. General right of tenant to compensation.

"As to Improvements executed before the Commencement of Act.
. Restriction as to improvements before Act.

bo

As to Improvements executed after the Commencement of Act.

. Consent of landlord as to improvement in First Schedule, Part I.
. Notice to landlord as to improvement in First Schedule, Part II.
. Reservation as to existing and future contracts of tenancy.

OU Go

Regulations as to Compensation for Improvements.

. Regulations as to compensation for improvements.

. &

Procedure.
. Notice of intended claim.
. Compensation agreed or settled by reference.
. Appointment of referee or referees and umpire.
10. Requisition for appointment of umpire by Land Commissioners, &e.

ooO-1

* The Duke of Richmond and Gordon, in his speech at Chichester already cited.

60

Section
he

12.

13.

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

Exercise of powers of county court.

Mode of submission to reference.

Power for referee, &c. to require production of documents, administer
oaths, &c.

. Power to proceed in absence.

. Form of award.

. Time for award of referee or referees.

. Award in respect of compensation under ss. 3, 4, and 4.
. Reference to and award by umpire. :
. Award to give particulars.

. Costs of reference.

. Day for payment.

. Submission not to be removable, &c.

. Appeal to county court.

. Recovery of Compensation.

. Appointment of guardian.

. Provisions respecting married women.

. Costs in county court.

. Service of notice, &c.

Charge of Tenant's Compensation.

. Power for landlord on paying compensation to obtain charge,
. Incidence of charge.

. Provision in case of trustee.

. Advance made by a company.

Notice to Quit.

. Time of notice to quit.

Fixtures.

. Tenant’s property in fixtures, machinery, &c.

Crown and Duchy Lands.

. Application of Act to Crown Lands.
. Application of Act to land of Duchy of Lancaster.
. Application of Act to land of Duchy of Cornwall.

Ecclesiastical and Charity Lands.

. Landlord, archbishop or bishop.
. Landlord, incumbent of benefice.
. Landlord, charity trustees, &c.

Resumption for Improvements, and Miscellaneous.

. Resumption of possession for cottages, &c.
2. Provision as to limited owners.
. Provision in case of reservation of rent.

PART II.

Distress, '

. Limitation of distress in respect of amount and time.

. Limitation of distress in respect of things to be distrained.
. Remedy for wrongful distress under this Act.

. Set-off of compensation against rent.

. Exclusion of certiorari.

‘

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. GL

Section
, 49. Limitation of costs in case of distress.
50. Repeal of 2 W. and M. c. 5, s. 1, as to appraisement and sale at public
auction.
51. Extension of time to replevy at request of tenant.
52. Bailiffs to be appointed by county court judges.

PART III.
General Provisions.

53. Commencement of Act.

54. Holdings to which Act applies.

55. Avoidance of Agreement inconsistent with Act.

56. Right of tenant in respect of improvement purchased from outgoing
tenant.

57. Compensation under this Act to be exclusive.

58. Provision as to change of tenancy.

59. Restriction in respect of improvements by tenants about to quit.

60. General saving of rights.

61. Interpretation.

62. Repeal of Acts of 1875 and 1876.

63. Short title of Act.

64. Limits of Act.

CHAPTER 61.

An Act for amending the Law relating to Agricultural Holdings in England.
; [25th August 1883.]

Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the
advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in
this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as
follows:

PART I.
IMPROVEMENTS.
Compensation for Improvements.

1. General right of tenant to compensation.—Subject as in this Act men-
tioned, where a tenant has made on his holding any improvement comprised
in the First Schedule hereto, he shall, on and after the commencement of
this Act, be entitled on quitting his holding at the determination of a
tenancy to obtain from the landlord as compensation under this Act for such
improvement such sum as fairly represents the value of the improvement to
an incoming tenant: Provided always, that in estimating the value of any
improvement in the First Schedule hereto there shall not be taken into
account as part of the improvement made by the tenant what is justly due to
the inherent capabilities of the soil.

As to Improvements executed before the Commencement of Act.

2. Restrictions as to improvements before Act.—Compensation under this
Act shall not be payable in respect of improvements executed before the
commencement of this Act, with the exceptions following, that—

(1.) Where a tenant has within ten years before the commencement or

this Act made an improvement mentioned in the third part of the First
Schedule hereto, and he is not entitled under any contract, or custom, or

62 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

under the Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1875, to compensation
in respect of such improvement; or

(2.) Where a tenant has executed an improvement mentioned in the first
or second part of the said First Schedule within ten years previous to
the commencement of this Act, and he is not entitled under any con-
tract, or custom, or under the Agricultural Holdings (England) Act,
1875, to compensation in respect of such improvement, and the landlord
within one year after the commencement of this Act declares in writing
his consent to the making of such improvement, then such tenant on
quitting his holding at the determination of a tenancy after the com-
mencement of this Act may claim compensation under this Act in
respect of such improvement in the same manner as if this Act had been
in force at the time of the execution of such improvement.

As to Improvements executed after the Commencement of Act.

- 3. Consent of landlord as to improvement in First Schedule, Part I.—
Compensation under this Act shall not be payable in respect of any improve-
ment mentioned in the first part of the First Schedule hereto, and executed
after the commencement of this Act, unless the landlord, or his agent duly
authorised in that behalf, has, previously to the execution of the improve-
ment and after the passing of this Act, consented in writing to the making of
such improvement, and any such consent may be given by the landlord un-
conditionally, or upon such terms as to compensation, or otherwise, as may be
agreed upon between the landlord and the tenant, and in the event of any
agreement being made between the landlord and the tenant, any compensation
payable thereunder shall be deemed to be substituted for compensation under
this Act.

4. Notice to landlord as to improvement in First Schedule, Part IT—
Compensation under this Act shall not be payable in respect of any improve-
ment mentioned in the second part of the First Schedule hereto, and executed
after the commencement of this Act, unless the tenant has, not more than
three months and not less than two months before beginning to execute such
improvement, given to the landlord, or his agent duly authorised in that
behalf, notice in writing of his intention so to do, and of the manner in which
he proposes to do the intended work, and upon such notice being given, the
landlord and tenant may agree on the terms as to compensation or otherwise
on which the improvement is to be executed, and in the event of any such
agreement being made, any compensation payable thereunder shall be deemed
to be substituted for compensation under this Act, or the landlord may,
unless the notice of the tenant is previously withdrawn, undertake to execute
the improvement himself, and may execute the same in any reasonable and
proper manner which he thinks fit, and charge the tenant with a sum not
exceeding five pounds per centum per annum on the outlay incurred in
executing the improvement, or not exceeding such annual sum payable for a
period of twenty-five years as will repay such outlay in the said period, with
interest at the rate of three per centum per annum, such annual sum to be
recoverable as rent. In default of any such agreement or undertaking, and
also in the event of the landlord failing to comply with his undertaking
within a reasonable time, the tenant may execute the improvement himself,
and shall in respect thereof be entitled to compensation under this Act.

The landlord and tenant may, if they think fit, dispense with any notice
under this section, and come to an agreement in a lease or otherwise between
themselves in the same manner and of the same validity as if such notice had
been given.

5. Reservation as to existing and future contracts of tenancy.—Where,
in the case of a tenancy under a contract of tenancy current at the com-

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 63

mencement of this Act, any agreement in writing or custom, or the Agri-
cultural Holdings (England) Act, 1875, provides specific compensation for any
improvement comprised in the First Schedule hereto, compensation in respect
of such improvement, although executed after the commencement of this Act,
shall be payable in pursuance of such agreement, custom, or Act of Parlia-
ment, and shall be deemed to be substituted for compensation under this Act.

Where in the case of a tenancy under a contract of tenancy beginning
after the commencement of this Act, any particular agreement in writing
secures to the tenant for any improvement mentioned in the third part of the
First Schedule hereto, and executed after the commencement of this Act, fair
and reasonable compensation, having regard to the circumstances existing at
the time of making such agreement, then in such case the compensation in
respect of such improvement shall be payable in pursuance of the particular
agreement, and shall be deemed.to be substituted for compensation under
this Act.

The last preceding provision_of this section relating to a particular agree-
ment shall apply in the case of a tenancy under a contract of tenancy current
at the commencement of this Act in respect of an improvement. mentioned in
the third part of the First Schedule hereto, specific compensation for which is
not provided by any agreement in writing, or custom, or the Agricultural
Holdings Act, 1875.

Regulations as to Compensation for Improvements.

6. Regulations as to compensation for improvements.—In the ascertain-
ment of the amount of the compensation under this Act payable to the
tenant in respect of any improvement there shall be taken into account in
reduction thereof :

_ (a.) Any benefit which the landlord has given or allowed to the tenant in
consideration of the tenant executing the improvement; and

(b.) In the case of compensation for manures the value of the manure that
would have been produced by the consumption on the holding of an
hay, straw, roots, or green crops sold off or removed from the holding
within the last two years of the tenancy or other less time for which the
tenancy has endured, except as far as a proper return of manure to the
holding has been made in respect of such produce so sold off or removed
therefrom ; and

(c.) Any sums due to the landlord in respect of rent or in respect of any
waste committed or permitted by the tenant, or in respect of any breach
of covenant or other agreement connected with the contract of tenancy
committed by the tenant, also any taxes, rates, and tithe rentcharge due
or becoming due in respect of the holding to which the tenant is liable as
between him and the landlord.

There shall be taken into account in augmentation of the tenant’s com-

pensation—

(d.) Any sum due to the tenant for compensation in respect of a breach ot
covenant or other agreement connected with a contract of tenancy and
committed by the landlord.

Nothing in this section shall enable a landlord to obtain under this Act
compensation in respect of waste by the tenant or of breach by the tenant
committed or permitted in relation to a matter of husbandry more than four
years before the determination of the tenancy.

Procedure.

7. Notice of intended claim—A tenant claiming compensation under this
Act shall, two months at least before the determination of the tenancy, give
notice in writing to the landlord of his intention to make such claim,

64 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

Where a tenant gives such notice, the landlord may, before the determina-
tion of the tenancy, or within fourteen days thereafter, give a counter-notice
in writing to the tenant of his intention to make a claim in respect of any
waste or any breach of covenant or other agreement.

Every such notice and counter-notice shall state, as far as reasonably may
be, the particulars and amount of the intended claim.

8. Compensation agreed or settled by reference—The landlord and the
tenant may agree on the amount and mode and time of payment of com-
pensation to be paid under this Act.

If in any case they do not so agree the difference shall be settled by a
eference.

9. Appointment of referee or referees and umpire—Where there is a
reference under this Act, a referee, or two referees and an umpire, shall be
appointed as follows :-—

(1.) If the parties concur, there may be a single referee appointed by them

jointly:

(2.) If before award the single referee dies or becomes incapable of acting,
or for seven days after notice from the parties, or either of them,
requiring him to act, fails to act, the proceedings shall begin afresh, as
if no referee had been appointed :

(3-) If the parties do not concur in the appointment of a single referee,
each of them shall appoint a referee :

(4.) If before award one of two referees dies or becomes incapable of
acting, or for seven days after notice from either party requiring 4im to
act, fails to act, the party appointing him shall appoint another referee :

(5.) Notice of every appointment ofa referee by either party shall be given
to the other party:

(6.) If for fourteen days after notice by one party to the other to appoint a
referee, or another referee, the other party fails to do so, then, on the
application of the party giving notice, the county court shall within
fourteen days appoint a competent and impartial person to be a referee :

(7.) Where two referees are appointed, then (subject to the provisions of
this Act) they shall before they enter on the reference appoint an
umpire:

(8.) If before award an umpire dies or becomes incapable of acting, the
referees shall appoint another umpire:

(9.) If for seven days after request from either party the referees fail to
appoint an umpire, or another umpire, then, on the application of either
party, the county court shall within fourteen days appoint a competen
and impartial person to be the umpire.

(10.) Every appointment, notice, and request under this section shall be in
writing.

10. Requisition Sor appointment of umpire by Land Commissioners, &e.—
Provided that, where two referees are appointed, an umpire may be appointed
as follows :—

(1.) If either party, on appointing a referee, requires, by notice in writing
to the other, that the umpire shall be appointed by the Land Com-
missioners for England, then the umpire, and any successor to him, shall
be appointed, on the application of either party, by those commissioners.

(2.) In every other case, if either party on appointing a referee requires, by
notice in writing to the other, that the umpire shall be appointed by the
county court, then, unless the other party dissents by notice in writing
therefrom, the umpire, and any successor to him, shall on the application
of either party be so appointed, and in case of ‘such dissent the umpire,
and any successor to him, shall be appointed, on the application of either
party, by the Land Commissioners for England.

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 65

11. Evwercise of powers of county court.—The powers of the county court
under this Act relative to the appointment of a referee or umpire shall be
exercisable by the judge of the court having jurisdiction, whether he is without
or within his district, and may, by consent of the parties, be exercised by the
registrar of the court.

12. Mode of submission to reference.—The delivery to a referee of his
appointment shall be deemed a submission to a reference by the party
delivering it ; and neither party shall have power to revoke a submission, or
the appointment of a referee, without the consent of the other.

13. Power for referee, &c., to require production of documents, administer
oaths, &c.—The referee or referees or umpire may call for the production of
any sample, or voucher, or other document, or other evidence which is in the
possession or power of either party, or which either party can produce, and
which to the referee or referees or umpire seems necessary for determination
of the matters referred, and may take the examination of the parties and
witnesses on oath, and may administer oaths and take affirmations; and if
any person so sworn or affirming wilfully and corruptly gives false evidence
he shall be guilty of perjury.

14. Power to proceed in absence.—The referee or referees or umpire may
proceed in the absence of either party where the same appears to him or them
expedient, after notice given to the parties.

15. Form of award.—Vhe award shall be in writing, signed by the referee
or referees or umpire.

16. Lime for award of referee or referees.—A single referee shall make his
award ready for delivery within twenty-eight days after his appointment.

Two referees shall make their award ready for delivery within twenty-eight
days after the appointment of the last appointed of them, or within such

‘extended time (if any) as they from time to time jointly fix by writing under

their hands, so that they make their award ready for delivery within a time
not exceeding in the whole forty-nine days after the appointment of the last.
appointed of them.

17. Award in respect of compensation under ss. 3, 4, and 5.—In any case
provided for by sections three, four, or five, if compensation is claimed under this
Act, such compensation as under any of those sections is to be deemed to be
substituted for compensation under this Act, if, and so far as the same can,
consistently with the terms of the agreement, if any, be ascertained by the
referees or the umpire, shall be awarded in respect of any improvements
thereby provided for, and the award shall, when necessary, distinguish such
improvements and the amount awarded in respect thereof; and an award
given under this section shall be subject to the appeal provided by this Act.

18. Reference to and award by umpire.—W here two referees are appointed
and act, if they fail to make their award ready for delivery within the time
aforesaid, then, on the expiration of that time, their authority shall cease, and
thereupon the matters referred to them shall stand referred to the umpire.

The umpire shall make his award ready for delivery within twenty-eight
days after notice in writing given to him by either party or referee of the
reference to him, or within such extended time (if any) as the registrar of the
county court from time to time appoints, on the application of the umpire or
of either party, made before the expiration of the time appointed by or
extended under this section.

19. Award to give particulars.—The award shall not award a sum generally
for compensation, but shall, so far as possible, specify—

(a.) The several improvements, acts, and things in respect whereof com-
pensation is awarded, and the several matters and things taken into
account under the provisions of this Act in reduction or augmentation of
such compensation ;

VOL. XX.—S. S. F

66 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

(b.) The time at which each improvement, act, or thing was executed, done,

committed, or permitted ;

(c.) The sum awarded in respect of each improvement, act, matter, and

thing ; and

(d.) Where the landlord desires to charge his estate with the amount of

compensation found due to the tenant, the time at which, for the purposes
of such charge, each improvement, act, or thing in respect of which com-
pensation is awarded is to be deemed to be exhausted.

20. Costs of reference.—The costs of and attending the reference, including
the remuneration of the referee or referees and umpire, where the umpire has
been required to act, and including other proper expenses, shall be borne and
paid by the parties in such proportion as to the referee or referees or umpire
appears just, regard being had to the reasonableness or unreasonableness of
the claim of either party in respect of amount, or otherwise, and to all the

“circumstances of the case.

The award may direct the payment of the whole or any part of the costs
aforesaid by the one party to the other.

The costs aforesaid shall be subject to taxation by the registrar of the
county court, on the application of either party, but that taxation shall be
subject to review by the judge of the county court.

21. Day for payment.—The award shall fix a day, not sooner than one
month after the delivery of the award, for the payment of money awarded for
compensation, costs, or otherwise.

22. Submission not to be removable, &c.—A submission or award shall not
be made a rule of any court, or be removable by any process into any court,
and an award shall not be questioned otherwise than as provided by this Act.

23. Appeal to county court.—Where the sum claimed for compensation
exceeds one hundred pounds, either party may, within seven days after
delivery of the award, appeal against it to the judge of the county court on
all or any of the following grounds:

1. That the award is invalid ;

2. 'That the award proceeds wholly or in part upon an improper application
of or upon the omission properly to apply the special provisions of
sections three, four, or five of this Act;

3. That compensation has been awarded for improvements, acts, or things,
breaches of covenants or agreements, or for committing or permitting
waste, in respect of which the party claiming was not entitled to
compensation ;

4. That compensation has not been awarded for improvements, acts, or
things, breaches of covenants or agreements, or for committing or
permitting waste, in respect of which the party claiming was entitled
to compensation ;

and the judge shall hear and determine the appeal, and may, in bis discretion,
remit the case to be reheard as to the whole or any part thereof by the
referee or referees or umpire, with such directions as he may think fit.

If no appeal is so brought, the award shall be final.

The decision of the judge of the county court on appeal shall be final, save
that the judge shall, at the request of either party, state a special case on
a question of law for the judgment of the High Court of Justice, and the
decision of the High Court on the case, and respecting costs and any other
matter connected therewith, shall be final, and the judge of the county court
shall act thereon.

24, Recovery of compensation—Where any money agreed or awarded or
ordered on appeal to be paid for compensation, costs, or otherwise, is not paid
within fourteen days after the time when it is agreed or awarded or ordered to
be paid, it shall be recoverable upon order made by the judge of the county

aaa

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1882. 67

court, as money ordered by a county court under its ordinary jurisdiction to
be paid is recoverable.

25. Appointment of guardian.—Where a landlord or tenant is an infant
without a guardian, or is of unsound mind, not so found by inquisition, the
county court, on the application of any person interested, may appoint
a guardian of the infant or person of unsound mind for the purposes of this
Act, and may change the guardian if and as occasion requires.

26. Provisions respecting married women.—Where the appointment of
a person to act as the next friend of a married woman is required for the
purposes of this Act, the county court may make such appointment, and may
remove-or change that next friend if and as occasion requires.

A woman married before the commencement of the Married Women’s Pro-
perty Act, 1882 [45 & 46 Vict. e. 75], entitled for her separate use to land,
her title to which accrued before such commencement as aforesaid, and not
restrained from anticipation, shall, for the purposes of this Act, be in respect
of land as if she was unmarried.

Where any other woman married before the commencement of the Married
Women’s Property Act, 1882, is desirous of doing any act under this Act in
respect of land, her title to which accrued before such commencement as
aforesaid, her husband’s concurrence shall be requisite, and she shall be
examined apart from him by the county court, or by the judge of the county
court for the place where she for the time being is, touching her knowledge of
the nature and effect of the intended act, and it shall be ascertained that she
is acting freely and voluntarily.

27. Costs in county court—The costs of proceedings in the county court
under this Act shall be in the discretion of the court.

The Lord Chancellor may from time to time prescribe a scale of costs for
those proceedings, and of costs to be taxed by the registrar of the court.

28. Service of notice, &e.—Any notice, request, demand, or other instru-
ment under this Act may be served on the person to whom it is to be given,
either personally or by leaving it for him at his last known place of abode in
England, or by sending it through the post in a registered letter addressed to
him there; and if so sent by post it shall be deemed to have been served at
the time when the letter containing it would be delivered in ordinary course;
and in order to prove service by letter it shall be sufficient to prove that the -
letter was properly addressed and posted, and that it contained the notice,
request, demand, or other instrument to be served.

Charge of Tenant's Compensation.

29. Power for landlord on paying compensation to obtain charge.—A land-
lord, on paying to the tenant the amount due to him in respect of compensa-
tion under this Act, or in respect of compensation authorised by this Act to
be substituted for compensation under this Act, or on expending such amount
as may be necessary to execute an improvement under the second part of the
First Schedule hereto, after notice given by the tenant of his intention to
execute such improvement in accordance with this Act, shall be entitled
to obtain from the county court a charge on the holding, or any part thereof,
to the amount of the sum so paid or expended.

The court shall, on proof of the payment or expenditure, and on being
satisfied of the observance in good faith by the parties of the conditions
imposed by this Act, make an order charging the holding, or any part thereof,
with repayment of the amount paid or expended, with such interest, and by
such instalments, ana with such directions for giving effect to the charge, as
the court thinks fit.

But, where the landlord obtaining the charge is not absolute owner of the
holding for his own benefit, no instalment or interest shall be made payable

F 2

68 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

after the time when the improvement in respect whereof compensation is paid
will, where an award has been made, be taken to have been exhausted accord-
ing to the declaration of the award, and in any other case after.the time when
any such improvement will in the opinion of the court, after hearing such
evidence (if any) as it thinks expedient, have become exhausted.

The instalments and interest shall be charged in favour of the landlord, his
executors, administrators, and assigns.

The estate or interest of any landlord hoiding for an estate or interest deter-
minable or liable to forfeiture by reason of his creating or suffering any charge
thereon shall not be determined or forfeited by reason of his obtaining a charge
under this Act, anything in any deed, will, or other instrument to the contrary
thereof notwithstanding.

Capital money arising under the Settled Land Act, 1882 [45 & 46 Vict.
c. 38], may be applied in payment of any moneys expended and costs incurred
by a landlord under or in pursuance of this Act in or about the execution of
any improvement mentioned in the first or second parts of the schedule:
hereto, as for an improvement authorised by the said Settled Land Act; and
such money may also be applied in discharge of any charge created on 2
holding under or in pursuance of this Act in respect of any such improvement
as aforesaid, as in discharge of an incumbrance authorised by the said Settled
Land Act to be discharged out of such capital money.

30. Incidence of charge.—The sum charged by the order of a county court.
under this Act shall be a charge on the holding, or the part thereof charged,
for the landlord’s interest therein, and for all interests therein subsequent to-
that of the landlord; but so that the charge shall not extend beyond the
interest of the landlord, his executors, administrators, and assigus, in the
tenancy where the landlord is himself a tenant of the holding.

81. Provision in case of trustee.—Where the landlord isa person entitled
to receive the rents and profits of any holding as trustee, or in any character
otherwise than for his own benefit, the amount due from such landlord in
respect of compensation under this Act, or in respect of compensation autho-
rised by this Act to be substituted for compensation under this Act, shall be
charged and recovered as follows and not otherwise; (that is to say,)

(1.) The amount so due shall not be recovered personally against such
landlord, nor shall he be under any liability to pay such amount, but the
same shall be a charge on and recoverable against the holding only.

(2.) Such landlord shall, either before or after having paid to the tenant
the amount due to him, be entitled to obtain from the county court
a charge on the holding to the amount of the sum required to be paid or
which has been paid, as the case may be, to the tenant.

(3.) If such landlord neglect or fail within one month after the tenant has
quitted his holding to pay to the tenant the amount due to him, then
after the expiration of such one month the tenant shall be entitled to
obtain from the county court in favour of himself, his executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, a charge on the holding to the amount of the sum
due to him, and of all costs properly incurred by him in obtaining the
charge or in raising the amount due thereunder.

(4.) The court shall on proof of the tenant’s title to have a charge made in
his favour make an order charging the holding with payment of the
amount of the charge, including costs, in like manner and form as in
case of a charge which a landlord is entitled to obtain.

82. Advance made by a company.—Any company now or hereafter incor-
porated by Parliament, and having power to advance money for the improve-
ment of land, may take an assignment of any charge made by a county court
under the provisions of this Act, upon such terms and conditions as may be
agreed upon between such company and the person entitled to such charge;

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 69

and such company may assign any charge so acquired by them to any person
or persons whomsoever.

Notice to Quit.

33. Time of notice to quit.—Where a half-year’s notice, expiring with
a year of tenancy, is by law necessary and sufficient for determination of
a tenancy from year to year, in the case of any such tenancy under a contract
of tenancy made either before or after the commencement of this Act, a year’s
notice so expiring shall by virtue of this Act be necessary and sufficient for
the same, unless the landlord and tenant of the holding, by writing under
their hands, agree that this section shall not apply, in which case a half-year’s
notice shall continue to be sufficient; but nothing in this section shall extend
to a case where the tenant is adjudged bankrupt, or has filed a petition for
a composition or arrangement with his creditors.

Fixtures.

34. Tenant's property in fixtures, machinery, &c—Where after the com-
mencement of this Act a tenant affixes to his holding any engine, machinery,
fencing, or other fixture, or erects any building for which he is not under this
Act or otherwise entitled to compensation, and which is not so affixed or
erected in pursuance of some obligation in that behalf or instead of some
fixture or building belonging to the landlord, then such fixture or building
shall be the property of and be removable by the tenant before or within
a reasonable time after the termination of the tenancy.

Provided as follows :—

1. Before the removal of any fixture or building the tenant shall pay all
rent owing by him, and shall perform or satisfy all other his obliga-
tions to the landlord in respect te the holding :

2. In the removal of any fixture or building the tenant shall not do
any avoidable damage to any other building or other part of the
holding :

3. Immediately after the removal of any fixture or building the tenant
shall make good all damage occasioned to any other building or
other part of the holding by the removal: ‘

4. The tenant shall not remove any fixture or building without giving
one month’s previous notice in writing to the landlord of the
intention of the tenant to remove it:

5. At any time before the expiration of the notice of removal the land-
lord, by notice in writing given by him to the tenant, may elect to
purchase any fixture or building comprised in the notice of removal,
and any fixture or building thus elected to be purchased shall be
left by the tenant, and shall become the property of the landlord,
who shall pay the tenant the fair value thereof to an incoming
tenant of the holding: and any difference as to the value shall be
settled by a reference under this Act, as in case of compensation
(but without appeal).

Crown and Duchy Lands.

35. Application of Act to Crown lands.—This Act shall extend and apply
to land belonging to Her Majesty the Queen, her heirs and successors, in right
of the Crown.

With respect to such land, for the purposes of this Act, the Commissioners
of Her Majesty’s Woods, Forests, and Land Revenues, or one of them, or
other the proper officer or body having charge of such land for the time being,
or in case there is no such officer or body, then such person as her Majesty,
her heirs or successors, may appoint in writing under the Royal Sign Manual,

70 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

shall represent Her Majesty, her heirs and successors, and shall be deemed to
be the landlord.

Any compensation payable under this Act by the Commissioners of Her
Majesty’s Woods, Forests, and Land Revenues, or either of them, in respect
of an improvement mentioned in the first or second part of the First Schedule
hereto, shall be deemed to be payable in respect of an improvement of land
within section one of the Crown Lands Act, 1866, and the amount thereof
shall be charged and repaid as in that section provided with respect to the
costs, charges, and expenses therein mentioned,

Any compensation payable under this Act by those Commissioners, or
either of them, in respect of an improvement mentioned in the third part of
the First Schedule hereto, shall be deemed to be part of the expenses of the

“management of the Land Revenues of the Crown, and shall be payable to
those Commissioners out of such money and in such manner as the last-
mentioned expenses are by law payable.

36. Application of Act to land of Duchy of Lancaster—This Act shalh
extend and apply to land belonging to Her Majesty, her heirs and successors,
in right of the Duchy of Lancaster.

With respect to such land for the purposes of this Act, ihe Chancellor for
the time being of the Duchy shall represent Her Majesty, her heirs and
successors, and shall be deemed to be the landlord.

The amount of any compensation payable under this Act by the Chancellor
of the Duchy in respect of an improvement mentioned in the first or second
part of the First Schedule to this Act shall be deemed to be an expense
incurred in improvement cf land belonging to Her Majesty, her heirs or
successors, in right of the Duchy, within section twenty-five of the Act of the
fifty-seventh year of King George the Third, chapter ninety-seven, and shalk
be raised and paid as in that section provided with respect to the expenses
therein mentioned.

The amount of any compensation payable under this Act by the Chancellor
of the Duchy in respect of an improvement mentioned in the third part of the
First Schedule to this Act shall be paid out of the annual revenues of the
Duchy.

37. Application of Act to land of Duchy of Cornwall.—This Act shall
extend and apply to land belonging to the Duchy of Cornwall.

With respect to such land, for the purposes of this Act, such person as the
Duke of Cornwall for the time being, or other the personage for the time being
entitled to the revenues and possessions of the Duchy of Cornwall, from time
to time, by sign manual, warrant, or otherwise, appoints, shall represent the
Duke of Cornwall or other the personage aforesaid, and be deemed to.be the
landlord, and may do any act or thing under this Act which a landlord is
authorised or required to do thereunder.

Any compensation payable under this Act by the Duke of Cornwall, or
other the personage aforesaid, in respect of an improvement mentioned in the
first or second part of the First Schedule to this Act shall be deemed to be
payable in respect of an improvement of land within section eight of the
Duchy of Cornwall Management Act, 1863 [26 & 27 Vict. c. 49], and the
amount thereof may be advanced and paid from the money mentioned in that
section, subject to the provision therein made for repayment of sums advanced
for improvements.

Ecclesiastical and Charity Lands.

88. Landlord, archbishop or bishop.—Where lands are assigned or secured
as the endowment of a see, the powers by this Act conferred on a landlord
shall not be exercised by the archbishop or bishop, in respect of those lands,
except with the previous approval in writing of the Estates Committee of the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England.

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. OL

39. Landlord, incumbent of benefice—Where a landlord is incumbent of
an ecclesiastical benefice, the powers by this Act conferred on a landlord shall
not be exercised by him in respect of the glebe land or other land belonging
to the benefice, except with the previous approval in writing of the patron of
the benefice, that is, the person, officer, or authority who, in case the benefice
were vacant, would be entitled to present thereto, or of the Governors of
Queen Anne’s Bounty (that is, the Governors of the Bounty of Queen Anne
for the Augmentation of the Maintenance of the Poor Clergy).

In every such case the Governors of Queen Anne’s Bounty may, if they
think fit, on behalf of the incumbent, out of any money in their hands, pay to
the tenant the amount of compensation due to him under this Act; and
thereupon they may, instead of the incumbent, obtain from the county court
a charge on the holding, in respect thereof, in favour of themselves.

Every such charge shall be effectual, notwithstanding any change of the
incumbent,

40. Landlord, charity trustees, &c.—The powers by this Act conferred on
a landlord in respect of charging the land shall not be exercised by trustees
for ecclesiastical or charitable purposes, except with the previous approval in
writing of the Charity Commissioners for England and Wales.

Resumption for Improvements, and Miscellaneous.
Lp >

41. Resumption of possession for cottages, &c.—Where on a tenancy from
year to year a notice to quit is given by the landlord with a view to the use
of land for any of the following purposes :

The erection of farm-labourers’ cottages or other houses, with or without

gardens ;

The providing of gardens for existing farm-labourers’ cottages or other
houses ; .

The allotment for labourers of land for gardens or other purposes ;

The planting of trees ;

The opening or working of any coal, ironstone, limestone, or other mineral,
or of a stone quarry, clay, sand, or gravel pit, or the construction of any
works or buildings to be used in connection therewith ;

The obtaining of brick-earth, gravel, or sand ;

The making of a watercourse or reservoir ;

The making of any road, railway, tramroad, siding, canal, or basin, or
any wharf, pier, or other work connected therewith ;

and the notice to quit so states, then it shall, by virtue of this Act, be no
objection to the notice that it relates to part only of the holding.

In every such case the provisions of this Act respecting compensation shall
apply as on determination of a tenancy in respect of an entire holding.

The tenant shall also be entitled to a proportionate reduction of rent in
respect of the land comprised in the notice to quit, and in respect of any
depreciation of the value to him of the residue of the holding, caused by the
withdrawal of that land from the holding or by the use to be made thereof,
and the amount of that reduction shall be ascertained by agreement or settled
by on under this Act, as in case of compensation (but without
appeal).

The tenant shall further be entitled, at any time within twenty-eight days
after service of the notice to quit, to serve on the landlord a notice in wr ting
to the effect that he (the tenant) accepts the same as a notice to quit the
entire holding, to take effect at the expiration of the then current year of
tenancy ; and the notice to quit shall have effect accordingly.

42. Provision as to limited owners.—Subject to the provisions of this
Act in relation to Crown, duchy, ecclesiastical, and charity lands, a landlord,
whatever may be his estate or interest in his holding, may give any consent,

72 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

make any agreement, or do or have done to him any act in relation to im-
provements in respect of which compensation is payable under this Act which
he might give or make or do or have done to him if he were in the case of an
estate of inheritance owner thereof in fee, and in the case of a leasehold
possessed of the whole estate in the leasehold.

43. Provision in case of reservation of rent.—When, by any Act of
Parliament, deed, or other instrument, a lease of a holding is authorised to
be made, provided that the best rent, or reservation in the nature of rent, is
by such lease reserved, then, whenever any lease of a holding is, under such
authority, made to the tenant of the same, it shall not be necessary, in
estimating such rent or reservation, to take into account against the tenant
the increase (if any) in the value of such holding arising from any improve-
ments made or paid for by him on such holding,

PVASRAL wlele
Distress.

44, Limitation of distress in respect of amount and time.—After the
commencement of this Act it shall not be lawful for any landlord entitled to
the rent of any holding to which this Act applies to distrain for rent, which
became due in respect of such holding, more than one year before the making
of such distress, except in the case of arrears of rent in respect of a holding
to which this Act applies existing at the time of the passing of this Act,
which arrears shall be recoverable by distress up to the first day of January
one thousand eight hundred and eighty-five to the same extent as if this
Act had not passed.

Provided that where it appears that according to the ordinary course of
dealing between the landlord and tenant of a holding the payment of the
rent of such holding has been allowed to be deferred until tbe expiration of a
quarter of a year or half a year after the date at which such rent legally
became due, then for the purpose of this section the rent of such holding
shall be deemed to have become due at the expiration of such quarter or
half year as aforesaid, as the case may be, and not at the date at which
it legally became due.

45. Limitation of distress in respect of things to be distrained—Where
live stock belonging to another person has been taken in by the tenant of a
holding to which this Act applies to be fed at a fair price agreed to be paid
for such feeding by the owner of such stock to the tenant, such stock shall
not be distrained by the Jandlord for rent where there is other sufficient
distress to be found, and if so distrained by reason of other sufficient distress
not being found, there shall not be recovered by such distress a sum exceeding
the amount of the price so agreed to be paid for the feeding, or if any part of
such price has been paid exceeding the amount remaining unpaid, and it
shall be lawful for the owner of such stock, at any time before it is sold, to
redeem such stock by paying to the distrainer a sum equal to such price as
aforesaid, and any payment so made to the distrainer shall be in full dis-
charge as against the tenant of any sum of the like amount which would be
otherwise due from the owner of the stock to the tenant in respect of the
price of feeding: Provided always, that so long as any portion of such live
stock shall remain on the said holding the right to distrain such portion shall
continue to the full extent of the price originally agreed to be paid for the
feeding of the whole of such live stock, or if part of such price has been bond
fide paid to the tenant under the agreement, then to the full extent of the
price then remaining unpaid.

Agricultural or other machinery which is the bond fide property of a
person other than the tenant, and is on the premises of the tenant under a

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 73

bond fide agreement with him for the hire or use thereof in the conduct of
his business, and live stock of all kinds which is the bona fide property of a
person other than the tenant, and is on the premises of the tenant solely for
breeding purposes, shall not be distrained for rent in arrear.

46. Remedy for wrongful distress under this Act—Where any dispute
arises—

(a) In respect of any distress having been levied contrary to the provisions

of this Act; or

(6) As to the ownership of any live stock distrained, or as to the price to

be paid for the feeding of such stock; or

(c) As to any other matter or thing relating to a distress on a holding to

which this Act applies:

such dispute may be heard and determined by the county court or by a court
of summary jurisdiction, and any such county court or court of summary
jurisdiction may make an order for restoration of any live stock or things
unlawfully distrained, or may declare the price agreed to be paid in the case
where price of the feeding is required to be ascertained, or may make any
other order which justice requires: any such dispute as mentioned in this
section shall be deemed to be a matter in which a court of summary juris-
diction has authority by law to make an order on complaint in pursuance of
the Summary Jurisdiction Acts; but any person aggrieved by any decision
of such court of summary jurisdiction under this section may, on giving such
security to the other party as the court may think just, appeal to a court
of general or quarter sessions.

' 47. Set-off of compensation against rent.—Where the compensation due
under this Act, or under any custom or contract, to a tenant has been ascer-
tained before the landlord distrains for rent due, the amount of such com-
pensation may be set off against the rent due, and the landlord shall not be
entitled to distrain for more than the balance.

48. Haclusion of certiorari.—An order of the county court or of a court
of summary jurisdiction under this Act shall not be quashed for want of
form, or be removed by certiorari or otherwise into any superior court.

49. Limitation of costs in case of distress——No person whatsoever making
any distress for rent on a holding to which this Act applies when the sum
demanded and due shall exceed the sum of twenty pounds for or in respect of
such rent shall be’ entitled to any other or more costs and charges for and
in respect of such distress or any matter or thing done therein than such as
are fixed and set forth in the Second Schedule hereto.

50. Repeal of 2 W. and M.c.5s.1 as to appraisement and sale at public
auction.—So much of an Act passed in the second year of the reign of their
Majesties King William the Third and Mary, chapter five, as requires appraise-
ment before sale of goods distrained is hereby repealed as respects any holding
to which this Act applies, and the landlord or other person levying a distress
on such holding may sell the goods and chattels distrained without causing
them to be previously appraised; and for the purposes of sale the goods and
chattels distrained shall, at the request in writing of the tenant or owner of
such goods and chattels, be removed to a public auction room or to some
other fit and proper place specified in such request, and be there sold. The
costs and expenses attending any such removal, and any damage to the
goods and chattels arising therefrom, shall be borne and paid by the party
requesting the removal.

51. Eatension of time to replevy at request of tenant.—The period of
five days provided in the said Act of William and Mary, chapter five, within
which the tenant or owner of goods and chattels distrained may replevy the
same shall, in the case of any distress on a holding to which this Act applies,
be extended to a period of not more than fifteen days, if the tenant or such

74 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

owner make a request in writing in that behalf to the landlord or other
person levying the distress, and also give security for any additional costs
that may be occasioned by such extension of time. Provided that the
landlord or person levying the distress may, at the written request or with
the written consent of the tenant, or such owner as aforesaid, sell the goods
and chattels distrained or part of them at any time before the expiration of
such extended period as aforesaid.

52. Bailiffs to beappointed by county court judges—From and after the
commencement of this Act no person shall act as bailiff to levy any distress
on any holding to which this Act applies unless he shall be authorised to
act as bailiff by a certificate in writing under the hand of the judge of a
county court; and every county court judge shall, on or before the thirty-first
day of December one thousand eight hundred and eighty-three, and after-
wards from time to time as occasion shall require, appoint a competent
number of fit and proper persons to act as such bailiffs as aforesaid. If any
person so appointed shall be proved to the satisfaction of the said judge to
have been guilty of any extortion or other misconduct in the execution of
his duty as a bailiff, he shall be liable to have his appointment summarily
cancelled by the said judge.

PART III.

General Provisions.

53. Commencement of Act.—This Act shall come into force on the first
day of January one thousand eight hundred and eighty-four, which day is in
this Act referred to as the commencement of this Act.

54. Holdings to which Act applies—Notbing in this Act shall apply toa
holding that is not either wholly agricultural or wholly pastoral, or in part
agricultural, and as to the residue pastoral, or in whole or in part cultivated
as a market garden, or to any holding let to the tenant during his continuance
in any office, appointment, or employment held under the landlord.

55. Avoidance of agreement inconsistent with Act.—Any contract, agree-
ment, or covenant made by a tenant, by virtue of which he is deprived of
his right to claim compensation under this Act in respect of any improve-
ment mentioned in the First Schedule hereto (except an agreement providing
such compensation as is by this Act permitted to be substituted for com-
pensation under this Act), shall, so far as it deprives him of such right, be
void both at law and in equity.

56. Right of tenant in respect of improvement purchased from outgoing
tenant—Where an incoming tenant has, with the consent in writing of his
landlord, paid to an outgoing tenant any compensation payable under or in
pursuance of this Act in respect of the whole or part of any improvement,
such incoming tenant shall be entitled on quitting the holding to claim com-
pensation in respect of such improvement or part in like manner, if at all, as
the outgoing tenant would have been entitled if he had remained tenant of
the holding, and quitted the holding at the time at which the incoming
tenant quits the same.

57. Compensation under this Act to be exclusive-—A tenant shall not be
entitled to claim compensation by custom or otherwise than in manner
authorised by this Act in respect of any improvement for which he is entitled
to compensation under or in pursuance of this Act, but where he is not
entitled to compensation under or in pursuance of this Act he may recover
compensation under any other Act of Parliament, or any agreement or
custom, in the same manner as if this Act had not passed.

58. Provision as to change of tenancy—A tenant who has remained in
his holding during a change or changes of tenancy shall not thereafter on

The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. 75

quitting his holding at the determination of a tenancy be deprived of his
right to claim compensation in respect of improvements by reason only that
such improvements were made during a former tenancy or tenancies, and not
during the tenancy at the determination of which he is quitting.

59. Restriction in respect of improvements by tenant about to quit.—
Subject as in this section mentioned, a tenant shall not be entitled to com-
pensation in respect of any improvements, other than manures as defined by
this Act, begun by him, if he holds from year to year, within one year before
he quits bis holding, or at any time after he has given or received final notice
6 quit, and, if he holds as a lessee, within one year before the expiration of

is lease.

A final notice to quit means a notice to quit which has not been waived or
withdrawn, but has resulted in the tenant quitting his holding.

‘lhe foregoing provisions of this section shall not apply in the case of any
such improvement as aforesaid—

(1.) Where a tenant from year to year has begun such improvement
during the last year of his tenancy, and, in pursuance of a notice to quit
hereafter given by the landlord, has quitted his holding at the expiration
of that year; and

(z.) Where a tenant, whether a tenant from year to year or a lessee,
previously to beginning any such improvement, has served notice on his
landlord of his intention to begin the same, and the landlord has either
assented or has failed for a month after the receipt of the notice to
object to the making of the improvement.

60. General saving of rights—Except as in this Act expressed, nothing in
this Act shall take away, abridge, or prejudicially affect any power, right, or
remedy of a landlord, tenant, or other person vested in or exerciseable by him
by virtue of any other Act or law, or under any custom of the country, or
otherwise, in respect of a contract of tenancy or other contract, or of any
improvements, waste emblements, tillages, away-going crops, fixtures, tax,
rate, tithe rentcharge, rent, or other thing.

61. Interpretation—In this Act—

“Contract of tenancy” means a letting of or agreement for the letting
land for a term of years, or for lives, or for lives and years, or from
year to year:

A tenancy from year to year under a contract of tenancy current at the
commencement of the Act shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed
to continue to be a tenancy under a contract of tenancy current at the
commencement of this Act until the first day on which either the
landlord or tenant of such tenancy could, the one by giving notice to
the other immediately after the commencement of this Act, cause
such tenancy to determine, and on and after such day as aforesaid
shall be deemed to be a tenancy under a contract of tenancy beginning

_ after the commencement of this Act :

“ Determination of tenancy” means the cesser of a contract of tenancy by
reason of effluxion of time, or from any other cause :

“Landlord ” in relation to a holding means any person for the time being
entitled to receive the rents and profits of any holding :

“Tenant” means the holder of land under a landlord for a term of years,
or for lives, or for lives and years, or from year to year:

“Tenant ” includes the executors, administrators, assigns, legatee, devisce,
or next-of-kin, husband, guardian, committee of the estate or trustees
in bankruptcy of a tenant, or any person deriving title from a tenant ;
and the right to receive compensation in respect of any improvement
made by a tenant shall enure to the benefit of such, executors,
administrators, assigns, and other persons as aforesaid :

76 The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. —

“ Holding ” means any parcel of land held by a tenant :

= County court,” in relation to a holding, means the county court within

the district whereof the holding or the larger part thereof is situate :

“ Person ” includes a body of persons and a corporation aggregate or sole:

“Live stock” includes any animal capable of being distrained :

“Manures” means any of the improvements numbered twenty-two and

twenty-three in the third part of the First Schedule hereto:

The designations of landlord and tenant shall continue to apply to the
parties until the conclusion of any proceedings taken under or in pursuance of
this Act in respect of compensation for improvements, or under any agreement
made in pursuance of this Act.

62. Repeal of Acts of 1875 and 1876.—On and after the commencement of
this Act, the Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1875, and the Agricul-
tural Holdings (England) Act, 1875, Amendment Act, 1876, shall be repealed.

Provided that such repeal shall not affect—

(a.) any thing duly done or suffered, or any a pending under or
in pursuance of any enactment her eby repealed ;

(.) any right to compensation in respect of irene to which the
Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1875, applies, and which were
executed before the commencement of this Act; or

(c.) any right to compensation in respect of any improvement to which
the Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1875, applies, although
executed by a tenant after the commencement of this Act if made
under a contract of tenancy current at the commencement of this
Act; or

(d.) any right in respect of fixtures affixed to a holding before the com-
mencement of this Act;

and any right reserved by this section may be enforced after the commence-
ment of this Act in the same manner in all respects as if no such repeal had
taken place.

63. Short title of Act—This Act may be cited for all purposes as the
Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883.

64. Limits of Act.—This Act shall not apply to Scotland or Ireland.

FIRST SCHEDULE.

PART I

MPROVEMENTS TO WHICH CONSENT OF LANDLORD IS REQUIRED.
Erection or enlargement of buildings,

Formation of silos.

Laying down of permanent pasture.

Making and planting of osier beds.

Making of water meadows or works of irrigation.

Making of gardens.

Making or improving of roads or bridges.

—

DA OUP OO BO
RN NNN NN

RLY NINOS

of works for the application of water power or for supply of water
for agricultural or domestic purposes.

(9. Making of fences.
(10.) Planting of hops.
(11.) Planting of orchards or fruit bushes.
12.) Reclaiming of waste land.
183 Warping of land.
(14.) Embankment and sluices against floods, °

Making or improving of watercourses, ponds, wells, or reservoirs, or —

a EEE |

Improvement of the Plants of the Farm. 77

PART I.

IMPROVEMENT IN RESPECT OF WHICH Notice To LANDLORD IS REQUIRED.

(15.) “Drainage.
PART TH

IMPROVEMENTS TO WHICH CoNnsENT oF LANDLORD IS NOT REQUIRED.

(16.) Boning of land with undissolved bones.

(17.) Chalking of land.

(18.) Clay-burning.

(19.) Claying of land.

(20.) Liming of land.

(21.) Marlingvof land.

(22.) Application to land of purchased artificial or other purchased manure.

(28.) Consumption on the holding by cattle, sheep, or pigs of cake or
other feeding stuff not produced on the holding. y

SECOND SCHEDULE.

Section 49.—Levying distress. Tbree per centum on any sum exceeding
ote not exceeding 507. Two anda half per centum on any sum exceed-
ing 501.

To bailiff for levy, 17. 1s.

To man in possession, if boarded, 3s. 6d. per day ; if not boarded, 5s. per day.

For advertisements the sum actually paid.

To auctioneer. For sale five pounds per centum on the sum realised not
exceeding 100/., and four per centum on any additional sum realised not
exceeding 100/., and on any sum exceeding 200/. three per centum. A
fraction of 1. to be in all cases considered 11.

Reasonable costs and charges where distress is withdrawn or where no sale
takes place, and for negotiations between landlord and tenant respecting the
distress ; such costs and charges in case the parties differ to be taxed by the
registrar of the county court of the district in which the distress is made.

II.—Jmprovement of the Plants of the Farm. By HENRY
EVERSHED.

Many examples might be given of the modification of cultivated
plants by the skill of improvers both in agriculture and _ horti-
culture. Few persons are ignorant of the plastic character of
flowers, and the variety of forms and colours which have been
developed by breeding and selection; and probably few are
unaware of the increased productive powers of some of the
plants of the farm in recent years; but comparatively few avail

_ themselves of these improvements to their full extent.

A short and practical account of the actual achievements in
plant improvement, including the methods by which they have
been effected, will probably be more useful at the present time
than a more elaborate inquiry. It may, in fact, be said, that

78 Improvement of the Plants of the Farm.

the “science” of this subject, that is the existing knowledge
connected with it, consists in observations made in the field,
rather than in the discoveries of the closet. In spite of investi-
gations in morphology, and the invention of a name—protu-
plasm—for that which Professor Huxley calls “the physical
basis of life,” we can neither predict nor secure the behaviour of
plants under all the varying circumstances which may affect
them. If, however, we carefully watch their growth, and their
external modifications under particular treatment or natural
influences, we shall become “wise after the event,” in the
acquisition of knowledge useful to us as breeders and selectors.
The admission of an eminent botanist strengthens my belief
that the present narrative, addressed as it is to agriculturists,
should consist mainly of a collection of facts, with the least
possible discussion of the incomplete branches of scientific
botany. Dr. Maxwell T. Masters, F.R.S., remarks,* “ No
doubt internal anatomical differences are even of greater mo-
ment than these external characteristics, but these demand
minute comparative study by means of the microscope, under
various conditions, and at different seasons, and constitute a
branch of inquiry at present hardly even entered upon.”

There is a close analogy in the variation of plants and animals
under domestication. No one doubts that primeval forms of
both have been altered greatly, and very much to the advantage
of breeders and cultivators; that the process is still assiduously
carried on in both departments, and that more prolific or pro-
ductive breeds of cattle, sheep, cereals, and forage-plants may
yet be found. Still, it seems desirable to refer briefly to the
history of the subject for the sake of showing, so far as may be
possible, the extent of the improvements that have been effected
in plants, and the methods by which they have been accom-
plished.

If the pre-historic samples of small grains and ears can be
relied on, no doubt can exist that cereals have been greatly
improved since the period of the Lake-Dwellings of Switzer-
land.t{ Subsequent to the Stone period —an “ immensely —
remote period,” Mr. Darwin calls it—there has been a striking
improvement in the cereals; and the peas and beans of the
Bronze period were as inferior to the common pulse of the
present time as the latter are to the superior varieties for which
we are indebted to modern breeders and selectors.

* “Plant Life.” By Maxwell T. Masters, M.D., F.R.S. ‘Handbook of the
Farm’ Series. Edited by J. Chalmers Morton. London: Bradbury, Agnew,
and Co., 1883. }

+ ‘Animals and Plants under Domestication.’ By Charles Darwin, M.A.
F.R.8., &. Second Edition, 1875, vol. i. p. 336.

Improvement of the Plants of the Farm. 79

We are here specially interested in the plants of the farm,
though many other plants have been “improved,” in the sense of
having become, under man’s skilled manipulation, more useful
to him, more profitable, or more beautiful. He has never
handled them in vain, and the field of operation is still full of
subjects ready for his moulding. ‘Accustomed as we are,”
says Mr. Darwin, “to our excellent vegetables and luscious
fruits, we can hardly persuade ourselves that the stringy roots of
the wild carrot and parsnip, or the little shoots of the wild
asparagus, or crabs, sloes, &c., should ever have been valued ;
yet, from what we know of the habits of the Australian and
South African savages, we need feel no doubt on this head.
The inhabitants of Switzerland: during the Stone period largely
collected wild crabs, sloes, bullaces, hips of roses, elderberries,
beech-mast, and other wild berries and fruit. Jemmy Button, a
Fuegian on board the ‘ Beagle,’ remarked to me that the poor
and acid black currants of Terra del Fuego were too sweet for
his taste.”

This quotation may remind the improver that wild fruits all
over the world appear to have been the first forms of food, and
that all the excellent and productive crops of fields or gardens to
which we are now accustomed in this and other countries are
due to his predecessors. A list of writers who have explored
the history of improvements in cultivated plants, from Virgil
to De Candolle, will be found in Mr. Darwin’s ‘Animals and
_ Plants under Domestication.’ Attractive, however, as the subject
of universal plant-improvement may be, the writer of these pages
must confine himself to the few plants known in our rotations,
with perhaps some slight reference to others in illustration of
_ the general subject.

History and Methods of Plant Improvement: Cereals—To
_ Thomas Andrew Knight belongs the merit of first attempting the
| crossing of different varieties of wheat in this country ; and he
| states that “ in the years 1795 and 1796, when almost the whole
_ corn of the island was blighted, the varieties thus obtained alone
escaped in this neighbourhood when sown on different soils and
situations.” In 1851 Mr. Raynbird had the honour of being the
_ first exhibitor of a cross-bred variety of wheat, which was obtained
by fertilising Piper’s Thickset with pollen from one of Mr. Patrick
_ Shirreff’s selections, the Houptoun. The first volume of this
‘Journal’ contained an account of Morton’s Red-straw White-
wheat, and numerous articles relating to the improvement of
_ wheat have since appeared, from the “ Report on Prize Wheat,”
in 1842, to a similar report on the “Competition for Seed-
Wheat,” by Mr. Carruthers, in 1881.
Colonel Le Couteur must be mentioned as a well-known

—

—

|

80 Improvement of the Plants of the Farm.

improver of wheat, and an admirable writer on the subject ;
and _ his pages, and those of many other writers in this
‘Journal,’ may be consulted with advantage. In the history
of plant-improvement there is no lack of materials, especially
as regards wheat, which our predecessors evidently regarded as
the mainstay of their farming—the plant which, among all
others, most deserved their care. The literature devoted to this
particular cereal and its improvement during the present century
has been immense, and most of the earlier volumes of this
‘Journal’ afford proof of the interest which trials of different
sorts of wheat have attracted. It may also be mentioned, in refer-
ence to the history of attempted improvements, that samples are
shown at the South Kensington Museum of different sorts of
- wheat collected by Sir Joseph Banks; and these may some day
be useful in enabling the investigator to compare the sorts of
the last century with those of a future period.

A prime object of improvers and selectors is to uphold the
best types of each particular plant, that have been already
attained, and, if possible, to advance them. It should be
remembered that the agriculturist has no ally in the work that
has been suggested. Nature lends him no aid, since she has
no partialities. The principle of selection is a natural law, it
is true, but Nature has no predilection for the improver’s
artificial selections; she does not care for his chosen forms of
mangolds or turnips. In a struggle for existence with the
natural vegetation which too often presses upon our cultivated
plants, most of them would perish. They were produced by
improvers, ancient or modern, and the preservation of their
excellence, and, if possible, their further progress, are dependent
on the continued exercise of the art that advanced them to the
point they have already reached.

By the selection of profitable modifications, nature adapts
both plants and animals to their surrounding circumstanees ;
and by following the example, plant-improvers have moulded
cultivated plants in the same manner. There are early and late,
and northern and southern varieties, all produced by breeding
and selection, and—to mention a very important branch of the
art of “improving” plants—varieties have been produced to
suit rich and poor soils, as well as high and low farming.

The maintenance of the breeds always engages a great deal of
attention, and without great care in this respect, and in the intro-
duction of new sorts, absolute degeneracy of the plants of the farm
would occur. Mr. Patrick Shirreff, Mungoswells, Haddington, was
one of the very numerous, known or unknown, improvers of the
present century, making his first selection of wheat in 1819, and
receiving a well-earned testimonial for his services as a plant-

Improvement of the Plants of the Farm. 81

improyer towards the close of his lifein 1876. In the case of
nearly all our improved varieties of wheat, such as Chidham,
which is said to have been found in a hedge, the circumstances
of the discovery are unknown. Fortunately, Mr. Shirreff amused
his declining years by writing, for distribution among his
friends and patrons, a small volume,* in which he published the
facts of his discoveries. As someof his varieties of wheat and
oats were very widely distributed and are still popular, while
others have almost disappeared, the history of his successes
and failures must be full of instruction. I propose giving some
of the main facts.

In 1813 Mr. Shirreff observed in one of his fields of wheat,
which looked miserable from the effects of a severe winter, one
green and spreading plant far more vigorous than the rest,
haying been endowed, we may suppose, with a stronger consti-
tution. He manured this plant to increase its yield, and it
proved to be a new and marked variety, with taller straw than
Hunter’s, and not so apt to lodge, and possessing, as its first
appearance indicated, a remarkable tillering propensity, The
new sort was put in the market as “ Mungoswell’s Wheat,” and
Mr. Shirreff was able to say in 1873 that it was still extensively
crown in East Lothian.

In 1824 a tall oat-plant was selected, having straw longer
than any of the named varieties which Mr. Shirreff grew in his
collection, for the purpose of comparison. The grain was longer
than that of the potato-oat, weighing well, and yielding meal
unequalled in quality and whiteness. Besides the peculiarity of
its length, the straw grew very irregular in height. This second
of Mr. Shirreff’s new varieties—the Hopetoun oat—is mentioned
as a favourite by several of my correspondents, and is widely
grown in Scotland, in the countries of the Baltic, and in parts
of North America. It spread very rapidly, on its introduction
by Mr. Shirreff, into the oat-growing districts here and abroad.

Several of my correspondents speak of “ White Hunter’s”
wheat, which is really one of Mr. Shirreffs happy selections,
named by him Hopetoun. He found it on the farm of Drem,
near his own, in 1882, and it has since spread over a wide range
of country and climate. I remember it in the south, with all
the marked characteristics mentioned by Mr. Shirreff, the straw
growing equal in length, so as to give a deceptive appearance
of thickness of crop, the grain white, but changing in the south
to a stronger colour.

The next novelty was Shirreff’s oat, a marked and prolific

* «Improvement of the Cereals.’ By Patrick Shirreff. Edinburgh and
London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1873,

VOL. XX.—S. ‘8. G

82 Improvement of the Plants of the Farm.

variety, with level straw. In spite of its sobriquet of ‘“ Make-
him-rich,” this variety is now rarely found in its original district,
though it is still popular elsewhere, and comes to Kelso market
dubbed by the name just mentioned. After resting on his
honours, Mr. Shirreff resumed a work which has proved of
national benefit, and in 1856 a continued and systematic
searching of the wheat-fields recommenced. Friends on both
sides of the Tweed sent him specimens of ears differing from
the general crop, and his trial-ground in 1857 contained plants
from the seed of seventy selected ears. From these three kinds
were selected, Shirreff’s Bearded Red (a type of the Old Red
Lammas), with long, slender, wiry straw; Pringle’s wheat, with
long stout straw; and Shirreff’s Bearded White. Each of
these had marked peculiarities in the grain as well as straw.
Mr. Shirreff has carefully described his arrangements for the
protection and separation of his trial-plots, and he found that
the time occupied in sowing, harvesting, dressing, and weighing,
compelled him to limit the size of his plots or the number of
the trials, and that success was not likely to be attained with-
out strict personal superintendence. The sorts were grown in
parallel rows ; and cross-breeding, under these circumstances,
did not occur—an observation of great importance, agreeing
with the general experience, and opposed to Mr. Knight's
extraordinary assertion that, by sowing several sorts of wheat
together, he obtained as many new varieties as he pleased.
Cross-bred grains would, no doubt, yield a very mixed produce,
and probably an expert would detect many different forms even
in a field of pedigree-wheat; but these are not new varieties
such as Mr. Knight had in view. The florets of wheat must,
under ordinary circumstances, be self-fertilised, “ for,” if 1 may
quote a written record of my personal observation in the
field some years since, “the stamens are fully developed, and
the pollen begins to shed before the florets expand, and their
task is accomplished before they make their appearance outside
the ear.” The clouds of pollen therefore in a wheat-field are,
like many other provisions for the security of reproduction, in
excess of the customary requirements. They make assurance
doubly sure, however, and they secure the occasional occurrence
of crosses between neighbouring plants, which are probably not
infrequent.

Among his selections Mr. Shirreff produced three oats, which
he called the “ Fellow Family,” and they were as various in
size, height, character, and constitution as any three members of
any human family. ‘“ Long Fellow” has straw fine in quality,
firm in texture, free of leaf; and it has a habit of slow growth
in the early part of the season, until the appearance of the

Improvement of the Plants of the Farm. 83

ears, when the stalks push out and continue lengthening until
the cropis ripe. These are very profitable characteristics, since
they preserve the crop from becoming laid when that early
broad-leaved sort, the Georgian, known as Canadian, with its
early habit and poor quality of straw, would go down flat.

Mr. Shirreff gives an elaborate account of his cross-breeding.
I must omit his description of the actual operation by which
artificial fertilisation is effected. The mechanics of this subject
can readily be mastered. The arrangement of the crosses is a
more difficult matter, requiring much study, and perhaps as
much time and special aptitude as in the case of breeding a
herd or a flock. In this department Mr. Shirreff’s success was
limited. He obtained, for example, “King Richard,” by
fecundating Shirreff’s Bearded White, which has small round
seeds, with Talavera, which certainly has large seeds of the
finest quality, calculated to correct a special defect in the
Bearded-White. But it was probably an error to use a tender
wheat of Spanish extraction for breeding purposes in Scotland.
Mr. Shirreff began his experiments in cross-breeding too late in
life to be able to complete the continuous selecting which is
necessary, as in other cross-breeding, to fix the type. In this
direction the experiments of Mr. Shirreff cannot be regarded as
complete, and although some of his favourite crosses were widely
distributed, it is not surprising that his nephew, Mr. Charles S.
Dods, of Haddington, should report their comparative disuse
in competition with those admirable selections on which his
celebrity now rests. :

No recent experiments in the cross-breeding of cereals in
Great Britain have been recognised, at least, upon our
markets, since those of Mr. Shirreff. M. Henry Vilmorin has
kindly given me the following account of his experiments in
France :—

“My attempts to improve wheats by cross-fertilization have all been made
in the last ten years, the first in 1873. The object being to raise sorts with a
fine full kernel, and strong enough in the straw to carry the ears to the time
of maturity without becoming laid, I selected generally a strong stiff kind
for the mother plant, and a sort with a fine seed for the pollen bearer. Yet I
generally crossed those two plants both ways, to secure an additional chance.
The kind mostly used on account of its fine kernel was Blé blanc de Flandre ;
those selected on account of the stiff straw are—Blé roseau, Blé rouge de St.
Laud, Blé de Vile de Noé. Sometimes the object was to increase the yield in
straw of a kind that was almost perfect except on that one respect, as Chiddam
a épi rouge, which was for that purpose crossed with Prince Albert. The
operation in itself requires care and some dexterity, but is not really difficult.
The anthers being removed from a dozen wheat flowers or so while still in a
green state, but near maturity, the pollen of the kind which it is intended to
use as male parent is poured gently, the next morning, on the feathery stigma,
the flowers next to the impregnated ones being destroyed so as not to leave
any doubt at maturity as to which seeds have been acted upon. Generally

G 2

84 Improvement of the Plants of the Farm.

ten or a dozen blooms only were impregnated in one ear. They were all sown
during the next autumn, and the fixing of any form which seemed promising
went on, simply under the process of selection. Only, in order not to overtask
the memory, an ear was preserved of each form judged worthy of propaga-
tion, and was kept in a glass case, which was produced the next year at the
time of selecting the plants, so that the individuals kept in each successive
year were as like as possible to the one chosen at first. Four or five years’
ear were necessary, on an average, to make cach sort tolerably even and
xed.

I am indebted to Mr. Rimpau, of Schlanstedt, for a copy of
a reprint of an article of his “On the Flowering of Cereals,’
which was published last year in a well-known Prussian Agri-
cultural Journal.* This is an exceedingly interesting and
exhaustive article on what is known of the phenomena and
processes of flowering of cereals, critical references being made
to the writings of other investigators in the same direction.
The author conducted an extensive series of observations and
experiments on the relation of temperature and the swelling of
the lodicules to the expansion of the flowers for fertilisation.
Various kinds of wheat, rye, barley, and oats were experimented
on. He found that the opening of the glumes of cereals, like
all other physiological phenomena, is dependent on a certain
temperature. That is to say, there is a minimum below which
the flowers will not open; there is an optimum which most
favours the phenomenon ; and there is a maximum above which
the flowers will not open at all. The swelling out of the
lodicules, which is the ultimate cause of the opening of ‘the
glumes, is itself dependent on the temperature. Briefly, the
opening of the flowers, and the consequently possible cross-
fertilisation, is due to the swelling of the lodicules, acted upon
by the temperature—the degree of swelling invariably corre-
sponding to the angle of opening of the glumes—and after the
act of impregnation the lodicules shrivel up and permit the
glumes to close over the pistil. The author also treats of the
inconstancy and liability to reversion of the earlier generations
of undoubted crossed varieties. Two other useful articles by
Mr. Rimpau, each published in the same Journal in 1877, are
that “On Raising New Varieties of Cereals,” which will be
found at p. 193; and another “On Self-sterility of Rye,”
p- 1073. In reply to one of my printed questions, Mr. Rimpau
states that in Germany the improvement of cereals by crossing
and selection has been undertaken by Mr. F. Heine of Emers-
leben, near Halberstadt, who has raised by ear-selection a good
variety of summer wheat.

English farmers may be gratified to learn that many of the

* «Landwirthschaftliche Jahrbiicher’ (1883), xi. pp. 875-919.

Improvement of the Plants of the Farm. 85

best sorts of cereals, and all the varieties of winter wheat
have been introduced into Mr. Rimpau’s district from this
country.

In the United States several improvers have engaged in the
cross-breeding of cereals in recent years, and the Hon. George
B. Loring, Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture,
Washington, has been good enough to send me an account of
their experiments, prepared for me at his desire by Dr. Vasey,
Botanist of the Department.

“The principal experiments in this direction made in this country are,
first, those of Mr. C. G. Pringle, of Charlotte, Vermont, which are described
at length in the Report of the Vermont Board of Agriculture for 1875-6.
The following is an outline of his operations. He commenced his experiments
in 1870 by impregnating a head of the Black Sea variety of wheat with
pollen of the Golden Drop or Siberian. The fruit of that cross was sown the
next spring and cultivated with the utmost care. ‘The first year the several
plants showed great uniformity of character. They were, speaking in a
general way, intermediate between their parents. Except for a few short
awns on the upper part of the heads, they were beardless like the Golden
Drop, though they had sprung from seed borne on the Black Sea, a full-
bearded variety; the chaff had taken a reddish tinge from the Black Sea, and
the kernels were larger, plumper, and of lighter colour than those of that
variety, evidently partaking strongly of the character of the Golden Drop.
. - . The selected product of these plaats was the second spring sown in
drills, and kept separate by numbered stakes. As the plants grewluxuriantly
and tillered freely, I counted on a rapid increase of my stock of these new
varieties, which, judging from the character they exhibited the previous year,
would beyond question be valuable gains to agriculture. But, as the heads
issued from the sheath of the upper leaf, great was my astonishment and
dismay to observe among the plants of each class a wide diversity of forms.
There were heads of various lengths aud of many forms; there were awnless
heads, and heads bearded in every degree. When I saw this medley among
my crosses I relinquished my expectation of speedy advantage from the
experiment; and but for the aid which selection afforded me, would have
remitted altogether a work involving so much care and patience, and yielding
such perplexity and disappointment. Selecting therefore a few of the most
distinct and promising forms, and beginning again the third year with the
product of single plants as before, planting in separate drills, and if any
sporting appeared in the drills (as was almost invariably the case, though the
degree of variation became less and less), selecting from the drill in such
event the best plant, the one which approached nearest the ideal appointed
for that drill, to yield seed for the next year, I have succeeded after four
years in fixing the character of several varieties. The sway of inheritance in
them is no longer disputed, and they come true from seed.’

“Mr. Pringle made experiments with several other varieties of wheat and
also with oats, and with corresponding results. It is perhaps yet too soon to
estimate the value of his new varieties, but some of them have been widely
distributed and have been highly commended, and are still in the markets.

“Second. Mr. A. E. Blount, of Colorado, has also made numerous experi-
ments in hybridizing different varieties of wheat, and his experience is mainly
a repetition of that of Mr. Pringle. Some account of his experiments is given
in a recent address on the ‘ Improvement of the Cereals’ before a Convention
of Agriculturists in Washington, a copy of which will be sent to you.

“Third. Mr, Chas. Arnold, of Paris, Province of Ontario, Canada, has also

86 Improvement of the Plants of the Farm.

made prominent experiments in hybridizing wheat, but we have no printed
account of the same.”

Mr. Pringle has given up agriculture, and is now engaged in
a botanical exploration of the Pacific Slope. His mantle has
fallen on Mr. F. Horsford, Charlotte, Vermont, whose letter
to me contains hints that may be useful to improvers. He

writes :—

“Since 1878 I have given my entire attention to the study of botany and
hybridizing. Have only sent out three novelties that are on the market, but
it requires from three to six years in selecting in order to establish such in
character. My experiments have. been confined mostly to wheat, barley,
tomatoes and peas. Last year I made in this way about seventy-five new
crosses. The results of these I cannot report on until one or two years’ trial.
Those of former years have been quite satisfactory tome. I have seen great
improvement in the yield of barley by crossing, more in this cereal than in
wheat. From some experiments which I have made I am led to believe that
great improvement in the yield of grains can be made by crossing individuals
of the same variety. 1f these individuals are not closely related, or are from
different districts, so much the better. I believe that by taking eight indi-
viduals of the same variety and from different districts, arranging them in
pairs, crossing, and then recrossing these hybrids produced, bringing the eight
together the third year, greater results may be obtained than by a long series
of selections like those of Hallett’s and others. There is not the variation in
such crosses that we get by crossing different varieties, and a stack for general
use can be had much sooner, though no change in quality of grain would be
expected.

“Jn the summer of 1881 I crossed our common six-rowed barley, which is
the same as the French call ‘ Escourgeon,’ with the Nepal barley, which is
beardless and hulless. My last year’s plants of this hybrid were a pleasing
surprise to me. The heads were much longer than either parent; beardless,
but not hulless. ‘The plants showed much vigour, which in this climate is
lacking in the Nepal. Ancther hybrid between our common six-rowed huiless
barley and the Nepal was equally interesting. ‘lhe plants did not act like
the former, but were a long time in tillering, and I had doubts of their pro-
ducing any seed. After sending out three or four times as many stems as
the former variety, these grew and produced good heads, which were beardless
and hulless. ‘The plants were hardly half as tall as either parent, but pro-
duced three times as many beads to the plant as any variety of corn which I
had. ‘Ihe crossing seemed to have changed the height of the parents into
tillering. Of course I may expect a great number of intermediate forms in the
next year’s crop of these varieties.”

I believe that Dr, E. L. Sturtevant, of Geneva, New York,
Director of the Experimental Station of that State, is also
engaged in crossing cereals, and the object of all such experi-
ments must be the production of beneficial variations, A good
sort for America, however, would probably not prove a good
sort for England, since the “improvement” of a cereal implies
its adaptability to a particular soil and climate.

The history of maize offers an example of a plant which has
travelled widely, through its inherent flexibility, or power of
producing varieties adapted to new localities,

/

Improvement of the Plants of the Farm. 87

No one doubts that the numerous varieties of maize have
descended from a single source. Yet this plant, once confined to
one spot, now ranges through greater extremes of climate perhaps
than any other grain-crop. Dr. Vasey, Botanist to the Depart-
ment of Agriculture, Washington, has favoured me with the
following reply to an inquiry as to the localities of the varieties
of maize.

‘Another enquiry is as follows:—‘ Are these different sorts of maize
adapted to different districts, and can a definite line be drawn between the
districts which produce the large, flat, rough seed, and those which produce
the smooth, round, yellow seeds?’ To this it may be answered that there
are several varieties of each of the two classes of corn or maize referred to in
the question, and that in general the large, rough-seeded varieties are best
adapted to Southern districts, and the smaller, smooth round varieties to
Northern districts; yet no defffite line can be drawn farther, perhaps, than
to say that-the large varieties cultivated in the extreme South will not succeed
in the extreme North, for the want of a sufficiently long season to mature the
grain.

The varieties of maize and their differences may be studied

’ in the first volume of Mr. Darwin’s ‘Animals and Plants under

Domestication,’ and in the works which he refers to; or a more

popular work may be consulted—the ‘Grain Manual ’—pub-

lished by Messrs. Hiram, Sibley and Co., the great seedsmen of
Rochester and Chicago. In southern districts maize requires

six or seven months as the period of its growth, while the dwarf
kind, which are habituated to the short summer of the north, -
require only from three to four months. The height of the

plant is 15 or 18 feet in some climates, and 16 or 18 inches in

the case of dwarf varieties in northern countries. The size

of the ear and of its seeds varies in like manner. There are

kinds which ripen their seeds six weeks earlier than other kinds.

Maize from the furthest south will hardly ripen a seed in New

England, and the maize of New England will scarcely ripen in

Canada. But with care and culture the southern kinds, after

a few years, ripen their seeds perfectly in their northern homes,

furnishing, as Mr. Darwin observes, ‘an analogous case to the

conversion of summer into winter wheat, and conversely.”

The principle of selection has been applied to rice as well as
maize, and among various other cases in point, I may quote
that of the Chinese Emperor Khang-hi, an improver several
thousand years ago, who selected and sowed in his garden,
and afterwards “introduced” to China, the only kind of rice
which will grow north of the Great Wall.

It is useful to know that the several varieties of cereals, with
their infinite differences of character, are not produced, as might
be imagined, by the influence of diverse soils and climates, but
by the prodigality of nature. It is doubtful whether climate,

88 Improvement of the Plants of the Farm.

per se, can occasion any variation, except in size and vigour ;
but among the host of varieties always produced, some will suit
one climate, some another. Some plants are possessed of great
variability of character; others have greater fixity, and are less
disposed to adapt themselves to new conditions of growth.
That which applies broadly to cultivated plants in general,
applies also to each species, more or less. Each variety of
every species of cereal has its individual traits which adapt it
for culture in certain localities, varying in soil and climate and
the method of cultivating, to which the prescience and expe-
rience of agriculturists will confine it.

In 1853 my curiosity was excited by a sort of wheat with
wiry straw, which is grown on a patch of Jand in Sussex, the
rich diluvium of the coast between Portslade and Arundel. In
this district the crops of straw are heavy, and are apt to become
laid, and the insignificant Peaked-ear still holds its own, on
account of the toughness of the straw. It bends before the
storm without breaking, and, remaining uninjured, it is enabled
to lift itself again, so that the filling of the ear can be completed
when other wheat in the same predicament would be ruined.

Some improvements, therefore, are relative rather than abso-
lute. Italian rye-grass may be altered in habit, like many
another plant, so as to become actually more productive and
valuable wherever it may be grown; but the customary improye-
ments of more difficult subjects, such as cereals, are generally
relative to soil and climate, and consist in a skilful adaptation
of the right variety to the right position. I could mention a
robust, coarse kind of wheat, which a small farmer told me had
put 50/7. into his pocket since its introduction many years ago.
He spoke, however, of fine seasons and a poor soil, and the
same kind of wheat under other circumstances has been de-
scribed as the worst in the world.

I have received from many correspondents interesting reports
of the varieties of wheat. It is evident there is no such thing
as a national variety of the bread-corn of England. In reading
the reports I have referred to, one comes to the conclusion that
instead of one best sort, there are a dozen varieties which may
each claim the highest position in its own particular locality.
As the favourites of particular growers, their merits may seem
indisputable, but they are in fact entirely relative and dependent
on soil and season. In the neighbourhood of Hitchin, and in
similar districts, where superior sorts prevail, the two white
varieties, Improved Uxbridge and Hardcastle, are esteemed, with
Nursery for quality, Golden Drop and Browick for quan-
tity. Mr. James Long, of Henlow, Beds, a selector of Hard-
castle wheat, claims for it an exemption from mildew. The

Improvement of the Plants of the Farm. 89

Improved Square-head wheat travels far, and has largely taken
the place of older favourites throughout a wide district.

In the fine corn-growing district near Saffron Walden, Essex,
the best sorts of cereals are Scholey’s Square-head wheat, and
Pain’s Rivett for autumn sowing, and Nursery for sowing in
spring. The Chevalier is the best barley, and the White Tartarian
the best oat. The Chidham wheat, a superfine white variety,
succeeds in Surrey, on chalks and sandy loams. The Peaked-
ear wheat, a sort with slender tough straw, which lifts itself after
becoming laid, suits the rich diluvial soil of the Sussex coast
from Worthing to Bognor, and is rarely met with beyond its
special district. As a rule, foreign sorts of wheat have not done
well in England; and we @o not owe a single good variety to
any of our neighbours. As might have been expected, Mr.
Shirreff found on trial that most kinds of wheat from the colonies
proved to be identical with our native varieties.

Mr. William Trumper, Lake End House, Windsor, recom-
mends Trump wheat, Chevalier barley, and Tartar oats. He
adds :—

“The late Mr. William Trumper, of Dorney, noticed some extraordinary
ears of wheat in a field near the Thames, which he picked and grew the seed
for several years till he had enough to sell. It has been very popular ever
since, which has been about sixty years. It was at first called ‘Trumper’s
wheat,’ afterwards shortly ‘ Trump wheat.’ ”

Mr. T. Bowick, Bedford, writes :—

“The Red wheats are very generally cultivated on our clays, and are the
most productive. The Browick, the Golden Drop, the Hardcastle, Talavera,
are in good repute. Among the bearded kinds, Rivetts and April wheats are
fairly productive. The Chevalier barley is more productive and more grown
than any other kind. The varieties of oats are numerous, but they are not
much grown. The White and Black Tartarian have a considerable fame.”

From the Agricultural College at Downton, Salisbury, we
learn that the approved varieties of that district are Square-head,
' Lammas, Nursery, Talavera, Browick; Black Tartarian oats,
and barley from Scotland and Norfolk.

Messrs. Raynbird and Co., of Basingstoke, Hants, enumerate
the following varieties of cereals:—Wheat: Red Lammas, Red
Nursery, Red Browick, Golden Drop, White Trump, Rough
Chaff, Hunter’s White, and April Bearded Red. Barley:
Chevalier, Golden Melon, Archer’s Stiff Straw, Golden Beard-
less, and Winter. Oats: Black Tartar, White Tartar, Water-
loo, White Poland, and Winter.

In the favoured district of Evesham, Mr. A. H. Savory,
Aldington Manor, mentions as favourite sorts, Square-head,

Browick, Golden Drop, and Rivett Wheat ; and Hallett’s Pedi-

90 - Improvement of the Plants of the Farm.

gree and Awnless barley. The following answers to my ques-
tions apply to the peat soils of the Isle of Ely :—

“Of all the numerous varieties of wheat the two best, taking into account
all seasons, are the ‘ Essex White’ and ‘Red Nursery.’ The latter has proved
of specially good quality on the poorest soils, when all other kinds have been
eres but the yield is generally one or two sacks per acre below the Essex

hite.

“The first kind was introduced by Mr. Marriage, living near Chelmsford,
and was grown from a single fine ear selected by him. The Nursery is a very
old variety, grown in Essex for the last forty years; it can be sown as a spring
wheat. 1 once sowed a field of it in the middle of March and reaped it on the
12th of August.”

Mr. C. S. Dods, Haddington, recommends Hopetoun, Fen-
ton, Trump, and Square-head wheat; Chevalier barley, and
Hopetoun, Potato, and Sandy oats. At Selby, Yorkshire, the
best varieties are Hardcastle, white; and among red wheats,
Browick, Square-head, and Creeping wheat ; Chevalier, Awnless,
and Giant barley; the: two last-named from Messrs. Raynbird
and Co.; and Tartarian, Friesland, and Black and White
Enfield oats.

Mr. A. S. Wilson, Aberdeenshire, says—

“There is considerable effort made by most farmers in this district to get
better varieties, or rather, purer samples, for seed. ‘The exhibits at the
various seed shows are sold by auction and generally fetch very high prices.
Erroneous views prevail as to weight per bushel being a test of excellence,
and a few years ago Canadian oats, which sometimes weigh 50 ibs., were
extensively used; but as they have the lowest percentage of kernel of all the
cultivated varieties, they are going out of fashion.”

At Aspatria, Cumberland, many varieties of wheat are grown
to suit the changeable soil. The best are Creeping White,
Norfolk Prize, Yellow Chaff, Farmer’s Friend, Red with White
Chaff.

At Bonnington, N. B., the varieties are thus placed in the
order of merit: Wheat:—1. Square Headed; 2. Fenton; |
3. Hunter’s, Blood Red, Browick, Spalding, Red Chaff, Velvet,
and other English white sorts. :

The few examples of varying character quoted from Mr.
Shirreff’s experience would suffice to show that the production :
of a best variety for all districts is contrary to the true principles-
of improvement. If the increase of the productive powers of a-
plant were a process of arithmetic, or a mechanical operation,
like adding an inch to the rim of a bushel, the improver’s work.
would be easy. But a plant has life regulated by law; and,
having life, it is endowed with constitutional temperament, and:
the crop must depend on contingencies almost as numerous as
those which affect the physical well-being of man himself. The’
plant-improver learns what is needful in different neighbour-

Improvement of the Plants of the Farm. 91

hoods. ‘ We want a wheat,” says a northern farmer, “ which
will ripen three weeks earlier than any of our varieties.” Diseases
have been prevalent in the late unhealthy seasons, and we are
asked for varieties which may defy them. It is not a matter of
hypothesis, but a fact of observation, that some wheats are less
liable to rust than others, and that this arises from their origin
or their constitution, some varieties enjoying in this respect an
immunity more or less complete. Wheat, again, may become
laid from several causes, physical or chemical, and these may
_ operate alone or in concert. Storms and high manuring are
_ beyond the influence of the wheat-breeder, but it is his business
_ to consider temperament. Some varieties of wheat have a heavy
ear, as well as straw whichis at once weak and loaded with
leaf, so that the crop must needs fall; and coarse-strawed
_ wheat often falls flat and all together.
Whatever the American cultivator may have done to secure
the divergence of maize, and to adapt it to different soils and
localities, the English improver may do in the case of wheat.
It would be an error to suppose that nature helped the
American, for, if progress be a law of nature, retrogression and
degeneration are quite as much so. Nature shows no solicitude
as regards cultivated plants, and her selections, securing the
survival of the fittest, would not be favourable to a high-bred,
high-fed cereal. The plant-improver, on the contrary, is not
impartial, he derives the principle of selection from nature ;
but in carrying it into practice he works systematically and
thoroughly with one object—the improvement of the plant from
his point of view. We have seen what Mr. Shirreff effected by
_ means of his accidental discoveries, and the question naturally
arises whether artificial crossing and the “matching” of suit-

able varieties will not effect greater improvements than the
» accidental operations of nature. At present the cross-fertilisa-
, tion of cereals, and the subsequent selection of the varieties, has
. been but slightly attended to, and we must wait for results.

___ Mr. Laxton is one of the ablest hybridisers and improvers of
; horticultural plants, and cannot spare time for other breeding ;
» but he writes that he did once cross wheat, working upon the
«Early Japan variety, and the most productive sorts of high
; quality. The results of such calculated labours should exceed
, those of all haphazard crossing, whether natural or artificial.
; The experimenter should commence his operations with a clear
,. knowledge of the task he has set himself, and of what particular
3 | modification he wishes to accomplish, whether he wants a
, hardier variety of the plant he is engaged upon, an earlier or
» a later sort, &c. Dr. Masters, as Editor of the ‘Gardeners’
~ Chronicle,’ has had a long and intimate acquaintance with the

92 Improvement of the Plants of the Farm.

wonderful feats performed by breeders in the department of
horticulture. He writes—

“Gardeners, as you know, cross very largely all sorts of things, but they
have to do it on a very large scale and to exercise undaunted patience, because
they draw so many blanks and so few prizes. But it isa curious fact that
while the first generation is often a mass of worthless mongrels, some of those
mongrels, if grown on, eventually develop into something good.”

We have seen that Mr. Shirreff’s crossed varieties of wheat
scarcely answered his expectations; but he was a breeder for
a period so short, that even failure under such circumstances
need not deter others, since all the triumphs of plant-improve-
ment have been due to the crossing of varieties and to selection.
It was by these processes, as we have seen, that maize has been
spread over such extended districts ; and varieties of wheat of
improved sorts, each suited to its district, will reward those who
patiently attend to this branch of cultivation. The principles
of plant-improvement, however, must be mastered by those who
would practice the art.

. Aselector of wheat has maintained, correctly enough no doubt,
that every ear contains one grain more productive than the rest ;
but in carrying out the principle of selection he sowed his best
seeds at wide intervals. This kind of seeding means high
feeding, and produces large coarse grain and stout weak straw.
It induces, therefore, constitutional defects, with probably a pre-
disposition to blight and mildew, and the other diseases to which
enfeebled plants are specially liable. In well-farmed fields the
best seeds select themselves, since their produce is greater than
that of others, and therefore every year a larger proportion of the
most productive seed must be sown. It is sown, too, on clean
land, sufficiently but not too heavily manured, under conditions
most favourable to the health of the plant. No doubt the art of
plant-improvement consists in the selection of good qualities and
of profitable modifications ; but when the improver introduces
another principle, that of high feeding by thin sowing, he alters —
the plant by a totally different method from that employed by
the selector. As a general rule, the improver should aim
produce varieties yielding grain of superior quality. A coarse
and vigorous variety may be excellent for poor soils, but when —
the thin seeding is carried so far as to render the grain unusually —
large and light, there is then danger of disaster through im=
paired vitality and constitutional vigour. A habit of excessi
tillering is induced by early and thin seeding, and wheat which
had acquired that habit has been known to continue tillering
the summer—having been sown in the spring—and to be still
spreading over the ground a grassy mat of herbage, when
other varieties, sown at the same time, were in ear,

Improvement of the Plants of the Farm. 93

I have probably named some of the best sorts of cereals in
various districts, but plant-improvers are generally of opinion
that the best sorts degenerate. This, however, is a moot point,
and the so-called degeneration often means only want of care
or soil-exhaustion. On the other hand the last century had its
“best sorts” like the present; and Mr. Carruthers can show
seven boxes of samples of wheat collected by Sir Joseph Banks
early in this century, each labelled with its name ; and probably
nine-tenths of these varieties are now quite unknown to the
farmers in the districts where they were then cultivated.

Professor Brown, of the Ontario Agricultural College, gives

_ the following example of the degeneracy of a famous Canadian
_ variety of wheat :— =

| “T have been offered again and again, by our millers and our Government,
_ all the money that any one need desire, to bring back the old Led Fife (we

| don’t use the distinction ‘ Red’ here), the best spring wheat that Canada ever
| had. It has, however, left us, what owing to is not clear. Neither in yield nor
| sample can we grow the good old Fife. We find a decided improvement in
_ its production on the new lands of Manitoba. Seed from here to there comes
| back after three years much better filled, better in colour, and more even in
; size of berries, but yet not the good old Fife of Ontario.”

The progress of degeneracy is prevented by taking care of
_old sorts or the introduction of new ones, and improvers there-
fore may rely on the permanent character of their vocation.

_ Peas, Beans, “ Roots,” Potatoes, and Forage Plants.—I do not
| propose writing an essay on each of these plants. My readers
are aware that peas in gardens have been greatly improved since
_ the original modifications effected by Thomas Andrew Knight as
the result of skilful crossing. Some of my correspondents are
trying the improved garden peas for field culture. It has
_ certainly become desirable in many districts to cultivate varieties
for marketing, instead of continuing the growth of the old
grey and maple peas. By sowing the improved sorts, a crop
,may be obtained which will perhaps be valuable for pick-
)ing and marketing when green, and, on the other hand, if it
should not be in demand for that purpose, the produce would
still be worth several shillings per quarter more than the old
_sorts of peas, such as maple and early duns. Both growers and
seedsmen, and the hybridisers, who are at this time giving
great attention to peas, are doing so with a view to the double
object I have mentioned.

(| A correspondent writes of beans from an eastern county—

| “The wipter bean introduced into this district by me at least forty years

ago is the most certain in regard to yield, exhausts the land less, and is less

‘aula as to soil than any other variety. By selection it has become
ighter in colour and the seeds larger.”

94 Improvement of the Plants of the Farm. |

Beans are a favourite and productive crop in the Isle of Ely
and the fens, and probably some of those enormous pods that
ornament the seedsmen’s stalls at the Agricultural Shows are
pampered in that district. I have not much faith in the
stamina of giants, or of monster ears and pods. Suits in courts of
law occasionally remind us of the folly of sowing the seeds of ab-
normal plants, and of the credulity displayed by some farmers.
But an experienced correspondent in the fenland reports great
improvement im beans. A sort called the White-eyed Chatteris
is much sought after, having been for years carefully selected in
that parish by hand-picking. The crop may be distinguished
blindfold for its stout vigorous habit. The Double-blossom
bean and the Cluster bean are also favourites in the same dis- —
trict, and the large Windsor bean is much grown in the same
bean-producing country ; notably an improved and very prolific
large-sized variety, which often produces as many as ten or
twelve stalks from a single seed. In other districts the Scotch
bean, Winter bean, Horse bean, and Tick are in good repute,
and the early and productive Mocha and Mazagan for spring
sowing.

The varieties of the several kinds of “roots” are far too
numerous to be named. Those which are sent out by the
prominent firms of seedsmen are generally good. Mr. A. S.
Wilson says of turnips :—

“Every seedsman says he has greatly improved his stock. Pliny tells us
that the old Romans raised turnips 40 Roman pounds in weight (12-oz. lbs.).
And Dr. Skene Keith, who wrote an agricultural history of this country
at the beginning of this century, found bulbs up to 38 Ib. weight. The

processes of improvement and evolution are too slow for the patience of most
experimenters.”

There is much truth in this last observation, which is ap-
plicable to every kind of professed plant-improvement. Still,
it will generally be acknowledged that the competition of seeds- N
men in this department has not been in vain, and if the swede
is a hybrid, as most botanists believe it to be, the improver can
claim it as a very profitable modification. My correspondents
generally report improvements. The great number of the va-
rieties of swedes and turnips, and the difference of the sorts in
different districts, prove that their qualities vary, and that some —
are adapted for one climate some for another. The seed of
tough-leaved cabbage is largely grown in this country for the
American farmers, who find that this particular sort succeed:
best in their hot climate. Similar constitutional difference
adapt the varieties of turnip to different districts. The name
perhaps, should be sought in the seedsmens’ lists, and I sh
only mention a few characteristic types. Mr. Melvin, of Bo

Improvement of the Plants of the Farm. 95

nington, N.B., says that turnips have been very much improved
by the crossing of different varieties, and he names among
improved sorts Fostertoun and Dale’s hybrid swedes, which are
full croppers, but not the most hardy, the quickest in growth
being the most rapid in decay. The Green-top swede and
Aberdeen Green-top Yellow turnip keep better than others, and
stand frost better. ‘The varieties of Skirving’s swede and yellow
turnip are intermediate.

In some districts in the north a special reason is given why
Skirving’s purple-top yellow, which was a great favourite twenty-
five years ago, is hardly ever grown now. This is its liability
to mildew. Fostertoun hybrids are much more free in growth
than the-other yellows, but they should be used before the New
Year. Purpie-top swedes are the main crop; next to them in
importance are Fostertoun Hybrid Yellow, then Aberdeen Green-
top Yellow. White turnips aré not much grown, except an acre
or two for early use, or when swedes fail and the sowing is late.
Swedes are usually sown from the 10th to the 25th of May,
Fostertoun’s until the end of June, and, as a rule, Aberdeen
Yellows are not sown after about June 10. I need not say that
stubble-turnips are not sown in the north. Fostertoun Hybrid
is greatly approved in Cumberland as a free-growing turnip,
which produces a great crop, and feeds sheep and cattle well.
One cannot always give even the name of the introducer of an
improved sort, still less relate the history of his patience and
skill in its cultivation. The Fostertoun improvements, however,
were first introduced by Mr. Robert Hutchison, of Fostertoun,
Fifeshire.

The Bangholm swede is in much request in some districts in
the north of England where cabbages are not grown.

The best farmers in the seed-growing and other districts in

_ Essex, Beds, and other counties, are of opinion that no farm-
_ crops have been improved more than root-crops, and that seeds-

_men have done good service in raising fine strains which
produce heavier crops than those formerly grown, The fol-
_ lowing sorts are spoken of with favour:—Pomeranian White
Globe turnip, for early folding; Green Round turnip, and
_ Aberdeen Yellow Bullock, which has little tendency to run to
_ green in spring; the Tankard swedes, for pitting till lambing-

time, and several other swedes.
Among other turnips of the southern districts are White Globe,

_ Grey Stone, Green Round and Red Round and Tankard turnips,

_and Purple-top and White swedes. The Pomeranian turnips
_were formerly the best for early folding. On light land in
|Surrey we usually commenced folding this turnip by Sep-

'tember 1, when the crop of roots and leaves together was a
i

96 Improvement of the Plants of the Farm.

heavy one. In examining a large number of plots of different
sorts of turnips in the trial-grounds of an eminent firm of seeds-
men in August, the Pomeranian was found among the early
sorts ; and if it be true that other varieties now surpass it, yielding
a heavier crop in a shorter period, with the same treatment, the
fact can easily be ascertained by the method of comparative
trial which, in these days of new varieties and eager competi-
tion, should be resorted to by all who would obtain the best
sorts for their particular localities,

The process of comparison would supply information which
no amount of advice from counsellors residing off the farm,
or from observation of crops in other districts could afford.
With regard to the methods of improving turnips, cross-breed-
ing has been and is constantly effected by the various amateurs
and other breeders who turn their attention to such operations,
and the results of whose labours are generally brought before the
public by seedsmen. But selection is constantly necessary to
maintain the purity of the breed and the original standard of
its form, colour, and quality. Those who are engaged as
growers for the seedsmen continually select, and the work is
usually inspected during its progress by the seedsman himself
or his representatives. One of the greatest of the seedsmen
replies to one of my questions that turnips, mangolds, and cab-
bages have been improved “ by constant selection and by re-
selection, and the production of stock-seed for the purposes of
re-production, at infinite trouble, and frequently great outlay.”
This is no exaggeration, and the system of competition, though
it may lead occasionally to the introduction of novelties without
merit, will continue to secure a high degree of excellence, as
well as the continued improvement of the plants of the farm.
Farmers may grow turnip-seeds for themselves, and that would
be far better, if it be done with proper care and attention, than
purchasing inferior seed from indifferent seedsmen. Or farmers
may conduct the business of seed-growing in co-operation,
employing an expert to superintend the concern, to select the
roots or grain, and to conduct the experiments in breeding.
But the business must be well managed if a successful compe-
tition with the leading firms of seedsmen is to be effected.

I think it will hardly be disputed that mangolds as well as
cabbages have been steadily improving. A great change is
perceptible in the earliness, size, and quality of cabbages grown
by market gardeners, and these improvements and the introduc-
tion of the thousand-headed variety have led to the extended
growth of cabbages in agriculture. The introduction into some
districts of the Drumhead-cabbage, improved by Mr. Robinson,
and of various early varieties, has been exceedingly advantageous.

Improvement of the Plants of the Farm. 97

The same principles apply in the breeding of plants and
animals, Cross-breeding is a method of introducing new cha-
racters, and selection of modifications is a method of moulding
according to taste or fancy. The more the former practice is
resorted to, the greater the diversities among the offspring, and
therefore the greater the need for selection. As an example
among roots | may mention the Golden Tankard mangold,
a superior variety, which cattle will fight over when it is put
in the trough with other kinds. It is yellow in flesh with
yellow leaf-stalks, and it requires constant selection on account
of its mixed breed, being a cross between a yellow and a red
mangold, and inclined to reproduce the characteristics of the
original parents—the red marks of one, or the yellow skin
and white flesh of the other,

It is possible that some of my informants may be a little too
partial to particular varieties, nevertheless a few extracts from
their obliging communications will show that improvements
have been attempted and accomplished, unless a great number
of the most practical authorities are deceived. An experienced
informant, Mr. John Fryer, of Chatteris, says of mangolds in
the fens—

“Mangolds are also largely grown. By far the most valuable as regards
quality of root, amount of saccharine, &c., is the ‘Golden Tankard,’ first
introduced by Messrs. Sutton and Sons. Any kind of cattle, horses, or pigs
will pick these out to eat first amongst any other sort. I have known them
to retain their sweetness up to August, when other kinds were acrid or taste-
less, and pithy or dry. The yield per acre is not quite so great as the long
‘Mammoth Red,’ or perhaps the ‘ Yellow Intermediate,’ but I have grown

50 to 60 tons per acre, which I should prefer for use to 60 or 70 tons of any
other kind.”

Other seedsmen possess other sorts as good perhaps. One
correspondent recommends the above-named sort of mangold
for sheep, and another sort, the Mammoth Long Red, for cows.
There may be some force in such a distinction, but the main
point must be that a mangold should store well.

“‘ Thirty-five years ago,” says a successful selector, “I assisted
_ in the improvement of a globe mangold for Mr. Brandreth Gibbs,
of Half Moon Street, Piccadilly ;” and this sort, he says, had
a skin as tender as an apple, and a single tap-root so free from
the clinging fangs of coarse mangold, that the crop was easily
lifted, in fact you could walk down between the rows and turn
the roots out of the ground by giving them a kick right and
left. More than twenty years ago the same grower was engaged
in the improvement of mangolds for one of our most active firms.

He has also devoted much attention to the carrot, which has
been a valuable crop in his district since the introduction of a
sort which has sold well in the London market, and which yields

VOL. XX.—S. S. H

98 Improvement of the Plants of the Farm.

a greater weight per acre, and has longer roots than the older
sorts. The white Belgian carrot yields the largest crop of any
field sort, but the quality falls short. A seedsman claims to
have produced a carrot which answers well on shallow soils ; and
another has a “splendid variety, long, even, bulky, and of
excellent feeding qualities. When tender and not grown to its
full size, it is as good as any garden variety.”

The root-crops, like others, must be adapted to soil and
climate.

The potato is essentially a constant subject for the plant-
improyver. Mr. Darwin shows, in ‘Animals and Plants under
Domestication,’ that the tubers have been greatly enlarged and
improved since the introduction of the plant. The potato-
disease brought into constant operation the principle that in-
creased vigour is imparted by the crossing of varieties. Hence
the vast number of varieties in cultivation. “Mr. Robert Fenn,
of Sulhampstead, Reading, has spent forty-five years in breeding
potatoes of excellent quality, and generally of the early kinds.
Among the descriptions he has sent me, one relates to a “very
desirable variety, which is off the ground sufficiently early to
grow turnips afterwards, to be fed off by sheep, and then sown
with wheat, or winter vetches, or other crops.” There is
another variety which, he says, would suit Ireland well, as it
does its duty quickly, and would be, if the growers would
“buckle to,” out of the way of their autumn rains, and would
escape the disease. In describing his method, Mr. Fenn says,
*‘] spent ten years during my earlier experiments in trying to
raise superior varieties by seed from promiscuous berries, and
never met with the least success,” Magnum Bonum, raised by
Mr. James Clarke, of Christchurch, Hants, being the only example
of a fine variety raised by sowing seed at random. All expe-
rience shows that the principles of plant-improvement require
careful study. Mr. Fenn had spent ten years previously in the
vain endeavour to improve the types of varieties by careful
selection of the best forms of tubers, and he now knows that
selection has not yet produced any new or really improved form
of potato. The ash-leafed kidney sometimes develops lumps,
which give it an appearance widely different from that of the
true stock, but the lumpy ash-leaf nevertheless reproduces the
true type. Selection has given us many very valuable and
entirely distinct new forms of mangolds, turnips, or carrots;
but potatoes cannot be moved from their original shape by
selection, so that new and improved sorts can only be had by
cross-fertilisation. I believe the sole exception to this rule
consists in a selected sport from the Rector of Woodstock.

The following details by Mr. Fenn contain useful hints for

Improvement of the Plants of the Farm. 99

improvers :—“ It has taken me forty-five years to arrive at what
I have done with the potato; and the variety does not now
exist with which I could cross any of my latest seedlings to
improve them, taking quality as a prime test; because for
twenty years past I have been crossing and re-crossing con-
tinually all our best old English varieties, handing down, so to
speak, their flesh and blood, and now, after having crossed them
with the best of the American breeds, I am at the end of my
tether. I could go on crossing to get size, but that would mean
deterioration ; and [ could go on breeding ‘in and in’ with my
own best sorts, and I well know what would happen.” Crossing
with recent varieties raised by others would, he fears, lead to
deterioration of quality, so he leaves others to solve the problem
of further improving potatoes.

Improved forms of forage~plants or roots are far easier to
produce than improved seed-bearing plants like cereals, and the
rye-grasses Offer a variety of forms capable of advantageous
modification. In the trial-grounds at Reading there were
numerous plots of rye-grass, good and bad in character, as well
as examples of the same variety of rye-grass differing in quality
in consequence of the seed having been produced in different
districts. The common annual and the perennial rye-grass
differ greatly in luxuriance of growth, the best sort of perennial
rye grass being exceedingly productive and worthy of its position,
as a grass that forms one-third of the bulk of some of our most
productive pastures, while the annual variety is as unproductive
as it ls unpromising in appearance. One of these grasses, in
the middle of July looked brown and poor of produce, while
the other was green, and growing like a plant which must
needs produce a bulky crop. Among all the adulterations by
which unwary farmers have been defrauded, none are more
readily effected, none are more frequent, than those by which
unscrupulous traders obtain undue profit in the sale of rye-grass
which is not perennial, though it is represented as being so.
The improvement of this particular crop urgently requires that
the seed should be tested, that it should weigh from 20 lbs. to

28 Ibs. per bushel, that cheap seed should be avoided, or sown

side by side with other seed supplied by seedsmen of repute.
The tendency of Italian rye-grass to produce seed-stalks instead
of leaves, a characteristic fault which heavy and early stocking
partially remoyes, has long presented itself to the notice of
plant-improyers as one which perhaps might be removed. A
selector having succeeded in producing what is called a Giant
Evergreen Italian rye-grass, remarkable for its early growth of
spreading leaves, the eminent firm who obtained the stock haye
been able to add to this most useful class of forage plants a
H 2

100 Improvement of the Plants of the Farm.

decided improvement. <A large farmer in the fens took me
over his fields of this new kind of Italian rye-grass early in
August. The whole of it had been cut for seed, and the shocks
were still standing in the field waiting for fine weather, while
a thick aftermath of spreading leaves already covered the surface.
In this growth of a good bottom grass it resembles the old Pacey
varieties. It is said that the growth of lucerne is extending,
and that that plant was always grown in the fens; but my
friend, who is experienced and by no means over-sanguine,
believes that the new Italian rye-grass, with the only fault of
that famous forage plant removed, will drive it from the field.

The same gentleman once observed in one of his fields of
Italian rye-grass a ‘‘ sport” which grew with its stems branch-
ing from the ground, but on sowing the seed the peculiarity
was unfortunately not reproduced. He is, however, a firm
believer in the value of the novelty I have just described, of
which I will only say further what a correspondent says of cow-
grass, and which in fact may be said of anything promising
which persons of repute may advertise, that it is worth a trial,
that is, a comparative and competitive trial. ‘ Farmers,” says
a valued correspondent, himself a tenant farmer, “do not
enough compare different varieties under identical circum-
stances.”

The importance of forage plants for folding, soiling, or for
hay has increased, and the seedsmen are engaged in their
improvement, and have already made a good beginning.
About thirty-five years ago Trifolium incarnatum was grown
in Surrey by my father and others, who welcomed it’ as a useful
forage for sheep and horses, with one fault,—it remained in
perfection only about a fortnight from the opening of the
blossom to the hardening of the seed. As it was a garden
plant grown for the beauty of its crimson flowers, and as almost
anything can be done by practised horticulturists in the modi-
fication of plants, later varieties, or sub-varieties of trifolium
have been forthcoming, and those who farm within the limits
suited to this crop, extending perhaps fifty miles north of the
Thames, or further on warm soils, or in favoured spots, may
have the use of trifolium during about six weeks. A sheep
farmer on the deep diluvial soil of the coast of Sussex, near
Worthing, where the plant grows in perfection, informs me
that he now has it during six weeks. On the 16th of June this
year, Messrs. Sutton showed me four samples of trifolium
grown in their trial-grounds, under precisely similar circum-
stances, of which the earliest crimson was out of blossom at
that date and the heads hard with seed ; while two other sorts,
crimson and white, were twelve or fourteen days later, the

as ee Se

Improvement of the Plants of the Farm. * 101

blossom being nearly full and the plants in perfection for
feeding. The fourth sort was the latest crimson, which scarcely
showed any blossoms at that date, and was ten days later than
the other late sorts.

These are most important modifications of a forage-plant,
and they would lead one to conclude that red clover may perhaps
be rendered more useful by similar changes of habit, and the
persistent selection of the earlier and later plants, which in any
field of clover may be discovered. Messrs. Sutton’s trial-
grounds this year contained some exceedingly interesting plots
of red cloyer, conveying valuable lessons on the effects of climate
and on the varying periods of maturity. In the case of red
cloyer grown from English seed side by side with that from
German seed, the former was far more vigorous, and a more
bulky crop than the latter; and the German was later. But a
much stronger caution to beware of foreign seed was given by
the plots of red clover from American and French seed. Cana-
dian seed produces stout robust crops, and that from the North
of France yields crops of pretty good constitution, but the red
clover imported from the South of France, is quite unsuited to
our climate. It either perishes in winter, or, like that from the
United States, its growth is weak and sickly. In matters of
this kind no sort of instruction equals that which is conveyed
by the eye, and I hope that competitive trials will lead to the
disuse of inferior foreign clover-seed, a large quantity of which
is at present sold and sown in this country.

The earlier and later “habit” of English and German clover,
or of Indian and English wheat, or of maize, or other corn
which ripens at different dates in different localities, suggests
that perhaps red clover might assume earlier or later forms,
like trifolium. A correspondent who is not acquainted with the
two distinct forms known as cow-grass (not the 7. medium of
botanists) and red clover, says:

“Tt is just called red clover whether it is grown from English, German,
French, American, or Canadian seed. The last-named seed is growing in
favour so, that seedsmen now offer it as Canadian. All through the spring
and winter clover grown from Canadian seed retains a rather shy habit; but
when warm weather comes, it rushes out, and is soon equal to English. It is
not quite so tall, perhaps, but yields as heavy a crop, owing to the plants
branching more freely.”

These are marked characteristics. The habit of “rushing”
in their growth, as most plants do in the forcing climate of an
American spring, may not be permanent, perhaps, but so long
as it lasts it is advantageous.

Why should not agriculturists effect with root and forage
crops what horticulturists have accomplished in another depart-

102 Improvement of the Plants of the Farm.

ment of culture? It is, I think, quite to the purpose that I
should mention the lettuce, the old sorts of which were available
for two or three weeks only, except when sown in succession.
The new sorts of lettuce, such as Commcedore Nutt, a very
early kind, Superb White Cos, Marvel, or Standard, the latest
of all, have been endowed with a habit of early or late maturity,
so that a good succession of lettuces can be secured at a single
sowing of these kinds. Instead of lasting for two or three weeks,
they are fit for use during two or three months. Not even the
able Botanist of the Society could trace the cause of these
changes of habit, or discover with the pear their accom-
panying morphological effects.

A practical plant-improver would at once recognise that what
has happened to the lettuce may happen to red clover. The
majority of farmers are still unaware that an earlier and later
red clover already exist. I have received various interesting
reports on this subject. According to an excellent practical
authority, cow-grass is a name given to different plants in
different districts. At Mark Lane it simply means a fine sample
of common broad clover, whereas in Berks, Oxon, Hants, and
a few other counties, it means a perennial variety giving only
one cutting per annum, coming into bloom a fortnight after
other red clover, and having a solid instead of a hollow stem.

Mr. Robert Russell, of Horton Court Lodge, Dartford, writes
to me of three red clovers: the Common; Cow-clover, which yields
three cuts per annum ; and Cow-grass, which yields one heavy
cut, will stand two years, and has almost gone out of cultivation
owing to the cost of saving the seed and threshing it. On
June 24, he writes: “I have 20 acres of the single cut cow-grass
which will not be in bloom for a fortnight. It will be fit to cut
for hay in a month; the red clover is fit to cut now.”

Other evidence has reached me to the same effect as the
above, and in addition to it I add the following notes of my
own, taken June 19, while examining single-cut cow-grass and
red clover grown side by side: “* The cow-grass is two inches
taller than the red clover, and later. Its blossom-heads are still
green and immature, while the rose-coloured blossoms of the red
clover are already open. The stems are smoother, though some
of the leaves are covered with fine hairs, as in the case of the red
clover. The stems are longer, and generally hollow—some of
them are solid. The stems of the red clover also are generally
hollow. Each variety has green and purple stalks indis-
criminately.”

Mr. H. E. Raynbird says the cow-grass blossoms two or
three weeks later than red clover, and the distinction between
them is as well known as that between barley and oats. Mr.

i

Improvement of the Plants of the Farm. 103

Martin J. Sutton states that cow-grass used for soiling rarely
gives more than one crop a year, with a bite sometimes in
autumn. It comes into cutting three or four weeks after red
clover, and remains in good condition two or three weeks. It
stands several years. Mr. Sutton recognises that the alleged
peculiarities of stem and leaf are not persistent ; but he says the
stem is generally solid and smooth, the land, however, making a
great difference in regard to these peculiarities. Some samples
of the seed are more like red cloyer-seed than others, and a pure
sample will sometimes vegetate as though it were mixed. He
finds it a “ whimsical” plant in some respects, but, always true
to its leading and valuable features, as a clover adapted for poorer
land than red clover, and yielding later forage.

Cow-grass, I have myself observed, tillers very freely when
planted thinly, and a single root may carry under such circum-
stances thirteen stems, which then assume the trailing habit of
zigzag clover, the cow-grass of botanists (7. medium). As red
clover is one of the most important plants in our agriculture,
and one of the most profitable when it can be obtained, other
reports by practical agriculturists may perhaps be read with
interest. Mr. J. P. Franklin, Britwell, Oxon, finds that single-
cut cow-grass yields more seed per acre than red clover, so that
the cost of growing the seed is due to the sacrifice of the whole
years produce of the land, and to the expense of threshing a
bulky crop. He has favoured me with the following remarks :—

“JT crew 5 cwt. per acre in 78; and in that year, which I think we shall
never forget, 79, cwt.; both sold at 1s. per lb. On an average you may
expect 3 cwt.

“J have grown it a second year for seed with success, and have one of the
finest crops of White Tartar oats I ever saw on a very poor hill after it.

“Tf mown for hay I believe it would stand a number of years, but would
require cutting when coming into bloom, or the hay would be very coarse.
It is first-rate green-meat for horses, or will take a lot of ewes or sheep often
when the after-feed of the red clover is not ready.

“Tt comes into flower about three weeks after red, and is a good preparation

for wheat. Ihave planted it now about twenty-five years, and was one of
the first here to save the seed.”

Mr. T, P. Hatt, Ipsden, Oxon, wrote on June 27, when the
single-cut cow-grass was just budding for bloom, and the broad
clover very nearly in full bloom. The former he says produces
a very large crop on good land. He has had it so luxuriant in
growth as to measure five feet long, but it then exhausts itself in
one season, and does not answer for a second year.

“On the thin chalk, where red clover is of very uncertain growth, it grows
two years, and makes good hay. It is invaluable for green food for horses, but
should not be cut for them till it begins to blow. Every farmer who farms
arable land and has to keep his horses in the yards or stables all the summer
should plant about 1 acre to every 100 annually. I always sow the §, C.

104 Improvement of the Plants of the Farm.

cow-grass by itself. It is quite as good a preparation for wheat as the common
red clover, and grows with a similar tap root. I generally sow 2 1b. more seed
per acre than in the case of red clover, as the seed is rather larger than that
of broad clover asarule. It has been grown in this neighbourhood over
twenty years.

“Unlike broad clover, after you have cut it for hay you cannot seed it, but
it grows sufficient to fold the sheep with. I am doubtful whether it would
stand a second year after being saved for seed. Two or three farmers in the
neighbourhood generally save some for seed.”

To these practical reports I am able to add the following by
Dr. Masters, F.R.S., to whom I had forwarded specimens of
red clover, “ single-cut cow-grass,” and JT. medium :—*

“Sutton’s ‘single-cut cow-grass’ is to my mind only a variety of our
common red, or broad-leaved clover, and is, I presume, a ‘selection’ from it;
but its marked tufted habit and late development are, I should think, good
qualities under certain cases.

“JT should have thought that ‘single cut’ might have been replaced by
‘cut-and-come-again,’ provided the first cut were made early enough; but I
suppose experience shows the latter-math to be of little value.

“As to the perennial character, I fancy that might be enhanced by early
cutting, before the flower-heads are well advanced. The cutting or browsing
(if done early enough) would have a tendency to cause the stock to branch
out and form new crowns; of the practical advantage of this you would judge.
I only speak from a physiologist’s point of view.

“The stems are apt to be hollow below and filled with pith above, because
the rate of growth is faster outside than in; the consequence is, that in the
older portions of the stem the outside draws away from the centre, leaving the
latter void. The amount of ‘hollowness’ varies a good deal, even in stems
from the same crown, according to stage of growth. Nevertheless, I fancy
‘Sutton’s single cut’ is the less hollow of the two; and if it is of slower, later
growth, that is just what might be expected.

“T, medium is widely different. ‘The root is very distinct, and the whole
habit of growth such as to make it less serviceable, other things being equal,
than the common clover.

“The specimens afford a practical illustration of the meaning to be attached
to the word ‘species.’ No one can say definitely what a species is, or indeed
whether it is not a convenient figment of the imagination; but we are able to
form a good working notion by observation and comparison. For instance, I
should say your English red clover and the single cut are one and the same
species, in spite of their differences, because I should readily believe that they
might have sprung from the same original stock within a relatively short
time. Z. medium is so different, that I should not believe (till it was proved)
that it sprung from the same stock as the others, at least within the historic
period! At the same time the difference is not too great to forbid my enter-
taining a reasonable conviction that, given geologic time, the ‘medium’
might have sprung from the same stock as the two others. If it be of hybrid
origin, however, then the process would be much quicker.”

* I think it necessary to mention here, in support of some preceding quota-
tions from practical farmers, that the opinion of this eminent botanist, although
entitled to the greatest respect from a botanical point of view, does not accord
with the received estimate of the agricultural difference between “ cow-grass ”
and “red clover.” That difference may be thus stated : “ cow-grass’’ has a solid
stem, “red clover ” has a hollow stem.—Lptr.

Improvement of the Plants of the Farm. 105
Dr. Masters adds :—

“T understand that what is wanted in a clover is a deep fleshy-rooted
perennial variety capable of spreading far and wide below ground, and thus
of collecting and storing food from a large area, with a tendency to branch at
the crown (to tiller, I should say, were it wheat), and I do not suppose there
would be much difficulty in selecting and improving such a variety.”

Linneus thought the Alsike clover was a hybrid, and it cer-
tainly looks like a cross between TJ. repens and T. pratense. If
it be so, improvers may find in this robust and useful plant an
example of the results of hybridising clover. At present I
believe neither hybridising nor crossing has been attempted in
the case of the clover tribe, nor has any improver apparently
made it his special task to search the fields for natural crosses,
which has been so largely done in the case of wheat, nor even to
practise the methods which Dr. Masters recommends for the
improyement of the plant. There are many distinct peculiari-
ties in the foliage and habit of red clover grown in different
countries and localities, which improvers may avail themselves
of. M. Henry Vilmorin mentions two kinds of red clover in
cultivation in his district, the common and the Brittany, the
latter being the stronger of the two, but not quite so hardy as
the other. M. Rimpau informs me that Dr. Stebler, of the
Seed Trial Establishment at Zurich, states that in Switzerland
the seed of the perennial red clover of the permanent pastures,
called “ wild clover,” is preferred for sowing to that of the cul-
tivated variety. In England this form of clover would not be
considered sufficiently productive to be worth sowing in alter-
nate husbandry, and it is not regarded as a pasture plant of the
best quality.

Clover, lucerne, and other plants used for soiling may be
improved for the time, and perhaps permanently altered by
cutting them as early and, within bounds, as often as possible,
which will check the formation of dry, fibry stem, and tend to
the repeated production of succulent foliage. Weak liquid
manure will assist, and potash manures should follow.

Perhaps it will not be quitting my subject to mention that the

' inferiority of many a field of clover arises from the purchase of

low-priced foreign seed. All the seed required for home use
might be grown in England, and there ought to be no demand
for the cheap seed of America or some parts of France, whose
wretched produce would surprise the purchasers if they would only
be at the pains of making a comparison at home, or of visiting
the trial-grounds of those seedsmen who would willingly afford
them the opportunity of informing themselves.

During the past season, and at the same markets on the same
day, the prices of red clover-seed varied from 70s. to. 130s.

106 Improvement of the Plants of the Farm.

per cwt. Those who are so ill-advised as to purchase inferior
foreign seed might be induced perhaps to save the produce for
seed, increasing, though undesignedly, the inherited feebleness of
a plant which needs strengthening !

With regard to hops, Mr. Whitehead, Barming House, Maid-
stone, Se me they are propagated entirely by cuttings, but
in East Kent they sometimes raise “seedlings.” * The “ Gold-
ing’s,” Jones, Colegate’s, each adapted to particular soils and
sites, were originally seedlings. ‘Though the female plant is
the one cultivated, yet it generally happens that one or two male
plants spring up, or a male branch on a female bine, and these
suffice. As the plants are dicecious, 7.e. have male flowers on
one bine, female on another, cross-breeding to some extent must
take place,

Change of Seed.—In all parts of the country farmers act in the
belief that benefit is derived from a change of seed from one soil
or district to another. A well-known grower of a pure stock of
Chidham wheat, living near Guildford, used to change the seed
from his farm on the chalk of the North Downs to a clay farm
in another district, and the farmers of Sussex change from the
Wealden to the chalk, and from the rich coast land to the interior.
According to a doggerel from the fens, “Sand is change for no
land.” Any other change is held to be good, the change from a
cooler climate, and from clay or strong gravel soil to peat, in-
ducing a larger produce with less liability to blight. In discuss-
ing this subject, Mr. Darwin shows that “ slight changes in the
conditions of life are favourable to plants and animals,” and the
breeders of each recognise this truth. The benefits that ensue
from crossing and those derived from “slight changes in the
conditions of life” are analogous phenomena. “Life depend-
ing on, or consisting in, an incessant play of the most complex
forces, it would appear that their action is in some way stimu-
lated by slight changes in the circumstances to which each
organism is exposed.” Judging from the reports of my corre-
spondents, the practice of changing the seed of cereals is almost
universal both in Europe and America.

M. Henry Vilmorin informs me that “in some parts of
France it is a common practice, in order to secure larger and
more certain crops. The change is effected generally from a
colder to a warmer district, or from a poorer to a richer soil.”
Seed is changed, however, with several objects ; and sometimes
for the sake of securing earlier maturity it is brought from a

* Sce Mr. C. Whitehead and others on “The Hop” in ‘Journal’ R.A.S., and
the article “ Hop,” in Royle’s ‘ Materia Medica.’
+ ‘Animals and Plants under Domestication,’ vol. ii. p. 130.

Improvement of the Plants of the Farm. 107

warmer soil and climate, and the produce retains its earlier
habit for a few years. So far as the general principle is con-
cerned, American evidence is as useful as English, and I may
therefore quote Mr. F. H. Horsford, Charlotte, Vermont, who
says what my experience confirms, with some exceptions: “ It
is believed by some that it is not best to go too far for seed. We
think it better to go a little to the north-east or west than to the
south.”

This means that in obtaining change of seed we should
keep within bounds. <A gentleman who endeavoured to ripen
maize on the banks of the Thames bought the seed at Mark
Lane. It proved to be the “dent corn” of the south. He
deprived himself of all chance of success by sowing a slowly
maturing variety, which is habituated to a much longer summer
and hotter sun than ours, M. Henry Vilmorin mentions an
interesting piece of experience with regard to the change of
seed. After remarking that the effect of climate in inducing a
change of habit is certain, only its action is very slow, and does
not effect a marked change unless it is exerted for a long series
of years, he continues: “‘ With our farmers, seed imported from a
different climate is not much thought of in the first year of proof.
Seed-corn is much more valued when harvested in the district
from foreign seed which has been grown there once. It is
thought to retain its primitive good qualities, and, besides, to
be broken to the soil and climate. This is especially the case
with flax-seed from Russia.”

Every year losses are incurred in England and America from
the injudicious sowing of fine samples of wheat from hotter
climates. Australian wheat may have been originally derived
from England, but the climate has changed its habit, it blossoms
prematurely, and is in other respects unfitted for this country.
In France it has been found impossible to grow Australian
wheat, owing to its liability to rust. Several varieties of
English wheat, on the contrary, have been introduced into the
cooler parts of France with great advantage, proving superior to
the native kinds, and exempt from attacks of rust. We read in
‘Les Meilleurs Blés’ * of some very disadvantageous changes of
seed that have been tried in France. The sorts of wheat that
ripen in the west and north-west side of the country are chiefly
white varieties, a little late, and very productive of straw and
grain, under the influence of mild winters and temperate
summers. If these sorts are carried to the warmer inland
districts, they are in some seasons destroyed by the winter; if
they resist the cold, they often suffer from the heat. If, on the

* «Les Meilleurs Blés,’ By YVilmorin-Andrieux et Cie. Paris, 1880.

108 Improvement of the Plants of the Farm.

contrary, the change of seed is in the reverse direction, fror
east to west, from a continental to a maritime climate, the
wheat will most probably suffer seriously from rust. The
same remarks applied to seed obtained from South Russia and
Turkestan. These are all examples of going beyond bounds for
seed, and thereby introducing adverse habits and tendencies.

With regard to the ordinary changes of seed from one locality
to another, which are common everywhere, it does not appear
that any systematic experiments on this interesting subject have
been conducted. The practice rests solely on the general belief
in its importance. Exact knowledge in regard to the sorting of
seed-corn, to suit the localities to which it is sent, must be of
great importance to those seedsmen who are engaged in that
branch of business. Messrs. Hiram, Sibley, and Co., say very
truly in their grain-manual that not one bushel of maize in a
thousand is suitable for seed, and they have agents who scour
the districts which produce the best grain in search of seed-
corn. Customers in Ohio may be supplied from the lime-
stone regions of Nebraska, but certainly not from the sugar-
growing region so far south as Louisiana. Mistakes almost
as serious might be committed in transferring seed-corn beyond
the limits of the proper districts in England. Such firms as
Messrs. Oakshott, of Reading, undoubtedly attend to these
points, and the series of experiments which I believe that
firm have instituted should prove both interesting and advan-
tageous.

In the Vale of Evesham it is found that a change from the
hills to the vales, and vice versa, has the effect of increasing the
yield of both corn and straw. An old saying in the district is,
that ‘“*seed-corn should come from sunrise,” z.e. from the East.
Square-head wheat sent from the Vale of Evesham, degene-
rates in a less favourable locality in Hampshire. Mr. A. M.
Savory is in the habit of sending the seed of this variety of
wheat to a friend on the Hampshire hills, and when he has
grown it there for several successive years, the ears lose their
square shape, and the corn becomes thin and flinty, and dete-
riorates in quality. ‘The same informant says of beans, that the
white-eyed sort become black-eyed when they have been grown
in the vale for a few years, and a change of beans is more _
important than in the case of any other kind of seed.

The produce of seed-wheat from Wiltshire, sown by Mr.
Robert Russell, in Kent, on the same day as that from the early
district of Herne Bay, ripened a week later. Near Windsor,
Mr. Trumper says :—

“ Our great object is to get seeds that have been grown on chalk, as we find
that suits our loams the best. ‘This we can grow safely for two years, or at

Improvement of the Plants of the Farm. 109

most three. After that time, wheat turns smutty if grown longer on the
same soil. Corn merchants are accused of putting little bits of chalk in
samples of seed-corn to give the idea that they were grown on chalk.”

Professor Fream, writing from the chalk at Downton College,
says—

“ We think change to be desirable, and to do better for us the second year
than the first.

“The only object with which it was done is that it is considered, on the
whole, to improve the prospect of the crop.”

The best stocks of barley in the district have been obtained
from Scotland and Norfolk.

Professor James Buckman says of occasional changes, that
in Dorsetshire seed from othex localities is found to be more
productive. _In bad climates corn deteriorates, and frequent
change of seed is more desirable on that account. In the neigh-
bourhood of Aspatria, Cumberland, seed is brought from an
early district, and it is thought better to change the seed pretty
often, if not every year.

Still further north, Mr. Melvin, Bonnington, reports the
custom of changing seed, “‘ with the object of keeping up the
produce. The idea prevails that most varieties, especially of
wheat, require to be changed from an earlier district for the
above reason. There is another reason, as at seed-time it is only
the wheat grown in the earliest district which has become suffi-
ciently dry for sowing. Wheat continuously sown in the
Lothians, 150 feet above the sea-level, rapidly deteriorates in
quality and quantity of crop. On the sea-level in East Lothian
this is less perceptible.”

Foreign seed of vetches should come from cool climates; and
it is the common practice to change the seed of the rye-grasses
from a cooler district. The vigorous habit acquired by the
potato in the climate of the north is notorious, and, on the con-
trary, the comparatively tender habit of the wheat of our southern
counties unfits it for the climate of Scotland.

A Yorkshire correspondent says—

“A marked difference is seen in the potato plants from Scotland, the first
year’s growth being large in top, irregular in the size of tubers, and later in

_ coming to maturity, The second year’s growth are less in top, regular in

size of tubers, and earlier to mature. We frequently see, if again planted, a
marked deterioration. Wheat and oats from the south I have usually found

_ to mature earlier the first year, but to crop better the second.”

I believe that M. Rimpau’s reply to my question on this
subject is as true of other countries as of Germany, and that

110 Improvement of the Plants of the Farm.

the change of seed from one district to another is generally
regarded as advantageous, but the soundness of the opinion has
not been tested by exact experiments.

Size of the Seeds of Cereals—Mr. Darwin informs us that
Sir J. Hanmer, writing of plants for the flower-garden in 1660,
says that, in “ choosing seed, the best seed is the most weighty,
and is had from the lustiest and most vigorous stems.” M.
Henry Vilmorin gives the best possible and the briefest answer
to my question, “ Is the heaviest sample considered the best for
sowing?” when he replies, ‘The heaviest, not the plumpest.”
The distinction is of great importance. _An experimenter assures
me that he pruned the seed-stems of a turnip, and thus ob--
tained seeds of unusual size, which proved very inferior in
vitality to the seeds of common size. All seeds whose size is
thus increased by overfeeding, such as the seeds of wheat planted
thinly in the ground, or on land unusually rich, will probably
be lighter in proportion to their size, and deficient in constitu-
tional power. It is quite possible that large seeds, though really
inferior, may be sown sometimes with success in genial years
in kind land, or in cases where over-seeding is customary,
because large-sized grain gives less seed per bushel, but that
does not affect the general rule that good wheat should be of
high specific gravity according to its kind. Many of my in-
formants do not object to small sound seeds of any kind, but a
sample of small seed is quite different from the small seed of
asample. I have received sanguine narratives of the increased
produce of barley when the small-sized grain had been carefully
sifted out. But this cannot, in the face of other evidence, be
regarded as a universal method of improving plants.

Over-size seeds are always inferior, although no doubt the
seed inherits characters which are in some degree dependent on
size, and large seed contains—other things being equal—more of
the desirable qualities than small seed, and these are more
likely to be propagated and handed down by such seeds, provided
they have no defect. It is recognised, however, that very large
seed produces a coarse growth. A secd-grower sifted out the
very large seeds of mangolds and saved the produce for seed.
Not only were the plants thus produced coarser than usual, but
the seedsman for whom he had long grown this mangold, though
unaware of the experiment which had been tried, detected the
degeneracy of the stock.

The vigour of the germ of seeds is not always in proportion
to the beauty or plumpness of the grain. Wheat from an inferior
soil is usually preferred for sowing, and M. Vilmorin remarks
that the best agriculturists of French Flanders, haying excellent

Improvement of the Plants of the Farm. iid

wheat-land, obtain the seed every year from a neighbour-
ing canton, less fertile, growing wheat of the same kind which
is much less plump, but more vigorous than that of their own
growth. No one can speak with more authority than M. Vil-
morin on the general subject of this paper, and I am sure all
improvers will read with profit the following letter :—

‘Antibes, Alpes Maritimes,
“Dear Si, “ March 20th, 1883.
“JT have no doubt but the process of improvement which has given
such excellent results as applied to vegetables and ornamental plants might
also be used successfully in the case of the plants of the farm. The process
itself, however, is a long and in most cases a difficult one, and not easily
within reach of the farmers.

“The only real process of improvement is that of selection, and there is no
other system, in my opinion, by which to arrive at a real and durable modifi-
cation of the useful plants for the better. Artificial crossing (or as it is very
often, but not altogether rightly, called—hybridisation) is in fact only a means
to induce variation in the cultivated plants, with a view to promote the
development of new forms, from which it is hoped that something better than
the kinds already known might be obtained by selection. When such a cross
takes place, many of the forms raised are worthless, some are very similar to
their progenitors, and a few only may be regarded as something better. But
even these have no agricultural value until they are propagated to a large
extent, and it comes out often during the process of propagation that the new
form is not steady enough to be regarded as a fixed race. It is only after
several years of cultivation and of careful selection that a new form, even if
obtained by an intentional cross, can be developed into a new and distinct
race.

“Sports are often produced in cultivated plants without any cross-fertilisa-
tion ; again, accidental crosses very frequently take place by the agency of
insects or of wind, and it is often to new forms which have originated in
either of these ways that the process of selection is applied by gardeners or
farmers. But it is always in the end by careful and continued selection that
a variation, whatever its origin may be, is made to grow into a new, distinct,
and fixed race, and as such can become really valuable to the farmer.

“Hybrids, properly speaking, are the offspring of two plants belonging to
different botanical species, if crossed the one with the other; they are rather
rare and generally of limited fertility. The so-called hybrids of the gardeners
are simply the offspring of two plants belonging to two distinct varieties of
the same species. We call them in French méfis (I think ‘ mongrel’ would be
the proper English translation of the word). These are quite prolific, some-
times even more so than the varieties from which they have been raised.
But only a few of the plants which grow out of the seeds obtained as the
direct result of the cross prove really distinct from and superior to the plants
from which the seeds have been produced. If I may mention a fact within
my Own experience, it was only after six or seven years of continued cultiva-
tion and selection, that a new wheat raised by me from two kinds purposely
crossed appeared to be sufficiently even and fixed in character to be sent out
on trial. During the first three or four years, and in spite of the severest
selection, it yielded a pretty large percentage of plants different in character
from the type I wanted to fix. You will sce by that example that the process
of raising and making new varieties is a long and tedious one.

“It requires so much time, and engrosses the care and attention so much,

112 Improvement of the Plants of the Farm.

that it seems impossible to expect the seedsmen to enter largely upon that
kind of work. Indeed, my opinion is that the duty of the seedsman is to keep
pure and true all the varieties of useful plants already known, and to propagate
them so as to meet the wants of the public. This task is quite heavy enough,
especially if we add to it the care of testing all the new kinds introduced every
year, in order to propagate and distribute them when really of some worth. I
think that the division of work can be introduced with great advantage here,
and consider that it is very wise in the seedsman not to enter too freely the
lists for the raising of new kinds. In the first place, such an attempt would
take much time and care that can be spent to better purposes ; and besides, the
raisers of new varieties are in most cases unduly partial to their novelties, and
the temptation to introduce them to the public indiscriminately would be
particularly hard to resist for men who periodically publish trade-lists, and
who can rely upon a large body of customers.

“The man who devotes the whole of his time and skill to the improvement
of one kind of plant is likely to succeed better than he who has so much on
his hands already, and this is so far the case, that even now most of the new
varieties offered by the great seed firms are very good strains raised by some
skilful gardeners, the exclusive property of which is purchased and paid for
dearly by the firm.

“Jt would be a very good thing for the public and for the seedsmen them-
selves if a larger number of gardeners and amateurs devoted their time to the
raising of new kinds upon a methodical plan, as Mr. Laxton has done for peas,
beans, and tomatoes, and Mr. R. Fenn for potatoes.

“Tf you can induce some farmers or country gentlemen with leisure at
command to take the same kind of work in hand with respect to the plants of
the farm, I think you will have rendered the public a great service. Only you
must insist forcibly on this fact, that no work requires more than this a cool
judgment and a critical eye, as it must be always borne in mind that every
novelty is not a gain, any more than everything that glitters is gold.

“With best assurances of regard,

“T am, dear Sir,

“Yours very truly,
“HENRY VILMORIN.”

In this capital letter we may find an argument for botanical
gardens and experimental or trial-grounds, such as that at
Chiswick for horticultural purposes.

M. Vilmorin commenced the cross-fertilisation of cereals at
Verrieres, near Paris, ten years ago, and some of the new kinds
have been fixed in type, and are now in the course of trial in
comparison with the older varieties. Improyers happily are not
afflicted with the vanitas vanitarum temperament ; but it may
encourage even the sanguine to know that M. Vilmorin con-
fidently anticipates the success of undertakings such as theirs,
believing, as he does, ‘“ that none of the plants of the farm have
attained as yet, or will attain very soon, the highest possible
degree of perfection.” That English farmers agree with M. Vil-
morin, we may learn from the general curiosity and interest they
exhibit at all markets in the yield and quality of the several
varieties of wheat, barley, or beans, old or new. They may

Some Field Experiments on the Growth of Turnips, §c. 113

not care to give high prices and to send long distances for
every advertised novelty, but, so far as their own markets are
concerned, they are always seeking for something better than
the best they have got at present.*

I1I].—Some Field Experiments on the Growth of Turnips, at
Rusper, Horsham. By Brernarp Dyer, F.CS., F.I.C.

Tue following notes record the results of some experiments
carried out in the seasons of 1882 and 1883 on the farm of
Mr. A. F. Parbury, of Rusper, near Horsham, in the county of
Sussex. The experiments were based on a plan somewhat
similar to that of the Woburn turnip experiments, except that
attention was directed solely to the use of Cambridge copro-
lites, raw and dissolved, with and without the addition of
dung.

Mr. Parbury was good enough, in the spring of 1882, to
place at my disposal a couple of acres of land, and to devote
much time, trouble, and, it may be added, expense, to the
carrying out of my suggestions: all essential operations, such
as the measuring and staking out of the land, the preparation
and distribution of the manure, the sowing of the seed and the
weighing of the crops, being carried out under the eyes of both
of us, and—as far as regards all measurements and weights—
by our own hands.

The land is a stiff clay—not, it should be noted, by any
means of a mechanical texture naturally adapted to the growth
of turnips; but none other was at our disposal, and the
particular field selected had the advantage, for experimental
purposes, of having been very severely dealt with and badly
manured for some time previously. Its recent history was
briefly as follows:—1878: kohl-rabi, which crop proved a
failure, and was ploughed in. 1879: Winter wheat sown.
with red and white clover, alsike, and yellow trefoil. 1880:
Two clover crops carried. 1881: Clover once cropped, and

* Messrs. Sutton and Sons have most kindly and zealously afforded me a great
deal of useful aid in the course of the inquiries connected with this paper. The
same acknowledgment is due to Messrs. Carter and Co., whose trial-grounds at
Forest Hill, as well as their seed farms in Essex, have been always open to my
inspection. It is not perhaps generally known that the Lindley Library, con-
taining valuable agricultural and horticultural works deposited in the rooms of
the Royal Horticultural Society at South Kensington, is open to the public under
certain regulations. I haye found the library useful both for consultation and
for the loan of its books,

VOL. XX.— 5S, §. I

114 Some Field Experiments on the

fed off with sheep. The wheat of 1879 was top-dressed with
1 ewt. per acre of “ concentrated corn-manure”—but no manure
was applied in either 1880 or 188l—except that naturally
supplied by the sheep consuming the last of the clover in the
latter part of the season of 1881.

The two acres of clover ley selected for experiment were
ploughed up in the early part of October 1881 to a depth of
about 6 inches. The field was well sampled to about this
depth, when an analysis of the soil showed it to have the
following composition :—

Composition of Experimental Soil, dried at 212° Fahr.

*Organie matter and water of combination .. 7*444
Oxide OF ILO). yu, cede > apes doops Noch ieee ae EO
ATI INg oy ash tros: Meine ie se. sos ues aera CRE
MIMO es tec, eee ce. en eet eee “672
Magnesia eel De NSS cee *366
EOtaSH kegs ral os exes) -atecaeisol geen ne *482
Soda Sa spcil accep Be sian condo Sere *107
IPBOSDHOFICIACIGK so. oes ou ts crpaura ee *212
sulphuric acid: | 7. 7 s.8 ae kaos eee “147
Siliceous: matter, &c:!! ../ 9G 21..0°e wea LTOsO

100°000
® Containing nifrogen ./) we) es lee *225

The field having been, as already mentioned, broken up in
October 1881, was cross-ploughed towards the end of April,
1882. Between this date and the end of May, it was “ culti-
vated” with a stout drag-harrow three times, and thus pretty
fairly cleaned from the weeds and twitch that had accumulated
during the two years’ rest.

On the Ist of June one acre was manured with 10 tons of
dung, made under cover by sheep fed on cake, corn, and hay.
After ploughing in the dung, the field was alternately light
harrowed and rolled about six times.

The second acre received no dung,

Each acre was then divided into six equal plots, of which
two received no artificial manure, two received equal quantities
of superphosphate (dissolved coprolites), and two received
equal quantities of ground undissolved coprolites. “The super-
phosphate was put on at the rate of 5 cwts. per acre, and the
coprolites (very finely ground Cambridge) at the rate of 64 ewts.
per acre; this being about an equivalent in money-value for
the 5 ewts. of superphosphate.

The superphosphate had the following composition :—

|

Growth of Turnips at Rusper, Horsham. 115
MenGardeper are sep een cep tseiewsy nd. (16°08
Wiaterotcombination ... saq'e- Mew), 10°18

Monobasic phosphate of ines 2... ¥77 80
Equal tribasic phosphate of lime is tan Cee 4)

soluble by acid we” oeteied
Insoluble phosphates -., «. «2 « « 5°39
‘ Sulphate of lime,;&c.. ©. fe.) a2 (tae eh om | 45382
RECOUSHAUECE oo es) os gs ew ce 8 OLD
100°00

The ground Cambridge coprolites analysed as follows :—

LP ee ee Ce Ce Se *87

Water of combination, &. .. .. .. «. 93°63

Depeche 5g ee) fee ee as eos 2O°RE
SO Ge SS eee ee oe Pe
Oxide of iron, alumina, carbonic acid, &c. .. 18°02
PURE MIRTIAESEE me dee Boe tome es 0
100-00

* Equal tribasic phosphate of lime.. .. .. 57°22

There were thus two sets of experiments, each performed in
duplicate ; the one set being carried out on the acre which
had received 10 tons of dung, and the other on the acre that
received no other manure than the artificials. Two plots
therefore received absolutely no manure, two received dung
only, two received dung and superphosphate, two received
dung and ground coprolites, two superphosphate only, and
two ground coprolites only; each of these twelve plots occupy-
ing exactly one-sixth of an acre.

The plots were, as far as possible, arranged so as to diminish
errors incidental to inequalities in the land, which sloped some-
what towards the south-east. A hedge runs along the north
side of the field; but a good headland intervened between it and
the experimental plots; while the nearest hedge on any other
side was 40 or 50 yards distant. Hence the exposure to
weather was tolerably free, and pretty much the same over the
whole space.

The annexed diagram (page 116) shows the arrangement of
the plots.

The manure for each plot was mixed with a considerable
bulk of sifted earth, and sown broadcast on June 10th, and
harrowed in, immediately after which operation, the field
was drilled with 3} lbs. per acre of Carter’s “ Prize-Winner”
Swedes.

Notes of the appearance of the plant were made by
Mr. Parbury on July 2nd, July 30th, and August 10th. These,
however, are hardly worth recording in detail here, as the

I2

7

116 Some Field Experiments on the

differences noted between the various manured plots were but
slight. The “nothing” plots, on the undunged acre, were,
however, each noted as starting weakly, and remaining poor
and weak to the last; while the plots receiving dung only
appeared distinctly poorer than the other plots on the same
acre ; although they ultimately weighed very well.

W.
No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 7 No. 8.
ug | 38g us | ges]
. pe shoe wits ek = rade
a sie - = =i{°o =
° S = oS S s Es
= =m re = am
=e wo 8 & eae Mo °
a 2a = 5 ar =e 3
— aa" cS > A es =
a°S aoa Ss ag Sasa =i
2 = =o food ,Q = = Oo a)
=i = se 3 — oF aE
{28 Noe o es ge of
a 4 Z S = Zz
s. = = N.
No. 4 No. 5 No. 6. No. 10 No. 11
!
= } mn i] La |
aa) 3 g gs 2 g
= a i st e
ZS oO o °
a4 | g [és le Gaede Ss
‘Oo 2 = an | 2s = nw
ae ees 26 BSA | SA Qe
= | = =o | rs a | Ld 2,0
a ee 64 || S865 BS oa
sa ZS eu Sl Say eo am
PSS, a4 | oO | £4 Bs
Zz wm i) Za R )
' |
DUNGED ACRE. E. UNDUNGED ACRE.

The roots were pulled in the third week of October, being
carefully topped and tailed in the field. The tops were weighed
on the spot with the aid of a spring-balance, the roots being
carted off and weighed in the barn.

The following figures show the weight of diccacal roots and
leaves from each plot of one-eighth of an acre :—

Pots. | Roots per Plot. | Leaves.

First AckE—10 Tons Dena.

| | tons. cwts. qrs. Ibs. | ewts. qrs. Ibs.
0

1 | Superphosphate .. i ey 10 1 22
2 | Ground Coprolites 2 4 0 14 }18. 2.
3 | No Artificials 1 18 O 14 10 395s
4 | No Artificials 113 83 0 8 2 8}
5 | Superphosphate .. 1 65a 6 10 1 13
6 | Ground Coprolites 1 1S 069 rr

Growth of Turnips at Rusper, Horsham. 117
PLotTs. | | Roots per Plot. | Leaves,
Srconp AcrE—No Dune.
}
7 | Superphosphate.. “15 | ily 6 TWZphce?ih el: Sill AM U5 MR a
8 | Ground Coprolites “2 DEL ee) CO | IZ, YS
9 | No Manure seat ogee Oi S35, 14 >. 2 0%
10 | No Manure : ey : Oe te On AL de Ll
11 | Superphosphate.. 1) 20 EIS Oe: WSO eH 2 26
12 | Ground Coprolites JL a CU Dae | ies 26

The foregoing figures, calculated, give the following results

per acre :—

’
Pror. |
t

Roots per Acre.

Leaves.

First Serres—10 tons Dunc PER ACRE,

: } 5 ewt. Superphosphate ..

Mean

: } 63 ewts. Ground Coprolites..

Mean

: } No Artificials

Mean

Hu } 5 ewts. Superphosphate

Mean

‘e } 63 ewts. Ground Coprolites..

Mean .,

a } No Manure whatever ..

tons. cwts. qrs. Ibs. fae cwts. qrs. lbs.
Th Se Oy O i\-ade oe ee 20
{10 if (ay ae | ye seh ee
Mg ee Se EE ee ge a
S49 SO re | be
Mi, 4 Oi 0 Sie Oslo,
wm. >, ae es PA -
i ght ce 2 O Sth Ai sa ich
LG Ze 2 0 ~ ADC D2

}
lotO; 1G 22a 14 2 18 O 26

Sreconp Serres—No Dune.
|

he 5, San OTR Sl BU ke. 20
‘ \\10 D6 Se .O)+ als SetSeel6
fila eG aay (aay “ell |e]
feo? 70 30 Am Gea
12 oe OU 6 oom LO
IZ, 6 yl, 3 J8 73.09
Aeiseriley =O 1:18 7083s
ee I 14: 5 Coy OR
2 3 Ti i Fee Tere

Mean

118 Some Field Experiments on the

On carefully examining and comparing the foregoing Tables,
together with the plan of the field, it will be noticed that all
the plots on the western side of the field gave better results
than their duplicate neighbours on the eastern side, showing
that this part of the land must have been naturally more pro-
ductive. The differences, however, are not on the whole great,
and as they pervade the series, the mean result of each pair of
duplicates may be regarded as correctly showing the effect of
the manure applied.

Taking, in the first place, the plots that received no dung
and no artificials, we find that the soil, unassisted by manure
of any kind, produced less than 24 tons of roots per acre.

If we subtract this weight from the mean yields of the other
plots, we shall get the following results in the shape of increase
due to the manures employed :—

Increase of Roots per acre due to Manures over and above the Yield of
Unmanured Land.

Manure per acre. Tons, ewts. qrs. Ibs.

LO tons:dting’. 8 vsei (ee cee)) Sse cou alg ee
10 tons dung and 5 ewts. superphosphate .. 8 13 1 21
10 tons dung and 63 cwts. ground coprolites.. 10 1 2 7
5 ewts. superphosphate only .. .. 8 13° 3L sau
63 cwts. ground coprolites only .. .. . 9 18 1 25

It is singular that while the dung alone gave an increase of
84 tons nearly, and while a larger increase was given by the
artificials used alone, yet where the dung was used in addition to
the artificials, it will appear to have had no effect. By an odd
coincidence, the mean of the superphosphate plots happens,
indeed, to work out at precisely the same figures both on the
dunged and on the undunged acre; and there is practically no
difference between the mean of the coprolite plots with and
without dung.

That the ground coprolites gave in these experiments better
results than the superphosphate, occasioned me some surprise,
but there was no doubt as to what would be the ultimate result
of the weighing as soon as the roots were pulled; for those
from the coprolite plots were cleaner, larger, and rounder, than
any of the others. It is to be noted that the proportion of
phosphate actually applied per acre was more than twice as
much in the 63 ewts. of coprolites as in the 5 ewts. of super-
phosphate ; but I was inclined to attribute the less satisfactory
effect of the superphosphate to the natural poverty of the soil in
carbonate of lime. The total proportion of lime in the soil was
not much more than one-half per cent.; and this appears to
exist in the form of silicate, since the dry soil does not effer-

Growth of Turnips at Rusper, Horsham. 119

vesce in the slightest degree when treated with hydrochloric
acid; while it would effervesce very markedly if the lime were
present as carbonate. It is well known that superphosphate
acts most readily in soils containing plenty of carbonate of lime,
and it seemed very probable that the scarcity of lime militated
against the efficiency of the superphosphate.

As will be seen from the following record of the rainfall,
registered on the farm in Mr. Parbury’s rain-gauge, more than
34 inches of rain fell between the time of sowing on June 10th
and the end of July, rather more than 1} inch during August,
nearly 3 inches in September, and more than 1} inch in the
early part of October.

Rainfall at Rusper, 1882.

Inches.

VOM UNE LOb tO SOE wh ee evga cor oy 0764
BEOUnBG OLN tO duly oISb... a «- « oOo

Se duUlytolst tomAUcUsOlsh ss tk «1°28

», August 3lst to September 30th .. .. 2°85

»5 September 30th to October 13th .. .. 1°28

33. .vune 10th to October 138th... .. .. 9°08

Mr. Parbury was good enough to offer to continue the experi-
ment, by growing oats on the same plots in the following
season, a suggestion which appeared valuable, as promising
some indication of the comparative after-effects of the manures
already applied to the turnip-crop.

The experimental field was accordingly sown with oats in
the spring of 1883, and the produce of each of the twelve plots
was carefully kept separate during harvesting, and subsequently
threshed separately, the corn and straw being measured and
weighed. The following figures record the weights of both
grain and straw from each of the plots. It is to be remembered
in reading the Table that the manures mentioned were those
applied, as already described, to the turnip-crop of the previous
year, no additional manure whatever being used for the oats,
either at sowing or by way of top-dressing.

Pror. | Oats per Plot. | Straw per Plot.

First AcrE—10 tons Drtna.

bush, pecks. galls. lbs.
1 | Superphosphate .. Se ame Or | 470
2 | Ground Coprolites .. Seen) Ole 5] 434
Fig) MS[o) ANTUNES a rr So 0 430
A We NOSATHEGIRIghi. fs foc welt sel" we 9 2 ef 445
3+ |-superphosphatele jal 0.. fa... a Sea Zea 0 450
6 | Ground Coprolites .. &, ety kage 404

120 _ Some Field Experiments on the

Prors. Oats per Plot. Straw per Plot.

Sreconp AcrE—No Dene.

7 | Superphosphate it AUESO 409
8 | Ground Coprolites .. Sv e2 ell 418
9 | No Manure 94. ald 539
10 | No Manure = 2; Up eiedesck WRT? 6. 2 6 386
U, | Saperphosphate © “s.° 3525 22 te cele ele ema 525
12 | Ground Coprolites .. CEO) ka, exe 479

The foregoing figures calculated out to yield per acre give the

following results :— e
Prior. Oats per Acre. Straw per Acre.
First Serres—10 tons Dune PER ACRE.
bush. pecks. galls. | tons. ewts. Ibs.
: \ 5 ewts. Superphosphate .. .. .. { 2 : 4 ; 4 e
INTEGRINS desing’ soa costo Colt eames al 400 L ot ae
A \ 63 ewts. Ground Coprolites.. .. .. { ye , e : : =
Menn= “ce. heer se. ooo Spi the) a In, 50
3h fh Sai | sr 6D POreit4
4} NowAT Cia six. sek ty sas) Le dashes Bic { ae 1 3 94
ee ee ee eS os | 54 2 OF aS
Sreconp Srerres—No Done.
“a } 5 ewts. Superphosphate ee { Bf ; 4 ; 4 rH
ECON: vc: wiser ew ec cee ol, S52 Oe ) Lae hel
+ \ 64 ewts. Ground Coprolites.. .. .. { oe : : oa
ae ee mag i 1. be
9 5 22/8 I 8 94
10 \ INOGRMADIAN Gs Gs uss lcs, eee oes { 39 0 0 1 0 7%
Mein oo we ee | 47

Growth of Turnips at Rusper, Horsham. 121

Subtracting the mean yield of the totally unmanured plots
from those of the various manured plots, we get the following
increase, apparently due to the manures used for the turnip-
crop. I say “apparently ” advisedly, for there are discrepancies
between some of the duplicate plots, which render it impossible
to draw unqualified inferences from the mean figures :—

Increase of Oats per acre on Manured Plots over and above the Mean
Produce of Unmanured Plots.

Per acre. Bush. pecks. galls.
10 tons dung Be ss. soni.) a a0. | pees Se aene plete 10%
10 tons dung and 5 ewts. superphosphate <i, ae oO
10 tons dung and 63 cwts. ground coprolites (ime Sa SE
5 ewts. superphosphate only .. .. «x Air alee “OF
5 ewts. ground coprolites only.. 6. 3 0

It is to be remembered that all the turnips were carted off, and
not consumed on the field, so that the oat-crop was absolutely
unmanured, save for the residues of the manures applied in the
spring of the preceding year, and was therefore not grown as in
ordinary good farming practice. It is striking that far from
the worst of the oat-plots was plot No. 9—a totally unmanured
plot—which during the previous year produced turnips at the

. rate of only 2 tons 13 cwt. peracre. The other unmanured plot
(No. 10), which yielded at the rate of 11 cwt. less turnips per
acre than No, 9, gave also 16 bushels per acre less of oats than
the latter.

In order to test how far the scarcity of carbonate of lime in
the soil might be responsible for the superior efficacy of the
ground coprolites, as compared with superphosphate, on the
turnips of the preceding year, Mr. Parbury kindly undertook
a fresh series of turnip experiments in a field on another part of
the farm. :

The two acres chosen for this purpose were in the middle of
a field, the recent history of which was as follows :—1878-9,
winter oats (no manure); 1880, bare fallow, 18 loads dung,
for winter wheat; 1881, white wheat, no further manure ;
1882, oats. No manure, therefore, had been applied since the
autumn: of 1880, and the land was in very low condition. It
was ploughed up in October 1882, and “ cultivated,” rolled, and
harrowed, in April 1883.

Various portions of the two acres of soil were sampled for
analysis as shown on page 122.

It will be seen that the soil has a chemical composition, on
the whole very much resembling that of the field chosen for the
previous trials. Its mechanical texture—a stiff clay—was also
similar, but there was in the new field somewhat more lime
than in the old one, though very little of this lime was in the

122 ~ Some Field Experiments on the

form of carbonate. It was therefore resolved to lime this field,
and accordingly 470 bushels of lime were spread over the two
acres, and after due exposure to the air, well ploughed in, and
harrowed. One of the two acres marked out was dunged—as
in the previous years’ trials—with 10 tons of dung (short dung,
made by cows and horses), and during May and June the dung
was ploughed in, and the field drag-harrow ed and light- -harrowed
four times.

Composition of Soil dried at 212° Fahr.

*Organic matter and water of combination .. 8°521
Oxide of inom cn lee eee OR CO

Aluming; <n coat @ ee coe eee 4°364
Lime ee er EAT Rea TTA dws EC “970
Magnesia ead acca cee Moe Weare *500
POtashig ee get, estas gifs pl kee eee oie
Soda “6 ame tees al verti ri *176

Phosphoric acid e A MRM a eh ia OD “141
NUlphwricwicidy We) i; SOEeneeck Gee wen -°137
Siliceous; matter, (&C..ons\,4a« soa) ahs! MBDe

100-000
*aContainine Mitrosenh,, a" as) oneal “216

The artificial manures were sown broadcast on the 12th of:
June, the land being immediately afterwards light-harrowed
and rolled; on June 15th, 33 lbs. per acre of swedes were
drilled, as in the preceding year.

The manures used had the following composition :—

Superphosphate (Dissolved Coprolites),

Moisture ..~ .. ce + ee ee nook eeeOO
Water of combination, &e. 2a fa Ue, 20256
Monobasic phosphate of lime... ee heh)
Equal tribasic phosphate of lime rendered
soluble by acid sme ts eR 88)

Imsoluble‘phosphates™ 9": “2. Wa ts) en ees
Sulphate of lime, &e, ss no. 46 6T

Piliceous mattermiutw ants Jom. 2 ae 7°96
100:00
Ground Coprolites.

Moisture .. . te OR LER 68

Water of combination, &o. ee) onbr ber Wik 88

*Phosphoric acid ce con, 000 Guay aersten sump Mee
NGG ee 1 OS

Oxide of iron, alurnina, carbonic acid, &e, On

Siliceous matter BOL OUSLY TT, LO 7°85

100°00

* Equal tribasic phosphate of lime » Oto. holee

Growth of Turnips at Rusper, Horsham. 123

The arrangement of the plots was somewhat different, each
acre being divided longitudinally into six strips, instead of
being divided, as shown in the plan of the 1883 experiments.
The ‘plan of the plots in 1884 was as follows :—

W.
No. 1. No. 2, No. 8. No. 4 No. 5. No. 6
10. mm tag). mH
82 coro 3,28 2g ,
Ss zs | mils mF 3
Boe Sa i Se os oa a
. ce -_ ~~ : | Dis z, = Pp
= Ss a2 . | ss Ans a
3s Se nO 2 cae ee =
ye sia. SA Sie siete
3 Ses Bos S =os Boo |
| <a E — 18 A ae = 15
° StS =. 3 ° SS: x =)
A Ren a A ran) 4
_ UL - — = ——— =|
No. 7. No. 8 No. 9. No. 10. No. 11 No. 12
2 ewe
119 m Ley ae mM S
a og a! ae ol oo 5
all 3 = prs =
2 Bos on 3 5 oO Sx
eS ey mre 3 as ie a
=] = = =
4 a8 as 3 3o = a
= aa SK) — a2) So iS)
=| S i) | =| BPS) ° &
| rr as [ese HR: a 3 Baa oth
Dee aree || E Temes
= FO at oe 5 aor SS a S
S ae =o a ae FS ihe S a
° ao alae = | Bro als
H nN } oH a
A a) = ee |e Gs 4
E.

The roots were pulled at the end of October, when the
various plots gave the following yields :—

PLor. Roots per Plot. Leaves.
First Acrre—No Dene.

tons. cwts. qrs. lbs. | ewts. qrs. Ibs.

1 | No Manure 0 2 2 2S 39
2 | Superphosphate.. Oats soe 70 6 3 26
3 | Ground Coprolites 0. 16.-2- 22 GC Om
4 | NoManure.. .. Ob 4d eS a1 Soe Deed
5 | Superphosphate arn ee 0 162 “0 come Luba b
6 | Ground Coprolites .. .. .. - | 0 16 3° 0 7 1 23

Srconp Acrr—l0 tons Dene.

7 | No Artificials if Te (We alee | ft 3). 25
8 | Superphosphate so Les Siar 0 10> 10) 3
9 | Ground Coprolites .. .. .. 1S 22 3 a0 MELONS
LOS). Nov Artificials i) eiacsodcles Is F Tye OA 7 (2 -23
11 | Superphosphate bes Liss dpa Quy3 <0 EYE ie dhs:
12 | Ground Coprclites .. ., Thee Do) cba ad: 2-2 <8

124 Some Experiments on the

The foregoing figures, calculated to the yield per acre, give
the following results :—

Pror. Manure per Acre. Roots per Acre. Leaves.

First Serres—No Dene.

|
i tons. cwts. qrs. Ibs. |tons. cwts. qrs. Ibs.
1 1

) ee 2 0 .14.-| 0 J6Re025
4 j| No Manure 115516\/6@ 2 BB
Mean ("oe pct +) be dees | ee ee 0 JS; 2S
[eee
ro) re 5. 8. ge | 9° G3 46
5 } 5 cwts. Superphosphate .... { 4190 0/| 2 10 2 14
Men .. =. .. 0. . | 5 3 2 6-5 eee
~ } 3 ewts. Ground Coprolites.... { : : “ | : - ; ~
|
i 7h epee eer ae a) 5 0 1 10 | 20% 9
Sreconp Serres—10 tons Dunc PER ACRE.
4 |
y | ee pea a2 12 s.0 3: Lites Hie
10 f No Artificials bis tides. le aR { 6 63 012 60 2
| ESS
Mean oa Bee RE " 195 sere pe tS |
8 a | S- 47° 2 0 | 3 0 0 18
us|? cwts. Superphosphate .... { 6162 01|2 131 24
| BI CAR mt onsen tne! vac) Be A UES Se 2 16° 3...4
| | EE ee
9 | | 16 2 O | SZ. Bie ae
R } 63 cwts. Ground Coprolites.. { 153 412171 20
| 16 | 2 3 20

| Wiens? 5s nt cukinn Seeeenee | yey hes

Deducting from the manured plots the yield of the totally
unmanured plots, we have the following average increase
attributable to the manures employed :—

Increase of Roots per acre due to Manures over and above Yield of
Unmanured Land.

Manure per acre. Tons. cwts. qrs. Ibs.

10 tonsdung ., 6. 11, Opie
10 tons dung and 5 ewts. superphosphate 6. bao 4
10 tons dung and 63 cwts. ground coprolites.. 5 17 3 20
5 ewts. superphosphate only oe 38 143 4
63 ewts. ground coprolites only 3. a

Growth of Turnips at Rusper, Horsham. 125

It will be noticed that dung alone appears to have given a
better yield than dung and artificials. But it may also be
noticed that the two plots from which the mean yield of dung
alone is calculated, differ very widely between themselves ; for
while one gave 9 tons 12 cwts. 3 qrs. of roots per acre, the
other only gave 6 tons 6 cwts. 3 qrs., from which it is evident
that Plot No. 7—on the south-east side—must have been in
better agricultural condition than the rest of the experimental
field. The superiority of the crop on this plot was apparent
throughout the growth. If the smaller of the “dung-only”
plots be taken as a basis, the increase due to 10 tons of dung
would work out at 4 tons 18 ewts. 0 qrs. 4 lbs. per acre.

It will be noticed that the results of the previous year, on the
soil poor in lime, were reversed, inasmuch as the superphosphate
in the limed soil gave better results than the ground-coprolites ;
but the difference in favour of the superphosphate was only
slight. However, as will have been seen, the crop was a
wretchedly poor one—in all practical senses a failure—mainly,
no doubt, owing to the very dry weather in August.

The rainfall registered on the farm was as follows :—

Inches.

UB Gthito GOLIATH Ole vol eho eee SBS
Dulveeslm eres ist) Ml «eli ldtitiaa att 2583
August co Sage he che © COM Fre eres “6m
CMICHI DCH E Malia Me igm ish eh feos. cen Arad
Ouionermeast wean tee bee est ss Seaee teee ed

LEO

During August the dryness of the weather—the danger of
which chiefly militates against the successful growth of turnips
on stiff-clay land—punished the crop so severely that it never
regained vigour; and so the experiment can hardly be regarded
as a fair or satisfactory one.

The results of the 1882 experiments were indisputably such
as to show that under some conditions on stiff-clay soil, poor in
lime, finely-ground Cambridge coprolites are capable of in-
creasing the turnip-crop by nearly 10 tons an acre, under
circumstances in which an equivalent value of superphosphate
(dissolved coprolites) only gave an increase of about 83 tons;
and it would furthermore appear that the ground coprolites
produced a more favourable effect on the subsequent crops than
did the superphosphate, though the discrepancies in the oat
plots, and the general unevenness of this crop as seen in the
field, prevent any decided conclusions being drawn with regard
to this point.

The turnip-experiments of 1883, which consisted in a repe-

126 Report on the Practice of Ensilage

tition of those of 1882, on a neighbouring field, but with the
addition of lime to the land, again showed that finely-ground
coprolites possess a substantial manurial value; but they no
longer proved better than superphosphate ; and it is my opinion,
based upon the early appearance of the young crop in the field
in its earlier stages, that the superphosphate would have proved
itself very decidedly better than the ground coprolites, had the
crop not been crippled and spoilt, as already described.

17, Great Tower Street, Lonpon,
February 1884.

AV.—Report on the practice of Ensilage, at Flome and Abroad.
By H. M. Jenxins, F.G.S., Secretary of the Society and Editor

of the ‘ Journal.’
INTRODUCTION.

In the spring of last year it was suggested by Mr. James Howard,
M.P., at one of the meetings of the “Journal Committee,” that
the time was arriving when the Royal Agricultural Society
might usefully set on foot an investigation into the process of
Ensilage, and its suitability for the preservation of English
fodder crops. Having inspected many silos on the Continent
during a series of years, but mostly those in which green maize
is stored, I felt that the investigation was one which ought
to be undertaken by a practical farmer who had not already
committed himself to any opinion on the subject, who could
observe well, and who could put the results of his observations
into a readable and useful shape. No doubt there are many such
men in England, and a list of some of them was made, A few
of these gentlemen were invited in rotation; each one seemed,
at first, pleased with the idea, considered it carefully, and finally
declined, chiefly on the score that he could not be absent
from his farm at the periods and for so long as seemed to be
necessary. As time that could not be recalled was rapidly
being consumed in this manner, the Journal Committee ex-
pressed their willingness to accept my services, faute de mieuz,
rather than that another season should be lost. I have done
my best, under all the circumstances, to carry out their wishes,
having seen a considerable number of silos filled, some opened,
and a great many in full work, both in England and France.
I have also obtained and handed to Dr. Voelcker for analysis a
large number of illustrative specimens. It is infinitely to be
regretted that Dr. Voelcker’s promised contribution on the
“Chemistry of Ensilage ” cannot accompany this Report, owing

at Home and Abroad. 127

to my respected colleague’s severe indisposition. The following
pages will therefore only embody the chief facts which I have
collected, and the inferences which I have myself drawn.

So much has already been written about silos and ensilage *
that an explanation of the terms may be regarded as unneces-
sary by those who read agricultural books and newspapers.
These are, however, a minority of farmers; but it is not impos-
sible that some who have not studied what has been already
published may be induced to read this Report. I may also say
that there is a certain amount of confusion in the prevailing use
of the term “ensilage,’ which makes it necessary to give pre-
cision to the language which I shall use, by commencing with
definitions, in the same way as Acts of Parliament generally
include “ Interpretation Clauses,” namely—-

Silo :—the structure in which the fodder is preserved.

Silage :—the fodder pitted or otherwise preserved.

Ensilage :—the process of preservation.

The Americans are chiefly responsible for the confusion to
which I have referred. Mr. Thurber, for instance, in the Intro-
duction to his book ‘Silos and Ensilage’ explains that “the
term of M. Goffart ‘ Ensilage de Mais’ has been abbreviated in
this country to Ensilage, and is supposed to apply solely to
fodder-corn [green maize] thus preserved, unless modified, by
naming some other crop, as ensilage of rye, &c.”t Little im-
portance need have been attached to this alteration of mean-
ing if it had been universally known in this country, but many
English farmers have read some of the optimist American state-
ments, when reproduced in England, as if the word “enstlage”
referred to the process, and therefore as if the results described
were due to the superiority of this process over any other for
preserving fodder for winter use. During my recent investiga-
tions I was pleased to find that the three terms suggested above
had occurred independently to others, and were already being

used by them.f
History.

A silo was originally by destination, if not by derivation,
neither more nor less than a cellar. M. Littré§ finds the deriva-

* See especially “Silos for British Fodder Crops,’ published at the ‘Field’ Office.

+ In English we have a similar practice in the case of the word “ bread,” by
which we mean wheaten bread. When we wish to talk of any other kind of
bread we mention the chief ingredient, e.g., rye-bread.

¢ For instance, Mr. W. Biddell, M.P., has already used the term “silage” in
a communication which has been published in the Agricultural, and some other
newspapers, e.g. ‘Ipswich Journal,’ February 9th, 1884.

§ Sito—s. m. Excavation ou fosse creusée dans le sol, ot l’on dépose les grains
battus pour les conserver.

Fig. Dans les cayernes les os gardaient fidtlement la forme que la vie leur

128 Report on the Practice of Ensilage

tion in the Greek siros, but many philologists maintain that it is
an Arabic word. Be that as it may, it is certain that “ far back in
the ages ” underground pits or cellars were used, and are still used,
in Eastern countries forthe storage of grain, instead of placing

avait donnée pour une heure; lorsque des hommes instruits et intelligents
descendirent dans ces silos de l'histoire, ils ne commencérent pas par s’aperceyoir
des trésors que le destin y avait successivement accumulés.—FovvIELLs, Presse
scientif., 1865, t. i. p. 162.

Fossés recouyerts de terre dans laquelle on place les betterayes pour les
conserver.

Coffres en charpente, isolés et suspendus, employés pour remuer le blé et le
ventiler. 7.

Erym.—Espagn. silo; du grec oupds, silo.

E. Litre, ‘ Dictionnaire de la langue frangaise,’ t. iv.

Si1o,—s. m. (mot espagn., méme signif.). Fossé souterrain ot l'on conserve
le grain.

Sorte de punition, infligée & nos soldats, en Afrique, et qui consistait a les
enfermer dans une espéce de cachot souterrain. Condamner a trois jours de silo.
Les silos sont d’un usage constant chez plusieurs peuples du Midi, qui en ont
recu la pratique des Romains. Nous ne les connaissons en France que depuis
1810, époque ou Jourdain les é¢tudia chez les Basques, qui leur donnent ce nom.
Ce sont des sortes de puits secs en forme de carafe, ou d’entonnoir renversé.
Leur profondeur est communément de trois metres, et les parois ainsi que le fond
en sont revétus de nattes de paille. Il y a des silos construits dans le roc et qui
out plus de 25 metres de profondeur. Dans les silos ordinaires, le blé se conserve
un an sans y toucher, et, en renouvelant la paille, une vingtaine d’années et plus.

Mavrice Lacwatee, ‘ Nouveau Dictionnaire Universel,’ t. ii. p. 1333.

(TRANSLATION. ]
October 4, 1883.

As regards the word “ silo,” from which is derived “ ensilage,’ you remember
that we found it in the dictionary of the ‘ Académie Frangaise,’ of 1835; but it
does not give the origin. This origin is “ basque” (a little ethnographic
district on the top of the Pyrenees, and extending on either side into France and
Spain). In fact I find in the ‘New Course of Theoretical and Practical Agricul-
ture, Paris, 1822 :—

Sito = “ basque,” name for that which corresponds to a grain-pit (Bose).

Olivier de Serres, Seigneur du Pradel, who was born in 1539, and died in 1619,
author of ‘ Theatre d’Agriculture et Mesnage de Champs,’ published in 1600,
did not know the word “ silo,” but knew its meaning under the name of “ros,”
Below is his description (vol. i. p. 163. Edition of 1804, Paris, Huyard) :—

«“ There remains for me to speak about another sort of granary, as novel as
any I have seen, as there seems reason to disbelieve the experience of good
found in their use. They are used in La Gascoyne and La Guyenne, where they
employ these granaries more than in any other province of this kingdom. They
are deep pits dug in the ground, called “ros,” into which one descends with
ladders for bringing in or carrying away the fodder, &. Pxiryy considered
such pits to be the best way of preserving corn, &c., as was practised in his time
in Thrace, Cappadocia, Barbary, and Spain. Varno was also of his opinion,
asserting that wheat can be kept sweet and entire, 50 years, and millet 100: at
the same time stating so as to strengthen his opinion, that when Pompey the
Great was sweeping the sea of pirates, there was found at Ambratia a large
supply of beans (in good and sound condition), in a cavern where they had
remained stored away since the time when King Pyrrhus was fighting in Italy ,
and nearly 120 years had then passed.” -

To this passage corresponds the following note (page 181, vol. i, same edition),
Yvanrr, member of the Institute, being the author :—

“In 1707 there was discovered in the citadel of Metz a large quantity of corn,

at Home and Abroad. 129

it in granaries above ground. The main object, especially
of nomadic tribes, was to prevent marauders or victorious
enemies from obtaining possession of their stores. The Spaniards
learnt the practice from the Moors, and in Spain it gradually ac-
quired a new importance for a purely commercial object, namely,
the preservation of corn in times of plenty and low prices until
times of scarcity and high prices. From the Basque provinces
it found its way into France, where it had a very severe struggle
for existence, but where it may now be seen on a large scale,
at the stables of the Paris Omnibus Company, some silos being
below ground and some above.*

In France, the system of ensilage was originally imported
from Spain with a view to the preservation of cereals from years
of plenty to years of scarcity. It is recorded by Mons. L.
Doyere,{ that the proprietor of the estate of Palerne, in the Puy
de Doéme, put his corn harvested in 1820 and 1821 in silos
constructed for the purpose, and kept the grain in them until
the end of 1828, when, prices having risen to double their
figure of seven years before, he opened the silos and found the
grain practically uninjured. It is true that a small layer at the
top, immediately under the straw which separated the grain
from the hermetically sealed cover, was a little mouldy, and the
silo contained a quantity of carbonic-acid gas when first opened.
But the bulk of the grain was perfectly preserved, and the pro-
prietor of the estate was so satisfied with his success that he

placed there in 1528, in one of the underground rooms, where it was so well pre-
served that the bread which was made from it, two centuries after it had béen
placed there, was found very good. There exists now (1804) at Ardres, de-
partment of the Pas de Calais, one of these underground places made by the
Romans.”

“ A number of examples might be cited of grain very well preserved in similar
underground pits, which ought always to be placed in very dry places, with the
precaution of cutting off all access to the outer air, by covering the corn with a
layer of powdered lime slightly moistened. If it be desired to have fuller details
relative to this way of preserving corn, as also with regard to the stores employed
at the present time successfully for the same object, the article on ‘ Wheat’ in
the ‘ Course of Agriculture’ by Rozier should be consulted. There are to be found
the methods of Duhamel, Parmentier, and Buequet. The work of Barthélémy
Inthiery should also be consulted. It is entitled ‘The Art of preserving Corn.’
These different works leave nothing to be desired in an object of so great an
' importance, which has also been well treated by M. Cailleau, in a memoir
inserted in the ‘Journal of the Royal Society of Agriculture of Paris, spring
quarter, of 1788. It would also be desirable to refer to the word ‘ Conservation’
in the ‘ Encyclopédie Méthodique, Dictionnaire d’Agriculture.’

(Signed) =“ T. Laverrtire.”

* T have inspected some of these silos with my friend, M. Lavalard, the General
Manager of the Company. A description of them, with an exhaustive dis-
cussion of the questions involved, will be found in a Report by M. Miintz,
‘ Etudes sur la Conservation des Grains,’ published in the ‘ Annales de l'Institut
National Agronomique,’ No. 4 of 1878-79, published in 1881.

t ‘Recherches sur l’Alucite des Céréales;’ Paris, 1852, p. 102.

VOL. XX.—S. 8. K

130 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

gave instructions for other silos to be built. Unfortunately, his
death shortly afterwards put an end to his projects.

So far as I can judge, the first Frenchman to call attention to
this method of preserving corn was the Count de Lasteyrie, who
published a work on the subject in 1819. Then a trial of the
system was made by M. Ternaux at Saint Ouen, and the
“* Sociéte royale et centrale d’Agriculture de France” appointed
a commission to report on the experiment. ‘This report, pre-
sented in December 1826, was eminently unfavourable, and
for a considerable time prevented any further attempts at the
ensilage of corn. M. Doyere explains that the conditions
under which the experiment was made were so extremely un-
favourable, that failure was a foregone conclusion, He mentions
specially a very porous subsoil close to the Seine, and subject
to infiltrations of water from it, no attempt to render the walls
of the silo water-tight, and so forth. Therefore one need not
wonder that the corn was not well preserved.

After the publication of M. Doyere’s report on the Alucite of
wheat, he was commissioned by the French Government to
investigate more closely the question of the preservation of
cereals in silos, more especially in Spain. His report was
presented to the French Academy of Sciences at the end of
1855, and published the following year as a pamphlet.* With-
out stopping to analyse this Report, I think it desirable to give
the following translation of an article from a French Encyclo-
pedia,t which embodies most of M. Doyere’s conclusions :—

[TRANSLATION. ]

” The Preservation of Cereals.—This question interests in the highest degree
every civilized country. It is important for the welfare of nations that,
when the harvest is superabundant and the corn at a low price, a part of the
produce in excess should be preserved, so as to circulate the same when a bad
harvest arrives unexpectedly, and the price of corn tends to rise above the
ordinary value. But two natural obstacles exist to the preservation of corn.
They are (1) the dampness which causes it to ferment, and (2) the insects
which destroy considerable quantities of it. In Egypt, where it never rains,
and in other countries where rains are rare, the problem is easily solved by
the employment of the “silo.” ‘The “silo” is simply an excavation, the
sides of which are lined with masonry, then relined, as also is the bottom,
with a layer of very dry straw. After the pit or silo has been filled, the
grain is covered with straw, and the silo is closed by means of an arch in
masonry, in which is placed an opening with a movable lid, so that one can
take out the grain from it as needed. The grain is preserved in the silo,

* “Mémoire sur l'ensilage rationnel, systeme nouveau pour conserver les grains
d’apres les données positives de la science et de la pratique, sans déchet, sans
perte de qualité, sans travail, et % moindres frais que dans tout autre systeme.’
Par M. L. Doyere.

+ ‘Dictionnaire Francais illustré et Encyclopédie Universelle, par B, Dupiney
de Vorepierre,’ Paris; Michel-Levy fréres. 1867, t. i. p. 503, :

at Home and Abroad. 131

without injury, for an indefinite time. But in France, as in all northern
countries, the ensilage of the grain has not succeeded, and this is attributed
to the humidity of the soil, which penetrates to the interior of even the best
constructed silos. Then it has been observed that corn properly ventilated
is less subject to become heated in the granaries than that left alone. It was
believed that the problem had been solved by the airing and ventilation of
the grain. Moving granaries and granaries with ventilators were suggested,
but they are all extremely expensive, and they do not safely prevent fer-
mentation. They also put no obstacle to the development of insects. The
success that has been obtained by using these means appears to be simply due
to the dryness of the wheat. But, as DoyEre has asserted, dry grain can be
preserved for a certain time by any means. But it is not the same with wet
grain, that is to say, grain containing more than 16 per cent. of water, like
the greater part of French corn does. “I found,” says Dormers, ‘‘ that corn
containing 21 per cent. of water furnishes, at 68° Fahr. (20° Centigrade),
120 milligrammes of carbonic acid per day and per kilogramme (about 23 lbs.
English) in a state of rest; and about 17 milligrammes per hour under the
influence of a constant current of air, which latter amount would make
408 milligrammes per day. Ventilation therefore trebles the amount of
decomposition, of which carbonic acid is one of the products. The last of
these losses is enormous, for it represents not Jess than 23 per cent. of dry
matter destroyed each month, owing to alcoholic fermentation. It is pro-
bable that it would not be continued indefinitely to the same extent as it
happens for several hours; but it is renewed with the same energy during
the whole time of an intermittent ventilation. Otherwise, the loss of 120
milligrammes of carbonic acid per day, which hardly requires any renewal of
air, suffices to repel the hope of a preservation of long duration, for it repre-
sents a destruction of dry matter amounting to 7 per 1000 per month. ‘This
is not only the loss in weight, for the loss in quality which results from the
formation of sour and rank products is incomparably more to be feared.
Finally, as the loss takes place in a temperature relatively low, that of
68° Fahr., it would not only increase with the temperature, but even
much more rapidly. Therefore when the grain is wet, the airing produces
an effect very much opposed to that which is commonly looked for.” The
results of the experiences of DoyERE show that, in the grain containing less
than 16 per cent. of water, there is only produced an alcoholic fermentation,
excessively weak, without developing odour or taste, and only to be perceived
by the most delicate processes of chemistry.

In other cases, even this fermentation is stopped in closed vessels, After
the oxygen of the air, which is its primitive cause, has completely disappeared,
no other acid but carbonic acid is formed; the starch and gluten undergo no
change. Towards 16 per cent. of humidity, or a little beyond it, the altera-
tion in the grain begins to show itself, in the course of time, in the closed
vessels. Its relative activity in corn of various degrees of humidity increases

-with the proportion of water, but much more rapidly than the humidity
itself. It is due to fermentation, called by the chemists lactic, butyric, and
gaseous. Consequently, whatever may be the means employed, it is im-
possible to preserve grain wet, as it generally is in France. The excessive
humidity of corn in our country ought not, however, to be attributed only to
the climate and climatic influences in which the grain has been harvested.
Agricultural customs have much to do with it. In the greater part of France
the wheat is cut half green, and is hastily put into the granary or made into
tricks, where it immediately begins to ferment. If, as we think, the observa-
tions of DoyERE are correct, it is evident that the corn intended to be pre-
served must be dried in the first instance, if it contains 16 per cent. of
humidity or more. As to the place where it is best to keep it, the silo appears

K 2

132 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

to us infinitely preferable to the granary, for the latter is open to the outer
air, and exposed to all variations of temperature. Now, air introduces a
means of fermentation of the grain as well as a means of life for insects, while
variations of temperature favour the chemical phenomena of which the
grain becomes the seat. The underground silo in masonry offers this great
advantage over the granary: that of preserving a low and constant tempera-
ture; but it is not completely inaccessible to the air, and it is impossible to
render it impervious to humidity. Asa set-off to these two last inconve-
niences, DoyERE proposed employing metals. His system of construction
consisted of some very thin sheets of iron, preserved exteriorly from oxydation
by an impermeable covering, and enveloped in concrete, which sustains the
whole weight. The sheet of iron, he says, only plays the part of an imper-
vious and indestructible varnish. It offers, besides, the advantage of supply-
ing holes which can be shut up hermetically. Finally, a silo of 500 heeto-
litres, constructed according to this system at Paris, with a sheet of iron ofa
mean thickness of 3 millimetres, and made at a cost of 21. the ewt. (1 fr.
per kilo.), has only cost, including the asphalte covering, 2250 francs (90/.),
or 4 fr. 50 c. per hectolitre (1s. 4d. per bushel). Therefore it is seen that
instead of being led into error by ruinous experiments on the faith of theories,
either preconceived, or else deduced from facts wrongly interpreted, it is simply
a question of appropriating for our climate the means consecrated by the
experience of centuries in all warm countries.— Dictionnaire Frangais illustre
et Encyclopédie Universelle. Par B. DuprnEy DE VOREPIERRE. Tome 1,
page 503. Paris. Michel Levy fréres. 1867.

I have given these details as to the origin of ensilage partly
as a matter of history, and partly on account of their bearing
on the whole question of ensilage; but chiefly because it may
possibly be found useful in some of our colonies to adopt the
ancient method of storing grain. It is due to my excellent
friends MM. Laverriere and Lesage, the former librarian to the
‘Société Nationale d’Agriculture de France,” and the latter to
the French Ministry of War, to state that it is entirely owing to
their kindness that I have been able to place this portion of
the subject so clearly before the readers of the ‘ Journal.’

Leaving now the ensilage of cereals, I proceed to sketch the
modern history of the application of the system to the preserva-
tion of green crops for winter use.

If British farmers have not until the last two or three years
attempted to preserve their fodder-crops in silos, it is not
because the system has not been previously brought under their
notice. So far back as 1843, Professor J. F. W. Johnston
described the German system clearly and in detail in the
‘ Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society’ (New
Series, vol. ix. p. 57). It seems to me useful to reproduce an
extract from this paper, as most members of the Royal Agri-
cultural Society are unable to obtain access to that excellent
contribution to our knowledge of the subject.*

* Mr. H. R. Stevens (‘Silos and Ensilage,’ p. 20) makes the following curious
statement :—* This process is fully described by Grieswald (1842); and a trans-

at Home and Abroad. 133

* A method has lately been tried in Germany, which, by the aid of a little
salt, seems in a great measure to attain this object.* Pits are dug in the
earth from 10 to 12 feet square, and as many deep; these are lined with wood,
and puddled below and at the sides with clay. ‘They may obviously be made
of any other suitable dimensions, and may be lined with brick. Into this pit
the green crop of grass, clover, or vetches is put just as it is cut. Four or
5 ewts. are introduced at a time, sprinkled with salt, at the rate of 1 lb. to each
cwt., and if the weather, and consequently the crop, be dry, two or three
quarts of water to each cwt. should be sprinkled over every successive layer.
It is only when rain or a heavy dew has fallen before mowing that, in Hast
Prussia, this watering is considered unnecessary. Much, however, must de-
pend upon the succulency of the crop. Each layer of 4 or 5 cwts. is spread
evenly over the bottom, is.well trodden down by five or six men, and,
especially, is rammed as close as possible at the sides with the aid of wooden
rammers. Each layer is thus salted, watered if necessary, and trodden in
succession till the pit is perfectly full. Much depends upon the perfect treading
of the grass for the exclusion of the air, and, therefore, for a pit of 10 feet
square, 4 cwts. are as much as ought to be put in for each layer. Between
each layer may be strewed a few handfuls of straw, in order that, when
emptying the pit afterwards for the daily consumption of the stock, the
quantity taken out may be known without the necessity of a second
weighing. When the pit is full, the topmost layer is well salted, the whole
then covered with boards or a well-fitting lid, and upon these a foot and a
half of earth, for the more perfect exclusion of the air. A pit 10 feet
square, and as many deep, will hold about 5 tons of fresh grass, and each pit
should, if possible, be filled in not less than two days.

“When covered up, the grass speedily heats and ferments, and after the
lapse of about six days, when the fermentation has ceased, the whole has
sunk to about one-half of its original bulk. The lid must be examined
during the fermentation at least once a day, and the earth, as it sinks, care-
fully replaced wherever crevices appear; for, if the air be allowed to gain
admission, a putrefactive fermentation will come on, which will impart a
disagreeable odour to the fodder, though it will not prevent it from being
readily eaten by the stock. When the first fermentation has ceased, the lid
may be removed, the pit again filled with fresh grass, trodden in, salted, and
covered as before. <A pit 10 feet square, when perfectly full of this fermented
grass, will contain nearly 10 tons—equal to 2 or 3 tons of dry hay. The
grass, when thus fermented, has the appearance of having been boiled, has a
sharp acid taste, and is greedily eaten by the cattle. The pits should be kept
covered for at least six weeks, after which they may be opened successively
as they are required, and may be kept open till their contents are consumed
by the cattle without suffering any injury from the contact of the atmospheric
air. Of the feeding qualities of this salted fodder,’one experimenter says that,
by giving only 20 lbs. a day of it, along with chopped straw, he kept his
cows in condition during the whole winter. His green crop was vetches, and
the twenty pounds of salted fodder were equal to or would have made less than
_ four pounds of vetch hay. Another experimenter says that on a daily allow-
ance of 28 lbs. of his salted fodder his cows gave a rich and well-tasted milk.

lation of the passage is given in Stevens’s large work, ‘The Farmer's Guide,’
which appeared in 1851.” The fact is that Professor Johnston obtained some, at
least, of his information from the ‘ Transactions of the Baltic Society for the
promotion of Agriculture,’ published at Greifswald in 1842. An extract from
his article was published in Stephens’s ‘ Book of the Farm,’ First Edition,
vol. iil. p. 978, published in 1844, and in the edition of 1871, in vol. ii. p. 216.

* To preserve the feeding properties of grass more completely than by the
process of haymaking.

134 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

“This method of salting and preserving green crops in their moist state
appears to afford an answer to the first question which is naturally asked
when we are told of the difference in feeding-value between the same grass
when first cut and when dried into hay. It is probable that the fermentation
which takes place in the pit may in some degree diminish the nutritive value
of the grass, but the likelihood which exists that a very large proportion of
this value will be retained renders the method of salting in this manner well
worthy the attention of our more skilful agriculturists.. It would greatly
benefit both theory and practice also were careful series of experiments to be
made in different localities, with the view of determining the true relative
value in feeding of stock of the grass of the same field when newly cut and
when salted and preserved in the manner above described.”

I should add that a much longer extract from Mr. John-
ston’s paper appeared in the ‘ Farmer’s Gazette’ (Dublin) for
January 26th, 1884. Professor Wrightson also gave a brief
notice of the manner in which sour grass has for generations
been preserved in Hungary, in his ‘ Report on the Agriculture
of the Austro-Hungarian Empire,’ published in this ‘ Journal’ in
1874 (p. 351) ; but it attracted very little attention at the time.

However, in course of conversation last January with the
Chairman of the Journal Committee (Earl Cathcart), at his
place near Thirsk, his Lordship informed me that he possessed
a “silo” several years old, and would have it found and
opened, and send me what information he could about it,
including an extract from the farm-bailiff’s diary. The latter I
give verbatim et literatim :—

Extract from Farm Diary.

“5 July, 1875. All hands at Carr Field Hay—Put it into
‘ Cile.’

20s, a Cart leading Grass from Coach Road to make
‘ picheled’ Hay.

134 5 Finished leading Grass to make it into
‘ pickeled’ Hay.”

The agent of the estate (Mr. Mills) states that he recollects
the silo being prepared, and heard the conversation on the
subject; and Lord Cathcart adds, “ The silage * was good, and
will compare with that I have recently seen, except that it was
more moist. I handled the stuff during the winter of 1875
or 76. The silo was dug out of lightish land, and the men
say drained ; anyway, there was a ditch near,” The following
further communications give the result of his reopening the silo
in January this year:—‘ Some silage of 1875 found, sample
kept, just left a pony eating some of it; black, gone, and wet.

* It will be observed that I have made my correspondents use my terms
throughout this Report.

at Home and Abroad. 135

Will soon, I think, be bad, nasty. The fibre and character of
the grass all there, stalk and all, but black with a slimy ad-
mixture, as though pond-mud. The grave, or silo, is wet—too
wet. The original sin of the silo.” Next day (January 29)
his Lordship wrote :—“ After writing to you yesterday I went
to look, and the pony had eaten up the 1875 silage,—a clean-
licked manger. I had mixed in the bucket of silage a handful
or two of corn and bran.”

The use of silos for the preservation of green fodder, other
than “sour grass,’ appears to have been commenced in 1861 by
Herr Reihlen, of Stuttgart, who first published an account of
his procedure in a letter dated April 1862, and communicated
to the Wiirttemberg ‘Wochenblatt.’ This was followed by
another letter from the same gentleman, dated September 23rd,
1865, and published in the same newspaper, in which the
procedure employed from the commencement, as well as
the results obtained, are further described. ‘Translations of
these letters and of some other documents were communicated
by M. Vilmorin-Andrieux to the ‘Journal d’Agriculture
Pratique,’ edited by my friend M. Lecouteux, an honorary
member of this Society, and were published therein in the
numbers which appeared on June 23rd, July 7th, and July 14th,
1870. This was the real commencement of the practice of
ensilage for the preservation of green fodder for winter use in
France ; and therefore it will be desirable to give a short notice
of what M. Reihlen actually did so long as twenty years ago,
especially as English and American writers have generally
ignored the name and the services of this original adapter of
the old process for the preservation of grass and grain,*

It is always interesting to learn the motives or necessities
which have led up to inventions, and fortunately in this case
the information is quite definite, both as to the original con-
ception by M. Reihlen and the subsequent adoption by French
farmers. It is well known that in Germany most large farmers
grow extensive areas of sugar-beet, and that the leaves of the
plants are used as green fodder in the autumn. The oxen,
which will be fattened on beetroot-pulp during the winter are

* Most English writers on ensilage during the last two years have followed
several American authors in saying that M. Goffart made his first experi-
ment on ensilage with Indian corn, in 1852. This is a mistake. What M.
Gofiart says is that in 1852 he began to study practically the important problem
of the preservation of forage (“C’est a Burtin que, dés 1852, j’ai commencé a
étudier pratiquement important probléme de la conservation des fourrages”’).
He also states (p. 185, 4th Edition), that until 1873 he had scarcely believed in
the possibility of preserving green maize, but in that year he was very successful,
chiefly by accident, and he gives (p. 186) the following statement of what he
heard his foreman say to the workpeople :—“M. Goffart nous fait faire Ja une
sotte besogne; il ferait bien mieux de jeter, tout de suite, son mais sur le fumier,
il faudra toujours qu’il finisse par 13.”’

136 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

employed in the autumn as draught animals, and then require
concentrated and very nourishing food. The beetroot-leaves
must therefore be used wastefully in autumn, or altogether
wasted without use, unless they can be preserved for mixture
with other food in the winter, when the cattle are in the stalls.
This is the explanation which M. Reihlen gave in 1862 for his
first attempt at preserving green food in silos,* and he stated
that he preserved in a dozen silos, each from 5 to 6 feet deep,
the leaves and collars of beetroots off about 400 acres. Al-
though the experiment was a new one, it succeeded perfectly,
and led Herr Reihlen to develop the system. He had travelled
in America, and had attempted the cultivation of maize; but in
the climate of Wiirttemberg he found that the grain did not
always ripen, and that the stalks were difficult to be utilised.
Therefore he tried the preservation in silos of the maize, both
green and ripe, with and without the cobs, and both alone and
mixed with beetroot-pulp. His success was so great, that when
M. Vilmorin-Andrieux wrote in 1870, Herr Reihlen was in
the habit of filling each year silos having a total length of
three-fifths of a mile, a depth of 10 feet, and a width at the top
of about 15 feet, slightly tapering downwards.

The original article in the French ‘Journal d’Agriculture
Pratique’ of June 23rd, 1870, in which M. Vilmorin-Andrieux
called the attention of French farmers to the process of ensilage
as practised by Herr Reihlen, is headed “ La sécheresse et les
fourrages.” In fact, it was the abnormally dry season of that
year which forced the system upon the attention of French
agriculturists. This is not a little curious when we remember
that the moving force with us has been a succession of wet
seasons, which have rendered haymaking almost impossible in
some localities.

It must not be forgotten, however, that in 1867, Count
Roederer, a well-known agriculturist and breeder of thorough-
bred horses, living at Bois-Roussel, in the Department of the
Orne, began to preserve green maize in silos for winter use by
chopping it and mixing it with cut straw and oat-cavings.
This method of procedure he described briefly in a letter dated
June 18th, 1870, and addressed to the editor of the ‘ Journal
d’Agriculture Progressive,’ who published it the following week.
It is also stated on the authority of M. Bella, in his report to the
*‘ Société Nationale d’Agriculture de France,” presented in April
1875, and republished in M. Goffart’s own book (4th edition,
p- 122), that M. Moreul, of La Grignonniere, had, since 1870,
used the system of ensilage for the preservation of unchopped,,
but salted, maize with great success.

* Vide ‘Journal d’Agriculture pratique,’ July 7, 1870, p. 10.

at Home and Abroad. 137

Although all these agriculturists were in advance of M. Gof-
fart as regards the practice of ensilage, it must always be
acknowledged that the chief merit of M. Goffart is that he was
the first to describe practically, as he did in the first edition of
his well-known book,* which was published in 1877, the
complete details of the process of ensilage, especially with
reference to green maize. It is by no means his fault if he has
been mistranslated by his American admirers. The records of
diplomacy show that the politicians of the United States have
been especially liable to mistakes in the translation of foreign
languages, and it is not surprising that American agriculturists
still retain the same foible. They have made him claim a
priority which he has riot claimed for himself. The real fact is
summed up by the reporter of the Section of “ Grande Culture ”
of the “ Société Nationale d’ Agriculture de France,” when, in the
name of that Section, on June 19th, 1883, he recommended
that M. Goffart should be awarded the highest distinction which
the Society could give, namely, an Object of Art, as an “ acte
de bonne justice en récompensant un agriculteur qui a tant con-
tribué a répandre la meilleure méthode densilage,” and again,
“pour les services importants qui’l a rendus & lagriculture en
vulgarisant les meilleurs procédés d’ensilage et de conservation du
mais fourrage.” t

PRACTICE.

In order to obtain authentic statements of the experiences of
those who had already attempted the system of ensilage for
British fodder crops, I issued the following list of questions to
a large number of English and a few foreign agriculturists :—

List oF QUESTIONS.

1. What are the dimensions of your silo ?
2. Is it above or below the level of the soil ?
3. How is it constructed, especially as to materials? And have you made
any experiments with silos not covered by a durable or permanent roof ?
. What was its first cost, and how long do you expect it to last ?
. When did you fill your silo ?
. If not yet filled, when do you propose to fill it ?
. What crop or crops do you preserve by the process of ensilage ?
. In what state do you use them, viz., unripe, ripe, or over-ripe ?
. Are the crops pitted in a whole or chopped state ?
10. If in a chopped state, what is the average length of the cuttings ?
11. Do you mix with the main substance, or crop, any other material; for
instance, straw, or salt, and if so, why ?
12, Is the silo filled at one operation as quickly as possible, or are intervals

co M10 Or

* ‘Manuel de la Culture et de ’Ensilage des Mais et autres fourrages verts.”
Par Auguste Goffart.

+ ‘Goffart, 4th Edition, p. 260.

138 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

left to allow the first portions of material to settle before the process is
renewed ?

13. Please give details with reasons for your mode of procedure ?

14. In what manner do you compress the material placed in the silo ?

15. If any mechanical contrivance is used, what amount of pressure is
applied, how long is it continued, and why is this mode preferred ?

16. What was the weight of the crops put into the silo, and please record
the weight of the preserved material when taken out fit for use?

17. What is the expense in labour of filling the silo, and the expense in
labour and materials of compressing, covering, &c., the contents ?

18, What is the cost of emptying the silo? How is this operation per-
formed? For instance, do you take the material off in layers from the top,
or do you cut it down vertically like hay in a stack ?

19. What definite results have you obtained by this method of pitting
fodder crops ?

20. Have you found any result specially attributable to succulence of the
crops, or to external moisture upon them before being pitted ?

21. Can the fodder preserved by you in silos be consumed without
deterioration if taken out by degrees during a period extending over several
months, or must it be rapidly consumed after the contents of the silo have
been once cut ?

22. What, in your opinion, is the reason why pitted fodder sometimes keeps
free from mould and wholesome for several months after the silo has been
opened ; and at other times does not keep sound even for a few days?

23. Please add a general statement of your experience, especially with
regard to the use of pitted fodder as food for stock, whether alone or in con-
junction with other feeding materials.

H. M. JENKINS, Secretary.

N.B.—If you have a fair sample of what was put into your silo I should
be glad to receive a portion of it for Lxamination, and possibly for Analysis.

In the following pages I give details furnished me by more
than forty correspondents, of whom six are foreign * and the
remainder British. A perusal of these records of practice will
show how widely divergent are the methods pursued, and my
notes will show how different in many cases are the results
obtained. To facilitate reference I have adopted the following
classification of the replies : —

I. Silo without roof.
II. Roofed Silos with Portable weights.
A. Silage Unchopped.
B. Silage partly Chopped.
C. Silage entirely Chopped.
III. Silos with Mechanical means of Compression.
IV. Foreign Silos.
A. France.
B. The Netherlands.

Under each of these headings I have given the answers to the

* T have avoided giving any details of American practice in consequence of
differences in climate rendering them an uncertain guide to English farmers.

at Home and Abroad. 139

questions in the alphabetical order of the names of my corre-
spondents, except in the two or three cases where the replies
were received too late to be inserted in their proper places.
Some readers may think that I have rather overwhelmed them
with records of practice, but in a subject so new I felt that this
was an error on the right side, and would at any rate screen
me from any charge of bias or partiality. I have added descrip-
tions and illustrations of two machines for cutting and elevating
materials to be preserved in silos, one being English and the
other French.

I wish to thank all my correspondents for the trouble they
have taken for the purpose of this Report, and also the many
owners of silos who have received me, and sometimes large
parties of agriculturists, on visits of inspection. On these
occasions the most searching questions were readily answered,
and the most ravenous appetites generously appeased !

I.—SILo witHout Roor.

Mr. G. Hopkins, The Hayes, Cardiff—My silo is 30 feet long, 15 feet
wide, and 9 feet deep. It is two-thirds below the level of the soil, and one-
third above it. The walls above ground are of 9-inch brickwork; and the
sides and bottom below the level of the land have a 23-inch brick casing
cemented with waterproof Cardiff lime. The bulk of the material put in was
chaffed grass, but after it had sunk below the level of the top, 4 loads of
long grass were added, and in a few days afterwards 1 load of green comfrey
and 5 cwts. of bran on the top. The whole was then battened down with
boards cut to fit the inside of the silo. Excavated earth from the locality of
the silo was then thrown on the boards, and this was the only covering.
All this was done in July, 1883. I consider that the silo will last a lifetime.
Its cost was 15/. P

The grass had been cut for hay in the usual way, but as heavy rain came
on, I decided to try ensilage. Three-fourths of it was chopped into half-inch
lengths by a 5-horse-power engine in two days, and was mixed with half a ton
of salt,* as I thought it would prevent combustion and fermentation. In the
course of a week the mass shrunk to the extent of one-third, and the long
grass and then the bran were added. The total weight of the material I
estimate at 50 tons, the produce of 10 acres, and, weather permitting, would
have made 12 tons of hay, valued at about 40/. It was compressed as the
gio was filled by a horse walking round upon it. The cost of filling was as
ollows :—

2 ON OF

_ Steam-engine 2 days, with attendant .. .. . « «« ». 210 0

2 men and 2 women for 2 days feeding, clearing away, andspreading 1 O O

Pemec eran spread over alll, pccisilwasy ifsc) veovtinsen Wee sindeot as, *1/10..0

ieahoony placing boards) onthe brates): $05 Gs owe op! wee e0 0. DO

Labauriéoncovering with earthics (.ecjieo o\en ae ce em ee OT O
£5 12

* Mr. Hopkins now considers this quantity of salt too great, and suggests that
one-fifth, viz. 2 cwt., would be sufficient.

140 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

In fine weather it would have cost 67. to make the hay, but 12/7. under
unfavourable circumstances.

The cost of mowing is 5s. 6d. per acre, and the cost of carting the grass and
pitching it into the silo is estimated at 5s. per ton. Pitting and treading
cost 15s. per day.

This silo, unique in my experience, besides being uncovered,
and two-thirds below the level of the soil, is situated near a
brook, the swollen waters from which penetrated through the
thin brick and cement wall, while the autumn rains completely
soaked the covering of earth and the silage immediately beneath
it. Therefore only a comparatively thin layer between the top
and the bottom was in a fair state of preservation when I saw it
opened last November, the remainder being fit only for manure.

II.— Roorep SILOS WITH PoRTABLE WEIGHTs.

A. Sinace UNCHOPPED.

1. Mr. A. Copley (per Mr. T. Easdale), East Cowton, Northallerton.—The
original silo was 12 feet long, 7 feet wide, and 8 feet deep, but it is now 2 feet
deeper. A second silo, built this year, is 15 feet long, 7 feet wide, and 10 feet
deep. Both are 8 feet below and 2 feet above the level of the ground. The
first silo was built of bricks and mortar, faced with 1 inch of cement lining,
and was covered for one year with a low movable span roof. The second one
was built of concrete, faced with 4-inch of cement lining. The cost was the
same as that of any oblong pit or water-tank of the same dimensions, and
the silos will last for many years. Filling is done at various times, when
the crops are ready and other things convenient, but we endeavour to catch
the material at that stage of growth when it contains most nutriment.
Meadow-grass, aftermath, comfrey, oats, tares, and clover have been pitted,
all in a whole state. The filling will be completed in September. A small
sprinkling of salt has been added—but not more than 1 lb. to 24 cwts. of
grass, &c,—with the idea of destroying noxious life-germs, such as liver-
fluke, &c. The material is covered with transverse boards, 2 inches thick,
and weighted with iron blocks of 1 cwt. each, so as to give a pressure of
13 cwt. per square foot. As to the weight of the preserved material, it may
be stated that in December, 1882, one cubic foot was taker out of the
original silo and found to weigh 43% lbs., after a pressure of only 100 lbs. per
square foot. The cost of filling the silo is the ordinary cost of cutting and
carting home green fodder of any kind, plus that of casting it into the pit
and spreading and treading it well. The expense of compression depends
entirely on the material used, and whether with an idea of permanency or
otherwise. The contents of the original silo were cut down vertically, like
a haystack, and the cost of emptying it was the same as that of cutting down
a haystack for the use of cattle. The effect of using the pitted fodder has
been that the milch cows improved in condition, and the yield of milk, cream,
and butter increased in quantity and improved in quality. Hach cow received
in previous years daily 2 lbs. of oats,-10 lbs. of hay, and 45 lbs. of pitted
fodder, but this year the use of hay has been discontinued. ‘The fodder can
be consumed without deterioration, if taken out by degrees, during a period
extending over several months.

Mr. Copley is a pioneer in the question of ensilage, and

at Home and Abroad. 141

therefore it is desirable to give a little explanation of his
experiments, although they have been conducted on only a
small scale. Mr. Copley farms about 15 or 20 acres of his own
land with his own hands as an amusement. He keeps four
cows, and I should not be surprised to learn at any moment that
he had become his own dairyman. In 1882 he built the first
silo, and he was so far satisfied with the result, that in 1883 he
built a second, as he has described above. The two are placed
in what may be called a small barn, and they receive contribu-
tions from the highways and byways, hedges and ditches,
churchyards and meadows. Notwithstanding that in 1882 the
fragrancy of the fodder was almost too powerful for delicate
organisations, Mr. Copley’s example was followed by Mr.
Stobart, Mr. Ford, and others in the district; but of course
with certain variations. All the motley mass collected by
Mr. Copley is put in long—thistles and nettles, prickly comfrey,
the haulm of Jerusalem artichokes, as well as the ordinary
agricultural crops mentioned by Mr. Copley himself. The
weights are raised and lowered by means of a chain and pulley,
which arrangement is also used to hoist out the silage. As to
the result, I must confess that the fodder was more than
sufficiently fragrant at the time of my first visit, on August 21,
1883, and its odour was still more pronounced on January 21,
1884. Nevertheless, Mr. Copley was perfectly satisfied, as his
cows ate readily as much as 84 lbs. of it per diem, and gave an
abundant flow of milk, the butter from which was stated to be
of excellent quality.

2. Darlington Sewaye Farm, per Mr. J. Burnside.—Onur silo is 17 feet by
17 feet, and is above the level of the ground. It is an old brick building,
and was formerly used as a cow-barn. The walls are cemented round to their
full héight, and there is likewise a good cemented floor, with good walls
18 inches thick. The cost of preparing the silo would be 30J., the weights
and planks about 45/. additional.

The silo was filled the first week in August with meadow-grass, mown
when ripe, and put in whole, with a little salt at intervals.

This is our first year of trial. I shall be glad to give you more particulars
after proving the feeding-quality of the silage.

The material is compressed with metal weights. It consisted of 7 acres of
meadow-grass in a very dry state, weighing 31 tons, and put in the day it was
cut. The cost of cutting, raking up, carting, strewing it well about in the
silo, men’s beer, getting the weights on and off, then on again, with the
planks, cost me 61.

The pitted fodder is cut down in the same manner as hay. I cannot see
why it will not keep several months, if you only take the weights off as you
use the fodder.—Jan. 25th, 1884.

I visited this silo on January 22, when it was specially
opened for my inspection. It may be necessary to state that,
although the silo was on a sewage farm, the grass which had

142 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

been ensilaged had not been sewaged. Mr. Burnside, indeed,
told me that its quality was remarkably good, and certainly the
result was excellent. Although the weights put on gave a
pressure of 14 cwt. to the square foot, no liquid had been
pressed out; but it must be remembered that the grass was in a
very dry state when it was put into the silo. There was a
certain amount of mouldy silage at the sides, and especially
near the doorway.

8. Rev. C. H. Ford, Bishopton, Ferry Hill, Durham.—My silo is 15 feet
long, 8 feet wide, and 9 feet deep, viz. 5 feet below ground and 4 feet above.
The floor is composed of the best concrete, 12 inches in thickness. The walls
below ground resting on the floor, being 15 inches thick of concrete, above
ground they are of brick. The whole is thoroughly well lined and finished
off with cement, the floor having no less than 4 inches of the best quality.
In spite of these precautions, the water, by capillary attraction, pierced
concrete and cement, and several inches thereof stood on the floor. I sunk
a well, 6 feet deeper than the silo, broke up the floor with infinite labour, and
drained it thoroughly into the well, recementing the floor over the drains.
This has kept the outside water from coming in, but, strange to say, the
ensilage liquor finds its way into the drains, and renders the well water unfit
for use.

My soil is tenacious clay. On July 5 I filled the silo up to the top, 9 feet.
It took 14 single horse-loads, estimated at 10 cwts. each, or 7 tons; next
morning the mass, under a pressure of 6 tons, had sunk 3 feet; by July 9 it
had sunk 4 feet. July 12.—Filled up silo again with 8 loads of grass
estimated to weigh 4 tons. Put on 10 tons dead-weight of iron waste.

The actual cost of labour in cutting and putting 13 acres of grass into silo,
including taking off 6 tons of weight and putting on 10 tons, was 1ls. I pay
my men 3s. per diem each; the use of horses is not charged for.

July 23.—Filled silo again. The mass had sunk 4 feet. Put in 3 tons of
grass, covered up with 10 tons weight. ‘This grass was off a much, poorer
field, and so the crop was poor, though of fair quality. It came off 13 acres,
and the cost of cutting, loading, and putting into silo, and putting weights off
and on, was 10s. 10d., or 7s, per acre.

August 20.—I had now only 2 feet 4 to fill up, and it was probably not
worth the expense, commercially, but I wished to have it as full as. possible.
Mr. Jenkins came from London to witness this operation. I put in 8 tons of
clover, second crop, and covered up with 12 tons of dead weight.

August 30.—I opened the silo again and had only 15 inches to fillup. I
filled up with nearly 3 tons of second-crop clover, and had it well trodden by
six pairs of human legs; covered up with 12 tons,

November 13.—I opened the silo and found that it had sunk nearly 2 feet
from the top. Mr. Jenkins will report on it, so it will,be unnecessary for
me to say more than that the silage was excellent, no waste; but he
thought, and I agreed with him, that the pressure might have been much less
for the clover.

I did not cut the old-land grass into chaff, nor the clover. I used no bran
and no salt. he young stock are doing remarkably well on this food and hay.

I tried the following experiment with three cows, which calved respectively
May 8, June 3, and September 10, two of them being heifers with one calf,
the other having had two calves.

On November 13, before the silo was opened, I had the milk of these three
cows analysed. It was pronounced to be “ fair average country milk.” They
were then going into the pasture, and getting hay and pollard,

at Home and Abroad. 143

November 20.—They had all taken to the new food, and the measurement
of the milk, to my astonishment, showed a decrease in the quantity. The
butter was excellent in flavour and taste, with a marked improvement in
both. They were eating good hay and pollard. The analysis showed a
decided improvement in fatty matter.

From December 10 to 17 they were fed on silage and cotton-cake only ;
no waste was allowed. The quantity of milk was maintained, but not
increased. The analysis again showed an imprcvement in fatty matter, and
the quality was also improved.

From December 17 to 31 they were fed on hay, mangolds, and cake, and
no silage. The quantity of milk was still maintained, but the analysis
showed an increase of one-fourth in the fat.

The result of this experiment, to my mind, has been that the viriue of
silage has been demonstrated, not, as I expected, by the increase of quantity,
but by maintaining the quantity during that period of the year when one
would expect it to diminish, by improving the quality to a considerable extent,
and by keeping the animals fed upon it, old and young, in good blooming
health and condition. The economy of this food is apparent.

N.B.—My weights, which cost me nothing, are removed by hand every
time. I have filled my silo five times, at a cost of putting on and off of 1s. 4d.
each way; the cost therefore of removing weights and putting them on is
13s. 4d. for the season. Can any one show a less costly mode of weighting ?
Certainly not a more effectual,

When I first visited this silo, on August 20, 1883, I saw the
boards removed from the top of the material which had been
previously pitted. The uppermost layer of mouldy grass was
first taken off, and then a square mass about a foot in depth
was taken out. It had an acid and somewhat vinous smell, but
at least six inches in depth of the upper part was sandwiched
with layers of mould, which Mr. Ford was at a loss to account
for. It seemed to me that the weights, as in some other silos
in the district, had been piled on too liberally (200 Ibs. per
square foot), and caused the juice to be expressed out of the silo,
and thus contaminated the well, as described above by Mr. Ford.
Notwithstanding this drainage, a sample of silage received on
December 5, 1883, was found to contain 73-7 per cent. of
moisture, and it went rapidly mouldy.

At the time of my first visit the silo was being filled up for
the fourth time with second-cut clover. The treading of it
seemed here, as elsewhere, a tedious process, but as many of
the “ treaders” were volunteers, it was perhaps not quite effectual,
and the cost cannot be given.

The construction of the roof, the eaves of which came close
down to a wooden cap on the top of the brickwork of the silo,
was worth noting. The roof is ridged, each slope being formed
of tarred and felted doors, which are hinged, and shut down
upon moyable rafters fitting into slots in the ridge, and in the
wooden cap to the brickwork. Although Mr. Ford puts the
total cost at 40/., it may be said on the one hand that this does

144 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

not cover all the adjuncts, and on the other that the cost was
greatly increased by the drainage difficulties. In fact, as the
bricks and some other materials were presented to Mr. Ford for
the purpose of this experiment, it is not possible to enter into
minute calculations of cost. Then, as regards the cost of filling,
Mr. Ford is so enthusiastic that he himself sits on the mowing-
machine, and does not charge anything in his accounts for his
own time. With the low roof of this silo, the crane is a very
valuable means of economizing labour in putting the weights
on and taking them off, as well as in lifting the silage out of the
silo.

On January 23rd, 1884, I again visited this silo, to see the
result of Mr. Ford’s experiment. Notwithstanding the per-
sistent infiltration of drainage from the silo into the well, the
silage was very good in parts. The grass was the best; but the
clover, which had been probably put in when more succulent
and wet, had been squeezed into a kind of paste. Mr. Ford
quite admitted the fact, and also the lesson to be derived from
it, namely, that the pressure should be altered according to the
nature of the crop to be preserved and its condition when

itted.
. It should be added that Mr. Ford farms a glebe of about

60 acres, and that this is his first year’s experience.

4, Mr. Arthur H, Grant, Abbotswood, Romsey, Hants.—I have five pits of
the following dimensions: No. 1, 6 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 6 feet deep ;
Nos. 2 and 8, each 11 feet long, 15 feet wide, and 10 feet deep; No. 4, 15 feet
long, 16 feet wide, and 12 feet deep; and No. 5, 15 feet long, 16 feet wide, and
10 feet deep. They are all below the level of the soil. No. 4 pit is built of
9-inch brickwork, run over very thinly with cement; the others are made of
43-inch brickwork, and between two pits I have a 9-inch partition-wall.
The roofs are of corrugated iron, with the exception of one silo, which is
roofed with Willesden paper. Incidentally I would mention that I prefer
jron to this paper, as it requires far less wood, although what is used must
be slightly stouter; there is also far less carpenters’ work to be done, On the
other hand, over cattle, &c., iron always condenses the moisture of a shed,
and a drip follows ; this, I think, is not the case with paper. The first cost of
these silos is unknown, as the "gravel, &c., dug out was used for concrete
building, roads, &c., and many of the bricks used were old.

The first filling took place in May and the second in July, swith vetches
and oats, meadow-grass, Trifolium incarnatum, and “seeds,” consisting of
Italian rye-grass and hop-clover. All the crops were put in uncut and “hot
quite ripe—the vetches when just coming into flower. No substance was
mixed with them, but I once tried bran “without any visible effect. Each
silo is filled to, say, 4 feet above the top of the walls, as quickly as possible ;
the crop is then weighted and allowed to sink one or two nights, then refilled
to the 4 feet again and closed for two months, when the second or later crops
are cut. The silo is then opened and filled twice to 4 feet above the surface
again, and then closed until opened for use in winter. The 4 feet is named
because my weights, being concrete blocks, build up easily to a height of 4
feet, thus giving an additional depth. When the silo is quite full, these

at Home and Abroad. 145

blocks can be rolled on to the boards; as the stuff sinks, row after row is
placed on the boards. The concrete blocks are 9 inches by 9 inches by
12 inches, or 9 inches by 9 inches by 18 inches; and in addition I use as
weighting materials bricks, loose earth, logs of wood, &c. I use at least
1 cwt. per superficial foot, and often 2 to 23 cwts., and in the corners
3 to 4 cwts., and I leave the weights on until I require the forage.

Tn 1881 I put about 6 tons of fodder into a silo; in 1882 I put in 60 tons,
and in 1883 no less than 200 tons. I think the same weight comes out as
you put in, for where is the weight to go? ‘There is no evaporation to speak
of, and no loss by drainage. One cubic foot of pitted fodder weighs about
50 lbs. The cost of cutting the crops by machine, carrying, pitting, com-
pressing, covering, &c., is about 7s. 6d. per acre. The following is a state-
ment of the cost of saving a second cut of “seeds” off 103 acres—the crop
being a light one, which would have made, say, half a ton of hay per acre :—

; 2K

Time of 12 men at 4s. 6d., to include extra hours, beer, &c. 214 0
7 7 horses at 2s. (cost price to the farmer) .. .. O14 O
Extra work, piling on weights, &c., next day,say .. .. 0 6 O

otal, @5..9) cea wes £3 14 0

The crop was cut, carried, and pitted between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. The cost of
emptying the silo is merely that of cutting out of a hayrick, minus the
expense of tying the bands of the trusses. I cut down vertically (in from
1 foot to 1 foot 6 inch slices) like hay in a stack.

With regard to the results obtained, I may state that I once was feeding
3 Jersey cows as follows :—2 lbs. oilcake and 1 gall. crushed oats as extra
food, with hay ad libitum. On half-gall. crushed oats and about half-cwt.
“silage” made from seeds, the butter increased as from 100 to 125. I once
cut and carried 5 acres of meadow-grass purposely in pouring rain. When I
cut it out I stated in the Field that it came out as good as that carried dry.
J afterwards modified that opinion. It was blacker in colour than that carried
dry, and the cattle ate up every bit of it; but the cows in full milk preferred
other food, and I gave it chiefly to dry stock and pigs. I once purposely left
a vertical slice in a silo open (whilst consuming a field of cabbage) for about
three weeks oramonth. At the end of that time white mould appeared on the
face of the slice, and it penetrated about two or three inches horizontally into
the stuff. My silos having partition walls, the contents of one division last
my cows only a few weeks, and this I prefer to a very long silo, for economic
reasons in the filling—it being much easier to fill two pits 15 feet long each
than one pit 30 feet long. My ensilaged fodder always keeps good several
days, and if allowed to dry in small quantities it becomes very like good hay.

With three years’ experience I fully approve of the use of pitted fodder as
food for stock, and shall largely increase my silos every year, to the utmost
_ capacity of my land to grow green crops, such as vetches and oats, both
winter and spring (especially winter vetches), and similar bulky green crops.
1 am thinking of buckwheat—to be pitted green—as a quick-growing
summer crop suited to poor gravels. In my opinion, “silage” requires
an addition of some food, such as crushed oats (i.e. nitrogenous food). I
further think that summer dairymen might, as in the Sologne, in France,
guard against dry summers, if we ever get any more, by pitting a large
acreage of rye, winter vetches, Trifoliwm incarnatum, &c., say in May.
Their land would then give a turnip crop, and the “silage,” if not wanted
for summer use, would be ready for the following winter. “ Ensilage” is
good—very good indeed—as a system, but it is not an easy and universal mode
of worldly salvation to the farmer; and it demands common sense, care, and
attention, but it saves in money, time, and anxiety—February 8th, 1883.

VOL. XX.—S. 8. i

146 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

5. Mr. Wid. Harris, Halwill Manor, Highampton, Devon.—The dimensions
of my silo are 35 feet in length, 18 in width, and 103 in depth. It is 2 feet
below the ground at one end, and 6 feet at the other. It consists of a strong
stone wall cemented at the sides and bottom, and covered with a slate roof.
The first cost was £110, and practically it will last for ever. The first filling
was done between the 9th and the 16th of July, and the second at the end of
September, the materials used being in the first instance meadow-grass and
clover and rye-grass, and afterwards second-cut clover. ‘The crops are cut
when approaching ripeness, and are put into the silo without being chaffed.
I mixed a little salt with a portion, but I think it is no better than the rest
which had no salt mixed with it. The contents of the silo were pressed down
as much as could be conveniently done every time that a day’s filling took
place, so as to get rid of all atmospheric air as quickly as possible. ‘The
pitted fodder is covered with chaff, then with 38-inch boards afterwards
a layer of sand 15 inches deep, as well as some iron rails, and now I am
storing turnips on the top. At present I have no mechanical appliance for
weighting, but I hope to invent one. The weight of the crops put into the
silo was about 80 tons, and I think the same quantity was there when
J opened it on November 12th. The quality of the pitted fodder is excel-
lent; the cows prefer it to any other food, and horses leave oats for it.
I should judge that it costs about the same between cutting and storing as
a haystack costs; that is to say, if the field is not far from the silo. My
80 tons were carried in 87 waggon-loads. ‘lhe pitted material now weighs
40 lbs. per cubic foot, and I value 5 tons of it as equal to 2 tons of good hay.
The 80 tons came off 9 acres, which would have produced about 20 tons of
hay.— December 10th, 1883.

6. Mr. C. R. Kenyon, Brynilwydwyn, Machynileth—The dimensions of my
silo are as follows: length, 11 ft. 9 in.; width, 10 ft.; and depth, 11 ft. It
is below the level of the soil. It was constructed in the following manner:
A large and deep pit was first excavated near the edge of a bank, which dipped
abruptly down to a stream below; facing walls were then built of common
bricks set in cement, and were made perfectly rectangular and perpendicular,
to permit the lid to move freely downwards as the contents subsided. To
guard against the influx of water, a drain was carried from the foundation of
the silo to the stream, and the floor itself was constructed of flags laid on
mortar, and joined together with cement. At each of the four corners the
brickwork was continued upwards in the form of pillars to support a light
roof. This was made sufficiently high to form a sort of Dutch barn for the
storage of hay, &c., as well as a cover to the silo. The first cost of this silo
in labour and materials was about 35/. 10s., and I expect it to last as long as
any other building on the farm.

Last year (1882), by way of experiment, I had a trench excavated, about
9 ft. lone by 4 ft. wide and 5 ft. deep, in a dry gravelly soil. ‘This was filled
with uncut grass, well trodden down, and filled up to the height of about 4 ft.
above the surface of the ground. It was covered by the soil taken from the
pit being piled, roof-shape, upon it; but in consequence of the great subsidence
of the grass the whole sank below the surface of the ground. The result was
that the rain-water got in, and the grass was spoiled.

The silo proper was first filled between September 24th and October 4th,
1881; and in 1882 it was also filled twice—the first week in September,
and the first week in October. This year (1883) it was filled in July and
September. Grass is almost the only crop I preserve by ensilage, and it has
generally happened that the crop has been over-ripe at the time we have
found it convenient to pit it, but I should prefer to do so when the majority
of the grasses are in flower. he first two years I passed all the grass through
a chaff-cutter driven by water-power, before throwing it into the pit, the

at Home and Abroad. 147

average length of the cuttings being about one inch. The first year I mixed
a little salt with the cut grass, as it was thrown into the silo. The second
year I only did so with about half the contents of the pit, and this year L
have not used any admixture whatever, as the salt seemed to make no differ-
ence either as regards the preservation of the material or its feeding properties.
I have generally filled my silo at the rate of from four to eight loads a day.
When I am unable to cram any more stuff into it I put on the lids and
weights, and leave it to settle fora month or two, after which it is again filled
to the top, and then finally covered and weighted down, until the contents are
required for the use of the stock.

My present silo being only large enough to contain a small proportion of
the crop of meadow-grass, the new process is with me, of course, merely sub-
sidiary to the older and, as yet at least, more important one of hay-making.
It is therefore my plan to economise time and labour by setting the men to
pit grass whenever the weather is such as to prevent or put a stop to the other
mode of harvesting. A two-horse mower soon cuts down a sufficient quantity
of the grass which has been reserved in the vicinity of the silo; it is then
thrown together with forks, or collected into rows with a horse-rake, and at
once carted away to the pit. Here it is spread evenly about, and well trodden
down by a couple of men, or more generally by a strong woman and three or
four boys, an extra trampling being given by the whole force of men before
leaving off or resuming work, morning, noon, and evening. It is quite un-
necessary to put on the lid, &c., until the pit is full, unless the process of
filling has to be discontinued, for any cause, for more than twenty-four hours.
Six or eight days after, the lid and weights are put on, either finally, or in
order that the contents may be left to settle down for a few weeks before
adding more forage. I have found it advantageous to seal the edges of the lid
or platform so as to prevent the entrance of air. This is easily done by simply
building up the weighting material plumb, with but a little distance (say
three or four inches) from the walls of the silo, and filling up the narrow space
thus formed to a depth of eight or ten inches, with fine dry soil or sawdust.
If this is not done, and especially if the forage is insufficiently weighted,
mouldiness will make its appearance around the sides and on the top of the
fodder to a greater or less extent. The weights consist of hard boulder stones
taken from the bed of a mountain torrent, and also brickbats, the whole
amounting to about 70 lbs. or 80 lbs. to the square foot.

T have not kept any exact record of the weight of the grass ensilaged, but
should estimate it at twenty-five tons each year. I should say that the
process entails little or no loss of weight, as the material is very moist and
heavy when taken out for the use of the stock. If the grass is chaffed before
being put into the silo, the expense in labour is about 2s. 10d. per ton, and 2s.
per ton when it is pitted long as it comes from the meadow. ‘These prices
include mowing, carting, pitting, weighting, and everything, and no doubt
they might be considerably reduced if the operations were carried out on a
larger scale. ‘The cost of the lid or cover is included in the amount already

specified for the silo itself. It will also have been seen that little or no outlay
' has been required for weighting materials; in fact, anything that comes most
handy may be pressed into the service; and, once the materials provided,
the expense in labour of placing or removing them is quite inappreciable, being
at the rate of not more than 3d. or 4d. a ton on each occasion.

If the silo is conveniently situated, the cost of emptying it and of supplying
the contents to cattle is at least no greater than would be the case in feeding
the same quantity of stock by the ordinary methods. As regards the manner
of emptying the pit, I have tried both methods (viz. of taking the material off
in layers from the top, and of cutting it down vertically), but I shall require
to make still further experiments in the same direction before venturing to

L 2

148 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

give a decided opinion on this important point. I have reason to think that
after the pit has been once opened more care is required in using the pitted
fodder which has been stored in a very wet condition, i.e. saturated with rain-
water.

The results obtained—at least to the extent of the limited capacity of my
silo—may be summed up as follows: (1) Comparative independence of the
weather, enabling a luxuriant crop of grass or other forage’ to be expeditiously
preserved without fear of deterioration from wet or other exposure. (2) A
cheap and efficient substitute for roots, so far at least as cattle are concerned ;
sheep I have not found to take so kindly to “silage.” (8) A wholesome
change of diet, and one greatly relished by horned stock of every age. I have
not given it to horses, but I have no doubt that unbroken animals and those
used for slow work would thrive equally we!l upon it.

By careful management pitted fodder can be consumed without deteriora-
tion when taken out by degrees during a period extending over several months.
To this end—in so damp a climate as ours—I would recommend either that
the silo be constructed very long and narrow, or that it be divided into several
small compartments (say of 4-inch brickwork). In the former case the
“silage” is to be cut down vertically with a hay-knife, a narrow strip at
once, the entire width of the pit, regulating the thickness of the slice by the
number of mouths to be fed, so that each strip, from the top to the bottom of
the pit, be consumed within four or five days; thus no part of the surface of
the main bulk of fodder will be exposed for more than that length of time to
the atmosphere. Or, by the second method, the whole of the cover and
weights from one of the small compartments or sections may be removed at
once, and the “silage” taken evenly off the top of the mass—a thin layer
each day as required. The pit should of course be constructed wider or nar-
rower, or the sections larger or smaller, as the case may be, according to.
the number of animals proposed to be fed upon the contents. I have no
experience of pitted fodder not keeping sound “even for a few days” after
opening the pit; but I believe it is more liable to turn mouldy when the
latter is in a damp situation, or sunk below the surface of the soil.

With regard to my experience as to the use of pitted fodder as food for
stock, I have found cattle of all ages and descriptions grow and thrive re-
markably well upon it, even when made from the coarsest description of
herbage, such as they would scarcely touch if presented to them in any
other form—with the addition of about 2 lbs. of cake or meal each per diem,
and one feed of hay or oat-straw. Or if the pitted fodder is composed of
grass of good quality, store beasts will not require any “ artificial,” as it is
called, in conjunction therewith, though | should still give a feed of hay or
straw, merely for the sake of a little variety, which is always advantageous.
In the case of milch-cows and fattening stock, the pitted fodder should also be
supplemented by a few pounds of cake or meal, indeed it is essential for
the latter description of stock. In conclusion, I believe that the system of
ensilage is the most economical method of preserving forage crops that has
yet been discovered. My own experience points unmistakably to the fact
that a ton of grass preserved by ensilage will go as far in the maintenance
of stock as (at a low estimate) would 25 cwt. of the same material if made
into hay. I am also confirmed in the opinion, expressed more than a year
ago, that it is by no means essential that the silo should be sunk below
the level of the soil. In fact, to do so would, in the majority of cases, be
only going to needless trouble and expense. Probably the most convenient
form of silo (as regards filling and emptying) would be one partly above
and partly below the surface of the ground, though any old barn or other
substantial building might be converted into a silo at comparatively small
cost, and answer the purpose well enough.— October 24th, 1883.

_—

at Home and Abroad. 149

PS.—Since sending off my answers to your questions last October, I have
again opened my silo, and I am glad to say that the results of the third
experiment are most satisfactory. The well-preserved condition of the grass,
and the evident relish with which it is being eaten by all kinds of stock,
confirm me in the opinion that ensilage is a valuable and economical method
of saving green fodder.

In this last experiment I made an important departure from my previous
practice. I did not cut the grass into chaff, but carted it direct from the field
to the pit. Here it was well tossed about, evénly spread, and trodden down
in the ordinary way. No salt was used. The weather was wet, and con-
sequently the grass also; yet, when the silo was opened on the first of this
month (February) there was certainly not more than the usual amount of
waste. The black and mouldy portion was confined to a shallow and narrow
belt around the edges of the mass, just beneath the shutters, and did not
extend over the whole of the surface. After getting down a little way the
fodder was found to be in as good condition against the walls as it was else-
where. It was slightly acid to the taste, and emitted that peculiar and un-
describable fragrance which always distinguishes good “ silage.”

Besides showing the uselessness of cutting the grass into chaff, there is a
circumstance in connection with my present experience, which is very
gratifying. Sheep eat the “silage” freely. A small flock of Shropshire
breeding ewes are supplied with a feed every evening, and generally clear it
all up before morning. ‘hey are running on grass-land. Another lot of
30 ewe-lambs, also on grass, eat a cratch full, daily. If good hay is placed in
one end of the cratch, and “silage” in the other, the latter will be con-
sumed to the last mouthful almost before the hay is touched—at least by the
majority of the lambs. A few animals in each lot still hold aloof, or only
partake very sparingly of the pitted fodder. Horses seem to care less about
it than other stock; nevertheless two young colts and a pony eat it with
evident relish.

I have not kept any exact record of the cost of carting the crop from the
field and completely pitting it; indeed it would not have been easy to do so,
as the work was carried on very irregularly. Whenever the weather was
good enough for harvest operations the process was discontinued, and the
men’s efforts directed to securing some field of hay or crop of oats, as the case
might be. Thus, on some days, perhaps only a couple of loads of grass would
be pitted. If the interruption was likely to extend over more than one day,
the shutters were placed in position and loaded with a few stones or bricks,
otherwise this precaution was dispensed with. In no case were the whole of
the weights put on until the silo was full.

Even when carried out in the disjointed manner above mentioned, the
whole cost of the operation would not exceed from 12s. to 14s. an acre, or,
say, 2s. 6d. per ton of grass pitted. Besides, it must not be forgotten that the
‘work was only carried on when other methods of harvesting were out of the
question.

In conclusion, I may say that the more experience I have of ensilage the
more I value it. It has merits which must eventually ensure its adoption
ever the greater portion of this kingdom. Neither landlord nor tenant can
long afford to ignore or refuse to practise a system which bids fair to relieve
the farmer of some of his greatest anxieties: by enabling him (1) to secure
his forage crops, in good condition, even in the wettest seasons (when they are
generally the most abundant). (2) To do this in the simplest and most
economical manner. (3) To preserve their natural succulence; and thus,
(4) to partially, if not entirely, dispense with the costly root-crop.—
February 16th, 1884.

After the foregoing exhaustive statement, it is scarcely

150 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

necessary for me to add any remarks. I visited Mr. Kenyon
on January 18th, and found that, in consequence of having lived
formerly in the United States, he had been one of the first to
adopt the system of ensilage in England, or, I ought to say, in
Wales. In the wild hilly part of the country where Mr. Kenyon
lives, the climate is very trying for the harvesting of either
gTass or grain, and therefore to be practically independent of
sunshine is the height of happiness to farmers living in such a
district. Mr. Kenyon estimates his pressure at only 70 lbs. to
the square foot, and certainly the quality of his silage did not
suggest to me that it was insufficient, although a sample sent
me went rapidly mouldy on exposure to the air. The depth of
the silo is temporarily increased by boards which fit into grooves
in the pillars carrying the roof of the silo. These can be
removed when the grass sinks to the level of the permanent walls.
When the “ Dutch Barn” is not used for storing hay, a certain
quantity of bracken or other coarse fern is thrown over the
stones with which the silo is weighted, so as to soak up any
rain that may be drifted in. Mr. Kenyon grows gorse largely
as a fodder-crop, sowing from 20 to 30 lbs. of seed per acre,
and chopping the plant into one-eighth inch lengths before
giving it to his live-stock.

7. Mr. T. Kirby, Hook Farm, Bromley, Kent.—My silo is 27 feet long, 8 feet
wide, and 12 feet deep, being 6 feet above the level of the soil, and 6 feet
below. It is built with 14-inch brickwork, and cement and sand in the pro-
portions of three to one, and is roofed with galvanized iron. It first cost was.
30/., and I expect it to last thirty years. It was filled in May with ordinary
pasture grass in a ripe state, and put in whole without any admixture of salt
or other substance in the course of five days at two intervals. The grass
was covered by a layer of straw 3 inches thick, then by 23-inch deal boards,
and 20 tons of stones. The weight of the pitted material was 50 tons, and
that of the preserved material 49 tons. ‘lhe cost of filling the silo was
és. per ton, for mowing, carting to the silo, treading, compressing, &e. The
silo was opened in August; the weights were taken off, deals removed, and
then the straw (two men’s time half a day each). The pitted fodder is taken
off in layers about one inch per day, the average weight per inch being
one cwt. I am satisfied that this method of pitting grass provides a cheap
aud useful fodder for cows. If the pitted fodder is taken off by degrees, a
pit could be left open for six months, provided that a little is taken off the
top every few days; but if left for 5 or 6 days it will begin to turn mouldy
on the top, owing, in my opinion, to its not having been kept sufficiently
air-tight and properly compressed. I do not consider the pitted fodder
good enough for stock without some artificial food.— October 20th, 1883.

Mr. Kirby has since informed me that he is building some
large silos, and expects to be busy filling them in May. He
then proposes to keep an accurate account of all the expenses
incurred.

at Home and Abroad. aL

8. Lord Londesborough (per Mr. Thomas Young, Agent), Londesborough
Park Farm-—Ai Lord Londesborough’s suggestion a silo was made in July
last in the end of the barn; its dimensions are 13 feet long by 8 wide, and
10 feet 6 inches deep, calculated, when full, to hold about 15 tons of fodder.
The cost of brickwork and cement was 12/7. Arrangements were made to
drain off any liquid from the silo, and a tap wascarried through the wall to
the outside of the barn; but this has in this instance proved unnecessary, as
nothing has drained from the fodder since it was put in.

The silo was filled with grass from the 20th to the 30th of August, care
being taken to have it stored dry, and well trodden down as it was put in;
and the weights, consisting of pig-iron blocks (1 cwt. each), and boards (13 in.)
halved at the joints, carefully put on, and removed when next filled, and then
replaced as before. The weight used on this silo was 8 tons, averaging about
13 cwt. per square foot.

As each layer of grass was put into the silo, about 3 stone of salt was
sprinkled over 1 ton of grass.

On the 17th of November last the silo was opened by Lord Londesborough,
in the presence of a aumber of his tenantry from the Londesborough and Selby
estates: the contents were found to be in a very satisfactory condition,
with but little waste on the top. The cattle, pigs, and horses that had the
Silage given to them ate it readily.

Arrangements were made for an experiment to test the value of silage as a
food for dairy-cows as compared with other food, and four cows were selected
and tied up in the same house: and from the Ist to the 10th of January had—

18 lbs. Hay.
3 ,, Chopped Straw.
10 ,, Ground oats,
14 ,, Roots (Mangolds).
» Cotton-cake.

48 lbs. for each cow per day.

The milk being weighed after every meal, morning and evening, with a total
result from the four cows of 1095 lbs. of milk for the ten days.
From the 11th of January to the 20th of January, the same cows had—

28 lbs. Silage.

10 ,, Ground oats.

14 ,, Roots (Mangolds).
3 ,, Cotton-cake.

55 Ibs. for each cow per day.

And a total weight of milk given by the four cows, at the end of the ten days,
was 1116 lIbs., showing an increase of 21 lbs. in favour of the silage. It
was then thought better to do away with the roots altogether, as one of the
cows was slightly purged, consequently, from the 21st to the 30th, the
following food was given :—
10 lbs. Ground oats.
3 ,, Cotton-cake.

5 ,, Maize-meal.
38 ,, Silage.

56 lbs. for each cow per day,

with very satisfactory results; in ten days 1133 lbs. milk was produced,
38 lbs. over the first ten days. One square foot of silage has been weighed,
and found to average 31 lbs.—Janwary 25th, 1884.

152 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

I visited this silo on the day when the above memorandum
was prepared for me, and found the silage very good indeed.

9. Mr. J. W. Lowe, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire.—My silo is 27 feet long,
17 feet wide, and 10 feet deep, and is above the level of the soil, the floor
being part of the barn floor. It consists of the original stone walls of the
barn, which were made of rubble stone. They have been made level and
vertically straight by chisels and picks, and afterwards coated with cement;
the first coat of cement plaster being rather coarse, and not containing so
much cement as the finishing coat. Total thickness of cement lining, 1 inch.
The total cost was about 50/. exclusive of pig-iron. The silo was filled in
July last with meadow grass put in whole, no other substance being mixed
with it.

The silo was continually open about three weeks whilst haymaking was going
on. ‘The grass was cut with the object of making hay, and if the weather per-
mitted, hay was made. If the weather appeared likely to be unfavourable,
the cut grass was taken to the silo. In any event, a few cartloads of grass
were put into the silo daily. No covering, or weights, or. pressure of any
kind was used until the silo was finally covered. The fodder was eventually
covered and compressed by means of 4-inch-thick planks, on the top of which
pig-iron was placed at the rate of 130 lbs. to the superficial foot. I don’t
know anything about the weight of the grass put into or taken out of the
silo. The iron weights cost me 47s. a ton delivered at Chapel-en-le-Frith.
It is of the quality known as No. 3 Derbyshire pig-iron. I had 34 tons.
I used the extra labour engaged for haymaking, and the men would have had
to have been paid their wages, haymaking or not. Under these circumstances,
I consider that I had little or no extra expense for manual labour.

The silo is emptied by cutting vertically, like hay in a stack. The cattle
eat the pitted fodder most readily, in fact, preferring it to the hay in their
racks. ‘he food has been praised by all practical men that I have shown
it to,and personally I am well satisfied. This year I purpose chopping the
grass before putting it into the silo, as I think a greater weight can thus
be obtained, and the silage when taken out will be handier for mixing with
other foods.

I am 1200 feet above the sea-level. Haymaking in this district is always
a month later than in most places, aud we can very seldom commence to lead
before 2 P.M., owing to the heavy dews and mists.

I have no drain from, or cesspool in the floor of the silo. I don’t think
either is necessary. ‘I'he former might have a tendency to admit air into the
pitted fodder, which must always be avoided.

I don’t think it at all necessary or desirable to use salt, or to put a layer of
bran, chaff, or any other similar substance on the top of the pitted fodder
before covering it with the boards and weights. I used chopped hay for a
covering last year, but intend not to use anything this. I have no waste
from mould or any other cause.—January 18th, 1884.

10. Mr. Arthur J. Scott, Rotherfield Park, Alton, Hants.—I have been
experimenting for eight years. My three silos way be described as follows :
No. 1, 10 feet long, 13 feet wide, and 12 feet deep; it is an oval dug in the
ground, which consists of a clay soil upon chalk; it is entirely below the
level of the ground, and is lined inside with Portland cement. Nos. 2 and 3
are each about 11 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 8 feet deep; they are partly
above and partly below the ground, and are made out of cattle-feeding pits,
the sides being of brick. All are roofed. I have made several experiments
with unroofed silos, but I do not recommend them for England, as there is
too much rainfall in the winter here. No. 1 silo cost about 5/., and is

at Home and Abroad. 153

permanent. The conversion of the cattle-pits into silos Nos. 2 and 3 cost
about 30s. each.

I commenced filling towards the end of June, and was about a month in
completing the process. If the material sinks much now I shall put in a
second cut of clover in September. I have successfully preserved vetches,
clover, rye-grass, oats, and meadow-grass; and I have had numerous failures
with other materials, such as mangold leaves, cabbages, comfrey, and artichoke
stalks. I cut the crops to be ensilaged at the same time that I should cut
them for hay, namely, when they are in flower. I have pitted them whole,
and also chopped into inch lengths, but I do not find chopping to be necessary.
The crop is best unmixed with either straw or salt; the former produces
mould, as it is difficult to get the air out of dry straw. I think that it is
impossible to fill a silo at one operation ; but the quicker it can be done the
better, as if done very slowly there is apt to be mould at intervals. My
method is to trample the fodder down as the silo is being filled, and then to
pile up the fodder on the top as high as [can. When this sinks to the level
of the pit’s mouth it is trampled down and filled as before, and this is con-
tinued until the pit is full, or all the available fodder used up. It is then
covered with planks and weights. In No.1 silo I compress the material
with a wooden lever weighted at the end. Nos. 2 and 3 I have weighted
with logs of wood, and shall also put mangold-wurzel on the planks. I have
no doubt that the greater the pressure that can be applied the better; but
the means of applying it must vary according to circumstances, and the
materials available in the locality.

In No. 1 pit this year 1 have put 28 large cartloads of grass, of an esti-
mated value of 10/., and the cost of labour and horses was 3/. 5s. 6d. In
each of the pits Nos. 2 and 3 I have 24 loads of clover, the produce of 4 acres,
and valued at 24/.; the cost of labour and horses in filling both was 67. 1
hardly know how to value the covering and compressing, as rough beech
planks and logs cut on the estate have been used; but their value is at any
rate trifling. The cost of emptying a silo would be about the same as that of
cutting hay from a rick. I have no doubt that the best way is to cut it
down vertically like hay, as the pressure can then be kept on the fodder left
én the silo. :

I have found that the “silage” which I have been successful in pre-
paring makes excellent food for cattle, especially for milch cows. It improves
the colour of the butter, and most cows prefer it to any other food when it is
well prepared. I find that horses and sheep will also eat it, but I have not
fed them on it regularly. As to the effect of moisture, I would prefer that
the crops should not be too succulent, as if they are they waste too much.
I do not think that a little external moisture from rain on the crops before
being pitted signifies much, but I prefer to pit them without rain wetting. If
the crops are properly weighted, I do not see why the “silage” should not

_keep without deterioration several months while being consumed. If it is
not tightly packed it must be consumed rapidly, or it will become mouldy.
The keeping qualities are, in my opinion, all a matter of the exclusion of

_atmospheric air. If the fodder is heavily weighted, the air cannot enter; if
the air gets into the fodder, it heats and becomes mouldy at once.

I have made no experiments worth recording in feeding pitted food to stock
in conjunction with other feeding materials. I have fed cows with it and
with a little hay for several weeks together, and found that they did well on
it, and gave richer milk than on hay alone, or on hay with winter meadow
pasture.— August 24th, 1883.

_ PS.—I have this season demonstrated, in feeding out of my silos, the great
importance of cutting the silage vertically and not in horizontal slices. The

154 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

weights must be kept on the unconsumed portion, or the acetic fermen-
tation and mould set in rapidly.

I would also warn beginners, unless they can give their constant personal
attention to it, not to trust to levers, screws, and other mechanical contri-
vances to ensure pressure. Mechanical pressure requires to be continually
attended to while the silage is shrinking, and every one must be prepared
for indifference, if not for active hostility, from his employés for a certain
time to a new process.—Lebruary 10th, 1884.

11. Mr. C.F. Trepplin, Kenilworth.—My fodder is stored in ten barns and
barn-floors of different sizes, and also in a mere cart-shed, boarded off; and
in five silos, of from 20 feet to 30 and 45 feet. ‘T'wo of the silos are above and
- three below the level of the soil. ‘The barns are mostly brick-built, some
brick and wood. The doorways were boarded in. The silos were covered
with litter, on which some galvanised roof-shecting was put. The barns were
not wanted for any other purpose, and of course were no expense. ‘The silos
were made at comparatively little expense, and will last more than a lifetime.
The fodder was put in from July till October. It consists of grass, clover,
rye and vetches, oats and vetches, and lucerne, put in when nearly ripe, and
stored whole. In feeding, the silage is cut up with straw, but I did not
use any salt or mixture of straw in pitting it. he barns and silos were filled
at different times, according to convenience, one after the other, and then
refilled when the fodder had sunk down. ‘This work was mostly done when
nothing else could be done on the farms.

The first barns and silos were weighted with old timber after the fodder
had been trodden down by horses; afterwards very little trouble was taken
in filling up the silos and barns, and merely some old litter, and sometimes
sand, was put on the top of the fodder. I took no record of the weight of the
crops put in, but I pitted all the fodder, and made no hay. I do not consider
that there was any more expense incurred than in making hay—rather less,
because hay could not have been made during the rainy weather, while the
fodder was pitted or stacked.

Emptying the barns and silos is more convenient and less costly than
cutting hay. It is cut down vertically. It should also be observed that it
does not require insurance against fire.

I have come to the conclusion that anybody who has a barn or shed, or can
make a hole in the ground, will be independent of the weather to preserve his
fodder, and maintain on it more live-stock than on hay. With regard to the
best condition to pit the crops, I think that those containing not much suc-
culence, and pitted in dry weather, ought to be watered when pitted in barns
or sheds, especially before a second layer is put in, or when the silos or barns
are filled a second or third time. ‘The fodder preserved by me can be con-
sumed by degrees without deterioration. A trifle of mould on the outside is
of no consequence, and if the fodder be shaken and cut up with straw, it is
readily eaten by horses and cattle. I have no experience that pitted fodder
does not keep sound for a few days. When pitted in barns, there is more
fermentation, and the fodder is sweeter and warmer than when preserved in
underground silos. This fodder is much more suitable as food for stock than
hay, especially when the latter is made in bad weather. I feed over a
thousand animals with it, and find them in better health and condition
than they were in former years, when fed with hay.—January 29th, 1884.

As this is probably the most extensive development of the
system of ensilage that at present exists in the United Kingdom,

at Home and Abroad. 155

a few additional remarks from me may not be considered
superfluous. I received from Mr. Trepplin a number of
samples of silage from his different barns and silos, and found
them possessed of that peculiar aroma of aldehyd, like Caven-
dish or honeydew tobacco, which is frequently observed in
silage, although it may have arrived at the stage of acetic
fermentation. They all went mouldy after a short exposure to
the air, as generally happens when the silage is very moist, as
was the case in these instances. Being somewhat impressed
with the scale on which Mr. Trepplin was using the system,
and with the general success which had attended his efforts,
Dr. Voelcker and I visited him on February 16th. Partly as
landlord and partly as tenant, Mr. Trepplin farms about 3300
acres; and as he now makes no hay, Rumour may not ex-
aggerate in her usual way when she credits him with having
made 3000 tons of silage last year (1883). I was therefore
anxious to learn his views on the question of Silage versus
Hay. They may be thus stated in general terms :—Although
there is more carting in making silage, the extra cost is more
than balanced by the “not making” of the hay. Mr. Trepplin
also asserts that he has found the same quantity of grass of
the same quality at least twice as valuable tor feeding purposes
if made into silage as if made into hay. Inferior and over-
ripe grass or aftermath may prove, in his opinion, actually less
valuable per ton than if it had been made into silage. He ~
remarks also that horses and cattle will always eat silage made
at any time and in any weather, but they will not always eat
bad hay; and, if fed on bad hay, they often contract diseases
of which silage is quite innocent. Some farmers may say that
these are the opinions of an enthusiast, but at any rate they are
based on the results of feeding more than a thousand animals.

12. Mr. N. Eckersley, M.P., Standish Hall, Wigan.—In the summer of
1888, two silos were erected inside the old barn at Standish Hall, each 18 feet
long, 10 feet wide, and 9 feet deep. The inside of the walls and the surface
of the bottoms were plastered with a coating of Portland cement, left smooth,
and the corners were rounded off. ‘lhe bottoms had a slight inclination
from the sides toa channel inthecentre. The channel also inclined slightly
from the back to the front wall, where a small cesspool was formed, 12 inches
by 3 inches, and from this a lead pipe one inch in diameter was inserted, to
convey the liquid which exuded from the silage through the front wall
into a small well, At the commencement this lead pipe was plugged up.
Ten acres, statute measure, of second-crop clover and rye-grass yielded 80 tons
in 80 cartloads of one ton each. Cutting commenced on the 15th of Sep-
tember, and continued at intervals until the 29th of September. The silos
were filled alternately. One ton of old dry clover-hay was spread at the
bottom of each silo, in the expectation that it would absorb all the liquid
which drained from the silage.

156 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

No. 1 silo was filled and pressed down as follows :—

Sept. 15th.—14 loads of clover and rye-grass filled it to the
top, and it. was then left to subside.

» 18th.—10 do. do, do.

», 22nd.— 4 do. do. do.

», 26th.— 6 do. do. do.

» 28th.— 4 do. do. do.

» 29th— 2 do. do. do.
40 loads.

Between the dates No. 2 silo was filled with 40 loads in the same manner,
The clover and rye-grass was carted to the silos immediately after it had been
cut. The cost in wages of cutting, carting, raking, filling, covering, and
- weighting was 4s. 93d. per load. The whole of the clover and rye-grass
was cut and put into the silos when the weather was fine, except one day,
when it was showery.

On September 29th, a-layer of dry straw, about three inches in thickness,
was spread on the top of the clover in each silo. The straw was then covered
with boards, and about 15 tons of stone were placed on the top of each silo.
During the intervals of filling, each silo, when left to subside, was covered
with boards and weighted with about 5 tons of stone. The silage gradu-
ally subsided, and at the expiration of 14 days it had sunk in each pit from
9 feet in depth to an average depth of 6 feet 9 inches. At this time it
was evident that the old hay at the bottom of each silo was not absorbing
all the liquid which drained from the silage, and then the plugs in the lead
pipes were withdrawn and about 40 gallons of liquid extracted from each silo.
‘The liquid has been drawn off daily since then, but the quantity gradually
lessened, and at the date of this memorandum very little drains off. ‘There has
been no further subsidence in either of the silos since the 13th of October.

On the 29th of October No. 1 silo was opened, and the quality found to be
good. Forty-two head of cattle (milch cows, in-calf heifers, feeding stock,
and stirks) are consuming it, and all doing well. It is estimated that each
silo will contain 30 tons of silage fit for use, besides the liquid.

The following analyses were prepared by Mr. Ralph Betley, the public
analyst to the borough of Wigan. ‘The samples of clover-hay and silage
which were analysed were both grown on the same field this year, the hay
being the first crop, cut at the end of June, and the silage the second

crop, cutin September,
Dried at 212° F.

Hay. Silage.

* Albuminoid substances soluble in water oe OT 55

t Ditto ditto insoluble inditto .. 7°83 4°89

Sugar, gum, and extractive matters co ow AOI eo osaes

Fatty matters, chlorophyl, &c ute EG 3°11

Indigestible woody fibre .. .. .. . « 32°84 22°16

Mineral matter soluble #12 20% .0eulgia) eon! has

Ditto insoluble Sais eee ce ree 3°14

100°00 100°00

*Containing nitrogen ann Rl Sees ee, EO 1:21

+ Ditto oe ae OS pera
Report.

“The hay had all the characteristics of good clover and rye-grass Lay ;
the silage was much darker in colour than the hay, and was very odoriferous,
having a faintly acid smell, accompanied by a very persistent smell of essen-

at Home and Abroad. i

tial oils. This smell was entirely absent from the hay, and this difference
will form one reason why the silage is so liked by the cattle. The
analyses show, however, that besides this a change is produced in the silo,
due in great measure, no doubt, to the partial fermentation, which is set up
there, and which beneficially affects the food-value of the product as compared
with hay. This change results in,—

“J. An increase in the amount of soluble albuminoid substances, or flesh-
forming compounds.

“2. A decrease in the amount of indigestible woody fibre, which of course
means an increase in the total amount of digestible matter as compared
with hay.

“The liquid which drained from the silage was glutinous, slightly acid,
and possessed a smell of essential oils, like the silage did, It may be
mixed with food or drink for cattle or calves,

: = (Signed) “RaLPH BETLEY.”

It is evident from the results already ascertained that the produce of an
acre of clover and rye-grass converted into silage will considerably exceed
in value that which the same produce would if converted into hay. The
system deserves the attention of the agriculturists of the United Kingdom.—

November 26th, 1883.

18. Mr. William Wood, Clifton, York.—Kach silo is 11 feet deep, 10 feet
wide, and 15 feet long; they are both entirely below the level of the soil,
and are built of concrete, and have a roof. The two cost 100/., and I hope
they will last a lifetime. They were filled in in July and October with
grass and second crop of clover. I should think that when the crops are
ripe would be the best time to pit them. They were put in whole, with
a little salt, but I shall not do so next time. Each silo is filled at one time.

The material is covered with boards and bricks, and when put in weighed
about 40 tons. I should say it has not lost much. The labour alone cost
34s, an acre. It wasa mile and a quarter to carry. The cost of emptying
the silo is about 2s. a ton; we cut it vertically. By this process I obtain
good fodder, and cheaper than buying turnips. With regard to the influence
of moisture, I say put the crops in during dry weather; and the faster the
fodder is used the better, the air being the great enemy. As to my ex-
perience, I can only say that we give our stock along with it both hay, cake,
and bean-meal ; but I don’t want to teach yet.—LFebruary 6th, 1884.

These silos are very practically and substantially made, and
the roof being 12 feet above the upper margin of the silos, the
intermediate space can be used for storing hay, straw, &c.
This roof contributed to the total cost of the silos as stated by
Mr. Wood. I visited the silo on January 25th, and saw a
complete face of the pitted fodder in one of the silos. Its
quality was very good. The other silo had been emptied.
Like some other suburban dairy-farmers, Mr. Wood is hopeful
that the system of ensilage will relieve him from the necessity
of meee roots for winter use at prices beyond their feeding
value.

134. Mr. George Broderick, Hawes, Yorkshire-—I have two silos, each
14 feet square by 18 feet deep; one 22 feet 6 inches long, 10 feet wide and

158 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

19 feet deep, and one 13 feet square by 15 feet deep. Some of them are
above the level of the ground, and some partly above and partly below. They
are all concreted stone hay-barns, constructed of stone and mortar walls, and
plastered with Portland cement, mixed with sand in the proportions of about
two of sand to one of cement, and finally whitewashed over with cement. The
floors are of concrete, coated in the same way with cement. They have per-
manent slate roofs. I have not tried any without a permanent roof.

The first two cost about 50/. to convert, the second about 20/., the third about
107. I expect them to last as long as any ordinary farm-buildings. They
were filled in the latter part of July and the beginning of August with per-
manent meadow grass, cut just before it became ripe, or when it was in the
best condition for making good hay. It is pitted unchopped, as it seems
to be quite unnecessary to chop the finer grasses. I do not mix any other
material with the grass, and do not think salt would tend to improve the pre-
servation. Straw, I think, unless mixed with a very wet or succulent crop,
would tend to increase the heating, or perhaps cause mould. The silos are
filled generally at intervals, sometimes two or three days in succession; but
without weighting each night, allowing the grass put in each day to press
that previously put in. For instance, I fill the silo perhaps half full one
day, leaving it all night, and the next day fill it about full. It will perhaps
sink a little by next morning, when I would fill it up again and put the
weights on. After it bas stood a week or two it will have sunk about half-
way down, when it can be again filled up. I do not know that there is any other
advantage in this except economising space. I have filled silos to the top in
one day and weighted them, and the preservation seems to be quite as good
as when filled at intervals. When filled at long intervals there are dark
divisional lines between each filling. The fodder is weighted with loose
stones laid on a covering of 1-inch boards in three of my silos; in one I have
used a mechanical arrangement which has answered fairly well. Iam not
able to tell the exact amount of pressure I applied. It was continued until
the silage was pressed as solid as it would go. I prefer the mechanical pres-
sure, on account of the quickness of application and the smaller amount of
labour it requires in comparison with dead-weights. I had no facilities for
weighing the large amount of grass that I pitted Jast year.

The expense of filling the silo varies according to circumstances, from about
6s. to perhaps 15s. or 17. per acre, or 1s. to 2s. 6d. per ton; but I have not
kept an’ aecurate account, as, we were generally making hay at the same
time that we were pitting grass. The cost of emptying is a little more ex-
pensive than feeding hay, though not much, on account of the greater weight ;
and it will vary according to the manner of feeding and the distance it is to
carry. I cut it down vertically like a hay-stack, so far, but am going to try
taking it off the top in the next silo I open.

The advantages of ensilage are a complete independence of the weather in
harvesting the fodder crops; an always certain and reliable food, more nutri-
tious than hay, and capable of feeding about 30 per cent. more stock than the
same grass would if made into hay, and on the whole a saving in labour.
The more succulent or wet the crop, the less will be the heating during
fermentation; there is more exudation of juice, and the resulting silage is
perhaps a little darker in colour than that made from a drier material.
Silage made from a dry crop, I believe, smells rather more like hay.

The use of the contents of a silo may be extended over a whole winter
without deterioration to the silage, provided no surface is left exposed to the
air for long, and the weight be kept on that part not being used. I have not
seen an instance where pitted fodder would not keep a few days; but if such
cases occur, I should think it is owing to mismanagement of some kind.
Perhaps the weights are taken off the whole bulk of the fodder at once, in

at Home and Abroad. 159

which case the top part would spring up and admit the air, when fermentation
would at once set in, and heating take place, followed by moulding. I have
tried feeding cattle on silage alone, and find they thrive quite as well or
better on it than on the best of hay. The milk and butter yield especially
is much superior to that from hay ; and from experiments I have made, I have
come to the conclusion that a given quantity of grass is worth about 30 per
cent. more when made into silage than if made into hay.—March 10th, 1884.

I have only to add to the above account that I visited
Mr. Broderick on January 24th, and found his silage of good
quality and well preserved, but rather sour. The stones used as
the weighting material were calculated to exert a pressure of
13 cwt. per square foot.

B. Smace Partiy CHoprep.

14. Mr. John Bateman, Brightlingsea, Colchester —The total length of the
silo, which is in three compartments, is 47 feet outside measurement, and
45 feet inside, with an inside width of 15 feet, and outside of 17 feet. The
inside depth varies gradually from 12 feet to a maximum of 133 feet, and
the silo is a little more than half sunk, so that it stands about 5 feet 6 inches
above the roadway. The outside walls are 1 foot thick, viz. 11 inches of
concrete with 1 inch of cement laid on so as to give a periectly smooth
interior face. The fioor is 10 inches in thickness, and consists of brickbats
filled in with concrete and faced with cement. The two partitions are each
8 inches thick. The roof of two of the compartments consists of curved
corrugated iron running on a railway; but this form of roof can also, if
desired, be extended to the third compartment. At present, however, I am
trying the effect of roofing and weighting the third silo by building a hay-
stack upon it. The total cost was about 160/., but if the roof had been
made of Willesden paper it would have been 20/7. less. The cost would
also have been lessened by 12/. if, instead of being placed on a perfect fiat,
the site had been a hillside. The silo will practically last two lifetimes.

Silo No.3 was filled on June 18th, 19th, and 21st to a depth of 8 feet with
chopped red clover, then 22 feet of unchopped, and finally 13 feet of green
grass. Silo No.2 was filled on July 25th and 26th with 12 feet of unchopped
green grass. Silo No. 1 was completely filled with 133 feet of chopped
green maize in the beginning of September. The clover and meadow
grass are preferred to be used when they are fit to cut for hay, and the
maize on the withering of the male blossom, and before the female has
shot the silk a week. It depends upon circumstances whether the crops
are pitted in a whole or a chopped state; but I vastly preferto chop every-
thing with a powerful chaff-cutter—the clover and grass to one-third of an
inch, while the maize is better for being even smaller.-Two-~bushels of salt
have been mixed with the grass in No. 2 silo, but I have-never tried straw.
The mode of filling has been already stated, but I may add that I have
never succeeded in filling more than 9 feet in one day; this, when weighted
for the night, settles into about 7 feet. I then fill up the rest (after shifting
the weights), and this in its turn settles and requires a third filling. I have
no doubt, however, that were I to treble the ‘man, boy, and horse-power
used in treading, I might so compress the-stuff as to completely fill one silo
ina day. On silo No. 3, I used 4 men, 6 boys: (volunteers) and a cob to
stamp it tight. I can see no particular object in hurrying on the filling
with so large an addition to the labour bill. Compression is done as follows:
Each silo being a perfect square of 15 feet, F have 15 planks, just a trifle

160 - Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

under 1 foot broad, cut to 14 feet 11 inches, so as to leave a small windage
ior the escape of putrescent gases. On these boards I place my weights.

The theory I go upon is this: that the pitted stuff will develop two.
gases, namely, (1) heavy (carbonic acid)—let this remain in the body of
the fodder; and (2) putrescent gases—let them escape upwards as soon as
they please, “good riddance of bad rubbish.” I consider the so-called
“hermetically sealing of a silo” upwards a “damnable heresy.” Lord
Toilemache, with whom I have had a long talk over the matter, is going to
seal up his silos as well as he can with bran. Now bran will do all the harm
it can, but happily, being bran, will let much of the light putrescent gases.
escape, and their place will be taken by the preservative heavy gas.

The weights on silo No. 3 consist of 1500 bricks laid on the planking;
over these a small haystack is built to try experimentally whether it will
serve the double purpose of weight and roofing (it has answered the purpose
most admirably). On the two other silos I use old American import oyster-
barrels (costing 7d. each), filled with gravel and headed up with concrete.
These weigh 33 cwts. each. I have not used any mechanical contrivance
for weighting, but Mr. Diss (a builder and contractor), of West Bergholt,
Colchester, has suggested to me a most feasible plan of mechanical weighting,
which I intend to try in 1884. As also what seems a still better method,
patented by Messrs. Reynolds of Blackfriars Road (see p. 205), which he
shows at work, sinking rubbish in a small silo with a hydraulic jack.

The crops were not weighed as they were put into the silos; but No. 3
took about 32 two-horse waggon-loads of green clover, grass, &c., to fill it.
The cost of filling and compressing is about as follows :—

8: ae

1 man and1 boy withengine .. . .. « (say) 0 6 O

2 men feeding the chaff-cutter .. .. .. . «»« .. 0 &8 ©

4 men and 6 ‘boys stamping inside .. 016 0

Dob’s time (one-third of a day), 0 used only ‘when 6 feet of ' ee Wes
stuff had been putin .. - 2s

£1 8 6

Add oil, coal, and water for steam-engine.

As none of my silos are in practice filled in one day, but in, say, 18 or 19
working hours, the cost of filling each silo, counting only labour, and irre-
spective of the wages of men cutting the crops, and of teamsters hauling it,
would be about 2/. 5s. I should add that the covering and weighting can
be done by 3 men in about 2 hours. I do not look upon filling and empty-
ing the silo as a question of cost, because the man or men who tend your
stackyard, cut hay, slice turnips, grind cake, &c., will now simply, after
assisting to fill the silo, drop the hay-cutting, and cut into the silo witha
hay-knife or an extra sharp spade. It is much simpler to cut vertically when
you weight your silo with planks, and afterwards bricks, barrels, &c. I have
come to the conclusion that every silo should have a doorway at a low level—
no regular door—but a substantial imitation of one, without handle or hinges,
to let into the doorway loosely. This is kept in place by four “ cupboard-
buttons,” and plastered even with the-wall of the silo with some inches of
wet clay. When you wish to open, you have simply to pick away the clay,
unship your pseudo-door, and work into your mass of silage; soon you are
able to get a clean cut from top to bottom.

Not having pitted green fodder before this season (1883), I can only say at
present, with. regard to results, that the cattle eat it greedily, and that my
silage-fed ewes, some of which suffered severely in October from foot-and-
mouth disease, have since given a remarkable strong crop of lambs, with less
trouble than usual to the shepherd, by reason of the mothers’ full bags-

at Home and Abroad. 161

As to the influence of moisture, I have found that crops pitted very wet
rise to a temperature of about 130° F. when pitted green, but when cut on
dry mornings they will not reach more than 110° F. As far as my experi-
ment has gone, I should say pit the crops wet or wettish. If heavy pressure
is put on, no vertical cut can admit much air into the stuff, which will
readily keep good for days and weeks, perhaps more, without turning
mouldy. My minimum weight is 120 lbs. to the square foot. If, on the
contrary, you weight your silo lightly, say, 40 lbs. to the foot, or less, you
will obtain a product which air can easily enter—and spoil. Cattle and
sheep long for “silage” at the first smell; bullocks, for instance, will horn
one another away from a lump of it, even when plenty of other food, such
as turnips, beet, or cake, is in the yard. Many horses, on the contrary,
regard it with suspicion, and nature evidently does not intend ensilaged grass
for them as a substitute for hay. I shall, however, certainly experiment with
it upon brood mares.— November 1883.

PS.—Since writing the above, the silos have been opened in exactly the
reverse order to the filling. Results :—

Silo 1. (Maize of September 1883.) Excellent fodder, slightly too acid
for choice, but relished by stock.

Silo 2. (Coarse grass, July 1883.) Good useful fodder, none the better for
the added salt.

Silo 3. (Clover, June 1883.) Very strong smelling stuff, but sweet and
alcoholic, much relished by stock, producing an increased yield of milk and
butter from the cows to which it is fed, even in a more remarkable way than
the two former sorts of silage.

Asa further result of the experiment, I may add that I mean to growa
much larger breadth of maize in 1884, and thoroughly to test it as fodder.
In this neighbourhood it is possible to grow a crop of rye in front of it, then
to break up your land, dung it, and drill in your maize the first week in June,
which date is quite early enough.

On September 6th, 1883, I inspected Mr. Bateman’s silos at
“The Lodge Farm,” Brightlingsea. The details given above
leave little more to be added, except that it may be useful to
draw attention to the fact that the green maize, with which I
saw No. 3 silo filled, is a unique example within my English
experience of the growth of that crop on a large scale for
pitting purposes. The crop was good, notwithstanding that a
large proportion of the seed first sown did not germinate, and
that a second sowing therefore became necessary, Naturally,
the plants produced by the latter were stunted, and so the
weight of fodder per acre was very much less than it would
have been if all the first-sown grains had germinated. he
average length of the stalks of the plants which had been
produced by the earlier-sown grains I estimated at 7 feet, and
their average diameter about 1} inch. This is by no means a
bad result for maize sown in England. A Bentall’s chaff-cutter
was fixed on a raised platform at the side of the silo which
was being filled, and it chopped the materials into lengths of
about three-eighths of an inch. The chopped maize fell from the
chaff-cutter direct into one corner of the silo, which naturally

VOL. XX.—S. S. M

162 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

caused a maximum of labour in distributing it evenly over the
whole area. At my suggestion some boards were fastened
together and placed slantwise, so as to receive the chopped
material and conduct it by its own weight more towards the
centre of the silo, and thus ease the labour of distribution.
About seven lads were employed in spreading, treading, and
ramming the cut maize, two men were at the chaff-cutter, two
were kept at work unloading the carts, and one man attended
to the engine. These were in addition to the men employed
cutting the maize in the field. The details as regards the
filling of the other silos are given by Mr. Bateman himself in
the foregoing statement, and it only remains to add that the
silos have been constructed by him for the use of his tenants,
but that this year all the crops pitted, viz. grass, clover, and
maize, belong to one of them.

15. Lord Middleton, Applecross, Ross-shire.—The silo is divided into two
pits by a concrete wall; each pit is 8 feet deep, 72 feet long, and 63 feet broad.
It is below the level of the soil, having been dug under the floor of a hay-barn.
The bottom of the pit is laid-with concrete 3 inches thick, the sides and ends
8 inches thick; the bottom and face of the walls are plastered all over with
fine sand and cement: I have no experience of a silo without a roof. The
cost was 127. 14s. The pit is substantially made, and will last for years.

It was filled on the 20th of September, 1883, with green corn and partially
ripe corn, which had been laid, and with green natural grass. Most of the
material was green and wet, but a small quantity was partly ripe and dry.
The corn was chopped to 1-inch lengths, but the grass was not chopped.
Nothing was used to mix with it.

The silo was first filled up at one operation, and after ten days was refilled,
because I considered that the sooner it was filled the better. The material
was carefully and well tramped, then thick tarpaulin was placed over the
silage, care being taken to fit it close to the sides; over that, boards closely
jointed, and fitting the pits exactly, were used, Pressure was obtained by
sand-bags to the weight of 3 tons for each pit, when finished. The fodder was
not weighed. The total cost of filling and covering was 3/. 5s., subdivided as
follows :—Mowing, 12s.; carting, 12s.; chopping, £1 4s.; pitting, 4s. ;
treading, 9s.; and weighting 4s. The boards cost 16s., but this item is in-
cluded in the original cost of the silo.

I purpose to give the silage to the dairy-cows in April and May as a
substitute for turnips——January 16th, 1884.

Samples of both kinds of silage were received on December 24,
1883, and were both of good quality. The unchopped meadow-
grass, which contained 74:4 per cent, of water, was, however,
rather better than the chopped green corn, which contained
74:8 per cent. of water.

16. Mr. A. W. F. Eade, Brafferton, Darlington.—My silo is 12 feet long,
6 feet in breadth, and 9 feet high, above the level of the ground. It is built
of 18-inch walls, made up of 18 inches Jimestone, 44 inches brick, and $ inch
cement, with a cement floor, and a movable corrugated iron roof. It has a
2-inch wooden door, 4 feet by 2 feet 6 inches, conveniently placed 2 feet 6 inches

at Home and Abroad. 163

from the floor, for emptying. Its first cost was about 15/., and I expect it
will last for years. It was half filled with tares in July, and filled up with
clover and rye in September, the former being chopped to 14-inch lengths,
and the latter put in unchopped. The tares were put in just before podding,
and the clover and rye when ripe. Salt, at the rate of 2 lb. to 1 cwt., was
added ; but I deem it unnecessary.

Mode of procedure in filling would be to fill as much as possible in a day
(fine), and weight immediately afterwards. Rain-water cannot improve
silage. The fodder was compressed with scorie bricks 9” x 5” x 5”, the
weight of each being 18 lbs. ‘They cost 10s. per ton. They fit 9-inch planks
(2 inches thick), which lay on the silage with nothing between. The total
amount of pressure I consider to have been as follows :—

‘Tares 100 Ibs. per square foot.

Clover and rye 1380 lbs. per square foot.

The weights of the crops put into the silo were 6 tons of tares, and 5 tons
of clover and rye. ‘The expense in labour of filling the silo, &c., was 10s. per
ton chopped (tares), 5s. per ton unchopped (clover and rye). A man and
boy can remove the weights in one hour, and it will take the same time to put
them on. The weights rest on the side-walls when not used.

The silo is emptied by means of the side-door before mentioned, and the
material is eut vertically like a stack in 9-inch breadths to suit the boards.
The “silo” is conveniently built in a corner of the building. By ensilage I
find that I obtain a succulent food during the winter. The fares are un-
satisfactory ; they are not rotten, but have a disagreeable smell; beasts will
not eat them. ‘The second cut of clover and rye (put in on top of the tares) is
first-rate, with a pleasant smell ; stock eat it greedily, and do well with a small
proportion of dry food. If tares can be successfully siloed, they would greatly
enhance the value of strong-clay farms, such as we have in this district.
They would take the place of turnips or bare fallow in rotation, and 6 or
8 tons per acre might be grown, and we cannot grow much more than this
in turnips. The land could also be cleaned after the removal of the tares.

With regard to the keeping qualities of the fodder, I should say that the
silo has now been opened ten weeks, and is as good as when first cut into.
The silo is not drained, and no liquid is at the bottom of it, although the
tares are rather moister at the bottom than at the top. Clover and rye does
not show much difference. My experience with tares is disappointing, as I
had great hopes of this material on account of the bulk we can grow per acre,
and also their feeding properties in a green state. I could not wish for
anything sweeter than the clover and rye, and have no doubt at all as to its
wholesomeness as food for stock. My experience is with young stock, from
calves to twelve months old. It is possible the tares were cut too early.
Tares have naturally a strong taste, and a more palatable food might be
obtained by allowing the juices to become more absorbed in the plant.

17. Mr. W. Stobart, Pepper Arden, Northallerton.—I have two silos, one
being 27 feet 6 inches long, by 11 feet 6 inches wide, and 12 feet 6 inches
deep; the other 18 feet long, by 8 feet 3 inches wide, and 10 feet deep. The
bottom of the largest silo is 3 feet below the surface of the ground, and
that of the smaller one is only 1 foot below. ‘The silos are really con-
verted buildings, which are peculiarly well adapted to the purpose, both
from situation and structure. They are covered with a permanent roof,
and although I have had no experience with uncovered silos, I should not
recommend them. ‘The silos were filled from time to time, commencing on
June 30th. At present (August 10th) they are full to within 2 feet of the
top, and I fill as the material subsides. Directly after each filling, the weights
are at once applied. It is not possible to fill either of my a at one

M

164 _Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

operation, and the principle of ensilage being founded on the exclusion of
atmospheric air, I think this end is better gained by periodical fillings, and
immediate application of pressure after each filling. The materials hitherto
used have been wood-edges, grass from rough lawns, coarse as well as good
meadow-grass, clover and rye-grass, green oats, tares, &c. As far as possible
I am keeping each description separate, so as to see how they come out. The
materials are pitted when at their fullest growth, and both chopped and long ;
but I prefer to chop it, because in that state it packs better, sooner, and
closer; and when taken out is at once available for mixture with other
foods. Chopping is done by an ordinary 10-inch chaff-cutter, which cuts
half-inch lengths. If I were getting one for the sole purpose, I believe that
2-inch lengths would be equally good. I mix about #-lb. of salt to the
ewt., not that I think it is necessary for its preservation, but in any event it
is good for the cattle. I should on no account use any dry material during
filling, but when the silos are finally filled up I shall probably put a layer of
dry bran on the top.

The material is compressed by means of iron blocks made for the purpose,
and weighing 1 cwt. each. Three men can lift 24 tons from the bottom on
to the side in 3 hours, and can replace them in little more than an hour. The
pressure amounts to about 13 cwt. per superficial foot. As to the weight of
the crops put into the silos and that of the preserved material taken out, I am
carefully trying to ascertain this in the case of one silo, but there should not
be any appreciable difference. The cost of filling and the expense of covering,
compressing, and emptying the silo is being carefully kept, and will be sup-
plied when completed. The blocks cost at present about 45s. per ton,
delivered at the nearest railway station. The iron, being No. 3 Foundry, is
a little more costly than an inferior quality of iron, say, one shilling per ton;
but their value for sale at any time is nearly equal to their first cost, and
therefore only the interest on the capital invested should be charged annually.

I propose to cut out the material exactly as from a stack.— August 10th, 1883.

PS.—Assuming the amount of material dealt with during a fair day’s
work is 20 tons, as cut from the field, and that the distance to be led does
not exceed a quarter of a mile; further, that this material would be mown off
3 acres of land by a man with a two-horse mowing-machine in 3 hours, the
cost would be as follows :—

£8. -d.
Mowing Aces aida cet Vahl se»,
Carting to silo (8 horses) .. 015 0
Treading 3 men

Forking on to carts, 2 ,,

» from carts, 1 man at 8s; per day)». dii1y
Feeding chopper, 1 ,,
Raking;’3 ‘boys or women." 2 Sta" 2 ss ee
BNI Aceon Bete Goo seh (say) 0 5 O.
Putting on and taking off weights net Sas OME
Potal” Gs i oe) eee

This comes to about 2s. 9d. per ton, or, at 7 tons per acre, to 19s. 3d. per acre.
I should consider this ample, but I may add that a farmer who has always a
certain staff of men and horses to keep would not be put to quite so much ex-
pense. It will be observed that the cost of chopping is not included, because
the power is obtained from a sawmill, and is so small that its loss is not felt.*

* If we allow 5s. per acre for this (irrespective of the cost of the man feeding,
as given above), it would then bring the total up to Mr, Easdale’s estimate of
24s., as mentioned below.

at Home and Abroad. 165

My first visit to Mr. Stobart’s was made on August 21st,
1883. Each silo has a tap at the bottom, and from time to
time juice is drawn off and used for feeding the pigs, who take
it greedily. This squeezing out of the juice of the fodder seems
to indicate that the silage has been too heavily weighted, at
any rate for such material as was pitted in a chopped state.
Great care had evidently been taken in filling the silo, but
necessarily at some expense, namely, not only that incidental
to chopping by steam-power, but that entailed by the method of
spreading and treading adopted—three men employed to catch
the cut grass in baskets, spread it evenly over the floor, and
tread itdown. The examination of a specimen of silage taken
at this visit showed that it contained 76 per cent. of moisture.
Kept in a wide-mouthed stoppered bottle, a portion of it has
remained good ever since. Dr. Voelcker’s analysis of the
drainage material yielded the following results :—

Water 5 Re SE a ae BPA 8!
Organic matter Ram cee, os, ao
Mineral matter 2°53

100°00

The two latter items, which together comprise the dry
residue, contained :—

eipmeminos Sv itinoc:.mis.ton. oh. cred 20¢9k
Acids rh Ore ae Lp Sbeoulr actly coe POL al
Extractive matters .. lee Pee eee) Pa
FO ee LOAM coe Rive) tae incg hse. ‘ans COL 00
Total) a «.S8SRSo SS 42h sl00"00

* Containing nitrogen .. .. « «. 3°34

At my second visit, on January 21st, 1884, the results of the
process adopted were clearly seen. The silage was generally
in a good state of preservation, but some of the layers were
much better than others. The least attractive portions were
those which contained more or less prickly comfrey. On the
whole, I inferred that a smaller weighting would have pro-
duced a result quite as good to the eye, and doubtless better to
the more searching enquiry of a chemical analyst. It must be
stated, however, that the expressed juices mentioned above are
by no means wasted, as the liquid is mixed with the pigs’ food,
and is stated to be much relished by those omnivorous animals.
A great portion of the material in Mr. Stobart’s silos consists of
rough grass from under trees, roadside cuttings, and odds and

166 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

ends of every description from nooks and corners in the park—
in fact, every description of green food that might otherwise
have been wasted had been put into the silo.

Some additional facts ascertained during this visit may be
worth recording. First of all, I should mention that the
covering is done with great care, as follows :—Immediately
upon the chopped fodder a layer of bran about 2 inches thick is
placed, then the boards, along the joints of which thin strips of
zinc are placed. Mr. Easdale (agent to Mr. Stobart) asserts
that these precautions prevent the development of any mould
whatever, and keeps the bran as dry as dust. The cost of the
zinc is stated to be very trifling—not more than 1/. for the
larger silo described above, which contained about 90 tons of
silage. Mr. Easdale put the cost of making hay in fair weather,
supposing the crop to be 14 cwt. per acre, at 20s. per acre ; and
the cost of preserving the grass from the same land by ensilage,
including cutting, carting, chopping, &c., at 24s. per acre,
notwithstanding that he reckoned 1 ton of hay to be the dried
result of 5. tons of grass. The great expense of the process of
ensilage is, no doubt, the carriage of so large a quantity of
moisture, and if the field is at any great distance from the silo
this must be an important consideration. Mr. Easdale also
stated that the beasts received 75 lbs. of silage per head per
diem, and that he regarded this as equal to 95 Ibs. of turnips
and 25 lbs. of hay. In fact, he positively asserted that in his
opinion the silage was worth 2/. per ton, which, at the rate of
5 tons to 1 ton of hay, would require hay to have a feeding-
value of 10/. per ton to be equal to the silage from the same
quantity and quality of grass.

18. Mr. J. Swan, Stonefield, Lincoln.—I have two silos, each 27 feet long and
14 feet deep, and entirely below the level of the soil. They are constructed of
14-inch brick walls grouted with hydraulic lime-mortar and faced with
Portland cement, with which the bottom of the pit was lined to the thickness
of 3 inches. This was considered sufficient, as the pits were excavated out of
solid rock. The silos are covered with 3-inch planks, which form also the
floor of the barn or store-house which has been built over them. ‘The first
cost of the silos without the store-house was 100/. 8s. 3d., and I expect that
they are permanent.

Filling the silo No. 1 was commenced on June 20th with long grass; and
by means of temporary sides above the walls the material was piled up to a
height of 2 feet 6 inches on the 22nd, and was then weighted to the extent of
120 lbs. to the square foot. On July 10th it wus filled up again and the
weights replaced ; and finally, on August 7th, the space created by further
shrinkage was filled up with green oats, tares, and lucerne chaffed to the
length of 13 inches, and weighted as before. The filling of silo No. 2 was
begun on July 5th and finished on the 7th, also with unchaffed grass. It was
then partially weighted with 40 lbs. per square foot; and on the 9th the

at Home and Abroad. 167

weights were taken off, the silo refilled, and the material weighted down with
120 lbs. per square foot. In both cases the material was first covered with
inch boards, about 1 inch shorter in length than the width of the pits, and
bricks were then used to the weights stated. No salt or other material was
mixed with the green stuff, and some details of the procedure, such as not
chopping the greer oats, &c., in shorter lengths, and not chopping the grass
at all, were adopted, owing to the smallness of the occupation and the
irregularity of the growth of the crops not making it worth while to hire a
steam-engine.

The weight of the materials put into the silos was 96 tons, but I cannot
undertake to keep an account of the weight of material taken out, as the
cowman takes out rations for the cows morning and evening, and will do so
for the next eight months. ‘The total expense connected with the filling of
my silos came to 5s. 6d. per ton for everything; but I had to pay highly for
labour, as I live in the suburbs of a town where labour is very dear. The
process of emptying the silo is done by cutting the material down vertically,
as hay from a haystack.

I have no arable land, and by the process of ensilage I hope to save the
purchase of roots, grains, &c., for winter use, and the securing of much better
milk, cream, and butter, and in larger quantities than I have had when using
roots. My experience in the use of pitted fodder for stock extends over a
period of three weeks only, during which my milch cows have been fed with it
night and morning,-on coming in from and before going out to grass. The
cows eat it with avidity, and the milk has slightly increased in quantity and
greatly in quality. I give them a quarter of a linseed-cake and a quarter of a
cotton-cake each per day. In my opinion the ensilage system is of the
greatest possible importance to farmers generally, as it makes the dairy-farmer
without arable land independent of root crops, and the arable farmer may
turn dairyman without grass-land. This appears to me to be of paramount
importance to the latter class, as with a little management and with the help
of a silo a very heavy weight of green food may be grown and stored without
in any way trenching upon the present system of arable farming. By this
means much’more stock can be bred, and a much larger quantity of cheese and
butter be produced, than under the present system, thus enabling the British
farmer to put into his pocket at all events a share of the enormous sum now
paid annually to foreigners for those products. I think this may be done by
sowing rye or any other early green crop suitable upon the wheat stubbles.
By so doing, the exposure without a crop of the bare fallows, so much
deprecated by agricultural chemists, would be avoided. The green crop would
be cut and pitted in the third week in May, leaving ample time for cleaning
the land for the turnip crop. This plan is now adopted by farmers when
growing tares for consumption by cart-horses on their own farms.— October
14th, 1883. .

PS.—My cows, calves, and pigs have been feeding on the silage (without
hay or roots) since September. They are all in first-rate condition, and the
yield of milk and butter has been most satisfactory. Having read in the
papers that butter from silage-fed cows is tainted with the flavour of
' silage, I may say that such is not the case; but if through want of care the
milk during milking time or afterwards should be left under the influence of
the smell, it will, as a matter of course, become impregnated with that as it
would with any other pungent odour. Since I have given strict orders on
this point, there has never been the slightest flavour in milk or butter. I am
perfectly convinced that with underground silos a pump will be necessary,
and the condition of the silage will not be endangered by the use of it.—
February 7th, 1884.

168 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

I visited Mr. Swan on October 29th, 1883, but found very
little to add to the description given above, The silage, like
that from some other silos in which long grass had been pre-
served, had become almost putrid; but as the cows ate it
readily, throve well upon it, and yielded an abundance of good
milk and butter, Mr. Swan was tolerably satisfied with his first
attempt. The importance of the system of ensilage to Mr. Swan
and other suburban farmers who have little or no arable land,
and who sell their milk in the town, can scarcely be exaggerated.
If only it relieves them of the necessity of purchasing turnips,
mangolds, or other succulent food in the winter,—at a price far
above its feeding-value, as is generally their fate,—they can
‘afford a considerable outlay in buildings, and a large expendi-
ture in cartage and labour, for the purpose of converting a
portion of their grass, more especially the aftermath, into a
succulent food for winter use. ‘Two samples of silage ‘received
from Mr. Swan on November 2nd may be reported upon as
follows :—the sample from the top contained 77:8 per cent. of
moisture and has become somewhat mouldy; that from the
bottom of the silo contained 82°6 per cent. of moisture, and,
similarly preserved (in a wide-mouth stoppered bottle) is still
in a good condition. An analysis of the drainage liquid by
Dr. Voelcker yielded the following results :—

The liquid itself contained :—

Water, xs. sui-geer fey) pane cb) abel yee pee ieee
WD SVCSICUGs aoc oye pach yates) Ase 5°37
100-09

The dry residue had the deeihies composition :—
Albuminoids* .. 1°50 or per cent. 27° BS

ACdsewss tlt. *88 7 16°3

Extractive matters 1°29 55 24° A

Asholirie tris 9hes., earl 400: s 31°66
5°37 100°00

* Containing nitrogen *24, or percent. 4°47

This material is therefore much richer in albuminous matters
and acids than the liquid from Mr. Stobart’s silo (p. 165),

but it is poorer in extractive and mineral matters.

C. Siracre Enrirety CHorrep.

19. Mr. J. Ashforth, Longley Hall, Sheffield—My silo is 14 feet long, 8 feet
wide, and 9 feet deep, below the level of the soil, and on the north side ofa hill.
‘It is constructed out of an old stone-built shed, the walls being cemented to
a thickness of 1 inch, and the floor stone-flagged. I have made no experiments
with uncovered silos. The cost of conversion was 9/., and the silo will last

at Home and Abroad. 169

twenty or thirty years. Filling was done on August 6th, 13th and 20th, cut
when about ripe (on the last occasion over-ripe), and chopped to {-inch
lengths, about 4 lbs. of salt to the ton being added. After each filling 1 put
on the boards and the whole of the weights, namely, 10 tons, I use steel
ingots, weighing 50 lbs. each, as they are easy to remove. The object of this
immediate weighting was to press the air out as soon as possible. The silo
contains about 40 tons of material, and the cost of the labour for filling (three
times) was 5/. 2s.; then the boards cost 10s., and, as I could spare the steel
ingots from my works, I only charge the carriage, say, 10s. Cutting is done
vertically, the same as in the case of a haystack. I use the pitted fodder in the
place of brewers’ grains for milch cows, and prefer it to grains for forcing
milk, and the milk is better in quality. As to its keeping qualities, I find
that it can be consumed by degrees without deterioration. I should say that
if it has a pressure of about 200 lbs. to the square foot there will be no doubt
about its keeping. Mixed with other food I find it an excellent milk-
producer. The following are the details of the cost of dealing with the 40 tons
of fodder used :—

- Gives & itt;
August 6, 9s.; 13, 9s.; 20, 9s.; mowing 1 lf
» 6, 48.3 18, 4s.; 20, 4s.; carting 012 0

» 6, 9s.; 18, 9s.5; 20, 9s.; chopping Ls Gin0

» 6, 8s.; 13, 3s.; 20, 3s.; pitting O'179r+9

37) - 6, 9s. 5.18, 95.3 20, 9s.; treading Lattin

» 6, 18, 20, boarding ip xs 010 0

» 6, 18, 20, weighting 010 0
Total & 2:60

Making an average of a little over 5s. per ton—December Tth, 1883.

I yisited Mr. Ashforth on January 26th, 1884; and an
inspection of his silo, which contained an excellent specimen
of pitted vetches, would lead any one who had compared notes
to search for the causes of manifest differences in the measure
of success attending the efforts of a number of people with this
crop. Vetches appear to be a most difficult crop to preserve by
ensilage, probably in consequence partly of the difficulty of
expressing the air from between the stalks and pods, and partly
of the fact that they are rarely cut until too ripe for a proper
fermentation to be set up. Mr. Ashforth, however, had
weighted the chopped vetches to the extent of about 200 lbs. to
the square foot, in addition to putting with them a certain
amount of salt. At any rate, the result was very satisfactory,
and seemed to me instructive. On examination in the laboratory,
a specimen of this silage was found to contain 78:4 per cent. of
water, and a portion of it put into a wide-mouth stoppered
bottle kept well from the date of its receipt, December 11th,
1883, until this Report was completed—on March 13th.

20. Mr. J. Beacock, The Holmes, Winterton Brigg, Lincolnshire —The silo
is 18 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 12 feet deep, and is constructed above the
level of the soil, being part of a well-built barn; the walls are of limestone
laid in good lime mortar, and are quite 20 inches thick; they were rather

170 ‘Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

roughly finished, so I plastered them over with Portland cement and good
lime-mortar. I have not had any other experience. The cost was trifling,
as the barn was formed ready; the building is a very durable one. The
silo was filled on the 16th of July quite full with Italian rye-grass, having
a little trefoil in it, cut in the same condition as for haymaking, viz. when
done flowering. It was pitted ina chopped state, from }3-inch to 3-inch lengths.
I do not mix anything with the grass or seeds.

The silo was filled at one operation as follows:—In the first place,
I had a hired chaff-cutter, and wanted to make the most of it. I also
wished to mix the silage with cut straw and wheat-chaff, another reason
why I wished to fill it at one operation. I have an idea that it will not
be so good where the division takes place, that is, between the operations,
because the vapour from fermentation will be sure to condense on the top and
spoil some of the grass, The material is compressed first by treading with
boys and men; two men with dung-spuds to level it about, and two boys
running about actively. When fresh knives are put on the chaff-cutter and
oiling is going on, the four men that carry the chaff into the silo go in to
tread for five minutes. I cannot give you any idea about the weight that was
put into the silo, and shall not be able to tell you what weight comes out.
We paid 1s. 8d. per day for engine and cutter, had four men to carry the cut
stuff into the silo at 2s. 6d. per day, one man at 2s. to help to tread down,
two boys at 1s. each per day, and one man at 2s. 6d. to tread down. There
was a boarded floor to the place or silo, which we hoisted up to the top of the
barn by means of pulley-blocks, and left it suspended until the silo was full,
then let it down on the grass, and covered it with five loads of burnt soil or
brick ashes. The cost per acre may be thus stated :—

Mowing, 2s.; carting, 3s.; chopping, 5s. 5d.; pitting, treading, boarding,
and weighting, together 3s. 9d.; making a total of 14s. 2d. per acre.

My plan of emptying is to have a sort of double doorway filled in with
sawdust and movable boards, and, as the silage is cut, I anticipate we
shall work into it from below, like tunnelling. We opened the silo on the
29th of November from below, as described above—that is, when the boards
were removed, we tunnelled through the silo, and used it up as it dragged
out with a dung drag. ‘The results were:—in the first place to prevent the
fodder being spoiled by bad weather in trying to make it into hay, and in the
next place to have a better and more succulent food for the stock, and thus
do away with the almost absolute necessity of using roots, which is expensive,
and in wet winters such miserable work on a clay farm, and I think a losing
game as well. My experiment was made with rather dry grass, that is to say,
the morning was dry, no dew at all when we commenced cutting the grass,
and the day continued dry, but without sun, so there was no external
moisture on the grass. As to the keeping qualities of the fodder, I think that,
if my plan is followed out, to keep the weight on the top, and work from one
end, taking what is wanted from the breastwork every day, no deterioration
will take place. We were about a month at ours, and we could not tell any
difference in it. The horse-feeders would have it for their horses without my
consent, and a very careful stockfeeder I have had for years gave it to all the
young calves. If the pitted fodder gets air into it, it will begin to must soon,
and when once that begins, I believe the must will gradually sprrad. The
whole secret is, I think, in cutting the grass by a hired chafl-cutter, if a
farmer has not got one sufficiently powerful of his own, and then treading it
down well, and thus getting it as solid as possible; then putting plenty of
pressure on it as soon as possible, only removing it as you work from the end.
As soon as I opened my silo, I fed two Alderneys on the silage entirely, also
some young calves; the other stock was fed with one-third silage, one-
third hay, and one-third oat-straw. We had been feeding pulped swedes and

at Home and Abroad. VTE

about one-third hay and two-thirds oat-straw cut up into about 2-inch
lengths. We could not tell but what the stock did quite as well on the
silage as the other food. All have been equally healthy; no purging, nor
any symptom of it—January Tth, 1884.

21. Mr. I. N. Edwards, of Westminster Lodge, St Albans * :—Three years
ago I laid down 30 acres of arable land with grass seeds. The crop this year
was very poor, not more than one load to the acre, and almost entirely bents,
there being very little undergrass.

In the year 1882 I erected two pits for storing grains, and filled them last
year with 100 tons of grains, which came out first-rate; this year, wishing to
“be in the fashion, I re-named the said grain pits, and they are now called silos.

The two silos are made of bricks, cemented inside and roofed with galvanised
iron, and they cost a few shillings under 507. I enclose a section, which will

Fig. 1.—Section of Mr. Edwards’s Silos, showing their sloping sides.

So Roof covered with
. ok Corrugated Tron.
.

~. Ground

give the size, &c. They drain into a small cesspit outside. One silo would
therefore cost 25/., and this amount, to be repaid within twenty-five years
by equal annual payments of principal and interest at 5 per cent., would incur
an annual payment of 1/7. 15s. 3d.

I decided this year to fill one of the silos with the above-mentioned
grass, and accordingly 1 commenced cutting on the 14th of June, with two
mowing-machines, and on the 15th of June the grass was carted and cut
into chaff by a steam-engine. The work was commenced at 9.30 a.m, but,
in consequence of a severe storm, the machine was stopped at 11.30 a.1i., the silo
being not quite half full; the 16th was wet all day, and therefore the machine
was not started; the 17th was Sunday; and on the Monday, the 18th, the
machine commenced at 9.30 a.m., and the silo was completely filled by 2 p.m.
Twenty-three men were engaged both on the 15th and 18th, as follows :—

4 men treading silo.

» filling sacks and carrying to pit (about 10 yards).
»» unloading the cart.

feeding chaff-machine.

» engine-driver.

3 Waterman.

» loading carts and dragging.

Total 23 men.

SHH DHA

* This account of Mr. Edwards’s practice is reprinted from the ‘Live Stock
Journal’ of July 30th, 1883.

172 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

The men were engaged for three hours on the 15th, and 44 hours on the
18th, at 3d. per hour. Three horses and carts were employed. It took
62 acres of the grass to fill the silo, and the grass weighed 15 tons 5 cwt.,
2 Ibs. of salt being added to each ewt. of grass.

The following was the cost of filling the silo :— & 2s.

June 14th, 1883, mowing 62 acres of grass with machine,
including beer for men, but exclusive of horses, 1s. 8d.} 0 10 10
per acre od :

Raking three rows into one, putting ‘into small cocks for
carting, and breaking salt, including beer for men,) 015 8%
2s. 5d. per acre... | 3s

June 15th, 28 men, three “hours each, at 3d. per ‘hour,
carting, cutting chaff, and Sepals including beer Ci Ty Ons2
exclusive of horses) .. Fe es

June 18th, 23 men, 43 hours, at ‘3d. per hour, ‘ditto os) ears

Paid for steam-engine and chaff-cutter, 2 hours, at 3s. 126

perhour” see ae ee eel Oreo eee
Five ewt. of coal . 6 ae mes RS Se
Five and a half owt. of salt 2 ee DR OS See
£510 3

Average per acre, 17s.

The top of the grass in the silo is covered with thick wooden doors, on the top
of which is placed 1 ton 3 ewt. of old iron gas-pipes, and twenty American flour-
tubs filled with the same description of chaff as in the silo, each tub weighing
85 lbs. The doors weigh about 2 cwt., thus making a total weight of 2 tons.

My object in using the flour-tubs was to ascertain if the grass would keep
good in them; because, if so, the weights to be placed on the silo will
not only be easily obtained, but at the same time will be serviceable and
cheap. Following is an account of the cost of the covering and weights on

the top of the grass in silo, viz. :— ee
Doors .. EP omrmraT ORE.

‘Twenty tubs, ‘at 1s. Ag, a, Sn ae) Ree | ee

1 ton 3 ewt. of iron ca tent eek age a

£4 7 8

The above, to be repaid within five years by equal annual payments of
principal and interest at 5 per cent., would incur an annual payment of 1/.

I placed a thermometer on the top of the boards under the iron roof and
examined it daily, and at the same time ascertained the sinking of aa grass.

‘THERMOMETER. SUONEING.
Junel9 .. 64 .. None.

» 20 .. 60 .. A little in centre.

» ol, . 62 .. Sd inches in centre

Re VR t RY Oana Sa 10.16 do.

~* ZO. ta .o deinch im centres
24 .. 74 .. 1 inch in centre and 1 inch outsides.

5» 2) . ‘t& -.. “Linch in centre

As CS se Os do.

ne 2) 66 < 2S 2 oNoms:

ee) ce OO % SINONE:

» 29 .. 70 .. inch in centre and 1 inch outsides.
3 69 None.

Tot: al, 11 inches in centr e, and 2 inches on the outsides.
The remainder of the grass was made into hay, namely, 234 acres.

at Home and Alroad. 173

Ei sy <d
June 14th, 15th, and 16th, 1883, mowing 23% acres with
machine, including beer for men (but exclusive of) 119 2
horses) ; all men were paid 3d. per hour while at work j
19th, Eleven men haymaking, including beer oa Oke SE
20th, Nine men do. do. Or-t*'9
22nd, Sixteen men haymaking and carting, including “ 017 9
beer (but exclusive of horses) ae ee ee
» Fifty faggots for bottom of rick 07 G
» ix truss of straw for rick bottom .. : O. 45040
23rd, Twenty men =H INeeraagais and carting, including at 218 8
beer oe ra hide ts uli ON) ANG, bs) aw Ge
25th, Nineteen men do. do. 1 9 T
26th, Four do. haymaking 05 4
27th, One man = do; 0 -3.-0
28th, One do. do. 3 # O 1 42
29th, Nine do. do. and carting ; eae |
30th, Men pulling rick and making good for roug ch 076
thatching.. . : rt
30th, Paid for rough thatching and beer . 0.75 *0
» 12 loads straw #3 - 214 6
» hatching for good .. £2 0-0
>». Wear and tear “of rick cloths and elevator i 0-0
» Insurance of hayrick.. 0-5 0
£16 2113
Estimated cost of cutting 233 loads of hay into chaff by 912 6
steam, including men, ‘beer and coal . pe z
Misvenewltaradle’ (or edt 2) ig fopboethed pode).
£26 7 53
Cost per Acre—Silo versus Haymaking.
Sino. HAYMAKING.
d, fs. vd.

Cost of filling silo as per | Haymaking as per ac-

account per acre . . 017 0] count peracre .. .. O13 9
Moiety of cost of building g | Estimated cost of cutting

2 silos, including interest the said hay into chaff,

at 5 per cent., ‘principal and storing as per ac-

and interest to be repaid a | count peracre .. .. O 8 8}

in 25 years (peracre).. O 5
Cost of covering and ii

weights on the top of

grass, including interest

at 5 per cent., principal

and interest to be repaid

in 5 years (peracre) .. O 3 1 |

Total peracre .. .. £1 5 6 Total perace .. .. £1 2 5}
I have not included any charge in the above for horses, as they are kept

on the farm all the year round, but if charged, the amount v.oald have been
as follows -—

174 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

Silo Haymaking
per Acre. per Acre.

Sd. Ss abe

Horses charged at 6d. per hour while at work mowing, 1 -é 18
FOCIVACTE “ie. 2%... nea fase cee

Carting, dragging, and using elevator for hay, per acre 1 4 2 10

3.0. = 6

The Weather during the Period.

June 14, 1883. Fine all day.
» 15 ,, Dull; began to rain at 10.30 a.m. A storm at 11.30 a.m.
16 4, Showers all day.
» 17. ,, Slight showers at intervals.
» 18 ,, Dull, but no rain.
ie meee es
» 20 ,, Fine up till 11 a.m.; then showers all day.
21 4, Showers all day.
22 Fine up to 3 p.M., and then rain for rest of day.
Fine all day.
» 2+ , Rain at 8 a.m. and 11 p.m.
-25 Dull morning. Rain from 3 p.m. to 6 Pm.
» 26 ,, Showers all day.
Dull morning. Showers from 1 p.m.
» 28 ,, Showers all the morning.
» 29 ,, Fine all day, but a severe thunderstorm at night.

From the above it will be seen that I was blessed with the usual wet
weather, namely, out of sixteen days eleven were wet.

Although the cost per acre is a little more for the silo than for haymaking,
the silo, being independent of the weather, will more than counterbalance
the difference, provided the grass in the silo turns out well.

Mr. Edwards has kindly sent me the following account of
the opening of his silo on the 4th of December, 1883, when I
was present :—

IT opened my silo yesterday, in the presence of Sir J. B. Lawes, Dr. Gilbert,
Dr. Voelcker, Messrs. Walter Gilbey, John Thornton, H. M. Jenkins, and
others. On removing the corrugated iron roofing, we found that the wet had
been entirely kept out, and on taking away the boarding, we discovered that
the surface of the silage for a depth of 6 inches was rotten, that the next
12 inches were mouldy, and that the silage from that depth was good, and
gave off a pleasant aroma. The grass having consisted entirely of bents, it
was not so‘moist as is usual for silage, and I think the bents when cut
must have been a little too ripe to ensure perfect silage.

However, I look upon the experiment as a success, and I hope from the
lesson I have learnt to benefit by it next season. <A portion of the rotten and
mouldy silage, and a portion of the good, were given to the cows, and they
ate it with a relish which astonished all present.

The foregoing account of the condition of the silage is quite
in accordance with my own notes. The cause of so much mould
and waste is not far to seek. A glance at the section of the
silos (Fig. 1, p. 171) will show that they have sloping sides, and
therefore the weighted doors could not follow the pitted fodder
as sinking progressed. This was evident as soon as the arrange-

at Home and Abroad. 175

ment was seen, owing to the curious inequalities of surface
which the doors presented. A sample sent to the Laboratory on
December 5th was found to contain only 51:1 per cent. of water.
It need scarcely be added that although it was very ‘dry, it
rapidly went mouldy.

22. Lord Egerton, of Tatton, Tatton Park, Knutsford,’ Cheshire (per
Mr. J. T. Smith, Estate-agent)—The silo is an old ice-house in the Park,
and was considered a good place for an experiment. The walls on the
inside were plastered with cement; the present entrance blocked up, and a
new entrance made in the centre of the dome, all as shown by the Section
accompanying this.

Fig. 2.—Section of Lord Egerton’s Silo at Tatton Park, showing its
condition at the end of the third day’s work.

Y x 2 ener WS
Yj.
EN SN SN

IZEBREEEI
| tbh nena teed

Y

j
MM MdND’W))

Ow

SOS

AS

Mex,
eho el tal eshte tat yel tay

a

Wy

C14

AS

a

Liv
SSS SS
A, A, A. Boxes filled with bricks.

xz. Archway from the side of the bank, by which the silo is emptied.

c. New brickwork. ;

D. Height at which silo was finally weighted and settled; condition of grass, juicy and damp
with dew.

£. Section of grass quite dry and top grass dead.

¥. Height to which grass put in on first and second fillings had sunk to when opened on July 27.

G. Man-hole used for filling.

The following are the dimensions of the ice-house :—

Diameter, 11 feet 6 inches; height to square, 12 feet 6 inches; area, 104
square feet.

A portion of the Park fenced in and near the ice-house, and which often
had been mown without a fair proportion of keep, was chosen as suitable.
‘Though amongst it there was a proportion of fine grass, the greater quantity
was rough and coarse. The process of filling the silo may be thus described :—

July 3.—This day portable engine, chafi-cutter, and all other necessaries
were on the ground.

July 4.—At 8.15 our mowing-machine started, and at 9 our first load of
grass left for the silo, the chaff-cutter being got to work at 9.15. The first
hamper when cut weighed 43 lbs., the same hamper filled with whole grass
weighed 38 lbs.; this quantity took 40 seconds to chop; if grass is cut wet

176 "Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

the weight of the hamper would be 65 lbs. This day 370 hampers were filled
in, and our average weight was 53 lbs., thus giving a total of 8 tons, 16 ewt.
1 qr. 10 lbs. put in the silo; in addition to this, salt was added at 1 1b. to
the cwt. = 1763 lbs. = 1 cwt. 2 qrs. 83 lbs. Every tenth hamper of cut
grass was weighed. The grass was cut in lengths of from 4 tol inch. The
labour employed was one man and two horses mowing; one man sharpening
and assisting to fill the carts; two men with carts, and two horses carting the
grass from the field to the silo. Two men and two women in the field raking
and cleaning the ground and loading the carts. At the silo one man was
driving the engine, one feeding the chaff-cutter, and one man supplying him.
Three men were treading the cut grass in the silo, one man was spreading
grass and salting it ; two men and one boy were fixing hampers and removing
them from the chaff-cutter, weighing the same and also salt, and lowering all
into the silo. Stopped work at 7 p.m. with 8 feet of grass in the silo, weigh-
ing 8 tons 16 cwt. 1 qr. 10 lbs. Stopped three hours during the day for
meals, and the work all day only proceeded slowly, as all information had to
be accurately taken, and much time was therefore lost. From 7 to 8 P.M.
our weights were put on, after covering the surface with 1} inch boards; our
weights were thirty boxes, made of 14 inch wood with handles of rope, each
box being 1 foot 10 inches long, and 1 foot 5 inches wide by 1 foot 5 inches
high, and contained thirty bricks: each box and bricks being in weight about
23 ewt., the total weight, with boards, was about 4 tons. ‘Two and a halt
acres of grass were mown this day.

July 5.—The weights were lifted out of the silo in half an hour. Mowing
commenced at 8 A.M., and the first load of grass was at the silo at 8.20. This
morning we found that the silage had sunk during the night, and with the
weights, to the extent of 1 foot; therefore the refilling began at 7 feet. The
same mode of operation was followed this day, 169 hampers being put in the
silo, averaging 58 lbs., and giving a total of 4 tons 7 cwts. O qrs. 18 lbs.,
which added to July 4th total, gives total weight of grass in the silo
13 tons 8 cwt. 2 qrs. Salt was used this day at the rate of 1 1b. to the
ewt. of grass, thus 87 lbs. added to the 176, put in on the 4th, gives a total
of 268 lbs., or 2 cwt. 1 qr. 11 lbs. The mowing-machine stopped this day at
noon, and the chaff-cutter at 2 p.m. One and a half acres were mown this
day. The same number of hands were employed at the silo, but three extra
men were in the field loading grass. Boards were put on as before, and after-
wards 6 inches bran, costing £3 10s., and then the boxes of weights. The
crops realised about 3 tons 1 cwt. per acre, and if made into hay they would
have produced about 15 cwt. per acre.

tons. cwts. qrs. lbs.
Total weight in silo, grass oy ae, ghee, OOO)
Salty sang sieneses toca 2. ol, UE

——

13.5 Silk

July 6.—At noon the grass level was 10 feet, showing a sinkage of 2 feet
6 inches.

July 7.—At 8.30 A.M. the grass-level was 9 feet 6 inches, showing a
sinkage of 3 feet.

July 14.—At 8.30 a.m. the grass-level was 8 feet 6 inches, showing a
sinkage of 4 feet. :

July 27.—Boxes of weights and bran were cleared out of the silo; mowing
again commenced at 9.30. Silage was found to be brown and quite sweet,
though it was slightly warm. Same mode of operation as before was followed.
The grass mown was about 1} acres, and the weight put in the silo 3 tons
5 ewt. 2 qrs. 6 lbs., and 4 lb. of salt to each cwt. = 33 1bs. 151 hampers
averaging 48 lbs.

1883

at Home and Abroad.

tons cwt. q
Total weight at completion, grass .. . .. 16
sali 2 sen ese <- 2
Total weight insilo .. 16 11
Total acreage mown, July 4 ee ee

= a we July eer hee 13
ss a" ~ July 27 oy) ec, Weems ee,
Total .. 5%

Cost of Filling Silo, ae Park.

July 4—One man driving, and for hire of ae

”

One man feeding chaff-cutter ..

One man supplying him :

Three men in silo treading and tramming

One man in silo spreading and salting .. ..

Two men and one boy placing and removing hampers,
weighing grass and salt, and filling silo te etic

One man and two horses mowing, and machine

Two men and two horses leading grass from field ..

Two men getting grass together in field :

-Two women raking, &c., in field ..

July 5. —One man and engine

2?

One man half day feeding ‘chaff-cutter ..

One man half day supplying him ..

Three men in silo three-quarters of a day

One man in silo spreading and salting ..

Two men and one boy as above :

One man and two horses mowing, and machine half day

Two horses and two men carting paeerel earre ee

Two men loading grass in field

Two women , ,, 3 -

Three men _,, and yaking mc

29 lbs. cheese, at 8d. = = Os. 7d., and "56 Ibs. ‘bread,
at 14d. = 7s. :

36 ele beer, at 8d.

July 27—Engine and driver

Four men in silo

Seven men in field ..

143 lbs. cheese = 10s. 33d. ; 28 lbs. bread, 3s. 6d.
Beer, 12 gallons =

Mowing machine, half day

£13 10

Lite

rs. Ibs.
0 6
2 16

he

HR =
BHR CAMO OHH oP ATR OLO PbO OD CO

Nin

a

e
“10H WH Pb =I

win

OCoorocoOorrF coscococoocooocooocooooo SCSOCOCOO®

MOoOwoooo

=|

August 20.—This date level of silage stood at 9 feet 6 inches, having
sunk 3 feet 3 inches since last filling.

SS
The boxes and bricks would be worth .. .. 615
The covering of boards : eee iol

Total ss). 2 15

d.
0
0

0

The fodder is taken from the silo in layers, after having been cut with an

ordinary hay-knife.

VOL. XX.—S. S.

This expense is but small, as it is done in the ordinary

N

178 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

course of work. We have found that the grass can be preserved, but we are
only now testing its feeding and other properties.—ebruary 20th, 1884.

I have given the above details in full, because they are the
first step in a careful experiment, showing exactly what was put
into the silo; as will be seen in Mr. Smith’s letter of March 12th,
it corresponded exactly with the weight of silage taken out.
Mr. Alfred Smethum (an old assistant of Dr. Voelcker) has
been engaged in making analyses of the grass put in and of the
silage taken out, and his report, given on p. 380, will aid greatly
in throwing light on the chemistry of ensilage.

Writing on March 8th, Mr. Smith stated :-—

“Our silage was perfectly good to within some nine inches of the bottom ;
on arriving at this level we found it was heavily saturated with liquid, and
when a small truss of this was lifted outside it was marvellous 1o see the
rapidity with which the liquid ran away. It was of a very dark brown
colour, and smelt like the odour you have from vinegar. Of course the
silage you saw was very moist, but this at the bottom would not take in any
more moisture than it had; and I cannot help but think that the proper
course is certainly to have some drain away from the silo, with a syphon
attached from a small cesspool, which, of course, should be arranged so that
no air could pass, and then I feel positive that the silage would be perfectly
good on our system from the top to the bottom of the silo. I think you saw
that our sides were good, and though this silage at the bottom, which is so
saturated, is sound, yet 1 must say it is much too strong to give to animals.”

In reply, I discouraged Mr. Smith’s idea of any drain or
siphon. My idea of what a silo should be, put in homely
language, is simply—an agricultural jampot ; without drainage,
and perfectly impermeable to air and water at the bottom and
sides, and with only sufficient vent above to allow of the escape
of gases, while being practically protected from any accession
of air_or water from without. Wetness of silage is sometimes
greatest at the bottom, sometimes at the top, and sometimes at
varying points or strata in between. It is sometimes due to
the nature of the crop (such as prickly comfrey), sometimes to
its too saturated condition when pitted, sometimes to the effect
of moisture being enhanced by an addition of salt, and some-
times to infiltration of water into the silo from outside. In-
vestigation in each case can alone determine the cause, and
point to the proper remedy, which I do not believe ought to be
the drainage of the silo in any case.

Mr. Smith thereupon further wrote to me on March 12th as
follows :-—

“J quite agree with you that the excessive moisture at the bottom of our
silo is undoubtedly caused by the admixture of salt with the grass when it
was pitted; and besides this, with the heavy weight on the silage, of course
a large proportion of the moisture would settle at the bottom of the silo.
With our 16 tons of silage we put away not more than 2) cwt. of salt, so

at Home and Abroad. 179

you will see it is but a small proportion. Yet this would give to the silage
at the bottom of the silo a very strong flavour, and leave the silage in a
much stronger state than I dare venture to give it to the cattle. You will be
pleased to hear that our actual weight out of the silo corresponds exactly with
the weight we put into the same. The cubic foot at the bottom weighed
heavier than I expected, but this is simply accounted for by the existence of
the moisture, so you will see that as there is no drain to the silo there is not
the slightest loss. I have no doubt if a drain had been laid we might have
lost 5 or 6 ewt., or, perhaps I ought to say, more; because, not only would
the salt, being soluble, have gone, but no doubt with the excessive weight
some moisture out of the grass would have found its way through the
syphon, which we should try to keep.”

23. Earl Fortescue, Castle Hill, South Molton, Devon.—My silo is 19 feet
long, 6 feet 9 inches wide, and 5 feet 3 inches deep, and its cubic capacity
is 678 feet. It is above the level of the soil, and has four stone walls—three
existing walls utilised, and only the fourth built—the sides and bottom
being cemented. It has no drain, and it is roofed with movable sheets of
corrugated iron. It actually cost 117. 10s., including everything—all the
materials, labour, &c., of which labour came to about two-fifths. On the
25th of July it was filled with the grass of about 1 acre of an unwatered
meadow left for hay, when still green and not too ripe to make good hay;
ten days later, after the silage had subsided about a foot, it was filled up
with coarse grass from an orchard. ‘The grass, a heavy crop, was still wet at
the bottom from recent rain, though the day was dry when it was mown,
when it was cut by a chaff-cutter into about 3-inch lengths, and put into the
silo immediately afterwards. When the silo was full, ploughed and tongued
boards were placed upon the mass, and sawdust and large stones on the top
of them, so as to give a pressure of about 50 lbs. to the square foot; the
boards, sawdust, weights, and roof were replaced upon it, and it was left until
opened—December 20th.

The grass from the meadow and the orchard was considered to be the
produce of about 1} acre, which it was estimated would have yielded about
2 tons of rather coarse hay. When the silo was opened the silage had
shrunk about a foot, and occupied about 513 cubic feet, and its weight was
about 36 lbs. to the cubic foot; it was found about as moist as when it was
putin. The entire cost for labour in cutting, filling. &c., was 37s., of which |
the cutting to chaff cost 8s. It is not yet quite emptied. It is cut down
vertically, like hay from a stack.

All the cows eventually took to it, and so did the horses greedily after a
day or two, and seemed to do well on it.

As to the keeping qualities, we found that if left about long after being
cut, it became mildewed: it therefore required to be eaten within 2 or 3
days; but the face of the silage left in the silo after each cutting does not
seem to change for 8 or 10 days. The cows, which received daily 332 lbs. of
silage instead of 12 lbs. of hay, but had 2 lbs. of oilcake, 2 lbs. of undecor-
ticated cotton-cake, and 2 lbs. decorticated and 2 lbs. of pollard and 52 lbs. of
straw-chaff besides, kept their condition, and gave a slight increase of milk
and butter of hardly appreciably deteriorated quality from what they had
given before that substitution: but the cows with 50 lbs. of silage sub-
stituted for the hay and straw-chaff (the cake and pollard remaining the
same), went back in condition, and gave slightly less milk and butter than
before, and that of decidedly inferior quality.—January 30th, 1884.

Earl Fortescue’s experience, it will be observed, differs from
that of several experimenters, but agrees with that of Mr. Gibson

! N 2

180 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

(see below) and others; but it should be remembered that the
silo was not opened until nearly Christmas time, when the
yield of milk under ordinary circumstances in England rapidly
diminishes in quantity and deteriorates in quality. The sample
of silage sent to me by Earl Fortescue was in a cardboard box,
and was shown to a number of “amateurs” of the system from
time to time for several weeks, during which it retained its
remarkably sweet fragrance, and showed scarcely a sign of
mould.

24. Mr. Edmund B. Gibson, Saffron Walden, Essex.—The principal silo is
60 feet in length, 12 feet in width, and 17 feet deep—10 feet of the depth being
below the level of the soil. It is divided into five compartments which open
into each other, I have two others formed by bricking up the bays of barns.
The principal silo is built of cement concrete, the walls and partitions are all
9 inches in thickness, covered by a galvanised-iron roof formed with frames
on hinges which are raised by means of pulley-blocks. In my opinion, silos
made without a wet-resisting roof must fail. ‘lhe cost of the silo first
mentioned, including 5 tons of cement weights, was 230/., exclusive of the
14-inch battens for covering the pitted material. It will last an indefinite
period. The silos were filled at intervals as the green crops became ready.
The chief silo being in compartments, this could easily be done without dis-
turbing the fodder when once covered and weighted. The crops preserved
have been rye, tares, sainfoin, clover, trefoil, and grass; they have been cut
when in flower, and pitted after having been chopped into half-inch lengths.
Not any foreign material is mixed with the fodder; if salt is added it of
course liquifies and tends to make the fodder mouldy; by adding straw, air is
introduced with the same result.

The mode of procedure is as follows: The fodder is carted as soon as cut,
and passed through an ordinary chaff-cutter, shot into the silo, and well
trodden down. ‘The first portion of the material is allowed a short time, say
12 hours, to settle; in the meantime it is temporarily covered over with the
battens, which are subsequently used for the final sealing down. For that
purpose they are dowelled one into the other, so as to sink bodily like a fioor
under the weights (about 15 cwt. to each compartment) which are placed
upon them. The dowelled joints are covered by strips of felt, and a thin
narrow piece of deal is nailed above the felt to assist in the exclusion of the
air. The weights are sufficient to keep the batten cover in close contact with
the fodder, and to insure its sinking as compression takes place. This summer
I have pitted about 400 tons of green food, the produce of 52 acres.

The expense of filling varies with the nature of ‘the fodder and the amount
of compression—thus an acre of green rye will occupy a much larger space
than an acre of clover or sainfoin; but I should put the expense at from 2s. 6d.
per ton. My mode of emptying the silo is to take the fodder from the top for
use, and thus the surface is only exposed for a few hours. By the process of
ensilage, I have effected (year 1882-83) a great saving in purchased food,
owing to the increased quantity of natural food produced on the farm, and my
ability to return nearly all the straw to the land in the form of manure, thus
saving artificial manure.

The result of feeding cattle on pitted fodder in my case has been that two
bushels of ensilaged rye mixed with one bushel of swedes produced the same
quantity of milk as one bushel of ensilaged rye and two bushels of swedes, both
being used in conjunction with 3 lbs. ofcotton-cake per head per day. ‘The
fodder should be consumed as the animals require their daily food when once
begun ; it will turn mouldy on the surface after three days’ exposure to the air.

at Home and Abroad. 181

If, however, it is compressed by hydraulic or other stienuous means it may
remain comparatively uninjured, as the air will not so easily penetrate the mass.
IT used ensilaged rye daily from October 1882 to March 1883 for milking cows,
consuming about 80 tons, in conjunction with swedes, mangolds, and 3 lbs. of
cotton-cake per head per day. My silo was built in 1881, but it was filled the
first year with brewers’ grains.— August 18th, 1883.

Composition of « Sample of Clover and Sainfoin Ensilage sent by
Mr. Epmunp B. Gipson.

Soluble in water 70°36 per cent. :—

Waters sii .t. id Tou clin, aev) Jap aE DLS OO
Soluble albuminoids .. oe erred Sg e's)
Acetic and other volatile acids. ge ee Pe +28
Bactieandiotherfixediacids(: 7.0. 2.8 onl ORR “76
Soluble non-nitrogenous compounds .. .. .. .. 6°11
Bolmpleimineral matters .. ase ec wasp va es wt
Insoluble in water 29°64 per cent. :—

Mnsolublealbuminoids 2... wks tee
Crude vegetable fibre eRe TRA AD ED eRe
Insoluble mineral matter Jeph Ott sey (ese Sead SS
100-00

= Total nitrogen he ath: sy oe, eZ

November 12th, 1883. (Signed) Avararce VOELCKER.

PS.—Since writing the foregoing I have had ample opportunities of testing
the feeding value of silage, as it has formed the staple food of eighty head
of horned stock since the middle of October last.

Mr. H. M. Jenkins saw the first section of the silo uncovered, and the silage
was found in excellent preservation, with the exception of 2 inches on the
surface, increasing gradually towards the sides for 2 feet down, when the
mouldy portion ceased.

The allowance of food for each cow in milk per day is as follows :—

Ibs.
Clover silage bre Usa ne) coe Raa Ca coe Fe
HUyCISUIACOMN eagles, es Mac. ee ya as) egy pO
Straw chaff ee re ee DD
PIGy a Chatbaes ace osk Pe. PAE ROR REPS
Barlevior maize mealy)\isses. 2 Vs Toe) eS
ROOUSICOMDECKS LL pat, cree earl cco tes) see ach 40

Total weight .. 106

I find this combination the most economical and conducive to a full flow of
milk, keeping the cattle in excellent condition.

Now as to the cost of cutting and pitting the fodder. Iam unable to give
the cost of each operation, but can estimate with accuracy the cost of pre-
serving a ton of silage. A cubic foot weighs 45 lbs., and my five pits
consequently hold 50 tons each.

It took two and a half days to fill a pit, ata cost of 34.10s. £ s. d.
per day, giving exactly per ton : OFS) 36
The cost of cutting, 2s. 6d. per acre, or per ton .. ©) 109556
The cost of the covering boards is 1J. 6s. for each pit containing
50 tons, or per ton CO 0) © (5)
The cost of securing boards and placing weights in position, per
TMM ie Wes lt ies css se ge ee: (OL OFEM

February 26th, 1884. Total perrton .. £0 4 7

182 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

Mr. Gibson’s description of his silos requires very little
explanation, but I ought to point out some features in them
which may possibly excite criticism. First of all, it should be
stated that although the corrugated-iron roof is necessarily in
sections, owing to the length of the row of silos, under the
margins of two adjoining sections is a galvanized-iron furrow,
which performs the double duty of a resting-piece and a drain
to carry off rain-water. These sections of the roof are really
flaps on hinges, and are opened by raising the lower edge by
means of a portable pulley and rope at the end of a pole.
When raised enough, their position is maintained by fixing in a
couple of rods into holes on the top of the silo wall, and into
sockets in the galvanized-iron flap. The covering of the silage is
~ most completely done, but, as I could not help remarking, at what
seemed to me too great a cost. The dowelling of ae boards,
the cost of the felt, and then that of the battens with nails and
labour, both in putting on and almost more in taking off, must
make up a rather considerable sum. Still, Mr. Gibson was of
opinion that the outlay was remunerative, because it saved
waste of material. Mr. Gibson also piles a quantity of cavings
above the boards and weights, with a view to assist in excluding
the air from the silage. The silo which I saw opened on
October 10th, 1883, contained chopped clover, which had been
put in about ‘the beginning of July, and had therefore been in
about three months. The top of the fodder was mouldy only to
the depth of 1} to 2 inches, and the sides close to the outside
wall were also damaged, but only to the thickness of 23 inches.
The remainder was perfectly good, but apparently had not gone
much beyond the alcoholic fermentation. The smell was strongly
that characteristic of aldehyd in silage. As Mr. Gibson states
above, the pitted fodder goes mouldy in three or four days. In
some other silos Mr. Gibson has green rye sown after harvest, and
followed in the spring by turnips. Altogether he has 400 tons
of fodder pitted. The great disideratum here was a machine
for elevating the cut fodder into the silo, because at present it
has to be carried up several feet. Mr. Gibson has the credit of
being one of the first men in England to put the system of en-
silage to the test under the “ nouveau régime,” and therefore the
results of his experience are entitled to great weight :—he con-
siders that the use of silage does not increase the flow of milk,
and he has found that it does not pay to feed cows entirely upon
it, as it has too costive an effect ; but he has not found the use
of it interfere with the breeding-properties of the cows, or other-
wise be detrimental to their health. He has successfully fattened
cattle entirely on silage and an allowance of linseed-cake.
Two samples of his silage were sent by Mr. Gibson to the

at Home and Abroad. 183

Society’s Laboratory at different dates. The analysis of the
first, sent on November 12th, 1883, is given above ; it con-
tained only 57°55 per cent. of water, and went rapidly mouldy.
The second, sent on January 2nd, 1884, contained 75:6 per
cent. of water, and kept fairly well in a wide-mouth stoppered
bottle ; but the remainder, left in the tin in which it had been
sent, soon became mouldy.

25. The Duke of Hamilton (per Mr. David Smith, Agent), Easton Park,
Wickham Market, Suffolk.—The silos are each 22 feet long, 8 feet wide, and
10 feet deep, and are above the level of the soil. They are constructed in
the bay of a barn, and the walls are of 14-inch brickwork, coated with cement,
with a wooden curb on the walls. The floors are of concrete, also coated with
cement. I have made no experiments with silos not covered with a per-
manent roof. ‘The first cost of the silos was about 36/. I should imagine at
the end of fifty years they will be as good as they are now. One was filled
the end of June, and filled up again three weeks after the first filling ; the other
was filled the beginning of August, and filled up again about a month after.
The crops were clover and rye-grass from the first growths in the first filled,
and from a second growth in the second; and they were cut when they were
fit for making into hay. They were pitted in a chopped state (average
length, 1 in. to 13 in.), and part of them during a drizzly day. Salt at the
rate of about 13 lb. per cwt. of grass-chaff was mixed with it, in order to give
the food a greater relish. ‘The silos were filled in two operations, about three
weeks intervening between each operation in the one case, and a month in
the other. I think they might have been advantageously filled a third
time.

At the close of each filling, a layer of bran about 3 inches thick was placed
upon the grass-chaff, upon which were laid some doors, six of 8 feet by
3 feet 8 inches, and each door was weighted with 500 white bricks. The
amount of pressure thus applied was about 9 tons upon each silo, which will
remain upon the silage until it is wanted for use. I imagine the weight of
the crop per acre was about 3 tons, and the produce of about 15 to 20 acres
was used to fill the two silos. The expense in labour of filling the silos, in-
cluding cutting and chaffing the crops by steam-power, was about 15s. per
acre; the bricks cost about 50s. per thousand.

As the silos are by the side of the floor on which the cattle food is all
mixed, the silage will only be removed as it is required, so the cost of
emptying has not been gone into. We propose cutting the silage down
vertically, like a haystack. One result we obtained by pitting our grass
fodder was to secure the crop without risk of being spoiled, besides having a
much greater quantity of better food than if it had been made into hay.
The silos have only been opened about a week. The cattle seem to enjoy the
silage mixed with the pulped roots and chaff, and look to have wonderfully
improved in the week they have been feeding upon it. I shall not use more
than half the quantity of salt when the silos are next filled, as the cattle at
es ty consume more water than I think is good for them.—January 29th,
1884.

A sample of this silage sent to Hanover Square for examina-
tion kept remarkably well in the box in which it was sent
for several weeks, By calculation, it will be found that the
pressure applied is about 1 cwt. to the superficial foot.

184 ' Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

26. Mr. H. Hoare (per J. Austen, Farm Bailiff), Pagehurst Farm, Staple-
hurst, Kent—We first built one silo 20 feet long, 10 feet deep, and 10 feet
in width, divided into two, so that they were each 10 feet square. It is
built with bricks and mortar, and faced with cement, paved at the bottom
and cemented. The cost of building the silo was about 507. I have said
before that it would last forty years, but I do not see why it should not last

eighty years, it being under a covered roof. The second one was built the
same size, adjoining the other, so there would be one wall common to the two,
and therefore the cost of the second silo would be only 40/., which is easily
understood, it being all 18-inch work. We first filled the. silo with trifolium
cut up with a horse chaff-cutter, and trodden in evenly and well. Then a
little straw, about-as thick as your hand, was placed on the top of the fodder
before the planks, which were loaded with about 50 lbs. to the square foot,
including planks, care being taken to load the ends of the planks well; then
the food will come out well. I have pitted vetches in just the same way,
also clover and rye-grass, which all came out well. I have some maize in
now, and it keeps very well indeed. I feel sure that if the food is put in
evenly, 50 lbs. per foot is sufficient weighting, that is to say, if it is kept air-
tight; but if the fodder is put in without cutting, no doubt it would require
more weight. I believe in filling the pits as quickly as possible after they
are begun, as it is less expense and better for the fodder. £ have filled seven
pits now in all, and I find 3 inches to the foot is an average shrinkage after
it is sealed in. All fodder wants cutting before the bloom falls; if it is too
old and dry, I find it does not ferment properly. As regards the cost in
filling; an average distance from the field to the pit would be 200 yards,
that would be on a farm of 200 or 300 acres. ‘To fill one silo, 2000 cubic feet,
the cost would be as follows:

Ss: ade
Mowing ori yaa
Carting 214 0
Cutting with horse 018 O
Putting i in silo .. 0... 9) 0
Spreading it over and treading i in silo 25 0

This expense* will include putting on planks, stones, or whatever the
covering may be. Cost of planks, 3/. 1s. 6d.; stone, 17. 10s.

The dates of filling were June 29th, July 13th, and October 8th. The
pitted fodder is cut down in cants as it is used, like a load of hay, and I
believe it will produce more milk and butter than if preserved in any other
way. I prefer putting the crop in the silo when dry, but it will keep if
this is not done. If taken out in cants, my experience is that it will keep
without being rapidly consumed, if it has’ been sufficiently pressed. My
experience has not been large. I used the fodder last year partly as it was
and partly mixed with dry food, and I found that the stock did well upon
it.— Nov., 1883.

I visited Mr. Hoare’s farm on November 20th, 1883, and
found that Mr. Austen had opened and cut down for about six
feet in depth the silo containing the vetches. The silage was
excellent in every way except a few inches at the top, which
was mouldy, and the straw covering under the boards was very
wet, and apparently rather tended to increase the depth of
mouldy material.

~* This eye to about 7. per ton, chiefly on account of the expense of
carting.—H. M. J.

at Home and Abroad. 185

The silo containing chopped clover was opened in my
presence. It had been covered and weighted in the same way
the other one, but had been overfilled by means of temporary
boarded sides, so that the compressed material was quite at the
level of the top of the silo. Whether this had had any effect I
cannot say, but Mr. Austen seemed to think it had. At any
rate, nearly nine inches of the top was more or less mouldy,
and the clover beneath was very dry and only slightly fer-
mented. Mr, Austen was very much astonished at this result,
which was probably due to the dryness of the clover when
it was pitted. Of the samples of the three kinds of silage
sent to Hanover Square, it may be recorded that the maize went
rapidly bad, the tares kept best, and the grass fairly well.

This case is an interesting illustration of the fact that dif-
ferent crops, and even the same crops under different circum-
stances, require variations in treatment in order to convert them
into good silage.

27. Mr. C. Hunting, South Hetton, Fence Houses, Durham.—My silo is
AO feet long by 12 feet wide, and 10 feet deep, and is 4 feet below the surface of
the soil. It is constructed with white post stone, and faced with pressed bricks
laid in cement; with a concrete floor covered by cement. A drain is cut all
round it—inside—3 inches from the wall. The walls are 2 feet thick, and
covered with a corrugated-iron roof, 8 feet from the top of the wall to the
eaves. The entrance is 4 feet wide at the south end, to admit a horse to tread
its contents, and also for a tramway to bring the silage to the byre. Its
first cost was about 100/., and I should expect it to last a century.

Filling the silo commenced on the 28rd of September, and finished on the 2nd
of October. It was filled to within 1 foot of the top, when the “‘ cutter” broke,
so weclosedit up. ‘he first two days we put in 133 acres of good second-crop
clover, cut into chaff. ‘The eighth day about 20 loads of beans, peas, and
tares ; and the next day we filled the silo within a foot of the top with about
half beans, peas, and tares, and half second-crop clover, cut up and mixed to-
gether. The crops were all unripe, except the beans, peas, and tares, which
had been cut several days, trying to win them for stacking; but the constant
wet spoiled them for that purpose. All the material was chopped about half
an inch long, and no salt or condiment of any kind, neither straw, was mixed
with the fodder. The method of filling was as follows :—

Two days first filling, then put on weights for seven days, then filled
again, weights put on and closed. I allowed seven days to elapse, after the
first filling, for the silage to settle down, and from 8 feet; it} subsided
14 inches only, which I thought was owing to the 16 cwt. herse treading it
down. The second filling, in which no horse was employed, but seven
women, two men, and two lads, subsided, in the same number of days, more
than one-half.

When filled, we put on boards 2 inches thick, and as long as the silo is wide,
and 9 inches broad; upon these we placed 22 tons of iron blocks, and 8 tons
of sand in guano-bags.* Seventy tons of fodder were put in, and it is cutting
out, at the lower part trodden by the horse, 50 lbs. to the square foot, and
at that part trodden by men and women, only 40 lbs. per square foot. The
expenses of filling were as follows :—

* Making altogether 1} ewt. per square foot.—H. M. J.

186 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

Lisa:
Cutting into chaff, treading, and packing it .. 215 6
Poe a} 200
on 1 twice, and taking off once... -
Fixing cutter on platform, and taking it back to Hee 014 0
original position a ee es “3
Engineman and coals ; 1 2,0
In the fields—cutting, raking, ‘and leading crops t to 9 0
silo—10 men, 2 women, and 12 horses
£15 13 6*

The pitted fodder is cut vertically, the same as hay out of a stack, removing
two boards, and cutting 18 inches of it, all the way down, before commencing
another “dess.” ‘The cost is very little: one woman cuts it as wanted, puts
it into baskets, which are put on to a light waggon, carrying ten baskets of
380 lbs. each, pushed along the tramway to the farthest end of a long byre:
feeding the cattle on either side as she goes along. I think our cattle eat the
silage best after it is broken up'and allowed to stand in the baskets several
hours before being used. ‘Two square feet have been cut out and put on one
side for ten days, and is just as good as the day it was taken out. [I believe it
can be used gradually, as required, even for five or six months, without any
deterioration. I have never seen any that has gone bad, after the silo has
been opened.

We commenced to use the silage on the 19th; giving 14 lbs. per day to
the stall-fed cattle, and reducing the turnips to 28 lbs. per day, all other food”
as before. Six milch cows were allowed 28 lbs. per day, the pulped turnips were
taken off, but the bran and meal-croudies were given twice aday as before. In
five days, nearly one-half the milk had gone off, the bowels became very costive,
and the feces dark coloured. No more cream or butter was obtained from
the same quantity of milk than when the cattle were fed on the original food.

One-half the silage was now taken off, and 14 lbs. of pulped turnips sub-
stituted. In two days the milk returned to the usual quantity, and the
bowels became less constipated. For fourteen days past, we have increased
the silage to two-thirds, and only one-third pulped turnips, and all are
doing satisfactorily, eating it with relish; the condition of the bowels is
satisfactory, although the feces are much stiffer than with ordinary feeding,
but they are regular and darker in colour.

I am somewhat puzzled at the action of silage on the alimentary canal.
At first I thought it must be owing to’ the quality of the fodder, and that
the beans, peas, and tares, were the cause, and I am almost of that opinion
still, only the lower half of the silage is all second-crop clover, and I can see
no difference in the consistence of the faeces, when the cattle are fed off the top-
half or the bottom-half, neither can we detect any difference in the secretion of
milk, either in quantity or quality, when they are fed on one kind or the other ;
but so far as the experiments have gone, I believe the animals fed on the beans,
peas, and tares silage, are in better condition. Still, without further experi-
ments, and strict observation carefully noted, I would not like to give a decided
opinion. One of my greatest drawbacks is not having “a weigh ” to put the
animals over whilst feeding under different conditions. ‘The most satisfactory
experiment is with eight in-calving heifers, six of which are loose in a large
foldyard, and two tied up in the byre. All of these are within a few
weeks of calving, and have had nothing but silage to eat since the 19th of
December, except a bundle of oat or barley-straw each night in the “heck.”

* Equal to 4s. 6d. per ton.—H. M. J,

at Home and Abroad. 187

They were fresh in condition when put on silage, having been tied up to
turnips and meal for feeding, until discovered to be with calf in November,
when they were taken out of the byre. They get about 30 lbs. each of the
good silage per day, and part of the damaged from top and sides is also
given them, a large proportion of which they eat at leisure. We cannot see
any difference in their condition, and they look remarkably healthy and well,
with silky coats and loose skins, and bright cheerful appearance. The two
that are tied up, I think, are in the better condition of the two lots.

I was somewhat doubtful as to the wisdom of putting so many valuable
in-calving heifers exclusively on silage diet when so forward with calf,
fearing this new food might affect the calf-bed and bring about abortion ; but
being very anxious to test the real value of silage as feeding material, in as
many ways as possible, I decided to risk the loss, and on the whole eight, as
two or three would not have proved much. They have been watched closely
every day, and, so far, all are doing exceedingly well.* We have also seventeen
yearlings living entirely on silage since the opening, and all are thriving
and looking fairly well.

I hope by the time the 70 tons are used, to be able to give a fairly safe
opinion as to the difference in value of the silage made from leguminous
plants and that made from clover-grass, as to their respective feeding-
values. If silage is to be of any great value, as a feeding material, to the
farmer, I think it must come by converting into silage our leguminous
crops, instead of spending so much on our heavy soils in growing turnips,
which in our northern climate is so expensive and so precarious. If we can
de this to advantage, silage will be a most valuable adjunct to our other
feeding-stuffs.;—January 380th, 1884.

I visited the silo on January 23rd, but have nothing to add
except that the pitted fodder was very good, and that
Mr. Hunting’s well-known position as a veterinary surgeon
gives his statements as to the effect of silage upon animals a
special value.

28. Mr. Garrett Taylor, Trowse House, Norwich.—The silo is 14 feet long,
13 feet deep, and 6 feet wide, and is above ground, being constructed of
14-inch brick-work with a floor ot 5-inch cement concrete in the end of a barn.
Its cost was about 18/. 14s. 3d., and it will last probably as long as we can
look forward to. It was filled in July, and we purpose beginning again in
June 1884.

The pitted material was sewaged Italian-rye grass, about 44 acres, and
when cut to put in the silo was more than ripe. It was chopped into
# of an inch lengths by steam, Maynard’s chaff-cutter being used. Salt was
added only to preserve it.

The silo was filled in two days of 5 hours each, and every layer of
about 6 inches was well rammed, 2 lbs. of salt being added to each. The
fodder was covered with boards closely placed, and weighted with bags of
sand; no mechanical contrivance was used.

The silo contains from 10 to 12 tons fit for use. The covering with old
waste boards and sand cost about 2/., and the expense of filling was 5. 3s. 6d.

* One of the heifers calved on the 3rd of February, and is doing well; the
calf was well developed, and a plump vigorous little fellow.—C. H.

+ Four of our horses are now eating the silage very well, five others only
moderately, and three will not eat it. Neither the pigs nor the sheep care to eat
it, either alone or mixed with other foods, but all the cattle seem to eat it with
greater relish than they did, and leave all other food to eat it.—C. H., Feb. 17th.

188 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

The total is made up of the following items :—

Bis. cede

Mowing 44 acres aia 6
Carting te 1G
Chopping P2216
Pitting .. 09! 0
Treading 09 0
Total £5 3 6

Equal to 9s. or 10s. per ton.

When we wish to use the pitted fodder, we simply open a door in the
centre, and use it as required for feeding.

By this system the land can be cleared much quicker, cheaper, and with less
waste than by trying to make sewage-grassinto hay. Indeed, for two or three
years, we have found it impossible to get such Italian rye-grass dry enough to
prevent it destroying itself by heat, on account of the juices and fat contained
in the grass. With regard to keeping qualities, as this is the first silo we
have filled, we can only say that we opened it on December 18th, 1883, and
have continued using some of it every day since then up-to this date, 11th
January, 1884, and it is not injuriously affected by the atmosphere being let
into it. Horses, cattle, and sheep eat the silage from the silo with great
avidity, and I should think from the little experience I have had in feeding
with silage it is best and most effective and valuable when mixed with
straw, or corn-chaff, or any other ordinary food that requires something to
increase its feeding value and make it palatable—January 11th, 1884.

I visited this silo on December 18th, 1883, on account
chiefly of the interest attaching to this attempt to preserve
sewage-grass by means of ensilage. Evidently Mr. Taylor had
been afraid to put the grass in too wet, and so had allowed it to
get dead-ripe before pitting it. The consequence was that the
silage was singularly dry for sewage-grass. It had, however,
fermented, but there was a considerable amount of mould near
the outside wall. A sample from the interior of the silo,
sent to Hanover Square on January 2nd, although found
to contain only 55 per cent. of water, is still, in the middle of
March, perfectly good both in box and bottle, and retains to the
full its honeydew aroma. ‘The result of this experiment is
very encouraging, and suggests a better future for sewage-farms.

29. Col. Tomline (per Mr. H. Stevenson), Orwell Park Farm, Ipswich—
The silo is 26 feet long by 12 feet broad and 12 feet high, namely, 6 feet
below the level of the soil and 6 feet above. It is constructed entirely of
concrete (walls about 14 inches in thickness), with slated roofs. I have made
no experiments with regard to silos not covered by a durable or permanent
roof. I cannot give the cost, but the structure will last about 50 years.
Filling was commenced on July 30th, 1883, and was finished on August 4th,
1883, with green oats cut in an unripe state, and chopped into half-inch
lengths. Nothing was mixed with the main crops.

The silo was filled at one operation as quickly as possible, in the follow-
ing manner :—First fix the steam chaff-cutter at the filling end of the silo;
reap the oats and cart them in their green state to the machine, and cut
them 3 inch in length, throw them into the silo, and have 4 men inside to
level and tread them down as tightly as possible, as the more solid they

at Home and Abroad. 189

are made the better they will keep. When finished, the planks and loaded
boxes are arranged thus:—Cover over with planks, on which is placed
84 square boxes exactly fitting the silo, filled with bricks, shingle, &c., weighing
15 tons; no mechanical means are employed, and no record has been taken
of the weight cf the crop placed in the silo, nor has the silo yet been emptied.

The total expense of filling, covering, and compressing, was 19/. 6s. I
cannot give the cost of emptying the silo, as the silage is used direct as
required for daily use. ‘The operation of removing the silage is simply
performed by drawing it out with a four-pronged fork (in small portions) from
the top to the bottom, as it will not keep if exposed to the air for any length
of time. I have found that cows fed upon the silage have given an
increased quantity of milk; that the cream was thicker, and the butter a
richer colour and finer flavour. Last year I had two beasts feeding upon the
silage, and commenced giving-them 7 lbs. each per day mixed with 6 lbs.
of cut clover-hay, and increased the silage to 33 stones each per day mixed
with 6 lbs. of cut clover-hay. By the end of April they were fat without
cake.or roots. ‘lhe horses did well upon it, and the sheep also. The crops
were considerably better when the silage was eaten upon the Jand by the sheep.

I have not found any result whatever specially attributable to succulence
of the crops, or to external moisture upon them before being pitted. The
silage can be consumed without deterioration if taken out by degrees
extending over several months. My experience of silage proves that as a
food, especially in conjunction with other feeding materials, it produces
excellent results—January 11th, 1884.

I visited this silo on December 19th, 1883. The facts are
precisely as described above, but it should be added that
Col. Tomline pursued the same system with the same crop last
year, and was perfectly satisfied with the result. The oats are
cut in ear, but while the grain is still milky, and the pressure,
according to Mr. Stevenson’s figures, is about 1 cwt. to the
square foot. One fact that struck me very much was the more
than usually powerful smell of the silage. It was apparently
in the state of alcoholic fermentation, but it seemed to be more
concentrated “ grog” than any other silage that I had seen. I
was informed that last year it had the same character, and that
on exposure to the air it would not keep; but I am bound to
add that a sample sent to me kept remarkably well in the
Society’s Laboratory.

30. Mr. W. H. Wills, M.P., Coombe Lodge, Blagdon, Somerset.—The silo is
13 feet by 12, and 15 feet deep; it is built on a steep slope, so that the forage
can be tipped in at one end at the higher level, and the door approached at the
other end on the lower level. It is built of local limestone set in brown lime

_ mortar, the walls being 2 feet thick; and the floor is laid with rough paving
made watertight. The covering is a A roof of pantiles without plastering.
The building is a permanent one, and we worked out the cost of labour and
materials to amount to 361.

The silo was filled on July 3rd} 4th, and 5th with a second year’s crop of
clover after wheat, cut when ripe, and chopped to 14-inch lengths. No salt
or other material was mixed with it. The silo was filled as quickly as
possible, each day’s cutting being pitted the next day, and the crop trodden
down firmly as put in by 3 or 4 labourers. This was my first experi-
ment, so I followed as closely as possible the directions given in some

190 “Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

American agricultural reports. I covered the bulk of the pitted fodder with
a thin layer of rough hay, over which 2-inch deal planks were laid closely
together, but free of the walls, to allow of sinking. Above these were laid
large rough stones, about equal to 3 cwts. per square foot. The field was
43 acres in extent, and was estimated to yield 35 cwts. of ordinary clover-hay
per acre. ‘Taking the pitted fodder to weigh, as is calculated in the United
States, 50 Ibs. per cubic foot, the contents of the silo amounted to 272 tons.

The cost of filling and covering the silo, as well as mowing the crop and
hauling it from the field, was as follows :—

Blgtid.
4 men 3 days each, treading and filling = 12 days at 2s.6d... 110 0
4 men 4 days each, covering = 16 days at 2s. 6d. .. 2202) Pome
Hauling, horses and man, 3 days at 12s. .. 116520
Cutting by steam, say na E1090
Mowing 42 acres at 5s. Leen

Total: |.) «2: ~japt.20).. eoreeetes

The door of the silo was bricked up inside with 43-inch brickwork; when
this was pulled down we cut out the pitted material as from an ordinary hay-
stack. The result was that instead of 72 tons of inferior hay (owing to very
wet weather), we obtained 27} tons of excellent sweet and juicy “ silage.”
As to the effect of moisture, I may say that one day was soakingly wet, and
that the portion cut on that day, though still sweet, is certainly not equal to
what was mown and chaffed in merely showery weather. Of the keeping
properties of the pitted fodder, although my experience is not great, I should
say that if the door is kept closed it will keep nearly as well as hay. Hitherto
I have noticed no signs of unsoundness. We opened the silo on Novem-
ber 4th, just four months after it had been filled and closed. If needful the silo
would have held 40 tons; and I am so satisfied with this, my first year’s expe-
rience, that I am now building three more silos, and hope next year to make
100 tons of “ silage.”—December 10th, 1883.

A sample of this silage received on December 13th contained
65:2 per cent of water, and kept very well in a wide-mouth
stoppered bottle.

81. H. C. Fryer, Esq., Lodge Park, Glandovey, Cardiganshire.—My silo
is 20 feet long by 9 feet wide, and 9 feet deep, and is entirely above the level
of the soil. It has been constructed as follows :—Having a barn, stone-built
and slated, 20 feet wide, immediately adjoining my chaff-cutting loft, I
partitioned off one end, 9 feet in width, by a stone wall. The whole of the
interior walls were then covered with cement plaster, the floor being already
of cement concrete ; a strong deal door was provided at one end of the cross-
wall, opening inwards, deal boards were screwed on flush with the outside of the
wall, and the interstice between the door and boards was filled with sawdust.
The cost of the cross-wall, cement, plaster, door, &c., was about 97, The
building will last a lifetime.

The silo was filled on October 4th and 5th, 1883, with Italian rye-grass
previously cut for soiling, and mixed “seeds,” from which a crop of seed hay
had been made in July previous. When mown, the crops were not quite ripe
for haymaking. All the materials were cut into chaff in lengths of about
inch. I mixed about 2 lbs. of salt to each cwt. of silage. I fancied the salt
would assist to preserve the fodder, and would also make it more wholesome.

* Equal to 5s. 10d. per ton.—H, M. J.

at Home and Abroad. 191

I think the quantity I used was excessive, and that 1 lb. per cwt. would be
sufficient.

The silo was filled at one operation, as quickly as possible, on two con-
secutive days. But I had only green stuff enough to fill the pit toa depth
of 7 feet 8 inches above the floor-level. The season was too far advanced to
admit of more fodder being added after subsidence, as will be done next season.

The chaff was thrown into the silo direct from the chaff-cutter ; it was
there carefully spread, salt sprinkled over each layer, and the whole thoroughly
well trodden and rammed, in order to consolidate the silage and exclude the
air; the top was then roughly covered with shutters and Doards ; 10 ecwt. of
bran was spread over the top of these, about 4 inches deep, and a few boards
placed across the top of this, in order to distribute the weight more evenly.
The bran was used the more completely to exclude the air; but it is, I think,
too costly for the purpose. The fodder was compressed by means of boxes
(old wine-cases, &c.) filled with limestones; the weight of these stones was
about 33 tons, equal to a pressure of about 43 Ibs. per square foot of surface.
When opened at end of November, the silage had settled down from a
depth of 7 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 3 inches, and was very compact and solid.
The. quantity was estimated at about 20 tons. The present weight of one
cubic foot of silage taken 2 feet from the bottom of the silo is 52 Ibs.*

The total expense of mowing, carting, chaffing, and filling the silo was as
follows :—

s
Mowing, 5 daysat3s... .. .. 15
Loading grass, 4 days at 3s. 12
Carting, 4 days (man) at 2s. 6d. ; 2 ‘days (boy) 13

o oof

at Is: 6d:...
Chaff-cutting, 2 days (man) at 3s. ; 5 4 days (boy)

at Is. The chaff-cutter was driven by water; 10 0

power.
Throwing chaff? into silo, 2 days (man) at 2s. 6d. 0
Spreading chaff, ramming, &c., 2 days (man), 0

2s. 6d.; 4 days (woman), 1s... .. RA ee

38 4 0

If carting be added, 3 horses in 3 ae 2 ar 110 0

each, 6 days at Bs. dae

Hiqualito, says 48a 9d. per ito. wis ~ 26) 2a dep vee 414 0

The boards for covering cost 30s; 103 cwt. straw and carriage 47.

The cost of emptying the silo is almost nil. We cut the silage down in
sections from top to bottom, like hay in a stack. It comes off in compact
layers, and is easily broken up for mixing with the dry chaff. The main
result is a succulent food to take the place of roots altogether in early winter
for mixing with chaff; and it does not, like roots, impart an unpleasant taste
to milk and butter. It is much less expensive to grow than roots, and the
process will enable the farmer in wet districts like Wales to save many a
crop of seed and other hay grass, which would otherwise be spoiled by

weather, and at much less cost than haymaking.

I have found no special result due to succulence of crops or external
moisture upon them. I carried much of my grass in heavy rain; but this I
think a mistake, as extraneous water is not needed; but the more succulent

* Giving a total weight of 22 tons of silage, if 52 Ibs. may be taken as the
average weight of a cubic foot.—H. M. J.

192 "Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

the fodder the more compactly can it be consolidated, and on this, I believe,
depends mainly success or the contrary in preservation of silage.

The fodder preserved in my silo has been in course of very gradual con-
sumption during more than three months; and it does not appear to suffer or
deteriorate in the least by the exposure to the air (for several days at a time)
of the sides from which the silage has been cut for feeding. I imagine that
the keeping properties must depend mainly upon the degree of consolidation
of the fodder. I find in my pit a layer of about 2 inches of inferior and more
or less mouldy stuff on the top, also about 1 inch in breadth next all the side
walls, varying from inferior to bad. All the rest is so compact that no air
can enter the mass, and consequently it appears to keep as well as hay in a
cut stack.

I have found the silage of great value as a succulent fodder for mixing
with chaff of hay and straw as food for milch cows, especially early in the
winter before mangolds are ripe. Having stored but a small quantity, I have
used it almost entirely for cows in-milk ; and with no other winter food have
I ever found the butter so good in quality and in flavour.

I should add that the method of storing silage I adopted was founded on
the recommendations of Mr. H. Woods, of Merton, to whom my acknow-
ledgments for much good advice are due—WMarch 11, 1884.

Mr. Fryer was so good as to send me a sample of his silage
for examination ; but by the time it reached Hanover Square it
had developed a very strong odour, and when the box was
opened, the silage was found to be mouldy. This untoward
circumstance may, however, have. been caused by the manner
in which the box was filled, which should have been done by
cutting out one piece the exact size of the box, and carefully
preventing the access of air to its interior.

Lord Tollemache’s silos, which I visited on February 11th,
1884, have been frequently described in the agricultural news-
papers, therefore a very brief notice of them will be sufficient
here. They have been constructed out of existing buildings,
and each one has been devoted to a separate experiment this
year, chiefly with a view of ascertaining what is the influence of
external moisture on the crop when pitted upon the quality of
the resulting silage. The silo which was open at the time of
my visit presented to view a vertical wall of well-consolidated
meadow-grass. From 4 to 6 inches of material at the top was
sodden, but there was little or no waste at the sides. All the
pitted fodder had been mixed with 2 lbs. of salt per cwt., but
Lord Tollemache and his agent are both convinced that this
quantity is far too large. It makes the cows very thirsty, and
for this reason it is found necessary to feed them with one-half
silage and one-half chopped straw. The silage seemed to have
been exceptionally well pressed, apparently because it had been
put into the silos by single pitchforks-full, each of which had
been immediately trodden hard by four men. The covering
and weighting materials were the following :—(1) Doors consist-

at Home and Abroad. 193

ing of neatly fitting planks and cross-pieces ; (2) bran, which,
however, will not be used another year, as it has been found
unnecessary ; and (3) weights consisting partly of iron and
partly of old gasoline boxes filled with gravel, the total weight
being stated not to exceed about 70 lbs. per square foot. It
should be added that Lord Tollemache has no home farm
properly so called, as he only keeps in hand a few fields of
grass to enable him to obtain milk, cream, and butter for his
household. His silos are merely experiments, and he is so well
satisfied with their success that he proposes to build them for
his tenants if they will pay 5 per cent. on the outlay in the
event of their being successful, but nothing at all if they should
be unsuccessful. Lord Tollemache, it will be observed, regards
his position and duties as a landlord very seriously.

Two samples of Peckforton silage had been sent to the
Society’s Laboratory for analysis previous to my visit. One
sent on December 13th, 1883, contained 71-6 per cent. of water,
and did not keep well; but the second, which was sent on
December 27th, and contained 73:4 per cent. of water, kept
better than the first, although it also went mouldy very soon.

With special reference to the cost of filling a silo, 1 may
give a few further examples, as this is a point of primary
importance. The Duke of Sutherland uses the ground floor of
an old malt house as two silos, separated by a brick partition.
Each silo is 19 feet 6 inches long, 9 feet 6 inches wide, and
12 feet deep. The total acreage of meadow-grass cut and pitted
was 6 acres 1 rood 8 perches, and the silos were first filled on
June 21st, 22nd, and 23rd, No. 1 taking in two days 23 tons
8 cwt. 2 qrs., and No. 2 in one day 19 tons 2 cwt. They were
refilled on June 30th with 14 tons 19 cwt., and finally, on
July 12th, with 13 tons 15 cwt. 2 qrs., making a total of 71 tons
5 ewt. The cost of the work was as follows :—

£s. d.

Mowing 6 acres 1 rood 8 perches, at 9s. per acre 216 3
Filling silo, including filling bags of sand 618 4
PRECREWONK: Wa baa) wane sec Sa ss | os 4 4 0
Straw to cover silo, 4 cwts. at 4s. 016 0
cl OSA Pee Oy £0
Total £14 15 7

Being rather less than 4s. 3d. per ton of silage.

The weighting material consists of 200 bags filled with sand,
and weighing from 180 to 190 lbs. each; they cost 4d. each,
making a total of 3/. 6s. 8d. in addition to the filling, which is
charged for above. As, however, the bags may not last more
than a year, the cost should be added to that of labour; this
would make the total cost of the silage 5s. 1d. per ton.

VOL, XX.—S. 8S. Oo

194 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

A sample of the silage sent to me in the middle of February
retained its excellent quality unimpaired during the month
which elapsed before the completion of this Report, although in
the meantime it had been kept entirely in the box in which it
arrived ; and Mr. Reid, the Farm-bailiff, informs me that the
experiment has been a complete success.

On November 13th, 1883, I saw the opening of Mr. Robert
Johnston’s silos at Tyn-y-Park, Whitchurch, near Cardiff.
These silos had been made by running a brick wall partition
across a portion of a barn, and dividing the space into two
equal compartments by another brick wall. The actual cost of
this operation was 20/. 1s. 8d., but the following account given
me by Mr. Johnston shows what the silos would have cost if
they had been built entirely de novo :—

Size inside, 17 feet long
Sa ee ll pai Mee Sralee

Fao Ut 5; ebigh Ly rist ve

= in 14 inches brickwork
Bricks 23,000, at 30s. Ber 1000 non faint, Eaigge ae atone ame
Lime and sand .. .. a ae, ye 5 ae 0)
2 doors and frames r f5°0
Bottom cemented 4) )-snceeier 3:10 «0
Oona A . lad. te Folemaen. petites eeionae
Labour and building See mee re nee) I

3825 cubic feet L672" 0

To hold 70 tons.

Mr. Johnston is a large provision merchant in Cardiff, and
keeps as accurate accounts of his farming operations as of his
business transactions. Therefore it may be of interest to
compare the following accounts of the cost of haymaking in

1881 and 1882, with the cost of making silage in 1883.

Cost of Harvesting 12 Acres Grass, a
1881.—Mowing 12 acres, at 5s. 8d. peracre.. .. 3 8 O
Men'and horses’ time’. © <.* 3. 3. oe See
Food and beer for men eee. Mia ears 5:06
hatching <{. _"S.g ‘-e; Sci ichs space
Spars 4. fs wee em nw we cee
Total cost for 12 acres .. .. £2713 O

or per acre, 27. 6s. 1d.
8) Bids
1882,.—Mowing 12 acres, at 5s. 8d. per acre .. 3.35.0
Men.and horses’ time, «.. ..... o» -«= cs copie
Food and beer for men Peet. | 415 0
Thatching f on a? a A RAY Ee
Spars 0:6 XO
Total cost for12 acres .. .. £25 2 2

or per acre, 27, 1s, 10d.

Sa

at Home and Abroad. 195

Cost of Cutting 10 Acres Grass for Ensilage.

6 acres seeds.
5 barley.
2E *, als.
10 acres
£ =: ¢.
15 men,* 2 days, at 4s. per day Senies? gnc: 6 0 0
Food for 15 men, 2 days, at 1s. each per day .. 110 0
0 wert Bal ee ee ee 20 0
Sundry help x Als Ui
Horses and carts... ..- .. .. 2 0 0
Engine and man, 2 days; cutting - a tO
Salt, 3 qrs. at 30s. per ton 012
Bran, 3/.
Totai cost for 10 acres £15 6 2

or per acre, 17. 10s. 6d.

It will be noticed that there is a difference of from 10s. 8d.
to 15s. 7d. per acre in favour of the silage. Further it will be
observed that the cost of providing the silo is again nearly 1/.
per ton (actually 19s. 2d.) of its estimated capacity ; and that
the cost of making the silage, exclusive of the bran and the
weighting material, is between 4s. and 5s. per ton. Old
American butter firkins filled with sand were used for weight-
ing, so their expense could not have been great.

.—Simos with MecuanicaL Means or Compression. *

32. Mr. C. G. Johnson, Oakwood, Croft, Darlington—tThe first silo consists
of an old barn with atiled roof. Itis 15 feet long, 12 feet wide, and 8 feet deep,
Viz., 2 feet below the ground and 6 feet above, and is calculated to hold
28 tons. A newly built silo is 18 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 22 feet high, is
calculated to hold 80 tons, and will be filled with second-crop clover. The
following details refer to the old silo, which was first filled at the end of
June 1883 with old meadow-grass; but the material was taken out again
soon afterwards in order to enable improvements to be made in the pressing
mechanism, and was then made into hay. It appeared well cured, and was
very satisfactory. The silo was re-filled on August 14th, August 22nd, and
finally on August 28th, the grass being cut in the same condition as it would
have been if haymaking had been the object. It was pitted whole, and
mixed with about 20 Ibs. of salt per ton. The pressure applied is calculated
to be 200 lbs. to the square foot, by means of a weighted lever acted upon by
a hydraulic ram, after the removal of which the pressure is continuous. I
prefer this mechanical arrangement to dead weight, because of the time lost
at each end of the filling days in taking off and putting on the dead weights.
ee get the whole day for filling instead of only a few hours in the middle
of the day.

The covering over and compressing by mechanical means only occupies a

* 4 Mowers; 2 pitchers ; 2 carters; 3 filling on stages; 2 keeping engines
clear; 2 feeding, cutting. Total, 15 men. 9
18)

196 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

couple of men while the others are putting the tools away. The fodder will
be cut with a hay-knife or spade vertically, and removed by a barrow or cart,
to admit either of which there is a door sufficiently wide.

As regards the succulence of the grass or its moist condition, I have never
yet filled a silo during any appreciable amount of rain, but from what little
experience I have gained, | may say that 1 should like to have no rain-water,
and the crops just ripe enough to make good hay; and another year I shall be
very particular to secure that climax. JI have had no experience as to the
keeping qualities of the fodder after it has been opened, but the arrangement
of the mechanical pressure is carefully designed so as to require the removal of
the pressure only from the part which is to be cut and removed.

Hitherto I have had no experience with regard to the use of pitted fodder
for stock,* but during the winter I mean to try, both with the old grass
and the second crop seeds and clover preserved in the two silos, as sub-
stitutes for turnips in fattening bullocks for the butcher. I shall probably
give them the pitted fodder with linseed and cotton-cake, and possibly a
further mixture of maize and bean-meal, which is my habitual mixture of
stimulants. Anyhow, they shall have the same variety of such foods as a
similar number of the same class of animals fed on turnips, thus making
the experiment one of pitted fodder versus turnips.— August 25th, 1883.

Mr. Johnson has since given me the following description of
a new silo, with illustrations of the mechanical arrangement by
which it is weighted :—

The building is of brick, all above ground, with slated roof. It is 28 feet
high up to the eaves, 10 feet by 18 feet inside, 9-inch walls, with the excep-
tion of the front end, around doorway, which is 14-inch work; and is designed
to be filled to 22 feet high of silage, leaving the remainder for working room.

I began to build about the 1st of September, and the fodder intended to be
saved (second-crop seeds and clover) must be all in before, say, the second week
in October, consequently there was no time for the lime to dry; and, being
ignorant also as to the amount of lateral pressure to be expected from within,
I thought it safer to have the walls up to 22 feet from the ground set in
cement, Experience proved there was no lateral pressure observable. My next
silo will therefore be either sheet iron, wood, or 9-inch brickwork set in lime.

The bottom of the silo consists of a framework of rough wood (4, Fig. 4),
upon which the silage rests, and which, taken hold of by two rods communi-
cating with one end of the lever-beam (c), enables the weight of the silage to
be used as the fulcrum from which to inflict the pressure upon itself—thereby
saving the necessity of heavy masonry, which would otherwise have to be
provided to keep down the short end of the lever.

The crop is at first thrown in through the large folding-doors (p) at the
bottom, which are made wide enough to admit a cart to back into the silo to
remove the silage. As the grass rises, this space is made up by loose boards
(in my case old railway sleepers), one on the other edgeways. When it has
risen above this aperture it is forked off the cart by one man on toa scaffold (£),
and thence by one man standing thereon through the long-shaped window (F),
which, as the grass rises, is also made up with loose boards as before described

* Since sending the replies to my questions, Mr. Johnson informed me, in a
letter dated Dec. 3rd, that he had used the contents of the old silo in feeding
sixteen head of stock, giving them only their artificial food in addition, and
that one small heifer which had had five weeks finishing upon it he had sold
by auction for 23l.—probably the first ensilage-fed beast killed in the north of
England, She had fattened very quickly.—H. M. J.

at Home and Abroad. 197

—the latter being in this case to save unnecessary forking until the stack
has risen. I may here mention that, though I did not fill up the interstices
between the boards (which I could easily have done), the silage was just as
free from mould as at any other part of the wall sides; and further, it may
be mentioned that when the pressure was first applied from above, the air
could be heard hissing out through these spaces.

Fig. 3.—External View of Mr. Johnson’s new Silo.

POMPOM VNOTTUN NODDED

When the day’s filling is complete, the top covering of boards (a, Fig. 4) is
laid on with longitudinal and transverse timbers (H) to receive the pressure ;
‘the hydraulic jack (1), which it may be seen is at the weighted end of the
lever, then comes into play, and lowers the wrought-iron cradle and transverse
timbers, which are attached hy chains to the lever beam on to the longitudinal
timbers; and a strong round iron bolt (kK) is then adjusted into one of the holes
in the cradle according to the height of the silage. The whole force of the
weight of the boxes full of stones at the out end of the lever, which is about
four and a half tons multiplied by the length of the lever, then comes on
and inflicts a pressure of about 2 cwt. per square foot (including the weight
of the beam, cradle, boards, and everything); this at once presses down the
grass about 2 feet, which is the extent of travel the lever gives at the point of

198 - Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

pressure. The hydraulic jack is then worked by one man or very easily by
two, and, having a stroke of about 6 feet, quickly raises the weighted lever ;
the pin in the cradle is withdrawn, and put in so many holes higher (see

Fig. 4.—Section of Mr. Johnson’s new Silo.

a SAMA LEU
| BS F

14 _
le

y
Ie

\

NERA

SS

Fig. 5.—Plan of Mr. Johnson's new Silo, showing Beams for pressure,
Covering-boards, &e.

oS ae ee 2 er
A

vee Es

Fig. 6), say 2 feet. On comes the pressure again; and this time, the grass
having become so far solidified as to be able to bear the weight, the beam is
kept up at, say, half stroke, and there hangs the weighted lever, preserving

at Home and Abroad. 199

a continuous pressure of about 16 tons resting upon the grass. Or if the
attendant is not satisfied, and has reason to fear that there is not suflicient
travel left to allow for the sinking of the grass before he comes again next
morning, he raises it again to full stroke, and it is found that this is ample to
last well into the next day, and thus secure continuous pressure. Next
morning we generally found the silage sunk about another foot; the lever is
raised by one man in a few minutes, and the weight left hanging in such a
position that it must sink about 2 feet before it need again be adjusted. This
is not generally for some days; and shortly, as it becomes settled, need not
be looked to for weeks. )
It will be seen by the section of the silo (Fig. 4), that the cradle upon which
the beam rests its pressure does not appear long enough to reach the grass
when only a small first day’s work may have been put in. This, however, is
provided for, as, though not easily shown on so small a scale, it is made
telescopic (Fig. 6), and lengthens out to follow the silage. It will also be

Fig. 6.—Détails of Pressing Apparatus.

observed that the chains which are attached to the cradle and transverse timbers
are carried over two pulleys (a1) at the top of the beam, and thence, after
passing through two snatch blocks (x) fastened to the wall, can be hooked
on to the lever beam (0), and then, by working the jack through its full
travel of 6 feet, they are raised about 8 feet out of the way of the people
treading the grass.

When it is desired to remove the silage for consumption, the hydraulic
jack raises the cradle, boards are taken off as far as required, and the weight
put on again—the cradle retiring towards the outer end of the lever as each
section is cut. Thus the same uniform continuous pressure is maintained,
the weight on the cradle being reduced by the shortening of the leverage in
proportion as the area to be pressed is diminished.

Near the top of the silo there is a shelf (®) which is for the piling away of
the covering boards, and for the man to stand on to work the jack.

I believe my silo, when full, holds 90 to 100 tons; the weight of a cubic
foot of silage 6 feet from the bottom was 60 lbs.

Of course, the somewhat unusual height of the building is to save first cost,
as the expense of pressure is the same for a high silo asa low one. Also,
the deeper the silage, the more pressure from its own weight, and the more
full days’ work at filling, not so much time being lost in starting and stopping
as is the case with the small fillings for so many toppings out. This, to my
mind, more than compensates for the wages of the man who forks off the
scaffold, or for an elevator, if the latter be preferred.

I prefer silos above ground, because it saves excavating ; and, after all, you
cannot have less than 9-inch work, and in most cases the earth would require
more to keep it up. Again, it is much cheaper to fork off a cart in the long
days of summer than out of a deep hole every time you fodder the cattle in
winter, as will be found when this new feed gets into the wholesale scale of
every-day practice. Besides, there is the risk of water oozing through your
cemented walls and making tea-leaves of the silage.

I may add that for the last two months I have been feeding sixteen bullocks
and heifers of the largest size on nothing but silage and 6 lbs. daily of cake
and meal; and the result is, I consider, at least a dead heat between them
and similar bullocks on the same allowance of cake and meal, and turnips and
hay ad lib., instead of silage.

200 ‘Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

‘ At present I do not believe in light pressure or no pressure. The weight
of evidence goes to prove that the greater the pressure the better the silage—
the limit being that point at which the juices begin to squeeze out. Up to
that point, weight pays in the quality of the product, and in the quantity
stored in a given space. a

The major part of my silage was made with 20 lbs. of salt per ton of grass, but
I put some 10 or 12 tons on the top without any salt. Another year I think I
shall use no salt: I consider the silage better without, and above all I found
the cattle very thirsty from that with salt, and not at all so whilst on that with-
out salt. As to the cost of getting and filling, the following is a whole day’s
work. It took ten different fillings to put in about 80 tons, of course many
of them being less than half days, and with only two or three horses, and
proportionally few men; and if I had had any more grass to put in, and
having allowed the silage to settle, I could have got about three more fillings
of, say, 10 tons, 5 tons, and 23 tons each. The mechanical system of pressure
has a great advantage in allowing a silo to be filled up as long as any space
remains, without the labour necessary to remove the dead-weight each time,
which with that system scarcely seems worth while for small quantities,

Cost of putting in silo a quantity of second-crop seeds and clover, led one
and a quarter miles, 25 tons put in from about 8 a.m. to 5 P.M.

£s. d.

Man and pair of horses mowing and raking 014 0
5 single-horse carts and drivers er ne OD
2mnen forking infield... s.. os. su 5 30, (ee OED
1 man forking off stage into silo .. .. -. -. 0 38) 6
1 old man and a woman spreading in silo OFZ 16
Beer Se os) ss, al ai 0 4 0
£3 1070

2s. 92d. per ton.

The total cost of this silo has been about 150/., but doubtless it would have
been more had it not been a home-made structure.—January 18, 1884.

I first visited Mr. Johnson on August 20th, 1883, when only
the old barn-silo was in operation. The pressure was applied
as follows :—First the pitted fodder had been covered with old
sleepers laid from side to side of the building, then two round
lengths of fir or larch were laid across them (7,e. from one end
of the building to the other), and upon these was brought to
bear a leverage, like the old-fashioned cheese-press arrangement
—the beam of the lever having at its end a big case filled with
stones. By adding more stones, or taking some out, the pressure
could easily be increased or diminished. A hydraulic jack was
used to release the silage from pressure, at such times, for
instance, as when it was required to raise or lower the fulcrum,
which consisted in adding to or taking from a pile resting and
acting transversely across the fir or larch logs.

On January 22nd, 1884, I paid my second visit to Mr. John-
son. In the meantime the old silo had been opened and a new
one built. The means of mechanical pressure had been much
improved, but at a considerable cost, namely, 402, although
Mr. Johnson, having been educated as an engineer, drew out
his own plans, bought the materials himself, and supervised the

at Home and Abroad. 201

construction and arrangement of the whole. Under other
circumstances the cost of the apparatus would have been much
increased, some people say almost doubled. Mr. Johnson has
been so good as to furnish me with tracings, from which the
preceding illustrations have been taken.

The total cost of building the new silo, calculated to hold
80 tons, with brick and an internal layer of cement, as well as
a slated roof, but only a round-log, or “corduroy,” floor,
including the weighting apparatus, Mr. Johnson has himself
given as 150/. The fodder was all pitted long, and its quality
was generally excellent, but some layers were not so good as
others. In fact, the quality of the silage varied with that of
the original material, most of which had been bought. Not-
withstanding the heavy pressure—200 Ibs. to the square foot—
very little juice had been expressed.

33. Mr. S. H. Stocks, Cleckheaton, near Normanton.—My wooden portable
silos are specially designed and adapted as tenants’ fixtures, and are intended
to be placed in any existing barn or shed. They can be constructed of any
size, but one capable of holding 25 or 30 tons is the size recommended.

It has for some time been felt that the method heretofore adopted for
pressing the contents of the silo, viz., the use of blocks of stone or other
heavy weights, which had to be lifted or craned off and on, was cumbrous,
and involved far too great an expenditure of time and labour; and various
methods have accordingly been tried with the view of effecting a saving in
these respects, but the great difficulty has been the want of an evenly
distributed and continuous pressure.

A careful consideration of this difficulty has, after many experiments, led
to the invention of the patent press. By this simple and effective contrivance
(the chief features of which are the screw and spiral springs)—see drawings—
a continuous pressure equal to 150 Ibs. to the square foot (or more, if neces-
sary) can be evenly distributed over the whole surface of the silo.

When the silo has been filled to the top, the press can be applied and the
contents reduced at once, at the same time forcing out the air, which is the
most important element in producing good silage, and the process of filling
can be proceeded with immediately. This press can easily be applied to
existing silos.

In farms of large extent, portable carbonated iron silos are recommended,
as they can be placed on any part of the farm contiguous to where the stock
is kept, and if found desirable, they can be partly sunk in the ground; a light
roof can be erected over them at a trifling cost.

The advantages claimed for these silos over existing ones are :—

1st.—They are constructed at much less cost.

2nd.—They are portable, and can easily be taken to pieces and removed,
if it is found expedient to do so.

Srd.—The contents of the silo can be pressed more effectively, there
being continual and even pressure.

4th.—No ramming is required when filling, thereby saving labour and
preventing the forage from being bruised.

5th.—The covers, or any part of them, are easily and readily removed
and replaced when using or filling, so that no portion of the silage
need be exposed except what is being cut away.

202 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

On January 26th, Mr. Stocks wrote to me as follows :—

“As promised during my conversation with you at Darlington last
Tuesday, I have to-day forwarded a sample of the aftergrass silage made in
the wooder silo 1 named to you.

“This grass was cut about the 20th of October last during rain, and the
greater part of it was laid in the field for eight days after being cut, the weather
being very bad at the time; in fact we had almost incessant rain until the
31st, when the last load was carted to the silo.

“Everybody predicted that it would prove nothing but a dung-heap, it
was so bad, the grass being quite yellow from exposure, and soaking wet
when put into the silo. Yet the cattle eat it with relish, and there is no
diminution in the quantity or quality of the milk after a fortnight’s feeding
from it.

“Tam sending you also by Parcels Post a sample of butter churned last
week. This butter is the produce of cattle fed from this silage during the
last fortnight; and for eleven weeks previous, from the silage produced in
my concrete silo, which was put in last July and opened on the 20th of
October, a sample of which I am also sending you; and although it is not
quite so good as it has been (being now nearly finished), you will, I think,
admit that it is good silage. The only food that has been given to my cattle
has Lg 50 lbs. of silage, 4 lbs. of Indian meal, and 2 lbs. of bran, each cow
per day. ;

“T am agreeably surprised to find that there is not the slightest moul2
to be seen in my wooden silo, and we have now got well into the second
cutting, or section, so that I may safely assume that if there had been mould,
it would have been seen ere this.

“T send herewith drawings of a wooden silo similar to mine, showing
the press, springs, &c. The cost of a wooden silo this size, 20 feet by 10 feet,

Fig. 7.—Cover of Wooden Silo, showing the means of distributing
the Pressure.

by 10 feet deep, with press complete, is 50/., and its capacity 40 tons. It is
coated with a solution of carbon inside and out, to preserve the wood from
the decaying action of the juices of the grass. I may also state that the
press and springs can be applied to any silo of the same size at a cost of 187.,
and the springs, when closed, show a pressure of 150 lbs. to the square foot

at Home and Abroad. 203

(which I am satisfied from experience is sufficient pressure to produce good
silage); but if more is required, it can be applied by screwing down still
further, as the rods are capable of a strain of over 20 tons each.
Fig. 8.—End Section of Wooden Silo, Fig. 9.—End Section of a Concrete
showing Press Rods, Springs, &c., or Stone-builé Silo, with Screw
Press in operation.

and how applied to the Cover.

PaaRese eee sesh
WZ. Wa lil WA WZ
[ee

and how applied to the Cover.

Fig. 10.—Side Section of Wooden Silo, showing Press Rods, Springs, &c.,

i = =
a ses
SS SS
GZ:
UHI

LLB OSS LA SSE SEES.
iH

ANZ
a 4 e
PESSS}COARSSSE SESS ESSENSE ESTEE SESS
!
Aa
! |

LTTE ASS BSS SOFIE TIS
ican eraerac | Fes)
ro =

FES tt =

Zl ee Nd SSS a NS ELA

“‘ Now the cost of pig-iron to weight a similar surface would be at least
double that amount, without taking into consideration the saving of time
and labour in applying the screw-press, as compared with the lifting on and

off of the dead-weights.

204 _ Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

‘“‘ My press can be applied in 15 or 20 minutes, whereas it is obvious that
the putting on of dead-weight must occupy a very considerable time, but
there is a further advantage of great moment. In filling a silo, after say
4 or 5 feet of grass has been put in, the press can be applied, the air
expelled, and the contents reduced at once, which enables the filling process to
be immediately proceeded with, without waiting for the gradual settling of
the fodder.

Fig. 11.—End Elevation of Wooden Silo, showing Doors.

“Since my interview with you I have thought over the matter of the
action of the sun upon a wooden silo, which might have caused the joints to
open, and the remedy I shall adopt is this :—Instead of having 14-inch boards
to line the silo, I shall adopt a double lining, one of 1-inch floor-boards, and
the other of §}-inch ditto, with joints crossing or overlapping each other,
and waterproof paper inserted between. =e

“‘T may say that I supplied to a gentleman near here, a silo 15 feet long
and 10 feet wide and 10 feet deep, with roof attached, and it stands in his
rickyard along with other stacks, and although not yet opened, there is no
fear of the result.”—January 28th, 1884.

On March 4th Mr. Stocks further wrote as follows :—

“Tn August last I erected my first wood silo (6 feet x 6 feet x feet), and
on the 22nd of that month it was filled with 3 tons 9 cwt. 2 qrs. of oats and
clover, cut quite green, to which I added as an experiment 10 per cent. of
bran (780 Ibs.) and 140 lbs. of salt, which were thoroughly mixed with the
chaffed fodder, my object being that the bran should absorb the juices of the
fodder, which it has done thoroughly.

“The silo was filled to the brim, the cover put on, and the screw-press applied,
which reduced the bulk some 8 or 9 inches at once, and since then it has only
settled 4 inches further. The lever has only required to be applied twice
since the first application, and that within the first week, and the time
occupied on each occasion was not quite 10 minutes,

“ On Friday last the silo was opened, and there is not the slightest mould or
waste, the silage being quite good up to the covering boards, and the flavour
beautifal,—the best I have seen yet. I sent you sample of it by Parcels Post
last night, and shall be glad to have your opinion of it.”

Not having seen any of these silos, but only the samples sent

at Home and Abroad. 205

me by Mr. Stocks, I can only say that the quality of the silage
was very good, slightly acid, and has kept perfectly well.

34, Messrs. F. W. Reynolds § Co., Edward Street, Blackfriars
Road, London, S.E.—This firm has patented another arrange-
ment for the mechanical compression of fodder in silos, which
is thus described by themselves.

These patent appliances consist of chains, rollers, and screw-apparatus for
tightening the chains. A chain is attached to the lower part of the wall of
the silo, in any suitable manner, either by taking it through the wall with a
plate and bolt on the outside, by weighting it in the ground with concrete, or
attaching it toa beam. Exactly opposite, on the other side of the silo, is a
similar chain attached in the same manner. While the silo is being filled,
the ends of these chains are thrown over the walls or hung on spikes on the
sides. After the material is put in the pit, covering-boards are placed over it,
and a stout transverse beam is laid on the top, stretching from side to side of
the silo. In the ends of this beam brackets are fixed to carry movable
rollers, over which the ends of the chains from either side are led. The
hooks of the chain-tightener hook into the links; and on turning the handle of
the screw, the ends of the chain are drawn closer together, causing the beam
and covering of the silo to sink, and so to press the material, Pins are then

Fig. 12.— View illustrating Messrs. Reynolds’s Patent Appliances for
compressing Fodder in Silos.

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206 ‘Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

inserted in the links of each chain to hold the beam down, when the screw-
tightener can be made to take a fresh hold on the chain for further pressure,
or be removed altogether. Any number of beams may be used, according to
the length of the pit and the pressure required per square foot of surface, but
the chain- tightener and pair of rollers are removed from beam to beam, so
that only one set of these is sufficient for any number of silos. What are
really required for each beam, are the two chains and two brackets or bearings
into which the chain rollers are placed when in use.
If, for example, a silo of 15 feet long by 12 feet wide is to be pressed with
a pressure of 200 lbs. per square foot of surface, two beams would be required,
each having its two chains. In tightening the chains, a pressure of 8 tons
can be put upon each beam, or 16 tons on both, and this force, divided by the
area of 15 feet x 12 feet, equals 200 lbs. per square foot of surface, The silo
may be any reasonable “depth, an extra length of chain being all that is
wanted. Should a greater or less surface-pressure be required, it is only
necessary to place the beams nearer together or further apart. So easy and
powerful is the action of the chain- -tightener, that it is found that one man,
by exerting a power of about 60 lbs. (theoretically 40 lIbs.), can put a pressure
of 8 tons on the beam; therefore one man only should use the screw, or un-
necessary pressure may be obtained. By exerting the pressure once daily for
about a week, it is then found that the silage cannot be compressed further,
except at considerable intervals: the application of a continuous dead-weight
is therefore found to be unnecessary. By these patent appliances the pressure
can also be instantly released, and the boards removed to complete the filling
of the silo, or when the silage is to be cut; the pressure can also be applied
at any depth of the silo, either from the extreme top or at any distance from
the bottom. The covering-boards for the silo may be 2 inches thick, and the
transverse beam for a silo of 12 feet wide should be about 9 inches wide by
7 inches deep.
The following are the prices of the appliances :—
Sede
Two wrought tested chains (special brand and pattern), 010
at per foot, depending on depth of silo
Two sets of. cast-iron brackets for chain-rollers, with 016 0
eight coach-screws for screwing to ends of beams .,
Two washer-plates, with pins for holding down .. .. 0 4 0
(The above being required for each beam.) = ————
4-ton screw chain stretcher, with hooks s2 ae Pree Os)
Two cast-iron chain-rollers .. .. F if A030
(Sufficient for any number of silos.) _—
Exampte.—A silo 60 feet long, by 12 feet deep, by
12 feet wide, to produce a pressure of
200 Ibs. on the square foot, would require) £16 0 0
8 beams, carrying 16 chains each of
20 feet = 320 feet at 1s. as
16 sets of cast-iron brackets for ‘chain-
rollers, with coach-screws for screwing 68: 0
to ends of beams, at 8s. per set ..
16 washer-plates, with Sy for holding 112 0
down, at 2s. .. :

One 4-ton screw-chain and stretcher, with 4

05,0

hooks .. at
Two cast-iron chain-rollers, at 10s. plane L0;0
0 0

at Home and Abroad. 207

As I have seen only a model of this machine, I cannot say
anything as to its capabilities, but the patentees inform me that
they have a silo on view at their works fitted completely with
their appliances.

Before leaving this part of the subject I should mention that
“portable silos” are made by Messrs. W. H. Lascelles & Co.,
of 121, Bunhill Row, London. They have been described and
illustrated in ‘The Field,’ and can be seen at the Company’s
works in London, therefore I need not dwell upon them in this

Report.

IV.—FoREIGN SILOs.

A. FRANCE.

1. Vicomte Arthur de Chezelles, Domaine du Boulleaume, pres Chaumont-
en-Vexin (Oise).—The silo is 62 métres (206 feet) long, 4 métres (15 feet)
high, and 63 métres (213 feet) broad, which allows vehicles to move about in
it with facility. It is entirely below the level of the soil, and is constructed
of masonry covered with a coating of cement. The walls are 85 centimétres
(about 2% feet) thick at the bottom, and 55 centimétres (about 13 feet) at the
top. I commenced by an uncovered silo, and succeeded very well by covering
the same with a mass of straw. But I soon recognised the necessity of shel-
tering this same straw under a roof, and by this means to make a large shed
where I could place my wheat and oats instead of stacking them. The silo
cost 4000 francs (160/.), the covering 6000 fr. (240/.); total, 10,000 fr.
(4007.) Thus made it should last for an indefinite time.* It was filled this
year (1883) towards the 25th of May, and the filling was finished with the
second crop towards the 15th of August, and with maize towards the 15th of
September.

I preserve crops of all kinds in the silo, such as red clover, Trifolium
incarnatum, sainfoin, lucerne, and meadow-grass, winter and summer
vetches, maize, &c. According to my experience, all crops should be
mown and pitted a few days before ripeness, and when they are full of
sap. They are pitted in a chopped state, the average length of the
cuttings being from 4 to 8 centimetres (about 13 in. to 23 in.). No dry
substance is ever mixed with the green food at the time of pitting. About
3 to 4 kilogrammes (about 63 to 83 lbs.) of salt are sprinkled on a surface of
8 metres (26 feet). The silo is filled in sections of 8 métres (26 feet) length
as quickly as possible. The crops are trodden as they are put in, more espe-
cially along the side of the walls. The pitting of the crops is hurried, so as to
avoid intreducing air into the mass, and to arrive slowly at a lactic fermenta-
tion, to be followed by the alcoholic stage, and then to arrest it there so as to
avoid the acetic fermentation. The material is compressed by the treading of
the men employed in levelling the pitted fodder, and also by the stamping of the
oxen and horses, which I make pass over the silo in going and returning from
work. The produce, per hectare (23 acres), when placed in the silo is about
24,000 kilogrammes (24 tons). Once pressed, this produce occupies 23 cubic
métres, weighing about 800 kilos. (16 cwt.) the métre.t It has been proved

* IT am indebted to the courtesy of the editor of ‘ The Field, for allowing me
to reproduce the illustrations of M. de Chezelles’s silo given on p. 208.
Taking the cubic métre to be 36 cubic feet, this would give a weight of
about 50 Ibs. per cubic foot—H, M. J.

Fig. 13.—Sectional view of M. de Chezelles’s ‘* Grange Silo.”

SHED FOR GRAIN
STRAW &c

een ee See

at Home and Abroad. 209

that whole fodder diminishes nearly a half; when chopped, the reduction is
only a quarter. For fodder chopped by an engine, the cost for manual labour
alone is 20 franes per hectare (6s. 4d. per acre); for whole fodder the net cost
is 7 francs per hectare (2s. 3d. per acre). In both cases mowing and cartage
must be added to the above cost.

The fodder is cut down vertically 1 or 2 métres in breadth, according to the
needs of the farm, and is done similarly to the method employed for hay in a
stack. Firstly, a great saving of manual labour has been effected in avoiding
the haymaking, and thus making oneself independent of inclement weather,
and being able to gather in the crops even on a rainy day. It has been recog-
nised that this fermentation renders the fodder thus preserved more assimilable
than it would otherwise be. It has been proved that when giving the cattle,
on the one hand, pitted fodder, and, on the other, that dried according to the
ordinary method, they have all-preferred the former. Never has a case of in-
digestion caused by this food been-known; and it is even thought that it excites
the animals’ appetites. This fodder can be preserved easily from one year to
another, and some has been kept two years without deterioration. The
fodder, although separated from the mass, can be consumed 6 or 8 days after,
without being spoilt. Silage is spoilt from two causes: (1) the fault of
pitting, by which air is introduced into the mass of the fodder; (2) holes,
allowing water to get into the silo. or the feeding of the cattle on the farm.
of Bois Guillaume au Boulleaume, the chopped fodder from the silo is brought
to the farm and mixed with thin straw, chopped straw and mangolds for the
cows, and with beetroot pulp for the oxen. It is the same for sheep and
other animals for fattening. As a generalrule, there should be one-third dry
food in the mash of the adult animals. In my mashes about 20 kilos
(45 lbs.) of pitted fodder are placed per head of full-grown cattle.—S2p-
. tember 22nd.

P.S.—The following are the details of the rations of the several kinds of
stock as given during the winter 1883-84 :—

1st. For Cows :—22 lbs. of pitted fodder mixed with other_foods,
making a total of 132 lbs.

2nd. For Heifers who remain at grass all the winter :—About 33 lbs.
of pitted fodder mixed with oat-straw.

3rd. For Horses :—13 lbs. of pitted fodder mixed with other foods.

4th. For feeding-beasts (Oxen and Cows) :—26 lbs. of pitted
fodder mixed with other foods.

5th. For Sheep:—about 2 Ibs. of pitted fodder added to the re-
mainder of their food.

In reply to a special question as to the influence of silage on
the breeding powers of cattle and sheep, M. de Chezelles’s
“regisseur” replied as follows :—

Since our cattle have been fed on pitted fodder, we have experienced none
of the evils of which you speak. Tach year I breed heifers which get on very
well; in fact I have never had a single mishap. All our cows are in excellent
condition. Gestation is quite normal and abortion very rare. I am happy to
furnish you with these details, as they are the exact truth. I have proved it
also with my sheep, which are all going on extremely well. This would not,
however, have been the case if these beasts had been fed exclusively on beet-
root pulp. M. le Vicomte de Chezelles has tried it, but the result has not
been successful. Up to the present, the pitted fodder has yielded very satis-
ey results, though, as you are aware, it is never given by itself to the
cattle. '

VOL. XX.—S. 8. E

210 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

The Vicomte de Chezelles has issued the following directions
for pitting green fodder :—

I think that the crops should be cut a few days before maturity, and when
they are full of sap. All kinds can be pitted, viz., Trifolium incarnatum,
lucerne, sainfoin, meadow-grass, winter and summer vetches, rye, and green
maize, though the latter is less profitable pitted than when eaten green (this
refers to my district). The pressure should be arranged as regularly and
evenly as possible, especially along the wall and in the corners of the silo,
Pressure is obtained in the middle by making the cattle and horses pass over
it when going toand returning from work. It is absolutely necessary to
have a man in the silo to spread the fodder as it arrives. It is difficult to
give the pressure per square métre. No straw or well-dried hay must ever be
mixed with the green crops that it is intended to pit. The walls of the silo
should be plastered over, but the bottom should be made of a good dry
ground. The former should be straight, and the corners rounded. The
depth of the silo should be from 13% feet to 15 feet, breadth about 23 feet,
so that a carriage could have no difficulty in turning in it; the length must
vary according to the needs of the farm. Silage is best made in cloudy or
hazy weather, as too much dryness would be detrimental. It is pitted in
successive layers, a little salt being added to each layer of 12 to 14 inches
thick. When the fodder is about 3 feet above the level of the soil, it should
be again well pressed down by the cattle, and by the men along the sides,
and then be covered by a layer of earth or sand of 12 to 13 inches thick. In
feeding cattle, the fodder, when pitted, is mixed with chopped straw and beets
for the cows; for oxen, sheep, and other animals for fattening, it is mixed
with pulp. Green fodder placed unchopped in the silo, and which is perfectly
preserved, is given whole to the young beasts and foals, but it must be
chopped (when taken from the silo) when it is to be mixed with other fodder.

General rule: for adult animals, mashes should contain one-third dry food.

There is in our mashes about 44 lbs. of pitted fodder per head of cattle.
The nett cost-price per ton is based on the estimate what the crops have cost,
to which the expenses of loading, unloading, and pitting must be added. For
this work, five men load the waggons, whose number varies according to the
distance of the land to the silo. The fodder is unloaded, and two men arrange
and press it down in the silo. When chopped, as is done at Boulleaume, two
men unload and place it on the table of the maize-cutter, two others feed the
machine, and another two arrange it in the silo. To the wages of these men
must be added the hire of the engine, the day’s work of the engineer, and the
value of the fuel consumed. Therefore the nett cost-price is about 8s. 6d. or
9s. per acre.* The pitting of the unchopped fodder, with the two men in the
silo, would only cost 3s. per acre. But in both cases mowing and cartage will
be extra. It is well to observe here that in this district the daily wages of a
man for mowing are from 2s. 83d. to 3s, 14d.

The diminution of pitted fodder when whole is about half; when chopped
it is a third; we therefore think it best to chop the fodder, as the sinking
takes place more regularly, and besides which, there is economy of space.

When a silo is uncovered, 12 to 13 inches of earth must be placed on the
fodder, and a strong hay-cock should then be placed above to prevent the water

* The following analysis will show how we divide the nett cost :—

Busy Che
NGQWID Giga fad awe lhe fh ahmenel ane See giana eo Eee
Cartage a Ee Se NY ew ope le ot
Loading Poe i Wass 2 14 re
RichicUIWOR sn se pee Mises “es. tres 2 1% rf
Pressure (by stamping of men in silo) .. 0 10 »

8 6

at Home and Abroad. 211

penetrating into the interior of the silo. A covered silo is always preferable,
the more so as serving as shelter to the crops and the rolling-plant of the farm.

I visited the Vicomte de Chezelles on January 5th this year,
and carefully examined his silo, which presents several points
of interest. In the first place, there is the enormous length,
206 feet, without any internal division; nevertheless M. de
Chezelles does not attempt to commence filling the whole
length at once, but confines himself to a section of about 26 feet
atatime. I believe that this method of filling a long silo has
not yet been tried in England. Another distinctive feature is
the care with which each layer of green food is trodden as it is
put in. Men are employed to stamp round the sides, and four
heavy draught oxen (weighing probably 15 cwts. or more each),
as well as horses, from time to time perambulate the remainder.

The result is easily seen in the face of the cutting of the
silage, by the depression of the lines of fodder towards the
centre of the silo—the result of the superior weight of the
oxen. The fodder being thus so thoroughly trodden as it is put
in, subsequent weighting is not so important as it otherwise
would be. Therefore M. de Chezelles finds it sufficient to cover
the fodder with about 12 or 13 inches of earth, using no boards
and no weights. The silo is capable of holding nearly 1500
tons, and cost only 400J., including the large barn above. Of
course some allowance must be made for difference in the cost
of labour in France as compared with England, but probably
25 per cent. would be sufficient on that score—making the cost
in England 500/., or only 6s, 8d. per ton-capacity of the silo,
for silo and barn together. It need scarcely be added that a
smaller silo and barn would be relatively more costly, because,
whatever its size, the silo must have two end walls, In one
end of the silo at M. de Chezelles’s is a very large and wide
doorway, of such dimensions that a cart can back into the silo
to be filled with the silage. When the silo is full, this doorway
is closed up by means of boards, and just inside about six
inches in depth of the silage goes mouldy; otherwise there is
said to be no waste, and certainly I could not perceive any.
The silage is cut down vertically, but in steps; and this plan
enabled me to inspect not only the whole height of the mass, but
also its quality at different distances inside. A sample sent to
me afterwards consisted of clover, which had been put in long in
consequence of an accident to the chopping-machine. It was
very aromatic, and pleasingly so. I placed the box containing
it in the laboratory, and without any covering, and although
examined frequently by visitors, it did not go mouldy for a
fortnight. I should add that M. de Chezelles was awarded a
gold medal at the last Paris Fat-stock Show (February), for
the sample of silage which he exhibited there.

p 2

212 _Reyort on the Practice of Ensilage,

2. Mens. H. Cottu, La Touché, par Azay-le-Rideau (Indre-et-Lotre).—In
making my silos I thought it more practical to have several of medium size
rather than a very large one. It struck me that the more limited the space
of working, the chances of loss would be proportionately lessened: and there-
fore that it was preferable to let the greater part of my preserved fodder be
well stored without any openings. This decided me to turn a stable for
20 head of cattle into 8 silos, length 10 métres (33 feet), breadth 2 métres
(6 ft. 8 in.), and depth 3 métres (10 ft.). They are separated by a wabl
AO inches in thickness, which allows the cutting-machines to be set up on one .
silo or another. I have adopted this plan to facilitate the inspection and pre-
servation of the pitted fodder. My silos are on the level of the soil, but are
at the highest part of the farmyard. They have been sunk in a bed of hard
tufa, which forms the small hill, at the base of which are my farm-buildings.
After the pits had been sunk, they were lined with lime-mortar, on which a
layer of Portland cement has been placed. The eight silos form a whole, entirely
cemented, and appear to be as one. I made my first trial with a single silo,
cemented, and open above. The preservation has been perfectly successfut.
Earth in this case was the material employed to load the silo. The first cost for
digging the eight silos was 260 francs (10/. 8s.), and 3100 francs (124/.) for the
coating of mortar and laying on the Portland cement. ‘To that must be added
the sum of 1800 francs (721.), the cost of the roofing. According to my calcula-
tions, they should last indefinitely, without any appreciable cost for repairs; as
to the roofing, or rather the framework, having been made very light, it will
have to be renewed in another twelve years; it has already lasted eight years.

I commenced filling the silos on the 16th of September, and finished one
silo on the 20th. I shall continue to do so on the 24th of September till my
maize crop is completely harvested. I have preserved all crops—hay,
sainfoin, lucerne, grass, vetches, rye and oats, green maize, stalks of artichokes,
tubers of artichokes, and beets unpulped and mixed with “ husks.” I preserve
especially vetches, rye, and maize. When I took these crops out of the silo,
they were nearly in the same state as when they were put in; the maize was
a little greenish-yellow, and gave off a strong odour of alcohol. The vetches,
lucerne, grass, and artichoke-stalks become a deeper colour, inclining to
maroon, and exhale an odour of brown honey. I take and cut the lucerne,
vetches, and grass at the beginning of the flowering period, the maize when
the panicles of the flowers show themselves en masse in the fields at the top
of the stalks, and the artichokes when in full flower. I pit them always after
chopping. This year, finding myself pressed with work in the spring, I pitted
the vetches and rye unchopped. ‘They were well preserved, but the working
of the silo has been very difficult for the herdsmen, and the loss to the cow-stalls
much greater than with the preliminary chopping; therefore it would have
been more profitable if l had chopped them as usual. The average length of cut-
tings is 1 centimétre (2 inch). The mass thus becomes more homogeneous, and
a certain cubic space being given, I utilise it as completely as possible by
cutting up finely, for by this means I am able to store a greater quantity of
fodder. When I have, towards the end of the year, some cavings of wheat
and oats which have not been used, 1 have them placed among the pitted
maize till they are exhausted. This is done by placing the cavings in large
sacks, and the man who looks after the cutting-machine lets one of the sacks
of cavings fall in the silo at intervals. The women in the silo mix the cavings
with the maize; the mixture is always rich, z.e., with a small proportion of
cavings. J also use them before beginning to cut by spreading a layer of
them of from 15 to 26 centimétres (6 to 8 inches) at the bottom of the silo.
This species of cushion absorbs the juices of the pitted fodder, if any are pro-
duced, and is mixed with the latter when the silo is opened. I always add
common salt in pitting; not so much to aid the preservation, as to furnish my
animals with the salt which they require, and thereby I can avoid placing the
pieces of rock salt (always difficult to fix properly) in the feeding troughs.

at Home and Abroad. 213

I put about 400 k. (8 cwt.) into one silo; the sack of salt is lowered into it,
and one of the women who is accustomed to do this work, takes about
10 litres (about 9 quarts) from the sack ; she sows this salt in perambulating
the silo, and recommences the process at the end of a certain time.

I try, as far as possible, to have the silo filled at one operation, and as
quickly as I can. I have therefore five women sent into the silo, one of
whom sends to the bottom the chopped material, and another arranges and
makes it equal, the other three walk about, treading it principally along the
walls, and distributing the salt and cavings. By these means I believe I
avoid mouldiness, and obtain a perfect and regular fermentation. The upper
surface, where it is pitted at intervals, unless it is weighted each time, comes
in contact with the air, which penetrates it more or less, and, by contact with
the hot gases which rise from the mass, produces rapidly at the somewhat
great depth of 20 to 25 centimétres (8 to 10 inches) cryptogamic plants
(mould) which are injurious to cattle. I have proved this each time that an
accident to the machine has happened; once we had to stop for three or four
days, and a whitish layer showed itself along the whole extent of the silo.
In a word, the same phenomenon is produced as that which causes the crust
of mouldiness which is to be found at the top part of a silo when it is opened.

My silos have perfectly vertical walls, and the angles are rounded: each
has the number of planks intended to entirely cover it. The silo filled, the
surface is covered with sawdust or cavings: on this cushion, for preventing
the ingress of the atmosphere, planks 1 m. 98 (about 2 yards) long and
25 cent. (10 inches) broad, are placed alongside each other, so as to join as
much as possible. They are placed broadwise: the end-planks are rounded to
the size and shape of the silo. I then put another flooring, placed length-
ways, of small planks, of from 75 c. to 80c. long (80 to 82 inches), to cover
thus three of the planks placed broadwise. There are three longitudinal lines
of these small planks, one in the middle, and one alongeach wall: these three
_ lines of planks support the weights, which consist of stones, and distribute the
pressure equally over all the rest (Fig. 15, p. 216, vr.). The outside planks are
more heavily loaded than those in the middle, as the air has more tendency to
pass along the walls. This “ modus operandi” has the advantage of allowing
two or three planks at each time to be taken off: z.e., exposing only a quantity
sufficient for the consumption of three or four days. I estimate the pressure
of the stones at 500 kil. the square métre (about 100 lbs. per square foot).

By the system above described the pressure is continuous, as the planks
can be made to slide easily along the walls, and follow the subsidence of
the pressed mass: the pressure only ceases when the last cut of fodder
from the silo is given to the cattle. This mode of proceeding has ap-
peared to me preferable to the use of earth and other means, as the removal
of the stones, &c., is easy and rapid, and the pressure remains the same. I
eanuot reply with precision to your question as to the weight of crops
put in and taken out. I think the weight must have varied very little, as
the humidity appeared similar at the time of opening the silo to what it was
when the crops were chopped and pitted. As to the cost of filling and
emptying the silo, I may say that I bargained for the whole work by the
piece, viz., harvesting, loading the carts, cutting, &c., in silo, at 70 francs
(27. 16s.) per hectare (23 acres, and therefore about 22s. per acre), I fur-
nished two horses and a mowing-machine, also two horses and carts. It can,
however, be done cheaper; six men and four women are sufficient for the
maize-mowing ; women collect it and put it intosheaves, which the men bind.
Two men are necessary to load the waggons; at the silo three men are
necessary to supply the man who feeds the maize-cutter; finally, there are
five women in the silo: under these conditions a hectare of maize can be cut
and mown perday. The men’s wages being 3f. 50c. each (2s, 93d.), and that
of the women 1 f. 50 c. (1s. 23d.) each, the total for labour is 55 fr. 50 c.
(21, 4s. 4d.) To this must be added the cost of the horses, the wages of the

214 ’ Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

carman, and the consumption of fuel by the engine, equal 30 fr. (ll. 4s;
making a total of 3/. 8s. 4d. for 24 acres). The cost of the planking for
covering the silo is 32 fr. 50c. (about 1. 6s.), and the planks are 3 cm. (a
little more than 1 inch) thick. As to the stones, they cost 30 fr. (10. 4s.) the
8 cubic métres: and no more than this quantity was used to load the silo.

The cost of emptying the silo is insignificant. When a silo is opened, the ©

man raises the stones which load the three small planks at the end of the
silo to compress the three large planks placed broadwise. He places the
stones on the platform which separates it from the neighbouring silo, then he
raises the three big planks, and takes off next the crust of the surface of the
silage, composed of sawdust and a little fodder, packed and mouldy, where the
gases from the mass have fixed themselves. He takes each day the necessary
quantity by cutting down vertically as in a haystack: the remainder of the
silo remains loaded as before. Arrived at a certain depth, he takes a ladder,
and, by means of a large basket, fills his small cart (or waggon) with the
pitted fodder. This cut having gone to the bottom of the silo, more stones
are taken off: the small planks are removed by sliding them, and one of the
big planks is raised, and the cut thus commenced is similarly continued to
the bottom. Thus the mass is always loaded; the cut in use hardly lasts
beyond two days, and if there is old hay to be consumed, the cutting can
be done easily even above the silo, and the mixture with the pitted stuff
arranged conveniently at the end of the cleared-out silo, even at the very
bottom of the cut. ;

The results obtained from the process of ensilage are considerable; and I
will give them in detail. My property, when 1 bought it in 1871, con-
sisted of 16 hectares (40 acres), and maintained 5 cows. Thanks to ensilage, I
am now able to keep 16 milch cows, a bull, and 4 or 5 young breeding beasts.
I have besides 6 horses, whose entire fodder and two-thirds of their oats
are grown on my estate. Finally, the sale of wheat pays for half of the
artificial food that I buy for my cattle. These results induced me to purchase
last year a neighbouring estate where I could place my young stock, my
present space not being sufficient at present. I possess now 22 head. Each year
a portion of my land of between 4 or 5 hectares in extent is put aside exclu-
sively for the feeding of my cows, and it amply suffices. The remainder of my
estate is devoted to meadow, corn, and artificial grasses, which do not form
a part of the food of the cows, or at least no appreciable quantity; for
example, the turning out and folding for two hours a day on a meadow which
has already been twice mown. ‘This numerous herd has enabled me to
manure my land richly, and to obtain some very good crops; finally, these
animals, regarded as milk-producers, give a remarkable profit. Again, we
must credit ensilage with the perfect regularity with which the rations of
food can be obtained, and which allows us to serve out always a full quantity to
the animals, an important point, the advantage of which has been shown by
my weighing-machine. When a silo is opened, a small specimen is taken
out and analysed, and after analysis the ration is compounded according to
the age of the animals, from the triple point of view of nitrogenous matter,
of fatty matter, and extractives. I can support this opinion by the weekly
weight of the animals bred on my estate and fed exclusively on this food.
A heifer born on the 22nd of March, 1880, the complete weaning being finished
on the 25th of July, weighed on that date 197 kil. From week to week the
following are the weights: 205 kil—218—230—230—242—250—260—
266—281—296—295—304—309—3813—314—319—330—335—340—349—
350—360—369—3871— 3874— 382 —389—401— 403—400—409—418—429
(the 20th of March). I must ask you to pardon me for not sending the
weights of the second year, but the 28th of March, at two years six days
old, the beast weighed 733 kil. Not having bred, she was sold to the butcher
for 700 francs (287.) on the Ist of June, 1882, weighing 770 kil. (about
15 ewt. 1 qr. 14 lbs.), and gave 470 kil. (about 9 cwt. 1 qr. 14 Ibs.) of meat.

4

at Home and Abroad. PALS.

This beast never was put up to fatten, but received only the ordinary rations
of the other cattle. At the present time, I have 4 heifers: one, a yearling,
weighs 340 kil.; another, 1 year and 7 months old, weighs 454 kil.; another,
1year and 3 months old, weighs 425 kil.; and the last, 11 months old, weighs
289 kil. I may observe that in January 1880 I published, in ‘Le Journal
d’Agriculture Pratique,’ all my tables of rations. Finally, silage is, during
the whole year, the basis of the feeding of the cattle on my estate, and yields
me results, several examples of which I have cited.

J have never found in the silage any special results attributable to the
succulence of the crops when pitted. The succulence of crops cannot, I
fancy, influence the preservation, different agencies alone can influence it.
I beg to hand you my observations: some frozen maize, that is to say, some
that had been completely exfoliated by an early frost, pitted on the 28th of
October, 1881, and analysed the 3rd of December, 1881, gave a nutritive
value of ;},,* @.e. an almost complete ration, when eight other analyses made
in 1877, 1878 and 1879, 1880; and 1882 have never given a nutritive value
higher than 5,5; it is therefore evident that the frost, by killing the leaves,
left only the stalks, which is much richer in sugar. ‘The richest silage
that I have made was with sainfoin, the analysis of which showed the
nutritive value to be =4,,; this was rather too rich.

In spite of different opinions, I have no doubt that the pitting of wet fodder
has an injurious effect on its fermentation. The rain-water which brings prin-
cipally ammoniacal nitrogen (Schleesing) into the silo introduces a principle
which may turn the mass acid. When the crops are very wet, the fermenta-
tion becomes butyric, and the mass gives off an unwholesome smell. The
animals will sometimes eat it, but only when pushed by hunger. Acidity
in this case increases rapidly during the period of consumption ; I will even
say that it is good to avoid the dew, and if anything can add to the success
of the preservation, it is,—I will not say making hay of it in the sun,—
but allowing it to fade, and get rid of all its outer humidity.

The proof of this fact has been recently given in a pitting of rye and
vetches. Rain had wetted a part in the fields; the pitting was begun under
good conditions, and the fodder in the bottom of the silo was good; where the
iodder had been pitted wet, the cut presented a black stripe, well defined,
and the smell of which was acid. The bottom portion had a good alcoholic
smell: the upper part made with the same crops (but which had been cut
in the morning and pitted only in the evening, because we were stopped the
evening before by rain, and I did not wish to bring back the whole of my
workpeople the next morning, so as to finish at once), had received the
morning sun, was thus rid of all dew, and had a smell of burnt sugar really
succulent. It cannot be attributed to the place occupied at the top of the
mass, this last part being more than 80 cent. (32 inches) in thickness. The
contents of each of my silos last about three months, without deterioration ;
but, as I have explained above, the fodder is only consumed according to
the requirements of the farm. Each year in June and July I buy grains
from a brewer at Tours, and put from 12 to 15 tons into a silo. For this
purpose, one of my silos is divided into three parts; I generally fill only
two. This silo is covered and weighted like the others: it is put in use
almost immediately after being filled, and thus lasts five or six months
without appreciable loss, but only a small cut of the whole depth is taken
each day. It has often happened that, having a careful man, I have had,
at the time of renewal of my stock of grains, some of that which had been

* JT should explain that this system of expressing the nutritive value of food
means that the fodder contains one part of digestible matter to a certain quantity
not available as food.

216 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

in use for five months, and it was perfectly good. Care must be taken,
especially with regard to the grains,to leave no remnant or spoilt portion of
the above in the bottom of the silo. The greatest care, in fact, must be
observed in this particular.

There are several reasons for the variations in the keeping qualities of
pitted fodder ; firstly, the pressure is a great cause of long preservation, and
should last all the time and up to the last moment; then the greater or
less outer humidity of the crops at the time of pitting. ‘The pitted fodder
when wetted becomes acid immediately, if itis not so already, and blackens
on contact with the air. Finally, another case, rarer, and which only shows
itself in the ensilage of rye, is the dry rot. When rye has. been cut a little
too late, the most energetic pressure is unable to crush the thousand little
pipes formed in the stalks. On opening the silo the air penetrates the
whole mass, which, not having had sufficient internal humidity to set up
its fermentation, is sometimes even heated. The access of the air produces
combustion, and there is nothing but a light, felt-like, whitish mass, full of
fungi, and fit only to be thrown away. All pitted crops in full sap,
without much external humidity, I will say even with as little humidity as
possible, can be well preserved, and retain a good odour for several days after
having been cut, even if the working face of the cut is left exposed for
some time.

I enclose a plan of my silos; their arrangement, mode of covering, and the
pressure used.— September 22nd, 18838.

Fig. 15.—Plan of M. Cottu’s Silos.

a a a a
A A A A
P iP: P P
a a a Qa
A A A A
P 2B P P
o a Q a
A A A A
ie a P ps
3
A A A A
Pp P Pp i
x a A a
V-
A. Posts supporting roof. : p. Places for storing the stones when not in use.
c. Fixed, hooks to attach or hold the maize- x. Position of steam-engine when working the
cutter. maize-cutter.
p. Large planks covering the silo. vy. Lines of railway leading to the cow-
Fr. Small planks placed longitudinally and | houses.
supporting the stone weights. Z. Separating walls.

Below, I beg to hand you an analysis of sainfoin, in which lucerne pre-
dominated :—

Water eae eel Soe Ae A eee 74°49
Ash wih Lise) tend JRA aks aie ene ee
Albuminous matters Jel weeny Uae 4°57
LOVE. Re SACRA eae ne RL et 0°61
Non-nitrogenous matters ioe” (8 lcnes og aera
BLOBS mac, | vs ea, hee eee” ana CO

Total ..° 3 | Fy eOOROO

at Home and Abroad. Dp IY

The following is the analysis of the same fodder fresh, taken from the
Tables of M. von Géhrer, which gives an approximate idea of the change that
fermentation has produced in the fodder :—

Water n= AR ee 75°3
MEANT OR LCOD co faa sei ouids auasedaeMeunir se nae «
(Ash in 100 parts of dry matter 7°46)
Albuminous matters... sais ngs gigs COME Gn WIM D>
Fat seeah ve O°7
Non-nitrogenous matter .... 8-4
GOD AIDTG ae a) wale 9°3

This analysis differs very little from that of pitted fodder. I believe that
the difference bears principally on the digestibility of the materials rather
than in the change of the matter itself. I have also undertaken an enquiry
into the fermentation of these fodders, which I shall have pleasure in com-
municating to you when it is finished.

3. Monsieur E. Lecouteux, Chateau de Cergay, par La Motte Beuvron
(Loir-et-Cher).—Silage at Cercay is made in a barn, which becomes dis-
engaged in September, after the corn has been threshed. It is ona level
with the soil, which rests on a subsoil too damp in winter for dig%ing or
pitting under-ground. The size of the barn is as follows :—

Be, be a i a Ot square surface 74 métres (90°4 sq. yards).

Height of the pitted vegetable mass, 4 métres (4 yds. 1 ft. 4 in.).

ire b total before pitting, 296 métres (405 cub. yds, 17 cub. ft.).
For both of the two barns serving as silos, 592 metres (811 c. yds. 7c. ft.).
Ditto after pitting six weeks, 444 métres (608 c. yds. 12 c. ft.)

There are three bays in brickwork. That in the middle measures 53 métres
(63 yards), and those at the ends 4 metres (4 yds. 1 ft. 4 in.) each. ‘Total
in the longitudinal axis of the buildings, 133 métres (15 yds.). They are
marked by pilasters of 45 cm. (about 14 ft.) to the square. The walls
between the pilasters are 35 cm. (14 inches) thick. ‘he roof is slate,
costing 4 francs the square métre (34d. per square foot). The brickwork
cost 20 francs the cubic métre (11s. 8d. per cubic yard). I estimate the
building to last forty years at least. In each year I use it both for housing
cereals and for the pitting of maize. Last year, the last named operation
was done between the 20th and the 30th of Octcber.

I sometimes pit pure maize; sometimes maize mixed with chopped straw,
dry hay, and threshed vetches ; sometimes maize mixcd with green meadow
grass, clover, lucerne, &c. ‘The maize is harvested nearly ripe, when the
corn is half-milky (demi-laiteux), and when the fingers can crush it.
Trifolium incarnatum is harvested when in full flower, and the late cut of
lucerne just before the flowering, which, however, last year did not come, as
the late season was against it. The maize is cut into about 2 to 4 cm.(23 cm.
= 1 inch) lengths, but grass is not cut. I do not use salt. It is only
useful when damaged crops are mixed with other fodder, and pitted together.
In such cases it will improve the damaged fodder. Each of my silos is filled
in three or four days. When from bad weather or other causes it is impos-
sible to fill the silo quickly, there is no need to worry oneself. The sinking
is better, and by this means a greater quantity of fodder can be pitted.
Nevertheless I prefer to pit quickly, and put it together very high (4 and
5 métres). The heap of maize will be the more reduced in height the
greater the quantity piled up. Evidently the upper layers press down the
lower ones. ‘The maize thus compresses itself. In this way I obtain a first
pressure. What is good for maize also holds good for other pitted materials.

218 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

To perfect the first pressure, I place a layer of stones, bricks, or heavy
material on the maize. These weights lie on planks placed at various
distances. On these I finish my covering by placing trusses of straw.
I estimate that a load of 300 kilos (6 cwt.) per square metre (61 lbs. per
square foot) is sufficient to obtain a good result. Under the above conditions
the sinking will have taken place in about six weeks.

In 1883 my two silos received—

Maize... .§\-. ss os ««) -aq4ie, O00 kilosn@yeaions):
Straw and chopped grasses .. .. 6,000 ,, (6 tons).

478,000 ,, (478 tons).
Weight per cubic métre before pitting ..800 kilos (16 ewt.), or 483 Ibs.
per cubic foot.
= 5 when used.. ..900 to 1000 kilos (18 cwt. to
‘ 1 ton, or 542 to 60 lbs. per
cubic foot).

The cost per hectare of harvesting and pitting maize is as follows :—

Per Hectare. Per 1000 Kilos.
Francs. £..8- sags Be le
Reaping: ce heey meade Fock 9 0 77 Ae | Og) 0 1?
Cartage yee oe Sian ee 36 1 8 8} 0-76 0 72
Loading’ “i 2 hs ot See 2E7o0)* | Ne pom) 0°61 0 5%
Chopping and filling silo .. .. DSL O) Om 0°53 0 5
Labourinsiloy o3 25-4 peel wee 10 0 7 103 0:25 0 2%
Chopping straw, &c., in addition.. 2:40 | 0 1103 | 0°05 0 03
a — SS =
1 ICO) a Wes ne: Bie ty 2°39 1 103+

* Equal to 35s. per acre. + Equal to that amount per ton.

The maize harvested occupied 10 hectares (25 acres) of ground. Each
hectare gave 47,360 kilos (47 tons 7 cwt.). The silage for use is taken
daily from the silo by vertical cuts. The great result of ensilage at Cercay,
on an estate purchased at 400 francs the hectare (67. 8s. per acre) twenty-five
years ago, is that it has enabled me to base the winter-feeding of my cattle
on a crop which is perfectly fitted to the climate, which produces a large bulk
of fodder, and which needs, above all, phosphatic manures (7.e. the least
expensive manuring material), and which, finally, is alike useful for the
production of milk and meat, and for the maintenance of draught animals.
Without maize, the basis of feeding my cattle would be gone; or, at least, 1
should be able to maintain only very few. The cultivation of maize requires
less labour than that of beets and other roots. In a late and during a wet
season, the reaping of the after-crops is both difficult and costly. The pro-
cess of ensilage has rendered me very great service by enabling me to convey
my after-crops, quite wet, into my maize-silos, upon which fermentation pro-
duces a homogeneous and succulent mass. Vegetable moisture contained in
green crops has never created difficulty, or occasioned me loss. Rain never
stops ensilage; but the work-people do not like to carry the maize wet in the
fields on their backs. Rain does not affect the preservation of the maize.
The ensilage of Zrifolium cut in June, when in full flower, is a grand expe-
dient for getting over the months (often dry and burning) of July and
August, when the crops resist in a very small degree the sun’s heat. In this
case the enemy is outstripped. When it comes, that is to say, when all above
is burning, the early crops are being preserved in the silo.

| a

at Home and Abroad. 219

When, by pressure, the fermentation of pitted fodder does not surpass the
degree of an “alcoholic fermentation,” the only deterioration that takes place is
in the parts touching the sides of the silo, or at the top of the mass. ‘lo say
that there is no fermentation, would be to deny the existence of the natural
laws which govern accumulations of vegetable matter. There is heat, intro-
duction of the atmosphere, escape of gas, and fermentation. The essential
point is that the fermentation should stop at the proper time. I have
never remarked changes arising from the vertical cutting when the silage is
being used. Then, the fodder is well packed, and the emptying can last two
months without the material being deteriorated. It is, of course, understood
that the silo must be emptied precisely in accordance with the progress of
the cutting. I attribute successful results of preservation to the settling and
pressure of the material from the beginning of the process. All crops can be
pitted green. The possibility of this should induce agriculturists to devote
two and three times the area of land to the growing of these crops, although
there may be no longer any necessity to consume them almost the day they are
harvested. They can be pitted for use during the winter, and even sometimes,
in the case of early crops, they Gan be kept for consumption during the dry
season. Trifolium is among these last. LEnsilage, in fact, has totally
changed the question of green crops. As to the feeding-value of pitted
maize and other green crops, it would be difficult at present to give the exact
figures. I believe that it is excellent for milch-cows, draught oxen, and
fattening beasts.*—January 18th, 1884.

On the 1st of October, 1883, I witnessed the filling of one of
M. Lecouteux’s silos, having on previous occasions witnessed
the utilisation of a portion of the contents of his and neigh-
bouring silos. The only remarks which I find it necessary to
make are, (1) that, owing to the use of Albaret’s centrifugal
cutter, one man was enabled to keep the maize equally spread
over the silo; (2) that the whole of the work was stopped for
half an hour before each meal-time, and for that interval every-
body employed in the business was sent into the silo to stamp
down as much as possible what had been put in since the last
‘* promenade,” the women being specially told off to tread the
portions nearest to the walls; (3) that the weighting material
consisted of bricks laid upon boards, and very carefully arranged.

Our well-known honorary member, M. Lecouteux, is the
author of one of the best books on the subject. It is entitled
‘Le Mais, et les autres fourrages verts: Culture et Ensilage.’

The second edition was published in 1883.

4. M. de Monicault, Versailleux par Villurs-les-Dombes (Ain) France.—1
have two twin silos (é.e. a double silo), each being 24 métres (80 feet) in
length, 3 métres (10 fect) in depth, and one 23 métres (82 feet), and the other
32 metres (112 feet) in breadth, representing for both a capacity of 432 cubic
metres (say 16,000 cubic feet). One-third of each silo is above the soil, and
two-thirds below. The bottom and sides are constructed of concrete. They
have no permanent roof. They are economically made, and their form is

* The maize-cutting at Cercay has been done this year with the centrifugal
eutter of Albaret. This instrument is greatly suited for silos which are filled
from above (see pp. 224 et seq.)

220 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

rectangular. They are filled very easily by bringing the fodder to them

direct; and an easy ascent, starting from the bottom of the silos, allows the

little vehicles which carry the fodder to the cattle-troughs to be easily filled.

T estimate the cost of making the two silos at 2400 francs (96/.). The time

they will last depends upon the quality of the concrete, and that is indefinite
. when the work is well done. ;

I filled the silos in May and September, the maize having been put in
about the 20th of September, and meadow-grass, and various spring crops
at the earlier date. I pit the crops when they are green, and at the com-
mencement of their flowering stage. Grass and other spring crops are put
in whole, but maize is chopped completely to a length of about 2 centi-
métres (not quite l inch). Neither salt nor straw is mixed with the pitted
fodder, and the silos are filled as quickly as possible, but at several intervals ;
and each time the materials are well trodden. To obtain good results, the
fodder should be pitted as quickly as possible; but by filling the silos at
various intervals, they are better turned to use, because a greater quantity of
fodder can thus be stored in them. Each silo is filled in less than a week.
I weight the fodder each time I place any in the silos, by first having it
covered with planks, and then loaded with big stones, to the extent of 400
kilogrammes at least per square métre (say 80 lbs. to the square foot). The
weight of the crop put in is nearly the same as that of the pitted fodder taken
out. The fodder is cut down vertically, like hay in a stack. I have found
the process of ensilage to be an economical way of preserving crops, and to
give the advantage of a green food in all seasons; and especially in my case
it enables me to grow maize on a large scale. A proper proportion of this
pitted fodder introduced into the daily rations of the cattle is a beneficial
practice for milch cows as well as breeding and fattening animals.

When the fodder has been properly preserved, it can be consumed as
required, without any fear of perceptible deterioration. It is always better to
cut only a slice from the silo, in proportion to the daily needs of the farm. The
silo need not be opened more than every two or three days, but I take from
mine every day. Good preservation of fodder depends entirely on: (1) The
state in which the fodder has been harvested and preserved; it should not
be in a too matured condition. (2) An energetic consolidation.

It appears to me that the pitted fodder ought only to constitute a portion
of the food of the cattle, and not the entirety. In the proportion of } or 2
of the total nutritive value, its employment is advantageous. I mix the
pitted fodder with the dry food, namely, hay and straw previously chopped
up. But it is necessary that each farmer should make comparative trials;
for as with hay, so it is with pitted fodder, according to the seasons, and the
skill employed, fodders of different values will be obtained. Ensilage,as I have
already said, furnishes me economically and at all seasons with a green crop.
It lightens our hay-time ; and permits me finally to get in the greater part of
the green maize-crop. The instrument for chopping the maize must be
powerful; and the centrifugal cutter of M. Albaret is the only one in my
opinion which gives a good result.

5. Mons. le Comte Roederer, Bois Roussel, par Essai, Dép. de? Orne.—I have
four silos, of different sizes, containing from 120 to 200 cubic métres each, and
all below the level of the soil. They are built of stone or brick, cemented,
and were dug inside a building already existing. I have experimented with
silos simply dug out of a dry soil, and filled with grass. The fodder, covered by
earth, kept very well, but I did not continue the use of this method, my built
silos being sufficient for my purposes. It is difficult to state the cost, almost
none of the materials having been bought, With careful repairing they may
last a great many years. ‘The largest was filled this year (1883) in May ;

at Home and Abroad. py Pi

the others will be put in use in September and October, according to the
weather and the ripeness of the crops.

I preserve by ensilage beetroots, green maize, clover, lucerne, sainfoin,
vetches, grass from the lawns, and in fact every kind of green fodder having
sap enough to ferment. ‘The crops are cut ripe, and when full of sap, and
are generally chopped before being put into the silos into about oue inch-
lengths. I leave them unmixed with other materials, considering any addi-
tion superfluous.

The silos are filled at intervals, but only of a few days’ duration, my
reason being that the principal purpose being to exclude air as much as
possible, it is better attained by leaving the pitted materials a little time to
settle more firmly. During the filling, several times every day, the work-
people employed on this operation are sent to walk all together on the
surface. When the silo is entirely filled it is covered up, first with grass of
the worst quality, destined to protect the silo, and to be thrown away, and
over it a great quantity of rough stones, as heavy as possible. The average
weight of the green crops can be estimated at 1000 kilogrammes (one ton
avoirdupois) per cubic métre, and this is reduced about a fifth part by
fermentation,

Each 100 cubic métres generally requires 8 days’ work of men, 12 of
women, 4 days of the steam-engine, and 1200 kilogrammes (24 cwt.) of coals.
The expense of mowing is always the same; the bringing home of the crops
is more or less expensive, according to the distance of the field. One day’s
work is enough for covering the fodder with stones. The cost of emptying
the silos cannot be accurately estimated, this work being done daily by the
herdsmeémin charge of feeding the cattle. They take it in layers from the top.

The best results have been obtained by me with this system. In rainy
seasons, when hay could not be dried, 1 have saved crops in considerable
quantities.

I have not found any result specially attributable to succulence of the
crops, or to external moisture upon them, except on one or two occasions,
when too young grass was brought in quite dripping from rain, and even then
it was not entirely spoilt, and could be consumed. ‘The worst condition is
when too dry, the sap necessary for fermentation being then wanting. The
pitted fodder will keep for months, if only taken out with care, that is,
taking it by layers, and not in the same place, so that the surface does not
remain too many days in contact with the air. Pitted fodder, when well
prepared should, in fact, always keep wholesome for months (even years, if
air is entirely excluded). Mould can only be attributed to two causes (1st) the
state of the fodder when pitted, viz., if too dry or already rotten, (2nd) if the
pressure has been insufficient, and air has been left inside—exclusion of air
being the most important, I might say the only, condition of success.

The cattle I usually keep number generally from 180 to 150 animals: 80 or
90 of them taste no other food than fermented grass during four or five
months in winter. They could not be entirely fattened without an addition
of oilcake or farinaceous food; but they are all in very good health and con-
dition, and eat this food more greedily than the hay and straw on which the
cattle of my neighbours are sustained during the winter months.

Count Roederer being one of the pioneers of this system in
France, as already stated, I visited him on September 24, 1883,
and carefully investigated his mode of procedure. His silos,
within old buildings, are very deep excavations lined with
brickwork, and were originally intended for the preservation of
beetroots and mangolds in straw during the winter. The

222 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

process of ensilage adopted by Count Roederer is sufficiently
described above, but there are two other points worth notice.
Firstly, I saw a quantity of silage of the 1882 crop at the bottom
of one of the silos, without any covering whatever. With the
exception of a thin layer of mould at the top it was perfectly
good, and Count Roederer has since informed me that this
remnant was eaten during last winter by his cattle most greedily.
The second point that I noted was an ingenious arrangement
for hoisting the silage from the bottom of these exceptionally
deep pits. It may be briefly described as follows :—An inclined
tramway leads from the top to the bottom of the silo, and upon
this runs a small waggon with the hinder wheels much larger
than the fore ones, so as to keep the waggon more or less
horizontal, and to lessen the draught. Theascent of the loaded
waggon was managed by a chain, wound up by a large hollow
treadwheel, which could be worked either by a man or a horse.
One of Count Roederer’s visitors put this apparatus in motion
for my special benefit, and I was rather astonished at the com-
parative ease with which the work was performed.

The silos of M. Goffart, at Burtin, in the Sologne, have been
so often described, that it is unnecessary to say much about
them here. I visited M. Goffart in Paris at the end of last
year, and went to Burtin on January 7th this year. It is well
known that M. Goffart has of late years retired from farming,
and that of his three silos only one is now filled annually, and
that with chopped maize. The silos are partly above and
partly below ground, and the method adopted for emptying
them is a sort of compromise between the system of taking, the
silage off in horizontal layers and that of cutting it down
vertically. In other words, when, say, two or three boards and
the superincumbent weights are taken off the top of the silage,
it is cut down to the level of the ground, and the boards imme-
diately and carefully placed upon the surface of silage thus
exposed, so as not only to prevent any long contact of that
surface with the air, but also to continue the pressure by using
this covering of boards to the lower portion as a roadway to the
exposed face of the upper half, the stones and other weighting
material being also employed for the same purpose, except in
the line of traffic. This struck me as being a very ingenious
and sensible arrangement for emptying a silo ‘built partly above
and partly below ground. As M. Goffart has stated that his
pitted maize does not ferment until after it has been exposed to
the air for some hours, I was at particular pains to investigate
this point, and took away with me a boxful of silage that had
not previously been exposed to the air. It required no chemical
analysis to show that M. Goffart’s maize was a sort of sauer-

at Liome and Alroad. 223

kraut; and the only explanation of his statement as to non-
fermentation that I have been able to arrive at is, that he does
not consider lactic fermentation any fermentation whatever,
probably because there is no development of alcohol. I should
add that the sample was found to contain 78-8 per cent. of
water, and that it has kept well ever since.

'

B. Tue NEtTHERLAYD3.

6. Heer J. van der Breggen, Waddinxveen.—The silo is a sextant, mea-
suring 20 feet each side and 13 feet in height. It is entirely above the
level of the soil. Formerly it was a corn-stack (Zuid Hollandsche hoot of
koornberg). They all have, as is known, a permanent roof of thatch. All
the sides (six from post to post) have been planked up to about 4 métres in
height, equal to 13 English feet, No experiments without durable or perma-
nent roof have been made. Its originalcost was 240 Dutch guilders (about
207.) for each corn-stack. They now have been used two years, and are still
as good as if they were quite new. I fill the silos at any time when I have a field
ready for mowing, so that they are all filled during the summer and the
autumn, chiefly with grass, but also with leaves of beetroots, some tares and
rye, always in a green state, and not at all ripe. Everything is pittedin a
whole state, chopping not being usual. Salt is mixed to the extent of about
one part to 1000, and being used always for the cattle in winter, itis thus mixed
with thefodder. The silo is filled as quickly as possible ; sometimes it takes
two or three days; then it is pressed, and then perhaps in a fortnight there is
again some grass that ought to be put in the same silo: we take off the
covering or compressing material] and fill again in the same manner. I use
my altered corn-stacks because I believe it much cheaper than the nice silos of
bricks that M. Goffart uses in France. It would also’ be somewhat difii-
cult here in Holland to have silos in the ground, or below the level; our
country is too low, at least in this part of the Netherlands. The fodder is
always compressed by putting upon it heavy materials like sand, stones, or
clay, or anything that might be obtained and found heavy enough to
compress it. No mechanical contrivance for pressure has been employed.
By my procedure, from 65 to 75 per cent. of the weight of the crops put in will
be the weight of the grass fit for use.

All wages for mowing by machine and carting home, filling the silo and
covering or compressing the contents; will be about 1/. per hectare (about
23 acres). Of course nothing is reckoned for horse-power, nor for agricul-
cultural machinery. The cost of emptying need not be reckoned, as the
cattle-men take off daily what they want for their cattle. The emptying is
done in the same way, like hay in a stack, vertically. I have ascertained that
it is possible to use every green food by pitting it, in a profitable way; by
hay-making, on the contrary, one is not sure of getting fine hay, in consequence
of the wet seasons. The wetter the crops, the sourer the pitted fodder will be;
also the more juice will run from the silo. The dryer the grass, the more
change for mould in the silo. Uhave always pitted my crops immediately
after mowing them. [always have the contents of my silo consumed directly
- after it has been opened. Therefore I have no experience with regard to keep-
ing qualities.

I have never tried pitted or other fodder without concentrated food, and I
should not think that pitted fodder without substantial food would do for
cattle, asI like them to give a large quantity of milk, and to have plenty of
flesh on them.—January 4th, 1884,

224 ‘Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

CoMBINED CHAFF-CUTTERS AND ELEVATORS.

1. Mons. Albaret, Liancourt, Oise-—This maize and fodder-cutter has been
specially manufactured by us for cutting maize, which, however, does not
prevent it cutting straw and other fodder-crops with the same facility. It is
composed of a cast-iron table mounted on a solid oak frame. On this table is
a kind of box, also in cast iron; with the transmission of movement it forms
really the essential part of the maize-cutter. Two rollers of a large diameter
(10 inches), and consequently very heavy, run across this box; they carry
projections necessary for the seizure of the maize. The lower roller is fixed,
and turns in its supports. Those of the upper roller slide in the grooves
arranged in the two sides of the box, which hold and guide them. Consequently
these supports and the upper roller can rise and fall at the same time, being
parallel, whatever their position. Above this roller is an iron lever on which
is placed a counterpoise, which can be moved at will, so as to obtain a variable
pressure on the fodder to be cut.

The upper roller is moved by the lower, whatever its position, by means of
a chain, which rolls on two teethed pulleys, wedged on the shaft of the
rollers. It turns the opposite way to the one which moves it.

This chain can be stretched when it is lengthened by use by displacing the
axletree of the roller, which is well held in a slot-hole, and which holds the
chain in its proper position. The speed of the rollers can be regulated by
means of a lever within the reach of the persons who feed the machine.
This lever governs a coupling arrangement, which allows the maize, &c., to
be rejected, should a strange body be introduced with it. The position of the
lever corresponds with the instantaneous stoppage of the rollers.

A straight gear, that can be easily thrown out of work, can engage suc-
cessively four straight wheels. The fly-wheel, working four knives, cuts
the maize a length of about 13 inch, ? inch, } inch, or 4 inch, according as
the gear governs the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th of these wheels. If the flywheel
works two knives, the lengths would be just double. A very large amount
uf work can be done with this machine.

The engraving (Fig. 16) shows that the whole instrument is mounted on
four solid metal wheels, which allows it to be transported wherever required,
which is indispensable for ensilage and many other uses. So as to facilitate
the feeding of the machine, and to make a saving in the cost, it possesses an
automatic “entraineur,” or seizure formed by a kind of endless platform,
made of small boards, mounted on two chains, working on two parallel shafts,
one of which is governed by the lower roller. This platform forms the
bottom of the hopper, and its speed is always the same as that of the rollers, and
its movement is always the same way. The feeder has therefore only to place
the fodder in the said hopper, without being obliged to push it to the rollers.
The work is thus more regular, less heavy, and requires fewer workpeople.

The aim of the centrifugal elevator, with which the machine is provided, is
to be able to load, in an economical way, the silos, or carts, with the cut
matter according to the rate of cutting. It can also be used for shooting the
fodder into store-houses,&c. It is composed of a cylindric envelope surrounding
the fly-wheel. This envelope is shut on either side so as to enclose tlie knife
working the fly-wheel, which also carries iron paddles fixed on cast-iron projec-
tions. A tangential conductor completes the machine, the whole forms a
kind of large ventilator. The fodder cut by the knives falls into the box,
with which the maize-cutter communicates. There, submitted immediately
to the palettes, and the powerful blast produced by them, it is shot out
through the tangential conductor.

In the centre of the box, and also in front, is an opening allowing the entry
of the atmosphere. Its dimensions can be changed at will easily by means

"PITLLLSSETLILS TL LLB

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VOL. XX.—S. 8.

226 "Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

of two sliding doors, which can be removed so as to clean or repair the knives
or box. Another sliding door is placed on the opposite side, to facilitate the
unmounting of the knives; finally, an opening at the bottom serves to empty
the drum. ,

The upper part of the box and the conductor are so made as to be removed
with ease. The latter is moveable, so as to shoot the fodder at variable
heights, according to those of the carts, where it is wished to place it. It
ean also be made shorter or longer. The machine possesses a lever for
throwing the motive band out of gear. It is provided with a wooden sabot,
acting as a brake on the pulley, so as to stop almost directly the fly-wheel,
whose ordinary speed is from 300 to 400 revolutions a minute.

To the foregoing technical description of the makers I add
the following from my own observation at Cercay :—

The general appearance and method of using this machine
are clearly shown in Fig. 16, in which the steam-engine is seen
to be driving what is in reality a large chaff-cutter enclosed in
a box furnished with a spout, through which the chopped
materials are projected into a silo or barn, as the case may be.
From the roof of that structure flap-boards are hung, and as
these are brought into use, either by altering the inclination of
the spout, or by bracing up one or more of the flap-boards, so
the chopped material can be distributed at pleasure.

The longitudinal section (Fig. 17) and the transverse section

Fig. 17.—Longitudinal Sketch-section of the Cutting and Elevating
Wheel of M. Albaret’s Elevating Chaff-cutter.

at Home and Abroad. 227

(Fig. 18) of the interior of the box, explain in detail the nature
of the mechanism, by means of which this result is obtained.
The cast-iron table, A’, rests on three feet (a, a', a’), and supports

|

Fig. 18.—Tranverse Shetch-section of M. Albaret’s Elevating Chaff-cutter.

an ordinary chaff-cutter wheel, the rim of which is armed with

twelve palettes (a), which act in the enclosing box as a blast-

fan, and so elevate the chopped material as fast as it is cut.
Q 2

228 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

Without entering into any minute mechanical details, it may be
sufficient to state that the material to be chopped is placed in
an ordinary chaff-cutter feeding-box (U), and is conveyed by
means of an endless band to the governing cog-rollers (R, 8, T,
Vv, X), and thence to the cutting wheel. The pressure on the
material is easily regulated by shifting the balance-weight (K)
on the lever (J). The main shaft of the machine is shown
at L; it carries two pulleys for the transmission of power from
the steam-engine, one being fixed and the other free. The
ordinary speed of the machine is 400 revolutions per hour, but
it can be driven at 500, and it is capable of cutting 10 tons of
maize per hour to the length of about 3ths inch. Notwith-
standing this speed, the brake-power is sufficient to enable the
machine to be stopped almost instantaneously, and the adjust-
ing arrangements render it capable of cutting efficiently the
finest as well as the coarsest materials. .

The foregoing description is very inadequate from the point
of view of a mechanical engineer, but it may be deemed
sufficient for the purposes of the practical farmer, aided as it is
by the excellent illustrations which I have given, but which are
the merest abstracts of those with which I have been favoured
by M. Albaret. I should add one more detail descriptive of
the elevating apparatus, that is to say, of the palettes and the
shoot, especially with reference to the way in which they are
worked. It will be obvious that the material to be chopped is
introduced into the containing box, so as to meet the knives of
the chaff-cutter, by means of a trough and endless band through
an aperture in the centre of one side of it. In the centre of the
opposite side and in front of the box are other apertures to
admit the air, which becomes the elevating power for the
conveyance of the chopped material into the silo or other
desired place. The regulation of the strength of this current,
without interfering with the speed of the chaff-cutter, is managed
by means of a series of small doors along the upper side of the
shaft. If all these doors are shut, the current of air obtains
its maximum strength in proportion to the speed of the machine ;
but if it be desired to reduce the vigour with which the chopped
material is being delivered, it is only necessary to open one or
more of these doors, and thus allow atmospheric air to be
admitted into the shoot, so as to diminish the force of the
blast. Unfortunately the price of the machine is high, namely
881. (2200 francs), at at the Liancourt Railway Station.

I saw this machine working successfully and smoothly
at the farm of my friend, M. Lecouteux, at Cercay, in the
Sologne—a description of whose silos I have given on p, 217
—on October 1, 1883; and I am not without hope that

at Home and Abroad. 229

English farmers will be able to see it in operation, as well
as the rival machine by Mr. Bust, at the forthcoming Show
at Shrewsbury.

2. Messrs. F. §& J. S. Bust, Winterton, Lincolnshire—The
following description and illustrations have been kindly
furnished me by the makers, and I can only regret that |
have not had an opportunity of seeing the machine at work :—

Fig. 19.—G@eneral View of Messrs. F. & J. S. Bust’s Special “ Ensilage”’
Cutter, with extra Knife-wheel, Bagging apparatus in position, and
the Horse shafts removed.

ff
a

a
| ql

Special “ Ensilage” Cutter.

“The above is a most powerful machine, fitted with five knives, and is
specially adapted for driving direct from the fly-wheel of a portable engine.
If placed near to the “silo,” waggons can be driven up alongside, and their
load teamed direct on to the cutter feed-board, when it will reduce the
product treated into chaff at a tremendous rate, and also throw it into the
“silo” as it is cut, thus saving a great amount of labour. The feed rollers
are on a principle which entirely prevents choking, however wet or green the
fodder may be, and the labour of the feeder is greatly reduced by a travelling
web and extra spring roller, which bring the feed forward to the main rollers.
Both feed rollers and web can be instantly reversed or stopped by a new sel/-
releasing safety lever, which is so arranged that the very fact of a man
getting his hands entangled in the feed rollers, would cause him at the same
time to bring his weight to bear on the lever and instantly reverse them.
This lever acts on a clutch on the fly-wheel shaft, and is quicker in action
than it can be on any other, the importance of which will at once be seen,
when it is remembered that twenty-five knives pass the feed rollers per second,
so that a second saved in reversing them might save a man’s hand. The
main shaft, and both feed rollers, work in adjustable gun-metal bearings, pro-
vision also being made for taking up any play which the fly-wheel shaft may

230 - Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

get endwise. The gearing is on the most approved and well-tried principle,
malleable tron being introduced in place of cast iron where it was found liable
to breakage. This, together with the improved feed-rollers, has! enabled the
makers to dispense with the “ safety pin” used by most makers, which gives
constant trouble and annoyance by shearing off and having to be replaced.
Keeping the knives sharp being most important in working a chaff-cutter, it
is constructed so that the fly-wheel can be taken off, and another with sharp
knives put in its place in about two minutes. The knives also cut over a
hardened steel-faced mouthpiece, and claw feet hold the machine securely in
position when at work. It is provided with bagging apparatus, and may be
used in connection with a steam threshing-machine, driven from a pulley on
the drum shaft, when the straw, falling from the machine shakers on to the
cutter feed-board, is reduced to short chaff, has the dust blown from it, and is
delivered into bags as fast as it is threshed.”

The foregoing representations of the end and side elevations
of Messrs. Bust’s Special “ Ensilage” cutter are thus explained
by themselves :—

The feed being carried forward by the travelling web, ¢, ¢, ¢, ¢, to the feed
rollers, f, f, is cut into chaff, and elevated by the vanes on the periphery of

Fig. 20.—Longitudinal Section of Bust’s “ Ensilage” Cutter.

| UBD
i LS

the fly-wheel, v, v, v, v, v, into the bagging apparatus b, two bags being hung
on at once, one at x, another at z. When the bag at @ is full, the shuttle, 7, 7,
is turned over by the handle h, and the bag at z is filled whilst # is being
taken off and another put in its place. Tor safety, in case of a stone or other
hard substance getting into the machine, a strong sheet-iron shield, g, is
placed in the bagging apparatus, so that the force with which it is thrown off
the vanes is broken and directed downwards into the bag. The cover to the
fly-wheel case, c,c, c, c, is removable for changing the knife-wheels when
blunted, and an opening, », m, for admitting air and increasing the elevating
power of the machine, is covered with wire netting, to prevent any thoughtless
person or child putting their hand in ; and should the draught be too strong,
the door, d, d, is lowered over the opening, and it is reduced. The lid of the

at Home and Abroad. 231

bagging apparatus, } at s, s, is covered with a sieve, to let the air and dust out
when cutting hay or straw.

When the silo is sufficiently low and convenient, and it is not required to
bag the product, the bagging apparatus b is removed, and a pole, p, p, shown
by the dotted lines, is inserted into sockets provided for it, and a hanging
board, &, is placed on it at any desired distance from the machine to prevent
the product being thrown too far. The horse-shafts fix on at J, J.

When it is desired to elevate higher, the bagging apparatus being removed,
the mouth of the knife-wheel cover is moved round, and a trunk or spout of
the required length attached to it.

This latter arrangement is not included in the price,” 35/., and 47. 4s. for
extra knife-wheel, but is charged for extra.

Fig. 21.—Transverse Section of Busé’s “ Ensilage” Cutter.

oa a}
a, S=7 fie
Ne

(PL 7 at a

I have only dwelt sufficiently upon this subject to satisfy
those who wish to build or otherwise make silos this summer
that the assumed difficulty of filling silos above ground, espe-
cially with chopped material, is by no means insuperable.
The prize offered by the Royal Agricultural Society, for com-
petition at Shrewsbury, for cutting and elevating machines will
probably bring forward some other adaptations of the chaff-
cutter, and especially of those appliances which have hitherto
been used in connection with it for the purpose of conveying
the chopped material into sacks. The report on that compe-
tition will doubtless be a safe guide as to the choice of a
machine under varying circumstances; and I therefore forbear

232 -Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

from remarking upon the relative features, whether good, bad,
or indifferent, of the two machines that I have described and
illustrated, feeling that my functions as a reporter have, under
the circumstances, been discharged in the foregoing pages, and
that anything further from me might tend to mar what ought
to be an interesting and instructive competition at Shrewsbury
next July.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS. |

Having given the evidence kindly furnished by more than
forty gentlemen who have practised ensilage for a greater or less
length of time, both at home and abroad, it remains for me to
endeavour to give a judicial summing up, and to indicate in
some measure what the verdict of the agricultural public is
likely to be on the case as it is now presented to them. For
this purpose it will be convenient to commence with the con-
struction of the silo, and to follow with the process of ensilage,
the utilisation of the silage, and the capabilities of the
system,—in their natural sequence.

Construction of Silos.—Silos are either above ground or below
ground, or partly above and partly below, or on a slope. They
are either old buildings modified or unmodified, or they are
mew ones specially constructed. There are many English
farms, the steadings of which comprise a large barn, whose
occupation is to a great extent gone. A large number of silos
have been constructed simply by making one or more brick
partitions at the end of one of these large barns. This is a
simple and inexpensive manner of forming a silo, and has
therefore been adopted by a large number of my correspondents.
In fact, it may be said that it yields in simplicity and cheapness
to no other method except that followed by Mr. Trepplin, which
is to turn the whole barn bodily into a silo! This wholesale
proceeding, however, is only what the late Mr. Jonas and his
Cambridgeshire neighbours have done for years, except that at
Kenilworth all the fodder is green, whereas what Mr. Jonas
described to me in 1870 * was a mixture of green food (rye,
tares, &c.) and oat or wheat chaff. He then said: ‘ Myself and
sons have carried out this system of storing old chaff to such an
extent, that we are using on our occupation (which consists of
4200 acres of arable land) seven barns which were previously
used for storing corn.” These converted buildings, or portions
of buildings, have in all cases answered the purpose admirably.
In the nature of things they are above ground, but in some

* Journ. Roy. Agric. Soc. Second series, vol. vi., Pait L, p. 120,

at Home and Abroad. »° 233

cases—I have never been able to understand why—the floor has
been sunk a few feet in that portion of the barn or other
structure that has been converted into a silo, Some people
have an exaggerated idea of the effect of fermentation upon the
bulk of the fodder ; and therefore think that, without weighting,
it must heave like ‘dough in the process of bread-making ; that
when weighted it cannot heave upwards, and must therefore
bulge laterally ; and consequently that a silo above ground ought
to be built like a fortress. These terrors are purely imaginary.
A nine-inch brick (or concrete) wall carefully lined with cement
is sufficient, but fourteen-inch work is better, on account of its
superior durability. It is impossible to give any statement of
the proper or probable cost of a silo constructed under such
circumstances as I have indicated. In every locality, any local
builder will very soon give a price for a brick wall of given
dimensions. The only necessary extra expenses are (1) for the
internal coating of cement, which should be very carefully done,
and left as smooth as possible ; and (2) for the doorway, which
requires special arrangements for closing up before filling, and
opening before the commencement of using the silage. It will
have been noticed by readers of the foregoing pages that this is
sometimes done by brickwork, and sometimes by a double door
of wood, with sawdust in the intervening space.

Special constructions, whether wholly above or below ground,
or partly above and partly below, are of course more costly,
because all four walls, and the roof as well, must be built
for the purpose. In England these silos are generally small ;
but, in a few cases, three or four have been built in a line,
and thus a certain economy has been rendered possible. On
the whole, however, the cost seems with us to have generally.
reached 1/. per ton of capacity, reckoning the cubic foot to
weigh about 50 Ibs., or, say, for the sake of round numbers in
making mental calculations, half a cwt.—a small exaggeration
which goes towards an allowance for the usual unforeseen
contingencies. Thus a silo 15 feet long, 12 feet wide, and
10 feet deep, would contain 1800 cubic feet, which at 56 lbs.
per cubic foot would be 45 tons. Therefore the cost, roof
included, should not exceed 45/. But this dictum must be
taken subject to many causes of variation :—where wages and
materials are both cheap—where, for example, stone can be had
for getting it from a quarry close by—where timber or slates
can be obtained on the estate—the cost should be very much
less. On the other hand, in the suburbs of large towns, where
labour and materials are alike very costly, the average price per
ton-capacity may often be exceeded. Then the longer the silo
the less the cost in proportion, all other things being equal,—a

234 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

fact that is specially illustrated by the cost, dimensions, and
capacity of M. de Chezelles’s silo (see p. 207).

Whether his silo should be above or below ground, or partly
above and partly below, or on sloping ground, must be settled
by each farmer according to his local circumstances or personal
opinions. Still it may be allowable to say that if I wished to
build a silo I should choose the side of ever so slight an eleva-
tion or depression, and by artificially increasing the elevation,
as well as by artificially increasing the depression, I should
contrive to be able to put in the fodder at the top and take it
out at the bottom. The saving of labour in most cases would
very soon repay the small cost of excavating and distributing
the additional material.

If the soil is a dead flat, it becomes necessary to choose
between the other systems ; and then, looking to the advantage
of using elevating chaff-cutters such as those I have described, it
seems that a silo entirely above ground is the most preferable,
except that the roof cannot well be used as a Dutch barn.
With a silo entirely below ground, and the roof at a sufficient
height, the double purpose is secured at one cost; but against
this has to be put the danger of percolation of water, as in the
cases of Mr. Hopkins and the Rev. Mr. Ford.

The materials of construction must, or rather ought to, be
brick, stone, or concrete, because with the aid of proper mortar
and an inside layer of cement they can be made impervious to
the air. Nevertheless, attempts to construct silos of wood and
iron are not wanting; and the efforts of Mr. Stocks and of my
good friend Mr. van der Breggen are described in the fore-
going pages. Not having seen any such silos opened, I cannot
state of my own knowledge what proportion of the silage is
mouldy when it is first exposed to the air; but I have re-
peatedly seen, and it is admitted on all hands, that the greatest
amount of mouldiness in an ordinary silo is found just behind
the doorway, and just beneath the covering boards.

A few words as to the roof of the silo are now desirable. It
will have been remarked that the only uncovered silo which
I have seen was a complete failure; and to save space and
discussion I must ask the admission to be made that a silo
without a roof, in our climate, is too risky a venture to be
practical, Roofs of silos, then, are either movable or fixed.
When moveable, the eaves are close to the top of the silo wall,
and are generally constructed of boards or of corrugated iron.
The Rey. C. H. Ford’s roof consists of wooden shutters, those
of Mr. Edwards and Mr, Bateman of corrugated iron—the
former in flat sheets and the latter in curved ones. These three
may be taken as types. But, as a rule, the roofs of silos are

at Home and Abroad. 935

fixed, and are made of any roofing material, whether iron, slate,
tiles, Willesden paper, &c. When the silos are either entirely
or chiefly below ground, the roofs are often 10 or 12 feet high
under the eaves, and the space underneath the roof and above
the top of the silo is used for storing hay, straw, &c.

Filling.— After the details of practice already given, it will
only be necessary to gather together the threads of the subject,
and to show their connection or antagonism. But as “ Filling
the Silo,” from the beginning of the process to the end of it, is
really a succession of manipulations, and as the net result
depends upon the harmonious relation of each one of the series
to the rest, the gathering of the threads is not quite so simple
as might at first sight appear. Putting aside for the present
the purely agricultural questions of mowing and carting, I
divide the process of filling as follows: (1) chopping (or
leaving unchopped) ; (2) putting into the silo; (3) treading ;
(4) covering, and (5) weighting. The consensus of opinion
on these several points may be easily stated.

As to chopping, it is generally held that, while not absolutely
necessary, it is very desirable, because it enables a larger quan-
tity of fodder to be got into a given.space, and also because
(doubtless in consequence of the greater density of the mass)
it facilitates the expulsion of the air from the silo. While
agreeing with this general dictum, I must mention at once that
my investigations have convinced me that no general rule can
be laid down with regard to either chopping, treading, or
weighting per se. They must be taken as an indivisible trio,
and even then the prudent farmer will carefully regard the state
of his crops before he decides upon his precise mode of action—
that is to say, if he wishes to obtain the best results.

If a crop be pitted unchopped, it requires infinitely more
treading and weighting than the same crop would require if
chopped before pitting. It seems manifest that this stands to
reason, because not only does the chopped grass, clover, &c.,
lie more closely together, and therefore gives less space for the
air, which is the greatest enemy to silage; but each cut of
the chopper produces a wound from which, under pressure, the
plant will bleed, and lose some of its nutritive value.

Treading renders it easy for men and horses or bullocks to
make a considerable impression upon grass, clover, tares, &c.,
after they have been chopped into half-inch lengths ; but a mass
of whole red clover, tares, or Trifolium incarnatum, unless very
wet, if pitted whole, would be somewhat elastic to the feet of both
bipeds and quadrupeds. As a general rule, therefore, I have
noticed that fodder pitted long has gone more rapidly into the
later stages of fermentation than that pitted after having been
chopped. The only exception that I can recollect was a sample

236 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

of second-cut clover, sent me by M. de Chezelles. This had been
pitted whole in consequence of an accident to the chaff-cutter ;
but it was surrounded bya mass of silage that had been chopped
before having been pitted. Salt has been very generally mixed
with pitted fodder, but it will have been seen that most of my
correspondents have come to the conclusion that it is unneces-
sary, and some even assert that it is deleterious. If it be desired
simply to make silage a convenient means of giving salt to live-
stock, I do not see much objection to adding a little from time
to time as the fodder is pitted, provided always that the green-
stuff is dry outside and not too succulent. But if water of any
kind or in any combination is in excess, my impression is that
the addition of salt will injure the quality of the silage.

Putting in the Silo—The transfer of the crops from the field
into the silo are, as already stated, well-known agricultural
operations, except in those cases where the crops have not only
to be chopped, but also elevated; that is to say, when the silo
is entirely, or to a considerable extent, above ground. There
is not the least difficulty when an elevating chaff-cutter is used,
but where such a machine is not upon the farm, or cannot be
hired, it is usual to fix the chaff-cutter on a level with the
upper rim of the silo, and to feed the cutter from a temporary
platform placed for the purpose. Considering the importance—
always growing—of the system of ensilage, it is to be hoped that
means may be devised for converting ordinary chaff-cutters into
elevating or non-elevating machines at will, by taking them out
of boxes furnished with elevator-spouts, and putting them in again,
as may be required ; as well as by putting paddles on the rim of
the fly-wheel, and taking them off again, as is done with the
biting-irons on the wheels of agricultural locomotive engines.

Treading, in itself, is a very important part of the process of
filling, and, as a general rule, I may observe that the more
complete the treading the less weighting is necessary. I look
upon this matter as of cardinal importance, and, although it has
been several times mentioned by previous writers as essential,
I doubt whether its absolute necessity has hitherto been com-
pletely recognized by many persons. When silos are filled, as
a Tule a certain quantity of material is put into them, and
when convenient it is spread about and trodden, especially
round the sides, in a more or less perfunctory manner. But
this is, in my judgment, by no means sufficient. The treading
should go on pari passu with the filling, almost inch by inch ; and
afterwards it will not then be necessary to squeeze the juice
out of the fodder by excessive weighting continued over a long
period. In the foregoing pages it is recorded what means
are adopted by the best “ ensilagers” (if it is admissible to coin
the word) to secure the proper treading of their pitted fodder.

at Home and Abroad. 237

Englishmen employ horses and men, while Frenchmen add
draught oxen to their list of treading machines.

Covering is most generally done by means of boards closely
fitting together; but there is here also every divergence of
practice. Count Roederer and M. de Chezelles both dispense
with covering as distinct from weighting, but the stones used
by the former are in no sense a cover as a protection from the
air, while the earth or sand used by the latter is doubtless very
efficient in that respect. At the other end of the scale I may
put Mr. Gibson’s elaborate arrangement of dowelled boards,
the joints covered first by felt and then again by battens; also
Lord Middleton’s arrangement of a tarpaulin underneath the
boards, and Mr. Stobart’s use of galvanized iron over the joints.
It does not seem to me. necessary to take such extraordinary
precautions with a view of hermetically sealing the silo.
I rather lean to the opinion expressed by Mr. Bateman, that
a means of escape for the gaseous products of fermentation is an
advantage rather than otherwise. At the same time, I believe
that this means of escape of gases upwards should not be such
as to expose any considerable mass of the fodder to the atmos-
phere. The use of bran or sawdust as a covering to the fodder,
whether above or beneath the boards, seems, according to my
observation, to be useless in the first case, and in the second to
have a pernicious influence in rendering sodden the layer of
silage immediately beneath it.

Weighting presents similar divergencies of practice. Between
40 lbs. and 2 cwts. per square foot is a great gap, so great
indeed that it is almost impossible to account for it except by
saying that the lower figure must be too light and the higher
much too heavy in all cases, while the diminished range then
left may be explained by differences of circumstances. Some
of these I will now refer to. The maximum limit of useful
pressure has been defined by M. Goffart as just too little to
express any of the juices of the plant. This limit can only be
determined by experiment and careful observation under dif-
ferent circumstances. But it is not always easy to make these
observations, because it is not possible to place a tap at the
bottom of every silo. Still, there can be no doubt that the
pressure of 14 cwt. per square foot, applied by Mr. Stobart to a
deep mass of cut grass and other green crops, was far in excess
of necessity, because of the quantity of liquid expressed from the
silage, and drawn out from the silo. As a general rule, I should
again say that chopped material requires much less pressure than
the same material when unchopped ; also that the riper the ma-
terial, or (to speak more definitely) the less succulent it is, the
greater the pressure required. Again, the coarser the plant the
greater pressure necessary; for instance, tares or peas would

238 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

require more pressure than oats or rye, and these latter more
than meadow-grass,—supposing all of them to be cut in about
the same state of ripeness. As a general rule, however, tares
are cut when much more advanced in growth than grass is
when mown, and this fact accounts for a great deal of the diffi-
culty which has been experienced in attempts to preserve tares
by ensilage. I have already noticed the influence of the treading
upon the subsequent weighting. ;

Having thus indicated what I conceive to be some of the
main principles which regulate the amount of pressure required,
I must now glance at the best means of applying it. Iron
weights, steel ingots, and concrete blocks are excellent materials
for the purpose, but they cost a considerable sum of money ;
and although it may be true that iron and steel can be sold in
the market at any time for nearly their cost price, yet while
they are being used the capital thus represented is locked up ;
and one may doubt whether tenant-farmers, as a rule, are in a
position to invest money in such a way. Mechanical means
of pressure I have described, and every one can judge for him-
self as to their relative merits. Speaking generally, they seem
to me, in their present condition, rather costly, and in some
cases a little complicated. Still, I expect that in the future they
will be both simplified and cheapened. The farmer’s choice
is therefore, in my view, at present almost restricted to local
materials; and the only danger arising from their use is that
his men will throw them on the silo “higgledy-piggledy,”
without any regard for the equal distribution of the pressure.
I would on this ground recommend that, whatever the material
employed—whether sand, mould, stones, “ runners,” slag, &c,—
the pieces should be put into some kind of package. Mr. Bate-
man uses old oyster-barrels; the Duke of Sutherland uses bags
filled with sand (in fact, old guano bags are in frequent use),
others use boxes, and so forth. I have frequently referred to
the practice of M. de Chezelles, who simply covers his fodder
with a layer of sand or earth about a foot in thickness; it
seems to me that this is as good a means of weighting as any
other, if access can easily be obtained to the top of the silo ;
but I should prefer boards being placed under the weighting
material, for the sake of cleanliness, and thus to avoid waste.

The total cost per acre of all the operations connected with
the filling of the silo varies with the distance of the field from
the silo, the weight of the crop, whether it is put in chopped or
whole, and the rate of wages in the locality; but it appears
from the details already given that about 20s. to 25s. per acre is
an average cost, and that this means generally a little more or
less than 5s. per ton of silage.

As to the crops most suitable for ensilage, probably a tolerably

at Home and Abroad. — 239

exact idea will have already been gained. No doubt green
maize is, par excellence, the crop which is at the same time the
best suited by its composition for preservation by ensilage, and
the least capable of being usefully preserved in any other
manner. But as it can be grown profitably in‘only a compara-
tively small corner of England, it has relatively little interest
for the Btitish farmer. Grasses and clovers, as well as green
oats and rye, can be perfectly preserved, especially if cut a
little before the time at which they are at their best for being
harvested in a dry state. Pulse of all kinds, but especially
tares and peas, are also capable of preservation in silos, but
their treatment requires more care, as I have already mentioned.

Buckwheat is a crop which has been successfully ensilaged
on the rare occasions that have come before me, while on the
other hand I have not yet met with an instance of prickly
comfrey making good silage.

Utilisation of Silage-—Most agriculturists who have tried the
system of ensilage use the contents of their silos by cutting
them vertically as they would hay in a stack. A few adopt the
opposite plan of cutting laterally ; but on the whole the balance
of advantages appears to be largely in favour of the more
general plan. In England, again, where the system is still
more or less in an experimental stage, the general plan at
present is to substitute silage for all other bulky food for stock.
In France, however, it is customary to mix the silage with an
equal or even a much larger quantity of other material, such as
chopped straw, beetroot-pulp, hay, roots, &c. My impression
is that the French system, which is founded on a longer experi-
ence than we possess, is the more rational, and, indeed, the
more economical, By reference to Mr. Hunting’s account of
his experience it will be seen how a trained veterinary surgeon
was surprised at the action of silage upon the alimentary canal
of his cattle. It made them costive. This is not to be
wondered at, especially if the silage was not absolutely under-
going acetic fermentation ; that is to say, if it had not yet become
converted into sauer-kraut or pickles. It isan everyday experience
that brandy is given to human beings in cases of diarrhcea with a
view of checking it; and therefore a large dose of 50 to 80 lbs.
or more of a highly fermented mass is likely to have a similar
effect upon the animal organism. But a smaller quantity
mixed with a due proportion of other bulky food seems to
stimulate the digestive organs, and to enable the animal to
assimilate more food than it could under other circumstances—
the nearest approach to its action being probably that of a
fermented mixture of pulped roots and chopped straw. Then
it should also be noted that the use of silage does not in any

240 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

sense affect the desirability of giving the usual rations of con-
centrated or “artificial” foods, either to milch cows or to
feeding beasts or sheep.

A most important point in reference to the use of silage as
food for in-calf cows has been frequently the subject of dis-
cussion with dairy-farmers, in consequence of an assumed
analogy between pitted fodder and brewers’ grains, owing, |
presume, to both being more or less fermented foods. It is
generally accepted as a fact that milch cows cannot be fed to a
large extent upon brewers’ grains without their soundness for
breeding purposes being impaired; and this has suggested the
very serious question whether silage would have a similar effect
upon the breeding powers of cows fed upon it. In England,
our experience has hitherto been of so short a duration that it
is impossible to speak positively on the subject ; but I may say
that 1 have never heard such a complaint made against the use
of silage on the Continent.* Still, it must be admitted that on
these and some other points we have a great deal yet to learn;
and although Mr. Hunting’s experiment with his heifers has been
encouraging, I should recommend the use of silage as food for
breeding animals to be conducted with caution, and especially
that the silage should be mixed with at least an equal quantity
of unfermented bulky food, such as hay, chopped straw, Ke.

If my correspondents are unanimous at all, it is in testifying
that cattle are ravenously fond of pitted fodder. Whether it be
good or only indifferent it makes apparently but very little
difference to the cattle ; sheep seem to be rather more fastidious ;
and, in the case of horses, their likes and dislikes appear to be
more personal than generic. The experiments which have
already been made as to the nutritive value of silage are com-
paratively few, and very few of these are comparative; but
enough seems to be known to warrant the prevailing belief that
well-made silage is at least as valuable for feeding purposes as
the best hay. Probably it would not be going beyond the facts,
notwithstanding some adverse reports, to state that in the case
of milch-cows silage generally has a greater cream-producing
value than hay. Exact experiments are still wanting to enable
one to judge of the effect of this feeding material upon butter
and cheese, but the more salient elements of the problem have
been clearly pointed out by some of my correspondents.

Changes which Fodder undergoes in the Silo. am by no
means competent to write a treatise on the chemistry of ensi-
lage, and therefore I do not propose to attempt to do it. My

* The experiences of Mr. Bateman with ewes, of Mr. Gibson with cows, and of
the Vicomte de Chezelles with both cows and ewes tend to show that the judicious
use of silage as food does not interfere with the breeding powers (pp: 160, 182,
and 209.)

at Home and Abroad. PALL

eminent colleague, Dr. Voelcker, would have written a separate
paper on this subject in elucidation of the facts contained in
this Report if his health had permitted. All I can do, there-
fore, is to give a very broad statement of the questions involved,
as I understand them, subject to Dr. Voelcker’s correction on a
future occasion. The chemical changes which fodder under-
goes in silos have not yet been thoroughly investigated, but
they may be indicated by one word—fermentation. The theory
of fermentation, also, is by no means the least debateable in
the range of chemical science ; but it is generally understood to
practically resolve itself into the conversion of sugar, gum,
starch, or allied compounds into simpler bodies, such as carbonic-
acid gas, lactic acid, alcohol, acetic acid, &c.

The various kinds of fermentation have been shown to be due
to the action of innumerable minute microscopic organisms, the
germs of which are freely distributed in the atmosphere. These
organisms live upon fermentable substances, and transform
them into simpler compounds, much as the animal transforms
the food it consumes and the air it breathes into carbonic acid,
urea, and other bodies. [Each special kind of fermentation is
said to be produced by a more or less distinct class of organism,
and the precise nature of the fermentation set up may therefore
be inferred to depend upon what particular species of organism
is most favoured by the nature of the fermentable substance and
the conditions in which it is placed. In most cases the changes
involved in fermentation take place only in the presence of
some nitrogenous substance, which, under the vital action of
the organisms, becomes partly converted into a chemical
“ferment,” and in the presence of a sufficient quantity of water.
But the special nature of the fermentation set up depends upon
a multitude of circumstances; and in the case of fodder in silos
probably to some extent upon the proportion of sugar contained
in the plant. For example, green maize generally contains a
large quantity of sugar in comparison with other fodder-crops,
and is said to undergo lactic fermentation. Without entering
into details, this means that it becomes a kind of sauer-hraut or
pickle, without passing through any intermediate stage of fer-
mentation, and therefore with the minimum amount of loss of
nutritive material.

But it is rarely the case that our English fodder crops
contain a sufficiently large proportion of sugar to enter largely
into lactic fermentation. ‘Therefore, as soon as fermentation
begins, alcohol is formed. This means a certain loss of nu-
tritive matter, which is carried still further by the almost im-
mediate conversion of the alcohol into aldehyd—a very evanescent
substance which, with the fodder itself, produces the smell so

VOL. XX.—S. S. R

242 Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

frequently described as like burnt sugar, Cavendish tobacco,
&e. &c. It is somewhat remarkable that very few samples of
silage have yielded to the analyst more than traces of alcohol,
although by their smell one would think them saturated with it.
This is due to the powerful odour of the aldehyd, which may, in
common language, be regarded as partially burnt alcohol. If
the air has not been properly expelled from the silo, or if the
fodder has been pitted very wet, the aldehyd rapidly becomes
converted into acetic acid, otherwise vinegar. And so by this
roundabout process we get a sauer-kraut, or pickle, by a much
more destructive and therefore expensive system than by means
of the direct lactic fermentation.*

The farmer will doubtless want to know how to control these
various changes, and which is the best condition for his silage
to remain in. As we have not the summer heat of the grape-
growing districts of France, we cannot hope to grow maize, and
other fodder crops containing a large percentage of sugar, over
the greater part of England ; and this consideration has retarded
the use of ensilage for crops having a small percentage of sugar,
not only in England, but also in France and America. It is
only of late years that these crops have been preserved by
ensilage. In the case of our own fodder crops, the evidence
given in the foregoing pages tends to show that crops cut before
they begin to get woody (in other words, while they are still
full of sap), pitted after having been chopped, then carefully
trodden layer by layer, then covered with boards, and mode-
rately weighted, stand the best chance of not going much
beyond the alcoholic fermentation. On the other hand, crops
put in unchopped, dripping with wet, imperfectly trodden, and
no matter how heavily weighted, will rapidly go through all
the processes, and even beyond those I have spoken of, namely,
into the putrefactive stage.

Speaking from experience gained by the examination of
a large number of samples of silage, the facts attending which
I have given in the preceding pages, I may state broadly with
regard to their keeping qualities, that the sawer-kraut, or pickle
stage, will keep the longest, and the almost non-fermented
samples the shortest time without becoming mouldy.t Samples
emitting the characteristic smell of aldehyd will keep good for
some considerable time if they are dry, but rapidly go bad if
they are wet.{ Mr. Garrett Taylor’s sewage-grass silage is an

* See Mr. Smetham’s note on p. 383 for an explanation of the changes which
took place in the fodder pitted in Lord Egerton’s silo.

+ Compare Heer van der Breggen’s statement on p. 223.

+ The smell of aldehyd often remains long after the substance has been con-

verted into acetic acid. In fact, aldehyd has never, I believe, been detected_in
silage, on account of the transient nature of its existence,

at Home and Abroad. 243

example of the former, and Mr. Trepplin’s numerous samples of
silage of different crops of the latter. I do not know that it is
a great object, except on large sewage-farms, that silage should
keep good after exposure to the air for more than a week or two.
If the fodder be cut in slices not too thick for ordinary re-
quirements, the new face is not exposed long enough for any
considerable deterioration to take place. Therefore the main
point for the farmer is to obtain his silage only so much fer-
mented as will enable him to use it to the best advantage, and
this I conceive to be the alcoholic stage.

Hitherto I have spoken only of the effect of fermentation
in breaking up the starch, gum, &c., into alcohol and other
products; but chemists seem to believe that the nitrogenous
materials which act as a ferment are also themselves more or
less decomposed. It is considered that the value of these
nitrogenous materials as flesh-formers is thereby impaired ;
but in the present state of the question it is unnecessary to
discuss it further in this Report.

The effect of the fermentation on the woody fibre is, however,
better understood, and is, moreover, of greater practical import-
ance. Dr. Voelcker showed, in the volume of this ‘ Journal’
for 1871,* that the effect of fermentation on the straw-chaff
preserved by Mr. Jonas’s method was to convert a large pro-
portion of the indigestible woody fibre into digestible material.
On this point he observed: ‘In the cases before us, it will be
seen that, of the total amount of vegetable fibre present in the
fermented wheat-chaff, 452 per cent. were rendered soluble by
the treatment described, and 343 per cent. (in round numbers)
left behind as indigestible woody fibre, whilst the 734 per cent.
of vegetable fibre present in common wheat-straw chaff were
resolyed . . . into 193 per cent. only of digestible, and into
54 per cent. of indigestible, woody fibre. In other words, the
same treatment rendered soluble 50°85 per cent. of the vegetable
fibre of the fermented prepared chaff, and only 26°38 per cent.
of the fibre of common wheat-straw.”

The construction of a Dr. and Cr. account as between the
loss of feeding material occasioned by the conversion of carbo-
hydrates into alcohol and acetic acid on the one hand, and the
gain of feeding material by the conversion of indigestible into
digestible woody fibre on the other, is a question for the
chemical accountant, and no doubt such a balance-sheet will be
shortly forthcoming.f ‘To the farmer, however, the “ proof of the
pudding is in the eating ;” and whatever may be the result of

* «On the best mode of preparing Straw-chaff for Feeding Purposes.’ Second
Series, vol. vii., p. 85.
t Vide remarks by Mr. Betley on p. 157. 9
RS

244 - Report on the Practice of Ensilage,

future experiments, it will have been seen that my correspond-
ents are now generally prone to attribute at least as great a
feeding value to silage as to hay, and further to credit Ensilage
with “ Safety” and to debit Hay-making with “ Risk.”

The functions of Ensilage in the Economy of the Farm.—Most
of the advances which are made in the arts and sciences, as well
as in our everyday practices, we owe to enthusiasts; and
ensilage, especially in England, is another illustration of this
historic and well-known fact. It is perhaps as well that British
phlegm should be sufficiently powerful, and sufficiently distri-
buted amongst English agriculturists, to induce them to question
closely many of the statements that have been made by the
more enthusiastic advocates of ensilage. I cannot believe, what
I have heard asserted, that 1 ton of grass made into silage is
worth several times as much as if it were made intohay. I can
believe, however, that the feeding value of silage from a given
weight of grass may be sometimes greater than that from the
same weight of precisely similar grass if, made: into hay under
even favourable circumstances. This is because, in my view, the
haymaking process tends to render a portion of the woody fibre
of the grass harder and more indigestible than it was before,
while the process of ensilage tends to render it mechanically
softer and chemically more digestible.

But does it follow that ensilage is to supplant hay-making ?
To answer this question even approximately is rather difficult,
because there is no pursuit with so kaleidoscopic a character as
farming. It may also be said of farms, as it has been said of
faces, that no two are exactly alike. However, it may be allow-
able to give an imaginary example, if only to enable each
reader to make his own additions to, and subtractions from,
my illustration, so as to fit it to his own circumstances in
different seasons, and with altering markets. For this purpose I
will suppose an ordinary 400 acre farm, with no more than one-
fourth of its area permanent pasture. The complete substitution
of ensilage for hay-making would require silo accommodation
for the permanent grass off about, say, 50 acres, as well as for
the aftermath at least of the seed-course, and probably tares, &c.,
besides. Where there is no breeding flock, and also where
breeding cattle are not kept, the demand for silo accommodation
would be even greater, because the speciality would be feeding
beasts in the winter. However, 50 acres of grass might be sup-
posed to yield in the course of the year 6 tons of green fodder, say
a total of 300 tons; the aftermath of the 75 acres of seeds might
also be roughly estimated at not less than 200 tons, say upwards
of 500 tons of silo-capacity required. The provision of silos to
this extent would require a capital expenditure of certainly not

at Home and Abroad. j 245

less than 1/. per acre on the whole acreage of the farm, and
probably 25 per cent. more ; but of course, as already suggested,
on many farms more grass would be fed, as w ell asa large pro-
portion if not all of the aftermath, and in such cases the cost of
silo accommodation would be proportionately lessened.

It will be gathered, therefore, that I regard the system of
ensilage as a valuable addition to the resources of the English
farmer, but not as a complete substitute for the old haymaking
process. In different districts there will doubtless soon be
annual uses made of the system with as much regularity as
wheat is now sown, and some at least of these uses can already
be indicated. Take, for instance, the North of England, where
autumn rains, and even early winter snows, render it almost im-
possible that clover aftermath can be made into hay for winter
use; the process of ensilage enables it to be preserved almost
without considering the state of the weather. On clay-land
farms, where turnips are notoriously difficult and expensive to
grow, but where nevertheless some succulent winter food must
be obtained, ensilage supplies the solution of the difficulty. On
such lands, tares can be grown profitably ; and with care, but
not without, they can be preserved for winter use as an excellent
and yery nourishing substitute for turnips. Again, take a
suburban dairy-farm, practically all grass, and up to the present

-time dependent upon purchased mangolds, cabbages, and other
succulent food which will enable the cows to be kept profitably
through the winter; now the system of ensilage enables the
suburban farmer to make a portion of his grass into a succulent
and stimulating food, yielding more milk and costing far less
money than the roots which he was formerly obliged to purchase.
Lastly, I will indicate an arable farm in the southern and south- |
eastern counties, where feeding a large head of stock is the great
object. On such a farm, immediately after harvest, a portion of
the stubbles can be sown with rye or winter vetches, reaped in
April or May, and preserved in silos; then a crop of roots,
tares, or even maize can be sown, the roots to be used as hitherto
during the winter, and the other green crops after having been
pitted in the autumn. In all these cases, it seems to me that
the undoubted loss of nutritive matter, which is one result of

the processes of fermentation, is of very small importance in
comparison with the practical advantages of ensilage, and the
element of security which it contains.

Readers of the foregoing Report will doubtless have aces
that in some important respects I do not follow some previous
writers on the modus operandi of ensilage. While having
drawn my conclusions from the evidence furnished by practical
men, supplemented by my own observations, I am free to admit

246 On the Domestic Veterinary Treatment of

that there is a considerable scope for the possibility of error;
and therefore I conclude this Report with the following quota-
tion from Professor Johnston’s previously cited article, “On the
Feeding values of the Natural and Artificial Grasses in different
States of Dryness,” published in the ‘ Transactions of the High-
land and Agricultural Society of Scotland for 1843’ (p. 57) :—

** Much knowledge remains yet to be acquired in reference to
the most economical mode of using green crops as food for
cattle. It is true that there exists much valuable information
floating among intelligent practical men, but when the un-
prejudiced inquirer begins to collect, with the view of fixing
this floating knowledge, he meets with opinions so contradic-
tory, even from men of equal intelligence and skill, that he
must be well acquainted with those causes which affect the
results of agricultural operations in different localities before he
can hope to approach the truth, or to extract anything like
general principles from the testimony of practical men alone.
The opinions of practical agriculturists are derived in general
from their own experience, and from that of their neighbours,
in a limited district only. In distant parts of the country, we
know that these opinions are often quite opposed to each other ;
yet the phenomena from which the cultivators of each province
have deduced their opposite opinions, are the natural results of
the same general laws. It is these laws which the philosophical
agriculturist seeks to discover.”

V.—On the Domestic Veterinary Treatment of the Animals of
the Farm. By Professor G. T. Brown, of the Agricultural
Department of the Privy Council.

Ir would be quite easy to prove by reference to the facts of
physiology, that the animal organism is a delicate and com-
plicated piece of mechanism, and that the attempt to rectify any
errors in its structure or functions is likely to result in disaster,
unless the effort is made by one who is familiar with all the
details of the machinery. This line of argument is commonly
adopted, but it makes no impression on those to whom it is
addressed ; and the savants who employ it are so far incon-
sistent advocates of their own principles, that they publish
works on the diseases of stock, and the methods of cure, and
dedicate their books to the agriculturists of the country. The
fact is that, whether recognised by scientific men or not,
domestic medicine, both in application to men and the lower
animals, is an institution which cannot be abolished, and it

the Animals of the Farm. 247

may therefore be worth while to offer some suggestions, with
the view of placing it in its proper position so far as it relates
to the veterinary treatment of farm-stock.

First, it should be clearly understood that domestic medicine
is restricted to the use of simple remedies. All kinds of adver-
tised nostrums should be avoided as the essence of quackery,
and no medicine the nature of which is not known should be
administered under any circumstances by the tyro.

Secondly, it should be held as a maxim of undoubted truth
that the animal organism possesses a wonderful power of
reparation.

Thirdly, it should never’ be forgotten that while powerful
chemical agents may interfere with the natural progress of a
disease towards recovery, it may often be doubted if medical aid
can materially assist it. Circumstances occur in which it is a
question what ought to be done in the treatment of a certain
phase of a disease; and if the question cannot be answered
without hesitation, the most experienced doctor would incline
towards that system which a great medical authority pleasantly
described as “the art of amusing the patient while nature cured
the disease.”

Lastly, in all cases of doubt, and therefore of difficulty, it is
desirable to seek the best veterinary aid which can be pro-
cured. The Royal Agricultural Society, in recognition of this
view, has from time to time endeavoured to bring its members
into closer relation with those of the veterinary profession, and
has always been ready to use its widely extending influence,
and its funds, in furtherance of this object; not always, how-
ever, with the success which the effort merited.

With the view of enabling members of the Society to avail
themselves of veterinary assistance at a moderate and fixed cost,
it was arranged some time ago that veterinary surgeons of reputé
should be appointed in certain districts, on condition that they
should afford their services for the remuneration which was
fixed by the Society, and should also report to the Secretary
the results of any inquiries which they were called upon to
make.

Up to the present time the appointment of district veterinary
surgeons has not, so far as is known, been attended with the
benefits which were anticipated; nevertheless the scheme
contains the nucleus of a system which is capable of extensive
and useful development. Stock-keepers would consult their
own interests if they placed their animals in the charge of com-
petent veterinary surgeons whose duty it would be to inspect
them regularly, and advise in reference to their management,
chiefly with regard to preservation from disease. If by any
means the general adoption of this system could be secured,

248 On the Domestic Veterinary Treatment of

veterinary surgeons instead of collecting together in large
towns, would find it convenient to reside in country districts,
which are now so badly supplied that the farmer, when he
requires veterinary aid, is often obliged to send a messenger
several miles, with the risk of finding the veterinary surgeon
absent, and the certainty of losing time, which in cases of
serious illness is all important.

Under the contract system the expense of regular veterinary
attendance would not be great, and the plan which the Society
has adopted of appointing veterinary surgeons in certain centres
might easily be extended, so as to provide sufficient means for
carrying all the necessary details of the scheme into effect, and,
under such conditions, it may be presumed that the extensive
damage which is annually inflicted on the live-stock of the
country by the ravages of various diseases would be materially
mitigated. The veterinary expert would be aware of the circum-
stances under which all the animals in his district were living,
would recognize the presence of existing and suspect probable
causes of disease, and take measures to moderate their influence.
In many, perhaps the majority of cases, he might be able to
counteract it entirely. Remedies which might be required in
emergencies would be supplied to the farmer, with proper direc-
tions for using them, in the absence of the veterinary surgeon ;
and when he arrived, he would have the manifest advantage of
knowing exactly what medicines had been given, instead of
having to guess at the character of some nostrum which the
stockowner had administered, for no better reason than is
afforded by the advertisement which announces it to be an in-
fallible cure for all diseases to which the animals of the farm
are subject.

As it is vain to hope that farmers in general will avail them-
selves of the constant aid of the veterinary surgeon, it may not
be out of place to offer some advice on the subject of the treat-
ment of farm stock when veterinary assistance (is not within
reach, or the illness is deemed to be so slight in character as not
to require any professional skill for its cure. In either case
it is quite certain that the owner of the animals or his servant
will do something; and it is a primary necessity that the
remedial measures which may be employed shall not be capable
of adding to the mischief, instead of repairing it.

One serious obstacle will present itself to the amateur in his
attempt to select appropriate remedies. Correct interpretation
of the symptoms which are indicative of a departure from the
healthy state is often difficult to an experienced observer ; to
the tyro it is, in many cases, an impossibility ; but some of the
more common ailments of the animals of the farm are distin-
guished by signs of such a definite character, that the difficulty

the Animals of the Farm. 249.

does not arise, and it is with reference to these common
disorders that advice as to treatment is most needed.

Wounds and other Injuries—Accidents in the stable and in
the field are sufficiently common among the animals of the farm,
to render it necessary for the farmer to be prepared to deal
with injuries of a trifling kind not requiring any surgical
operation. Wounds, bruises, and sprains are the principal forms
of injuries which are likely to be met with, and although the
treatment which each form demands will be modified by various
circumstances, there are certain general principles which must
always guide the application of remedial measures.

WVounds.—It may be accepted as a fact beyond question that
wounds heal naturally in a healthy state of the system, and the
process cannot be accelerated, although it may easily be retarded.
The unhealthy state which wounds sometimes assume is gene-
rally due to the introduction of septic germs from without;
and the first essentials of treatment are to remove all dirt and
foreign matter from the injured parts, and to protect them from
infection by excluding the air and everything else, by the agency
of an antiseptic barrier of medicated cotton or gauze. All oint-
ments, tinctures, lotions, or plasters may be discarded with
advantage from the list of domestic appliances for the cure of
wounds, and the amateur surgeon may content himself with the
simple expedient of adjusting the edges of the wound as per-
fectly as his skill will enable him to do; and then applying a
little carbolised cotton-wool, to be kept in its place by means of
a bandage of carbolised gauze. Under this method of treatment
healing takes place without any inflammation, or the occurrence
of discharge, unless the adjacent parts have been much damaged
by the force which caused the injury.

Injuries to the foot are commonly the cause of lameness,
which is in many cases well marked, without the cause being
apparent. Asa general rule, it is safe to ascribe all lameness
to injury or disease of the foot until the contrary is proved.
Professor Coleman is credited with the utterance of a dictum,
that if the cause of a horse’s lameness could be shown to be
centred in the animal’s head, it is nevertheless necessary to seek
for it in the foot ; and the frequent occurrence of wounds and
bruises in this organ from shoeing, and also from contact with
hard substances on roads, sufficiently justifies the learned
Professor’s maxim.

In every case of lameness, especially when the fore-limbs
are affected, the shoe should be removed, and the foot searched
by paring, and by pressing with the pincers, until it is quite
clear from the absence of pain on pressure that no injury has
been inflicted. If, as commonly happens, an abscess is detected,
whether it arises from a prick by a badly-driven nail in

250 On the Domestic Veterinary Treatment of

shoeing, or from a bruise inflicted by a stone in the road, the
treatment will be the same. ‘The matter must be allowed free
exit, without the unnecessary removal of the substance of
the hoof: the foot should then be soaked in warm water; a
little tar on a piece of tow should be placed on the wound, and
after the shoe has been lightly nailed on, a stopping of tar
and tow should be applied to the bottom of the foot, and
retained by means of splints. An undetected abscess in the
foot is a serious affair. ‘The imprisoned matter generally finds
its way to the coronet, and extensive disease of the foot-
structures is a common consequence.

Cracked Heels, Mud Fever, and Grease—No more annoying
diseases exist in the list of maladies to which animals are liable
than cracked or chapped heels, mud fever, and that peculiar
affection of the skin of the heels and fetlock joints which, from
the greasy nature of the discharge which issues from the sur-
face, is commonly designated “ grease.”

Cracked Heels arise from exposure to wet and cold, and it
may be concluded that the mechanical effects of dirt and grit
are contributory to the general result.

Mud Fever may be looked upon as an extension of the state
of irritation which, in its more limited form, is the beginning
of chapped heels,

Grease, at least in its early stage, is the outcome of the
influence of the causes referred to. In the more adyanced
condition the disease assumes a malignant character which
defies the skill of the experienced veterinarian.

In the early stages of “ grease” an antiseptic and astringent
lotion may be used with advantage, and the well-known pre-
paration, Sir William Burnett’s Disinfecting Fluid (chloride of
zinc) is very useful for this purpose ; and indeed in all cases of
slight abrasions of the skin, sore shoulders, wrung withers, and
also in all instances of wounds accompanied with fetid dis-
charge. A lotion of convenient strength for general use is
made by adding 1 pint of the fluid to 50 parts of water.

In the undiluted form, the disinfecting fluid is a caustic and
poison ; care must therefore be taken to keep it in a secure
place.

The several diseases of the skin of the legs above named may
be to a great extent prevented by the adoption of a plan of
management which is perfectly simple, and at the same time
effectual, as the experience of many years has shown. Ordinarily,
horses on returning from work have their legs, and probably
a portion of their bodies, scraped and washed. ‘The subsequent
process of drying, if attempted at all, is imperfectly performed,
and the surface of the skin is left moist and cold, until the
natural heat of the body causes the evaporation of the moisture

the Animals of the Farm. 251

at the cost of a large expenditure of heat. Considerable disturb-
ance of the function of the skin may be traced to the effects of the
evaporation, The occurrence of mud fever, and the different
forms of disease which have been mentioned, is thus explained.

A happy inspiration induced some one to adopt the expedient
of leaving the wet mud on the legs of the horse returned from
work, to form a protective covering while the drying process was
proceeding. On the following morning the dried mud was
brushed off without difficulty, and forthwith “ chapped heels,”
““mud fever,” and “ grease,” ceased to appear in the stables
where this plan was adopted.

Further experience has shown that if mud can be washed off
at once by driving the animal into a pond, and then continuing
the journey home, no harm results. The mischief is done by
the washing, especially if warm water is used, when the animal
has arrived home, and is to remain stationary for the night in
the stable.

In the case of hunters, it is considered advisable to wrap the
muddy legs in flannel bandages; haybands will form an
effective substitute in the case of the farm-horse, but the essential
thing is to refrain from any washing or attempt to remove the
mud until it is dry enough to be brushed off.

When cracked heels or mud fever have actually occurred, a
very useful application for the relief of irritation will be found
in a mixture of vaseline, 8 parts, with trisnitrate of bismuth,
or white lead, or oxide of zinc, 1 part, which may be kept ready
for use, and applied once or twice a day.

Bruises, whether associated with wounds or not, generally
induce a certain degree of inflammation, with its necessary
accompaniments of heat, pain, and swelling. Under these
conditions, hot or cold applications are in favour with different
people, irrespectively of the actual state of the damaged parts,
which may render one of the remedies highly injurious, while
the other would prove especially beneficial.

Cold lotions are most effective in cases of recent injury, before
swelling has commenced ; and to obtain the full benefit of the
remedy its application should be continuous until the desired
effect has been produced. A temporary cessation of the treat-
ment would permit the occurrence of vascular reaction, and all
the preventive effects of the remedy would be lost.

Hot fomentations are absolutely necessary when inflammation
has commenced. The object then is to soften the injured parts
and promote exudation, which will relieve the overcharged
vessels. Cold applications in the active inflammatory stage
inflict unnecessary pain, and retard rather than assist the cure.

Wounds which are associated with bruises do not heal

252 On the Domestic Veterinary Treatment of

without the formation of discharges. Still the antiseptic treat-
ment, by the aid of a solution of carbolic acid, 1 part to 100
of water, with carbolised cotton and gauze, is most effective.

Sprains.—Muscles, ligaments, and tendons, are sometimes
extended beyond the limits of their elasticity, owing to sudden
and violent movements of the animal, and the result is inflam-
mation, with swelling and pain. Excessive strain may cause
rupture of some of the minute fibres of these structures, and
then perfect recovery is rare.

The immediate effects of sprain are swelling, heat, and lame-
ness, which is the expression of the pain incurred in moving the
injured part; the remote effects are, in many instances, per-
manent enlargement of the parts, and weakness of the injured
muscle, tendon, or ligament, which renders it susceptible to a
recurrence of the injury, and to some extent impairs the animal’s
usefulness. For these results of sprain powerful counter-irritants
are deemed necessary, at least they are usually employed; but
experience has shown that equally good effects may be pro-
duced by the persistent use of cold water, with perfect rest for
a considerable period.

When blistering is required, the ointment of the biniodide of
mercury is most effective. Firing and setoning are operations
requiring surgical skill, and it is not expected that the farmer
will attempt them. Indeed, the reckless adoption of these severe
measures is to be deprecated.

Common Diseases of the Digestive Organs.—Animals of different
classes in domestication are somewhat differently placed in
regard to their liability to disease. Horses, for instance, and
breeding animals generally, are fed with the sole object of keeping
them in health, or in working condition ; whereas cattle, sheep,
and swine, which are intended for the butcher, are supplied
with as much provender as can be utilised economically by the
organism, the object being to fatten them as quickly as possible,
without regard to the remote effects of this “ forcing system’
on the health of the animals. A natural result of this artificial
method of feeding is the production of certain diseased states
of the digestive organs, from which working animals are com-
paratively exempt. On the other hand, the working animal is
more frequently subjected to climatic influences, and to alter-
nations of exertion, sometimes of a violent kind, with complete
inaction in the stable, conditions which render him liable to
diseases of the respiratory system in particular.

Horses suffer at certain times from a form of indigestion
which is in horse language expressed in the significant term,
“loss of condition.” The animal is disinclined for food, or
eats everything ravenously; the skin is harsh and unthrifty,

the Animals of the Farm. 253

adhering to the tissues beneath, constituting the state known
as “hide-bound.” The legs swell after a short time of rest in
the stable; and the swelling subsides after exercise, to return
when the animal is again allowed to rest; and whether the
appetite remains or altogether fails, the body becomes emaciated.
Eruptions on the skin, attended with extreme itching, “ cracked
heels,” and grease, are complaints which frequently occur when
an animal is in bad condition, and add to the difficulty of
effecting a cure.

Alterative treatment, as it is called, is required in cases of
“bad condition,” with or without complications, and the term
“‘alterative” may be understood to mean alteration of the
whole system of feeding and management, as complete as it is
possible to effect.

Medicines do not play a very important part in the “ altera-
tive ” system, but there is no objection to the daily administra-
tion of a table-spoonful of a mixture of sulphur and nitre in
equa] parts in the food. Rock salt should always be placed in
the animal’s reach, and the food should be varied as much as
possible. In many cases a total change from vegetable to
animal diet is most effective. Milk with well-beaten eggs
added may be given with the best results to animals in a state
of extreme debility and emaciation, and it may be noted that
wonderful effects have been produced by feeding animals on
soup made by boiling pieces of any kind of meat. The liquor,
when cold and freed from fat, may be used to make a mash by
mixing it with bran, At first the animal’s taste may be
cultivated by putting small portions of the mixture into the
mouth, but in a short time animals become exceedingly fond of
the new diet, and thrive upon it in a remarkable manner.

Colic or Gripes——Farm-horses are particularly liable to attacks
of spasmodic colic. Indeed,—owing most likely to the character
of their work, which necessitates abstinence of some hours’
duration, often in hot weather, from water or food, and conse-
quently leads to the rapid consumption of both on the return to
the stable,—the animals suffer more frequently from colic than
from any other disease of the digestive organs. Exposure to wet
and cold, drinking freely of cold water, or eating ravenously of
coarse food, are the chief causes of the attack.

Symptoms of colic are easily recognized, and the attendant
does not often fail to form a correct opinion. The pain, which
is due to spasmodic contraction of the muscular tissue of the
intestines, is acute, and the horse expresses his suffering by
violent movements, rolling on the ground, kicking at the belly,
looking round at his flanks, whisking the tail, and moving
quickly from side to side in his stall, The countenance expresses

254 On the Domestic Veterinary Treatment of

excitement, the eye is bright, and the pulse full and quick during
the continuance of the pain, which ceases from time to time,
and recurs after intervals of ease. This peculiarity of the disease
is a distinctive feature which should always be noted, because
colic is sometimes confounded with the more serious inflam-
mation of the intestines (enteritis) from which it is most
essential it should be clearly distinguished. For this purpose
it is enough for the farmer to know that in inflammation the
aspect is dull, and the pain less violent; and is continuous,
instead of intermittent, in its expression. ;

Treatment of colic is generally successful ; but fatal cases do-
occur, and no time should be lost in applying remedies.
A very useful and harmless mixture is to be prepared by com-
bining equal parts of sweet spirit of nitre and laudanum; of
this mixture three tablespoons should be given at once in about
half a pint of water, or, if the animal has eaten too freely
of coarse food, in a pint of linseed-oil. Immediately after the
draught has been given, the horse should be walked about for
half an hour; and if at the termination of the exercise the
pain continues, a second dose of the colic mixture in water may
be given; and should another half hour pass without relief, it is
time to summon the veterinary surgeon, and, pending his
arrival, the belly should be fomented with water as hot as the
hands of the men engaged can bear.

Hoven.—Among cattle and sheep, distension of the first com-
partment of the stomach with gas from fermenting food is a
common occurrence, and to this condition the terms “‘ hoven,”
or “blown,” are applied. The causes of the disorder are to be
found in the quantity or quality of the food. Sudden change
of diet from dry to succulent food tempts animals to indulge
to excess, and as the result of the filling of the rumen with
half-masticated food, digestion is interrupted and fermentation
occurs, the stomach becomes rapidly filled with the gases which
are given off, and pressure on the diaphragm is the consequence ;
and sometimes, before any effectual help can be rendered, the
animal dies from suffocation.

Promptness of action is essential in dealing with “ hoven,”
and especially when it occurs in a flock of sheep which have
just been turned on to a luxuriant field of clover; in such
circumstances the extreme measure of plunging a knife into the
swollen stomach, and allowing the gas to escape, has been justi-
fied by the successful result, and when an animal is on the verge
of suffocation, no hesitation can be permitted. The less urgent
cases will be amenable to treatment of a milder kind.

Of the numerous medicines which are in favour with stock-
owners as remedies for hoven, none is more effective or safe

the Animals of the Farm. 255

than the hyposulphite of soda, which, owing to its use in photo-
graphy, may be obtained at all times and in all places. The
dose for cattle is four ounces in a pint of water, and for sheep
a fourth of that quantity. Accuracy in apportioning the dose is
not of much moment. ‘The chief consideration is that enough
shall be given to arrest the process of fermentation without delay.

After an attack of hoven, abstinence from all food for some
hours should be enjoined, and then only easily digested aliment
should be allowed, and even this should be restricted as to
quantity, until the distended sac has recovered its tone.

Diarrhea (scouring), especially among calves and lambs, is
an annoying disorder, which in many cases leads to serious
loss.

While the disease is confined to a few animals it will excite
but little attention ; but its general existence in a flock of lambs
or among a number of calves is an indication that there is
some radical error in dietetics, which must be corrected, or
some adverse climatic influences, from which the animals must
be protected before any attempt is made to cure by the aid of
medicines.

The farmer is especially cautioned against the use of advertised
specifics for this complaint. No medicines are of any real use
until the causes of the disorders have been detected and removed,
and the aid of an expert can hardly be dispensed with in this
~ inquiry.

As a guiding principle it may safely be assumed that scouring
is due to something in the food, viz., either in the milk of the
mother, when sucking animals are attacked, or in the herbage
or other food which is supplied to older animals. When the
milk is in fault, its pernicious qualities must be referred, as a
rule, to the food which the cow or ewe receives. In fact the
question will resolve itself in most cases into that of the quality
of the food or water with which the young animal or the mother
is supplied.

Exposure to wet and cold will add materially to the adverse
influences which have been referred to, and may in themselves
act as exciting causes of the disease.

Presuming that the causes of the derangement have been
detected, and as far as possible got rid of by changing the
position of the animals and correcting all discovered errors in
diet, there will not remain much need for the aid of medicines.

An old-fashioned mixture, which represents the chalk mixture
of human medicine, may be kept at hand, and administered as
required in cases which do not improve with the change of
conditions in regard to food and locality. The mixture is
termed in Morton’s ‘ Pharmacy’ “ sheep and calves’ cordial,” and

256 On the Domestic Veterinary Treatment of

the preparation will be found in the list of necessary medicines
at the end of this essay.

Parasites— Worms of various sorts inhabit the intestinal canal
and other organs of digestion, and induce irritation, which is
often associated with diarrhoea and general unthriftiness. Horses,
cattle, and sheep, are victims in different degrees to the ravages
of parasites. It is only necessary to allude to tape-worms in
lambs, and the destructive fluke-disease, to show that internal
worms have much to answer for in the matter of disorders of
the digestive system; but the subject of parasitic diseases is far
too extensive to be dealt with in a mere sketch of the common
diseases of farm stock to which common domestic remedies are
applicable. It may, however, be remarked that for horses a
general and effective worm-killer is to be found in the agent
santonine, which may be given in doses of 15 grains in a ball
with 3 drachms of aloes, and repeated in a few days if necessary ;
while for worms in the digestive organs of sheep no remedy has
yet been found which equals in efficacy common salt. Powdered
charcoal has recently been advocated, and, being a harmless
agent, is worthy of fair trial.

* Diseases of the Breathing Organs. — Atmospheric changes
naturally exercise great influence on the breathing organs, and
in a variable climate derangement of those organs is of con-
stant occurrence. The ordinary term “cold,” is used to express
different forms of respiratory disorder with which actual cold
has often little or nothing to do. Warm, moist weather is more
fruitful in cases of common cold than really cold seasons are,
and it has been remarked that the words catching a heat would
be more accurate than the usual form “catching a cold.”

The ordinary symptoms of a cold are—dullness, loss of appe-
tite, redness of the mucous membranes, of the eyes, nostrils, and
mouth, with irritability of the air-passages, as evidenced by the
occurrence of cough when cold air is drawn into the wind-
pipe. Discharge from the nose and eyes appears as the disease
advances, and in severe cases the extension of the irritation to
the bronchial tubes leads to difficulty in the breathing. Cattle
cough or “hoose” frequently when in health, and so do sheep ;
but there is a difference which the practical observer can appre-
ciate between the habitual “ hoose,” and the cough which is due
to irritation of the mucous membrane lining the air-tubes.
Treatment of a common cold is always carried out on a routine
system by the aid of certain drugs, which are presumed to haye
a specific effect ; but it may be questioned whether either man or
the lower animals can be cured of a cold by the agency of
medicines.

Good nursing is undoubtedly beneficial in common colds, and

the Animals of the Farm. 257

if the patient is kept from exposure to cold or wet, properly
housed and clothed, and fed on soft non-exciting food, to which,
or to the drinking-water, a little nitre is added, and has a
dose of an electuary (see end of this paper) from time to time,
very little more can be done.

Stimulating liniment may be rubbed into the skin of the
throat and front of the chest when the cough is trouble-
some; but blisters and setons should never be used without
the advice of a veterinary surgeon, and under no circumstance
should the farmer be tempted to give any of the advertised
cough-balls, or other specifics. If the cold resists the simple
measures which have been advised, it is a sign that something
more than appears to the inexperienced eye is wrong, and
further advice should be sought.

Influenza is a peculiar form of catarrhal disease which occurs
periodically among horses, generally in the summer and autumn,
and, under certain unfavourable conditions, results in serious
loss.. Under the names of ‘ Horse Distemper” and “ Pink Eye,”
the affection has of late years excited special attention in this
country, chiefly on account of the presumption that it was
imported from America. There is nothing, however, in any
phase of the influenza of recent date which distinguishes it from
the affection of a quarter of a century ago.

One special feature of influenza, as compared with ordinary
cold, is the remarkable prostration which occurs early in the
course of the disease. Complications also occur during the
progress of the affection, and from the simple catarrhal form it
may pass to the organs of the chest (thoracic form), or to the
intestines, inducing enteritis: or it may become associated with
disturbance of the brain and spinal cord, and present the
characters of the very fatal disorder which is known by the
pretentious title of “cerebro-spinal meningitis ;” and finally, it
may be combined with acute rheumatism.

Treatment of influenza will necessarily be regulated by the
nature of the attack, and, in regard to the domestic veterinary
treatment of the disease, it may be remarked that the simple
remedies which are at the disposal of the farmer will, if promptly
and judiciously applied, materially modify the severity of the
affection, and especially at its commencement. As soon as signs
of influenza are evident in the animal’s drooping gait, watery
and perhaps swollen eyelids, work should be stopped. The
neglect of this essential precaution led to the loss of a vast
number of horses of the Tramway Companies in America
a few years ago.

Good nursing is all-important in influenza as in all forms of
catarrhal affections. A sick horse should be placed, if possible,

VOL. XX.—S. S. s

258° On the Domestic Veterinary Treatment of

in a well-ventilated box, and be tempted with any kind of food
which may stimulate the failing appetite; water should be placed
within reach, and a little nitre, half an ounce to the bucket-
ful of water, may be dissolved in it daily, but the fluid should on
no account be made lukewarm, as nothing is more distasteful to
most horses. Sponging the nostrils occasionally with vinegar
and water refreshes a sick animal much, and the creature’s
comfort will be further promoted by attention to the temperature
of the surface of the body and extremities ; bandages to the legs,
warm or cool covering to the body, according to the season,
and friction to the skin, are all valuable curative measures
which are within the scope of domestic treatment of disease.

Beyond the provision of nitrated water for the sick horse to
drink, the farmer cannot safely do much in medical treatment ;
but if sore throat and cough are present, the electuary, the com-
position of which is given in the list of necessary medicines at
the end of this essay, may be employed with advantage. A
small portion of the compound should be introduced into the
mouth by means of a flat piece of wood, or it may be smeared
on the tongue with the hand.

Influenza in its common catarrhal form may be successfully
treated in the manner above described, but it must not be for-
gotten that the development of fresh symptoms indicative of
complications, should be the signal for calling in veterinary
aid.

Inflammation of the Lungs, Bronchitis, or Pleurisy, are serious
diseases of the breathing-organs arising out of, or at any rate
following closely on, a common cold in many cases. It is worse
than useless to attempt the cure of these maladies by the use of
domestic medicines. The old methods of bleeding, blistering,
and rowelling, are now deservedly exploded, and milder remedies
have taken their place; but the effective use of these remedies
demands the skill of the experienced practitioner.

In general terms it may be said that so long as the disorder
of the breathing-organs is confined to the upper part of the air-
passages, and the animal can cough out well and strongly, lies
down as usual, and does not refuse food and water, the farmer
may be content to continue the system of nursing, and by
way of medical treatment he may give half an ounce of nitre
per day in the food or water; but domestic veterinary treatment
should not be carried on when the animal’s breathing becomes
rapid or oppressed, the cough soft and painful, and the animal
refuses to lie down, or to take food or water. Under these cir-
cumstances the farmer may be sure that he has more than a
common cold to deal with ; and if he values the animal, he will
get the best assistance without a moment’s delay.

the Animals of the Farm. 259

Parasites in the air-passage are responsible for considerably
more damage than those which inhabit the digestive canal.
The threadworms which infest the bronchial tubes of calves
and lambs, and cause constant irritation and incessant cough
or husk, have long been known to farmers, and dreaded the
more as every year shows the futility of preventive measures
from which much good was expected. Unfortunately, lands
which become infested with the germs of the threadworms
cannot be freed from the pest except under the influence of long
frosts or continued hot dry weather, conditions which have been
conspicuous by their absence for mnany years past, certainly the
most essential one—dry weather—has.

Treatment, to be successful in the cure of lung disease from
the presence of threadworms in the bronchial tubes, involves
two essentials: first, the destruction of the parasites; and
secondly, what is often the most difficult, the removal of the
diseased animals to a position in which they will escape the
risk-of reinfection. Turpentine is a favourite remedy, but it
must be given with care. The best plan is to apportion the
dose—a tablespoonfui for a calf, and a teaspoonful for a lamb,
and then mix the quantity with four times the amount of milk
and eggs beaten together.

A more direct plan of bringing remedies in contact with the
worm is to inject them directly into the windpipe with a syringe,
as advocated by Dr. Levi of Pisa. This plan of administering
medicines has lately been tried with great success in France
in treating worms in the lungs, and it is time that English
veterinarians took up the practice which promises such good
results.

Under any system of treatment of the disease it is very
essential to support the animals by means of good food.

Accidents and Diseases associated with Calving and Lambing.—
In these days of high breeding in all classes of farm animals,
the time of parturition, and especially the season of lambing, is
one of considerable anxiety to the owner of valuable stock.
Abortion, or the expulsion of the foetus at any time before it is
sufficiently developed to live,—and premature birth, or the
expulsion of the foetus prior to the natural time, but in a state
of development which permits it to maintain an existence when
separated from the mother,—are two accidents which are so
necessarily associated with breeding that they cannot be certainly
prevented. Careful management, including a supply of good
food, avoidance of exposure to inclement weather, and the
removal of all causes of excitement, will effect much in the way
of prevention ; but the flock-master must not expect perfect

$2

260 On the Domestic Veterinary Treatment of

immunity from the misfortunes which are incidental to the
system of breeding.

It has been suggested that one important measure of pre-
vention is the immediate rejection, for breeding purposes, of
all animals which have once suffered from abortion. It is
perfectly well-known that the occurrence of the event in a herd
of in-calf cows causes extraordinary excitement ; and it is rare,
indeed, for the mischief to cease with a single case. As soon
as any signs of derangement are seen in one or more of the
pregnant animals, it is necessary to remove them from the
vicinity of the rest, and keep them in a place where perfect
quiet can be secured. The diet in such circumstances should be
rather low, and a mild laxative, 12 oz. of Epsom salts in a pint
of water, with 10 drops of tincture of aconite, may be given;
and if the animals continue to show signs of restlessness, the
dose of aconite may be repeated in half a pint of water three
times during the day.

Should abortion occur in a herd suddenly, the cow which has
suffered should be removed at once, and all traces of the
occurrence be got rid of as quickly as possible, and those parts
of the pasture which have been contaminated with the discharged
fluids, or by contact with the expelled foetus, should be covered
with quicklime and, if possible, be hurdled off. It is hardly
necessary to remark that the movement of all the herd to another
pasture is highly desirable.

Practical men have long sought for the causes of abortion, but
hitherto nothing has been discovered which can be referred to
as the special influences by which the derangement is produced.
Very often at the time of the occurrence all the surrounding
circumstances are of the most favourable kind ; but abortion, and
other disasters which may happen at the time of parturition, are
not necessarily due to causes which are existing at the time.
On the contrary, the mischief might be traced back to an early
period in gestation, and it cannot be too strongly urged that bad
wanagement, poor food, and exposure to inclement weather at
any time during the progress of foetal growth will infallibly tell
at the last. It cannot, however, be questioned that abortion
may occur year after year in herds which are so well managed
that the most critical inquirer cannot discover any error to be
remedied. In such a case the only thing which can be suggested
is the radical measure of changing the herd entirely, a step
which the owner of a favourite breed will not generally be dis-
posed to take.

Difficult Delivery.—The act of parturition is readout diffi-
cult in certain cases from malformation in the mother, or some

the Animals of the Farm. 261

alteration in the position of the foetus. In either instance
experience and manual skill are necessary to deal with the
difficulty ; but it too often happens that brute force is used
instead—literally brute force in some cases, as it has more
than once occurred that a horse has been attached by means of a
rope to the foetus, which has thus been dragged from its position.

It would be useless to attempt, in the course of a short essay
dealing with the common diseases and accidents which befal
the animals of the farm, to give a description of the numerous
malpositions which the foetus assumes, or the means of rectifying
them ; nor is it necessary that the attempt should be made,
as the lecture on the subject delivered many years ago by
Professor Simonds, and published in the Society’s ‘ Journal,’ is
within the reach of all the members; and it is not too much
to say that the surgery of parturition as therein described has
not been superseded by any improved methods.

After the act of calving has been completed without accident,
there remains in the mind of the stock-owner a certain amount
of apprehension, from which he cannot escape for some days;
and the more valuable the stock, the greater the anxiety.

“* Dropping after calving” is a disease of which most breeders
know the serious nature. No affection is more fatal among
breeding herds; and in certain breeds, and notably among the
choicest of the Channel Island races, the liability to the disorder
seems to be most marked, and especially after the third and
succeeding periods of calving.

Nothing is known as to the actual causes of “ doneiae and
all that has been said about the throwing back of a large quantity
of blood upon the system of the cow as soon as the calf is born
may be rejected as having no meaning. The act of delivery is
certainly of the nature of a crisis, and if “dropping” were
usually the result of a first calving, which is the most critical
time in an animal’s life, the common explanation might be
accepted ; but the fact is that the cow is fairly safe at the first
and second calving, and even at the third the risk is not great ;
but the real danger appears after the system may be supposed
to have become accustomed to the excitement which is associated
with the parturient period. Prevention of “dropping after
calying ” is a subject which has exercised the minds of practical
and scientific men from time immemorial, and certain pre-
cautions are suggested with confidence by those who have
found them effective, a confidence which is not always justified
by the experience of others.

Some breeders assert that the practice of continuing to milk
in-calf cows quite up to the time of calving is a successful
prevention of “dropping.” The more obvious plan of ceasing

262 On the Domestic Veterinary Treatment of

to breed from animals after the third calf will not commend
itself to owners of pedigree stock ; and generally the preventive
measures resolve themselves into those sanitary regulations which
every considerate breeder naturally adopts—such as attention to
the general health, regulation of the supply of food to the
amount of exercise, so as to avoid plethora on the one hand, and
poverty on the other; and the occasional administration of a
moderate dose of laxative medicine. ‘Treatment of “ dropping
after calving” is not in most cases successful, and considering
that experienced veterinarians commonly fail to effect a cure, the
farmer will hardly expect to cope with the disease by the aid of
domestic remedies.

The “lambing time” is not less important to the flock-master
than the period of calving is to the owner of a valuable herd,
and perhaps the misfortunes which are common to the first-
named are more certain, as they are numerically higher than
those which are incidental to the second. The fact is not
remarkable, considering how little attention is often paid to the
comfort of the breeding ewes at the time. Very frequently
the animals are only partially sheltered, folded on damp ground,
and kept almost exclusively on watery food; under such un-
favourable conditions losses both of ewes and lambs happen
almost as a matter of necessity.

A further cause of mischief is to be found in the well-intended
efforts of the shepherd to assist delivery when no assistance is
required ; application of force in the removal of the foetus is, how-
ever, very objectionable ; but in addition to the risk of injury
which is incurred, there is the even more serious danger of
septic infection, as it is called, from the dirty condition of the
hands of the attendants, which are often covered with blood in
a state of decomposition, and with other septic matters, no
respect being paid to the well-known fact that the mucous
membrane of the uterine passage is in an excited condition at
this time, and prone to suffer from contact with infective matter
of any kind. Absorption of septic germs takes place very
rapidly, and blood-poisoning is the natural consequence.

Inflammation of the Womb, or Parturient Fever, is a fatal disease
to which ewes are liable, and it is quite certain that it may be
extensively communicated, and is not unlikely to be originated
by the agency of the shepherd’s hands being charged with
septic material.

The term “ straining ” is used to indicate these affections, and
it is sufficiently expressive ; the symptom in itself is easily recog-
nized by the shepherd who, knowing the fatality which attends
the malady, is always on the look-out for the first sign of its
appearance.

the Animals of the Farm. 263

Treatment of straining after lambing must be promptly
applied, and fortunately there is a remedy which is at once
effective. Some time ago Mr. Henry Woods called the atten-
tion of flock-masters to the frequent occurrence of straining
after lambing, and advocated the use of carbolic acid with 8 parts
of Gallipoli oil, for the purpose of smearing the passage after
delivery, in all cases in which any signs of inflammation of the
womb were apparent. The remedy has been used with remark-
able benefit. Dr. Fleming, President of the Royal College of
Veterinary Surgeons, pointed out about the same time that the
remedy was referred to in his work on ‘ Veterinary Obstetrics’ as
being in use on the Continent; but Mr. Woods was the first to
introduce the agent to the special notice of the stock-owners
in this country.

During the whole time of lambing absolute cleanliness should
be insisted on in regard to all the appliances in the lambing-
pens. The shepherd should frequently wash his hands in a
weak solution of carbolic acid, 1 part of the agent added to 100
parts of soap and water will suffice for this purpose ; and when
it is necessary to afford manual assistance in the act of delivery,
he should smear his clean hands and arms with the mixture of
carbolic acid and oil.

In the course of this short essay on a very wide subject, the
object has been to bring clearly before the stock-owner a few
facts which, although beyond dispute, are commonly ignored.
First, the importance of strict attention to sanitary laws has
been urged, and next, the impolicy of unnecessary interference
with the natural resources of the animal organism. Health
depends on original freedom from disease, the outcome of a
healthy parentage; its continuance may be to a great extent
insured by attention to the ordinary conditions of existence.
Pure air, and enough of it, good food and water, each in its
proper place and quantity, with exercise regulated by the
physical powers of the animal, are the essential conditions of
normal life. Domestication disturbs these conditions, and art
interposes the aid of medicine in the hope of rectifying the
errors of an artificial system, not always with success. Never-
theless, in obedience to the teachings of experience, we may
treat the medical art with respect without losing our reverence
for the wis medicatrix nature.

Tue Mepictne CHEST FOR THE FARM.

A list of remedies for the Domestic Veterinary Treatment of
farm-stock, arranged in alphabetical order, with the doses for
different animals.

264 On the Domestic Veterinary Treatment of

Aconite.—Tincture (Fleming’s) ; action sedative ; allays fever,
and externally relieves irritation. Doses: horse and ox, 10 to
30 drops; sheep, 5 drops; add water in proportion of a table-
spoonful to each drop of tincture. For a lotion, use one table- |
spoonful of the tincture to a pint of water. ;

Alcohol, in the form of whisky, or brandy, or strong ale, is
useful for cases in which the system requires to be temporarily
roused from a state of depression. Doses: horse or ox, whisky
or brandy, 4 to 8 tablespoonfuls; sheep, 1 to 3 tablespoonfuls.
Strong ale, horse and ox, 1 pint; sheep, } pint: repeated two
or three times a day.

Aloes—A purgative for horse or ox. The ordinary aloetic
mass and the solution should be kept at hand: both preparations
must be obtained from a druggist. Doses: horses, 4 to 6 drachms
of the aloetic mass as an ordinary purgative. Ox, half a pint of
the solution, usually given in combination with linseed-oil, in
cases of continued constipation.

Ammonia Liniment.—Made by adding a strong solution of
ammonia and oil of turpentine, an eighth part, to soap-liniment.
A pint-bottle, carefully stoppered, should be kept at hand. The
liniment is useful as an application for sore throat, and for all
cases in which an external stimulant is necessary. Must be
applied with the hand, and well rubbed into the skin.

Areca Nut.—A useful worm-medicine. ‘The nuts should be
kept in a stoppered bottle in a dry place. When required for
use, the quantity should be grated by means of a nutmeg-grater.
Doses: horse or ox, half an ounce to an ounce of the grated nut,
mixed with the food, corn, and bran. Sheep, 2 drachms; dog,
half to one drachm.

Calves’ Cordial—A form of chalk-mixture for calves and
sheep. To be prepared by a chemist as follows :—prepared
chalk, 2 ounces ; powdered catechu, 1 ounce ; ginger, 4 ounce ;
opium, 1 drachm; peppermint-water, 1 pint. Dose: calves,
2 to 4 tablespoonfuls ; sheep, 1 to 2 tablespoonfuls.

Carbolic Acid.—A powerful caustic and antiseptic, ordinarily
used in combination with 50 to 100 parts of water, as an
antiseptic lotion to unhealthy wounds, and for disinfection
purposes.

Carbolised Cotton and Gauze, to be obtained of the druggist.
Valuable antiseptic applications to wounds.

Castor Oil, also Linseed Oil—purgatives. Doses: horse or ox,
1 to 2 pints; sheep, 4 tablespoonfuls.

Colic Mixture.—Equal parts of laudanum and sweet spirit of
nitre, and an eighth part of chloric ether. A half-pint bottle to
be kept at hand. Dose: horse or ox, 2 to 4 tablespoonfuls in
three parts of a pint of water.

the Animals of the Farm. 265

Electuary.—A_ soft mass, compounded with honey or treacle:
must be prepared by a druggist as follows: camphor, 2 ounces ;
powdered myrrh, liquorice root, and nitre, of each 8 ounces ;
extract of belladonna, 2 ounces ; treacle, enough to make a soft
paste. Dose: horse or ox, a portion of the size of half a walnut
to be put at the back of the mouth two or three times a day
with a piece of stick. Useful in colds, sore throat, and in-
fluenza. :

Ginger.—Stimulant: forms an essential part of all cordial
powders for exciting appetite; may be given with strong ale in
cases of prostration from over-work or disease. Dose: horse or
ox, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls of the powder in a pint of ale; sheep,
one-fourth of the quantity.

Mercurial Ointment (blue), to be purchased ready for use,
valuable to promote the growth of hair, and in some forms of
skin disease ; only small quantities may be applied.

Mercurial Ointment (red), binioide of mercury. A good
form for blisters in cases of splent or after sprain of tendons.

Nitre (nitrate of potash), diuretic and fever medicine. Dose:
horse or ox, 2 tablespoonfuls daily in the drinking-water, or half
the quantity in the food. Sheep, 1 teaspoonful in the food.

Salts (Epsom or Glauber), common purgatives for cattle
and sheep. Dose: ox, 12 to 16 ounces, dissolved in a wine-
bottle of hot water. A tablespoonful of ginger may be added.
- Sheep, 4 to 6 ounces.

Salicylic Acid—aA valuable antiseptic, effective in the treat-
ment of foot-and-mouth disease. Dose: 4 tablespoonfuls of the
acid are to be put in an earthen vessel and dissolved in a
quart of boiling-water; hot water is then to be added to make
a gallon. This solution is to be used to syringe the feet and
lave the mouth and nostrils, and also to wash the udder, and
finally to sprinkle over the litter; half a pint of the solution’
may be added to the gallon of drinking-water every day. The
dry acid (powder) may be sprinkled on the feet after they have
been syringed with the solution,

Santonine, used to expel worms, one of the most effective
agents for this purpose. Dose: horse, 15 grains, with 3 drachms
of aloes, to be given in the morning before feeding, and repeated
after two days.

Sulphur (Flower of Sulphur), a very valuable alterative.
Dose: horse or ox, a tablespoonful, with a teaspoonful of nitre,
may be given in the food once a day; sheep, quarter of the
quantity. Sulphur mixed with any common oil forms an ex-
cellent dressing for mange or surfeit in animals.

Turpentine, Oil of —Stimulant to the skin. Internally used

266 On the Cultivated Potato.

to expel worms, useful in “husk in calves.” Dose: a table-
spoonful daily in half a pint of a mixture of milk and eggs.
Lambs, one quarter of the quantity.

Vaseline.—Emollient to the skin, effective in irritation of
the surface, chapped heels, mud fever, especially if mixed
with an eighth part of trisnitrate of bismuth or carbonate of
lead (white lead), or oxide of zinc.

Zinc, Chloride of (Sir William Burnett’s Disinfecting Fluid),
mixed with fifty to one hundred parts of water, may be used for
the purposes for which carbolic acid is employed.

VI.— On the Cultivated Potato. By Earn Carucart.

THE cultivated potato and its inherent tendency to degenerate
is a subject which in this ‘ Journal’ has never been comprehen-
sively treated, and very profitably it might occupy many care-
fully studied pages in many volumes. The contents, however,
of the current publication had been already arranged, when,
with a view to render the approaching season ayailable, it
appeared desirable to add a paper, imperfect though it may be,
suggestive of seasonable operations and consequently undelayed
experiments.

Concerning the importance of the subject of our inquiry—the
potato, the bread-root of Great Britain, and the struma which
so disastrously affects it—little need be said. In its way the
enigma of the nineteenth century, no one kindred topic has
probably occasioned the same amount of writing ; and the scien-
tific interest is more than equalled by the economic importance
of a question so hidden, so difficult, and so apparently insoluble.
Plants from the ‘torrid zones rarely become naturalised in
England; and there is high authority for stating that the
potato has never been naturalised in Europe.* This plant,
America’s best gift, is of all those cultivated the most liable to
be influenced and changed by differences of soil, climate, and
treatment. Economically, the productiveness of the potato is
unrivalled, yielding per acre, thirty times by weight more than
wheat. More than one hundred years have passed and gone
since Howard, the philanthropist, characterized the potato as”
a most valuable part of the sustenance of our fellow-creatures,
the labouring poor. We have almost forgotten that some forty
years ago, our Government and that of the United States

* ¢Ency. Brit.’ Current Ed. Art. “ Acclimatisation.”—Wallace.

al

On the Cultivated Potato. 267

obtained between them twenty millions of money for the relief
of Irish distress consequent upon the failure of this crop in
question, and that sum is inconsiderable as compared with the
widespread loss caused by panic, pestilence, and their far reach-
ing consequences. The appearance, in 1845, of an extensive
disease in the potato crops in various parts of the United King-
dom, though regarded as a serious calamity to the poorer classes,
especially in Ireland, was scarcely deemed a satisfactory solu-
tion for the wreck of one of the most powerful Cabinets of
modern times. Yet it transpired that it was in this apparently
insignificant cause that Sir Robert Peel had found the necessity
of his retirement from office. In the face of the alarming
prospect presented to his mind by the destruction of a large
portion of the staple food of the labouring population, his reso-
jution to maintain the existing Corn Laws gave way, and his
secession from pgwer was the consequence.* The American
Government has been charged with supineness, it has been told
to rise above party to consider mankind. We have an Irish
question, and the lrish question is, after all, subordinate to that
of the potato and the question of its “constitution!” t Factious
cries are usually as impracticable as they are abstract, but such
a cry as pacification by means of the potato would have a con-
erete significance. In the sequel I have a modest suggestion

_to offer to our Government; meanwhile, I only stay to express

a hope that the governments and public scientific bodies, who
in the way of preserving the crop in question have done so little
in the last hundred years, do not in their secret hearts share
Mr. Goldwin Smith’s opinion,{ which, after all, may be that
of Dame Nature, namely, that misery and barbarism have multi-
plied on the British precarious and philoprogenitative potato!

Everything depends on the spirit, the scientific spirit, with
which we are imbued on entering upon this inquiry. If, with
candour, we ask ourselves what on the subject we really know,
echoes from vacant caves in our minds will answer—very, very
little. But, says the wisdom of the old common law—the
origin of a thing ought to be inquired into.§ Again, the law
says, inquire into doubtful points, for, by reasoning, we come
to the real reason of a thing. Every one, in regard to the
present subject, starts afresh to run far on little ground ; there

* “ Annual Register,” p. 2. 1846.

7 In 1881 it was calculated that in Ireland there were six persons for every
acre of potatoes, in England fifty persons per acre of that crop. *Morton’s Hand-
book.’—* Crops.”

{ Goldwin Smith in ‘Nineteenth Century,’ 16th of June, 1883.

§ Coke upon Lit.

268 On the Cultivated Potato.

is no confident or due reliance on already ascertained facts, no
scientific continuity. We should investigate with a full know-
ledge of ascertained facts and acknowledged principles, therefore
it shall be my endeavour to treat the subject from Sir Walter
Raleigh’s time to the present, concisely but comprehensively,
and with a view to give references to all the authorities bearing
on the several branches of the inquiry. There is danger in
drawing general inferences from insulated facts—books, and
pamphlets, and newspapers alike afford abounding examples of
a quack-like tendency towards treating mere symptoms.” It
should be our endeavour to promote a legitimate union by
bringing about the fruitful connection of facts.and laws. We
desire the establishment of a true theory that shall account for
all the phenomena; we seek a true remedy which must be of
general application.| Great progress towards much desired
ends will have been attained if without ,hesitation we can
bring ourselves to believe that constantly the spirit of continuity
walks abroad with Nature, and that leaps and bounds do not
usually accompany her stately march.

The following admirable monograph of De Candolle is the
best thing of the kind that has ever been written. After
consultation, I decided to give a translation without abbre-
viation, it having been pertinently observed that the writings
of this eminent authority do not usually admit of much con-
densation.

* Extracts from Blue-books issued whilst this paper was in the Press :—

Report by Consul Churchill on the Trade and Commerce of Palermo and Sicily
for the Years 1881 and 1882.

“ Phylloxera.—This disease of the vines has spread since last year, though not
as yet to any alarming extent, being chiefly to be found in the neighbourhood
where it was first discovered. The Government still uses bisulphide of carbon,
which certainly seems to kill the insect when it reaches it, but unfortunately
it also destroys the plant, and by its use many vineyards have been entirely
destroyed ; the proprietors now complain that the cure is worse than the disease,

and maintain that it entirely destroys the vines without preventing the spread of
the insect.”

Report by Vice-Consul Hayes Sadler on the Trade and Commerce of La
Rochelle during the Year 1882.

“There are now, according to the report of the Phylloxera Commission, only
71,570 hectares of vines remaining in this Department, and for the most part
these are attacked, whereas before the invasion of the Phylloxera there were
170,000 hectares. i

“The same continued progress of destruction during the year has verified
anticipation. Little doubt remains as to the ultimate destruction of nearly all
the still existing vines.

“There is no longer any faith here in the power of insecticides to save the
great body of the vines, and the present period is one rather of experiment as to
the success which will result from plantation of American stocks.”

+ ‘Massachusetts Agr. Report,’ 1854. See also Darwin, “ Animals and Plants
under Domestication,” iv., p. 9.

On the Cultivated Potato. 269

Porato.*—Solanum tuberosum, Lryxxus.—In 1855 I showed and dis-
cussed what was then known about the origin of the potato and its intro-
duction into Europe. I shall now add what has been discovered during the
last quarter of a century. It wiil be seen that the data acquired formerly
haye become more certain, and that several accessory questions which were
rather doubtful have remained such, but with stronger probabilities in favour
of what, to me, seemed formerly probable.

It has been proved that at the time of the discovery of America the
cultivation of the potato was carried on, with every appearance of an old
custom, in the temperate regions extending from Chili to New Granada, at an
elevation varying according to the degrees of latitude. This can be gathered
from the evidence of all the early travellers, among which I shall mention
Acosta, for Peru, and Pierre Cieca, quoted by de |’Ecluse, for Quito.

In the temperate regions of the eastern part of South America, for instance,
on the heights of Guiana and Brazil, the potato was not known to the natives,
or, if they knew a similar plant, it was the Solanum Commersonii, which also
has tubercles and is found wild at Montevideo and in the south of Brazil.
The real potato is now, indeed, grown in the latter country, but it is so new
that it has been called Batate des Anglais. According to Humboldt, it was
unknown in Mexico, a circumstance which has been confirmed by the silence
of subsequent authors, though contradicted to some extent by another
historical fact.

They say, indeed, that Walter Raleigh, or rather Thomas Herriott, who
accompanied him in several voyages, had brought, in 1585 or 1586, some
potato tubercles to Ireland from Virginia. Its name in that country was
Openawk. From Herriott’s description of the plant, quoted by Sir Joseph
Banks, there can be no doubt that it was the potato and not the Batate,f for
which, at that time, it was sometimes taken. Besides, Gerard tells us that
he had received from Virginia the potato which he grew in his garden in
1597, and of which he gives a drawing exactly like the Solanum tuberosum.
He was so proud of it, that in the beginning of his work there is a plate
representing him with a flowering branch of this plant in his hand.

How was it that this species was found in Virginia or Carolina at the time

-of Raleigh, in 1585, whilst the old Mexicans did not know it, and the culti-
vatiort of it had not spread among the natives north of Mexico? Dr. Roulin,
who has carefully studied the works about North America, assured me once
that he had found no trace whatever of the potato in the United States before
the arrival of the Europeans. Dr. Asa Gray told me the same thing, adding
that Mr. Harris, a man who was very well acquainted with the language and
customs of the North-American tribes, was of the same opinion. I have read
nothing to the contrary in recent publications; and it must not be forgotten
that a plant so easy to cultivate must have spread, even among nomadic *
tribes, had they possessed it. It seems to me probable that some inhabi-
tants of Virginia—perhaps English colonists—may have received tubers
through Spanish or other travellers who were trafficking or seeking adventures
during the ninety years which had elapsed since the discovery of America.
From the time of the conquest of Peru and Chili in 1535 till 1585, many
vessels may have carried potato-tubers as provisions, and Walter Raleigh,
who was carrying on a filibustering war with the Spaniards, may have
plundered a vessel containing some. ‘This is all the more probable, as the
Spaniards had introduced the plant into Europe in 1585,

* Translation Art. “Pomme de Terre; Origine des Plantes Cultivées.” Par
Alph. de Candolle. Paris, Baillitre et Cie. 1803. ‘Bib. Scientifique Inter-
nationale,’ XLII.

t+ Or Sweet potato, Convolvulus Batatas.

270 On the Cultivated Potato.

Sir Joseph Banks and Dunal have been quite right to insist on this fact of
first introduction by the Spaniards, as for a long time especial mention was
made of Walter Raleigh, who was the second importer, and of other
Englishmen who had brought, not the potato, but the Batate, which is more:
or less mixed up with it. And yet the celebrated botanist, De l’Ecluse, had
stated the facts with great accuracy. He it was who published the first good
description and print of the potato under the significant name of Papas
Peruanorum. From what he says, three centuries of cultivation have pro-
duced little change in the species, for it produced originally as many as fifty
tubercles of different sizes, being about two inches long, of an irregular
ovoid shape, reddish in. colour; they ripened about November [in Vienna].
The flower was more or less pink outside, of a pale pink inside, with five green
longitudinal lines; this is often seen nowadays. Numerous varieties have no
doubt been obtained, but the original type has not been lost. The only
difference between our present plants and the original ones is that De l’Ecluse
compares the perfume of the flowers with that of the lime-trees. He sowed some
seeds which produced a variety with white flowers, as we see sometimes now.

The plants described by De l’Ecluse had been sent to him in 1588 by
Philippe de Sivry, Seigneur of Waldheim, Governor of Mons, who, in his
turn, obtained them from some one attached to the Pope’s legate in Belgium.
De 1l’Ecluse says that the species had been received into Italy from Spain or
America (“ certum est vel ex Hispaniis, vel ex America habuisse”), and he is
surprised that, having become so common in Italy that it was eaten like
turnips and given to the pigs, the savants of the University of Padua should
have been made aware of it by the tubercles that he sent them from Germany.
Targioni could not prove that the potato was as generally cultivated in Italy
at the end of the sixteenth century as De l’cluse says, but he quotes Father
Magazzini, de Valombrosa, whose posthumous work, published in 1623, mentions
the species as having been brought previously, without giving any date, from
Spain or Portugal by barefoot friars. The cultivation must therefore have
spread in Tuscany about the end of the sixteenth or the beginning of the
seventeenth century. Independently of what De l’Kcluse and the agriculturist
De Valombrosa say about the importation by the Spaniards, it is not at all
likely that the Italians should have had any intercourse with Raleigh’s
companions.

Nobody can doubt that the potato came originally from America, but to
tell from what part exactly of that large continent, we must know whether
the plant grows there spontaneously, and in which localities.

To answer this question clearly, we must remove two causes of error:
firstly, allied species of the genus So/anwm have been mistaken for the potato ;
secondly, that travellers may have been mistaken about the characteristics of
the spontaneous plant.

The kindred species are the Solanum Commersonii of Dunal, mentioned
above; the S. Maglia of Molina, a species from Chili; the S. immite of Dunal,
which comes from Peru; and the S. verrucoswm of Schlechtendal, which
grows in Mexico. These four kinds of Solanwm have smaller tubers than
the S. tuberosum, and differ also by other characteristics mentioned in works
on botany. ‘Theoretically, it may be believed that all these varieties,
and others growing in America, come from one original parent stock, but at
our geological epoch they offer differences which seem to me to justify their
being considered as a distinct species, and no experiments have been made to
ascertain whether, by cross-fertilising the wild types, a race might not be
obtained which might be perpetuated by seed. We will leave alone these
more or less doubtful questions about the species, and try to find out whether
the common kind of the Solanum tuberosum has been found wild; only let
us mark that the abundance of the tuber-producing Solanum, growing in the

On the Cultivated Potato. 271

temperate regions of America, from Chili or Buenos-Ayres to Mexico, confirms
the fact of the American origin. Even if we knew nothing more, this would
be a strong presumption in favour of America as the native country.

The second cause of error is very clearly explained by the botanist Weddell,
who has travelled with so much zeal through Bolivia and the neighbouring
countries. “ When you think,” says he, “that the Indians in the barren
Cordilleras often cultivate their plot of ground in places which would seem
almost inaccessible to the great majority of our European farmers, you under-
stand that a traveller, coming by chance upon one of those plots, forsaken
long ago, and finding there a plant of Solanum tuberosum which has been
preserved there by accident, should gather it with the idea that it grew there
spontaneously ; but where is the proof of it?”

Now let us look at the facts. They are numerous as regards the spontaneity
in Chili.

In 1822, Alexander Caldcleugh, the English Consul, sent to the Horticul-
tural Society in London some potato tubercles which he had gathered in the
ravines around Valparaiso. He says that these tubercles are small,* some-
times red and sometimes yellow, and have rather a bitter taste. ‘I think,”
he goes on to say, “ that this plant is found to a great extent along the coast,
for it exists in the south of Chili, where the natives call it Maglia. ‘There
must be a confusion here with the S. Maglia of the botanists; but the
tubercles from Valparaiso, planted in London, have produced the real potato,
which is obvious when one sees the coloured plate of Sabine f in the ‘ Trans-
actions of the Horticultural Society.’ For some time this plant was being
cultivated, and Lindley testified again, in 1847, to its identity with the
common potato.t A traveller gave Sir William Hooker the following
explanation about the plant from Valparaiso. “JI have noticed the potato
on the coast as far as fifteen miles north of this town, and also in the south of
it, without knowing to what distance. It grows on the cliffs and on the
hills near the sea, and I do not remember having seen it more than two or
three miles from the coast. Though it is found in mountainous parts, far
from cultivated ground, it does not exist in the immediate vicinity of the
fields and gardens where it is planted, except when a stream runs through
these places and carries the tubercles into the uncultivated spots.” The
potato described by these two travellers had white blossoms, just like some
varieties cultivated in Europe, and like the plant sown long ago by De l’Ecluse..
This is probably the primitive colour of the species, or at least one of the
most frequent in the spontaneous state.

During his voyage of the ‘ Beagle,’ Darwin § found the potato wild in the
Chonos Archipelago in Southern Chili, where it was growing abundantly in.
the sand on the seashore, and vegetating with a strange vigour, attributable -
to the damp climate. The largest specimens were four feet high; the
tubercles small, though one of them measured two inches across. They
were watery and insipid, but had no bad taste after being cooked. “The
plant is undoubtedly spontaneous,” says the author, and the specific identity
has been confirmed, first by Henslow, and then by Sir Joseph Hooker in his
‘Flora Antarctica,’

A specimen in our herbarium collected by Claude Gay, and attributed to.
the Solanum tuberosum, bears on the label: “In the heart of the Cordillera
of Taleagoué and Cauquenés, in places visited only by botanists and geolo-
gists.” The same author, Cl. Gay, insists in his ‘Flora Chilena’ on thie-
frequency of the wild potato in Chili, even among the Araucanians in the

* Sabine, ‘ Trans. Hort. Soc.’ vol. vy. p. 249.

+ Sabine’s plant represents S. Maglia, not S. tuberosum. Ncte by J. G. Baker.
t A. Cruckshanks.

§ Darwin’s plant was S. Maglia, not S. tuberosum.—J. G. B,

Zhe On the Cultivated Potato.

mountains of Malvarco, where Pincheira’s soldiers went to fetch them for
food. These evidences sutliciently prove the potato to be indigenous in Chili,
without mentioning the less convincing ones of Molina and Meyen, whose
specimens from Chili have not been examined.

The climate of the Chilian coast prevails on the heights along the Andes,
and in the temperate regions of Peru the cultivation of the potato is very
ancient, but the spontaneity of the species is much less palpable than in
Chili. Pavon protested he had found it on the coast at Chancay and near
Lima. These localities seem very hot for a plant which demands a temperate
or rather cold climate. The specimen in Mr. Boissier’s herbarium, collected
by Pavon, moreover, belongs, according to Dunal, to a different kind, which
he calls Solanwm immite. I have seen the authentic specimen, and have no
doubt that it is a species quite distinct from the S. tuberosum. Sir W.
Hooker mentions a specimen of MacLean, from the hills about Lima, without
giving any information as to its spontaneity. The specimens (more or less
wild?) which Matthews sent to Sir W. Hooker from Peru, belong, according
to Sir Joseph, to some varieties differing a little from the real potato. Mr.
Hemslev, who saw them recently in the Herbarium at Kew, thinks “they are
distinct forms, yet no more than varieties of the species.”

Weddell, whose caution in this matter is well known, thus expresses
himself :—*I have never met with the Solanwm tuberosum in Peru in such
circumstances as to leave no doubt about its being indigenous; I even
declare that I do not believe in the spontaneity of other specimens found
here and there in the Andes beyond Chili, and considered until now as
indigenous.”

On the other hand, M. Ed. André has collected with great care, in two
elevated and wild spots of Columbia, and in another near Lima, on the
mountain of the Amancaes, some specimens which he thought he could class
with the S. tuberosum. M. André has had the kindness to lend me them,
and I have compared them attentively with the types of Dunal’s specimens
in my herbarium, and M. Boissier’s. Not one of these Solanwm belongs, in
my opinion, to the S. tuberosum, though that from La Union, near the river
Cauca, resembles it more than the others, and what is more certain still, not
one of them corresponds with Dunal’s S. immite. They are nearer the
S. Columbianum than the tuberosum or tmmite. ‘The specimen from Mount
Quindio presents a very peculiar feature; it has ovoid and pointed berries.

In Mexico it seems that the tuberous Solanwm, ascribed to the S. tubero-
sum, or, according to Mr. Hemsley, to kindred species, cannot be considered
as identical with the kind which is cultivated.. They are related to the
S. Fendleri, which M. Asa Gray considered at first as a true species, and
afterwards as a variety of the S. tuberosum or of the S. verrucosum.

We may draw the following conclusions :—

1. The potato is indigenous in Chili, in a form which is still seen in our
cultivated plants.

2. It is very doubtful whether its natural habitat extends as far as Peru
and New Granada.

8. The cultivation was spread before the discovery of America from Chili
to New Granada.

4, It had been introduced, probably in the second half of the sixteenth
century, into that part of the United States which we call Virginia and
North Carolina.

5. It was imported into Europe from 1580-15835, first by the Spaniards,
then by the English, at the time of Raleigh’s voyages to Virginia.

De Candolle having presented to my readers a most instructive
view of the general history of the potato, it seems to me that an

On the Cultivated Potato. 273

historical retrospect from the practical British farmer’s stand-
point would be a convenient method of logically conveying
some useful information and much food for reflection. I do not
pretend to be a man of science. I do not dogmatise; I seek
only to elicit information, and to bring to bear on the present
inquiry a mind, naturally inclined that way and trained from
boyhood to practical investigations. When I look over the
hedge into the vast domain of science, it is with cap in hand,
to beg for information; if need be, for correction. Indeed,
that increasing domain in these days must, for profitable culti-
vation, be parcelled out into many various-sized farms and fields
—it is essential, in scientific economy as in political, that there
should be organized division of labour.

“JT laboured,” said that fine old potato-grower, Gerard*—and
at the present day what could be better said—* | laboured with
the soil to make it fit for the plant, and with the plants to make
them delight in the soil in order that they might prosper as in
their native country.” As in 1597, so in 1884, this is a golden
rule of culture. Shakspearet mentions the potato twice only,
and then in reference to their supposed erotic qualities :—“ Let
the sky rain potatoes. ... Let there come a tempest of provo-
cation.” The great Lord Bacon, for whose comprehensive
mind nothing was too great and nothing was insignificant,
busied himself scientifically and economically with the then
novel potato-plant. A great delicacy in the time of King James
the First, potatoes sold for two shillings a pound—two shillings
‘in those days being a considerable sum. Some years later,
namely in 1663, Mr. Buckland of Somersetshire called the
attention of the Royal Society to the cultivation of the plant as
of national importance ; his suggestion was cordially adopted by
that illustrious body. The importance of the potato as “ food
for swine, cattle, and poor people,” and as a safeguard against
famine, having, during thirty subsequent years, been esta-
blished,t Sir Robert Southwell, probably as a consequence, in-
formed the Fellows of the Royal Society that to succour the
starving, when the civil wars had devastated the corn-crops, his
grandfather first cultivated potatoes in Ireland, and that he had
them from Sir Walter Raleigh. Yet the potato had still to
struggle for recognition, because a hundred years after their first
introduction there is no mention of it in a then standard book,
‘The Complete Gardener.’§ However, a favourite old book of
mine, ‘ The Gentleman’s Recreations,’ 1710, contains the follow-
ing patronising notice of the new esculent: “it is greatly in

* Gerard, Herball, 1597,
+ ‘Merry Wives, act v. sc. 5. Troil. and Cress., act v. sc. 2.
t Dec. 13, 1693. § London & Wise, 1719.

VOL. XX.—S. 8. ,

274 On the Cultivated Potato. -

request in American plantations, also in Ireland, and will no
doubt grow if planted in England ; it requires garden-mould. 7
The Duchess of Buccleugh’s ‘ Household Book,’ for the year
1701, mentions a peck from Edinburgh, pitch, cost 2s. 6d. ;
but tis instance was exceptional, because until the latter part
of the last century, when famine driven, the cultivation propor-
tionately outstripped that in England, the Scotch were averse
to the potato. There is no mention of it in the Bible. To
those who know intimately the Scotch domestic history of the
period, this fact, in the strong language of those days, was
.“damnably uncanny:” besides, as we have seen from our
Shaksperian reference, the potato had then a bad moral reputa-
tion, which must have greatly influenced a community that
dealt furiously with irregularities of the affections—for example,
one Currie, a tailor, was in 1692 sentenced to death for wedding
his first wife’s half-brother’s daughter.*

Man has been defined as a tool-making-animal. If we sought
to raise up a perfect example—and desired to exclaim, “ Behold
a man!” we doubtless should have recourse more to the oatmeal
“ girnal” than to the potato pie. It is calculated that 100 parts
of good wheat-flour contain as much actual nutriment as 6135
parts of potatoes.t Limited cultivation and the lazybed system
had to a great extent kept the plant healthy: this natural and
necessarily distributed culture was now to be superseded by ex-
tensive field-cultivation, whether in hillocks, drills, or on the
flat. Field-cultivation, which greatly increased the national
wealth, dates from about the year 1728, when, owing to forced
cultivation and unnatural propagation, the plant soon developed
that tendency to disease which by its ratio of increase became
afterwards a puzzle and a terror. Burton{ the historian has it
that the potato was not introduced into the West Country of
Scotland until twelve years later, but there he is probably mis-
taken, because Lord Cathcart§ mentions in his diary, under
date Feb. 26, 1728, that at Dalmellington, in Ayrshire, he was.
busied with the cultivation of potatoes. On Saturday the 13th
of July, 1734, he visited Thomas Fordyce of Cranston, near
Edinburgh, and went over his farm, to return delighted with
the fifty acres of potatoes—and not bad for the period; on the
teen ae! they took a turn round to see i cattle, the - sainfoin, and

= Shambara ‘Dom. rE Seot,,’ vol. iii. p. 59.

+ The tuber in a fresh state contains about 71-80 per cent. of water; 15-20 per
cent. of starch; 3-7 per cent. of fibre; 3-4 per cent. of gum, sugar, &c.; and
only 2 per cent. of the albuminoids or flesh-formers. ‘Chambers’s Encye.:’ Art.,
Potato. :

t Hist. Seot., v. ii. p. 397.

5 General Charles, 8th Lord Cathcart, died in command of expedition to
Carthagena, 1740.

On the Cultivated Potato. 275

the lucerne. The Scandinavians were rather behindhand, for the
‘Gentleman’s Magazine’ for 1764 mentions that, though intro-
duced in 1720, the potato was not generally cultivated in Sweden
until 1764, notwithstanding the great Linnzus, his learning and
industry. That destructive and continuous disease, the Curl,

says Mr. Rham, an exact authority, was first noticed in this
same year, 1764; during 60 or 70 years it ravaged and devas-
tated acres, fields, and ‘districts. It has been “well said the
liability of the plant to disease is not the least of its peculiarities ;
diseases date from cultivation. Partial though the affection, the
Curl, may have appeared, it yet broke out in the same form
in widely separated countries. Stephens,* the most practical
writer I know, characterises the Curl as weakness: the leaves
curl and crumple; when virulent, they shrivel; the tubers are
small, and rot; the herbaceous stems are puny, and a small
insect feeds on the stem; some call this the cause! A few
plants curl one year, planted the next, half the crop will prove
diseased: the disease is hereditary. Degeneracy is not only a
disease, but the predisposer to acute disease, the struma of the
potato; Dr. Playfair says it is consumption as in overgrown
youth—the liability to disease is as old as the potato. With
decay, mould or fungus there must have prevailed, indeed there
is evidence to that effect. Microscopic manipulation, in its
modern application, was, it must be remembered, almost un-
known, and consequently the special character of a special
- fungus was not recognised ; but that fact has little signification
to those who know that throughout nature there are infinite
varieties of the same parasites; for example, cat-fleas, dog-
fleas, monkey fleas, human fleas, and others, all under the
microscope different, and well known. In the ‘ Gentleman’s
Magazine’ for this year, 1764, there is at page 333 an in-
teresting paper, ‘ Mould your potatoes up monthly,” says the
writer, “continue moulding up.” In the same publication for
1771,} there is addressed to the Society of Arts, in London, a
most valuable memoir on a new potato, by John Howard, Esq.,
of Cardington, in Bedfordshire: this was the famous’ prison
philanthropist, High Sheriff two years afterwards, and by

taste nearly a vegetarian. A traveller, a scientific observer,

* *Book of the Farm.’

+ Philip Miller, in his ‘Gardeners’ Dictionary,’ Edit. 6,1771. “This plant
has been much propagated in England within thirty or forty years past; for
although it was introduced from America about the year 1623, yet it was but
little cultivated in England till of late, the roots being despised by the rich, and
deemed only proper food for the meaner sort of persons. However they are now
esteemed by most people, and the quantity of them which are cultivated near
London, I believe, exceeds that of any other part of Europe.” He eg de-
tailed cultural directions, and makes nomention of any disease.—J. G. B

tT 2

>

276 On the Cultivated Potato. °

a Fellow of the Royal Society, a man of determined accuracy,
six years previously he had planted in hillocks, 6 feet asunder,
a new potato fresh from America ; each set produced from 26 lbs.
to 274 lbs. Single potatoes became so large, he was obliged to
plant in 3 feet drills to reduce the size. When I stript a stem
I found, he said, the tuber died ; in outside rows and hillocks the
plants do best, there is more sun and air; wet summers, he says,
benefit the potato, but then it must be remembered there was
plenty of space. Mr. Howard’s drills were 3 feet distant and
cuttings 3 feet asunder: these distances I have in my own
experience found advantageous. ,

In France potato cultivation was originally very unpopular ;
Louis XVI., in 1785, had great difficulty in establishing
it as a guarantee against famine. A close observer, Par-
mentier,* who introduced the potato into France, accurately
described the potato disease now known as the disease of 1845 ;
but until the great outbreak, 1845, ’46, the atmospheric con-
ditions had been more local than general. The next year,
{1786], a correspondent under the initials J. H. wrote to the
©Gentleman’s Magazine’ asking for the natural history of the
potato—*Can’t find any satisfaction in any book: Whence?
When? What? We know nothing of the causes that improve,
nothing of those which degenerate?” Under every combina-
tion of all the letters of the alphabet the same query in our
day might well be propounded. In the ‘ Hortus Americanus,’ t
by Dr. Henry Barham, an author of whom Sir Hans Sloane
spoke highly, it is said that potatoes grow in America in most
parts in great plenty, but as they put nothing for them to run
on, they creep and spread on the ground, destroying the grass: the
potato is a cheap bread-stuff food for both white and black. We
have now reached the commencement of the era of really greedy
cultivation; the Parliamentary Board of Agriculture, in the
alarming crisis of 1795, offer a premium of 1000/. for the
largest breadth of potatoes grown on land never before so ap-
plied. Then there is much about varieties, some say the kidney
is liable to curl; the Surinam, it was asserted, never curls.
Dibbling on grass mentioned ; there are directions for the ap-
plication of 20 tons of manure per acre; the sets to be dropped

* Parmentier, “ Traité sur la culture, &c., des pommes de terre, Paris, 1789.”
Brit. Museum [Sir Joseph Banks’s Copy] 452, e. 30.‘ Des que les pluies sont
abondantes a l’époque de la plantation ou de la récolte, les pommes de terre
noyées d'eau pourrissent bientot, si les terrains auxquels on les confie sont de la
nature glaiseuse, propre & retenir l’humidité, et & la rassembler en masse; alors
les tubercules parsemés de points blancs et brillants, acquitrent la consistance
d’une pfite liquide semblable’a de la bouillie, et ils exhalent une odeur infecte,”

9

, D9.
: + ‘Gentleman’s Magazine,’ 1795, p. $44.

On the Cultivated Potato. ver

on it at 9 inches apart; aim at 200 or 300 bushels an acre. In
Scotland, Cornwall, Cheshire, Lancashire, and near London two
crops have been taken; very early crops having been obtained
by the careful manipulation of sprouted sets. The President
of the Board, Sir John Sinclair, the originator of the unrivalled
statistical account of Scotland, a voluminous writer, and truly
a public soul, was busily engaged, both pen and voice, during
the potato failure of this disastrous year of 1795. The failure
of the crop was disastrous.* Peaty-stuff is mentioned as useful
in keeping dry land damp and strong land open; straw also as
useful in keeping strong land open: | myself had some evidence
as to a fine crop grown in what was thought hopeless, brick-
like clods. Lime was supposed to induce curl and canker.
The Rey. Mr. Campbell instituted in 1790 some suggestive
experiments in Argyleshire, the results were these—productive-
ness is not dependent on the size of the sets, but on their
having that perfect number of stem-growths which the soil they
feed on can furnish: the roots from plants at 12 inches are
much larger than those at 6 inches apart. The importance of
the leaf-haulm is not duly considered. Now to me the fol-
lowing observation appears highly important; the roots of the
plant should occupy the ground as completely as possible, so
long as they do not interfere or injure one another. The
struggle for life, it has been observed by recent authorities, is
usually most severe between individuals of the same species.
I find in Rees that there is a reference to the “mould,” or
~ fungus, as associated with curl, and this if not earlier is certainly
as early as the birth of the present century. Arthur Young’s
exhaustive annals merit careful study. Wilson, a practical
writer, in his ‘ Agriculture of Renfrewshire,’ mentions and
approves the system largely adopted in the last century of pull-
ing off the blossoms to hasten the ripening of the tubers. Robert
Brown, farmer of Markle, in the county of Haddington, a very
practical writer on rural affairs,f says, sets should be rather
large than small, the stem depends on the set: and throughout,
though there has been much controversy, whole sets appear to
be preferred—cutting the set causing weakness. As modern
authorities have observed, the tuber contains a store of food put
there by Nature to help the plant, the stem, in the struggle for
life. The history of the potato from this period down to the
formation of the Royal Agricultural Society is a history of fre-
quent and varied disease, and constant degeneration certainly
running in the direction of extinction. It was observed by

* Rees ‘ Cyclopedia,’ art. ‘“‘ Potato.” {+ Edin., 1811, vol. ii, p. 78-

278 . : On the Cultivated Potato.

M. Shirreff * that not a single healthy plant of any sort of potato
that yields berries, and which was in culture twenty years ago,
that is before 1849, can now be produced. Varieties show failure
in the ratio of their remoteness from the parent stock ; root propa-
gation of varieties causing degeneration. Lawson, according to
Darwin,{ gives for the year 1851 a list of 175 varieties then grown
in Britain; he observes, the valuable and selected parts of all
cultivated productions present the greatest amount of modifica-
tion, the tubers especially are wonderfully diverse; this great
authority holds that disease in plants is hereditary. Curl, dry
and wet rot, Sir Harry Thompson says, are the same disease ;
the taint is a virulent form of dry rot; a severe type of curl
prevailed from 1831 to 1837, it disappeared in that year, but
appeared again in 1838 and was the immediate forerunner of
the potato disease of 1845. The taint kills the sets; they decay,
there is a wet, black, soapy putrescence—or there is a dry white
mouldy decay, or it may be a mixture of rot, wet and dry. The
fourth volume of this ‘Journal,’ 1844, contains a melancholy
account of the Bobbin-joan ; the germs abort, and become little
buttons, not leaves, a disease of thirty years’ standing, wholesale
abortions, it is said, from exhausted vitality. The ‘ Journal’
contains further an exhaustive illustrative catalogue of the
insects which affect the potato-crops §—plant-lice, plant-bugs,
frog-flies, caterpillars, crane-flies, wire-worms, millepedes, mites,
beetles, flies, and others; some prey on the leaves, some on the
tuber, Insects during one hundred years have been constantly
charged in all visitations as the destructive agents. This theory,
as might be expected, the learned author of the paper, in
common with experts at home and abroad, absolutely repudiates ;
these entomological visitations he treats as effects due to atmos-
pheric and other remote causes. Happily the all-devouring
Colorado beetle || is as yet a stranger. Historically we have
them continuously forced upoa our attention :—curl, taint, scab,
Bobbin-joan, dry rot, wet rot, lice, bugs, flies, caterpillars,
worms, mites, beetles, fungi, and other innumerable pests. When
nature, Pandora-like, stands with open box from which, without
leaving a visible hope at the bottom, all these evils and distempers
disperse themselves over the world; well may the practical man
exclaim ‘“ goodness gracious! is the healthy and duly cultivated

* ¢Rural Cyclopedia :’ John N. Wilson, 1849, Art. “ Potato,” to the date a com-
prehensive and careful monograph, corresponds with and confirms my own read-
meg: I saw it for the first time last summer, Lib. R. A. S. E.

+ Darwin, ‘ Animals and Plants under Domestication,’ vol. ii. p. 330, which see.

t ‘Journal,’ R. A. §. E., 1844, p. 14.

§ ‘Journal,’ R. A. 8. E., vol. x. p. 70. John Curtis, F.L.S., &e.

|| ‘Colorado Beetle, Life History.’ See ‘ Journal,’ Second Series, vol. xi.

On the Cultivated Potato. 279

potato-plant designed as a suitable and natural matrix for all
these plagues?”

Scab is a disease of the tuber, a fungus, Tubercinia scabies ;
dry rot is also a fungus of the same order, Fusisporium a
Whig lastawas first observed in Germany in 1830, where through
many years it is supposed to have caused great loss. Wet rot
is also fungoid, said to be a fungus of the same type as the dry
rot. And ‘this Fusiporium { is a little friend and constant com-
panion of the fungus, inseparably associated with the disease
of 1845, namely, the Peronospora infestans.

We are now brought to the disastrous year of 1845, the year
of the great outbreak of potato-disease, a new form of an old
disease,t which inaccurately has been called by many confusing
names, as plague, and murrain. This disease is specially charac-
terized by the full recognition of its fungoid attendant, Perono-
spora infestans, the Diease shall in (fee be simply designated
by me as the potato disease of 1845. It appeared in St. Helena
in 1840; detected in England here and there the following year ;
it appeared at various periods about this time in North America ;
both continents were affected. The disease burst out generally
in 1845, and swept whole districts throughout Europe, leaving
in its track of devastation famine and suffering and human
misery.

From this general historical retrospect we now turn to glance
at the particular history of several branches of the inquiry. The
_ sum of all history goes, in my opinion, to show that the culti-
vated potato-plant has an inherent tendency to degenerate—
a factor which consequently must always enter into the problem
of the causes of special manifestations of disease; and history
further tells us that throughout there has been almost a uni-
versal clamour for new varieties.§

The physiology of the potato has yet to be written; || that is

* Dr. Cooke, of Kew, author of the ‘ Handbook of British Fungi,’ has eotacd
me with the following ‘note :—Now called Sorosporium scabies, and classed with
the Ustilagines, or “ Smut” and “Bunt” of corn. See Fischer de Waldheim,
* Annales des Sciences Naturelles (Botanique),’ ser. 6, vol. iv. (1876), p. 229.

+ Report, House of Commons Committee, 1880.

t Report, Scotch Committee of Scientific Men. The Groningen Commission
said the disease had been long known.

§ See, in regard to the time present, an excellent letter from a practical cultivator
and hybridiser, Mr. Robert Fenn; he hails with great satisfaction the idea of the
S. Maglia having, as regards varieties, come to the end of his tether. Mr. Fenn
happily describes the potato as the “ Cinderella of Nature.”—‘ Journal of Horti-
culture,’ Feb. 7, 1884.

|| “The physiology of the potato has yet to be written.” I should demur to ex-
pressing it in this form, because there is no ground for supposing that the potato
furnishes any exception to the general laws that reculate the life of all plants.
The roots and leaves between them absorb the food, and it is cooked up in the
leaves, and they furnish the nourishment needed to build up the flowers and

.

280° On the Cultivated Potato. -

to say, there is- nothing of the kind that I know of in a clear,
comprehensive and popular form and to practical men it is a
mystery: there isa manifest want in this direction.* Physiology,
I need not explain, is that department of natural science which
treats of the organs of animals and plants. The plant is con-
stituted in three parts; radical fibres or roots proper, stolons
stems, or haulms, as we call them, and the tuber. The radical
fibres are the only true roots, and to seek for nourishment for
the plant they traverse the soil far.and near. A potato tuber is
in fact an underground branch, the eyes of the potato are really
buds ; a tuber, then, is a portion of the stem of the plant in
which the tissues become thickened and filled with nutritive
matter. Propagation by tubers is not properly reproduction,
but plant division, and sooner or later existence in this way
mustend. A healthy plant is said to have at least ten sets of
main roots, four to a set, nearly, if extended end to end, one-
third of a mile long, with innumerable mouths or absorbents,
say, 25,000, all seeking inorganic matter and water. The
practical conclusion from this is that the common potato
(S. tuberosum) is designed for a dry, very dry, soil and
climate. The tuber, so faras Nature is concerned, is constructed
only or chiefly for the purpose of propagation: all the plant
resides there in embryo, together with a store of suitable food,
and the tuber is perfect when no larger than a pea. The roots
supply water and earthy salts, to enable the leaves to decompose
the carbonic acid absorbed by them from the air. Suppose‘they
absorb more than the leaves can exhale, then the plant is
weakened and water-logged. Liebig t says the motion of the
sap is caused by atmospheric pressure and transpiration from the
leaves ; a loaded atmosphere suppresses transpiration, stagnates
the sap, and so induces the putrefaction which delights the
hovering clouds of fungi-spores or seeds. The potato and the
hop, according to Liebig, are especially liable to suffer from im-
peded transpiration. The same atmospheric influences cause
influenza in the human subject, by checking the action of
the skin; and curiously enough it is commonly observed in
Yorkshire that potato-disease and influenza in horses came the

fruit. Tubers are a reserve store of nutriment for a plant to draw upon when it
cannot get food from other sources, as a tradesman draws upon his investments if
he wants to extend his business. If the potato cannot get its food, or cannot
digest it like any other organized being, it will fall ill. If the leaves are killed
by frost, for instance, it will be unable to digest its food; and if they are attacked
and disorganised by fungi, the result will be the same.—J. G. B

* Mr. Chalmers Morton, to whom we are indebted for many things, has given
us in his ‘ Handbook of the Farm Series,’ a useful little work, ‘ Plant Life,’ by
Maxwell T. Masters, F.R.S., in which there are six references to the potato.

+ ‘Motions of Fluids in Animal Body.’

On the Cultivated Potato. 28k

same year.* It is not profitable here to do more than just to
touch on that which is the highest possible problem—the essence
or origin of life!t Beale says the green chlorophyll t masses
are urged on by the actively moving particles of bioplasm : he
has most interesting drawings showing the potato cells and the
process of the deposition of starch cells. An interesting study
of the survival of the fittest was made by Mr. Baker$ az
Kew, when. the power of survival of certain herbaceous plants
was thus classified: (1.) Tendency to spread spontaneously,
and encroach on neighbours. (2.) Fill-up, but do not spread.
(3.) Those that die out and disappear.

Mr. Baker, at my request, kindly made for me the following
extract from the ‘ Philosophical Transactions of 1806,’ in regard
to which he observes—this experiment is of the essence of the
inquiry, and cultivators should bear it constantly in mind :—

“Every gardener knows that early varieties of the potato
never afford either blossoms or seeds; and I attributed this
peculiarity to privation of nutriment, owing to the tubers
being formed preternaturally early, and thence drawing off that
portion of the true sap which in the ordinary course of nature
is employed in the formation and nutrition of blossoms and
seeds. . :

“1 therefore planted in the last spring some cuttings of a
very early variety of the potato, which had never been known to
blossom, in garden-pots, having heaped the mould as high as }
. could above the level of the pot, and planted the portion of the
root nearly at the top of it. When the plants had grown a
few inches high, they were secured to strong sticks which had
been fixed erect in the pots for that purpose, and the mould
was then washed away from the base of the stems by a strong
current of water; each plant was now suspended in air, and had
no communication with the soil in the pots except by its fibrous
roots ; and as these are perfectly distinct organs from the runners
which generate and feed the tuberous roots, I could readily
prevent the formation of them. Efforts were soon made by
every plant to generate runners and tuberous roots, but they were

* * Journal,’ R. A. S. E,, vol. xix. p. 10.

t ‘Beale on the Microscope.’

t Chlorophyll, the green colouring matter of plants, very difficult to get pure,
and its chemical composition is not known: obtained by soaking green leaves im
alcohol, ether, &c., but it does not dissolve in water; occurs in the so-called
“chlorophyll grains,” which are merely altered forms of the protoplasm (or living
principle) of plants ; chlorophyll only becomes green under the presence of light.
Bentley’s ‘Manual of Botany,’ 1882. Churchill.

§ J. G. Baker, Esq., F.R.S., Royal Herbarium, Kew, in ‘ Journal of Botany,”
Sept. 1883. The editor observes, in reference to Baker & Newbold’s edition of
Watson's ‘ Topographical Botany,’ London, Quaritch, 1883: “ Mr. Baker, with a
critical mind, possesses the faculty of generalisation.”

.

982 On the Cultivated Potato.

destroyed as soon as they became perceptible. An increased
luxuriance now became visible in every plant, numerous
blossoms were emitted, and every blossom afforded fruit.” *
Atmospheric influences must be touched upon. But I cannot
undertake to deal with the gaseous envelope of this whirling
world to which, coupled perhaps with electricity, we owe the
occurrence of the weather phenomena that undoubtedly affect
in high degree the present subject of inquiry. I wish the
Meteorological Society could help us. The atmosphere is a
spheroidal stratum of uncertain height, 100 to 200 miles, con-
centric with the earth and pressing heavily on it: a mechanical
combination of nitrogen, oxygen, and carbonic acid, in which,
like flocks in a sunbeam, animal and vegetable germs, seeds
and spores, of disease and putrefaction, hover over all organic
life and matter. How far do atmospheric influences stimulate
these sometimes latent pests? 1 cannot answer this important
question: but I was much struck at the time, as I am now
impressed, by two lectures delivered by Professor Tyndall in
January 7, 1876: the first lecture, before the Royal Society, ‘On
the optical deportment of the atmosphere with reference to the
phenomena of putrefaction and infection ;’ the other, on ‘ Germs,’
was given at the Royal Institution. i heartily wish we could
enlist the learned Professor for the National cause in which we
are now embarked. Air, he says, isolated jand left at rest, is
found to deposit its motes and to become pure: in this pure
air tempting infusions remained intact, whereas similar infusions
exposed in the open air, and owing to germs floating therein,
swarmed with bacteria. From another experiment he inferred
that germs hover in little clouds and settle at different times.
Clouds of disease-germs may explain a puzzle to surgeons: why
a wound, going on well for a while, should suddenly and without
apparent reason become putrid; it may be that it was dressed
just as a germ cloud passed. According to Professor Tyndall,
more than by battle, accident, or famine, humanity suffers from
disease-germs conveyed in air and water, Green leaves in the
sun absorb carbon and leave oxygen, and at night reverse the
process. Increase of carbonic acid is dangerous to animals,
deficiency injures vegetables. Atmospheric action, similar to
that which produces influenza in man, is supposed by Liebig and
Klotzsch to be the special cause of the potato-disease of 1845:
taken together, epidemic miasmata; the wet summer of 1844;
frost, March 1845; the great heat of forepart of that summer.
and the uncommon luxuriance of the crop. The Highland
Society’s ‘Transactions’ for 1845 mentions disease at end of

* ¢On the inverted action of the Alburnous Veasels of Trees, by T. A Knight;
printed, ‘ Philosophical Transactions, 1806,’ p. 293-304.

On the Cultivated Potato. 283

August, September, and October: some parts of Scotland in
July, in others not until the tubers were stored. In concluding
this branch of our subject I mention Mr. Malam’s experiment,
because it is suggestive ; and though I cannot of my own know-
ledge verify the fact as stated, the experiment may be repeated
by any competent scientist. Moreover, the result of the ex-
periment goes to the root of a controversy before the Potato
Committee of the Commons as to whether mould-spores rise
high in the atmosphere, or whether they fly no higher than a
hedge! Mr. Malam* personally told me in 1872, that the Hull
Microscopical Society, about the year 1866, witnessed at his
house the following experiment. He said: “ At 7 A.M. we washed
with distilled water a plate of glass 15 inches square, and coated
both sides with glycerine, and elevated it in the air about 60 feet ;
after 6 hours it was taken down and washed on two separate
plates with distilled water: on examining under the microscope
we discerned spores of fungi; the windward side contained the
larger.number.”

I have instinctively held from the first that there is such a
thing as a balance of vegetation, and if so, atmospheric in-
fluences must be all-important factors on the maintenance or
disturbance of any such balance. As I expressed the idea when
I placed my view on record in May 1875, I fancy there is such

a thing as a balance of vegetation, that is, a proportion between

the several organs of the plant. In warm gloomy weather, when

-disease is exceptionally rampant, I think the leafy haulm runs
away from the rest of the enfeebled plant; in other words, too

much sail is carried, and there is a general capsize and con-
sequent wide-spread disaster. The power of the roots is said
to be in the ratio of that of the leaves: the roots have great

absorbing power, the leaves a low exhaling capacity. The

evidence throughout shows that over-luxuriance, from whatever
cause, is highly favourable to the disease: in Bengal it is re-~
corded the haulm grew so high, it spent the plant. This balance
of vegetation theory, as an essential part of my retrospect, for
what it is worth, I simply broach and submit.

Superior vitality, we know, is an attribute for a time at
least of certain varieties of the potato that more or less resist
disease. Liebig adopts the vital power theory. The Polish
letter from the Consul there to Lord Palmerston, and dated
October 16, 1846,; is in my view particularly interesting and
suggestive; Poland completely escaped the general European
destruction. That country, as regards wholesale cultivation and

* The statement was subsequently printed. ‘The Potato Disease, Cause and
Remedy.’ By John Malam, Esq., Scarborough, Theakston, 1873.
+ ‘Journal,’ R. A. §S. E., vol. vii. p. 673.

284 On the Cultivated Potato. —

dependency on the happy-go-lucky potato, was a sort of Ireland :
the treatment there, | fancy, must have been natural and un-
forced ; any way the important fact remains, the only disease
known arose from some kidney sets imported from England.
The following remarkable instances of superior vitality came to
me from widely separated districts and from persons who could
have had no sort of concert; in each of two instances the whole
of the crop in a field failed except in places where corn stacks
had stood, and there the potatoes grew and prospered ; I infer
the ground was dry and warm, and hence the superior vitality.
We are now to consider those scavengers of nature, the fungi,
a class of cellular plants of which, says Darwin, mushrooms,
toadstools, and moulds are familiar examples. These tyrants:
of the vegetable kingdom seek organic matter in decay as their
natural food ; their wind-borne spores or seeds hover and pounce:
like microscopic vultures. The life-history of the fungus or
mould, which is inseparably connected as cause or effect with
the potato-disease of 1845, has been studied by that eminent.
scientist, M. de Bary ;* the identity of the fungus Peronospora
infestans and its association with the disease is, without any
doubt, ably and clearly manifested, and for this our thanks to.
that learned gentleman are justly due. But what then? for all
practical purposes, and after eight years’ of incubation, any dis~
covery in this direction is as barren of tangible fruits as the
fig-tree of Scripture. M. De Bary observes—and here I am
sure he carries us all with him—* the best place to turn to for-
further study would be the native land of the potato-plant.” f
All the Peronospore, says M. de Bary (p. 244), are typical
parasites in living plants containing chlorophyll ; their com-
plete development is dependent on their finding the living
organism with its chemical and physical properties, which will.
afford a suitable host: most species are restricted, they can only
grow in certain species or groups of species of plants, but not
in others, a condition of things which holds good for parasites-
generally. This, says M. de Bary, does not exclude the possi-
bility of bringing a parasite, by artificial nutriment, more or less:
forward. Practically to study all the ways of the parasite,
whilst we are perfectly ignorant of the life-history of the host-
plant in its native habitat, is certainly to put the cart before-
the horse—if the somewhat overstrained simile may be par-
doned, it is rather like writing the life-history of the flea that:

a ‘- most Ee account of all that was known about this ee, which
was then called Botrytis infestans, was drawn up by the Rey. M. J. Berkeley i in:
1846, and published in vol. i. of the ‘Journal of the Horticultural Society,’
pp. 9-34; 25 pages of letterpress and 4 plates containing 30 figures showing the
fungus and its allies iu different stages.—J. G. B

t ‘Journal,’ R. A. S. E., vol. xii. 1876.

On the Cultivated Potato. 285

lived on the man whose biography we desire but which has
never been written. M. de Bary and Mr. Worthington Smith
are not agreed on some essential points;* I must say I read
only the other day the evidence before the Committee of the
Commons in 1880 of the last-named authority with particular
pleasure. I can afford to treat the fungoid theory lightly,
because the responsibility is not with me; the grain of that
theory, as will be seen in the sequel, the Commons Committee
has sufficiently threshed out, weighed, and garnered: upon the
scientific evidence, the Committee report that the nature of the
potato-disease of 1845 consists in the growth on or in the plant
of the fungus named Peronospora infestans.

M. de Bary is full of admirable candour ; over and over again
as regards these fungoid experiments he warns us against self-
deception ; he says of his Pythium vexans experiment, in which
he had been working with tainted material, “ without the
greatest care one may be led into great error, and in this direc-
tion criticism ought to be applied” [p. 259]; again [p. 267],
“the negative result caused me to doubt whether my previous
explanation could hold good in the open field.” With such
complicated materials as living plants, with other fungi, namely,
amongst others, spicariat and Fusisporium, besides animal in-
fusoria all about, and with sickly tubers, spores, and _bell-
glasses, “miniature gardens” and boxes without bottoms,
_ “garden soils” and flower-pots all over the place, error could
easily creep in and results very readily get mixed, M. de
Bary’s modestly-related researches, followed in many cases by
purely negative results, have not touched to settle the ques-
tions, amongst others, of Hibernation and Host-plants. It is
not so much M. de Bary himself as the school of De Bary
which has dogmatically laid down this somewhat unfructifying
proposition—there is no dispute as to the cause—all idea of:
other causes of the potato-disease of 1845 are excluded, because
De Bary inoculated healthy plants; inoculation is defined as
the introduction of a poison into a wound. Logically, this is
drawing a very wide conclusion from very narrow premisses.
If during eight years this experiment has not been repeated
and confirmed by many persons in many places under varying
and normal circumstances, I have, by way of argument, a
perfect right to do so, and would very courteously question,

* The principal point at issue between the two is that De Bary thought what
he called Pythium vexans was a distinct organism, whilst Smith regardcd it as a
dimorphic form of the Peronospora.—J. G. B.

+ Spicaria is a genus of moulds, but it has nothing special to do with potatoes.
The three potato-pests are Botrytis or Peronospora infestans, Fusiporium solani,
and Sorosporium scabies.—J. G. B.

286 On the Cultivated Potato.

not the entire good faith of the experimenter, but the sanitary
condition and circumstances of the plants on which M. De Bary
operated. The potato-fungus, it appears, is at least an impostor
in this sense, it is not peculiar to the potato only, or even to
that class of plants: M. De Bary says, “it is often found on
other species of the Solanacee, and on other species not allied ;
it grows only in a stunted condition on the Dulcamara.” Why
stunted on the common Dulcamara of the hedges, because that
plant grows under normal conditions; it has vitality and con-
stitution, and is thus enabled to discourage or to cast off the
parasite. The fungus appears on the Lilium lancifulium three
weeks before the potato is affected.* It is stated that the
stinging-nettle and the groundsel were liable to the curl, and
whether or not to the parasite of 1845, I know not. It might, I
think, be inferred from the pages of this ‘Journal’ that the
potato-fungus, the straw-fungus, and the clover-fungus are one
and the same ; but, if so, 1 am advised on high authority that
any such proposition is absolutel y inconsistent with the botanical
knowledge of the day.

Of the habits and conduct of the wild plant in its natural
habitat we know but little. Mr. Baker says “I have given in
my Linnean paper all I know on this head.” There are various
clues leading to the idea that the potato is a social plant, that
is to say, it desires association with another plant or plants of
a different species. Lemmon found his wild potato in the
Arizona under a tangle of prickly bushes and cacti ; again, he
found it flourishing under a squash vine. In Chili the best
potatoes are cultivated in the rainy provinces of Chiloé and
Valdivia, where the yield varies from 10 to 40 for one, the
average annual produce being 3,100,000 bushels for the whole
of Chili.f Inquiry should be pushed in the direction of the
South American home of the plant: if you desired to study a
Frenchman, you would visit his own grand country. You cer-
tainly would not hunt up a specimen at the Sabloniére in
Leicester Square.

The older writers talk of the plant as a creeper or trailing
plant: and curiously through the centuries there have been
constant attempts to force down the haulm into a creeping
position: is this an instinctive desire to follow nature, and has
constant cultivation too much drilled the potato out of its
natural form into “ heads up, soldiers”? The artificial bending
down of haulm is to make.3 ita conductor for diverting wet and

* ¢ Journal,’ R. A. S. E., vol. xix, 1858. Art. “ Potato.’

+ Journal” R. A. S. E., vol. x. p. 510. See also p. 515, ‘On a new Clover
Disease.’ P. Mouillefert.

q Ency. Brit., Current Ed., Art. “ Chili.”

On the Cultivated Potato. 287

spores supposed to be carried by wet down the stem to the
tuber.

Of the conduct of the plant in different countries, I can,
beyond what has been said, glean but little: this might be a
profitable line of inquiry. The wild Arizona potato, of which
I have some specimens in my garden, is said to be palatable
and nutritious. In India, I believe, the plant usually thrives ;
it is said it will not grow in Ceylon, except at Candy: why is
this? Lemmon says, that when the first settlers went to Van
Diemen’s Land, one Samuel Bate took half a bushel of potatoes
of a choice variety; to his surprise he found five varieties,
which maintained their distinctiveness for years: afterwards,
sent to a warmer climate, these degenerated and became again
one sort.

Moulding-up or earthing-up, sometimes called Jensen’s *
system, after the learned Director of the “ Bureau Ceres,”
Copenhagen, is, as I have shown, no novelty. ‘“ Mould-up—
mould-up monthly or fortnightly,” says an old writer in the
‘Gentleman’s Magazine’ of 1764; and there are constant refer-
ences to this practice through all the literature, some for and
some against, as cutting the fibres: the famous old Scotch
Judge, Lord Kaims, in his ‘Gentleman Farmer,’ 1798, was of
this opinion. On the whole, earthing-up appears rather in
favour than otherwise, but the importance of the practice should
not be overrated.

As to practical cultivation, the reader will find this branch of
our subject exhaustively treated in the ‘ Journal’ of the Society,
and in the Report of the House of Commons Committee of
1880. The Royal Agricultural Society sent a paper of queries
to all parts of Great Britain and Ireland, and the replies have
been admirably arranged by Mr. Jenkins. These two Reports
to their respective dates absolutely fix the existing systems:
there you will find amply treated the practical questions of
ridge or flat, ventilation and space;{ the over distance which
makes coarse, the narrowing in space which fines the tubers:
early and late planting, manures, and varieties: these, and very
many other Seasidestion: and details of cultivation which must
be passed over here, are of the deepest interest to the practical
cultivator. But before we turn from our practical retrospect
from the farmer’s standpoint to consider American experience,
let me commend the following as the most practical of all

* Pamphlet, ‘ How to overcome the Potato Disease” Edinburgh and Glasgow ;
Menzies & Co., 1882.

+ ‘Journal,’ R. A. S. E., vol. x. 1874.

+ ‘Journal,’ R.A. S. E., vol. xi. p. 395. ‘ Disease-proof Potatoes.’ Mr. Carruthers’
report on the results of the competition of 1874. The result of Mr. Maw’s experi-
ments gave only 2 square feet to each set.

388 On the Cultivated Potato.

practical considerations ; cultivation means this,—that man, for
his own purpose, steps in to bar the all-sufficient action of natural
selection.

North American experiences are not very dissimilar to our
own; I have consulted various Publications in the Library of
the Royal Agricultural Society. The House of Commons Com-
mittee sought for American information, which for the most
part the evidence failed to supply. In reports from the United
States of America you may find the potato-bug (Doryphora)
figured in all the “ seven ages” of his life, with an account of his
triumphal march from the Rocky Mountains northwards, “ over
hill, dale, and river:” having fed on the wild potato, he ad-
vanced to devour the cultivated crops. We read of the culti-
vated potato-plant as run out, and we are told potato-disease is
as old as the potato: the writer holds the Peronospora infestans
theory. Now an all-devouring louse, or aphis, appears on the
scene to complete devastation. Next we are told that continued
high cultivation has caused gangrene of the tuber, followed by
a red-rust fungus, with an insect which lives only in the cor-
rupted tuber. A writer in the Massachusetts Report of 1854
marvels at the universality of the disease, which is not occa-
sioned by blight, insects, fungi, climate, or soils; the cause,
over-cultivation, has always been the same, the effects varied.
The cultivated potato has been subjected to a discipline more
severe than that which any other plant has ever experienced :
with abnormal culture the balance is lost, the leaves are
diminished to encourage the tuber, the energies of the plant
being withdrawn from its own nutrition; thus over-stimu-
Jation subjects to decay and climatic influences. We are
ignorant of necessary conditions. I leave with regret a very
thoughtful paper to take up another which introduces us to a
little hard-shell worm, a wireworm, which in low lands effectually
<loes its wicked will: next we find a potato-worm, which on the
whole prefers tomatoes, but it is not very particular, and greedily
falls-to on the potato—this is the tobacco-worm, when mature,
the sphinx-moth. There is also another of the legion enemies
of the solanum, the three-lined beetle, the Lema trilineata. Well
might the American writer cry out for a theory that can account
for all the phenomena, for a remedy to apply generally!

I have, in the Spanish language, publications from both sides
of the South American continent, ably translated for me by my
friend Major Stuart, late H.M. Minister at Hayti: I have had
also an obliging communication in regard to the Peruvian au-
thority from Colonel Jara Almonte, of the Peruvian Legation.
‘Monsieur M. G. Merino, writing at Lima in 1878, treats of the
epidemics of plants on the coasts of Peru; he says of the potato

On the Cultivated Potato. 289

(S. tuberosum), “ It grows in its wild state on low hills; extensive
cultivation was successful until the year 1867: the plant grew
with an exuberance worthy of admiration, and disease in the
nature of an epidemic was unknown. A local and transient
disease had been observed, called ‘ Ceniza y tabaco’ (Ashes and
tobacco), caused by a fungus rendering the leaves white as though
dusted with ashes: another mould caused a snuff-dusted appear-
ance: these diminished, but did not hinder production. Then
in 1867 an epidemic appeared suddenly ; it attacked the leaves
only, leaving the tubers intact, and in all stages fit for food: the
disease often runs its course in a single night. It is not para-
sitic ;.it is not impoverishment of the soil: the cause,” says
the writer, “resides in the atmosphere. In July 1867, a year of
the greatest promise, in the last days of the said month there
appeared in one night at daybreak two fields of earthed-up
potatoes with their leaves completely withered: seen from a
distance, there was a sombre black where previously there had
been a cheerful green. We could not believe our eyes until we
touched the reality. The failure was general, but not simul-
taneous ; in all the valley of Lima the blight was most irregular,
hit-and-miss, here a patch and there a patch. Later the virulence
rather spent itself, and instead of one night the disease occupied
in its work two or three days. The effect on the plants has
been in proportion to the intensity and duration of the blight.”
_ The disease ran on unchanged until 1873, when “it was so bad
it killed all the new varieties which had been obtained from
California, Chincha, and Chili. Leafless plants were known to
bud again, but only to die. Late-sown (August) potatoes gave
a scanty yield: in the year 1877 even the potatoes planted near
the sea were lost; these hitherto had the greatest power of
resistance. Potatoes are blighted at every age, but suffer most
when they have been earthed-up. Cloudy and rainy days are-
favourable, but above all things the blight appears to require
moisture condensed on the leaves of the plants. During the second
year, there was very dry weather until August, then drizzle, and
the day of the blight, Saturday the 9th, towards night much
rain. After this year the lucerne-buds suffered excessively from
the same disease: simultaneously, in distant places, tomatoes
also were attacked. Sometimes the disease begins with isolated
patches of various size on the margins of leaves of the colour of
tobacco, with a whitish border, then the ultimate fate of that
field is sealed.” The writer combats the mould theory, on the
ground that all vegetable tissues in decomposition are thus
attacked. ‘All experiments, and experiments have been nu-
merous, have failed: sulphur-smoke once succeeded, but it is
not clear how it acted: artificial irrigation greatly aggravates :
VOL. XX.—S. 8S. U

290 On the Cultivated Potato.

change of seed and of season, seed even from France, are the
only means adopted of which, though doubtful, we can speak
at all favourably. The variety that runs the most risk is that
which is most commonly planted: there comes from Peru a far
cry for a disease-resisting variety, and the expression of a belief
in individual plants, or varieties of superior vitality.”

On this account Dr. Cooke, of Kew, author of the ‘ Handbook
of British Fungi,’ observes: “I think that the paper should be
published. The disease exhibits symptoms of a fungoid disease.
The great deficiency is the want of a microscopic examination
of infected parts, or specimens, either dried or in fluid, which
should have accompanied the account. It would be worth
while making an effort to obtain specimens of infected plants
in order that they may be submitted to the microscope.” Query :
Is it after all our ‘“ potato disease” imperfectly described ?

Turning now from the west to the east coast of South
America: in the ‘Manual Cultivador Americano,’ published at
Monte Video in 1882, there is an article on the ‘ Potato,’ from
which the following is an extract :—‘¢ The tendency to degene-
ration of the infinite varieties is about the first thing noticed.
The potato yields in field cultivation two easy crops every year:
the potatoes are planted in August, February, and March; and
gathered in December and May and June. The potato from
seed is a means of regeneration. A disease which parches and
burns the haulm, appeared in the years 1856—7, devastating all
our fields. We tried various experiments, and tried amongst
others one which in an extreme case was efficacious, and by
which we were enabled to save sound tubers for seed: we
grafted the tomato near the ground, in the stalk of the potato,
and thus obtained sound tubers, nourished by the tomato, from
which we likewise obtained produce. ‘This result is, of course,
more curious than generally useful.” After suggesting known
means of supposed preservation, the writer goes on to mention
the ravages of the wireworm, which nests and breeds amongst
the tubers, and increases prodigiously in time of drought.

“« A report to the ‘New York Tribune’ states that the potato
crop of Western New York, and probably that of the State, is
threatened with a disease. The vine is attacked with ‘black
rust,’ which is first noted by brown spots on the margins of the
leaves, shrivelling the entire plant as it spreads. The rapid
extension of the disease, and the decay of the leaves and stalk,
follows as soon as the foliage dries up, and the potato itself
becomes affected and decays. A large number of potato-
growers, who were anticipating an abundant yield, now foresee
an almost complete destruction of this crop. The cause is
attributed to the moist and unusually cloudy summer. Fields

On the Cultivated Potato. 291

upon the bottom lands have been the first to wither away. The
potatoes in the hills under many healthy vines, when cut open,
are also found rotten at the centre from wet.” *

Before taking leave of the vast Continent of America to con-
sider home investigations in our own House of Commons, I beg
leave to acknowledge, from the author, Mr. Lemmon’s very
interesting account of the ‘‘ Discovery of the Potato in the
Arizona,” a paper read before the California Academy of Sciences,
San Francisco, on January 15, 1883. I have, as previously
mentioned in my own garden, a plant or two of this potato, S.
Jamesii of Torrey, and also the S. Maglia.t The Arizona
country I take to be about lat. 33° N. I have quoted Mr.
Lemmon in several places; I should here mention further that
I gather from p. 8 that Maglia has a double signification ; it is
the recognised botanical name of a known species, and also the
Chilian native name for the wild bitter potato as distinguished
from. the long-cultivated varieties which generally they call
“‘Pogny.” Mr. Lemmon, under the local designation—as “ of
England ”—flatters me by a mention of my name and of my
known interest in the subject: he mentions also the Royal
Agricultural Society and our ninety-four essays in 1872, none
of which solved the difficulty, but most of the writers were
agreed as to the underlying cause—degeneracy. Mr. Lemmon
says further—the best American cultivators are of opinion that
long cultivation of the potato with unchanged conditions results
in weakness of the constitution, followed by disease, decay, and
dissolution.

The scientific and practical aspects of the subject are’ abso-
lutely fixed to that date by the evidence collected, and by the
Report of the House of Commons Committee of 1880. The
nature of the potato-disease of 1845, according to the evidence,
consists in the growth on or in the plant of a fungus, Pero-
nospora infestans. There is a conflict of testimony as to
whether the fungoid or mouldy devastation was then intro-
duced, or whether it previously existed in a modified form, and
was rendered virulent by exceptional weather. All the witnesses
concur in a necessity for the production of new varieties ; { all

* ‘Morning Post,’ Sept. 25th, 1883.

t L have given my little stock of tubers to Messrs. Sutton of Reading, as their
collection of cultivated types in a living state is said to be the most complete
in existence. I am promised that the different species shall be as perfectly hybri-
dised as possible.

} Mr, Thistleton Dyer, F.R.S., Assist. Director, Royal Gardens, Kew, one of
the witnesses in question, has done me the favour to make the following note on
my proof. “I doubt this, but I do not doubt the possibility (not necessarily
practicability) of eventually getting disease-resisting kinds.” Mr. Dyer’s idea
is that $n this paper we lay too much stress on the consequences of deterioration.

u 2

292 On the Cultivated Potato.

potatoes have deteriorated in their disease-resisting powers: 2
variety from seed takes four to six years for its real establish-
ment, and then under the most favourable circumstances a good
variety might be expected to degenerate in twenty years: the
production of new varieties is of national importance.

Six millions of money, according to the Registrar-General,
eight millions, according to Professor Baldwin, was the loss
from potato-disease in Ireland alone in the one year preceding
the inquiry, namely in 1879. Itis impossible here to sum up the
interesting evidence; it should be studied, and students must
draw their own conclusions. There are, however, a few points
on which I would touch lightly: the biography of the potato-
mould or fungus is treated exhaustively; it is of its kind
similar to the common mould which attacks damp and decaying
vegetable substances: the potato-mould differs in inflicting
mortal injuries on a living plant. If you take plants and
animals generally, you never find parasitical growth in a per-
fectly healthy condition ; throughout the whole of nature para-
sitical growth attacks the feeble. Ravages are due to sudden
climatic conditions fitted for the germination of the hovering
and omnipresent seeds or spores: all epidemics are subject to
sudden acceleration. The potato “murrain” is compared to
blood- -poisoning in animals, and the analogy holds:* Given the
condition to invite the growth of mould, be it a cheese or be it a
potato, there, hovering, are the spores or seeds, and they are

In his opinion, the principal mischief in the case of the potato, as in other culti-
vated plants, arises from the fact that we grow in great masses species that in
nature are scattered about in different habitations.”

* Darwin observes (‘ Origin of Species’): “ Analogy may be deceitful—yet al?
living things have much in common: chemical, cellular, laws of growth, liability
to disease and injury.” “ Living bacteria,” says Beale (‘On the Microscope,’
5th Ed., 1880), “ originate in decomposing matters . . . . living bacteria, like
other living things, come from germs formed by pre-existing living things like
themselves.” ‘“ Bacteria,’”’ says Hogg (‘On the Microscope,’ last Ed., p. 749),
“with omnipresent spores produce ferments in the animal body . . . . splenic
fever, for example, attacks horses, cattle, sheep, rodents, and even man; bacteria
multiply to swarm in the blood, and in a few hours death supervenes.” Dr.
Koch, Chief of the German Cholera Commission, reports, under date, Jan. 7th
inst. Something like the discovery of specific cholera bacilli—“If,” says the
doctor, “ bacilli of a specific character are exclusively incident to the process of
cholera, the original connection between the appearance of these bacteria and
the disease would scarcely admit of any doubt.’—{‘Times,’ Feb. 16, 1884.]
“The discovery by Dr. Koch and his colleagues, of cholera bacilli in a tank in
the Baliaghatta suburb of Calcutta, which has already been telegraphed to the
* Times,’ has excited much interest here, and is clearly a great step forward im
medical science, The chain of evidence, however, connecting these bacilli with
the cause of the disease is not yet complete. Tbe German doctors have proved
that this organism exists in all cases of cholera, but in no other disease; that it
has been found in a tank used by the people among whom the disease appeared,
and that it diminished in numbers as the disease died away. But they have still
" shoe whether the bacillus is the cause or the result of cholera.”—‘ Times,”

eb. 25.

On the Cultivated Potato. 293

ready to pounce: where the carcass is, there are the eagles
gathered together.

Concerning the conflict of evidence referred to in the Report
of the Committee as to whether the mould peculiar to the potato
and kindred plants did or did not exist in these islands pre-
vious to the year 1845, I myself entertain no manner of doubt ;
my instincts, the analogies, the probabilities, the evidence now
in question, and all my reading of authorities of this century
and the last, lead me to believe with that portion of the expert
evidence which says, in effect, that the mould in question is
in connection with it as old as the potato; only until com-
paratively recent times men had not for common things such
microscopic eyes.

The evidence further tends to show that our knowledge, whilst
tolerably complete as to the mould, is altogether insufficient in
regard to varieties of the potato-plant, and to their disease-
resisting capabilities. We are also said to be much in want of
cultural results.

We are told how important it is to keep up the physical
condition of the plant by proper food and manure, and proper
and sufficient space. Potatoes are overcrowded, they are treated
alike on all soils, high and low, dry and marshy. The mould
in question, it is observed, also attacks various wild plants, as
the Solanum dulcamara, the bitter-sweet of our hedges ; but these
being healthy, hardy, and to the manner born, consequently
natural to the soil and climate, throw off the attack with ease,

’ and rarely succumb; hardy native and uncared-for subjects

escape, whilst imported and cultivated plants degenerate and
perish.

I wish to direct the attention of practical growers to the
following suggestions which arise on the Parliamentary evidence,
and are supported by independent evidence received by me from
home and foreign correspondents. The suggestions relate to
the conduct of the potato-plant in its social relations with other
plants ; on this point I think it is Liebig who observes, in effect,
that the struggle for existence of kindred plants is far more
severe than that between individuals of different species. It has
been observed that in alternate rows with beans, potatoes have
been remarkably free from disease: again, volunteer crops,
that is, potatoes in the second year growing spontaneously with
other crops, as corn or turnips, are said to be absolutely free
from disease.

In taking leave of the Report and Evidence of the Commons
Committee, we may, in conclusion, gather that, as regards the
cultivated potato, there is no natural selection; Nature is not
free to act in her own way, so judgment in selection is abso-

.

294. On the Cultivated Potato. -

lutely necessary: as to cultivation, we must “hark back” to a

more natural system: we want careful studies of varieties, and
we want new varieties.

In the House of Commons, the Chancellor of the Duchy of
Lancaster was asked by an honourable member whether pro-
posals had been received from the Highland and Agricultural
Society, in conformity with the recommendations contained in
the Report of the Select Committee on the Potato-crop, 1880—
namely, to undertake, with the pecuniary assistance of the
Government, a series of experiments with a view of producing

new and disease-proof varieties; and whether those proposals
had been tavourably considered.

Mr. Dodson said that Lord Carlingford and himself had been
interviewed on this subject, but in the matter they did not see
their way to granting any pecuniary assistance from the State.

In consequence of the question, I immediately wrote the fol-
lowing letter to the right hon. gentleman, and my further
object in this Paper is simply to explain that communication,
and to add to it only such further observations as may appear
absolutely relevant and essentially complementary.

Sir, London, June 23rd, 1883.

T write to you in regard to the disease in the cultivated potato, and
in reference to your reply in the House last evening. ;

I do not in any way question the decision at which you have arrived ;
Government aid to an inquiry off the true line would be a misfortune.

I should explain that the accident of my being President of the Royal
Agricultural Society of England during the last serious outbreak induced me:
to offer a prize for an Essay on the subject of the Potato-disease. The neces-
sary conditions were published by the Society, and this brought me com-
munications from all parts of the world. The subject, moreover, has for me a
sort of fascination, being of its kind the most economically important and
apparently insoluble problem of our day.

For ten years this subject has more or less occupied my thoughts; I have
traced the history of the plant from the first; I have noted many facts, and
in my own mind I have reached certain conclusions. My evidence, argu-
ments, and conclusions, I hope some day to embody in a paper for the ‘Journal
of the Royal Agricultural Society.’

Meanwhile my object is to mention to you, and to ask you to convey to
any interested in extensive experiments, that it might be desirable to com-
municate either with my friend, Mr. J. G. Baker, F.R.S., Royal Herbarium,
Kew, or with myself.

Mr. Baker’s position as a man of science, his residence and official duties
at the headquarters of English botany, together with a longstanding ac-
quaintance—he was a neighbour in Yorkshire—induced me recently to seek
his aid. Being in possession of my views, he has brought his clear, instructed,
and altogether unprejudiced mind to bear on the inquiry. Mr. Sutton, of
Reading, has for the purposes of study kindly placed his very extensive
potato-grounds at our disposal, and, subject to verification, this crop, the
result of our inquiry, appears something like the discovery of reliable bearings
from whence to take a safe departure.

On the Cultivated Potato. 295

In due course this communication was courteously acknow-
ledged.

Government aid I do think may be fairly sought for in
the following direction. After years—a century—of inquiry,
sharpened by economic disaster and human misery and starva-
tion, science cannot answer my query
of the potato-plant and its circumstances as regards its neigh-
bours, and the other surroundings of its natural habitat? I take
up the ‘Admiralty Manual of Scientific Inquiry,’ * and find
inquiry suggested in South America and elsewhere: sarsa-
parilla, balsam of copaiva, ipecacuanha, and the milk- or cow-
tree of Para—which tree, in case of the continuance of “ foot-
and-mouth” disease, might prove a godsend to the nursery—but
not one single word of anything so common as the everyday
potato. H.M.S. ‘Alert ’t has been on a cruise in those waters.
“The cocoanut industry,” we are told, “has recently fallen off,
owing to the ravages of a worm, and the old spice industry has
been. revived ;” not a word of the anti-scorbutic—the modest
potato. Then every one is not a Darwin, and the authorities
were certainly not on the ‘ Alert.’ Yet there might be alertness
on the part of Government—the Government of a nation that
boasts of ships on every sea: some ship of the South Pacific
squadron, some ‘Alert’ having a competent man on_ board,
scientifically equipped with an opera-glass and a sketch-book,
might some fine day take a summer cruise round the Chonos
Archipelago; and if this competent man were not exactly a
Darwin, he might, as much as possible, endeavour to resemble
that pre-eminent philosopher.

My first letter to Mr. Baker was dated on June Ist, 1883, and
was to this effect: after reference to comparatively the very
little the ‘Journal’ tells us on the subject in question, I went
on to say: I hold the disease in the cultivated potato is a
conjugation of the verb ‘“degenerate:” I hold that, if nature
were free, the whole of the cultivated potato would be killed off,
excepting only perhaps a few chosen plants, left to replenish
the European branch of the potato family; or perhaps the law
of extinction would have full force and effect. I understand
it is a fact that the potato in Europe has never grown spon-
taneously.{| The importance of the whole subject is hardly
realised: we have within the three kingdoms some 1,400,000
acres annually, which at only 10/1. an acre represents a huge

* Published by authority of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty for
the use of officers of H.M. Navy and travellers in general. John Murray,
Albemarle Street, London.

t ‘Cruise of the Alert ; four years in Patagonian, Polynesian, and Mascarene
Waters.’ By R. W. Coppinger, M.D. London: Sonnenschein and Co. 1883.

t ‘Ency. Brit.” current Ed., Art, “ Acclimatization,* which see.

296 On the Cultivated Potato. ~

sum. Now for my special difficulty. I cannot find any sufficient
study of the potato-plant in its natural habitat. Humboldt
merely just mentions its growth: Darwin, in his voyage round
the world—Chonos Islands, lat. 45°—mentions great abundance
in sandy, shelly soil near the beach, some plants four feet high :
the tubers have the same smell and appearance as the English
potato. Darwin goes on to remark that “the same plant is
found on the sterile mountains of Central Chili, where a drop
of rain does not fall for six months, and within the damp
forests of these southern islands.” Nowall this is not enough
for my purpose: I want a careful study. Does the plant
grow in large clumps, or in single families, interspersed with
other vegetation ? if so, the nature of any such vegetation witi
which the potato lives in friendly cohabitation ; and a thousand
other facts which will occur to your trained mind should be
known. This is a principle of mine evolved for the purposes
of the present inquiry—the more artificial the condition, the
more necessary it is to couple nature with freedom, and to study
this combination, with a view to all possible conformity.

I have made an unworthy precis of the interesting letters I
received from Mr. Baker, under dates from June 4 to December
27, 1883.

Mr. Baker sees no reason to doubt the conclusions stated as
to the disease and degeneracy of the potato-plant;* the life-
history of its parasitic fungi has been fully investigated, they
would not attack the plant if it were grown under normal
conditions. The question asked, what are the normal con-
ditions? is a fair and proper question to put to a botanist,
but a very difficult and complicated one to answer. The uni-
versally accepted botanical authority fT on the subject gives
some twelve or fifteen species closely allied to the cultivated
potato: it stands to reason the climatic requirements of these
several species, widely distributed over a vast continent, must
be exceedingly different. Yet their botanical differences are
small, and their relationship to one another and to the cultivated
potato have never been adequately investigated. In regard to
the extract cited from Darwin’s voyage of the ‘ Beagle,’ in which
he gives an account of the potato growing wild in the Chonos
Archipelago, off the coast of Patagonia, where the climate is very
damp and equable, I haye examined Darwin’s original speci-
men, and I am quite satisfied that the plant is not Solanum

* Mr. Thistleton Dyer, F.R.S. [see ante, p. 291], notes, “I take it the reason
the potato mould is so powerful is, that we grow the potato in large areas—
Nature does not; we put our eggs, at any rate, large parcels of them, into one
basket—Nature knows better!

+ Monograph by Duna! in the 13th volume of ‘ De Candolles Prodromus.’

On the Cultivated Potato. 297

tuberosum, but S. Maglia, which differs as much from S. tubero-
sum as any of the species. Solanum tuberosum, from which
the cultivated potato is considered to originate, is said to be a
plant of the High Andes of Chili, and surely a plant of the sterile
mountains of Central Chili, where a drop of rain does not fall for
six months, and where, as compared with the northern hemi-
sphere, summer and winter are reversed, is grown in England,
Scotland, and Ireland under such abnormal conditions, that it is
not surprising it degenerates and becomes diseased. Far more
confidence might be placed in S. Maglia, of which the geo-
graphical requirements resemble our own. When they come
into flower I would like to compare the leading kinds of the
potato grown in England with each other and with the wild
types; with that view, I will write at once to Mr. Sutton, I
should go through his fields to see as many varieties as possible,
and carry away ten or a dozen good specimens vf the leading
types for study. De Candolle, otherwise admirable, confounds
S. tuberosum and S. Maglia, as does Sabine, who is otherwise at
the foundation of our potato knowledge. I send you some S.
Maglia tubers to plant. Your notes have been read; I think we
may classify matter bearing on the subject under four heads:
(1) History of the cultivated plant; (2) Its diseases, parasitic
fungi, and parasitic insects ; (3) Its botanical geography ; (4) Its
physiology. Subjects 1 and 2 are almost exhausted; 3 and 4
comparatively neglected ; 3 is the branch on which I am specially
‘at home. I think we may formulate a general principle such
as this: every species has a certain range of power and adapta-
bility as regards soil and climate. If the conditions which it needs
are not supplied, it will degenerate, become diseased, and finally
die out. You can only acclimatise in a new country by giving
what is required in the matter of soil and climate: there is
here a wide field for research and experiment. Touching sub-
ject 4, see the best Paper that has been written on the physiology ©
of the plant, that of T. A. Knight, ‘Philosophical Transac-
tions’ for 1806. No doubt one powerful cause of deterioration
in the potato is that the tuber has been abnormally stimu-
lated * at the expense of the rest of the organism. A familiar
English name for S. Maglia would be “ Darwin’s Potato.”
Messrs. Sutton were most kind and hospitable; we have
spent some time in their trial-grounds (August 11), and have
obtained many specimens and made many notes. All the in-
formation to be obtained about the species and their climatic

* Mr. Thistleton Dyer, F.R.S., notes: “I doubt this; the Irish Government got
ever a fresh strain from South America and it suffered just as much as the
abnormally stimulated varieties.”

298 On the Cultivated Potato.

range I have brought together in the form of a paper for the
Linnean Society ; it is illustrated by drawings of each of the
five distinct specific types: the paper will not be printed in
extenso for some months. Meanwhile please use my summary of

Fig. 1.—Haulm, Flower, and Berry of Solanum tuberosum, from the
Plate of Clusius (de ?Ecluse) mentioned by De Candolle, and pub-
lished in the year 1601.

conclusions in any way you wish. The different accounts do not
agree as to the sort of place the wild potato grows in; the ac-
counts are so contradictory, from them safe conclusions cannot
be drawn: the Linnean Society paper * cites all the obtainable
testimony. :

* “Cultivators work on the tacit assumption that the one object in life of the
potato-plant is to grow potatoes, and this assumption has no sound foundation in
fact or reality.”—Mr. Baker’s ‘ Linnean Paper.’

On the Cultivated Potato. 299:

Fig. 2.—Tubers and Root-fibres of Solanum tuberosum, from the same
Plate as Fig. 1.

The following is Mr. Baker’s summary of the conclusions at
which he had arrived and set forth at length, in the paper read
before the Linnean Society :—

: “That there are six distinct species of tuber-bearing Solanum,
viz. :
“1. S. tuberosum, with many varieties, extending as a wild
plant from Chili to the Rocky Mountains; climate always cool,

equable, dry.

300 Report on the Competition for Seed- Wheat, 1883.

“2. S. Maglia, wild on damp coasts of Chili.

“3, S. Commersoni, wild on lowlands of Uruguay, about
Montevideo.

“4. §. cardiophyllum, wild in highlands of Central Mexico.

“5, S. Jamesii, wild in Rocky Mountains.

“6. S. oxycarpum, wild in Central Mexico.

** All the cultivated forms owe their origin to tuberosum, but
Darwin’s plant and that experimentised by Sabine, are not
tuberosum, but Maglia. Deterioration of potato may, no doubt,
be traced to two sources—too much of its vitality being thrown
into the tuber at the expense of other parts of the plant, and its
being grown in unsuitable climates (7.e. countries damper and
warmer than its native home).

‘There is a wide field open for further experiment in culti-
vating species 2, 3, and 4, and hybridising them with tuberosum.
Maglia would no doubt bear damp, and Commersoni (Ohrondit)
warmth better than No. 1. The potatoes of Jamesii and oxy-
carpum would no doubt be too small to be of any practical use.

J. G. BAKER.”

VIl.—Report on the Competition for Seed Wheat, 1883. By
Wm. CarruTuers, F.R.S., Consulting Botanist to the
Society.

Some years ago the Council endeavoured to direct the attention
of seed-growers and agriculturists to the production of new
varieties of wheat, in the hope of improving the quality and
quantity of our wheat crops. Two sets of prizes were offered :
one to be competed for at once, and intended to bring out any
new varieties still in the hands of their producers; and the
other was deferred till the autumn of 1882, so as to give time
and opportunity for the production of new varieties.

The prizes were offered for distinctly new varieties, which
should combine the largest yield of grain and straw per acre,
with approved form and size, smooth and thin skin, full and
white kernel, and high specific gravity in the grain, and light,
firm, and stiff straw.

The results of the competition in 1879-80 were published in
the Society’s ‘ Journal,’ vol. xvii. of the second series.

The date for sending in samples for the second competition
was the first day of October, 1882, and there were then
delivered two samples of white wheat. Each sample was
divided into four equal portions, after a small quantity had

Report on the Competition for Seed-Wheat, 1883. 501%

been reserved for comparison, and each portion was to be
cultivated in one of four localities in England differing in soil
and climate, and the prize was to be given to that which showed
the best results, if the Judges considered that the winning
variety possessed qualities which entitled it to distinction.

The characteristics of the competing grains are described by
their respective owners as follows:—No. 1 was sent in by
M. Henry Vilmorin, Verrieres le Buisson, Dept. Seine et Oise,
France, under the name “ Dattel Wheat.” It was described as
having a white, large, and full grain, a beardless ear, broad and
of medium length, red or brown chaff, and a white straw of
medium height and very strong and stiff. It was raised from
a cross effected purposely between “ Blé Chiddam d’automne a
épi rouge” and “ Blé Prince Albert,” in 1874. About a dozen
plants were produced from as many fertile seeds, the best seed
only was kept, and when the variety was well fixed it was
called ‘ Dattel wheat.” It bears some resemblance to “ Blé
Chiddam a épi rouge,” but is superior in every respect to that.
variety. The seed sent for competition was grown at Verrieres.
No. 2 was sent in by Messrs. James Carter and Co., 237, High
Holborn, London, under the name ‘“ Seedling White Wheat—
Carter's No. 1.” It was described as having a plump grain of
fine quality and colour, and thin skin ; a close-set grain, not liable
to thresh during windy weather ; and a stiff, long, firm, and bright
straw, which does not layer in wet weather. This wheat was.

‘selected by Messrs, Carter some two or three years back, from

a red variety raised by Mr. Wilkin.

The samples were carefully weighed and measured before
they were sent from the Society’s office. The weight per bushel
of No. 1 was 613 lbs., and of No. 2, 623 Ibs.

The gentlemen who undertook to grow the experimental
samples on the previous occasion were good enough to under- |
take the trials again. The samples were accordingly sent
to Mr. James Edwards, of Woodhorn Manor, Morpeth, Nor-
thumberland; Mr. Charles Randell, of Chadbury, Evesham,
Worcestershire; Mr. James Rawlence, of Bulbridge, Wilton,
Wiltshire ; and to Mr. W. J. Malden, the manager of Crawley.
Mill Farm, Woburn, Bedfordshire—the farm placed by the Duke
of Bedford at the service of the Society for experimental
purposes. These localities fairly represent the different cli-
matic conditions of the wheat-growing districts. The soils
also were varied ; it was a stiff boulder clay at Mr. Edwards’s
farm, an open clay at Mr. Randell’s farm, a thin soil resting on
the chalk at Mr. Rawlence’s farm, and a very light sand resting
on sand at Crawley Mill Farm. Each grower received 46 lbs.
of the first variety, and 47 lbs. of the second variety, and a peck

302 Report on the Competition for Seed- Wheat, 1883.

of the original sample was set aside for comparison with the
products of the following harvest.

The samples were sent to the growers early in November,
1882. At Crawley Mill they were sown on the 14th of
November, at Bulbridge on the 22nd of the same month, and at
Woodhorn Manor on the 27th of November, while Mr. Randell
did not sow his portion at Chadbury till the 27th of February,
1883. The particulars of the weight sent as reported by the
growers, the quantity sown, the extent of the land on which
each variety was grown, and the date of the sowing, are given
in Table I. on the opposite page.

The differences in the quantity of seed employed by the
growers deserves to be noticed, and is most apparent in the
columns that specify the weight and the quantity per acre.
The largest quantity was used by Mr. Rawlence. His soil
forms only a thin covering on the surface of chalk, which, being
a porous rock, acts as a natural drain. It is consequent y
necessary, as I ‘pointed out on a former occasion, that the cereal
crops should be thickly sown, as Mr. Rawlence always does in
order to cover his soil with a thick crop of green, and so
prevent the evaporation of the moisture from the soil. The

difference between the practice of Mr. Rawlence in Wiltshire ~

and Mr. Malden in Bedford, in the quantity of seed employed,
is so great, that Mr. Malden puts on three acres what Mr. Raw-
lence found necessary for two. Mr. Malden, that is to say,
saved a bushel and a half on every two acres, as compared with
Mr. Rawlence—a saving of not a little importance in economic
farming.

Mr. Randell did not sow till the spring. The samples were
received too late to be planted in October, and the state of the
weather after that month rendered wheat sowing impossible
until the end of February. The 27th of February was the first
day that the land would bear the horses, and the wheat was then
sown, the remainder of the field being planted at the same time
with “Essex rough chaff.” The land is a strong loam upon
clay, in good condition, having grown in 1882 vetches eaten off
by sheep with oilcake, followed by cauliflower, the heads of
which were cut and carried off, and the leaves were eaten by
sheep again getting oilcake. The field was uniform in quality
and condition, and the three crops were treated precisely alike.
All the crops stood up well, and were free from mildew. At
harvest the crop of the whole field was as good as any of the
autumn-sown wheat. So that, in Mr. Randell’s opinion, the
experiment was not in the least modified by the spring sowing.

Mr. Rawlence sowed his samples on the 22nd of November,
and the remainder of the field was sown at the same time with

303

Report on the Competition for Seed-Wheat, 1883

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304 Report on the Competition for Seed Wheat, 1885.

‘‘ Square-head Wheat,” the three plots being cultivated under
the same conditions.

Mr. Malden sowed his samples on the 14th of November, his
ordinary crop, “ Browick Wheat,” having been put in the ground
on the 23rd of October. The land on which the competition-
samples were grown is a very light, loose sand, with a sandy
subsoil. This piece of ground was chosen because it was the
only piece available that was sufficiently uniform in its soil to
give trustworthy results. It was, however, much overrun with
poppies and mare’s tail. The previous crop was cabbages,
which were intended to have been fed off on the land, but, as they
were late and not fit to consume, they were carted off, and the
land consequently left in a very poor condition. Ten tons of
dung were applied to the acre, and the wheat was dibbled in. It
came up well, but was attacked by a small white grub, which
thinned the plant; and though it showed well in the spring,
there was only about three-quarters of a plant on either crop.
The birds were troublesome as the wheat began to ripen, for this
was the earliest piece of corn in the neighbourhood.

Mr, Edwards sowed his samples on November 27th. The
soil was a strong loam of considerable depth, and uniform
throughout the plots on which the competition-samples and his
own crop were sown. The field is nearly level, and is well
drained. The land was in good condition. A heavy crop of
swedes had just been carted off. They had received a dressing
of 25 loads of foldyard-manure, and 4 cwt. of mineral super-
phosphate to the acre. The weather had prevented the swedes
being removed till very late in the season. The land then
received one furrow, and the wheats were carefully sown broad-
cast by hand, on two parallel half-acre crops, and the ordinary
crop, ‘“‘ White chaff Red Wheat,” was sown on a third similar
plot, through which, however, there was a public footpath.
The land was rather damp at the sowing; a single with the
harrow was given that day, and a double across the next. There
was very little show of plant on any of the plots through the
winter and spring. M. Vilmorin’s “ Dattel Wheat” took the
lead at first, having the best colour and strength of flag, but the
ordinary crop was most promising as harvest approached. The -
appearance of Carter’s ‘Seedling White Wheat” did not give
promise of such a good crop as it turned out. They all ripened
at the same time. ‘They had been very much laid and tangled
by the strong wind and rain. Carter’s “ Seedling White Wheat ”
was least injured, and had consequently the advantage at har-
vest. The cutting was a difficult and untidy job, and a good
deal both of the straw and grain was left on the ground.

The dates of cutting varied. Mr. Rawlence, in the south of

Report on the Competition of Seed- Wheat, 1883. 305

Hampshire, cut the plots on the 15th of August; three days
later the crop was cut at Woburn; while Mr. Randell’s plots
were not cut till the 4th of September; and Mr. Edwards’s, in
Northumberland, not till the 12th of that month. The results
of the cultivation are tabulated in the following Tables.

Taste IJ.—Yrevtp in Graty and Straw and VaALue or PRODUCE.

“DatTre, WHEAT.”

Gray. Straw.

Weight.

|
|
5 eS Total
|

Per Bushel. The Produce. | Value. |Weight.) Value. Value.
| |

Best. Tail. | Best. Tail. Total. |

| Ibs. | Ibs. | Ibs. Ibs ie st 8: © a, Fe | Sn oe “Ge Pe eee
Mr. Rawlence | 6 52. | 756 46 SO25h SELES ~~ 6.) F592 | By 7? Oo ae
Mr. Randell | 603 | 54 | 1156 65.) 1221) 5°10 2115961 E& § 6] Gis ss
Mr. Malden | 60 | 42 | 697 FS) els 'O (Osh 15104 bk 2b Sit Shes
| ; }
Mr. Edwards | 59 | 42 | 912 14| 926|3 610] 1260/1 5 0, 41110
“SEEDLING WHITE WHEAT.”
| | |
Mr. Rawlence | 623 58 812 Soe SoGep 4) Ph 2 ao ee Tae 8 10
| | | |
Mr. Randell 60 oGe | LbEr } EA7 ) 1241s) 5 7 1S) 1624), BS" 0 | 616 8
! |
Mr. Malden | 62 44 SOL 44 |. Si). 3-10--3 } 1564 | 1 1 0) 411-3
Mr. Edwards 59 44 1144 24. | 1168} 4 8 11] 1484 3110 0; 518 1]
THE GRoWER’s OWN Crops.
Mr. Rawlence| 633 49 984 43 | 1027/4 4 3/1316|/1 3 6/5 7 9
|
}
Mr. Randell 603 a6: | 1119 | 108 | 1227.|-5 18 411652) 1 9 617 2 10
|
Mr. Malden 59 51 | 1182 188; 1370/5 7 O]| 2800;117 6/7 4 6
Mr. Edwards | 583 40 | 1041 37 | 1078 |}3 17 7] 1470) 110 O | ee hod

|

The estimates of the value of the grain and straw were
supplied by the growers. They are based on the local market
values. (No. 11.) The value of the results will be more apparent
from the next Table (No. III. p. 306), in which the produce
and value of the wheat per acre have been worked out and tabu-
lated. The crops were nowhere exceptionally good. The very

VOI. XX.—S. 8. *

Report on the Competition of Seed- Wheat, 1883-

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Report on the Competition for Seed-Wheat, 1883. 307

small yield of the competing crops on the Woburn Farm, as
compared with the yield of the Browick wheat, the ordinary
crop of the farm, is due mainly to the better quality and con-
dition of the stack-yard field on which the Browick wheat was
grown. The competing wheats were sown on a poor field,
which, as it afforded an even character throughout, was thought

Taste IV.—The Amount and Vaxve of the Propuce of the Crops of each
GROWER.

Mr. RawLenNce.

Gram. Srzaw- /

Dattel .. .. .. | 63 52) 756 | 46
Seedling White .. 623 58 $12 / St

Square Head, ordi-|
nary crop. «J

!

Mr. RANDELL.

Dattel .. .. .. | 603 54 | 1156 |-65 | 1221/5100 2/]1596|1 8 6)618 8
Seedling White .. 60 56 1114 127/ 1241 5 7 S|1624 19 0 616 8

Essex Rough aii 603 56 1119 108 1297 513 4|1652 1 9 6

ordinary crop _
Mr. Matpen

Dattel .. .. -.|60}42| e97/18| 715/30 0[1570/1 13/4 1 3

Seedling White .. | 62 44/ sot | 44/ 848/310 3] 1561/11 0/411 3

Pere tT}! 59 | 51 1182 ass | 1370} 5 7 0] 2800/1137 6|7 4 6

Mr. Epwarbs.

Dattel guys - 39 42} 912) 14] 926; 3 610]1260;1 5 0/411 10

Seedling White .. | 59 4 I 24 Ines 4 SI] 1st 110 0 91811
; ; |

White Chaf red, ees

crdinary crop }| 582 40 | 1081 | 37 | 1078 | 3.17 7| 1470 110 0 5

:

“I
“1

30806" Report on the Competition for Seed-Wheat, 1883.

to be desirable for these crops. As, however, the conditions
under which the ordinary and competing crops were grown
were so different, it is not possible to compare or contrast them
with any practical result. In the other localities the various
crops were grown under the same conditions, and the results
show that no real gain accrued from the cultivation of the com-
peting varieties (Table IV.). The total value of the crops in
-all the stations of each kind cultivated shows that while the
“Dattel” had the value of 201. 14s. 3d., and the “ Seedling
White,” 22/. 15s. 3d., the ordinary crops were worth 25/. 2s. 8d.
When the plots cultivated at Woburn are excluded, the result is
not very different ; for the “ Dattel” was valued at 16/. 13s. 10d.,
the Seedling White at 187. 4s. 5d., and the ordinary crop at
171. 18s. 2d.

The Judges appointed by the Council, after a careful ex-
amination of the results of the year’s cultivation, and a com-
parison with the portions retained of the original samples,
came to the unanimous finding, which is incorporated in their
Report as follows :—

Report of Judges.

The sample No. 1 is a pure wheat. It is entered as a variety produced by
a cross between ‘‘ Red-eared Chiddam” and ‘‘ Prince Albert,” but, in the
opinion of the Judges, no characters exist in the sample sent, or in the
produce of this year’s growth, to justify its being considered a new variety.

The sample No. 2 contained a large proportion of red grains, and the
specimen sheaf was also a mixture of white chaff and white grain, and white
chaff and red grain with a few red chaff and red grain. The produce of this
year’s growth having the same mixed character, the Judges do not consider
this a distinct variety of wheat, and therefore disqualify it.

The Judges desire to add that they had submitted to them samples of
the ordinary crops of the farm, grown under the same treatment along-
side of the competing samples; some of these were red wheats, but one
was a sample of white wheat, which compared most favourably as to quality
with both of the competing varieties, but greatly exceeded them in the
money value per acre.

(Signed) Cuar.tes Howarp,
Jonau HapDLey,
Hua Raynzirp,

The two attempts made by the Society to encourage the
production of improved varieties of wheat have not resulted
in any real gain. The competing varieties which were culti-
vated in 1880, like those just reported on, did not prove
superior to the wheats which, in the different districts where
the trials were made, had been selected for cultivation. . The
experience of the past in regard to the production of valuable
varieties of wheat, leads one to expect that new sorts may still
be obtained by careful selection or by crossing. It is to be

Notes on Cart Horses. 309

hoped that though the prizes offered by the Society have not
as yet yielded any important present results, they have at
least directed special attention to the subject, and set agoing
experiments which may in the future be productive of sub-
stantial gain.

VIII.—Notes on Cart Horses. By James Howarp, M.P., of
Clapham Park, Bedfordshire.

DurinG the period which has elapsed since the establishment
of the Royal Agriculural Society, more than one important
change has come over peoples’ opinions with regard to the
best style of draught-horse for farmers to breed. In the greater
portion of England most celebrated for the breeding of cart-
horses, the old-fashioned dray-horse had held undisputed sway,
until the Shows of the Royal Agricultural Society brought into
prominence horses of lighter build and quicker step; the hand-
some clean-legged Suffolk and the active Cleveland bay attracted
no little attention. Whether or not these exhibitions had the
effect of influencing fashion in breeding, it is certainly the fact
that after their establishment a change took place in public
opinion in favour of clean-legged, active horses for farm purposes ;
and the more massive, slower moving, and hairy-legged breed
fell correspondingly in general estimation. For many years it
became quite the fashion for noblemen and other landed pro-
prietors to introduce a Suffolk stallion into their district, with a
view to improve the local breed and obtain a race of clean-
legged horses. The object was, doubtless, secured in many dis-
tricts, but it was quickly discovered that the attainment of the
qualities desired was attended with loss of bone; for the Suffolk
horse, notwithstanding his fine big body, was, as he has
remained, light of bone, especially below the knee. During
the time of which I speak, the Royal Agricultural Society
dropped its prizes for ‘ Dray-Horses,” a step denoting the
change which had come over public opinion.

The infallible effect, however, of the law of supply and de-
mand stepped in before a very long interval had passed, and
turned the tide in the opposite direction. The construction
of railways and other public works led to a large demand for
powerful, massive horses; the supply proving unequal to the
requirements, caused this description of draught-horse to rise
inordinately in value. The demand was for horses of greater,
and still greater substance; whilst coincident with the demand
for greater substance came the insistence that such horses should
be able “to move as well as draw.”’

310 Notes on Cart Horses.

Tue CLYDESDALE AND SHIRE BREEDS.

I have no desire to enter into controversial questions respecting
the origin or the merits of the Shire and the Clyde breeds, but
simply to refer to facts which have become historical. The
Scottish farmers were not slow to perceive the necessity for
increasing the size and power of their esteemed Clydesdales to
meet the demand for stouter horses, and English breeders have
learned by revelations which have recently reached them from
Scotland, how for a long period many of the best of their Shire-
bred mares were quietly carried over the Border for the purpose
of improving the Clydesdale breed. Not a few of the most cele-
brated pedigree Clyde stallions, it is found, are descended from
English Shire mares ; indeed, it is now no longer a secret that
even the renowned Clydesdale horse “‘ Prince of Wales” (673)
has Shire blood in his veins, derived through his ancestor
“General,” whose dam was a Shire mare which won a first-
prize in the brood class of the Highland and Agricultural
Society’s Show at Glasgow—the very centre of the Clydes-
dale-breeding-district. Again, “St. Lawrence,” the Champion
at Glasgow two years in succession, and first prize at the Royal
Agricultural Show, York, has Shire blood in his veins from
both sides. Mr. Lawrence Drew, of Merryton,* one of the
foremost of Scottish breeders, with a view to increased weight,
bigger bones, and hardier constitution, has for some years past
openly advocated the crossing of the Shire mare with the
Clydesdale stallion, in which practice he has attained the greatest
success.

I have a distinct remembrance of what the Clydesdale horse
was some thirty-five to forty years ago ; and those interested in
the subject, who cannot go back in memory so far, have only
to glance at the illustrations of famous Clydesdales which appear
in Stephens’ ‘ Book of the Farm,’ to see what the breed was like
at that period.

Having said thus much upon the Clydesdales being improved
by crossing with the Shire breed, it is but fair to acknowledge
that the greater activity of the present race of Shire horses may
possibly have been derived from the large number of quicker-
stepping stallions which have been brought from beyond the
Tweed ; and may not be altogether due to more careful selection
of the original breed. For myself, I may say that the introduction
of a Clydesdale stallion, which I purchased from the late Mr.
George Hope, Fenton Barns, upwards of twenty years ago, was

* This renowned breeder has passed away since this paper was sent to the
printer.—J. H.

Notes on Cart Horses. 311

attended with considerable benefit. This sire, a big-boned, active,
and powerful horse, left his mark in my neighbourhood, as
did another but lighter Clydesdale I well remember, which
travelled in this county some forty years ago.

Harr AND BONE.

Formerly the opinion was entertained that sluggishness and
inactivity are inseparably combined with massiveness of bone
and carcass; and further, that an abundance of coarse hair is
necessary to big bones and massive frames. The modern
breeders of Shire horses have aimed, not only at better action,
but at maintaining the size of bone and body, and at the same
time cbtaining a more silky description of hair. A graye doubt,
however, arises whether the profusion of hair and “ feather”
insisted upon in Showyards and among the leading breeders of
Shire horses are really so essential to strength and constitution
as is generally asserted and believed. As a farmer of heavy clay-
land—much of it hilly—which requires very powerful horses in
tillage and in carting, I have long entertained doubt as to the
pobee of the present tendency to such a profusion of hair.
Breeders not only contend for hair on the rear of the leg, but
many have also come to insist upon a mass of hair in front,
from the knee downward—doubtless a characteristic of many
of the old Shire horses bred in Derbyshire early in the present
century. Of course no one contends that all this hairy covering
is desirable in itself; it is advocated as being essential to
hardiness of constitution and size of bone. This contention
merely means that the desired constitution and sufficient bone
have not hitherto been obtained without an abundance of hair.

It is with some diffidence that I have ventured to take a view
differing from that held by so many eminent breeders; but I am
emboldened to do so by the knowledge that a large number of
very practical, shrewd men whom I have consulted upon the
point entertain a similar opinion, indeed hold it very strongly.
[ must say that the modern predilection and arguments in favour
of profuse hair are not justified by my own experience, for some
of the most powerful and biggest-boned horses—with the hardiest
constitutions—I have had during the past thirty years have
been free from an excessive quantity of hair.

Shunting railway trucks probably tests the strength and joints
of horses as severely as any work to which they can be put.
Before this operation was performed at the Works of my
Firm by a locomotive, horses were employed ; the strongest and
most lasting horse we ever possessed for this purpose was a
deepxbodied, flat-sided, slow-moving gelding with quite clean

Sb Notes on Cart Horses.

legs ; he was bred by my brother, Mr. Charles Howard. Al-
though a breeder of pedigree Shire horses, I desire to recognize
merit in other breeds, and therefore acknowledge that the horse
in question was a half-bred Suffolk, his sire being a famous
Suffolk horse, “‘ Manchester Boxer ” (298), belonging to the late
Duke of Manchester; his dam, a very big, wide mare. “ Duke,”
after having been superseded by the locomotive, lived to do
many years of hard work upon the farm, occasionally returning
to his former labours when the engine was out of repair.

Nor does the popular contention for a profusion of hair accord
with my observation beyond my own farms and factory. When
on a yisit to my friend, Mr. Jessop, of Sheffield, some three
years ago, | was shown the best and strongest draught-horse
employed at the great steel works of his firm. He was bred
in Yorkshire, and is a wide, massive gelding, possessing great
bone, and capable of moving immense loads, yet almost as clean
as a Suffolk ; he is evidently, and as I was assured, of wonderful
constitution. At the present time I have upon my farms a
very massive and deep three-year-old filly, 114} inches below
the knee, but with only the slightest covering of fine, silky
hair. The filly is by ‘“ Hydraulic” (1130). I bought her,
when a yearling, at the great sale of Mr. Waltham, of Parson’s
Drove, for 145 guineas; she was pronounced short of hair, or
would doubtless have made a still higher price.

Mr. Oakley, the General Manager of the Great Northern
Railway Company, London, whose opinion I asked, wrote as
follows: “For railway work, horses with long hair on their
legs are very unsuitable, and we avoid purchasing them as
much as possible. We find the long hair very difficult to
cleanse effectually ; and if carelessly done, the hair ‘mats’ at
the root and, in the opinion of our ‘ master of the horse,’ provokes
grease and other inconveniences. We have in London about
1100 horses, the bulk of which are kept at, or adjoining to,
King’s Cross. We shall be happy to show you the stud when
it may be convenient for you to come.” An invitation which I
quickly availed myself of.

Mr. Newcombe, Goods Manager of the Midland Railway
Company, wrote as follows: “In reply to your enquiry as to
what is our experience of the hairy-legged class of horse, I can
only say that we purchase as few of them as possible, and always
prefer a clean-legged animal. We have a decided objection to
the coarse, hairy-legged horse, and I entirely concur with our
chief veterinary, Mr. Taylor, when he says that such horses are:
more predisposed to disease, such as itching of the legs, grease,
&e. I send for your perusal a copy of the report he has made
to me upon this subject.”

Notes on Cart Horses. 313

The report is as follows :

‘“‘ Respecting cart-horses, as to their having much hair on
their legs or not, I am of opinion that the most serviceable and
best class of horse is the one that has plenty of good, flat bone,
and a fair amount of soft, silky hair. I find that horses that
grow a quantity of rough, coarse hair—especially in abundance
round the fetlock joint and in many cases hanging over the
hoof—are more predisposed to disease, such as itching of the
legs, rough legs, grease, Kc. No doubt this arises in some
measure from the inability to thoroughly cleanse the legs from
dirt, &c., and also I consider these horses are more constitu-
tionally predisposed to these diseases.”

With a view to stimulate the growth of hair, it is not an
uncommon practice with Shire-horse breeders to use a little
common blister-ointment, with a plentiful supply of sheep-oint-
ment, well rubbed in on the back of the legs ; the same treatment
is adopted for preventing the hair from shedding in the summer.

I would submit to the consideration of breeders that, looking
to the fact of fashion having changed more than once during
the past forty years, and in view of the possibility of another
turn in popular taste, whether it may not be advisable to aim
at producing the most powerful horse, as free as possible from
the objection so forcibly pointed out by the two Railway
Managers, instead of running in the opposite direction and
endeavouring to load the legs of the horses of the future with
a still greater profusion of hair.

SIZE.

A few words with respect to Size. Farmers in hill countries,
and many users of draught-horses in towns and cities, require
for their purposes a compact horse, not exceeding sixteen .
hands. Probably a time will arrive when this class of horse
will be established as a separate breed, in the same way as the
white pigs have been divided into large breed and small breed.
At all events, this is a kind of horse worthy the encourage-
ment of Agricultural Societies ; for, independently of the home
customer, a great demand exists which English breeders fail
to meet. Immense numbers of the French Percheron breed
are bought by foreigners, because our English horses are too
ponderous for their requirements. I am quite aware that if an
English Shire-horse breeder be spoken to on the subject, his
reply will be, “my difficulty is to breed horses of sufficient
size. I can always sell big ones.” But horses of sixteen hands, if
wide, powerful, and with good action, are also quite as saleable.
I wiil ngt say they are more useful or fetch quite as much

314 Notes on Cart Horses.

money, but they are wanted in greater numbers than the more
ponderous horse of seventeen hands and upwards, and cost some-
what less to produce. I was fortunate enough to take the first
prize at the Royal Agricultural Meeting at Bedford for a
magnificent pair of Shire bays, which stood 17:3; neither
was better at a big load, if as good, than other horses in my
possession standing a hand-and-a-half lower. At the present
time I have two remarkably powerful Shire-bred mares which
stand rather under than over sixteen hands.

By the foregoing remarks it must not be inferred that I
wish to discourage the breeding of horses of great size; on the —
contrary, I aim at producing such animals myself. My object
is rather to suggest a classification of the breed, for assuredly
both a home and a foreign demand exist for each description.

CONFORMATION.

In the selection of horses for breeding purposes, it has
often occurred to me that sufficient importance is not usually
assigned to the osseous structure of the animals; nor is this a
point which has been prominently dealt with in the numerous
essays upon the subject of horse-breeding, which have appeared
in the Royal Agricultural Society’s ‘Journal’ and elsewhere.
Yet the external form and the great point, now-a-days, of
action are almost entirely dependent upon the proportions and
position of parts of the framework of the animal.

The first point to which I would direct attention has re-
ference to action. Most writers on the horse attach great
importance to a sloping shoulder-blade or scapula, without
paying adequate attention to the position of the bone jointed
to it, the humerus.

In the accompanying drawing (Fig. 1) the humerus (b) is
shown in the best position; and in Fig. 2 it is displayed in a
worse position. It will be observed that, in Fig. 1, the centre
line of the shoulder-blade (a) and the humerus form together an
obtuse angle; the humerus bone being at the same time in a
position more approaching the perpendicular, relatively to the —
ground, than in Fig. 2. It follows from this position that the
fore leg is put into the shoulder well forward; and conse-
quently that there is less “loading” at the shoulder-points,
and therefore less to impede action. In the purchase of
draught-horses, as well as riding-horses, I have, for many years,
paid greater attention to the angle of the Awmerus than to that
of the shoulder-blade ; for I have been convinced by experience
that the fore action of a horse, apart from the question of
muscles, is governed almost entirely by the position of this

Notes on Cart Horses. 315

bone. I say, apart from the question of muscles, for un-
doubtedly these exercise no little influence upon action,
although the exact manner is beyond my knowledge. Two of
the best weight-carrying hunters I have ever ridden had, what

beukig’ 1.
pp Ae a

were deemed, upright shoulders; but this was compensated
for by their fore legs being put in very forward, arising from
the angle of the humerus bone approaching that in Fig. 1.
I have never possessed a horse with first-rate walking or
trotting action with shoulders resembling Fig. 2, p. 316.

»

316

Notes on Cart Horses.

_ In Fig. 2 is an example of a horse having a shoulder-blade
in the same angular position with relation to the ground as in
Fig. 1, but with the humerus placed so sloping backward as to
form with the centre line of the shoulder-blade almost a right
angle, instead of an obtuse one as in the former case. It will

Fig. 2

be seen from Fig. 2, that the fore-leg is of necessity thrown.
further back under the horse, and there is consequently a larger
amount of “loading” at the shoulder-points.

No man possessing knowledge or experience would choose
a riding-horse with upright shoulders, unless there were present

———

Notes on Cart Horses. 317

some redeeming feature; but in the case of a draught-horse

there is not the same force in the objection to upright shoulders.

Indeed, I am not prepared to dispute the arguments of some
writers that there is some advantage arising therefrom in the
collar strain being distributed over the horses’ framework more
evenly than is the case with very slanting shoulders. How-
ever, I have had cart-horses possessing what nag-breeders
would call splendid shoulders, which were remarkable for their
power of drawing heavy loads; but these sloping shoulders
were united with withers high and muscular, and presenting a
good recess in front of the scapula for the collar. It should
be borne in mind that the notion of a well-sloped shoulder-
blade being essential to, and always connected with, a well-
placed humerus, is entirely erroneous; for in many horses with
good, slanting shoulders the humerus is found in quite as bad
a form is in the example Fig. 2, and such horses are very apt
to stumble.

In order that the action may be perfect, it is not only neces-
sary that the joints referred to should be properly formed, but
also that both fore and hind legs should be correctly shaped and
placed. On p. 318 are given three illustrations of fore legs ; and
following are three specimens of hind legs, in end view. The
right position, it will be obvious, is indicated by No.1; the
central lines showing that the weight of the animal rests upon
supports well-nigh perpendicular in structure and position, whilst
the other examples may be compared to resting a building upon
iron columns cast out of the straight, or erected out of the
perpendicular. The comparison is even worse than this; inas-
much asin a building there is only stability to be considered, and
no locomotive wear and tear to be contended with; whereas, in a
case of the horse, such natural defects in the direction of weakness
have to sustain the shocks of constant concussion and wear.

The same reasoning does not apply with equal force to the hind
legs, which have not to bear so large a proportion of the weight
of the carcass or to withstand the same force of concussion.
The office of the hind legs is rather to sustain the strain arising
from propulsion. The position of the several joints, as indi-
cated by the centre lines in No. 1, will show, without argument,
how much better they are placed for withstanding the strain
thrown upon them than are the corresponding parts in the other
drawings.

I deem it unnecessary to dwell upon points with which every
breeder has long been familiar—such as flat legs, large joints,
clean hocks, and big thighs. But I will turn to that most im-
portant point, the foot. In passing, however, to that, I must
call attention to the necessity of the coronet and pastern-bones

318 Notes on Cart Horses.

being of sufficient diameter ; for, if deficient here, no matter how
large the bone may be below the knee, these parts will form a
source of inherent weakness.

N21. N22 N2 3.

In the purchase of cart-horses, and particularly in selecting
for breeding purposes, it is obvious that the very first point for
examination should be the foundation upon which the whole

Ca

Notes on Cart Horses. 319

structure rests. A cart-horse should not only have big and
broad feet, but ample depth at the heels is also essential. For
unless there is depth of foot there will be diminished flexibility ;
and consequently, the animal, though able to endure farm-work,
will not be so capable of standing the severer test of the road
or City traffic.

Although having more hair than I desire, but as an example
of perfect symmetry combined with great power and grand
action, I have selected for illustration “ Spark” (2497), the
magnificent stallion belonging to Mr. Walter Gilbey, of Elsen-
ham Hall, Essex, the President of the English Shire-Horse
Society. “Spark” gained First Prize as a three-year-old at
the Royal Agricultural Show, Derby, 1881, and has twice been
Champion Stallion at the Agricultural Hall, London.

This splendid specimen of the Old English Shire horse,
illustrated on the next page (Fig. 5), was bred in the Vale of
Aylesbury by Mr. W. R. Rowland, of Creslow, who sold him
in 1881 to Mr. Walter Gilbey for 800 guineas. “Spark,” in
Show condition, weighs 22} cwt., stands 17-1, and measures as
follows :—

Girth behind the shoulder _ = = 98 inches
Extreme girth around belly di “3 saeelO2
Girth of fore-arm ., =: + -- me 302 5
Girth of fore leg below knee = — ay) a
Girth of hind leg below hock... 3 a 15s 3,
Girth of second thigh 5 = wa “2 A
Height to top of quarter .. S a = na

PHYSIOLOGY OF BREEDING.

Having expressed my views upon the structure of the cart-
horse, I will venture a few words with regard to the Physiology
of Breeding. In a Paper which I contributed to the ‘ Journal’
in 1881, upon “ Pigs, their Breeding and Management,” I treated
this topic; and as the remarks then written apply with equal,
if not greater force to the breeding of horses, I reproduce a por-
tion of them here.

“Some thirty years ago I was led to study the physiology of
breeding through meeting with a remarkable book, ‘ Intermar-
Tiage, by Alexander Walker, which, although devoted to the
human family, contained valuable treatises upon ‘ The Appli-
cation of the Natural Laws to the Breeding of Horses, Cattle,
and Sheep.’ In 1854 Mr. Reginald Orton, a medical prac-
titioner of Sunderland, delivered two lectures to the Newcastle
Farmers’ Club upon ‘The Physiology of Breeding, in which
(following Mr. Walker’s views) he laid down certain fixed
principles. Subsequent observations and experience have

Notes on Cart Horses.

320

Notes on Cart Horses. 32)

satisfied me that the principles thus laid down are sound ; and
although, like every other breeder, I know something of the
uncertainties attending the breeding of animals, yet | am con-
vinced that there are certain laws pertaining to the process,
which, like all .Nature’s operations, are fixed and unalterable,
and which cannot be disregarded with impunity.

“ From my own observation, from conversations with the late
Mr. M‘Combie, M.P., and comparing notes with other breeders,
I have come to the conclusion that the following cardinal points
in the art of breeding have been fairly established :—

** That from the male parent is mainly derived the external
structure, configuration, and outward characteristics—the
locomotive peculiarities inclusive.

“From the female parent are derived the internal structure,
the vital organs, and, in a much greater proportion than
from the male, the constitution, temper, and habits.

“That the purer the race of the parent the more certainty
there is of its transmitting its qualities to the offspring.
Say two animals are mated; if one is of purer descent
than the other, he or she will exercise the more influence
in stamping the character of the progeny, particularly if
the greater purity is on the side of the male.

“ That, apart from certain disturbing influences or causes, the
male, if of pure race, and descended from a stock of uni-
form colour, stamps the colour of the offspring.

“That the influence of the first male is not unfrequently
protracted beyond the birth of the offspring of which he
is the parent, and his mark is left upon subsequent
progeny.

“That the transmission of diseases of the vital organs is
more certain if on the side of the female: and diseases of
the joints if on the side of the male parent.”

In the Paper in which the above extracts appear, I adduced
numerous facts in support of my conclusions. These it is un-
necessary to quote, as the readers of the ‘Journal’ may find
them in Vol. xvii. s.s., Part I.

I would add, that I have since had opportunities for further
observation. For instance, in 1879 I purchased at the first Shire-
horse sale of the Earl of Ellesmere the celebrated horse
“Columbus” (503, Stud-book). He was a horse of remarkable
beauty of form, grand action, and well descended. Nearly all
his progeny, even from plain mares, bear a more or less close
resemblance to him, and also inherit his grand action. He was
the sire of “ Paragon” (1707), ai horse 1 had) never seen until
exhibited at the 1883 Show in the Agricultural Hall, heen

VOL. XX.—S. S.

322 Notes on Cart Horses.

I‘ at once recognized him, and my horse-man, who also had
never seen him, picked him out the moment he came into the
ring, remarking, ‘* The picter of the hold ’oss !”

Some Points In MANAGEMENT.

And here I would observe that no portion of horse manage-
ment appears to be more neglected in this country than. atten-
tion to the condition of the feet. And this, not only upon
farms, but, as I have witnessed, in establishments where hun-
dreds of horses are kept. When at the Paris Exhibition in
1867, my attention was forcibly directed to this point. I had
obtained the first prize for the best pair of cart-horses; the
Judges pointed out to me the difference between the condition
of their feet and the condition of the feet of horses shown by the
French exhibitors, and they alluded to the general neglect in this
matter, which they alleged to prevail in England. I was sub-
sequently invited to the stables of the Paris General Omnibus
Company, where I found the utmost attention paid to the feet
of the animals—the feet being soaked twice a week in a pre-
paration of fat, beeswax, and tar. The following is the receipt :
1 lb. mutton fat, 1 lb. beeswax, 5 pints neatsfoot-oil, 6 table-
spoons Stockholm tar; the whole simmered together. In the
case of farm-horses the application is not needful, except when
the animal has dry, harsh feet. But for both nag and cart-
horses used upon the road, I have found this dressing, as well
as mutton-fat alone, to be highly beneficial.

Like most other owners of horses, I have had much to contend
with from the inveterate habits of shoeing-smiths in paring
and rasping the hoofs. The sole, frog, and bars should not be
tampered with, but maintained at their natural growth and
strength. If the sole be cut away, how is it to be expected that
the foot will support the weight of the body when brought into
contact with hard and sharp substances? Or how can the heels
remain expanded, and the foot of its proper shape, if mutilated
by the drawing-knife? In preparing the foot for the shoe, it is
only necessary to lower the wall to a level with the sole; the
other parts require no touching by either rasp or knife. This
habit of paring and rasping is so inveterate in shoeing-smiths,
that I have found nothing but the most peremptory orders
effectual to stop the practice.

The advocates of the abandonment of shoeing have of late
increased ; and although the banishment of horse-shoes appears
to be as remote as when Xenophon wrote in condemnation of
these artificial protectors of the feet, 1 am bound to confess
that in some cases I have witnessed the best results from working

Notes on Cart Horses. 323

horses unshod upon the roads in this country, and also upon
many farms in foreign lands. Should any injurious conse-
quences arise from using horses without shoes, there would be a
per contra side of the account in the avoidance of many injuries
now resulting from neglect and carelessness on the part of
shoeing-smiths.

In a recent report of the Paris Omnibus Company it is stated
‘that the best results have been obtained from putting as little
iron under the feet as possible, and keeping the middle of the
foot intact.” As steel has become so cheap, and has been sub-
stituted for iron for so many purposes, a question arises whether
lighter shoes of mild steel would not prove more economical
than heavier shoes of iron,

With respect to stables: except during the warm months of
summer, my farm-teams are lodged in the stables throughout
the year. They are removed from the pastures towards the end
of August or early in September ; after which time, except the
nights are unusually hot for the season, exposure is sure to
reduce their condition,—a very dangerous thing at the near
approach of winter. If the stables are sufficiently large and
well ventilated, I see no advantage in the common practice of
turning teams into open yards for the night. Advocates of the
system maintain that horses thus treated are less liable to cold
and influenza, but, from my experience, I think this is a matter
entirely of ventilation and size of the stables. For if a sufficient
amount of fresh air be admitted, the temperature of the building
will not be raised to a point liable to endanger the health of the
animals, or to make them tender. Turning a horse into a yard,
even when provided with good shelter-sheds, cannot but be
attended with considerable loss of animal heat.

Stables, however, cannot be healthy unless the flooring is
impervious, and the soil, if clay, well drained. The exhala-
tions from a porous flooring are most injurious ; and the damp
sucked up and evaporated by the walls, if built of porous
material, is calculated to produce influenza.

Many years ago, when at the stables of a celebrated dealer
in hunters, at Hendon, Middlesex, the proprietor said to me:
— TI wish you could tell me, Mr. Howard, how to keep my
stables dry: I am much troubled with influenza, and have just
lost another valuable hunter.” The stables being upon “ Lon-
don Clay,” I advised him to lay a drain around the outside
of the stables at a depth of 6 inches below the foundations,
and a corresponding drain right through the centre of the
block of buildings. The advice was given with a view to
prevent capillary attraction by the walls, and to cut off the
subsoil water. This well-known dealer adopted the suggestion,

y 2

324 Reports of the Honorary Consulting Entomologist.

and, several years afterwards, told me that the plan had proved
most effectual, and that he had enjoyed an immunity from his
former troubles.

In conclusion, I would observe that if the breeding of cart-
horses has been neglected, or has not been carried on as exten-
sively as it might have been in the past, the pursuit is not
likely to suffer from unconcern in the future. The greater in-
terest manifested at the present time, as indicated by the rapid
growth of, and wide-spread interest felt in, the English Shire-
Horse Society, and in the sister-society across the Border—the
Clydesdale—are unmistakable signs of the times. The large
number of valuable cart-horses exhibited at the Shows of the
Royal Agricultural and other Societies, the magnificent displays
at the Agricultural Hall and at Glasgow in the spring, are evi-
dence that the breeding of high-class cart-horses has been taken
up with greater spirit than at any former period. The large
demand for first-class stallions for the United States, our
Australasian Colonies, and other countries, is imparting a con-
siderable stimulus to the present race of breeders; and as pedi-
gree is held in high estimation, indeed is insisted upon by
both Australian and American buyers, the Stud Book of the
English Shire-Horse Society was not started a moment too soon.

IX. Reports of the Honorary Consulting Entomologist. By
Ernanor A. Ormerop, F.R. Met. Soc., Dunster Lodge,
Isleworth, near London.

NOVEMBER 1883.

I BEG to report that during the last year I have received a very
large number of inquiries regarding insect attacks and methods
of prevention, showing that insect attacks have been very pre-
valent, especially those of the maggots of various kinds of flies,
as daddy longlegs, beet- and mangold-fly, cabbage-root fly, and
parsnip and celery-leaf maggots.

The daddy longlegs have been reported from Caithness down
to Brighton, and as injurious to many of the common crops, but
especially to corn after clover.

Thorough cultivation, which clears the ground of the clods
of roots under which the grubs may be found swarming in such
localities, and which gives a healthy growth past attack, has been
found serviceable. Also when the grubs have been present, a
fertiliser, such as a dressing of artificial manure, or a mixture
of guano and salt, or guano and salt with kainite and super-
phosphate, has proved perfectly successful in checking attack, and
returning a crop without further loss than the outlay on the manure.

Reports of the Honorary Consulting Entomologist. 325

The very large numbers of the daddy longlegs which have
been about during the autumn make it probable that great
mischief will be done by the leather-jackets next spring, and
it would be very desirable to point out that all the measures

Fig. 1.—The Daddy Longlegs.

1, Larva; 2, Pupa-case standing up in the ground; 3, Fly.

which have been found practically useful to clear wireworm—
in breaking up pastures and clover ley—would be as useful in
getting rid of the daddy longlegs grub (that is, the “leather
jacket,” or “black grub”). These consist of heavy dressings
of lime, gas-lime, lime and salt, or alkali waste, to kill the
surface insects and sheltering weeds, or in gaining the same object
by feeding cattle or sheep on the ground.

Beet- and mangold-fly attack has been bad, and the only remedy
when it is present appears to be ;
the application of dressings Pig. 2.—The Beet-fly.
which will act at once to stimu-
late growth; but when attacks
occur in drought, there is the
difficulty of these not acting. I
would submit that in the case
of this attack, as with turnip-
fly, autumn preparation, or such
preparation of the land as would =, Peps, a a Fly;
preserve the moisture of the soil,
as well as give a rich ground and good tilth, is an important
preventive, so as to run the plant rapidly on to a size of leaf,
which the maggot has less effect on.

326 — Reports of the Honorary Consulting Entomologist.

I have notes from various quarters of the presence of crop
grubs and maggots in farmyard-manure, especially of daddy
longlegs grubs, and wireworm, also of cabbage- maggot, and in the
case oe the daddy longlegs grubs, of their being caus carted to
the ground and spread along the ridges ; and I have no doubt that
fields are often thus infested from the manure, as some of our
crop-maggots infest vegetable matter, whether fresh, or putrid,
or in.the mixed condition of farmyard-manure.

In the case of cabbage- and turnip-maggot, which has been
very destructive in England, and in some parts of Scotland, the
returns show the attacks to have been worst on heavily manured
land; absent, or nearly so, where the ground has been well
treated with gas-lime previously; and that, when attack was
present, the crop was sometimes saved by the application
of artificial manure, such as a mixture of guano, superphosphate,
and salt ; or the attack checked by rain washing down a dress-
ing, such as mineral superphosphate or nitrate of soda already
on the land.

In the case of mangold-fly above mentioned I have no notes
of the use of salt; but, looking at the great effect that this has
been found to exercise on the growth of mangolds, it may be
suggested that it would be likely to prove very beneficial, either
mixed with the farmyard-manure, or asa part of a mixed dressing
during attack.

Amongst the attacks of the autumn on turnips there has been
considerable damage from the small green caterpillars of the
diamond-back moth. This is believed to be of rare occurrence,
but when it does happen it is often so exceedingly injurious
that there is reason to think it has been confused with that of
the turnip-saw-fly caterpillars, or “niggers.” These two kinds
of caterpillars may be distinguished by the diamond-backs
being green all their lives, whilst the so-called “niggers” are
only greenish at first. Also, they often spin a deal of fine web
on the leaves they are destroying. The diamond-back moths
are about the size of a clothes-moth, with markings forming
diamond-shapes along the edge of the wings when folded.

This attack has been chiefly noticed on or near the eastern
seaboard near Harwich and Lynn, and in Yorkshire and
Caithness. It has been found that the same kind of treat-
ment applicable to “niggers” is serviceable against attacks of
the diamond-black moth caterpillars. ‘This is dressing with
fertilisers (as nitrate of soda), brushing with boughs to knock
off the grubs, and (generally) keeping up a healthy rapid
growth.

Many replies have been sent in regarding the first appearance
of aphis on hops, of which the main points are that attack is

Reports of the Honorary Consulting Entomologist. 327

generally believed to appear first in the form of fly (that is, of
the winged aphis) on the uppermost shoots and leaves; but
there are also a few notes of the so-called “lice” being first
seen, also of their being observed in the ground, and creeping
up the stems.

In a case of isolation of a hop-plant, which was carefully
enclosed from outer attack, it remained quite clean for about
three weeks or more, and afterwards was so badly infested that
it was almost killed. I have been confirmed by Mr. Buckton
in the certainty of one kind of aphis, which infests the plum,
being the same as the hop aphis; and I have also received
specimens of the common nettle with aphis multiplying on
the leaves, which differed in no way that I could see from the
hop aphis.

The subject of dealing with hop aphis attack is one which
can only be judged rightly of by those practically acquainted
with the matter, and I am therefore arranging the notes for
distribution amongst the contributors, who may then help to
give further information.

In the course of inquiry, notes have been given of the
hop frog-fly, jumper or cuckoo-fly
(Euacanthus), of which two kinds at Fig.(3.—The Hop Frog-fly.
least infest the hop, and of which
the starting-point was wanted. It has
been found in its earliest stage
coming up from the earth round the
hop ; therefore, any application which
would keep the cuckoo-flies from
going down or laying their eggs on
the surface in autumn, or any treat-
ment which would clear eggs or larve
from round the stems, or would pre-
vent them getting up the stems in
early summer, would be very ser-
viceable.

Notes on many other attacks have
been sent in from practical agri-
eulturists ; and among those to fruit and bush fruit it may
be remarked that a large proportion would be much lessened
by paring off about two inches of the soil under the attacked
trees during winter, and so disposing of it that the chrysalids
or cocoons within it should be destroyed.

Inquiries have also been sent regarding other crop pests, as
false wireworms or millepedes, and field slugs, to all of which
I have attended carefully, and have satisfaction in mentioning
that sometimes, and especially with regard to slugs, I have

1, Larva; 2, Fly ; both magnified. The
lines indicate the natural size.

328 Reports of the Honorary Consulting Entomologist.

been favoured with information that the treatment was suc-
cessful.

The numerous inquiries which have been sent in during the
year show that the interest taken in the subject of prevention of
crop attack has much increased amongst members of the Society,
and generally amongst agriculturists and growers at home and
in the colonies.

FEBRUARY, 1884.

1 beg to submit that since my Report of November, 1883, I
have received communications on the following subjects :—

Specimens of seed-heads of Alopecurus pratensis, ‘‘ Meadow
Foxtail” grass, have been forwarded, with inquiries whether a
small orange-coloured legless maggot by which they were much
infested was that of the Cecidomyia tritici, or common wheat-
midge—often known as “red maggot.”

After careful examination, the maggot proved to be that of a
Cecidomyia, though certainly not of C. tritici. It is clearly dis-
tinguishable by having a minute forked process, furnished with
blunt. points (but not crescent-shaped), beneath the body near
the head.

The agricultural seedsman by whom the specimens were for-
warded stated that the imported heads of A. pratensis, harvested
in 1882, contained about 25 per cent. infested by maggots ;
those of 1883, about 5 per cent. This refers to seed harvested
in Germany and Russia.

More recently a bunch of seeds collected in the neighbour-
hood of Chester was examined, and found to be much infested.

The subject of the presence of these “red maggots” in the
‘““ meadow foxtail” heads will receive full attention, as, besides
the loss on seed of this grass, it is very likely indeed that,
though not the common “red maggot,” it may be also present
in wheat. I shall, therefore, endeavour to rear the larva, or
procure it to be reared, through all its stages, and report further
as to the species of Cectdomyia, or ‘ gnat-midge,” to which it
turns.

The only method which is mentioned as being practised at
present to prevent attack on the foxtail-grass, is that of gathering
the earliest ripened heads for seed. These are free from maggot,
because the young embryo of the seed has passed its first soft
state (in which only it can serve for food to this kind of maggot)
before the grass ‘gnat-midges” had ceme out to lay in the
blossom-heads.

As these gnat-midges probably go through their changes to
the midge-state at the root of the grasses from which the maggot
fell down when full fed, and the midges fly up from thence to

Reports of the Honorary Consulting Entomologist. 329

infest the next year’s heads, it would be desirable to clear wild
grasses from the neighbourhood of the seed-land, and to change
this as far as could be managed from an infested spot. To
destroy the maggot in breaking up ground it would be perfectly
effectual to double dig it, or “deeply plough it, if it could be
left undisturbed, excepting the immediate surface, until August
in the following season.

Fig. 4.—The Wheat-midge.

1, 2, 4, and 6, Larvz natural size; 3 and 5, Larve magnified; 7 and 8, pak ob horae of Fly
magnified; 9, Fly, natural size; 10, Fly magnified

From reports sent in each season it appears that great harm
is often caused in the fruit-growing districts by the small greenish
looper caterpillars of the winter moths, which destroy the leafage
of apple and other trees when expanding. As the females of
these moths (Cheimatobia brumata), and Fic. 5._The Winter
others which come out during the winter, 18 ot = mF
haye only abortive wings, and conse- as
quently have to walk up the trunks of the
trees to reach the branches on which they
lay their eggs, it was suggested that mea-
sures should be taken to prevent this, and
the plan has been tried in an infested
locality with perfect success.

The trees were smeared for a foot or
two above the ground with “ Davidson’s”
composition ; and by the 11th of November
upwards of 500 of the creeping female moths (specimens of
which were forwarded) had been caught fast in the sticky
material. Each of these moths lays from 100 to 300 eggs,
therefore much coming injury was prevented.

Any sticky. material which would keep soft for awhile would
be equally serviceable, and the plan would answer as well for

1, Male; 2, Female.

“

330 Reports of the Honorary Consulting Entomologist.

other attacks caused by such insect pests as can only crawl up
the trees, especially Weevil attacks of some of the commonly
very destructive kinds of which the season will soon be coming
on. In the fruit-growing counties where these were injurious
last year it would be well to be on the alert, and all necessary
information will be given on application.

Some of the most important inquiries towards the close of last
year have been as to the desirableness of setting up Sparrow
Clubs, for the destruction of small birds.

I have pointed out that there are many kinds of these smaller
birds which do good by clearing eggs, caterpillars, and insects
to an extent which we should miss very seriously if these birds
were destroyed ; but at the same time I have submitted, as my
own personal opinion, that it was likely to cause great harm to
raise the numbers much above the average, as is managed in
some localities by special protection, nesting boxes, and various
measures reported relatively to starlings, titmice, and other
small wild birds.

In many (or most) cases birds are only partial insect feeders,
and, failing these, take what they can get; but in the special
instance of the sparrow (Passer domesticus), the damage caused
by the flocks which sweep down in autumn on the ripe corn is
so great near the shelter where these birds congregate, that it far
more than counterbalances the benefit of any caterpillar-destroy-
ing by them in spring; and from my personal observations of
the havoc they cause in wheat, and from the reports of the
nature of the food within them, I believe that this special bird
is a crop-pest which requires serious attention in the different
places where its numbers have obviously increased greatly in the
last few years.

It is not enough considered in regard to the indiscriminate
encouragement of birds that much of our protection from crop
insects is from other insects which feed on them. An enormous
number—seyveral thousands of kinds—live in this way, and are
constantly at work in places where no bird could help us. There-
fore, where birds make a general clearance, including carnivorous
beetles and grubs, parasitic flies, as Ichneumons and others, or
(as I have one note of with regard to the starling) even the lady-
bird, they are not wholly beneficial.

I have, therefore, submitted that, although where great flocks
of sea gulls, rooks, titmice, or other birds suddenly appear,
following the plough, or on pasture land, or trees, they should
not be molested, for they would clear off the special insect
attack, and leave; yet, for everyday work, the most prudent
course is neither to raise or lower by artificial measures what
is generally pretty well known as the average amount, espe-

Reports of the Honorary Consulting Entomologist. 331

cially in the case of the sparrow, which in some districts has
increased enormously.

With regard to observations in progress, I find, by the notes
of Mr. Lintner, State Entomologist for New York State, U.S.A.,
that there are more kinds of fly-maggots than the one commonly
known here as the mangold and beet-leaf maggot, which also
attack the leafage of this crop. It would be very desirable in
the coming season for specimens of the maggots to be sent to
be reared for identification, as it may help towards finding
means to check this kind of attack.

Observations on hop aphis are far from complete at present,
but if even half-a-dozen hop-growers could be induced to try
enclosing a plant, by merely placing three poles to meet above
it, and then covering the plant and poles with an extinguisher-
shaped bag made of stout muslin with the edges buried (to
prevent any chance of ingress of insects), and would in due
time report what was found beneath, we should then have some
positive proof as to whether the hop lice come up out of the
hill. —

I have made arrangements to try this experiment myself,
but we need several observations on carefully enclosed plants
to be certain of results on a working scale, and it is hoped that
hop-growers in the various hop-producing districts will under-
take to carry out careful observations in this direction.

In an elaborate work upon the injurious insects to crops in
California, by Mr. Matthew Cooke, late chief executive Horti-

cultural Officer of that State, which I have recently received, it

is stated that Mr. Cooke has found the hop aphis hibernating in
crevices and roughened portions of the poles. He further states
that he has found the winter eggs of a species of plant louse in
the poles, but he cannot say that they were the eggs of the hop
aphis. Mr. Cooke suggests that the hop-poles should be scalded
in a solution of potash and water, but this is hardly practicable.
I would suggest that investigation of the poles should be made.
by the hop-planters, and I shall be very pleased to assist them
to the best of my ability. I also beg to mention that practical
attention to, and the wish to obtain serviceable information on
the subject of methods of prevention of, insect ravage, continue
(as I mentioned in my previous Report) steadily to increase,
both at home and in the Colonies.

( 332 )

X. Annual Report of the Consulting Botanist for 1883. By
W. CarruTuHers, F.R.S.

DvrRinG the past year my work for members of the Society
has very greatly increased. Five hundred and eight samples
of seeds have been submitted to me for examination, and many
applications have been made to me in reference to the nature
and habits of weeds, and the best means of dealing with them ;
to the attacks of parasitic fungi on different crops; and to
matters affecting the life of plants.

I have, during the year, supplied information to many seeds-
men, believing that it was very important to give help wherever
a real effort was being made to secure and supply the best and
purest seeds. On the other hand I have uniformly declined to
supply to seedsmen reports that might be used in the sale of
seeds, for this, among other reasons, that it is impossible so to
control a vendor as to secure that a report shall be used only
for the parcel of seed that had been examined. The unau-
thorised use, by some seedsmen, in the interests of their trade,
of reports which had been obtained from members of the
Society, to whom I had supplied them, has beer stopped by the
Council.

I have examined eighty-five samples of meadow fescue and
tall fescue. I include them both under the same head; for,
with the exception of three or four cases, all the samples sold
as tall fescue were really meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis,
Linn.). Twenty-six per cent. of the samples were free from
weeds and seeds of other grasses; thirty-one per cent. had
three-quarters or more of the seed true ; twenty-seven per cent.
were not so good, but had more than half of the seed true;
while sixteen per cent. were still more impure. The chief Sead
used for adulteration is rye-grass. Whatever opinion may
be entertained of the value of this grass in pastures, it is ob-
viously undesirable to buy rye-grass as meadow fescue, and pay
at least three times its own market price for it. But that this is
done to a very great extent is obvious from the following facts.
Only twenty-nine per cent. of the samples were free from rye-
grass; in thirty-seven per cent. there was less than a quarter of
the seeds rye-grass; in twenty-two per cent. there was more
than a quarter and less than a half; and in twelve per cent.
more than half of the seeds were rye-grass. More than half of
the samples (sixty-two per cent.) were above the standard of ger-
mination recommended by the Council, and of the remainder,
twenty-nine per cent. germinated more than half, while eleven
per cent. germinated little more than a quarter. When

Annual Report of the Consulting Botanist for 1883. 3338

one considers the low germination, and the large amount of
rye-grass present in so many of the samples, it is manifest
that the plants of meadow fescue that actually grow in many
pastures must cost a very considerable sum of money.

The smaller fescues, sold under various names, are to a very
large extent the seeds of a single species—Festuca rubra, Linn.
The smaller seeds are generally sold as sheep’s fescue, and the
larger as hard or red fescue. ‘These seeds are usually pure from
adulteration, but the germination is often very low. Thirty per
cent. reached the Council’s standard, thirty-eight per cent. grew
more than a half, though less than the standard, and thirty-two
per cent. still lower, one yielding only eight per cent. of ger-
niinating seeds.

The samples of cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata, Linn.) were
generally pure. Seventy-one per cent. were free from all im-
purities. Small seeds of rye-grass are the most frequent foreign
seeds found in cocksfoot. Eleven per cent. had nearly a third of
their bulk composed of small rye-grass seed. Seventy per cent.
germinated up to or beyond the Council’s standard, in thirteen
per cent. more than half the seeds grew, and in seventeen per
cent, less than half.

The meadow foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis, Linn.), is usually
sold pure, though I have met with samples consisting largely of
the worthless species, Alopecurus agrestis, Linn., which is only a
troublesome weed. The samples have often a small proportion
of the seeds of Aira cespitosa, Linn., but this is so immature
that it is incapable of germination, and, being a very small seed,
it need not be taken into account in estimating the impurities
in foxtail. The great defect in this seed arises from so large a
proportion of it being incapable of germination, because the
seed is collected long before it is ripe. This apparently arises
from the fact that the flowers of foxtail easily fall off, so that a
larger crop can be obtained when it is collected at an early
stage, and in this state it also possesses the bright silvery
appearance that is sought for by the purchaser. The result is
that the germination of this grass is very low. Forty per cent.
failed to reach in germination the low standard adopted by the
Council, and in only twenty-five per cent. the half of the seeds
germinated. This grass is very much infested by a small insect, a
species of thrips, which often destroys a large proportion of
the seeds. In one case half of the sample was thus destroyed,
and only two or three out of fifty-one samples were free from
injury by this insect.

The use of fiorin ( Agrostis alba, var. stolonifera) in new pastures
is, in my judgment, very doubtful policy, from the danger of intro-
ducing ergot with the seed. No less than sixty-five per cent. of

.

334 . Annual Report of the Consulting Botanist for 1883.

the samples that I have examined have contained a greater or
less proportion of this most dangerous parasite. And although
I am satisfied that fiorin is a valuable ingredient in grasses for
permanent pasture, it would certainly be added at too great a
cost if it were the vehicle for introducing ergot into the pasture.
The injury to stock caused by ergot is frequently brought under
my notice, and in no case where a diligent search in the
pastures has been made has it been difficult to find the cause.
Like most other maladies, it is easier to prevent than to cure.
Fiorin should vary greatly in value in proportion as it is
thoroughly cleaned. Some samples that I have examined have
had more than half of the bulk consisting of chaff:

The crested dogstail (Cynosurus cristatus, Linn.) is seldom
adulterated. ‘Two samples have been largely mixed with Mo-
linia cerulea, and one with the naked seeds of Holcus lanatus
(Yorkshire fog). The germination is also generally high.
One quarter of the samples examined were below the standard
recommended by the Council, and (with the exception of one
sample which germinated thirty-five per cent.) only a very little
below that standard. '

The grass-mixtures that I have analysed strongly support the
recommendation of the Seeds and Plant Diseases Committee that
it is very undesirable to purchase prepared mixtures. The table on
the opposite page shows the composition of sixteen such mixtures,
some of which were sold under such high-sounding names as
“Landlord and Tenant Mixture,” and ‘“ Permanent Grasses as
recommended by the Royal Agricultural Society.” I have
added in the last line (000) the composition of the mixture of
grasses recommended by Mr. de Laune in his paper published
in a recent number of the Society’s ‘ Journal.’

It is difficult to calculate the injury done to a meadow by the
introduction of Yorkshire fog (Holcus lanatus, Linn.) and the two
Airas which form so largeva proportion of some of the mixtures.
When it is desired to lay down a pasture with rye-grass, it
could be done at a much cheaper rate than by purchasing a
mixture. Several of the impurities present in these mixtures
are due to the adulteration of some of the seeds which enter into
their composition, or rather to the substitution of one seed for
another, thus—Azra fleruosa replaces Avena flavescens, Aira
cespitosa replaces Agrostis alba, var. stolonifera, and the vernal
grass, which should have been Anthoranthum odoratum, in all the
mixtures is Anthoranthum Puelii. The Yorkshire fog one would
expect to be due to careless collecting or imperfect cleaning ;
but in the mixtures, in which it is found in considerable quan-
tity, it appears to take the place of foxtail, and has been pro-
bably sold for this valuable grass, and paid for accordingly.

Annual Report of the Consulting Botanist for 1883. 335

Composition of SixreEN Sampites of Grass Mixture.

Inferior Grasses. Better Grasses.

B/E | 2) 2) 3 | zi
Number.! 2 2 EI e Ss 3 PA = : 3
ofsample.| © Fa & 8 Oo g 8 E D a 3 3 | a =

a} eo | 4 |] 6 & S a ae |Al|e | a)

116 |10| 4 £ Belle .. | 66 of o*

119 | 10} 41 i 8 29 eal pee sai(2 ale

310 Ao 0-1. R16 8 25 | Tt | ak suelo | 10
311 ee er ae ee 12 36 4) it ee Te es
Saree nOn eo tt... | L Nee ss 2 7 Dallgct | 1
Ba 18) aia ea ee 6 - aly sz
coerced (297... P87 | a TR eke (MRA fea LPL
382 Pelee heed eal 28 18 oF | SOCIOL AIL ee ane
383 Ne al ee need Ns 14 82", bil tt leetep th seit
415 feel | LOr |) ests 13 By Saul zal sete

Aigo measles’: 12a) | 12 3 el lit eos Geel se

Peat feels) Bil} Srl 19 8 97 | 2] 1 | 162 |
Mee O0) | OF ales. | ty. | = 2 3 3-20 nL O88 pon) Seta
PSH gael kilt ceo I as 4 18 - a x A TGs lee
504 Suen le weltoe | Le v7 15 8 | LCs jl fe slr Ui fad 2
BON eon lee de. alte. pee | 282 9 5) ONIONS Ol (GNA EEG
iw 2 Se ee aS eae | 16 | 7 | 22 | 12

The only method to prevent the use of seeds which may prove,
for years to come, worthless, if not positively baneful in new
pastures, is to follow the advice of the Botanical Committee, and,
having decided what shall be the ingredients of a mixture, and
what the proportions of the various ingredients, to purchase
them separately, and to test their purity and germination before
sowing.

i have examined sixty-one samples of clovers. They have all
been free from the seeds of dodder, and generally free from
weeds. Only one case of serious adulteration came under my
notice. It was a sample of white clover (Trifolium repens, Linn. )
which contained fifty-two per cent. of the seeds of hare’s-
foot clover (Trifolium arvense, Linn.), a weed often used for
chimney-piece decoration during the winter, because of its long
downy heads, but rejected by all kinds of animals. Twenty-
eight samples of Trifolium pratense, Linn., have been sent to
me, half under the name of cow-grass, and the other half as
perennial red clover. The greater portion of these were higher
than the germination standard recommended by the Council,
and the remainder very nearly reached, with the exception of
two samples which did not reach, fifty percent. The samples of
alsike were also satisfactory, the larger proportion being up to

.

336. Annual Report of the Consulting Botanist for 1885.

the standard of ninety per cent., but only a quarter of the samples
of white clover were up to the standard, though none fell below
sixty-four per cent.

A good-looking sample of seed-wheat purchased by a
member, which failed to come up, was found on trial to be
quite dead. The seeds were perfect and well filled, but the
embryo had lost its vitality in every case, from the grain having
been kept too long. It cannot be sufficiently impressed on
sellers and buyers of seeds that wheat usually loses its vitality
when kept from six to ten years; and that under special cir-
cumstances it may become useless even before it is six years
old. No real gain is secured by keeping seed-wheat over the
first sowing-time after it has been reaped.

It has been objected by some members of the seed-trade that
the germination in the laboratory is a very unsatisfactory test .
of the growing-value of the seed. It is asserted that much better
results are to be had from the sowing under natural conditions
in the field than can be obtained by the artificial conditions
under which germination is usually tested. These statements
are very plausible, but they are utterly wrong. The conditions
necessary to the germination of a seed are all secured in a
proper testing-case, and none of the accidents which cause the
death of the seed or of the young plant are permitted. Too
deep immersion in the soil, too little water, too much sun, the
attacks of insects, and other conditions met with in the field, or
even in an experimental plot, are avoided in the laboratory.
But the actual experiments of Dr. Sturtevant, the Director of
the New York Agricultural Experimental Station, have esta-
blished beyond controversy that the proportion of seeds from
the same sample which vegetate in the garden are considerably
smaller than those that manifest vitality in a germinating appa-
ratus. The test of germination is really a test of the seed’s
vitality. The first evidence of this is the sending out of the
rootlet. And the appearance of the radicle or rootlet is suffi-
cient to determine the capacity of the seed to germinate. The
tender plant may have a short supply of food in the seed, or it
may have difficulty in getting such a hold of the soil as to
obtain food for itself, or many things may happen to arrest its
progress and cause early death. Dr. Sturtevant found no con-
stant relation between the percentage of seeds which germinated
in the laboratory and those which produced young plants in the
garden. In some exceptional cases, seeds, every grain of which
germinated in the laboratory, were unable to produce a single
plant in the field. Such cases were met with only in respect of
some seeds which were very long in yegetating, and were con-
sequently subject to more accidents, and the attacks of more

Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn. 337

enemies, than seeds which grew quickly. The results he ob-
tained will be more manifest by one or two illustrations. The
average of six experiments with cauliflower-seeds two years old
gave eighty-seven per cent. for germination, and fifty-four per
cent. for vegetation ; thirteen experiments with three-year-old
mustard-seed gave an average of eighty-nine per cent. for ger-
mination, and sixty per cent. for vegetation; and six experi-
ments with three-year-old mustard-seed gave an average of
ninety per cent. for germination, and seventy-four per cent. for
vegetation.

These experiments make perfectly plain what was obvious
theoretically, that a certain deduction must be made from the
germinating power in estimating the actual number of plants
which will be produced in the field. And the deduction must
be greater in small seeds, ‘like the meadow grasses (Poa) and
fiorin (Agrostis), and in imperfectly ripened seeds like those of
meadow foxtail (Alopecurus) and yellow oat-grass (Avena).

I have contributed a paper on some adulterations in grass-
seeds to the last number of the ‘Journal. The paper pre-
viously published in the ‘Journal’ on wheat-mildew has been
reprinted by the Indian Government, and extensively circulated
among the wheat-growers in India. Correspondence in con-
nection with the diseases of wheat in India, and arising out of
the distribution of this paper, has been sent to me from the
India Office. I have supplied suggestions for further inquiries,
which may lead to important results connected with the agri-
culture of India.

XI.— Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn,
conducted on behalf of the Royal Agricultural Society of England
during the year 1883. By Dr. Aucustus VorEtcKEr, F.R.S., |
Consulting Chemist to the Society.

THE means adopted last year to keep the land on which wheat
and barley are grown continuously free from weeds were again
found necessary to be employed, and resulted, as then, in the
land being kept perfectly clean, and in good condition.

EXPERIMENTS ON THE ContTINUOUS GRowTH OF WHEAT.

On August 29th, the permanent wheat-land was ploughed for
the first time, and twitched and ploughed a second time on
October 13th. Nine pecks of Browick wheat, the variety and
quantity used in previous years, were dibbled and harrowed in
on October 19th.

VOL. XX.>—S. 8. Z

338 Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn.

On October 11th, four bullocks were put into the feeding-boxes,
to make the farmyard-manure for the permanent wheat-plots to be
manured with dung. The bullocks finished making the dung on
November 4th, having in this period of three weeks and three
days consumed 2 cwt. 2 qrs. of decorticated cotton-cake, 4 cwt.
of maize-meal, 30 cwt. of sliced white turnips, and 5 ecwt. of
wheat-straw chaff as food; using also 12 cwt. of wheat-straw as
litter.

The following Table gives the weight of the bullocks when
put in on October 11, and on their removal on November 4th.

| Gain from
When put up, | When removed, Oct. 11 to
on Oct. 11, on Nov. 4, Nov. 4,

1882. 1882. three weeks and

three days.
cwts. qrs. lbs.| cwts. qrs. lbs. ewts. qrs. Ibs.
Bullock No.1 weighed .. .. .. 10" 0 LOD eS 7 Q =I 10
a .seNGs x) oof theo oa MOINS WZ ERS aes OULeST2
WISE: +5 ot Bross eee 9+ Denep 224g 0 2 12
55. NO. a Sone baie. 11 0 -12 It 0... 9.) Joss\0, 02s
Total weight of 4 Bullocks .. | 41 0 18] 42 1 21 ass

The bullocks began feeding with 30 lbs. of roots per day,
and other food in proportion, finishing off at 40 lbs. of roots per
day. Bullock No. 4 was ill for three days, and refused to eat,
in consequence of which it lost 3lbs. The others did well,
especially No. 3.

The following Table shows the composition of the decorticated
cotton-cake and maize-meal given to the bullocks in these
ex periments :—

| Decorticated
Cotton- Maize-meal.
| cake.
Moisture Oe pe Be be OA eer ae 10°25 14°29
| Oil eee iota as 16°86 4°46

*Albuminous compounds .. .. .. 40°50 10°75
Mucilage, sugar, digestible fibre, &e. 21°88 66°24
Woody fibre (cellulose) .. .. .. 4°41 1°51
Mineral matter (ash)... .. .. «. 6°10 2°75

100-00 100-00

* Containing nitrogen Te 6°48 1°72

The decorticated cotton-cake was of very high quality, and
contained nearly 6 per cent. more oil than that used in the

Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn. 339

similar experiments of last year. The composition of the
turnips used was—

. i ee ee ak ee
*Albuminous compounds an roth me Vhiee a2. OES
Sugar, woody fibre, &c. .. «2 +s oe we = 5°88
Mineral matter (ash) _.. 22 «© of «» 0°59
100°00

* Containing nitrogen. ce «+ os "12

The amount of nitrogen in the wheat-straw chaff was -77 per
cent., equal to 4°81 per cent. of albuminous compounds, The
dung was removed from the pits on November 13th, and left
covered until January 24th, 1883, when it was found to weigh
33 ewt. 1 qr. 26 Ibs. On to one-half of Plot 10, a quantity of
dung, calculated to contain nitrogen equal to 100 lbs. of ammonia
per acre, was applied, and double that quantity to one-half of
Plot 11. J

The mineral manures were sown broadcast on February 16th,
and the nitrogenous top-dressings on April 13th. November
was wet and stormy, followed by frost and snow in the early part
of December, after which milder weather set in, and the wheat
began to appear above ground. Inthe beginning of January the
wheat was growing well, any gaps in it being filled up this month.
Heavy rains followed towards the close of January and com-
mencement of February: 2°26 inches of rain having fallen in

_ January, and -75 inch in the two first days of February. The

wheat at the latter date looked fairly well, but was attacked in
places by a small white grub,—the wheat of several farmers
in the neighbourhood being similarly attacked. The total
rainfall for February was 2°98 inches, and for the period of six
months, 17-95 inches. A week’s frost succeeded early in March,
and left the land in an improved state ; only -89 in. of rain fell
in March, and the land worked splendidly. The wheat, however, -
looked rather cut down. On April 3rd, it was hoed and pressed
with the Cambridge roller, and that which had been dibbled in
to fill gaps in January had now come up well also. On April 13th
the nitrogenous top-dressings of salts of ammonia and nitrate of
soda were sown by a broadcast manure-distributor, after having
been diluted with about three times their bulk of dry sand. The
wheat was now cross-hoed. About this time wireworms began
to appear. Any gaps in the wheat were filled up on April 28th.
Wireworms again came up at the close of April, and slightly
attacked all the plots. At the opening of May the plant looked
healthy, and the ground was fairly clean. Rain, however,
following, the weeds came up very fast, and were very hard to
get rid of, the ground not being dry enough to hoe.
7 z 2

340 Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn.

Hot weather followed in June, and the wheat progressed well,
coming into bloom in the last week, and showing a large ear.
Heavy rains fell in July, accompanied by frequent storms, and
the wheat got considerably knocked about, especially Plots §
and 9. The maggot also began to appear to some extent. In
August the weather improved greatly, and the wheat came. on
well. Inspecting the crops on August 3rd, 1883, 1 made the
following notes on the permanent wheat :—

Plot 1 (unmanured). Wheat healthy, and promising rather
better than the second unmanured plot 7.

Plot 2 (ammonia-salts alone). Wheat blighted in places.

Plot 3 (nitrate of soda alone). Wheat rather better than

lot 2.
i Plot 4 (minerals alone). No better than unmanured plots,
except under a large tree, where the falling leaves no doubt
manured the land.

Plot 5 (minerals and 200 Ibs. of ammonia-salts). Wheat fine,
except on small plants, the ears of which are blighted.

Plot 6 (minerals and small quantity of nitrate of soda).
Wheat healthy, and apparently a big crop. Probably will yield
as well as any.

Plot 7 (unmanured), Wheat looks better than in any preyious

ear.

Plot 84 (minerals and 400 lbs. of ammonia-salts). Very heavy
crop, a good many of the shorter stems have the ears blighted.
The wheat has not gone down.

Plot 88 (minerals alone, ammonia-salts left out in 1883), No
better than, if so good as, the unmanured plots.

Plot 94 (minerals and large quantity of nitrate of soda).
Rather better than 8A, but attacked by red rust.

Plot 98 (minerals alone, nitrate of soda left out in 1883). A
little better than 8x.

Plot 10a (no dung in 1883, for the second year), Decidedly
better than plots 1 and 7.

Plot 10z (small quantity of dung every year). Wheat good.

Plot 114 (no dung in 1883, for the second year). Good.

Plot 118 (large quantity of dung every year). Wheat much
better than plot 11a.

From August 18th to 25th, a week of perfect harvest weather
followed, and the cutting of the wheat commenced on August
21st, continuing for a week, all not being ready to cut at once.
The carting commenced on September 5th, and all was stacked
by September 14th. The threshing took place in the field on
October 23rd. The straw of the several plots was at once
weighed in the field, and the corn put in sacks and stored in
the granary until November Ist, when it was weighed with

Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn. 341

every possible accuracy by a trained chemist, the single
bushels and the whole produce being separately weighed.

In Table I. (p. 342) are given the manurial treatment of each
plot, and the produce per acre of corn and straw.

On all the plots except those to which farmyard-manure was
applied, the produce of straw was below that yielded in 1882.
The produce of corn was in every case, except that of plots 2
and 5, higher than the results obtained in 1882 by similar
treatment. On the unmanured plots the increase was 243 lbs.
and 354 lbs. respectively. Where ammonia-salts and nitrate of
soda respectively were applied in conjunction with mineral
manures, there was a difference of 415 lbs. per acre in favour of
nitrate of soda over last year’s produce, the ammonia-salts
giving 92 lbs. less, and the nitrate of soda 323 lbs. more than
in 1882. Similarly, when these salts were applied alone, with-
out minerals, the nitrate of soda gave about the same produce
as before, while that of the ammonia-salts was less by 462 lbs.
It would appear from this that nitrate of soda had this season
been more beneficial to the wheat than ammonia-salts, though,
as in previous seasons, the use of superphosphate in conjunction
with them showed marked improvement over the results obtained
by either-salt alone.

Passing next to the half plots 84 and 8x, on which the treat-
ment adopted in 1882 was reversed, the addition of 400 Ibs, of
ammonia-salts, with minerals, to plot 84, previously manured

‘last year with minerals alone, produced an increase of nearly
2000 Ibs. of corn per acre, while the effect of leaving them off,
and using minerals alone on plot 838, was also very marked, the
produce falling from 2568 Ibs. to 996 lbs. per acre. Similar
results were shown with nitrate of soda used at the rate of 550
Ibs. per acre. Its application with minerals to plot 94, manured
last year with minerals alone, increased the produce by 1846
lbs., while its omission on plot 98, where minerals and nitrate ©
had been used in 1882, lowered the produce in the single year
by 1000 lbs. per acre. ‘The larger quantity of nitrate of soda
does not appear to have shown its superiority over the ammonia-
salts in the same way as in the case of the smaller quantities.
{n the cases in which ammonia-salts and nitrate of soda were
omitted, the produce fell in a single year to the average of the
unmanured plots, showing that the effect of these nitrogenous
top-dressings is confined to the year of their application. On
the plots to which farmyard-manure was applied, either con-
tinuously every year or previously to 1882, there was an increase
in each case, this being the more marked in the continuously
manured plots, of which 11s, manured with the larger quantity
of dung, continued to give the higher produce. These results

342 Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn.

Taste I.—Propucse or Continuous Wueat. SrventH Season, 1883.

PropucE PER ACRE.

t Dressed Corn.

PLors. MANUBES PER ACRE. 2c) A(k, Seen Ree anes Shobraw.s Clea

Number | Weight
f

Weight.
ae | Buehea: | meal a
lbs. lbs. _|cwts. qrs. Ibs,
Unmanured ., 943 16 58°9 | 17 2 16

200 Ibs. ammonia-salta alone (applied
in the spring)
275 Ibs. nitrate of soda (applied | in the

(spring).
ie lbs. sulphate of potash, 100 Ibs.

1404 24°1 58°20) 2AC0- Be
1498 27°5 54-1 28) 3 ie

sulphate of soda, 100 lbs. sulphate
of magnesia, 3 ewts. superphosphate
of lime .

200 Ibs. sulph. potash, 100 Ibs. sulph.
soda, 100 lbs. sulpht magnesia, 32
ewts. superphosphate of lime, and 200
lbs. ammonia-salts (in s pring) ..

200 lbs. sulph. potash, 100 Ibs. sulph.
soda, 100 Ibs. sulph. magnesia, 3}
ewts. superphosphate of lime, and 275
Ibs. nitrate of soda (in spring) ..

7 | Unmanured ..

& lbs. sulph. potash, ‘Too Tbe. ‘sulph.
8a

1013 17°3 58°4 117 3 10

i

Nae Ot

2006 34°2 58°7 | 36 1 26

or

2233 38-1 58-6. | 387 3 2

1090 | 18-5 | 58:8 |18 2 4

soda, 100 lbs. sulph. magnesia, 32
ewts. superphosphate of lime, and 400
lbs. ammonia-salts in 1883

2762 45°8 60:3 |. 47 1

The same minerals as in 84, no ammonia-
salts in 1883
200 lbs. sulph. potash, 100 Ibs. sulph.
soda, 100 lbs. sulph. magnesia, 33
ewts. superphosphate of lime, and 550
Ibs. nitrate of soda (in spring, 1883)
The same minerals as in 94, no nitrate}
of soda in 1883

{ 996 17°3 57°6 | 13 3 16
\: manure (having received manure

or
<j
lee)
ro
~I
Oo
oo

2534 43°8

as 10B in each of the five seasons>| 1186 19°9
previous to 1882, but none in 1882)..
Farmyard-manure, estimated to contain
nitrogen = 100 lbs. ammonia, made
from 672 lbs. decorticated cotton-cake,
1075 lbs. maize-meal, 8064 Ibs. tur-$}| 1670 27:9.
nips, 1344 Ibs. wheat-straw, as food;
and 1747 lbs. wheat-straw as litter.
Weight about 4 tons.. ..

10a

ee OR SS, Tt a RS de

108

11s |{ as 118 in each of the five seasons 1292 21°72 60°S' | 21° 3 ae

No manure (haying received =n

previous to 1882, but none in 1882)
Farmyard-manure, estimated to contain)
nitrogen = 200 lbs. ammonia, made
from 1344 Ibs. decorticated cotton-
cake, 2150 Ibs. maize-meal, 16,128 lbs. 2026 33°5
turnips, 2688 lbs. wheat-straw chaff,
as food; and 3494 lbs. wheat-straw
| as litter. Weight about 8 tons

60°5 | 87 1 1

1100 18°6 59°0°-/ 17° 3 IZ
|
lls

Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn. 343

show that, even after a lapse of two years, the farmyard-manure
applied previously to 1882 has left in the land some unex-
hausted fertilising matters which told upon the produce of the
wheat crop of 1883.

EXPERIMENTS ON THE ContTINUOUS GROWTH OF BARLEY.

The land devoted to these experiments was ploughed for the
first time on September Ist, the ground having been first well
twitched. Four bullocks, to make the dung for the plots which
were to receive farmyard-manure, were put into the feeding
boxes on October 11th, and finished making the dung on
November 4th. In this period of three weeks and three days
the bullocks consumed :—

cwts. qrs. Ibs.
Deecorticated cofton-cake .. ... .« « 2 2 0
WERIZCHECRIOS Ce Rhee SN ose ise Wee Mocs 440% O
Sliced white tirmips*: 9.0. .2-s, /).. 2. 30) OF.0
Wheat-straw chaff (asfood) .. .. .. 5 0 O

Besides which, they used 12 cwt. of wheat-straw chaff as litter.

The following table shows the weights of the bullocks, sepa-
rately and collectively, when put in on October 11th, when
removed on November 4th, and the increase in live-weight
obtained during the period of feeding :—

Gain in live-
When put in, | When removed, bates ue 4
. Nov. 4,

on Oct 11, 1882. on Nov. 4. (three weeks
and three days).

|
cwts. qrs. Ibs.| cwts. qrs. Ibs.| cwts. qrs. Ibs.

Bullock No.l weighed .. .. .. 9% 0 22) 9 1 26 Te a
2 et a eee Oia. 2G OLD soe 0 1 26
i INO. » Rh eee a pore Mos UL 10,3. yk Onpir- is
ee Nee > 2 Chae tale. 9 3 4) 10 1 4 02a 20

Total weight of 4 Bullocks ..| 39 1 7/| 40 3 27{ ies feted

The bullocks were fed at first with 30 lbs. of roots per day,
and the other food in proportion, and finished off with 40 lbs.
of roots per day. With the exception of bullock No. 1, the
animals increased uniformly. The composition of the various
foods has been already given on page 338.

The dung was removed from the pits on November 13th, and
left covered until January 24th, 1883, when it was weighed.
The total weight of dung obtained was 32 cwt. 1 qr. 16 lbs.
To one half of plot 10 a quantity of dung, calculated to contain
nitrogen equal to 100 Ibs. of ammonia per acre, was applied on

344 Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn.

that day, and double that quantity (equal to 200 lbs. of ammonia
per acre) to one-half of plot 11.

On March 16th the land was ploughed a second time, fai
on March 31st the seed, Oakeshott’s Golden Melon Barley, was
sown at the rate of 9 pecks per acre, the mineral manures being
sown at the same time, just in front of the drill. The nitro-
genous top-dressings of ammonia-salts and nitrate of soda
were sown on April 25th, after having been mixed with about
three times their bulk of dry sand, and distributed by a broad-
cast manure distributor.

The land was rolled on May 2nd, and hoeing it began on
May 9th. The fine weather of June caused the barley to grow
well, and on June 30th it began to come out well, being healthy
and even. The succeeding wet weather and storms of July
seemed to do the barley more damage than the wheat ; and on
several plots, especially plots 8 and 9, it was much storm-
twisted. At the end of July it appeared much beaten down,
and sunshine was badly needed. Plot 6 (nitrate of soda) and
plot 11 (heavily dunged), in addition to the ones already
mentioned, did not stand well. The improved weather in
August caused a welcome change, and on inspecting the plots
on August 3rd I made the following notes :—

Plot. land plot 7 (unmanured). Barley looks well; some-
what thin, but better than plot 4, on which iaeeate alone
had been sown.

Plot 2 (ammonia-salts alone). A fine crop.

Plot 3 (nitrate of soda alone). A good crop, and rather
better than plot 2.

Plot 5 (minerals and ammonia-salts). Almost the best crop
of all.

Plot 6 (minerals and nitrate of soda), Heavier crop than
Plot 5, but barley very much twisted, and partly down on
the ground.

Plot 84 (minerals, and large quantity of ammonia-salts). A
heavy crop, but barley much laid down, though not as
much as on plot 9A.

Plot 88 (minerals alone). Barley standing well up, and
rather better than plot 9s.

Plot 9A (minerals, and large quantity of nitrate of soda).
Very heavy crop, but much laid. The barley went down
first on this plot.

Plot 9B (minerals alone). Barley healthy, and better than
on unmanured plots.

Plot 104 (no dung for last two years). Barley good.

Plot 10B (small quantity of dung every year). Better, though
not much, than plot 10a.

Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn. 345

Plot 114 (mo manure for last two years). Barley good,

standing up well.

Plot 118 (large quantity of dung every year). Barley heavy,

about one-half down on ground.

The fine weather of August caused the barley to come on
better, and on August 21st and five following days it was cut.
Carting began on September 7th, but rain prevented all being
got in at once. By September 14th all the barley had been
carted, stacked, and thatched. It was threshed in the field on
October 25th, the straw being at once weighed. The corn was
stored and weighed on November 2nd, the same precautions
being adopted as in the case of the permanent wheat.

Table II. (p. 346) shows at once the different treatment of the
several plots, with the resulting produce of corn and straw
obtained in 1883.

The barley crop in 1883 at Woburn was rather above an
average crop. One of the two unmanured plots upon which
barley had been grown in succession in the preceding six years
produced 30°3 bushels of dressed barley, weighing nearly 53 lbs.
per bushel, and 18 cwts. 2 qrs. 14 lbs. of straw per acre; the
second unmanured plot (plot 7) produced 22-8 bushels of
dressed barley and 13 ewts. 3 qrs. 22 lbs. of straw per acre, con-
firming the experience of previous years, and showing that
plot 1 is naturally more productive than plot 7. The average
produce of the two unmanured plots, Nos. 1 and 7, in round
numbers amounted to 26:5 bushels of dressed barley, and
“16 ewts. 1 qr. 4 lbs. of straw per acre.

Ammonia-salts alone (plot 2) and nitrate of soda alone (plot 3)
largely increased the crops, the former giving an increase
of 24:1 bushels per acre over the average produce of the two
unmanured plots, and the latter an increase of 24-6 bushels.
It will alsov be seen that nitrate of soda alone on plot 3 gave a
heavier crop of straw than the ammonia-salts alone on plot 2.

The minerals alone on plot 4, as in previous years, had no "
effect on the yield of corn ‘or straw in 1883. The addition of
nitrate of soda to minerals on plot 6 had the effect of raising
the produce in barley to nearly 56 bushels per acre, and that of
straw to 2 tons 3 ewts. 2 qrs. 16 lbs.

In conjunction with minerals, ammonia-salts on plot 5 also
gave a large increase both of corn and straw, but the increase
in straw on plot 5 was less conspicuous than on plot 6, manured
with minerals and nitrate of soda.

In the five years previous to 1882, plots 8 and 9 had been
annually manured with a heavy dressing of mineral manures,
and a large dose of ammonia-salts; or with minerals and
nitrate of soda. In 1882 these plots were divided into two

.

346 Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn.

Taste IJ.—Propuce or Continvous Bantry. SrventH Season, 1883.

PrRopUCE PER ACRE.

Puiors. MANURES PER ACRE, ae
| = Number Weight
Veight.
| Oe Scere Bushel.
Ibs. Ibs.
1 | Unmanured .. rea z 1596 30°3 §2°7
2 , 200 lbs. ammonia-salts, alone = 2684 50°6 53°0
3 | 275 Ibs. nitrate of soda, alone... 2708 51*1 53°0
|(200 lbs. sulphate of potash, 100 Ibs.
4 sulph. of soda, 100 lbs. sulph. mag->) 1470 28°0 92°5

nesia, 3; cwts. superphosphate of lime}
|(200 Ibs. sulph. of potash, 100 lbs. sulph.
| of soda, 100 lbs. sulph. of magnesia,

33 ewts. superphosphate of lime, and || a iar) nae
200 lbs. ammonia-salts
6 of soda, 100 lbs. sulphate of magnesia, 2948 55'S 52-8

33 cwts. of superphosphate of lime, {)
and 275 lbs. nitrate of soda

7 | Unmanured ..

200 Ibs. sulph. of potash, 100 Ibs. sulph.

| 1281 22°8 | 51°6

of soda, 100 lbs. sulph. of magnesia,
3 ewts. of superphosphate of lime,
and 400 lbs. ammonia-salts in 1883 .

200 lbs. sulph. of potash, 100 Ibs. 8 |
The same minerals as in 8a, no os

3368 62°5 53°9

1914 35°2 54°3

{ salts in 1883 x
200 ibs. sulph. of potash, ‘100 Ibs. sulph. })
of soda, 100 lbs. sulph. of magnesia, || : ‘
| 33 ewts. of superphosphate of lime, {| sta 60-9 | 51:3
and 550 Ibs. of nitrate of soda in 1883
The same minerals as in 9a, no nitrate 3 3
{ of soda in 1883 ae } = oo —
No manure (having received manure
as 10B in each of the five awe
previous to 1882, but none in 1882)
| (Farmyard-manure, estimated to contain
nitrogen = = 100 ibs. of ammonia, made
|| from 672 Ibs, decorticated cotton-cake,
10pn X 1075 lbs. maize-meal, 8064 lbs. tur->,, 2038 38°8 52°5
nips, 1344 Ibs. wheat-straw chaff, as
food; and 1747 lbs. wheat-straw as
| litter. Weight about 4 tons .. “2
No manure (having received maa |
as 1lp in each of the five ssn 1982 38:0 52°2
previous to 1882, but none in 1882)..
| Farmyard-mauure, estimated to contain) |
(

10a 1746 33°4 52°2

lla

nitrogen = 200 lbs. ammonia, made] |
from 1344 Ibs. decorticated cotton-
cake, 2150 lbs. maize-meal, 16,128 lbs.) 2710 51°3 53°1
turnips, 2688 lbs. wheat-straw chaff,

as food; and 3494 lbs. wheat-straw]

as litter. Weight about 8 tons

1lb

a —— ———————

Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn. 347

equal halves of one-eighth of an acre each; on one half of
plot 8 (plot 84) the usual quantity of mixed minerals alone was
employed, and on the second half the same quantity of mixed
minerals, with the addition of 400 lbs. of ammonia-salts, were
used.

On plot 94 mixed minerals alone, and on plot 9B minerals,
with the addition of 550 lbs. of nitrate of soda per acre, were
applied. In 1883 the treatment, as regards manures, adopted
in 1882 was reversed, and plot 84 was dressed with minerals
and ammonia-salts, and plot 8B with minerals only. Similarly
plot 94 was dressed with minerals and nitrate of soda, and
plot 98 with minerals only.

The results of the experiments with the manures on
plots 84 and 8s, and 9 and 9s, in 1883 are highly instructive.
The plot 8a, dressed in 1882 with minerals alone, gave
37-7 bushels of dressed barley, and 1 ton 5 ewts. 26 lbs. of
straw; and last season, dressed with minerals and the addition
of ammonia-salts, it yielded 62} bushels and 1 ton 12 cwts. 1 qr.
8 lbs. of straw; whilst plot 8B in 1882, dressed with mine-
rals and ammonia, and yielding 52°7 bushels of barley, pro-
duced last season, when dressed with minerals alone, only
30°2 bushels and 19 ewts. 3 qrs. of straw. A similarly large
increase was obtained in 1883 on plot 94 by the addition of
nitrate of soda to minerals. This plot, it will be seen, yielded
nearly 61 bushels of corn, and 2 tons 9 ewts. 5 qrs. 12 lbs.
of straw; whilst in the preceding year, when manured with
minerals alone, the same plot produced only 37 bushels of
corn, and 19 ewts. 20 lbs. of straw.

On the other hand, plot 9B, dressed in 1883 with minerals
alone, gave only 35°9 bushels of corn, and 1 ton 2 ewts. 16 lbs.
of straw; whereas the same plot in the preceding year, when
dressed with minerals and nitrate of soda, yielded 66°8 bushels
of barley, and 2 tons 8 cwts. 3 qrs. 14 lbs. of straw.

Previous to 1882 the barley on plot 10 was grown for five years
in succession with well-rotten dung, calculated to contain 100 lbs.
of ammonia, and on plot 11 with dung calculated to contain
200 lbs. of ammonia. With a view of studying the lasting
effects of farmyard-manure, and the probable increased fertility
of land annually manured with good dung, plots 10 and 11
were divided in 1882 into two equal halves. From one half
of these plots the dung was withheld for the first time in 1882,
and again last season; whilst on the second halves the supply
of the usual annual quantity of well-rotten dung was con-
tinued. It appears that, although no dung had been applied
on plots 104 and 114 for the last two years, the influence of
the residue of the five previous dungings was clearly per-
ceptible im the yield of the barley on those two plots, to a

348 Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn.

slighter extent on plot 10A than on plot 114, to which double
the quantity of dung had been applied previous to 1882. On
plot 114, a crop of 38 bushels of barley was grown, although no
dung had been applied to it since 1881, or almost as much as
had been produced on plot 108, annually manured with small
quantities of dung. The produce of the larger dose of dung
on plot 11s, it will be seen, was very satisfactory, as it -
amounted to 51°3 bushels, weighing 53-1 Ibs. per bushel, and
gave an increase of 24:8 bushels over the average produce of
the two unmanured plots Nos. 1 and 7.

THE EXPERIMENTS IN ROTATION.

Rotation No. 1.—1877, seeds; 1878, wheat; 1879, man-
golds; 1880, barley; 1881, seeds; 1882, wheat.

Swedes, 1883.—The land was ploughed for the first time on
Sept. 4th. The dung for the swedes was made by 8 bullocks,
which were put into the feeding-boxes on November 21st, and
which finished making the manure for plots 2, 3, and 4 on
January 19th, having occupied 8 weeks and 3 days, and for
plot 1 on January 21st, a period of 8 weeks and 5 days.

During these periods the bullocks consumed the following
amounts of food: 2 bullocks (for plot 1) consumed 923 Ibs. of
decorticated cotton-cake, 5000 Ibs. of mangolds, and 1250 Ibs. of
wheat-straw chaff ; two others (for plot 2) consumed 1000 lbs. of
maize-meal in place of decorticated cotton-cake ; while four others
(for plots 3 and 4) received only the mangolds and wheat-straw
chaff, all eight bullocks having been alike supplied with 1880 lbs.
of wheat-straw chaff as litter. ‘The following Table gives the
weights of the bullocks when put in the feeding-boxes on
November 21st, and when removed on January 19th and 21st, as
well as the increase of live-weight in the period of feeding :—

Increased in

When put in, |When removed,’ live-weight,
| on Nov. 21. on Jan, 21. from Nov. 21
} | to Jan. 21.

cwts, qrs. Ibs.| cits. qrs. abe ewts. qrs. lbs.

20° 12°77) 58k 0: 20s ONS 3S

; On Jan. 19. | To Jan. 19.

20..3: 24] 22 1. 19.) Sted 923
|

2 Bullocks, 1 and 2, receiving decor-
ticated cotton-cake as additional
food .. ot

meal as additional food .

2 Bullocks, 3 and 4, fed without cake

oPenad 19 1 15) 19 0 9 }loss 1 OP

|

1843: RZ OL ae

18 1 18

‘2 Bullocks, 7 and 8, receiving bs mi)

2 Bullocks, 5 and 6, fed without ts
Ororn oc.

Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn. 349

Bullock No. 2 went off its feed once for three days, and
did not seem to like the decorticated cotton-cake, but its com-
panion got the benefit of the extra lot. Bullocks 3 and 4 lost
slightly, and 5 and 6 gained slightly. The bullocks 7 and 8,
which were fed upon maize-meal as additional food, gained most
in weight. The dung was taken out of the pits as soon as the
feeding was over, and kept under cover until March 24th,
when it was carted on to the field and ploughed in.

On April 3rd the land was drag-harrowed. The mineral
manures were sown on plots 3 and 4 on May 24th, and the seed,
3 Ibs. of Gibbs’s selected purple-top swede per acre, was drilled
in on May 25th. On June Ist the land was horse-hoed, and the
plants were singled out on June 12th. MHorse-hoeing was done
on June 27th, and hand-hoeing on June 30th, The nitrate of
soda was sown by hand round the swedes on July 9th. In the
middle of July the swedes looked even and free from disease.
Towards the end of the month they looked well, except on
plot 3 (heavily manured with nitrate of soda), where many were
thistle-headed. Plot 4 was somewhat so likewise.

Inspecting the plots on August 3rd, I made the following
notes: The larger quantity of nitrate of soda on plot 3 shows
well, and also the smaller quantity of nitrate on plot 4. On
both plots, however, some plants are thistle-headed, that is to
say, there are several small heads instead of one true head,
which is not the case where no nitrate was used. On the
maize-meal plot (No. 2) the swedes look almost as well as on
plot 3; and the decorticated cotton-cake plot (No. 1) shows
decidedly the best appearance of all. On November 3rd the
roots were taken up, and showed a heavy crop, the roots
being very sound. These were topped and tailed and weighed
on November 24th, 1882, the weights being recorded in
‘Table III. (p. 350).

The heaviest crop by far was that of plot 3, grown with
artificial manures containing the equivalent of all the mineral,
and two-thirds of the nitrogenous constituents contained in 1000:
Ibs. of decorticated cotton-cake. The next best was plot 4. These
results were in direct accord with those obtained in rotation 4
in 1882, though in 1883 all the crops were considerably heavier
than in the year previous, both as regards roots and leaves.

Rotation No. 2.—Four acres. 1877, mangolds ; 1878, barley ;.
1879, seeds; 1880, wheat; 1881, mangolds; 1882, barley ;.
1883, seeds.

Seeds, 1883.—The seeds, Dutch white cloyer, were sown
among the barley on June 6th, 1882. In February 1883 the
crop was standing well, and on May 2nd it was rolled 3.

.

350 Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn

Taste IIJ.—Propuce or Swepes, 1883 (Rorarion No. 1),
AFTER WHEAT.

PLOTS PRODUCE PER ACRE.

Roots. Leaves.

tons. cwt. qrs. lbs. | tons. cwt. qrs. lbs.
|( With dung, made from 1350 Ibs. straw

as litter; 5000 lbs. mangolds; 1250
Ibs. wheat-straw chaff, and 1000 me
decorticated cotton-cake .

20. 0 A127 | 3.) cael

With dung, made from 1350 Ibs. straw
as litter ; 5000 lbs. mangolds; 1250
lbs. wheat-straw chaff, and 1000 lbs.
of maize-meal ..

20° 4. O42" 2S Ss

ee SS eee ee

as litter; 5000 lbs. mangolds; 1250
Ibs. wheat-straw chaff; and artifi-
cial manure, containing two-thirds
as much nitrogen, and the other
constituents, of the manure from
1000 lbs. decorticated cotton-cake ;
namely, 248 lbs. nitrate of soda,
100 lbs. of bone-ash (made into
superphosphate), 623 Ibs. sulphate of
potash and 66 lbs. s sulphate of mag-
nesia

With dung, made from 1350 lbs. straw
Ee 6324/3 11 0

i)
es)

With dung, made from 1350 lbs. straw
as litter; 5000 Ibs. mangolds; 1250
lbs. wheat-straw chaff; and artificial
manure, containing as much nitro-

4 gen, and other constituents, as the

manure from 1000 lbs. maize-meal ;

namely, 80 lbs. nitrate of soda, 161

lbs. bone-ash (made into super phos-

phate), 7 lbs. sulphate of potash, and

11 lbs. sulphate of magnesia .. .

20,18 Léa 2eder 258

i Bere Sem

40 sheep, 10 on each plot of 1 acre, were put on for the first
time on May 29th; there was so much food to consume that
the sheep ate it down but slowly. However, pen 1 finished on
July 2nd, pen 2 on July 14th, and pens 3 and 4 on
July 17th. They were put on a second time on July 17th, and
finally a third time on September 15th. The 10 sheep forming
pen | received as additional food } lb. decorticated cotton-cake
per head per day, and the 10 in pen 2, 3 lb. of maize-meal per
head per day as additional food.

The following statement shows the weights of the sheep when
put on the clover on May 29th, and the increase in lbs. after
going over it for the first time :—

Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn.

301

PLors. bi When taken off. peers
ewts. qrs. lbs. | cwts. qrs. Ibs. | lbs.
Fed-off by 10 sheep, each sheep July 2
receiving about 3 lb. decorti-|| meres =
: ere cated cotton-cake per day; 10 Teenie te eee Sie 17S
sheep on the land 34 days ..
Fed-off by 10 sheep, each sheep July 14
receiving about 3 lb. of maize- 2 : >
: meal per day; 10 wees aie” As a P17
the land 46 days
Fed-off by 10 sheep, without July 17.
iS other food; 10 eee 0 on the)} 11 0 62)]12 1 7? 141
land 49 days i
Fed-off by 10 sheep, without July 17.
4 other food; 10 oe on the)} 11 0 6% | 12 2 263 188
land 49 days An AE

These variations in the weights were due in great measure to

the difference in the luxuriance of the clover crops.

Plot

was very weak, being partly killed by the heavy crop of barley
in 1882. Plot 2 had suffered less; on both the clover was in
bloom and running to seed when the sheep were put on it.
The food was sorich, that the sheep did not want any additional
food. On plots 3 and 4 the keep got a little old and stale at
the finish, and the sheep would not eat it down enough. The
crop of plot 4 was better than that of plot 3; the nitrate had
forced the barley on plot 3, and this had thinned the clover. On
taking the sheep off the clover for the seeond time on August 27th
and weighing them, the following results were obtained :—

Puore, Se ee ee
| cwts. qrs. Ibs. jcwts. qrs. lbs. lbs.
Fed-off by 10 sheep, eating
about } lb. of decorticated
I cotton-cake per sheep per day; ie oe nok
onland 41 days .. .. ..
Fed-off by 10 sheep, eating
2 about 3 lb. of maize-meal per}} 12 2 93/12 1 52] — 32
day ; on land 41 days ..
ed-off by 10 sheep, without
_ 7 other food; on land 41 pest i a AA a) ae |
Fed-off by 10 sheep, without > :
. { other food; on land 41 days \ Tete WE | 42.25 = 223

EE eS ER a ee eee

352 Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn.

‘All did very badly, the food got stale before it was done, and
unfortunately foot-rot broke out. The sheep were put on the
clover a third time on September 14; those in pens 3 and 4
finished on October 6th, and the rest on October 9th, when the
results were :—

howe When put on, | When taken off,| Increase in
: Aug. 27. Oct. 9. Live-weight.
cwts. qrs. Ibs. | cwts. qrs. Ibs. Ibs.
Fed-off by 10 sheep, receiving
1 decorticated cotton-cake ; on Ls 0 .2 22D) no1e Tot
land 23 days ..
Fed-off by 10 sheep, consuming jf
2 { maize-meal ; on land 23 on al 3 288 | 1258 Gee =
Fed-off by 10 sheep, without Oct. 6.
3 additional food; on land 20>; 11 2 26 | 11 1 243] — 292
days
Fed-off by 10 sheep, without Oct. 6.
4 additional food; on land 20>) 11 3 12)| 11 3 252 24
days..

The following statement is a summary of the results, and
shows the number of sheep fed on each acre, the quantity of
purchased food consumed (if any), the number of days the
animals were kept on the land, and the total increase in live-

weight yielded—

Increase in Live~

PLors. Sia

1 Fed-off by 10 sheep, with 672 lbs. decorticated 2664
: cotton-cake ; on land 98 days

2 Fed-off by 10 sheep, with 728 lbs. of maize- iia 2103
i on land 110 days ‘fe

3 Fed-off by 10 sheep, without other food ; on ae 943
4 110 days ..

4 Fed-off by 10 ence Hettout — food ; 3 OL 4e92
: land 110 days .. .. .

Rotation No. 3.—Four acres. 1878, seeds; 1879, wheat ;
1880, mangolds; 1881, barley ; 1882, seeds ; 1883, wheat.
Wheat, 1883.—The land, upon which clover had been fed off
by sheep in 1882, was ploughed up on October 10th, 1882, and
harrowed on October 23rd, on which latter day the wheat
ome wheat), at the rate ‘of 8 pecks per acre, was drilled in.
t came up well, and continued to grow favourably through the
winter, all gaps ‘in it being filled up in January. Early in Feb-
ruary it was attacked by a white grub, and was on February 26th
rolled with a Cambridge roller in the hope of killing these. The:

Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn. 353

mineral manures for plots 3 and 4 were sown on February 17th.
On April 3rd the land was again pressed ; it was horse-hoed and
harrowed on the 10th ; the wheat then looked very clean, and on
that day the nitrogenous top-dressings were sown on plots 3 and 4.

The attacks of the wireworm were felt at the close of April,
and the heavy rain of May caused the weeds to come up badly.
At the close of June the wheat came into bloom, showing a good
ear, but the storms of July did a good deal of mischief. The
red maggot did not appear to such an extent as in the case of
the permanent wheat. Visiting the plots on August 3rd, after an
improvement in the weather, I remarked on the plots as follows :-—

Plot 1 (decorticated cotton-cake plot). Wheat splendid ; appa-
rently the best of the four plots.

Plot 2 (maize-meal plot). Nearly as good as plot 3.

Plot 3 (large quantity of nitrate of soda). Wheat taller than
on plot 4 (small quantity of nitrate of soda)—not so well matured
as on the other three plots; wheat 5ft. 5in. high.

In August the wheat got rapidly ripe, and was cut on
August 27th. Carting took place on September 4th and
5th, and the wheat was threshed in the field on October 23rd
and 24th. The corn, after a short storing, was winnowed
and weighed on November Ist, the yields of corn and straw
being shown in Table IV. (p. 354).

Compared with last year the yield in 1883 was higher, but
on each plot there was a very much larger quantity of tail-corn
than then; the straw, on the other hand, was somewhat less.
The same differences noted in 1882 were again visible now,
plot 3 again showing the poorest yield and the largest amount
of tail-corn. Between the total yields of the other 3 plots there
was not much to choose, the number of bushels, taking head
and tail corn together, being in each case 46 and a fraction.

Rotation No. 4.—Four acres. 1878, mangolds; 1879, barley ;
1880, seeds; 1881, wheat; 1882, swedes; 1883, barley.

Barley, 1883.—The swedes grown on the land in 1882 were
fed off on the field by sheep, which were put on the swedes on
November 29th and which finished on March 26th. The land was
then ploughed up at once ; and the seed, 8 pecks of Oakeshott’s
Golden Melon per acre, was drilled in on March 80th and 31st.
The nitrogenous top-dressing was sown on April 21st. The
land was hoed on -May 10th, and on the 18th white Dutch
clover was sown between the barley.

The previous swede crop of 1882 had been manured as

follows :—

Prot 1.—With dung, made from 1350 Ibs. straw as litter; 5000 lbs.
mangolds; 1250 lbs. wheat-straw chaff, and 1000 Ibs. decorti-
cated cotton-cake,

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Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn. 355

PuLor 2.—With dung, made from 1850 Ibs. straw as litter; 5000 Ibs.
mangolds; 1250 lbs. wheat-straw chaff, and 1000 lbs. of maize-
meal.

Pror 3.—With dung, made from 13850 lbs. straw as litter; 5000 lbs,
mangolds; 1250 lbs. wheat-straw chaff; and artificial manure.
containing two-thirds as much nitrogen, and the other consti-
tuents, of the manure from 1000 lbs. decorticated cotton-cake ;
namely, 248 lbs. nitrate of soda, 100 lbs. of bone-ash (made
into superphosphate), 625 lbs. sulphate of potash, and 65 lbs.
sulphate of magnesia.

Prior 4.—With dung, made from 13850 lbs. straw as litter; 5000 lbs.
mangolds ; 1250 lbs. wheat-straw chaff; and artificial manure,
containing as much nitrogen, and other constituents, as the
manure from 1000 Ibs. maize-meal ; namely, 80 lbs. nitrate of
soda, 164 lbs. bone-ash (made into superphosphate), 7 Ibs.
sulphate of potash, and 11 lbs. sulphate of magnesia.

For the sueceeding barley in 1883 no artificial manure was
used on plots 1, 2, and 4; and on plot 3 only the remaining
one-third of the equivalent of nitrogen in the manure from
1000 Ibs. of decorticated cotton-cake, the other two-thirds
having been already applied to the swede crop.

The barley, though coming up well in May and June,
suffered severely from the heavy rains and storms of July,
even more so than the wheat crops. It was much beaten down
and storm-twisted, plot 3 especially showing this very markedly
—this continued throughout July. On my visit of August 3rd,
I found that no great difference was noticeable in any of the
plots, and that on all of them the barley had gone down more

-or less. The barley was cut on August 21st and following

days, and carted and stacked on September 4th, 6th, and 7th,
all being got in in good condition. It was threshed in the field
on October 24th and 25th; and the corn, after a short storing
in the granary, was winnowed, measured, and weighed on
October 31st, the results being given in Table V. (p. 356).

In every case the yield of corn was more than that of 1882,
plot 1 showing this the least, while the other three gave a very’
large increase, amounting in the case of plots 3 and 4 to one-
third of the total yield of 1882. There was but little difference
in the amount of straw. The largest crop was obtained from
the maize-meal plot, while the decorticated cotton plot, which
had in 1882 given the best results, was now the poorest of all four,
In fact, the decorticated cotton-cake plot now gave even a poorer
yield than the unmanured plot 4, which had been fed off by sheep,
receiving no purchased additional food—thus reversing exactly
the results of last year as regards the two plots 1 and 2. The
ill effects noticed last year on plot 3, by the top-dressing of
nitrate of soda, were not repeated in this year’s experience.

PAIN

356. Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn.

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Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn. 357

EXPERIMENTS ON Oats IN WARREN FIELD.

These experiments were instituted in 1880 to try the effects
of soluble and finely-ground phosphatic fertilisers. The follow-
ing course has been observed :—1880, swedes ; 1881, barley ;
1882, seeds ; 1883, oats.

Oats, 1883.—The clover-crop of 1882 having failed, the
ground was ploughed up for the first time on September 19th ;
-it was found very hard to get the twitch out, as it had in places
gone down as much as 18 inches. It was dug out by follow-
ing after the plough. The field was partly scuffled on Septem-
ber 28th, and during the heavy wet weather of October the
draining was very effective. On March 10th it was scuffled, and
on April 10th oats were sown at the rate of eight pecks per acre.

Hoeing was begun on May 8th, harrowing on the 10th, and
horse-hoeing on the 25th. At this time the oats were grow-
ing strongly and evenly. In June there were already great
differences to be observed in the several plots ; the most striking
was plot 11, to which chalk had been applied, then plot 8 (20
tons dung), and after them plot 3 (Redonda phosphate). At
my visit on August 3rd the chalk plot continued to look the
best. The oats were cut on August 14th, carted and stacked on
August 23rd and 24th, all in splendid condition. The crop was
threshed, weighed, and measured on Nov. 22nd and 23rd, the
produce of corn and straw being given in Table VI. (p. 358).

The experiments were made in duplicate.

In these experiments it was noticed once more that, just as
with the previous swede crop in 1880, and barley crop in 1881,
the soil of plots 14 and 7B was less productive than the rest
of the field. The best results were obtained with Redonda
phosphate, though the previous barley crop was nearly the
smallest. As had been concluded from observation earlier in
the season, the chalk plots (plots 114 and 11s) turned out
extremely well, and the average of the straw-yield was higher
on these than on any of the plots. The beneficial effect of chalk
appears to indicate that the soil, which is naturally deficient in
lime, needed an addition of lime to make it produce a good
oat-crop.

Altogether the difference between the several plots when the
produce came to be weighed was found not to be much, and
the results of plots 1 and 7 were rendered useless as a base of
comparison, on account of the great differences between the
duplicate portions of each, for the reasons given before. In
every case of the manured plots the mean results came above
that recorded for the unmanured, as had been observed already
in the swede crop of 1880.

a7

308 “Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn.

Taste VI.—Propucr of Oats in WARREN Fretp in 1883, after SwEDES
in 1880, and Sxrps in 1882.

Mean
TA.
728.

Mean
8 A.

8B.
Mean

9A.
9 B.
Mean

10 a.

10 B. |
Mean |

IT a.
li zg.
Mean

124.
12 zB.

Mean |

ee —

‘| osm.

Results calculated per Acre.

Manures per Acre used
for Swedes in 1880.

Weight of Oats.

copro-
lites, 63 cwts.

Dissolyed copro-
lites, 5 ewts.

Ground eee
eae
ewts.

meal, 33 ewts.

Precipitated phos-
phate, 43 ewts.

bso manure

ewts.

|
ae
ee te
| |
|
af,

bone-mea}, 3

20 tons of dung

and 5 ewts. dis-
nolves SOBFOr

lites . |
10 tons of ss

and 63 ewt. of
raw coprolites

5 tons of chalk

|
i tons of dung,
|
|

8 ewts. of PA
solyed copro-
lites and 2%
ewts. of Peru-

vian guano

Tons, cwts. qrs. Ibs.

0 19 27
6

2

a ce oe ee el el

ee
_
OT ee bo Nee PPP CO-1N CHO NFR SCSOF OOW FOP Ew

wWNSo NHS WW NOW KWN OWF WHO WON NEW Weo NOW
Le)

| lll cell ee cel ell ae

_— oO
onw
o

Number

of
Bushels.

62°
67°
64°
72°
72°
712°
70°
86°
78°
63°

59°
61-

68°
70°
66°
59°
61-
60°

SEO ION DED FHS NHS HNO HAG WOR AOR HK AND

AIM

Weight
per
Bushel.
lbs.

36°1
38°4

37°25 |

37°
39°
38°

37°
38°
38°

37°
37°
37°
58°
39°
38°

38°
36°
37°
38°
35°
37°
39°
38°
39°

Own Dow Oooo KoA WN

39-
37°
38°

39-
38°
38°
39°
38°
38°

“InN bo DPD WH bo COND ODL

Straw.
Tons. cwts. oat Ibs.
te Sr Onerck
1 8169'S 922
oI 5 2 ers 7 ¢
2 OOF 42

ieee lames [aA es «
A iia KS tet been ke
1 18.3 46
2 AAEM) oe
2:* Ou Ope 13
Pass Ws
2 910.0 2480
1, LS 10 ae
1 ,d6..& 4
aL Sa 20
Lee ur ke
1°15 37°24
Peels Sse
Ly 15\5 Seale
1 (d4sebhas
L. 12. Oreté
1 18 0 26
2 Se so PLO
Fae mee ab: Uy
2). 25m 30
2 AM oe AG
1 Ol eae Togas ©
2 0-0 25
2. 33 10 216
DL” AP EaS
20) Omi ple
2 6 0 12
2b ohigeO 22
PB aa
2 oe Oe ke
1? 46 Le
L +19 e2e 2A

-

* The Plots No 1a and No. 7 are at the end of the field, where the soil from
some cause or other is clearly less productive than the re mainder of the field, This

was also proved to be the ease by the results of the previous swede and barley crops.

Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn. 359

EXPERIMENTS ON PeAs IN LANSOME FIELD.

These experiments were with soluble and finely-ground phos-
phatic fertilisers, and were similar in character to those on the
heavier land of Warren Field. They were commenced in 1881
on the light land of Lansome Field. In that year swedes were
grown; barley followed in 1882, and peas were grown in 1883.

Taste VII.—Propvuce of Pras in Lansome Fiextp in 1883, after
Swepes fed off with CaKr and Corn in 1881, and Bartey in 1882..

Results calculated per Acre.

PLO’ ? Number | Weight
+ Acre | Manges per mn Weight of Peas, | of "| per Straw.
Cwts. qrs. lbs. Ibs. Tons. cwts. qrs. lbs.
1a. 19 e383" g12 35°4 62°75 | 1-18) 2510
1B. |)}No manure 23 3 6 42°8.|.) 62°25 j0 28.07 ok 420
Mean PAL gay f oe) 39°1 | 62°5 Sas nk | ee |
2A. ewt. ground(| 22 3 20 | 40°5| 63:25; 2 61.0
2 8B. Ae Bosty 25 3 4 "| 43° | 61-8 Y en PAIS Ue
Mean il. peracte ..{| 23 1 12 41°8 | 62:5 2 “51320
34. |)5 cwt. dissolved(} 23 0 20 41-2) 63:0 Su Oren lie are
3B. ‘coprolites, cost;| 26 2 24 47-8 | 62°6 2 18 3 14
Mean 11. per acre 24 3 22 AF 62), Si se Ae Ov? 11D
4a, |]5 cwt. Redonda(} 21 3 18 39°1.| 62°75) ,2 14 3 4
4B. phosphate, cost;) 26 0 24 45°), 61-8 2 Fu Ns 1S
Mean 17s. 6d. per acre|| 7s Slala Vidal 7 43°3 | 62-2 Ze Sti vee suet bi
5 A. |)4ewt. precipitated() 19 3 8 30-451 (62°79) 1) 2 9) 3) 22,
5B. phosphate, cost;; 25 1 20 45°6 | 62°5 ej nike pl kA:
Mean 1l. per acre 22 2 14 40°5 | 62-6 a eOe Oe 23
6A. |)3 cwt. bone-meal,(/| 24 1 16 | 43-3/ 63-1 | 2 21 2
6B cost 22s. 6d. per;} 25 0 0 | 44:0] 63°6 2. 4-3 10
Mean.|{- acre. || 24 2 22 | 43-6] 63-3 | 2 32 6
7A. ewt. “dsatied PB DPB LAL -G. | CBG joys Gp ae
7B. pool cost;| 24 3 4 43°8 | 63:3 2. .14...0) 24
Mean || 19s. 6d. peracre{] 24 0 20 42:7 | 63°4 2 10 0 29
/\\3 ewt. dissolved
8a. coprolites and|) 21 3 12 39:0 | 62°8 Ze ee 1S:
8B. 23 ewt. of Peru-;{| 25 3 12 46°8 | 61:8 Zee Oe 1G.
Mean vian guano,cost]/; 23 3 12 42°9 | 62°3 Ze GENO OT
43s, 3d. per acre |

The land was ploughed for the first time on September 4th
and a second time on February 8th, after it had been twitched.
On February 28th common maple peas were drilled in, at the rate
of eight pecks per acre, and all went in well. The land was
rolled on April 11th with a light roller, and horse-hoed, harrowed,
and rolled on April 26th. At this time the peas looked well, but
hogweed was very thick, though it was mostly killed by the

360 Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn.

horse-hoe and harrows. On May 22nd the land was hand-hoed.
The peas bloomed well in the middle of June, and looked very
healthy ; they were still blooming at the end of July. Visiting
the plots on August 3rd, I could notice no difference between
any of them. Cutting began on August 14th and continued
till the 17th; then the peas were allowed to dry, and were
carted and stacked on August 28th and 29th, a very heavy crop
being realised. Threshing took place on December 13th and
14th, when the results set forth in Table VII.(p. 359), were
obtained. :

These experiments, like those in Warren Field, were carried
on in duplicate.

In these trials the natural variations in the productive powers
of the soil of the plots of section A and those of section B, as had
been already noticed in the barley crop of 1882, vitiate the
value of the experiments; thus, for example, the unmanured
plot 14 yielded 35:4 bushels, weighing 19 cwts. 3 qrs. and 12 lbs.,
and the duplicate unmanured plot 1B gave 42°8 bushels, weigh-
ing 23 ewts. 3 qrs. 6 lbs., or 4 cwts. more per acre. Similar
differences are observable in other duplicate plots, especially
plots 4a, 4B, and 5a, 5B.

In face of these objections, I can only conclude that Lansome
field is unsuitable for the purposes of experiment, on account of
the natural variability of the soil of the different plots—a
conclusion strengthened by the previous year’s experiments with
barley.

RAINFALL AT WOBURN DURING 1882 AND 1883.

1882. 1883.
First HALF-YEAR— inches. inches.
January, = tela tit, ssh ese 1°33 1°95
MGOYUalye se. et ioek e's 1:50 2°98
IMEATCIichm Mices Mots, #iveh «use -98 “89
April .. Eats Pisies bes 3°41 , 155
May ea. a ss. soe teense 1% 1:40
June ee, er toe: 2°10 2°89
— 11:07 — 11°66
Sreconp HaLr-yEAR—
alse > sone eerie imines moc Tighe ob 3°07
August SP eA soe 1:64 “84
September .. 2°58 3°81
October eda. WR 4°72 1°82
INGYEMBbER Bie fe bys tence 3°39 2°37
TECTIA Me aimtlsla gone), mow a'e 2°38 63
— 17:07 — 12°54
28°14 24°20

|

( 361 )

XII.—Annual Report of the Consulting Chemist for 1883.
By Dr. Aucustus VoELcKer, F.R.S.

fy presenting the usual Annual Report to the Chemical Com-
mittee I have the pleasure of reporting continued satisfactory
progress in the Chemical Department of the work of the
Society.

The number of analyses made for Members during the last
year has been greater than in any previous one. The total
number of samples received for analysis in the course of the
year terminating the 1st of December, 1883, amounted to 1453,
and exceeded those of the preceding year by fifty.

Of this large number of samples analysed in the Society’s
Laboratory, nearly 500 were oil-cakes and feeding-meals, as will
be seen by the appended summary (p. 368), which gives a detailed
enumeration of the materials which were sent for analysis.

Hard - pressed and Indigestible Linseed- and Decorticated
Cotton-Cakes.—Several cases were brought under my notice in
which the use of linseed-cake was suspected to have done injury
to stock. A careful examination of the suspected cakes, how-
ever, showed that no ingredients prejudicial to health were
present, nor that the cakes in question were mouldy or in a
condition of incipient decomposition. The linseed-cakes com-
plained of were, however, without exception, very hard pressed
—some as hard as a board, and on analysis proved to be greatly
deficient in oil. Owing to the improved machinery which of
late years has been introduced pretty generally in the American
and in not a few English oil-mills, linseed is much more
thoroughly crushed and harder pressed than in former years,
and is thereby deprived more efficiently of its oil. Of all
the constituents of food, ready formed oil or fat unquestion-
ably is the most valuable. Linseed-cake comparatively speak-
ing poor in oil is consequently less valuable than cake richer
in that substance. In round numbers 1 Ib. of fat goes as far as
24 lbs. of starch or sugar in fulfilling similar functions in the
animal economy. Apart from the greater feeding and fattening
value of linseed-cakes rich in oil, such cakes possess the further
advantage of being softer and more readily broken up into
small bits than hard-pressed cakes, which, as a rule, are de-
ficient in oil ; and when broken up as usual by a cake-breaker,
the latter have proved in practice so indigestible as to endanger
the health of stock, or to prevent their thriving as much as
they will do when fed upon really good soft linseed-cakes
rich in oil. In illustration of the fact that linseed-cakes,
although made from perfectly pure and sound linseed, at the

362 Annual Report of the Consulting Chemist for 1883.

present time frequently possess less value than before the in-
troduction of improved crushing machinery in oil-mills, the
following, selected from a large number of analyses referring to
hard-pressed linseed-cakes, may be quoted :-—

Composition of Harp: Pressep LiInsEED-CAKES.

No.1. | No.2. | No.3. | No.4. No.5.

Moisture. as) ade ohh ees 12°025) ¢.11°03. ||. 12°403)) 11501) eae
Olpos Der ae” Galva 6°76 7°93 UPBY, 6°33 6°83
* A Tbuminoids 4 31°75 27°81 28°31 Bo Oe 2581 ae

Mucilage, sugar, and ‘digestible i ’ : i ;
fibre 33°62 | 35°99 | 36°13 | 35°07 | 36°82

Indigestible woody fibre. (cel- arn s| s , -90 | in
cee * fee}, 10°87) 7-16 | 9°39) 8-90 | 10-73

t+Mineral matters (ash) oe ec 5°48 | 10°08 | 6°40 5°75 | 8°65

_

100-00 | 100-00 | 100-00 | 100°00 | 100-00
eee eee a 4 = a

* Containing nitrogen .. | 5°08) 4:45] 4°53| 5:97) 4:14
+ Including sand... .. oS cl ager SOE = BBS) "15 | 3°65

It will be seen that the cake to which the analysis marked
No. 4 applies, contained only 63 per cent. of oil, but that it was
very rich in nitrogenous compounds (albuminoids), and, prac-
tically speaking, contained no sand. The analysis marked
No. 5 refers to an adulterated linseed-cake, which, moreover,
was made from dirty, that is to say, badly screened seed; but
the No. 4 cake I found was made entirely from unusually clean
linseed. Unfortunately it was very hard pressed, and poor in
oil in consequence, and I have no doubt all the more in-
digestible because it was so rich in albuminoids.

The sender of this cake wrote to me on the 26th of November :
“J would ask your attention to discover, if possible, anything
to account for the death of two cows which have been feeding
upon the cake.”

On analysis I did not find a trace of any metallic or mineral
poisons in it, nor did the microscope reveal any injurious or
questionable weed-seeds ; the cake, indeed, was made, as just
stated, from unusually clean linseed and nothing else, but,
unfortunately, it was as hard as a board. I think it very likely
that it caused the death of the two cows, not because it con-
tained any positively poisonous ingredients, but because it was
poor in oil and rich in nitrogenous compounds, and was in a
mechanical condition in which such cake, as usually given to
stock, is unquestionably most indigestible.

Annual Report of the Consulting Chemist for 1883. 363

If cakes of this kind are given to stock, they should be
broken up much finer than usual, or, better still, ground into
a regular meal.

For comparison with the preceding analyses, I append the
following three; one representing the composition of a pure
linseed-cake of average quality, somewhat poor in oil, the
second showing the composition of superior linseed- cake, and
the third that of a pure linseed-cake of the best quality :—

Composition of Turee Pure Linseep-Cakes.

No.1. | No.2. | No.3.

== — ——
Moisture 2c Abi) ot A ail Mme ob) 12°44 12°06
OL), Sa Aas 4h Soe 10°33 "I216 \ | Pe Bege
*Albuminous compounds aN 32-06 29°56 | 29°31
Mucilage, sugar, and digestible fibre | 30°80 31-18 29°96
Indigestible ‘woody fibre <i plains 8:26 8°67 | 10°13
{Mineral matters (ash) . 5:30 | 599), | 4°78

|

100-00 | 100-00 | 100-00

———$<$—<———

* Containing nitrogen .. .. .. .. 5°13 | 4°73 4°69
PpePMCGNP SANG, Joe cs es se 740 | 1-29 64

_ Still more numerous than the complaints about the quality of
linseed-cake have become of late the complaints respecting the:
bad quality of decorticated cotton-cake ; and during the past
year several cases were brought under my notice in which decor-
ticated cotton-cake was alleged to have caused the death of
fattening bullocks. In every instance in which decorticated
cotton-cake was reported to me to have done injury to stock, I
found the cake hard-pressed, poor in oil, unusually rich in
albuminoids, and full of small bits or lumps, varying in size
from that of a pea to a hazel-nut, of highly indigestible con-
solidated cotton-seed meal, which, owing to carelessness in the
oil-mills, are pressed into the decorticated cotton-cake. Such
cake, according to my experience, cannot be safely given to.
stock if it be merely broken up into coarse bits by a cake-
breaker. It ought to be ground to meal, and mixed with Indian
corn or barley-meal, or any meal rich in starch or other non-
nitrogenous compounds, and comparatively poor in albuminoids.

In former years the percentage of oil in American decor-
ticated cotton-cake was seldom less than 16, and not un-
frequently rose to 18 and more.

At present the composition and, with it, the feeding and

364 Annual Report of the Consulting Chemist for 1883.

fattening qualities of decorticated cotton-cake vary exceedingly,
as will be seen from the following analyses, which I have
taken at random from the analytical results of a large number
of cotton-cakes which have passed through my hands during the
last twelve months.

Composition of DrecorticatED Corron-Caxkes, of variable QuALITY.

No.1. | No.2. | No.8. | No.4 | No. 5.

Moistire <5. Gatto esc Sse 9-28 8°59 7°95 8°75 8°95
OW 23 ed Riek as. 12°93 | 22:10 | 16°57 |" 15°70) | ealee23
* A Tbuminoids * 46°37 | 42°87 | 42°37] 49-02 49-04

Marese: rt , sugar, and digestible 21°92 17-29 22°86) 17-52] 22-92

|

Indigestible woody “fibre (cel- : ; ; . .
lace ae iw 3°47 3°31 3°10 3°51 3°21

Mineral matter (ash) Ape 6:03 3°84 | “7°15 5°50 5°65

100:00 100-00-; 100-00 100°00 | 100°00

* Containing nitrogen .. | 7°42 6°86 6°78 7°85 7°04

Composition of Texas DrcortTIOATED CoTTON-CAKE.

—-— -

No. 6. No.7. | No.8. No. 9.

MMOISTOR FB of ncedien) ba Ge 10°15 10°08 11°45 10°95

OL scar Old bes ges GR) at 15°26 11°66 10°60 8°76

“Albuminoids .. 38°37 40°69 38°62 40°87
Mucilage, sugar, and digestible ; ithe ] :

fibre 19°84 24°65 25 57 23°29

Indigestible woody fibre (cel- 10°83 7:03 | 8:26 10-83

Mineral matters (ash) seven ba. 5°55 5:89 | 5:50 | 5°30

100:00 | 100°00 | 100-00 100-00

* Containing nitrogen .. 6°14 6°51 6°22 | 6°54

The preceding analyses show that the proportions of oil in
decorticated cotton-cake vary from 83 to 22 per cent, and the
percentage of albuminoids from 38 to 49 per cent.—in round
numbers.

A food containing nearly as much as half its weight of
nitrogenous constituents and only 10 per cent. of oil, pressed
into a hard cake, is not suitable for herbivorous animals. Such

Annual Report of the Consulting Chemist for 1883. 365

food requires to be ground into meal, and largely diluted with
starchy or similar meals that are comparatively poor in nitro-
genous compounds, in order to be wholesome and safe food for
ruminants.

It will likewise be seen that all the Texas cakes contained

“more indigestible woody fibre than the cakes the analyses of

which are given on p. 364 under the columns No. 1 to No. 5.
Most of the Texas cakes were not only hard pressed, but they
also contained much cotton-wool ; several were mouldy, and also
in my judgment totally unfit for feeding purposes.
Loker-Meal.—Under this name a sample of meal was sent
for analysis, which gave the following results ;—

Moisture .. 13°55
Oil eaP ate ee? “90
*Albuminous compounds.. .. .. 8°69
Mucilage, sugar, digestible fibre, &c. 69°68
Indigestible fibre (cellulose) .. 5:17
Mineral matter (ash) BS 2°01
100-00

_* Containing nitrogen «ews we tee 1-39

This meal was sold at the rate of 20s. per cwt. On examina-
tion I found that it consisted chiefly, if not entirely, of the
ground hard seeds of locust-bean pods. I take it that the name

“loker-meal” is a corruption for locust-meal. The price at

which this meal was sold is about four times as high as
corresponds to its real feeding value.

Buying Manures on the strength of Guaranteed Analyses.—It
cannot be too strongly impressed upon agriculturists how great
a risk they run of being supplied with inferior manures at
extravagant prices if they neglect to buy manures, such as .
dissolved bones, guano, turnip-manure, &c., without a definite
analytical guarantee. The Quarterly Reports of the Chemical
Committee prove this abundantly. Nevertheless, it is sur-
prising still to find so many farmers disregard altogether the
recommendations as regards analytical guarantees which the
Chemical Committee issued some years ago. It is well for
intending purchasers of artificial manures to bear in mind that
in statements of analytical guarantees, the lower figures alone
are binding. Thus, a manufacturer or dealer guaranteeing ina
manure 5 to 7 per cent. of ammonia, and 10 to 15 per cent. of
soluble phosphate, binds himself to supply not less than 5 per
cent. of ammonia, and 10 per cent. of soluble phosphate. This
being the case, analytical statements in which the difference
of the valve of the manure between the lower and higher figures

366 Annual Report of the Consulting Chemist for 1883.

sometimes exceeds 30s. per ton, are misleading, and ought
to be abandoned by manufacturers and dealers in artificial
manures.

When manures such as superphosphate have been bought
of a definite guaranteed strength, there is no difficulty in
adjusting the price, if on delivery of the bulk the manure does
not come up to the guarantee.

Mineral superphosphate at present may be bought at 3s.
per cwt. of soluble phosphate ; consequently’ superphosphate
guaranteed to contain 26 per cent. of soluble is worth 3s. x 26=
dl. 18s. per ton.

In two cases in which mineral superphosphate of that
guaranteed strength was bought at 3/. 18s. per ton. the bulk on
delivery in one case was found to contain 18°45 per cent., and
in the second only 12°59 per cent. of soluble phosphate, instead
of 26. Inthe first case the buyer claimed and obtained compen-
sation for the deficiency of 74 per cent. of soluble phosphate,
namely, 3s. x TL, i.e. 22s. 6d. per ton; and in the second case,
instead of having to pay 3/. 18s. per ton, the purchaser paid only
3s. X 124=11. 17s. 6d. per ton.

Peai-Moss Litter Manure-—In my last Annual Report I
directed attention to the use of peat-moss as a substitute for
straw in stables and cow-sheds.

The following analyses show the composition of farmyard-
manure, which was made entirely with the employment of peat-
moss as litter ;—

Moisture .. .« « “eR. AR) 1660OL Oh eee
*Organic matter and salts of ammonia 27°16 .. 30°38
Phosphate of lime . se): cee jcvsenueee,) 2 LIOT prom SeeOk

Alkalinecsalts. QC. + os sel on, =: O14 A
Insoluble siliceous matter., .. « 3°62 .. 3°84

100°00 100-00

* Containing nitrogen... .. .-- 59 66
Equaltoammonia .. .. « ‘73 “80

Both samples were rather superior in quality to good rotten
ordinary dung.

Soils Deficient in Potash.—As a rule, kainit and potash salts
do not produce any very marked effect when applied to clay soils,
and generally are more beneficially applied to poor sandy soils
or light land than to heavy land. There are, however, excep-
tions to this general rule; and only a few weeks ago, I made
an analysis of a strong soil from East Kent, in which there
were mere traces of available potash, as the following analysis
shows :—

Annual Report of the Consulting Chemist for 1883. 367

Composition of a Hop-soil (Hast Kent) almost destitute of available
Potash.

Dried at 212° F.

*Organic matter and water of combination ., .. 4°07
Oxide of iron .. 2°72
Alumina .. «. 2°47
Carbonate of lime > vehenut Aicroe Sea of 4032
NPAC A rag ieee cll «Sil sat Muae> Meng tar mem 53
nosphaniciacidy siiser—es-berieel (iis 4 Steel 26
Potash and soda (chiefly soda and mere traces an +38

potash) .atomatar, ak erere dihews
Sulpharioey acid saelign Wiel) viveinitst ¥ ys traces
Insoluble silicates and sand .. .. .. .. .. 85°25
100-00
*Gontainm mitworent i sso) (a) det les Oo -18
Bqual tojamMonia..5 cece ss%) gor 4 bel a 521

The gentleman who sent me this soil for analysis wrote
to me :—

“The soil of one of my hop-grounds used to be free from
mould, but the last four or five years has been more or less
liable to both white and red mould; and although replanted
three years ago, the young hops this season (1883) were as bad
as the old ones. There is no doubt a deficiency of some agent
or other in the soil, andI shall be glad to know what it is, in
order that I may remedy it, if possible, before the next season.”

The soil had been heavily limed and manured with a good
dose of dung, and about two tons of wool-refuse or shoddy per
acre.

The preceding analysis shows that it contained abundance
of lime, more than an average proportion of phosphoric acid,
and a good supply of nitrogenous food, but that it scarcely con-
tained any potash.

I do not remember ever having met a strong soil containing
so little potash as this soil from a hop-garden in East Kent ; and
I have no doubt my recommendation to apply a good dose of
potash-salts, mixed with some mineral superphosphate as a
winter-dressing, will be found beneficial.

Fungus blocking up a drain.—Last April Sir John Swinburne,
Capheaton, Newcastle, sent me for examination a _peculiar-
looking tough vegetable substance, which completely choked
up some of his drains, accompanied by the following letter,
addressed to Mr. Jenkins :—

“ April 17th, 1883.

“ Dear Sirn,—A new plague has shown itself on my estate. Within the
Jast six months we have found drains in a very stiff clay soil, with a rapid
fall, choked with a substance of which I send you samples in two jars.

“The contents of one jar were taken from a 3-inch pipe, 5 feet below the

368 Annual Report of the Consulting Chemist for 1883.

surface ; the contents of the other are from a 4-inch pipe, 3 feet 6 inches
below the surface.

“There is a strong run of water in the drains, which were put in eighteen
years ago, and which showed no signs of failing until a few weeks ago, when
the “water rose to the surface, and on opening the drains they were found
completely choked with this substance.

** Will you be good enough to have the contents of these jars submitted to
Dr. Voelcker and the experts who advise the Society on botanical matters,
and let me know whether the substance is made up of root-fibres of plants
growing on the surface; or whether it is a subterranean growth generated in
the same manner as the fungoid growth which is sometimes found under the
bottoms of magazines in ships; and in dark cellars where there is no ‘venti-
lation. “ Yours faithfully,

** JoHN SWINBURNE.

“The Secretary of the Royal Agricultural Society.”

The substance which choked up the drains had nothing in
common with the fibrous roots of trees and bushes, which some-
times find their way into draining pipes and choke them up. It
had a peculiar smell, which in the course of a few days became
most offensive. In its natural state it was elastic like india-
rubber, and presented itself to even a superficial observer
as of fungoid growth. Dried between blotting-paper as much
as possible, this peculiar substance still retained a large propor-
tion of water, as the following partial analysis will show :—

Water “wish! ioc 2.00 i606. | ce omen
*Organic niatter oes arotie aool vc, co es
Mineralimatter\(ash)) _ g::si¢ (05) jasoell Secs eco ema
100°00

* Containing nitropens «7. vce ies uacnns® 52
Equal'toammonia <«. 1. «» « ee *63

The dried substance (dried at 212° F.), according to this
analysis, contains 6°81 per cent. of nitrogen.

I submitted the plant to Mr. Carruthers, who wrote to me :—

“The plant you sent me has no fructification, nor was it
likely to have any in the locality where it was found.

“It is, I have no doubt, a species of Achlya, a genus of
plants which should be placed among the alga, but they have
no green colouring matter in them; and so they are sometimes
referred to fungi, and sometimes to alge.”

This fungoid growth resembled in appearance the sewer
fungus which may be seen in the carriers in which town-sewage
is conveyed to the fields.

The ‘Journal’ of the Society for 1883 contains the following
contributions of mine :—

1. Annual Report for 1882.
2. Quarterly Reports to Chemical Committee.

Annual Report of the Consulting Chemist for 1883. 369

3. Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments, conducted
at Woburn during the year 1882.

4, Reports on Baeutashire Soils.

5. Report of Feeding Experiments on Sheep, conducted at
Crawley-Mill Farm, Woburn, with Linseed-cake and Barley-
meal, Linseed-cake and Malt, Linseed-cake and Pea-meal.

Analyses made for Members of the Royal Agricultural Society of
England from 1st December, 1882, to 30th November, 1883.

Headmeccakesia Feo ‘ese cscs sete we oo aay eeeoD
Feeding-meals ee pe wcll Cae 6 OES
Corn, hay, and vegetable products Bey 9S PTS ai
Cattle spices .. RCS Bert ce 3
_ Super phosphates, “dissolved bones, ‘and eet 38]
PGATRUNCS Waste gy MY EC] WF cant i,d-epeldosy pleenpes 1055

Guanos =e Pad st M isi eisatde< bnctts OR
Bones, bone-meal, ‘&e. SS eee cee cs oe LOM
Refuse ENAHULCSME ene SoM es, es) etyte son ice, as 16
Manure-cakes SL ATER le OL 6
mawece-manuneset i fsiiiesth- sorb yess ise ies ret AZ
[PISTRETERC VOTERS sas ae: ey rr 7
Dried blood 5
Horns and hoofs Sno her aoe phat smart 7
Wool-dust and shoddy cee TAR SIS EEN SG
Nitrates of soda and potash SF ogg 8. 230n ATG
ermitrandepotash salty io.6) w ssiy sty ay sem aes nee Apel
SUP NAnCROMOAMOMOMA Ns e Wices tian oe, Foetal
Soot sor ac? gers 4
Lime, chalk, sheli-sand, and minerals ee She MOUS 9
SONS, oct “age Wisc. S Reem een Oem rr) ego
Waters... .. OM cca sel y ce Ae a 73
Milk, cheese, butter, &e. Bel Be eh cael somites 6
Articles of drink . BER fc RO fy Dilbdy 22d) 70 ope ws 3
Examinations for poison ERs ca mth, ety kena “Ss 7
MRC MEOUSHE cas Pesce ce — nce) Paw hanehacrty sure Stl
PE OETIERN ese tues eels

The question of Ensilage has occupied my attention during
the last three or four months, and a number of analyses have
been made at the Laboratory, which I trust will throw light on
the changes which green food undergoes in the Silo.*

In the course of the year I paid twelve visits to the Experi-
mental Fields at Crawley-Mill Farm. The wheat-crop in the
Rotation Experiments at Woburn yielded about 5 quarters of
head-corn, weighing 60 lbs. per bushel, and 634 bushels of tail-
wheat, weighing 52 lbs. per bushel, and from 21 to 2? of clean
and strong straw.

The Rotation-barley was a good crop, yielding 51 to 58 bushels

* Owing to Dr. Voelcker’s indisposition he has been unable to contribute his
paced paper on the Chemistry of Ensilage to this number of the ‘Journal.’—
DIT

wore SX.—S. S:; 2B

370 Quarterly Reports of the Chemical Committee, 1883.

of head-corn, weighing 54 lbs. per bushel, and 2 to 5 bushels of
tail-barley, weighing from 41 to 47 lbs. per bushel, and about
13 tons to 2 tons of straw.

The oats in Warren-field yielded from 60 to 78 bushels on
the several plots, weighing 36 to 39 lbs. per bushel, and 1} tons
to 2 tons 6 cwts. of straw per acre.

The rotation roots produced from 20 to 23 tons of clean
topped and tailed swedes per acre, and 2} to 3 tons of tops.*

XIII.— Quarterly Reports of the Chemical Committee, 1883.

Marcu, 1883.

Dr. VoELCKER reported the following cases :—

1. Mr. Obed Hosegood, Jun., Dillington Farm, Ilminster,
requested me to analyse a sample of rape-cake which he had
bought at 4/. 10s., and which he suspected to contain something
very poisonous, for on giving about 15 Ibs. of the rape-cake to
thirteen good large yearling bullocks at 7-30 in the morning,
the herdsman noticed they did not eat any hay or roots after
having eaten the cake, and at one o’clock most of them were
lying down, and appeared in great pain. Before night three of
them died, the rest got over the attack. The bullocks were
perfectly well in the morning before eating the rape-cake.

The following is the analysis and report on this case :—

Moisture<:;.. 27 2: an. Gs. 44; (5s) ho eee

Oil” 5: st 7°13

*Albuminous compounds (flesh- -forming tatters) .. 30°87

Mucilage, sugar, and digestible fibre .. .. .. 28°94

Woody - fibre cellulose) so: kt SAE Pees

Mineral matter (ash) 27 :; &. 33) 2) ere
100°00

* Containing nitrogen). 3.4 oy tse, GEM em 4°94

+ Including sand Pari Mig ci ieciwes ra: 4°55

Dear Sir,—The sample which you sent me contains a good deal of wild
mustard, and in my judgment is a manure rape-cake and not a feeding rape-
cake. Such acake should not be used for feeding purposes, for there can be
no doubt that it will act as an irritant poison when eaten by stock in
i ours faithfully, Aucusrus VoELCKER.

In reply to further inquiries Mr. Hosegood wrote on the 13th
of January, 1883 :—

I received the analysis of rape-cake safely, but do not wish it referred to
any more, as the maker is, I think, a straightforward man, and he says he
bought the seed and was not aware there was so much wild mustard-seed
with it, and has paid damages when he saw your analysis.

* For “dets uls of the Experiments at Woburn during the past year, see

Dr. Voelecker’s Report, commencing on p. 337,—Enprr.

PS

-

Quarterly Reports of the Chemical Committee, 1883. 371

This case illustrates the risk which is run by purchasers of
low-priced rape-cake without a guarantee that it is a good
feeding-cake, and not simply a manure-cake.

2. A sample of linseed-cake, stamped “ Pure” and sold at
8/. 5s. per ton, was sent for analysis on the 17th of January,
1883, by Mr. R. Richardson, West Rainton, Fence Houses,
county of Durham.

This cake had the following composition :—

SHUG 520 Soc so Me we. Sigal sw, wos feee ep Eas
ge eee oe aadivear |: <tatte® 7°27
*Albuminous compounds .. a en ees
Starch, mucilage, and digestible fibre fy 0G) Soro
Indigestible woody ie le 10-97
+Mineral nA olay OFLC rl Me A Bae a ml Sa
100°00
* Containing nitrogen .. «1 os ee 3°71
T nekUdIne MCA Se pe bs ss we 4°78

Although this cake was branded “ Pure,” it was adulterated
with starchy mill-refuse, very poor in oil, and deficient in
albuminous compounds.

Two tons were bought from Mr. Wm. Johnson, West Rain-
ton, Fence Houses, county of Durham.

3. Mr. John Dalton, Sleningford Park, Ripon, sent me a
sample of oil-cake on the 10th of last December, which on
analysis gave the following results :—

MIRIETOL Mec tsae etl ching. sau cat, arntose&
Omer 606 101.2 Bs) SUM LESL Za dE «Jaded 8S
*Albuminous compounds nei (2a5h9
Maucilage, starch, and digestible fibre cat oe 3 DOL OU
Indigestible woody fibre... 2 cetumes, Le ZO
#Mineral matter ete Ae Oe RAE 4p lglg
100°00

* Containing nitrogen .. . .. oo 3°71

© Suelo wand os 5.5 lms con ise 2°84

The cake was made from badly screened linseed, and adulte-
rated with starchy mill-refuse, and sold to Mr. Dalton as
guaranteed pure. The contract was as follows :—

Sold to John Dalton, Esq., Sleningford Park, 40 tons, j.c., pure linseed-
cakes, to be delivered at Tanfield Station in 5-ton lots as required from the
present time until May Ist, 1883, the prices to be charged being 8/. 5s. per
ton from now to September, and 8/. 15s. from September to May, 1883.

J. C. (for Carter and Son).

On the 15th of December last a cake very similar in com-
position and general character to the one mentioned above was
sent to me by Mr. James Carter, Burton House, Bedale, as will
be seen from the subjoined analysis :—

2B 2

372 Quarterly Reports of the Chemical Committee, 1883.

Woisture '.5 * 5. “Ae Ba ee eee one

Orr Bie GE a) GEE Ls a SE Tis
*Albuminous compounds — : 23 alt ae AD
Starch, mucilage, and digestible fibre. 5S ae aha
Indigestible woody fibre.. .. Bap Ome
Mineral matter (ash) f2> So we.) oo Sees
100-00

* Containing nitrogen .. 9 9. 9... 3. 3°87

+ Inclading’sand *” <7.) se" ies ee eee 3°55

In reply to the usual inquiries, Mr. James Carter wrote as
foliows :—
Burton House, Bedale, December 26th, 1882.
Dear Sir,—I have received your analysis, for which I am much obliged.
Tam a partner in the firm of Carter and Son of Masham, the business being
conducted by my sons. As, however, I use a good deal of the cake at my
own place for feeding stock, I presume I am entitled to the privileges of the
Society, as a private individual, so long as I do not make use of any analysis
for trade purposes. In the present case it was simply a question as to
whether Mr. Gothorp or myself should send you a sample for analysis, as we
were both dissatisfied with the cake. If, however, I am exceeding my
privilege by showing him the analysis, will you kindly acquaint me, and
I shall have much pleasure in sending you a cheque for the additional charge.
—Believe me, truly yours, James CARTER.
Dr. Augustus Voelcker.

Since writing this, it has occurred to me that you can have no surety
that your analysis may not be used for business purposes, therefore it would
be unfair to claim any privilege as a consumer of cake, so that in future all
analysis shall be sent by the firm.

On March 13th, Mr. Dalton forwarded for analysis a sample of
cake purchased from the same vendors, which proved to be a good
linseed-cake, made from fairly clean linseed, and nothing else.

4. A sample of manure sent on the 29th of January by Mr.
A. C. Humphreys-Owen, Glansevern, Garthmy], Montgomery-

shire, was found to have the following composition :—

Moisture .>) "he. oe eahet 4°95
*Organic matter and Toas’ on n heating xaees 8°80
Phosphate oflime:<:., «3! més jse@t So
Carbonate of lime .. we" Se eae
Sulphate and sulphite of ae ">. Ue
Oxide of iron, &c. .. ore Yad <* S658 psn
Insoluble siliceous matter ea ett 1°35
100°00

* Containing nitrogen .. .. 2. os “61
Equaltoammonia .. .. .. « “14.

This manure, it will be seen, contained only about 94 per
cent. of phosphate of lime, and 2 per cent. of ammonia, and
appears to me to be a mixture of about 80 per cent, of dried
gas-lime or alkali waste, and 20 per cent. of bone-dust.

Quarterly Reports of the Chemical Committee, 1883. 373

Mr. Humphreys-Owen informed me that this manure has
been distributed widely in his neighbourhood, with a prospectus
issued by the Grand National Agricultural Manure Company,
established 1877, 101, Duke Street, Liverpool. In this pro-
spectus the manure is described as prepared on a new and
scientific principle, and possessing more lasting properties than
any other artificial manure in the market. It will be found,
the prospectus goes on to say, to contain, besides bones and
valuable extracts, a condensed chemical composition, imparting
to the whole those nourishing properties so beneficial to all
crops, and so necessary for the renovation and sweetening of
old pastures, &c. A number of testimonials in favour of the
manure are printed in the prospectus. Orders are directed to
be sent to J. Williams, 101, Duke Street, Liverpool.

It appears the manure is sold at 3/. 10s. per ton, including
bags, delivered carriage paid to any railway station, in quanti-
ties not less than two tons.

However, I should be sorry to have to pay 35s. a ton for
a manure like the sample of the Grand National Agricultural
Manure Company fertiliser, which Mr. Humphreys-Owen sent
me for analysis.

Two samples of manure, similar in composition and general
character to the preceding manure, were sent last February by
Mr, F. Platt, Barnby Manor, Newark.

One of the manures was sold to Mr. F. Platt, under the name
of Grand National Manure, at 4/. 10s. per ton, and the other as
Special Grass Manure, at 6/. 10s. per ton, by Messrs. J. Williams
and Co., manure manufacturers, guano and bone merchants,
101, Duke Street, Liverpool.

The following is a copy of the analyses and report which
I sent to Mr. Platt :—

No. 1. No. 2.

£4 10s. £6 10s
LETUS STEVE 9g SEO TE ae a are pam 6 oa) Cal eas
BONPAMIG DIALER 5. 3t tee net hee | 5-16 | 7°01
Phosphate oflime .. .. .. .. | 6-7 9-08
Carbonate of lime faa ee ese ae. || Mees keae 27°16
Sulphates and sulphitesoflime .. | 34°38 33°16
Oxide of iron and alumina eae | 7°89 7°33
Insoluble siliceous matter (sand) 95 1-01

100°00 | 100-°00

=

* Containing nitrogen .. .. .. 59 é
Equaltoammonia .. .. .. | “0 *82

374 Quarterly Reports of the Chemical Committee, 1883.

Dear Sim,—lI beg to enclose analyses. The two manures consist mainly
of dried gas-lime, or alkali waste, with some bone dust.

No. 1 contains about 14 per cent. uf bone dust, and No. 2 about 20 per
cent. Ido not know on what principle 27. more per ton is charged for No. 2
than for No.1. I should hesitate to pay 35s. a ton for No, 2.

The two manures, it appears, were obtained through Mr. W.
Beharrel, Fallowfield, Manchester.

Mr. F. Platt applied for a chemical analysis, which was
refused on the ground that the manufacture of these manures
was a secret, and that it was impossible for any analyst to
detect it. The manures were highly recommended both for
grass-land and arable, with directions to sow on low grass-land
5 to 6 ewt. per acre, and from 3 to 4 cwt. on higher or drier
land.

DECEMBER, 1883.

Dr. Voelcker reported the following cases :—

1. Mr. Horace Ledger, of Mortimers, Cliffe, Rochester, sent
on June 8th, 1883, a sample of nitrate of soda, which he had
purchased, on April 30th, from the “South London Manure
Company,” represented by a Mr. Edward Reeves, of 17, Lilford
Road, Camberwell. The manure was invoiced at 12/. 10s. per
ton. Dr. Voelcker reported on the sample as follows :-—

Water SY mules Soy Moody pee ae ae 5°40
Chloride of sodium. ..° "2°" O05". Tee aSs0r
Sulphate of magnesia... .. «www we) 2°85
Inkoluble matteroc; wal) f.\has sccunll 4 “25
Pure nitrate of soda ay et Wi dat ees ae

100-00

June 15th, 1883.
Dear S1r,—The sample of nitrate of soda which you sent me on the
6th inst. is shamefully aduiterated. Assuming good commercial nitrate of
soda guaranteed 95 per cent. of pure nitrate, is sold at 127. 10s. a ton, the
sample you sent me would be worth 5/. 14s. 6d. a ton,

On receipt of this, Mr. Ledger wrote to “The Company ” for
10 ewt. of nitrate of soda, with a written guarantee that it
should contain not less than 95 per cent. of pure nitrate of
soda. In reply he received the following :-—

MEMORANDUM,
| June 22nd, 1883.
From
The South London Manure Company, | To Mr. H. Ledger,
17, Lilford Road, | Mortimers,

Camberwell, London. Rochester.

Dear Sir,—We have this day ordered four bags N. of Soda forward to
Cliffe Stn. to your order. Invoice of weight, &c., to follow. Soliciting your
further favours, we are, dear Sir, yours faithfully,

Te §.L.M. Company (per E. R.).

Quarterly Reports of the Chemical Committee, 1883. 375

PS.—We are sending Mr. Pye some nitro-phosphate for turnips on
Monday next. Should you require any we shall be pleased to send you some
at the same time at 5/. 5s. per ton. Wecan recommend the above article
as a first-class manure for all kinds of roots.

MEMORANDUM.
June 25th, 1883.
From
The South London Manure Company, To Mr. H. Ledger,
17, Lilford Road, Mortimers,
Camberwell, London. | Cliffe.

Dear Sir,—Your letter to hand late Saturday night. The four bags
N. of Soda forwarded to you we cannot guarantee analysis, as it is part of
a lot we supplied to a party some two months since, who liquidated a week
after we supplied it, and we succeeded in getting an order for its return to us.
He had stored it at a public-house in the neighbourhood of Lewisham, where
it has been ever since. We have no doubt of its being all right, and if you
choose to keep it you can have it at lls. 6d. per cwt., if not, we have
a customer who will take if at another station, and we can forward you half
a ton from our stores that has not been out of our possession since we drew it
from the Docks, at 12s. 6d. per cwt., which we can guarantee. Please reply
at once, so that we may order the four bags on to another station if you do
not keep it. Have sent this by the 12.57 train, carriage paid. Please reply
by this evening’s post. (Unsigned.)

The vendors later in the day wrote again to Mr. Ledger, as
follows :—

MEMORANDUM.
June 25th, 1883.
From
The South London Manure Company, To Mr. H. Ledger,
17, Lilford Road, Mortimers,
Camberwell, London. Rochester.

Dear Sizn,—We wrote you this morning and forwarded letter per 12.57
train from London Bridge; was to (sic) late for 9.49 train. We explained
reasons for not guaranteeing analysis of the four bags N. of Soda, as it has
not been in our possession from the early part of April till within the last
three weeks, when we with some difficulty and expense obtained an order to
take the twenty-two bags stored by consignee at a public-house at Lewisham,
and having a few bags left there when your order came to hand we forwarded
some from the above. We have no reason to suspect it has been tampered
with, and if you choose to keep it we will invoice it at 11s. 6d. per cwt., if
not, we can transfer it elsewhere at the above price, and shall be pleased to
forward you half a ton from our stores at 12s. 6d. per cwt., which has not
been out of our possession since we carted it from St. Katharine’s Docks, and
can therefore guarantee it. If our letter per train does not reach you soon
enough that we hear from you by first post to-morrow Tuesday morning
shall run-down to-morrow morning by 9.49 train from L. Bridge——Yours
truly, : pp THE S.L.M. Company,

E

« Re

Mr. Ledger of course declined to accept these goods without
the required guarantee.
2. A sample of nitro-phosphate manure sent on June 26th,

376 Quarterly Reports of the Chemical Committee, 1883.
1883, by Mr. Henry Pye, of St. Mary’s Hal], Rochester, yielded

on analysis the following results :—

Moisture .. .. «os, 12°08
*Organic matter and water ‘of combination 2 ~yZ0"O6
Insoluble phosphates... “eS *96
Sulphate of lime, alkaline salts, ei 45°97
Oxide of iron and AlnMINa > sa oe eee 2°20
Insoluble siliceous matter .. .. .. .. 12°73
100-00

* Containing nitrogen .. .. .. 1:09
Equaltoammonia .. «1. « «6. 1°32

Mr. Pye stated that the sample was part of two tons of this
manure, which he had purchased also of the “South London
Manure Company,” represented by Mr. E. Reeves, at 5/. 5s. per
ton, and Dr. Voelcker reported to the purchaser as follows :—

The sample of so-called nitro-phosphate which you sent me for analysis
you will see by the enclosed analysis contains no soluble and scarcely one per

cent. of insoluble phosphate. It is a poor manure for roots and anything
else, and I would not buy it if it were offered to me at 27. a ton.

3. Messrs. W. and E. Marshall, of North Lynn, King’s Lynn,
sent on June 26th, 1883, a sample of a parcel of 20 tons of
linseed-cake said to have been guaranteed “pure,” and pur-
chased at 7/. 12s. 6d. per ton. The following is the result
of the analysis of the cake :—

MMGINEDTO se. za! “way. sen cae Se eS
Oil > san) wens jac. ae ee
*Albuminous compounds (flesh- forming matters) 20°81
Mucilage, sugar, and digestible fibre .. .. 19°94
Woody fibre (cellulose) reps Ammann scowl
{Mineral matter (ash) wi.05 oc.4 b2siyecn eed MEOOES
100-00

* Containing nitrogen .. .. «2 3°33

t+ Including silicaandsand .. .. .. 9°55

Dr. Voelcker reported upon it as follows :—

The sample of cake which you sent me, and which I notice was branded
“Pure,” I find is poor in oil and in albuminous compounds. It is made from
dirty linseed, and largely adulterated with ground rice husks or some similar
material, consisting chiefly of woody fibre. The cake in my judgment is not
worth 7/.12s. 6d. a ton, and I would advise you not to use it, or, if you have
used some of it, to place the remainder at the disposal of the vendor, to let
him remove it from your premises at his own cost. Such cake ought not to
be sold as pure, and as it is a very inferior adulterated cake I would refuse
to take it at any price. ;

This cake was ordered and was delivered in May of last year,
and it was purchased by a dealer as part of a small cargo which

arrived by asailing ship at Lynn from Hull. Mr. W. F. Marshall
iufurmed Dr. Voelcker afterwards that he had returned this cake.

Quarterly Reports of the Chemical Committee, 1883. 377

4, Mr. T. Carrington Smith, of Admaston, Rugeley, forwarded
to Dr. Voelcker a sample of Texas cotton-seed cake, with the

following letter :—
Admaston, Rugeley, September 13th, 1883.
Drar Dr. VortcKer,—I am sending you for analysis, &c., according to
No. 12, a sample of “‘ Texas cotton-seed cake.” The following is a quotation
from the seller’s description: “This is the square-shaped cake, somewhat
roughly made, but it is exceedingly rich in feeding properties.” The last lot.
analysed :—

(OF) oe sali Ae eee ney a mere Perms ee S19)
fesh—formino Mattel. cic con, 20 20h =e DOMROM
CONT OTD ES, ee) A Se eres aka 7°36

T have taken two tons on the condition that the quality is approximately
near the above-quoted analysis.

I should like your opinion in addition as to how much per ton the cake is’
worth at present market value, and also whether it is safe as a food for all
descriptions of cattle and sheep.—Believe me, yours faithfully,

Dr. Augustus Voelcker. 2, Clea a

The following is the analysis of the cake :—

IGISIUNC a idm tac ss | a we sey ww: LOPS
Chile Cease it. Sic cm feed ot ~~ esr 16
__*Albuminous compounds cath tales. he. AO ST
INGGCHASe Rg: ost Keep aie Fisre. OU ie eeepse 123829
Mioodyehbrets sii en's. «jot. tel od? ap ALOFSR
Gee asters fics files ee Ska “O80
100°00

* Containing nitrogen 2.0 402 2.0 6°54

Dr. Voelcker reported as follows :—
September 21st, 1883.
Dear Sir,—The sample which you sent me is a nasty stale cotton-cake
which I do not consider a safe food for stock. It is poor in oil, and in my
judgment ought to be used only for manuring purposes in place of manure
rape-cake. Ido not put a money value upon feeding stuffs. .

A correspondence between Dr. Voelcker and Mr. Smith, as.
well as betwe n the Secretary of the Society and Mr. Smith,
ensued in consequence of the cake causing injury to a large
number of stock and being suspected of containing some
poisonous ingredients. The following are the most important
letters on the subject :—

Admaston, Rugeley, September 25th, 1883.

Dear Mr. Jenxins,—On the 12th instant a lot of Texas cotton-cake
came into my hands from dealers in Liverpool. Not liking the bulk, and
considering the cake inferior to the description given of it by vendors, I sent,
on the 13th, a sample to Dr. Voelcker for analysis under No. 12. Unfor-
tunately I used some cake before I received Dr. Voelcker’s report, which
reached me only on the 23rd instant. On the 21st instant all my stock
were apparently in fine health. On the 22nd every bullock in a lot of 13
was very ill, and three of these have died—the first at 3 p.m., the second at
8 p.m, on that day, and the third at 4 a.m. onthe 23rd. Also, simultaneously,
eight of my milking cows, fed and grazed in fields at a considerable distance

378 Quarterly Reports of the Chemical Committee, 1883.

from the bullocks, were found ill on the morning of the 22nd. There have
been no further deaths, and the eighteen animals under treatment are
recovering. All attacked had been fed on Friday, the 21st, with 3} lbs. each
of the Texas cake. A duly qualified veterinary has had the animals under
his charge from noon of the 22nd. In the opinion of this veterinary the
cotton-cake is the cause of illness and death, and the cake itself contains an
acrid poison. One of the animals dead was immediately dressed by a butcher,
and the stomach, &c., opened and examined. The other two animals were
skinned and buried where they died, and their stomachs and bowels were
placed in bags for examination. I have asked the vendors of the cake to be
present at an inquiry on the spot into the whole circumstances, but at
present they refuse. I wish you to send down, as soon as possible, to-morrow
(Wednesday), a veterinary professor competent fora thorough and exhaustive
inquiry. The London and North-Western trains from Euston to Rugeley
(three miles from me) are good, and I trust there will be time to-morrow for
a complete examination on the spot, when also samples of the cake and
contents of stomachs can be taken for analysis. Jam writing by same post
to the vendors of the cake, so that they can be represented on the inquiry if
they think fit. Meanwhile everything is left, as far as possible, undisturbed.
—Believe me, yours very faithfully,

H. M. Jenkins, Esq. T. CARRINGTON SMITH.

September 27th, 1883.
Dear Mr. SmitrH,—Mr. Edward S. Shave, of the Royal Veterinary
College, called upon me to-day, and placed into my hands two samples of
Texas cake, which appear to me very much like the sample upon which
I reported to you on the 21st inst.. Presuming the cake to have done the
mischief to your stock, as it in all probability did, there will be no use
whatever in analysing the viscera of the animals, for in that case poison can
be as little discovered in the stomach of an animal as in the case of mouldy
stale bread or mouldy oats, or similar articles of food covered with fungi or
mouldiness. As the cake is represented to be exceedingly rich in feeding
properties, it may be advisable to have the two samples handed to me by
Mr. Edward Shave analysed in conformity with the regulations of the Royal
Agricultural Society. You will oblige me by sending me the requisite fee of

1/. for the analysis of the two cakes.—Yours faithfully,
Augustus VOELCKER.

Admaston, Rugeley, September 28th, 1883.

Dear Dr. VortcKer,—The ground sample delivered to you by Mr. Shave
will, I expect, give on analysis some distinctly poisonous ingredients.
Perhaps I had better explain that, not suspecting anything deleterious in the .
cake when I sent you the sample on September 13th, I used it to many head
of stock for more than a week, and no symptom of illness was shown in any
one case until Saturday morning, the 22nd. On that morning 21 beasts
were simultaneously attacked, the whole of one lot, viz., 13, 1j-year old
bullocks, being dreadfully ill—three fatally—the other eight being milking
cows out of a herd grazed in fields far away from the bullocks. These eight,
though very ill at first, have all recovered, except that they have not come
back to their full flow of milk. About 12 more milking cows were up to the
22nd inst. fed similarly with the Texas cake for the same period as those
affected, and have not shown any symptoms of illness. All the 21 animals
seized were on the day previous to their attack fed with 3} lbs. of cake, the
eight cows at 6 a.m. and the 13 bullocks at 10 a.m. I have come to the
conclusion that, however mischievous the whole bulk is, there are in it some
bags worse than others, and we cannot reasonably attribute the violent attack
of the 21 animals to anything else than the presence of a very virulent poison
in a particular bag out of which these 21 only were fed. We believe that

Quarterly Reports of the Chemical Committee, 1883. 379

tthe ground sample is out of this bag. I need not say that under no circum-
stances should ] have used a bit of the cake after receipt of your analysis,
which came to hand on Sunday, the 23rd, just after the three bullocks had
died. ‘To this one particular feed on Friday, the 21st, I attribute my loss, as
I can confidently state that on that day all were exceedingly blooming in
appearance, and that in none of the remainder, similarly fed, has there been
the slightest illness. Perhaps it seems a work of supererogation to analyse
the unground sample given you by Mr. Shave, but under all the circum-
stances I have decided to have both the ground and unground samples
analysed, and I would ask you in your analysis to look out specially for
-distinct poison as well as fungus or other impurity. Enclosed you will tind
cheque for 1/.—Believe me, yours very faithfully, ;

T. CaARRINGTON SMITH.
Dr. Augustus Voelcker.

Dr. Voelcker’s analysis of these two samples gave the follow-
ing results :—

1 10E
TRAM ad ies ao. =. .miniremdQ2 ound... IL-4)
OEE fe es ss, ee, SLOZG ae os O07 60
*Albuminous compounds ., .. 38°37 .... 88°62
Mucilage, &c. te oe THU aIe seme POO
GOO YsSIOLe ee ek eel se, oe LOD 4G EY OOS
“Ash Pees ace TO, OO) ota acme OO
100-00 100-00
* Containing nitrogen... 6-14 6°22

in sending the above analytical results, Dr. Voelcker wrote

.as follows :—
October 3rd, 1883.

Dear Mr. Smira,—I have made careful analyses of the two samples of
Texas cotton-cake which Mr. Shave placed into my hands for examination,
and have specially tested them, each sample for metallic and other mineral
poisons, but cannot detect any poisonous matter in either of the two cakes,
nor have I been able to detect with the microscope any poisonous seeds which
might have been accidentally mixed up with the cake. The ground and the
unground samples differ somewhat in composition, as you will see by the
analyses. No. 2, that is the ground suspected cake, contains cotton-seed.
husks in a much coarser condition than the husks occur in No. 1 cake.
I doubt not this has contributed to the injurious effects which the ground
-cake No. 2 produced. The cotton-seed husks in this cake are so coarse that
I do not think the cake can be safely given to stock. You call No. 2 ground

-cake, but if you have given the cake in the same rough state as linseed, in
pieces as large as the sample sent, I could have told you beforehand that you
would not be able to feed your bullocks or cows for any length of time
‘without their getting seriously ill.

The long and the short of the matter is that none of the three samples of
Texas cake which you sent me, when broken up roughly like linseed cake,
can be safely given to bullocks, cows, or sheep. ‘The effect of the indiges-
tible coarsely-ground husks and hard-pressed kernels in the shape of badly-
broken cake, of inferior cotton-cake, like the three samples of cotton-cake
‘you sent me, is to cause at first constipation of the lower bowels, and subse-
quently inflammation of the whole intestines and stomach, and violent
purging. I need scarcely say that these ill-effects are not noticed for some
time, especially if the bullocks are supplied with moderate quantities of cake.

-—Yours faithfully, AuaGustus VOELCKER.

380 Notes on the Composition of some Samples of Silage.

5. Mr. James Chalcraft sent from East Worldham, near
Alton, Hants, a sample of manure purchased as the best
Peruvian guano at 13/. 10s. per ton.

Dr. Voelcker gave the following results of analysis, and his.
report upon it :—

Moisture .. .. ee Cem ee Mohn scr’ LO.
*Organic matter, eo ON SOs eee
Monobasic phosphate a meta MOREE
Equal to tribasic phosphate of. lime, rendered
soluble =... A th ‘Mas. a
Insoluble phosphates oe: 5 oa wieiet © (oot Mile eee OCD
Sulphate of me SCs. cee sachanite | Cae ines
Sand 2 soy) ee, Yuate. <oe Rte A
100°00
* Containing nitrogen :. .. ¢. « 5°08
Equaltoammonia .. .. «2 «. 6°17

Dear S1r,—The mixture which you sent me is not best Peruvian guano,
but a regular artificial compound manure, for which I should be sorry to
have to pay more than 10/. a ton. 132. 10s., in my judgment, is a most
extravagant price for the manure which you sent me for analysis, and which
ought not to be sold as best Peruvian guano.—Yours faithfully,

Avaustus VOELCKER.

No further information has been obtained from the purchaser.

XIV.—WNotes on the Composition of some Samples of Silage. By
ALFRED SMETHAM, F.C.S., F.1.C., of Liverpool.

Composition or Grass PirreD at Tatton Park, Knursrorp,
Jury 4, 1883.*

In Sample

| dried at

212° F.

*Water oe nd LE | 70°48 iy

Fatty matters and chlorophyll (ether extract) 83 2°80
*Soluble albuminous compounds”... al reas y “90 3°06
Mucilage, sugar, and extractive matters ee 3°44 11°65
Tigestible fibre’ oe de | Liwary Posen? ape eee 36°24
fInsoluble albuminous compounds Fee Fee hee 2°05 6°94
Indigestible woody fibre Caley 9°54 32°35
Soluble mineral matters... .. .. as se ee ws 1°54 5°24
IMEOUEDIO ILO MGUAO os <4), ey cope ees eke oe 52 1°74
100°00 100-00

* Containing nitrogen Je merase ell te 4 “14 “49

+ Containing nitrogen gs Bint Sat fas BP rctay et RP 33 lil

* For description of the silo, and the method of ensilage adopted, see pp. 175
et seq.

Notes on the Composition of some Samples of Silage. 381

The grass was taken from the portion first introduced into
the silo, and, allowing for the decrease in volume, would be
found éunverted into silage at about 1 foot 6 inches from the

bottom.
ComposItTIOoN OF SILAGE MADE FROM ABOVE.

Taken Taken

between between Bottom

2ft. & 1 ft. 6in. 1 ft.6in. & 1 ft. layer

from bottom. | from bottom.
Water and volatile matters . 68°74 65°84 78°65
Fatty matters and chlorophyll (ether extract) 2°35 1°84 92
*Soluble albuminous compounds .... 1:90 2°07 1:26
Mucilage, sugar, and extractive matters .. 1°78 2°94 “60
Digestible ee 23 a 9°32 12°38 7°20
+Insoluble albuminous compounds 1:14 1°28 82
Indigestible woody fibre ecsuabes 9°90 9°10 7°35
Soluble mineral matters .. Boia Pec 4°37 3:92 2°67
Insoluble ditto ditto be by Be aee 50 “63 53
100:00 100-00 100°00
* Containing nitrogen .. .. .. .. 30 *33 20
aT Containing nitrogen a a “18 -20 °13
Acidity?calculated as acetic acid... “31 *35 “50
Taken Taken

between between Bottom

\2ft.&1ft.6in.j1ft.6in.&1ft.| layer.

from bottom. | from bottom.

In Sample In Sample In Sample
dried at dried at dried at
212° F. 212° F, 212° FB.

— aoe

Water and volatile matters .. = 35
Fatty matters and chlorophyll (ether extract) 7-52 5.39 4°31
*Soluble albuminous compounds .. : 6°08 6°06 5°90
Mucilage, sugar, and extractive matters 5°69 8°61 2°81
Digestible apres Wea eee 29-81 36°24 33°72
+Insoluble albuminous compounds. ml 3°65 3°75 3°84
Indigestible woody fibre bee ses ar 31°67 26°64 34°42
Soluble mineral matters .. .. .. .. 13 98 11°47 12°51
Insoluble ditto ditto Koo Moy cea 1:60 1°84 2°49
100°00 100-00 100:00
* Containing nitrogen .. .. .. .. “96 97 94
+ Containing nitrogen + i ee Sena aa *58 “59 “61

The sam ples of silage taken from between 2 feet and 1 foot
6 inches and from hein 1 foot 6 inches and 1 foot, were both
in good condition; and, although distinctly acid, were not

382 Notes on the Composition of some Samples of Silage.

unpleasant to the taste. In the sample No. 2 on the list, I
determined the percentage of alcohol, and found it to be present
to the amount of 0:34 per cent. This quantity was arrived at
by distilling the extract from a large quantity of the silage after
neutralizing the acid present by means of caustic potash. The
distillate was distinctly alkaline, but not with ammonia, from
which I infer that a small portion of the albuminoids during
fermentation are split up into amines, which distilled over. The
distillate, after being acidified. was again distilled, and the
alcohol weighed in a delicate specific gravity-apparatus. I
took care to verify the presence of alcohol in this distillate.

Only a part of the acid was present as acetic acid, part being
present as butyric and part as Jactic acid. It is also probable
that other organic acids were formed, but these three are the
chief. It is curious to note that as the silage approaches to the
bottom, the percentage of acidity increases. The layer from the
bottom was very wet, and too acid for cattle.

I also examined partially a sample of the liquid which had
drained away from this lower portion.

It gave :—
Water and volatile matter at 212° F. .. .. .. 88°76
Non-volatile organic matters... .. .. .. .. 18°15
Mineral matters...) as_.s2 stain aaa see
100-00
The acidity calculated as acetic acid was... “89

In order to render the results of the analysis of the silage
comparable with those obtained from the original grass, a deduc-
tion must be made for the salt added during the preparation. If
this be done, and the nitrogen calculated into percentages, figures
are obtained which may be compared with those furnished by
the analysis of the dried grass. Thus it will be found that
the percentages of total nitrogen in the dried grass and in the
three samples of dried silage from which the salt has been
deducted, are as follows :—

| ; In Sample } In Sample |
| "Gass fpernein|1fticin &1ft, Bottom.
from bottom. from bottom. |
:
Total nitrogen .. .. «| 1°60 | 1°68 | 1-66 |. 1:67

These figures show, in each instance, a slight increase in the
percentage of total nitrogen; and it may, therefore, be inferred
that little or no loss of nitrogen has occurred during the process

Notes on the Composition of some Samples of Silage. 383

of ensilage. The increased percentage is doubtless due to loss
of sugar or other soluble carbo-hydrates through fermentation ;
which would leave the relative amount of nitrogenous matters
in the dried silage higher than in the dried grass. But although
there appears to have been no actual loss of nitrogen during the
process, a very marked change has occurred in the constitution
of the albuminous compounds. During the process of fermen-
tation in the silo, nearly one-half of the insoluble albuminous
compounds has been rendered soluble, and apparently split up-
into simpler substances.

A comparison made in this manner also shows that a consider-
able portion of the sugar and other soluble carbo-hydrates has
been destroyed by fermentation, and converted into alcohol, car-
bonic acid, acetic, and other organic acids. The increase in
the ether extract is partially due to the formation of organic
acids soluble in ether, but non-volatile at 212° Fahr.—probably
lactic acid.

The loss of water from the upper layers during ensilage
has been appreciable. Unfortunately no attempt was made to
register the temperature of the silo during the process; but it
is evident, from the nature of the changes which have taken
place, that considerable heat must have been generated, and
this doubtless will have had its due effect in expelling a
portion of the lost water, even from an apparently air-tight
chamber. <A portion also has drained away from the mass
under the pressure to which it was subjected, and this possibly
might be sufficient to account for the greater part of the loss.
This liquid contained 83-76 per cent. of water and volatile:
matters, but a much smaller quantity of mineral’ matters:
than I should have predicted. The ash consisted chiefly of
carbonate and phosphate of lime and potash, together with
common salt, only a comparatively small amount being salt.
Considering the large quantity of salt used in the manufacture,
this fact is a little curious, and shows that the liquid has separated:
only at high pressure.

That the bulk of the silage taken from the silo at Tatton.
Park, and examined by me, is a valuable food cannot admit
of a doubt; and it is equally clear that only a comparatively
smal} part of the feeding value has been absolutely lost by the
fermentative changes to which it has been subjected. It will
be a matter for subsequent research to determine to what extent
the feeding value is affected by the conversion of the insoluble:
albuminoids into a soluble condition ; but it seems to me quite
clear that, by the formation of amines, a small portion of the

soluble nitrogen compounds must be looked upon as practically
useless for feeding purposes,

384 Notes on the Composition of some Samples of Silage.

The sample taken from the bottom of the silo was too wet,
and contained too large a percentage of acid to render it a good
food. ‘The greater part of the soluble matters had been destroyed
by fermentation resulting in the formation of acids. Any
alcohol which may have been originally formed appears to have
been oxydised into acetic acid, and I was unable to detect more
than traces of alcohol in the liquid expressed from this lower
portion.

Description af Mr. Smith’s Silo at The Hollies, near Wilmslow,
Cheshire.

Circular silo 12 feet diameter by 12 feet deep; it was filled
with aftermath on October 20th, and well. trodden down, and a
weight of 100 lbs. per foot was put on for seven days; the
weight was then taken off and the grass was found to have sunk
5 feet; it was then again filled to the top, and a weight of
200 lbs. per foot put on. It was opened on January 16th, and
the contents found in good condition.

Composition or SmAGE From Mr. Smitru’s Simo.

In Sample
| dried at
212° F.
Water and volatile matter at lob 81°38 oe
Fatty matters and chlor ophyll (ether extract) sae: Rey “74 3°98
*Soluble albuminous compounds .. .. a a al 1°32 7°09

Mucilage, sugar, &e. vie ee [UE ats aie ta ene 22 1°18
Digestible fibre OO ox mn 3 yun 6:

+ Insoluble albuminous compounds et HIRST: Pine 1 2
Indigestiblenvoody Hbre aj. stip pete ge 5:79 81: a»
Soluble mineral matters . sey lege. WeEGSL Gees iis
Inkolmbley sai ito MALO nian era seen aaa 1

* Containing nitrogen (2... 2. a= 0 ee “19 1-13
i $5 ee oe caren | 21 “96
* Acidity calculated as acetic acid eemiant ae “18 A

The sample was not so good as that from Tatton Park.

No analysis was taken of the original grass in this case, and
it is impossible, therefore, to determine to what extent loss by
fermentation had proceeded. From the low percentage of soluble
carbo-hydrates and the comparatively high percentage of nitro-
gen, it would appear that a perceptible loss had taken place: but
without a knowledge of the composition of the original grass,
it is impossible to arrive at any decision of scientific value.

Notes on the Composition of some Samples of Silage. 385

No salt was used, and the grass was not cut up at all. No
covering boards were put on between the grass and the bricks
with which it was weighted.

Since January 16th nine head of cattle have been fed on it
alone (except that they have been occasionally turned out for a
few hours on very fine days). Mr. Smith states that he has
never seen them in better condition than at present, and that
they seem to be very fond of the silage. The silo was 7 feet
below: the ground and 5 feet above. No mould was found at
the sides, and not more than 1 inch at the top. The total
cost of the silo was 13/. 10s., and the weight of its contents
14 tens,

Description of Mr. Earle’s Silo at Hayton, near Liverpool.

“ My Lascelles Portable Silo is 15 feet by 12 feet, and 10 feet deep. It is
a simple wooden framework, five uprights on each side, and four at each end,
all 4 in. by 4 in. let into timbers running along the top and bottom of the
same side. The corners top and bottom are all braced with iron, bolted on,
and an iron rod runs across the silo both top and bottom. On the inside of
the wooden frame are screwed concrete slabs, 3 feet by 2 feet by 13 inches
thick, four screws in each. The inside of the slabs is perfectly smooth. The
silo stands on the stone floor of a large barn. After filling it, planks 2 in.
thick and 5 in. wide were put on edge to edge, and weighted with 9% tons of
ship’s ballast.

“The crop was the best second-crop clover and rye-grass, chopped up by

~ steam, and put in in the state in which it came from the field, which was
generally wet. It was well trampled down, especially along the edges, and
29 tons filled the silo, eight half-days being occupied in doing so, and then
the silo was finally closed. This was on September 17th. It was opened on
January 4th. We found 4 in. of mould on the top and a little at the sides.
No liquid had escaped from the bottom, and there was no drainage.

“1 allow my six Devon milking cows 50 lbs. each per day, but find they
cannot get through it, and do not eat more than 44 lbs. They have a little
corn and bran given also, and we began giving a little long hay at night, but ©
they will not touch it now, and tread it underfoot.

“They give a good quart apiece of milk more on silage than on hay and
turnips, and the butter is more the colour of grass fed.

“Tsent a sample of silage to the ‘ Field,’ and the editor writes that ‘it
was in excellent condition and very pleasant in flayour;’ and in this most of
the farmers present at the opening agreed.

“The silo cost in London ready to put together fo call ON
Carriage to Hayton = oo 5 “A ac 5am) a0)
Cost of planks a cover with .. Af 50 ae 27 O30
Cost of erecting .. x =: iE0s 0

£24 0 0

“The iron ballast cost 47s. per ton. The cost of chopping and putting the
grass into the silo did not exceed 2s, 6d. per ton. Some of the clover was
bought at the then market price of 23s. per ton.

“The grass sunk in the silo 2 feet 6 inches the first month, and nothing
afterwards,

VOL. XX.—S. 8. 276

386 Notes on the Composition of some Samples of Silage.
“What quantity we had in the silo on opening is a matter of conjecture—
I should think close on 25 tons. A cubit foot weighs 46 lbs,
(Signed) “ FREDERIC W. EARLE.”

Composition oF SmnacGE FRoM Mr. Harue’s Sino.

In Sample
dried at
212° F.
Water and volatile matters .. eee 78°10 Bs
Fatty matter and chlorophyll (ether extract) <o pme 1°46 6°66
*Soluble albuminous compounds .. Friant Seabank ii «Li: 5°20
Mucilage, sugar, and extractive matters .. ow. .. 1:72 7°85
Digestible fibre... .. oem well ee ener ct 5‘65 25°80
tInsoluble albuminous compounds Oe ee 1°43 6°53
Indigestible woody fibre ae aga fa Sd ee Pee 8-05 36°76
Soluble mineral matters... Ged se eel 1°35 6°17
Insoluble mineral matters... .. oe ee we we 1:10 5:03
/ 100-00 100-00
* Goniaining nitrogen, pa<,¢.3«) pmevaaecs fiecaneeed ee: *82
¢ Containing nitrogen Ae ce, watrp. oheal 23 1:05
Acidity calculated as acetic fod SE ak ae 33 ae

An examination of the above figures shows that a smaller
percentage of the albuminous compounds has been rendered
soluble by the fermentative changes which have taken place at
Hayton during the process of ensilage than at Tatton Park; and,
as far as can be determined without an analysis of the original
grass, it would appear that the composition of the silage
approaches more nearly to that of the grass than any of the
other samples which I have examined. Whether this has been
brought about by the peculiar condition of the grass at the
time of pitting, and by the shorter time occupied by the process
of ensilage, or by the special form of the silo, it would be
impossible to determine from the data in my possession. There
can be no doubt, however, that the silage was in good condition,
and was free from excess of acidity, when it was submitted
to me for analysis. No determination was made of the per-
centage of alcohol present—if any.

The comparatively large percentage of water in the silage
shows clearly that the process of ensilage may be conducted
successfully even with wet substances, provided the requisite
conditions be duly observed.

The sample was taken from the silo on March 25th, 1884,

and the analysis commenced a few hours afterwards.

( Sasson:

ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY IN 1883.

I.—PERIODICALS PRESENTED TO THE SOCIETY’S
LIBRARY.

Presented by the respective Societies and Editors.

A.—ENGLIsH, AMERICAN, AND COLONIAL PERIODICALS.

Aberdeenshire Agricultural Association. Annual Report, Season 1882.
Agricultural Economist. Vol. XV. 1883.
Gazette. 1883.
——_—_______———. Almanack. 1884.
Agricultural Returns of Great Britain. 1883.
Statistics, Ireland, 1883.
Agricultural Students’ Gazette. 1883,
Atheneum. 1883.

Bath and West of England Society, Journal of the. 1883.
Bell’s Weekly Messenger. 1883.
Bristol Mercury. 1883.

_ Clydesdale Stud Book. Vol. V. 1883.
Coates’s Herd Book. Vol. XXIX. 1883.
County Gentleman. Vol. XXI. 1883.

Economist. Vol. XLI. 1883. *
English Cart-horse Stud Book. Vol. IV. 1883.
Essex Standard. Vol. LIU. 1883.

Farm and Home. 1883.
Farmer. 1883.
Farmer’s Herald. 1883.
Field. 1883.

Geological Society, Journal of the. Vol. XXXIX. 1883.
Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, Transactions of the, Vol. XV.
1883.

Illinois Railroad and Warehouse Commission. Report for 1882.
Illustrated Journal of Agriculture, Montreal. 1883.
Institution of Civil Engineers, Proceedings of the. 4 Vols. 1883.
—— of Mechanical Engineers, Proceedings of the. 1883.
——— of Surveyors, Transactions of the. Vol. XV. 1883.
Tnvestor’s Monthly Manual. 1883.

Irish Farmer. 1883.

Farmer’s Gazette. 1883.

Jronmonger. 1883.

Journal of Forestry. Vol. VII. 1883.

26 2

388 2 Additions to the Library.

and. Vol. III. 1883.

1883.
Live-Stock Journal. 1883.

——— Almanac. 1884,

Mark Lane Express and Agricultural Journal. 1883.
Massachusetts, Agriculture of, 1882.
Meteorological Record. 1883.

————— Society, Quarterly Journal of the. 1883,
Midland Counties’ Herald. 1883.

Nature. 1883.
Newcastle Courant. 1883.
North British Agriculturist. 1883.

Prairie Farmer. 1883.

Red Polled Herd Book. Vol. II. Part II. 1883.
Royal Geographical Society, Proceedings of the. 1883.
Royal Institution of Great Britain. Vol. IX. 1881-2.

Royal Manchester, Liverpool, and North Lancashire Agricultural Society,
Journal and Prize List. 1882.

Royal United Service Institution, Journal of the. 1888,

Society of Arts, Journal of the. 1883.
Statistical Society, Journal of the. 1883.

Sussex Association for the Improvement of Agriculture. Annual Report,
Season 1882.

Trade and Navigation of the United Kingdom, Accounts relating to the,
1883.

Veterinarian, The. 1883.
Veterinary Journal. 1883.

B. List or ForeiGN PERIODICALS.

Berlin. Landwirthschaftliche Jahrbicher. Band XII. Hefte 1-6. Supple-
ment, 1883.
Journal fiir Landwirthschaft. 1883. Hefte 1-4,
Bogoté. El Agricultor. Serie 4*, Nos. 1-7. 1882.
._ , Nos. 8-12. 1883.
Brussels. Journal de la Société centrale d’ Agriculture de Belgique. 1883.

Buenos Aires. Anales de la Sociedad rural - Argentina, Vol, XVII. 1888.
Nos. 1, 7, 8, 10-15, 17-21.

“Colle. Protokolle der Sitzungen des Central-Ausschusses der Kéniglichen
Landwirthschaft Gesellschaft. 1883.

Crosne. Le Poussin. Nos. 85, 40-48. 1883.

Geneve. ‘Tableaux de Statistique Agricole du Canton de Genéve. No. 1.
1883.

Hanover. Die dritte Concurrenz ganzer Landwirthschaftsberichte um Primien
in der Provinz Hannover und zwar im Bezirke des landwirthschaftlichen
Haupt-Vereins Géttingen-Grubenhagen von Frihjahr 1881, bis Friibjahr
1882.

Jahresbericht der ké&niglichen Landwirthschafts-Gesellschaft zu
Celle: Central-Verein fiir die Provinz Hannover fiir 1882. 1883.

Kristiania. C. No. 15. Statistik Angaaende det Norske Jordbrug fornem-
melig i Femaarsperioden 1871- 1875 og i Aaret 1875.

Paris, Annales Agronomiques. Tome 9", Nos. 1-12, 1883. '

Additions to the Library. 389

Paris. Annales de l'Institut National Agronomique. 1883.
-——. Journal d’Agriculture Pratique. 1883,

——. Journal de PAgriculture. 1883.

—. Bulletin de la Société des Agriculteurs de France, 1883.
——. Ministére de l’Agriculture. Bulletin. 1883.

. Rapport administratif sur VExposition universelle de 1878. 3 vols.

Rome. Annali di Agricoltura. 24 Parts. 1882-83.

Bollettino di Notizie Agrari. 1883.

—-. Movimento commerciale dei principali prodotti Agrari, 1871-82.
1883.

—. Notizie intorno alle condizioni dell’ agricoltura negli anni 1878-79.
Vol. III. 1882. j

Stockholm. Kongl. Landtbruks-Akademiens Handlingen och Tidskrift.
Nos. 2-6. 1883.

Strasbourg. Bulletin Trimestriel de la Société des Sciences, &c., de la Basse-

Alsace, Vol. XVII. 1883.

1l—BOOKS PRESENTED OR OTHERWISE ADDED TO
THE SOCIETY’S LIBRARY.

Names of Donors in Italics,

A. Ene.isH, American, AND CoLon1AL Books AnD PAMPHLETS,

Agricultural and Horticultural Association, Limited. Diagrams of Manures,
: Feeding Substances, Farm Crops, and Permanent Grasses.
Bull, Dr. Henry G. Herefordshire Pomona.

Bund, J. W. Willis. Agricultural Holdings Acts. Second Edition.

Chatterton, J. H. Compulsory Uniformity of Weight in the ay of Corn.

Christy, Thomas. New Commercial Plants and Drugs. Nos %

Department of Agriculture and Commerce, N.W. Provinces wa ‘Oudh. Field
and Garden Crops. Part I.

Dickson, F. and A., and Sons. The Grasses of the Farm.

D’ Oridant, Charles. Cattle Disease.

EHuren, Henry F. Red Polled Cattle for the Stall and the Dairy.

Flax Supply Association. Sixth Annual Report, 1882.

Hallett, Major E. F. Food Plant Improvement.

Handbook of the Farm Series. Equipment of the Farm.

—__—__——_——-.._ Life on the Farm.

Indian Government. Collection of Papers on Bee-Keeping in India.

——____—_———.. Agricultural Implements and Machines which have
been experimented with and found efficient and useful in India.

International Dairy Show Committee, Dublin, 1882. Lectures on “The
Dairy and Dairy Farming;” “Bees and Bee-Keeping;” and “ Poultry
as a Source of Profit to the Farmers of Ireland.”

Larkworthy, Falconer. New Zealand Re-Visited.

Lawes, Sir John Bennet. Determinations of Nitrogen in the Soils.

—_——————.. Contribution to the Chemistry of Fairy Rings.

—_————_—_—_—_———.. Memoranda of the Origin, Plan, and Results ‘of the
Field and other Experiments at Rothamsted, “June 1883.

Ormerod, Miss E. A. Guide to Methods of Insect Life.

————————— - Lecture on Insect Prevention and Removal of Winter

Shelters,

390 ; Additions to the Library.

Ormerod, Miss E. A. Observations on First Appearances, &c., of Hop Aphis.

———____————.. Report of Observations of Injurious Insects. 1882.

Proctor, Frank. The Art of Mechanical Digging.

Robertson, Professor William. Equine Medicine.

Silos for British Fodder Crops.

Smithfield Club. History of the Smithfield Club. Third Edition.

Smithsonian Institution. Miscellaneous Collection. Vols. XXII—XXYVII.

——— . Report for 1881.

Inited States Department of Agriculture. Report for 1881-82.

tt . Special Reports, Nos. 55, 56, 57,,.
58, 59, 60, 61, 64, 65. New Series, 1, 2, 3. ;

Waring, George E. Concerning Mr. Rudulph Hering’s Project for the
Sewerage of Binghampton, N.Y.

Warington, R. On some of the Changes which Nitrogenous Matter undergoes.
within the Soil.

Whitehead, Charles. Mould or Mildew on Hop Plants.

—_———————_.. Profitable Fruit Farming.

—————_—__——. The Hop Failure of 1882, and its Lessons.

Wilson, A. Stephen. A Bushel of Corn.

B. Foreicn Books anpD PAMPHLETS:

Butyreren. Tredie Beretning om Bygdo Kongsgaard. Christiania, 1882.

Basserie, Colonel. Drainage des Ecuries et des Btables. Le Mans, 1883.

Caravia, Antonio T, Manuel Pratico del Cultivador Americano. Monte—
video, 1882.

Edelman, Dr. M. Th. Mlustrirter Catalog No. IX. der erdmagnetischen,
physikalischen, meteorologischen, physiologischen, und medicinischen.
Instrumente. Miinchen, 1882.

Gaedertz, Georg W. Verzeichniss der Obstbaumschulen. Stuttgart.

Gaetano, Cantoni. L’Anno Rurale 1882. Milano, 1883.

- — Coltivazione del Frumento. Milano, 1883.

Giotto Ulivi, V Abbé. Lettre 4 M. le Ch. Felix Rignon sur ]’Agriculture..
Turin, 1883.

Klenze, Dr. von. Handbuch der Kiaserei-Technik mit 194 Holzschnitten und
33 autotypischen Tafeln. Bremen, 1884.

Lavalard, E. Rapports sur les opérations du service de la Cavalerie et
des lourrages de la Compagnie générale des Omnibus de Paris, pendant
lexercice 1882. Paris, 1883.

Lecouteux, Edouard. Le maiset les autres fourrages verts, culture et ensilage..
Paris, 1883.

Moll, L. and E. Gayot. La connaissance générale du Mouton. Paris, 1867.

——_—__—_——_——-.. La connaissance générale du Cheval. Paris, 1883.

Pery, G. A, Wstatistica Agricola do Districto de Bija. Lisboa, 1883.

Richard, A., et Edmond Boniface. De V’étude de la Comptabilité dans
Venseignement primaire. Lille, 1882.

Sagnier, Henri. La section d’agronomie au Congrés de Rouen, 1883.

Schiibeler, Dr. F. C. Vextlivet i Norge med serligt hensyn til Plantegeo-
graphien. Christiania, 1879.

Sauvage, H de. Comptabilité Agricole. Paris, 1882.

Wahistedt, L. J. Catalogue de la Collection des Semences Suédoises & l’expo-
sition Internationale d’Amsterdam en 1883. Lund, 1883.

THE

JOURNAL

OF THE

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY

OF ENGLAND

SECOND SERIES.

VOLUME THE TWENTIETH.

PRACTICE WITH SCIENCE.

LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
1884,

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
TAEES 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 EXPECIED. 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 TuaeEr, Principles of Agriculture.

LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, STAMFORD STREET
AND CHARING CROSS,

(ives

CONTENTS OF VOLUME XX.

SECOND SERIES.

STATISTICS :-— PAGE
Meteorology for the year 1883 a gees dole water I-1X
Report on the Hay-harvest forecasts for 1883 Sn didiee - veo, akon

Imports of Corn, &c., British Wheat sold, and Average Prices xmI-xVvuI
~ Number of Beasts BOS ey and the Prices realised for them
at the Christmas Markets, since 1843... .. «2. xIxX
Acreage under each description of Crop, Fallow, and Grass ;
and Number of Cattle, Sheep, and Pigs, in Great Britain
_and Ireland, 1881, 1882, and 18838 .. .. .. .. .. XX, XXI
Importations and Average Prices of certain Foreign and
Colonial Productions .. oO he rie XXII
Statistics of Dairy Produce, aad oe Gee Pee >. clr .o Qankt

ARTICLE PAGE
I—The Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883. By
Frederick Clifford, of the. Middle Temple, Barrister-at-

Tawar 9208 7 1:
U.—Improvement of the Plants “of lie os by Henry
Evershed ... a: Lit

Iil.—Some Field ions toot on ae Cros of —— a
Rusper, Horsham. By Bernard Dyer, F.C.S., F.C. .. 118

sa age on the practice of Ensilage, at Home and Abroad.
y H. M. Jenkins, F.G.S., Seoretary of the poten and
Biito: of the ‘Journal’... zo kAG

V.—On the Domestic Veterinary Teams of iiie Gane of
the Farm. By Professor G. T. Brown, of the Agricultural
Department of the Privy Council .. .. 1. .. « 246

VI.—On the Cultivated Potato. By Earl Cathcart .. .. .. 266

VII.—Report on the Competition for Seed Wheat, 1883. By Wm.
Carruthers, F.R.S., Consulting Botanist to the Society .. 800

VIII.—Notes on Cart Horses. By James Howard, M.P., of Clapham
Park, Bedfordshire... so | «OOO

IX.—Reports of the Honorary Cucneine: Tincanoloeiet By
wHleanor A. Ormerod, F.R. Met. Soc., Dunster Lodge, Isle-
worth, near London... . 324

X.—Annual Report of the wae Botanist for 1883, By W.
Carruthers, F.R.S. ae «. 832

iv CONTENTS.

ARTICLE PAGE
XJ.—Report on the Field and Feeding Experiments at Woburn,
conducted on behalf of the Royal Agricultural Society of
England during the year 1883. By Dr. Augustus Voelcker,

F.R.S., Consulting Chemist to the Society aes da) anno

XIJ.—Annual Report of the Consulting Chemist for 1883. By
Dr. Augustus Voelcker ea ve eat

XIII.—Quarterly Reports of the Chemical Re SSS! -.e sone

XIV.—Notes on the Composition of some Samples ‘cf Silage. By
Alfred Smetham, F.C.S., F.1.C., of Liverpool .. .. .. 380

Additions to: the Library in 1883 .. =<. 5. 201) es) en sll

XY.—On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the Experimental
Plots at Rothamsted during the 20 Years, 1864 to 1883,
inclusive. By Sir J. Bennet Lawes, Bart., LL.D., F.R.S.,
and J. H. Gilbert, LL.D., Ph.D., PRSS ode a 391

XVI.—On the Chemistry of Ensilage. By Dr. Augustus Voeloer,
F.R.S., Consulting Chemist to the Society 4

XVII.—On the Quality of Creosote suitable for protecting TA]
poles, Wood Fences, &c., against Decay. By Dr. Augustus
Voelcker, F.R.S., Consulting Chemist to the Society .. 504

XVIII.—The Farm Prize an Cores of 1884. By John Gia,
Vorkge rg, 508

XIX.—Some Observations on Parturition Fever in Ruminants;
commonly recognised in Ewes by the terms “ Heaving”
or “Straining.” By Professor W. Robertson, Principal of
the Royal Veterinary College .. . .. 595

XX.—Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at ace By
Jabez Turner, of Horsington, Horncastle, Senior Steward 609

XXI.—Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.
By William Housman, Cantsfield, Kirkby Lonsdale 2 DLO

XXII.—On the Purification of Water by ‘means of Iron. By W.
Anderson, C.E., M.Inst.M.E., Consulting Engineer to the

Royal Agricultural Society of England... ~iek ae (OO
XXIIL.—Report of the Senior Steward of Implements at Shrewsbury.

By Lord Moreton, M.P., Senior Steward .. . 689
XXIV.—tThe late George Turner. By John Chalmers Morton Rditor

of the ‘ Agricultural Gazette’ .. 691

XXV.—Reports of the Honorary Consulting. Entomologist. By
Eleanor A. Ormerod, F.R. Met. Soc., Dunster Lodge, Isle-
worth, near London... .. 698

XXVI.—Report of the Consulting Botanist. By | W. Casvlipea
F.RS. : : a ci. Samana

CONTENTS. v

APPENDIX.

PAGE
List of Officers of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, 1884 —_—i, xxv
Standing Committees for (a0, 2. Gos at LN DeSevAL:

Report of the Council to the General Meeting, December 13, ‘1883, ;
and May 22, 1884 a ee : V, Xxix
Memoranda of "Meetings, Payment of Subscriptions, &e. ms xi, Ck
Distribution of Members and Council .. xii

Half-yearly Cash Account from 1st July to 31st December, ‘1883, ’
and from 1st January to 30th June, 1884 ore RIV ERK XLY,
Yearly Cash Account from 1st January to 31st December 1883 xvi
Country Meeting Account: York, 1883 a + xviii
List of Stewards and J udges, and ‘Award of Prizes at Shrewsbury xxxvi
Agricultural Education: Examination Papers, 1884 .. .. .. x¢cl
Members’ WGIGTISIEYEEITVHIGOCR: 9 5.8 ck, ads na ate a XX, cv
Members’ Chemical Privileges 4 4 xxl, cil
Guide to the Purchase of Artificial Manures and Feeding Stufis .. SEX clit
Members’ Botanical and Entomological Privileges ool iae” ie OU

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JOURNAL

OF THE

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY
OF ENGLAND.

XV.—On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the Experimental
Plots at Rothamsted during the 20 Years, 1864 to 1883, in-
clusive.- By Sir J. BENNET Lawes, Bart., LL.D., F.R.S., and
J. H. Giupert, LL.D., Ph.D., F.R.S.

Ix the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of 1864 we

published an article on the growth of wheat for 20 years in

succession—1844 to 1863 inclusive—upon the same land. We
have now to record the continuation of these experiments over
a similar period of 20 years—1864 to 1883.

The 20th crop of the first period—grown in 1863—was
much the largest of the whole; and, as will be seen further on,
the first crop of the second period of 20 years, grown in 1864,
was also the largest of the whole; further, these two crops of .
1863 and 1864 were larger than any two crops grown during
any of the other 38 years.

The first period comprised a number of seasons of great
abundance: the second period a number of seasons of very
deficient yield.

In the first period an artificial manure applied continuously
to the same plot of land, produced for 10 years in succession
a crop of 404 bushels per acre: in the second period the same
plot of land, receiving exactly the same manure every year,
only produced 303 bushels, an annual reduction of 10 bushels
per acre for 10 years in succession !

Formerly, when the yield was bad, the farmer obtained com-
pensation in the shape of higher prices for his produce, but in
this case the larger crops of the first period were sold at con-
siderably higher prices than the smaller crops of the second
period. In the first period there was considerable agricultural

VOL. XX.—5. 8. 2D

392 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the — 4

prosperity, while the second period has witnessed a more severe
depression than any that has occurred during the present
century.

An attempt to investigate the growth of wheat under circum-
stances so totally different from any which have ever previously
arisen, could hardly be carried out without the commission
of some errors which experience would have enabled us to
avoid. We now know—if we wish to advance beyond the
question of the best manure to grow one crop of wheat—that
continuity of manuring is of supreme importance. With the
exception of the plot receiving farmyard dung, and the un-
manured plot—neither of which has been altered from the
commencement—there is no plot in the field in which some
change has not taken place in the manure applied during the
early years of the experiment. But in 1851, 7 years after
the experiments were commenced, the manuring of the field
was arranged upon a fixed pian which—with very slight
changes in one or two instances—has been continued up to
the present time.

Upon the plot receiving farmyard dung, and the unmanured
land, no change has taken place during the 40 years ; upon most
of the other plots, which comprise about 16 experiments, no
change has taken place for 32 years.

In our former paper we devoted some time and space to
the purpose of considering, and refuting the views held by
Baron Liebig with respect to the growth of wheat. All con-
troversy in regard to these once celebrated theories has died
out. There is no question at the present time regarding the in-
gredients in which soils cropped repeatedly with corn are gene-
rally deficient ; nor is there any question as to what substances
must be applied with a view to increasing the produce. A
possession of this knowledge enables us to forecast with some
degree of certainty—subject of course to the influence of climate
—what will be the relative yield of the various manures applied
to our experimental crops, for some considerable period in
advance.

Coincident with an increase of knowledge in this direction a
completely new branch of enquiry has sprung up.

Analysis tells us that a very considerable proportion of the
ingredients we apply to grow the crop is not found in the
produce. What has become of this proportion?

Again, the greater part of the crop consists of ingredients
which are not supplied. What is the source of these in-
gredients ?

The carbon, which is the source of heat in our fires, is taken
out of the soil in the form of coal. If we increase the carbon

7

ar wh

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 393

of our crops by means of artificial manures, which do not
supply any carbon, does the increase also come out of the soil?

If it does, the artificial manures will cease to be effective
when all the carbon is exhausted.

Analyses of the water passing through a cultivated field show
that while one very important and costly manure ingredient is
there in abundance, there are others which are only there in
very minute quantities.

Here, then, is a large field of investigation opened.

The soil itself, without external aid from fertilising matter,
appears to be capable of producing much more growth than it
was formerly credited with, and at the present time, when the
provisions for compensation under the Agricultural Holdings
Acts involve a distinction between the fertility which is the
property of the landlord, and that which belongs to the tenant,
investigations which have a direct bearing upon these questions
must be both interesting and instructive. While therefore the
previous paper dwelt more especially upon the influence of the
manure upon the crop, the present article will enter more fully
into the question of the action which takes place beneath the soil.

We propose to follow the same plan which was adopted on
the previous occasion, of giving a short outline of the character

of the weather of each year, illustrating its influence upon the

crop by a selection of the produce from plots that have been
differently manured.

Since the publication of our paper upon the growth of wheat
for 20 years in succession, we have published two articles in
this Journal; one, in 1868, relating to the average yield of our
wheat crops from 1852 to 1868; and the other, in 1880, under.
the title of “Our Climate and our Wheat Crops,” where we
traced the character of the climate of several years in which the
crops grown were remarkable, either for being very large, or
very poor in their yield; it will therefore be less necessary to
dwell at any length upon the character of the climate of each
separate season, although the subject could not very well be
altogether omitted.

Twenty-first Season, 1863-64.

October, November, and December 1863, were warmer than
usual, with upon the whole rather less than the average
amount of rain. Jauuary and February 1864, though including
some abnormally warm intervals, embraced longer periods of
very cold and wintry weather, which checked forward vegeta-
tion ; there was considerably less than the average fall of rain in
January, and a very slight fall, including snow, in February. In

2D 2

394 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the

March the rainfall was large—the first half of the month gene-
rally warm, the latter half cold—and, upon the whole, the quarter
had been very variable but colder than usual with many alterna-
tions from frost to thaw. April and May were for the most part
warm, with less than the average amount of rain; but the end
of May and nearly the whole of June were comparatively cold,
with little rain. In July and August there was less rain than
is usual in these months, but an excess in September. The
day temperature generally ranged high in July, but about the
average in August and September; whilst the night tempera-
ture was somewhat below the average in July, much below in
August, and about the average in September. In June and
July the dew point was below, and in August very much below
the average. The degree of humidity of the air was in June
low, in July about the average, and in August considerably below
the average.

Thus the winter was very variable, including a good deal of
warm, but also much very cold and wintry weather, though with
comparatively little rain. The spring, though changeable and
wet at the beginning, was, upon the whole, warm and dry ; June
was cold and dry, whilst the rest of the summer was hot in the
day and cold at night, with very little rain, and in August
especially a very dry atmosphere.

Taste I.—Summary of the Resuttrs of the Twenty-First SEASON,
1863-64.

| Preduce per Acre, &c.

Manures. Dressed Corn.

Plots. (Quantities per Acre.) Te ea TT | Detail) Sar

Weight | Corn.
Quantity.! per
Bushel.

‘i ake lbs. lbs. Ibs.
3 Unmanured a 6s), Go") tae) tae del G lee 7
2 14 tons farmyard- manure .. 40 0} 62:5
10a | 400 lbs, ammonium-salts alone = 86 lbs. N.| 32 03} 61°8 | 2093 | 2832
di
0
0

98 | 550 lbs, nitrate of soda alone = 86 lbs. N. | 33 1] 61°
5a & B | Mixed mineral manure alone .. 16 38! 62:
an Mixed mineral manure, and . nae
Ga & >| 200 lbs. ammonium-salts = 43 ibs, N, “yl 31 0%) 62

{| Mixed mineral manure, and .. = err label 4

{| 400 lbs, ammonium- -salta = 86 Ibs, N. 5 45 83) 63-1 | 8000 | 4970
P Mixed mineral manure, and .. : “il
- { 500 Ibs. nitrate of soda = 86 lbs. N. a
\
3

| Mixed mineral manure, and .. ;

600 lbs. ammonium- -salts = = 129)lbs. N.
Estimated average for the United sari a
reckoned at 61 Ibs. per bushel .. .. .. J!

49 33) 63°5 | 3292 | 5588

35 1 61

[pn nnn ee aera nnn EUR

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 395

Although the weather was generally too hot and dry for the
lighter class of soils, the crop was a very large one on those
of a heavier character. The plot manured with minerals and
nitrate of soda exceeded 50 bushels per acre, and we have
therefore the remarkable fact that, in two consecutive years, a
crop of over 50 bushels per acre has been grown upon land
which has received only artificial manures for more than twenty
years.

Twenty-second Season, 1864-65.

After a rather wet September, but a very low aggregate rain-
fall during the first 9 months of the year, the concluding quarter
of 1864 was also characterised by less rain than usual. The
deficiency was very considerable in October and December,
though there was rather an excess in November. As to tempe-
rature, the period was very variable, with a good deal of cold
weather. There were occasionally very high winds; whilst the
degree of humidity of the air was unusually low in October,
and also somewhat low in November and December. In
January, 1865, there was a considerable, and in February a
slight excess, but in March a deficiency of rain (including
snow), though, throughout the quarter, the number of rainy
days was small. Excepting the first half of January, the greater
' part of which was warm, the quarter was almost throughout
unusually stormy and cold, with a good deal of snow; March in
particular was generally exceptionally cold and inclement. In
April and June very little rain fell; whilst in May and July
there was an excess, and in August a very great excess. In
September, however, the rainfall was exceptionally small. April,
May, and the beginning of June, were much warmer than
the average, but the remainder of June was variable, and,
upon the whole, rather cold. The mean temperature of the
quarter, and especially of April, was, however, the highest on
record for that period of the year; and the air was uniformly
much drier than the average, as the rain which fell was not
much distributed, but came for the most part in heavy showers.
July, with an excess of rain, was also warmer than usual. The
greater part of August was not only extremely wet, but also
rather colder than usual; whilst September was both the driest
and hottest on record, and—notwithstanding the comparatively
low temperature of August—the average heat over the whole
period of six months has never been equalled. In each month
too (excepting August, when it was very high) the degree of
humidity of the air was generally low.

The winter of 1864-5, though variable, was therefore, upon

396 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the

the whole, very cold, stormy, and inclement, and the early
spring was unusually cold and backward. Later in the spring
the weather became very warm with a dry atmosphere, and
towards the end, some heavy rains fell. The combined condi-
tions brought the crops very rapidly forward. June was also dry,
hot at the beginning, though afterwards comparatively cool ; July
was hot, with a good deal of rain, but, upon the whole, a dry
atmosphere ; the greater part of August was cool and very wet, but
the remainder, and September, very hot and dry, favouring the
rapid completion of the hitherto much retarded harvest work.
Thus, after a severe winter and late spring, the growing period
was characterised by great heat, dryness of atmosphere, and a
deficient amount and iactesdsniaet of rain; the ripening period
by an excess of rain, followed, however, by an eventually favour-
able, though late harvest time.

hh i

Taste IJ.—Summary of the Resutrs of the Twenty-secoyp SEAsoy,
1864-65.

Produce per Acre, &c.

Manures. Dressed Corn.

(Quantities per Acre.) | Total | a
Weight | Corn. Chaff.
Quantity.. per | } 3

Plots.

; bush. pks. — Ibs. Ibs.
3 Unmanured.. . oo. oe Sx ae y'l Slee RAs
2 14 tons farmyard-manure A 37 03) 61°5 | 2384
104 | 400 lbs, ammonium-salts alone — 86 Ibs. Ni 25 02) 59:6 | 1649 | 2385
98 | 550 Ibs. nitrate of soda alone = 86 lbs. N. | 29 23; 59°5 | 2005 | 3137
9
9
6

| 3100

54 & B | Mixed mineral manure alone .. .. .. | 14 O02 60° 1176
Mixed mineral manure, and

|
a
ae af 200 lbs. ammonium-salts = 43 Ibs. N, } 24 3%). 60 | 1605 | oa
ae Mixed mineral manure, and .. x xen |
ia & 2 400 Ibs. ammonium-salts — 86 Ibs. N. . 2 et seis | xex
Mixed mineral manure,and .. .. .. earl 9
o { 550 Ibs. nitrate of soda = 86 lbs. N. \ 4% 02 Sh / atic | ae
o Mixed mineral manure, and . hel —
8a & > 600 lbs. ammonium-salts = = 129 Ibs. N. \ 43 23) 61-4 | 2833 | 4600
Estimated ayerage for the United Kingdom
reckoned at 61 Ibs. per bushel... . m} oe ee

The wheat crop of 1865, although much inferior to that of
the two preceding years, was still above the average. The
highest produce in the field was on the Mixed Mineral Manure
and Nitrate Plot, which yielded 44 bushels per acre, weighing
61 lbs. per bushel. The plot receiving farmyard dung gave
37 bushels per acre, which is considerably above the average
of this plot.

ae
_
“ .
‘

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 397

Twenty-third Season, 1865-66.

The very warm and dry weather of September, 1865, extended
through the first week of October, and, although there were a
few cold intervals, the temperatures of the three concluding
months of the year ruled higher than the average, December
especially being unusually warm. The period included how-
ever very great fluctuations in barometric pressure, and some
extremely severe storms of wind; whilst in October an ex-
cessive, in November a full, but in December a deficient
amount of rain fell. January and the first half of February
(1866) were also unusually warm, though in January there
was a heavy fall of snow, which however rapidly thawed, and
the whole period was very wet. A cold and drier period then
set in, and extended to the middle of March, checking the
hitherto much too forward vegetation. After this, to the end of
the quarter, the temperatures, though variable, ruled, upon the
whole, very high, and there was a full amount of rain. The
beginning of April was cold and rather wet, and the remainder
considerably warmer and drier than the average. May was,
throughout, unusually cold both by day and night, and there was
a deficiency of rain. June was changeable, but included a good
deal of hot weather, which raised the mean temperature above
the average, and during the month a considerable excess of rain
fell. The beginning of July was cold and wet; then followed a
week of hot and dry weather, but, from about the middle of the
month to nearly the end of September, the weather, with the
exception of a few short intervals, was generally cold, with
a good deal of rain and wind in August, and an excessive, and
almost continuous fall in September. October was, however,
upon the whole, warmer and drier than usual. In June, July,
August, September, and October the degree of humidity of the
air was generally high.

Thus, after a very wet and comparatively warm autumn, ie
winter was, until the middle of February, unusually warm, with
a great deal of rain, inducing premature luxuriance of grass and
winter sown crops; then camea month of cold and dry weather,
checking growth. The remainder of the spring was at first very
variable, but May was unusually cold and dry. The early
summer was changeable, but mostly warm, with a good deal of
rain; and the ripening and harvest periods were almost con-
tinuously cold and rainy, with a moist atmosphere, but with
occasional high and drying winds.

The wheat crop of 1866 was one of inferior yield under all
the different classes of manures, the highest produce of any one
plot not reaching 33 bushels ; while the estimated yield of the

_- ae
y=

~

398 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the

crop of the country was 25 bushels per acre, calculated upon a
a weight of 61 lbs.

Tas iE I]].—Summary of the Resutts of the Twenry-THrrp mse

1865-66.
Produce per Acre, &c.
Manures. Dressed Corn.

Plots. (Quantities per Acre.) Total ee
Weight | Corn. Chaff.
Quantity.) per 7

Bushel.
bush pks.| Ibs. “| lbs. lbs.
3 Unmanured.. . or) coon Coot ten (LZ (OF) 261° Sel eiiineos
2 14 tons farmyard-manure = 32 23 61-7 | 2070 | 4058

10a | 400 Ibs. ammonium-salts alone = = 86 Ibs.N.| 26 1 61:2 | 1693 | 2792
9s | 550 Ibs. nitrate of soda alone = 86 lbs. N. | 30 3] 59-9 | 1979 | 4682

5A & B | Mixed mineral manure alone .. .. .. | 13 1 60°9 838 | 1465

Mixed mineral manure, and .. Ges

200 Ibs. ammonium-salts = 43 Ibs. N.

Mixed mineral manure, and

400 lbs. ammonium- -salts = = 86 Ibs. N.

{
9a Mixed mineral manure, and 3 32 2! 60:6 | 2061 | 5316
oy

550 Ibs. nitrate of soda = 86 Ibs. N.
Mixed mineral manure, and .
| 600 lbs. ammonium-salts = 129 ‘Tbs. N.

Estimated average for the United Kingdom
reckoned 61 lbs. per bushel

Twenty-fourth Season, 1866-67.

The concluding quarter of 1866 was generally warmer than
the average, though it included some cold intervals. There was
somewhat less than the usual aggregate amount of rain, though
a good deal fell within a short interval about the middle of
November, causing floods, and hindering autumn sowing in
some localities. In January, 1867, the fluctuations were very
great; extreme cold and heavy falls of snow, alternating with
rapid thaws, warm weather, heavy gales, and a good deal of
rain, The last week of January and almost the whole of
February were unusually warm, with a large amount of rain
at the beginning, and a moderate quantity over the rest of the
period. March, again, was almost to the conclusion very cold
and wintry, with a good deal of snow. Throughout the quarter
there was a succession of gales and wind. Owing to the severe
weather of March, the growth of winter sown crops was checked ;
and owing partly to the wet, and partly to the frost, the pre-
paration of the land for spring sowing was much retarded.
April, and the beginning of May, were very unsettled ; stormy,
rainy, and changeable as to temperature, but, on the average,

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 399

warmer than usual. Later in May, besides some very warm
weather, there was a longer period that was extremely cold, with
a dry atmosphere, and frosty nights, which much checked vege-
tation, though, during the month, there was rather more than the
average fall of rain. June was comparatively dry, very change-
able as to temperature, but on the average colder than usual.
The cold weather continued throughout July and the beginning
of August, and the period was generally sunless and cloudy,
with an excess of rain in July, which fell very heavily towards
the end of the month. The crops in consequence were much
laid, and in some cases were inundated. The remainder of
August, and September, were much finer, and rather warmer
than the average, though there was more than the average fall
of rain, which however was not much distributed, but fell for
the most part in considerable quantities at a time.

Thus, the early winter was, upon the whole, warmer and drier
than usual ; then came intervals of severe frost, snow, and heavy
gales, followed by several weeks of very warm weather, with a
good deal of rain. The early spring was very wintry and
stormy, and growth and spring sowing were alike retarded.
Later on the temperature was very changeable, being at first
warmer, afterwards unseasonably cold, and frequently stormy
and rainy. The rest of the growing, as well as the early
ripening period, was changeable, though for the most part
‘ unseasonably cold, cloudy, and sunless, with a great deal of
rain, and occasionally very heavy falls which much laid
the crops. The harvest-time, though late and including
some heavy rains, was however upon the whole not unfa-
vourable for the greater portion of the Midland, Southern, and
Eastern districts.

With a wet autumn, a winter alternately very mild and very
severe, a spring with alternations of extreme heat, cold, frost,
and wet, and a summer with a good deal of sunless weather, and
occasional violent storms of wind and rain which laid the crops,
the conditions were certainly not of a nature to justify the ex-
pectation of a productive harvest. Yet, both before and after
the favourable change at harvest time, some writers in the
‘Times’ gave very sanguine views of the crops of the country
at large. The records in the agricultural papers were, however,
much less favourable, and the results obtained at Rothamsted
led us to the conclusion that the general wheat crop would not
be less than 20 per cent. below an average. Subsequent
experience showed that this unfavourable estimate was only too
well founded.

After the record of the climate of 1866-7 a good wheat crop
could not be expected. Violent changes from heat to cold—

.

400 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the

the latter predominating—accompanied by much rain, are not
fayourable to growth.

Taste [V.—Summary of the Resvirs of the TwEnry-rourtH Szason,

1866-67.
Produce per Acre, &c.
Manures. Dressed Corn.
Plots. (Quantities per Acre.) ; Total Pew
Weight | Corn. Chaff
Quantity.| per 4
Bushel.

bush, pks.| Ibs. lbs. lbs.

3 Unmanured . ec SI ME ee 8 33] 56°11) 532 | -973
2 14 tons farmyard- manure .. 27 23} 61°4 | 1755 | 3136

10a | 400 lbs. ammonium-salts alone = = 86 Ibs. N. 18 03 57°9 | 1123 | 2023
9p | 550 lbs. nitrate of soda alone = 86 lbs. N. | 22 03) 57:4 | 1892 | 3246
5a & B | Mixed mineral manure alone .. Sot 59°4 580 | 1033
Mixed mineral manure, and _ . H
| 200 1bs;.ammonium:salts, =43'Ibs, IN; 15 3 | 60°5 | 1008 | 17238
Mixed mineral manure, and ..
400 lbs. ammonium-salts = 86 lbs. N.

3
“|
9A { Mixed mineral manure, and_.. _
uy}
a}

22 03) 61-0 | 1417 | 2762
29 03! 59-9 | 1855 | 4918
30 13! 60-7 | 1952 | 4196

| 21 01! 61-0

550 lbs. nitrate of soda = 86 lbs. N.
Mixed mineral manure, and.
600 lbs. ammonium-salts = 129 Ibs. N.

Estimated average for the United Kingdom
reckoned at 61 Ibs. per bushel ..

We had both on the unmanured plot—as also on all the other
plots, no matter what description of manure had been applied—
a low yield. ‘The unmanured produce was less than 9 bushels
per acre, and, except in the spring sown crop of 1853, no such
low produce has been obtained. The highest produce in the
field was below 31 bushels, and the average yield of the crop
of the country was estimated at 21 bushels, of the calculated
weight of 61 Ibs.

Twenty-fifth Season, 1867-68.

October, 1867, was very variable as to temperature, upon
the whole colder than usual, with comparatively little rain, but
occasional high winds. ‘There was unusually little rain in
November, and the weather was for the most part clear but cold,
and very favourable for working the land and sowing. December
was characterised by great and rapid variations of temperature
and barometric pressure, with some extremely heavy gales ;
occasionally frost, snow, and sleet, at other times very warm
weather; in the aggregate there was a full amount of rain, and
throughout the month agricultural operations were much im-

/

ee - ‘J - =

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, JSrom 1864 to 1883. 401

peded. The first eleven days of January, 1868, were very cold ;
but from that time to the end of the quarter (indeed to the end
of the summer), the weather was unusually warm. ‘There was
a considerable excess of rain, and there were several gales of
wind in January ; but only a moderate amount of rain fell in
February and March. In these months vegetation became very
forward, and the weather was generally favourable for working
the land and for spring sowing. April, May, and June, again,
were all considerably warmer than the average. The average
temperature of April had, however, frequently, and that of each of
the other months occasionally been exceeded in the corresponding
months of other years; but the average temperature of the three
months together had only. once been exceeded in any corre-
sponding three months for 98 years (the period for which
records are available), namely, in 1865, when, though April
was hotter, May and June were not quite so hot as in 1868.
The average temperature of the whole period, from the
middle of January to the end of June, was only exceeded in
1822. Concurrently with this long continued warm weather,
there was a great excess of rain in January, and only a
moderate amount in February and March; there was a small
excess in April, a deficiency in May, and a very great de-
ficiency in June. Temperatures in excess of the average also

_prevailed almost continuously throughout the succeeding quarter,

namely, to the end of September. July, in particular, was
excessively warm, with at the same time a great and continued
deficiency of rain; August was also warmer than the average,
but with a good deal of rain; and September was still warmer
than August, with a deficiency of rain. In no year of the
previous 98 had the temperature so far exceeded the average
for so long a corresponding period, as that from the middle .
of January to the end of September of this year, 1868. The
total rainfall of the nine months was not much below the
average ; but the amount which fell was excessive in January,
as also in April and in August, whilst it was deficient in each
of the other months of the period, and more especially in those
of the greatest heat, namely May, June, and July. The degree
of humidity of the atmosphere was also lower than the average
in each of the nine months from January to September inclu-
sive, especially in June, still lower in July, and considerably
lower in August and September.

The characters of this extraordinary season may be briefly
summarised as follows :—After a favourable autumn seed time,
the first half of the winter was very variable, including some very
warm, but more stormy, wet, snowy and frosty weather. From
that time to after harvest, the temperature was almost always

402 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the

above the average, and very greatly so in the summer months of
June and July ; whilst, after a favourable spring seed time, there
was a sufficiency of rain in April to give a fair start to early-
sown crops; but, from that time until the harvest was nearly
over, throughout the Midland, Southern, and Eastern districts of
the country, the excessively high temperature was accompanied
by a drought of unusual severity, both as regards the length
of its duration, and the great deficiency of rain, while at the
same time the atmosphere was very dry.

With the favourable autumn seed time, the area under wheat
was over the average. In the spring the plant was generally
good, the harvest was very early, and finally the crop was
reported to be considerably above the average in both quantity
and quality on good and well-farmed soils; on light and poorly
farmed land, on the other hand, the crop suffered much from
the heat and drought. Still, the aggregate wheat crop of the
country was supposed to be about 20 per cent. over the
average in quantity, and also of above average quality.

Taste V.—Summary of the Resuutts of the TwrEnry-FIFTH SEASON,

| Mixed mineral manure, and

= ; 9
600 lbs. ammonium- -salts = = 129 lbs. Ny | 46 2 62°0 | 2982 | 4808

1867-68.
Produce per Acre, &c.
Manures. Dressed Corn.
coe (Quantities per Acre.) | Total Say
Weight | Corn. | qyagp
Quantily.| per’ -<
Bushel.
ie r ; bush. pis, Ibs. Ibs. lbs.
3 Unmanured.. . sa fyecy ew, ow |) LO. 2 e650 ear) ance
2 14 tons farmyard- manure .. 41 3] 61°6 | 2604 | 4190
10a | 400 lbs, ammonium-salts alone — = 86 Tbs. N. 24 3) 61:9 | 1627 | 2163
9p | 550 lbs. nitrate of soda alone = 86lbs.N. | 27 1] 62:0 | 1799 | 2742
54 & B | Mixed mineralmanurealone .. 17 24) 62°8 | 1135 | 1346
Mixed mineral manure, and ee 1 ar rm
Ga of 200 lbs. ammonium-salts = 43 lbs. N. | 28 12) 62-8 | 1835 | 2569
| Mixed mineral manure, and. :
—_ a 400 lbs. ammonium- -salta = 86 lbs. N. 39 33) 611 | 2468 | S849
9 \ Mixed mineral manure, and
A

Estimated average for the United Kingdom)|

reckoned at 61 Ibs. per bushel . 3f 0) 61:0

ray atte Ay 4 ~
550 lbs. nitrate of soda = 86 Ibs. N. 24 47 33| 61°1 | 2970 | 5180

Although considerably higher yields have been obtained
upon some plots than those which were grown this year, still,
the yield from all the different manured plots has rarely been
exceeded ; the mean obtained, 34 bushels, confirming the verdict
of the country regarding the general excellence of the crop.

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 403

Twenty-sixth Season, 1868-69.

The extraordinary warm period of nearly nine months’ dura~
tion ended with September 1868. October and November were
throughout, with very few exceptions, colder than usual both by
day and night ; whilst in October there was a deficiency of rain,
and in November a very great deficiency. December, on the
other hand, was almost throughout very much warmer than
the average, with a great excess of rain, some violent gales
of wind, very variable, but, upon the whole, very low barometric
pressures, and a high degree of humidity of the atmosphere. The
average temperature of December had indeed been exceeded
only twice during the preceding ninety-eight years; namely,
in 1806 and 1852. With the exception of a week after the
middle of January (1869), the very warm period continued until
the end of February, completing three winter months of average
temperature about 6 degrees higher than the average of ninety-
eight years. There was, again, a considerable excess of rain in
January, and a slight excess in February. March, on the con-
trary, was several degrees colder than the average, with about,
or less than, the average amount of rain. Early in April warm
weather set in, and lasted till nearly the end of the month, the
temperature during this period being several degrees higher
- than the average, whilst the fall of rain was generally under

the average. May and June were, with few exceptions of short
duration, very much colder than the average. ‘Towards the end
of May the cold was very extreme for the season, the greater
part of June was also unusually cold, both by day and night ;
and in May there was a considerable excess, though in June a
deficiency, of rain. Early in July there was again a change to
warm weather, which lasted till the end of the month, during
which there was very little rain. The first three weeks of
August were unseasonably cold and showery, though the total
amount of rain was comparatively small; but the concluding
week of the month was very bright and hot. Then came a
short period of cold weather, but the remainder of Septem-
ber was warm though stormy, with a good deal of rain. In
April, May, and June, the degree of humidity of the air ranged
high, especially in May; in July it was about the average, but
in August and September it was below it.

To sum up the characters of the season: The heat and drought
of the spring and summer of 1868 were followed by a warm
and dry September, and a cold and dry October and November
provided a good autumn seed-time. The three winter months
were very warm and—December and January especially—very
wet, which brought the autumn sown crops rapidly forward, and

404 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the

provided an unusual amount of winter grazing, which greatly
compensated for the previous deficiency. Owing to the con-
dition of the land, spring sowing was retarded. The weather
in March was both dry and cold, and in consequence vegeta-
tion was much checked; a rapid recovery however took place
under the influence of very warm, though somewhat dry,
weather in April. The remainder of the spring was very cold,
and also wet; June, again, for the most part. was cold, and
July warm ; most of August was cold, but the latter part of the
month and September were hot, while the summer was com-
paratively dry, though the harvest-time was somewhat unsettled.

Taste VI.—Summary of the Resutts of the Twenry-stxta Season,

1868-69.
Produce per Nerd! &e.
| -
Mauures. Dressed Corn.
Plots. (Quantities per Acre.) 7) se | Total Sita
Weight | Corn. Chaff.
Quantity.) per
Bushel.
i ‘bush. pks.| Ibs. me lbs. lbs.
3 Unmanured.. . cele critys celta ab phe? Glee chloe ail coos ees
2 14 tons farmyard-1 manure .. 38 1 | 56:9 | 2256 | 3937
10a | 400 Ibs, ammonium-salts alone = 86 Ibs. N.| 20 1 | 54:9 | 1210 | 2265
9p | 550 lbs. nitrate of soda alone = 86 Ibs. N. | 24 03) 54:6 | 1452 | 3475

0
54 & B | Mixed mineral manure alone .. 15. 3} -56°9.| 942 | 1601
| Mixed mineral manure, and .. = ra
{| 3 200 Ibs. ammonium-salts = 43 lbs. N. “fl 23) 57:25) BOD. 4 2265
Mixed mineral manure,and ..
400 lbs. ammonium- -salts = 86 lbs, N. tt
9A { Mixed mineral manure, and _ .. 4 39

550 lbs. nitrate of soda — 86 Ibs. N. 39 0 | 57-1 | 2868 | 4930
_.,{ Mixed mineral manure, and. .
Sak B | 600 lbs. ammonium-salts = 129 lbs. N. bt 8 57°2 | 2096 | 3918
Estimated average for the United Kingdom 27 01 61:0

reckoned at 61 lbs. per bushel .

The extreme fluctuations of temperature which marked this
season are visible in the very low quality of the produce: in
only one experiment does the weight of the bushel reach 58 lbs.,
while the yield of the crop generally was large, and even when
calculated upon a standard of 61 lbs. per bushel, was slightly
over an average.

Twenty-seventh Season, 1869-70,

Until the middle of October the autumn of 1869 was for the
most part warm, with a good deal of rain. From that time until
the end of the year the weather—though including some rapid

i

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 405

fluctuations, some very warm days, and a warm period of more
than a week in the middle of December—was very cold and in-
clement, and especially wintry towards the end of October. There
were numerous gales throughout the quarter; while there was
less rain than usual in October, about the average in November,
and a considerable excess in December. The falls were heavy
and continuous at the end of November, and again in the middle
of December ; while the drains in the experimental wheat-field
ran frequently from November 28th, 1869, to January Ist, 1870.
The first three months of 1870 were characterised by frequent
alternations of warm, and very cold weather—the colder periods
being, however, much the longer, and sometimes very severe ;
snow was very frequent, but the rain gauge indicated a deficient
fall in January, in some localities a deficiency in February, but
a very heavy fall early in the month, and an excess in March.
From early in April to near the end of the month the weather
was very warm and dry ; then followed about a fortnight of cold
and cloudy weather, from which time until nearly the end of
June it was again very warm, sunny, and dry—the three months
together being not only warmer than the average, but very
unusually deficient in rain. The day temperature especially
was high, though the night temperature in April and May was
low, but in June high. The end of June and the beginning of

_ July were cold and variable, but the remainder—indeed, nearly

the whole of July, as well as the first half of August—was very
warm. Then, to the end of September, a period of about six
weeks, the temperature was generally below the average, though
the weather continued fine. Thus, the period of drought, which
had commenced with April, continued to nearly the end of
August, and even in September there was less than the average.
fall of rain. The large deficiency of rain throughout five con-
secutive months was, moreover, accompanied by great dryness
of atmosphere—the degree of humidity of the air being in
April unusually low, and in May, June, July, and August, also
considerably below the average.

The autumn of 1869, though, as the details show, frequently
cold, boisterous, and inclement was upon the whole not un-
favourable for getting in the seed. The winter, though change-
able, included a great deal of very cold weather. In the early
spring both field-work and vegetation were very backward, and
at the end of April grass land was very brown and bare. From
the beginning of April until harvest the weather—with few ex-
ceptions of short duration—was warmer than usual, with a great
deficiency of rain, and a very dry atmosphere.

The combined heat and drought were even more extreme
during the months of May, June, and July 1868, than during

406 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the

the corresponding months in 1870; but in the latter year the
deficiency of rain commenced a month earlier, and continued
later than in 1868. The grass crops in consequence suffered
much more in 1870; and, for a parallel, we must go back as
far as 1844. As in the two preceding years (1868 and 1869),
the reports of the cereal crops of the country were very variable,
but for very opposite reasons in the years of heat and drought,

1868 and 1870, as compared with 1869.

Taste VI1.—Svummary of the Resutts of the TweENnTyY-SEVENTH SEASON,

1869-70.
Produce per Acre, &c,
Manures. Dressed Corn.

Plots. (Quantities per Acre.) Te [so Dna | |p obet —
| Weight | Corn. Chaff.
Quantity.! per ‘

| Bushel.
Wack pke. Ibs. Ibs. Tbs.
3 Unmanured . oo ae ele oe | 14> BE) FELS84I) 95671046
2 14 tons farmyard-manure ve 36 2] 63:4 | 2359 | 2733

10a | 400 lbs. ammonium-salts alone = = 86 lbs. N. 21 22) 60°8 | 1420 | 1627
9p | 550 lbs. nitrate of soda alone = 86 lbs. N. | 26 12, 61°3 | 1735 | 2080
5a & B | Mixed mineral manure alone .. 18 22) 62°6 | 1203 | 1360
Mixed mineral manure, and ;
{ 200 lbs, ammonium-salts = 43 ‘Tbs. N. +) 30 19, 63:1 | 1980 | 2354
{ Mixed mineral manure, and . “J
400 lbs, ammonium- -salts = 86 ibs. N.
9A { Mixed mineral manure, and

40 22) 63:3 | 2620 | 3216

B50 Tbs mibrate of soda = 66 Ibs. N. | 45 2) 62°7 | 2940 | 3911

Mixed mineral manure, and 7

600 lbs. ammonium-salts = 129 Tbs. N. 45 1 63°8 | 2966 | 3667

Estimated average for the United Kingdom 30 0 61:0

reckoned at 61 lbs, per bushel ..

Although the yield of wheat in this exceedingly dry season
was lower than in 1868, the weight of the grain was considerably
higher, reaching in one experiment nearly 64 Ibs. per bushel.

The ravages of wireworm were very general throughout the
country ; this considerably reduced the yield of the crop, which
otherwise would have been a large one,

Twenty-eighth Season, 1870-71.

In October 1870 the changes of temperature were very
frequent, giving however about the average for the month; and
there was a slight excess of rain. The first 19 days of November
were for the most part cold, while the remainder was warm,
but the average for the month was low, and there was a con-

ask ta be

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 407

siderable deficiency of rain. There were about 10 days of very |

warm weather in the middle of December, but the beginning
and end of the month were cold; the latter extremely so, with a
good deal of snow and cold wind ; the average for the month
was 5 or 6 degrees below the average for 99 years; and the rain
and melted snow indicated a considerable excess of fall. January
1871, with the exception of a few days in the middle of the
month, was cold; and at the beginning, and for nearly a fort-
night at the end, the weather was extremely severe. From early
in February until the middle of March the weather was very
mild, but from thence to the end of the month the temperature
was very variable. There was a full amount of rain (or snow) in
January, but a deficiency in both February and March; though
the melting of the snows of January, succeeded by ‘frequent
rains early “in February, caused floods in many parts. April,
May, and June were—with the exception of the latter half of
April, which was warm, with a good deal of south-west wind and
rain—unusually cold, with a great deal of east or north wind, or
some compound of the two; and there was an excess of rain
in April and June but a deficiency in May; June especially
being very unseasonably cold and wet. July, excepting about a
week after the middle of the month, was cold, with a con-

siderable excess of rain; but, from early in August to about the

middle of September, there was a period of six weeks of warm
and genial weather, from which time till the end of September,
it was again very cold, wet, and stormy. August was not only
warm, but there was very little rain, whilst in September there
was, towards the end of the month, a great excess of rain. The

degree of humidity of the air was high in April and June, rather .

high in July, rather low in May, very low in August, and low
in “September.

The autumn of 1870 was thus changeable as to temperature,
being upon the whole, cold; wet prevailed during the first half
of September, and also of October, but afterwards the weather
was comparatively dry and favourable for field work. The
greater part of the winter was extremely severe, with a good
deal of snow and very cold winds; the remainder was mild
and very wet, retarding field work and spring sowing. Winter
corn was very backward, and in many cases injured, pastures
were bare, and vegetables very scarce. The hard winter had,
however, killed many insects, and March was favourable for
field work and sowing; but, with the exception of the latter
half of April, the remainder of the spring was cold and back-
ward. The rest of the active growing period, excepting one or
two intervals of short duration, was cold, bleak, and very wet.

In the greater part of England, however, August and the early

MOL XX.-—S. S, 258

408 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat onthe ~

part of September being warm and dry, much aided the ripen-
ing and getting in of the crops ; but the latter half of September
was cold and wet.

Taste VIII.—Summary of the Resurts of the Twenty-r1gHTH SEAsoN,

1870-71.
| Produce per Acre, &c.
Manures. Dressed Corn,
Plots. aa . : St
G) (Quantities per Acre.) | wana Total ) at
Suan. per oo
Bushel. |
bush. nie Ibs. ‘| Ibs, j _ Ibs.
38 Unmanured . os os, age oo DL eS |
2 14 tons farmyard- -manure .. 38 33 60-0 | 2498 | 4506
10a | 400 lbs. ammonium-salts alone — 86 Ibs. N. 10 03 53:8 | 675 | 1252
9p | 550 Ibs. nitrate of soda alone = 86 lbs. N. 17 23 52°4 1093 | 2425
54 & B | Mixed mineral manure alone .. ... | T“3ar 56°6 | 2773) ase
| Mixed mineral manure,and . s
Ga & af 200 lbs. ammonium- -salta = 43 Ibs, N. a. A 72 Sa | at
+. ¢ .{| Mixed mineral manure,and . ) = .
it a 400 Ibs. ammonium-salts = 86 Ibs. N. ..f) 2% 1 | 96°7 | 1612 | 3085
| Mixed mineral manure,and_ .._.. Us
a { 550 Ibs. nitrate of soda = 86 Ibs. N oF a, Oe ) 4909
| Mixed mineral manure, and * = dew Pol
Boe of 600 Ibs. ammonium-salts = 129 Ibs. N. ‘} BT) ae GT ae ee
Estimated average for the United Kingdom)| 24 0. 61:0
reckoned at 61 Ibs. per bushel .. sia :

Both in quantity and quality the wheat crop of this season
was much below an average. The dunged land, which yielded
nearly 39 bushels, weighing 60 lbs. per bushels, shows, what
may be noticed generally throughout the experiments, that
while the crop upon the dunged land is able to resist the influ-
ence of bad weather better than those grown by artificial manures,
it cannot, under very favourable weather, attain the produce
which is reached by the crops receiving artificial manures.

The estimated produce of the selected experiments gives

24 bushels per acre, at 61 lbs. per bushel.

Twenty-ninth Season, 1871-72.

October, November, and December, were all months of
excessive cold, with very little rainfall. Mr. Glaisher observed
that the quarter had been remarkable for the longest con-
tinuance of low temperature in November, and the first half of
December, that had occurred in this century,

This was followed by nearly three months of very warm
weather, which lasted until the middle of March. The 17th of

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 409

March was 934 degrees above the average, and the 21st was
12 degrees below it. October, November, and December, were
dry months, while in January and March the rainfall was in
excess. April was a warm month. All the month of May and
the first half of June were cold, the remainder of June was
warm. ‘The rainfall was below the average in April and June,
but rather above it in May. The first week in July was
excessively hot ; this was followed by ten days of cold weather,
after which came eleven days of very great heat. August was
cold and wet, while the rainfall in July was slightly below the
average. In August and September frequent and heavy rains,
and thunder-storms, interrupted harvest operations,

Taste IX.—Summary of the Resuitrs of the Twenry-nintH SEason,
1871-72.

Produce per Acre, &c.

Manures. Dressed Corn,

Plots. | ~- (Quantities per Acre.) a yi | Total Straw

| | Weight | Corn. -

Quantity., _ per Chaff.
| B

ushel.
a ‘bush.pks.| Ibs. | Ibs. | Ibs.
3 Unmanured.. . aie aby wn oe [OQ (28) 250 - ORine fOon elon
2 14 tons farmyard-manure aS 32 123) 60°7 | 2046 | 3761
10a | 400 Ibs. ammonium-salts alone = ~ 86 Ibs. N. 18 0| 56°8 | 1178 | 2442
9B | 550 Ibs. nitrate of soda alone = 86 los. N. | 23 12) 55-5 | 1434 | 3210
5A & B | Mixed mineral manure alone .. 12 33) 60°0| 835 | 1331
| Mixed mineral manure,and . " A =
Se 2 200 Ibs. ammonium-salts = 43 Ibs. N. “y 20,2) 60°2 | 1304 | 2567
7. Mixed mineral manure, and . é >
Ce af 400 Ibs. ammonium-salts = 86 Ibs. N. “}y ge 2 60°2 | 1937 | 3827
Mixed mineral manure, and f me :
om { 550 Ibs. nitrate of soda = 86 Ibs. N. | 40° 23) 60-0 | 2565 | 6527
Mixed mineral manure, and BE 4 : 2
a8 >| 600 Ibs, ammonium-salts = 129 Ibs. N. | a a 60°5_) 2324 | 5071
Estimated average for the United Kingdom 24 0) 61-0
reckoned at 61 lbs. per bushel .

The season of 1872 was much more favourable for artificial
manures than the season of 1871, their produce having in one
instance reached 40 bushels per acre; while the weight per
bushel over the whole field was very much higher than in 1871:
the yield of the crop of the country, however, was estimated to
be considerably below an average.

Thirtieth Season, 1872-73.

October was cold until the 25th, a warm period then set in
which lasted until the 9th of November, when the weather
again became cold. The first part of December was cold, the

252

.

410 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the

latter part unusually warm, and all the three months were
excessively wet, over eleven inches of rain having fallen at
Greenwich during that period.

The first fortnight in January was warm, and the remainder
of the month about an average temperature. February was
rather cold, and March about an average. The rainfall was
slightly in excess in January and February, and slightly below
the average in March. April was cold, especially towards the
latter part of the month. From the 22nd of April to the 18th
of June the mean temperature was 2} degrees below the average,
the remainder of June was warm. April and May were very
dry months, while the rainfall in June was above the average.
July was cold up to the 19th when a few days of excessively
hot weather occurred, followed again by cold. The temperature
of the month was on the whole above the average.

The rainfall in July was below the average. August was
alternately hot and cold, with a great deal of rain; the cha-
racter of the season was one of great fluctuations, as the tem-
perature during the winter was very warm, and the spring and
early summer were very cold, while there was a good deal of
rain to interfere with the ripening of the corn.

Taste X.—Summary of the Resunts of the TuirtimtTa Season, 1872-73.

Produce per Acre.

Manures. | Dressed Corn.

Plots. | aA — 7 —7 is
(Quantities per Acre.) | Weight a ant
| Quantity.) _ per :
| Bushel. | |

| bush..pks Ibs. i Ibs. lbs.
3 Unmauured . «we! las ~ Seal) Ben 22 pS Ol ae ee
2 14 tons farmyard-manure .. -- | 26 3] 58-1 | 1622 | 2463
104 | 400 Ibs, ammonium-salts — 86 lbs. N. .. | 19 23) 56°1 | 1173 | 1635
9B | 550 Ibs, nitrate of soda alone = 86lbs.N. | 21 33] 54-9 | 1303 | 2358
54 & B | Mixed mineral manurealone .. .. .. | 12 23) 56°9 | 763 | 1043
Sos Mixed mineral manure, and .. s he" \arP
6a & >| 200 lbs. ammonium- -salts = = 43 lbs. N. 15 33) 57-1) 960 1520
74 & By! 400 Ibs. ammonium-salts = 86 Ibs. N. 21 Bi) Sire | SSaB) Boet

550 lbs. nitrate of soda = 86 Ibs. N N. ; 35 3h) 57°1 | 2160 | 3932
Mixed mineral manure, and

| Mixed mineral manure, and af }
-\
600 Ibs. ammonium-salts = 129 Ibs. N. wf

9A { Mixed mineral manure, and

27 2) 96°9 1643 | 2664

Estimated average for the United Kingdom) ‘ i
reckoned at 61 lbs. per bushel .. .. ..f en

The history of the climate is quite sufficient to account for
the badness of the wheat crop; the produce of the farmyard

——-._- =~ *
. 5 a eens

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 411

dung did not quite reach 27 bushels, and the highest preduce
in the field only amounted to 35 bushels per acre; while the
highest weight per bushel in the field was 57 lbs. The crop

of the country was estimated to be greatly below an average.

Thirty-first Season, 1873-74.

The temperature in October fluctuated very much ; sometimes
it was much above the average warmth, and at others it was
very cold; on the whole, however, the temperature was colder
than the average, while in November it was some degrees
warmer than the average. December was above the average.
The rainfall in October was slightly below the average, in
November slightly above it; while in December hardly any
rain fell during the month.

Taste XI.—Summary of the Resutts of the Turrry-rirst SEASON,

1873-74.
Produce per Acre, &c.
- Manures. Dressed Corn.
ots. as —— a. a ae Straw
tit Acre. | Total |
Genre Ba Ared | Weight | Corn. ae
Quantity. per _
Bushel.
‘bush. pks_ ibe. | ibs. | Ibs.
3 | Unmanured.. .. xo we am ee [e hk wht] OSs.) gOateh “SoU
2 | 14 tons farmyard- “manure .. | 39 1 60-2 | 2431 | 4439
104 | 400 lbs. ammonium-salts = = 86 Ibs. N. -- | 25 1) 56:5 | 1476 | 1977
9B | 550 lbs. nitrate of soda alone = 86 lbs. N. 214 2 57°5 | 1269 | 2166
54 &B | Mixed mineral manurealone .. .. .. | 13 0} S591 794 | 880

| Mixed mineral manure, and “hi | Wsy2 Kae eel ;

6a & a 200 lbs, ammonium- -salts = 43 ibs. N. nif 25 33, 596 | 1556 | 2221

= Mixed mineral manure, and } ; 2

a & x 400 Ibs. ammonium-salts = 86 lbs. N sealant a)

Mixed mineral manure, and . ‘

oa 1 550 Ibs. nitrate of soda = 86 Ibs. N. ae 83 07, 60-4 | 2409 5012
gis Sen { Mixed mineral manure,and . re

600 lbs. ammonium-salts = 129 Ibs. N: 40°2| 59°9 2554 | 6063

|——_+—

|

7s ad Ws PR
| |

Estimated average for the United Kingdom
reckoned at 61 lbs. per bushel .,_ ..

The temperature of January, February, and March was in
excess of the average. January was unusually warm, the excess
of temperature being 5} degrees during the whole month.
The rainfall was below the average in each of the three
months, being not more than one-half the usual fall. April
was an exceedingly warm month, the temperature being on
several days 10 to 13 degrees over the’ av erage. The first three

412 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the

weeks of May were exceedingly cold; this was followed by
very warm weather which continued until the 11th of June,
after which cold weather prevailed until the end of the month.
April was a dry month; May excessively dry, the rainfall at
Greenwich not amounting to half an inch. The rainfall in
June was slightly over the average. In July there were fre-
quent and severe fluctuations of temperature, but on the whole
the month was hotter than usual.

To sum up—the climate of the wheat year of 1873-74 may
be said to have been one of unusual dryness from beginning to
end; of high temperature in the autumn, winter, and early
spring, but after this the weather was cold until July.

The yields under the best artificial manures and the dung
_ were very similar, amounting to from 38 to 40 bushels per acre,
and the quality of the corn was fairly good. The yield of the
crop of the country was estimated to be over an average.

Thirty-second Season, 1874-75.
The month of October, and November until the 20th was

warm, the temperature being nearly 2 degrees over the average ;
but on the 20th a bitterly cold period set in and continued |
until the end of December. The mean temperature of the

period was more than 6°6 degrees below the average—some
days being 10 and one day 14 degrees below it. The rainfall
in October was slightly in excess of the average. November
and December were both dry months, especially the latter, and
the total rainfall during the year was 20 inches, which is
54 inches below the average. January was exceedingly warm,
the mean temperature of the month being 62 degrees over
the average ; this was followed by a very cold period which
continued until the end of March. The rainfall was in con-
siderable excess in January, and below the average in the
two succeeding months. April was a very cold month, and
on the 27th vegetation was very backward; but this cold was
followed by a warm growing period which continued until
the 10th of June, when vegetation was as forward as usual.
The remainder of June was cold. The rainfall in April and
May was slightly below the average, and in June slightly above
it. The cold weather which set in on the 10th of June con-
tinued all through the month of July and until the 5th of
August, when there came a warm period which lasted for a
long time. The rainfall of July was excessive, causing great
floods and doing much injury to the hay and corn crops; in

some districts from 3 to 5 inches of rain fell in one day.

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 413

Taste XII.—Summany of the Resuirs of the Turrry-sEconp SzAson,

1874-75
Produce per Acre, &c.

: Manures. Dressed Corn.

: Plots. (Quantities per Acre.) | POST = eee ee “an
| Quantity.| per aN
| Bushel.

‘ r +" bush. els lbs. “Ibs. lbs.
3 Unmaunured . ; 3) ite Peon mcg 8 23) 60:0} 567 | 1008
2 .| 14 tons farmyé ard-manure .... 28 31; 60°6 | 1890 | 3719
104 | 400 lbs. ammonium-salts alone = 86 Tbs. N. 12 3] 54:5 | 786 | 1574
98 | 550 Ibs. nitrate of soda alone = 86 lbs. N. ; 16 2 | 55°7 | 1050 2363
54 & B , Mixed mineral manure alone .. o> I. 59°4 | 590 | 1125
Mixed mineral manure, and .. - :
6a& of 200 Ibs, ammonium-salts = 43 lbs. N. “y 16" 14)" 605: | Ieee
Mixed mineral manure, and .. ie | ’ | ;
od of 400 Ibs. ammonium-salts — 86 Ibs. N. a es 33 aus | TOSS. (see
Mixed mineral manure, and .. S ;
9A { 550 Ths. nitrate of soda’ 861baN. 29 2 | Se eee
Mixed mineral manure,and_ .. Oe :
Sa & 2 600 Ibs. ammonium-salts = 129 lbs. N. “y ae ae 1957 |, 4320
Estimated average for the United Kingdom) 22. 32 61-0
reckoned at 61 Ibs. per bushel . 7 i |
|

The season was remarkable for the great floods which pre-
vailed all over England in the month of July ; these did con-
siderable damage to the wheat crop, and both on the dunged
and artificially manured land the yield was 10 bushels per acre
less than that of the previous year. The yield of the country
was estimated to be greatly below an average.

Thirty-third Season, 1875-76.

October was generally cold and wet; November up to the
19th was rather warm; this was followed by a period of ex-
tremely cold weather, with a considerable fall of snow, which,
owing to the high winds, did not cover the wheat, but drifted to
the hedges. The weather of this period was very similar to
that of 1874; but this year the cold came to an end on the
17th of December, when warm weather prevailed until the close
of the year,

The rainfall was greatly in excess in October, slightly so
in November, and below the average in December. January
was alternately very warm and extremely cold, the cold, how-
ever, predominating ; the middle of February was also very
cold, but the latter part of the month and the beginning of
March were unusually warm; this was followed by three weeks

414 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the —

of very cold weather, but the last three days of the month were
very warm. The rainfall in January and February was below
the average, while in March it was slightly above it. The first
nine days in April were excessively warm, but the weather
which followed was very severe, and from the 11th to the 14th
a great amount of snow fell; the last ten days of the month
were warm. ‘Throughout the month of May the cold was ex-
cessive, and continued so up to the 18th of June ; the remainder
of June was warm, The rainfall during the three months was
much below the average, being not more than 3} inches over
the whole period. The months of July and August were ex-
ceedingly fine and hot, and in the middle of July several days
were recorded on which the temperature was over 90 degrees ;
very little rain fell during this month,

Taste XIII.—Summary of the Resuxts of the Tuirry-Troirp Sxason,

1875-76.
Produce per Acre, &c.
Manures. Dressed Corn.

Plots. (Quantities per Acre.) Mime GEim is. a
Weight | Corn. Chaff

Quantity, per ae

| Bushel
lbush. pks. Ibs lbs Ibs.

3 Unmanured .. . seliiiee Seal te [Si OH 45930
2 14 tons farmyard-manure aiewites 23 33| 62:4
10a | 400 lbs. ammonium-salts alone = 86 Ibs. N. 12 O02 57:2 719 922
98 | 550 lbs. nitrate of soda alone = 86 lbs. N. | 13 0) 56:3
5a & p | Mixed mineral manure alone .. 10 2) 59-2
Mixed mineral manure, and ..

{ 200 lbs. ammonium-salts = 43 lbs. N. | 1
Mixed mineral manure, ¢ and

{ 400 Ibs. ammonium-salts = 86 Ibs. N. ba
9A Mixed mineral manure, and ..
550 Ibs, nitrate of soda = 86 Ibs. N.. a

{ Mixed mineral manure, and __.. |

8a & B 600 lbs. ammonium-salts = 129 lbs. N.

Estimated average for the United Kingdom)
reckoned at 61 lbs. per bushel ., .. .. J)

The quality of the crop of 1876 was much over an average,
reaching in one case to 63 lbs. per bushel, but the yield was
bad, the highest produce in the field only slightly exceeding
33 bushels per acre. The dunged plot was exceptionally bad,
amounting only to a little over 23 bushels per acre. ‘The cro
of the country was considered to be superior to that of 1875,
but still was below an average.

if

]

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 415
Thirty-fourth Season, 1876-77.

October was very warm and wet till the 20th ; the remainder
of the month was dry and cold. In November the cold period
continued until the 13th ; from that time until the end of the
year the weather was very warm. The rainfallin November
was rather over the average, and the wettest December of which
there is any record followed. The rainfall in London was
slightly below, and at Rothamsted slightly above 6 inches. In
January and February the temperature was much above the ave-
rage, and rain fell almost continuously. The first three weeks
of March were cold ; the latter part of the month was warm, and
the rainfall was a little over the average. The first part of April
was warm, but on the 11th a cold period set in which continued
until the end of the month. May was a remarkably cold month ;
during many nights there was frost, and in some places the ther-
mometer went down to 13, that is to say, 19 degrees below
freezing-point! June was a very hot month. In April the
rainfall was in excess, and in May and June it was below the
average. July was a very cold month, with an average rain-
fall. August was a warm month until the 21st, after that, and
during the whole of September, the weather was excessively cold.
Mr. Glaisher stated that the mean temperature of September

_ 1877. was the lowest recorded for 74 years. The rainfall was

in excess in August, and deficient in July and September.

Taste XIV.—Summary of the Resuuts of the Tuirry-rourtH SEAson,

1876-77.
| Produce per Acre, &c.
Manures. | Dressed Corn. |
Plots. | (Quantitics per Acre.) | Total rar
| Weight | Corn. | Ghafr
Quantity) per | a
| Bushel. |
‘bush. ao ee ibe Ibs
3 Unmanured . c Sap eed Mente Pic lab Saw Get MEO naa ey eet Ie mas:
2 14 tons farmyard manure .. | 24 03| 59-1 | 1481 | 2266
10a | 400 lbs, ammonium-salts alone — 86 lbs. N.. 17 02; 57:5 | 1031 | 1322
9B | 550 lbs. nitrate of soda alone = 86 lbs. N. | 27 2%, 58-0 | 1654 | 2540
5a & B | Mixed mineral manure alone .. 11 22) 57:1) 688] 882
< Mixed mineral manure, and . ’ =
one > 200 Ibs. ammonium-salts = = 43 lbs, N. “ 1f 23) 582 | 876 | 1176
ao. Mixed mineral manure, and . f 2
18S | 400 Ibs. ammonium-salts = 86 Ibs. N. ¥ ee iil aye
Mixed mineral manure, and on :
9a { 550 lbs. nitrate of soda = 86 ibs. N. a 20008) 57"9! 2383.) 3852
2 Mixed mineral manure, and .. :
au & of 600 Ibs. ammonium-salts = 129 Ibs. N. “} Hues med Bere SES
Estimated average for the United Kingdom) E
reckoned at 61 lbs. per bushel... Bi ae | ac |

ee EE ee ee

416 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the

Although the yield of one of the plots manured with artificial
manure reached 40 bushels per acre, the quality of the wheat was
very inferior. The produce of the unmanured and dunged land
was almost the same as that of 1876, being respectively 82 and
24 bushels peracre. The crop of the country, although below
the average, was estimated to be rather better than that of 1876.

Thirty-fifth Season, 1877-78.

October was on the whole a fine dry month, but on the 14th
there was a great gale which caused much damage. November
was wet, and another severe gale occurred on the 11th.
December was generally warm, with an average amount of rain.
The temperature of the quarter was slightly above, and the
rainfall slightly below the average. Up to January 25th the

' weather was exceedingly warm; after that date a cold period
set in which continued until the 12th of February. From
February 13th until March 13th, the weather was unusually
mild, the temperature sometimes exceeding 60 degrees; a few
days of cold weather followed, succeeded by four days of great
warmth. On March 23rd the weather became bitterly cold with
heavy falls of snow and severe frosts which continued until
April 10th. On that and the following day a great fall of rain
occurred amounting in some places to two and three inches in
twelve hours. The whole month of April, after the 10th, was

Taste XV.—Summary of the Resvutts of the Turrty-rirrH Season,

1877-78.
Produce per Acre, &e,

Manures. Dressed Corn,

Plots. i f FT Straw
tities per Acre. Total

(Quantities per Acre.) | Weight Fig cana

Quantity. — per

| | Bushel.

| bush. pks.! lbs. lbs. lbs.
3, | Unmanured .2h2 .: ae owe” pe co | 12 Db SSR Ue om eee:
2 | 14 tons farmyard- manure .. 28 11| 60°9 | 1890 | 4042
10a | 400 Ibs. ammonium-salts alone — 86 Ibs. N.) 27 13! 59°5 | 1708 | 2762
9B | 550 Ibs. nitrate of soda alone = 86 lbs. N. | 23 14 56-9 | 1408 2897
54 & B | Mixed mineral manure alone .. -.. .. | 14 1} 58*8 | 900 | 1322

Mixed mineral manure, and

wm
_
cs
es
for)
iw)
©
r=
cs

{ 200 lbs, ammonium-salts = 43 Ibs. N. } 22.8 60°
{ Mixed mineral manure,and .. .. .. D

w
-_
for)
o
tor
bo
o
lor)
or
ns
co
or
bp

400 lbs. ammonium-salts = 86 lbs. N.
, Mixed mineral manuie, and .. ..
| 550 lbs. nitrate of soda = 86 lbs. N.
| Mixed mineral manure, and .. : eH

600 lbs. ammonium-salts = 129 Ibs. N, 38 03 60°3 | 2469 | 6173

Estimated average for the United Kingdom +
reckoned at 61 Ibs. per bushel .... ay $0 0 lo

‘yao

-_ qe

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 417

warm and wet. May was warm and wet up to the 15th, when
a cold period set in which continued until June 19th; the
remainder of June was very hot. The rainfall of the quarter
was more than 13 inches, being about twice the ordinary fall.
July was rather cold up to about the middle of the month, but
the latter half was very hot, and fortunately dry weather pre-
vailed throughout the month. Some heavy thunderstorms
occurred in the beginning of August and the whole month was
unsettled.

Although in no one instance did the produce reach the
standard of 1877, still the general yield of the crop was very
much better. The unmanured Jand—which for the last three
seasons had not reached 9 bushels—was over 12 bushels, and
the dunged plot yielded 4 bushels per acre over the produce of
the last two years. It was estimated that the crop of the
country was above the average.

Thirty-sixth Season, 1878-79.

Up to October 21st the weather was fine and warm, but on
‘the 22nd it became cold and wet and remained so until
December 6th, when severe frosts set in which continued until
the 26th. After this the weather became unusually warm.

The character of the quarter may be summarised as follows.
' A good seed time, followed by intensely cold, wet weather
which hardly ceased until the year ended. In some days in
December the temperature was 17 degrees below the average,
and the whole month was 6 degrees below the average.

January was one of the coldest months ever recorded, the
thermometer during the whole month being below 32° F.; snow
covered the ground, the days were nearly sunless, and the wind
N., N.E. February was also very cold, with a great excess of
rain, and a great deal of snow. March was first warm, then
cold, and on the 21st very cold with snow; but the last days
of the month were warm, The five months ending March 31st
may be described as exceedingly cold with much rain and
snow. The next three months may be summed up in a few
words as cold, wet, and sunless; while Mr. Glaisher further
informs us that for lowness of temperature the eight months
ending with June have only been once exceeded during the
one hundred years and upwards which have elapsed since the
first records were kept at Greenwich.

July was dull, cold, and sunless ; rain feli every day during
the first half of the month, and frequently afterwards, sometimes
mixed with snow. August was a very cold, wet month; there
were a few warm days, during which no rain fell, and there

418 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the

were a few fine dry days in the early part of September, after
which rain fell almost daily until the end of the month.

Taste XVI.—Scummary of the Resuuts of the Turrry-srxtu SEASON,

1878-79.
Produce per Acre, &c.
Manures. Dressed Corn.
Plots. Quantities per Acre.) | Total a
Weight | Corn Chaff
Quantity per | .
| bel.

Ibush. pks.| lbs. lbs. Ibs.
3 | Unmanured = jo pee, ce oe | £ ZR O2*D2| es vere
2 | 14 tons farmyard-manure Z - 116 O| 56°8 | 1064 | 2239

10a | 400 Ibs. ammonium-salts alone = = 86 Ibs. Nl
9p | 550 lbs. nitrate of soda alone = 86 lbs, N.
54 & B | Mixed mineral manure alone

6a & Mixed mineral manure, and .

5 xf 200 lbs. ammonium-salts = 43 lbs. N.
_ Mixed mineral manure, and

{ 400 Ibs. ammonium-.alts — 86 lbs. N-
9A { Mixed mineral manure, and

Ot He OO
i)
rn
i
©
ioe)
(J%)
vag
or
_
i=)
|
o

56°7 | 1051 | 3012
56°5 | 1462 | 4347

| 550 Ibs. nitrate of soda — 86 Ibs. N.
Mixed mineral manure, and

600 Ibs. ammonium-salts = 129 ‘Tbs. N. ..f) 28 23 56°5 | 1351 | 4176

15 2) 61°0| .. |

ie |

We have already written so fully upon the crop of 1879 in the
Journal of this Society, vol. xvi. part i. 1880, that it will be suffi-
cient to say here, that it was not only by far the worst crop grown
during the forty years of our experiments, but it was certainly
the worst grown in Great Britain since the year 1816. It will
be enough to give one instance. On plot 7 the yield in 1863
was 53 bushels per acre, while the same manure in 1879 was
only competent to produce 16 bushels! It was estimated that
the crop of the country was not much more than half an average
one.

Estimated average for the United Kingdom)
reckoned at 61 lbs. per bushel .

CHM te Tes
iw)
i
oo
wleo

Thirty-seventh Season, 1879-80.

October was both cold and sunless, but at the same time
exceedingly dry. November and December were also both
cold and dry ; there is, in fact, no record of so cold a December
since the beginning of the century, January was exceedingly
cold and dry, hardly any rain falling from the beginning-to the
end of the month. February was warm, with a rainfall over the
average. March was warm during the first half of the month,
and afterwards cold, but very dry. April was alternately cold
and warm, the latter predominating ; the rainfall was slightly

ie cored
2 .

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 419

over an average, which, following so dry a March, was very
beneficial. May was cold and dry, the nights being very cold,
and yegetation was backward. June was very cold and un-
settled “during the first half of the month; afterwards the
weather habeas warmer, and from the 19th to the 26th thunder-
storms were frequent, with heavy rain and hail which greatly
damaged the crop.

July was dull, unsettled, and wet. Thunderstorms were
frequent from the 14th to the 16th. The fall of rain was in
some places over 3 inches ; ; while in others hailstorms occurred,
which did considerable injury to the crops. Up to August 8th
the weather was cold and wet, but after this date it was fine to
the end of the month. The first week in September was very
fine and hot, but during the rest of the month there was a great
deal of wet.

Taste XVII.—Summary of the Resutts of the Turrty-sEVENTH SEASON,
1879-80.

Produce per Acre, &c.

Manures. | Dressed Corn. }

!
het

7 (Quantities per Acre.) 7 ite | Total. 3
| Weight | Corn. Chaff.

| bush. pks 1b3. lbs lbs
3 | Unmanured . ear poses She seit i 5 56°9 | 689 | 1149
2 14 tons farmyard-n manure... . | 38 12, 60°2 | 2373 | 3902
104 | 400 lbs. ammonium-salts alone = = 86 ‘Ibs. N. 10 24) 54:9 645 | 1242
9B | 550 lbs. nitrate of soda alone = 86 Ibs. N. | 10 1 53°5 | 654 | 1420
54 &B | Mixed mineral manurealone .. .. | 17 23) 59°2 | 1083 | 1735
7g Mixed mineral manure,and . : an 2 ae
= 2 200 lbs. ammonium-salts = 43 lbs. N. .. f * 3 a9" 8) L66e | 2are
sue Mixed mineral manure, and Sa ee
<% nf 400 Ibs. ammonium-salts = 86 lbs. N. 3 scl 8 | 2
Mixed mineral manure, and _.. “cil =) :
= { 540 Ibs. nitrate of soda = 86 Ibs. N = 4 ibaa) Wem bil mae) oe
: Mixed mineral manure, and .. Fa | hes eave er =
— of 600 Ibs. ammonium-salts = 129 Ibs. N. ..j 9° 1% 99°T | 2203 | 4476
Estimated average for the United Radon 30 0! 61-0
reckoned at 61 Ibs. per bushel . oy,
| }

The wheat crop of 1880 gave a higher produce—38 bushels
per acre—on the plot which receives farmyard-manure than was
obtained upon any of the artificially manured plots. The
large store of latent fertility in the dunged plot—which may
become active at any moment—makes the yield of wheat in
this plot subject to fluctuations of a different character from
those of the other manured plots. The estimated yield of the
crop of the country was rather above the average.

420 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the

Thirty-eighth Season, 1880-81.

October was excessively cold and wet. On the 20th there
was a heavy snowstorm, which was however much heavier in
the south of England than elsewhere. ‘The wheat was got in
with great difficulty, and much land was left unsown. November
was alternately cold and warm, and rain fell every day from the
8th to the 26th. December was a mild month, and the first
half was dry, after which the rain was continuous until the end
of the year.

The first few days in January were fine, after which very bad
weather set in and snow fell on every day except one from the
9th to the 27th. February was a wet, cold, and gloomy month
with frequent falls of snow. March was cold at the beginning and
at the end of the month, but warm between the 4th and the 20th.
The rainfall of the month was slightly below the average. The
quarter was remarkable for the great falls of snow. April was
a very dry month; cold at the beginning, warm from the 10th
to the 18th, and moderately cold afterwards. May was generally
cold, and on the 10th and 11th a very severe frost occurred,
causing great damage to the crops. The weather was afterwards
variable but on the whole cold. June was alternately cold and
hot, the temperature of the month being about equal to the
average, while the rainfall was slightly below the average.

Taste X VIII.—Svummary of the Resuuts of the Turrty-EIGHTH SEASON,

1880-81.
Produce per Acre, Xe.
Manures. Dressed Corn.

Plots. (Quantities per Acre). .| Total gah)
Weight. | Corn. | chagr
Quantity.) per a

Bushel.
bush. pks. lbs. lbs. lbs.
3 Unmanured a oo oe oe oe | SS OB 0 eras MINERS
2 14 tons farmyard-manure 30 03 58:9 | 1907 | 2367

10a | 400 1bs. ammonium-salts alone = = : 86 Ibs. N. 18 02 58°4 | 1168 | 1297
9p | 550 lbs. nitrate of soda alone = 86 lbs. N. | 22 3] 58: /

54 & B | Mixed mineral manure alone .. 12 23) 57°
Mixed mineral manure, and
{ 200 Ibs, ammonium-salts = 43 Ibs. N. =)
Mixed mineral manure, and...
{ 400 Ibs. ammonium-salts = 86 Ibs. N. rs
{ Mixed mineral manure, and : 35 13| 58

550 Ibs. nitrate of soda = 86 Ibs. N.
Mixed mineral manure, and
600 lbs, ammonium salts = 129 Ibs. N.

Estimated average for the United Kingdom
reckoned at 61 lbs. per bushel .

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 421

July was a month remarkable for the variations of temperature
in Great Britain; in some districts the temperature exceeded
90, and for days together 80, while in others the month was
cold, cloudy, and wet. In the wheat-districts it may be said
to aap been a very hot and dry month. The first week
in August was fine and dry, after which the weather to the
end a the month was cold with almost constant rains, which
did considerable injury to the wheat.

Thirty-ninth Season, 1881-82.

October was excessively cold, with violent gales, and rainfall
slightly below the average. November was exceedingly warm,
with rainfall also slightly below the average. December was
alternately warm and cold, the temperature and the rainfall
being about the average.

January was excessively warm and dry, spring flowers being
in bloom. February and March were also both warm and dry,
and vegetation was very forward; indeed, from November to
the end of March the weather may be described as being most
favourable for the crops. April was generally warm until
towards the end of the month, with more than an average rain-

Taste XIX.—Summary of the Resuuts of the Turrry-nintH SEASON,

1881-82.

Produce per Acre, &c.

Manures. | Dressed Corn.
Plots. (Quantities per Acre.) | l Total | Straw
= and
Weight | Corn, | Chaff
| Quantity.| _ per | y

Bushel. |
push. pks,| Ibs. | Ibs. | _ lbs.
3 Unmanured.. .. cid bot cee syren iy Lee Olin OSs value OFOe COD
2 14 tons farmyard-manure a6 32 23) 59°6 | 2004 | 3993

10a | 400 Ibs. ammonium-salts alone = = ~ 86 Ibs, N. | 23 23) 60°7 | 1557 | 2796

9B | 550 Ibs. nitrate of soda alone = 86 lbs. N. | 24 14) 58:°0 | 1520 | 3617

54 & B | Mixed mineral manure alone .. 12 2) 58:5} 777 | 1281
Mixed mineral manure, and . .

Ga & ot 200 lbs. ammonium-salts = 43 Ibs. N. a 23 03) 60°8 | 1467 | 2919
Mixed mineral manure, and .. | | : eal

_— 2 400 Ibs. ammonium-salts = 86 lbs. N. “fl 35 32} 60°0| 2251 | 5730
Mixed mineral manure,and . (

= { 550 Ibs, nitrate of soda = 86 Ibs. N. oH} Stal aa ear; | 2012s Gaia

{ Mixed mineral manure, and aa

8a & B\! 600 Ibs. ammonium-salts = 129 Ibs. N.

37 0} 59:1 | 2323 | 7110

Estimated average for the United Kingdom

reckoned at 61 lbs. per bushel . zoeaa) 61-0

422 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the

fall. May—except during one week at the commencement—
was a warm and growing month, and the rainfall was less than
the average. June was cold and unseasonable throughout, with
an excess of rain which seriously damaged the luxuriant crop
of hay. July was cold, wet, and ungenial, and this weather,
following upon a cold and wet June, seriously interfered with
the ripening of the corn. The beginning of August was fine,
followed by cold and showery weather on the 14th; the rainfall
was, however, low.

The produce of this crop, on the whole, does not differ much
from that of 1881. It may be observed, however, that while
the yield of the nitrate of soda plot was almost the same in both
years, the salts of ammonia gave very much more produce in the
present year.

Fortieth Season, 1882-83.

The first half of October was warm, the second half cold, and
the whole month was excessively wet. In consequence, the
wheat was got in very badly. November was alternately warm
and cold, with an average rainfall. The land was very wet all
the month. The first half of December was very cold, the
second half was warm, snow fell frequently, and the rainfall
was over the average. January was warm throughout, with
a great deal of rain and heavy storms from the 24th to the 28th.
February was mild throughout the month, with excessive wet
during the first three weeks. After March 6th the temperature
was very cold and dry, and what little moisture fell was in the
form of snow. The beginning of April was warm, but from
the Sth to the 25th the weather was cold, snow falling on
several days. Both March and April were favourable for
farming operations.

The first twelve days of May were cold, after which the
weather was fine and warm until the end of the month. June
was an unsettled month, being first warm, then cold and warm
alternately. It was very cold from the 15th to the 22nd, and
unsettled to the end of the month. The rainfall was below the
average. July was fine and warm until the 10th, the remainder
of the month was cold and unsettled, with rain a little above
the average. August was cold at the beginning, and warm
generally afterwards, with a good deal of bright summer
weather and but little rain. September, which is usually a
good harvest month, was generally favourable except in the
north.

Although the yield of this crop, both on the unmanured, as
also on the variously manured plots was considerably over an

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 423

average, it was not considered that more than an average crop
was grown throughout the country.

Taste XX.—Summary of the Resuuts of the Fortmetx Season, 1882-83.

| Produce per Acre, &c.

Manures. Dressed Corn.

Plots. Total Straw

Weight | Corn. Arie.

| Quantity.) per
| Bushel,

(Quantities per Acre.)

‘bush. pks.| Ibs. Ibs. Ibs.
S Unmanured . oC Sa ee tee. | Lome Os TO 872 | 1006
2 | 14 tons farmyard- manure .. | 85 08) 62-4 | 2244 | 2930
10a | 4001bs. ammonium-salts alone = = ~ 86 Iba. N. Ibe 4 60° 1196 | 1419
9B | 550 Ibs, nitrate of soda alone = 86 lbs. N. | 19 04) 59° 168+
54 &B | Mixed mineral manure alone .. | 15 23) 61- 1009 | 1138
Mixed mineral manure, and . ; a .
Ga & of 200 Ibs. ammonium salts = 43 Ibs. N. peri 3 1781 |)2605
Mixed mineral manure, F210 nr A na -
400 Ibs. ammonium-salts = 86 Ibs. N. 36 Oz) 62 2378 | 3632

9A { Mixed mineral manure, and .. 1. 13} 62-1 | 2905 | 5127

io} DMD ODHRH- bd
od
o
——)
aa

550 Ibs. nitrate of soda = 86 Ibs. Ni.
Mixed mineral manure, and

( oe A 7
acs 8} 600 Ibs. ammonium-salts = 129 lbs. 'N. polis MBL a Nf

Estimated average for the United Kingdom
reckoned at 61 Ibs. per bushel .,

28 0} 6L°0 on

Best and Worst Seasons.

Every one engaged in farming knows that the growth of his
crops is dependent upon the weather; still, the treatment of
land in common practice is not so uniform as to enable any one
to measure the influence of climate upon any particular crop.
To do this the crop must be grown continuously upon the same
land, and no change must be made in the manures applied.

During the period of forty years that has elapsed since the
commencement of the continuous wheat crop, it is probable that
we have experienced fluctuations of season as great as are likely
to occur in any similar period. In the following table (p. 424)
will be found the produce of selected plots, in the year of the
greatest produce, 1863, and in that of the worst produce in
1879, together with the average produce of the period of thirty-
two years.

The reason for giving the average of the last 32 years,
instead of that of the whole period of 40 years, is that in the
early years of the experiments some changes in the manures
applied took place on certain plots, while for the last 32
years, the same manures have been used almost without change.

VOL, XX.—S. 8. 2F

424

On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the

WHEAT YEAR AFTER YEAR ON THE SAME LAND,
BROADBALK FIELD.

TasLt—E XXJI.—Showing the Propucz of the Worst Szason, 1879, the
Propucr of the Brest Season, 1863, and the AveracEe of 32 Yuars,

1852-1883.
|
Plot Description of Manures. Best Worst Differ- Average
Nos. Quantities per Acre. Seasong:| Beason, | ered ees
DressED GRAIN, PER ACRE—BUSHELS.
ne Der rir TSG iT A am cme ao edie Cort lwics 17} 43 | 123 13}
2 Farmyard-manure So Se COawhiccee ot 44 16 28 334
5 | Mixed mineral manure alone .. 193 53 | 14 152
6 | Mix. min. man. & 200 Ibs. am.-salts — 43 Ibs. N. 393 104 | 29} 241
7 | Mix. min. man. & 400 lbs. am.-salts = 86]bs.N.| 533 16} 373 322
9 | Mix. min. man. & 550 Ibs. nitr.-soda = 86 lbs.N.| 553 22 333 364
8 | Mix. min. man. & 600 lbs. am.-salts = 129 lbs.N.| 552 203 | 35} 364
Weicut Per BusHet or DressED GRAIN—LBS.
Sid GRIBINENCD He, b csc e doa le copeecse kc she ad 62°7 | 52°5 | 10:2 58°8
2 Farmyard-manure oe iiey “lee Rie de ais 63-1 | 56°8 | 6°3 60-0
5 | Mixed mineral manure alone Coie 63°0 | 53°5 | 9:5 58°7
6 | Mix. min, man. & 200 Ibs. am.-salts = 243 Tbs. N. 62°3 | 56°5 | 5:8 59°5
7 | Mix. min. man. & 400 lbs. am.-salts = 86lbs. N.| 62°5 | 56°7 | 5°8 59°5
9 | Mix. min. man. & 550 Ibs. nitr.-soda = 86lbs.N.| 62:1 | 56°5 | 5°6 58°7
8 | Mix. min. man. & 600 Ibs. am.-salts = 129lbs.N.| 62°3 | 56°5 | 5:8 59°2
Straw (AnD CHAFF) PER ACRE—LBS.
Hn | MU DUMANTEC tatmere ce. Maca sccm eat ae est umene 1600 | 763 | 837 1272
2 | Farmyard- manure . 4279 | 2239 | 2040 3570
5 | Mixed mineral manure alone on baie 1728 | 855 | 873 1464
6 | Mix. min. man. & 200 Ibs. am.-salts — 43 Ibs. N.| 3715 | 1592 | 2123 2512
7 | Mix. min. man. & 400 lbs. am.-salts = 86 lbs. N.| 5866 | 3012 | 2854 3771
9 | Mix. min. man. & 550 lbs. nitr.-soda = 86lbs. N.| 6312 | 4347 | 1965 4688
8 | Mix. min. man. & 600 lbs. am.-salts = 129 Ibs. N.| 6602 | 4176 | 2426 4532
Tora Propuce (Grain AND STRAW) PER ACRE—LBS.

3 | Unmanured ‘ | 2,727 | 1093 | 1634 2090
2 | Farmyard- “manure 7,165 | 3303 | 3862 5689
5 | Mixed mineral manure alone .. 3,017 | 1238 | 1779 2421
6 | Mix. min. man. & 200 Ibs. am.-salts — 43 Ibs. N. 6,243 | 2283 | 3960 || 4029
7 | Mix. min. man. & 400 lbs. am.-salts = 86 lbs. N. | 9,358 | 4063 | 5295 5845
9 | Mix. min. man. & 550 lbs. nitr.-soda = 86 lbs. N.| 9,888 | 5809 | 4079 6982
8 10,216 | 5527 | 4689 6832

Mix. min. man. & 600 lbs. am.-salts = 129 Ibs. ms

—_——

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 425

In the year 1863, the produce of the unmanured land was
171 bushels; and in the worst year, 1879, it was 43 bushels.
As previous to the year 1863, 19 unmanured crops had been
already taken, the produce obtained was not the largest which
had been grown; and it is quite probable that had the season of
1863 occurred at the beginning of the period, the yield would
have been considerably over 20 bushels. As it was, the yield
of 1863 was equal to the average of the first 8 years.

In 1879 the yield was, as we have mentioned, only 4? bushels
per acre, with a weight of 52} lbs. per bushel, or about one
one-third of the average produce of the plot during the whole
period of 40 years. The produce of the land receiving 14 tons
of dung every year was, in 1863, 44 bushels, and in 1879
16 bushels per acre; a difference of 28 bushels per acre between
the best and worst seasons.

Contrary to what might be expected, the produce on the land
receiving dung, while it falls greatly in yield in a bad season,
does not rise as rapidly in yield in a very favourable season.
This will be seen more clearly by a comparison with the
land which receives artificial manures. We find that plot 7,
receiving mineral manures and salts of ammonia, gave in 1879
a crop exactly the same as that of the dung—16 bushels per
acre; and we also find that the average produce of the 32 years
is almost identical in both cases, one being 527 bushels, and

’ the other 33 bushels per acre. But in the favourable season of

1863, we find that while the dung gave only 44 bushels per
acre, the artificial manures gave a produce of 532, an excess
of nearly 10 bushels per acre.

It is evident, therefore, that, under the most favourable cli-
matic circumstances, the artificial manure is competent to give
a much larger crop, both of corn and straw, than the dung.

In the same year (1863), plot 9, which received an equivalent
amount of nitrogen in the form of nitrate of soda to that supplied
in the salts of ammonia on plot 7, gave a slightly higher pro-
duce, the yield amounting to 554 bushels per acre ; and taking the
whole produce (corn and straw), this plot gives more than one ton
per acre of total produce in excess of the yield on the dung plot.

To sum up, therefore, we find that under the best artificial
manures, 3)1 more bushels per acre of wheat, and nearly 2 tons
per acre more gross produce, were grown in the most favourable
season, as compared with the produce grown in the worst
season.

The Permanently Unmanured Plot.

The last time this land received any manure was in 1839.
The crop, which was then turnips, was followed by barley,
2F2

426: On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the

peas, wheat, and oats, the last four crops being grown without
any manure whatever. In the event of a failure of the clover-
crop, such a course would not at the period have been unusual
in the district, although in those days a top-dressing of soot
would, in all probability, have been applied to the wheat. In
this case, however, it was not applied; and, even if it had been
applied, the land after the oat-crop would be considered, agri-
culturally speaking, to be exhausted.

It was at this period that the Rothamsted experiments were
commenced, for the purpose of ascertaining what amount of
crop the land would yield in wheat, without the aid of manure.
The cultivation has been throughout of the most simple descrip-
tion, and no attempt has been made to increase the crop by
deep, or subsoil ploughing. The land has, however, been kept
free from weeds.

In the following table will be found a summary of the results
given in 4 periods of 10 years each :—

Taste XXII.—Showing the Numser of Busuets of Dressep Corn
per Acre, the Weicur per BusHet, and Toran Propucz of Cory
and Straw of the PERMANENTLY UNMANURED Land, in AVERAGE
Prriops of Ten YEARS.

Bushels of

z Total Produce
Dressed Weight per C a

; Corn per | Bushel. 1” straw tn Ibs,
Mean of 10 years, 1844-1853... .. 152 58°25 2711
Mean of 10 years, 1854-1863 .. .. .. 16% | © 57°57 2728
Mean of 10 years, 1864-1873 .. .. .. 12% 58°97 1924
Mean of 10 years, 1874-1883 .. .. .. | 103 | ~. 58°25 1614
Mean of 40 years .. .. .. 14 58°26 2244

! 1

We have already noticed the number of fine wheat seasons
which occurred during the second 10 years of the experiment, and
we may further mention that the effect of these favourable seasons
was sufficient to make the yield of grain of the second 10 years
of unmanured wheat slightly higher than that of the first period,
the average of the dressed corn per acre in the first period being
153, and in the second period 164 bushels per acre. The total
produce (corn and straw), which is a much more accurate measure
of the available fertility of a soil than the grain alone, shows a
considerable reduction in the second period as compared with
the first.

In the third period of 10 years, the average decline is very
decided, the mean for the 10 years being not quite 13 bushels

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 427

per acre, or nearly 4 bushels below the produce of the previous
10 years. In the fourth period of 10 years, the average produce
was only 104 bushels per acre.

It is well known to all those connected with the land in
Great Britain that the seasons have latterly been most unfa-
vourable for the growth of wheat. It is therefore evident that
the produce of the last 10 years does not correctly represent the
reduction due to exhaustion of the soil alone. This, indeed, is
proved by the fact that, under the influence of a rather better
season, the produce of the last crop in 1883 was 13? bushels
per acre, which very nearly represents the average yield of the
40 crops.

In our paper on “ Home Produce, Imports, and Consump-
tion,” we made some attempts to calculate what was the annual
decline in the produce due to exhaustion—irrespective of vari-
ations due to good or bad seasons—and it would appear probable
that, up to a certain period, the decline might amount to about
+ of a bushel per acre per annum—equal to a gross produce
in corn and straw of 40 lbs. per acre.

It is evident, however, that with each decline the reduction
will become less and less. Atmospheric influences, and even
the small amount of ammonia brought down in the rain, will
form a larger factor upon a declining crop. It is evident,
therefore, that the actual process of the exhaustion of the soil
differs considerably from all the preconceived ideas upon the
subject. The soil, in fact, not only contains more fertility, but
also holds it with a much firmer grasp, and parts with it less
readily than we had previously imagined.

The average amount of produce in straw and corn removed
has been 1 ton per acre, containing about 2000 lbs, of abso-
lutely dry matter; and we have very strong evidence, derived
from other experiments in the field, to prove that carbon and
organic matter, generally, are derived from the atmosphere,
while nitrogen and mineral matters are taken from the soil.
This would divide the products into from 94 to 95 per cent.
atmospheric, and from 5 to 6 per cent. soil compounds.

The average amount of soil compounds annually removed by
this unmanured wheat crop is from 100 lbs. to 120 lbs. per acre ;
and of the three most important constituents of plant growth there
have been removed 17 lbs. of potash, 10 lbs. of phosphoric acid,
and 20 lbs. of nitrogen. Such are the results obtained up to the
present time, and they may be summed up as follows :—Upon
a field which has been under arable cultivation certainly for two
or three centuries—and possibly for a much longer period—and
which has consequently lost a very considerable amount of its
original fertility, we find—after the removal of 40 unmanured

428 . On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the

crops—a yield which differs very little from the average of
some of the great wheat-growing countries of the world: the
yield of the United States, India, and China being, it is stated,
from 12 to 13 bushels per acre.

Now the Rothamsted soil certainly contains a very much less
stock of fertility than the soils upon which wheat is grown in
other countries ; it is therefore impossible to attribute the com-
paratively large yield in our experimental crops to any other
cause than to the clean state of the land. The amount of food
at the disposal of the plant is small, but it is not shared to
any great extent with other plants. .

By way of illustration of what may occur where the land is
not kept clean, we may mention that Jast autumn a portion of
the crop at the top of our wheat field was left standing and
allowed to shed its seeds, the soil not being disturbed in any
way. About 14 bushels per acre fell upon the land, and up to
a certain period the self-sown wheat was fairly plentiful. By this
time, however,—less than one year—the weeds have almost
destroyed the crop; and if the seed is left to sow itself again,
it is very probable that every plant will be driven out before
next summer.

The large produce of both wheat and barley upon the un-
manured land in the Woburn experiments, also shows how much
the crops grown upon the ordinary cultivated land of the country
are reduced by weeds. It is true that weeds do not exhaust a
soil, as, in their decay, the fertility which they have taken up
becomes again available; but they take up nitric acid, which,
during their growth, reverts to the form of organic nitrogen.

When this occurs in regard to the soil-nitrogen it is merely
so much nitric acid employed in growing weeds instead of
wheat ; but when such active nitrogen as salts of ammonia, or
nitrate of soda has been applied to the land, the loss is much
more serious. A high price is paid for these substances, in
consequence of the nitrogen they contain being in a very active
form, competent to produce crop growth; whereas if weed
growth takes place instead, the purchased nitrogen does not
become available as food for the crop until the weeds decay.

Mineral Manures without Ammonia.

In our previous paper on the Growth of Wheat we were only
able to give the produce of this plot for 12 years, as during the
first 8 years of the experiment manures containing ammonia
had been used in considerable quantities. We are now able to
give the produce of this plot for 32 years, during which period
a liberal supply of all the necessary mineral food of the wheat

—

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 429

crop has been placed upon the land every year, while for its
nitrogen the crop has been left dependent upon the supplies fur-
nished by the soil and atmosphere.

In the following table will be seen the produce of this plot
for 4 periods of 8 years each: and, for comparison, there is also
given the produce of the permanently unmanured crop over a
similar period.

Taste XXII.—Showing the Propuce of Dressep Gratny, and Tora.
Propuce (Corn and Straw) upon Prot 3 (the Permanentiy Un-
MANURED Puor), and Pior 5, which has received Mixep Minerats
for a period of 32 Yrars, divided into 4 periods of 8 Yrars.

| |

Without | Mixed Without Mixed
M — | Minerals, | Manure, gern
| s "
ae Dressed | Dressed Total Produce | Total Produce
Corn. esate | Corn and Straw. | Corn and Straw.
bushels. Lethe f- bushels. | Ibs. Ibs.
8 years, 1852-1859 .. .. | 16, | 19 2736 +| ~ 3191
8 years, 1860-1867 .. .. 133 152 2183 2450
8 years, 1868-1875 .. .. 124 -| 14 1833 2144
8 years, 1876-1883 .. .. | 103 | 123 1610 1895"
= /— See
32 years, 1852-1883 .. .. | 13} 152 2090 2424
40 years, 1844-1883 .. ..| 14 2944 7p

During the first 8 years of the experiment plot 5 received
salts of ammonia, as well as mineral manures, and the average
produce of wheat during these first 8 seasons was 29 bushels
per acre, or 12 bushels annually in excess of the produce in the
unmanured plot; while during the first 8 years of the mixed
minerals, without the salts of ammonia, the average produce
has been 19 bushels per acre, or nearly 3 bushels more than the
permanently unmanured produce.

In the second period of 8 years the produce of the mixed
minerals’ plot has amounted to 154 bushels per acre, as against
134 bushels grown by the unmanured plot, a difference of
1? bushels in favour of the mixed minerals’ plot. In the third
period of 8 years, the produce of plot 5 was 14 bushels per
acre: and in the last period of 8 years, it was 123, or rather
more than 124 bushels per acre.

The whole ‘period of 32 years has thus given an average of
15; bushels on the mixed minerals’ plot, as against 131 bushels
upon the permanently unmanured plot; and if we ‘take the
average produce of the unmanured plot for 40 years, the yield
has been 14 bushels per acre. The application, therefore, of a

430 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the

very liberal supply of minerals has only been competent to
increase the yield by 14 bushels per acre per annum!

The average of the total produce—straw and corn—of the
mixed minerals’ plot for the 32 years, has amounted to 2421 ibs.,
and of the unmanured plot to 2090 lIbs., a difference of 331 Ibs. in
favour of the minerals. The amount of nitrogen in this 331 Ibs.
would be not more than 3 lbs.; this represents the whole of the
nitrogen which the wheat upon an acre of land—though fur-
nished with an abundance of minerals—has been able to obtain
from the soil and atmosphere in excess of that obtained by the
wheat grown without manure !

In order to explain the causes which have prbelltRed these
crops, it will be necessary to show what has taken place in the
soil; but before doing so, it may be as well to give a slight
review of the crops themselves.

We find the two crops running a parallel course, showing
great differences in their yield as the seasons are favourable or
unfavourable, but rarely differing from each other more than
from 3 to 4 bushels per acre. The yield in both is slowly de-
clining, as we find that during the first 8 years the unmanured
produce gave, in two separate years, a crop of 20 bushels per
acre; and the mineral-manured plot on three occasions yielded
a crop exceeding 20 bushels per acre. For the last 23 years,
neither plot has given a produce of 20 bushels, and it is hardly
possible that, without some change in the manures applied, a
crop of this size can ever be grown again.

The Rothamsted soil—like a great many cultivated soils—
contains a large amount of the mineral food of plants; it also
contains organic nitrogen, that is to say, nitrogen in combina-
tion with carbon, the residue of previous vegetation. This
organic nitrogen does not appear to be available as food for the
wheat plant, but every year a certain amount of it is converted
into nitric acid, which combines with the lime in the soil. In
this state it is very soluble in water, is readily washed out of the
soil by heavy rain, and, further, is a most important and essential
food of the wheat plant.

The amount of nitric acid formed each year will vary, the
formation being most rapid in the hottest weather, provided the
soil is sufficiently moist. The amount of nitric acid which the
wheat crop can take up will also vary, and in a cold and wet
winter much will be washed beyond the reach of the roots of the
plant.

These facts, which are of universal application, enable us to
explain some of the causes which tend to the production of
good or bad crops of wheat. Analyses of the soil of these two

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 431

plots, made at different times, show that both have lost a large
amount of organic nitrogen; and that, in the first 9 inches
from the surface, the mineral-manured soil has lost rather the
most.

The total loss of nitrogen in the soil is larger than the
amount of this substance which has been removed in the crops,
and the reason for this will be found in an examination of the
drainage-water. Except when the crop is in full vigour of
growth, the drainage-water contains nitric acid. In our paper on
Rain and Drainage, published in this Journal, we have gone
so fully into this question that it will be sufficient here to say
that of the 28 lbs. to 32 Ibs. of nitrogen (as nitric acid) per acre,
which is at the disposal of the crop each year, we estimated that
about 2 are taken up by the crop, and that } goes into the
drains and is lost.

There was rather more nitric acid formed in the soils which
received minerals, and in consequence the crop was slightly
increased ; but the evidence is distinct and conclusive as regards
the very small effect which followed the large applications of
mineral matter.

On the unmanured soil the minerals at the disposal of the
crop were quite sufficient to utilise the whole of the nitric acid
liberated ; and in fact the results obtained on plot 104 prove
conclusively that the available minerals were competent to
grow a much larger crop than that actually produced ; further,

as very little more nitric acid was liberated upon the mineral

soil—and the crop was unable to obtain nitrogen from the
atmosphere—we have as the result a produce very slightly in
excess of that grown on the permanently unmanured land.

By means of these experiments we more readily arrive at an
explanation of the fact that on some soils—more especially the
newly cultivated soils of the United States—a large increase in
the wheat crop frequently follows the application of mineral
manures. Soils rich in organic matter may yield an increased
amount of nitric acid by the application of phosphates and
potash, but in all cases the source of the nitrogen is the soil,
and the loss in these experiments of about 1000 lbs. of soil
nitrogen per acre is a fact of the greatest importance.

Ammonia without Minerals. Plots 10 a, B, and 17, 18.

The recent legislative enactments, giving the cultivator of the
soil a claim for the manure ingredients possessing a pecuniary
value, which he has applied to the land, add greatly to the
interest of all investigations which have a bearing upon this
important subject.

432 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the 4

In plots 104 and 108, we have two parallel experiments.
In 1844 both received an application of mineral manures, and
produced a crop yielding 154 bushels of wheat per acre. In
1845, both received a dressing of salts of ammonia, which
yielded a crop of 32 bushels per acre.

From that time they have been treated as two separate ex-
periments; 10a, from 1846 to the present time—a period of
38 years—has received annually a dressing of salts of ammonia:
while in 1846, 108 was unmanured. In 1848, 10B received
a dressing of minerals, and the same amount of salts of ammonia
as 104. In 1849, it received salts of ammonia alone, and in
1850, minerals -ileue:

The difference between the two plots has therefore been as
follows: 104 has received one dressing of minerals, followed
by 39 dressings of salts of ammonia: 108 has received
three dressings of minerals during the 7 years; and for the last
33 years both plots have been manured exactly alike, receiving
salts of ammonia every year.

In the following table will be seen (1) the produce of each
plot separately during the first 8 years: (2) the mean produce
of the two plots during each 8 years: (3) the mean of 32
crops.

Taste XXIV.—Showing the Propuce of 10 a and 108 for each of
the First 8 Yuars of the Exprrment, and afterwards the AVERAGE
Propvuce in Periops of 8 Years; 10 a receiving Minerat Manure
in 1844, and for the last 89 Years Sautts of Ammonta; 108 receiy-
ing Minerats alone in 1844 and 1850, being unmanured in 1846,
and receiving Mrverats with Satts of Ammonia in 1848. For the
last 32 Years 10 B has received the same Manure as 10 a.

10A. 10B. 10A. 10B.
Dressed Dressed Total Produce | Total Produce
Corn. Corn, | Corn and Straw.|Corn and Straw.
bushels, bushels. Tbs. Ibs.
USES Sa doe bey cis 153 153 2120 2120
(Les ce le SEE 313 31} 6246 6246
1846 ae oe. as 273 173 4094 2671
LBs A. AGE 252 252 4593 4579
STS pats ches) ¢ 05 193 25} 3701 4530
USE te sc se ™ ves 323 323 4992 5117
ASOO lS, Sa hes 27 18 4810 3120
MSDE ss) ae oxy 283 283 5036 4985
8 years, 1852-1859 .. .. 908 | 273 4055 4885
8 years,1860-1867 .. .. | 24 272 4076 | 4563
8 years, 1868-1875 .. .. | 19 20} 3060 | 3264
8 years, 1876-1883 .. .. | 163 18; | 2618 2935
32 years, 1852-1883 .. .. 203 233 | 8452 3912
|

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 433
It will be observed that in 1848, when 108 received

mineral manures as well as salts of ammonia, the produce
was 251 bushels per acre, as against 191 bushels per acre on
plot 104, which received the same salts of ammonia without
minerals. On the other hand, when 108, in 1850, received
minerals alone, the produce was only 18 bushels per acre as
against 27 bushels obtained on 10.4, which was manured with
salts of ammonia only.

Turning now to the period of 8 years each, it will be seen
that in every case the produce of 108 was larger than that of
104; the difference is however a declining one, being in the
first 8 years not quite 5 bushels per acre per annum, in the
last 5 years 14 bushels per acre, and over the whole period not
quite 3 bushels per acre per annum.

It is well known that the drainage-water that comes from
cultivated fields contains but a very small amount of potash,
and frequently no phosphoric acid ; we have no difficulty, there-
fore, in tracing the increased produce obtained by 108 over
10 4 to the minerals applied to the former in 1848 and 1850.

The potash and phosphoric acid applied to both 104 and
108 must have been removed in the crops many years ago, but
the much greater amount which 108 received in the earlier
years of the experiment must have caused the resources of the
soil to be more largely drawn upon by the crops upon plot 10 a,
_ than by those upon plot 108.

These large applications of potash and phosphoric acid—
although applied in the form of soluble compounds—appear to
enter into very fixed combinations, somewhat similar to those
already existing in the soil; and in this respect they differ
altogether from compounds of ammonia and nitric acid, as the
latter appear to be either destroyed or washed away, unless they
are fixed in vegetation, while the former are fixed by the soil.
itself, and are only taken out of it by means of vegetation.

Piots 17 and 18.

In the last experiment it was shown that potash and phos-
phoric acid were producing an influence upon the wheat crop
33 years after their application.

In the experiment to which we are now about to refer we have
to trace the unexhausted residue of another substance perfectly
soluble in water. On plots 17 and 18 the mineral manures
and the salts of ammonia are never used together. When
plot 17 receives minerals, plot 18 receives salts of ammonia ;
and when plot 18 receives minerals, plot 17 receives salts of
ammonia. During the 32 years of the experiment each plot

434 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the ~

has received 16 applications of mineral manures, and 16 appli-
cations of salts of ammonia.

It is evident that an experiment of this description is well
adapted to ascertain the unexhausted residue of a substance
like salts of ammonia. During the first 8 years the two plots
received different artificial manures, yielding a very similar
produce. In the following table will be found the average
produce of the mineral manures, and also of the salts of am-
monia in periods of 8 years; further, for comparison, is given
the average produce of plot 5, where minerals alone have
been employed.

Taste XXV.—Showing the Busuxts of Dressep Gra and Toran
Propuce (Corn and Straw) upon Prors 5,17, and 18; 5 being
Manvrep with Mixep Minerat Manvrss alone during the whole
Prriop, and 17 and 18 receiving alternately Minrrats and Satts
of Ammonia.

Plot 5, Plots Plots <
Mineral | 17 or 18, | 17 or 18, me pe Weis
Manures | Mineral Salts of Plot 5. Minerals’ | Azamon! A
every Manures | Ammonia Total out only.
Year. only. only. Produce Tobi Tote
Bushels Bushels Bushels | Corn and: Produces |" Prolnce
per Acre | per Acre | per Acre Straw. | Gorn andel Gormadd
Dressed Dressed Dressed

Corn. Corn, Corn. Straw. Straw.

8 years, 1852-1859... | 19 183 | $23 3191 3235 5938
8 years, 1860-1867... | 154 163 314 | 2450 | 2696 | 5297
8 years, 1868-1875 .. | 14 15 284 2144 2404 4781
8 years, 1876-1883 .. | 123 123 272 1899 1869 4930
32 years, 1852-1863... | 153 | 153 | 3 2421 | 2551 | 5237

| |

Looking at the bottom line—which gives the average of the
whole period of 32 years—it will be seen that during the
16 seasons in which plot 17 received salts of ammonia, and in
the 16 seasons in which plot 18 received that substance, the
average produce was 30 bushels per acre; while the plot which
during the alternate years received minerals only, yielded
152 bushels; or in other words, only a fraction of a bushel
more than plot 5, which had received no ammonia during the
whole period!

In the 400 lbs. of salts of ammonia it is estimated that
86 lbs. of nitrogen are applied to an acre.

The resources of the soil were evidently competent to furnish
the nitrogen contained in 15 bushels of wheat, and its straw, as
we obtained that produce on plot 5 which receives no ammonia.
In the remaining 15 bushels and its straw, obtained by the
application of the salts of ammonia, certainly less than 26 lbs.

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 435

of nitrogen have been carried off, thus leaving 60 lbs. of
nitrogen to be accounted for!

In the autumn of 1881, the soil in the various experimental
plots was sampled and analysed, both for the total nitrogen and
for nitric acid, to the depth of 27 inches. Although the soil
of plots 17 and 18 contained rather more total nitrogen and
nitrates than plot 5, still—within the range examined—there
was no evidence of the existence in the soil of the large amount
of nitrogen supplied in the manure, and not accounted for in
the crop.

It is quite certain, therefore, that when salts of ammonia
are applied to grow wheat, it is not safe to calculate upon any
of the unexhausted residue being available for the purpose of
growing a second corn-crop.

There is also evidence to show that the exhausting character
which practical farmers attribute to corn crops, is quite as much
due to the nitrogen which they do not assimilate being washed
out of the soil, as it is to the amount of that substance which is
remoyed in the produce.

Mixed Minerals with Salts of Ammonia and Nitrate of Soda.

Having already given the result of experiments on which
mixed minerals were used alone, as also where salts of ammonia
were used alone, we now come to another series of experiments,
where one uniform quantity of mixed minerals was used in each

- case, but with different amounts of nitrogen in the form of salts

of ammonia, and also as nitrate of soda. The applications were
as follows :—Plot 6A and B received 200 Ibs. of sulphate and
muriate of ammonia, containing 43 lbs. of nitrogen; plot 7A
and B, 400 lbs. of the same salts, containing 86 Ibs. of nitrogen;
and plot 8A and B, 600 lbs. of the same salts, containing
129 lbs. of nitrogen; while plot 9A, received 86 lbs. of
nitrogen as nitrate of soda, instead of salts of ammonia. :

For the first twelve years of the experiment, we further em-
ployed on plot 164 and B, 800 lbs. of salts of ammonia, con-
taining 172 lbs. of nitrogen; but even in 1863—a season which
for productiveness is not likely to be repeated except at_rare
intervals—the 800 lbs. produced so small an increase over the
manure containing 600 lbs. of ammonia, that it was decided to
stop the application, with the view of obtaining, by this means,
some information in regard to the unexhausted residue of
manures.

In the following table is given—in 4 periods of 8 years each—
the produce of wheat grown by the minerals and nitrogen in
various proportions for 32 years in succession; and for com-

436 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the |

parison the produce over the same period, obtained by the
mineral manure alone.

Taste XXVI.—Showing the Propucrt of Wurat Gratry, in BusHEns
per Acrz, and Toran Propucz (Cory and Straw) grown by Mrxzp
Miverats alone, and with Satrs of Ammonia, and NITRATE of
Sopa during 32 "Years, i in periods of 8 YEars.

DreEssED CoRN PER ACRE IN BUSHELS.

fhe With Salts of Ammonia. ea
Minerals | 1
elane, 43 Ibs. 86 Ibs. 129 Ibs. 86 Ibs.
Nitrogen. Nitrogen. Nitrogen. Nitrogen.
8 years, 1852-1859 19 275 353 363 31h
8 years, 1860-1867 15} 264 364 392 401
8 years, 1868-1875 14 22 31 36 39
8 years, 1876-1883 123 203 28 32} 34¢
32 years, 1852-1883 153 24} 322 364 36}
ToTraL PropucE PER ACRE IN CORN AND SrrRaw.
acne With Salts of Ammonia. Pi
Minerals we
alone. 43 lbs. 86 lbs. 129 lbs. 86 lbs.
Nitrogen. Nitrogen. Nitrogen. Nitrogen.
8 years, 1852-1859 3191 4808 6490 7012 5897
8 years, 1860-1867 2450 4276 6262 7363 7862
8 years, 1868-1875 2144 3612 5379 6593 7344
8 years, 1876-1883 1899 3422 5248 6361 6824
32 years, 1852-1883 2421 4029 5845 6832 6982

Taking the three proportions of nitrogen, as applied in salts -

of ammonia, it will be seen that in the separate periods of
8 years each, and also in the whole period of 32 years, the in-
crease of wheat obtained by the addition of 43 Ibs. of nitrogen
to the minerals, varies from 8 to 11 bushels per acre; the total
increase over the whole period being not quite 9 bushels per
acre. The application of an additional 43 Ibs. of nitrogen, or
in other words, a total application of 86 lbs. of nitrogen, again

Experimental Plois at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 437

increases the amount of wheat by between 8 and 9 bushels
over the whole period ; the minerals alone yielding 15+} bushels,
the 43 lbs. of nitrogen 24} bushels, and the 86 Ibs. of nitrogen,
322 bushels per acre.

Comparing the four periods of 8 years with each other, it
will be seen that the minerals alone, during the last period of
8 years gave 64 bushels per acre less than during the first
period ; while the 43 lbs, of nitrogen yielded between 7 and 8
bushels per acre, and the 86 lbs. of nitrogen yielded 74 bushels
per acre less than during the first period. The reduction there-
fore would appear to be due to some cause which equally affected
the three crops.

The addition of another 43 lbs. of nitrogen, by the applica-
tion of 129 lbs. of the substance, proved far less effective than
the previous additions, as instead of being from 8 to 9 bushels,
the increase was only 3} bushels per acre; the average of
the whole period of 32 years being, for the highest manure—
where the 129 lbs. of ammonia was applied—36} bushels per
acre, and where 86 lbs. of nitrogen was applied, 32? bushels
per acre.

The total increase obtained by this large amount of nitrogen
—in excess of the produce obtained by the mineral manures
alone—amounted only to 21 bushels per acre per annum; it is
therefore quite evident that in this experiment the nitrogen
applied was in excess of the quantity which could be utilised
by the crop ; and even in the best season of growth, 1863, when

‘the crop which received 86 lbs. of nitrogen yielded 534 bushels
per acre, the crop receiving 129 lbs. only yielded 2 bushels
more !

The average yield of wheat in Great Britain is estimated by
us at 28 bushels, and by others at 30 bushels per acre. The
crop obtained by 86 lbs. of nitrogen appears to have quite reached,
if it has not exceeded the profitable limit of growth; and it
is only a rise in the price of wheat—and not lower prices—that
could justify the outlay in manure which would be required
to grow a larger crop. We have abundant evidence that a
considerable amount of the nitrogen of the salts of ammonia
has been converted into nitric acid during the autumn and
washed into the drains during the winter. At the time of the
application of the nitrate of soda in the spring, the plots receiv-
ing the ammonia had lost more or less nitrogen, and until 1877
the relative crop-producing power of nitrogen as ammonia, and
as nitric acid in the form of nitrate of soda, was not carried out
on equal terms. Since 1877, plot 74 and B has received its
dressing of salts of ammonia in the spring, while we have

438 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the

another plot, similarly manured, which receives these salts
in the autumn; and although the spring-sown ammonia has
given the largest produce, still, the difference between the two
crops is by no means what we might have expected from the
known loss by drainage which took place in the autumn-sown
manure. .

In the autumn of 1881 the soil of the various experimental
plots was sampled to the depth of 27 inches. Between the
application of the salts of ammonia in the spring and the time
of sampling, only a small amount of drainage had taken place,
but the nitric acid in the soil and drainage water did not
account for the nitrogen which had been applied in the salts of
ammonia, but had not been taken up by the crop, and it appears
quite possible that a considerable destruction of ammonia may
take place in a soil, which would be in a much drier state in
the spring than during the autumn and winter.

It was not until after the experiment had been carried on for
8 years that the nitrate began to show a superiority over the
salts of ammonia, as up to that period, in the case of every one
of the crops the ammonia gave the largest yield, the excess
amounting in 8 years to 44 bushels per acre. During the next
3 periods the nitrate was considerably in excess; and over
the whole period of 32 years the nitrate gave an increase, over
the salts of ammonia, of not quite 4 bushels per acre, the pro-
duce of the ammonia being 324 bushels, and that of the nitrate
364 bushels per acre.

The produce of the nitrate supplying 86 lbs. of nitrogen is
exactly equal to that of the salts of ammonia supplying 129 lbs.
of this substance, both giving 361 bushels per acre; and if we
take the total crop grown by the two salts—which is by far the
best measure of the power of a manure to produce growth—we
find that the 86 lbs. of nitrogen as nitrate of soda produced
6982 lbs., and the 129 lbs. of nitrogen in salts of ammonia
6832 lbs. of total produce per acre.

Although there is often a strong prejudice against the use of
nitrate of soda, it is evident from this example that, when
judiciously applied, its properties as a manure are much higher
than those of salts ofammonia. We may add, that when used con-
tinuously for 32 years its power to produce growth appears to
increase, rather than to diminish, as during the last 16 years the
total produce per acre of 9 A, in excess of the produce of 7 Aa—
each receiving equal amounts of nitrogen—has been 7084 lbs, as
against 5313 lbs,; a difference of 1771 lbs. of total pone
per acre per annum in favour of the nitrate.

oged

wi

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 439

Piots 16 A and B.

The Unexhausted Residue of Manures.

From 1852 to 1864, inclusive, these two plots received a mixed
mineral manure and 800 lbs. of salts of ammonia, an amount
which furnished to the crop annually 172 lbs. of nitrogen. It is
very rarely that a sufficiently large crop of wheat is grown to
remove one-half of this quantity of nitrogen.

In 1863 and 1864 the seasons were highly favourable for the
growth of wheat; and as the size of the crop is regulated very
much by the amount of nitrogen at its disposal, the two seasons
were well adapted for ascertaining how much of this very large
application could be employed in the growth of the crop.

In 1863 the yield of plot 16 was 56 bushels per acre, and in
1864, 51 bushels per acre. But plots 8 A and B produced
respectively 56 bushels and 50 bushels in the same years, by
means of an application of 600 lbs. of ammonia; and as the
additional 200 lbs. only added 1 bushel to the crop, it was quite
evident that we had reached the possible limits of growth, even
in seasons so favorable. It did not indeed seem likely—and
the result afterwards confirmed the view—that such favourable
seasons would occur again in a period of 20 years. Under
these circumstances we therefore decided to stop all further
manuring after 1864, with the view of obtaining information,

_ which might prove to be very valuable, in regard to the un-

exhausted residue of the manure employed.

The following table (p. 440) gives the produce of plot 16 for
2 years during which it received manure; and for 19 years
during which it was unmanured: also for comparison is given
the produce of plot 5, which received an annual dressing of
minerals. ;

It will be seen that the first year after the manures were
stopped, the produce of plot 16 was 32 bushels, or 18 bushels
in excess of that grown on plot 5. Inthe next year, plot 16 gave
173 bushels, and plot 5 gave 13 bushels, a difference of only
4 bushels in favour of plot 16. Inthe two years that succeeded,
plot 16 yielded 5 bushels in excess of plot 5 for each year;
but in the years that followed them, the produce on the two
plots was almost identical, in fact, the total produce of straw
and corn on plot 16 was 6 lbs. per acre less than the total
produce on plot 5. During the next 6 years, however, the
total produce of plot 16 exceeded that of plot 5 to the extent
of from 116 lbs. to 221 Ibs. each year; it was, therefore, not until
12 years after the last application, that all influence due to
previous manuring ceased.

VOL. XX.—S. 8. 2G

=

440 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the

Taste XXVII.—Showing the Propvce of the last Two Crops on
Puor 16, which received for 13 Yuars in succession an ANNUAL
Dressine of Mrxep Miverats, and Satrs of Ammonra containing
172 lbs. of Nirrocrn ; followed by 19 Unmanurep Crops. And
for comparison, the produce of Por 5, which received Miyeran
Manvrzs only over the whole period.

Plot 5. Plot 16. Plots 5. Plot 16.
Minerals Minerals and Minerals Minerals and
Alone. | 172 Ibs. Nitrogen. Alone. 172 lbs. Nitrogen.

Dressed Corn in Bushels per Acre. | Total Produce in Corn and Straw.

1863 198 555 3017 10,525
1864 16; ol} 2462 9,348. -
Minerals | Unmanured Minerals Unmanured
1865 143 323 2091 5,007
1866 133 173 2303 3,081
1867 94 143 1613 2,512
i868 173 22% 2481 3,503
1869 152 16} 2543 2,647
1870 183 182 2564 Ay By
1871 1lj 133 2207 ESS)
1872 122 131 2166 2,387
1873 122 122 1806 1,921
1874 13 11 1674 1,892
1875 gt 10! 1714 1,829
1876 103 11 1429 1,538
1877 113 92 1570 1,340
1878 143 133 2299 2,181
1879 53 45 1238 1,154
1880 172 142 2818 2,383
1881 123 132 1709 1,736
1882 123 103 2057 1,925
1883 152 15; 2147 2,131

With regard to the large crop grown during the first year after
the manure was stopped, we are inclined to think it was mainly
due to a certain portion of the salts of ammonia not having been
washed out of the soil. The year of the last application, 1864,
was one of exceptional drought ; in fact, it was the driest year
we have ever experienced at Rothamsted since the commence-
ment of our experiments ; and it is probably owing to this that
a portion, at all events, of the produce was due. While the
excess of produce obtained on plot 16, as compared with
plot 5, during the next 10 years, is probably due to the slow
decay and nitrification of the stubble, and underground roots of
the very large crops grown on this plot for so many years,

During the 13 years of the application of 800 lbs. of salts of
ammonia, considerably more than 1000 lbs. of the nitrogen
applied to the soil has not been recovered in the crops; it is
therefore hardly possible to suppose that the nitrogen contained

-
4

’

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883, 441

in the 6600 lbs. of total produce obtained, in excess of that grown
on plot 5, during the next 10 years—which produce would not
contain more than 60 Ibs. of nitrogen—could have its source in
the salts of ammonia as such, except so far as a portion of the
first crop was concerned.

All the evidence, indeed, points to the residue of the crop
itself as being the source of the unexhausted manure; and it is
quite certain that the very large amount of roots possessing
considerable fertilising influence, which some of our rotation
crops leave in the ground, have much to do with their value
as restorative crops. In 1865 samples of soil taken from the
various experimental plots were submitted to analyses, and the
percentage of nitrogen in the first 9 inches of soil on plot 16
was higher than on any other plot receiving artificial manures ;
while, in 1881—after 17 unmanured crops had been taken—
when analyses of the soil were again made, it was found that
the percentage of nitrogen was considerably reduced, and it was
in fact not much higher than that on the unmanured plot.

Farmyard Manure.

From the commencement of the permanent wheat experiment,
one plot has received annually 14 tons of ordinary farmyard-
manure per acre. No attempt has been made to ascertain by
means of chemical analysis the composition of the manure

- applied, for two reasons: (1) in the earlier years of the experi-

ments, the importance of knowing the exact amount of the
various ingredients applied to the soil was not well understood ;
(2) later on, the want of success in a very careful attempt to
ascertain the exact composition of some box dung at Woburn,
satisfied us that it was better to trust to a composition derived
from a variety of analyses of farmyard-manure, than to give the
composition derived from analyses in the accuracy of which we
could feel no confidence.

The following table gives the estimated amount of some of the
more important ingredients supplied to the soil annually in
14 tons of farmyard-manure, as also of the amount of ingre-
dients supplied in artificial manure on plot 7 :—

Taste XXVIII.

Tesicngenic Nitrogen. | P mepiee of Potash.

Ibs. Ibs. bepress wiht Ibs. Ibs.

Dring, Prob 2 ste ias 7526 200 155 168
Artificial, Plot 7.. .. | id f 86 140 100

442 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the

Although the ingredients furnished to the soil in plot 7 differ
greatly from those furnished by the dung, the produce of both
crops resemble each other very closely, as will be seen in the
following table :—

Taste XXJX.—Showing the Amounr of Wueat Grary, and
Toran Propuce (Corn and Srraw) upon Pror 2, Manurep with
14 Tons of Farmyarp- Manure per Acre per Annum; and
Prior 7, Manvrep with Miyerats and Satrs of Ammonia, in
Prriops of 8 YzEars.

: Minerals and - Minerals and
Farmyard- . Fe ard-
Manure. Yeu a Manure. Jona
86 lbs. Ibs.
re Wieroged. aetges Niteogen.
Dressed Grain in Bushels per Total Produce in Corn and
cre.
8 years, 1852-1859 .. 343 353 6100 6490
8 years, 1860-1867 .. 352 364 } 5926 6262
8 years, 1868-1875 .. 35} 31 5932 5379
8 years, 1876-1883 .. 282 28 4798 5248
32 years, 1852-1883 .. 333 | 323 5689 5845
40 years with pager : =
Cee mae airy o° 325 a | ad

Taking the whole period of thirty-two years—during which
the two experiments received the same manure each year—it
will be seen that the difference in the produce of the two plots is
less than one bushel per acre, the dung yielding an average
produce of 33} bushels per acre, and the artificial manures one
of 823 bushels per acre. While of the total produce, in corn
and straw, the artificial manures on plot 7 give an increase over
that on plot 2 of 156 lbs. per acre.

The most striking contrast between the two manures which
give these very nearly identical results, is, that while the farm-
yard dung furnishes to the soil a large amount of organic matter,
the artificial manure supplies none.

On plot 2, each year, about 8540 Ibs. of organic matter were
placed in the soil, of which not not more than one-half was
recovered in the crop; and yet the artificial manures, which
supplied no organic matter whatever, produced a crop which
gaye rather the larger amount of organic matter of the two: and
we have further evidence to show that by merely increasing the
amount of nitrogen, a still larger amount of organic matter can
be obtained in the crop, as plot 8—which receives 129 lbs. of

’ ud

Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 443

nitrogen each year, a quantity much less than that supplied in
the dung—gives, over a period of 32 years, a total produce in
straw and corn of 6982 lbs. per acre, or 1200 Ibs. more than that
obtained on plot 2.

It is quite evident from these results, that the amount of
organic matter in the crop bears no relation to that supplied in
the manure; and that the atmosphere, and not the soil, is the
source of this supply.

The farmyard-manure not only furnished a large amount of
organic matter to the soil, but it also furnished a larger amount
of nitrogen than the artificial manures on plot 7. To produce
a crop equal to that grown by artificial manures on plot 7, we
estimate that the farmyard-manure furnished the soil with more
than twice the amount of nitrogen supplied by the artificial
manures.

In the two years of 1863 and 1864, on plot 2—-which was
estimated to supply 400 lbs. of nitrogen—the total produce
amounted to 13,653 lbs. ; while that of plot 16—which furnished
144 lbs. of nitrogen in salts of ammonia—was 20,043 lbs., or
in other words, more than 6000 lbs. excess of crop in two
years !-

As so much less growth can be obtained from the nitrogen in
dung, than from that in salts of ammonia, or nitrate of soda,
it is evident that the nitrogen in these substances must be in
different chemical combinations.

In the soil, the nitrogen, which constitutes one of the most
important elements in what we describe as permanent fertility,
is always in combination with carbon. In this form it is both
insoluble and inactive, and it only becomes an active food for
vegetation when, by the process of nitrification, it ceases to be
in combination with carbon. .

In dung, by far the greater part of the nitrogen is in combi-
nation with carbon; and, when we consider the various sub-
stances which make up a mass of manure, we recognise at once
that the individual periods of their decay, or nitrification, must
vary greatly. The carbon may be separated from the nitrogen
in urine in the course of a few weeks or months, while it may
take many years to nitrify portions of the woody matter of
straw, especially on heavy land.

We have mentioned that in consequence of the inactive condi-
tion of much of the nitrogen in dung, it requires a considerably
larger application of that substance, to grow the same amount of
crop as that produced by a much smaller application of nitrogen,
in the more active form of ammonia and nitrates. This being
the case, it is evident that in the soil where dung has been
employed, we ought to find a larger amount both of carbon and

444 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the

nitrogen, than in the soil where artificial manures have been
used.

The evidence which we possess on this point is both interest-
ing and instructive.

On the Underground Fertility of Plots 2, 3, and 7.

Although the nitrogen supplied to the land in the 14 tons of
dung was considerably in excess of the amount supplied to
plot 7 in the salts of ammonia, still the produce of the wheat
on both plots was nearly the same; while the produce on plot 8
—which received a larger amount of salts of ammonia—was
much higher than that on plot 2, although the nitrogen supplied
‘was still considerably less than that contained in the farmyard-
manure.

The great distinction between the two manures is, however,
due to the nitrogen in the dung being chiefly in combination
with carbon, and very little is yet known in regard to the
various compounds of carbon existing in the soil.

In agriculture, we know that by the continual application of
dung to the soil, as is the case in a garden, the soil increases
in fertility, however much we may crop it. Some compounds
of carbon and nitrogen are exceedingly durable, a familiar
instance of which is to be found in coal; while in coke, nearly
one-half of the nitrogen contained in the coal appears to be
retained, although the latter has been exposed to a red heat.
As regards dung, therefore—which is made up of urine, the
indigestible portions of food, and straw—we might expect to
find that the process of its decay and parting with its carbon
would extend over very different periods of time.

The soil of the dunged plot has been sampled and analysed
on four different occasions. These analyses form a portion of
an immense series of soil analyses which have been made from
time to time on the various experimental and other fields at
Rothamsted.

Some of the analyses have been made upon subsoils taken to
a depth of 9 feet from the surface, but the greater portion do
not extend below 27 inches, each sample representing 9 inches
of soil in depth.

The great advantage to be derived from taking a large
number of analyses is, that we are thus enabled to form a better
judgment in regard to the accuracy of each separate result. In
the present instance, however, our object is rather to point out
the circumstances under which fertility accumulates in the soil,
than to attempt to measure its exact amount.

We estimate that within 27 inches from the surface, the

-
z Experimenta! Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 445

=

nitrogen on plot 2 will amount to, and possibly exceed
8000 Ibs. per acre. This would exceed the amount, to the
same depth, on plot 7 by more than 1600 lbs., and that con-
tained on the permanently unmanured land (plot 3) by more
than 2200 lbs.

By far the largest difference in the nitrogen of the three plots
is found in the first 9 inches from the surface. At that depth
the dunged land contained double the amount of nitrogen which
is found on plot 3, and one and a half times as much as is
found on plot 7; and we estimate that plot 3, after the
removal of forty unmanured crops of wheat in succession, still
contains about 2000 lbs. of nitrogen in the first 9 inches from
the surface ; this, in fact, represents the residue of the natural
fertility, or, to use a word imported into the Agricultural
Holdings Act, of the inherent capability of the soil.

The relation between the carbon and nitrogen in these three
soils, which differ so greatly in their total amount of nitrogen,
indicates that they do not differ much in their character. On
the unmanured land the amount of carbon to 1 of nitrogen is
not quite 10 ; on plot 7 itis 1 to103; and on the land which re-
ceives dung it is not quite 1 to 12. Now the unmanured plot has
received neither carbon nor nitrogen in manure; plot 7 has
received a yery large amount of nitrogen, but no carbon; while
plot 2 has received a very large amount of both carbon and
nitrogen. The relation between the carbon and nitrogen in the
farmyard-manure is in the proportion of about 25 of carbon to
1 of nitrogen ; this proportion is totally different to what we
find it in the soil.

The close relation between the carbon and nitrogen in
plot 3 and plot 7 indicates that the larger amount of nitrogen
found in the soil of plot 7 is not due to the direct storing up of
ammonia by the soil, but to. the nitrogen forming part of
vegetable growth, and being thus stored up in the stubble and
roots.

Ifthe nitrogen of the salts of ammonia had been stored up in
any form except that of vegetable growth, the relation of carbon
to nitrogen would have been lower on plot 7 than on plot 3,
instead of which it is higher. There is also very clear evidence,
derived from analyses of the soil of plot 3 and plot 7, that of
the two the latter contains by far the larger amount of unex-
hausted fertility.

In the adjoining field, where barley is grown continuously,
we have not only the evidence of the same accumulation having
taken place as shown by analysis, but we have the evidence of
the crops themselves. For twenty years in succession, 14 tons

446 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat on the
of farmyard dung were applied to the barley crop, after which
period the plot was divided into two; on one half the dung
was continued as before, and upon the other half it was stopped.
Up to the present time 12 unmanured crops have been taken,
which yielded an average of 344 bushels per acre, and, as the last
crop in a rather favourable season exceeded 35 bushels, there is
evidence of a long future before the fertility of the twenty years’
dung will be exhausted.

In the same field all the plots which have been manured with
rape-cake showed by analyses that the soil contained a con-
siderably larger amount of nitrogen than any of the plots where
minerals, or minerals with salts of ammonia or nitrate, had been
used. While therefore fertility may be stored up in the soil in
the form of such mineral substances as potash or phosphate, it
does not appear that the more valuable substance, nitrogen, can
be stored up unless as united with carbon. Or in other words,
while the soil fixes potash and phosphoric acid independent of
vegetation, nitric acid is only fixed by the agency of vegetation.

SUMMARY AND GENERAL CONCLUSIONS.
THE SOIL.

1. A soil which in the ordinary course of agriculture would
have received an application of manure before another crop was
sown, has produced forty crops of wheat in succession, averaging
14 bushels per acre, solely by means of its existing fertility.

2. At the commencement of the experiment the soil contained
a large amount of organic nitrogen, derived from the débris of
pre-existing vegetation. It also contained a large amount of the
mineral food of plants. 4

3. Every year a certain proportion of the organic nitrogen
has been nitrified by organisms existing in the soil.

4, Part of the nitrates formed has been employed in the
growth of the wheat crop; part has been washed out of the soil
or otherwise lost.

5. The loss of nitric acid is greater in wet seasons, and the
amount taken up by the wheat crop is in consequence smaller.
Dry seasons should therefore be favourable for the production
of large crops of wheat.

6. The stock of soil fertility in the form of organic nitrogen
has been considerably reduced during the forty years that the ex-
periments have been carried on ; and the amount of such reduc-

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY
OF ENGLAND.

"Members of the Society are invited to send on
the annexed slip nominations of Gentlemen qualified
to act as Judges of Implements, the various classes
‘of Live Stock, Dairy Produce, &c., on or before

Dec. 31st, 1884, addressed to

H. M. JENKINS,

Secretary.

12, Hanover Squaren, Lonpon, W.

\

Oct. 1884.

—_

ION OF JUDGES AT R.AS.E. SHOWS.

a ‘ a!
at Name. Address. As Judge of ’ :

-

ee ————

A OT, ae ae ER eR ER. SERN Ad

Pee ewe eee teen este ae ee eh een tenon eee sn anaes ssn eaenassenassssassassanateasennenes

Ca Experimental Plots at Rothamsted, from 1864 to 1883. 447

tion has been ascertained by analyses of the soil made at different
periods. The stock of both potash and phosphoric acid has also
been largely reduced.

7. Although so much soil fertility has been removed, the
stock that remains would appear to be sufficient to grow crops of
wheat for a very long period; the produce, however, must in
process of time necessarily be lower than it has hitherto been.

MANURES.

8. Mineral manures alone have added very slightly to the
produce grown upon the unmanured land.

9. Manures containing nitric acid alone, or some compound
of nitrogen which is easily nitrified, have considerably increased

. the crop.

10. The soil therefore contained a stock of minerals which the
wheat crop was unable to make use of, owing to the insufficient
supply of nitrogen in some available form.

11, Manures consisting of potash, phosphoric acid, and
ammonia or nitrates, appear competent to grow large crops of
wheat continuously.

12. A given weight of nitrogen as nitric acid, has produced
more growth in the wheat crop than the same weight of nitrogen
in salts of ammonia.

13. The amount of nitrogen supplied in manures is very
much in excess of the amount recovered in the increase of the
crop.

14. After a certain amount of growth has been reached, each
increase of crop requires a proportionately larger application
of manure. When the price of grain is high, larger crops can be
grown more profitably than when the price is low.

15. When farmyard dung is employed to grow wheat, a con-
siderably larger amount of nitrogen must be applied to produce
a given increase in the crop, as much of the nitrogen contained
in the dung is not in an active form. -

16. A given weight of nitrogen, in the form of nitric acid,
will produce more growth in the crop to which it is applied ~
than the same weight of nitrogen in dung; but the influence of
the nitrate upon succeeding crops will be very much less.

17. There is no evidence to show whether the whole avail-
able effect of the nitrogen in one manure is greater than it is
in the other,

~ . ‘ > 4a

448 On the Continuous Growth of Wheat, &c.

UNEXHAUSTED MANURES,

18. In the absence of vegetation, or when applied to crops in
excess of their requirement, both potash and phosphoric acid
form insoluble compounds with the soil and become available
for future crops.

19. In the absence of vegetation, or when the amount supplied
is in excess of the requirements of the crop, nitrates and salts of
ammonia do not appear to form permanent compounds with the
soil, but, on the contrary, are liable to be washed out by rain, or
to be otherwise lost.

20. The application of a larger amount of nitrogen, as nitrates
or salts of ammonia, than the crop could utilize owing to a
want of minerals, does not appear to prevent the nitrification of
the organic nitrogen of the soil.

21. The stock of nitrogen of the soil itself, therefore, may
be reduced, although the annual application of nitrogen may be
much in excess of the amount of that substance removed in the
crop.

22. When large crops of wheat have been grown by the
application of nitrates, or salts of ammonia with mineral manures,
the soil does not appear to have gained or lost fertility. Nitri-
fication of the organic matter in the soil may have gone on as
usual, but the loss has been made good by the amount of
nitrogen stored up in the stubble and underground roots of the
large crops previously grown.

23. When dung is applied continuously to land, the accu-
mulation of unexhausted fertility becomes very large, and the
removal by crops of the substance accumulated would extend
over a long series of years.

24. Dung applied to land in the ordinary processes of agri-
culture will not be entirely exhausted until a considerable
number of years have elapsed from the time of its first
application.

’

APPENDIX-TABLES.
EVIL set

/

of Wheat, Year after Year on the same Land. 2

NOTES TO APPENDIX-TABLE I. (p. 1).

(AppEnvDIx-T ase I. is intended to be drawn out to the left, free of the book, as it
has reference to the succeeding Tables.)

() 1858 and previously.— Sulphate of Potash, 600 Ibs. per acre per annum on
Plot 1, and 300 lbs. on all plots which now receive 200 lbs. per acre. Sulphate
of Soda, 400 Ibs. on Plot 1, and 200 Ibs. on all plots where 100 Ibs. is now applied.
Plots 12a and 12s, Sulphate of Soda 550 Ibs. per acre per annum. Plots 14a
and 148, Sulphate of Magnesia 420 lbs. per acre per annum.

(*) PLor 94.—1852, Nitrate of Soda 475 lbs. per acre; 1853 and 1854, 275 lbs.

- only. No minerals were applied to this plot in either of these 3 years.

(*?) Por 98.—475 lbs. Nitrate of Soda in 1852.

() Puors 15a and 158.—1873 and since, Superphosphate made with 150 Ibs.
Sulphuric Acid. For the crop of 1873 and since, Rape-cake has been omitted on
15B; and instead of the 400 Ibs. Sulphate of Ammonia on 15a, and 300 lbs.
Sulphate of Ammonia on 15s, each plot has received 200 lbs. Sulphate, and

_ 200 lbs. Muriate of Ammonia, in addition to the mineral manures.

, ©) Pxors 16a and 168.—Unmanured for the crop of 1865 and since.

(®) Puots 17a and 17s, and 184 and 188.—On these plots the manures have
alternated each year since 1852; that is, Ammonia-salis on Plots 17a and 17x,
and the mixed mineral manure on Plots 18a and 18x in one year; mineral
manure on Plots 17a and 178, and Ammonia-salts on Plots 18a and 18B in the
next year, and so on.

@) Prior 19.—1879-82 inclusive, Rape-cake alone, 1700 lbs. per acre per
annum ; 1883, increased to 1889 lbs. (containing Nitrogen = to 400 lbs. Ammonia-
salts).

(®) Prior 20.—In 1880 this plot was divided, and since one portion (20-1) has
been manured with Rape-cake alone, as Plot 19, the other portion (20-2) being
left unmanured as before.

Application of Cut Wheat Straw.—For the crops of 1868 to 1879 inclusive, cut
straw (that produced on the respective plots in the previous season), was applied
on the “a” portions of Plots 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13,14, and 17 (or 18); also for the
crop of 1874, and each succeeding crop to 1879 inclusive, the straw of the previous
season was cut up and applied to the “a” portion of Plot 15. For the crop of
1880, and since, the return of the straw has been discontinued.

Spring and Autumn Sowing of Manures.—From the commencement of the
experiments in 1843-4 up to 1876-7 inclusive, the mineral manures, the
ammonia-salts, and rape-cake, &c., were sown in the autumn before the seed ;
excepting in 1845, when, owing to the wet autumn and winter, all the manures

- were spring-sown; and for the crops of 1873, ’4, ’5, ’6, and ’7, the ammonia-salts

applied to Plots 15a and 15n were top-dressed in the spring. Nitrate of Soda
has, however, always been sown in the spring. But, in consequence of the
ascertained great loss of the nitrogen of the manures by drainage, especially in
wet winters, it was decided to apply only the mineral manures (and farmyard-
manure) in the autumn, and the ammonia-salts, as well as the nitrate, in the
spring ; excepting on Plots 15a and 15x, where, for comparison, the ammonia-salts
are sown in the autumn. ‘This plan was adopted for the crops of 1878 to 1883
inclusive.

Appenpix-Tasie I.—Manurus per Acre, per Annum, for the whole of the |
20 Years 1864-88, and also for the 12 Years previously, 1852-63, making
altogether 32 Years; with the exceptions explained in the notes on page 2.

Experiments at Rothamsted on the Growth

/

i

MANURES PER ACRE, PER ANNUM.

Prors. | Farm- Sulphate os aa Sulphate

Mag-
ete

yard-
Manure. 7 ron

Tons. Ibs. Ibs.
0 Se * a
1 as 400 200
2 14 We Pires
8 | Unmanured
4 | Unmanured
5a = 200 100
5B oa 200 100
64 an 200 1060
6B oe 200 100
TA AS 200 100

7p | .. f° 200 100
8a} 200 100
SB] 200 100

@ | .. | 200 | 100

(®) 20 | Unmanured EO
21 Ae 200 100
200

@).

lbs.

100

100
100

100

100

| Superphosphate of Lime. Pee i
SS t ti o i}
Sulphuric ; of : "ot, ; rare Rape ji!

Bone at: Muriatic| Ammo- | Ammo- Soda. Cake. {

Ash, (Sp. gr. 11.) Acid, | nia. nia. a ||
| 600 450 ms ;

200 150 A

200 150

200 150 100 100

200 150 | 100 100 ‘ >

200 150 200 200

200 150 200 200

200 150 BC 300 300

200 150 ae 300 300

200 150 he as “c 550

200| 150 f oh 80

> = . i . Pt

450 Experiments at Rothamsted on the Growth

Apprnpix-TasLe II.—Propvucer of the 21st Szason, 1863-4. Sep (Rep
Rostock) sown Novemser 16, 1863; Crop cut Aveust 12-16, and carted
Aveust 19 and 20, 1863.

Produce per Acre, &c. Increase per Acre by
(For the Manures, see pp. 1 and 2.) Manure.
ae, || Offal | Total
Prors: Dressed Grain. Total Grain Grain
aa ret aie ed Straw | Produce Straw ol to 100 ©
a0 Offal | Total 3 A Total ,
Quantity, |Vper'] Grain. | Grain. | cite | Grn || Sam | chat rogues | "ene | Ss
Bushel. Straw).
bush. pcks,| Ibs. lbs. Ibs. Ibs. lbs. lbs. Ibs. Ibs. Pare
OF LS On 62-0 64 | 1241 | 1575 | 2816 163 | 225] 388 5°4 | 78°8
1 14 32] 62:0 37 | 962 | 1296 | 2258 ||—116 |— 54 |—170 3°9 | 74:2
2 |40 0 | 62°5 96 | 2595 | 3893 | 6488 || 1517 | 2543 | 4060 3°8 | 66°7
3 | 16 12 | 62:0 56 | 1078 | 1350 | 2428 a5 <b is 5°5 | 79°8
4 | 17 OF | 61:9 27 | 1085 | 1337 | 2422 7|/-— 13|— 6 2°6 | (8t°25
DAY! £6 2 62-1 44 | 1052 | 1293 | 2345 ||— 26 |— 57 |— 83 4°4 | 81:4
5B | 17 2 | 62:0 35 | 1121 | 1458 | 2579 43} 108] I51 3°2 | 76:9
6a | 31 1} | 62:0 70 | 2016 | 3630 | 5646 938 | 2280 | 3218 3°6 | 55:5
6B | 30 3 | 62:0 68 | 1978 | 3127 | 5105 900 | 1777 | 2677 3°6 | 63°3
7a | 44 12 | 63:0 | 117 | 2912 | 4897 | 7809 || 1834 | 3547 | 5381 4°2 | 59-5
AB eae 63°1 104 | 3087 | 5043 | 8130 || 2009 | 3693 | 5702 3°5 | 61-2
8a} 49 3 | 63°5 | 124 | 3284 | 5585 | 8869 || 2206 | 4235 | 6441 3°9 | 58°8
8B | 50 O | 63°5 | 124 | 3300 | 5590 | 8890 || 2222 | 4240 | 6462 3°9 | 59-0
9a | 51 02 | 62°6 | 134 | 3330 | 5985 | 9315 || 2252 | 4635 | 6887 OL | ae y
9B | 33 1 | 61:7 | 128 | 2182 | 3287 | 5469 || 1104 | 1937 | 3041 6:2 | 66°4
10a | 32 02 | 61°8 | 112 | 2093 | 2832 | 4925 || 1015 | 1482 | 2497 5°6 | 73:9
10p | 36 0% | 62°1 | 148 | 2395 | 3247 | 5642 || 1317 | 1897 | 3214 6°6 | 73:8
lla | 34 2 | 59°7] 148 | 2210 | 3440 | 5650 || 1132 | 2090 | 3222 7:2 | 64°2
llp | 38 13 | 59:0 | 128 | 2394 | 3878 | 6272 || 1316 | 2528 | 3844 5°6 | 61:7
12a | 44 12 | 62°6 99 | 2881 | 4815 | 7196 || 1803 | 2965 | 4768 3°6 | 66°8
12p | 44 3 | 62°4 93 | 2882 | 4356 | 7238 || 1804 | 3006 | 4810 3°3 | 66:2
13a | 42 22 | 63-2 88 | 2785 | 4480 | 7265 || 1707 | 3130 | 4837 3°2 | 62-2
138 | 43 22 | 63°4 | 111 | 2882 | 4620 | 7502 || 1804 | 3270 | 5074 4°0 | 62-4
14a | 41 02 | 63°1 149 | 2740 | 4003 | 6743 || 1662 | 2653 | 4315 5°8 | 68-4
14p | 41 32 | 62°8 | 110 | 2745 | 4107 | 6852 || 1667 | 2757 | 4424 4°2 | 66°8
15a | 37 23 | 63°1 90 | 2459 | 4003 | 6462 || 1381 | 2653 | 4034 3°8 | 61°74
(ap | 37. 2~ )\\<63"0 74 | 2421 | 4010 | 6431 || 1343 | 2660 | 4003 3°2 | 60°4 |
16a | 50 34 | 63°2 | 118 | 3333 | 6003 | 9336 || 2255 | 4653 | 6908 8°7 | 55-5
16s |} 51 13 | 63°2 | 125 | 3370 | 5990 | 9360 || 2292 | 4640 | 6932 3°8 | 56°3
17a | 36 2} | 62°6 88 | 2378 | 3920 | 6298 | 1300 | 2570 | 3870 3°8 |. 60°7 »
17s | 35 3} | 62°6 74 | 2316 | 3667 | 5983 || 1238 | 2317 | 3555 3°3 | 63°2
18a | 17 0} | 61°3 33 | 1078 | 1460 | 2538 |} none 110 110 3°2 |-78°8 1
18p | 18 14] 61°6 43 | 1169 | 1600 | 2769 91 250 | 341 3°8 | 73:0
19 | 37 03 | 62:3] 127 | 2440 | 3363 | 5808 || 1362 | 2013 | 3375 5°5 | 72°6
20 | 13 2 | 63°3 73 | 929 | 1832 | 2261 ||—149 |— 18 |—167 8°6 | 69°7
21 | 24 3} | 62°3 80 | 1625 | 2323 | 8948 547 | 973 | 1520 5°2 | 70°0 |
22 | 25 14 | 62:0 68 | 1642 | 2180 | 3822 564 | 830 | 1894 4°3 | 75°3 |

ee
“a

of Wheat Year after Year on the same Land. 451

- Appenprx-Tastz III.—Propvce of the 22nd Srason, 1864-5. Srep (Rep
Rostock) sown Novemsper 10, 1864; Cror cut Aveusr 10-12.

Produce per Acre, &c. Increase per Acre by
(For the Manures, see pp. 1 and 2.) | Manure.
: z |} Offal | Total
Prors. Dressed Grain. is ite a - gos Goats
. Offal, |aBotal, [eR Oy .|Sreckcs nee TAaW | Total ||Dressed.| Straw.
Quantity. | Yeaee*| rain. | Grain. | ge | Caen | Grain. | and Jeroaucel |
; Bushel. | Straw). |
bush. peks.| Ibs. Ibs. lbs. lbs. lbs. || Ibs. Ibs. Ibs.
0 15° 2 59°0 78 993 | 1135 | 2128 || 165 102 267 8:5 | 87°5
1 12 1% | 59:0 7] 802 | 1064 | 1866 ||\— 26 |» 31 5 9°7 | 75°3
. 2 37 0% | 61°5 100 | 2384 | 3100 | 5484 | 1556 | 2067 | 3623 4°4 | 76°9
: 3 13 14 | 60°6 22 828 | 1033 | 1861 46 “5 a 2°7 | 80°2
| 4 14- 23 | 60°3 63 | 950 | 1162 | 2112 I 122 129 | 251 Tk | Sie
5a | 14 2 | 61:0 43 910 | 1132 | 2042 82 99 181 5:0 | 80°4
5B} 14 02 | 60°8 59 920 | 1220 | 2140 || 92 187 279 6°9 | 75°4
6a | 24 32 | 61-0 78 | 1589 | 1978 | 3567 || 761 945 | 1706 51 | 80°3
6B | 25 0. | 60°9 101 | 1621 | 2063 | 3684 || 793 | 1030 | 1823 6°6 | 78°6
7a | 40 0 61°6 87 | 2550 | 3598 | 6148 || 1722 | 2565 | 4287 37D 109
7p | 40 12 | 61°7 115 | 2609 | 3740 | 6349 || 1781 | 2707 | 4488 4°6 | 69°8
8a | 43 32 | 61°3 120 | 2809 | 4517 | 7326 | 1981 | 3484 | 5465 4°5 | 62°2
8B | 43 13 | 61°5 190 | 2857 | 4682 | 7539 || 2029 | 3649 | 5678 ToL |) GE*0
9a | 44 02 | 61°1 189 | 2881 | 4682 | 7563 || 2053 | 3649 702 7:0 | 61°5
9B | 29 22 | 59°5 248 | 2005 | 3137 | 5142 || 1177 | 2104 | 3281 || 14-1 | 63:9
10a | 25 02 | 59°6 145 | 1649 | 2385 | 4034 821 | 1352 | 2173 9274169" 1
10s | 30 12 | 59°8 119 | 1938 | 2677 | 4615 || 1110 | 1644 | 2754 6:5 | 72°4
1a | 26 22 | 57°2 178 | 1696 | 2397 | 4093 868 | 1364 | 2232 || 11°7 | 70°8
11s | 28 4 | 57°3 172 | 1780 | 2662 | 4442 952 | 1629 | 2581 || 10-7 | 66°9
12a | 35 02 | 60-0 163 | 2277 | 3067 | 5344 |} 1449 | 2034 | 3483 a°7 | 74:3
128 | 33 32 | 60°3 172 | 2220 | 3148 | 5368 || 1392 | 2115 | 3507 8:4 | 70°5
ISA | so °3 61-1 143 | 2328 | 3243 | 5571 |} 1500 | 2210.; 3710 6°6 | 71°8
13B |) a0 2 (oy be 154 | 2506 | 3518 | 6024 || 1678 | 2485 | 4163 6°6 | 71:2
14a | 36 02] 60°3 | 170 | 2345 | 3127 | 5472 || 1517 | 2094 | 3611 7°8 | 75:0
148 | 37 02) 60°4 | 150 | 2390 | 3195 | 5585 || 1562 | 2162 | 3724 6°7 | 74:8
15a} 35 12} 60°9 135 | 2291 | 3142 | 5433 1463 | 2109 | 3572 6°3 | 72°9
fp.) 36'* 1 61°6 177 | 2411 | 3375 | 5786 || 1583 | 2342 | 3925 19) Face
16a | 32 0 61°8 135 | 2113 | 2837 | 4950 | 1285 | 1804 | 3089 6°8 | 74:5
16m | 32 223 | 61°7 114 | 2125 | 2938 | 5063 || 1297 | 1905 | 3202 O° 423
a 16 34 |60:9 68 | 1097 | .1488 | 2585 || 269 455 | 724 6"6: | Fae"
17B | 17 02 | 60°6 58 | 1098 | 1452 | 2550 270 419 689 5°D) |b 7o"6
18a°| 30 02 | 60°1 105 | 1916 | 2785 | 4701 || 1088 | 1752 | 2840 5°8 | 68°8
188 | 32 3 60°3 91 | 2065 | 2877 | 4942 || 1237 | 1844 | 3081 4°6 | 71°8
19 32 32% | 58°9 147 | 2083 | 2987 | 5070 || 1255 | 1954 | 3209 76. | Goad
20 13 22 | 60°2 67 889 | 1307 | 2196 61 274 335 8-1 | 68°0
21 18 13 | 58-0 66 | 1128 | 1458 | 2586 300 425 725 || 6°3 | 714
22, 19 02 | 58:3 76 | 1195 | 1527 | 2722 367 494 861 6°8 | 78°3

452

Experiments at Rothamsted on the Growth

Apprnpix-TaBLeE IV.—Propvuce of the 23rd Szasoy, 1865-6. Szep (Rep

Rostock) sown Novemser 10, 1865; Crop cut Aveusr 12-15, and carted

Aveust 27th.

~

PLoTs.

Produce per Acre, &c.
(For the Manures, see pp. 1 and 2.)

Dressed Grain.

Quantity.

bush. pcks.
16 3

wp meoOoWwoo w
Depts

NRK OOF CWN eS
Hrd Dpto HL G9 WE ]C9 OO]! DO Opt

eo
bln

03
2

Weight

per
Bushel

Ibs.
-0

Total
Grain.

Increase per Acre by
VL

Grain.

anure,

Straw
and’
Chaff.

Total

Produce.

Offal | Total
Grain | Grain
to 100 | to 100
Dressed.) Straw.

|
|

a
MONONOSENIY wo INE RNOoED Oo

dd = SOT Ot He HR OD PR HR OTOT HR HR OTOr Or er THR rT ROR RD
Boo &— PNOCH ND WH TOOK ONDE OHO VHOWNSO HOO WHOA]
or
co

a
. . . . CA
cor ~ Noon] coo Go bo

or
te
a

“y

_ i

-

of Wheat Year after Year on the same Land. 453

Apprnpix-TasLe V.—Propuce of the 24th Srasoy, 1867-7. Sep (Rep
Rostock) sown Novemser 8, 1866; Crop cut Aveusr 23 and 24, and
carted Aveust 30.
| Produce per Acre, &c. Increase per Acre by
(For the Manures, see pp. 1 and 2.) Manure.
get petal
Dressed Grain. rain rain
Prors. Total to 100 | to 100
Straw | Produce Straw x
‘ Offal Total oe : Total || Dressed.| Straw.
quantity, | Voge) Grain, | Grain, | a0 | CGreie | Grain. | ant produeal} |
‘ Bushel. Straw). |
bush. peks.| _ Ibs. Ibs. lbs. Ibs. Ibs. | Tbs. lbs. Ibs. 4
0 10 22 | 58°7 41 664 |-1320 | 1984 132 347 479 6°6 | 50°3
I 7 31 57°9 34 487 944 | 1431 ||— 45 |— 29 |— 74 7°5 | 51°6
2 27 23 | 61°4 61 | 1755 | 31386 | 4891 || 1223 | 2163 | 3386 3°6 | 56:0
3 8 34 | 56:1 33 532 973 | 1505 3b sje ate 6°6 | 54:7
4 9 al 58°6 41 583 999 | 1582 51 26 77 G6 | 58-4
5A 9 22 | 59°7 33 609 | 1099 | 1708 | 77 126 203 5°8 | 55°4
5B 8 323) 59-0 29 951 966 | 1517 | 19 |\-— 7 12 5°5 | o7-1
6a | 15 113] 60°6 43 972 | 1684 | 2656 || 440 TAL ol rat SC | DET
6B | 16 02 | 60°5 55 | 1033 | 1762 | 2795 o01 789 | 1290 5°6 | 58°7
7a | 22 32-|-61°3 | * 62 | 1469 | 2796 | 4265 || 937 | 1823 | 2760 4:4 | 52°5
fe | 2 > 1% | 60°7 67 | 1365 | 2727 | 4092 | 833 | 1754 | 2587 5°2 | 50°1
8a | 29 12 | 60°8 103 | 1896 | 4103 | 5999 || 1364 | 3130 | 4494 6:0 | 46°2
8B | 31 12 | 60°5 104 | 2008 | 4288 | 6296 1476 | 3315 | 4791 5°5 | 46°8
|
9a | 29 02 | 59°9 112 | 1855 | 4918 | 6773 || 1323 | 3945 | 5268 6°4 | 37°7
9B | 22 0% | 57°4 124 | 1392 | 3246 | 4638 | 860 | 2273 3133 9°8 | 42°9
a |
10a | 18 0} | 57°9 77 | 1123 | 2023 | 3146 591 | 1050 | 1641 Tea CIOL
10B | 19 1} | 59:3 88 | 1237 | 2138 | 3375 705 | 1165 | 1870 He tieale Sto
WTA | 21 32 | 59°1 64 | 1360 | 2218 | 3578 828 | 1245 | 2073 4°9 | 61°38
lip | 22 1 59°8 84 | 1416 | 2402 | 3818 884 | 1429 | 2313 6:3 | 59:0
12a | 25 O% | 60°2 65 | 1577 | 2628 | 4205 | 1045 | 1655 | 2700 4°3 | 60°0
128 | 23 3% | 60°6 59 | 1511 | 2685 | 4196 || 979 | 1712 | 2691 4-1 | 56°3
134 | 23 14 | 60°8 ol | 1471 | 2662 | 4133 || 939 | 1689 | 2628 3°66 |) 55°3
138 | 24 1 60°7 58 | 1529 | 2822 | 4351 997 | 1849 | 2846 4:0 | 54:2
14a | 23 02 | 59°8 61 | 1450 | 2598 | 4048 918 | 1625 | 2543 4°4 | 55°8
14p | 22 12 | 59°6 70 | 1898 | 2537 | 3935 866 | 1564 | 2430 5°24 do°L
15a | 22 32 | 60°2 51 | 1427 | 2670 | 4057 895 | 1697 | 2592 3°7 | 53°5
15B | 23 03 | 59°5 56 | 1435 | 2730 | 4165 903 | 1757 | 2660 4°1 | 52°6
16a | 14 12 | 59-4 35 890 | 1583 | 2473 358 610 968 4-1 | 56°2
16B | 14 32 | 59-1 33 907 | 1643 | 25504] 375 670 | 1045 3°8 | 55°2
17a | 10 33 | 59-2 34 678 | 1193 | 1871 146 220 366 5°3 | 56°8
178 | 10 22 | 57°6 42 658 | 1257 | 1915 126 284 410 6°8 | 52°3
18a | 22 3 59°1 38 | 1384 | 2558 | 3942 852 | 1585 | 2437 2°8 | 54-1
18B | 24 12 | 57°5 45 | 1448 | 2675 | 4123 916 | 1702 | 2618 3°2 | 54-1
19 | 23 32 | 56°7 63 | 1421 | 2620 | 4041 889 | 1647 | 2536 4°7 | 54°2
20 7 O02 | 56°4 28 433 948 | 1381 ||— 99 |— 25 |—124 7:0 | 45°6
21 12 224 | 59°3 40 787 | 1388 | 2175 255 415 670 5:4 | 56°7
22 12 22 | 59:3 41 791 | 1377 | 2168 259 404 663 5°4 | 57°4

454 Experiments at Rothamsted on the Growth

Apprenpix-Taste VI.—Propvce of the 25th Szason, 1867-8. Sup (Rep
Rostock) sown Novemper 2, 1867; Cror cut Juny 22-28, and carted
Jouty 25-29.

Produce per Acre, &c. | Increase per Acre by
(For the Manures, see pp. 1 and 2.) } Manure.
a aa on ye
Prors. ressed Grain. Total || Tain rain
Straw | Producel| Straw to.100., | tomuy
ene Offal Total a Grain || a an Total |/Dressed.| Straw.
Quantity. Robes Grain. | Grain. Chaff. oe ate Chait Produce
Bushel. Straw). ||
bush. peks.| lbs. Ibs. Ibs. lbs. Ibs. lbs. Ibs. lbs.

0 | 22 12] 61:4 33 | 1404 | 1855 | 3259 350 | 882 | 1232 2°4 | 75°7
a 20 23 | 60-0 27 | 1259 | 1594 | 2853 205 | 621 826 2°2 | 79:0
Fin} 4d 23. KGL 33 | 2604 | 4190 | 6794 || 1550 | 3217 | 4767 1°3 | 62:1
3 16 22 | 61:0 41 | 1054 | 973 | 2027) .. 36 oO 4°0 |108°4
Ae al 22 4) 2616 27 | 1103 | 1345 | 2448 |) 49 | 372) 421 2°5 | 82:0
5a | 16 123} 62:2 28 | 1044 | 1250 | 2294 |— 10 | 277] 267 2°8 | 83:5
5p | 18 33 | 63°5 28 | 1226 | 1442 | 2668 | 172 | 469] 641 2°4 | 85:0
6a | 27 3 | 62:4 51 | 1782 | 2437 | 4219 || 728 | 1464 | 2192 3°0 | 73°71
6B | 28 32 | 63:2 57 | 1887 | 2700 | 4587 | 833 | 1727 | 2560 3:1 | 69°9
7a | 40 2 | 61°5 36 | 2528 | 4017 | 6545 | 1474 | 3044 | 4518 1:5.) 62°9
7p | 39 O02 | 60°6 33 | 2408 | 3680 | 6088 | 1354 | 2707 | 4061 1°4 | 65°4
8a | 44 02 | 62:1 51 | 2794 | 4683 | 7477 | 1740 | 8710 | 5450 1:95) 5927
8B | 48 32 | 61°9 40 | 3069 | 4933 | 8002 || 2015 | 3960 | 5975 13 | 62°2
9a | 47 32 | 61:1 46 | 2970 | 5180 | 8150 || 1916 | 4207 | 6123 1°6 | 57°3
9B | 27 1 | 62:0; 111 | 1799 | 2742 | 4541 745 | 1769 | 2514 6°6 | 65°6

|
10a | 24 3 | 61:9 93 | 1627 | 2163 | 3790 573 | 1190 | 1763 6:1 | 75:2
10n | 27 22 | 62°4 | 118 | 1846 | 2364 | 4210 792 | 13891 | 2183 6:9 | 78-2
lla | 33 12 | 62°4 | 124 | 2211 | 2790 | 5001 || 1157 | 1817 | 2974 5°9 | 79-2
lls | 38 24 | 62°2 | 118 | 2207 | 2850 | 5057 || 1153 | 1877 | 3030 5°6 | 77-4
12a | 39 2 | 68°6 | 101 | 2611 | 3421 | 6032 |) 1557 | 2448 | 4005 4:0 | 76°4
128 | 40 1 63°3 74 | 2620 | 3653 | 6273 || 1566 | 2680 | 4246 Hats Sa Maer TS
13a | 37. 32 | 63:0 34 | 2417 | 4010 | 6427 || 1363 | 3037 | 4400 1-4 | 60°3
13p | 40 23 | 63°2 45 | 2614 | 4040 | 6654 || 1560 | 8067 | 4627 1°47 | 64°7
14a | 41 32 | 63°9 37 | 2716 | 3685 | 6401 || 1662 | 2712 | 4374 1:4 | 73:7
14p | 41 12 | 64-1 98 | 2754 | 3668 | 6422 || 1700 | 2695 | 4395 3°7 | 75°1
15a | 44 04 | 63°8 43 | 2856 | 4656 | 7512 || 1802 | 3683 | 5485 1°5 | 61°3
15p | 41 22 | 63°3 63 | 2692 | 4223 | 6915 || 1638 | 3250 | 4888 || 2:4 | 63°7
16a | 23 0 | 62:9 34 | 1481 | 2125 | 3606 427 | 1152 | 1579 2°3°| 69:7
16p | 22 22% | 62°7 25 | 1438 | 1962 | 3400 384 | 989 | 1373 1°8 | 73:3

|
17a | 38 02 | 63-4 53 | 2466 | 3767 | 6233 || 1412 | 2794 | 4206 2:2 | 65°5
l7p | 36 3 | 64°2 55 | 2413 | 3527 | 5940 || 13859 | 2554 | 3913 2:4 | 68°4
18a | 18 02 | 62°7 28 | 1168 | 1537 | 2705 | 114 | 564] 678 2°5 | 76:0
18s | 19 02 | 62°9 31 | 1239 | 1672 | 2911 || 185 | 699] 884 | 2:6 | 74:1
19 | 36 3% | 62°9 98 | 2422 | 3161 | 5583 || 1368 | 2188 | 3556 4:2 | 76°6

20(°)) . - > y3 ft us es ke 0 4 A

21 26 1 62°6 44 | 1687 | 2267 | 3954 633 | 1294 | 1927 2°7 | 74:4
22 | 24 3% | 62°8 48 | 1615 | 2300 | 3915 561 | 13827 | 1888 3:1 | 70°2

(‘) Produce unknown, owing to a mistake at Harvest,

of Wheat Year after Year on the same Land. 455

Appenpix-Taste VII.—Propvce of the 26th Szason, 1868-9. Seep (Rep
Rostock) sown NovEMBER 3, 1868 ; Crop cut Aveust 16-18, and carted
Aveust 21 and 24.

.

Produce per Acre, &c. Increase per Acre by
(For the Manures, see pp. 1 and 2.) | Manure.

Dressed Grain. ; | Gran | Goa
Pots. | Total || “ated (pers
| Straw | Produce Straw to 100 | to 100
| Weight, Ofal | Total | “and | (Grain | Grain. | and |, 70(al | Dressed.| Straw.

Quantity.| per | * | Chaff. | and Chaff. | “||

; el. | | i | Straw.)

bush. peks.| bs. | Ibs. Ibs. | Ibs. | Ibs lbs. | Ibs. | Ibs. ||
0;15 1} 58-1 66 | 955 | 1493 2448 107 | 143 250 7°5 | 64:0
1 | 12 Of) 58°2) 36 | 744 | 1180 | 1924 | —104 |—170 |—274 5-1 | 63-1
gee | 56°9 | 80 | 2256 | 3937 | 6193 || 1408 | 2587 | 3995 3°7 | 57°3
3 114 1 |56-1/ 48 / 848 1350 | 2198 aoe 3°9 | 62°8
4 / 14 32 | 57°1 50 | 896 1405 | 2301 48 By) 103 3°9 | 63:7
5a | 15 22 |56°8| 45] 928 | 1514 2442 80 164 244 d°1 | 61°3
5B} 15 34) 57:0; 53] 956 | 1687 | 2643 108 | 337; 445 5-9 | 56°7
6a | 21 02 | 57:0 69 | 1273 | 2250 | 3523 425 | 900 | 1325 5°7 | 56°6
6B | 22 02) 57-3} 80 | 1345 | 2280 3625 || 497 | 930 1427 6:4 | 59-0
Ga | 28 22 | 57-7 101 | 1748 | 3114 | 4862 || 900 | 1764 | 2664 || 6°1 | 56-1
7B | 28 1 57°2 156 1771 | 3309 5080 i 923 | 1959 | 2882 | 9°7 | 53°5
8a | 35 02 | 57°0 107 | 2105 | 3898 | 6003 || 1257 | 2548 | 3805 | 5-4 | 54-0
8B | 34 12 | 57°5 | 108 | 2086 | 3937 | 6023 | 1238 | 2587 | 3825 || 5°4 | 53-0
94} 39 O | 57-1} 140 | 2368 | 4930 | 7298 | 1520 | 3580 | 5100 6-3 | 48-0
9B | 24 0} | 54°6 136 | 1452 | 3475 | 4927 | 604 | 2125 | 2729 |, 10°3 | 41°8

|
104 | 20 1 54°9 | 99 | 1210 | 2265 | 3475 362 915 | 1277 || 8:9 | 53-4
108 | 19 03 / 55°6 | 125 | 1188 | 2186 | 3374 || 340 836 | 1176 | 11°8 | 54°3
lla | 24 02 | 56-2 91 | 1443 | 2568 | 4011 || 595 | 1218 | 1813 6°8 | 56°2
ils | 20 12 | 55:1 128 | 1251 | 2345 | 3596 403 | 995 | 1398 || 11°4 53°4
12a | 26 12) 58-1) 102 | 1638 | 2637 | 4275 || 790 | 1287 | 2077 6°6 | 62-1
128 | 28 02 | 57°9 100 | 1726 | 3008 | 4734 || 878 | 1658 | 2536 62h oes
13a | 25 22 | 59-3 110 | 1631 | 2826 | 4457 783 | 1476 | 2259 CS SET
138 | 28 33 | 59-0 125 | 1827 | 3267 | 5094 979 | 1917 | 2896 7°3 | 55°9
144 | 28 1 58°5 128 | 1778 | 3076 | 4854 930 | 1726 | 2656 78 57°8
i4B | 27 Of | 58-1 | 126 | 1701 | 2999 | 4700 || 853 | 1649 | 2502 | 8-0 | 96°7
15a | 26 22 58-1} 93 | 1635 | 2954 | 4589 || 787 | 1604 | 2391 || 6:0 | 55°4
15B | 27 03 | 59°3 | 88 | 1694 | 3008 | 4702 || 846 | 1658 | 2504 || 5:5 56°3

|
164/16 12 | 58°6 54 | 1019 | 1678 | 2697 171 328 | 499 | 5-6 | 60°8
i6p | 15 32 | 58-1 64, 982 1614 | 2596 | 134 | 264| 398 || 7:0 | 60°9
mA iD I 58-1| 64 | 952 | 1570 2522 104 | 220] 324] 7:2 | 60-7
17s |} 17 0 | 57°3 86 | 1059 | 1829 | 2888 -21t 479 690 S92 57-9
18a | 23 02 | 58°7 78 | 1431 | 2433 | 3864 || 583 | 1083 | 1666 |} 5-7 | 58-8
i8B | 22 32 | 58-0 94 | 1418 | 2460 3878 | 570 | 1110 | 1680 71 | 57°6
19 | 23 02 | 56-7 133 | 1447 | 2566 4013 599 | 1216 | 1815 || 10-1 | 56-4
| / |

20 | 13 02 | 56:9 77 | 826 | 1253 | 2079 ||— 22 |— 97 |—119 || 10-2 | 65°9
21 20 24 | 58-1 63 | 1260 | 2115 | 3375 412 |} 7651177 || 5:3 | 59°6
22 15 OF | 58-1 60 | 942 | 1483 2425 94 133 227 6°8 | 63°5

bo
je]

VOL. XX.—5S. S.

456 Experiments at Rothamsted on the Growth

Apprnprx-Tasie VIII.—Propvce of the 27th Szason, 1869-70. Srep (Rep
Rostock) sown Novemser 3, 1869; Cror cut Avucust 5-12, and carted
Aveust 11-15.

|
Produce per Acre, &c. | Increase per Acre by I

(For the Manures, see pp. 1 and 2.) | Manure.
ess Dressed Grain.
Weight
Quantity. ae Grain
Bushel
oe Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. || Ibs Ibs. Ibs.
0 21 22 | 62:1 69 | 1415 | 1239 2634 | 459 193 652 5:1 |114-
1 16 02 | 62°5 45 | 1056 | 1087 | 2143 | 100 41 141 4°5 | 97°1
2 36 2 63-4 44 | 2359 | 2733 | 5092 || 1403 | 1687 | 3090 1:9 | 86-
3 14 32) 61°8 31 956 | 1046 | 2002 | $ 5. 3°3 | 91-
4 15 22 | 62°6 39 | 1023 | 1107 | 2130 | 67 61 128 4-0 | 92-
5a | 18 02 | 62°6 40 | 1178 | 1302 2480 | 222 256 478 | 3°6 | 90°
5B | 19 02 | 62°6 28 | 1228 | 1419 | 2647 272 373 645 || 2°3 | 86-6
64 | 29 3 63°0 63 1936 | 2269 | 4205 i 980 | 1223 | 2203 | 3°4 | 85°3
6B | 31 03 | 63-1 58 | 2023 | 2438 | 4461 | 1067 | 1392 | 2459 | 3°0 | 83-0
7a | 39 22% | 63°3 59 | 2568 | 3148 | 5716 | 1612 | 2102 | 3714 | 2°4 | 81-6
7B} 41 13 | 63°2 56 | 2672 | 3284 | 5956 | 1716 | 2238 | 3954 2-1 | 81°4
84} 45 32 63°7 66 | 2992 | 3635 | 6627 || 2036 2589 | 4625 2°3 | 82-3
8B | 44 2 63°8 100 | 2939 | 3699 | 6638 1 1983 | 2653 | 4636 3°6 | 79°5
head
9B | 45 2 62-7} 89 | 2940 | 3911 | 6851 || 1984 | 2865 | 4849 3:1 | 75-2
9B | 26 12 | 61°3 115 1735 | 2080 3815 | 779 | 1034 | 1813 7:1 | 83:4
| | | |
10a} 21 22 | 60°8 100 | 1420 | 1627 | 3047 i 464 581 | 1045 ) 7°6 | 87-3
108 | 23 OF | 60°8 88 | 1496 1748 | 3244 || 540 | 702 | 1242 |) G2 | 85-6
lla | 25 02 | 60°8 128 | 1653 1917, | 3570 || 697 | 871 | 1568 8-4 | 86-2
lls | 25 12 | 60°7 139 | 1682 | 1895 3577 || 726 849 | 1575 || 9°0 | 88°8
12a | 36 2 62°4 72 | 2347 | 2577 | 4924 i 1391 | 1531 | 2922 3°2 | 91-1
12p | 34 0 62°5 93 | 2218 | 2503 | 4721 | 1262 | 1457 | 2719 || 4°4 | 88°6
13a | 35 22 63°7 64 | 2328 | 2815 | 5143 || 1372 | 1769 | 3141 || 2°8 | 82:7
138 | 38 124 | 63-9 82 | 2535 2993 | 5528 |} 1579 | 1947 | 3526 || 3:4 | 84-7
14a | 35 04 | 63-2} 117 | 2336 2584 | 4920 | 1380 | 153 2918 || 5:4 | 90°4
l4z | 36 1 62-7 125 | 2398 | 2588 | 4986 | 1442 | 1542 | 2984 || 5°5 | 92-6
| | } |
15a | 38 02 | 63°8;} 68 | 2502 | 3072 | 5074 |, 1546 | 2026 | 3572 2°8 | 81°5
15p | 38 23% | 63°9; 80 | 2550 | 3119 5669 | 1594 | 2073 | 3667 3°3 | 81°8
16a | 18 13 | 63°2 | 48 | 1207 | 1365 | 2572 | 251 319 570 | 4°2 | 88-4
lézp | 18 02% | 63°3 56 | 1208 | 1333 | 2541 | 252 287 539 || 4:9 | 90°7
|
17a | 33 13] 63-6} 63 | 2187 | 2628 | 4815 | 1231 | 1582 | 2813 3°0 | 83-2
17p | 35 1 63°7 70 | 2315 | 2715 | 5030 | 1359 | 1669 | 3028 || 3:1 | 85°3
18a ]}17 3 63°1 56 | 1175 | 1259.| 2434 |} 219 213 432 ||. 5:0 | 98°3
188 | 20 1 63°3 53 | 1335 | 1488 | 2823 379 442 821 || 4:1 | 89°7
| | }
19 32 1 | 62:3 128 | 2137 | 2242 | 4879 || 1181 | 1196 2377. | 6-4 | 95°4
: ieeidy
20 14 2? | 62°5 23 | 943 | 1175 | 2118 ||— 13 129 116 | 2°5 | 80°3
21 25 3. epi63s1 39 | 1666 | 1949 | 3615 || 710 | 903 | 1613 2°35 | 85°4
22 | 26 23 63-0 49 | 1723 | 1996 | 3719 || 767 | 950 | 1717 | 2:9 | 86:3
u

of Wheat Year after Year on the same Land. 457

Apprnpix-Tastr IX.—Propvuce of the 28th Szason, 1870-1. Seep (Rep
Rostock) sown Novemzer 1 and 2, 1870; Crop cut Avaust 21-23, and
carted Aucust 28-31.

1413 | 2688 | 4101 798 | 1588 | 2386 || 13-

_
oO
bo
bo
_—
ree
or
lor)
=)
—
o>
ot

20 | 10 12 | 55:8 83 | 665 | 1350 | 2015 50 | 250} 300 || 14:
21 | 15 Of | 56°8) 115 | 979 | 1873 | 2852 364 | 773 | 1137 || 13°

Produce per Acre, &c. Increase per Acre by
(For the Manures, see pp. 1 and 2.) Manure.
Z Offal | Total
Proms. Dressed Grain, Total | Grain Grain’
x4) Offal |; Total | Straw |Produce) | Straw | potat |lpvessed.| Straw.
be ; and | (Gra Grain. ressed.| Straw.
Quantity. Weeg'| Grain. | Grain. | chat | Gnas Chatr, |Preduee.
Bushel. Straw). | }
ks.| Ibs. lbs. lbs. Ibs. lbs. Ibs. Ibs. lbs.
56°5 102 | 889 | 1566 | 2455 274 | 466] 740 || 13-0 | 56:7
57°0 97 | 685 |-1451 | 2136 70 |* 351 421 || 16°5 | 47-2
60-0 161 | 2498 | 4506 | 7004 |) 1883 | 3406 | 5289 6°9 | 55°5
54°8 106 615 | 1100 | 1715 Se oe op 20°9 | 55:9
57°0 118 | 708 | 1277 | 1985 93 177 | 270 || 20°1 | 55-4
5a} 11-0 |'56°4 97} 718 | 1340 | 2058 103 240 | 343 || 15°6 | 53°6
Doda os (00° 103 | 827 | 1529 | 2356 212} 429} G41 |} 14°38 | 54-1
6a | 16 32 | 56°8 138 | 1099 | 2290 | 3389 484 | 1190 | 1674 || 14°3 | 48:0
6B | 17 0 | 56°3 123 | 1078 | 2304 | 3382 463 | 1204 | 1667 || 12-8 | 46:8
7a | 22 02 | 56:0 263 | 1503 | 3093 | 4596 888 | 1993 | 2881 |} 21°2 | 48-6
7p | 22 134 1-57°3 245 | 1520 | 3076 | 4596 905 | 1976 | 2881 |} 19°2 | 49-4
8a | 26 1 o7°1 247 | 1745 | 3716 | 5461 || 1130 | 2616 | 3746 |} 16°5 | 47-0
8B | 29 02 | 58°3 | 240 | 1940 | 4150 | 6090 || 1825 | 3050 | 4375 || 14°2 | 46:7
9a | 34 12 | 58°6 | 210 | 2228 | 4909 | 7137 || 1613 | 3809 | 5422 || 10°5 | 45-4
9B | 17 23 | 52°4 171 | 1093 | 2425 | 3518 478 | 1325 | 1803 || 18°6 | 45-1
|
10a | 10 02 | 53°8 130 675 | 1252 | 1927 60 152 | 212 |} 24:0 | 53:9
108 | 10 O | 53°8 125 | 663 | 1339 | 2002 48 | 239} 287 || 23°2 | 49-5
lla | 12 02 | 54°3 139 | 795 | 1448 | 2243 180 | 348] 528 || 21:2 | 54-9
llzp | 9 32 | 53°8 137 | 668 | 1279 | 1947 53 179 | 282 || 25-8 | 52-2
12a | 22 22 | 56°5 177 | 1458 | 2700 | 4158 843 | 1600 | 2443 |} 13°8 | 54-0
128 | 19 12 | 55°6 178 | 1259 | 2440 | 3699 644 | 1340 | 1984 |} 16°4 | 51-6
ISA |} 28 1 57°6 184 | 1812 | 3433 | 5245 || 1197 | 2333 | 3530 || 11°3 | 52-8
13B | 32 02 | 58-2 185 | 2050 | 4125 | 6175 || 1435 | 3025 | 4460 9°9 | 49°7
14a | 26 22 | 57:0 213 | 1728 | 3063 | 4791 || 1113 | 1963 | 3076 || 14:1 | 56:4
14m | 21 32 | 56:7 246 | 1490 | 2937 | 4427 875 | 1837 | 2712 |} 19°8 | 50°8
15a | 29 12 | 59°0 177 | 1905 | 3597 | 5502 || 1290 | 2497 | 3787 || 10:2 | 53-0
15p | 32 02 | 58:7 | 209 | 2093 |. 3808 | 5901 || 1478 | 2708 | 4186 || 11-1 | 55:0
|
16a | 13. 1 57°2 78 836 | 1510 | 2346 221 410 | 631 || 10° 55°4
168} 13 3 | 56:5 64 | 841 | 1573 | 2414 226 | 473: |" (699 1" 8 53°5
17a | 13 123 | 56-0 74 824 | 1608 | 2432 || 209] 508] 717 || 9 DS
17g |18 2 | 56°8 78 | 1129 | 2032 | 3161 || 514] 932 | 1446 te 59°6
18a | 28 02 | 58°6 118 | 1763 | 3254 | 5017 || 1148 | 2154 | 3302 7 “2,
188 | 28 3 | 58:0 124 | 1792 | 3428 | 5220 || 1177 | 2328 | 3505 || 7 52°3
6
3
“3
‘0

Mimo mo BORO NLD
or
Ney

22 |16 3 | 56:9 113 | 1067 | 1871 | 2938 452) 771 | 1223 || 11°

458 Experiments at Rothamsted on the Growth

Appenpix-TasLe X.—Propuce of the 29th Szason, 1871-2. Seep (Rep
Rostock) sown Octoser 28, 1871; Crop cut Avucust 16 and 17, and
carted Aucust 20 and 21.

Produce per Acre, &c, Increase per Acre by

|
} |
| |

(For the Manures, see pp. 1 and 2.) Manure.
B j ia Offal | Total
rors. Dressed Grain. Total |} Grain o-
| eetone| Offal | Total | Straw | Produce) Straw | Total | prone! Stes
Quantity re Grain. | Grain. Chaff. = | Grain. | chair, |Produce, a
Bushel Straw). i )
bush. peks.| Ibs. | Ibs. | tbs. | Ibs. | Ibs. | Ibs. | Ibs. | Ibs. ||
0 17 1 | 08°7| 46) 1060 | 1873 2933 355 | 721 | 1076 4°6 | 56°6
1 10 33) 57°9 | 72 | 701 | 1270 | 1971 ||\— 41] 118 | 114 || 11°5 | 55-2
2 | 32 14} 60-7; 80 | 2046 | 3761 | 5807 I 1341 | 2609 | 3950 4:1 | 54°4
3 10 22 | 59-0 76 | 705 | 1152 | 1857 || a3 = 12°1 | 61°2
4 11 12] 57°6 65 | 717 | 1216 | 1933 12 64 76 || 10°0 | 59-0
5a | 12 32 | 60-2 | 58] 836] 1301 2137 || 131 149 | 280 774 | 64°3
5p | 12 23 | 59°38} 77) 833 |-1361 | 2194 || 128} 209] 337 || 10-1 | 61-2
64 | 20 32) 60°1; 58 | 1308 | 2770 | 4078 || 603 | 1618 | 2221 4°6 | 47:2
6B | 20 02 | 60°3 82 | 1299 | 2363 | 3662 594 | 1211 | 1805 6°7 | 53-0
7s | 30 13 | 60°4 |) 103 | 1936 | 3611 | 5547 | 1231 | 2459 | 3690 5°6 53°6
7p | 29 02 | 60:0 191 | 1937 | 4043 | 5980 || 1232 | 2891 | 4123 10°9 | 47°9
8a | 37 02) 60-5 | 164 | 2404 | 5430 | 7834 | 1699 4278 | 5977 | 7°3 | 44:3
8B | 34 02 | 60°4 | 188 | 2244 | 4712 | 6956 | 1539 | 3560 | 5099 9-1 | 47°6
|
9a | 40 22) 60-0! 124 | 2565 | 6527 | 9092 || 1860 | 5375 | 7235 5:1 | 39°3
9p | 23 13 /| 55°5| 138 | 1434 | 3210 | 4644 | 729 | 2058 | 2787 || 10°6 | 44-7
10a} 18 0O | 56°8 157 | 1178 | 2442 | 3620 | 473 | 1290 | 1763 | 15°4 | 48°2
10p | 18 22 | 55:9 122 | 1166 | 2440 | 3606 || 461 | 1288 | 1749 || 11°6 | 47-8
lla | 27 O | 59-5 | 160 | 1766 | 3387 | 5153 || 1061 | 2235 | 3296 || 10-0 | 52-2
11s | 27 12 | 58°6 152 | 1758 | 3450 | 5208 | 1053 | 2298 | 3351 9-4 | 51°0
12a | 30 0 | 60-1 126 | 1928 | 3933 | 5861 | 1223 | 2781 | 4004 | 7-0 | 49-0
128 | 28 2 | 59°41] 130 | 1824 | 3388 | 5212 || 1119 | 2236 | 3355 7°7 | 53°9
13a | 30 13 | 60°3 | 117 | 1946 | 3988 | 5934 | 1241 | 2836 | 4077 6°4 | 48°8
138 | 29 2 | 60-8] 130 | 1923 | 3808 | 5731 | 1218 | 2656 | 3874 7°3 | 50°5
14a | 31 03 | 59°8 129 | 1995 | 3850 | 5845 || 1290 | 2698 | 3988 6°9 | 51°8
14s | 29 12 | 59°5 | 144 | 1897 | 3725 | 5622 \ 1192 | 2573 | 3765 8-2 | 50°9
15a | 30 02 | 60°5| 146 | 1961 | 4011 | 5972 | 1256 | 2859 | 4115 8-1 | 48:9
15p | 32 123 | 60°7 133 | 2095 | 4134 | 6229 | 1390 | 2982 | 4372 | 6°8 | 50°7
164 | 13 32 | 59°5 | 54) 874 | 1642 | 2516 169 | 490 | 659 ||; 6°6 | 53°3
1ép | 12 1} | 59°3 55 | 791 | 1466 | 2257 || 86/| 314)| 400 | 7°5 | 54:0
}
17a | 25 3 | 60°8| 119 | 1685 | 3249 | 4934 980 | 2097 | 3077 || 7°6 | 51-9
17B | 26 02) 60°5 95 | 1673 | 3358 | 5031 968 | 2206 | 3174 || 6-0 49°8
18a | 12 12 | 59°3 83 | 818 | 1579 | 2397 113 | 427 | 540 | 11°2 | 51°8
18p8 | 13 12 | 59°5 61 | 862 | 1761 | 2623 157 | 609] 766 || 7:7 | 49-0
19 | 27 22) 59-6} 145 | 1794 | 3303 | 5097 | 1089 | 2151 3240 || 8°8 | 54°3
20 ese hor 1 48 | 696 | 1247 | 1943 |— 9 95 86 | 7°3 | 55°8
21 20 3} 59°6 71 1312 | 2216 | 3528 | 607 | 1064 | 1671 || 5°7 | 59°2
22 | 20 03) 59°8 | 4°8 | 61:9

58 | 1257 | 2030 | 3287 552 | 878 | 1430

of Wheat Year after Year on the same Land.

APPENDIX-TABLE XJ.—Propuce of the 30th Season, 1872-3.
Rostock) sown Novemser 8, 1872; Crop cut Aveusr 15-19, and carted
SEPTEMBER 2.

459

Seep (Rep

Prots.

Quantity.

*

Cel el

_
ice)
1]
to
a
oow o Sa eeine orp

eee

Produce per Acre, &c. Increase per Acre by
(For the Manures, see pp. 1 and 2.) Manure.
. om a
Offal Total traw roduce traw Total
Gan. aa Chaff. een Grain. aa Piatties:
Straw)

Ibs. Ibs. lbs. Ibs. lbs. Ibs. Ibs.
51 | 950 | 1183 | 2133 249 | 281] 530
42 | 636 | 966 | 1602 ||— 65 64 j|- 1
67 | 1622 | 2463 | 4085 I 921 | 1561 | 2482
35 | 701 | 902) 1603 || .. ate as
56 | 749 | 998 | 1747 48; 96) 144
40 | 771 | 1054 | 1825 || 70/| 152] 222
42 | 754 | 1032 | 1786 53 | 130] 183
52 | 905 | 1513 | 2418 204 611 815
58 | 1015 | 1527 | 2542 314 | 625 | 939
59 | 1264 | 1852 | 3116 || 563} 950 | 1513
77 | 1381 | 2190 | 3571 680 | 1288 | 1968
77 | 1566 | 2477 | 4043 865 | 1575 | 2440
83 | 1720 | 2850 | 4570 || 1019 | 1948 | 2967

119 | 2160 | 3932 | 6092 || 1459 | 3030 | 4489

104 | 1303 | 2358 | 3661 602 | 1456 | 2058
74 | 1173 | 1635 | 2808 472 | 733 | 1205
80 | 1247 | 1642 | 2889 || 546 | 740 | 1286
83 | 1153 | 1583 | 2736 || 452 681 | 1138
81 | 1152 | 1578 | 2730 451 | 676 | 1127
82 | 1360 | 1943 | 3303 659 | 1041 | 1700 |
80 | 1401 | 2037 | 3438 700 | 1135 | 1835
81 | 1395 | 2036 | 3431 694 | 1134 | 1828
64 | 1440 | 2107 | 3547 739 | 1205 | 1944 |
61 | 1426 | 2120 | 3546 | 725 | 1218 | 1943
78 | 1452 | 2172 | 3624 || 751 | 1270 | 2021
71 | 1963 | 2992 | 4955 || 1262 | 2090 | 3352 |
73 | 1941 | 3165 | 5106 |) 1240 | 2263 | 3503 |
40 | 759 | 1130 | 1889 58 | 228 | 286 |
36 | 778 | 1174 | 1952 |} 77} 272) 349
38 | 639 | 1092 | 1731 |— 62; 190] 128
51 | 789 | 1108 | 1897 88 | 206} 294
61 | 1177 | 1805 | 2982 476 | 903 | 1379
08 | 1274 | 2007 | 3281 573 , 1105 | 1678
80 | 1212 | 1858 | 3070 || 511 | 956 | 1467
47 | 758 | 1098 | 1856 : 57 | 196 | 253
52 | 853 | 1258 | 2111 || 152 | 356) 508
54 | 1084 | 1663 | 2747 | 383 | 761 | 1144 |

Dressed Grain.

Weight

per
Bushel.

or
a
or WoIwonuce

|

or
a
Waa oy on] Aowrooroce-

Offal

Grain

to 100
Dressed.

RoOWwor-l

-I

WW He OD

ARS OH OT AGAEE RDO WHO BPEdDOHH OE

Total
Grain
to 100
Straw.

Qr2dIT1I-] orn lor orler) aun ao
wWwunoonmwe-] So WONONFRAOKF OCONODOH

for)
I
is)

460 Experiments at Rothamsted on the Growth

ApprnDIx-TABLE XII.—Propvuce of the 3lst Szason, 1873-4. Sump (Rep
Rostock) sown Ocrosrr 29 and 30, 1873; Crop cut Aveust 3-11, and
carted Aveust 15 and 17.

Produce per Acre, &c. | Increase per Acre by |
(For the Manures, see pp. 1 and 2.) | Manure.
-
zi | Oftal | Total
Prors: Dressed Grain. i Total | s . —— gan
t duce) t
Weight os aces a (Grain. Grain. an Total || Dressed.| Straw.
Quantity.| per | OT8im- | Grain. | Cnom | ‘and || Chasf, |Produce.
Bushel. Straw). |)
i | ! =
bush. pceks.| lbs. Ibs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. Ibs. lbs.
16 33 | 59-1 18 | 1014 | 1328 | 2342 || 320] 338 | 658 76°4
: 14} 690 | 972 | 1662 |— 4 |— 18 |— 22 71-0

0 1°8

1 6 2:0

2 | 39 1 | 60-2 70 | 2431 | 4439 | 6870 || 1737 | 3449 | 5186 3°0 | 54°8
Sry| 11 12" | 48-3 27')| 694, ) e990) 684 tiie. oe ae 4°0n) 70°
4 /12 1 | 58:8 13 | 734 | 999 | 1733 40 9 49 1:8 | 73:5
Fay) 12) 72} (259-1 23 | 768 | 845 | 1613 || 74 |—145 |— 71 3-1 | 90°8
5p | 13) 112 |) 59-1 24 | 820) 914 | 1734 126 |— 76 30 3°0 | 89°7
6a | 25 22 | 59°7 17 | 1550 | 2212 | 3762 || 856 | 1222 | 2078 PAG) FOed
6B | 25 33 | 59°5 21 | 1562 | 2230 | 3792 | 868 | 1240 | 2108 1-4 |) 700
Ta | 39 1} |:59:9 78 | 2436 | 4508 | 6944 || 1742 | 3518 | 5260 3°3 | 54°0
Tp | 39 23 | 59:7 96 | 2461 | 4782 | 7243 || 1767 | 3792 | 5559 4-1 | 51:5
8a | 41 33] 60°1 | 121 | 2637 | 6182 | 8819 || 1943 | 5192 | 7135 4°8 | 42°7
8B | 39 0% | 59°6 | 138 | 2471 | 5944 | 8415 || 1777 | 4954 | 6731 5°9 | 41°6
9a | 38 OF | 60°4 | 105 | 2409 | 5012 | 7421 | 1715 | 4022 | 5737 4°6 | 48-1
Spi) 20e2 fox 31 | 1269 | 2166 | 3435 || 575 | 1176 | 1751 2°5 | 58°6
10a | 25 1 | 56°5 48 | 1476 | 1977 | 3453 782 | 987 | 1769 3:4 | 74:7
10B | 27 02) 56:9 | 136 | 1686 | 2387 | 4073 992 | 1397 | 2389 8:8 | 70°6
Wd} 36 2 | 57:9 95 | 2208 | 3166 | 5374 || 1514 | 2176 | 3690 4°5 | 69-7
lls | 29 1 | 58:3 | 156 | 1859 | 3077 | 4936 || 1165 | 2087 | 3252 9-2 | 60-4
12a | 40 3% | 59°4 65 | 2497 | 4011 | 6508 || 1803 | 3021 | 4824 2°7 | 62°3
128 | 38 0 | 59°7 88 | 2359 | 3774 | 6133 || 1665 | 2784 | 4449 3°9 | 62°5
13a | 36 3 | 60°6 75 | 2303 | 3952 | 6255 || 1609 | 2962 | 4571 3°4 | 58°3
138 | 37 12 | 60°4 42 | 2301 | 4002 | 6303 || 1607 | 3012 | 4619 1:9 | 57°5
14a | 37 3} | 59°9 32 | 2294 | 3570 | 5864 || 1600 | 2580 | 4180 1-4 | 64°2
148 | 35 14 | 59°2 93 | 2187 | 3618 | 5805 || 1493 | 2628 | 4121 4:4] 60°4
15a | 27 3 | 61:3 22 | 1724 | 2609 | 4333 || 1080 | 1619 | 2649 1:3 | 66°1
15s | 30 23 | 60°9 36 | 1901 | 2943 | 4844 || 1207 | 1953 | 3160 1°9 | 64°6
16a | 9 0} | 60°2 20 | 564] 913 | 1477 ||—130 |— 77 |—207 3°7 | 61°8
16p | 14 23 | 60:0 39 | 915 | 1392 | 2307 221 | 402 | 623 4°4 | 65°7
17a | 32 33 | 60°6 40 | 2027 | 3501 | 5528 || 1333 | 2511 | 3844 2:0 | 57°9
178 | 33 23 | 60°9 46 | 2094 | 3473 | 5567 || 1400 | 2483 | 3883 2°2 | 60°3
18a | 13 3 | 58:8 24 | 832 | 1047 | 1879 138 57 | 195 3:0 | 79°5
188 | 14 03 | 58:8 39 | 871 | 1012 | 1883 177 22 | 199 #0 SG
19 | 37 33] 58:9 68 | 2293 | 3136 | 5429 || 1599 | 2146 | 3745 || 3:1 | 73-1
20 | 138 3 | 59:2 32 | 845 | 1312 | 2157 151 | 322] 473 || 3°9 | 64-4
21 | 22 3% | 59°5 30 | 1391 | 1666 | 3057 || 697 | 676 | 1373 || 2°2]) 83°5
22 | 21 14 | 59°3 21 | 1289 | 1547 | 2836 595 | 557 | 1152 1°6 | 83°3

of Wheat Year after Year on the same Land.

461

Apprenpix-Tasie XIII.—Propvcr of the 32nd Srason, 1874-5. Srep (Rep
Rostock) sown Ocrosmr 26 and 27, 1874; Crop cut Aveusr 16-21, and
carted Aveusr 24 and 25.

Dressed Grain.

| PLots.
| |
Weight
per
Bushel.

Quantity.

Ibs.
99°
58°

bush. pceks.
10
8 OL
28

for}
o
NOG Cre

or or
or ©
mo) Oro Or “10 RNwmow no orb

eH
on
©
©

ae
or
oo
©

=
for)
Le}
(Je)
OHH S&S WSOP Nd

oe
or
Les)
©

Offal
Grain.

lbs.
51
41

147
50
51

37
46
86
80
147
154
194
202

198
130

91
126
111
157
135
112

92

93
120
127

181
163
49
35

41
48

Produce per Acre, &c.
(For the Manures, see pp. 1 and 2.)

Total
Grain.

Ibs.
663
Slt
1890
567
508

526

653
1046
1084
1652
1723
2006
1867

1965
1050

786

934
1217
1026
1585
1574
1673
1766
1747
1576

1594
1829

676
613

691
T717
1569
1598

1392
501

842
893

Straw
and
Chaff.

lbs.
1150

868
3719
1008

910

1051
1198
1899
2117
3334
3509
4400
4245

4747
2363

1574
1782
2392
2217
2972
3104
3299
3231
3060
3183

2916
3491

1222
1147

1247
1450
2916
3096

2494
1028

1376
1491

|

Increase per Acre by
Manure,

Straw
and
Chaff.

Grain.

lbs.
142
—140
2711

— 98
43 2
190
891
1109
2326
2501
3392
3237

3739
1355

566

774
1384
1209
1964
2096
2291
2223
2052
2175

1908
2483

214
139

Offal
Grain
to 100

Dressed.

mM OMOM

is
BKAMASEAGDR HOARE

—
ee
bo

ORD AT ON WISI

“1

End &@ CORW SCO MDH BMHRAMUIMWSHUN

nmnaow

|
|

Total

Grain
to 100
Straw.

462

Experiments at Rothamsted on the Growth

Appenpix-TasLE XIV.—Propvce of the 33rd Szason, 1875-6. Szep (Rep
Rostock) sown Novemper 1 and 2, 1875; Crop cut Aveusr 8-19, and
carted Aveust 14-23.

Puorts.

bush. pcks.
1] 33

Produce per Acre, &c.
(For the Manures, see pp. 1 and 2.)

Dressed Grain.

7 2
23 33

IH
fer)
nS)

Piao RKO
or or
oo lor)

-
oO
RB OWON WN Ee oS om

roma

for) a

ad ms . . . . .
Po WO URPPERORGDHED OT TRIN NOFRD TORMN)'

o
a
Cr for) o10o Oe

Offal

Grain.

Total
Grain.

Straw]

and
Ibs.
830
571
2140
642
706

792

7717
1201
1393
2015
2408
3083
2788

3584
1217

922
1270
1313
1228

1711
1661
2431
2435
2027
1863

2320
2535

841

Total
Produce

908

2605
2474
898
893

Increase per Acre by

Grain.

anure,

Straw Total

and
Chaff.

Ibs.
188
— 71
1498

64

Produce.

Offal
Grain
to 100

—

Own © SCWWN GH SCH ATAATURWOHDA WO NNHOKAKRROKR ARDOHD

Dressed.

Total

Grain
to 100
Straw.

88°3

Te
77°0

of Wheat Year after Year on the same Land. 463-

Appenpix-TasLE XV.—Propvce of the 34th Srason, 1876-7. Seep (Rep
Rostock) sown Ocroser 23, 1876 ; Cror cut Aveusr 18-24, and carted
Aveust 30.

Produce per Acre, &c. Increase per Acre by
(for the Manures, see pp. 1 and 2.) | anure.

al. ale a Gua, | otal
_| Dressed Grain. Total | Grain Grain
Straw | Produce, Straw to 100 | to 100

. Offal | Total ae - Total
Bee ee eae. [creme | come | Gen | Gest) | et eee |

Bushel. Straw). | Lea
e_—_o—r- nee ne ooo

bush. pcks.| Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. lbs. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs.
11 33] 59:0|] 23 728 | 908 | 1636 ||} 185 | 160| 345 3°2 | 80°2
7 0%) 59°3| 16 434 | 521 | 955 ||—109 |—227 |—336 3°8 | 83°3
24 Of | 59:1] 54 | 1481 | 2266 | 3747 9388 | 1518 | 2456 3°8 | 65°4
8 33 | 58:9] 19 543 | 748 | 1291 || .. 4 3°7 | 72°6
9 32] 57°3 | 23 584 | 807/ 1391 || 41 59 | 100 4:2 | 72°4
1 Of |} 57-4 | 27 668 | 872} 1540 || 125} 124] 249 4:2 | 76°6
12 03 | 56°8 | 21 708 | 892/| 1600 | 165| 144| 309 3°0 | 79°4
14 23-|-59°6 | 28 904 | 1172 | 2076 361 | 424 | 785 3°2 | 77:1
1 14 | 56°7 | 33 847 | 1179 | 2026 304 | 431 | 735 4-1 | 71-9
20 22 | 59:1] 40 | 1259 | 1983 | 3242 716 | 1235 | 1951 3:3 | 63°5
19 04] 59°3 | 34 | 1167 | 1687 | 2854 624 | 939 | 1563 3:0 | 69°2
27 02 | 59°4 | 49 | 1665 | 2477 | 4142 || 1122 | 1729 | 2851 3-1 | 67°2
22 1 | 59:0} 42 | 1354 | 2010 | 3364 811 | 1262 | 2073 || 3:2 | 67°4
40 03] 57°9 | 60 | 2383 | 3852 | 6235 || 1840 | 3104 | 4944 || 2:6 | 61:9
27 2%| 58:0 | 48 | 1654 | 2540 | 4194 || 1111 | 1792 | 2903 || 3-0 | 65:1
17 02 | 57°5 | 48 | 1031 | 1322 | 2353 || 488 | 574 | 1062 4°4 | 78-0.
18 1 | 58-4) 37 | 1105 | 1492 | 2597 562 | 744 | 1306 Ss eve
18 32] 60-0 | 45 | 1182 | 1453 | 2635 639 | 705 | 1344 4-0 | 81-4
16 32 | 59°8 | 41 | 1046 | 1353 | 2399 503 | 605 | 1108 4-1 | 77°3
19 33] 60-2 | 58 | 1249 | 1640 | 2889 || 706 | 892 | 1598 4°9 | 76:2
Eare3” }'59°9 | 5 994 | 1331 | 2325 || 451 | 583 | 1034 5°4 | 75°4
18 2 | 60-1) 54 | 1165 | 1581 | 2746 622 | 833 | 1455 4°9 | 73°7
18 0 | 60-1} 29 | 1108 | 1556 | 2664 565 | 808 | 1373 2°7 | 71:2.
19 02 | 59-5 | 35 | 1170 | 1633 | 2803 627 | 885 | 1512 3-1 | T1°6
18 0 | 57-2 | 34 | 1063 | 1503 | 2566 520 | 755 | 1275 3:4 | 70°8
15a | 32 32 | 58-9 | 44 | 1978 | 2817 | 4795 || 1435 | 2069 | 3504 2°3 | 70:0
15s | 33 12 / 59°6 | 44 | 2036 | 2759 | 4795 || 1493 | 2011 | 3504 2°2 | 73°8
164) 10° 1 | 57:2) 24 610 | 736 | 1346 67 |— 12 55 4:1 | 82°8
lép | 9 14) 58°9) 15 567 | 767 | 1334 | 24 19°} 43 2°6 | 73°9
17a | 10 03) 59-1] 69 662 | 823 | 1485 119 75 | 194 || 11-7 | 80°4
lie | 9 32/|58°6| 15 591 | 728 | 1319 48 |— 20 28 2°6 | 81:2
18a | 11 22 | 58-0] 17 696 | 1038 | 1734 153 290 | 443 2°5°| 677k
188 | 13 2 | 58:8] 21 816 | 1090 | 1906 273 | 342 | 615 2°7 | 74:3.
19 | 19 12| 58-0] 28 | 1156 | 1452 | 2608 || 613 704 | 1317 || 2°5 | 79°6
20 | 11 13 | 58-1] 38 694 | 994 | 1688 151 | 246; 397 50 | 69°S
21 | 11 24) 58:5] 30 710 | 1049 | 1759 167 | 301 | 468 || 4:5 | 67-7
22 | 21 02] 55-0} 38 | 1197 | 1725 | 2922 654 | 977 | 1631 3°2 | 69°4

AG64

Experiments at Rothamsted on the Growth

Appenprx-Taste XVI.—Propvce of the 35th Szason, 1877-8. Seep (Rep
Rostock) sown Novemper 2 and 3; Crop cut Aveust 1-10, and carted

Aveust 19.

Produce per Acre, &c.

Ports Dressed Grain.
Quantitys|
| | Bushel.
bush. peks.| Ibs.

0 |15 2 | 59-0
1 | 10° 1k | 59%1
2 |28 1 | 60-9
3 | 12 12) 59-0
4 }12 59-9
5A} 14 3 | 58-3
5p | 14 22 | 59:3
6a | 22 1 | 6171
6p | 23 02 | 60°5
7a | 30 14 | 60-6
7B | 32 02) 60°6
8a | 37-32 | 60-4 |
8B | 38 a 60-2
a 37 02 | 59-2
9B | 23 12 | 56-9
| |
10a | 27 1} | 59°5
10B'| 29 32 | 59°6
Ila | 29 22 | 59-9
lls | 29 23 | 60-0
124 | 28 3 | 60°5
128 | 29 23 | 60-8
134 | 29 0 | 61-1
138 | 29 32 | 60°6
14a | 32 2° | 60:8
14z | 31 a 60°3 |
154 20 32 | 59°6
158 | 23 03 | 60-1
16a | 13 33 | 59-3
16s | 13 OF | 60°3
174 | 29 13 | 61-0
17s | 28 23! 60-8
184/15 0} 59-8
188/15 13 60-2
|

19 | 27 12) 60-0
20 |14 1 | 57°7
21 |19 1} | 59-3
22 | 18 24 | 59°0

| Grain.

Offal

41
60

|
(For the Manures, see pp. 1 and 2.)
7

| Total

| Grain.

863
| 1208
| 1163

'

Total

lbs. Ibs.
1420 | 2379
1064

1857

| 1081
| 1768

992

| 1324
1320
2813
3074
4804 |

2223
2221
4237
4542
6802
7232
| 8679

8604

5100
6227
6119

5624
2897

7957
4305

4470
4834
6152
6229
6385
6790
6596
6581
7099
6788

|
wis |
2981
4258
4326
4479
4824
4708
4664
5014
i

2931
3211

4265
4706

1351 |
1312 | 2149

4528 | 6442
4735 | 6569

| 1596 | 2572
3148 | 4871
|

|

| Straw | Produce
and | (Grain

.| and |]

| Straw). ||

1718
| 4042 | 5932 |

| 2213 |

1514 | 2469 ||

| 1212 | 2075
| 1821 | 3029 |

1880 | 8088

Increase per Acre by
Man

Grain.

432

387 |

jure.

Straw

3627
3583
3933

3713 | 4931

1850
2130

2408
2849

396
292

4585
4712
612

270
231

3447
3654 |
433
515

2067 | 3014
218
1172
1186

131
740
799

715 |

i

AAT FH HAAG TH AS BUTROCOUIEHR To YISCORR ER BOOOH
QNSo A ORD GH OHO ARUATEIAKSNH OS GANNAGANH® SHoaAw

63°
63°
42°
38
63
61

.

AIILRAGR
MORO AWD oATKer

OHO =l

SSSLRSBS

be ore

EE et aetl cath sail sal aod QD he
Sh EEESSERE

6
5
6
‘9
oT
“5
0
6
sy
rz
1
6
6
5
5
8
8
3
‘7
rl
2
af |
2
3
9

rs

23R

of Wheat Year after Year on the same Land.

Apprenpix-TAsLe X VII.—Propvuce of the 36th Szason, 1878-9.
Rostock) sown Ocroser 30 and 31, 1878; Crop cut Sepremper 4-17,
and carted SEPTEMBER 22.

465

Srep (Rep

Produce per Acre, &c.
(For the Manures, see pp. 1 and 2.)

Biors: Dressed Grain.
Weight
Quantity. | per
ee SS
bush. pcks.
0 | 4 23
Z 2 2%
25 |: TSE OF |
3 | 4 238
4|, £014
5a} 5.3 |.58:9
5B} 5 221-53-0
6a| 9 12 56-2
68 | 11 22 | 56-7
Ta) 1521) 1.565
Te, | 1b 1) 155628
Sa | 20 02 | 56-7
8B | 21 0 | 56:2
9a | 21 32 | 56°5
9p | 4 22/| 49-8
10a| 3 33 | 48-9
10s | 4 23 | 52-6
1la | 11+ 02 | 55:5
lls | 11 03 | 53°6
124 | 13 32 | 56-4
ae | 14s 1' 1p5553
13a | 14 02 | 57-5
138 | 17 33 | 58-0
14a) 165 3. | o%e7.
148 | 15 22 | 56-6
15a] 5 32 | 58-1
15p | 4 32 | 52-5
|
16a: || Sy 12 |52°8
16s} 4 12 / 52:9
17a} 2 22 | 52°5
17B| 3 23 | 49-5
18a} 19 32 | 58-7
188 | 20 32 | 57-9
19 | 8 02 | 53-6
20 | 4 1 | 53:0
21 | 8 1} | 54-0
22 | 11 33 | 55-5

Increase per Acre by

Manure.

Straw
and
Chaff.

Offal
Grain
to 100

||Dressed.

oo bo
em Or

Ce
He o>

nS
=
| olor) ~1 bo Ror i | boo Ot OU) mt OO CO OD ht i ow SCrOTrg Or Oo bo wNomeos)

OU oR | lll aeeelll aeclll eal eel aol SO)
| ol te i | “1 Or Ot bo 0100 ©

Nee eee bo
NDPRROWOODWAI

bo bp
mo

He OD He bo
em OO on

a oe
oor S oso

466 Experiments at Rothamsted on the Growth

Apprnpix-Taste XVIII.—Propvuce of the 37th Season, 1879-80. Szxp.

(Rep Rostock) sown Ocroser 27 and 28, 1879; Cror cut Aveust 14-20,
and carted Aueust 25. .

Produce per Acre, &c. Increase per Acre by
(For the Manures, see pp. 1 and 2.) | Manure.
a | — || Offal | Total
Ere, | Svesee iain [ moat | | - Grain | Grain
Straw | Produce traw

: Offal | Total ; - Total

quantity. | pe] Grain | Grain. | cin | Goa | SP | fPredace OS) SA
Bushel. Straw). ||

bush. pks. Ibs, Ibs. lbs. lbs. Ibs. lbs. Ibs. lbs
0 | 16 OF | 58:6 41 | 990 | 1315 | 2305 301 | 166 | 467 4°3 | 75°3
| SASSO 756 21 | 655 | 1151 | 1806 | 34 2 |— 32 3°3 | 56°9
2° | 38 12 |60°2 66 | 2373 | 3902 | 6275 || 1684 | 2753 | 4437 2°8 | 60°8
Soe le 2A Nes) 34 | 689 | 1149 | 1838 Be 28 5°1 | 59°9
400) 12 eS aS7r4 27 | 760 | 1263 | 2023 71} 114) 185 3°6 | 60°2
5a| 18 22 | 59-1 33 | 1128 | 1747 | 2875 || 439 | 598 | 1037 3°0 | 64°6
5p | 16 33] 59:2 43 | 1038 | 1722 | 2760 349 | 573 | 922 4°3 | 60°3
6a | 27 3 | 59°8 59 | 1718 | 3172 | 4890 || 1029 | 2023 | 3052 3°6 | 54°2
6p | 26 02 | 59°8 51 | 1610 | 2649 | 4259 921 | 1500 | 2421 3°3 | 60°8
7a | 34 23 | 59°7 82 | 2149 | 4051 | 6200 | 1460 | 2902 | 4362 4-0 | 53-0
7p | 34 12 | 59°9 94 | 2149 | 3960 | 6109 | 1460 | 2811 | 4271 4°6 | 54:3
8a | 37 22 | 59°6 | 127 | 2374 | 5135 | 7509 || 1685 | 3986 | 5671 5°6 | 46°2
8B | 32 33 | 58°5 | 106 | 2031 | 3817 | 5848 || 1342 | 2668 | 4010 5°5 | 53°2
9a | 34 02 | 57°8 | 165 | 2130 | 4394 | 6524 || 1441 | 3245 | 4686 8-4 | 48-4
95 | 10 12 | 53°5 95 | 654 | 1420 | 2074 |— 35 | 271 | 236 || 17-0 | 46:1
10a | 10 23 | 54°9 62 | 645 | 1242 | 1887 ||— 44 93 49 || 10°6 | 51°9
10s | 13 12 | 53-5 60 779 | 1631 | 2410 90 482 572 8°3 | 47°7
11a | 27 02 | 58°4 94 | 1673 | 2868 | 4541 984 | 1719 | 2703 6°0 | 58°3
lp | 24 2 | 57°3 | 117 | 1520 | 2835 | 4355 831 | 1686 | 2517 8:3 | 53°6
12a | 30 3 | 59-2) 101 | 1921 | 3589 | 5510 || 1232 | 2440 | 3672 5°5 | 53°5
128 | 27 33 | 58°7 | 104 | 1739 | 2939 | 4678 || 1050 | 1790 | 2840 6°4 | 59°2
13a | 33 03 | 59°9 85 | 2070 | 3859 | 5929 | 1381 | 2710 | 4091 4°3 | 53°7
13B | 32 32 | 59-4 78 | 2029 | 3649 | 5678 | 1340 | 2500 | 3840 4°0 | 55°6
14a} 32 1 | 59°2 98 | 2007 | 3638 | 5645 | 1318 | 2489 | 3807 5°2 | 55°2
14p | 29 22 | 57°8 96 | 1811 | 3009 | 4820 | 1122 | 1860 | 2982 5°6 | 60°2
15a | 36 33 | 60°8 82 | 2325 | 4234 | 6559 | 1636 | 3085 | 4721 3°6 | 54°9
158 | 35 12 | 60°7 89 | 2242 | 3816 | 6058 || 1553 | 2667 | 4220 4:1 | 58°7
16a | 14 23] 581 33 | 882 | 1736 | 2618 193 | 587 | 780 3°9 | 50°8
16B | 14 02 | 58°5 56 | 885 | 1263 | 2148 196 | 114} 310 6°8 | 70°1
17a | 32 O | 60°7 75 | 2017 | 3383 | 5400 | 1328 | 2234 | 3562 3°8 | 59°6
178 | 33 23 | 59°5 88 | 2083 | 3271 | 5354 || 1394 | 2122 | 3516 4°5 | 63°7
18a | 14 23) 58-1 51 903 | 1340 | 2243 214 191 405 6°0 | 67°4
188 | 15 123 | 57°7 53 | 935 | 1351 | 2286 246 | 202! 448 |) 6°0 | 69°2
19 | 32 2 | 58:4] 157 | 2057 | 3254 | 5311 || 1368 | 2105 | 3473 8°2 | 63°2
20-1) 20 33 | 60:0 65 | 1314 | 2120 | 3434 || 625 | 971 | 1596 5°2 | 62°0
20-2! 12 3 56°6 49 771 | 1096 | 1867 | 82 |-— 53 29 6°8 | 70°3
21 16 2 57°3 46 992 | 1626 | 2618 303 477 780 4°8 | 61°0
22 | 26 12 | 57°3 66 | 1581 | 2469 | 4050 892 | 1320 | 2212 4-4 | 64:0

of Wheat Year after Year on the same Land. 467

AppEnDIx-TasLe XIX.—Propvce of the 38th Srason, 1880-1. Srep (Rep
Rostock) sown Ocroser 25, 1880; Crop cut Aveusr 8-11, and carted
Aveust 29, and SEPTEMBER 1.

Produce per Acre, &c. Increase Fas Acre by

(For the Manures, see pp. 1 and 2.) / Manure.
| | || Offal | Total
aA | tn | Ses
Offal 1 Straw | Produce ; Straw Total 3

: — Grain. enn ere. ne Grain. and 'Produce. i Spee

Bushel. Straw). ||

lbs. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. lbs.
54°2 63 909 973 | 1882 46 |—173 |—127 |} 7:5 | 93-4
53°7 45 728 794 | 1522 |—135 |—352 |—487 || 6°6 | 91°6
58°9 130 | 1907 | 2367 | 4274 || 1044 1221 | 2265 |} 7°3 | 80°6
58-0 64 863 | 1146 | 2009 |} .. | . as 8:1 | 75-4
57°1 41 758 833 | 1591 | —105 |_313 —418 5°8 | 91-0
58:0 68 806 909 | 1715 |\— 57 a 237 |—294 || 9°2 | 88-6
57°8 75 805 897 | 1702 | — 58 wr —307 || 10°3 | 89°7
57°6 105 | 1333 | 1595 | 2928 || 470 919 8:6 | 83°6
57°9 110 | 1383 | 1663 | 3046 || 520 Pe 1037 |} 8:6 | 83:2
58-4 150 | 1738 | 2269 | 4007 875 | 1123 | 1998 |} 9:5 | 76°6
59°1 145 | 1690 | 2137 | 3827 827 991 | 1818 |} 9:4 | 79°1
o9°1 166 | 2086 | 3169 | 5255 || 1223 | 2023 | 3246 8:7 | 65°9
59°1 136 | 1837 | 2643 | 4480 974 | 1497 | 2471 || 8-0 | 69°5
58°4 203 | 2271 | 3640 | 5911 || 1408 | 2494 | 3902 9-8 | 62°4
98°5 95 | 1424 | 1817 | 3241 561 671 | 1232 |} 7:1 | 78-4
}
58-4 106 | 1168 | 1297 | 2465 305 151 456 10-0 | 90-0
57°5 125 | 1259 | 1399 | 2658 396 253 649 || 11-0 | 90-0
56°2 145 | 1378 | 1642 | 3020 515 496 | 1011 || 11-8 | 83:9
56°4 170 | 1352 | 1552 | 2904 489 406 895 || 14:4 | 87°1
53°0 118 | 1525 | 1884 | 3409 662 738 | 1400 || 8:4) 81:0
55°5 143 | 1352 | 1885 | 3237 489 739 | 1228 || 11-8 | 71°8
55°8 140 | 1737 | 2319 | 4056 874 | 1173 | 2047 8:8 | 74:9
55°3 157 | 1694 | 2220 | 3914 831 | 1074 | 1905 || 10°2 | 76°3
95°7 143 | 1737 | 2276 | 4013 874 | 1130 | 2004 || 8°9 | 76°3
5d°3 132 | 1580 | 2103 | 3683 717 957 | 1674 One | Zor!
|

55°9 109 | 1535 | 1917 | 3452 672 | 771 | 1443 |) 7-7 | 80-1
55°9 100 | 1500 | 2025 | 3525 637 879 | 1516 || 7°2 | 74:1
56°1 64 809 911 | 1720 ||— 54 |—235 |—289 8:6 | 88:9
55°1 47 799 953 | 1752 |— 64 |—193 |—257 6°3 | 83°8
55°4 56 | 826 | 926 | 1752 ||— 37 |—220 |—257 4-3 | 89:1
55°1 70 758 878 | 1636 ||—105 |—268 |—373 10°2 86°4
55°7 151 | 1904 | 2533 | 4437 || 1041 | 1387 | 2428 | 8:6 | 75-1
55°5 87 | 1892 | 2577 | 4469 || 1029 | 1431 | 2460 i 4°8 | 73°4
56°4 146 | 1538 | 1815 | 3353 || 675 669 | 1344 10°5 | 84°7
55°3 | 112 | 1410 | 1770 | 3180 || 547 | 624 | 1171 8-7 | 79°7
56°4 55 921 | 1006 | 1927 58 |—140 |— 82 6:3 | 91°6
54°6 60} 709 | 715 | 1424 |—154 |—431 |—585 9:3 | 99-1
53°6 54 638 636 | 1274 ||—225 |—510 |—735 | 9°3 |100°4

468 Experiments at Rothamsted on the Growth

AppENDIX-TasLE XX.—Propuce of the 39th Season, 1881-2. Srxzp
(Square Heap) sown Ocroser 31, and Novemser 1 and 2, 1881; Crop
cut Aueust 10-16, and carted Avcusr 24,

Produce per Acre, &c. | Increase per Acre by
(For the Manures, see pp. 1 and 2. Manures.
: ; Offal | Total
Prots. Dressed Grain. Total . Grain | Grain
Straw | Produce Straw to 100 | to 100
; Offal- | Total : ... Total

Quantity. | Veet] Grain. | Grain, | came | (Gram || Grain. | ue lProduce ||

Bushel. Straw).

bush. pks. Ibs. lbs. lbs. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. lbs ani]
0 13 02 | 61-0 44 | 846 | 1284 | 2130 167 189 | 356 5°5 | 65°9
il 9 12} 60-1 36 | 605 | 1109 | 1714 || —74 14 | —60 6°2 | 54°5
2 | 82 22 | 59-6 57 | 2004 | 3993 | 5997 || 1325 | 2898 | 4223 2°9 | 50°2
3 10 32 | 58°7 38 | 679 | 1095 | 1774 ap ae a5 5°9 | 62:0
4 | 10) 34) S%8 69 | 698 | 1017 | 1715 | 19 | —78 | —59 || 10°9 | 68°6
dA} 12 32 | 58-4 37 > 793 | TeLlT | 2110 | 114 | 222) 336 4°9 | 60°2
5B | 12 0 58-5 56 | 760 | 1244 | 2004 | 81 149 | 230 79 | Glow
6a} 23 12 | 60°7 48 | 1466 | 2897 | 4363 787 | 1802 | 2589 3°4 | 50°6
6B | 22 34 | 60°8 77 | 1468 | 2940 | 4408 || 789 | 1845 | 2634 5°6 | 49°9

7a | 36 32 | 60:2 89 | 2304 | 5819 | 8123 |} 1625 | 4724 | 6349 4-1 | 39°6°
7B | 34. 3 59°7 121 | 2198 | 5641 | 7839 || 1519 | 4546 | 6065 5*8 | 39°0
8a | 36 02 | 59-2 162 | 2303 | 7413 | 9716 |} 1624 | 6318 | 7942 T6 | 3i-4
8B | 37 32 | 59-0 113 | 2343 | 6806 | 9149 || 1664 | 5711 | 7375 5'1 | 34°4
9a | 31 32 | 59°8 108 | 2012 | 6274 | 8286 || 1333 | 5179 | 6512 527 | 820
9B | 24 123 | 58-0 111 | 1520 | 3617 | 5137 841 | 2522 | 3363 7:9 | 42-0
10a | 238 22 | 60°7 120 | 1557 | 2796 | 4353 878 | 1701 | 2579 83 | 5027
10B | 26 02 | 60°6 92 | 1672 | 3012 | 4684 993 | 1917 | 2910 5°8 | 55°5
11a | 30 32 | 61-1 132 | 2015 | 3921 | 5986 || 1336 | 2826 | 4162 70 | 51°4
IIs | 29 32 | 61:2 126 | 1951 | 3805 | 5756 || 1272 | 2710 | 3982 6:9 | 51°3
12a | 34 14 | 60°8 133 | 2221 | 4938 | 7159 || 1542 | 3843 | 5385 6:4 | 45:0
12B | 34 32 | 61:2 81 | 2222 | 4636 | 6858 || 1543 | 3541 | 5084 3°8 | 47°9
18a | 32 22 | 62:1 82 | 2105 | 4918 | 7023 || 1426 | 3823 | 5249 4°1 | 42°8
13B |} 31.3) | 61:5 96 | 2048 | 4865 | 6913 |} 1869 | 3770 | 5189 4:9 | 42-1
14a | 35 32 | 60°1 75 | 2235 | 4949 | 7184 |} 1556 | 3854 | 5410 3°5 | 45:2
148 | 33° 12 | 60°5 110 | 2134 | 4570 | 6704 | 1455 | 3475 | 4980 5°4 | 46°7
15a | 29 12 | 61:4 64 | 1871 | 4216 | 6087 | 1192 | 3121 | 4813 3°6 | 44°4
15p | 28 14 | 61:0 96 | 1827 | 3981 | 5808 | 1148 | 2886 | 4034 ||- 5°6 | 45-9
16a | 11 0 58°4 55 698 | 1293 | 1991 19 198 217 8°5 | 54:0
16p | 10 2% | 58:0 40 | 655 | 1204 | 1859 | —24 | 109 85 6°6 | 54:4
LTA || 30: 1 61°5 113 | 1971 | 4127 | 6098 || 1292 | 3032 | 4324 6°1 | 47°8
178 | 31 32 | 61:7 59 | 2004 | 4186 | 6190 || 1325 | 3091 | 4416 3:0 | 47:9
18a | 14 32 | 59°3 41 921 | 1497 | 2418 || 242 402 644 4°7 | 61°5
18pn | 16 14 | 61:4 47 | 1052 | 1587 | 2639 373 492 865 | 4°7 | 66°3
19) 730 va 617 82 | 1949 | 8458 | 5407 |] 1270 | 2363 | 3633 4°4 | 56°4
20-1] 18 13 | 61°3 80 | 1203 | 2045 | 3248 | 524 | 950 | 1474 7*1 | 58°8
20-2} 15 22 | 61°3 40 993 | 1346 | 2339 || 314 251 565 4:2 | 73:7
21 15 1} | 60°5 54 979 | 1618 | 2597 300 523 823 5:8 | 60°4
22 IL OZ 60°2 83 | 725 | 1285 | 2010 | 46 |} 190] 2386 4:7 | 56°4

of Wheat Year after Year on the same Land.

Apprnprx-TastE XXI.—Propuce of the 40th Ssason, 1882-3.
(Square Heap) sown Novemper 6 and 9, 1882; Crop cut Avaust 13-23,

and carted Aucust 24-27.

Produce per Acre, &c.
(For the Manures, see pp. 1 and 2.)

Increase per Acre by

Manure.

Dressed Grain.

Pots.

. Offal
Quantity. ‘iste Grain.

Bushel
Ibs Tbs.
61°7 43
61°6 25
62°4 49
61°2 28
61:2 23
61°8 35
62-0 37
62-1 50
|-63°4 50
62°7 107
63:1 107
63°4 137
63°5 125
62:1 213
99°6.) 195
60°4 141
61-0 162
61-7 | .129
+ | 60°6 106
31 12] 63-1] 131
30 02 | 62°3 | 104
34 1 63°7 |. 115,
33 32 | 62:2 86
34 0 | 62:3] 144
32 3 | 62-1 127
33 02 | 62°7 124
32 321 | 62°3 119
15 13] 62-8] 44
ti i 62:1 37
15 22 | 62:4 55
to 2 | 62°3 34
37 22 | 62-6) 52
ao oy | 62°5 48
30 22 | 62-7 63
31 0 | 62:0} 135
17 O02} 61°2 54
L6G? i 62°0 46
12 2 | 62°4 35

Total
Grain.

Ibs.
980
712
2244
872
837

994
1023
1756
1806
2357
2399
2871
2695

2905
1337

1196
1280
1842
1625
2110
1977
2297
2196
2263
2162

2202
2164

1008
1045

1033

999
2411
2470

1986

2058
1099
1054

816

Straw
and
Chaff.

lbs.
997
783
2930
1006
978

1101
1175
2655
2554
3657
3607
4654
3928

5127
1684

1419
1524
2466
2158
2854
2668
3504
3225
3128
2941

3227
3279

1063
1146

1153
1168
3932
3766

2759

2887
1110
1302

887

| Grain.

Ibs.
108

160
1372

— 35
122
151
884
934

1485

1527

1999

1823

|| 2033

465

324
408
970
753
1238
1105
1425
1324
1391
1290

| 1330
|| 1292

136
173

161
127
1539
1598

1114

1186
227
182

— 56

Total

‘Produce.

Ibs.
99
—383
3296

— 68

217

320
2533
2482
4136
4128

5647 ||
4745

6154

1143

737

926
2430
1905
3086
2767
3923
3543
3913
3225

3551

3565

193
313

308
289
4465
4358

2867

3067
331
478

-—175

_
~I-l

He Ot HH DO DS OD GO bo Oo bo OO

eK
PROT © NNW WHR OD ABKRUMNRD IV

Offal
Grain
to 100

Dressed.| Straw.

RAWS © SCHAAR AN DO MWHODWADOCANW HO BSOAIDDOHDHR OWNWAGD

469

SEED:

Total
Grain
to 100

AARKANSH AAROw

Gg po

Soon So

CN AWHAHEDwWISS WA

fer)

470

PLots.

20

21
22

1 Average of 9 years, 1865-73. See note (°) to Appendix-Table I., p. 2. 7 Ave age |
174 and 178, are those of 10, 10 and 20 years mineral manure succeeding ammonia-sa}) |

Experiments at Rothamsted on the Growth

AppEenDIx-Tasie XXII.—Dressep Grain

HARVESTS.
1864, | 1865, | 1866. | 1867. | 1868. | 1869. | 1870. | 1871. | 1872. 1873. | 1874. 1875,
bsh.pks.|bsh.pks. bsh.pks.|bsh.pks.|bsh.pks.|bsh.pks. |bsh.pks. bsh.pks. bsh.pks. bsh.pks. bsh.pks. bsh.pke
19 0/15 216 3 10 23:22 1215 12/21 23/13 33/17 15 23/16 3310 1
14 3912 1g{11 13] 7 3220 23/12 Of/16 0310 1210 3210 2|11 12/8 0
40 0 (387 02/382 223/27 2241 3 38 1 |86 2 |88 3232 13,26 3 139 1 |28 3
16 12/13 13/12 04/8 34/16 23/14 1 14 33/9 123/10 2311 231 13] 8g)
17 314 23/13 13/9 1/17 2/14 3215 230 1211 1412 0212 1/709
16 1 [14 O8/13 03) 9 28116 12/15 22/18 O8|11 0 |12 33/12 3312 23) 8
17 2 14 O13 13] 8 33/18 33/15 33/19 O212 3 12 2212 2 113 12/1000
‘31 1324 33119 33/15 1227 3 [21 o0229 3 |16 33/20 33/14 33/25 23115
30 3225 0 [21 02116 0228 33/22 03/31 O3/17 0 \20 0816 39125 3k16 38
44 1340 0 |30 02/22 32/40 2 28 22:39 23/22 02/30 1221 03/39 13/25 0
47 1/40 1329 3 |21 13/39 O$/28 1 [41 14/22 12/29 0222 3 39 22.2609
49 3 43 32/32 0 (29 13/44 03/35 02/45 32:26 1 [87 0225 33/41 323100
50 0/43 13/382 1/31 12148 34/34 19144 2 29 4c 0229 0139 ie
1 0244 0232 2 29 OF47 3239 0 45 2 34 1940 2935 31/38 0330 2
33 1/129 23/30 3 22 027 1 |24 02126 1317 2323 1221 3221 2 16m
32 03/25 03,26 1/18 0$24 38 20 1 (21 23/10 0218 0 19 2325 1 |1208
36 0330 1928 2 |19 12/27 23119 0323 0210 0 18 2220 2227 0314 8
34 2/26 2127 32/21 3333 12/04 02125 03/12 0227 0 19 03/36 2 19 §
38 13/28 03/28 03/22 1 |33 23/20 14/25 12) 9 34127 1219 1329 1 |1OM
44 12/85 02/28 14/25 031389 2 |26 12/86 2 22 22/30 0 |22 13/40 32:24
44 3 (83 32.28 0223 32/40 1 |28 02134 0/19 12/28 2 |23 134/38 0 |25%
42, 23/35 3 (24 03/23 12/37 32125 23/85 2328 1 (30 1322 3336 3 26 ¢
43 23/88 2 |25 13/24 1/40 23/08 34/38 13/32 02/29 2 \24 0 187 1327
41 0236 02/28 14/23 08/41 3228 1 |85 0326 23/31 03/23 33/37 3227)
41 a 3/27 2222 13/41 1227 03/86 1/21 3229 12324 1 [85 1325
387 2235 12/26 0 |22 33/44 02/26 22/88 0229 13/30 03/32 32/27 3 23
37 186 1 |26 1323 08/41 2227 0438 22/32 03/32 13/32 13180 22/97
50 3232 0/17 O3/14 13/23 0 [16 13/18 1213 1 13 33/12 2319 0210)
51 1432 Q2/17 2 |14 33/22 22/15 34/18 O213 3 12 1318 0 f14 22) 9
;
36 2416 32/27 02/10 33/38 0315 1 |83 123/13 12/25 3 |10 23/32 32/11
35 3217 02/25 23/10 23/86 3 17 0 |85 1/18 2 26 OF12 3333 23/12)
17 03/30 O3/12 02/22 3 18 0223 O17 3 |28 O12 12/19 2 f13 3 |25
18 13382 3/13 03/24 1219 02/22 33/20 1 |28 3 13 12/21 O314 03/25
37 0332 3226 22/23 32/36 33/23 02/32 1 \22 1427 2220 O (37 34/22
pe 2/18 2213 23) 7 Of .. 513 OF14 2210 12/11 1412 2/13 3) SY
| | | =
24 3418 1317 2 |12 22/26 1 20 22/25 3 115 0320 S3214 032/22 ShiT2 |
25 1419 OF18 13/12 224 3Z15 OF/26 2316 3 |20 OF18 O}21 14/13 sf)

ammonia-salts succeeding the mineral manure (Plots 17a and 17s, or 18 and 188.) *° Prodi) «
Appendix-Table I., p. 2.

7 Average of 9 years 1864-7 and 1869-73.

8 Average of 19 yell} |

of Wheat Year after Year on the same Land. 471 |

in Busuets and Proxs, per Acre, per Annum.

HARVESTS. AVERAGE.

Pots.
1876. | 1877. | 1878, | 1879. | 4960.,|-4661, 1689, |.1905, [oun carisevaees | aebtnas

; — TS
. bsh.pks.|bsh.pks.|bsh.pks. =a bsh.pks.|bsh.pks.|bsh.pks.] bush. pks.| bush. pks.| bush. pcks.

T1 33/11 32/15 2) 4 23/16 OF15 23/13 OF15 OF 16 32 | 13 OF | 14 3%

2 0
7 2|7 os10 13/2 2411 0 12 23/9 1311 os 12 3. | 9 of | 10 33 | 1
23 3124 0428 1 [16 0 38 13130 0$32 23185 03] 35 0g | 29 23 | 32 12 | 2
8 Os 8 3312 13/4 2211 2 (13 310 3313 3a}12 3: |10 138 | 11 a | 3
9 0/9 3412 1314 1312 3/12° 23110 3403 13113 28 |10 2 | 12 02 | 4
9 3311 og14 3|5 3 lis 2312 3/12 3915 2/14 0 | 12 0f | 13 OF | 5a
V1 O#12 0314 93/5 2216 3312 2312 0 (15 33114 22 | 12 12 113 2 | 5p
14 3414 2812 1/9 1427 3 (21 1313 1327 2192 1 |20 1 | 21 1 | 6a
16 2 (14 1423 Og411 2926 0322 0 p2 3h27 8| 22 3% | 20 2% | 21 32 | 6p
21 1720 2430 1215 1 3 2427 0936 3435 32] 31 3f 28 2% | 30 14 | Ta
25 2 (19 0832 Og17 1 [34 1196 0334 3°36 13] 32 08 | 29 0 | 30 28 | 7
30 2927 0337 38120 03137 2332 2 [36 043 08 36 3% | 33 3h | 35 1h | 8a

98 in 1/38 1921 032 3328 3337 3440 13137 29 | 31 34 [34 3 | Sp
33 13/40 03187 0221 3234 0235 1281 3243 13140 0 | 34 22 | 37 12 | 9a
13 0°27 233 14/4 2110 1392 3.24 1419 03/95 92 | 18 12 | 22 0 | 9p
12 os17 ogi27 1313 33110 2318 0323 2317 2] 21 23 | 16 33 |19 1 | 10a
14 1318 129 31/4 2313 1819 326 0418 13/93 13 |18 23 |21 0 | 10B
15 1 (18 3329 2411 0227 0421 3230 3127 3/25 0 | 23 38 | 24 23 | 11a
JI3 1Z16 3329 2811 0424 2/21 0 [29 3425 03125 12 | 21 24 | 23 2 | 1p
lig 2319 3228 313 3130 3 l25 23/84 1331 14131 of | 27 0 | 29 0 | 12a
hg 3 15 3/29 2314 127 32121 3434 3330 01130 12 | 25 22 | 28 o2 | 128
loa 2 \18 229 0 14 0333 o128 2432 2134 1/30 2% | 27 3t | 29 08 | 13a
25 3218 0 29 3317 3132 3427 3231 383 33/32 2 | 28 14 | 30 12 | 138
Q2 3H19 0232 2 |16 332 128 2135 3234 0| 31 22 | 98 3 | 30 Of | 14a
121 1118 0 31 23115 240 2396 0233 1832 3|30 32 | 26 38 | 28 32 | 14,
24 3/32 3220 3315 3336 32125 2.29 1233 03/32 12 | 26 02 | 29 08 | 15a
26 0433 1923 034 3235 1395 0828 1432 33/32 28 | 26 3 | 29 3 | 15p
10 3310 1 [18 3315 1214 29113 1241 0 15 1a} 17 34),/11 18 | 14 2 ).| 16a
11 089 19/13 08|4 1414 0313 2310 2216 1117 Bas | 11 23 | 14 23f°| 168
7 0/10 0229 13/2 2332 0/13 3330 115 23] 14 18),| 12 Of. 13 13),! 17a
5 3319 3128 24/3 2533 23112 231 3215 2] 16 off) 12 23f | 14 13f | 178 [,
10 O811 2815 O49 3114 24131 1214 3137 23] 28 13\,|27 3 \4| 28 0\,| 184
10 2813 215 1410 3315 1332 2 (16 1338 3|98 33; 98 2f'| 98 3 f'| 188
19 1/19 1927 13|8 0332 2 (24 2830 130 2398 12 | 25 13 | 26 38 | 19

: 20 33/23 2/18 1431 0 a | 23 12 *| 204

| Tage Wat 1) 4 rE 3l15 1s15 2217 os 12 17 | 12 0 | 12 o8 8] 20-2

0 3/11 23119 1318 16 211 3215 1d6 1] 19 22 | 14 22 | 17 03 | 21
1

$110 B3H11 212 2/19 3 | 16 O8 | 17 38 | 22

19 years, 1865-83. * See Note (°) to Appendix-Table I., p. 2. * The averages given for Plots
Plots 174 and 18s, or 18a and 18B); and those given for Plots 18a and 18z of 10, 10 and 20 years |!
inknown, owing to a mistake at harvest. ® Average of 4 years, 1880-83. See Note (*) to jij
864-7 and 1869-83.

VOL. xx.—S. s. 2 I

472

Prots.

6) 178

20

21
22

Experiments at Rothamsted on the Growth

HARVESTS.
1864, | 1865. 1867. | 1868. 1869. | 1870.
lbs. lbs. r lbs. lbs. Ibs. Ibs.
62-0 | 59:0 -0 | 58:7 | 61-4 | 58*1 | 62-1
62:0 | 59:0 *8 | 57-9 | 60-0 | 58-2 | 62°5
62°5 | 61°5 ‘7 | 61-4 | 61-6 | 56°9 | 63-4
62:0 | 60°6 *3 | 56-1 | 61-0 | 56:1 | 61°8
61:9 | 60°3 ‘9 | 58-6 | 61°6 | 57°1 | 62-6
62:1 | 61:0 *8 | 59°7 | 62°2 | 56°8 | 62°6
62°0 | 60:8 ‘0 | 59-0 | 63-5 | 57:0 | 62°6
62:0 | 61:0 -0 | 60°6 | 62-4 | 57:0 | 63-0
62:0 | 60-9 ‘0 | 60°5 | 63-2 | 57°3 | 63-1
63-0 | 61:6 -1 | 61:3 | 61°5 | 57°7 | 63:3
63:1 | 61:7 ‘9 | 60-7 | 60-6 | 57-2 | 63-2
63°5 | 61°38 ‘0 | 60-8 | 62:1 | 57:0 | 63-7
63°5 | 61-5 -2| 60°5 | 61°9 | 57°5 | 63°8

|
62°6 | 611 6 | 599 | 61-1 | 57-1 | 62-7 |
61:7 | 59°5 -9 | 57-4 | 62:0 | 54:6 | 61:3 |
|

61°8 | 59-6 -2.| 57°9 | 61:9 | 54:9 | 60°8
62:1 | 59°8 -5 | 59°3 | 62°4 | 55-6 | 60-8
59°7 | 57:2 -8 | 59-1 | 62-4 | 56:2 | 60:8
59:0 | 57:3 -5 | 59-8 | 62°2 | 55°1 | 60°7
62:6 | 60:0 -0 | 60-2 | 63°6 | 58-1 | 62-4
62:4 | 60:3 -3.| 60°6 | 63°3 | 57°9 | 62:5
63:2 | 61-1 -0 | 60:8 | 63:0 | 59:3 | 63:7
63-4 | 61-1 -5 | 60°7 | 63°2 | 59-0 | 63:9
63°1 | 60:3 -1 | 59-8 | 63-9 | 58°5 | 63-2
62:8 | 60:4 -3 1 59°6 | 64-1 | 58:1 | 62-7
63-1 | 60-9 -6 | 60:2 | 63-8 | 58°1 | 63°8
63:0 | 61:6 | 61:4 | 59-5 | 63°3 | 59:3 | 63-9
63+2 | 61:8 ‘9 | 59:4 | 62°9 | 58°6 | 63-2
63:2 | 61°7 -6 | 59°1 | 62°7 | 58°1 | 63°38
62°6 | 60-9 -8 | 59-2 | 63:4 | 58:1 | 63-6
62°6 | 60:6 ‘1 | 57-6 | 64:2 | 57-3 | 63-7
61:3 | 60°1 -6 | 59°1 | 62°7 | 58-7 | 63-1
61:6 | 60-3 ‘8 | 57°5 | 62:9 | 58°0 | 63°3
62°3 | §8-°9 | 59°7 | 56°7 | 62°9 | 56°7 | 62°3
63° As 56°4 | 62-0 | 56°9 | 62°5
62°3 | 58-0 | 59°3 | 62°6 | 58°1 | 63°1
62°0 | 58°3 | 59°3 | 62:8 | 58°1 | 63:0

1 Average of 9 years, 1865-73.

See Note (°) to Appendix-Table p.
17z, are those of 10,10 and 20 years mineral manure succeeding ammonia-salts (Plots 17A 8
5 Produce coke n,

AOOWEHOARNOH MO BO

regen owe a

Ibs.
58°7
, o7°9
60°7
59°0
57°6

for)

OD o>

Lid

succecding the mineral manure (Plots 174 and 17x, or 184 and 183).

ieee Average of 9 years 1864-7 and 1869-73.

Ibs.
57°6
56°6
58°1
57:0
o7°2

open

orc Ot Or Or Or Ot Or Cr Sr Or Ot oro
~I-l ANINAAAWUIAA Dd mal

nen
a3

2 AIAG
I BWAR SOK OT QDOWKRAOHOUHE

Sro1 or or

o
for}

2.

AppEnpIx-Taste XXIIJT.—Weicuts per BusHen

1872, | 1873. | 1874. | 1875,

Ibs.
59°1
59°6
60:
58°
58:

59°
59°
59°
59°
59°
59°
60°
59°

coror ocd
lorie) be =)

on
ax

cr or
oo

St O1g a
oR oki)

for} lop eor)
o or

0 NNO Sw Sw

60°

©

oor ot
oo

a Averaaia 0!

a Average of 19 years 1864-7 and 1869-83.

WOROIEMOOHR AH APQISHRIHH wow

. |

ny
iN

of Wheat Year after Year on the same Land. 47

f Dressep Grain; each YEAR.

HARVESTS. AVERAGE.

} | = rae, [te EOE
1880. | 1881. 1882. 1883. Of 10 Years, } Of 10 Years, | Of 20 Years,

178, | 1870 | 1864-73, | 1874-83. | 1864-83.

Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. lbs. lbs. Ibs. lbs. Ibs. Ibs. lbs. H lbs.

57-3 | 59°0 | 59-0 | 54-0 | 58-6 | 54-2 | 61-0 | 61-7] 59-4 | 58-3 58-9 | 0
56-8 | 59-3 | 59-1 | 54-0 | 57-6 | 53-7 | 60-1 | 61-6] 59-1 58-0 58-6 | 1
62-4 | 59-1 | 60-9 | 56-8 | 60-2 | 58-9 | 59-6 | 62-4] 60-8 60-1 60:5 | 2
59-0 | 58-9 | 59-0 | 52-5 | 56-9 | 58-0 | 58-7 61-21 59-0 | 58-3 | 58-6 | 8
58-5 | 57-3 | 59-9 | 51-1 | 57-4 | 57-1 | 57-8 | 61-2] 59-5 37:9 58-7 | 4
59-2 | 57-4 | 58-3 | 53-9 | 59-1 | 58-0 | 58-4 | 61-s| 59-9 58-4 59-2 | 5a
59-1 | 56-8 | 59-3 | 53-0 | 59-2 | 57-8 | 58°5 | 62-0 | 59-9 58-4 59°2 | 5B
61-9 | 59°6 | 61-1 | 56-2 | 59-8 | 57-6 | 60-7 | 62-1] 60-1 59:9 60-0 | 6a
62-2 | 56-7 | 60-5 | 56-7 | 59-8 | 57-9 | 60-8 | 63-4] 60-1 59°7 | 59-9 | 6B
63-2 | 59-1 | 60-6 | 565 | 59-7 | 58-4 | 60-2 62-7] 60-3 0-0. | 60-2. | 7a
62-7 | 59-3 | 60-6 | 56-8 | 59-9 | 59-1 | 59-7 63-1] 60-2 60-0 60-1 | 7
63:1 | 59-4 | 60-4 | 56-7 | 59-6 | 59-1 | 59-2 | 63-4] 60-4 59:9 60-2 | 8a
62-7 | 59-0 | 60-2 | 56-2 | 58-5 | 59-1 | 59-0 | 63-5 | 60-4 59°6 60-0 | 8B
62:7 | 57-9 | 59-2 | 56-5 | 57-8 | 58-4 | 59-8 | 62-1] 60-1 59°3 59-7 | 9a
36°3 | 58-0 | 56-9 | 49-8 | 53-5 | 58-5 | 58-0 | 59-6 | 57-9 56-4 57-2 | 9B
7-2 | 57-5 | 59-5 | 48-9 | 54-9 | 58-4 | 60-7 60-4] 58-5 56:9 57-7. | 10a
56-4 | 58-4 | 59-6 | 52-6 | 53:5 | 57-5 | 60-6 61-0] 58-8 37-2 58-0 | 108
59-6 | 60-0 | 59-9 | 55-5 | 58-4 | 56-2 | 61-1 61-7] 58-6 58-6 58-6 | | 11a
58-4 | 59-8 | 60-0 | 53-6 | 57-3 | 56-4 | 61-2 | 60-6] 58-2 58-0 58:1 | Lip
81-0 | 60-2 | 60-5 | 56-4 | 59-2 | 55-0 | 60-8 | 63-1] 60-1 59-4 59°8 | 12a
60-4 | 59-9 | 60-8 | 55-3 | 58-7 | 55-5 | 61-2 | €2-3] 60-0 59:1 59-6 | 128
52-1 | 60-1 | 61-1 | 57-5 | 59-9 | 55-8 | 62°1 | 63-7| 60-8 60°3 60°6 | 13a
32-4 | 60-1 | 60-6 | 58-0 | 59-4 | 55-3 | 61-5 | 62-2] 60-9 60-0 60-5 | 138
51-4 | 59-5 | 60-8 | 57-7 | 59-2 | 55-7 | 60-1 62-3| 60-4 59°6 60-0 | 14a
30°7 ‘ae 60-3 | 56-6 | 57-8 | 55-3 60-5 | 62-1) 60-2 58°8 59°5 | 14p
32-8 | 58-9 | 59-6 | 53-1 | 60-8 | 55-9 | 61-4 | 62-7| 60-9 | 59-6 60:3: | 15a
31°7 | 59°6 | 60-1 | 52-5 | 60-7 | 55-9} 61-0 62-3] 60-9 59°5 60-2 | 15B
58-5 | 57-2 | 59-3 | 52-8 | 58-1 | 56-1 | 58-4 62-8] 60-2),| 58-3 59-2) »| 16A
pee | 50-9 | 60-8 | 52-9 | 58-5 | 55-1 | 58-0 62-1] so-oy'| sea | so-ayt?| 16s
1-1 | 59-1 | 61-0 | 52-5 | 60-7 | 55-4 | 61-5 | 62-4] 59°8),| 58-3),| 59-0) ,| 174
30-6 | 58-6 | 60-8 | 49-5 | 59-5 | 55-1 | 61-7 62-3 s9-8}'| sea} ‘| 39-0; ‘| 17s
8-3 | 58-0 | 59-8 | 58-7 | 58-1 | 55-7 | 59-3 | 62-6 | 60-6) ,| 59-9) ,| 60-2) , | 18a
58-5 | 58-8 | 60-2 | 57-9 | 57-7 | 55-5 | 61-4 | 62-5 60-4}*| go-7}*| 60-0} *| 18s
b7°6 | 58-0 | 60-0 | 53-6 | 58-4 | 56-4 | 61-7 62-7] 59-2 584 58-8 | 19

| |

ve | gee | ager | cacy ((60°0 | 55-3 | 1-3 | 62-0]. is 59°7 ©) 20-1

7-8 | 88-1 | 57-7 | 53-0 {558 | eal 61-3 61-2] 587 7| of’ 58:2 *| 20-2
7-4 | 58-5 | 59-8 | 54-0 | 57-3 | 54-6 | 60-5 | 62-0| 59-7 | 58-3 59°0 | Ot
70 | 95°0 | 59-0 | 55-5 | 57-3 | 58-6 60-2! 62-4) 59-7 58-0 38-9 | 22

years, 1865-83. * See Note to Appendix-TableI., p.2. * The averages given for Plots 17a and
B, or 184 and 18s); and those given for Plots 18a and 18 of 10,10 and 20 years ammonia-salts
fing to a mistake at harvest. ® Average of 4 years, 1880-83, See Note (*) to Appendix-Table I,

r 21.2 |

474 Experiments at Rothamsted on the Growth

AppENDIXxX-TABLE XXIV.—Torau

HARVESTS.

| |
1864. | 1865. 1867. | 1868. | 1869. | 1870. | 1871. | 1872. | 1873.

Ibs. lbs. Tbs. lbs. lbs. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. Ibs.
1241 993 664 | 1404 | 955 | 1415 889 | 1060 | 950
962 802 487 | 1259 | 744 | 1056 | 685]! 701 | 636
2595 | 2384 1755 | 2604 | 2256 | 2359 | 2498.| 2046 | 1622
1078 828 532 | 1054 | 848 956 | 615 | 705} 701
1085 950 583 | 1103 | 896 | 1023 | 708 | 717 | 749

Ibs.
1014
690
2431
694
734

768

820
1550
1562
2436
2461
2637
2471

1052 | 910 609 | 1044 | 928 | 1178 | 718} 836} 771
1121 | 920 551 | 1226 | 956 | 1228 | 827) 833) 754
2016 | 1589 972 | 1782 | 1273 | 1936 | 1099 | 1308 | 905
1978 | 1621 1033 | 1887 | 1345 | 2023 | 1078 | 1299 | 1015
2912 | 2550 1469 | 2528 | 1748 | 2568 | 1503 | 1936 | 1264
3087 | 2609 1365 | 2408 | 1771 | 2672 | 1520 | 1937 | 1381
3284 | 2809 1896 | 2794 | 2105 | 2992 | 1745 | 2404 | 1566
3300 | 2857 2008 | 3069 | 2086 | 2939 | 1940 | 2244 | 1720

3330 | 2881 1855 | 2970 | 2368 | 2940 | 2228 | 2565 | 2160

2409
2182 | 2005 1392 | 1799 | 1452 | 1735 | 1093 | 1434 | 1303

1269

2093 1649 1123 | 1627 | 1210 | 1420 | 675 | 1178 | 1173
2395 | 1938 1237 | 1846 | 1188 | 1496 | 663 | 1166 | 1247
2210 | 1696 1360 | 2211 | 1443 | 1653 | 795 | 1766 | 1153
2394 | 1780 1416 | 2207 | 1251 | 1682 | 668 | 1758 | 1152
2881 | 2277 1577 | 2611 | 1638 | 2347 | 1458 | 1928 | 1360
2882 | 2220 1511 | 2620 | 1726 | 2218 | 1259 | 1824 | 1401
2785 | 2328 1471 | 2417 | 1631 | 2328 | 1812 | 1946 | 1395
2882 | 2506 1529 | 2614 | 1827 | 2535 | 2050 | 1923 | 1440
2740 | 2345 1450 | 2716 | 1778 | 2336 | 1728 | 1995 | 1426
2745 | 2390 1398 | 2754 | 1701 |- 2398 | 1490 | 1897 | 1452

1476
1686
2208
1859
2497
2359
2303
2301
2294
2187

1724
1901

2459 | 2291 1427 | 2856 1635 | 2502 | 1905 | 1961 | 1963
2421 | 2411 1435 | 2692 | 1694 | 2550 | 2093 | 2095 | 1941

3333 | 2113 890 | 1481 | 1019 | 1207 | 836 | 874} 759

564
3370 | 2125 907 | 1488 | 982 | 1208] 841] 791} 778

915

2027
2094
832
871

2378 | 1097 678 | 2466 | 952'| 2187 | 824 | 1685 | 639
2316 | 1098 658 | 2413 | 1059 | 2315 | 1129 | 1673 | 789
1078 | 1916 | 7 1384 | 1168 | 1431 | 1175 | 1763 | 818 | 1177
1169 | 2065 1448 | 1239 | 1418 | 1335 | 1792 | 862 | 1274

2440 | 2083 1421 | 2422 | 1447 | 2137 | 1413 | 1794 | 1212 | 2293

929 | 889 433 5| 826 | 943} 665) 696 758

21 1625 | 1128 | 1072 | 787 | 1687 | 1260 | 1666 | 979) 1312) 853
22 1642 | 1195 | 1123 | 791 | 1615 | 942 | 1723 | 1067 | 1257 | 1084

845
1391
1289

1 Average of 9 years, 1865-73. See Note (°) to Appendix-Table I, p. 2. ? Average of
and 178, are those of 10, 10 and 20 years, mineral manure succeeding ammonia-salts (Plots 174
succeeding the mineral manure (Plots 174 and 178, or 18a and 18s). * Produce unknown,
p- 2. 7 Average of 9 years 1864-7 and 1869-73. * Average of 19 years 1864-7 and 1869-83.

7

in Ibs., per Acre, per ANNUM.

of Wheat Year after Year on the same Land.

I

19 years, 1865-83.

owing to a mistake at harvest.

HARVESTS.

+1876. rer, | 1978, 1879. | 1880. | 1881. | 1882. | 1883.
Ibs. lbs. Ibs. lbs. % lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs.

) 733 | 728| 959! 318] 990] 909| 846] 980
440| 434] 654 | 182| 655 | 728| 605| 712
1545 | 1481 | 1890 | 1064 | 2373 | 1907 | 2004 | 2244
500 | 543| 776| 330| 689| 863| 679] 872
$46] 584| 776| 317| 760| 758| 698| 837
610 | 668 | 899 | 385 | 1128| 806] 793| 994
679 | 708| 901 | 382| 1038] 805] 760 | 1023
‘962 | 904 | 1424 | 619 | 1718 | 1333 | 1466 | 1756
1081 | 847 | 1468 | 762 | 1610 | 1383 | 1468 | 1806
1444 | 1259 | 1998 | 969 | 2149 | 1738 | 2304 | 2357
1719 | 1167 | 2132 | 1133 | 2149 | 1690 | 2198 | 2399
2054-| 1665 | 2452 | 1318 | 2374 | 2086 | 2303 | 2871
1895 | 1354 | 2485 | 1384 | 2031 | 1837 | 2343 | 2695
2255 | 2383 | 2333 | 1462 | 2130 | 2271 | 2012 | 2905
766 | 1654 | 1408 | 345 | 654 | 1424 | 1520 | 1337
719 | 1031 | 1708 | 272 645 | 1168 | 1557 | 1196
848 | 1105 | 1853 | 370 | 779 | 1259 | 1672 | 1280
963 | 1182 | 1894 | 788 | 1673 | 1378 | 2015 | 1842
932 | 1046 | 1903 | 676 | 1520 | 1352 | 1951 | 1625
1260 | 1249 | 1906 | 913 | 1921 | 1525 | 2221 | 2110
1206 | 994 | 1966 | 952 | 1739 | 1352 | 2222 | 1977
1575 | 1165 | 1888 | 964 | 2070 | 1737 | 2105 | 2297
1669 | 1108 | 1917 | 1188 | 2029 | 1694 | 2048 | 2196
1454 | 1170 | 2085 | 1105 | 2007 | 1737 | 2235 | 2263
1338 | 1063 | 1994 | 1089 | 1811 | 1580 | 2134 | 2162
1602 | 1978 | 1334 | 406 | 2325 | 1535 | 1871 | 2202
1709 | 2036 | 1495 | 333 | 2242 | 1500 | 1827 | 2164
658 | 610] s62| 359} 882] 809! 698 | 1008
669 | “567| 837| 321] 885| 799| 655 | 1045
1709 | 662 | 1914 189 | 2017} 826 | 1971 | 1033
1611 | 591 | 1834 | 255 | 2083 758 | 2004 999
609 | 696| 955 | 1284| 903] 1904| 921 | 2411
639 | 816 | 976 | 13301 935 | 1892 | 1052 | 2470
1147 | 1156 | 1723 | 573 | 2057 | 1538 | 1949 | 1986
1314 | 1410 | 1203 | 2058

oo | 2GOE | 863.) 296 { 771 | 921 | 993 | 1099
681 | 710} 1208 | 541 | 992! 709| 979 | 1054
817 | 1197 | 1163 | 761 | 1581 | 638 | 725| 816

i
AT5
AVERAGE.
Of 10 Years, | Of 10 Years, | Of 20 Years, PLOTS.
1864-78. | 1874-83. | 1864-83.
lbs. lbs.
1060 814
»804 561
2219 1883
809 651
866 652
888 758
926 T17
1413 1278
1461 1307
2037 1831
2064 1877
2365 2177
2421 2036
2536 2212
1637 1143
1384 1056
1502 1179
1607 1516
1611 1379
1988 1719
1947 1634
1969 1777
2095 1792
2032 1810
1999 1693
2065 1657
2102 1704
1143) , 713
1133 731
920) , 762) 4
1018 785
1813) ,| 1750),
1835 i773}
1807 1581
775 7| 742
1237 910
1244 988

3 See Note (°) to Appendix-Table I. p. 2.
md 17s, or 18a and 188) ; and those given for Plots 18a and 18s, of 10, 10, and 20 years, ammonia-saltd —

®° Average of 4 years, 1880-83. See Note (*°) to Appendix-Table I,

+ The averages given for Plots 17a

|

476 Experiments at Rothamsted on the Growth

Ports.
1864. | 1865. | 1866, | 1867.

Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. lbs.
0 1575 | 1135 | 1729 | 1320
1 1296 | 1064 } 1301 944
Z 3893 | 3100 | 4058 | 3136
3

4

AppenDix-TasLe XXV.—Torau Straw (an¢

HARVESTS.

|
1869, | 1870. | 1871.

ibs: | Ibs; | Ibs | Ibs; | om |) Ibe | See

1872. | 1873. | 1874. | 1875,

1493 | 1239 | 1566'} 1873 | 1183 } 1328 | 1150
1180 | 1087 | 1451 | 1270 | 966} 972} 868
3937 | 2733 | 4506 | 3761 | 2463 | 4439 | 3719
1350 | 1046 | 1100 | 1152 | 902} 990 | 1008)
1405 | 1107 | 1277 | 1216 | 998] 999} 910)

1301 | 1054 | 845 | 1051
1361 | 1032 |] 914 | 1198
2770 | 1513 | 2212 | 1899 @
2363 | 1527 | 2230 | 2117_
3611 | 1852 | 4508 | 3334
. 4043 | 2190 | 4782 | 3509 &
5430 | 2477 | 6182 | 4400

1350 | 1033 | 1269 | 973
1337 | 1162 | 1419 | 999

5a | 1293 | 1132 | 1454 | 1099
5B | 1458 | 1220 | 1476 | 966
6a | 3630 | 1978 | 2207 | 1684
6B | 3127 | 2063 | 2289 | 1762
7a | 4897 | 3598 | 3844 } 2796
7B | 9043 | 3740 | 3923 | 2727
8a | 5585 | 4517 | 5318 | 4103
8B ; 5590 , 4682 ; 5306 , 4288

9a | 5985 | 4682 | 5316 | 4918
9B | 3287 | 3137 | 4682 | 3246

1514 | 1302 | 1340
1687 | 1419 | 1529
2250 | 2269 | 2290
2280 | 2438 | 2304
3114 | 3148 | 3093
3309 | 3284 | 3076
3898 | 3635 | 3716
3937 | 3699 | 4150

4712 | 2850 | 5944 | 4245"
4930 | 3911 | 4909 | 6527 | 3932 | 5012 | 4747

3475 | 2080 | 2425 | 3210 | 2358 | 2166 | 2363

2442 | 1635 | 1977 | 1574
2440 | 1642 | 2387 | 1782
3387 | 1583 | 3166 | 2392 —
3450 | 1578 | 3077 | 2217
3933 | 1943 | 4011 | 2972
3388 | 2037 | 3774 | 3104 J)
3988 | 2036 | 3952 | 3299 #
3808 | 2107 | 4002 | 3231 §:
3850 | 2120 | 3570 | 3060
3725 | 2172 | 3618 | 3183°

4011 | 2992 | 2609 | 2916)
4134 | 3165 | 2943 | 3491

1642 | 1180 | 913 | 1222)
1466 | 1174 | 1392 | 1147

10a | 2832 | 2385 | 2792 | 2023 | 2163 | 2265 | 1627 | 1252
108 | 3247 | 2677 | 3047 | 2138 | 2364 | 2186 | 1748 | 1339
11a | 3440 | 2397 | 3130 | 2218 | 2790 | 2568 | 1917 | 1448
1lp | 3878 | 2662 | 3252 | 2402 | 2850 | 2345 | 1895 | 1279
12a | 43815 | 3067 | 3473 | 2628 | 3421 | 2637 | 2577 | 2700
128 | 4356 | 3148 | 3538 | 2685 | 3653 | 3008 | 2503 | 2440
13a | 4480 | 3243 | 3350 | 2662 | 4010 | 2826 | 2815 | 3433
13B | 4620 | 3518 | 3623 | 2822 | 4040 | 3267 | 2993 | 4125
14a | 4003 } 3127 | 3563 | 2598 | 3685 | 3076 | 2584 | 3063
14B | 4107 | 3195 | 3367 | 2537 | 3668 | 2999 | 2588 | 2937

15a | 4003 | 3142 | 3053 | 2670 | 4656 | 2954 | 3072 | 3597
15s | 4010 | 3375 | 3297 | 2730 | 4223 | 3008 | 3119 | 3808

16a | 6003 | 2837 | 1955 | 1583 | 2125 |} 1678 | 1365 | 1510
16B | 5990 | 2938 | 1968 | 1643 | 1962 | 1614 | 1333 | 1573

174 | 3920 | 1488 | 3365 | 1193 | 3767 | 1570 | 2628 | 1608
3 )17B | 3667 | 1452 | 3582 | 1257 | 3527 | 1829 | 2715 | 2032
18a | 1460 | 2785 | 1502 | 2558 | 1537 | 2433 | 1259 | 3254
188 | 1600 | 2877 | 1533 | 2675 | 1672 | 2460 | 1488 | 3428

3249 | 1092 | 3501 | 1247.
3358 | 1108 | 3473, | 1450.
1579 | 1805 | 1047 | 2916
1761 | 2007 | 1012 | 3096.

3303 | 1858 | 3136 | 2494)

19 | 3363 | 2987 | 3347 | 2620 | 3161 | 2566 | 2242 | 2688

20 | 1332 | 1307 | 1627 | 948 5} 1253 | 1175 | 1350 | 1247 | 1098 | 1312 | 1028) |

21 | 2323 | 1458 | 2104 | 1888 | 2267 | 2115 | 1949 | 1873 | 2216 | 1258 | 1666 | 1376 5
922 | 2180 | 1527 | 2127 | 1377 | 2300 | 1483 | 1996 | 1871 | 20380 | 1663 }| 1547 | 1491

1 Average of 9 years, 1865-73. See Note (°) to Appendix-Table I, p. 2. ? Average
-vand'17x, are those of 10, 10 and 20 years, mineral manure succeeding ammonia-salts (Plots
succeeding the mineral manure (Plots 17a and 17s, or 18a and 18). * Produce unkn
p-2. 7 Average of 9 years 1864-7 and 1869-73. ® Average of 19 years 1864-7 and 1869-83. —

of Wheat Year after Year on the same Land.

Yaar), in lbs., per Acre, per Annum.

HARVESTS.

3327
3072
2734

1019
792

808
819

589
659
3283
3406

1335

745

1138
1798

1879.

lbs.
1315
1151
3902
1149
1263

1747
1722
3172
2649
4051
3960

9 | 5135

3 | 3817

4394
1420

1242
1631
2868
2835
3589
2939
3859
3649
3638
3009

4234
3816

1736
1263

3383
3271
1340
1351

3254

{7098
1096
1626
2469

Ibs.
973
794
2367
1146
833

909

897
1595
1663
2269
2137
3169
2643

3640
1817

1297
1399
1642
1552
1884
1885
2319
2220
2276
2103

1917
2025

911
953

926 |

878
2533
2577

1815

1770
1006
715
636

160, | 1661, 1082

1883.

Ibs.
997
783
2930
| 1006
978

1101
1175
2655
2554
3657
3607
4654
3928

5127
1684

1419
1524
2466
2158
2854
2668
3504
3225
3128
2941

3227
3279

1063
1146

1153
1168
3932
3766

2759

2887
1110
1302

887

) years, 1865-83. * See Note (°) to Appendix-Table L.,
id 17s, or 184 and 188), and those given for Plots 18a oa aB6 of. 10, 10 and 20 years ammonia-sal{|

‘ ng toa mistake at harvest.

® Average of 4 years 1880-83.

AVERAGE.
Of 10 Years, | Of 10 Years, } Of 20 Years,
1864-73. | 1874-83. | 1864-83.
Ibs. Ibs. Ibs.
1497 1090 1293
1215 826 1020
3578 3203 3391
1115 963 1039
1227 925 1076
1274 1080 1177
1359 1101 1230
2303 2101 2202
2285 2158 2222
3397 3533 3465
3501 3596 3549
4336 4681 4508
4415 4258 4336
5029 4660 4845
3064 2079 2572
2142 1620 1881
2283 1848 2066
2488 2556 2522
2559 2451 2505
3069 3063 3066
3076 2921 2998
3284 3335 3310
3492 3317 3405
3167 3236 3202
3130 3032 3081
3415 2821 3118
3487 2883 3185
ure 1087 age
1741 1091 1399
el A ae : meee) ;
1573 1132 1353
2976) ,| 3185) ,| 3081),
3030 so08y 3119}
2813 2442 2628
x6 a 2206 &
1260 7 1052 pW)
1895 1325 1610
1855 1493 1674

Puots.

19

20-1
20-2
21
22

Ai

4 The averages given for Plots 17)

See Note (8) to Appendix-Table Ij}

478

22

lbs.
| 2816
2258
6488
2428
2422

| 2345
2579
5646
5105
7809
8130
8869

9315
0469

4925
0642
9650
6272
7196
7238
7265
7502
6743
6852

6462
6431

9336
| 9360

6298
5983
2538
2769

5803

2261

3948
3822

8890

Experiments at Rothamsted on the Growth

lbs.
2128
1866
5484
1861
2112

2042

2140
3567
3684
6148
6349
7326
7939

7563
5142

4034
4615
4093
4442
5344
9368
9071
6024
5472
9089

5433
9786

4950
5063
2585
2550
4701
4942

5070

2196

2586
2722

1866.

lbs.
2762
2010
6128
2046
2271

2286
2319
3462
3622
5741
5808
7379

7397

7377
6661

4485
4895
4919
5052
0277
9390
4926
5270
5376
5135

4708
4987

3066

Apprnpix-Taste XXVI.—Torat Propuce (Grain

1867.

lbs.
1984
1431
4891
1505
1582

1708
1517
2656
2795
4265
4092
5999
6296

6773
4638

| 3146

3095

3379
3578
3818
4205
4196
4133
4351
4048
3935

4097
4165

2473
2550

| 1871

1915
3942

| 4123

4041

| 1381

2175

| 2168

' Average of 9 years, 1865-73.

1868,

lbs.
3259
2853
6794
2027
2448

2294
2668
4219
4587
6545
6088
7477
8002

8150
4541

3790
4210
5001
5057
6032
6273
6427
6654
6401
6422

7512
6915

3606
3400

6233

2705
2911

9083

See Note (°) to Appendix-Table I, p. 2.

5940

1869. | 1870.

lbs.
2448
1924
6193
2198
2301

2442
2643
3523
3625
4862
5080
6003
6023

7298
4927

3475
3374
4011
3596
4275
4734
4457
5094
4854
4700

4589
4702

2697
2596

2522

2888
3864
3878

lbs.
2654
2143
5092
2002
2130

2480
2647
4205
4461
5716
5956
6627
6638

6851
3815

3047
3244
3570
3577
4924
4721
5143
9528
4920
4986

<=

5574
5669

2572
2541

4815
5030
2434
2823

4379

2118
3615

3 | 3719

HARVESTS. :
}

|
1864, | 1865.

1871. | 1872. | 1873. | 1874.

lbs.
2455
2136
7004
1715
1985

2058
2356
3389
3382
4596
4596
5461
6090

7137
3918

1927
2002
2243
1947
4158
3699
5245
6175
4791
4427

5502
0901

2346
2414

2432

3161
5017
5220

4101

2015

2852
2938

lbs.
2933
1971
5807
1857
1933

2137
2194
4078
3662
5547
5980
7834
6956

9092
4644

3620
3606
5153
5208
5861
5212
5934
5731
5845
5622
5972
6229
2516
2257

4934
5031
2397
2623

5097

1943

3528
3287

succeeding the mineral manures (Plots 174 and 17s or 18a and 18),

p. 2).

7 Average of 9 years 1864-7 and 1869-73.

Ibs.
2133
1602
4085
1603
1747

1825
1786
2418
2542
3116
3571
4043
4570

6092
3661

2808
2889
2736
2730
3303
3438
3431
3547
3546
3624

4955
5106

1889
1952

1731
1897
2982
3281

3070
1856

2111
2747

Ibs.
2342
1662
6870
1684
1733

1613
1734
3762
3792
6944
7243
8819
8415

7421
3435

3453
4073
5374
4936
6508
6133
6255
6303
5864
9805

4333
4844

1477
2307

5528
9067
1879
1883

5429

2157

3057
2836

1875.

lbs.
1813
1379
5609
1575
1418

1577
1851
2945
3201
4986
5232
6406
6112

6712
3413

2360
2716
3609
3243
4557
4678
4972
4997 |
4807 |
4759

4510 |
5320 |

1898
1760 |

1938 |
2227 |
4485
4694

3886

1529

2218
2384 |

2 Average of
and 17s, are those of 10, 19 and 20 years mineral manure succeeding ammonia-salts (Plots 174

5’ Produce unknown,

§ Average of 19 years 1864-7 and 1869-83,

Srraw), in Ibs., per Acre, per ANNUM.

Ibs.
1636

955
3747
1291
1391

1540
1600
2076
2026
3242
2854
4142
3364

6235
4194

2353
2597
2635
2399
2889
2325
2746
2664
2803
2566

4795
4795

1346
1334

1485
1319
1734
1906

2608

1688

1759
2922

8, 1865-83.

Ibs.
2379
1718
5932
1857
1768

2223
2221
4237
4542
6802
7232
8679
8604

7957
4305

4470
4834
6152
6229
6385
6790
6596
6581
7099
6788

4265
4706

2213
2149

6442
6569
2469
2572

4871

2075

3029
3043

HARVESTS.

lbs.
1009

610
3303
1093
1065

1226
1250
2019
2546
3859
4266
5387
5667

5809
1415

1161
1376
2874
2631
3468
3336
3740
4515
4177
3823

1425
1125

1167
1140
778
914

4567
4736

1908

1041

1679
2559

1877. | 1878. 1879. | 1880.

lbs.
2305
1806
6275
1838
2023

2875
2760
4890
4259
6200
6109
7509
5848

6524
2074

1887
2410
4541
4359
5510
4678
9929
5678
5645
4820

6559
6058

2618
2148

5400
5304
2243
2286

5311

3434
1867
2618
4050

1881.

lbs.
1882
1522
4274
2009
1591

1715
1702
2928
3046
4007
3827
9255
4480

5911
3241

2465
2658
3020
2904
3409
3237
4056
3914
4013
3683

3452
3925

1720
1752

1752
1636
4437
4469

3353

3180
1927
1424
1274

1882,

lbs.
2130
1714
5997
1774
1715

2110
2004
4363
4408
8123
7839
9716
9149

8286
5137

4353
4684
5936
9756
7159
6858
7023
6913
7184
6704

6087
5808

1991
1859

6098
6190
2418
2639

5407

3248
2339
2597
2010

1883.

lbs.
1977
1495
5174
1878
1815

2095
2198
4411
4360
6014
6006
7525
6623

8032
3021

2615
2804
4308
3783
4964
4645
3801
5421
5391
9103

5429
0445

2071
2191

2186
2167
6343
6236

4745
4945

2209
2356

5 See Note (°) to Appendix-Table L, p. 2.
B, or 18a and 188); and those given for Plots 18a and 18 8 of 10, 10 and 20 years ammonia-salts
toa mistake at harvest. ° Average of 4 years, 1880-83,

Of 10 Years,
1864-73.

Ibs.

2557
2019
5797
1924
2093

2162
2285
3716
3746
5434
5965
6701
6836

7565
4701

3526
3785
4095
4170
9057
5023
9253
5587
5199
5129

5480
5589
2902) ,
2874
aN
2591
4789) 4
4865

4620

2035 7
3132

of Wheat Year after Year on the same Land.

AVERAGE.

Of 10 Years,
1874-83,

lbs.

1904
1387
5086
1614
1577

1838
1878
3379
3465
5364
9473
6858
6294

6872
3222

2676
3027
4072
3830
4782
4555
5112
5109
5046
4725

4478
4587

1800
1822

peal
1917
rae
4981

4023
1794
2935
2481

Of 20 Years,
1864-83.

lbs.
2230
1703
5442
1769
1835

2000
2081
3548
3606
5399
5519
6779
6565

7219
3962

3101

3406
4084
4000
4919
4789
5183
5348
5123
4927

4979
5088

2322) »
2320

2107) ,
2255
4862) 4
4993}

4322

3702 &
1908 §
2684
2790

47

Pots.

4 The averages given for Plots 17a

See Note (°) to Appendix-Table L,

480 Experiments at Rothamsted on the Growth

Apprnpix-TastE XXVII.—Averace Propuce per Acre, per ANNUM,

DRESSED GRAIN.

Puors. Quantity. Weight per Bushel.

16 Years, 16 Years, 16 Years, 16 Years, 32 Years, ft
1852-1867. |1868-1883. |1852-1883. |1852-1867. |1868-1883. |1852-1883.
bush. pecks. | bush. pecks. | bush. pecks. Ibs. lbs. Ibs. |

0 17 22 14. 34 16 02 58-1 58°6 58°4 i“
1 15 0% 10 3 12 3% 57°8 58°3 58°1
2 |35 of | 31 32 | 33 2 59°9 60-1 60°0
3 14 32 ll 14 13 (02 57°4 58°3 57°8
4 16 02 11 22% 13 33 58°0 58°2 58°1
Ha |\1780e | iscoR |r 58°7 58°7 58°7
5B 17' i 13 2 15 12 58°5 58°8 58°7
6a | 26 22 20 32 23 3 §9°2 59°8 59°5
6B | 27 12 21 1? 24 12 59°3 59°6 59°5
Ci Noah Binge 33° 29 13 322 59*2 * §9°8 59°5
7s |36 02 | 29 23 | 32 32 59°2 59°7 59°5
Sa | 38 03 34 22 36 13% 58°7 59°8 59°3
sB | 38 14 33 23 36 0 58°7 59°6 59°2
9a | 35. 22 36 3h 36 1 58°1 59°38 58°7
9B | 26 22 20. 1 23 12 56°5 56°5 56°5
10a | 23 12 17 22 20° 2 56°9 57°1 57°0
10B 27 13 19 0% Zoe HY bo’, 57°3 57°6
da 28 $ 23 V3 26 13 57:1 58°4 57°8
11s 29 a 22 02 25 32 STS O79 57°6
12a | 34 22 27 3 31 13 58°9 59°5 59°2
12B | 34 22 26 33 30 23 59°0 59°1 59°1
13a | 33 22 28 22 31 04 59°4 60°3 59°8
13B | 34 124 29 32 32 02 59°4 60°1 59°8
14a | 34 02 |29 22 | 31 388 59°0 59°7 59°4
14B | 34 12 28 0% i Wart 59-0 59°1 59°1
15a {3212 28 33 30 23 59°S 59°9 59°6
15p | 33 33 29 2 31 24 59°3 59°9 59°6
16a | 39 18@)| 14 2 @]| 24 22 58-0()| 59°2@)| 58°7
16s | 39 2 (*)| 14 22(7)| 24 8 58-0(0)| 59°1@)| 58-7
17a | 17 32 13 02 15 13 58°7 58°6 58°7
@ {im | 17 23 | 14 OF | 15 33 58°5 58°7 58°6 .
18a | 3103 27 34 29 32 59°1 60°1 59°6
18B | 31 32 28 2 30 OF 59° 59"9 59°5
19 laa 25 32 | 28 2% 58°4 58°6 58°5
20-1 x é 23 12(*) s . 1 69°74
20-2 | 14 23 12 04 13 12) a af 57°8 577 (°)
21 21 0% 16 33 19 0 58°4 58°8 58°6
22 21 0 17 23 19 1} 58°3 58°6 58°4

(@) Average of 13 years, 1852-64. (Mixed minerals and ammonia-salts.)
(*) Average of 19 years, 186583. (Unmanured.)
(*) On Plots 174 and 17x, and 18a and 18, the manures have alternated each
mineral manure on Plots 18a and 188, in one year; mineral manure on Plots
(*) Average of 4 years, 1880-83. See Note (*) to Appendix-Table L., p. 2.
(°) Averages of 16, 15, and 31 years only; as, in 1868, owing to a mistake

of Wheat Year after Year on the same Land. 481

16 Yuars, 1852-67, 16 Years, 1868-83, and 32 Years, 1852-83.

Straw (and Chaff). Total Produce (Grain and Straw).

32 Years, 16 Years, 16 Y

16 Years, 16 Years, ears, 32 Years,
1852-1867. |1868-1883. |1852—1883. |1852-1867. |1868-1883. |1852-1883.

——-

Ibs. Ibs. Ibs.

1744 1500 2847
1613 1301 2567
3788 3570 6013
1535 1272 2459
1606 1322 2627

1704 1432 2776
1774 1496 2865
2811 2485 4486
2878 2539 4598
4087 3736 6339
4141 3806 6413
4750 4583 7161
4785 4482 7213

4626
3287

4683 6880
2802 4975

- 2579 2151 4066

2990 2439 4724
3085 2769 4901
3226 2797 5101
3792 3391 5971
3829 3359 6011
3817 3548 5951
3936 3640 6123
3818 3495 5983

3839 3432 6012

3651
3859

5218 (")
5215 (1)

1854
1841
3596
3627

3411

3372
3501

5706
5996

2954 7708 (*)
2949 7718 (1)

1542 2977
1583 2953
3328 5600
3362. 5635

5400

2322 (2)
9320 (2)| 4513

2055
2217 2585
4824 5212
4887

4155

2963

be 2206()| 0} 3702 (*)
1612 1369()| 2546 1863 22.16 (5)
2212 1885 3538 2612 3075
2182 1912 3500 2740

year since 1852; that is, ammonia-salts on Plots 17a and 17s, and the mixed
17a and 17z, and ammonia-salts on Plots 18a and 188, in the next year, and so on.

in carting, the produce could not be ascertained.

( 482 )

XVI.—On the Chemistry of Ensilage. By Dr. Augustus
VOELCKER, F.R.S.

Mr. JENKINS’S admirable, exhaustive, and instructive ‘“ Report
on the Practice of Ensilage at Home and Abroad,” in the last
‘Journal’ of this Society (vol. xx. s.s. Part I.), the numerous
contributions which have recently appeared in our Agricultural
newspapers on the same subject, and the several special treatises
on silos, and the preservation of green fodder crops, which have
been issued during the last six or twelve months, relieve me of
the task of describing the construction of different silos, the
kinds of crop suitable for ensilage, the various plans of pre-
paring the green food, of filling the silos, and the subsequent
application of pressure. Further, I do not intend to enter into
the questions of the cost of the construction of silos, and the
comparative expense of making grass and other green produce
into hay with that of preserving it in silos. Nor will it be
expedient for me to refer to the experience of feeders of stock
respecting the value of silage for fattening purposes, or the
production of milk, or to touch upon other purely practical
questions raised and criticised more or less fully in Mr. Jenkins’s
Report, and by the current Agricultural press.

The object of the following pages is simply to supplement
Mr. Jenkins’s Report by a brief account of the chemical com-
position of a number of illustrative specimens which have
recently been submitted to analysis in the Society’s Laboratory,
and to some of which reference has been made in Mr. Jenkins’s
Report. As far as I am able, in the absence of further well-
authenticated and definite information, I propose, in fact, to offer
some observations on the “ Chemistry of Ensilage.”

I feel compelled, however, to say at once that a careful and
critical study of the literature of the subject, and an attentive
perusal of most of the original publications on ensilage in
England, America, and the Continent, have shown me how
scanty and imperfect is our knowledge of the complicated
processes of fermentation and of similar chemical and physical
changes to which succulent green food is liable under various
conditions of temperature, the total or partial exclusion of
atmospheric air, or its free admission.

Comparatively few experiments, conceived in a rational and
philosophic spirit, and carried out with all the precision which
is justly expected from an experienced scientific investigator,
have as yet been made, in which any well-ascertained facts have
been brought to light, or which can be used as the basis of a
sound theory of the chemistry of ensilage. In fact, we do not

On the Chemistry of Ensilage. 483

possess a sufficient number of data for enabling a farmer to pro-
duce at will either what is called “sweet” or “sour” silage of
good keeping quality. Indeed, in a large measure, the operation
of ensilage is conducted at present in a haphazard way, owing
to a deficient knowledge of the principles which regulate the
changes which green food undergoes in silos.

Some experiments with ensilage, which I am now conducting
personally, convince me fully of the necessity of attaching the
highest importance to the regulation of the temperature of the
green provender in the silos; and in due time I hope to give an
account of those experiments, which are now in active progress.

Mr. George Fry has repeatedly directed attention to the
importance of allowing green food, when first placed in a silo,
to attain a temperature not lower than 125°, and if possible
as high as 150° F., before applying considerable pressure by
means of weights or a layer of sand. By this rise of tempera-
ture it passes through a process which he terms “sweet” or
“hay” fermentation. Mr. George Fry is, to my knowledge, the
first man who has made accurate observations pointing out the
influence of temperature on the production of the aromatic or
fruity smell which grass, clover, and similar green produce,
acquire when put into a silo without any pressure beyond that
exercised by the mass of ensilaged green food upon the lower
layers. In my judgment, his are the only systematic and accu~
rate experiments which have been undertaken anywhere with
the special object of studying the process of the heating of green
food in the silo, and great credit is due to him for his per-
sistent advocacy of the plan which he pursues, and which he
considers essential for converting grass, even of an insipid and
inferior quality, and other green fodder crops, into a very
palatable and nutritious food which is much relished by stock
of every description.

As far as my present experience goes, there is a great deal in
what Mr. Fry says with respect to the regulation and main-
tenance of a proper temperature in the silo. From his observa-
tions, it would appear that the too rapid exclusion of air by
weighting the silage as soon as it is put into the silo prevents
the green food from attaining a temperature of 125° F., below
which, in his view, sweet or hay-fermentation does not take
place, but instead either lactic or acetic fermentation. It cer-
tainly is a fact that silage showing not more than a trace of
acidity, and as sweet and almost as aromatic as well-made hay,
has been made by Mr. George Fry, and could be made by
anybody who would strictly adopt the directions which he gives
for making sweet silage. Such silage, I find, keeps only a short

484 On the Chemistry of Ensilage.

time on exposure to the air, and soon turns mouldy, whilst
well-made sour silage may be kept sound for six or nine months,
and even longer, when freely exposed to air, without turning
mouldy. Some of the best samples of sour silage which I
analysed last January, and which I kept in the Society’s
Laboratory, without taking any particular care to exclude air,
remain at the time of writing (August) still quite sound and
perfectly free from mould; in fact, even after the great heat of
this summer, they are as good as they were when they first
reached me.

At the same time I must mention that sour silage does not
always keep well, as I shall presently show. I am now engaged
in investigating the circumstances under which sour silage keeps
well for a reasonably long time, and those under which it
rapidly turns mouldy and gets spoilt on exposure to the air.
As far as I am able to judge, and, I must confess, from an in-
sufficient number of not altogether conclusive facts, I think it
likely that the whole difference in the keeping qualities of sour
silage depends upon whether the silage has passed through the
lactic acid fermentation (which takes place on the more or less
complete exclusion of air), or through the alcoholic and subse-
quent acetic acid fermentations (which proceeds with facility
only if air has free access). In most cases I find that acetic
acid fermentation precedes mouldiness; and although very
mouldy silaged grass or clover is rarely very acid, and some-
times has even an alkaline reaction, it does not follow from the
absence of an acid reaction that the mouldy silage has not
undergone acetic acid fermentation; for it is well known that
vinegar loses by degrees its acidity in measure as it becomes
more and more mouldy. The fungus which causes the mouldi-
ness in flat vinegar appears to consume the acetic or vinegar
acid, and to live upon its constituent elements. That there
are great differences in the quality of the silage made from
different kinds of green food, or even from the same food made
on different farms, or on the same farm in different seasons,
admits of no doubt. These differences are attributable in a
great measure to the quality of the original green food, as
regulated by its composition, and more especially by its state
of maturity. Generally speaking, well-ripened nutritious grass
or clover, which is sweet to the taste and comparatively rich in
sugar, when under conditions favourable to the production of
either sweet or sour silage, makes a better, more nutritious, and
more wholesome food than immature or over-ripe green food,
which originally is either so immature as to contain hardly any
sugar, or else so over-ripe as to have become insipid and woody.

On the Chemistry of Ensilage. 485

immature green food, as a rule, does not keep well when put into
silos; and over-ripe stringy green food abounding in cellular
fibre often keeps extremely well when submitted to the process
of ensilage; but it never makes really good nutritious silage,
for the simple reason that the constituents upon which the
nutritive qualities of the food mainly depend, and which are
most liable to suffer changes by fermentation, are present only
in small proportion, whilst the less perishable matters, such as
cellular and woody fibre, form the bulk of the over-ripe green
food. It may be said, with great truth, that the quality of the
stuff which comes out of a silo varies much with that of the
green food which is put into it. Good well-matured green
food will make first-class silage if the process of ensilage is
properly carried out, whilst innutritious immature or over-ripe
woody grass or clover, or similar green food, by no kind of
fermentation nor modification of the process of ensilage can be
possibly converted into a really good food. Ensilage may
render such food more palatable and improve its physical con-
dition, in consequence of which it may become more digestible,
but it can never change it into really good and nutritious
provender.

Besides this, the quality of silage is no doubt influenced by
the conditions under which it is made, because the variable
conditions must result in corresponding modifications of the
process of fermentation. When the influence of these dif-
ferences in the original composition of the green food, and of the
varying conditions of filling the silo and applying pressure to
the green food, has been more thoroughly understood than it is
at present, I have no doubt that silage of a uniform and desired
quality will be produced with certainty. As yet we have a great
deal to learn before this desirable object can be accomplished,
for the changes which green food undergoes by fermentation are
admitted to involve much uncertainty, which can only be dis-
pelled by careful observations and well-conducted experiments.
Instead of pursuing further the inquiry into the chemical
changes which take place in green food when preserved in
silos, I proceed to direct attention to the composition and
quality of a number of representative samples which I have
recently analysed.

1 and 2. Sweet Silage.—Two samples of “ sweet silage” were
sent to me for analysis on the 18th of January, 1884, by Mr.
George Fry, of Chobham. One was made from clover and rye-
grass mixed, the other from ordinary meadow-grass. Both
_ were sweet to the taste, and had an agreeable fruity smell,
_ similar to that of well-made hay.

486 On the Chemistry of Ensilage.

On analysis these two samples gave the following results :—

Silage made from

Clover and Wendie

Rye-erae, Grass.
Moisture .. ESE CRONE oc 75°80 74°40
*Albuminous compounds . 2 2°53 2°56
Sugar and other carbo-hydrates soluble in water. 1°43 2:99
Grade vegetable fibre +. die~ pac s+ tusaeuny.-ct bree bee 18°31 17:90
Miuneralimatters;(@sl) lees os.) aeec eee ee 1-93 2°15

100-00 100°00

* Containing nitrogen Bp i. “40 “41
Volatile acids, calculated as acetic acid es hee “01 “04
Non-volatile acids, calculated as lactic acid .. |. ‘01 “02

It will be seen that these specimens contained mere traces of
acid, in fact no more than meadow-grass generally contains in
its natural state. It is an extremely interesting fact that per-
fectly sweet silage has been made by Mr. Fry, as he states, by
allowing the heat in the silo to rise above 125° F. This he
accomplishes by filling his silos without close packing, and by
deferring weighting the mass for two or three days, until the
temperature of the silage at a depth of about 4 feet from the
bottom of the silo has risen to a temperature rather higher than
125° F. He then covers the silage with close-fitting boards,
upon which he places weights or sand to a depth of about
9 inches, whereby the air is excluded and a steady uniform
pressure is applied. Mr. Fry’s practice differs essentially from
that generally adopted of applying pressure directly the silo is
filled, and which results in the production of more or less sour
silage ; whereas, by allowing the heat of the loosely- -packed
silage to rise to about 125° or 140° F. before covering the
top of his silo, and then applying pressure, the production of
sour silage is entirely prevented, and what Mr. Fry calls “ haying
fermentation ” takes place.

In 1883, Mr. George Fry of Chobham filled a silo with
Trifolium incarnatum, “rough grass,” and “clover and rye-
grass,” between the 7th and 30th of June; the temperature
recorded at the time of covering being 132° F,, 6 feet from the
surface: the silo was then weighted with 12 inches of sand.

On July 11th, and again on the 17th, the cover was taken off,

and the silo was filled with meadow- -grass suflicient to replenish
the space caused by settling; the temperature observed at

On the Chemistry of Ensilage. 487

these dates was 140° F., at a depth of 6 feet. In another silo
filled with clover and rye-grass and meadow-grass between June
30th and July 11th, after which the silo was weighted with
sand, the recorded temperatures were, on July 7th, 149° F.,
and on July 14th, 158° F. The resulting silage was free from
acidity, sweet, and of an agreeable fruity odour, much re-
sembling that of good hay, and was eaten with apparent relish
by cattle, sheep, and horses.

In filling silos, most writers on ensilage give directions which
are based on Liebig’s chemical theory of fermentation; they
recommend the thorough consolidation of the green fodder as it
is put in, the rapid filling of the silo, and the covering up and
weighting of it at once, in order to prevent, as far as possible,
the exposure of the fodder to the oxygen of the atmosphere, which
is assumed to be the exciting cause of fermentation. | Pasteur’s
recent investigations, however, have greatly enlarged our know-
ledge of the conditions which favour fermentation. He has
shown that oxygen itself is not directly concerned in the process,
but that certain living ferments and germs, generating various
kinds of bacteria of fermentation, greatly modify the character of
the silage produced.

It would appear that a temperature of about 125° is sufficiently
high to kill the bacteria which produce acid fermentation, and if
the bacteria are killed, and the silo is covered and weighted, the
enclosed mass of green fodder will remain sweet, and be prac-
tically preserved under the same conditions as fruits, vegetables,
or meats are preserved when canned. If this be the case, it will
be at once intelligible that by less packing of the fodder when
put into the silo, and extending the time of filling until the
temperature rises to a point which is fatal to the bacteria, the
resulting silage will be sweet, and free from acidity ; while sour
silage is produced by at once consolidating, covering up and
weighting the green fodder, so as to prevent the temperature
rising to the point fatal to the bacteria.

3. Another sample of “sweet” silage was sent to me for
analysis on the 24th of December, 1883, by Lord Middleton,
Applecross, Ross-shire. It was made from oats cut green and
chaffed. It had the following composition :—

WEEE Ls ect eo eae ctrl.
*Albuminous compounds — a sn PES 2°88
Sugar and other carbo-hydrates soluble in water 2°78
Crude vegetable fibre .. .. «2 of « « 18°84
Mineral matter GHNE ect Been fics na! Pacct aces, £140
100-00

* Containing nitrogen = "39
Volatile acids, calculated : as acetic acid.. oe ‘07
Non-volatile acids, calculated as lactic acid .. “01

VOL. XX.—S. S. AE

488 . On the Chemistry of Ensilage.

The taste of this sample was very sweet, and the smell quite
fragrant, like that of well-made good hay. It kept well for
about ten days, and then turned mouldy.

4. Lord Middleton sent me on the same day (Dec. 24th, 1883)
another sample, which was made from unchopped meadow-grass,
put into the silo in September 1883.

On analysis, the meadow-grass silage was found to have the
following composition :—

Water’? *ih eda Cae Sen ae ee arn eee
*Albuminous! compounds:)) .25'8.919. © sok.) 62
Soluble carbo-hydrates):.5) fs! ess 4 «dé vuesree Te
Crude vegetable fibre ss. 0s, vee . 26|) ol, ee, LOZAT
Mineral matter(ash) ~ 3. 2.) .. «cs sas eo) pe eleod
100°00

* Containing nitrogen ae “26
Volatile acids, calculated : as acetic ‘acid .. Lg 2 Dil:
Non-volatile acids, calculated as lactic acid = 22

The silage was of good quality, and kept better than the
sweet chopped oats silage, which contained mere traces of acid ;
whilst that from unchopped meadow-grass was decidedly acid,
and contained about } per cent. of butyric and other soluble
acids, and about the same proportion of non-volatile lactic acid.

5. Mr. E. B. Gibson, Saffron Walden, also sent me a sample
of sweet silage, which, on analysis in January 1884, gave the
following results :—

Water PP hes « Syeupras pesca elses Paste onan Re
*Albuminous compounds ce de aoe. pape ieee Oe
Soluble carbo-hydrates .. .. .. «© « « 2°04
Crude fibre... fe WSSDNRT ES, A eee eS
Mineral matter (ash) oo (ack sey Boel epeeElReD
100-00

* Containing nitrogen .. aa “42
Volatile acids, calculated as acetic ‘acid |. e ‘07
Non-volatile acids (lactic acid) .. .. « 04

It will be seen that this sample contained scarcely any vola-
tile or non-volatile acids. It kept fairly well for about a
fortnight, and then turned mouldy.

6. On the 12th of November, 1883, I received from Mr. Ed.
B. Gibson a sample of clover and sainfoin silage, which I sub-
mitted to a detailed analysis, which gave the results snare on
page 489 to be the composition of the mixture.

This sample contained only 574 per cent. of water. It was
decidedly acid, and found to contain in round numbers # per cent.
of lactie acid and 4 | per cent. of volatile acid, and went rapidly
mouldy.

On the Chemistry of Ensilage. 489

Composition of a Sample of Clover and Sainfoin Silage sent by
Mr. Edmund B. Gibson, Saffron Walden, November 12th, 1883.

SE on nt. * ah anya) Bade hee Oe

Soluble | solu albuminoids eal a Pela Ce

in Water ) Acetic and other volatile acids .. .. .. “28

W@r3G \)EBixtd (lacticscid) <.. ... .. o= = 76

per cent. | Soluble non-nitrogenous extractive matters 6°11

Soluble mineral matters = 2°23

ee Insoluble albuminoids.. .. .. . « 4°44

mD9-G4 porude vegetable fibre... .. .. .. 23°32

= Insoluble mineral matters .. 1°88
per cent.

100-00

Total nitrogen... we Swe 1°26

7. Green Maize-silage, made by M. Goffart, of Burtin, in the
Sologne.—On the occasion of Mr. Jenkins’s visit to France last
winter he brought with him a boxful of maize-silage from
M. Goffart’s silo, which had not previously been exposed to the
air, and handed it to me for analysis. This gave the following

results :—
“ETE 7 3) SE Ae 5 CCIE CE De le i 62 Sto
*Albuminous compounds Set eae cE ES
Soluble carbo-hydrates .. .. .. «. « « 4°55
Le LP ee ee ae ree Ee. :
reralmiaoees (GSN) we ws os sewer, oe) LOD
100°00
* Containing nitrogen... eee “18
Volatile acids, calculated as acetic acid.. .. -07
Non-yolatile acids, calculated as lactic acid .. *06

M. Goffart’s green maize-silage had an aromatic sweet taste,
and, as the preceding analysis shows, contained but little acid.
It reached me in perfectly sound condition, and although no
precaution was taken to keep the air from it, kept perfectly
sound and free from mouldiness up to the middle of July; and
even now a sample kept in a loosely-stoppered bottle is only
just beginning to show some mouldiness.

It is remarkable that the maize-silage, as treated by M. Goffart,
kept well and sound for fully six months after it had been taken
out of the silo, and in spite of the fact that it contained nearly
79 per cent. of water ; or, in other words, that in round numbers
100 parts contained only about } of dry solid food and # of
water.

8. Green Maize-silage, grown in Canada in 1882 by the
Hon. Mr. Cochrane—A sample of maize-silage, which was
grown in Canada in the summer of 1882, was forwarded to me
from that country, and reached me on the 15th of January,

2K2

490 On the Chemistry of Ensilage.

1883, when I submitted it to complete analysis with the
following results :—

Composition of Green Maize-Sinace from CaAnaba.

Natural Dried at
State. 212° F.
| :
Water cspgcbwcclecss cee oooh cen a ees 85°69

Fatty mattersand chlorophyll .. .. .. . .«. “50 3°80
Acetic, butyric, and other volatile acids .. .. .. Ladd (15°88)
Lacticlacttsy. cack ecwates yee aces Te) 5 ee eee “il 1°05
Carbo-hydrates, soluble in water .. .. .. .. .. “93 6°66
*Albuminous compounds _—,, Sec a ae ey “44 3°30
Mineral matters - cc. ee “48 3°70
Digestiblevtibre...cea Mw, Ste Se ere eee are 4°94 37°41
yAlbuminous compounds insoluble in water.. .. .. “68 5°18
Mineral matters + Zeno at Mere "42 3°20
Indigestible woody fibre ..) «<> «2, 455 3) (ekere 4-70 35°65

100-00 100-00

* Containing nitromen) 2-2. ies. Gs») ios) ee 07 +53
ae a Eb "83 «

”

It will be noticed that this sample in its natural state con-
tained over 1 per cent. of acetic, butyric, and other volatile
acids, and only 0-11 per cent. of lactic acid; calculated for the
dry substance, nearly 16 per cent. of volatile and 1 per cent. of
non-volatile lactic acid were present.

The silage tasted strongly acid, and had an agreeable aromatic
acid smell, somewhat resembling that of pickled cabbage. It
was sent me in an ordinary pickle-bottle, and reached me in a
perfectly sound condition. 1 have kept it ever since in the
loosely-covered jar in which it was sent over from Canada, and
up to the present date (August 8th, 1884) it shows no signs
whatever of mouldiness or of decomposition, and is still as
sound and well preserved as when it reached me in January
1883, and has apparently lost none of its strongly acid taste.
This is a remarkable instance of well-made sour silage keeping
in a sound condition for more than eighteen months, without
any care having been taken to exclude the air from it. In this
case it can scarcely be doubted that the large percentage of
acids and aromatic compounds generated during the process
of ensilage has had a material influence in the preservation of
the silage.

9 and 10. Maize and Rye-grass Silage, from Boston, Mass.—
Mr. Fowler, M.P. for Cambridgeshire, in March 1883 sent me
two large barrels, one filled with rye, and the other with green

On the Chemistry of Ensilage. 491

maize silage, which he had received from a correspondent,
Mr. Edward Atkinson, of Boston.

On opening the barrels I found the maize-silage from Boston
perfectly sound. ‘The rye-silage also was in a good condition,
with the exception of a few bits on the top of the barrel, which
were slightly mouldy. On exposure to the air, the maize-silage
kept much longer free from mould than the rye-silage.

Both were decidedly acid, the maize more so than the rye-
silage.

The proportion of organic acids in silage varies a good deal
in different samples of even the same green fodder, and the
nature of the organic acids which are generated in the process
of ensilage also varies greatly in different samples. In some
cases of well-made silage of excellent keeping qualities, the
prevailing acid is non-volatile lactic acid; in other samples
which have kept equally well, volatile and aromatic-smelling
acids, such as butyric and acetic acids, were present in pro-
portions preponderating over the amount of non-volatile lactic
acid. In the present state of our knowledge of the chemical
changes which green fodder undergoes in the silo, I am not
prepared to assign any greater or more marked influence on the
_ keeping qualities of silage to the volatile than to the non-
volatile organic acids. The fact that the maize-silage could be
taken from the pits, packed into a cask, and sent to England in
good condition, and on subsequent exposure to the air kept
better and longer sound and free from mould than the rye-silage,
was probably due to the circumstance that the green maize was
richer in sugar than the rye. In most cases the greater part of
the sugar in green fodder is converted in the silo into various’
kinds of organic acids, some of which possess strongly marked
preservative properties. In the case of well-matured green
maize, the amount of sugar in the sweet stems, it can hardly be
doubted, must be much more considerable than in the over-ripe
rye. Much of the success in preserving green fodder in silos,
I am persuaded, depends upon its proper state of maturity.
Green rye, maize, clover, meadow-grass, and, in fact, all kinds
of succulent vegetable produce, should be cut down neither too
immature nor over-ripe, but just a little before it arrives at full
‘Inaturity, and when it is sweet to the taste and rich in sugar.
Fairly mature green fodder, I find, makes more nutritious silage,
and keeps better when removed from the silo and exposed to
the air, than silage made from immature green fodder or such
food in over-ripe condition.

The following are the results which I obtained by careful and

detailed analyses of average samples, drawn from the two barrels
from Boston, Mass. :—

492

On the Chemistry of Ensilage.

Composition of Rye and Mae Smace sent from Boston, and

AwnatysED Marcu 10th, 1883.

Rye Silage. Maize Silage.
VALE 6. Ss See acs THe - 82°40
Fatty matter and chlorophyll .. *86\ 28; "BS pes
Butyric and other volatile acids “11 | 258 "22\ 55
Lactic and non-volatile acids .. -02 \ze"- = 1:26 \ "ae
Soluble carbo-hydrates 1-10 (22 = 2°58 ) so =
*Soluble albuminous compounds 1-01] 53 S “50/2 =
Soluble mineral matters . -98/ As* -60) 3°
fInsoluble albuminoids ., "JOA vosspes “76 ) Sie) he
Digestible cellular fibre .. 8-41 (28s228 5-43 (2285
Indigestible woody fibre .. 11:08 { >ssFeu 5:14 (S242
Insoluble mineral matters 49)A%ES 6 52)5s° &
100°00 - 100-00
* Containing nitrogen - "16 “08
” 3) oe oe . 12 bd 12

The rye-silage, it will be seen, contained about 7 per cent.
less water than the maize-silage, and much less acid than the
latter, which appears to have been too far advanced in growth,
and to have become rather woody before it was ensilaged.

The maize silage was the better food of the two. Both were
good and wholesome foods. Well-made silage, in conjunction
with decorticated cotton-cake, produces abundance of good and
rich milk.

After having taken quantities requisite for the analyses, I sent
the two barrels to our farm-manager at Woburn, who reported
to me that the cattle took the silage at once, and apparently
liked it much, and, as far as could be judged, did well upon it.
Strange to say, fattening pigs did not seem to care for either the
rye- or maize-silage, and would not touch them at first.

Mr. Edward Atkinson, of Boston, Mass., writes :—‘ It may
interest the public to know that I measured off half an acre of
good land and planted it in the autumn with winter rye, which
I reaped a little too late, when the straw had hardened, about
the middle of June of last year. I then planted Southern corn
(maize), the growth of which was checked considerably by the
drought, but which reached an average height of 10 feet, and
which was cut in September. I computed the total of the two
crops at 20 tons, and I think it would have been 4 or 5
tons more except for the drought. I shall carry my two cows
from fall feed to summer pasture, with a considerable quantity
left over.

On the Chemistry of Ensilage. 493

11. Green Vetches, chopped, grown by Mr. J. Ashworth,
Longley Hail, Sheffield—A sample of this silage, which kept
remarkably well for more than four months without any precau-
tion being taken to prevent free access of air, was received and
analysed on the 11th of December, 1883, with the following
results :—

RVWARCIIT coe Wissen Nias ae, “oa Ssh nani y ateeomatO
*Albuminous compounds SRG Saeco
Soluble carbo-hydrates ., .. «2 «1 oe 1°82
OrnGebOKGiy ce MicsBadce ies ce) co.) s 14°27
Mineral matter (ash) .. 2°39
100°00

* Containing nitrogen Be Mec. ecu g Vaseek ce -50
Volatile acids, calculated as acetic acid ae cal
Non-volatile, lactic acid... .. «2 «. « “48

This sample, it will be seen, contained about 783 per cent. of
water, and about 3 per cent. of lactic acid, and comparatively
little acetic acid.

12 and 13. Lord Tollemache’s Silage——Lord Tollemache sent
me from Peckforton a sample of silage on the 13th of December,
1883, and a second on the 27th of the same month, which gave
the following results :—

First Sample. Second Sample.
WED a Se Rs ee 71:60 73°40
*Albuminous compounds... .. .. .. .. 3°25 1°93
Soluble carbo-hydrates .. .. .. es 2°28 7°53
Bmidemibro eer Wes k ss WE. 5. oe | 18°81 15°46
Niineralematter(ash)- -z.--ie-"=. .. «. 4:06 1-68
100-00 10090
* Containing nitrogen .. .. «se 52 31
Volatile acids, acetic acid .. .. .. | Not determined *24
Non-volatile acids, lactic acid = 1°20

The first sample of Peckforton silage, containing 71°6 of
water, did not keep well, as before the acid in it could be deter-
mined it got mouldy; the second, however, kept better, and
contained, as will be seen, 12 per cent. of lactic acid and
about *25 of volatile acids. In the preparation of the first
sample about 2 Ibs. of salt per cwt. of the green food had been
used, which accounts for the high percentage of ash. In the
second sample of silage the salt appears to have been omitted ;
the addition of salt, it would appear, is unnecessary, if not
somewhat injurious to the keeping qualities of silage.

494 - On the Chemistry of Ensilage.
14. Green Oats and Dills—Mr. C. Cumming, of Derby, sent

me a specimen of silage made with chopped green oats and dills
on the 20th of March, 1884, which was composed as follows :—

Water OW. -TEa. FEE Cee ve sce Scene
*Albuminous compounds | SONS i. 25 ee eee
Soluble carbo-hydrates .. .. .- . « « 93°00
Crude fibre... san we faus (heey “los, yest nae
Mineral matters (ash) co, fe) em Palade oe eo te
100°00

* Containing nitrogen : Ba 69
Volatile acids, calculated : as acetic ‘acid .. we “39
Non-yolatile acids, calculated as lactic acid EC “61

This silage was strongly acid to the taste, was of a brown
colour, and had an agreeable aromatic smell. A portion of it,
kept in a loosely stoppered bottle up to the present time
(August 10th), has remained perfectly free from mould, and
is in as good a condition as when received on March 20, 1884.

15, 16, 17, 18. Clover Silage-——The following is the compo-

sition of four samples of clover-silage :—

1, 2. | 3. | 4,
Mai mee |: . ou. . | 65°20} 56-80] 61:40] 70-80
*Albuminous compounds — os loch eth ma 6°37 6°37 4°31
Soluble carbo-hydrates er were 7°49 2°43 2°87 2°12
Crude fibre... ce we cee woe fu, 2O°%D |. SOLOL | 2GPAU Tee
Mineral matter (ash) ian ear gar Seeaeem eee 4°39 3°16 2°34

160°00 | 100°00 | 100°00 | 100-00

* Containing nitrogen .. .. :| "58 | 1°02 1°02 “69

Volatile acids, acetic .. *63 *26 *34 ‘07
Non-yolatile acids, lactic 1-26 “72, °87 *36

No. 1 sample was received on December 13th, 1883, from
Mr. W. H. Wills, M.P., Coombe Lodge, Blagdon, Somerset ;
the silo from which it was taken having been filled on
July 3rd, 4th and 5th with a second year’s crop of clover after
wheat, cut when ripe, and chopped to 1} inch in length; no
salt or other material was mixed with it. The silo was opened
on November 4th, just four months after it had been filled and
closed. This silage, containing 11 per cent. of lactic acid and
0°63 of butyric and other volatile acids, was very acid to the
taste, and did not get mouldy on exposure to the air.

No. 2 sample was aftermath-clover, grown by Mr. C. Cumming,
of Derby, and was put in the silo chopped, and in a ripe con-

On the Chemistry of Ensilage. 495

dition. It contained about 1 per cent. of total acids, and had
an agreeable aromatic smell, and was much relished by cattle.
A portion of it put ina glass bottle has kept up to the present
time as sound as on the 20th of March, the date of its arrival in
the Laboratory.

No. 3 sample was received on February 16th, 1884, from
Mr. W. P. Boghurst, Frating Abbey, Colchester, and had like-
wise a strongly acid taste, as it contained nearly 1 per cent. of
non-volatile and -34 of volatile acids, and, like the preceding
sample, it remained quite sound for more than three months.

No. 4 sample was sent to Mr. Jenkins on February 16th, 1884,
by Vicomte Arthur de Chezelles, Domaine de Boulleaume, pres
Chaumont-en-Vexin (Oise). It consisted of clover, which had
been put in long, owing to an accident to the chopping-
machine, and was compressed by about 12 inches of earth, no
boards or other weights being used. It had a very aromatic
agreeable smell. The box containing it was placed in the
Laboratory without any covering, and did not become mouldy
for over a fortnight. This silage was much more succulent
than the three other clover-silages, and, although it contained
only traces of acetic acid and ‘36 of lactic acid, it kept well for
a reasonable length of time.

19 and 20. Grass-silage, sent by the Rev. C. H. Ford, Bishop-
ton, Ferry Hill, Durham, received December 4th, 1883, and
Silage received December 5th, 1883, from Mr. J. N. Edwards,
of Westminster Lodge, St. Albans.—On analysis of these two
samples the following results were obtained :—

Rev. ©. H. Mr. Edwards’s
| Ford’s Silage. Silage.
EE Se Eee lI al a 73°70 | 51-10
Setublevstigmuanoidsos) ).s5) Sere. sec 3 0 xe 2°30 2-57
PrnplitinsiniAHOIGS «co aac Sey vias | Sey, 93 1:12
Soluble carbo-hydrates .. .. .. .. 1... 3°75 | 5°86
i Ta IS By oo dE 16°77 33°66
_Soluble mineral matter .. .. .. .. «2 « £3 vit 4°60
Insoluble mineral matter a ee “961% | 1:09
100-00 100-00
|
PRMIMIERIROREVIAS 30h i755 Tica) "T ais, 9 at. > ee?! Sol | ae “59
Volatile acids (acetic acid) .. .. .. .. “17 |
Non-yolatile acids (lactic acid).. “76 57

The differences in the amount of water in the two samples, it
will be seen, is very great. The grass from which Mr. Edwards’s
silage was made was over-ripe and woody. The sample ana-

496 On the Chemistry of Ensilage.

lysed was taken 4 feet from the top of the silo, and although it
contained only 51 per cent. of moisture, it rapidly went mouldy,
Mr. Ford’s silage was made from unchopped grass, containing
73:7 of moisture, and also rapidly got mouldy on exposure to
the air. Both samples were decidedly acid.

21. Thousand-headed Kale, chaffed, was placed in a silo by
Mr. G. M. Allender on August 29th. Analysed about a month

afterwards, it gave the following results :—

Water ... ce, ee) ee gece eC OME
Soluble albuminoids gt SRS, SAP NOs *82
Insoluble:albuminoids | tcj9)...1b/.2) ioe ee lee
Soluble saheshyaniat bE _esdftcaond” bin leopyehes A een
Crude fibre = sa cs csi gis. sai Sh) oo eunieeORDA:
poluble‘ash “Ne. ve. ues nse. Se atteemien) ameer me Care
Ansolabletash +47 Ses ER Aen *52
100-00

Total nitrogen 25 cot Gal Decgtes °32
Volatile acids (acetic acid) sake (acu a mee “09
Non-yolatile acids (lactic acid) .. .. .. *33

A large, wide-mouthed glass bottle was filled with this silage,
and kept in the Laboratory for a period of three months, after
which the acid was again determined, and found to amount to—

Volatile acids (butyric and other volatile acids) .. °37
Non-volatile acids (lactic acid)... .. .. . .. °%8

thus, after three months keeping, showing a large increase
in the proportion of acid in the silaged kale. Although no
precaution was taken to exclude the air, the silage, which had
an aromatic smell and sour taste, resembling that of ‘ Sauer-
kraut,” kept sound, and perfectly free from mould.

22. Sewage-grass made into Silage by Mr. Garrett Taylor,
Trowse House, Norwich—The silo was filled in July with
sewaged Italian rye-grass, which was chopped by steam into
1-inch lengths by Maynard’s chaff-cutter; at the same time a
little salt was used in packing the silo, with a view to the better
preservation of the green food. Mr. Garrett Taylor sent me a
sample, which reached me on January 2nd, 1884, in a perfectly
sound condition, and on analysis furnished the following results :

Moisture .. .. ob» dss doe. ee ) SU ODD
* Albuminous compounds So pseei evel y (ence ao uC
Solublevearbo-hydrates’.. 3. + (kent osiueissanaOlom
Crude fibre... os yes) y deb Purp oil get) heen Me emrees
Mineral matters (ash) eae eh Tee! eo
100°00
* Containing nitrogen oa) 11308
Volatile acids (calculated : as acetic acid) sf *86

Non-volatile acids (lactic acid) .. Aer “19

——

On the Chemistry of Ensilage. 497

Sewage-grass on an average contains from 82 to 84 per cent.
of moisture; it is evident, therefore, that Mr. Taylor must have
allowed his Italian rye-grass to get dead ripe before pitting it.
In consequence of this, the silage got unusually dry. The
sample taken from the middle of the silo had a brown colour, an
aromatic smell, resembling that of brown hay, and was very
acid to the taste. It will be seen that it contained over 1 per
cent. of total acids, most of which consisted of butyric and
acetic acids, resembling in this respect the maize-silage which
had been sent to me from Canada, and was distinguished for its
remarkable keeping qualities. Both the Canadian maize and
the sewage Italian rye-grass appear to have undergone a thorough
fermentation, resulting in the production of much butyric and
acetic acid, which probably accounts for the excellent keeping
qualities of these two samples. It certainly is a remarkable
fact that the silage made from sewaged Italian rye-grass, in a
large wide-mouthed bottle, placed in the Laboratory last January,
up to the present date (August 9th), and during unusually hot
summer weather, has remained perfectly free from mould, and
is in al] respects as sound as it was in January.

23. Silage made by Mr. W. Stobart, Pepper Arden, North-
allerton.—A large proportion of the materials in Mr. Stobart’s
silos was rough grass from under trees, from roadside-cuttings,
and odds and ends of every description from nooks and corners
in the park.

A sample received on the 21st of August, 1883, had the

following composition :—

Water... a se ep ica? ei
Soluble albuminous compounds eae Rice ON: “91
Insoluble albuminous compounds ii rene beer ds"
Nalgble carbo-hydrates’.. 9 5. se ss sss, SOT.
Crude fibre... ee ey sre
Soluble mineral matters (ash) oa ene 32) ae Go
Insoluble mineral matters (ash) .. .. .. «. “98
100-00

Total nitrogen 2 ee 43
Volatile acids (calculated as acetic acid) Be “19
Non-volatile acids (lactic acid) .. .. .. 1:24

This silage, which was strongly acid, kept very well. It
contained 1} per cent. of lactic, but only 19 of volatile acids.

Mr. Stobart’s silos are heavily weighted, and provided with
taps at the bottom, from which juice is re off from time to
time and used for the pigs, who take it greedily. A specimen
of the drainage from one of Mr. Stobart’s silos had a specific
gravity of 1-022, and contained per imperial gallon—

498 ’ On the Chemistry of Ensilage.

Grains.
Albuminous compounds cote Poon Mie Se ME CWsae
Fixed acid (lactic acid) . xe 516°42
Volatile acids (butyric and acetic acid) 6 476°70
*Carbo-hydrates and amides .. .. .. « 1,528°42
Mineral matters fost merc rra econ, aes 720,
Water@it.. 2%. Sieg eee Wet tt ete ce eal Ose OLED
70,000°00
* Containing non-albuminous nitrogen .. 35°84

The dry matter (dried at 212° F.) which was left on evapora-
tion of its drainage contained in 100 parts—

SA buminouseompounds).cu j.0e ec cs) sentiesme2OmOO
Lactic acid. songles yl copes LORRI
}Carbo-hydrates andvamides .\.., 264 of. .acdbaue ola
Minerallmatter((G@sh) =. <2) ae en) eel see ROO
100-00

* Containing nitrogen al i aall Qe SSR are

ue Containing nitrogen 55 . << dee *d1

24 and 25. Grass-Silage, made by Mr. J. Swan, Stonefield,
Lincoln.—Two samples of silage received from Mr. Swan on
November 2nd, 1883, one from the top and the other from the
bottom of the silo, on analysis were found to have the follow-
ing composition :—

From Top of| From Bottom
the Silo. of the Silo.

Water = SRM PRCe ros ote -00. 90 77°80 82°60
*Albuminous compounds Jee atte) 88 be scr ~ Se 2°06 1°50
Soltiblercarbo-hydrates <5 0°) 33 be. es | seus 3°03 3°68
Crude fibre.. .. ceMetas tea seen mmo 14°72 10°35
Soluble ash Bete SSP ae ot Lica ttre, Wen cepa eee mete 1:40 1°21
Inkolubletasih a (sre ct cattees Oh act Ae nee “99 66

100°00 100°00

* Containing nitrogen . aac 33 ' 924
Total acidity (calculated as acetic acid) hoy Ee 64 “79

The sample taken fom the top was drier, and contained less
acid than that from the bottom of the silo.

The top silage soon turned mouldy, but that from the bottom
of the silo, although it was dripping wet, kept sound for a period
of more than six months, when preserved in a large wide-mouth
stoppered bottle. ‘The drainage-liquid from one of Mr. Swan’s
silos had the following composition :

On the Chemistry of Ensilage. 499

| Dried at

| 212° Fabr.
ls ae Ge gli tele hee ee iy De. APT ener 94°63 ==
Semen me SCS SET, No! A OSE, 1-50 27°93
USO ase os eer “88 16°39
Soluble carbo-hydrates,&ce. -. .. 22 se ee owe 1-29 23°99
Mineral matter (ash) ~ eine Ce lle “Za Meroe | 1-70 31°69

* Containing nitrogen .. .. -. «2 os | el 4°47
!

The drainage-liquids from silage made from succulent green
food, when too great a weight is placed on the top, it will be
seen, is rich in albuminous and soluble non-nitrogenous food-
constituents, and therefore ought not to be allowed to run to waste.

In none of the samples of silage which have been brought
under my notice was I able to detect even traces of alcohol. It
must, however, be borne in mind that all the samples were
received by me in acomparatively advanced stage of preparation,
in which most were strongly acid. The few samples which
were sweet and free from acid had not, I think, undergone

alcoholic fermentation; but the samples in which I found

from 34 to 1 per cent. of acetic acid had, I believe, all passed
through alcoholic fermentation ; and had they been examined at
an earlier stage of preservation, small quantities of alcohol would
have been found, for the production of acetic acid is always
preceded by the production of the peculiarly pungent and
aromatic-smelling volatile substance known to chemists by the
name of aldehyde. In fact, acetic acid is readily formed by -
allowing free access of air to porous materials impregnated
with the vapours of aldehyde. Acetic acid may be described
simply as a product of oxidation of aldehyde, which in its turn
is generated from alcohol, by the abstraction of a definite pro-
portion of its hydrogen.

When sweet vegetable juices enter into alcoholic fermentation,
the sugar contained in them is converted more or less completely
into alcohol and a number of by-products, according to the
conditions in which the fermentable liquids are placed and
the fermentation is regulated as regards temperature.

At a certain stage of the process of ensilage I have often
noticed that silage smells strongly of aldehyde; but this smell
soon passes off, and in its place acetic acid makes its appearance.
As a rule, I find the nitrogen in silage occurs not only in
the form of albuminoids, but also in variable proportions as

500 ’ On the Chemistry of Ensilage.

amides. On distillation with water, some of these amides split
up, and yield ammonia. However, I find that green fodder,
such as grass, clover, Italian rye-grass, &c., when simply dis-
tilled with water, yields an appreciable amount of ammonia in
the watery distillate, which, | take it, arises from a portion of
the amides, which exist in considerable quantities in all unripe
green fodder. The presence of amides in silage is thus no
proof of the reduction of albuminous compounds, upon which
the nutritive value of all food depends, into amides, which,
rightly or wrongly, are held to have little or no nutritive value.
It is quite possible that a portion of the albuminoids in the
green food in the process of ensilage may be changed into
amides; but as green food contains amides in considerable
proportions, especially when the fodder is rather immature, the
question of the alleged reduction of albuminous nutritive com-
pounds into innutritious amides can only be settled by a series
of careful quantitative analyses of the fresh green food and of
the silage produced from it.

In the preceding analyses the total percentage of nitrogen in
silage was ascertained by combustion with soda-lime, and
calculated as usual as albuminoids.

In six samples, however, I determined separately, by Pro-
fessor Church’s phenol process, the nitrogen which actually
existed in the silage in the form of albuminous compounds, and
the nitrogen occurring in it in the shape of amides, or similar non-
albuminous compounds. The following results were obtained :—

Albuminoia | Non-Albu-

Nitrogen. Nitronen

per cent. per cent.
26 pill

1. Mr. Stobart’s silage from Pepper Arden

2. Mr. Edwards’s silage from St. Albans... «wwe 30 29
3. M. Goffart’s maize-silage from France .. «.. « rAd. 07
4, Mr. George Fry’s clover and ryesilage .. .. .. “38 *02
5. Lord Tollemache’s Peckforton grass-silage .. .. "24 07
6. M. E. B. Gibson’s Saffron Walden silage... .. .. 37 05

The relations of albuminoid to non-albuminoid nitrogen in
these six samples, expressed in percentages, are shown on
page 501.

It will be seen that the relative proportions of albuminoid and
non-albuminoid nitrogen in these six samples of silage varied
greatly ; and it is worthy of special notice that Mr. George Fry’s
“sweet ” silage, in which I found merely traces of acid, 95 per
cent. of the total nitrogen occurred in the form of albuminous
compounds.

On the Chemistry of Ensilage. 501

Percentage of
. ..| Non-Albu-
Albuminoid ae
Nitrogen. | yminoid
per cent. per cent.
IGEIICC GMMR st ss se) Yee ee neh ne se oa rea
No. 2 SEM eete CG. OVO. URGE HOUR :
Wo, Botao Se Aste th ahcite.4.9 donne tle OME 38-9
No. 4 Sg Ee SEO ee 95°0 5:0
No.5 as Aegis Sh te Wn Yai h sarang 226
No. 6 ,,; ACRE) rch gen wl Selb gees bbc) Mer 88-1 11°9

I may further mention that some time ago Professor Kinch,
of the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, published some
analyses of silage in the ‘ Journal of the Chemical Society,’ in
which he stated separately the percentages of albuminoid and
non-albuminoid nitrogen. I am also indebted to Professor
Kinch for a communication stating the following additional
determinations :—

Silage from Waalow Farm, near Southall (mentioned in the ‘ Field,’
January 19th, 1884).

Grass SILAGE— per cent.
Water. .« ath son pyittest LOnoo
Total N. in dry” matter .. .- +. 2°16

Albuminoid N. ,, ao tiecoot 8h gine saath
Betiofthe: Nala eon Beus4eleus albuminoidyN:
and wo es)=«6lwe | ee «CS 45°9 =i non-albuminoid.

CLovER SmAGE— per cent.
Water |.. ao) host eke SOLOS
Total N. in dry tmatter we, Ween Mise, 2 OO
Albuminoid N. _,, Boy, es Rae mere tea)
.*. of the nitrogen .. .. .. « 80°8 is albuminoid N.

and wt ee ce eee 192)? is’non-albuminoid.

Silage from Croydon Sewage Farm,

per cent.
Water... a fabiceneae ee
Total N. in dry ‘matter EE a eee)
PRIDOIMIHOIOG Nes 45) ss. tse ng On
*. of the nitrogen .. .. « «. 41°0 is non-albuminoid,
and els wilewiDone isialbuminoid:

Unfortunately we have no analyses of the green foods, as they
were put into the silos, and consequently no means of judging
whether a reduction of the albuminoids into amides, or similar
non-albuminous compounds, did take place during the process
of ensilage.

With regard to the loss which green fodder no doubt sustains
during the process of ensilage, I may state that no quantitative

502 On the Chemistry of Ensilage.

experiments have been made in England, and no reliable data
have been obtained from which the degree of loss may be cal-
culated. That the loss is greater in making sour than sweet
silage, can hardly be doubted. In the preparation of sweet
silage, active fermentation does not take place, and in conse-
quence the sugar and other fermentable constituents of green
food are subject to much less change and suffer less loss than
when the silage is allowed to pass through a prolonged series of
fermentative processes, during which the sugar and other carbo-
hydrates in the green food are broken up and their elements
re-united into new combinations, which are partly gaseous, and
pass away altogether.

In Germany, however, Professor H. Weiske, of the Experi-
mental Agricultural Station of Proskau, as long ago as 1873, made
a number of comparative quantitative analyses of green fodder-
crops, and the silage produced from them, from which this accu-
rate observer concludes that, in consequence of prolonged fermen-
tation, green food in the process of ensilage is converted into
sour silage at the expense of a considerable amount of the dry
substance of such food, which passes off mainly in the shape of
carbonic acid. ‘The loss thus incurred, according to Professor
Weiske, in an ensilage experiment with sainfoin amounted to
28 per cent. of the dry substance of the food. He found that the
loss was not confined merely to the sugar and carbo-hydrates, but
extended also to the albuminous compounds, and eyen to the
woody fibre. The loss in each of these per 100 parts was :—

Albuminous:compounds’ ., .. <. «s. “selene
Assimilable carbo-hydrates.. .. .. .. ... 39°2
Crude fibre’ gaege is oe se © nap abbey tae ee me

Similar results were obtained by Professor J. Moser in his
ensilage experiments on green maize, and quite recently by
Professor M. Maercker in experiments which he made for the
purpose of determining the changes which beet-root pulp under-
goes when pitted. In this case the loss by fermentation and
gaseous disappearance amounted to nearly 50 per cent. of the
dry substance. The experiments of A. Mayer and L. Brockema
also. confirmed the foregoing observations, and showed that
green fodder when undergoing ensilage sustains a very con-
siderable loss.

Professor Weiske and B. Schulze were lately engaged in
extending their former experiments, and published in the
‘ Journal fiir Landwirthschaft,’ Band xxxii. Heft i. 1884, edited
by Professors Henneberg and Drechsler, of Géttingen, an inte-
resting report on the changes and losses which take place in
green fodder when converted into sour silage.

Without entering into a detailed account of their experiments,

On the Chemistry of Ensilage. 503

I may quote two examples, of maize and of lucerne, proving that
these, like other fodder-crops, experience a considerable loss
in food-constituents.

In experiments with green maize, results were obtained from
which the losses were calculated as follows :—

Organic Mineral
Matter. Matter.

kilogrammes.| kilogrammes.

: oe rama green maize, dried Ag tag containing .. 87°82 12°18
gave |
73°9 kilogrammes of sour silage, also ih .
dried at 212° Fahr. . ae 3) ”» Oc 65°29 8:61

26:1 kilogrammes loss during ensilage - a 22-53 BBY

These losses were distributed among the chemical constituents
as follows :—

Chloro- .
phyll and
Albumi-| Organic | Crude pais Ash and
noids. Acids Fibre. hedrat Sand.
(Ether ydrates.

Extract).

kilogrs, | kilogrs. Eee kilogrs. | kilogrs.

100 kilogrammes green F : ‘ : 3. :
maize, dry .. .. mt contains | 9°50 2°14 | 33:89 | 42°29) 12°18

73°9 kilogrammes sour : ? : rf A
silage, dry Sat iyt “4! » 5°91 9:92 | 23°93 | 25-53 8°61

= eae ie s » |—3°59 |-+ 7-78 |—9-96 |—16-76 |— 3°57

The gain in the extract by ether is due to the conversion of
sugar into lactic, butyric, and other organic acids, which are
soluble in the ether, whereas the sugar from which they are
derived is insoluble.

Similarly, in the case of lucerne, we have :—

Organic Mineral

Matter. Matter.

kilo; .| kil °

100 kilogrammes green bana. dried Tae eng

wove fo At sa containing . 90°79 9°21
ee gave

72 llogrammes of sour silage, at ‘ i" 64°58 8-32

dried at f 212° Fahr.

27°1 kilogrammes loss during ensilage 9 ea 26°21 0-89

VOL. XX.—S. Ss. eats

504 On the ‘Quality of Creosote suitable for protecting

These losses being distributed as follows :—

Chloro-
phyll and Soluble
Albumi- | Organic Crude Carbo- | Ash and
noid. Acids Fibre. | hydrates. | Sand.
(Ether
Extract).
I kilogrs. | kilogrs. | kilogrs. | kilogrs. | kilogrs.
100 kilogrammes green ~ Kel . Sep . m
lucerne, dry - oe oe 26°69} 4°44 | 22-544 37°12 | 9-21
72:9 kilogrammes sour gn ; : 7 :
silage, dry .. } Sct AO 16°95) 6°41 | 20°43 | 20°79) 8°32

Se

| |
— 9°744 1:97 |—2-11 |—16°33 |—0°89

27°1 kilogrammes loss in)
dry matter oo

I am now engaged in carrying out experiments on silage at
Crawley-mill Farm, Woburn ; and also on a larger scale at Heath
Farm, Woburn Park, where the Duke of Bedford has lately
erected several silos. These experiments have special reference
to the influence of temperature on the quality of the product,
and to tracing the changes and ascertaining the losses which
various kinds of green food undergo during the process of
ensilage. These results I hope to be able to publish before
long in the ‘Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of
England.’

12, HANOVER SQuaRE.
August, 1884.

XVII.—On the Quality of Creosote suitable for protecting Hop-
poles, Wood Fences, §c., against Decay. By Dr. Augustus
VoELCKER, F.R.S., Consulting Chemist to the Society.

CoMMERCIAL creosote, a dark-brown thickish liquid, strongly
smelling of carbolic acid, has been used for years past, as is
well known, with much success, for protecting from decay hop-
poles, stakes, and wooden railings, which, being made from
young and more or less immature or green wood, enter into
decay, and become rotten and useless, after a few years, especially
on naturally stiff and imperfectly drained land.

The creosoting process has been found so efficacious that it
has almost completely superseded the older plans of impreg-
nating wood with corrosive sublimate, as in Kyan’s process, or
with sulphate of copper, sulphate of iron, chloride of zinc, or
other metallic salts,

Recently, however, several complaints have reached me re-

Hop-poles, Wood Fences, §c., against Decay. 505

specting the quality of creosote with which my correspondents
were being supplied. The creosoting liquid, it was alleged,
when applied exactly in the same manner as in former years,
entirely failed to protect hop-poles against decay ; and Mr. F.
de Laune, to whom the merit is due of having used crude
commercial creosote for preserving timber more than a dozen
years ago with great success, and of having introduced this
protecting liquid to the notice of farmers in his article in the
Journal of this Society, vol. xviii., Part I., p. 259, goes so far
as to say that, according to his recent experience, wood impreg
nated with creosote supplied to him a year or two ago became
rotten more rapidly than he believes it would have been had
it not been subjected to the creosoting process.

Mr. de Laune’s experience in past years, of having creosoted
wood-with entire success, compared with his recent failures,
presents strong presumptive evidence of the quality of com-
mercial creosote having become deteriorated of late years in
some cases to an extent such as to make it unsuitable for the
preservation of hop-poles, wooden railings, &c.

Unfortunately we possess no analytical data upon which a
reliable opinion can be based respecting the quality of the
creosoting liquid which ten or twelve years ago, and even earlier,
-had been used most satisfactorily. It is therefore impossible to
make a comparison of the chemical composition of the creosote
used in former years with great success with that supplied in
recent years, and alleged to be altogether ineflicacious as a
means of protecting timber against decay.

The liquid used for creosoting timber, known commercially
as creosote, is a fluid possessing a highly complex and variable .
composition.

It is obtained from coal-tar, which, according to the kind of
coal from which it is produced, yields the following products on
distillation at a temperature rising to about 760° F.

1. Pitch, remaining behind in the retort on distillation, and
constituting the largest proportion of the products of
distillation.

2. Naphtha, or benzol, the most volatile of the coal-tar
constituents.

3. Ammoniacal liquor, which always mechanically adheres
to or is mixed with the more specific tar-products of
commercial coal-tar.

4. Light and heavy oils of tar.

The latter amount to from 20 to 30 per cent. of the coal-tar,
and constitute the creosoting liquor which is used for pre-
serving timber.

Commercial creosote, in other words, is the portion of coal-

2 ined

506 On the Quality of Creosote suitable for protecting

tar which comes over on distillation between the temperature of
about 350° F. and that of 760° F. It has a highly complex and
variable composition.

Amongst its constituents may be mentioned: phenol or car~
bolic acid; cresol or cresylic acid, closely allied in character
to phenol; naphthaline; light tar-oils, passing over on distilla-
tion at a temperature of about 600° F.; heavy tar-products
which remain behind in the retort at that temperature, viz.,
pyrene, chrysene, leucoline, cryptidine, pyridine, acridine, and
other organic bases which occur in minute quantities in com-
mercial creosote.

The products of distillation of the liquid employed for
creosoting wood are heavier than water, whilst the distillation
products of animal and vegetable oils and fats, such as bone-oil,
palm-oil, cotton-seed oil, resin-oil, and also shale-oil, have a
lighter specific gravity than water.

Carbolic and cresylic acid, distinguished for their powerful
antiseptic properties, were until recently regarded as the most
valuable constituents of creosoting liquids, and are still held by
some of the highest chemical authorities as the chief consti-
tuents upon which the efficacy of commercial creosote as a
preserver of timber mainly depends.

This generally received opinion has been called in question
by Mr. Boulton, of the firm of Burt, Boulton, and Hayward,
the well- anita tar-distillers, who, in a paper read quite
recently before the members of the Institution of Civil Engi-
neers, on the strength of certain practical experiments, a long
experience, and the testimony of several chemical experts,
endeavoured to show that the efficacy of tar-acids as anti-
septics has been overrated at the expense of the more stable
and enduring properties of the tar-oils. At the same time
Mr. Boulton admits that the percentage of tar-acids in the
creosote to be used remains a contested matter of opinion.

Notwithstanding all that has lately been said and written in
favour of Mr. Boulton’s view, it appears to me a hazardous pro-
ceeding to rely on the efficacy of a creosoting liquid which
contains as little as 3, 4, or even 5 per cent. of crude carbolic
acid,

In preserving old well-matured timber, such as is used for
railway sleepers, and is less liable to perish than young immature
wood, used for railings, hop-poles, and light wooden structures,
creosote which is comparatively poor in crude carbolic and
cresylic acid, but which is rich in heavy tar-oils, | can conceive
may be quite efficacious in preserving such old timber ; but when
we have to deal with young immature wood, full of sap, I do not
think a creosoting liquid, containing as little crude carbolic

Hop-poles, Wood Fences, §c., against Decay. 507

acid as I have found in creosote recently purchased, can be
relied upon for its power of preventing the decay of hop-poles
for a reasonable number of years.

Creosote, suitable for preserving hop-poles or wooden fences,
in my judgment should contain not less than 10 per cent. of
crude carbolic and cresylic acid ; and if the percentage of these
tar-acids rises above 10 per cent., the creosote will be all the
better for the purpose of protecting the poles against decay.

In a sample of commercial creosote sent to me for analysis a
short time ago, I found no less than 14°76 per cent. of ammoniacal
water.

This sample, on distillation up to 610° F., yielded only
39-08 per cent. of products volatile at that temperature, in-
cluding only 44 per cent. of crude carbolic acid. The ammo-
niacal liquor, amounting to 143 per cent., is most objectionable ;
and 4} per cent. of crude tar-acids appears to me insufficient to
neutralise the effect in the sap of young wood of those consti-
tuents which cause in wet ground its rapid decay if unprotected.
There can be little or no doubt that a creosoting liquor of the
character of this sample is altogether unsuitable for the purpose
for which it was used.

. Not quite so bad, but still anything but good creosoting
liquors, were two other samples, recently purchased by hop-
growers in Kent. These samples contained respectively :—

|
Novi. || @No./2,

Distillate from boiling point to a temperature of) = ee
610° Fahbr, ae AN: A eee) | 3O08 6L°75
Including :—
Crude carbolicacid .. .. .. .. .. «| 3 percent. | 4 per cent.
Specific gravity of creosote at 60° Fahr. eal T1025) | 1:103

I fear, under the name of creosote, tarry liquors are often sold
to hop-growers which are not worth much, if anything, for pro-
tecting hop-poles against premature decay ; and I would strongly
urge upon farmers who are in the habit of creosoting wood not
to buy any creosote unless it is guaranteed of a well-defined
quality.

The Crown agents of the Colonies, the War-Office, and pro-
bably other Government Offices, in entering into contracts for
the supply of creosote, issue specifications to govern the: quality
of supplies of creosoting liquors. Tar distillers and dealers in
creosoting liquors surely ought to know what they are selling,
and farmers will do well to insist upon being supplied with
creosoting liquor of a guaranteed quality. I would suggest the

508 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

following specification, the adoption of which, I believe, would
place dealings in creosoting liquors on a more satisfactory foot-
ing, and remedy the complaints which have lately been made
respecting the bad qualities of creosote.

Specification to govern the quality of supplies of Creosoting
Liquor.

1. The liquor must be free from the admixture of any oil or
other subtance not obtainable from the distillation of coal
at temperatures between about 350° F. and 760° F.

2. It must yield from 65-70 per cent. of products when dis-
tilled from its boiling-point to 610° F.

3. By repeated agitation with successive portions of a solu-
tion of caustic soda of spec. gravity 1*125 (25° Twaddell)
the distillate must yield not less than 10 per cent. of
crude carbolic and cresylic acid (crude coal-tar acids).

4, The creosoting liquor shall contain not less than 20 nor
more than 30 per cent. of constituents that do not distil
over at a temperature of 610° F.

5. It should become completely fluid when raised to a tem-
perature of about 95° F., and remain so on cooling down
to a temperature of 85° F.

6. The specific gravity of the liquor must not be less than
1035, and not more than 1065, water being 1000 at a
temperature of 60° F.

XVIII.— The Farm Prize Competition of 1884. By Joun
CoLEMAN, York.

Judges.

RicHarpD Srratron, The Duffryn, Newport, Mon.
GrorcE STREET, Maulden, Ampthill, Beds.
Joun Cotemay, York.

In connection with the Shrewsbury meeting, the offer of prizes
for farm competition was restricted to the counties of Salop,
Stafford, and Hereford. As was the case at York the previous
year, the Local Committee differed in opinion as to the expe-
diency or desirability of offering prizes, and it was only after
considerable pressure had been exercised by influential county
representatives that this valuable feature of the Society’s annual
programme was once more maintained. Bearing in mind the
composition of the executive portion of a Local Committee, and
the necessarily large proportion of town representatives, whose
interests are mainly local, and who are naturally inclined to
view the spending of money outside their own boundaries as

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 509

undesirable, it is questionable whether a matter of such proved
interest and value to the general body of members should be
optional with the Local Committee at all. For though public
opinion has on these two occasions overborne local feeling, it
may not always be so energetically or skilfully directed. And
the suggestion thrown out by Mr. Jasper More at the General
Meeting in London in December last, that in future the offer of
prizes for farm competition should be compulsory on the town
which is visited, is certainly deserving of consideration, as
it would ensure a continuance of this most desirable element,
and would remove all uncertainty from the minds of would-be
competitors. Those through whose exertions the farm-prize
competition has been maintained will, we trust, feel that the
result fully justifies their efforts ; and that the information con-
tained in Mr. Bell’s admirable report of farm practice in York-
shire, and the following effort to convey a faithful account of
what we saw in the course of our inspections of the competing
farms in the Midlands, will have due effect in strengthening
public opinion as to the desirability of making this a permanent
feature in the annual role of utilities carried out by our Great
National Society.

As will be seen from the appended list, the entries were more
numerous than on any previous occasion. The competition in
the first two classes for Grass and Arable Farms was excellent,
and quite sufficiently close. In the small farm division we are
sorry to report only two entries, as, judging from the great
interest attaching to them, and the variety of practice they
illustrated, it would have been desirable to have seen more of
the sort, and especially representatives of the wilder hilly
districts.

Those who are acquainted with the geological features of the
counties will realise that our work lay principally on the Old and
New Red Sandstone formations, and though the surface-soils were
seldom derived directly from either rocks, the superficial beds
when of a drift character partook of the characteristics of the
parent source. The exceptions were a couple of farms on the
Wenlock shales. The soils on the sandstone formations are,
though variable to a degree, speaking generally, of a fertile
character; the lighter parts very suitable for arable cultivation,
and the stronger soils capable of growing good grass under
skilful treatment. If we add to this a mild and rather moist
climate, and a due proportion of grass to arable, we have some
of the conditions which have been so far favourable to farming
during recent years, so that there are few signs of that terrible
depression which has left an all but ineradicable mark on many
less favoured localities. But the great reason for this happy

' The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

510

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The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 511

state of things is the prominent importance of live-stock in the
systems of farming, and this of mixed sorts. The development
of the Shropshire sheep from local to national importance, a
progress which has been mainly due to the pluck and per-
severance of the tenant-farmers themselves, has greatly increased
the returns from the flock. The cultivation of cattle either for
grazing or dairy purposes—both excellent of their kind and for
their respective offices—and much attention to the breeding
of a serviceable selling class of cart-horses, have all tended to
returns for live-stock much above the average. It is quite evident
from the Agricultural Returns, and from my own observation,
that the necessity for returning to grass the less desirable tillage-
land has been fully realised by the more intelligent occupiers,
and that their commendable enterprise has in most cases been
met by reasonable assistance from landlords. The following
comparison of the area under grass in 1868 and 1883 will
sufficiently prove this point :—

Total 1868. 1883. Increase of
Cultivated Area.| Area in Grass. | Area in Grass. Grass.

Acres. Acres. Acres.
Sliropshire™\..°° <5!) +2. 712,846 340,909 422,576 81,667
Stafford .. act SoS ee 604, 237 340,112 404,655 64,543
Hereford .. .. .. | 445,842 213,517 334,763 | 121,246

In the course of the report many instances will be given of
successful laying down of land to grass, and I would here
only allude to the important influence in obtaining a close
thick sward of sheep-grazing when supplied with cotton-cake or
other food rich in manuring elements. It has been laid down
in some quarters authoritatively that young pastures should not
be grazed with sheep ; and the reason given is that, eating so
close to the ground, they will destroy the clovers. This might
be the case if the ]and were too heavily stocked and the sheep
had nothing to improve their manure; but it is most certainly
not the case under judicious management, and, though mixed
stock are desirable in order that all the herbage should be equally
consumed, yet I am satisfied that sheep will do most good,
because they are the best manure distributors; and that, whether
we are dealing with new pastures or old grass, the most prac-
tical and profitable means of improvement is the consumption
of cotton-cake by cattle and sheep on the land; and that though,
in dealing with exhausted or neglected Jand, applications of pur-
chased manures, and, on some soils especially, of phosphates,
may be desirable—nay, actually necessary—the best and cheapest

512 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

way of maintaining fertility is by the free use of cake or
other suitable artificial food.

It is not only in the matter of laying down land to grass
that landlords have entered into, and apparently understood,
modern requirements. We were greatly pleased with the general
character of the farm buildings, not only on the farms entered
for competition, but throughout the localities we visited. I
may describe them as convenient, substantial, and generally
adequate to requirements. In only one instance did we see
buildings entirely covered in, viz., those at Mr. Marston’s farm
at Brampton Brian, which, though erected many years since—
viz., in 1868—when requirements were less understood, were
excellently arranged and greatly appreciated by the tenant, who
did not find that the protection thus afforded to his well-bred
Herefords rendered them more delicate or less able to thrive in
that somewhat exposed country. Though the covering of the
yards is not yet in fashion, as we believe it must eventually
become, yet in all modern additions the necessity for deep
shelter sheds is fully recognised, and the importance of preserving
manure as much as possible from the washing of rainfall by
having buildings well spouted, and by utilising the drainings
of the yards when the lie of the land allows of surface irrigation,
were all matters of consideration. Without being invidious,
I may notice as especially creditable as regards equipments
the estates of Earl Brownlow, some of whose homesteads verge
on the extravagant, Earl Powis, the Dukes of Sutherland and
Cleveland, Lord Stafford, Sir Thomas Boughey, and The
Honourable Mrs, Cotton. It is quite certain that, where the
owner takes an interest in his property or is represented by a
practical man of business, who knows what is wanted at the
present day, and how the outlay can be made that shall benefit
all parties, tenants are encouraged to spend their money and
take a pride in doing justice to the land.

I may preface a few introductory remarks by a comparison
of the returns of live-stock in 1868 and 1883, from which the
increase of horned stock and the decrease of sheep will be
evident :—

Shropshire. | Staffordshire. | Hereford.
1868. | 1883. | 1868. | 1883. | 1868. | 1883.
Cattle... 20a | 10,651 125,046 | 137,402 | 71,181 | 81,978
Sheep.. _.. | 519,589 | 342,486 | 365,945 | 225,576 | 380,607 | 270,463
|
Pigs .. .. | 61,220] 69,501 | 53,788 | 54,180 | 28,942 | 31,691

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 513

The large decrease of sheep is partly attributable to the fact
that, owing to the ravages of the rinderpest in 1865 and follow-
ing years, sheep-stock had to a certain extent replaced cattle-
stock for a time, and the increase of the latter is partly
explained on the same principle; but it must also be remem-
bered that the increase of grassland must have a tendency to
reduce sheep-keeping facilities, and increase the means of
keeping cattle. The present large deficiency in the numbers of
sheep, as compared with 1868, may also be in some measure
owing to the losses from liver-rot in the wet seasons of the last
decade. The numbers of both stock have sensibly increased in
the last year over its predecessor, and we may with favonrable
seasons look for further development.

Throughout Shropshire and Herefordshire the prevailing
breed of cattle are Herefords, and the improvement of these
valuable animals has been greatly stimulated since the Herd-
book was established (mainly through the exertions of Mr. Duck-
ham, M.P.). The American demand, which has been going on
for some years, is as active as ever, and, according to the
opinions of Americans themselves, may continue for years to
come. Quite recently this demand has extended to South
America; thus opening out a vast field for the future. It was
indeed fortunate for the breeders that they got their animals
registered, for our friends across the water will not as a rule
look twice at an animal, however meritorious, that is not proved
to be pure bred by the Herd-book. Any lengthy description of
the Hereford cattle would be out of place ; their great size, early
maturity, splendid beef-producing qualities, and hardy character,
are well known; their weak point is in yield of milk, though
what they do give is rich. The universal practice of turning
out the calves with their dams, and either not milking at all or
only taking away any excess during the first weeks of the calf’s
life, is not calculated to encourage or develop milking qualities,
because it is well known that, if the whole of the milk is not
abstracted, the flow rapidly reduces, and, as the calf learns to
eat grass, it naturally cares less for the teat. There are other
reasons why we question the wisdom of the system. The returns
from ordinary stock are not sufficient. The total value of the
cow’s produce consists of the price of the calf when weaned,
say at 8 to 9 months old, which may range from 10/. to 121, and
this includes the grass eaten by the calf as well as its dam—no
inconsiderable item; whereas, in the best dairy management, a
return is obtained per cow of more than double, although, of
course, expense of management is greater. Hereford cows are
wintered without much expense; indeed, in sheltered situations,
they may live out most of the year, having a shed to lie in at

514 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

nights, a few roots thrown about or sliced, and straw; the
labour of milking is also saved; but highly-fed dairy stock,
whether kept for milk-selling or cheese-making, must do much
more as manure-makers and land-improvers than cattle which
get no extra food. One of the Judges, himself a milkseller,
contends that the system is prejudicial to the milking qualities
of the future cows, inasmuch as the animal becomes far too fat,
and, though this condition is the result of natural food, yet the
result is just as bad as though the calf was forced for show,
proper muscular action being seriously impeded by the deposit
of fat in the tissues. I had no opportunity of instituting
a comparison as to fecundity between Hereford heifers and
hand-reared stock, but I can readily imagine that his views
are sound in this matter. In almost every instance where
Herefords were kept we found one or two dairy animals pur-
chased to supply the requirements of the household ; and, lastly,
whilst precluded from giving actual figures, I am justified
in stating that the system, as applied to cattle of ordinary
market value, is not sufficiently profitable. Nothing could be
more satisfactory than the progress of the stock when weaned ;
they thrive splendidly in open yards, are docile in habits, and
when judiciously fed, without an excessive quantity of roots,
and with a due allowance of concentrated food, their progress is
rapid ; and they probably pay as well for their food as any
breed of similar age. I venture to suggest that, under different
treatment, the milking properties of the Herefords might be
developed without serious injury to their feeding qualities. In
one instance, not that of a competitor, I found cross-bred cows
each rearing two calves, and I am convinced that, even if
dairying is not considered practical or desirable, more should
be done in the way of rearing. I am diffident about criticising
established practices, for which there may be reasons beyond
my ken; but, as it is said that onlookers often see more than
those at work, so perhaps the expression of my convictions,
which have been forced upon me by observation and facts, may
at least provoke useful consideration.

Much of the success, which we witnessed with admiration and
almost envy, is attributable to the valuable rent-paying properties
of the Shropshire sheep, which are universal in the Midlands.
The characters of these are too well known to require descrip-
tion; but I may notice the fact, that the practice of shearing
the lambs in July is becoming general, and, as far as I could
gather, is considered desirable, because the skin can be kept
cleaner and insects more easily destroyed. Another innovation, as
to which the testimony was more varied, is the putting of the for-
wardest ewe lambs tothe ram, On good land, and with generous

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 515

treatment, I believe this will be found advantageous, as saving
time, bringing the animal into profit at an earlier period, and
probably causing them to breed better in the following year.
The experience was very varied. In one case, where the land
was strong and the animals kept only in moderate condition,
only 2 out of 20 proved in lamb, and these cast their lambs ;
whilst in another every one produced a lamb; and these, at the
time of our second visit, were thriving and looking well. I
think the system might be more successful if the management
of the lambs included the use of a small quantity of artificial,
and a greater change of natural food. In this way they would
be more developed; and the wethers might be sufficiently
forwarded to be fit for the market at a year old: whereas, the
almost universal practice is to finish them off on grass-land or
seeds during a second summer. I cannot think that this is
judicious, as more holding stock might be kept if the hoggs were
finished off on turnips.

Another practice, not universal but very general, was the
carting to the homestead and the grass land of the whole of the
root-crop, often at great cost, and carting back manure made
from the consumption of the roots by store cattle eating straw.
Where strong land prevails ‘this may be a necessary evil, but it
is certainly not desirable where the land is suitable for eating
on. In one case, where the land was eminently suitable for
sheep, the occupier admitted that formerly sheep consumed a
part of the crops on the land, but he had got out of the practice
and he could not tell why. In my opinion it would be more
profitable to consume the bulk of the roots on the land; and if
such treatment is likely to make the land too rich for barley,
then take wheat first, and follow with barley, by which process
it is probable that the tendency to clover-sickness, which is so
very often the case, would be obviated, partly by increasing the
interval and more by improving the condition of the land; for we
found excellent crops, even though recurring at intervals of four
years, in every case where the land was in really high condition.

We were very much impressed with the economical manage-
ment of labour, the cost, which will be given in every case
described, will, we think, compare very favourably with most
parts of the country. This is due to the thorough knowledge
of work by the employers, and to their own exertions either in
careful superintendence, or in active assistance. Thus it will be
noted that on one of the dairy-farms, although not by any means
a small undertaking, the farmer always makes one of the
milkers, and the wife is the dairymaid. With such personal
attention, no serious difficulty is experienced as to milking,
which in some parts of the country is becoming a great trouble.

516 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

In the south of Shropshire, and throughout Herefordshire,
orchards occupy a considerable area, and cider-making is an
important feature. Generally the juice is expressed by revolving
stones, similar to a mortar-mill. In one instance, that of
Mr. Peter Davies, of Tenbury, an American mill is used. A
short description of the process may be interesting. The fruit,
which is shaken off the trees when ripe and allowed to remain
in heaps for a time in order to further mature—though care
should be taken to avoid decomposition—is put through the
mill, which consists of a drum running at about 2000 revolutions
per minute, working against a set of lever rasps or scrapers,
which give way if a stone or other hard substance gets into the
mill. The pulp is next filled into hair bags, pressed in a
Bulmer press, then placed in water to macerate for 24 hours,
6 gallons of water to each hair ;* then reground, repressed, and
the liquid added to the first expressed juice. Underneath
the manufactory is a large commodious cellar. The juice is
run by flexible tubes into barrels holding 400 to 500 gallons
each, where the fermenting process takes place. On this farm
of 475 acres there are 42 acres of orchards, mostly in grass,
and producing very useful keep for sheep and cattle. The
waste pulp is usually thrown about the orchards and con-
sumed by stock, and what is uneaten makes manure. The crop
is very uncertain. That of 1883 was very abundant, and was
estimated at 14,000 gallons, which at 6d. a gallon, an average
price in good years, equals 350/., about 8/. 10s. an acre, besides
the value of the grass, which is certainly not less than 1/. 10s.,
making a total gross return of 10/. an acre ; but this is of course
much above the average, and the cost of manufacture is con-
siderable. It may be taken as a general rule that a well-stocked
orchard, with trees in good bearing, is worth about 5/. an acre.
In every case where cider was made, and in some instances
where it was bought, it forms part of the wages, a custom
which, to our minds, would be more honoured in the breach than
the observance ; and in many instances the farmers were of the
same opinion as ourselves; but the tyrant custom has been
hitherto too strong for them. Mr. Davies, for instance, gives
his men the option of 2 quarts a day throughout the year,
or 1s. 6d. a week additional money. Almost universally liquor
is preferred. The consumption averages 250 gallons a month,
with an additional 500 gallons in harvest, that is, 3500 gallons
a year, at 6d. a gallon, 87/. 10s. Another large grower tried
money for a time, but such was the dissatisfaction that he had

* This is the technical name of the bag, made of coarse hair, in which the
pulp is placed for the press.

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 517

to return to the system, although sensible of its evil tendencies.
On some farms we found 2 quarts given in winter and 3 quarts,
which not unfrequently extends to a gallon, in summer. Such
an enormous quantity of acid must be injurious, and there is no
doubt that cider-drinkers are more subject to rheumatism than
others. Seeing how almost entirely money has been substituted
for drink in many parts, and the advantages to all concerned
which follow, we think that in these days of combined action by
means of clubs and chambers, a well directed agitation might be
effectively worked, and the cider evil—for such it is—done away
with. Labour should be paid for in money only, with liberty to
buy, up to a reasonable limit, at 6d. a gallon.

Through the courtesy of Mr. Davies, Sen., now retired in
favour of his son, who entered on the same farm in 1822, I am
able to give a most interesting comparison of the amount and
value of stock which the farm carried at the two periods, the
area, 475 acres, being the same; but at present 17 acres are
occupied with hops, and therefore to this extent the stock-
bearing area is reduced, The facts are obtained from a sale
catalogue when the farm was given up by Mr. Edward Farmer,
and represents, according to Mr. Davies, Sen., the full capacity
of the farm for stock. Indeed, he declared that for some years
after his entry he could not keep more; possibly so soon after
the close of the great European wars there would be a larger
proportion of arable land than at present. The horned cattle
of the Hereford breed comprised 9 cows and calves, 5 three-
year-old heifers in calf, 8 two-year-olds, 3 barren cows,
4 three-year-old bullocks, 4 two-year-old bullocks, 6 yearling
heifers, and 6 yearling bullocks, making a total of 45, which
realised the magnificent sum of 140/. 1s. 3d., or a trifle over
3l. a head average. The highest price for a cow and calf was
11/7. 15s. Three-year-olds ranged from 71. 5s. to 8/. 10s. Three-
year-old bullocks made 8/. 10s. each. Two-year-old heifers in
calf ranged from 2/. 6s. to 18/.; yearlings from 2/. 17s. to 4.
The working horses comprised 6 animals, which ranged from
21. 10s. given for a six-year-old mare in foal and 13/. 10s. for
a five-year-old. The hackneys included 8 animals, 2 not
sold ; prices from 4 guineas to 15 guineas. The sheep were
sold privately. They comprised 58 ewes and lambs, 16 yearling
ewes, 21 wethers, and 9 rams, making a total, irrespective of
lambs, of 104 head, which would probabiy have made an
average of 1/. 10s. a head, at which I have calculated them.
Pigs, 15 in number, ranged from 1/. 16s. to 3/. 152, and
approached nearer present prices than any other kind of stock.

The particulars of the sale catalogue may be thus sum-
marised :—

518 ‘The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

45 head of cattle .. .. .. .. .. 140 1 8
6 waggon horses.. .. £5010 0
7-hackney , 95: ..@. 0% tote 1)

= eee
104 sheep; estimated at ..0 4.0 taue'.ed dpe) ©
1D) PIGS xi0). aGisetlccl basa 23 5 0

In 1882, total value of live-stock .. £451 8 3

At the time of our first visit in January, the stock of cattle
comprised—

23 in-calf cows, well-bred Libieriondss valued

7 aes a ne

1 dairy cow, cross- bred . : 25
15 feeding bullocks and heifers, at 20. each.. 300
17 yearlings, at 12/., A <* ppl eee
3 yearling heifers for breeding, at 151. : 45
9 cows, two-year old heifers, at 187. .. .. 162
3 feeding cows ‘ veld, ged 60
1 three-year-old bull, «The Druid”... sus 30
72 head. £1332

Horses.

13. working horses, at 301. 6) .. 4. 0 da ay age
2: oldvanarés tives.) L(y. he ee 30
Zefoals! ‘h.: alii owed, |e 40
De Tags» vies vb ei 0-2 ee LS. la 50
19 £510

Sheep.

126 big Shropshire ewes in-lamb, at 70s. £441 0 0
137 mixed hoggs, at 508.25... “vs (ne Uae ee
11 ram lambs, at80s. °°... 5. 22) “ee
3 oldér rams, at O0//* ca) See ee 1s Oo

277 £842 10 0

without pigs, of which we have no record. The following is a
summary of the two periods :—

1822, 1884,
2b. eee £ «baa
45 Head of Cattle .. 140 1 8 72 Head of Cattle .. 1832 0 O
13 Horses . ss 132 2 0 19 Horses os 6 -oe, ~ OLO MOREE
104 Sheep estimated .. 156 0 0 | 277 Sheep » « 84210 08

162 428 3 38 | 368 2684 10 0

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 519

I have estimated the value of the present stock, and
certainly have not in any way exaggerated prices. It shows
that the capabilities of the farm as to the number of stock have
more than doubled, whilst their value has increased sixfold.

After the first inspection in January, the Judges were able to
eliminate five competitors as practically out of the running ;
and it was decided, in the interests of all parties, that it would
be better to indicate to these exhibitors that no further inspec-
tion would be made.

For the first time in the history of Farm-prize Competition,
the Judges were instructed to make inquiries of competitors as
to whether they could recommend any servants as specially
meritorious in the discharge of their duties, in order that such
might be recommended to the Council for medals or certificates.
This departure is in their opinion a very proper one. The
really deserving servant would find such a distinction a valuable
help to advancement in life; and when it is remembered that
some of the most successful examples of farming are by men who
have risen from service by the honesty of their work and by their
provident habits: any help to the really deserving must be of
public advantage.

Crass I.—First Prize.
Mr. William Nunnerley, Dearnford Hall, Whitchurch.

Grass ih ce bond rzea On ACreS
LSA Ee ee 60. 43
Total’. fac ai. AUSie

This farm is held on a yearly agreement under the Hon. Mrs.
Stapleton Cotton, of Park Hall, Oswestry, Salop. The agree-
ment dates from February 20, 1879; and after the ordinary
clauses as to cropping, consumption of produce, &c., the land-
lord undertakes to expend 300/. in bones, to be supplied on or
before May, 1879, and 470/. in improving the house and build-
ings, and making the latter accommodate fifty cows, to provide
shed and yard for young stock, and a Dutch barn to hold most of
the produce. In addition to the above liberal outlay, the landlord
contracts to supply permanent seeds fora field of 20 acres. Most
of the grass-land has been dressed with } ton per acre of bones,
from which much benefit was visible. This was followed up
last winter by a mixture of bone-meal and superphosphate.
The soil is a sandstone drift, of a light, and in some parts thin
and poor character, more suitable for tillage than grass ; indeed,
we believe that without liberal treatment and judicious grazing,
the grass would be only second-rate. Some of the lighter tillage

VOL. XX.—-S. 8. 2M

520 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

land is plagued with poppies and spurry. Great judg-

ment is exercised as to grazing. Sheep and cows are never

mixed.

Live-Stock—On our second visit in May, we found the
following stock, which were almost identical, except in the
matter of calves, with what existed in January :—

CaTTLe. SHEEP.
50 Cows in-Milk. 62 Ewes.
10 Yearling Heifers. 74 Lambs.
13 Heifer Calves. 4
2 Bulls. 136
75
Horses. Pies.
2 Draft horses (1 Man). 5 Breeding Sows.
1 Strong half-bred horse. 59 Fat and Store Pigs.
1 Nag. ——
_ | 64
a |

Dairy Management—The plan of the homestead (Fig. 1,
p- 521) gives a good idea of the accommodation provided. The
great business at Dearnford Hall is dairying, cheese being the
principal product. The cows, of shorthorn type, are a capital
lot, carefully bred with a view to good milking properties. We
were very favourably impressed on our first visit, when the
animals were in the stalls; but their great excellence was more
evident when we saw them in the cow pasture. There we in-
spected fifty grand cows and heifers in full profit, and found
every animal meritorious. Great care is exercised both in the
selection of sires, which are not necessarily, though generally,
pedigree stock from milking tribes, and the cows are drafted if
they are not quite satisfactory. The heifers, which we thought
a capital lot, are served about July and August, so as to produce
their first calf when about two years old, and many of these
youngsters made a remarkable show for their age. Most of the
animals are bred on the farm; a few are occasionally purchased.
The cows calve in the spring, mostly before cheese-making com-
mences. All the best heifer calves are reared, and the bull calves
are fattened up to the time of cheese-making ; after that, they are
sold as soon as removable, two or three days old, at from 2/. to
21. 10s. each. During the winter the cows, although mostly dry,
or at any rate not giving much milk, are well fed, viz. long hay
or straw, and 56 lbs. of swedes, given whole to the cows, and
sliced or fingered for the heifers, with 3 lbs. of mixed cotton-
and linseed-cake. In summer, cows in full milk have as much
as 6 lbs. a day of decorticated cotton-cake. This extremely
liberal scale of feeding explains the extraordinary amount of

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 521

Fig. 1.—Plan of Dearnford Hall Farm Homestead.

FLOWERS ASHRUBS;

H
'
!
’ '
’ ' 2
’ ' '
s ' 1
ai ' 1
=z! « H
J H ' :
5} WN t :
wi LA ‘ ' 1
. ' ' '
4 H :
‘ - :
‘ ' :
: t
hii’ ; H
ns '
Bek pe :
= re ——————— =
~ ™ a ' Hit
os SR ela a ---~, ! :
Sho SSS a Ds KITCHEN} | GARDEN.
a H
t
'
H
7

SCALE
® 0 20 30 40 6& COM
ee

1. Dutch-barn. 16. Piggeries.
2. Shed. 17. Gig.
3. Garden. 18. Cart-shed.
4. Drinking-pool. 19. Closets.
5. Calves. 20. Ducks.
6, 6, 6. Cows. 21. Yard.
7, Mixing-room, 22. Kennel.
8. Roots. 23. Coals.
9. Young cattle, 24. Yard.
10. Sows’ yard. 25. Room.
11', 11’. Young cattle, 26. Kitchen.
12. Box. 27. Dairy whey.
13. Cart-stable. 28. Hall.
14, Hack-stable. 29, Press-house.

15. Manure yard. 30, Dining-room.

2my 2

522 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

stock kept. For though the cows are turned out to grass by
the 24th of April, only 75 acres of grass are provided for the
summer grazing of 50 cows, 4 horses at night, and the young
calves. The heifer calves are always setoned in the breast
when from six to eight months old, as a preventive against
black-leg or quarter-evil, which was the cause of considerable
loss previous to this treatment. Only one solitary case has
occurred since. The young cattle are wintered in a well-
sheltered yard, with a good shelter-shed suitable for the
purpose, and forming part of the alterations carried out on Mr.
Nunnerley’s entry. Their winter food comprises barley straw,
cut turnips, and 3 Ibs. of linseed-cake daily. In summer they
depend upon their own resources in a good grass field. The cows
during winter are tied up in pairs in a well ventilated cowhouse,
which is well arranged as to mangers, &c.; but the space,
6 feet, between the stalls is decidedly narrow for large cows ;
and, as one of the judges remarked, would have been better if
6 inches wider. The weaning calves, 13 in number, were a
thriving, coloury lot. We found them in May in a small
paddock of excellent grass, close to the homestead, having a
little skim-milk, with linseed-cake first soaked in water, sliced
mangolds, meal, &c. On the occasion of our second visit we
found cheese-making in full swing. A special description of
sour cheese for the Manchester market is made, acidity being
obtained by adding a small quantity of old (sour milk). Blue
mould forms rapidly, and this class of cheese can be sold at
from six to eight weeks old. Delicate and careful manipulation

is required in the process, but with Mrs. Nunnerley’s careful and.

systematic management success is ensured. About one-third of
the cream from the night’s milk is removed. This comparatively
large proportion is justified by the high condition in which the
cows are kept. Indeed, it is probable that the cheese would
not be of such uniform quality, and would be more difficult to
manipulate, if more cream were retained. The usual price
obtained is 70s. a cwt. of 121 lbs. In 1882 the price was 66s.;
in 1883, 70s.

Accurate accounts are kept, from which the following facts

as to dairy produce for 1882 and 1883 have been supplied :—

1882. =O as 1883. “£ oS
Cheese from 50 Cows 767 12 O| Cheese from 47 Cows 766 2 0
Butter es oe etloy 0 Ov) menue: t. 168 7 4
Whey valued at 50s. a Whey valued at 50s. a
Cow Sri ee) 020 Cow © ss ojnd) <_opnte ot peel ina opaa
Calves sold ~ 82 18 0 | Calves sold L110. 10.30
Calves reared, 12 calves 27. 24 O 0O| Calvesreared, 15 calves 2. 30° 0 ©
221. 14s. Td. per Cow 1136 10 O 251. 7s 2d. per Cow 119119 4

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 523

The foregoing are remarkable figures, indicating results pro-
bably almost unique in the experience of cheese-makers. The
yield of 1882 was at the rate of 4 cwt. 2 qrs. 22 lbs. per cow.
The actual weight of cheese in 1883 was 26,074 lbs., which gives
an average per cow of 4cwt. 3 qrs. 22 lbs. No registry of milk
is kept, but the cheese averages as many gallons of milk, inas-
much as a gallon of such milk will undoubtedly make a
pound of cheese. Comparing the return of 1883 with that
of a milk-selling farm, we must deduct from the total the sum
which would be received for calves sold at birth, assumed
to be 100/., and we have 10917. 19s. 4d. as the amount realised
for Mr. Nunnerley’s milk, which works out a fraction over
10d. a gallon.*

In connection with the dairy, and as evidence that the value
of the whey has not been exaggerated, I append the pig account
for 1883. A capital sort of white middle-breed pigs is kept.
At the visit in January we found six sows and produce, and

five bought pigs.

Be ah
Amount received for pigs sold) .. .. 37014 6
Do. do. *extraan'stock... s). 6) -63,.0

6

0

377-0
iess;cost of pies bought... ... .. .. | 80: 6
296 14 6
Corn and meal consumed £118 16 0
Whey at 50s.acow .. 11710 O
——_——_ 236 6 90

Balance proit <. ©". ) ss 200 8) 6

* As a means of testing the accuracy of the figures supplied by Mr. Nunnerley,
he has, at the request of the Judges, weighed the milk yielded on a given day,
June 12, 1884, and the cheese produced from it on June 26, 14 days after
manufacture.

Total weight of milk from 49 cows and heifers 1735 lbs.

Quantity of cream removed for butter .... 193 ,,
for cheese-making oe PLTG SEs
This measured 173 gallons.
_ Two cheeses weighed on June 26 eo sone WA Moke

5 Butter from cream off milk cc PORN ae 9 ,,

, - SUELO V MMC cca Yea, Misch sil aa 42) ss
eee ae ee Tait ae 2 lbs. of butter
per cow per week.

The average yield of milk per cow equals 142 quarts.
: a animals comprised 31 adult cows, seven 3-year-old and eleyen 2-year-old
eifers.
This test was applied after a long drought, and when the pastures were
becoming very bare.

524 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

The food comprises meal of various kinds soaked in whey.
The troughs and feeding shoots of Staffordshire ware are clean,
convenient, and economical of food.

A small flock of well-bred Shropshire sheep and their fol-
lowers are kept as accessory to the dairy, which is the great
business of the farm. In January we found 38 ewes and 28 ewe-
lambs, the latter having been served. The character of these
sheep was very good. They were on grass, getting } a lb. of
cake. There were also 35 tup-lambs (from which the best had
been sold in the autumn for breeding purposes) intended for the
butcher, which we found folded on the turnip-field and gnawing
the roots, and getting the extraordinary allowance of 1} lbs. of
cake and peas with hay. This was the only weak feature of the
management. It must be false economy to make lambs that are
shedding their teeth gnaw swedes; either they would not do so
well, or they might do better with less food if the roots were
cut. When this was pointed out, Mr. Nunnerley at once
recognised the force of our objection, and altered his practice,
with decided advantage to his sheep. At our second visit we
found 61 ewes and 74 lambs. Twenty of the shearlings had
proved in lamb, and Mr. Nunnerley was in favour of the
innovation, which, with his liberal treatment, will no doubt
answer. Not only is there a decided gain in having production
fowarded a year, but it is probable that the young ewes will do
better the second year. Besides a good pasture, mangolds were
supplied, and 14 lbs. of artificial food per ewe, consisting of a
mixture of linseed-cake, undecorticated cotton-cake, Indian corn,
and rice-meal. This liberal supply was slightly increased as the
lambs commenced to eat. Considering the large allowance of
artificial food, the lambs were’ not so big or so forward as might
have been expected, and Mr. Nunnerley thinks that oats instead
of Indian corn would have done the lambs better, which we
should think probable.

The 60 acres of arable land are farmed mainly on a four-
course shift, and the maximum produce of which the land is
capable by good cultivation and high manuring obtained,

The following are the yield of various crops per acre :—

1882. 1883.

Wheat 28 bu. of 75 lbs.=35_ bu. of 60 lbs. | Wheat 35 bu. of 75 lbs. = 43? bu. of 60 Ibs.
Barley 30 bu. of 70 lbs. =374 bu. of 56 Ibs. | Barley 30 bu. of 70 lbs. = 374 bu. of 56 lbs.

Oats 45 bu. of 50 lbs. = 53} bu. of 42 lbs. | None grown.

Potatoes 9 tons. Potatoes 11 tons.
Mangolds 22 tons. Mangolds 28 tons.'
Swedes 20 tons. | Swedes 20 tons.
Green Globes 19 tons. Green Globes 22 tons.

The seeds, from Messrs. James Dickson and Sons, of Chester,
generally remain down for one year only. The usual mixture

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 525

comprises red clover, alsike, white Dutch, cow-grass, and 4 bushel
Italian rye-grass. Field No. 22, 7a. 3r., and part of No. 10, about
6 acres, comprise the seed-break this year. The crop in both cases
was as good as possible. In No. 22, the young seeds after barley
were top-dressed in the autumn with well-rotted farmyard-manure,
followed in December by a mixture of equal parts of bone-meal
and superphosphate, at the rate of 5 cwt. per acre, at a cost of
25s. -Grazed with ewe-hoggs up to Christmas, rested till the be-
ginning of March, then fed by ewes and lambs up to the begin-
ning of May, and with a little rain, there was the certainty of an
abundant crop by the middle of July ; indeed, given clean land,
as this is, and a good plant, it would be a matter of surprise if
such treatment did not produce great results. On our last visit,
July 10, these seeds were still growing, the rye-grass was just
coming into flower, and the clover was partly in flower. One of
the Judges, viewing the field from a distance, not unnaturally re-
marked that it was a splendid crop of barley. We never remember
to have seen any crop of such bulk, which we estimated at from
24 to 3 tons per acre. No. 24, 14a. Or. 12p., consisting of oats
and wheat, were excellent crops, and with a favourable finish
- must yield very largely. No. 18, 8a. 2r. lp., was a capital field of
awnless barley, quite as much as could stand. The 6 acres of
No. 10, not having been grazed since Christmas, and having had,
like the others, 5 cwt. of bone-meal, &c., was a sight to see, so
thick, full of clovers, and forward. This must cut a big crop
whatever the weather might be. At our last visit in July we
found a splendid fog grazed with the lambs, having 1 lb. a head
of common cotton-cake daily. They had been dipped and dressed —
with Morris’s fly-powder, and were thriving and much grown.
The root-break, on the judicious handling of which so much of
the success of the rotation depends, occupied this year No. 23,
12a. 4p., and 4 acres of the lower part of No. 10. In the former
case, the wheat-stubble was well cultivated, then ploughed with
a deep furrow. It was cultivated across in spring and well
worked, bouted up, and 10 to 11 tons of farmyard-manure
applied, on which were sown broadcast across the drills 4 cwt. of
superphosphate and 2 ewt. of guano. Swedes, supplied by Carter
and Co., were just peeping when we saw them in May. The
land was in splendid condition, as fine as a garden, and perfectly
clean. These swedes were much punished by dry weather and
fly, but, owing to condition and tilth, pulled through, and were
established and growing well in July, promising a first-rate crop.
The 4 acres of No. 10 consisted of 24 acres of Magnum Bonum
potatoes grown with a heavy dressing of foldyard-manure, 4 cwt.
of kainit, and 2 ewt. of guano, which should secure a crop on
this, the lightest and weakest field of the farm, and 14 acres of

526 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

Dickson’s Yellow Globe Mangolds, which in May were well up
but showing the presence of the old enemy, whose eggs were to
be found on the under-sides of the leaves. Not a root-weed
could be seen, and the condition of the land was perfect.
These roots were nearly meeting in the rows when we saw
them in July, their growth having been assisted by a cwt. per
acre of nitrate of soda after the first hoeing. The corn of all
kinds was looking most promising, dark in colour, thick on the
ground, and, save for a good deal of charlock in one field, quite
clean, all dressed with nitrate of soda. The barley, about
8 acres, occupying the middle of No. 10, suffered severely from
drought, the thin soil not having sufficient moisture; hence the
corn had come at twice, was uneven, and could not yield a large
crop. This was the only weak crop, and it was owing to cir-
cumstances over which the tenant had no possible control; for,
in May, this crop was all that could be desired. Admirable as
is the management of the arable land, which is mainly worked
by two good horses, the greatest credit is, in our opinion, due
to Mr. Nunnerley for the excellent and improving condition of
the pastures, which are not specially fertile by nature, and which
present a very improving appearance. ‘The heavy dressing of
bones no doubt did good service, and the large consumption of
cake, with the application of bone-meal recently, have all con-
tributed to the present close well-grazed sward. We must
particularly notice No. 9, 20a. Ir. 2p., a large cow-pasture
which was laid down five years since, the landlord finding seeds,
(Sutton’s best mixture) with 5 cwt. of bone fertilizer ; second
year a heavy dressing of well-rotted farmyard manure, and last
year 5 cwt. of bone-meal. It has been twice mown, and is
wonderfully well knit together, and carries a quantity of stock
for its age, which we have never seen exceeded. It is well
watered by a stream on one side. We must notice No. 6,
16a, 2r. 11p., which was intended for hay, and promised a good
crop ; it was grazed up to April 10th, and was then dressed with
5 ewt. of bone-meal and 1 cwt. of nitrate of soda: 5 ecwt. of
bones was applied five years ago, and it has not been mown
since. With seasonable rain, this should have proved a heavy
crop of first-rate quality ; as a matter of fact, the crop was light
owing only to the long dry weather. This, with the 14 acres of
seeds, is the usual quantity provided for hay. As a rule, the
meadow-land is dressed with 5 cwt. of bone-meal, 5 ewt. of
superphosphate, and 1 cwt. of nitrate of soda per acre—a treat-
ment that certainly more than replaces the loss of material
withdrawn in the hay-crop.

Labour.—With so much stock, and everything in such excel-
lent order, it is not surprising that the cost of labour per acre is

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 527

rather high, and beyond the ordinary range of pasture-farms in
the district.

£ sid.
Wages of labourers .. .. 153 6 2
Servants wages .. ., .. 6719 0

Food for 3 men and 2 women 100 OU 0O

321 5 2=to 35s. an acre.

The outlay for purchased foods and manures in 1883 reached
over 650/., made up of—

£ 5a Oe
Cornand meal .. 317 2 9)Giving an average outlay
Caress. 5... ..4 o221 5. Tr under these, heads job
Manures aoe L0G, Oo. 4) ca 9: 0. an acre.

It will suffice to mention that the valuation of stock and
crops on January Ist, 1884, after deducting debts and liabilities,
amounts to 2447/. 2s., which proves that a working capital of
at least 137. an acre was employed, and, though we refrain
from publishing actual figures, we are enabled to state that
Mr. Nunnerley’s intelligent and enterprising management has
resulted in highly satisfactory results. Some idea of what is
accomplished may be gathered from the fact that the gross
receipts from the farm come to between 12/. and 13/. an acre.
The notable point in the management of Dearnford Hall Farm,
and which it is desirable should be fully realised by dairy farmers,
is the fact, that Mr. Nunnerley makes a larger return by good
dairy practice than would be possible by selling milk under the
most favourable conditions. ‘That this return is obtained almost
entirely in summer, when the cost of production is at a
minimum ; and that, together with a system of feeding which
is equal to that of most milk-farms, he retains on the farm
the whey containing most of the mineral constituents of milk ;
and this and the manure-value of the grain consumed by a large
number of feeding pigs, must greatly increase the value of his
manure. All this was abundantly evident in the excellence of
the crops and the condition of the live stock. There is a danger
at the present time that the supply of milk may exceed the
demand ; indeed, competition has in many instances reduced
prices to a point leaving little profit to the producer. It is,
therefore, most important to prove that at least equally good
returns are possible by first-class cheese and butter farming. In
Mr. Nunnerley’s management every branch of farm economy
shows care and judgment. The land is clean, both arable and
pasture. The fences, which were extremely neglected when the
farm was taken, are tidy and well trimmed, and are as com-

528 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

plete as it is possible to make them. Nor must we omit to
notice the beautifully kept and tastefully arranged pleasure and
kitchen gardens—fit surroundings to the comfortable and im-
posing-looking residence, with fine old trees in the background.
The buildings, though not in any way special or remarkable,
are conveniently arranged, and accommodate the very large
stock kept. And with such a highly qualified manager as
Mrs. Nunnerley it is almost needless to say that the arrange-
ments of the dairy are admirable.

An extraordinary outlay in labour, food, and manure is incurred,
and we may add in rent and rates. Every portion of the work
is well done: the land is clean, the stock all good of their kind,
and the profits large. The great secret of success is judicious
high feeding. Consuming the summer keep in the most econo-
mical manner allows of very heavy stocking. The areas of hay
crops are small, but the yield is large. It must not be forgotten
that one important element is the skill exercised in the manu-
facturing department, and Mr. Nunnerley is specially fortunate
in having in his wife a lady who thoroughly understands and
looks after her share of the work. We had the pleasure on our
second visit of meeting Mrs. Nunnerley’s father, a gentleman who
is himself a large dairy farmer, and evidently thoroughly under-
stands his business; and it was evident that Mrs. Nunnerley’s
training in her important part of the business had not been
neglected. May we not add that the business at Dearnford Hall,
both outside and inside, does not suffer from the fact that it is in
the hands of a lady and gentleman of refinement and education :
here, at any rate, there is no evidence that these desirable attri-
butes may not be combined with the most intelligent attention
to everyday work. Mrs. Nunnerley makes the cheese, and her
husband takes his share of the work outside.

Cuass I.—Srconp Prize.

Mr. John Batho, of Winston, near Ellesmere.

Grass” (4 9°20". 7? LOE aeres
Arablé +. US" AV Oe Se
Total °ov “vi! 230)

‘

Mr. Batho occupies on a yearly tenure under the Earl of
Brownlow. This is a well-managed dairy farm, where cheese-
making is the chief business.

The cows, ranging from 50 to 55, are milked by four girls,
two men, and Mr. Batho, who always takes his part, and can

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 529

thus see that the work is properly done. The buildings are
commodious and well arranged. The cow-houses are roomy
and well ventilated, most of the cows in winter being housed in
one very big shippon. At the time of our first visit, the tenant
was erecting a capital shed, with an iron roof, to shelter two
yards. Here we found the only instance of a wind engine,
3-horse power, which, as the buildings are open to every wind,
is found very useful, and answers perfectly for grinding,
chopping, and pulping. The hopper is large, and, being filled
up at night, the work goes on whenever there is wind. There
is a large Dutch barn, put up by the tenant. At our first visit,
in January, the horned stock comprised 50 cows, 2 bulls,
10 two-year-old heifers in-calf, 7 feeding drapes, 20 yearling
heifers—making a total of 89 head of horned stock. The
yearlings have hay and a small quantity of roots. The heifer
calves are supplied as soon as they will eat, with ground oats,
cotton- and oil-cake mixed, which are continued till they go out
to grass the second year, after which no artificial food is given.
Great losses have occurred from abortion, for which Mr. Batho
can give no reason; but after seeing the nature of much of the
pasture land, which is on a peaty soil, and bearing in mind the
character of late seasons, it is probable that grasses affected by
fungoid diseases, and especially Ergot, may have caused the
evil. Very rarely are the services of the veterinary surgeon
required, home treatment being preferred ; and with the excep-
tion of slinking, the stock have been healthy. All liquid
manure from the sheds is conveyed to adjoining grass land by
pipes, and is considered to do much good.

The dairy is provided with a warm chamber, in which the
cheeses are placed in winter for two days when newly made,
which helps to ripen them. The cheeses, after being pressed,
are carefully bound with calico, and tissue-paper on the top.
The cheese-room is warmed by pipes and hot air. The whey,
from which cream is skimmed, comes from a tank in the
cheese-room into a vat by the piggeries. The latter comprise
covered and open pens. Over the former is a granary, and at
one end a drying floor for damp grain, made of perforated iron,
the fire being placed in the stye under. In the centre of the range
is a store-room for meal, &c., in which the whey vat is placed.
The feeding-shoots are of Staffordshire (Buckley Mountain)
ware, and the troughs are sheltered by a pent-house. Pigs are
largely kept during the cheese-making period. The bull calves
are sold as soon as is practicable, making about 2/. each. The
rearers are usually allowed to suck the cows for three weeks or a
month, and then old milk is given cold, after being scalded and
mixed with meal and spice. As soon as possible they are induced

530 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

to eat cake, kibbled oats, hay, and mangolds. In hot weather they
have the shelter of the yards in the day, and lie out at night, so
as to be protected as far as possible from flies. We saw on our
second yisit in May a capital lot of 19, all thriving, and many
nearly weaned. ‘These calves were much grown, and evidently
thriving extremely well. Two were lost in the interval.

Fig. 2.—Plan of Winston Farm Buildings.

mi

budedbbtddbed

1. Calves’ house. 10. Hack-stable. 20. Offices.
io 11. Young stock. 21. Sitting-room.
3. Cutting-room. 12. Gig. 22. Kitchen.

4. Mill. | 13. Harness 23. Vessels.

5. Dutch barn. | 14. Box. 24, Press-room. ~
6. Bay. | 15. Bulls’ box. } 25. Bakery.

6a. Barn 16. Implements. 26. Coal.

7. Srable 17. Carts. 27. Ashes.

8. Waggons. 18. Parlour. 28. Fowls.

9. Loose-box. | 19, Pantry. 29. Piggeries,

Possibly this may have arisen from chill when turned out,
which we consider questionable policy. They were having
a mixture of bean-meal, linseed-oil cake and bran. The herd
of cows then numbered 55 head, 10 of which were still to calve.

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 531

They were mostly out at grass, but had only been in the pastures
since May 12th, as Winston is not a forward country, and it is
considered desirable to get a good bite. These cows have the
run of 90 acres, shared, honare by the working horses, 7 in
number, which are turned out at night. The cows are a very
practical lot, mostly of shorthorn type, with here and there
a dash of Ayrshire, all having well-formed udders and good
milking qualities. They have from 3 to 4 lbs. a day of
decorticated cotton-cake given at milking time. One red cow,
six years old, a great favourite, gave 11,000 Ibs. weight of milk
last year, which is equal to 1100 gallons of milk; and calcu-
lating that a gallon of milk will produce a pound of cheese, we
have 9 ewt. 3 qrs. 8 lbs. of cheese—a most extraordinary pro-
duction. She was looking thin and out of sorts, having been
much pulled down by twins in calving. These twins, when
rubbed dry, weighed 142 lbs.* In the case of large milkers,
when there is risk of fever, especially in hot weather, a part
of the milk is drawn for a few days before calving, and the
calf is left with the cow for three days, and care is exercised

that the milk is never completely drained, as this checks the

flow. Another precaution in hot weather is to keep the cows
in during the day, and only turn them out at night. In the
case of cows calving in winter or early spring, that is before
they are turned out to grass, the calf is removed after having
been licked. Most of the cows are reared, being by a short-
horn bull, selected from a good milking herd. We saw a
yearling and a younger bull. The former was bred by Mr. J. |
Edwards, of Foxhill, and looked quite a likely sort to carry

* As in the case of Mr. Nunnerley, we obtained from Mr. Batho the poe of
his cows, on June 12, 1884.
42 Cows produced i adem ser este LOSO)1bs. of milk:
Deduct .. os es of oF os 100 ,, given to 8 reared calves.

——

1586 _,,
which, calculating 10 lbs. of milk to a gallon, equals 158 gallons and 6 lbs. of milk.
This yielded 210 Ibs. of curd when salted.
Cheese weighed on June 26, 1884 « Lod lbs
Butter from allsources .. .. «2 op +
Given an average per cowof.. .. .. 1 Ib. 54 oz. per week.

The animals yielding this milk comprise § 33 Adult cows.
8 Heifers 3 years old.
1 do. 2 years old.
42
Remainder of stock consisting of—
5 heifers suckling calves.
4 cows to calve.
4 do. fattening.

55

532 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

on and improve the herd. When Mr. Batho first occupied
Winston, he lost in the first year 9 or 10 young animals from
quarter-evil. He has found putting setons in the breast an entire
preventive—an experience which we found generally confirmed.
Mr. Batho told us that 60 gallons of milk in the autumn would
make 77 lbs. of cheese, because milk is then at its richest, and
will yield 20 per cent. more produce, either as butter or cheese,
than during the first flush of grass in spring and early summer ;
but for the whole season he considered a gallon of milk for
a pound of cheese was very near the mark. As regards cheese-
making, Mrs. Batho, whom we should judge to be a proficient
in the art, described the work as very hard; and this not so
much physically as mentally, the responsibility of the dairy-
maid is so great. It is not pleasant, she observed, when things
do not go right. Judging from our observation, we should
think this a very exceptional case at Winston. The yearling
heifers which we saw in the fold-yard at our first visit, we found
out at grass, with no extra food, looking in very good state, and
a useful lot, to be served in July, so as to calve down at two
years old.

The sheep stock comprise a flock of a hundred Shropshire
ewes. Part of the lambs are sold fat in the summer. The
whole are winter-grazed on pasture land, having a few roots
supplied. Lambs are not shorn, as they make bigger prices
when sold in spring. Ewe lambs are not put to the ram.
Winston is probably too cold and backward a country for such
a practice to be successful, and natural food is almost entirely
relied on in the summer.

The stock at our visits in January and May were as follows :—

CaTTLE.
January. May.
50 Cows. 51 Cows.

7 Feeding drapes. 4 Do. barren and feeding.
10 2-year old Heifers, 19 Yearling Heifers,
20 Yearling Heifers, 19 Weaning calves,

2 Bulls. 2 Bulls.

89 95
SHEEP.
100 Ewes. 94 Ewes.
44 Ewe hoggs, 148 Lambs.
42 Wethers. 44 Ewe hoggs,
3 Rams,
189 286
Pias,

56

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 533

Hokrsss.
January. May.
4 Waggon Horses. | 6 Waggon Horses (2 years).
2 ee Colts broken. 1 Cob Pony.
1 Cob Pony. 1 Hack,
1 Nag
8 8

The arable land is chiefly worked on a four-course shift,
which is, however, not rigidly adhered to. Roots are usually
all carted off, in order to supply the requirements of a heavy
stock of cattle, although the land is quite suitable for feeding
on with sheep, and the cost of hauling both roots off, and extra
manure back to some of the more distant fields must be a serious
expense. It is quite certain that at least one-third of the crop,
which has been produced at such a heavy cost, might with
advantage be consumed on the ground by sheep. The swedes,
from seed obtained from a grower in Somersetshire, were regular
and very heavy. The average yield of cereal crops as given us
is: Black Oats, 50 to 80 bushels (the latter return being from
land recently broken up) ; Wheat, 35 bushels of 60 Ibs. ; Barley,
40 to 46 bushels of 561bs. These are large returns, and prove
the condition and quality of the soil, especially when it is
understood that the outlay in purchased foods and manures is
under 18s. an acre.

To descend to particulars :—We found the clovers and seeds
generally a good plant. Those for hay promising a fair yield,
especially if soon favoured with rain, In a piece of 12 acres
were two-year-old seeds, in which were the ewes and singles,
a capital lot. This field had been dressed with 4 cwt. of mineral
phosphate and 50 lbs. of nitrate of soda. As the land is rather
strong, and not very near the buildings, it is under considera-
tion not to plough this again, in which case, renovating-seed§
would be applied, and there is every prospect of a good sward
being established. Another field of 10 acres seeds, grazed by
ewes and double lambs, without extra food; a good plant.
A large field which was laid for hay after having been heavily
grazed in the spring, followed by a dressing of 2 ewt. per acre
of Liebig’s manure, was promising and produced a heavy crop.
All the grass seeds were supplied by Messrs. Carter and Co.

A field by the house which was formerly a rough and sour
pasture, broken up by permission three years ago, and sown
with black oats, yielded very heavy crops. As at present
arranged, it is to be relaid after a course of crops, but con-
sidering the light nature of the soil, which is unsuitable for
grass, and the proximity to the buildings, we expressed a
strong opinion that it would be much better to keep down
instead the 12-acre piece of two-year-old seeds, as proposed.

534 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

This field was partly in wheat, planted on the Lois Weedon
system, z.c. 3 rows, 8 inches apart, and an equal interval,
which allows of thorough cultivation. The plants were vigorous
and promising. In July this crop was extremely luxuriant,
and if it stands and does not blight—contingencies entirely
depending on weather—there must be a very grand produce.
The rest of the field was in mangolds and potatoes ; it had been
manured, and dressed with from 2 to 5 cwt. of phosphates and
1 cwt. of nitrate of soda. Both crops were excellent.

Close to the buildings were two fields, about 22 acres in
extent, being prepared for, and partly sown with, roots. In
both cases the corn stubbles were steam cultivated in the autumn
and spring, then well worked by horse-power, ridged, and
manured with 12 tons per acre of farmyard-manure, and 5 cwt.
of Vicker’s nitro-phosphate—a manure costing 4/.aton. The
Jand was clean and well worked. The favourable weather at
the end of June and first week of July, when this district was
visited by refreshing thunder-rains, had given these roots a
splendid start, and we found them more than ready for
singling, and well established.

The barley and wheat-fields, which were not looking well on
our second visit, had greatly improved in July, and both pro-
mised very full crops. The wheat, which had suffered from late
frosts, had been dressed with 1 ewt. per acre of nitrate of soda.

The barley and oats, beyond the canal, were splendid crops.
Indeed the whole of the corn only required fine weather to
ensure satisfactory results.

The great feature of management at Winston to which we call
particular attention, is the treatment of the grass-land, of which
a hundred acres rest on pure peat: this is not naturally by any
means rich, and is liable to become covered in a short time with
ant-hills and Tussac grass. ‘This was the condition of things
when Mr. Batho commenced his tenancy in 1877; and a large
outlay in what is locally known as bogging and burning (i.e.
digging out the Tussac grass, &c., burning the same, and spread-
ing the ashes), and in the seed of Timothy grass to cover the bare
spaces, has been incurred each year, until, at the present time,
the land is comparatively clear of these pests. The average
cost of such work is 30s. an acre, and requires repetition every
six or seven years. The cost of labour is materially increased
in consequence. But Mr. Batho stated his belief that the
benefit derived from the ashes repaid the whole cost. ‘The whole
of this peat land is capable of subsoil irrigation by the damming
up of a stream which runs through and round the fields, and
which, by means of flood-gates or sluices, can be arrested at dif-
ferent points of its course. The land is drained at intervals of
30 yards, the outfalls being into this stream. The drains become

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 535

the media by which the water is conducted wherever the level
allows, and so perfect is their action, and so porous the peat,
that after the water has been held up for a short time it can be
found anywhere within this limit practically at the same level
as it stands in theditch. This is a most valuable arrangement,
ensuring a supply of moisture to the roots of the grass and
increasing the growth, especially in dry hot seasons, and is
preferable to surface irrigation, which would render the surface
spongy, and require also removal of the stock when the water was
being applied. Although this is the first really dry spring since
Mr. Batho’s tenancy, he considers that irrigation adds largely
to his resources of summer food ; and, curious to relate, his pre-
decessor never availed himself of irrigation, and would not
hear of the water being dammed up. The fresh appearance of
these meadows in July, and the abundance of grass notwith-
standing the heavy stock, was evidence of the great value of
this irrigation. The water is applied first on May 12th and
the dams are shifted about throughout thesummer. Bones have
been tried repeatedly on the peat, but do no good whatever.
We were pointed out a portion of the cow pasture where five
years since 8 cwt. of bone-meal was applied per acre; no effect
was visible. Mr. Batho finds 4 or 5 ewt. of a highly soluble
mineral phosphate most efficacious, but even this fails to produce
clover. The worst field of the lot, 214 acres, was in meadow
this year. It was bogged and burnt during the winter—
indeed the work was proceeding at our first visit—and in the
spring dressed with 3 cwt. mineral phosphate and 3 cwt. of
nitrate of soda. A vast mass of tree-roots, mainly fir, have been
stubbed out, and it is evident that this and probably most of the
low land was at one time in forest, and the present herbage is
nothing more than the wood pasture improved by cultivation.
The drainage was done 21 years since, with Government
money, pipes and collars being used. Recently these have been
dragged out by the landlord, and were in many cases blocked up
with Red Rag (Peroxide of Iron), which is usually abundant
in peaty soils. This opportune work will greatly increase
efficiency both for drainage and irrigation purposes. We were
particularly struck with the good management of this grass-
land, which was covered with good herbage and evenly grazed,
whereas, if neglected and starved, it would rapidly degenerate ;
and we were surprised to learn that it is perfectly safe for sheep
at all times of the year. The mowing ground comprises 25
acres of meadow and 12 acres of clover, as nearly as can be
arranged.

Labour is economically managed, and a total of 330/. a year,

VOL. XX.—s. 8. 2N

536 ‘The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

or 23s. per acre, appears extremely reasonable for a dairy farm;
but it must be remembered that Mr. Batho is a worker himself,
and is ably seconded by one of his sons, whilst Mrs. Batho anda
daughter do their part indoors. The ordinary staff comprises
two labourers at 14s. a week wages, with food on threshing
days, and two waggoners. One cowman and a lad are hired to
live in the house. Their joint wages amount to 52/. 10s., and
the girl’s wages and extra outlay makes up the total money

payments to 1817. 16s. 11d.

£ os. d.

Money payments for labour... .. .. 181 16 11
Food for 4 men and 3 women minvato &25n00n @
Extra Food in Harvest, &c... .. .. 25 5 0
£330): bell

Mr. Batho keeps accurate accounts as regards income and
outlay, but has not hitherto made any valuation of stock at the
beginning and end of the financial year; but assuming that the
value remains pretty constant, we can assure our readers that the
result of Mr. Batho’s highly practical and intelligent manage-
ment was not unsuccessful in that particular which the Society
very justly considers of leading importance.* Considering the
moderate outlay on foods and manures purchased, viz., under
250/., a gross return of nearly 8/. an acre for dairy produce,
stock and corn sold, is a remarkable result, which we can
vouch for as having been realised in 1883.

It is not easy to institute a comparison between the Dairy
Returns at Dearnford Hall and Winston. Assuming the figures
below to represent, as we believe to be the fact, the produce of
50 cows, and that the whey is worth 50s. a cow, as was proved
in the other case, and that 40/. is charged as the value of
the rearing calves at birth, we have,—

£ os. d.
Cheese and butter sold andin stock .. 78615 4
Calves sold and reared .. .. .. .. 14114 O
Value of whey from 50 cows at 2/.10s.... 125 0 O

£1053 9 4

This gives an average of 21/. 1s. 4d. as the produce per cow
at Winston against 25/. 7s. 2d. for the same year at Dearnford
Hall. And it must be remembered that we are assuming a very

* General management with a view to profit.

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 537

high value for the whey, bearing in mind the great difference in
the food of the animals; for whilst in one case the outlay for
purchased food and manure is under 18s. an acre, in the other
it reaches the extraordinary total of 3/. 9s. an acre, by which a
much heavier stock is kept per acre of land, and the produce is
undoubtedly richer. Both are very largely above the average,
and such practice may well be carefully considered by dairy-
farmers in detail, and by the farming community in general, as
indicating lines in which British Agriculture may hope to face
the future, viz., by increasing the quantity of grass-land, and
keeping more breeding and rearing stock.

Cxiass I.—Hiauty COMMENDED.

Mr: Charles Holme, Burley Fields and Hill Farms, Stafford.

A. i es

Grass TEAR Ss Pe Vm EY
ae wt wf Glee |S
BNotalWsieMEN piek (opt sie ence 44s 32.99

This farm is held on yearly tenure under Lord Stafford.
Much of the land is a strong tenacious clay. The grass-land is
mostly of good quality, suitable for dairy purposes, and much of
the produce is sent to Stafford, one mile distant, where it is re-
tailed by Mr. Holme. There are two sets of buildings, as nine
years ago the occupation was increased by the addition of another
farm. ‘Two years since the buildings of the latter were entirely
destroyed by fire, and were rebuilt principally on Mr. Holme’s
designs. Both are so well arranged that we reproduce them
(Figs. 3 and 4, pp. 538 and 543).

Special attention should be directed to the excellent accom-
modation for young stock in the centre of the square (Fig. 3) ;
the covered and open spaces allow of shelter and exercise, and
the feeding passage down the centre of the covered part is
economical of food and labour. The cowhouses, which are
roomy and well arranged in connection with the food-supply,
accommodate 36 animals, besides two calf-houses, bull’s-house,
&e. At the north-east corner of the building are the mixing-
house, turnip store, and engine house, with hayloft over; and
outside, but communicating, an open court for the reception
and preservation of grains, which are largely used. The court
is divisible by movable wooden partitions into three compart-

2N 2

538

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

Fig. 3.—Plan of Burley Fields Homestead.

$2 GOI SUR go bo et

. Mixing-room.

Turnip-house.
Engine-house.
Feeding passage.
Cow-house.
Bulls’-box.

. Cart shed.
. Loose-box.
. Rick-yard.
. Feeding passage,
Ah

Cow-house.

11a, Fodder-house.

11s. Calf-house.

‘12. Covered yard.

13. Open yard,
14. Stable.

15. Pigs.

16. Yard.

17. Fowls.

18. Cattle shed.
19. Harness.

20. Hackney-stable

21. Gig-house.
22. House.

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 539
ments, each holding 2000 bushels. The insides of the walls

are cemented; the grains are carefully packed, and covered
with two inches of cowdung collected from the pastures. Grains
thus stored keep well and can be laid in during summer, when
they are cheap. The court is, in fact, a species of silo for grains,
and answers admirably. As regards the house, the dairy and
kitchen are very inadequate for the requirements of a large farm ;
and both here and at the outlying buildings Dutch barns for the
preservation of both hay and corn would be most valuable addi-
tions. The cows are carefully selected for milking qualities, and
principally bred on the farm, with occasional purchases to main-
tain the necessary supply of milk for sale, which averages about
60 gallons a day. The additional produce is made into butter
for the market and a little cheese for the house. The cows are
of Shorthorn character, a pedigree bull from a good milking dam
being used. In winter the cows are tied up in the shippon,
but go out every day, weather permitting, for exercise. The
calves are removed at birth, have new milk for three or four
weeks, then old milk, warmed up, with calf-meal previously
scalded. As soon as possible they are taught to eat a little hay,
dust-cake, &c. ; old milk and calf-food are given for two or three
months. Mrs. Holme, who attends to the calves and poultry,
‘told us that after long experience and serious losses, she believes
she can now cure the scour, which she is convinced arises from
the new milk being too rich for the calf’s digestion. The food
is at once changed, a dose of castor oil and laudanum is given to
allay irritation; boiled skim-milk and sago, nearly cold, are substi-
tuted for the new milk; and if this food is too rich, then boiled
* sago alone, also given cold. The second day, and until the -
diarrhea is stopped, one or two table-spoonfuls of the following
mixture, viz. 4 ozs. prepared chalk, 1 oz. grains of paradise,
2 ozs. cummin seed, 2 ozs. aniseed, well mixed in a pint of
starch gruel, to which may be added 20 drops of laudanum.
The calves appeared healthy and thriving. In winter the
cows live entirely on pulped, chopped, and steamed food, except
that twice a day a small quantity of long hay is supplied for the
object of encouraging rumination. The arrangements for the pre-
paration of food are good. The power is supplied by a vertical
engine and boiler, the waste steam being utilised for steaming
chaff and pigs’-food. The cows have pulped food so steamed
twice a day, to which grains and occasionally meal are added, and
2 lbs. a day of mixed cotton and linseed cake at three o'clock.
Roots are liberally used, 84 lbs. to 112 lbs.aday. The swedes
of 1883 were a splendid sample, and Mr. Holme stated they
were proved by measurement to be over 30 tons per acre. The

540 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

hay, old and new, of which there was at our first visit a large
stock, appeared well got and of good quality. At our second
visit we found the cows out at grass, having 2 lbs. of mixed
cake. Mr. Holme considers that in ordinary seasons 3 cows
require 5 acres for pasture. The average quantity of stock
kept will be seen from the inventories taken January 1, 1833

and 1884 :—

CATTLE.

1883.

26 Cows in-calf and milk.
5 Heifers in-calf.
5 Barren cows.
17 Yearling heifers.
6 Yearling bulls.
10 Young calves.
24 Calves.
2 Feeding beasts.
3 Bull stirks.
1 Bull.

99

20 Shropshire ewes in lamb.

80 Cheviot
12 Horned
6 Rams
30 Yearling ewes.

” ”

” ”

148

1883.
17 Horses.

17

1884.

26 Cows in-calf and milk.
10 Heifers in-calf.

6 2-year old do.
14 Barren heifers.
22 Yearling heifers.

8 Young calves.

4 Bullocks.

3 Yearling bulls.

2 Bull stirks.

1 Bull.

4 Feeding beasts.

100

SHEEP.

12 Shropshire ewes in lamb.

91 Cheviots oe 5

14 Horned y 4

34 Yearling cross-bred sheep.
6 Rams.

30 Feeding sheep.

187

Horsss.

1884.

10 Cart horses.
1 Brood mare and foal.
3 Colts.
2 Milk ponies.
1 Bay mare pony.
1 Gelding pony.

18

Mrs. Holme is a capital manager of poultry ; about 120 head
of these useful accessories are kept, and the average produce is

as follows :—

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 541

aks. de

14,600 Eggs, at l4ashilling .. .. .. 52 0 O
40 Couple of fowls sold at ‘4s. 6d. 9 0 0

10 ~—,,_~—s of old do. As. : Z Qie0

18 Geese sold ee Ba
£70 4 0

Mr. Holme carries out the details of the milk business,
delivering to the customers direct—a business which requires
close supervision. The men who deliver are supplied with
books, in which they enter the quantities supplied in different
columns for credit and cash. These books are carefully tested by
the quantity sold, the cash brought in, and the quantity of milk
returned. Mr. Holme or his foreman collects accounts weekly.
Men are encouraged by a gratuity when they get new cus-
tomers. The churns, which are cleverly hung in front of the
axles of the carts, can be locked. The milk-carts, which are
well adapted for their purpose, are a joint production of
Mr. Holme and the Village Blacksmith. The seat is placed
behind, by an iron support from the backs of the shafts; the
whole is well balanced, and passengers are impossible. Price of
the cart, 15/. No refrigerator isemployed, but the milk is cooled
in summer by running water.

On our second visit, in May, the stock comprised—

CATTLE. SHEEP.

46 Cows and heifers in-calf and milk. | 185 Ewes and gimmers,
30 Barren heifers and bullocks for | 225 Lambs.

grazing. 6 Rams.
30 Rearing calves.
15 Feeding beasts.
4 Bulls.
125 ’ 416
Horses, *
10 Waggon horses.
5 Hacks.
1 Brood cart mare and foal.
3 Colts.

20

542 ‘The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

The cropping was as follows :—

ALAR.
Meadow for mowing... 40 3 14
Pasture. = «sas ..4 s2e iio
Grass’ 252 1 14
Wheat>—se 5 3 ign = os,
Oats ee ee 1 bee BR
Barley 2h. ys om ah hn 2-22
Beans Ae UR A BEE a oi.
Peas 126 SOROS te 10.320
Seeds Be Ee TOP A Qaemoute
Pitmaajps!) 52! agile: asad 22) 226
162) Hag
414 .2 22

At this stage of my narrative I introduce a Plan of the Hill
Farm buildings (Fig. 4, p. 543), which are extremely well ar-
ranged. ‘The farm-house with a small quantity of grass-land is
sub-let to a friend of Mr. Holme’s. On our first visit a red cow,
belonging to this gentleman, was pointed out to us grazing in the
field as a wonderful butter-cow, and we were so much impressed
with the dairy character of this animal, and with the record given
of her produce, that we desired more accurate details. Mr. Holme
vouches for the accuracy of the following information :—“ This
cow, which calved in October last, for the first ten weeks after
calving averaged 15 lbs. of butter per week, the next ten weeks,
13 lbs. a week, and at the present time (July 18) (between eight
and nine months after calving) is giving 10 lbs. per week ;”
and Mr. Holme adds, ‘‘ these are positive facts, and the owner
is prepared to make a wager of 50/. that, with plenty of corn,
she would produce 20 lbs. per week for the first ten weeks after
calving.”

The buildings for food preparation are similar, but more
perfect, than Eos at the home-farm, and comprise a roomy
turnip-house, mixing-room, steam-chamber, engine-house, with
granary and hay-lofts over ; cow-houses, with feeding-gangways
for 30 cows, the standings being separated by slabs of Welsh
slate, costing 8s. each, very strong and durable. Two open
yards for young cattle close to the food- -stores, and provided
with good shelter-sheds, stable boxes, cattle-shed with a lean-to,
used as a lambing-house ; bailiffs house, smith’s shop, &e.

This portion of the holding has been occupied nine years,
and great improvements have been made to fences, roads, and
returning to grass some 40 acres of the least desirable tillage-
land; the usual practice being to clean the land by a summer

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

Fig. 4.—Plan of Hill Farm Homestead.

. House.
. Cart shed.

Gig-house.
Hackney-stable.
Calf-house.

Shed.

Bulls’ box.
Feeding passage.
Cow-house.
Rick-yard.
Turnip-house.

. Mixing-house.

. Steam-house.

. Engine.

. Feeding passage.
. Loose box.

. Stables.

. Tackle-room.

. Goose-house.

Yard.

. Open shed.

543

544 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

fallow, to manure it and sow wheat, in which the following seeds
are sown:—10 lbs. cocksfoot, 10 lbs. Timothy, 5 lbs. meadow
fescue, 1 peck of perennial rye-grass, 5 lbs. Dutch clover, 4 lbs.

cow-grass, 2 lbs, perennial red clover, 4 Ibs. alsike, 2 Ibs. trefoil,

and 2 lbs. rib-grass. The seeds were obtained from F. Dixon
and Co., Chester. In the next spring 10 cwt. of 41-inch bones
were applied. The young layers are not mown, but grazed
with light-mouthed sheep and young cattle. The flourishing
appearance of the comparatively young grass (five or six years’
growth), its rich colour and well-knit sward, evidenced the
success of the system. We were shown one field in which a
portion was not clean when laid, and though this was dressed
twice with bones, and the rest only once, it is not half so good,
justifying Mr. Holme’s dictum, that land must be clean before
laying down. All land laid down by the tenant remains as arable,
and is either paid for or ploughed out. Another field adjoining
that last described, which had been laid four years, was so
bad at the time of entry, that Mr. Holme had the option of
breaking, but wisely preferred improvement by consuming cake
with sheep. It has now an excellent face, is full of herbage—
on which sheep thrive better than on the old grass—and is
worth twice as much rent as the strong arable land. Mr. Holme
states that in early days when the farm required help, as much
as 1000 tons of manure had been purchased annually. Nearly
three miles of farm-roads had been made by the tenant with
clinkers and stones from the land. The Hill Farm runs up to
and surrounds the elevated mound, on which are the remains of
Stafford Castle, a ruin dating from the twelfth century, some
portions of which are still well preserved. Below the Castle
are some irrigated meadows, useful both for early food and hay.
The land being so strong, is not well suited for sheep, and in
1872 a large proportion were rotted. Cheviot ewes are bought
in crossed with Long Wool rams, and the produce fed out. This
spring a heavy loss of lambs occurred, attributed to over-feeding,
causing curd in the stomach. The appearance of most of the
grass-land was eminently satisfactory. The crops, on the whole,
were excellent, but some of the tillage-land costs too much labour
to pay; and it is most desirable in the interests of landlord and
tenant that such fields should be laid down as soon as prac-
ticable. We must notice the excellent take of young seeds.
One field laid for hay was extraordinarily bulky. The usual
mixture—4 lbs. red clover, 4 Ibs. cow-grass, 2 lbs. each of alsike,
white clover, and trefoil, and a bushel of rye-grass,—was drilled in
wheat, and this crop was dressed this spring with 6 cwt. of soot
peracre. The other seeds which had been grazed were also excel-
lent, and with rain would doubtless yield heavy crops. Wheat,

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 545

which was chiefly on strong land, had not maintained its early
promise, and was not so good as we expected, rather spindly, and
had evidently been checked by late frosts. 1 may here notice that
in early days marl was very freely used, as is evidenced by the
fact of a marl-pit existing in nearly every field. This was when
wheat paid the rent. The land is naturally much too strong to
be improved by being made stronger. Mr. Holme has liberty
as to growth and sale, but sticks pretty closely to a four-course
rotation. The strong land, except when fallowed, is kept in
butts of 8 feet wide, which allows of work with the minimum
of treading, and ensures that water shall not lie on the surface.
Land is never cross-ploughed, which would be ruinous. So
retentive is the surface that under-drainage is of very little use,
and the whole secret of success is in the narrow lands allowing of
the rapid escape of water. Winter-ploughing is done with four
powerful horses in line. Wheat is always sown broadcast, red
varieties being preferred. Manure made on the farm is chiefly
applied to fallows for wheat. The land intended for roots was
at our second visit partly sown, and partly being worked. This
was one of the stronger fields, and the amount of work which
had been expended in ploughing, scuffling several times with
implements requiring five strong horses to move them, har-
rowing, &c., would make the roots costly, however big the crop.
This field was perfectly clean ; and after rain, necessary to reduce
the cast-iron-like clods, it would be ridged, manured heavily, and
6 ewt. of dissolved bones applied. Digging-ploughs and Stafford-
shire harrows are valuable implements for such land, and power-
ful horses are absolutely necessary. The oats were the most
promising cereals. The great drawback to Mr. Holme’s success
is the heavy and unprofitable outlay on the stronger portions of
the arable land. There is everywhere evidence of excellent
management. The labour is well looked after, though of course
on such a farm it mounts up. It comprises 2 waggoners and 2
boys. The men have 16s. a week, house, and garden, coals
carted, and a quart of small beer daily, and more in harvest.
The beer costs 6d. a gallon. In harvest about 50s. extra money
is given. There are four day-labourers, who have 15s. a week
and cottage, rent free, and beer as above, and 1 foreman, Robert
Sileock, recommended strongly by Mr. Holme. Women are
employed in stone-picking and clod-knocking. The latter
important work is usually done by contract at 4d. an acre.
The ordinary wages of women are 1s. a day, from 8 to 5.
Two cow-men and 2 lads are kept, who deliver milk, clean
their horses, and mix food for the cattle. The labourer and
foreman help to milk, 6 cows being assigned to each man.

546 _ The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

Cuass I.—HicHiy CoMMENDED.

Mr. John Mellings, The Pools, Bromfield, near Ludlow.

As thy eps

Grasso) ea ye See
Arable’ 21 chine TIS P 36
Total’ <e-, ogo snar Be

This farm, principally strong land on the Old Red Sandstone,
is occupied on yearly tenure from Lord Windsor, the present
tenant having succeeded his father (who resides with his son) a
few years since. In the spring of 1882 important additions
were made to the homestead, fitting it for modern requirements.
All leading of materials for this work, as well as for metalling a
road from the highway to the house, and filling up broken
ground in front of the new buildings, was done by the tenant,
whose teams must have been severely taxed to do this extra
work, and the ordinary work of the farm. So excellent are the
new sheds and fold-yards that I think a ground plan showing
their nature and position on rather higher land than the rest of
the buildings, will prove interesting.

The features of the new buildings are the deep shelter sheds
and open yards facing south, with a feeding gangway and
mangers for each yard, roofed over so that the animals whilst
eating, as well as the food, are protected from the weather.
There is also a range of buildings on the north side, comprising
byres for twelve cattle; hay and root house for pulping, &e. ;
turnip house, bull house, &c.; a small stackyard behind, and
a cart-lodge and granary. It was a very wise arrangement to
make the new buildings entirely separate from the old ones,
and together ample accommodation and comfort are provided for
the additional stock which the enterprise of the new tenant will
maintain. The feeding arrangements, both for yards and byres,
include a rack for straw and mangers, made of large glazed
half-pipes, which are simple, efficient, and inexpensive. As
fresh straw is of great value for the Hereford cows in winter,
much of the threshing is done by an old horse gear and drum,
and though this has an antiquated ring about it, we know from
experience that it is a useful and economical practice where
fresh straw is necessary. And that it is so here may be judged
from the fact that the cows as a rule have nothing else during
the winter; only such as are weakly get a few roots. The
young animals have roots and cake, and the two-year-old
bullocks are fed in summer also. The calves after running all

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 547

the summer with their dams, are fed with hay, swedes, and oat
straw, pulped and chopped.

Fig. 5.—Plan of Mr. Mellings’s Farm-buildings.

GRASS FIELD

GARDEN

ORCHARD
23
|
| GRASS FIELD
| ———
| /
: ;
| CRASS FIELD
r
| ey
A naa
i ‘
‘
‘
/
‘
1. New road. | 17. Hay-barns.
2, Ditto Round building. 18. Cart-stables.
3. Bull’s yard. 19. Cow-house.
4. Ditto House. } 20. Barn.
5. Turnip-house, loft over. 21. Tool-house.
6. Pulping-room, | 22. Hackney-stable.
7. Hay boy. | 23. Stack-yard.
8. Stalls. 24. Fold-yard.
ue 25. Ferrets’ crib.
10. 26. Trap-house.
11, ¢ Open yards and sheds, 27. Dog crib.
12, 28. Piggeries.

13. Feeding-shed.

14, Stack yard.

15. Open yard.

16. Waggon-shed, granary over.

29. Open yard.
30. Open shed. ,
31. House.

548 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

Particulars of Live Stock, Jan. 1884.

Cattle .. 20 Cows and heifers.
8 Bullocks rising 2 years old.
6 Heifers do.
2 Feeding cows.
19 Calves coming 1 year old.
2 Milking cows, Herefords, bought in.
1 2-year-old bull.

Total .. 58

Sheep .. 57 Ewes and lambs.
59 Wether hoggs.
36 Ewe hoggs.

5 Rams,

Total ..157

Horses ... 4 Working horses.
1 Do. lame.
1 Hackney.

2 2-year-old colts.
1 Hackney yearling.
1 Cart do.

Motalaer 10

The field of grass above the house, and through which the
approach road lies, was originally in a very worthless condition.
It was drained five years since, and dressed with 8 cewt. of bones
per acre. This treatment has been evidently judicious, as the
sward is now of a useful character and well grazed. The arable
land, which is all of a strong nature, is limed every eight years
at the rate of 3 tons per acre applied to seeds for wheat; lime is
also occasionally used with soil as compost for grass. The best
lime costs 11s. at the station, close to the farm ; a dark variety
is cheaper, at 7s. to 8s., from a kiln five miles distant. Mr.
Mellings is a great advocate for lime, which he considers
makes the land healthy for roots. The grass seeds used are
a mixture of red and white clover, trefoil, alsike, and Italian
rye-grass. Red clover cannot be grown so often as every fourth
year. The swedes were an excellent crop, clean, and fully
20 tons per acre; they had been sown in drills 20 inches apart,
and the plants had been set out from 8 to 9 inches. Manure is
applied partly on clover leys for wheat, and partly on wheat
stubble for roots. The swedes are ridged, and bone manure is

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 549

sown broadcast. Biddell’s imperial white wheat, on clover-
ley limed, was a full plant, and looked strong.

The fences throughout the farm were in a very improving
condition ; those between the tillage land are kept slashed ; those
against grass are allowed to grow up for shelter, and are laid
when necessary. This work is done by contract, at 1s. 3d. for
eight yards, including the cleaning out of the ditch. In 1881,
forty-seven additional acres were taken. This land was in a bad
state, and after fallowing it was laid to grass in 1882. The
landlord gave seeds for eleven acres, the tenant did all the rest,
as well as found all manure. Considering the nature of the
land, and the short period since sowing, the appearance of this
land was decidedly satisfactory. Much of the old grass-land is
poor, and some requires draining.

An alteration of plan, and a late postal delivery, resulted in
our visit on May 26th, being a day before we were expected,
and we found the tenant hard at work with his men shearing,
work which he executed with great skill; indeed the personal
exertions of the tenant and his sisters form an element of economy
that must_not be overlooked. Commencing my remarks with
the sheep stock, which require judicious handling on a farm
where the land is nearly all strong, I may notice that the
breeding animals appeared generally healthy, but that the lambs
were rather dry in their coats, and it was evident that warm
rain to freshen up the keep was much wanted. With the excep-
tion of slight showers, no weight of rain had visited the farm
for a period of eight weeks. On our first visit we found fifty-
seven useful healthy looking ewes on grass, with a little hay ;
fifty-nine wether hoggs, also on grass, with whole swedes, which,
at our suggestion, were afterwards cut, with evident advantage, |
and these sheep then had half a pound of old oats per day;
and thirty-six ewe hoggs, a very useful lot on fog, were getting a
few white swedes. Mr. Mellings put the ram with his younger
ewes for the first time last autumn, and is not likely to repeat
the experiment; only two proved in lamb, and these cast their
lambs. It. is evident that his land, and the treatment he adopts,
is not suited to such a forcing system. The conditions are not
favourable to early development. Of the 57 stock ewes only two
proved barren, and the remainder yielded 90 lambs, of which six
died during the cold east winds of early May. The rest of the
flock comprised 35 shearling ewes, 55 shearling wethers, which
were hoped be to fed out during the summer with cake on grass ;
and 5 rams, making a total of 236 head. Considering the strong
nature of the land, the management of the sheep appeared
suitable and sensible, and we question if better results would be
possible by any more forcing system.

The cattle were thriving and healthy looking, but not large or

550 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

greatly forced ; they consisted of 16 cows in-calf, or with calves
at foot; 6 two-year-old heifers not served, as the plan is to have
the first calf at three years old; 8 useful two-year-old steers,
rather small for their age; 9 yearling bullocks, and 10 yearling
heifers—all useful. ‘There were two barren cows to be fed, and
two cows for the dairy, all which except the calves we saw at
our first visit. The bull in service is a big two-year-old,
“Patron 8th,” bred by Messrs. Green, by “ Dauphin 22nd”
(6386), out of a ‘“Prettymaid” cow; he is very lengthy,
and wide in his fore-quarter, a superior beast, and calculated
to improve the already useful type of cows. Mr. Mellings
works his farm without a large outlay in purchased food,
and, considering the nature of his land, it carries a fair quan-
tity of stock; hence they are not large or forward for age, but
they all look like paying the rent, and the rent is paid with
a good margin, and this is the real test of good management.
Pigs are not largely kept, as there is no dairy produce to con-
sume. Two sows and six pigs complete the lot.

Taking into consideration the very heavy strain on the
animal forces of the farm in 1882, and the nature of the seasons,
the condition of the tillage land as to cleanliness was decidedly
creditable, I may refer to the treatment of land intended for
roots. ‘The stubbles were manured in the autumn at the rate of
from ten to twelve loads per acre. This was buried with a
rather light furrow, 7.e. about 5 inches deep, and crossed in spring
from 2 to 3 inches below the autumn furrow, which ensures the
manure being kept near the surface. Then the land was tho-
roughly worked by scuffling, harrowing, rolling, &c. The land
was perfectly clean, and all was done that was possible to pre-
pare it to grow a good crop, if the season allowed. It should
be noted that the clover ley before the wheat crop was limed.
The working of this field indicated judgment and system. The
wheat, though looking pretty well, was not quite clean. We
next visited a newly laid field, part of the additional land taken
in 1881. Mr. Mellings is a cautious man, and before com-
mitting himself to large outlay in the way of artificial manures,
he experiments ona small scale ; so we were shown plots dressed.
with bones, which apparently had done no good, whereas lime
and farmyard manure had both made a decided mark. And in
a meadow intended for hay, 5 cwt. of an especially prepared
mixture of Webbs’ had helped the clovers, which were looking
fresh and well. About thirty acres of old grass are mown annually,
always the same ground, which is usually dressed with manure
from Ludlow; but owing to heavy cartage-work alluded to, this
important means of restoration had been rather neglected of late.

The labour comprises a waggoner, who gets 13s. a-week, a
cottage rent free, half a gallon of cider daily all the year round,

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 551

and food in harvest, two hired lads in the house, having wages 12/.
and 10J. respectively ; and additional labour for fencing, harvest-

ing, &e.

It will be interesting to contrast the outlay in labour for

three years :—

1882. 1883. 1884.
Sn 8.) Sas £ 8 d.| aaa Ce
Money Payments ic, 96) 3. LOE eee PLO TL ol0 een 1080) 6
Miller’s bill G26 512 5 SLlie 5
Smith’s and a 9
Saddler’s 12 1 8} TSR Se LOE ae
Wheelright’s 4 111 157 9 5 611
Steam ‘
Threshing} 712 0 411 0 8 0 6
Miscellaneous 7 13 pase 0L 9 09 0
—_——._ 37 10 113 ——--—__ 62 :O:~*O | —_-——_ 83 6 9
£133 14 10 £153 15 10 £141 6 9

If we take the average of the three years it gives lls. 2d, an
acre as the money payments for labour and tradesmen’s bills,
to which- must be added the food of the lads in the house,
cider, rent of cottage, &c., which we estimate at 65/., which
gives the total cost of labour 16s. 2d. an acre—a remarkably
low figure.

The outlay in foods and manures was—

1883. Costes 1884. Sit aoevad!

Feeding Stuffs 37 0 9 | Feeding StuffZS ... . 61 7 9
Manures.. 5419 © | Manures.. .. .. Hay aly)
£9119 9 SATs 4)

As regards the yield of crops, the following particulars have .
been worked out from local measures supplied by Mr. Mellings :

1881. | 1882. | 1883.
Wheat, 34 bush. of 60 lbs. | 273 bush. | 303 bush.
Barley, 32 bush. of 56 lbs. | 352 bush. ‘ 33% bush.
: Black Oats, 60 bush,
Oats, 40 bush. of 0 Ibs. 80 bush. { White Ge ee
Beans. | 40 bush. of 60 lbs.

It would have added very largely to the value of Mr, Mellings’
experience if I could have contrasted his money results with
those of others who pursue a more forcing and artificial system ;
but this I am precluded from doing for reasons which will be
readily understood. All I can do is to point out the economy
of outlay and to show that, considering the small amount ex-
pended, the returns are very satisfactory. The stock, crops,
implements, and household effects make up a valuation of
about 23001. The gross receipts from sales in the year ending
April 1883 were as follows :—

VOL. XX.—S. S. 20

552 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

“5 Sion tie

Horses, &c. . -./:,) taasieieh ho dee = oe
Cattle, ditto =>.) 2s) bs sey
Sheep... risa. ans 4p peter as = ee
Pigs eee wal See dios ee
Grain Lee ea. ee toe Oe eet OMG
Wool ance ee oe All alti,
Butter’ 8:27 Pt. So SG 36.0 0
£1148 1a 0

This is a very different rate of gross produce from the Prize
farm, but so also is the expenditure ; and we are not sure that
the net result is not quite as satisfactory. It may, I think, be
taken for granted that Mr. Mellings works his farm with not
more than one-half the capital employed by Mr. Nunnerley—a
very important consideration. Both systems are right under
their special circumstances ; but great credit is due to the man
who, by such careful and judicious management, shows how
land which is not desirable, and which at the present time is
much out of fashion, and which in less thrifty hands might soon
get out of order, may be profitably worked with a compara-
tively small capital: for there is also little doubt that too many
farmers at the present day are more likely to require instruction
how to farm profitably with small means, than how to aim at
the splendid results attained in the case of the first Prize Farm.

Cuass I.—ComMMENDED.

Mr. Henry Hardeman, Woofferton, near Ludlow.

Grassucc. oun, LS e acres
Arable... R50 a4
bod 1,5

Held on yearly agreement under trustees of the late —
Foster, Esq., since 1876. The tenant is a hard-working,
persevering, energetic man, ably backed up by an excellent
wife, who manages the dairy with great skill. Ten cows are
usually milked, and on our second visit we were shown a week’s
produce (80 lbs.) of beautiful butter. The milk in summer is
kept in a cellar in zinc milk vats, which are much cheaper than
lead, and equally serviceable. Even more important than the
dairy is the successful rearing of calves, as to which Mrs. Har-
deman has been most fortunate. She gives them new milk

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 553

only for a week, gradually reduced and replaced by skim-
milk, meal, and a little spice. The milk is scalded, and given
lukewarm. Between October and May, 45 calves were reared.
Most of them were bought, averaging 35s. each. When I
add that Mrs. Hardeman has seven young children, the eldest
only twelve, and keeps everything going, it will be apparent
that “ her price is above rubies.”

The farm is chiefly on gravel, and much of the grass is good,
but it lies very wide, and certainly is not cheap. The buildings
are badly arranged as to economy of labour, but are useful and
roomy. The cow-houses at our second visit were carefully white-
washed, and the woodwork was gas-tarred. The liquid manure
from the yards is conveyed a great distance by iron pipes into
a meadow, and any good it does is very inadequate to the cost
of conveyance; but the pipes can be utilised for supplying
water from a small brook, and thus the meadow can be par-
tially irrigated, which is at times of material use. The outlay
would have sufficed to cover over the yard from whence the
liquid manure is supplied. A mixed herd of Herefords and
milk-cows are kept, and the land is very heavily stocked. Thus
at our first visit we found—

7 Hereford cows, some with registered pedigrees, fed on
pulped swedes and chopped straw ; they are tied up,
with exercise daily for an hour or two.

14 milk-cows, for butter and rearing.

8 yearling Shorthorn steers, having pulped roots and
chop, and long straw.

1 three-year-old Shorthorn bull.

12 calves, from 6 to 10 months old, from dairy cows.

4 pedigree Hereford calves.

13 rearing calves.

59 total.

The management of the Herefords is that which generally
prevails throughout the district. The calves run with their
dams, and consume all the produce.

At the time of our first visit the butter was sold by contract
_ in London at 15d. a pound, Mr. Hardeman finding crates and

paying carriage. It was estimated that the produce averaged
_ 192. per cow.

day butter! 6). soln (£12
peskim=milk: 2...) i)
Pei GUE eh Tinea) ca ob 2

£19

554 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

Mr. Hardeman keeps an excellent flock of Shropshire sheep,
and approves of breeding from ewe lambs, as the better keep,
which is a necessary condition of success, increases size. Out
of 30 ewe hoggs put to the ram last autumn, 20 had lambed at our
second visit, 4 were barren, and the rest doubtful. We saw these
youngsters, and they were decidedly promising, and appeared
thriving. Such forcing treatment requires careful management
and generous diet ; but when soil and climate are suitable, this
early development meets the requirements of the age, and we
shall not be surprised to find this practice as well as the
shearing of lambs extending. We found in January, 69 breed-
ing ewes, and 40 ewe hoggs. These were on grass, having
whole swedes and grass, with a little hay ; 50 wether hoggs were
on swedes, with a bushel of oats daily. These are not fed out,
but are sold in June for grazing. ‘Total head of sheep, 159.

The horse power is rather excessive for the area of arable
land, but the land lies wide, and mares are bred from, and
young horses sold.

5 draught horses, chiefly useful roomy mares.
2 cart colts, two-year-olds.

1 "; yearling.

2 nag colts, two-year-olds.

2 fe yearlings.

1 Welsh pony.

2 colts, rising three years.

1 thoroughbred stallion, “ Actaon,” aged.

16

Pigs are an important feature of the farm stock. The middle
breed sort are kept.
8 breeding sows.
2 fat pigs.
14 porkers.
17 stores.
41
It will be seen from above that this farm is heavily stocked,
but it must be explained that there is a common right attached
to the farm on Hanway Common, which is useful as a run for
the ewes after weaning. This year 42 acres of meadow, and
9 acres of clover after grazing, were laid for hay, and unless rain
came soon after our inspection, the result must be a very light
crop. The meadow land is extremely well managed. The same
ground is mown each year, and manured in alternate years ;
a large quantity of sawdust manure (?.e. sawdust being the

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 555

material used for bedding horses) from London is used, which
costs 5s. a ton, delivered at Woofferton. There are two
orchards, and last year 370 apple-trees were planted, only 7
of which died. Farmyard-manure is applied round the trees,
which were most promising.

Wheat stubbles are manured for swedes, which grow well. In
addition to this manure, 5 cwt. of ground bones is applied at
the time of sowing. At our first visit we saw a capital crop on
the ground, the produce of 1883, very regular, and not over-
estimated at 25 tons per acre. Mangolds are not much grown,
as they do not yield well. Every eight years the land is limed,
which partly accounts for the success attained. It is evident that
with such a small quantity of tillage land, and the moderate
outlay in purchased food, viz. 60/. in mixed cake, good crops
must be grown to carry such a heavy stock. The young seeds
were excellent, thick on the ground and full of clover. Wheat
follows clover, and suffers from wireworm. Its average yield is
36 to 38 bushels of 60 lbs. Barley yields about the same. Oats
are seldom grown.

We saw at our second visit one field of square-head wheat,
after peas, a splendid promise. The pea-stubble was limed at
the rate of 3 tons per acre. The roots recently sown and the
‘barley were suffering from want of rain, and unless the district
was soon favoured with considerable downfall, the prospects for
the present year were not encouraging. Mr. Hardeman does
not keep accounts. But his careful clean management deserves
commendation, as he is a hard-working improving tenant, who
has worked his way up, and gradually increased his stock,
which is good all round.

Cuass I.—CoMMENDED.
Mr. R. L. Acton, of Brockton, Much Wenlock.

Grass... °..° .. °180vacres.
£65 Sk a all at eid Es Sian
284 acres.

The farm is held by the year on parole agreement from Jasper
More, Esq., of Linley Hall. It comprises useful grass-land,
partly irrigated, below the village, and higher land, principally
arable, above ; the latter is exposed and probably rises to 800 feet
above the sea. The climate is backward, and wheat is not a de-
pendable crop, owing to the late harvest. The soil varies from
strong clay to useful gravel, resting on Ludlow shales; it is de-
ficient in lime, a dressing of which every eight years—for wheat

556 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

3 tons per acre—has an excellent effect. It is hauled from the
kiln about two miles distant, where it costs 7s. to 8s. a ton. No
strict rotation is followed, and occasionally two corn crops are
grown. The root crop of 1883 was good, and the land appeared
fairly clean, considering seasons. At our second visit we found
work much behind, owing to a severe attack of “ pinkeye” in
spring, and to extra roadwork in hauling materials for additional
buildings which the landlord is erecting, and which, including a
spacious covered yard, were much needed, and will add materially
to the value of the farm. ‘The success of the root crop would
depend upon rainfall coming in time, but Mr. Acton was quite
content with the weather, which suited his strong soils well.
Here we saw the best field of winter beans in our travels, and as,
at our first visit, we saw the pulse from a crop after barley stated
to have yielded 7 quarters per acre; it would appear that this
land is suitable for this usually uncertain crop. Barley on wheat
stubble, the latter manured for, was clean and promising; the
wheat was fair. This is essentially a stock farm, and the Here-
ford cattle are doubtless well suited to a high, exposed country.
The herd comprises Herefords, with three Shorthorns as nurse
cows—a fact specially noted by one of the Judges, and which we
found in other cases. The cows and heifers in-calf, 27 head, were
useful and mostly well descended. “ King Dick,” a four-year-
old of Messrs. Green’s breeding, was in service. The general
practice here and elsewhere is to calve the cows in the spring,
the nearer grass time the better. Until calving the cows live
cheaply, on straw and a few swedes ; and such are the feeding
tendencies of the Herefords that they usually keep their flesh
wonderfully. After the calf is born, and until the grass is ready,
better food is given, and the cattle are turned out fresh into
blooming pastures, where dam and produce have a fine time for
the laying on of flesh. Gradually the cow dries as the calf
ceases to require the milk. It is no wonder that, with such
a system, the milking-powers of the cows are mediocre. The
calves, always kept in fat condition, must lose their milking
properties. We sawa capital lot of young animals, including
7 two-year-old bullocks, 4 yearlings, 10 bullock calves of 1883,
2 bull calves, and 11 heifer calves, all thriving and in first-
rate condition. The bullocks were feeding in open yards,
separated by a fence of rough rails secured to the posts by old
horse-shoes. The elder lot were getting 100 lbs. daily of sliced
roots, hay, and straw, and 10 lbs. of mixed cotton- and linseed-
cake—costly food,—on which they were thriving. These animals
had not been caked on grass. Rock-salt is liberally supplied.
The calves of both sorts were a very smart lot; they had been
weaned when the cows came up from grass, and were getting

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 557

2 lbs. of mixed cake and a small quantity of roots with hay
and straw. They are always setoned as a prevention of
quarter-ill, to which the farm is liable. With the Hereford
bullock calves were two steers by a Hereford sire out of Short-
horn cows, both reared by a nurse-cow, and looking promising.
Mr. Acton had reared 7 bull calves, 5 of which were gone pre-
vious to our visit. When weather is open, cows and heifers have
to get their own living during the day-time, and with such scanty
treatment they looked remarkably well. It must be remembered
that the Hereford system is cheap as regards winter food and
labour. For example, at Brockton, the annual cost of labour,
including rent of cottage, food, &c., does not exceed 2721.—
about 19s. an acre, made up as follows :—

£ sozd.
Waggoner, shepherd, and carman, 14s. a week
each, cottage and garden, coal carted, &c. .. 124 4 0
Extra wages at harvest .. : i 3 0 0
1 labourer, 13s. a week, with cottage, &e. Ac 38 16 0
1 boy, 10s, a week : ; 26 0 0
1 man in house, 6s. 6d. a week, and food calculated
at 9s.a week .. - * ale se 40 0 0
- Extra labour Be i a 5c A) 40 0 0
£212 0 0

Sheep-Stoch.—Here again, as in the case of the herd, much
judgment has been exercised ; and the sheep, which have much
of the Wadlow blood in their veins, have wide level frames on
short legs :—

January. May.
50 Ewes and twins.
84 Ewes served. 1100 Lambs.
27 Ewes.
30 Ewe lambs do. | 27 Single lambs.

20 Smaller ewe lambs. | 10 Shearling ewes.

10 Lambs from do.

48 Feeding hoggs, and rams. 44 Shearling ewes, &c.
9 Rams.
182 277

The experiment of breeding from ewe lambs was tried last
autumn for the first time, and the result appears to demonstrate
that, in such a climate as Brockton, it is of doubtful advantage.
Of 30 animals served, only 10 proved in lamb, and 1 died.
It remains to be seen how these young matrons will compare
with their less hard worked sisters next autumn. When we
saw them in the winter, they were getting } lb. of cake and
a moderate allowance of turnips and hay. If they had not been

558 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

served, it is probable the cake would have been saved, but, of
course, this may pay in increased size and value of manure.
The ewes were clearing up the haws of swedes, with hay and a
run on grass, and did well. The lambs at our second visit were
a capital lot, the doubles especially promising. We found them
on seeds, without any additional food, but earlier in the spring
they were well cared for. The seeds, which were manured in
October, were of a good colour, but thin on the ground. Mr.
Acton takes great pride in his horses, which are a capital lot ;
he does not breed much, but buys them young and works them
on his hilly uplands till five years, and then sells them for
town purposes. We saw at our first visit 6 horses, including
a brood mare; afterwards we found 7 animals; they were of
excellent type, with lots of bone, big barrels, short joints, and
plenty of hair; a hunting mare) “Betsy Bee” by “ Buck-
ingham”), her foal, and a Hackney. A valuation made on
January Ist, 1884, gives the following total :—

£

Cattle ic saeco 1212
FELOTSES|j wich tem clue 460
Sheep sv, teat Mae aes 725
PAS carey oroghe Crise tie 37

£2434

The outlay in cake and manure averages about 2001 a
year. This does not include lime.

The management and character of the stock at Brockton are
the features that deserve commendation.

Crass 2.—First Prizz.
Mr. Francis Hawkins, Sugwas Farm, near Hereford.

Arable: jhic) oa) oo ooomactes:
Pastaies. 0). 2a aa
Total’ ~ <4. %5. Soo acres:

The landlord of this farm is Sir James Ingham. The
tenancy dates from 1857. The arable land is a free working
loam, on gravelly subsoil, which in some places runs into large
stones, and on the browny spots has a decided tendency to
burn. The grass-land, especially the meadows bordering the
Wye, is of a fertile nature, on a stronger loam, The forma-
tion is the Old Red Sandstone.

The buildings comprise two large yards, facing south, with
deep shelter sheds and gangways, forming a lean-to to the main

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884, 559

range of feeding houses, also machinery space, granaries, &c.
An old barn has been cleverly converted into a capital feeding-
house, and corn-chamber over. There are also two large
Dutch barns, one erected by the landlord, the other by the
tenant. The buildings are all spouted, but on our first visit the
liquid manure from the yards, which are rather exposed, was
wasted. We expressed our opinion that this might be utilised,
and Mr. Hawkins, who has great mechanical tendencies, at
once set to work and fitted up one of Hydes and Wigfall’s small
rotary pumps, to be worked by the engine, and so contrived as to
answer a double purpose, viz. to draw water from a tank for the
engine, or to drive the liquid manure by means of pipes and
hydrants on to a grass field near the house. The field so
treated looked extremely well, and will no doubt cut a much
heavier crop than if it had not been so dressed, especially in such
a dry season as this is. The whole cost of this addition,
including the pipes, viz., the suction pipe, laid a distance of
sixty-six yards, and the delivery pipe, which extends 290 yards,
was as follows :—Pump and fittings, 102. 18s.; 14 in. Piping,
192. ; fixing labour, 4/.; total, 33/.18s. The machinery, which
is driven by a 10-horse power portable engine, which is also
used for steam-cultivating tackle, comprises a threshing-machine,
a bone-mill (Savory’s), a clover sheller, pair of French stones,
pulper, and chaff-cutters, &c. In the winter the engine works
every day. The arrangement of details is excellent.

This is essentially a grazing farm; and beyond three dairy
cows for the use of the house, all the horned; stock are bought
in, and are principally Herefords, which are admirably adapted
to the purpose. On our first visit in January, we saw in the
yards a grand lot of 35 three-year-old bullocks, bought in
October, having pulped swedes, chaff, equal parts of hay and
straw, and 4 lbs. of linseed-cake. These animals appeared very
quiet, and were evidently doing well. On our second visit we
found 27 of these animals waiting for delivery, having been
sold. They had done well, and looked like an average of
63 imperial stones, but, owing to a serious fall in prices, had
not paid well. Indeed, we question if they would leave more
than 6s. or 7s. a week—a return quite inadequate to the cost of
food, which was increased in March to 8 lbs. a day, viz. 4 lbs.
of ground corn and 4 lbs. of mixed cake. They had, however,
done good service as manure-makers, part of their produce
having been already utilised for the root crops, and the
remainder was turned up in heaps in the yards, where it will
remain till after harvest, and be carted on the stubbles.

Returning to our first inspection, we next saw two lots of
grazing heifers, 45 in all, tied up, getting 4 lbs. of cake and 3 lbs.
of meal, mixed with water, and thrown on the chopped food, &c.,

560 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

in the mangers ; 3 dairy cows and a calf; 2 bulls, feeding ; and
21 grand young bullocks, rising two years. These latter were
in yards, but let out for two hours daily, their destination being
to graze in the fertile pastures of the Wye, where we found them
on our second visit, much grown, and thriving famously. In
addition to excellent grazing, they were having 4 lbs. a day of
decorticated cotton- and linseed-cake in equal proportions.
From an estimate of value, we thought they had gained 6/. 10s.
a head from tne cost price in November, and allowing for the
difference of food, they had done better than the older lot.
Mr. Hawkins’s usual practice is to buy Irish drape cows in
the spring for summer grazing; but owing to the prevalence of
foot-and-mouth disease, horned stock were not in their usual
numbers on our second visit, the principal purchases having
been 9 Shorthorn bullocks, coming two years old, which cost
162. 5s. in April, and were a promising lot, In January the
total number of horned stock was 107, whereas in May there
were only 69 head, and in July these were further reduced to
48 head; but Mr. Hawkins was contemplating a large addition
to his cattle stock, which the condition of the pastures then
fully justified. The 107 animals were consuming about 2 tons
of roots a day, about 42 lbs. average per head, which is not
extravagant feeding. Mr. Hawkins likes quick returns, and
therefore prefers buying his cattle in fresh condition, and passing
a great number of animals through his hands during the year.
The success of such a system depends upon judgment as to the
kind of animal that will feed, and acuteness as to buying in
the cheapest and selling in the dearest market. The returns
must of course vary according to the relative value of stores
and fat animals.

Sheep.—A heavy stock of Shropshires are bred on the farm.
The numbers at our visits in January, May, and July were as
follows :—

January. | May. July.

148 Full grown ewes,—food, | 260 Ewes \on grass and | 283 Store ewes.
oz. crushed oats, | 350 Lambsf seeds.
hay, chaff, and swedes.

138 Young ewes, } lb. oats, and | 116 Ewe hoggs. 85 Draft ewes.
swedes and hay chaff. |
123 Gimmers shorn, 2 oz. 120 Wether do. 349 Lambs.

crushed oats to be con-
tinued till February,
roots, hay-chaff, and

nay. |
120 Wether lambs,)also shorn, | 20 Rams. 254 Feeding sheep.
20 Ram lambs \3 to 4 oz. 109 Barren ewes and 2 Rams.
linseed-cake, hay, chaff, | small hoggs.
twice a day.
4 Rams.

553 | 975 973

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 561

Considerable lameness was visible at our first visit, caused
from proud flesh, which requires careful treatment, as it may
otherwise seriously affect condition. From one-third to one-half
of the root crop, according to circumstances, is consumed on
the land. Iron hurdles, 6 feet long, and costing about 3s. each,
are used, and are both durable and cheap. At our second
visit the ewes and lambs, a very promising lot, were on grass.
The 260 ewes produced over 400 lambs; but severe losses
occurred during the cold weather in April from curd in the
stomach, over 50 having succumbed to this serious disease,
which was attributed to the cold weather and the richness
of the food. The hoggs were on seeds, those intended for the
butcher having a liberal allowance of cake. Here again, as
in many other instances, the farmer prefers not to force his
hoggs whilst on roots, but to finish them off on seeds, because
the quantity of cake necessary for early maturity would make
the land too rich for good barley, and the crop, especially in
a moist season, would be lodged and spoilt, whereas the
eating of cake on seeds always benefits the wheat crop. Ona
farm of this kind, where tillage predominates, the practice is
no doubt justifiable. Mr. Hawkins clips his lambs at the
end of June, because dipping is more efficacious, and the
risk from maggots is reduced. Flies are very troublesome,
owing to the number of trees in the pastures. The flock is
found to pay better than cattle, and great care is exercised as
to the selection of rams and the drafting of the ewes. The
flock were remarkably uniform in size and type, and appeared
thriving well.

Horses.—Considering the amount of heavy work effected by
steam-power, of which more anon, we were surprised to find
such a large force of horses (see p. 562); but the explanation is
that, after working on the land for two to three years, the young
horses at five or six years old are prepared for the market, and
make large prices. This we can readily imagine, as they are
an excellent stamp, big of bone and body, with good feet and
plenty of hair, and just the animals for town work. Great
attention is paid to the selection of sires. Thus we found seven
most promising three-year-olds, by a grand sire, Mr. Wood-
bridge’s “Great Britain,” of Bampton, Oxon. These were
broken, and ready for work.

The hours of work, which at times is heavy, are eight hours
in winter and nine hours in summer, with a break at mid-day.
The winter food comprises a mixture of ground oats, Indian

corn, and beans, 10 lbs. a day, with chaff, and 12 lbs. of long
clover hay.

562 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

The horses at the time of our second visit comprised—

11 working horses, 4 of which had foals sucking.
2 brood mares, one of which had foaled (not worked).
7 three-year-olds, broken in, and ready for light work.
2 He unbroken.
4 two-year-olds.
3 yearlings.
1 entire cart colt, two-year-old.
1 two-year-old nag colt.
1 yearling Ms
1 hackney.
1 pony.

39 total, with the foals.

Pigs are bought in as stores, and are not bred on the farm.

As the merit of Mr. Hawkins’s management is quite as appa-
rent in the treatment of his land, both arable and grass, as in
the skilful handling of his stock, it is incumbent to give some
details of the fields.

The promise of our first visit was fully borne out at our
second and more critical inspection on May 27th. The weather
was, and had for some time been, hot and droughty, and here
and there were indications that the gravelly loams at Sugways
Farm would be much better for rain. Still no serious harm
was then apparent, and the crops on the whole were most pro-
mising, indicating high condition of land, and proving that
good farming was the rule, and that extra condition had not
been supplied for a special occasion. .1 may add that on our
last visit in July, notwithstanding the serious and long con-
tinued drought which extended to nearly the end of June, all
the crops without exception were excellent, and indicated very
large yields. Our inspection commenced with No. 568, 17} acres,
of which 7 acres nearest the buildings were in vetches after
wheat, a most luxuriant crop, perfectly clean, dressed with 3 ewt.
dissolved bones, to be mown for the horses, and followed by late
turnips. The remainder of the field was being steam-culti-
vated for roots. Mr. Hawkins finds great advantage from this
power, from the rapid and thorough way in which spring
work can be performed. It has been used for twenty years,
having been introduced by the father of the present tenant,
and comprises a 10-horse power engine, Barford’s roundabout
tackle, Campain’s self-moving anchors, and Fowler’s cultivator.
The windlass being coupled to the engine allows of one man
working both, whilst two other men work the cultivator, and
attend to the anchors and porters. The stubbles were horse-

eee eee eee

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 563

ploughed in autumn, thrice cultivated by steam in spring, and
well harrowed and rolled by horse-power. It was intended to
apply manure on the flat, where not ploughed in, in autumn,
and to plough, and drill the seed with dissolved bones and
ashes. Part of the field was stony, and the cultivator brought
up big stones 3 to 4 cwt. each—these we should imagine to be
boulders from the sandstone, as the soil appears entirely of a drift
nature. As the field was hilly, an extra lad was employed to
manage additional porters, to prevent undue friction of the rope ;
on ordinarily level fields three hands suffice. The work was
excellent, the soil quite clean, and with such depth and fineness
of soil there was every prospect of a successful result, which was
realised at our last visit, when we found a uniform growing
crop carefully set out. This is done by contract, 9s, an acre
being paid for two hoeings.

No. 562, 12a.2r. Young seeds. This is also a light soil,
full of stones. The mixture comprised 6 lbs. of red clover,
6 lbs. of white Dutch, 2lbs. of suckling, 2 lbs. of alsike, and
4 lbs. of Timothy-grass, which is preferred to rye-grass, as less
obtrusive, not so early, and as yielding very nutritious produce.
Nothing could look better than this sward, considering that
the field was closely grazed up to the end of March with sheep,
having a mixture of oats and cake, about } lb. per head. It was
also fed with lambs in the autumn. With suitable rainfall, this
field could grow fully two tons per acre of first-rate quality ;
and bearing in mind how much food had been produced both in
autumn and spring, the advantage of high condition is apparent.
We saw a splendid lot of hay carried from this field, which was
stocked in July with the wether and ram lambs, and though
heavily stocked was full of keep.

No. 572, 18a. 2r. Chevalier barley, 10 pecks sown per acre,
and seeds for grazing (no red clover sown) after swedes and
turnips partly consumed on the land. The barley was strong,
with full plant, and clean; would have been better for rain.

No. 574, 25 a.2r. For roots. Cultivation similar to that
of No. 568, and like that field clean as a garden. This was
most admirably worked and ready for sowing, when season and
weather rendered it advisable. I trust to have made it quite
clear that horse work in spring is confined to harrowing, rolling,
and ploughing in the manure. These swedes, which were sown
later than No. 568, were a regular plant, and nearly ready for
singling, at our last visit in July.

No. 573, 17a. 2r. Old grass. Upland pasture, chiefly used
for sheep, of which it carries a heavy stock liberally supplied
with cake and corn. It has been recently dressed with a com-
post of soil, lime, and bones. The quality and produce were
excellent, and it was evenly grazed.

564 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.
Nos. 569 and 549. Both in barley, the latter field suffering

from wireworm and requiring rain; otherwise the corn was
forward and promising. Mr. Hawkins considers that, taking
the higher land and stony brows into consideration, 40 bushels
imperial is an average crop, which supposes much more on
the best parts. Both these fields presented a most promising
appearance at our last visit.

No. 546, 22a. 2r. Hunter’s red chaff wheat on clover-ley,
dressed with 3 tons of lime per acre, which improves the
quality of the corn, strengthens the straw, and acts beneficially
on the succeeding root crops. The ley had only one plough, and
of seed, 24 bushels per acre, was drilled in November. Part of
the clover was seeded, but there was no perceptible difference in
the crop, which was excellent throughout, and looked like 5 to 54
quarters per acre. The wheat was eaten bare by sheep in
the early part of April as a preventive of too great luxuriance,

No. 542, 15a.2r. Winter oats on wheat stubble, 34 bushels
of seed per acre. This was also fed off by sheep, which probably
accounts for its bunchy appearance. This field was not quite
clean, and is intended to be worked by steam power in the
autumn for roots next year. The inequalities alluded to had
entirely disappeared in July, when the crop looked like yielding
from 50 to 60 bushels per acre.

No. 541, 84a. 2r. Biddell’s imperial wheat on clover, part
seeded. Not limed. Part of this field is thin and weak, and
the crop was there not so strong, but very good on the whole,
and quite clean.

No. 545, 16a. Mangolds on 10 acres, coming well. This
land was deeply ploughed in autumn, burying 12 to 14 tons of
dung per acre, and steam-worked this spring, then 5 ewt. of
dissolved bones was broadcasted, the land raised into drills,
and sown with 8 lbs. per acre of Carter’s prize wardens. If the
crop came on well, more bones and salt would be applied later
on. Six acres of swedes were drilled on the flat, with 5 ewt.
of dissolved bones. The surface is not rolled after sowing,
Mr. Hawkins makes his own manure; he buys fresh bones at
6/. a ton, and applies } by weight of acid. The bones are
carefully crushed, and then well wetted on a stone floor with as
much water as can be absorbed; this is left for twenty-four
hours ; then the acid is added, taking care that the mass is
thoroughly mixed; it is then covered down with ashes, and
left for three or four weeks. In this way a partially dissolved
manure is obtained, which appears to answer well.

Nos. 551 and 552, 33 a., of which 20 acres were laid to grass
six or seven years ago, and carries an excellent face, for so
young a pasture. The seeds were sown on a wheat crop, bone-
dust and compost being applied. It has been well manured,

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 565

has already been mown three times, and was again laid for hay.
The rest of the field was in seeds, part grazed and part for
mowing; the latter, consisting of red clover only, sown with
16 lbs. per acre, was a magnificent plant. The other part was
being grazed by the ewe hoggs, which would be here on and off
till the first week of June, when it would be laid for seed.
Nothing could look better, and the appearance of all the crops,
and especially the clover, indicates a very high state of fertility.

No. 559, 8a. lr. A grand crop of square-head wheat,
possibly the heaviest of all.

No. 561, 34a. Or. 32 p. A splendid field of white clover,
grazed, and 10 acres laid for seed.

No. 538, 25a. The meadow, bordering on the river Wye,
with two fine twin elms in the centre. The lower side is deep
rich soil; the upper and higher part is thin, and burns in a dry
season. This field has an excellent face on it, and though so
rich, not a nettle was visible, the result of careful extirpation by
the fork. I may here notice that the whole of the grass-land has
been drained, the landlord finding pipes, and the tenant doing
labour, and a great portion has been boned. This particular
meadow, for example, after being partly drained where requisite,
was dressed with 5 cwt. of 3-in. bones, and an equal quantity of
dust bones, and then grazed for two years in succession with cattle
eating corn and cake, which accounts for its splendid appearance.

No. 537, 34a. Meadow land bounded like the last on one
side by the Wye. This meadow is mown in alternate years,
and grazed with cattle and sheep, and is usually dressed before
mowing with soil and bones. Thisis not nearly so good a field,
but it is well grazed, and in very high condition.

No. 538, 24a. 3r. 35p. This is a grand meadow, which has
been doubled in value by draining and boning. It is now full
of rich nutritious herbage. The condition of the grass-land, due
to liberal outlay and judicious grazing, is even a better evidence
of good management than the excellence of the crops, and the
cleanness of the tillage land. The usual acreage for mowing is
48 acres of pasture, which, as has been explained, is not always
on the same land, and 18 acres of seeds, which will certainly
give an average of over 100 tons of hay. There are about
30 acres of orchards, which require renovating, and as a rule
there is little to sell as so much is required by the labourers.
Mr. Hawkins gives two quarts of cider per day in winter, and
three quarts in summer. He is fully conscious of the objections
against the system, but was not powerful enough to break down
the custom; he tried it for six months, giving money, and
allowing the hands to buy cider, but the men were not satisfied.

The labourers comprises twenty men and boys regularly em-
ployed, and some work is done by contract. The men get from

rd

566 ‘The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

12s. to 14s. a-week, and cider; 25s. extra for harvest, with bread
and cheese at five-o’clock luncheon during the work, and twenty
score yards of potato ground, equal to 10s. The carters have
rather higher wages with the same perquisites, occupying cottages
on the farm, for which they pay 2s, a-week rent.

The cost of labour in 1883, including all extras, was
7921. Os. 8d., equal to 1/. 9s. 9d. per acre—a very reasonable
amount considering the large proportion of arable land and the
admirable finish to everything. It was evident that labour was
well handled, and that the men were under excellent control. A
large area of old fences have been removed, and those that remain
are carefully tended and in good preservation. The profits as
regards cattle are influenced by the comparative price of store
and fat animals, and hence vary more than on farms where the
animals are bred ; for example, 1882 was a much better year
than its follower, because in the former money went much
farther in purchasing, and sale prices were good. A very large
capital is worked, averaging from 12/. to 16/. an acre. The
valuation ranges between 600U/. and 70002, and the results
when spread over a number of years are satisfactory, though
certainly not more than might be, and ought. to be, looked for
from the combination of rare skill and attention, with adequate
capital. It was a pleasant and instructive occupation to inspect
such a splendidly-managed business, so complete in all details,
and we can only hope that some reflection of our impressions
may be conveyed in this Report. One point may be impressed
upon our readers, viz. that the results at the Sugwas farm are
not to be attributed so much to the inherent capabilities of the
soil as to the admirable skill and enterprise of the most intelli-
gent occupier. It should be mentioned that Mr. Hawkins keeps
excellent accounts, which enable him to know how the different
branches of his business suceeed.

The outlay in purchased food and manures for the years
ending May, 1883, and May, 1884, afford evidence of the liberal

treatment adopted.

1883. ‘ 1884,
Oh is:4d: Ss fie
@ostiof purchased foods: 756) ‘T Jilo|see tcet seen teres 656 18 2
Value of home grown

corn consumed— St ys. -- athe
Tail wheat ot Papi hs) 0) 38 12 O
Barley) sc7t ti: ote BLO VON) Bers. trea
Peas... wet Loe ae
Oats... o.s GS aa

157 16 0

Cost of artificial manure 115 13 6 | Cost of artificial manure 189 9 10

Total) wes £919 6 5 Total .. £1004 4 0

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 567

Crass II.—Sreconp PRrIzeE.

Mr. Joseph Pearce, Welbroughton Farm, near Newport.

Mr. Pearce occupies on yearly tenure, under Sir T. F.
Boughey, Bart., two farms adjoining each other, viz., Wel-
broughton, 374 acres (arable 232, grass 142), and Pollymore,
156 acres, not in competition but subject to inspection.

The agreement is not advantageous to the tenant, and con-
siderable benefit will be derived from the new Act. The prin-
cipal features are exclusion from the Act of 1875; no allowance
for cake or manure purchased ; the tenant is tied down to the
four-course rotation, a free off-going crop on half the clover
leys,- or two-thirds of dead fallows; no crop is allowed on
turnip-land, and no allowance is made for labour or manure.
Seeing that the tillage land is nearly all free working and
suitable for roots, these are very foolish conditions. The
landlord. supplies gates free of charge and finds materials
for repairs. This is a hard and rather one-sided agreement,
quite unnecessary for a man like Mr. Pearce, whose excellent
management justifies more liberal terms and greater freedom
- of action.

At one time many years ago, Welbroughton was the late
owner's home farm, and it was then laid out in the excellent
rectangular inclosures which remain, and render the farm very
convenient to handle. There was one tenant who occupied for
ten. years, between that period and Mr. Pearce’s occupation,
which dates from 1878.

Mr. Pearce is a grazier, indeed we might almost say that he
deals in cattle, which he chiefly picks up from his neighbours,
seldom buying in the open market, and there is no doubt that
the financial success of his operations is in some measure due
to his thorough knowledge of how and what to buy. The
object is to procure animals in fresh condition, to feed them
liberally, and to turn them over as soon as possible. An average
of 200 cattle pass through Mr. Pearce’s hands each year; and
at our second visit we found very few of the same animals that
were on the farm in January. It is worthy of note that, not-
withstanding the large traffic in cattle, this farm has never been
visited by foot-and-mouth disease.

The following Tables give a comparison of the number and
description of cattle in January and May :—

voL. XX.—3. S.. Du

568 The Karm-Prize Competition, 1884.

January. May.
30 2-year-old Hereford steers. 20 Feeding heifers, &c.
17 Bulls, 2 to 3 years old. 23 Drape cows.
17 In-calf cows. | 13 Milking cows.
18 Feeding heifers. | 10 Drape Hereford cows.
4 3-year-old steers feeding. | 19 Herefords rising 2 years old.

1 Yearling heifer.
2 2-year-old bulls.
4 Cows for House.

93 | 8

on

The two-year-old steers—a capital lot, were being fed in the
yards ; they cost 9/. a head in April, 1883, and were evidently
well bought. They were getting ribbon-sliced swedes. and
chaff, with 3 lbs, a day of a mixture comprising cotton- and
linseed-cake and crushed oats. They were all gone before our
second visit, and averaged about 20/. The 17 feeding bulls
were the remains of a lot of 30 bought in August, at an average
cost of 15/. The rest had gone off at 25/. a head. Mr. Pearce
considers they make within ld. to 14d. a lb. of the best beef.
They were fed in the same way as those in the yards, only more
on concentrated food, viz. 4 lbs. of mixed cake and 4 lbs. of
meal. These did not do well, only leaving 97. 10s. a head, and
realising very little more than our valuation in January. These
bulls were tied up on one side of a capital feeding shed, with a
wide gangway, which holds 40 head. Opposite the bulls we
found 17 in-calf cows. Mr. Pearce considers that he can make
more profit by grazing than by dairying, and can often get three
lots of cattle off during the year, which is only possible by the
liberal use of cake on grass. At our visit in May, we found
17 animals feeding in the houses and yards, ready for market,
and of excellent quality. A capital lot of 23 drape cows were
in the meadow, and will be caked later on, and will rapidly
feed. In an adjoining field were 10 promising two-year-old
Hereford steers, intended for beef, and which, with a little
extra food, will give a good account of themselves. Great
judgment is exercised as to proportioning the class and quantity
of stock to the natural produce ; and a heavy outlay in pur-
chased food enables the feeder to meet any unforeseen difficulty
that may occur. From what we saw as to the mode of grazing,
we should consider that the most was made that was possible,
and with such excellent knowledge and judgment in buying
and selling, Mr. Pearce is probably wise in his system. With
most, dairying would be the surer and safer business.

Sheep are an important element at Welbroughton, the arable
land being mostly suitable for feeding on. At our first visit

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 569

the ewes were running thinly over the meadows, having a few
roots. The gimmer hoggs, a capital lot, were on seeds, a few
swedes, and half a pound of a mixture comprising cotton and
linseed-cake, lentils, malt, and dust-bran, given with a little
hay-chaff. The fatting sheep, on cut swedes, had a more liberal
allowance of the same; all were of useful rent-paying character
and thriving well. The wethers were sold after shearing at
9d. a lb., weighing 21 lbs. a quarter, i.e. 37. 3s. each. The
ewes and lambs were grazed on seeds in May, having a liberal
allowance of common cotton-cake, and were doing well. Thirty
of the forwardest gimmer lambs were served as an experiment.
One died, and some had dead lambs or were barren, and 21
ewes produced 23 lambs, which were looking well. On the
whole, this experiment has been a success, and will probably
be repeated on a larger scale. The lambs are always shorn in
July. Mr. Pearce states that he has grown a greater weight of
mutton since he commenced this practice. The following are
the facts as to numbers :—

January. May.

164 Breeding ewes. 163 Ewes.

30 Ewe lambs served. 207 Lambs.
- 80 Ewe lambs, not served. 21 Year-old Ewes.
144 Wether hoggs feeding. i 23 Lambs.

22 Shearling wethers do. 10 Odd lots.

3 Rams. 85 Ewe hoggs.

445 509

The horses are of a useful, sensibletype. Mares are kept and .
foals reared ; the ordinary horse-power at Welbroughton consists
of 9 working horses and two nags. We saw some promising
yearlings and two-year-olds, and Mr. Pearce has a wonderful
trotting cob. Food comprises 16 lbs. a day of a mixture of
oats, beans, and bran—one-third bran.

Poultry are an important element. Mrs, Pearce supplied the
following particulars of stock at our first visit :—

40 turkeys.
101 Irish geese.
: 70 fowls.
20 guinea fowls.

231

A small number of pigs, about a score, are fed throughout
the year.
The situation of this farm is particularly attractive, command-
ing lovely views of the town of Newport, Sir T. Boughey’s
2P2

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

570

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The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 571

richly-wooded park, with a peep at Aqualate Mere beyond, a sheet
of water covering 200 acres, and adding much to the beauty of
the landscape. The house is good and substantial, and the
buildings roomy and fairly convenient. Formerly both the
large yards were unprovided with shedding, but Mr. Pearce has,
at his own expense, erected a capital shelter shed with an iron
roof. The other yard would be greatly improved if entirely
covered over, for which outlay a good interest could be paid.
At the east end of the feeding-house already noticed is a large
space divided into a root, store, and mixing-room. Above
the root-house is a chaffing floor, the chaff being conducted
by a spout into the mixing-room. Mr. Pearce prefers slicing
to pulping; cattle eat more, and the roots, he thinks, remain
longer in the stomach, and so more nourishment is extracted.
Whether this latter is a fact we do not know, but the fattening
animals have as many swedes as they can eat, with wheat
straw, and a little hay in racks, and about 4 lbs. of chaff
aday. No rock-salt is used.

The cart stable, which is a separate building on the opposite
side of the range, is roomy, well-ventilated, and fitted with iron
mangers and racks, with a harness and hay-room in the centre.
_ All liquid drainings are collected in a tank.

The farm is well roaded, and is intersected by a railway ; the
higher side is principally arable. The soil varies considerably,
is very thin in places, and here and there are waste patches
where the sandstone rock comes to the surface. The enclosures
are large, and the fences admirably kept. Judging from the
large twitch heaps which we found rotting down in No. 1456
and other fields, and which were utilised to grow potatoes on, °
and which were got out in preparing for roots last year, we
should credit Mr. Pearce with having well cleaned land, that was
foul on entry. This decayed matter was to be mixed with lime
before application either to seeds or grass. At our second in-
spection in May, we found most of the crops in promising con-
dition, the land generally clean, and one large field, No. 1412,
for roots, not then sown, in excellent state. One field of white
spring wheat after seeds was suffering in some places from the
daddy-long-legs grub, which, despite careful hoeing, must result
in a patchy crop; this field had greatly improved in July, and
promised more than an average crop. Another field, No. 851,
was sown with mangolds and swedes, 74 cwt. of manure, supplied
by the Cannock Chase Company, having been used ; both man-
golds and swedes were doing well. Mr. Pearce experiences
some difficulty in getting his seeds to stand every fourth year.
Manure is principally applied either on the young seeds in
autumn, or the following year for the wheat crop.

572 ‘The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

The grazing of the meadow lands, and their improvement by
a large consumption of cake and by the use of bones, of which
Mr. Pearce uses more now than when he first became tenant,
have proved their value in developing good herbage, and are
most commendable features of the management at Welbroughton.
We had a striking instance of this in the case of No. 833, Long-
wood, a tract of nearly 48 acres, which, as its name implies, was
probably once a forest. At any rate, judging from the appear-
ance of the land on the other side of the road, it would without
good farming be very inferior grass. The colour and quality of
the herbage afforded a striking contrast to the wretched stuff
referred to, brown in colour and filled with rushes and bad
grasses. ‘Two dressings have been applied; that of last year
consisted of 5 cwt. of bones and 3 cwt. of phosphate per acre ;
a portion at the farther side was not so treated, and the difference
both in colour and herbage was very apparent. In May this
field was carrying a score of young heifers, one- and two-year-
olds, 55 ewes, and 80 lambs, and there was abundance of food.
This field illustrates the advantage of liberal treatment, and also
how greatly present condition is due to the tenant’s capital, for
the unexhausted portions of which the Act of last year will give
him compensation. Another evidence of the value of bones
applied and cake consumed on grass-land is the fact that now
half as many more cattle can be grazed as at first. On both our
visits we inspected the Pollymore farm, which was well stocked
and equally creditable. Inasmuch as the two farms are worked
together, it is not easy to separate the outlay in labour ; but, taking
the whole and averaging the amount, we get 1/. 5s. an acre, made

as follows :—

Gy sid.

38 Waggoners at 15s. a week, one only with cottage, valued
at 5/. 3. each extra for corn- harvest, and beer) 18210 O

money tor hay, time, LOS.) ae. seein sets ne le
Shepherd at 16s. a week. 27. for lambing, cottage, and 52 2 0

extra as above 3.00 Cpe ete oe (pes
6 Labourers at 14s, a week. Extra at harvests=39/.18s.each 289 8 O
3 Boys at 4s. 6d. a week eee a ea i IT

The outlay in purchased foods for the whole farm of 530 acres
was in 1883, 723/. 16s.; to this must be added the value of
home-grown grain consumed, 200/.; total, 923/. 16s., equal to
35s. an acre. The cost of artificial manures for the same year
was 294/. 11s. 7d., or 2/. 6s. per acre as the cost of foods con-
sumed and manures purchased over the whole occupation, which
indicates very high farming. The valuation at Christmas 1883,
amounted to 5240/. 10s. over the whole area, and Mr, Pearce

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 573

considers he is employing fully 127. an acre capital. The
returns are more variable than on a breeding farm, as they are
influenced so much by the comparative values of horned stock
when purchased and sold. With Mr. Pearce’s judgment, the
system he pursues is doubtless wise; but his are exceptional
circumstances, and the man who breeds and rears his stock is
contributing more to the general weal.

From the appearance of the crops in May, and the excellent
condition of the land intended for roots, we expected at our
last visit in July to find a more prosperous condition of
affairs than existed; but the long dry time had told upon
the cereals, which, though generally level good crops, were
not of that luxuriant growth which, under other circumstances,
might have been confidently anticipated ; but, more serious
still, a large proportion of the first sowing of roots had been
destroyed by a terrible infliction of fly, which were still far
too busy on July 11th—a very unusual visitation. When all
hope of the crop was gone, Mr. Pearce had split the ridges
and redrilled, and the young plants were looking well, though by
no means out of danger. The mangolds, which were terribly
mauled by the maggot of Anthomya Bete, were so ragged a plant
that swedes had been gapped in in the intervals. The land
was most satisfactory as to tilth and cleanness, not only on the
’ root break, but throughout the farm. The first rain of any
account fell at Welbroughton on June 29th. After the careful
and thoroughly business way in which the farms had been
handled, and everything done that was possible to ensure a
success, it was disappointing that causes beyond control had so
seriously interfered with results. We found some additional
stock purchased since May, viz., on the two farms 30 head.
of cattle and 100 sheep, but none sold; the land was fully
stocked, yet there was abundance of food in the pastures, and all
kinds of stock were in thriving condition.

CrAss 2:—Tutrp PRIZE.

Mr. Henry Minton, Montford, near Shrewsbury.

AAyaADIG. cs. 0 s.. OU0. acres.
Grass PRR TEM FPF Oe io alee
540 ,,

Mr. Minton occupies under the Earl of Powis, on the Lord-
ship Estate, having in 1878 succeeded his uncle, the late Mr.
William Matthews, who was at one period so successful as an
exhibitor of Shropshire ewes; and it may be mentioned that

574 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

Messrs. Crane and Tanner, and Mr. Bowen-Jones, well-known
sheep-breeders, are his neighbours on the same estate, the light
and friable character of the tillage land which largely prevails
being well suited for sheep, whilst the useful meadows on the
banks of the Severn make good rearing ground for the valuable
Hereford cattle, and grand cart-horses, which, after the flock, are
the pride of Montford. Mr. Minton, who holds the diplomas
of the Royal Agricultural College and the Royal Agricultural
Society, has not been idle since he took the farm, and much
work of renovation and improvement has been carried out by
landlord and tenant, the latter having grubbed up a large area
of useless fences (2+ miles), and planted new fences where
requisite. The landlord has supplied half-a-mile of continuous
iron fencing, for which a very reasonable interest is charged.
The work was in progress at our first visit. The noble owner
has made great alterations and additions to the buildings, the
tenant finding horse-labour. The principal business has been
the conversion of an open shed into a summer sheep-house, and
the filling up of rough uneven ground to make a suitable outrun,
and the construction of a capital shelter-shed for the open yards,
which are fenced with stone posts, and two-inch gas-piping, the
lowest rail being cleverly made use of as a water-pipe. I regret
that I am not able to give a ground plan, to illustrate what may
well be regarded as most suitable appliances for a speciality,
viz., the preparing sheep for show and sale purposes.

Although Mr. Minton has been principal for so short a time,
he found good material to work upon, and has made his mark,
both in the showyard and the sale-ring, ‘“‘ Montford Hero,” the
first prize shearling at Derby, having been let by auction to
Messrs. Crane and Tanner for the season at 205 guineas, the
highest figure on record. He again was successful at Reading,
where he stood first as a two-shear, and was let for 70 guineas,
Last year, 1883, he was used at home, and is likely to work
for another year or two, The money prizes won by this sheep
amount to 807. At the same sale referred to, z.c. in 1881, a pen
of shearlings made 30 guineas each, and last year the average of
the draft shearling ewes was 9/. 13s.; and Mr. Minton states
that the average annual price per head of sheep of every descrip-
tion sold during the past four years is 10/.

In January we found 132 in-lamb ewes, a splendidly even
lot as to size, and very matching in character, 69 ewe lambs and
91 tup lambs, with three or four older rams, making a total of
296 head. All the males are reared entire, the drafts going to the
butcher, when found not good enough for service. The tup lambs
were on roots sliced, and having ? lb. of cake and peas per diem,
with chop anda little hay. The ewe lambs were similarly treated,

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 575

only having 4 lb. of linseed-cake per head. Very high feeding
in early life is not approved of, as the risk of loss is increased.
The lambs have but little corn until weaned in July, and are
kept during summer chiefly on first and second year’s seeds.
The rams remain out till shorn on April Ist, after which they
are housed. At our second visit in May the new sheep-houses
were completed, and here we found 30 shearling rams, 5 or 6
in each compartment. Although the weather was warm, the
building was cool, owing to excellent ventilation arrangements,
and the animals were evidently thriving well. They were big
good sheep, with uniformly dark faces. A few roots were
stored for their use, but the ten weeks of dry weather had sadly
interfered with the growth and succession of spring forage
crops, cabbages, &c., which are relied upon for the necessary
changes of food. Out of these sheep the Shrewsbury exhibits
would be selected. One of the shearlings was most promising.
We were favourably impressed with a two-shear, ‘“ Procrastina-
tion,” by Mansell’s “ Lordship 2nd,” not shown last year, owing
to a mistake as to the entry. He was let to Mr. Loder as a shear-
ling for 50 guineas. A pen of shearling ewes are also being
prepared, very pretty, but not remarkably big. Forty shearlings
are sold by auction each year with the draft ewes. Two
breeding ewes were killed by dogs getting amongst the flock,
which did considerable harm besides, otherwise the lambing
season had been successful. And the lambs were a promising
lot, and have been shorn this year for the first time. Excessive
forcing, either of animals or crops, is avoided. The natural
excellence of the tillage land produces crops of such quality
that very heavy manuring would be injudicious. This may be
judged of from the fact that the average outlay in cake and
manure does not exceed 1/. an acre. The corn crops, especially
the barley, were excellent. The latter, which is largely grown,
was particularly heavy on one large field after seeds, No. 468,
and it was open to argument whether this or the small field
No. 465 would prove the better. Both would give a good
account of themselves. The wheat was an even full plant, and
looked like casting well. The light friable soils of the larger
portion of the farm are favourable for barley of high quality.
Mr. Minton finds great benefit from the application of small
doses of lime, from 30 to 40 cwt., every four or six years, and
such treatment is carried out systematically. The root-break,
partly owing to dry weather, did not present such a satisfactory
appearance as the corn crop. The mangolds were a rather
ragged lot, and the swedes were late and uneven, but with an
open back, and may make a fair amount of food.

The Hereford cattle are receiving more attention as to the
registration of pedigrees than before the American trade was

576 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

established. They are, however, well bred, and most of them
are qualified for the Herdbook. At our first visit we found 94
head, increased to 99 in May, and comprising a very useful lot
of 32 cows; 22 two-year-old steers grazing, which in May were
replaced by 25 sucking calves; and young store animals, in-
cluding 8 young bulls, for sale; a yearling bull, by Mr. Rogers’s
* Assistant,” destined for service, and promising enough if his
ribs spring a bit; also his sire, a three-year-old, very wide for-
ward, with ugly horns, set back, and rather slack ribs, but with
thick good flesh ; and a two-year-old, preparing for show; also
four yearling heifers, by “ Assistant,” to be shown together, a
useful, but not matching lot. Like the sheep, very natural treat-
ment is followed. ‘Thus the cows in winter range the pastures
during the day, when they have a few swedes to bite, and plenty
of sweet straw in racks at night. The young stock are chiefly by
“ Assistant.” This is the first year that bulls have been bred.

The pigs are a superior class of Berkshires. We saw eight
grand sows and gilts, and a boar of Swanwick’s.

Cart-horses are a notable feature at Montford. The total
number of horses in May was 19, viz. 10 working horses (4 in-
foal), 4 yearling colts, 2 nags, 3 various. One grand brown
mare, “ Montford Meg,” by “ Black Prince” (169), has proved
an exceptionally good breeder, and is the dam of ‘“ Cannock
Enterprise,” by ‘Statter’s Heart of Oak” (1003), which was
sold as a yearling to the Cannock Chase Company, and, after
taking first and champion prizes at Islington, realised 1000.
It is highly creditable to Mr. Minton’s judgment that he should
have bred the highest-priced sheep and one of the most costly
horses in the country. We also noticed a powerful five-year-old
black mare, a black colt foal by “Somersham Samson,” a
chestnut colt, and two fillies of considerable promise,

The arable land is principally worked on the four-course
system. The seeds are occasionally left for two years. Some
of the least desirable land has been laid to grass, mostly by the
tenant, some by the landlord. Much of what we saw was rough,
and not so successful as might have been expected. Possibly this
may arise from some defect in grazing, or from no bones haying
been applied. Since Mr. Minton’s tenancy about 56 acres have
been laid to grass, for 40 acres of which the tenant found seed.
It was evident that more attention might advantageously be
given to the improvement of the pasture land, which up to the
present time has not been so well treated as the arable. It is
in the management and character of Mr. Minton’s stock of all
kinds that merit is most conspicuous, and the Judges were
unanimous in their wish that the excellent management of live-
stock should be recognised by the award of an extra prize, which
was at once granted by the Council.

—_ =

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 5Ia

Cxiass I].—Hicuiy CoMMENDED.
Mr. Thomas Griffin, Preston Vale Farm, near Penkridge.

Arable Wet os ea OF acres:
Grass Oe Latin Si Qe So rss

1 Is 5 a

This farm is occupied on yearly agreement under Lord
Hatherton. The soil is a strong red loam, nearly all heavy, and
awkward to work. The grass-land is partly upland, but prin-
cipally meadows, injured by the flooding of the Wistow, a
straggling brook, which bounds the farm on the south side.

The farm is admirably laid out. A road made by the tenant
runs north-west from the buildings, right through the centre of
the largest plot, with conveniently shaped fields on either side.
These fields have been principally laid out by the tenant, who
has planted 3200 yards of new fences, and has stubbed up
nearly double this quantity. The landlord supplied materials,
and some assistance in the labour. The result of all this outlay
is that the farm is very ship-shape, the fences are excellent, and
the whole appearance trim and businesslike.

The tillage land was perfectly clean, and in high condition.
Here, as at Stafford, the practice of marling strong land was
formerly carried to excess. Marl-pits in nearly every field occupy
valuable space, and indicate to what an extent this practice
prevailed, which doubtless increased the yield of wheat, but
injured the mechanical condition of the land. The land is
winter-ploughed with three stout horses in line. The usual
rotation is a modified four-course. Two corn crops are occa-
sionally taken, and the general cleanness of the land renders
such a practice allowable. There are no restrictions as to
cropping or sale. Steam cultivation is hired in spring for
working the fallows. All the crops were most promising.
Wheat and beans were especially good. The land for roots is
carefully and judiciously cultivated ; thus, field No. 1749 was
ploughed in the autumn after wheat; it was steam-cultivated
twice in early spring, twice ploughed afterwards and worked,
ridged after 6 cwt. of dissolved bones had been applied broad-
cast, then a scuffler run up the furrows, and the ridges were
split back on the land thus deeply stirred ; and judging from
the excellent crops which were being consumed at the time of
our first visit, I think this treatment must be advantageous.
The bone manure was obtained from the Cannock Chase Agri-
cultural Company, Limited, costing 7/. to 7/. 10s. a ton. The
seeds, which are grazed down by sheep in spring, and then laid

578 ' The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

for hay, were an excellent crop, and afforded invaluable food
for ewes and lambs. Indeed, the arable land generally was
thoroughly well handled, and we were particularly impressed by
the fact that Mr. Griffin manages to feed a considerable pro-
portion of roots on the land without losing the next corn crop,
or injuring the sheep. We were not so favourably impressed
as regards the grass land, much of which was badly grazed, and
rough in consequence. To some extent its present appearance
is due to the fact that less cattle are kept than usual, owing
to the difficulty of buying what would pay, but we were of
opinion that more might be made of the grass-land.

Shropshire sheep are carefully and judiciously managed at
Preston Vale, and it is no easy business to grow roots and feed
them off on land which has so much clay in its composition.
On our first visit we found the mixed hoggs, 169 in number,
in field No. 672, eating a considerable proportion of a heavy
and regular crop of swedes on the land ; iron hurdles, 6 ft. long,
are used for folding, costing 8/. 10s. a ton, 7.e. 56 hurdles, about
3s. each. These last a long time with care and occasional over-
hauling, and are cheaper in the long run than either wooden
hurdles or netting. The hoggs were close shorn in July, a
practice tried here for the first time, but which is apparently
becoming general throughout the Shropshire district. Besides
the roots, they were having an allowance of mixed cottonseed-
and linseed-cake, and were quite forward enough, considering
that the wethers are not intended for the shambles after clipping,
but for summering on the meadows, where we found them in
May occupying a good deal of ground that might have been
more profitably used, and having 4 lb. of beans with a little
steamed chaff. By this method they make out heavy sheep,
22 to 24 lbs. a quarter, but we question if they pay for the extra
keep, and believe that it would be more profitable to finish
them on turnips, or as soon after shearing as possible, and so
to save all the summer grass for young cattle. The sheep stock
in May consisted of—

109 ewes.
123 lambs.
4 barren ewes.
80 shearling wethers.
77 7 ewes.
1 ram.

464
The ewe flock varies from 112 to 120. These are very grand

animals of excellent type, wide frames on short legs. We
found them in the winter living on grass-land, which formed

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 579

their main food, with a few swedes given whole, some steamed
chop and malt dust. They were in splendid condition. In
summer the ewes and lambs (the latter were wonderfully level
and of good character) are kept chiefly on seeds, of which
the take is extremely good, the ground well covered, and all the
sorts fully represented. The practice is to sow part of the
Italian rye-grass on the furrow, and the remainder is drilled with
the barley, by which arrangement necessary depth of soil is
secured ; 12 to 15 lbs. of mixed clovers are lightly drilled across
the corn. Nothing could be more satisfactory than the young
seeds, indicating, as was apparent in other crops, that the arable
land is liberally and judiciously managed at Preston Vale.
Cattle are the weak feature of the management ; with land well
adapted, as far as we could judge, for rearing stock, Mr. Griffin
contents himself with buying in a small number of store animals,
partly for feeding in the byres and partly to be kept a year as
stores for summer grazing with the shearling sheep in the
meadows. The ordinary stock in winter numbers forty-five
head. This last winter, owing to the difficulty of getting stock,
there were only thirty-six, of which fourteen were useful feeding
heifers and steers, bought dear in the autumn, and which could
not pay for their food; six smaller heifers, and sixteen useful
steers, destined for the meadows, where we found them on our
second visit. More cattle might be kept if the roots were pulped
instead of being sliced, and this is the more desirable, inasmuch
as excellent arrangements exist for steaming, chopping, &c. The
stock in May comprised 14 fat heifers, 10 barren heifers, 2 in-calf
heifers, 2 cows in-milk, and 9 steers, making a total of only 37 head.
The cart-horses are strong animals, well suited to work such
land. The heavy labour may be judged from the fact that, not-
withstanding the occasional use of steam-power, 196 acres re-
quire nine cart-horses ; but some foals are bred, which reduces
the efficiency of the teams. There were 2 foals, 2 two-year-olds,
2 yearlings, 1 old mare and foal, 1 cob, and 1 pony ; total, 19.
The buildings are well contrived, and afford much accommo-
dation, with three open but well sheltered yards, which are
reached from the feeding passage of the cattle shed, so that
feeding is economically performed. The arrangements for pre-
paring the food are convenient and suitable, comprising a small
horizontal engine and large boiler, pair of grindstones, chaff-
cutter, &c. The chaff is closely pressed in a chamber, steam
being introduced through a perforated floor. The cart-horse
stable is very roomy, with a feeding passage at the head. This
building was originally a cow-house.
Labour is extremely well managed. The total outlay aver-
ages 23s. an acre, comprising—

580 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

2 Waggoners at 15s. a-week, cottage, &c.

1 Shepherd at 15s. do. do.

1 Shepherd’s assistant at 14s. a-week, cottage, &c.
Head labourer at 15s. a-week, and cottage.

1 Lad at 10s. a-week.

1 Irishman at 12s. a-week.

2 Waggon-boys at 5s. each a-week.

Extras at harvest, 21/. Each man gets 3/. 5s. extra, and no
beer. Mr. Griffin disapproves of the system of giving large
quantities of beer and cider. Five cottages are included in the
occupation.

Before leaving Class II., I must allude to a circumstance of
very sad import, the only sorrowful incident of our work.
Huntington Court Farm, near Hereford, was entered by Mr.
Thomas Goodwin, The Court Farm, Hampton Bishop, Here-
ford, being an off farm in his occupation, principally valuable
for winter keep of stock, grazed in summer at the home
farm. Mr. Goodwin was well known as an energetic and
successful manager until a recent period, when he was struck
down by paralysis and deprived of powers of speech and loco-
motion, though retaining his faculties. On our first visit he
was present, accompanied by Mrs. Goodwin, whose devotion
was most evident. Since his affliction she had studied busi-
ness matters, in order to release him as far as possible, and
with the hope that in a few years the eldest boy, a lad of
seventeen, would be equal to take the helm. In this work
she was ably seconded by the foreman, Thomas Price, whom
she strongly recommended for a certificate, as a faithful,
zealous servant of thirty years’ service. At our second visit,
both Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin were dead, and, curious to relate,
she died first, and he, struck down by grief at her loss, soon
followed. Although there were elements of great interest in
the farm, notably the very heavy stock kept and their general
good character and condition, matters were so completely upset,
that neither Thomas Price or Mr. Evans, the trustee, could
afford such information as would justify publicity, and therefore
we were reluctantly compelled to close the page upon what at
our first visit promised to be a valuable record. We were,
however, thoroughly satisfied as to the valuable and honest
services of Thomas Price, whose name and history are given at
the end of the Report, and whose recommendation by his late
employers we most heartily endorse.

There is just one other point that must be noticed before
quitting this portion ef the Report. Amongst the entries was
a farm of 185 acres at Bolus Magna, occupied by Mrs, Ann
Jefferies. Having only been occupied for three years, and

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 581

entered on in a wild neglected condition, with very dilapidated
and insufficient buildings, this farm was not fit for exhibition.
And the special object of this brief notice is to draw attention
to the industry, enterprise, and perseverance of Mrs. Jefferies’
son, who has managed for his widowed mother here and else-
where for thirteen years, and being only ten years old when his
father died, and has succeeded in not only holding his own in
the face of great difficulties, but has steadily improved the
condition of the farm, and made handsome profits, This has
been mainly due to judgment in the management of a small
butter dairy, combined with the rearing of calves, by keeping
an excellent class of Shropshire sheep, and, above and beyond
all, by individual attention and industry of an unusual and
most commendable nature. And it appears that this successful
result is al] the more meritorious from the fact that Mr.
Jefferies has lacked the opportunities of many of studying
agriculture in a scientific aspect, and therefore may not always
know how to make the most of his opportunities ; for example,
we noticed that in the matter of artificial manures for the root
crops, phosphates—the most important constituents — were
omitted altogether, and this in a soil of a sandy nature and
derived from a formation destitute of phosphatic materials. He
was using a mixture of soot, kainit, and salt, costing only 17s.
an acre, and this was the only assistance given directly to the
crop. If Mr. Jefferies, who is very intelligent, becomes a
member of the Society, and occupies his winter evenings in
reading its ‘ Journal’ and other agricultural literature, he will be
able to amend his practice in those particulars in which it is
not entirely in harmony with scientific teaching. The Judges
were so impressed with the devotion of the manager to his
work that they consider him to be most worthy of a certificate,
and recommend him accordingly.

Cuass IIJ.—First Prize.

Mr. Charles Miles, Tatenhill Farm, near Burton-on-Trent.

1 33 2
ACTA SSRN i Sieth. uke toneksist Olt O20
ea DCM Fewest ba. cet wibalktOu 0. 0
127 0.20

Tatenhill Farm is held on yearly agreement under The Agri-

| cultural Holdings Act, 1875, from Sir John Hardy, Bart. More
_ than one-third of the pasture-land has recently been laid down

582 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

by the tenant. Tatenhill is three and a half miles distant from
Burton-on-Trent. The land is not conveniently situated as
regards the buildings, but the more distant portion, mostly
arable, adjoins the Trent and Mersey Canal, and town manure
from Burton is delivered on the farm at 3s. a ton; also night
soil in a semi-liquid condition, at 2/. a boat-load, which, mixed
with ashes, is good manure for root crops.

This is an important advantage, especially as up to this spring
the road through the farm was only a mud lane, almost im-
passable in wet weather, and a source of much extra horse-
power and wear and tear both mechanical and mental. We
were very glad to find on our second visit in May that this
road which had been such a source of trouble was being
repaired. A nine-feet width of surface was being excavated
12 inches deep, with a pipe-drain down the middle, and drain
and excavation filled with thorns. This was to be covered
with gravel quarried on the farm, and conveyed by go carts.
The landlord was to do the work, and the tenant to lead materials,
which, as the road reaches fully half a mile, is no small under-
taking, and was very properly interrupted at the time of our
visit, in order that fallowing operations might be proceeded
with. Seeing that the arable land can be manured from the
canal, and that the field close to the buildings, is suitable for
roots, it is questionable whether the system of carting most of
the roots such a distance and hauling back manure is judi-
cious or economical. It might be wiser to consume the bulk
of the roots in these far-off fields on the ground, and depend
more on artificial food for the cows.

The soil varies considerably : two arable fields on the south-
west boundary are of a peaty character; the rest of the tillage
land is on a gravelly subsoil, with occasional patches of strong
soil, which makes it awkward to work. This portion is
mostly of a somewhat poor, hungry nature. The grass-land is
a strong loam on a clay subsoil, and to some extent requires
drainage. It may be truly said that the remarkably successful
management which we are about to describe is mainly due to
the energy and perseverance of the tenant, ably backed up by
an excellent wife, in the face of difficulties and discouragements
which to many would have proved insurmountable. Indeed,
Mr. Miles’s history is so instructive, and he is so truly typical
of the class of man likely to make small farming profitable,
that no apology is offered for giving a detailed account of his
experience, which, as well as the financial results, are published
with the full consent of Mr. Miles.

Charles Miles was born in 1841, at Hill Ridware, near
Rugeley, Staffordshire, where his father, who had previously

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 583

been a butler in a gentleman’s family, occupied a public house,
the Chadwicks Arms Inn, and a small farm. His mother
was, before marriage, a laundry-maid. Hard work was the order
of the day, and young Miles had but little schooling, having to
work on the farm and help to brew until turned sixteen, when
he went into the Queen’s stables as an outrider. At nineteen
he was obliged to give up service and take the place of an elder
brother, deceased, as his father’s health had given way. Here
he struggled on for a period of nine years, being heavily handi-
capped, and eventually well-nigh ruined through his mother’s
intemperance. At the age of twenty-three, two years after his
father’s death, he married his first wife. The farm was made
over to him, the public-house being kept on by his mother, who
was soon sold up, and, through helping her, he was also obliged
to give up the land. This proved the starting-point of his
career ;- his wife’s parents lent him capital at 4 per cent.
interest, and with this he took a poor farm of 182 acres on
Needwood Forest, two-thirds tillage. All interest and principal
were repaid. He had 300/. with his wife, most of which went to
pay debts incurred before entering on the farm. And this was
all the capital he ever had. After occupying the farm for
about six years, Mr. Miles lost his wife, whose parents had
died before. This was a great trial, as he was left with two
children, one a baby. The wife’s sister came, but died the
following spring. Then, in despair, the mother was sent for,
but the curse of drink was still at work, and she had to be sent
away, or the poor fellow would have been ruined a second time,
but by great perseverance and industry he pulled through. A
year after his first wife’s death, he married his present wife,
and this was, he states, the luckiest day of his life, for, though
his first wife and her parents gave him the start, number two,
who came empty-handed, was a fortune in herself—a statement
which from our observation was by no means mere hyperbole,
for a more efficient and willing helpmate to a hard-working
energetic man could not be imagined. She was the daughter
of a farmer, but, left an orphan quite young, was brought up by
relations. After this happy marriage things prospered, and
notwithstanding the unfavourable character of the farm and
heavy losses experienced, after nine years’ occupation money
was sayed and stock increased. The farm was eventually given
up, Owing to serious injury from rabbits, which he was not
allowed to destroy, and Mr. Miles came to Tatenhill at Lady
Day, 1874; at that time the extent of the occupation was 114
acres, and did not include five fields immediately below the
house, but took in some outside land, now given up. The rent
and tithe amounted to 52s, 6d. anacre. The farm was, accord-
VOL. XX.—S. S. 2Q

584 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

ing to Mr. Miles’s report, in a very bad state; the plough-land
was so wild that the whole had to be summer fallowed ; for this
purpose steam-power was hired. The off-going tenant’s last
crop of wheat upon wheat was absolute rubbish, and was burnt
upon the ground. He was an excellent man and a clever barrel-
maker, which was his trade, but did not understand farming,
and consequently during his six years’ occupation dropped his
money, and left the farm in a wretched state. In 1878, an
exchange of lands allowed of an important alteration in the
holding. The five fields alluded to, comprising 37 a. 1 r. 13 p.,
were added, and outlying lands comprising 24 a. 2 r. 8 p.
were taken from the farm. Nearly three-fourths were strong
tillage land, requiring to be summer fallowed, the rest poor
grass-land. Rent and tithe was lowered to 42s. 6d. an acre,
which, as far as we could judge, is a good rent. At this
time the farm comprised 48 acres of old grass and 79 of
tillage, a proportion not suitable for dairy occupation ; and Mr,
Miles, as soon as the land was clean, laid down the whole of the
newly-acquired arable land near the homestead and two fields
at the other extremity of the farm. These fields look extremely
well, they have been manured or dressed with compost every
year since they were laid. The land was first thoroughly cleaned
and well manured. The seeds, supplied by F. Dixon and Son,
Chester, were sown in wheat, and usually grazed the first year,
mown the second year, and dressed as above. The landlord found
part of the seeds. Mr. Miles varies the mowing-ground, by
which plan he prevents any of it becoming rough and coarse,
as it would do where the manure was dropped if always grazed.
All manure to grass-land is applied in the autumn. Great care
is exercised to have the clots well distributed. Mr. Miles states
that the first year he occupied the farm the whole of the corn
was represented by one small oat-rick, whilst last year with
much less tillage-land the rickyard was not large enough to hold
the corn, and a barley-stack was thrashed out to make room
for the beans. Amongst the improvements carried out by the
tenant may be mentioned the leading of all materials for the
farm-buildings, which are excellently adapted for the require-
ments of the farm; the filling up of the old manure-hole
opposite the dairy, which caused a stench which was most
unwholesome; placing new drains, &c., making new roads
about buildings and a new pond; fences and ditches improved
all over the farm, and now in very creditable condition ; plant-
ing fruit-trees in garden and fences; and doing the labour of a
lot of drainage, locally known as “ soughing,” the landlord find-
ing pipes ; some draining, particularly in one of the peaty fields,
was entirely done by the landlord, of whom the tenant speaks
in the highest terms, expressing the greatest confidence in his

i i i ee as

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 585

justice and liberality ; an evidence of which is the fact that
ever since 1878 returns varying from 10 to 20 per cent. have
been made, Mr. Miles says, “I have had a hard uphill fight,
but think I may say, with the help of Providence and good
seasons, if I have my health and strength with good luck, I have
a bright remunerative prospect before me. I shall endeavour
to still go on improving the farm and increasing my stock to
its fullest possible extent, and hope to be able to very much
increase the produce. I never go away from home except when
business obliges me to do so. I go to work down the fields
with the men all day, that is, when work is going on, on the
land, till milking time, five o’clock, taking a bit of lunch in
my pocket; these are my happiest days, as I can get so much
more work done when I am amongst it and helping to do it:
I never indulge in any luxuriant extravagance for myself and
family.” This last assertion is proved by the extraordinary
experience which has been related, for such success could only
be possible with untiring industry and severe economy. On
our first visit in January we reached the farm at an unexpectedly
early hour, and found the husband and wife in their working
gear, each busy with their respective departments. The farmer
would apologise, but we assured him that he was in such
guise doing infinite credit to himself. Nor must we omit to
mention that the eldest boy of the second family had begged a
holiday, in order that he might see the judges and that they
might see his rabbits, of which he was evidently a most suc-
cessful breeder, and thus early gave evidence of his taste for
live stock. The family comprise a boy and girl by first wife,
the former apprenticed to a grocer, the latter at home helping
with the house-work, and three children at the National School,
and the youngest at home.

The buildings are excellent, and provide much accommoda-
tion, which is fully occupied ; indeed, the cart-shed we found
converted for the nonce into a habitation for young stock;
most of the implements were carefully stowed away in a hovel,
whilst two waggons, only used in harvest work, were loaded
with beans and carefully thatched down, so as to be thoroughly
protected from the weather. |The buildings include two roomy
well-contrived cow-houses; a capital yard, covered with gal-
vanized iron, which extends right up to the dairy buildings,
which are an extension of the house ; and though this affords a
convenient and protected covered way for the delivery of the
milk, it must be rather a nuisance at those times that the manure
is being removed. There are two or three boxes for calves,
stables, boxes, and the cart-shed already mentioned ; whilst, on

the other side of the house and roadway, is a big barn for straw,
2Q 2

586 - The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

with a floor over for chaff-cutting, and a mixing-room, granary,
&c., and piggeries under. The manure not accommodated in
the covered yard is made into a heap below the buildings, and
all the liquid from it wastes away. It would be a great im-
provement if it were covered with a light roof, so as to protect
it from rainfall.

The dairy comprises 25 to 30 cows of good milking character,
and mostly of Shorthorn type. At our winter visit we found
30 cows in-milk and dry, 8 in-calf and barren heifers, 9 rearing
calves, and 2 grade bulls, z.e. unpedigreed Shorthorns. At our
second visit the total was increased by weaning calves to
56 head. The bulls are carefully selected as the offspring of
heavy milking cows by a pedigree sire; they are serviceable
animals, not smart or showy, and, as Mr. Miles rears a portion
of his stock, the use of such animals is questionable policy,
seeing that well-bred animals from good milking strains are so
readily procurable. Being so near to Burton, grains are largely
used, the ordinary prices being 43d. a bushel in winter and
24d. in summer, a variation sufficiently great to render storing
in large quantities desirable. A certain quantity can be laid
up, but not nearly enough, and Mr. Miles spoke of amending his
practice in this matter. Each cow in winter gets a bushel
a day in two feeds, 4 lbs. of mixed linseed and cotton-cake, and
two feeds of turnips and cabbage, followed later on by mangolds,
from 30 to 40 lbs. a day, and tops with hay and straw ad libitum.
This is liberal feeding, but we were surprised to find that, though
Mr. Miles has all the machinery, including steam-power, for
reducing the food and mixing the ingredients, he preferred to
deal with them separately, probably on account of the saving of
labour. In times of scarcity he approves of pulping, chafling,
&c. A considerable loss has occurred from abortion, for which
no explanation has been found. Can this be the effect of grains,
which are not always considered wholesome food for breeding
animals?

At our visit in May, we found the cows, thirty in number,
in their pasture, and were much pleased with their thoroughly
useful character; 46 acres of grass are provided, which they
have in common with the horses; they are brought home
to milk, getting a bushel of grains to three cows, and 2 lbs.
a head of decorticated cotton-cake. In order to keep up the
milk-supply during winter, when prices are highest, some
down calvers are bought each autumn, but the bulk of the
herd are bred. As a precaution in hot weather, or when cows
are fresh, a dose of salts is given before calving. The list is
as follows: 30 cows in-milk, 2 feeding calves, 1 cow dry for
calving, 3 in-calf heifers, 1 barren heifer, 3 yearling heifers,

a a

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 587
2 winter-reared calves, 4 young bulls, 8 rearing calves, 2 bulls
in service; total, 56 head. Most of the calves are sold as soon
as capable of removal. Those reared are removed at birth and
brought up by hand, having new milk from 10 days to 3 weeks,
according to circumstances ; then gruel made with dust oil-cake,
lactina, and oatmeal, all scalded and added to the old milk,
mixed up twice a day. As soon asthe calves can eat, they have
sweet hay, cake, grains, &c., being weaned altogether at 8 or 10
weeks from birth; they are well kept, and always have a little
cake. Those we saw were in thriving condition. Most of the
milk is sent to Birmingham from Barton and Walton station,
three miles from Tatenhill. The contracts, carriage paid (4d. a
gallon) are as follows :—

For the month of October
November to March, inclusive.. ..
April to September, inclusive... ..

94d. per gallon.
10d.
8d.

In winter, there is one delivery a day, viz. 7.30 A.M., at the
station ; in summer, both morning and evening. The following
details are interesting :—

”
”

1882. } 1883.
MoyTHs. Produce of 24 Cows. Montus. Produce of 27 Cows.
Gallons. Value. Gallons. Value
ay . a
January .. | 1,204 at 10d. | 50 3 4) January .. 5
| February .. | 1,403 ,, , | 58 9 2 || February .. 2
March; «| 1,3163 ,. ,. | 5417 1 || March 2
April 1,135 ” 8d. | 3716 8 || April 8
May .. 1,506 , » |50 4 0|| May .. 8
(June .. 738 ;, » | 2412 0|| June.. 4
July .. | 2,055 ,, », | 6810 0|| July .. 4
August ../| 1,174, , 38 13 0 || August 4
September | 1,219 ,, ,, 40 12 8 | September 28
October 1,4983 ,, 93d.) 57 15 113| October .. 8 3
|November | 918 ,, 10d. | 38 5 0 | November Ls
December .. | 2,0223 ,,_ ,, 84 5 5 || December R873" seu ass 78 2 6
164 sold at I 616 8 || 182 sold athome| 711 8
| 5 ewt. cheese in i] 6 cwt. cheese in
summer es 16 5 0 1} summer } 21 0 0
Buttersold .. | 5 0 0} Buttersold ..| 5 7 0
788 estimated) | 9122 estimated
milk to pro- milk to pro-
duce cheese duce cheese
and butter. ! and butter.
| aa eee dl al
| Total .. |17,142 gallons. £632 5 113 Total .. |19,5912 gallons. £'725 6 10
| | SS SD
: |
eee a 714 gallons. £26 6 103 Avorase ber} 725% gallons. e28 17 3}
oe

588 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

In comparing the above, which are certainly remarkable
figures, with the cheese records of the First Prize Dairy Farm,
it must be borne in mind that Mr. Miles’s cows are renewed, to
some extent, as a certain number of newly calved or calving
cows are bought each autumn.

The horses—10 in number—comprise 3 mares and 1 horse
for working the land, 1 nag for the milk-cart, 1 nag for sale,
1 nag-mare 5 years old, in foal to “ Pero Gomez,”—a deep,
roomy mare, which was purchased as a yearling for 11/., and
has proved a regular and valuable breeder; 1 boy’s pony,
rising 4, a cart filly foal, and 1 nag foal, a yearling nearly
thoroughbred, out of the mare. Altogether a numerous lot,
but not altogether unremunerative. The pig-stock comprises
4 Ingilt sows, 3 Tamworths, and 1 White breed and 2 feeding-
SOWS.

Nothing is neglected at Tatenhill. The garden is neat and
well kept, and every available spot, both in the fence and
garden, is made to grow a fruit-tree.

At our second visit we were anxious to see what cultivation
was adopted for roots, and how far a somewhat favourable
spring had been utilised to clean the stubbles, some of which
were rather wild. No. 6 field was planted with mangolds and
potatoes after barley. The operations comprised one deep
ploughing in autumn, turning back the furrows in spring,
scuffing and working clean, ridging and manuring with Burton
night-soil, 1 ton of Webbs’ manure, and 5 ewt. salt. No. 11,
the peat-field, which had only been recently drained, and was
very dirty, had been well worked for swedes, and was in the
way of being thoroughly cleaned. The farther side, which
was drained in the winter, was planted with cabbages, which
promised a good quantity of winter food. Three acres of swede
turnips were the most successful crop in the neighbourhood,
where the combined influence of drought and fly had proved most
destructive, and these had been saved by an amount of atten-
tion indicative of a man accustomed to overcome difficulties.
When it became evident that the enemy was not only at the
gate, but had breached the walls, a boy was employed day after
day drawing elder-boughs dipped in paraffin oil and water, up
and down the ridges, fresh liquid being applied for each ridge.
In this way the enemy was routed, and the result was a capital
plant, which was ready for singling early in July; the rest of
the field was sown with Yellow Tankard turnips, and the head-
lands would be planted with cabbages. Notwithstanding the dry
weather, the pastures yielded abundance of grass, attributed by
Mr. Miles to the fact that he does not turn out early and poach

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 589

his strong land, but allows the grass land to get a good face on it.
All the corn-crops were most promising. Mangolds were forward,
but gappy. Fences were neatly trimmed, and ditches brushed out.
All the grass from such sources is given to the cows at milking
time, and adds considerably to the food resources.

Labour on a dairy-farm is always a serious item, but here it is
reduced to the minimum of necessary expenditure, owing to the
important share of work done by the farmer and his wife. The
hands comprise

Waggoner at 17s. 6d. a week. House free, coals carted, &c. 20s. to 30s.
extra for harvest.
Cowman at 16s. Do. do.

Trishman at 14s. Extra money at harvest.
Boy hired by year at 67. and food.

The wife, assisted by her step-daughter, 13 years of age, out of
her school-hours, does all the house-work. Three men and the
farmer milk, at 5 A.M. and 5 p.m. Calculating the value of the
cottages, harvest-wages, and additional help at harvest at 25/.,
and estimating the lad’s food at 9s. a week, the total labour
comes to about 180/., equal to 1/. 8s. an acre. Harvest-work is
done by 5 men, who tie and set up the corn at 6s. an acre,
with an allowance of beer, besides helping to milk night and
morning, and cutting roads round the fields for the reapers.
The corn is cut by Picksley’s Back-delivery Manual worked by
the farmer, with a lad to drive the horses. Average work, 6 to
8 acres a day. The farmer stacks all the produce, which is
placed on brick-staddles provided with means of ventilation,
and yery tidy work is made.

The outlay on purchased foods and manures is very much the
same as labour, viz., 172/. 9s. in 1822, and 162/. 6s. 11d.in 1883.

The profitable character of the business may be gathered
from the fact, that whilst the sales of produce in 1882,
reached over 1400/., the expenditure of all kinds was only
10977. 3s. 5d. And in 1883 matters were still more promising,
for whilst the sales realised 13951, the outlay was reduced to
1047/7. 4s. 8d., and this with an increasing stock. On
January 1, 1884, a valuation was made by a neighbouring
valuer, whose figures were as follows :—

B Lean tds

deere Lica won wi gto 298010470
es 2 lie currelie! wich 4081 Onn
Seieetesit sigiiw Rid aii. ws Mew oBBL0.. 0
Commi inrstacks nists « cieritierds. 4507..0-.0
Hay, mangolds, turnips, &c. .. 650 0 0
A chal uve. £2046 10),.0

590 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

Assuming that these figures represent the working capital of
the farm, and seeing the large amount for the last item, hay,
&c.—which could hardly be realised—we should say it exceeds
rather than that it is under the actual amount. It follows that the
profits to cover interest of money, and the labour of the tenant
and his wife, after expenses of every kind have been defrayed,
including house and tradesmen’s bills, have averaged 13 per cent.
per annum. But the most extraordinary feature of this history,
which is quite unique in our experience, is that this respectable
capital has been entirely built up by the ability, energy, self-
denial, and perseverance of the farmer and his excellent help-
mate. With such facts, for which from the strictest investiga-
tion we can vouch, there is great encouragement for the small
farming community.

Crass 3.—SECOND PRIZE.

Mr. Sherratt, Oclepitchard, near Hereford.

yA inp leh

Grass Lich Mote Bae OOem Manto,
Hops Le) eae Eeuse BLO. Leg
Avable” -..¢ « sie Aa womeeo
130) 2se

Mr. Sherratt, who occupies on yearly tenure, under J. H.
Postlethwaite, Esq., Liverpool, came originally from Scotland,
and has been the tenant of Oclepitchard for 28 years. He is
not restricted as to cropping or sale, though holding under an
agreement. The value of the farm has been much increased by the
making of two hop-gardens, which are the leading feature and
the chief source of profit. Before commencing work Mr. Sherratt
studied the systems of management as practised in the county, and
commenced soon after his occupation to plant part of a field, which
yielded fairly well; and believing the business would answer, he
finished his first field, and after a time commenced a second,
which was only completed in 1883. As the land lies rather high
and is somewhat exposed, Mr. Sherratt found that shelter from
prevailing winds was necessary ; he has paid great attention to
the development of the hedges, which are now admirably
adapted to break the force of the winds which might otherwise
prove so destructive. The ordinary annual cultivation comprises
three ploughings, three scufllings, three harrowings, and an equal
number of rollings. At our second visit,on May 28th, we were
disappointed to find the gardens in a dirty state, which was

The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884. 591

stated to be unavoidable, owing to the late bad season. Dry
weather, which had prevailed ever since the first week of April,
had prevented the usual cultivation before the hops com-
menced to grow; after which it would be dangerous to touch the
land until the bines are trained to the poles. Mr. Sherratt did
not apprehend any difficulty on this score. The second
ploughing was carried out in March. The last furrow is
ploughed up tothe hops, and then the hills are earthed up by
men with mattocks.* The crop ranges from nothing up to
15 ewt. per acre, which latter produce has been twice reached in
25 years. An average yield is 8 cwt. The annual cost of
labour is about 10/. an acre, made up as follows :-—

Cultivation as described

Setting up poles.. .. ..
Picking 560 bushels at l}d.
Pulling up and piling poles .. O1

About 1500 bines per acre. These are planted in two ways,
either 8 feet between the rows, and 4 feet from hill to hill, in
which case 3 poles are used to each hill; or 7 feet between the
rows and 33 feet from hill to hill, using 2 poles to each hill :
in both cases 4 plants in each hill. Farmyard-manure, either
made on the farm, or purchased, is principally relied on; Mr.
Sherratt does not much like woollen rags. The hops suffer con-
siderably from aphis at times, but he has never washed the bines,
and does not dress the poles with any preservative, so as to
prolong their efficiency. Goldings and Mathon Whites are the
sorts chiefly grown. ‘The general character of the land at the -
Holdberry Farm is strong red clay.. The buildings are suitable
and comparatively new, the oast-houses and kilns for hop-curing
very well arranged.

Mr. Sherratt began by keeping Hereford cattle, but gave them
up on account of severe losses from quarter-evil. More than
half the young stock died from this cause, which he attributed to
the poverty and coldness of the pastures. He then introduced
Ayrshires, which he found much hardier; and during the last
twenty years has only had two cases of quarter-evil. The
ordinary practice is to procure a few in-calf heifers every year
from Ayrshire, and from these and his own stock he selects
from ten to twelve heifer-calves, which are reared by hand.
The bull calves, which usually form two-thirds of the produce,
are either sold with their mothers, or fed for the butcher, and all

* Writing on July 5, Mr. Sherratt says, “I have now got a fine mould in my
hopyards ; they are clean and rowed up, and the hops in general over the tops of
the poles, some of them a yard or two over them. Also some of the earlier sorts
meet across the rows, and at present the appearance is most promising.”

592 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

spare milk is made into butter. Mr. Sherratt has established a
trade for milk cows, which are principally sold to gentlemen in
the neighbourhood of Hereford. At the present time the cow-
stock is considerably reduced, owing to the impossibility of
getting the usual draft from Scotland, and the risk attending the
introduction of cattle. Twice has the stock been attacked with
foot-and-mouth disease, and each time the losses were equal to a
year’s rent. At our visit in January the total horned stock was
17, comprising 7 cows, 6 two-year-old heifers in-calf, 3 yearling
heifers, and 1 calf.

About a score of Shropshire ewes are usually kept, the lambs
being sold fat during summer, and the ewes later on. Now,
owing to the scarcity of cattle, the ewe stock increased to 35
head, which produced 47 lambs. The land is too strong for a
permanent flock; indeed, so great were the losses from liver-
rot in 1879, that sheep were discontinued until 1883.

Six working mares are kept, and foals bred. This large
force enables Mr. Sherratt to command working power at times
when on such strong land it is all important. We saw a useful
three-year-old, two-year-old, and yearling. Nag-breeding has
been successfully practised, the foundation being an old mare
by “Hereford,” a son of “Sir Hercules,” which has bred
several winners, and herself was twice a winner at Royal
Shows, but is now near her end; and a thoroughbred stallion,
“ Bravado,” by “ Buccaneer,” dam ‘* Woodbine,” by “ Stockwell,”
“* Woodbine” out of ‘ Honeysuckle,” a sister of “* Newminster,”
by “ Touchstone,” out of “ Beeswing.” ‘ Bravado,” 15 years
old, is a dark brown, 16.1 hands, with plenty of bone, and well
qualified to get good hunting stock. We saw out at grass
a five-year-old mare by “ Ladbrooke,” with foal by “ Bravado,”
entered for Shrewsbury—a promising pair; a dark chestnut
four-year-old gelding, “Energy,” by ‘ Bravado,” with great
depth and powerful loin, and some youngsters that did credit to
both parents. The total number of horses in January was 15.
Several prizes have been taken by the nags, and good prices are
made. ‘The sons break them in—a pleasant occupation, which
helps to make home attractive. Mr. Sherratt has a large
family, ten in all, ranging from 9 to 25. One lad, with a
decided turn for carpentry, made two very creditable carts in
his spare time ; and all are brought up to hard work, of which
Mr. Sherratt sets an example. He himself commenced life
as a ploughman in England, then became a bailiff, always saving
money, until he was able to take a wife and a farm, I am
sorry to add that Mrs. Sherratt is now a great inyalid.

Pigs are kept to utilise the waste from the house and refuse
from the dairy, and provide bacon for the family.

The Farm-Prize Compeiition, 1884. 593-

Hens and ducks are bred, and eggs sold.
The tillage land has not paid of late years. There are only
five fields, which are cropped as follows :—

1. Cow grass and clover; grazed early, and mown either
for hay or seed.

. Wheat.

. Roots.

. Wheat.

. Barley and seeds, with 2 ewt. of artificial manure per-
acre.

At our second visit in May we found No. 283, 10a., below
the house, in barley and cow-grass after wheat. A capital
plant, even, thick, and promising. Young seeds coming well,
and land clean. Mr. Sherratt adopts this cropping because the
quality of the barley is so much better after wheat than it
would be on roots. The wheat crop growing in fields Nos. 240
and 238 was also promising. The fallow, owing to the strong
nature of the land and the absence of rain, was absorbing a vast
amount of horse-power, and the chance of a crop appeared
somewhat problematical ; but owing to judicious management
and auspicious rain, a good tilth was eventually secured.
The swedes came away well, and there was every prospect of
a crop. Accounts are accurately kept, Webb’s system being
used. The returns are governed mainly by the hop-crop. Thus
in 1882 the crop was almost a failure, but the small total yield
of 7 cwt. was sold at the rate of 217. a cwt. In 1883 the yield
was good, nearly 12 cwt. an acre, and the price, 7/. 10s., gave
a return of 891/. 7s., equal to over 607. an acre. In 1881, a ©
crop of 5 ecwt. per acre made 555/. In 1879 the crop was
next door to a failure.

Or > OO bo

SERVANTS RECOMMENDED FOR CERTIFICATES.

Edmund Jefferies. Unmarried, aged 27 years. Recom-
mended by the Judges for clever management of the farm at
Bolus Magna, where and elsewhere he has managed for his. .
mother, Mrs. Ann Jefferies, for 13 years, as per particulars.
See page 581.

Thomas Price, Huntington Court Farm, near Hereford.
Aged 52 years, married ; with 7 children, the youngest 14, all up.
and doing well. He was most strongly recommended by the late-
Mrs. Goodwin, and by Mr. Evans, who is one of the executors. He
was in the late Mr. Goodwin’s service for 30 years, and since:
Mr. Goodwin’s illness has had the management of the Hunting-
ton Court Farm. Before that, Price was hind for 13 years on a

594 The Farm-Prize Competition, 1884.

farm of Mr. Goodwin’s at Leominster, and was recommended for
ability, zeal, honesty, and excellent character. The Judges were
favourably impressed with what they saw of his management
under great difficulties (see p. 580).

Robert Silcock, Hill Farm, Stafford, was recommended by Mr.
Holme. Aged 30, single. Three years’ service. He takes great
interest in stock, has good observation, always looks round first
and last. He is sober and steady. His value and capacity were
severely tested a year since, when Mr. Holme met with an
accident in harvest, and was sent off for ten days to the Isle of
Man. Everything was well managed in his absence at a
critical time.

Henry James, Penkridge, near Stafford. Recommended by Mr.
T. J. Griffin. He is fifty years old, is married, and has brought
up a large family. He isa day labourer, with charge of machinery ;
he drives the engine, cuts fences, stacks, thatches, and can do
all kinds of work—mending a clock, or a sewing machine, if
required. Twenty years’ service, he is faithful, honest, and tem-
perate. Mr. Griffin says this man is deserving of everything
that can be said in his favour.

William Edwardes, of Kenwick, near Ellesmere. Recom-
mended by Mr. Miles Woodburn. Aged 40. He is married, with
6 children, ranging from 12 to 2. Edwardes has worked on the
farm for 15 years, first as a labourer under Mr. Ryder, the
former tenant, and latterly as Mr. Woodburn’s hind, receiving
18s. a week. He understands all kinds of work, is reliable,
steady, and is interested in his master’s wellbeing.

James Dukes, of Sugwas, Hereford. Recommended by
Mr. F. Hawkins, in whose service and his father’s he has been
since 1855. Age 65. He is married, and has brought up a
family of 6 children under some difficulties. He is thoroughly
trustworthy, has a good eye for stock and their ailments, and
takes a great interest in his work.

1 cannot conclude without expressing the high appreciation
the Judges had of the kind and hospitable reception they met
with from all the competitors, and the readiness evinced to
answer questions and afford information, They will long
remember their pleasant and instructive work in connection
with the farm competition of 1884.

( 595 )

XIX.—Some Observations on Parturition Fever in Ruminants ;
commonly recognised in Ewes by the terms “ Heaving” or
“ Straining.” By Professor W. Rosertson, Principal of
the Royal Veterinary College.

THE period and state of parturition offer particular facilities for
the action and operation of many and varied morbid processes.
This state is to some extent a special one, consequently the
morbid actions are to a like extent unique.

The assemblage of rather complex phenomena known as
“ Fever,” occurring at parturition, is probably special not so
much as respects its intrinsic nature, as the condition of the
animal in which it finds a locality for its operation. The
fever -attendant on parturition, to which attention is now
directed, is essentially “‘ Fever” in the pathological sense of the
term. In thus restricting the term, there are excluded several
diseased conditions occurring at this period of the animal’s
life probably wrongly designated “ fever,” such as Parturient
Eclampsia, otherwise known as “ Parturient Apoplexy,”
“Dropping after Calving” or “Milk Fever,” and “Loin
Fallen.”

The disordered condition upon which it is proposed to offer
some observations ought properly to be regarded as simply
surgical fever of the septic form, scmewhat specialised, because
occurring at the period of parturition. The fever is essentially
a continued fever, characterised by much disturbance, extensive
but variously pronounced lesions, chiefly of organs in the pelvic
region ; and in the ewe, in particular, of frequent occurrence and
great fatality. In this latter animal, also, it seems possessed of ©
capabilities of propagation by mediate and immediate contact,
which cannot be affirmed of it in the cow.

In studying this development of fever it will be useful, pre-
vious to entering upon it in detail, for us to keep in recollection
certain facts and accepted deductions with reference to the
production of septic conditions in all animals. The term
“septicemia,” it ought to be remembered, is applied to two very
different states or conditions. In one application it is employed
to designate an empoisoned state of the blood, resulting from the
entrance of animal matter, fluid generally, in a state of chemical
change; or in others of organisms which, while they produce
chemical materials of a deleterious character, are themselves
innocuous, or at least the living tissues correct and modify their
action. This form is usually recognised by the term septic
poisoning. This manifestation of hemal disturbance, the common
accompaniment of wounds of an ordinary character, has no

596 Some Observations on Parturition Fever in Ruminants.

development, so tospeak. It is only likely to prove fatal when
the amount of the poison entering the body is excessive, or when
there occurs a repetition of its reception. The usual course or
termination of this received material is for it to be neutralised
in the blood-stream.

In the other sense the term is employed to convey a very dif-
ferent meaning ; not one referring to intensity or amount, but
one of essential quality. Here this septic infection, as the process
is called in contradistinction to septic poisoning, does not
depend for virulence upon the amount of the material—whether
changed animal products or something else—but upon its
inherent power of self-augmentation in the animal body in
which it is implanted. The medium of introduction may be
decomposing animal fluid, but in addition it must contain micro-
organisms able to reproduce and propagate themselves, and by
changes which they induce in the animal tissues give rise to
conditions which become rapidly fatal.

Further, to the condition of inoculation with putrid, otherwise
septic matter, and the production throughout the different organs
of the body of multiple abscesses, the term py@mia has been given.
The irritation which, acting upon the tissues, ends in the produc-
tion of these abscesses, is always associated with micro-organisms.
This formation of abscesses may be looked upon as developed
septic infection: it has no connection with septic poisoning.
So we require to remember that there is Septicemia and Septi-
cemia. ‘The fact of the existence of micro-organisms in one form
at least of septicemia and in every one of pywmia seems to be
allowed. It seems that the bacterium of pyemia does not pro-
pagate largely in the circulating blood as in the infective form of
septicemia, but becomes fixed at certain points, and from these
propagates. It is even uncertain whether it is always the same
bacterium which is associated with pyemia.

In carefully gathering up all information pertaining to this
subject of “ parturition fever” of cows and ewes, I am disposed
to regard it as obviously presenting itself for our notice in two
very distinct manifestations which are probably often confounded.

1. There is the fever resulting from what may be designated
septicemic poisoning, the result of the entrance into the circula-
tion of putrid animal matter from intrinsic or extrinsic sources ;
not capable of self-augmentation, and disposed to exhaust itself
in the animal body. 2. The more serious form, in which the
fever results from what at present is termed septicemic infection,
in which the received material may be the result of putrefactive
changes or not, but which must have added to it the specific
micro-organism ; it is also self-augmentative.

In cows it is probably the former manifestation which is

Some Observations on Parturition Fever in Ruminants. 597

most commonly encountered, on which account it is more
amenable to treatment, and less disposed to propagate. In ewes,
on the contrary, although the less serious kind is met with, |
feel certain that the truly infective form is that which more
frequently demands attention. The great fatality, undoubted
resistance to treatment, and tendency to spread or appear as an
enzoity or epizoéty, are more satisfactorily accounted for on the
assumption of the power of self-augmentation possessed by the
virus.

In both forms the structures and organs which are chiefly the
seat of the diagnostic lesions are nearly similar. These are
chiefly those situated in the pelvic cavity, the uterus, and its
appendages, with the investing peritoneal and connective tissue
structures.

Causation.—Undoubtedly the great determining influence in
the production of both forms of the fever now under review
is the parturient state, in which, from a combination of in-
fluences, general and local, the susceptibility of the animal to
adverse influences, and particularly to both septic poisoning and
septic infection, is largely augmented as compared with that of
non-parturient animals. In many instances, particularly in the

_cow, in which, as already noticed, the more manageable form of

septic poisoning is more frequently experienced, we seem not to
require to travel far for an explanation of the disturbed con-
dition. The power of changed and putrefying animal tissues
and fluids to produce this hamal contamination being granted,
we find that there exists in many animals putrefying and
septic matter, together with facilities for its absorption. ‘The
former may be found in a dead fcetus, in placental membranes, -
and uterine fluids, retained in whole or in part, and under-
going decomposition. While from injuries sustained in effect-
ing delivery by mechanical means, accidents occurring to the
parturient passages, as inversion with rough handling in re-
placement, we observe wounds or abrasions which offer a free
access to the injurious fluids; while we must not forget that in
great numbers of instances these facilities of open surfaces for
absorption occur without our being aware of their existence.
Probably these latter are frequently the cases where exposure or
fatigue, or both conjoined, have been accredited with the pro-

duction of this manifestation of the fever. No doubt cases of

the fever may be encountered in cows where none of these
agencies seem to have had a chance of operation, or at least
where their position as the true inducing cause cannot be
substantiated.

Amongst sheep the appearance of this fever would not unfre-
quently seem to develop characters of an occult and mysterious

598 Some Observations on Parturition Fever in Ruminants.

nature, such as are commonly spoken of as epizodtic, when, by
more careful examination, it may be found that the true cause of
its extensive dissemination is contact, directly or indirectly,
with organic matter in a state of change. With this latter class
of stock I am inclined to regard the greater number of cases of
parturition fever, particularly such as appear amongst large
numbers of animals at the same time, as owing their existence
only to contamination of the system with some agent which,
when placed in favourable conditions in the animal body, is
capable of self-augmentation, and of inducing the tissue changes
so characteristic of the state of septic infection. For the pro-
duction of this morbid condition there appear to be necessary
at the period of parturition two conditions.

1. A certain state, particularly of the parturient passages, in
which a wound or fresh abrasion of the protecting membrane
exists, it being rare that inoculation occurs while the membrane
is intact, or even where a wound exists if granulation is rapidly
progressing. The chances of inoculation are certainly greatly
increased with abrasion.

2. The existence of an active disease-inducing agent—most
probably a bacterium—capable of self-augmentation.

Regarding the first condition, those who are conversant with
the act of parturition in the lower animals know well enough
that wounds or abrasions are lesions of common occurrence.
These occur less commonly in connection with the uterine tissues
than with those more external, viz., the vagina and labiz. When
instruments have been employed, or much manual interference
has been needful, it is exceedingly difficult to avoid the infliction
of these, and trifling ones only are needed. Also, in the cow,
the removal by the hand of adhering placental membranes gives
the same opportunity of auto-infection—the chief mode of con-
tamination in her. In the vagina and on the labia wounds and
abrasions freshly made are of more common occurrence, and from
these there is no doubt that inoculation frequently takes place.
I am aware that, by many, external infection is said to play a
rather unimportant part in the induction of the parturition fever
of our patients. To this conclusion I am disposed to demur.
Although the form of fever in the cow is chiefly that of septic
poisoning, the result of self-contamination by absorption of
putrid materials, so largely found connected with animals at the
period of parturition, there are yet recorded well-marked cases
of the infective form, the result of inoculation by material
brought to the genital organs, on which were wounds or
abrasions, by the use in the act of parturiton of articles or in-
struments previously employed on animals suffering from this
fever, or which were contaminated with unwholesome animal

Some Observations on Parturition Fever in Ruminants. 599

discharges. Some have even gone to the extent of charging
the proximity of decomposing animal matter with the pro-
duction of the fever in this animal. This mode of production,
however,—inoculation through the agency of a poison-laden
atmosphere—is generally regarded as a much rarer occurrence
than the agency of auto-infection.

While admitting, in the case of the cow, the frequency, or
rather constancy, of the inducing agent of parturition fever as
situated in the animal itself, in the ewe I am disposed to look
more largely to factors operating from without. As the fever is
here of a different type, so does it appear that the agents which
produce it are different. In the more artificial and carefully
tended breeds, which are the greatest sufferers, a great amount—
probably too much—of manual interference is exercised by those
in charge during the act of parturition. When we take into
consideration that the ordinary attendants on a flock at the period
of lambing have frequently to undertake the after-death exami-
nation of animals which have succumbed from many diseased
conditions, and that in the matter of cleanliness they are not
the most scrupulous, it requires no great stretch of imagination to
understand how septic material may be conveyed by the hands
into the parturient passages of ewes which have been hitherto
healthy. These attendants I have observed passing from the
handling and disembowelling of carcasses in which inflammatory
and putrefactive action, it may be of this very character of which
we are now speaking, was conspicuous, having merely wiped
their hands on a dirty cloth or a little grass or straw, to manipula-
tory interference in the delivery of an apparently healthy animal.
As confirmatory of this mode of propagation in several outbreaks
of this fever, | have observed that all precautionary measures
adopted failed to arrest the spread of the malady until a change of
attendants had been adopted and rigidly carried out. In addition
to this direct conveyance of contamination by the hands and
clothes of infected attendants, who may have been in contact
with similarly diseased animals, or with septic carcasses, or with
various organic materials undergoing putrefactive changes, there
seems a strong presumption that a like infection may originate
from sources less appreciable. It seems probable that parturient
fever of the septic infectious type may originate from decom-
position, or change of various animal substances unconnected
with such animals as are actually suffering from this disease. On
this account there is danger in placing animals in parturition in
situations where contact may be effected directly or indirectly
with discharges and secretions from certain sores or wounds of
living animals, or even with dead, separated, and putrefying
animal tissues.

VOL. XX.—S. 5S. 2k

600 Some Observations on Parturition Fever in Ruminants,

To summarise as respects the reputed causes of “ parturient
fever” in the cow and in the ewe, I am disposed to attribute the
occurrence of the simple or more benign form, that which is
most frequently seen in the cow, to the passage into the circula-
tion of decomposing or putrid animal fluids which do not
necessarily contain micro-organisms ; or, if such exist, not pos-
sessing the power of indefinite production. .I hold that the
general disturbance is brought about by the action of chemical
changes in the fluids and solids of the body, rather than by
micro-organic activity. Also that, other things considered, the
severity of the fever is in direct ratio to the amount of the dis-
turbing element received ; while in all instances there is a
disposition in the living tissues to overcome the evil tendencies.
of the received material. This form as a septic condition is at
present known as “ septicemic poisoning.”

In the other forms, the more serious disturbance occasionally
seen in the cow, more frequently in the ewe, the condition
appears to follow as the result of the entrance into the system of
pathogenic bacteria, i.e. disease- producing organisms — these
organisms probably not being special, but capable of self-
augmentation, and in many instances tending to further local
changes of a specific character. This form does not appear to
depend for its virulence or severity upon the amount of virus
imported, but upon its character or quality. It is recognised
pathologically as “ septicaunie infection,” and is capable, through
reception of the smallest amount of the infecting material, of
propagation in other living animal bodies.

Anatomical Characters.—In all instances of a fatal cha-
racter, the local lesions may be broadly stated as specially
located in the pelvic organs. When the contaminating material
absorbed has been considerable, and the result has been rapidly
fatal, preceded by much fever, in acute cases of “septic poisoning,”
—local lesions may not be the most marked feature. The blood
as a whole is physically altered, is darker in colour, coagulating
imperfectly, with evidences of hyperemia or capillary hemor-
rhage. The blood markings are chiefly found beneath the
serous membranes of the pericardium, endocardium, and the
pleura, while the hyperzmia is chiefly distributed in connection
with the mucous membrane of the intestinal canal. When septic
infection has existed, we have in addition evidences of a general
infective condition of the different tissues and organs of the
body. Putrefactive changes are early established, the different
tissues are largely infiltrated with gases, and are of varying
hues of purple and metallic green, soft and pulpy. When the
lining membrane —endo-metritis—of the uterus is chiefly affected,
the peritoneum is less involved. In many instances where the

a

Some Observations on Parturition Fever in Ruminants. 601

infective character of the process is well established, the vagina
will exhibit variously disposed ecchymoses and patches of
blood extravasation, with certain ill-conditioned sores scattered
over the membrane extending to the labie, with occasionally
croupous exudations; the whole being much swollen from infil-
tration into the submucous tissue. Within the uterus itself there
is usually a greater or less amount of dirty grey, or brown
coloured grumous fluid, composed of effused blood, secretion
from the membrane, broken up fcetal membranes, and various
cell growths, all in a state of decomposition, and emitting an
offensive smell. The viscus is never contracted as in a healthy
condition. The walls are thickened, soft, heightened in colour,
and largely infiltrated with the usual inflammatory products.
The lining membrane is of itself thickened, and is of an uniform
dark colour, with darker patches from blood clots and extravasa-
tions ; these darker markings, and more advanced changes, are
particularly noticeable in the vicinity and around the cotyledons,
which of themselves seem deeply infiltrated, and of a greyish
tint, from the greater amount of purulent material connected
with them. Many of these latter appear as if undergoing sepa-
ration from their uterine attachment, and when manipulated
feel extremely friable, and liable to be detached.

Beside these changes in the mucous membrane, it will be
found that the submucous and connective and muscular struc-
tures have undergone changes of a destructive character. These
are swollen from inflammatory infiltration; the products of
which are also in their turn undergoing putrefactive changes,
this infiltration and these changes extending into the subserous
or peritoneal coyering—wmetro-peritonitis. When the serous
covering is much involved, we find fluid of varying character
and quantity in the abdominal cavity. This fluid is rarely of
an uniform character or consistence, usually coloured, having
floating in it shreds of ill-formed, unhealthy-looking lymph.
Occasionally this lymph may form adhesions extending from
the uterine surface to some of the adjacent structures. While,
in addition to such adhesions, the diseased process may have
invaded contiguous textures and organs within the pelvic basin
—para-metritis—amongst which putrefactive and other changes
have taken place. This extension of the morbid process to the
several structures in the pelvic basin is the usual feature of
that terribly fatal form of parturition fever in the ewe which has
such a close relation in many of its features to the parturient
fever of the human female. The extension of the inflammatory
and other morbid products, where such is observed, may in part
be accounted for from the contiguity and similarity of structures
or organs, in this way passing anteriorly to the caphraen and

R

602 Some Observations on Parturition Fever in Ruminants.

pleure ; but I imagine that the explanation of such extension is
equally, if not more correctly, afforded by regarding it as owing
to the state of general septic infection. In some instances in the
sheep I have observed thrombosis, i.e. plugging of the pelvic veins,
well-marked pneumonia, with plugging of pulmonary vessels and
minute abscesses scattered throughout the pulmonary tissue,
which are pathological conditions in all probability owing their
origin to irritative changes connected with bacterial growth and
dissemination. In many of the very rapidly fatal cases of par-
turition fever resulting from a combination of septic poisoning
and septic infection, we have no thrombosis of uterine or pelvic
vessels, but very obvious changes in the physical characters cf
the blood, already noticed as being features of the common form
of septicemic poisoning appearing in cows.

Symptoms.—The period which may intervene between the
accomplishment of the parturient act and the accession of the
attendant fever is somewhat varied. In the ewe this period is
not so long delayed as in the cow, although even in the latter case
a week may elapse before we can be satisfied of the existence
of indications of illness ; this is particularly the case when the
morbid state seems to result from the decomposition of retained
placental membranes or other materials. From the accomplish-
ment of the act of birth-giving, until the outset of the illness,
the animal may, even to an acute observer, seem to be pro-
gressing favourably. The earliest indications of change are
rigors, staring coat, elevated internal temperature, irregular
distribution of surface heat, suspension of milk secretion, with a
flaccid condition of the udder, irregular appetite, and other
visible signs of fever. More careful examination will reveal dis-
turbance in connection with other activities and functions, and
show that there exists a decided change in the relation of the
animal’s situation and exchanges with the outer world. The
pulse is increased in frequency, is small and wiry, the respira-
tions are short and hurried, the secretions from the kidneys and the
bowels are scanty, and the latter dry. In some animals, in which
the uterus or the bowels seem much involved, we have exhibi-
tions of pains, with febrile exacerbations and some restlessness.
Except in the very mildest cases, the arrest of milk-secretion
and impairment of appetite are always marked features which
maintain their ascendency all through the disease. Should
this condition be connected with injuries to the generative
passages received during parturition, there will be much
tumefaction of these parts, with sometimes a discharge of a
slightly coloured serous fluid ; while if a manual examination of
the passages is made, the elevation of internal temperature is
very perceptible, and in rarer instances we may detect an

Some Observations on Parturition Fever in Ruminants. 603

exudation of a crouprous character over certain of the abraded
surfaces.

It has been stated by some observers that, where metro-
peritonitis exists, there is invariably an effusion of fluid into
the peritoneal sac, and that this condition is diagnosticated by
distension of the abdomen so obvious as not to escape detection.
Now, although this condition is rarely absent, 1 am _ not
satisfied, save in exceptional instances, that the accumulation of
fluid is such as to force itself upon our attention. In the
greater number, however, if there is not obvious distension,
there is tenderness on pressure.

Course, §c.—In the cow, the usual course of the fever of
the septicemic infective type is short and fatal,—a few days, or
not more than a week, being sufficient to carry the animal
through all the stages of established fever and general blood-
contamination, to a fatal termination. Other manifestations of
the fever—the septicemic poisonous manifestations, where the
truly infective character seems absent,—rarely reach the same
height of febrile disturbance, the living tissues being able to
resist the action of the absorbed material, or annul its virulent
properties. These symptoms, after a few days of violent
general disturbance, suffer ‘decline, and enter upon a course of
steady convalescence. A few of the same class, after the
subsidence of the more active and distressing symptoms, show
so far a recovery, which is arrested at a certain point, and a
condition of chronic disease of both uterus and vagina is esta-
blished, evidenced by a persistent form of leucorrhea. In many
of these cases of chronic catarrh of the genital passages follow-
ing parturition fever, I have observed that retention of uterine
membranes has been a prominent feature, and that these are,
with an extra amount of variously constituted fluids, discharged
at irregular intervals in irregular quantities. While, if no
membranes have been retained by a partly contracted uterus
during inflammatory action, imprisoned secretions may have
a similar action, these only finding exit at uncertain intervals,
and when their amount has distended the viscus, and forced a
passage through the partially closed natural opening.

In the ewe the fever, as previously stated, is almost invariably
of a more severe and malignant type, a true septicemic infection,
apparently capable of propagation mediately and immediately,
and, when once established, seldom failing to pass on to a fatal
termination. When declaring itself close upon the birth of the
lamb, it is less likely to be complicated with other affections, and
is seen in its purest and most severe form. Those cases which
are somewhat delayed in their appearance are frequently mixed
with inflammatory affections of the udder, and if not imme-

604 Some Observations on Parturition Fever in Ruminants.

diately fatal, become so through complications. In addition to
the ordinary symptoms of fever already spoken of, the ewe is
found resting apart from others, no attention is paid to the
lamb, for which she has no milk. When raised, and caused-to
move, we find much listlessness, hanging of the head, the ears
dropped, with a little frothy saliva collected around the angles
of the mouth. The back is arched, and the limbs, particularly
the hind ones, are moved with difficulty, this latter symptom
being most marked when the fever is associated with inflam-
mation of the udder. Very shortly following the appearance of
these symptoms we may observe the discharge, with straining,
of a coffee-coloured fluid from the vagina, the lips of which
are coloured and swollen, this straining being attended with
grinding of the teeth, and other evidences of abdominal pain.
Severe pulmonary and cerebral disturbances exhibits themselves
in Jaboured breathing and impairment of consciousness, or want
of control over the organs of locomotion. When the udder is
much affected, inflammatory action of an erysipelatous character
extends along the abdominal walls. Should the animal not
immediately succumb to the complicated disturbance, portions
of the gland-structure and fibrous membranes may detach
themselves by sloughing. A fatal termination is frequently
preceded by irritability of the bowels, passing on to severe
diarrheea.

Rarely in the ewe have we other termination to this fever
than a rapid recovery or death. When a favourable termination
is being reached, the first indications of the subsidence of the
diseased action are the decrease of the hitherto high temperature,
and a return to a somewhat natural state of the bowels. The
discharge from the genital passages, which, if existing, may
previously have been of a serous character, mingled with a certain
amount of changed blood elements, is now less watery, and shows
purulent or muco-purulent characters, while the external parts,
although swollen, are less tender on being handled. When the
temperature steadily maintains its unnatural elevation, or seems
rather disposed to rise, with an extension of the swelling of an
cedematous character to the hinder parts contiguous to the
pelvic opening, on the membranes of which, both external and
internal, are to be observed marks of blood extravasation; and
when prostration becomes more marked, and a haggard expres-
sion is stamped on the countenance, with a discharge from the
passages of a dirty, thin, ichorous, badly-smelling fluid, no
appetite being present, and in some cases a certain amount of
stupor develops, a fatal termination may be expected.

Treatment.—This may be regarded as resolving itself into
two sections. 1. The adoption of such measures with partu-

ee Eee

Some Observations on Parturition Fever in Ruminants. 605

rient animals as are likely to prevent the occurrence of either
form of the fever, septic poisoning, or septic infection. 2. In the
case of the actually suffering, by the employment of such agents
and appliances, medicinal or otherwise, as seem best calculated
to overcome the noxious material received, or to neutralise its
effects.

1. With respect to the prevention of the fever in any of its
manifestations.—If it be at all true that a chief factor in the
induction of the contamination is the existence of wounds or
abrasions on the uterine, vaginal, or vulvar membranes, it will
be abundantly clear that the attention of all engaged in render-
ing assistance in labour cases ought to be directed to prevent
the occurrence of injuries to these parts. Should wounds or
abrasions have been sustained during the act of parturition,
as soon as this has been accomplished, and before disintegrative
and putrefactive changes have been entered upon, we ought,
by the application of such antiseptic and disinfecting agents as
carbolic acid, salicylic acid, permanganate of potash, or chloride
of zinc, to operate as powerfully as we may be able in the
direction of preventing the absorption of hurtful agents. When
certain of the existence of vaginal wounds or injuries in other
portions of the parturient passages, the proper treatment is to
wash out the passages with tepid water, followed by syring-
ing them with 24 per cent. carbolic acid, or chloride of zinc
solution, or double this strength of permanganate of potash
solution ; after which to anoint the parts with carbolised oil,
or, if much lacerated, to touch them with nitrate of silver or a
strong solution of chloride of zinc.

The carbolic acid solution is best prepared by mixing one
part of pure acid with four or five of glycerine previous to the
addition of the water. The syringing with the antiseptics
should be carried out daily for some days, and the anointing
with the oil should follow each washing. If objection be made
to the syringing, the fluid secretions ought to be removed as
thoroughly as possible with a sponge, and the actually torn or
abraded parts anointed with carbolised oil. For these purposes
a mixture of one part of acid to twenty of olive oil is sufficiently
strong.

No attendant on animals ought to give assistance in par-
turition if he has lately been handling or been in contact with
carcasses, particularly if the animals have succumbed from any
putrefactive or septic disease; nor if he has been handling
decomposing animal matter, even should he cleanse himself as
thoroughly as he may be able. Nor should any instrument
which has been employed in contact with like material be used
in delivering healthy animals until it has been perfectly cleansed

606 Some Observations on Parturition Fever in Ruminants.

and disinfected, and a sufficient time has elapsed since it has
been so treated. Articles which cannot be thoroughly cleansed,
such as cords or absorbent structures, must on no account be
used, however much they may have been washed.

With ewes, particular care ought always to be exercised that
the individual who is actually affording assistance in lamb-
ing should not be required to make any examinations of car-
casses, or to handle those, particularly of sheep-which have died
under doubtful conditions. In all cases where much manual.
interference has been necessary to effect delivery, the shepherd
will do well to thoroughly disinfect his hands and arms with
the wash previously mentioned, before proceeding to give assist-
ance to other animals. While with all animals, chiefly with
such as are herded in flocks, we must be careful, should par-
turition fever declare itself, that the diseased be removed from
amongst the healthy as soon as we are satisfied of illness. In
many instances it will be advisable to change the attendants,
and to sprinkle, by means of a watering pot, the fleeces of
the unaffected with the carbolic acid solution already mentioned,
and remove them to a different and as yet uncontaminated
situation, where both exposure and food-supply may be altered
if desired.

I am well aware of the extreme difficulty there is always
encountered, not merely in convincing stock-owners and at-
tendants of the necessity of such extreme precautions, but even
in having these fully carried out. Still I am satisfied that
without such precautions every other measure will prove
abortive. Indeed, so tenacious of vitality does the septic
principle or agent of inoculation seem, that situations and
paddocks where some forms of parturition fever have appeared
one year, may, unless special cleanliness and care have been
exercised, again be visited with a similar outbreak when par-
turient animals are placed there.

When ewes are confined to stationary paddocks during the
period of lambing, every care ought to be exercised in the
removal and burial, or destruction, of all placental membranes
and other animal matter capable of undergoing putrefactive
changes. The difficulty of carrying out these precautions to
the full has led in most large flocks to the separation of the
animals during parturition into sections, with a regular system
of change—often at some inconvenience as respects the situation
where the ewes shall be placed at the time of lambing—and the
selection of temporary paddocks in the open field, and away
from the common homestead.

I feel tolerably certain that in all cases of extensively dis-
tributed and virulent outbreaks of this fever amongst ewes, it is

—E——

Some Observations on Parturition Fever in Ruminants. 607

the non-recognition of its truly septic infectious character, its
capability of origin both from auto-infection and from extrinsic
agents connected with putrefactive changes in animal matter,
that so much difficulty is ordinarily encountered in combating
its ravages.

So long as such influences as purely meteorological or dietetic
conditions are chiefly regarded as the inducing agencies, so
long shall we wander aimlessly in our efforts to prevent its
occurrence, or fail in attempts to arrest its progress when fairly
established.

2. Management of the actually Diseased. — Parturient fever,
although occasionally assuming a lingering form, is usually a
condition of much activity and virulence, while in no case can
we approximately determine which cases shall be delayed in
progress. Any treatment, therefore, which may be determined
upon requires to be carried out energetically. As the pro-
babilities are great that the entrance of deleterious matter has
occurred through wounds of the parturient passages, we ought
at once to direct our attention to the condition of these, in order
to control or minimise, as far as we are able, the amount of
poisonous material passed in this way into the system. We
know that a moderate amount of putrid and unwholesome matter

“may, by the inherent strength of the system, be neutralised, or
eliminated from the body, and the damaging effects of its in-
troduction overcome; but if regular accessions of such matter
are kept steadily passing into the blood, the vital energy and
power of neutralisation are certain to be destroyed, and
septicemic poisoning to ensue.

That the steady supply of poisonous material and its entrance ©
into the circulation are always favoured by the local tissue-
changes and putrefaction which take place in connection with
these lesions, seems highly probable; while from experimenta-
tion we are led to believe that the local and general use of
certain agents delays or arrests the progress of these tissue-
changes, as well as retards the absorption of puriform matters.

If such antiseptic agents as have already been mentioned have
not been employed as preventives, their use as local curative
agents is now indicated. These may be employed somewhat as
already indicated, both as materials for vagino-uterine injections,
and in proportions rather larger as ointments or liniments.
Besides the local use of these agents, I have in several instances
believed that good has resulted from their employment inter-
nally, and alternated with sulphite or hypo-sulphite of soda. Of
these antiseptics the best for internal use are carbolic or salicylic
acid, The former may be employed in doses of from thirty
minims to one drachm, in water and glycerine, the latter of from

608 Some Observations on Parturition Fever in Ruminants.

half a drachm to two drachms in solution of acetate of ammonia,
according to the size or variety of the animal, every four or six
hours. Should the bowels seem disposed to be confined, as
they sometimes are in the cow, it will be needful to administer
some laxative. The soda salts will have this tendency, and,
with this end in view, their quantity may be increased, par-
ticularly if the animal continues to survive for some days, and
does not utterly refuse to take food. Should strength give
indications of failing, support ought to be afforded through
means of nutritious liquid food, as good gruel, beef-tea, or milk
combined with stimulants.

The application of cold water to the surface of the body, with
the view of reducing the elevated temperature, I have tried
rather extensively with sheep, but have not satisfied myself
that its employment is deserving of general adoption. Cer-
tainly in some individual cases good appeared to result from its
use, but not to a greater extent than with some other modes
of treatment. When the general temperature continues high,
and other features of pyrexia are marked, full doses of sali-
cylic acid in solution, of acetate of ammonia, or ordinary saline
febrifuges, with a moderate amount of some alcoholic stimulant,
are well deserving of a fair trial. In such cases, during the very
early stages of the fever, the careful use of aconite will often
prove of advantage ; its employment is, however, chiefly to be
advocated in the first stage, while its continuance is never un-
attended with danger from its influence in depressing the action
of the heart beyond the power of establishing reaction. In the
ewe, when diarrhoea is associated with exhaustion and straining,
I have obtained good results by combining the alcoholic stimu-
lants with tincture of opium. The quantity of stimulants with
opium which may be given to ewes in this condition is won-
derful, from ten to twenty ounces of whisky or brandy, with
one-third of the amount of laudanum, may be received, not
only with impunity, but with obvious benefit, when distributed
over a period of twenty-four hours. The latter medicine is also
valuable for dropping into the vagina and uterus after these
have been syringed with disinfectants, or even along with them.
In the cow, when abdominal pain is a prominent feature,
advantage may be taken of the soothing influence of hot water,
employed by means of woollen rugs wrapped around the body,
followed by the use of such stimulating and revulsive agents as
mustard and turpentine. In both animals, should the fever not
destroy during its early stages, and diarrhoea not exist as a
troublesome symptom, the cautious employment of saline
laxatives, with a liberal use of treacle, is to be recommended as
likely to benefit by the removal of waste and dangerous materials

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury. 609

which otherwise would be retained within the system. Exces-
sive or indiscriminate purgation is, however, to be scrupulously
avoided ; while, for all cases receiving treatment, shelter, with
clean and comfortable location, must be provided.

These, or any other remedial measures which may be
adopted, are more likely with the cow to be attended with bene-
ficial results, from the greater frequency in her of that form of
the fever—septicemic poisoning—and its greater susceptibility to
being successfully treated. In the ewe the amount of success,
if not so great, is always sufficient to compensate for the
trouble.

Amongst these latter animals our chief dependence must
always be upon endeavours directed by common sense and the
teachings of experience and experiment, with the view of pre-
venting the occurrence of the fatal septicemic infection, or of
restricting its ravages should such appear.

XX.—Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury.
By Jasez Turner, of Horsington, Horncastle, SENIOR
STEWARD.

FOLLOWING “antient custom,” it has become the duty of the
Senior Stewards to submit a short Report of the proceedings in
their respective departments, in addition, or as a sort of preface,
to the more elaborate statement of the Official Reporters. As
the history of the Show of live-stock for the year is in the hands
of one who may fairly be termed “an expert” in all sorts and ©
conditions of cattle, the few remarks I shall make must apply to
the general character of the Exhibition, and I willingly leave
detail to the abler pen of Mr. Housman.

The place selected for the Show closely adjoins what was so
well designated by the President on his inauguration as “the
ancient and picturesque town of Shrewsbury,” where the Country
Meeting of the Society was held in the year 1845, when the
gentleman who this year so worthily filled the Presidential Chair
was one of those who superintended the arrangements. He must
have noted a great change from the Show of that period to the
magnitude of the present Exhibition. The Showground, most
conveniently situate on the racecourse, was not remarkable
for rural beauty, but the surroundings were of an eminently
picturesque character, the grand Shropshire hills forming an
imposing background on all sides. It must be mentioned with
gratification, that the arrangements of the Local Committee,
and of their indefatigable Secretaries, Mr. Peele and Mr.

610 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury. -

Bowen-Jones, were of such a nature as to give the amplest
satisfaction to the officials and exhibitors, everything being done
which was “in the bond,” and in some instances the require-
ments of the Society being exceeded. The Railway Company
also managed the transit of implements and stock to and from
the Showyard in a manner which left nothing to be desired.

The Implement Yard Show, as usual, was opened on Saturday.
It appeared somewhat crowded with exhibits, the number of feet
occupied being nearly equal to that taken up at York. Many
visitors took advantage of the comparative quiet of the day to
study the continual advance and improvement in agricultural
machinery.

For some years it has been usual to hold Divine Service on
the Showyard Sunday in the Society’s tent, for the benefit of
shepherds, and other attendants on live-stock. This laudable
custom was fully carried out, service being conducted by the
Vicar of the parish; and an impressive and eloquent sermon
preached by the Bishop of the diocese was attentively listened
to by a full congregation, which included several ladies, the
President, and many Members of Council and officials.

Precisely at nine o’clock on Monday morning, the Steward
of General Arrangements introduced the several sets of Judges to
their respective Stewards, and dismissed them to their labours.
The weather, although somewhat threatening, continued fair,
and the distribution and publication of the awards was soon in
full swing, the stand being surrounded by members of what
might well be called “the press,” eager for early information as
to the different prizes. On Tuesday, and during the week, the
town presented a very festive appearance, the narrow and fre-
quently hilly streets, the quaint old gables and generally highly
decorated style of architecture, lending themselves admirably
to the kinds of ornamentation adopted; and it may be stated
without doubt that those who were privileged to view the torch-
light procession of boats on the Severn, the play of different-
coloured lights on the splendid lime-trees in the “ Quarry,”
and the general effect of the illuminations in the town on the
evenings of Tuesday and Wednesday, witnessed scenes of such a
character as cannot be surpassed by any other town in England.
The weather continued propitious during the whole of the Show,
occasional showers cooling the ground, and rendering loco-
motion more pleasant and less fatiguing. The Mayor of Shrews-
bury entertained the President and Council on Tuesday evening,
when the representatives of many time-honoured names of
“proud Salopia” were present at the banquet in the spacious

Music Hall.

With regard to the proceedings in the Showground, it must

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury. 611

suffice to state that considerable interest was evinced in the
results of the Farm Prize Competition, and much gratification
expressed when the awards became known, The unusual
number of 20 entries in the two first classes seems to indicate
that the wave of agricultural depression has not been so severely
felt in the West of England as in East Anglia and the Midlands.
As the Report on this Competition is from the experienced
hand of Professor Coleman, a very interesting record may be
looked for.

Of the show of Live-stock it may be generally stated that
thoroughbred and nag horses were weak in number and, with
few exceptions, in quality. In stallions, Lord Bradford’s “ Chip-
pendale” was far ahead of his competitors, and received the
first prize, although doubts were expressed as to the benefit of
giving the prizes of the Society to animals which, by reason of
the high covering fee demanded, are not likely to be used by
tenant-farmers ; and it seems desirable that some arrangement
should be made by which the services of a prize-taking stallion
should be placed at the disposal of a certain number of members
at a price not altogether prohibitory. I venture to suggest that
in the Classes for Mares and Foals much difficulty would be
avoided by giving a prize to the “ best foal in the Class,” leaving

_the mare to stand upon her own merits. In the Hackney

Classes, Mr. John Robinson was successful with “Lady Cre-
morne,” “ Princess,” and “ Lady Shrewsbury,” these animals
being fine examples of natural advantages and superior training.
In the Cart-horse Classes some noble specimens were shown,
notably Lord Ellesmere’s “ Esquire,” “ Bismarck,” and “ King
Charming,” the latter taking the champion prize in the three
Classes of 53 entries.

Nothing specially noticeable appeared in the Classes for
Shorthorn Bulls, which did not appear to be equal to those seen
at former Shows. The champion of last year, ‘Self-Esteem
2nd,” took first in his Class, but has not improved in masculine
character in the interim. The Female Classes, although not
great in number of entries, were of much better quality than
the Bulls. The “family groups” were interesting, showing
the impress of the sire in various instances.

The Herefords mustered grandly, and were evidently “ at
home,” no less than 144 of these favourites of the West being
shown, many very superior in style, character, and weight.
Devons, Sussex, and other breeds of cattle were represented
about as usual. One good Longhorn appeared, and to those
who are fond of searching for hidden beauty, the other speci-
mens shown presented fine fields for investigation. It must be
remarked that no less than 100/. was offered in prize money for

612 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stoch at Shrewsbury.

this breed, which had only 14 entries. The show of Channe?
Islanders was as usual very considerable, and their parade
presented an agreeable feature in the programme for each day.

In the Classes for Long-woolled Sheep entries were about equal
to former years, and their quality variable. Cotswolds made a
smaller show than usual, the East Anglian flocks being un-
represented. Lincolns had some good rams, and four pens of
excellent shearling ewes. In the Short-woolled Classes the
Oxfordshire Downs, shown by Mr. Treadwell, attracted much
attention, being fine level sheep.

It must now be recorded that the great feature of the Shrews-
bury Meeting, in which it stands pre-eminently forth beyond
any previous exhibition, was that of ‘‘ Shropshire” sheep, no less
than 853 head of this breed were entered, and not many of the
246 entries were absent. This number is unprecedented, and
Shropshire agriculturists must be congratulated on having so
well sustained the character claimed for their particular variety.
The great Class of the Show, that for Shearling Rams, had 100
entries, and the difficulties of the Judges may be well imagined.
It is, however, satisfactory to note that in most instances the
decisions in these remarkable classes were endorsed by such of
the public as are practically acquainted with the points necessary
to constitute a perfect Shropshire. It was very generally re-
marked that the five shearling rams belonging to Lord Chesham,
which took the first prize in their class, was the most valuable
pen of sheep ever exhibited. The Southdowns shown seemed
to the superficial observer of a somewhat larger type than
usually appear at the Royal. Of the Mountain Sheep it must
be noted that the Clun Forest variety were objected to as not
being mountaineers, but the Stewards did not see their way to
disqualify them.

Of the show of Pigs it might be stated, as is said to have been
remarked by a gentleman recapitulating the woes of his afflicted
country, that “it swarmed with absentees,” a considerable pro-
portion of the pens being empty. There was a fair entry of
Berkshires, and in the Small Whites the entries by Lord Moreton
were noticeable for fine forms and level feeding. Mr. Mander
Allender sent his Tamworth ‘St. Lubbock,” of which it was
remarked that he had slightly improved in everything but
temper.

As to the other exhibitions in the Showground, the opinion
was freely expressed that the competition in Butter and Cheese
should receive more encouragement and development by the
Society ; and although there appear to be difficulties, especially
with regard to butter, yet it is possible that they may be sur-
mounted, and it is certain that so important a branch of agri-

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 613:

culture as the preparation of high-class dairy products should
not lose the fostering hand of the Society.

The Working Dairy attracted many visitors, and the lectures
given and illustrated daily were very successful, but an acci-
dent to one of the attendants caused the officials much anxiety.
It is, however, satisfactory to know that the injuries sustained
by the unfortunate girl are not of so serious a nature as was at
first anticipated.

The number of visitors to the Showground was very con-
siderable, especially on Thursday, when nearly 50,000 passed
the turnstiles. The view of this immense concourse when seen
from the yantage-ground of the Grand Stand after the parade
of horses, was one not easily to be forgotten by any one who
happened to have lingered to give a few minutes to its con-
sideration; and when passing into the crowd the words of
sentences in an unknown tongue were occasionally heard, proof
was given that natives of the neighbouring Principality had
eluded the vigilance of the sentries on the tower in the main
street, and had come into England for the day.

Having thus cursorily glanced at the different features of the
Show of 1884, which must be considered as having proved very
successful, it only remains for me before passing into “the
silent land” of the Society to say good-bye to those with whom
I have been associated in the past three years, having, like my
predecessor, reached the end of my course sooner than would
have been the case under ordinary circumstances. To those
gentlemen, my colleagues in the different departments, I beg to
tender my best thanks for the kindness and consideration I have
received during my tenure of office, the remembrance of which
will constitute one of my most pleasing recollections. I also
desire gratefully to acknowledge the unvarying courtesy of the
many officials of the Society, and specially would I recognise
the valuable help of the Assistant-Stewards, Messrs. Tindall
and Beck, to whose accurate knowledge of detail and untiring
exertions much of the order and regularity which distinguished
the different parades is to be attributed.

XXI.—Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury,
1884. By Witi1am Hovsman, Cantsfield, Kirkby Lonsdale.

By comparison of the entries in the Live-stock Classes for the
Show at Shrewsbury in 1845, and the numbers of animals repre-
sented by them, with the corresponding entries and numbers in
the Catalogue of the animals entered for exhibition at the same
place in 1884, we shall get at a glance a fair notion of the pro-

614 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

gress of the Society, and of live-stock breeding under its en-
couragement, around the centre revisited this summer, after a
lapse of thirty-nine years. Within that time several other meet-
ings have been held in various parts of the area which, indicated
by the letter “ F” in the Society’s division of England and Wales
into seven districts, comprises Gloucestershire, Herefordshire,
Monmouthshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Wor-
cestershire, and South Wales. In 1853, the Show was held at
Gloucester ; 1859, Warwick ; 1863, Worcester ; 1871, Wolver-
hampton; 1872, Cardiff; 1876, Birmingham ; and in 1878 at
Bristol, a city which, from its connection with the counties of
Gloucester and Somerset, touches two of the seven districts. As
this division, however, was controlled by geographical considera-
tions, without reference to the distribution of the different breeds
of live-stock (which varies as time moves on), it often happens
that Shows held in one and the same district are strikingly unlike
each other in the features of the department now engaging our
attention, For example, comparing the Birmingham Show in
1876 with this year’s exhibition, we notice that the Welsh Cattle,
a prominent feature of the Shrewsbury Show, had no classes at
Birmingham ; while the Longhorns, at Birmingham remarkable
for the strength and merit of the classes, made an indifferent
display so far from their homes as they had to come to Shrews-
bury. It would be useless, therefore, to compare the Show at
Shrewsbury this year with Shows held at other towns in the
same district, unless due allowance were made for all the local
influences, not easily calculable, which affect the entries; but
in the following comparison of the entries of 1845 and 1884, we
have exactly the same centre, and the changes brought into
notice must be regarded (with due allowance for increased
facilities of transit) as the result of nearly forty years of work,
the work of the National and other Agricultural Associations,
and the work of private individuals, taught and stimulated by
those Associations :—

1845. 1884.
— wi
Entries, | Numberot | entries, | MOnne
TEIGYBCHU Se Wok ie 5 Us. fife A un _|| 36 4] 402 ~» son
Canis’ GP tere ee ae 173 566 673
ieee Sem: Spelt Ce 270 486 1316
Sot nate tae re 42 50 210 280
yihittrce «tl oeBE 534 1664 2722

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884, 615

The difference between the number of entries and the number
of animals of course arises from such entries as represent, say,
mares and foals, pairs, or larger numbers of cattle, and pens of
sheep and pigs. In these figures the total number of entries in
each class is taken without any deduction for the absent animals,
whose entries appear in the printed Catalogue, or (as in a very
few instances), having been cancelled, are indicated only by
breaks in the continuity of numbering.

The Catalogue of 1845 is headed by Shorthorns, numbering
69 entries. Herefords follow, with 72 entries; then Devons,
with 11; Cattle of Any Breed, 11; and Extra Stock, 10.
Horses stand next in order: Agricultural, 28 entries; Thorough-
bred Stallions, 4; Extra Stock, 4. Sheep: Leicesters, 75;
Southdowns, 63; Longwools, not Leicesters, 23; Mountain
Breeds, 14; Extra Stock, 11. Pigs, no distinct breed specified,
are classed as Large and Small, and number altogether 42
entries.

The Catalogue of 1884, beginning with the Horse Classes,
according to custom since 1867, when, in the absence of Cattle
Classes, on account of the rinderpest, horses took the first place
at Bury St. Edmunds, contains 155 entries of Shire and Agricul-
tural, 54 of Clydesdale, 26 of Suffolk Horses, 85 of Thorough-
bred Sires and Hunters, and 82 of Hackneys and Roadsters,
including Stallions and the Pony Classes. Cattle were sub-
divided thus: Shorthorn, 108; Hereford, 144; Devon, 49;
Sussex, 41; Longhorn, 14; Welsh, 60; Red Polled, 44;

_ Jersey, 90; and Dairy Cattle, 16. Sheep: Leicester, 29 ; Cots-

wold, 18; Lincoln, 20 ; Oxfordshire Down, 41 ; Shropshire, 247 ;
Southdown, 60; Hampshire Down, 21; Mountain, 40. Other
Distinct Shortwool, 10. Pigs: Large White, 32; Middle
White, 29; Small White, 47; Small Black, 17; Berk-
shire, 69. Any Other Distinct Breed, 16.

The classification accordingly is enlarged by the addition of
Clydesdale and Suffolk horses, Hunters, Hackneys, Roadsters,
and Ponies; Sussex, Longhorn, Welsh, Red Polled, and Jersey
Cattle; besides a Class for Dairy Cattle without restriction as
regards breed ; Cotswold, Lincoln, Oxfordshire, Shropshire,
and Hampshire sheep, with a class open to Shortwool sheep of
breeds not specified ; and by a more systematic division of the
classes of Pigs, the separation of the Black from the White
varieties, and of the Berkshire from all other breeds, distinct or
indistinct.

The arrangements of the Showyard must not be overlooked,
as the effective display of the live-stock depends so much upon
them. It is the fashion in critical Reports to find fault,
and even in its own ‘Journal’ the Society has permitted very

VOL. XX.—S. 8. 258

616 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

free comments upon its doings. Possibly from this fact, and
certainly from the readiness of its Committees and officers to
take notice of every suggestion likely to be of service, the ex-
cellence of the arrangements in a great measure proceeds. There
is no hurrying to and fro, no shouting, no confusion, but the
organization of management works like a perfect machine, or a
military corps in the highest discipline. The marshalling of
the classes, for show or parade, is conducted with exemplary
order, quietness, and despatch.

HORSES.

The Council of the Royal Agricultural Society of England,
ever ready to attend to reasonable suggestions, and to carry
those suggestions, if practicable, into effect, must find consider-
able difficulty in dealing with the classes of heavy horses.
Until recently, Suffolk horses and Clydesdales were recognised
as of distinct breed, and all the rest for cart or dray were lumped
together as “ Agricultural.” This latter section, which in the
Show catalogues had precedence, was felt to be too compre-
hensive ; the influence of the associated breeders of “ Shire”
horses became powerful, and the name of “ Shire,” recognised
as genuine coinage, was received into the currency of the lan-
guage. The Society first adopted it last year at York, adding
to the Shire, Clydesdale, and Suffolk Classes, classes for such
animals as were not qualified to compete under any one of these
names. Suggestions that the Society will be asked to reconsider
this classification were freely circulated at Shrewsbury. Some
objection to the additional Agricultural Classes as unnecessary
was met by a counter-objection to the Shire Classes as still
too wide, admitting too many types and sizes. ‘This latter is
answered by reference to the conditions of entry, that the animal
must be entered, or certified as qualified for entry, in the Shire
Horse Stud-book. If for purposes of exhibition a fairer de-
finition of a Shire horse can be suggested, those who know it
would do well to bring it forward. The Society can hardly
be asked to split a recognised breed ; and with regard to type,
the awards of the Judges year after year should sufficiently
indicate and establish this. The other objection against the
Agricultural Classes is embodied in a recommendation in the
Report of the Judges. How far this recommendation accords
with the spirit of the Society’s customary practice is at present
an open question. ‘The somewhat strict conditions which seem
necessary in order to weed out of the classes of distinct breeds all
false specimens, may sometimes exclude merit which the Society
would wish to recognise, So long as eligibility for a Stud-book

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 617

is made the test of fitness for a class, and until that Stud-book
has gathered into its records all that is worthy of the Society’s
notice, the policy of exclusion must be at least of doubtful ex-
pediency, Three young Stud-books can scarcely rule the Royal
Agricultural Society’s action.

Some curious changes from group to group have certainly
occurred within the last few years. One year an animal wins as
* Agricultural,” not qualified to compete in the Shire, Clydes-
dale, or Suffolk Classes, and is found the next year winning in
the Shire Class. A mare and her daughter are at one and the
same Show honourably mentioned by the Judges, the former as
* Agricultural,” the latter as Clydesdale ; the same mare herself
afterwards appears as a Clydesdale, and her offspring are most
highly distinguished winners in the Clydesdale Classes. These
facts arise out of the very reasonable condition, recently in force,
that “‘ horses entered as Clydesdales must be certified to have a
recognised Clydesdale sire, and sire of dam” (now altered to eligi-
bility for the Stud-book), and the failure of the owner to establish
the identity of the dam’s sire, in the case of his mare, while
her daughter’s pedigree conformed to the condition regarding
the admission of animals as Clydesdales. Until the Stud-books
have been many years established, there must be great numbers
of animals of distinct but unrecorded breeding worthy to
compete for the Society’s prizes, but of course not able to
pass the Stud-book test, and for these an open class seems
desirable.

Improvements in the classification of light horses were also
much discussed ; but as the Judges of Hunters, and the Judges
of the Hackney and Roadster Classes, in their respective Reports,
have made their own suggestions, intended to meet the prin-
cipal objections to the present classification, these objections need
not be further noticed here.

The order in which the breeds are grouped in the appor-
tionment of judicial offices is observed in the following notice of
the several departments.

SHIRE AND AGRICULTURAL.

As regards encouragement to farmers to breed improved
horses of this stamp, the visit of the Society to the Shrewsbury
district could scarcely have been more opportune. Within the
last few years the importance of the subject has been fully
realised in the district, and no fewer than four associations have
been formed,—one at Shrewsbury, another at Ellesmere, a third
at Ludlow, and one over the borders of the county of Mont-
gomery,—with the object of procuring high-class cart or agricul-

28 2

618 Report onthe Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

tural stallions. Most of these associations have been working
three or four years, and a marked improvement in the young
stock of the district is the result.* An opportunity of studying
the best types of draught horses was therefore specially desirable
at this period, and such an opportunity the Show at Shrews-
bury, a good, if not in any way a remarkably grand Show,
abundantly afforded.

The different classes of Shire Stallions contained altogether
53 entries; those of Mares and Foals, 7; and of Fillies, 26; making
86 entries of Shire Horses exclusively: Agricultural Stallions
not qualified to compete in the Shire Classes numbered 17 ;
Mares and Foals, 5; and Fillies, 3 entries: and four classes were
open to Shire and Agricultural alike, the condition being that
the animals entered were not qualified to compete in the
Clydesdale or Suffolk Classes. In these four classes were
9 entries of fillies and 22 of colts, 3 of pairs, mares or geldings,
and 10 of single geldings, making a total of 155 entries in the
Shire and Agricultural Classes.

The first Class of Stallions, 12 entries, three absent, comprised
the winner of first honours at Reading and York, with the
championship at the latter Show, and the horses also which
respectively had the second prize and the reserved number
at York. The York second was here first, the Earl of Elles-
mere’s bright bay “ Esquire,” who was accounted not only best
in his class, but second-best of all in the three Classes of
Stallions, and had the reserved number for the Champion Prize,
won by the same exhibitor’s two-year-old stallion, so that the
Worsley stud doubly secured the honour ; and if ‘‘ Esquire,” with
his high bloom of condition and grand substance, had been as
good in his fore-legs as elsewhere, he might have defeated his
younger rival in the contest for the Shire Horse Society’s prize.
Some critics thought he ought to have taken it. Scarcely,
The Judges, surely, were right! Mr. Crawshaw’s iron-grey
«‘Cheadle Jumbo,” a well-known winner, came second; if he
have not quite the high polish of “ Esquire,” he has, neverthe-
less, immense substance and power. The Cannock Company’s
“Earl of Chester” made a fairly good third; and Mr. Shep-
herd’s brown, inclining to bay, “ Commodore,” a short-backed
horse (from the great arch over shoulder and neck rising so far
back), with a profusion of mane and leg “feather,” had the
reserved number.

* A veterinary authority, well acquainted with the powerful railway-horses
and the dray and van-horses in the brewing and other industries of the Midland
Counties, recently informed me that horses bred in Shropshire and Montgomery-
shire improve and grow with work when put on good hard keep; whilst those
bred in the Fen Counties lose flesh when put to work, and require a long time
before they become “seasoned.” —W. H.

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 619

If a wide-awake outlook, a bright eye, life and vigour in
every movement, and the evidences of something like high
spirit accompanying those of mere strength for a dead pull are
desirable in a draught horse, the Cannock Company’s “ Nabob”
has much to specially recommend him besides his true form,
his well-set fore-legs, and his wealth of muscle. Sprightliness
is not the term to apply to a horse of ponderous build, yet in
contrast with the more stolid-looking horses of his own kind,
“ Nabob” had something not far short of it. He was well
placed at the head of a class in which the Worsley grey,
“‘ Bismarck,” third at York, advanced to the second place, and
Mr. Beart’s ‘‘ England’s Boast,” a distinguished winner else-
where, was third. Mr. Cheers’ (the reserve), of the old English
cart-horse black colour, has a good body, upon legs and feet that
look likely to prove serviceable. Quite in the rear were one or
two other noted winners; so the class of 12 entries, with only
one absent, may be accounted a creditable one.

Class 3, Two-year-old Stallions, 29 entries, and 21 animals
led into the ring, had four entries from Worsley, but two of these
were in the list of absent. The two exhibited, splendid bays by
“Royal Albert,” were evidently somewhere about the head of
the class, and were eventually first and champion and third,
separated by Mr. H. Browne’s “ The Alderman,” a brightish
‘brown, of great growth, and more advanced development than
“The Beau,” Lord Ellesmere’s third winner; while “ King
Charming,” the first winner, took his place by unquestionable
right. The Judges distributed their commendations liberally,
but not with greater liberality than the merits of the class
justified, and in their selections for favourable notice they evi-
dently inclined rather to sterling merit, and the promise of |
future merit which the practised eye can see, than to mere good
looks. Indeed, in the proper exercise of their discretion they
passed over one or two animals which might have been noticed
without bringing discredit upon their judgment, and so avoided
the evil of lessening the value of “ barren honours ”—praises
without substantial rewards—which, coming from Judges of the
Royal Agricultural Society of England, should bear more weight
than sometimes exhibitors allow to them.

Those Agricultural Classes which were open also to recog-
nised Shire-bred animals were, on the whole, of considerable
strength in the numbers and merits of the animals shown.
Those from which Shire animals eligible for the Stud-book
were excluded, were comparatively weak, and, on the ground
of the paucity of entries, the Judges recommend their discon-
tinuance. They did, however, contain a few animals of high
merit, and as the same classes were last year, at York, fairly

620 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

strong and exceedingly good, and were included by the Judges
in a general commendation of those and the Shire Classes
together, as classes which “must always form an important
feature in the Annual Show,” it is questionable how far one.
indifferent exhibition, and that in a district in which four
much-needed societies for the improvement of agricultural
horses are yet in their infancy, is good reason for the abolition
of the classes. The Class of older Agricultural Stallions cer-
tainly was weak; but the corresponding Class of Suffolks,
which no one proposes to abolish, had not one animal in the
Showyard. Messrs. E. and A. Stanford’s useful brown horse,
“‘ Beaconsfield,” stands sole representative of this class of
Agricultural horses on the prize-list. A Montgomeryshire
breeder came boldly into the strife with a three-year-old in
the next class, but was beaten by three strangers, from Derby-
shire, Notts, and Berks; while in. the Two-year-old Class,
Montgomery was actually foremost, with ‘‘ Bangham,” a horse
bred by Mr. Henry Roberts in the same county, and exhibited
by Mr. John Lewis. So much for the results. of local effort.
One of the three excellent mares so highly praised by the York
Judges, Mr. Charlton’s “ Maggie Moir,” took the second place
at Shrewsbury, as at York, in the class of Agricultural Mares
and Foals, and the Shrewsbury Judges placed above her the
still better ‘ Deborah Debbitch,” exhibited by the Marquis of
Downshire. The only other animals exhibited against these
were both highly commended by the Judges (the fifth entry
not appearing in the ring), so the class, as far as it went, was
not very bad. The Agricultural or Shire Colt, and the Shire
Filly Classes were excellent ; the Agricultural Fillies formed two
weak classes; and the Agricultural or Shire Class of Yearling
Fillies was good. In this, one of the stock of “Spark,” from
Elsenham Hall, was first, the Worsley entries were second and
reserve. The Hon. E. K. W. Coke’s York second winner,
*‘ Czarina,” was first in the Three-year-old Shire Filly Class,
the same exhibitor’s “Comfort” winning second; and in the
Two-year-old Class the competition seemed close between the
Earl of Ellesmere’s “ Lily,” by “ William the Conqueror,” from
the noted “ Derby Beauty,” and Mr. Gilbey’s beautiful ‘* Cosey,”
by “Champion of England.” Mr. Gilbey’s ‘“ Crowland Chief”
headed a good class of last year’s colts, upon which the Judges
make some noteworthy remarks, showing their clear appre-
ciation of the Society’s objects, and of their own duties.
Nothing can more surely ruin a breed than the systematic over-
forcing of its young stock, and if Judges would more generally
discountenance this bane of our improved breeds, they would do
their country good service.

' Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 621

Judges’ Report on Shire and Agricultural Horses.

Cuass 1—Shire Stallion foaled in 1877, 1878, 1879, or 1880—had twelve
entries. We awarded first prize to No. 9 (and also placed him reserve for
the Champion prize of 25/., offered by the Shire Horse Society for the best
Shire Stallion in Classes 1, 2, and 3), a massive animal, on short legs, well
covered with silky hair. Second to No. 11, a grey of great substance; third
to No. 10; reserve number to No. 12.

Cuass 2. Shire Stallion foaled in the year 1881.—No. 18, a heavy chestnut
of the true Shire horse type, was placed first; No. 17, a grey, made a
meritorious second; third, No. 19; had this colt possessed bone of better
quality he might have been placed higher in the prize list; reserve number
to No. 22.

Cuass 3—Shire Stallion foaled in 1882—had an entry of twenty-nine,
and was decidedly the best class.of Stallions, a matter of congratulation to
see improvement in the younger class of animals. No. 45, a bay with good
legs, feet, and pasterns, full of quality, a grand mover, was an easy first, and
also took the Champion prize before referred to; undoubtedly this is one of
the best colts seen of late years. Second prize went to No. 28, a grand well-
grown colt, who was unfortunate in having to compete with such an extra-
ordinary animal as the first-prize Stallion; third, No. 46, wants time, but
promises to develop into a grand horse; reserve, No. 53; highly commended,
Nos. 42, 38, 32 and 37; commended, Nos. 47, 31 and 27.

Cuass 10. Agricultural Stallion, not qualified to compete in any of the
preceding Classes, foaled in 1877, 1878, 1879, or 1880.—Five were entered,
but only three put in an appearance, two of which could not pass the
veterinary examination. The first prize went to No. 97. The paucity of
entries, and the inferior character of the animals shown in the Agricultural
Classes, compel us to unanimously advise the omission of these classes from
the future prize lists of the Royal Agricultural Society.

Cuass 11. Agricultural Stallion foaled in 1881.—First, No. 102, a useful
heavy colt; second, No, 101; reserve, No. 99.

Cuass 12. Agricultural Stallion foaled in 1882.—First, No. 104; second,
No. 107; third, No. 110.

Crass 13. Agricultural or Shire Colt foaled in 1883, not qualified to compete
as Clydesdale or Suffolk.—Some of the best colts in this class showed such
evident signs of over-feeding, or want of exercise, that we were reluctantly
compelled to pass them over. First to No, 111, a useful good moving colt ;
second, No, 121,a stylish bay ; reserve, No, 119—had this colt possessed better
pasterns he would have been placed before either of the others ; highly com-
mended, No. 114; commended, Nos. 129 and 131.

Cuass 17. Shire Mare and Foal—The entries were few, but the mares as
a class were grand animals, The first prize went to No. 168, a long, low
wide mare of good style and character, with a good foal by her side; second
to No. 167; third to No. 166; reserve to No. 165; the latter was a good
mare, but the foal was crippled on the hind-legs.

Cuass 20. Agricultural Mare and Foal.—First, No. 187; second, No. 189;
reserve, No. 188; highly commended, No. 190.

Ciass 24—Shire Fillies foaled in 1881—contained some very superior
three-year-olds. No. 217, one of the weightiest and best mares of her age,
was placed first; the second prize was awarded to No, 216, a stylish filly,
with good legs and pasterns; reserve, No. 213; highly commended, No. 215;
commended, No. 218.

Ciass 25. Shire Filly foaled in 1882.—Amongst the sixteen entries in
this class we found some most promising fillies, the first going to No. 233, a
well-grown filly of great substance; second, No. 220, was a beautiful filly
of first-rate quality, but had not the same size as the first-prize animal;

622 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884."

reserve, No. 227, to which we recommended a third prize should be given. It
seems somewhat strange that in the Classes for Sheep and Pigs, if there are six
exhibitors in any class a third prize can be claimed, yet in the Classes for
Horses no third prize can be awarded. We highly commended Nos, 228, 222,
226, and 235.

Cuass 30. Agricultural Filly foaled in 1881.—First, No. 260.

Cuass 81. Agricultural Filly foaled in 1882.—First, No. 262.

Cuiass 32 was exceeding good. We selected No. 264 for first prize, 2
lengthy filly with capital fore-legs, which she can move with activity;
second, No. 267, a black of great promise. If she goes on well, a grand future
is in store for her. Reserve, No. 268; highly commended, No. 265.

The Pairs of Mares or Geldings in Class 33, and Agricultural Geldings in
Classes 34, 35, and 36, require no comment in our Report.

P. G. HucHeEs.
Wm. Tuos. Lams.
FREDERIC STREET,

CLYDESDALES.

The six classes of Clydesdales made a good show of 54 entries,
13 of these representing two animals each (mare and foal), so
that the total number of animals entered was 67 ; but the absence
of 7 single animals, and 2 mares with their foals, reduced the
number to 45 entries, or 56 animals actually exhibited. The
number of entries was within two of the number at York, where
the show of Clydesdales was by far the largest that the Society
has seen since the Meeting was held at the Border city of
Carlisle in 1880. On that occasion the total number of entries
in the usual classes was exactly the same as last year at York ;
but at Carlisle, on account of nearness to the home of the breed,
an extra class for One-year-old Fillies was added to the five
classes, and increased the number by 13 entries. Putting aside
the number thus brought together, under exceptional advantages,
the Shrewsbury figures compare very well with those of recent
years; and in strength of merit the display was very creditable
to the breed. Some of the exhibitors have connections with
both England and Scotland. In the following classification of
exhibitors, where the Scotch address is given in the Catalogue,
the entry is placed to the credit of Scotland; where the English
address is given, England has the credit, irrespective of the
birthplace of the animal exhibited. The 54 entries are in the
proportion of 43 English to 11 Scotch; three first, two second,
and two third prizes go to Scotland; but one-third of the
absentees are Scotch. These, in fact, were all the animals of
one owner, Mr. A. Montgomery, of Kirkcudbright, and included
his York first prize and Champion stallion, ‘ Auld Reekie.”
The Duke of Portland’s “ Cairnbrogie Keir,” however, a grand
horse on good legs, which he used well in the ring, made a
capital first winner; and the Marquess of Londonderry’s horse,

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 623

“ The Viscount,” four years old (one year younger than “ Cairn-
brogie Keir), took the second place in his class the third time
in succession, having won second prizes at Reading in 1882, and
York in 1883. On both occasions he was beaten only by the
Champion stallions ; at Reading, by Mr. Rodgers’s ‘* Warlock,”
with whom he is mentioned by the Judges in their Report upon
the Class, in terms of approbation applied equally to both
animals, which are described as good and serviceable, and
likely to improve the breed ; and at York, where his sole superior
was “Auld Reekie,” he gained besides the money-prize a
similar certificate of merit in the judicial Report. Both these
horses, and the Hon. G. Waldegrave Leslie’s third winner,
** Leslie Lad,” are bays, the last a horse of particularly attractive
colour, such as American breeders look upon with great favour.

The Class of Stallions foaled in 1881, containing only five
entries (and two of the horses entered had stayed at home), is
noticeable for the merit of the two entries from the stud of
Mr. Rodger, both sons of his “ Drumpellier,” who stood second
to “The McGregor” at Derby. Both, also, are from very well-
known mares. “ Mystic,” a large, upstanding, and powerful
bay horse, among whose salient points of merit are his surpass-
ingly good feet and pasterns, to which, as well as to his action,
the Judges make special reference, is from ‘ Mystery ;” and
**'The Beau ” is from “ Bell,” whose name is not, as might be
inferred from his name, spelt with a final “e.” ‘‘ Mystery,” who,
with a foal by “ The Beau,” gained a high commendation in
Class 18, has won honourable distinction in the Showyard ;
but her reputation rests most upon her great excellence as a
breeder. She is the dam of “ Warlock,” the Reading Cham-
pion, and other winners. Among “ Bell’s” achievements was a ~
third prize at Derby. Both these mares were on the ground at
Shrewsbury. Their sons, although half-brothers by the sire, are
not on the same level in present merit. ‘‘ Mystic” is by far the
better horse as he stands, and will probably keep the lead. He
was third in his class at York. To him the first prize was on
this occasion deservedly awarded; and “ The Beau” had no
rival nearly his peer in the contest for the second place. The
Judges in their notes rather give him the cold shoulder; but he
is regarded by some friends of the Clydesdale as a young horse
that will improve, and that might have been thought a better
one at Shrewsbury if his half-brother had not stood beside him.

Lady Ossington’s magnificent bay two-year-old, “The Mac-
neillage,” the first winner in Class 6, is a son of “ The Mc-
Gregor,” the celebrated horse which took the Society’s first prize
at Derby. The Judges, who in their notes refer to him as No. 75,
give a faithful and perhaps sufficient description of his most

624 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

prominent characteristics. ‘The second winner, “ Leslie Rufus,”
a low-built chestnut horse, exhibited by the Hon. G. Walde-
grave Leslie, looked little as he stood in his box, especially as
his next-door neighbour on one side was a horse of compara-
tively gigantic proportions; but on that compact frame is
muscle implying immense strength, of which, as we see when
the horse goes out, nothing is wasted in bad action, his limbs
are used with such ease and freedom. Mr. Loder exhibited a
couple of very useful looking horses of his own breeding,
namely, “ Pirate” and “ Whittlebury ;” the latter is a bright bay
with good action, third on the prize-list; the former is a brown
inclining to bay, when a good light brings out the colour.
Both are by “ King of the Forest,” and from Show mares. Mr.
C. J. Lucas, Mr. R. Bowman, and Mr. G. Chapman, had useful-
looking horses in the class ; and Messrs. E. and A. Stanford, the
well-known breeders of heavy horses and Sussex cattle, exhi-
bited their “ Earl of Ashurst,” a horse that brings no discredit
upon the reputation of their stud. The class, in short, had
merit throughout.

A good Class of Mares and Foals contained, as stated in the
beginning of these notes on the Clydesdales, 13 entries; but
Mr. Loder’s “Flora” and “ Jess” were absent, and “ Sonsie
Queen ” alone, the dam of one of his two-year-old horses, repre-
sented the adult female Clydesdales of Whittlebury. If the
Report of the Judges throws any light upon the reasons for their
decisions, we may infer that the merits of the mares alone
influenced the Judges. The foals are not once mentioned.
Form, action, and excellence in those parts which are so very
essential to the usefulness of the equine race, the legs and feet,
gave Mr. Kerr’s “‘ Bonny ” her right to the first place ; the per-
fect form but not quite perfect action of the Duke of Rich-
mond’s “ Lily,” first winner at Reading, brought her into the
second place of honour; the third place was adjudged to
Mr. Charlton’s “ Nanny,” or “ Nannie,” the second winner at
York, for general merit as a brood mare ; and the reserved num-
ber, 179, is that of the Marquess of Londonderry’s powerful
mare, “ Milkmaid.” The high commendation of Mr. Rodger’s
“‘ Mystery” (already mentioned) was the only further notice of
entries in this class.

Number was not one of the recommendations of the Three-
year-old Filly Class, consisting of only 5 entries, and one of
the 5 absent; but two or three good animals, the first winner
exceedingly good, made it a noticeable class. The fine young
mare, whose unusually low condition for a Show animal did not
prevent the Judges from owning her right to precedence, is an

unnamed dark bay, bred by the Marquess of Londonderry, and

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 625
exhibited by Mr. J. H. Turner, of The Dean, Kilmarnock. By

the sire she is half-sister to ‘* The Viscount,” second winner in
Class 4. The Two-year-old Fillies, 11 entries, and only one
absent, made an excellent class; two from Goodwood, one of
which had the reserved number ; two from Leslie, one taking the
third prize ; and one each exhibited by the Earl of Cawdor
(first), the Duke of Portland (second), the Marquess of London-
derry (highly commended), and Messrs. Loder (commended),
Lucas, and Charlton; the first, good in form and action, and
very showy, was a general favourite; but there was also great
promise of real usefulness in some of the less attractive-looking
fillies.

Report on Clydesdale Horses.

Crass 4, No. 60, first. This horse is a true type of the Clydesdale, having
grand legs, ribs, and quarters; No. 61, second, is a big good horse, but a little
out of form; No. 57, third, good size and colour.

Cuass 5. No. 63, first, a good horse, having good feet and pasterns, splendid
action, and is likely to be a winner at some future Show ; No. 64, second, not
worthy of notice.

Cuass 6. No. 75, first. An extraordinary good horse having good feet and
legs, splendid action, uncommonly good in chest, back and ribs; No. 72,
second, a nice even horse, splendid back, quarters and ribs, and nice goer ;
No. 77, third, a big horse, a little plain in body, but is likely to develop with
age. ‘The others in this class were fairly good.

Cuass 18. No. 174, first, has grand feet, legs, and action, and is altogether
a very superior mare; No. 170, second, a perfect model of the Clydesdale, her
only defect being a slight stiffness in her pasterns; No. 175, third, a good
brood mare, but a little worn in the legs; No. 179, fourth, a good strong mare,
but a stiff goer.

Cuass 26. No. 241, first, a mare very lean in condition, with grand feet and
pasterns, splendid action, and is certain to be heard of again; No. 2388, second,
nice sweet mare, but goes a little wide behind; No. 239, third, strong filly,
but wants quality.

Cuass 27. No. 247, first, has grand legs, feet, and pasterns, splendid goer ;
No. 249, second, strong filly, grand fore-legs, but a little out of form ; No. 245,
third, very big, but wants quality. This was a very good class.

The Clydesdales as a class were very good, considering the distance they
were from their native home, and are certain to maintain the reputation of the
breed as the best draught horses in the world.

JoHN THOMPSON.
Jas. WEIR.

SUFFOLK.

“Far from home” is the plea in excuse of shortcomings in
the Suffolk Classes. The entries number, altogether, exactly the
same as last year at York, but the Shrewsbury prize-sheet gave
one more class for Suffolk, which at York had no Class for
Three-year-old Fillies. The classes at Reading, in 1882, were
the same as at Shrewsbury, the entries 10 in excess of this

year’s, the number being, Reading, 36; York and Shrews-

626 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

bury each 26. But really, when the Suffolk stallions were
led into the ring for parade, after the judging day, they did
not seem to need much apology. As they moved past, and
again as the rank of the chestnuts formed down the side of the
collecting-ring, the breed made a display of which Suffolk men
had no reason to feel ashamed. Yet this was merely a small
deputation from its native county, comprising a few fair average
specimens.

The Class of Older Stallions, unfortunately, was blank, so far
as the judging-ring was concerned. The Duke of Hamilton’s
‘* Eastern Emperor,” a winner at Reading and York, was en-
tered, but was absent; so that the Suffolk stallion in the most
mature development of his characteristics was unrepresented,
except by one specimen, which appeared in the Three-year-old
Class by mistake.

Mr. Biddell sent a couple of grand three-year-olds which won
the first and second prizes in Class 8, containing 8 entries.
These were “ Prince Charlie,” bred by Mr. D. Clover, sire
“‘Rainham’s Prince ” (1002), dam, “ Depper,” by “ Cupbearer ”
(410); and “Foxhall,” bred by Mr. A. B. Biddell, sire,
** Rodney” (161), dam, “ Foxhall Depper ” (67), by “ Captain
Snap” (142). Among the horses competing with them was
Mr. Toller’s “ Verger,” reserved number and highly commended,
the second winner in the Two-year-old Class at York, a thick-
bodied horse with grand neck, handsome, and, although on a
somewhat large scale, quite a pattern of the Suffolk horse, as its
distinctive character is understood by an outsider. But the
Suffolks in general seem to be increasing in size, and in some
instances showing proportionate variation from the very marked
character exemplified in “ Verger.”

In the Two-year-old Class, 6 entries, Mr. A. J. Smith’s
“‘ Ace o’ Diamonds,” by “ Field Marshal” (1106), from “ Dia-
mond,” by “ Emperor” (644); and Mr. Wilmot’s “ Glemham,”
bred by Mr. Toller, and by “ Cupbearer 3rd” (566), (a horse
whose stock came out well in these classes), from “ Venture ”
(922), by “ Monarch ” (1348), are respectively first and second ;
and in each class a son of “Cupbearer 3rd,” from Wangford
Hall, received a deserved commendation, in the younger class
coupled with the reserve.

A couple of splendid mares with foals at foot, the Duke of
Hamilton’s “ Belle of the Ball,” with her foal by “ Eastern
Emperor,” and Mr. Austin’s “ Darby,” with a foal by “ Chief-
tain,” represented the matrons and infants of the breed; while
the younger females were four very good three-year-old fillies,
and two the property of one exhibitor in the Two-year-old
Class. ‘The Older Fillies numbered five entries, but one was

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 627

absent. Two of the name of “ Pride”. competed, half sisters,
both by “ Cupbearer 3rd,” and highly creditable to the sire. The
Duke of Hamilton’s “ Pride” was placed deservedly first, and
one from the same stables, ‘“‘ Gaudy Poll,” an easy first winner
last year at York, had the reserved number; Mr. Toller’s
“Vixen” the second prize, and Mr. Wolton’s “ Pride” also
received commendatory notice. Mr. Smith’s filly by “ Field-
Marshal” was the winner in the Younger Class, his own
“ Saxstead ” alone competing.

Report of the Judges of Suffolk Horses.

We regret to have had so few entries in this important breed of horses; but
are aware that several who intended exhibiting their animals forgot to enter
them until it was too late to do so; we hope another year this may not occur,
as we consider it very desirable that there should be a good display of the
Suffolks at the Royal Show. We may here remark that 207. is not a great
temptation wherewith to entice exhibitors to undertake a journey of 400 miles,
with all the attending expense and hazard; perhaps, when the Society’s coffers
are more amply replenished, they may be induced to offer something beyond
201., as well as a third prize for a pure-bred class.

In Crass 7, nothing was brought before us; the name of one only appeared
in the Catalogue, and he was an absentee. ‘his is the more to be regretted,
as the Spring Show at Woodbridge, the heart of the home of the Chestnuts,
was the finest display of all-aged Suffolks that has been witnessed for years.
By an oversight of the owner, No. 87 was entered with the 3-year-olds, or he
would have appeared as a representative of this class. By an equally unfortu-

-nate mistake, Mr. H. Wolton entered his 3-yearrold, No. 93, in the 2-year-

old class.

Cuass 8.—Mr. M. Biddell’s “ Prince Charlie” was first, and his stable com-
panion, “Foxhall,” second; with Mr. J. Toller's “ Verger,” reserved and highly
commended. No. 82 was also commended.

Crass 9.—Mr. A. J. Smith’s “ Ace 0’ Diamonds” was first, and Mr. R. R.
Wilmot’s second, with No. 88. No. 91, reserved and commended.

Cuass 19.—Only two out of the four mares and foals entered put in an
appearance ; but their quality was all we could desire. The Duke of Hamilton’s *
“Belle of the Ball” was first; and Mr. Austin’s “ Darby” received a second
prize, by our recommendation.

In Crass 28 there were four very good fillies exhibited. The Duke of
Hamilton’s “ Pride” was placed first; Mr. J. Toller’s “Vixen,” second.
No. 256, reserved and highly commended; No. 257, commended; No. 254,
absent.

Crass 29.—There were but two entries in this class; both belonging to
Mr, A. J. Smith. No. 259 received first prize.

Artuur Wm. Crisp.
Epwarp G, Hopgson.

HUNTERS.

Mr. Wicksted, Master of the Ludlow Fox Hounds, writing to
Mr. Bowen-Jones, on .February 19th, 1883, the letter which
appears among the contributions to Earl Cathcart’s invaluable
paper upon the “ Breeding and Management of Half-bred Horses

628 Report onthe Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

for Road or Field” (¢ Journal,’ vol. xix., 8.8. Part I., p. 1), says that
the breeding of hunters in the neighbourhood is (to that date)
unquestionably on the decline, but that the district is a most
suitable one for horse-breeding, and was in former days noted
for its good hunters, great in their capabilities as weight-
carriers, and in their powers of endurance. These animals,
bred in the district, a hilly one, needing strong and untiring
horses to hunt it, made “the Shropshire type” famous, a type
at once understood if the words used as quotation were applied
to purposes of description. From one cause or another, or from
many causes, that state of things passed away, and the country
around Shrewsbury has lost its reputation as the breeding-ground
of a special stamp of hunter. In connection with one of the
associations recently formed to promote the breeding of improved
cart-horses in the district, mentioned in an earlier part of this
Report, an effort has been made to revive also the breeding of
hunters and hackneys. In December last, the Ludlow District
Cart-Horse Association resolved to form a Limited Liability
Company uniting the two latter varieties of horses with the cart-
horse, with the object of effecting improvement by the intro-
duction of superior stallions to travel the district. The Ludlow
Stud Horse Company (Limited) was accordingly incorporated
in January last, and it now has, besides two shire stallions
purchased, the hired thoroughbred horse “ Prince George,” by
“’Toxopholite,” the property of the Duchess of Montrose. These
horses, it is understood, have been fairly well patronised during
the season ; but as this is only the beginning of that which may
prove to be, hope suggests, the revival of horse-breeding in the
district, Shropshire and the adjoining counties did not con-
tribute much to the quality of this department, although a few
good horses and mares, home-bred and strangers, belonging to
exhibitors resident in the district, were shown.

Before we turn to the Classes of the Hunters themselves, the
Thoroughbred Stallions suitable for getting Hunters claim atten-
tion. Much has been said about the importance of some
security that the winning horses should be available for the use
of tenant farmers; and it is understood that the Stock Prizes
Committee will be asked to consider whether a condition to
that effect should be attached to the offer of prizes. Whether
such a condition should come from the Society itself, or is rather
within the province of a local committee offering special and
supplementary prizes, may be a further question. Asan obvious
objection to any restriction, it may be urged that such a change
is likely to exclude the best specimens of the thoroughbred,
whose owners would not care to subject them to compulsory
service ; and something may be said about a possibly incon-

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 629

venient precedent for similar restrictions upon the exhibition of
bulls, for instance. But perhaps advantages sufficient to over-
rule these objections may be shown.

In the Class for Stallions of the description indicated,
Class 14, the 13 original entries had been reduced to 12 by the
withdrawal of No. 145, and the 12 entries to 10 horses in actual
competition. The Earl of Bradford’s “ Retreat ” (“ Hermit ”—
* Quickmarch”’) and “ Chippendale” (“‘ Rococo” —* Adversity”)
both horses of note, were among the entries furnished by the
county ; but as the former horse’s box was empty, “‘ Chippen-
dale” alone stood for Weston in the ring, and most effectively,
too, for there was “nothing to touch him,” according to Show-
yard phraseology.

The Mare and Foal Class, 7 original entries, 6 in the
Catalogue, and all the 6 represented by animals in their places,
is passed, like the Stallion Class, in marked silence by the
Judges, so far as regards criticism upon the animals. Upon
the mares and foals, the only comment is that they should be
separated. How far a class of infants alone, of any kind of
stock, may be desirable, is a question which may be suggested
for consideration together with the proposal of the Judges.
Fat calves, we know, are most deceptive, most difficult to judge,
and calves which are not fat had better stop at home. Foals in
July of the year of their birth are usually not more trustworthy
than calves. If exhibited for separate prizes, they must still,
probably, come into the ring with their dams, whose merits
would more or less impress, if not influence, the Judges. The
theory of the class, as at present constituted, is understood to be
that the mare chiefly rules the decision; but that as a well-
shaped brood mare should be able to lead into the ring a well-
shaped, healthy, and well-nourished foal, the foal accompanies
her in order to prove the breeding and rearing capabilities of
the mare. In the Class at Shrewsbury, the Duke of Hamilton’s
chestnut “ Flirt,” bred by Sir G. Cholmley, with her foal by
* Greenback,” was first winner in the company of two Shrop-
shire-bred mares (Mr. Hill’s second, a brown, named “ Glue-
pot,” and Mr. G. J. Dunville Lees’ bay, “Clara,” third winner),
and three from different counties of North and South Wales.

Seven Classes of Mares, Geldings and Yearlings contained
65 entries, Class 37, Weight-carriers, Mare or Gelding, had
11 entries, 2 absent. Class 38, Light-weights ; 8 entries, 2 absent.
Class 39, Four-year-old Mares; 5 entries, all shown. Class 40,
Four-year-old Geldings ; 15 entries, 5 absent. Class 41, Three-
year old Mares ; 8 entries, all shown. Class 42, Three-year-old
Geldings ; 10 entries (including one withdrawn), 3 absent. And
Class 43, Yearling Colt or Filly; 8 entries, one absent. Upon

630 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

three of these classes the Judges report unfavourably, applying
to each of the three one general comment, “ Very bad.” In
Class 37, however, Mr. Thomas’s “‘ Gendarme,” and Mr. Brown’s
“Grenadier,” surely forbid the application of the censure to every
unit composing the class. In Class 38, the withdrawal of the
third prize seems anomalous in connection with the grant of a
reserved number, because in the event of the first or second prize-
horse proving disqualified (we have a right to suppose the pos-
sibility, as it is only in view of the possibility of such a case
that a number is reserved), then it would happen that a horse
unworthy to receive a third prize would take by right the second
prize. When a prize is thus withheld, because the merit is in-
sufficient to deserve it, should not the chance of unworthy
succession to a higher prize, still less deserved, be barred by
refusal to grant a reserve ?

For insufficiency of numbers, and not for want of merit, the
third prize in Class 39 is also withheld. Mr. Lett’s, Mr.
Toppin’s and Mr. Blakeway’s mares (Yorkshire, Cumberland
and Shropshire represented), have their certificates of merit ; but
Mr. Southam’s (Shropshire) and Mr. Wheeler’s (Worcestershire),
one of which must have taken the third prize, if paucity of
number had not ousted the jurisdiction of the Judges, are sharers
of the general commendation implied in the Judges’ Report.

Of Class 40, a general commendation is put upon record in
the awards, so that besides Mr. Mitchelson’s “ Mars” (Yorks),
Mr. Brown’s “ Victor” (Yorks), Mr. Keevil’s “ Garrison”
(Wilts), Sir Wilfrid Lawson’s “Brayton” (Cumberland), and
one horse specially commended, every horse went home with the
judicial approbation upon him. A good bay Lancashire-bred
three-year-old, belonging to Mr. Abbot, in Westmoreland, was
the first in Class 42; Herefordshire and Shropshire horses
taking the two other prizes; and the reserve belongs to
Warwickshire. The only prize offered for Colt or Filly Foals
of last year went to the brown filly “ Madge,” bred and ex-
hibited by Mr. Huddleston (Worcestershire), and Mr. Jackson’s
bay colt (a specimen of Shropshire breeding) has the reserved
number. Altogether the counties close around this year’s centre
had a fair share of the honours.

Report of the Judges of Hunters.

We beg to suggest that in Class 21 a separate prize should be given for
mares and foals distinct, instead of for the two combined, as at present.

Cuass 87.—We consider the Weight-carrying Hunters very bad; only two
out of the number being up to 15 stone.

Crass 38.—We consider this class very bad, and we were compelled to
withhold the third prize.

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 631

Crass 39.—We consider this class good, though the entries were small, and
consequently no third prize could be given.
Crass 40.—We consider this class very good. The horses were full of

quality, and plenty of substance and action, and we wish to commend very
highly this class.

Cuass 41.—A very bad class; small, weedy animals, bad movers; no
quality.
Cuass 42 was a good class.

Crass 43,—We consider this class ‘a very good one. Some very nice foals
shown.

REGINALD CHANDOS POLE.
Le Genpre N. STARKIE.
Water H. Lone.

Hackneys, RoADsTERS, AND PONIES.

Under this heading, again, we begin with the sires. Class 15,
for Stallions suitable for getting Hackneys, above 14—2, and not
exceeding 15-2 hands, had only five entries, and one was
absent ; but Mr. Grout’s “ Fashion” is worth a great many horses
of the average character. As this horse has been described
in Earl Cathcart’s Paper and in the official Reports of the
‘ Journal,’ and the Judges this year acknowledge his merits, not
only by their award, but in their notes, little need be added here.
“Fashion,” is a black-brown, six years old, and was bred by
Mr. Robert Wortley, not Worsley, as repeatedly misprinted, of
Suffield Hall, Norfolk. His height when rising four years old

-is stated as 15-1 hands. He has now won the first prize in his
class three years consecutively, besides many prizes elsewhere.
The same horse, “ Lord Derwent,” which won the second prize
in the same class at York, where he was exhibited by his
breeder, Mr. Robert Martin, of Scoreby Grange, but this year
belongs to Major Platt, has the reserved number—the chestnut,
“Fascination,” from the High Hurst Manor Stud Farm, in |
Sussex, separating the York winners.

In the Pony Stallion Class, twelve entries, eleven shown ; two
were disqualified as over height. The three winners were very
choice, but the class, as a whole, did not display any very great
strength.

A reversal of the York judgment occurred in the placing of
the first and second prize Hackney Mares and Foals, the same
mares having been last year respectively third and second.
Both are uncommonly good animals, and if Judges take much
account of the foals (although they do not say much about them)
it is quite possible that the quality of the year’s foal may have
turned the scales differently in the two years. The class of
eight, only one absent, was a good one in the aggregate.

Mr. Glossop’s excellent pony mare, first in the same class at

VOL. XX.—S. 8. 27

632 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

York, is the only noteworthy animal in the Pony Mare and Foal
Class of four entries, all shown.

Mr. John Robinson, of Hull, a successful exhibitor in the
same class last year, had the two best animals, both mares, a
black and a chestnut, in a middling class for Hackney Mares
and Geldings, not exceeding 15-2 hands and up to 15 stone ; and
in avery much better class of lighter-weight hackneys, seventeen
entries, twelve in the ring, besides his entries winning the
third prize and the reserve with a high commendation, his black
** Lady Shrewsbury,” a half-sister to his black ‘‘ Lady Cremorne,”
first winner in the heavy-weight class, had the first place.
They are both very superior animals of true form, with strikingly
attractive looks, and are admirable movers. Mr. Frisby’s bay
gelding, ‘“ Cardiff,” a high-class specimen of another type, had
the second prize, and his noted skewbald mare, ‘‘ Movement,”
only had a high commendation.

There was much merit in the strong Class of Mares or Geld-
ings of 13-2 to 14-2 hands, Class 46, containing sixteen entries,
only two absent, and one disqualified as over height; and in
a class of ten entries of Ponies (Mares or Geldings) under
13 hands, although three were absent, the quality of the seven
competing was very satisfactory.

Report of the Judges of Hackneys and Roadsters.

Cuass 15.—The first-prize horse, “ Fashion,” well known in the prize-ring,
is an admirable mover, with plenty of quality. The rest were a very mode-
rate lot.

Cuass 16.—First prize, a good mover, with plenty of substance, and won-
derful thighs; second prize, a nice mover, but a little strong in his neck;
third prize, a nice pony, full of quality. The two first are by the noted pony,
“Sir George,” and the third by “Little Wonder.” All the rest were far
behind them.

Cuass 22.—The first prize was a very grand mare, and a model of what a
roadster mare should be; second prize, a beautiful mare, full of quality,
with her head and neck well set on; third prize, a grand old mare, full of
quality ; but her day has gone by for the Show-ring. A very good class.

Cass 23.—First prize, a real nice mare, with a very grand foal. The rest
were very moderate.

Cuass 44.—First prize, a valuable animal, with grand quality and action ;
second prize, belonging to the same owner, has rather less bone. The rest are
very moderate animals.

Cuass 45.—First prize, a very grand mover, with wonderful action and
quality, and a pure type of roadster; second prize, a regular park hack, which
can do all its paces well, but of an entirely different stamp of animal to the first
prize. Itis difficult for the Judges to keep to any particular type when
Hackneys and Roadsters are shown together; and we think the Judges might
take this opportunity of suggesting to the Council the desirability-of having
one separate class for Park Hacks any height, and wording the other classes
for “ Roadsters ;” then two distinct classes of animals do not get mixed up
together in one class. ‘Third prize is a pure roadster again; but more suitable
for harness than saddle. This was the best class we had before us.

-

ee —_—— - . -—

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stuck at Shrewsbury, 1884. 633

Crass 46.—First prize, a very grand pony, and true goer all round—the
only thing against it is its colour; second prize, a well-known face, and
wonderfully fresh for her age, but more suitable for harness than saddle, as
she dwells too much in her action. There were other useful ponies in this
class.

Cuass 47.—First prize, a grand-shaped pony, with liberty of action, and a
perfect miniature hunter in shape. This was a good class.

GrorGE O. WomMBWELL.
Curist. W. WILSON.

CATTLE.

A difference in the order of arrangement between the classes
of horses and those of cattle would admit of an entirely different
order of notice. The cattle, male and female, being classed
consecutively under their breeds, and not, like the horses, classed
according to sex and age, the same breeds appearing, disappear-
ing, and re-appearing as the pages of the Catalogue are turned
over, might be noticed under the heads of their breeds severally
in the exact order of the Catalogue, without regard to the group
assigned to each judicial triumvirate; but, to avoid splitting
one brief judicial Report into three parts, a compromise seems
expedient, therefore in the following notes and comments the
Shorthorn and Hereford cattle, each breed having three Judges
for itself alone, take their Catalogue order of precedence, the
Devons and Sussex follow; but as the Red Polled cattle were
judged by the same Judges who officiated in the Devon and
Sussex Classes, the Polls are taken up from a later part of the
Catalogue and placed immediately after the Sussex Classes. As
these Judges, however, have sent in three separate Reports, we
are enabled to glance at the breeds under separate headings.
The Judges of Longhorn, Welsh and Dairy Cattle have sup-
plied only one Report. For this reason, and the Report being
too short to divide, one heading stands for these classes; and
the Jerseys, which precede the Dairy Cattle in the order of the
Catalogue, are, by the accident of circumstances, and not from
any want of respect for their merits, left to the last. Whatever
place they occupied, they would make that the post of honour,
or otherwise, according to their merits. Upon this occasion
they certainly added to the credit of a very good Show.

SHORTHORNS.

Viewed in comparison with other breeds upon the same
ground, the Shorthorn was creditably represented at Shrews-
bury; in comparison with the Shorthorn itself, as represented
at some former Shows (but.not, perhaps, with the average Short-

horn of the “ Royal” Shows of the last thirty years), it did not

272

634 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

make a first-rate display of its merits. Read in the full recol-
lection of the female Shorthorn classes, and of a few specimens
prominent in the male classes, the Report of the Judges strikes
one as unnecessarily chilly ; but, according to the high standard
evidently taken by the Judges, it is perfectly correct. We have
seen better shows of Shorthorns, much better shows of bulls.

In order to appear on the ground at all, the Shorthorn had to
pass into Hereford territory ; and although it claims an established
footing in Shropshire, and even in Herefordshire itself, while
the Principality is often victoriously represented in the Short-
horn classes of the nationa] Shows, the number of Hereford herds
crowding in the foreground made the Shorthorn a comparatively
outside breed, and the distance from districts heavily stocked
with Shorthorns unquestionably affected the entries of the breed.
There was really no reason for despondency on the part of Short-
horn breeders and their well-wishers, but, on the contrary, very
great reason for them to take to themselves encouragement and
congratulation from so good an exhibition so near the head-
quarters of their strongest rivals.

The Class of Older Bulls bears an unfavourable contrast to
the corresponding class in 1845, as regards the number of
entries, 20 on the earlier occasion, and only one-fourth of that
number now; but the Shorthorn Bulls altogether number now
49 entries of single animals, and 4 of sires with their progeny,
against 40 single entries in 1845. The female Shorthorns
number 55 entries, including 7 pairs of heifers and 2 entries
of cows and offspring, besides the females exhibited in the
Dairy Classes and as the progeny of bulls exhibited, together
with their stock. The female Shorthorns in 1845 numbered
29 in the regular class, and 3 heifer calves, with or without
pedigree, were exhibited as Shorthorns in Extra Stock. If the
Shorthorns have not increased in number so much as some other
breeds, the fact that they had at that time a Herd-book of
twenty-three years’ standing, while no other breed had a Herd-
book, and that they were then, as now, established in nearly
all parts of the kingdom, must be borne in mind. Among the
exhibitors of Shorthorns at Shrewsbury in 1845 were many
whose names are now venerated as historical. The name of
Mr. H. W. Beauford is still associated with the breeding
of high-class Shorthorns. Among Mr. Beauford’s co-exhibitors
were Lord Hill; Mr. Banks-Stanhope, whose “ Cramer,” bred
by Mr. Parkinson, of Leyfields, and “ Ladythorn,” bred by Mr.
John Booth, of Killerby, were the first winners in their re-
spective classes; Mr. Topham, of Keal, in the same county,
Lincoln, with Mr. Lister Maw, whose ‘‘ Hecatomb” had beaten

Mr. Bates’s “Duke of Northumberland ;” Mr. H. E. Strick-

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 635

land, of Apperley Court (need anything be said about the
Strickland influence upon Shorthorn breeding in Gloucester-
shire?) ; Messrs. E. Lakin and Herbert (great in the adjoining
county of Worcester) ; Holbech, of Farnborough, and Lovell, of
Edgcott (Oxfordshire) ; Champion, Burgess and Frith (Notts) ;
C. W. Harvey, of Walton; Almond, of Orrell; and Banner-
man, of Chorley (Lancashire) ; Sir Charles Tempest and
Messrs. Carruthers, of Arthington Hall, and J. D. Jefferson, of
Thicket Priory (Yorks); together with others whose names
have almost passed out of Shorthorn history, although they
were prominent in that day. With such exhibitors the Short-
horn show of nearly forty years ago could scarcely be far
behind that of to-day; and there are “ old stagers” who would
tell us, no doubt, that it was far better than anything this
degenerate age can produce. Be it so; let us see what this
degenerate age has produced.

First, we have a Class of five Bulls, one absent, two cer-
tainly grand animals, but of the unfashionable white colour,
so falsely associated with delicacy and tenderness, notwith-
standing Nature’s standing protest against the doctrine, by her
persistent selection of that colour for the animals of the coldest
regions. Mr. Foljambe’s “ Bright Helm,” winner of first prizes
at Reading and York, and Mr. Handley’s “ Hovingham,” better
known as Sir W. C. Worsley’s, second at Derby and York,
have both received high testimonials of merit in the Official
Reports of the Shows at which they were successfully exhibited,
and a sort of prophetic intimation of “ Hovingham’s” unde-
veloped power to “turn the tables” upon a rival who had
beaten him, is justified now by his well-won victory over
another rival who had been twice in the higher position, but
not in the same class, with “ Hovingham.” They had, how-
ever, met before they came into the ring at Shrewsbury, and
Judges differed respecting their comparative deservings. The
Shrewsbury Judges had probably a slight balance of outside
opinion in favour of their decision when they awarded the first
prize to “ Hovingham;” but the contest was extremely close,
probably the closest in any of the Shorthorn Classes.

A good bull is good for nothing if his stock are not good.
“Bright Helm’s” may have every desirable property, but a
specimen of “ Hovingham’s,” “Self-Esteem 2nd,” the champion
bull of last year, was on the spot, to prove his sire’s worth, and
in Class 49, five entries, was easily picked out as the rightful
first-winner. With this exception, the class wanted high cha-
racter, although “ Duke of Cornwall,” bred by his exhibitor,
Mr. Tregaskis, but on both sides from Colonel Sir R. Loyd

636 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

Lindsay’s excellent distributed herd, has the qualities of a very:
useful Shorthorn sire.

Class 50, Bulls calved in 1882, contained seventeen entries,.
but two of the animals were absent. The Judges did not con-
sider that the fifteen which came into the ring constituted a
strong class, yet they distributed three prizes, a reserve and
high commendation, and four commendations, among the com-
peting animals ; and eight animals worthy of special commenda--
tion, without the seven unnoticed, should not be a contemptible
class. The reserved bull had been the winner of the cup at the
Royal Dublin Spring Show, where competition is exceedingly
strong, and certainly came before the Judges at Shrewsbury in
capital form and condition, not over-fed, but level and thick-
fleshed. In this attempt to do mere justice to a good bull, lest
his fourth place in “not at all a strong class” might be sup-
posed to imply less merit than ‘ Tel-el-Kebir” possesses, no
dissent from the judicial decision is intended. The right of
place of Mr. Green’s “ Prince of Donyland,” Mr. Coomer’s “ Sir
Stafford,” and the Duke of Northumberland’s “ Polar Star,” is-
not questioned ; and although the commendations were more in.
number than a weak class usually receives, no one could have-
maintained objection against the award if the judges had extended
their notice to the Duke of Devonshire’s level and not over-fed
“Duke of Oxford 62nd,” and Mr. Duncombe’s not thoroughly
handsome but deep-bodied and solid-fleshed young stock-bull,.
‘‘ Sir Isaac Newton,” a son of “Sir Arthur Ingram,” “ Hoving-
ham’s” sire.

The first- winner in a capital Class of Yearling Bulls,
Mr. Handley’s “‘ Royal Ingram,” is also a son of “Sir Arthur
Ingram.” Another Cornish bull, Mr. Trethewy’s “Star of
Cornwall,” by “Star of Britain,” bred by Mr. Talbot-Crosbie,.
took the second place; and the third was filled by Mr. Pugh’s.
“ Bright Andrew,” of Mr. W. Torr’s “ Bright” tribe, directly
descended from Mr. R. Booth’s “Anna,” the cow that sixty:
years ago walked from Studley, near Ripon, to Manchester, took
the first prize there, walked home again, and within a fortnight
gave birth to the bull “Aaron,” not to the heifer, “ Young:
Anna,” as stated in the late Mr. Carr’s admirable work on the
Booth herds, unless history is quite at fault about the date of
the Show, 1824.

Opinions were freely interchanged upon the usefulness, or
the contrary, of Class 52, in which Bulls of Any Age, each with.
two, three, or four of his offspring belonging to the same owner,
might compete for the prizes of 50/., 30/., and 20/., offered by the
Shorthorn Society. Four groups were entered for competition,.

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 637

and all brought into the judging-ring. One consisted of the
sire, five years old, a two year-old heifer, two year-old bull,
yearling heifer, and heifer calf; the second (in the order of
position in the Catalogue) contained a bull, eleven years old,
two cows, aged respectively seven and five years, and a bull four
years old; the third, a bull of four years old, as the sire, a couple
of heifers about two years old, a bull of about twenty months, anda
heifer-calf ; and the fourth, a sire aged nearly six years, a two year-
old heifer, two yearling heifers, and one yearling bull. Family
classes are now looked upon with much favour, as having a
greater tendency than the exhibition of single specimens to encou-
rage general improvement in the herds of the country. Some
persons have entertained the idea that the action of the Royal
Agricultural Society of England might be usefully extended to
rewards for the best herds at home; but as this is already to a
certain carried out in the awards of prizes for the best-managed
farms, and as the educational advantages of bringing before the
public in the Showyard the best farm live-stock that the country
can produce, are important, it is difficult to see how the principle
suggested can be better observed than in the offer of prizes for
family-groups or other collections of animals ; as for example, four
heifers belonging to the same owner, as exhibited in two classes
of the Hereford section at Shrewsbury. The chief objection
against the class which competed for the Shorthorn Society’s

‘prizes was on account of the inequality of the ages of animals

contained in it, and the consequent difficulty of justly balancing
the merits of the “promising” young cattle, and of cattle
which had passed their best days, against those of cattle in the
prime of maturity and height of condition. This may be worthy
of consideration, although amendment of the conditions does
not seem very easy, and the same objection that applies to the .
exhibition of bull and offspring applies with still more force to
the exhibition of cows with their offspring. Approximate
equality in age, if that is sufficiently desirable, might be secured
by the insertion of a condition that the offspring of the bull should
be all calved in one year; but that condition would not be
applicable to a class for cows and their offspring, because a cow,
in the ordinary course of breeding, does not usually produce
more than one calf in the year. The fact that one or two of
the bulls had better stock elsewhere than in the class with them,
was also urged as an argument against the usefulness of the
class, upon the ground, that if the first prize were awarded
to a bull which is not really the best stock-getter, the second
prize to one which is not the second best, and so forth, the
object of the Shorthorn Society in offering the prize would be
defeated. The object, it is assumed, is not to give the prize to

638 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

the best bull per se, but to the best sire—z.e. to the sire of the
best stock. This assumption is not quite correct. The prize is
to the bull and his offspring; to the bull, for his personal merit,
as much as to his offspring, for their personal merit. If this
were not so, the bull need not appear. The Judges were not
bound to take into account—rather, indeed, like juries in assize
courts, they were bound noé to take into account—anything
besides the evidence presented to them in the course of trial ;
and that evidence was the personal merit of the particular
animals of each competing group. Upon that understanding
their duties were very faithfully and very ably discharged.
The prizes were awarded to the groups in the order of merit as
the animals appeared in the ring, and if any exhibitor could
have made up a better group than he did make up, and failed
to win as much as was within his reach, he has only himself,
not the Judges, nor the terms of competition, to blame. As a
matter of fact, the first prize went to a group headed by a very
excellent sire, Mr. Thompson’s “ Beau Benedict,” of whom it
might be truly said that if any other bull had good offspring else-
where than in the class, so had he. This well-known bull, a son
of Mr. J. B. Booth’s “ Paul Potter,” was bred by Mr. W. Linton,
and now, in his sixth year, looks more fresh and active than ever.
His accompanying offspring were the three beautiful heifers,
“ Inglewood Belle,” “ Inglewood Pride,” and “ Lady Millicent,”
and the roan two-year-old bull “ Royal Baron,” who bears
a strong resemblance to “ Beau Benedict.” The beauty of
Mr. Ackers’s two older heifers, ‘‘ Western Georgie” and “ Lady
Carew 13th,” a pair of roans, must have gone far to place his
group next on the list. Their sire, “ Royal Gloucester,” with
forequarters deep as a bison’s (no further or uncomplimentary
comparison with that animal intended), was in plain condition, not
handsome, but really good in the more important points of struc-
ture. In Mr. Wakefild’s group, “ Baron Barrington 4th,” past his
eleventh year, a fine type of stock bull in lean condition, and his
son “ Baron Sedgwick,” a noted winner in previous years, were the
specially remarkable animals ; and Mr. Pugh’s group contained
another good lean bull, of quite a different sort, not showing
that distinctness of type which characterised Mr. Wakefield’s
really grand old “ Barrington” bull, but in the unobjectionable
structure of his frame, and in the various evidences to the hand
and to the eye, that he can thrive rapidly, commending himself
to the man of a practical turn of mind. The Judges’ emphatic
commendation of this as a most satisfactory class, and their
suggestion that its continuance is very desirable, represents,
notwithstanding all the objections that have been put forward,
a very strong and general feeling.

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stoch at Shrewsbury, 1884. 639

The sifting effect of long distance from home was remarkably
exemplified in the first of the classes for female Shorthorns,
Class 53. Seldom has a class of cows so good throughout been
seen. Never, since the Meeting at Bristol in 1878, has this
class been so small. The entries, erased numbers counted, are:
Bristol, 9; Kilburn (International), 25 ; Carlisle, 19 ; Derby, 14;
Reading, 15; York, 14, and Shrewsbury, 10; or, omitting
erased numbers: Kilburn, 23, and Carlisle 18, the rest as
stated. Of the 10 cows entered for Shrewsbury, 8 were in
their places on the Showground, and each one received judicial
notice. Mr. Brierley’s white cow “ Snowflake,” at once
massive and compact, whose beauty would be improved by a
somewhat larger and more open pair of horns, was placed, as
at York, at the head of the class, Mr. Hutchinson’s roan
‘“‘ Gratia,” who had the reserved number at York, taking the
second place. She is a very characteristic specimen of the
Booth type of cow, with deep and finely moulded fore-quarters,
good back, and the head and general character of that type.
Mr. Gibson’s “Queen of Stroxton,” a full-red cow of great
substance and beauty, had the third prize; Mr. Ackers’s roan
*‘ Lady Georgina Newcomb,” the winner of many prizes, the
reserved number and a high commendation. High commen-
dations also were adjudged to the Duke of Northumberland’s
‘“ Sunshade ;” Mr. Green’s “ Gaiety,” roan, a noticeably lengthy
and stylish cow, second to “Snowflake,” and placed before
“‘Gratia,” at York; and Mr. Pugh’s “Czarina Manoravon,”
a massive and showy roan cow, in full condition; Mr. Rolls’
“ Siddington Blush 2nd,” a rich red, of great style, received
a commendation. This last is a descendant of the “Old
Daisy” tribe, so highly estimated by Mr. Bates, and at Mr. .
Charles Colling’s sale in 1810, by the public in general. It
was carefully preserved by Mr. Priestley through many gene-
rations in a remote part of Wales, and has come into prominent
notice again within the last few years. Two or three of these
cows, having previously done their duty at the Shows, were
beginning to look somewhat like fruit with the bloom rubbed
off, but not to the extent of the breaking up which commonly
follows the strain of early forcing.

A class of only four Cows or Heifers calved in 1881 was remark-
able for the excellence of the prize and reserved animals, and
the surpassing excellence of the first winner, Mr. Hutchinson’s
** Lady Pamela,” very full of the old Warlaby character,
with a fore-rib reminding us of “Queen of the Ocean’s,” and
shoulders of vast width and neatness, like those of the famous
‘Stratton ” heifers, or Mr. Kidner’s Devon steer at the Smith-
field Club Shows a few years ago. The only question was,

640 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

whether Islington or Bingley Hall is not the right place for an
animal in her condition. She has bred one calf, unfortunately
dead, and the hope may be expressed that she can yet breed
living calves, of healthy constitution, to perpetuate her own
merits. Mr. Ackers has the credit of breeding Mr. Hutchin-
son’s second winner, and the reserve belongs to a grand-
daughter of the Rev. R. B. Kennard’s celebrated winner,
** Queen Mary.”

Mr. George Ashburner’s “ Lorne” family, good, massive,
useful Shorthorns, not quite of “the caste of Vere de Vere,”
took without rivalry the honours of Class 55. In Class 56,
Heifers calved in 1882, fifteen entries, only one, from illness,
absent, Mr. Wakefield’s “Augusta 4th,” an exceedingly hand-
some heifer, first in her class at York, again took first honours.
She is a red and white, with a beautiful head, quite the Short-
horn old style, and flat, waxy-yellow horns, very ornamental ;
in merit, from a practical point of view (if a good head does not
count, as it should count, among the recommendations of an
animal to practical-minded men), she is also great, having a
symmetrical and well-grown frame, amply covered with evenly-
laid flesh. Mr. Pugh’s “ Zoe 2nd,” a flecked roan, by “Sir
Charles,” his bull in the Sire and Offspring Class, took the
second, Mr. Fox’s “‘ Red Rose of the Tees 3rd,” a good red and
white heifer, descended from the “ Red Rose” tribe of Mr. Bates
and Mr. Robert Colling, through the hands of Messrs. Renick
in America, the third prize, and the reserved number belonged
to Mr. Brierley’s “ Empress 18th,” a really good heifer, rich in
flesh and hair, roan, with a good head of the quiet sort. Sir
H. Hussey Vivian’s “ Pride of Glamorgan,” of the “Stratton”
strain of blood; Mr. Chalk’s “ Sybil,” by “ Duke Oneida,” from
a dam of the prize-winning “ Telemachus” strain; Lord Trede-
gar’s pretty grey-roan, “ Marigold 15th,” and Mr. Brierley’s
** Rosedale Duchess,” a daughter of Mr. Sharp’s York third-
prize cow, were also heifers of distinguished merit in this
class.

Heifers calved in 1883 numbered sixteen entries, thirteen
in the ring, and the competition was good, that is to say, a
sufficient number of animals had sufficient merit to make the
competition real and the result interesting. Five commendatory
notices were given, in addition to the three prizes and the
place of reserve, with its accompanying high commendation.
Mrs. McIntosh exhibited the first winner, “ Havering Non-
pareil 2nd,” a full red-roan, of great growth and length, with a
strong and well-covered back. A certain especial interest
attaches to the awards. ‘The first-prize heifer is a grand-
daughter of the two distinguished winners at the Society’s

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 641

Shows, the Marquess of Exeter’s “‘ Telemachus 6th” and “ Tele-
macina,” who were both the offspring of the prize-bull “ 'Telema-
chus;” and the second-winner, making apparently a very close
contest with the Havering Park heifer, was Sir Henry
Allsopp’s beautiful “ Duchess 123rd,” the first female of her
tribe — the “ Duchess” tribe of Mr. Charles Colling and
Mr. Bates—that has come into an English Showyard since
1861, when Colonel Gunter’s “ Duchess 77th” was the first-
prize cow, ‘the twins” were first and highly commended in the
two-year-old class, and a yearling took a first prize, at Leeds.
The brilliant success of Mr. Bates at the opening Show at
Oxford in 1839, and his further success in subsequent years,
have brought his cattle, and especially this and his Oxford and
Cambridge tribes, into prominent association with the history
of the Society’s annual Shows. The successful exhibition of a
‘“‘ Duchess” heifer, after the lapse of so many years, is there-
fore a noteworthy incident of the Shrewsbury Meeting.
Mr. Toppin’s “ Warrior’s Dream” (third prize), Mr. Palmer’s
“ Baroness Hillhurst 3rd” (reserve), a daughter of his Reading
first-prize bull “ Caractacus,” the Duke of Northumberland’s
“Sunflower,” a daughter of “Sunshade” (highly commended
in the Cow Class), Mr. Brierley’s “ Rosedale Snowflake” (a
- daughter of his first-prize cow), Mr. Hutchinson’s “ Lady Prim-
rose,” and Mr. George Ashburner’s “ Winsome Gem,” all
judicially noticed, added to the strength of the competition,
and by their considerable merit enhanced the value of the
success gained by the Havering and Hindlip heifers.

The Class for Pairs of Heifers was not well filled. There
were seven entries, but only five came before the Judges, some
of them in merely ordinary condition. For the exhibition
of cattle in such condition we have occasionally loud demands,
but compliance, somehow, is seldom rewarded with gracious
notice.

Report of the Judges of Shorthorns.

The Judges of Shorthorns report that the numbers exhibited were not
equal to those seen at many previous Shows, and the same may be said of the
merits of the animals in several of the classes, more particularly with regard
to the bulls.

Cxass 48 contained only four animals, two of which may be considered
good types of a Shorthorn.

Ciass 49.—The Judges had little to do in this class; the first-prize animal
taking a decided lead.

Crass 50.—Not at all a strong class beyond the prize animals; they were
not up to the usual standard.

Crass 51.—A most creditable class.

Ciass 52.—A most satisfactory and interesting class, and one to which we
would advise every encouragement to be given.

Cass 53.—A most excellent class, every animal being noticed.

642 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

Cuass 54,—In this class there was a small competition ; but there were some
two or three splendid animals.

Cuass 55.—Only one entry put in an appearance, and these animals were
of an indifferent character; and there was some hesitation as to giving them
the first prize.

Cuass 56.—There was greater competition in this class, and many of the
animals were of really good Shorthorn type.

Ciass 57.—There was also good competition in this class, and the prize
animals were of a very promising character.

Ciass 58.—There were five entries in this class; but, beyond the prize
animals, there was nothing of any especial merit.

We would wish to express our best thanks to the Steward of this depart-
a for the very able assistance he rendered us in the performance of our

uties.

CHARLES HowArD.
JOHN ‘l'HOMPSON.
JoHn Woop.

HEREFORDS.

A most satisfactory show of Herefords as regards the quality
of the cattle, and so extensive that even the Shorthorn entries
did not reach more than three-fourths of the number of the
Hereford entries—the numbers being 144 Herefords, against
108 Shorthorns—proved decisively the abundance and excel-
lence of what may be called the raw material, that is, the pure-
bred Hereford stock of the country as it is kept in the ordinary
course of farming. Until about the present time the capabilities
of the breed have been exemplified chiefly by the magnificent
steers and oxen, with occasionally a prime heifer or a marvel-
lously massive cow at the Fat-stock Shows, and by animals
specially prepared for a “starring” tour, to go the round of
a few of the Shows of “breeding” cattle—the Royal Agricul-
tural Society’s, of course ; the Bath and West of England always,
and those county and local Shows where Herefords most do
congregate. One after another, many of these “stars” have
dropped out of our system, and the prompt supply of others of
equal magnitude to appear in their stead is one of the great
evidences of the ample resources that the Hereford breeders
have at hand, and of the earnest determination of the breeders
themselves to keep the Hereford creditably represented in the
Showyard. Within the last five years the Hereford herds of
England and Wales have been thinned, by large purchases
for exportation to Canada, the United States, South America,
Jamaica and other parts of the world. Ireland also has-helped
to meet the demand, and cattle purchased in the sister island
have joined the selections in England and Wales at the port of
shipment. Of many of these exports particulars have been
published ; but in some cases, either from indifference, or from
desire on the part of buyer or seller to avoid publicity, no

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 643

properly authenticated information has been obtainable, so that
the exact number of animals exported cannot be stated. An
estimate of 3500 seems probably near the mark. Together
with good stock Herefords in great number, many of the Show-
yard “ invincibles” crossed the Atlantic, and it was the presence
of so many animals which are quite their peers, that struck the
visitor at Shrewsbury as very remarkable.

When the Royal Agricultural Society selected Shrewsbury as
the meeting-place for 1884, advantage was promptly taken of
the choice of a town so favourably situated for the exhibition
of Herefords to give due prominence to the Hereford feature of
the Show. To the prizes: offered by the Society, contributions
were added by the Shropshire and West Midland Agricultural
Society, the Hereford Herd-book Society, and a Committee of
Hereford Breeders, and the number of Hereford Classes was
extended to thirteen, or two more than the Shorthorns had.
Ten classes of the two breeds run parallel : those for Aged Bulls,
and Bulls of 1881—2-3 ; Cows: Three-year-old Cows or Heifers,
Cows with Offspring, Heifers of 1882-3, and Pairs of Heifers of
1883. Then the Shorthorns have one class which the Here-
fords have not, that for the bull with his progeny, the prizes
being offered by the Shorthorn Society ; but, on the other hand,
the Herefords have three classes which the Shorthorns have
‘not—for Pairs of Bulls calved in 1883, Groups of four Heifers
calved in 1882, and Groups of four Heifers calved in 1883.
The numbers entered were: Class 59, Bulls of 1878—9-80,
5, all shown; Class 60, Bulls of 1881, 7, all shown; Class 61,
Bulls of 1882, 10, one absent; Class 62, Bulls of 1883, 21,
six absent; Class 63, Pairs of Bulls of 1883, 9, all shown;
Class 64, Cows, 17, three absent; Class 65, Cows or Heifers of ©
1881, 6, two absent; Class 66, Cows with two Offspring, 3, all
shown; Class 67, Heifers of 1882, 15, one absent; Class 68,
Heifers of 1883, 21, two absent; Class 69, Groups of four
Heifers of 1882, 5, one absent; Class 70, Groups of four
Heifers of 1883, 12, two absent; and Pairs of Heifers calved
in 1883, 13, one absent.

Mr. Aaron Rogers, of The Rodd, Kington, has the credit of
breeding the first- and third-prize bulls in the Aged Class. His
“ Archibald,” certainly the first full-aged show-bull of the day—
* Lord Wilton ” being over-aged for competition—is a grandson
of “ Grateful,” the Champion bull at Kilburn. ‘“ Grateful”
also was bred by him, and was a son of “Sir Thomas,” and
grandson of “Sir Benjamin,” who was bred by Mr. Benjamin
Rogers, the uncle of Mr. Aaron Rogers. ‘ Archibald ” is also
descended from “Sir Thomas” through “ Bismarck,” in his
sire’s lineage. The influence of “Sir Benjamin” has been

644 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

traceable in the Showyards of the last twenty years to a won-
derful extent; but it did not originate in him, his sire, ‘Ser
David,” having manifested that extraordinary impressiveness
which “Sir Benjamin” and “Sir Thomas” inherited, those
bulls happening to be from dams whose influence harmonised
with, and tended to perpetuate, that of ‘Sir David.” These
three bulls have become the progenitors of a very large propor-
tion of the best Herefords of the day, although the influence is
not always strongest in the direct lines of inheritance, and not
in all cases undiluted by active counter-influences. Another
factor, and doubtlessly a powerful one, in the composition of
‘“‘ Archibald,” is the “Royal” prize bull “ Stanway,” whose
name appears in the pedigree of both sire and dam; and there
is a dash also of the “ Von Moltke” strain, well known in the
Showyard not many years ago. Lord Bateman’s third-prize
bull “ Charlton” is a son of “ Grateful,” from a dam by a son
of “ Stanway.” .

“Archibald ” has, as ‘ Grateful” had, wonderful fore-
quarters, full and heavy, of immense depth, the line of dew-
lap, running from the throat to the under part of the brisket,
literally sweeping the grass as he walks. His top-line, back-
ward from where the neck joins the shoulder, is very straight,
and if it is a trifle lower at the rear than it should be to keep
proportion with the fore-end, it falls off evenly ; and perhaps
if the hind-legs had less weight of flesh than they have to sup-
port, they would raise the hind-quarters just enough to make
the proportion true. His head is not quite so pleasant to look
upon as “Grateful’s,” but it has a character of its own, and is
easily remembered and recognised.

Excellent as “Archibald” is in nearly all the points which
constitute a first-rate Show bull, some tastes would give the
preference as a stock-sire to the Earl of Coventry’s “ Fisher-
man,” the second-prize bull, whose son, Mr, J. S. Gibbons’
“Tinker,” bred at Croome Court, has the reserved number.
Both these bulls have much masculine bigness of muscle, and
“Tinker,” a good lengthy bull, in not very high condition, has
time and room to develop still more a resemblance, already
recognisable, to his noble- -looking sire. ‘ Fisherman,” not so
nearly perfect as *“‘ Archibald,” according to the requirements of
the Show-ring, fills the eye grandly, as he is a large bull of
immense substance, yet moves about as if by no means over-
burdened by his flesh. As a younger bull he had, to a degree
which the more generous development of maturer age somewhat
lessens, the smoothly even surface so difficult to obtain in com-
bination with great size; the only variation from the almost
perfect straightness of the upper outline was where the mus-

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 645

cular crest formed a segment of a circle between head and
shoulder, with a gentle slope off, over the shoulder-top, into the
dead level of the back; and the side-lines, as he advanced or
retreated, were round but not too sudden in the curve, showing
sufficient depth as well as expansion of rib. Now, although
nowhere abruptly patchy, he shows the gentle upheavals inci-
dent to the age of six years in a bull of his flesh-making
capabilities: his near presence is more imposing than it was
three years ago, but his symmetry requires a longer focal dis-
tance’ to be fairly judged. ‘‘ Fisherman,” by the direct male
line, comes straight from “ Walford,” and is only fourth in
descent from him, through “ Franky,” the famous sire of prize-
oxen, Mr. Philip Turner’s “ Jupiter,’ and Mr. T. Rogers’s
“ Conservator ;” through ‘ Jupiter's” dam and her sire,
“Bolingbroke,” he is a descendant of “Sir Benjamin;” and
through two other tributaries he has the blood of “Sir Ben-
jamin’s” sire, “Sir David.” Several other strains, long-
established and of excellent reputation, intermingle with these.

The level outlines so remarkable in “ Fisherman ” when
about the same age, are reproduced in the first-prize bull of
1881, “ Good Boy,” bred and exhibited by the Earl of Coven-
try; sire, “ Fisherman,” dam, “Giantess,” bred by Mr. Tudge,
‘by “Sir Roger.” “Good Boy” has the “upstanding” cha-
racter of his dam, and she “grew down to her legs,’ te.,
deepened in body, as she advanced in life. He may do so too.
Mr. Arkwright’s “ Rose Cross” (the second winner) and Mr. W.
Tudge’s “Prince Rose” (third prize) are respectively son and
grandson of “ Rosebud,” the winner of at least two first prizes
at the Royal Agricultural Society’s Shows; and “Conjuror,”
the sire of Mr. Arkwright’s bull, has also won the Society’s first
honours.

Mr. A. E. Hughes’ “ Washington,” whose deep flesh quivers
a little too much under the hand, indicating more outside fat
than is necessary or desirable in a stock-bull, but whose surface
is perfectly level (no sack of meal could be more so), has
beautiful symmetry and character, and, as a son of the cele-
brated “ Rudolph” (now in America), represents a most illus-
trious paternal line. A good son of “Lord Wilton,” “Albany,”
exhibited by the breeder of “ Archibald,’ and Mr. R. W.
Bridgwater’s thick-fleshed, robust-looking « Benefactor,” of the
longish, low-built stamp, are the other winners in the class.
Two more of the sons of “ Lord Wilton ”—* Lord Grosvenor,”
from Stocktonbury, and “ Hotspur,” bred at Stocktonbury, but .
now the property of Mr. H. R. Hall, of Holme Lacey ; also
“Consul,” bred by Mr. A. Rogers, and shown by the Earl of

646 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.
Coventry, and “ Prince,” bred and exhibited by Mr. Duck-

ham, M.P., commanded favourable notice.

An excellent class of last year’s Bulls had at its head Mr. Tay-
lor’s ‘ Maidstone,” by a son of “ Lord Wilton,” from-a daughter
of the Society’s first-prize bull “ Tredegar,” combining size and
quality, and from present appearances likely to make a name in
the future. He met the select of his own age in the Hereford-
breeding district, and conquered; and at the Essex County
Society’s Show was pitted against “ Archibald,” and in that
unequal contest placed second; but his day is to come, unless
disappointing change (always possible in a yearling of such
vigorous growth) should falsify the promise of his present
appearance.

The influence of ‘ Horace,” one of the most remarkable
Hereford sires of recent years, will be historically classed with
that of “Sir David,” and with ‘ Walford’s” influence. Its
power is in some measure exemplified in the second-prize bull
in this class, whose not very pleasant name seems intended as
an index to the names of his maternal grandsire and his own
sire. ‘Anxiety Arthur” is a son of “ President Arthur,” whose
sire and dam’s sire were both sons of ‘ Horace,” and his dam
was by “ Anxiety,” first in his class at Liverpool, and again at
Kilburn. There is “ President Arthur’s” unmistakable impress
in the thick, square, loggy body, and “ Horace,” his mark, in
the layer of lean-flesh along the back.

Mr. W. Tudge’s “ Leinthall,” a very promising son of * Auc-
tioneer” and “ Roseleaf,” makes a good third, and is closely
related to the second- and third«prize bulls in the next class but
one preceding. His dam, a handsome and heayy-fleshed cow,
appeared in the Dairy Class, and looked as if she can fill the
pail as well as she can pack on the beef. Mr. Hughes’s “ Ser-
geant-Major,” by “ Rudolph,” Mr. Arkwright’s “ Chesterfield,”
of the noted family of “Ivington Lass,’ Mr. Rees Keene's
“ Revival,” Mr. Nott’s “ Conqueror,” and about half-a-dozen
other bulls in this class did really great credit to the breed, for
a breed is ina good way when it can show so many young bulls
of high character.

The two bulls of the first-prize pair, calved in 1883, Mr.
Arkwright’s “ Hampton Court” and “ Gambit,” are both sons
of his prize bull “ Conjuror,” from cows by “Ivington Boy.”
The second winners, “‘ General Gordon” and “ Hamlet,” bred
by the late Mr. T. J. Carwardine, and exhibited by his executors,
are sons of “Sir Bartle Frere,” the well-known young bull sold
at a very high price for exportation, after great success in the
Showyard. ‘Sir Bartle Frere” is a son of “ Lord Wilton.”

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 647

The third-prize pair, “Clinker 3rd and 4th,” bred and exhi-
bited by Mr. Hill, of Felhampton Court, are sons of ‘“ Merry
Monarch,” a descendant of the old Downton Castle Herefords
of Mr. Knight, famous at the end of the last and early in
the present century, through the herds of Mr. Theophilus
Salwey, of Ashley Moor, and Lord Berwick. The power
of a good old strain of blood has been remarkably shown in the
excellent and uniform character of ‘“ Merry Monarch’s” pro-
geny, and the two young bulls at Shrewsbury, from dams of
Messrs. Green’s “ Cherry” family, are fair specimens, not above
the average, of his stock.

In a fine Class of Cows the Earl of Coventry exhibited two,
and gained the first prize and a commendation. The first-
prize cow, “Golden Treasure,” bred at Croome Court, is the
offspring of “ Maréchal Niel” and “Giantess” (the dam of
“Good Boy,” the first-prize bull in Class 60), both bred by the
late Mr. Tudge, of Adforton, a breeder who has certainly left
the impress of his mind upon the Herefords representing the
Adforton herd and its offshoots. Among the indirect descend-
ants of that herd may be included the progeny of “ Regulus,”
* Lord Wilton,” and other sires whose names must occupy pro-
minent places in Hereford history, and whose blood is already
circulating extensively in the leading herds of this country, the
colonies, and the United States of America. ‘ Golden Treasure,”
wide, deep, and immensely massive, showing a trifle too much
white, is a lower built and more compact cow than her dam,
‘“‘ Giantess,” with whom and her half-brother, “ Good Boy,” she
was last year one of the first-prize family group at York.
Through her sire she is a grand-daughter of the “ Royal ” first-
prize cow “ Rosebud,” the dam of Mr. Arkwright’s second, and
grand-dam of Mr. W. Tudge’s third-prize bulls in the same
class this year with ‘“* Good Boy,” who, as we have seen, took
the first place. The other cow from the Croome Court herd,
“ Rarity 14th,” bred by Mr. R. L. Burton, of Longner Hall,
belongs to a fine old family in the Cronkhill (Lord Berwick’s)
herd, dispersed in 1861, and is descended from very celebrated
winners in former years. Aithough not a perfect show-cow,
having “ gone to pieces,” as the term is, or become “ patchy”
in her after-parts, she has a girth which reminds us of her
ancestor, “ Attringham,” being, as all Herefords should be (and
Hereford breeders likewise, in their estimate of each other’s
labours), great through the heart. The shoulder is neatly laid,
and the out-shoulder big, a point in itself surely advantageous,
if not spoiled by the too frequently accompanying fault of
bareness immediately before the out-shoulder, and if the fore-
rib, as in this case, is sufficiently expanded and sufficiently

VOL. XX.—S. 8. 2uU

648 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

covered with flesh to make up a good level behind it. Mr.
Arkwright’s “ Pearl 3rd,” the second-prize cow, although not
in high Showyard condition, has an immense grasp of loin;
nay, when we come to look lengthwise down her back, we may
say a pair of loins, for the rolls of flesh have a clear line of
division over the spine, a relative rather than a positive defi-
ciency, from superabundance, if that may be, at the sides.
Mr. W. H. Taylor’s “ Modesty,” the first-prize cow at York,
has the third place this year; his ‘‘ Adelaide,” second at York,
is here highly commended ; and Mr. R. W. Hall’s “ Lovely 1st,”
the first winner with her twin heifers at Reading, and second
with two of her offspring at York, has here the reserved number.

The twin daughters of “ Lovely Ist,” “ Dorothea” and
“Theodora,” by ‘“ Lord Wilton,” were the first and second
winners in the Class of Younger Cows or Heifers. They show
‘** Lord Wilton’s” impress very distinctly, and retain much of that
close resemblance to each other that has made the task of dis-
tinguishing them a puzzle ever since they began their Show-
yard career. The number in the class being short, only four
competing, the offer of the third prize became void, accord-
ing to the conditions; but the Judges specially recommended
the grant of that prize to Mr. Myddleton’s “‘ Lady Mary 5th,”
a really good three-year-old cow in-milk, and apparently in full
health, but unfortunately found dead on the morning of the day
after her return from the Show.

One of the most generally observed features of the Hereford
Classes, and a common subject of conversation in the Showyard,
was the excellence of Mr. H. W. Taylor’s first-prize group in
Class 66, for Cows and their Offspring, the prescribed number
being two with eachdam. The cow was “ Rosamond,” a nearly
seven-year-old cow, of beautiful proportions throughout, and
of most generous flesh-growth, in colour a lightish red ground,
covered with dappling of a deeper shade, and of course with
the true Hereford white points. She was only third in single

competition in last year’s class of cows, her owner’s “‘ Modesty”

and “ Adelaide” then beating her; but she was this year in
general estimation before both of them, although, being in the
family class, and they again entered in the Class of Single
Cows, she did not come into actual competition with them again.
Her heifer calf “ Rosette,” by “ Franklin” (‘ Lord Wilton’s”
son), is one of those rare young animals upon which very high
hopes of future success may be placed in reasonably strong expec-
tation of their fulfilment. ‘‘ Rosette ”—life, health, and the usual
Showle Court skill in management granted—can scarcely fail to
be, another year, a heifer that must meet a very good one before

she can be fairly beaten. Mr. H. R. Hall’s group made good

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Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 649

second-winners. The brothers Messrs. Hall, of Ashton and
Holme Lacey, are both bringing out, very creditably indeed,
the descendants of the old Ashton herd, bred on the farm for
more than a century, and divided between them when their
father retired from business. They have used, and are now
using, some excellent bulls, with such results as were seen in
various classes at Shrewsbury.

Great size for her age, and that robust and vigorous growth
which promises great size at maturity, yet without uneven
development anywhere ; plenty of flesh, but so evenly distributed
that no one point is remarkable; and, for any time of the year,
especially for July, an extraordinary coat of thick, wavy hair, of
the rich red colour that pleases the American visitor, are the
most noticeable characteristics of Mr. A. E. Hughes’s “ Sun-
flower,” the first-prize two-year-old heifer. Mr. Rees Keene’s
really pretty heifer, “* Jeffrey 8th,” the second winner, not on so
large a scale, but whose weight would exceed that of many a
bigger-looking animal, is a good specimen of the stock of his
“ Reward,” a bull of much character, first in his class at Derby
in 1881. The selection for third prize was a good and bold
one, doing justice to merit in the rough. Mr. Powell’s “ Vinca”
does not stand an example of the results of high education, and
it was contrary to custom that great accomplishments in refined
corpulence were passed by in favour of her honest worth. The
award took many outsflers, and perhaps some exhibitors, by
surprise.

The excellence of stock of “ Franklin” (own brother to “ Con-
queror,” purchased for the herd of Her Majesty the Queen from
his breeder, the late Mr. Carwardine), has been already illus-
trated in Mr. Taylor’s “ Rosette,” in Class 66. In Class 68,
Heifers of 1883, Mr. Taylor exhibited another supremely beau-
tiful specimen of the same sire’s stock, ‘ Vanity 7th,” the first-
winner. The style and quality of these heifers would seem to
mark “ Lord Wilton’s” son, “ Franklin,” as a sire whose influ-
ence is perhaps not less powerful for good than that of “ Lord
Wilton” himself. The stock of the Earl of Coventry’s bull,
** Fisherman,” represented in this class by the second winner,
must be regarded as supplying ample evidence of that sire’s value
also ; not, possibly, like “ Horace,” for example, whose salient
characteristics are so strongly impressed upon his offspring that
they reappear in successive generations, but as a bull that may
be safely trusted to stand at the head of a herd of good and
judiciously assorted cows. Mr. Arkwright's third winner, ‘ Pearl
5th,” a daughter of “ Conjuror,” and of “ Pearl 3rd,” the second-
prize cow in Class 64, is a remarkably showy yearling, with

20

650 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

plenty of material about her for making a good massive cow ;
and Mr. Robinson’s “ Princess 5th,” composed of “ Horace” and
*‘ Provost,” through her sire, and of “ Regulus,” “Sir Thomas”
and “ Sir! Benjamin,” through her dam, well deserved the fourth
prize in a large and an exceedingly good class.

We now come to a remarkable feature of the Show, the ex-
hibition of Heifers of 1882 and 1883 in groups of four, in
Classes 69 and 70. Both were good classes, if we except one
entry of really inferior animals, quite unfit for exhibition, in
each class, and one other poorish lot of four'in the Class of
Younger Heifers, which, nevertheless, was the better and the
larger class. In the other class, the executors of the late Mr.
Carwardine exhibited the first winners, ‘‘ Henrietta,” ‘ Rosa,”
‘ Luna,” and “ Althea,” four handsome and massive heifers, all
by “Lord Wilton.” Mr. Boughton-Knight, of Downton Castle,
(the home of the “ Knight’s Greys,” in the: last and early part
of the present century), exhibited the second winners, wide-
built, thick-fleshed heifers, three by “ Downton Grand Duke,”
and one by “ Auctioneer ;” but the prime beauties were among
the Younger Heifers—Mr. A. P. Turner’s “ Kathleen,” “ Hilda,”
“ Violet,” and “Sibyl,” all by “The Grove 3rd,” ihe bull sold
at The Leen, last year, publicly, for 810 guineas, and exported
to America. In “The Grove 3rd,” the ‘“ Horace” and ‘Sir
Thomas” strains are united. The three heifers are wonderfully
alike in character, although one is just a little less wide and sub-
stantial than any one of her three companions. There were
certainly in this class, putting aside the inferior lots, 28 re-
markably fine heifers standing in the ring together. Mr. Price’s
‘“‘ Sprightly,” “ Gipsy Girl,” “ Dainty,” and “ Pearl,” full of
‘“‘ Horace,” and such thick, good heifers as the Court House herd
can always turn out, took the second prize; Mr. Robinson’s
“‘ Damsel 12th,” (not “ 7th,” as in the Catalogue) “‘ Cherry 23rd,”
“Red Spark 4th,” and “ Woodmaid 6th,” doing credit to the
‘“* Horace,” “ Regulus,” “ Lord Wilton,” and one or two other
good strains, including that of Cronkhill, stood next in
honour. Mr. Moore’s “ Lady Norma 5th,” “ Bright Pansy 1st,”
“ Bright Ethel 6th,” and “ Merry Agnes 6th,” all by “ Bred-
wardine,” and wearing the brand of their grandsire, ‘* Horace,”
were fourth on the prize-list; and the reserved number gave
credit to a fine lot of heifers, bred and exhibited by the Earl of
Coventry. Mr. Smithand Mr. Minton had each a good lot of
heifers in the ring, those from Gattertop being specimens of the
stock of “ Zulu Chief,” and those from Montford-bridge all
by “ Assistant,” a half brother of “ Archibald.”

One more good class closes the list of Herefords—Class 71,

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 651

Pairs of Heifers of 1883. Mr. Price sent the best pair into the
ring ; but the competition with the Stocktonbury pair, by one of
Mr. Price’s bulls, was very close.

Judges’ Report on Herefords,

Cuass 59. Aged Bulls—First prize, No. 514, is the well-known “ Archi-
bald,” which appears in the very superior form as regards great substance,
symmetry, and level flesh, for which he has always been remarkable ; second
prize, No. 512, “‘ Fisherman,” a very large bull of excellent character; third
prize, No, 513, a useful animal.

Crass 60.—First prize, No. 516, long and straight-topped and level form,
but a shade legzy ; second prize, No. 517, a good one, but a trifle defective in
the shoulders; third prize, No, 520, a fine animal, but not perfect in the
rump.

Cuass 61,—First prize, No. 524, handsome, with good character, substance,
and very level flesh ; second prize, No. 527, stylish, but’ somewhat uneven in
his back ; third prize, No. 529, great substance, and deep flesh.

Crass 62.—First prize, No. 541,a very large and grand animal; second
prize, No. 537, a very thick animal, but slightly defective in the hind-quarters ;
third prize, No. 548, a good style of animal. ‘There are several others in this
class of great promise.

Cuass 63.—First prize, No. 554, a well-matched pair of excellent character
and flesh; second prize, No. 556, one superior, the other one a moderate
animal; third prize, No. 562, very large and useful.

Cuass 64.—First prize, No. 564, the well-known “ Golden Treasure,” is in
grand form, and well entitled to her position; second prize, No. 568, a fine
cow in business form, having a capital calf at foot; third prize, No. 570, a
grand one, but advanced in years, and now patchy in the hind-quarters, This
is a good class.

Cuass 65.—First prize, No. 581, a short-legged one, good, but not quite
right in her rumps; second prize, No. 580, ‘very similar to the winner;
No. 585, a useful heifer, and recommended for third prize.

Cuass 66.—First prize, No. 586, a perfect specimen of her race, with a
very superior calf at foot, and a very straight and useful two-year-old bull;
second prize, No. 587, two good and level cows, and the third a good one. j

Cuass 67.—First prize, No. 590, a straight and good one, now rather high
on the leg ; second prize, No. 591, a very thick and beautiful heifer, but not
perfect in hind-quarter; third prize, No, 596, backward in condition, but of
great promise.

Cuass 68.—First prize, No. 612, quite a gem; second prize, No. 604, very
large and good; third prize, No. 607, stylish, with ‘deep flesh; fourth prize,
No. 614, level, and a compact one. ‘This is a beautiful class.

Cuass 69.—First prize, No. 625, four heifers of size, substance, and good
character; second prize, No. 629, a useful lot.

Cuass 70.—First prize, No. 632, four remarkably handsome and well-
matched ones. The winners of second, third, and fourth prizes were all of
great excellence; and the reserved, No. 630, were very fine heifers. ‘This is
another fine class,

Cuass 71.—First prize, No. 651; second prize, No. 647; third prize,
No, 648. This is a class possessing great merit, and very little difference
between first- and second-prize winners.

We consider the exhibition of these cattle extremely meritorious, both as
regards number and excellence of quality; and this is surprising when we

652 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

remember the large number of superior animals which have been exported to
America and elsewhere during the last five years.

Henry Haywoop.
ApaAm LEE.
R. §. FeruerstoNHAuGH.

DEVONS.

The Devon Classes, very full of merit, presented considerable
difficulties in the course of judging. In one or two of the
classes, animals whose Showyard history has been brilliant were
beginning to feel the effects of wear and tear, and might be
likened to fruit just over-ripe, or flowers full-blown and on the
turn towards decay. If the Judges, who possibly have seen
the animals before, and know them, or even if that is not the
case, cannot fail to observe that they are evidently seasoned
Show-goers, give prizes to previous winners, all is considered
right ; although the Judges who first discovered the merits
of those animals and gave them their earliest honours were
perhaps freely abused for their awards; but if the “ plum” of
a former Show, now dead-ripe, is cast out or taken as second,
third, or fourth choice, what an outcry is raised against the
Judges! *

In the first Class (72), 6 entries, 2 absent, the competition was
between the brothers, Mr. Perry’s “‘ Benedict” and ‘ Bravo,”
and a couple of half-brothers, “* Plum Pudding” and “ Sir Wat-
kin,” from the Tregothnan herd. All these were at York; but
there “ Bravo” and “Sir Watkin,” the former first, the latter
passed over, were in the younger class, while ‘ Plum Pudding,”
reserve number, and “ Benedict,’ commended, were in the same
class as upon this occasion. ‘“ Druid,” the sire of ‘“ Benedict”

_and “Bravo,” was the first-prize bull last year. The elder
brother is this year selected for the first, the younger for the
second prize; “Plum Pudding” has the reserve and a high

* The Devon Judges at Shrewsbury did not escape the harmless attacks of
anonymous critics. Comments condemnatory of some of their awards, circulated
on the Showground, found their way into print. It may be my misfortune to
differ from crities who hold themselves competent to pass unmeasured censure
upon the awards of Judges selected by the Royal Agricultural Society of Eng-
land; but having watched the decisions with considerable attention, I wish to
express my belief that they are intelligible to any one who understands cattle,
having bred them, and who has made himself acquainted with the Devon type.
That equally competent Judges might reverse some of the awards, is quite likely ;
but I would maintain that the reasons of the Judges were obvious enough to
practical and well-instructed men, and indicated both competency and care on
the part of the Judges, with whom Iam not personally acquainted; nor did I
hold conference with them, or any one of them, privately or oflicially —W. H.

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 653

commendation ; and “ Sirloin,” whose appearance was injured
by a slight cutaneous disorder, is again left unnoticed.

Bulls of 1882: 3 entries, all shown. ‘The Peer,” bred and

exhibited by Mr. Herbert Farthing, repeated his York victory.

Mr. A. C. Skinner’s “Lord Cutsey 2nd” and Mr. Howse’s
‘Master Frank” are both good bulls, but not his peers. No
one could pretend to find fault with this award.

Bulls of 1883: 9 entries, one absent. First, Mr. Walter’s
“Young English Gentleman,” very young, a September calf
only, competing against much older and larger animals. The
Judges evidently saw “a good bull in him” to be developed
some day, and some outsiders thought they could see as much
themselves ; so Sir W. Williams’s “ Candy” got only the second
prize. He is a good and useful-looking bull, but had a touch
of ring-worm, cured, doubtless, long before this Report comes
to light. The circumstance is mentioned, because the dis-
figurement is so often allowed to extend upon animals other-
wise carefully treated, and to infect a whole herd and the
herdsman also, and may be so very easily stopped at the first
outbreak.- Mr. H. Farthing’s “ Daisy’s Bull” had the reserve ;
Mr. W. Rolles Fryer’s “Pine Apple” a commendation ; and
with these noticed animals were others of good reputation—
Mr. Bradbeer’s “ Heanton,” Mr. Perry’s “ Draughtsman” (a son

‘of “ Benedict”), and Mr. Northey’s “Actor” and “Lord

Underwood.”

A good Class of Cows contained 8 entries, one afterwards with-
drawn. All the seven in the Catalogue cried “ Here” to the
muster-roll on the? morning of the judging day. Mr. Howse’s
“Daisy 4th,” second at York, missing her last year’s rival (Sir W.
Williams’s “ Rosebud ”), stepped into the first place, and Mr. .
Walter’s two cows, “Gipsy Lass” and “Famous” (the latter
half-sister to Sir W. Williams’s prize bull “‘ Candy ”), took the
second prize and reserved place. Mr. A. C. Skinner exhibited
his “‘ Myrtle 7th,” the first-prize cow at York, here highly com-
mended, and “ Sally,” third by special recommendation of the
Judges in the Three-year-old Class at York, here passed over
individually, but partaking of the compliment which the Judges
pay to the class collectively.

In the Three-year-old Cow or Heifer Class, Mr. A. C. Skinner’s
splendid young cow, “ Moss Rose 8th,” first at York, is again
first ; and Mr. W. Rolles Fryer’s “‘ Mignonette ” once more, as last
year, holds the second place; Mr. Perry’s “ Diadem 2nd” (by
“‘ Druid”) having the reserved number. These were the only
entries. The two last Classes, 77 and 78, Heifers of 1882 and
1883, formed excellent classes, the former containing 9 entries,
8 shown; the latter 11 entries, 7 shown. In both classes the

654 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.
heifers of Sir W. Williams were first, those of Mr. W. Rolles

Fryer second. The elder first-prize heifer, “‘ Frolicsome,” is of
the ever-famous ‘ Temptress” family, of Flitton, descended from
the late Mr. James Davy’s Battersea International Gold Medal
cow, and is a beautiful heifer of much style and finely-moulded
form. The younger first-winner from the same herd, “ Flame,”
a good yearling, has a Flitton sire and a dam of the Stowey
Court strain, being of the same family, that of ‘“‘ Famous,” to
which the bull ‘* Candy,” in Class 74, and Mr. Walter’s cow,
in Class 75, belong. The reserved-number heifer in the Older
Class, Sir W. Williams’s “ Fashion,” was the York first-prize
yearling, and is of the “Temptress” family. The animal
holding the same place among the heifers of last year is from
the Windsor herd.

Report of the Judges of Devon Cattle.

Crass 72.—Good. Nos. 659 and 660, own brothers, were very good
specimens, and possessed fine quality. The reserved bull lacked firmness of
flesh, apparently from overshowing. ;

Cuass 73.—No. 663, a handsome young bull, fully deserving of the first
prize.

Crass 74.—No. 664; very promising, and will doubtless appear again in
the prize list,

Cass 75.—No. 679, very good cow of fine breeding. Class so gocd, third
prize asked for.

Ciass 76.—No. 682, one of the best animals of the breed exhibited.

Ciass 77.—Good. No. 688, a very promising heifer.

Crass 78.—Equally good. The prize heifers No. 697 and No. 699 look
growing into good cows.

We are pleased to note a decided improvement in the general quality
and breeding of the Devons. This is especially pleasing, as the Show is not
held in the home of the breed.

STEPHEN BAILEY.
THomas FuLcHEr,
GEORGE NAPPER.

SUSSEX.

This is a breed which should assert itself in the competition
of beef-making breeds for American patronage. It can clear up
the coarsest pasturage, bear hardships, walk any distance, and
feed to great weight. Its uniform character, strongly trans-
mitted to the progeny of Sussex bulls crossing other breeds, is
also in its favour.

The classes show a little variation from the arrangement of
last year. At York the first class was for Bulls of 1877-8-9.
This year it is for Bulls of 1878-9-80-81, bringing one year
more within its limits, making the next class for Bulls of 1882,
instead of Bulls of 1881, and so making room, further, for a
class of last year’s Bulls, which had no corresponding class at

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 655

York. By this alteration, the breed has the advantage of
showing its capabilities of growth in an earlier stage of life.
The female classes are the same as last year’s, with of course
the one year’s difference in date, and are for Cows calved on or
before 1880, Cows or Heifers of 1881, Heifers of 1882, and Heifers
of 1883. The numbers are—Aged Bulls, 5 entries, two absent ;
the next class, 7 entries, three absent; and the next, 4, one
absent. A withdrawn entry, No. 720, belongs either to this class
or to the Cows, which in the Catalogue have 5 entries, one absent.
The three Younger Cows or Heifers were all on the ground ; two
of seven heifers of 1882 were absent, but one was a cancelled
entry.; and only one heifer of 1883 failed to appear in her place.

The first-prize bull in Class 79, Messrs. E. and A. Stan-
ford’s “ Reading,” is the son of a bull which occupied the same
position at Derby, Reading, and York; and his grand-dam
daughter of a bull which had the same place at Bristol; while
this year’s winner was himself first as a two-year-old at York.
He is a bull of good flesh-points, remarkably well packed
behind the hips, with also heavy thighs, and a deep, hanging
flank. Mr. T. A. Vickress’ second - prize bull is a son of
“ Berry,” a neatly-built and not very large bull, but one that has
made an extraordinary mark wherever he has gone, giving that
equality of surface which some of the Sussex cattle wanted for
exhibition purposes, without destroying the robust character of
_ the breed. “Shirley” affords an example of this in the won-
derful amount of flesh so evenly laid over the shoulder-blades,
shoulder-point, neck-vein, and up the neck itself. Pass the
hand lightly over those parts, and nothing comes in its way, the
surface being so smooth (excepting an ample growth of hair) ;
but let practised fingers play upon the surface, and the depth and
solidity of the covering of the frame are perceived. The bull
has a well-coupled and well-covered middle, but goes off com-'
paratively light in the hind-quarters. He has made an advance
since last year, when he had only the reserve in his class. The
reserve and a high commendation were awarded to Mr. Agate’s
“Frankenstein 3rd,” as also last year. Messrs. Heasman’s
strain comes to the front in Mr. Agate’s “‘ General Roberts,” the
first-prize two-year-old, who is a very creditable example of
heavy development at an early age. Another son of the Messrs.
E, and A. Stanford’s “‘Goldsmith” is second in the class, and
the third, “‘ Prince Rufus,” from the well-known prize-winning
Lythe Hill herd in Surrey, is in the act of growing too rapidly
to be presentable in true Showyard form. The Yearling Bulls
did not come out so showy-looking as their elders, but had
plenty of frame for age.

A beautiful cow, shown just as a cow looks her best, although

656 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

not the best for her chance of winning, took the first prize in
Class $2. “Dorset 8th” (that is her name) belongs to, and was
bred by, Messrs. E. and A. Stanford, She is a daughter of their
“Goldsmith,” three times first-prize aged bull at the Society’s
Shows, and from “ Dorset 2nd,” their first-prize cow at Derby,
whose sire was “ Dorchester,” their first-prize aged bull at
Bristol. The Judges made some allowance for the lightish
thigh of ** Dorset 8th,” on the ground that she was suckling her
calf, and consequently in reduced condition, and this is, to a
certain extent, available as an excuse; but it is questionable
whether the fault would not be in the thigh in any circum-
stances; her dam’s one most noticeable fault was there. The
tout ensemble is graceful, and a finely-shaped and feminine head,
with sufficiently prominent eyes, horns openly set, and growing
in big sickle curves round to the front, a clean cut out but not
too light neck, nicely pointed breast, and true upper and lower
outlines of body, widely-sprung ribs, and neatly finished
hind-quarters, make her an attractive-looking animal, whose
excellence does not seem less when examined in detail. The
Judges in their Report seem almost more partial to the second-
prize cow than to the first, and to have been unable to overlook
the patchy part; but, however this may have been, “ Marygold
Ath” (reserved and highly commended at York) well merits the
praise they give her.

A reversal of position occurs in the next class, Mr. Agate’s
“ Young Gentle 2nd,” third at York, now taking the first place,
and Mr, J. S. Hodgson’s “ Peace 2nd,” first at York, the second
place; Captain Green’s “ Bertha” advances from a commenda-
tion to the reserve. Class 84, Heifers of 1882, has a reversal in
every award. Mr. Vickress’ “ Activity,” first at York, is here
only commended ; his ‘‘ Confidence,” second at York, is here first ;
Mr. J. S. Hodgson’s “ Ladybird 1st,” third at York, here has
the reserve; and Mr. Agate’s “ Daisy 5th,” highly commended
at York, here second. These alterations may arise partly from
differences of taste and judgment, but the changes which young
animals undergo in twelve months are quite sufficient to account
for reversals of the kind. The best yearling is not always the
best two-year-old. The Judges have so fully described the
principal animals in these classes, that no further descriptive
remarks are necessary, and their comments in some cases indi-
cate the reasons which influenced them in making their awards.
The youngest class of Heifers was about the best of all the

Sussex Classes, showing very good size and development at an’

early age. This is a desideratum which the Sussex cattle can
meet, and it is fortunate for their reputation that the younger
stock exhibited at Shrewsbury were so forward and so good.

ee

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 657

Report of the Judges of Sussex Cattle.

Considering the distance at which the “ Royal” Show was held from the
native home of the large red breed of cattle, they were well represented from
the herds of the principal breeders, although rather short in numbers.

In Crass 79, No. 708 was placed first, a grand, massive animal, with good
head and capital touch from the well-known Eatons herd; second prize,
No. 704, was one of the best fore-quarter bulls of the breed that has come
before the public this year, but which is very much wanting in his hind-
quarter; the reserve and highly commended, No. 707, was well worthy of
the notice.

Cuass 80.—No. 714, first prize, was a massive bull, with a great deal
of flesh and substance, which is a great point in these days of early maturity.
The second prize went to No. 710, not quite as he should be in the rumps,
and a little harsh in the touch ;.reserve number, 711, was a fine animal, but
flat ribbed, but looks likely to make a large animal when older.

Cuass 81.—First prize, No. 718, had a nice head and colour, but was rather
legey ; second prize, No. 719, was a fair useful animal.

Crass 82.—No. 725, first prize, was a very nice cow, with grand back and
good touch, but a little wanting in the thighs; she had a calf by her side, so
did not show to the best advantage ; second prize, No. 721, was a grand cow,
showing a great deal of the old Sussex type, but rather patchy in the rumps ;
oth of these animals were bred by the Messrs. E. and A. Stanford, of

atons. .

Cuass 83.—First prize, No. 728, was a cow of great substance, very close
to the ground, and looks like a wonderful milker for the breed, rather light in
colour; second prize, No. 726, very good spread and colour, but very short
from the hip to the rump.

. Cuass 84.—First prize, No. 730, a fine massive heifer coming from the
Slinfold Herd, which, although in its infancy, has already shown some good
and promising animals; second prize, No. 735, a very nice heifer, but wants
a little more age to furnish; reserve, No. 732, was a nice animal, but leggy.

Cuass 85.—No. 744 and No. 743 were placed first and second, two very
nice heifers belonging to the same exhibitor, Mr. A. Agate, of Broom Hall,
Horsham ; reserve and highly commended, No. 742, was a nice heifer, hardly
spread enough, and not as good in the touch as one could wish. This class
was well represented, and deserved commendation throughout. -

GEORGE NAPPER.
StePpHEen Barry.
THomas FULCHER.

Rep POLLED.
The old and cumbrous name of Norfolk and Suffolk Polled

having been dropped since last year’s Show, this remarkable
breed of Eastern England made its first appearance at the
national Show under its new name of Red Polled. Instead of
the four classes, two of Bulls, one of Cows and Heifers from the
usual breeding age upwards, and one of Younger Heifers, as at
York, where the entries numbered 34, it had this year seven
classes, containing 44 entries. The changes were effected thus:
the first class of Bulls, comprising animals of the 2nd, 3rd,
Ath, 5th and 6th year before the year of exhibition, was altered

658 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

to one for animals of the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th years, the
2nd year forming the limits of an additional class, and the
Yearling Bulls stand the same as before. From the heading ot
the first class for females, the words “‘ or heifer” are omitted, and
the ages allowed range from an unlimited “ previously to,” to
any time within, the fourth year before the year of exhi-
bition. A class for Cows or Heifers of the third year is thus
got out of the old class; the class of Heifers of the second year
remains as before, and a new class for Heifers of last year is
introduced.

Some very good and useful-looking bulls, level and thick-
fleshed, of rich colour, with the style which only carefully-bred
animals can possess, competed in the three classes. The York
first-winner, here No. 824, was simply passed over, affording
the city critics an irresistible opportunity of descanting upon
judicial liability to egregious mistake; but if townsmen who
come to Shows to put country Judges right could suspect the
meaning of an enlargement upon the left side of the face, which
had no duplicate on the right side, they might hesitate to
express themselves so freely as they do. Next to Mr. Taylor’s
“Passion,” the York reserve, Mr. R. H. Mason’s “ Starston
Duke” (also bred by Mr. Taylor) takes rank on the prize-list.
The latter, a deep-sided, thick bull, with heavy rounded thighs,
is closely related to the first-winner, the sire of both being the
same, and the dam of “Passion” the grand-dam of “ Starston
Duke.” Mr. Tyssen-Amhurst’s “Cortes,” second at Reading
and commended at York, has the reserve and a high commen-
dation.

Mr. Lofft’s intensely deep-red “ Broadhead,” Mr. Haggard’s
“Sand Boy,” who maintains his York position as second, and
Lord Hastings’ “ Rupert,” are the noticeable bulls in the second
class; but the bull of the really highest style and character,
the beau-ideal of a thorough-bred animal, is Mr. R. H. Mason’s
‘“* Napoleon,” whose merit (although particulars of which the
butcher can take no cognizance go to make a most attractive
appearance) consists mainly i in properties which the most prac-
tical men can appreciate. There is a frame of ample size, not
over-grown, truly moulded to the most perfect proportion of
each part to the whole; straight limbs are set in the right
places, and the joints are most beautifully turned, the hocks
are especially straight and neat; and the short tapering of the
ends of the massive thighs to the hocks, with flesh as far as flesh
can go, and then no lumber, but a nice clean joint, make quite
a pattern of refined form. The touch discovers a rich layer of
lean-flesh spread everywhere evenly, and the hair is of the
richest red, deep in colour, but not blackened, The head is gay

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 659

and full of life; the neck (a most expressive feature of a bull,
if the term may be allowed, as his way of using it tells his
character) is sufficiently substantial without coarseness, and extra
arched, with a bridling, sideway half-turn of the head on the
approach of a stranger. Vigorous life, not vice, appears in this
instant consciousness of notice.

The Judges, whose remarks express the opinion of at least
one expert in the standard of points for this breed, refer to the
colours of three of the exhibited animals in terms to which
more than a passing reference is needless.

Mr. Colman’s “ Dolly,” first at Derby and York, and Mr.
Taylor’s “ Buxom,” third at York, were first and second in the
Class of Older Cows. In the next Class, Cows or Heifers of
1881, Mr. Hammond’s “ Davy 37th and 38th,” first and second
in the Heifer Class at York, were again in the same positions.
The first is quite a model in form, wonderfully good over
shoulder and crops and round the girth, and the second also
a fine young cow. Both might be somewhat more neatly
finished in the hind-quarters, and the colours might have more
of the rich and characteristic hue of the breed ; but they are fine
animals, without reference to breed or colour. Mr. Colman’s
“Rosalie,” a smart “ King Charles” heifer, in the Two-year-
old Class; Lord Hastings’ “‘ Ruperta,” a nine-months-old calf,
in the Class of last year’s Heifers; and Mr. Tyssen-Amhurst’s
*‘ Didlington Davy” among the Elder, and “ Poppinette V. 43”
among the Younger Heifers, are the prize-winning and most
remarkable animals in the two last classes.

Report of the Judges of Red Polled Cattle.

Red Polled Cattle (hitherto known as Norfolk and Suffolk Polled),
although not so numerously represented as at the local Exhibitions in the
Eastern Counties, made a creditable show :—

Crass 97.—No. 825, first prize, combines massive proportions with good
looks and stylish carriage ; No. 819, second prize, same breeder and sire, also
a thick-fleshed, good bull; No. 824 might possibly have received recognition
at our hands, but for the presence of a large tumour on the face.

Cxiass 98.—No. 827, first prize, a broad animal on short legs, has hair and
colour not unlike a Galloway ; No. 829, second prize, straight and lengthy,
but too high on the leg.

Crass 99.—No. 834, first prize, a very promising young animal, about the
best in the three classes for bulls; No. 832, second prize, and No. 833, from
the same breeder as first-prize bull in previous class, present appearances in hair
and colour indicative of Scotch blood, No. 833 having a brindled skin.

Cuass 100.—No. 843, first prize, a short-legged massive cow; No. 844,
second prize, looks like a good milker.

Cuass 101.—Nos. 848-9 take the two prizes, a pair of grand heifers, but
lacking the true characteristics of the breed; No. 847, the only other exhibit
in the class, is more like what a Red Polled should be, but is hard and harsh
under the hand,

660 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

Crass 102.—No. 851, first prize, is a very sweet little heifer, lengthy and
good, with a tendency to patchiness.
Cuass 103.—No. 862, first prize, long, low, and straight; No. 859, second
prize, nice form, plain at rumps end.
Tuomas FULCHER.
Grorce NAppER.
SrePHEN Barry.

LonaHorns, WELSH AND Datry CATTLE.

The one heading for breeds so distinct as the Welsh and the
old Longhorn, and for the miscellaneous cattle in the Dairy
stock Classes, is adopted, as already explained, for the conve-
nience of placing the unmutilated Report of the Judges at the end
of this section of the general Report upon the Live-stock ; but
the remarks upon the different breeds are kept quite separate.

Longhorns, in the order of the Catalogue, immediately follow
the Sussex, and precede the Red Polled Cattle. ‘They numbered
only 2 Bulls of 1878 to 1881, and 3 of 1882: 7 Cows, calved
previously to or in 1881, and 2 Heifers of 1882; altogether 14 .
entries ; all shown, excepting one cow. The one grand speci-
men of the breed was Mr. Leigh’s “ Prior of Ashby,” a splendid
four-year-old bull, rightly described as brindle and white, but
in effect mostly black, with the edges flecked and grizzled ; a bull
of great scale and character, with quite a picture head, good
fore- and hind-quarters, a level top, the line gently rising on the
outline over the chine and shoulder-tops into the arch of the
neck, and a straight under-line. So ornamental a specimen
affords a suggestion of what the glories of the breed must have
been in its day. The only really good class of Longhorns was
that of Cows, in which the first winner is Mr. W. G. Farmer’s
“May Flower,” own sister to “ Gentle,” a winner at the Paris
International Show of 1878. Her sire, “The Blue Knight,” is
by ‘‘ Earl of Upton Ist” (Mr. Chapman’ s strain), and her dam,
“Spring Flower,” the first-prize cow at the Liverpool Meeting
in 1877, by Sir J. H. Crewe’s “Earl of Upton 2nd,” a son of
her paternal grandsire, so that here is a little in-breeding of the
Upton blood. ‘May Flower,” a brindled seven-years-old cow,
with well-rounded ribs, is still not so heavy forward as in the
hind-quarters. Her neck is light, and the fore-end is not great
in proportion to the depth of side ; she has wide and thickly-
cushioned hips, heavily-packed quarters from hip to tail,
lumpy development at the tail-head, and full “twist,” or
packing above the back of the udder. Mr. Richard Hall’s
second winner, “ Brindled Nell,” only four years old, is a thick,
good animal from end to end, with great wealth of flesh. Mr.
Leigh’s “ Spondon Queen 2nd” had the reserve ; and commenda-

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 661

tions, applying to the whole class, are to the credit of Mr.
Farmer’s “ Sweet Briar,” a sort of yellow roan or streaky yellow
and white, daughter of “ May Flower,” without father in the
Catalogue entry, the Duke of Buckingham’s “ Governess,” and
Mr. Satchwell’s “ May Bud,” a cow of the dairy type.

Welsh Cattle, although classed together as one breed, have
their distinct sub-varieties. Besides the “ Castle-Martin” and
other varieties of the black Welsh cattle, there is the smoky-faced
red ‘‘ Montgomery ” breed, now nearly extinct,* but represented:
by two very fair specimens at Shrewsbury, The six Welsh Classes
altogether numbered 60 entries: Older Bulls, 6, one absent ;
Bulls of 1882, all shown, 6 entries; Bulls of 1883, all shown,,
7 entries ; Cows, 14, one absent; Younger Cows and Heifers, 7,
two absent; Heifers of 1882, 13, one absent; and Heifers of
last year, 9 entries, all shown. Mr. Oakley’s “Sir Watkin,”
bred by the Earl of Cawdor, took the first prize in the first
Class of Bulls, and being exceedingly well up in flesh-points,
displays the capabilities of his breed in beef-making. Major
Platt’s “Black Prince 2nd” filled the second place well, in a
class which altogether did great credit to the breeders and
exhibitors of the animals by the evidence it afforded of their suc-
cessful efforts to make the best use of a good sort, which readily
_ answers to the influences of keep and culture. In a strong Class
of Bulls of 1882, Lord Harlech’s “Zulu,” first winner, Mr.
Oakley’s “ Duke of Chester,” bred by Captain Best, second,
and the Earl of Cawdor’s “ Young King,” reserved number,
were all handsome, distinctively Welsh-looking and good in the
details of form, flesh, skin and hair. Major Platt’s “ Rhys,”
highly commended, a good bull all through, had a different
type of head, which, if it could be coloured roan, and seen as”
Mr, Bates saw the Shorthorn “ Belvedere’s” head, without a view

* About fifteen years ago, when my attention happened to be turned to the
cattle of the English and Welsh Border counties, I received much kind and
valuable assistance from the late Mr. Humphry Salwey, of The Cliff, Ludlow,
whose intimate knowledge of those counties and his ancient family connection
with the Ludlow district, placed him in possession of the best information upon the
history, traditions, and resources of the surrounding country. Accompanying
Mz. Salwey, I visited the only two herds of pure “ Montgomeries ” which he could
ascertain to be in existence at that time. One has been since dispersed. The
best cattle had more style and character than those exhibited this year at Shrews-
bury; but the latter have all the distinctive points of the breed, and are, I
should suppose, pure-bred. The “ Montgomeries” are butchers’ favourites, and the
butchers have got nearly all of them. The beef is of prime quality, the carcass
much heavier than the appearance of the animal would indicate—ordinary stock
being the standard. On one occasion the seller, usually an accurate judge of
weight, could not agree with the butcher, within two score, as to the weight of a
fat “Montgomery ” he wished to sell, so he suggested that the scales shouid be
umpire. The butcher agreed, and the real weight proved to be within one
pound of two score above the seller’s, and four score above the butcher's esti-
mate.—W. H.

662 Report onthe Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

of the body, might pass for that of a Shorthorn. Some of the
Yearling Bulls are remarkably well grown. The Earl of
Cawdor’s “Sir Richard,” winner of the first prize, has great
size for age, and a certain degree of richness to the touch; but
these young bulls do not belong to a breed accustomed to feeding
up from the hour of birth, generation after generation, and
consequently do not, at sixteen months old, bear comparison with
breeds so treated. There is a layer of lean flesh over the frame,
but not the super-layer, fat prevailing, which makes the young
stock of some of the earlier maturing breeds so bounteous under
the touch. The same sensations in handling must not be ex-
pected ; the same terms of description would not be appropriate.
The Earl of Cawdor’s “ Leonora,” showing a few silver threads
in her black coat, heads a splendid Class of Cows; and in the
Class of Younger Cows or Heifers, Major Platt’s pair, “ Black
Queen 4th ” and “ Bladwen,” are great, massive three-year-olds,
winning first and second. The first winner is the daughter of
a grand, lengthy cow, exhibited by him in the Older Class, and
highly commended. Mrs. Williams, of Llandilo, exhibited a
handsome cow, and was the breeder ofa beautiful heifer shown
by the Earl of Cawdor. In the two Younger Classes of Heifers,
Lord Harlech’s entries carried away all the prizes; but the com-
petition was sharp, and it was only “ by the skin of their teeth”
that all the five heifers from Glyn got four money-prizes, and
one of the reserves. The entries of Mrs. Williams, Major
Platt, Capt. Best, Mr. Oakley (successful in previous classes),
and Mr. J. Davis, displayed great merit; and those of Mr. E.
Pugh, The Newton, Bishops Castle, were the smoky-faced red
« Montgomeries” already mentioned.

Dairy Cattle occupied two Classes; Cows, 11 entries, and
Heifers 5 entries; one cow and twoheifers absent. The first-
prize cow, a droop-horned roan Shorthorn, carries a good deal of
flesh for a milker, but looks like one that can yield a fairly large
quantity of milk, and probably last out better than a poorer
cow, while her substance is all in her favour when breeding
happens to stop. With the exception of one good Hereford,
there was nothing else very specially noticeable; but from a
purely dairy point of view, nearly the whole of both classes
may be described as satisfactory. One or two well-bred Short-
horns appeared, but generally the cross-bred Shorthorns and
mongrels seemed to have more milk about them.

Report of the Judges of Longhorns, Welsh, and Dairy Cattle.

Longhorns are exhibited in very short numbers, except the Cow Class.
In Crass 86, No. 746 was a grand animal.
Ciass 87,—An uneven class, with two very useful animals.

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 663

Crass 88.—A lot of very good cows, which we considered worthy of
general commendation.

Welsh stock were well represented, both in numbers and quality ; and we
desire to express our satisfaction with the progress made in improving this
valuable breed.

Tn Crass 90 were several animals of great merit.

Crass 91.—A strong class, the prize-takers showing promise of growing
into first-rate animals.

Crass 92.—A numerous entry, without calling for especial notice.

Crass 93.—A lot of grand cows.

Cuasses 94, 95, 96.—Heifers of great promise, many of them so good that
we had considerable difficulty in making the awards.

Dairy Cows: Cuasses 111, 112.—Some very excellent cows shown,
milking properties being in this class the chief consideration.

J. H. Burpery.
W. B. Roperts.
JOHN WILLIAMS.

2 JERSEYS.

The aggregate of 90 entries in the Jersey Classes was com-
posed of 9 Buils of the Older Class, 13 of the next Class, 16 of
last year, 10 Cows, 6 younger Cows or Heifers, 19 Heifers of 1882,
and 17 Heifers of last year. Not many of the animals entered
for exhibition failed to appear. One cow had unfortunately
died.

The Report of the Judges is succinct ; but it is so pregnant of
valuable suggestion, and so clear in its indication of the salient
points of the Show, that it may be left to itself. Any comment
upon the animals, if based upon popular taste in symmetry
and whole colours (the fancy for these being perhaps quite anta-
gonistic to the pail and the churn as the fancy for symmetrical
proportions of form), would seem calculated to weaken the force
of the concluding remarks; and notes upon milk-veins, udders,
escutcheons, and orange skin of the ear and other parts of
animals exhibited, would scarcely answer any useful purpose,
or interest the readers of the ‘Journal.’ The prize-list, there-
fore, and the Judges’ Report, shall speak for the Jerseys; only
one circumstance in conclusion may be mentioned. One ex-
hibitor whose name appears in several of the Jersey Classes, the
Rey. John Hill, of Shrewsbury, was an exhibitor (of Black
Pigs) at the Shrewsbury Meeting of the Society in 1845. It is
not often that any exhibitor’s name can be found in the
Society’s Catalogues at both ends of a period of thirty-nine
years.

Report of the Judges of Jerseys.

As Judges of the Jersey Classes, it gives us much pleasure to report con-
cerning them that, on the whole, they were good in quality, and satisfactory
in number, considering the part of the country where the Show is held.

VOL. XX.—S. S, 2x

664 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

In Cuass 104 the individual animals which stood out strikingly the best
and richest were Nos. 867 and 863.

Ciass 105 was a selection of very useful bulls.

In Crass 106 we have had much difficulty in selecting the prize animals,
many being individually good.

In Cuass 107 the number was not large, but the three prize animals were
also individually very good.

Cuass 108 was very scantily represented, and we should have liked a
ee competition in this class, having to award three prizes between six
animals,

In Crass 109 there were 19 entries, and only two prizes offered. No. 918 is
so good a heifer, we strongly recommend that a third prize should be given her.

In Crass 110 we also recommend that a third prize shouid also be given to
No. 948, being a very promising heifer.

Butter qualities—It appears to us that often more attention is given to
symmetry than to butter-yielding quality. Now this ought not to be.
Symmetry is of course valuable to the eye, but there it ends. As the
Jersey characteristic is not meat, but butter, symmetry has so much less
value, and the marks of high yield in the pail are to be preferred, and should
take a higher place than symmetry alone. i

Itis with great diffidence that we take the opportunity of making these few
remarks; but the strong conviction we have formed from our experience of
Jersey Cattle, and our anxiety to advocate the best interests of Jersey
breeders everywhere, must be our excuse.

P. J. BRIDEAUX.
Cuar.es F, Dorey.
Cares A, BARNES.

SHEEP.

In the Classes of Sheep the breeds happen to be placed in the
Catalogue, and grouped for judging, in the same consecutive
order ; so that departure from the order of the Catalogue, for the
purpose of giving at once the whole of any one judicial Report,
is not necessary. The order of the Catalogue, therefore, is fol-
lowed, and when two or more breeds come within one judicial
Report, that Report is appended to the notes upon the last of
the breeds noticed in it.

The strength of the Shropshire Classes, in both quality and
numbers, for many years, prepared every one fora grand display
at the head-quarters of the breed. Expectation was not disap-
pointed. The Sheep Classes in general were good; but the
Shropshires, represented by a great number of sheep of first-rate
excellence, with scarcely a weed among them, composed more
than one-half the entire show of sheep. The total number of
entries in the Classes of Sheep was 486: the Shropshire entries
alone numbered 247 ; all other breeds together, 239.

As the inspection of shearing precedes the judging, and the
disqualifications (only three) come under notice in the course of
this Report, the Reports of the Inspectors may be conveniently
introduced here.

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 665

Reports of the Inspectors of Shearing.

Report No. 1.

After carefully examining the shearing of sheep in this Yard, we find the
sheep generally in accordance with the rules of the Society.

We do, however, find in Ciass 113, No. 971, and in Cuass 126, No. 1179,
and also No. 1180 in same class, not in accordance with the rules as laid
down for our guidance in examination, and we recommend the disqualification
of the same.

Report No. 2.

We, your Inspectors of Sheep Shearing, beg to state in this our Report of
the Shrewsbury Meeting that, as a whole, we did find the sheep well and
fairly shorn. In our former Report on the ground we did recommend the
disqualification of three sheep, which was acted on by your Council, and we
now in our Report confirm the same. We admit that we have met with
much more extreme and worse cases in the Showyard; but once allow the
matter again to get hold, and we will have the shearing as false as in former
years. We feel ourselves warranted in giving a good account of the shearing
of last season, as in no year in which we have visited the Showyard with
instructions to correct this evil, have we found greater care and attention
given to the shearing of sheep.

The Mountain Sheep did not come under examination. May we be allowed
to say that the Judges were placed in a most difficult position on account of

“so many different classes of sheep being shown for the same Prize. Some of

those sheep shorn well, and others of them shown with almost a year’s wool
on their backs. We congratulate the Council in having corrected so great an
evil in a few years. Showing sheep in their true and natural form in the
Showyard is of the very greatest importance.

WILLIAM JOBSON Inspectors of
J. B. WorkMAN Shearing.

LEICESTERS.

Three classes comprised all the Leicesters : Two-shear Rams,
7 entries, one absent, and one disqualified by the Inspectors of
Shearing; Shearling Rams, 17 entries, two absent; and Pens
of five Shearling Ewes, 5 entries, all shown. Competition was
confined to the representatives of six flocks, the entries ave-
raging nearly 5 to each exhibitor. Messrs. Turner, Hutchinson,
and Green exhibited in the Ram Classes only; Mrs. Perry
Herrick and Messrs. Jordan and Harrison in the Shearling
Ram and Ewe Classes. The largest exhibitor was Mr. Turner
(Thorplands), who showed 3 two-shear and 4 shearling rams ;
Mr. T. H. Hutchinson and Mr. J. B. Green had each 2 entries
of two-shear and 3 of shearling rams; Mrs. Perry Herrick and
Mr. Jordan (Eastburn) each 2 of shearling rams; and Mr.
Harrison (Underpark) 3 of shearling rams and 2 of ewes. The
Catterick entries, showing the size and character which dis-
tinguish Mr. Hutchinson’s flock, supplied the first and second

2x2

666 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stoch at Shrewsbury, 1884.

winners in both classes of rams, the noted sheep “ Duke of
York” heading the two-shears. Mr. Turner, adhering most
firmly to that illustration of the true Leicester type which the
specimens from Thorplands always afford, exhibited in both
classes sheep of beautiful character and unexceptionable sym-
metry, not on the largest scale, but thick and good throughout ;
and in the Shearling Class obtained the third prize, which does
not appear.in the Catalogue, but is offered in the prize-sheet,
on the condition that six persons exhibit in the class. This
condition applies to all classes of sheep for which no third prize
is specially allotted; and in the Class of Shearling Leicester
Rams, as we have already seen, all the six exhibitors had
entries. Mr, Turner had also the reserve in the Two-shear
Class, Mr. Green that in the Shearling Class. Mr. Jordan’s two
admirable pens of ewes were first and second; but they had
worthy rivals in Mrs. Perry Herrick’s two pens, and in the one

pen exhibited by Mr. Harrison.

CoTswoLps.

Two-shear Rams, 6 entries, two absent; Shearling Rams,
9 entries, one absent ; and Pens of Ewes, 3 entries, one absent ;
made up the little show of Cotswolds, good as far as it went.
The Two-shear Ram Class contained two noticeably good
sheep, the Shearling Class scarcely one which was not notice-
ably good, and both Pens of Ewes contained animals of suffi-
ciently high merit, and sufficiently well matched, to be accounted
good pens. All the first prizes, one second prize, and one
commendation, were awarded to sheep of the Signett Hill flock
(Mr. Robert Jacobs’), Mr. T. and S. G. Gillett’s grand two-shear
ram and pen of ewes taking second prize, and one of Mr.
Godwin’s entries having a reserve and commendation. The
ages of Cotswolds usually date a month or two earlier than
those of other Long-wool breeds.

LINCOLNS.

The three Classes contained 20 entries—5 of Two-shear Rams,
11 of Shearling Rams, and 4 of Ewes. One two-shear and two
shearling rams were absent. Messrs. Smith, Dudding, Pears
and Roe were the only exhibitors. Two of the three first
prizes, those for rams, went to the entries of Mr. Smith, that for
ewes to the pen of Mr. Pears; the second prizes to the sheep
of Messrs. Dudding, Pears, and Roe; the reserves to those
of Messrs. Smith, Dudding, and Pears ; and a commendation to
Mr. Roe’s ewes; so that each had a share of the honours.
Although the smallest in number of entries, the Class of Ewes

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 667

was the best, the four pens containing twenty very good
animals. The first prize two-shear ram, Mr. Smith’s “ Lord
Gainsborough,” although the line of his back is at a high level
compared with the sheep standing near him, comes near the
ground, has great breadth of back and width through heart and
centre, carries abundant flesh, and wears a good coat. His
shearling also deserves his place on the prize list, although
Mr. Pears’ second might attract first notice at a superficial
glance; but when examined more closely, he has rather too
much daylight under him, and wants time to grow down to his
legs, and has not the same width of “ floor,” or under-part of

the body, as the sheep from Cropwell Butler.
. Report of the Judges of Leicesters, Cotswolds, and Lincolns.

Leicesters : Cuass 113.—An average class; short entry.
Crass 114.—On the whole a good class, both as to numbers and quality.
Cxass 115.—A very good class, the whole worthy of commendation.
Cotswolds : Cuass 116.—Short entry, but quality good.
Crass 117.—A very good class; the first-prize sheep of good form and
quality.
Cuass 118.—Only two entries, but we think the second worthy of the
prize.
Lincolns: Crass 119.—Small exhibition ; first-prize animal good sheep.
Cuass 120.—Fair entry, class good.
Cass 121.—A very good class.
Rosert FIsHER.
Ropert GaRNE.
Witi1am HEssELTINE.

OXFORDSHIRE Downs.

The Two-shear Ram Class contained 5 entries, all shown ; the
Shearling Rams made a strong class of 27 entries, only two
absent; and of 9 entries of Ewes, one had been cancelled, and
all the rest appeared in their places. Not great in number, the
Elder Rams were excellent in quality, and Mr. Albert Brassey’s
York first-prize shearling, “The Nobleman,” now a grandly
developed two-shear sheep, was fairly passed by Mr. Treadwell’s
“‘ Bicester” and “ Young Comet,” the former a large ram of
splendid form and quality, well set on his legs, with a thickly
fleshed back, ample legs of mutton, and a heavy twist filling
the space between them; “ Young Comet” is a sheep of great
size and massiveness, excellent under the hand. In the Shear-
ling Class, Mr. Brassey’s “ Toby 2nd,” from a ewe by “ Royal
Kilburn,” the grandsire also of “The Nobleman,” was first ;
“Peterborough 2nd,” by “The Nobleman’s” sire, “ Peter-
borough,” had a high commendation ; and “ Shifford,” a son of
*‘ Royal Derby,” was commended. The Heythrop Park shear-
lings, in fact, numbering six, were a remarkably grand lot.

668 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

Mr. Treadwell had seven entries in the class, six exhibited, and
took the second prize with “ Baron Campsfield,” a son of “ Baron
Newton,” his Derby second-prize shearling; the reserve and
a high commendation with “Baron Hampton,” a son of
Mr. Hobbs’ “ No. 6;” and a commendation with “ Young Tra-
veller,” by ‘Baron Oxford.” There was another ram by the
sire of the reserve ram, unnoticed in the list of awards, but
from his grand proportions and wonderful wealth, breadth of
beam and deeply covered loin, is very suggestive of the high
merit of “ No. 6” asasire. The third prize was well won by
one of three capital shearlings exhibited by Mr. Milton Druce.
The Fyfield ewes, also, prominently placed, won the second
prize in a very creditable class. Mr. Brassey’s two pens, good
and well brought out, were first and reserve; between them
(showing the closeness of the competition) Mr. Milton Druce’s
taking the second, and Mr. Hunt’s the third prize.

Report of the Judges of Oxfordshire Down Sheep.

The old sheep consisted of five entries, amongst which we found some very
good massive sheep.

In Crass 123 we had 27 sheep; the general quality was good, and we
consider we were fully justified in awarding the three prizes.

In Crass 124 we had 8 pens, and we consider the three first pens were
over an average merit for the Royal, and we therefore awarded the third
prize in this class.

Cuartes Hosss.
Witi1am Jonas.

SHROPSHIRES.

Perhaps it is well here to refer to the facts that towards the
sum of 345]. offered in prizes for Shropshire Sheep, the Shrop-
shire Sheep Breeders’ Association and Flock-Book Society
contributed 105/.; the Shropshire and West Midland Agri-
cultural Society 60/.; that fifty guineas in the Class of Single
Shearling Rams, and fifty guineas in the Class of Pens of five
Shearling Ewes, were offered by Messrs. E. Webb and Sons,
of Wordsley, Stourbridge; and that Messrs. Beach and Com-
pany, of Dudley, added a piece of plate of the value of ten
guineas to the first prize in the Class of Pens of ten Ram Lambs,
and a piece of plate of equal value to the first prize in the Class
for Pens of ten Ewe Lambs. These contributions show how the
importance of the Shropshire sheep is recognised, and that
the Society’s efforts to secure an adequate representation of this
now almost universal breed in the county from which it takes
its name, and in which so many of the long-established flocks
are kept up to the highest possible excellence, received sub-
stantial assistance.

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 669

The first Class, that of Two-shear Rams, contained 34 entries,
or, discounting absentees, 30 sheep in the pens. Descriptions
of the winners will be found in the annexed Report of the
Judges. Capt. Townshend, the breeder of the first-prize ram,
was also the exhibitor of a highly commended ram, his “ Lord
Coventry,” bred at Caldicote Hall, excellent in form and
quality, with the fine wool-growth spreading so much over the
face as only to leave spaces enough to show the black ground-
colour and let the eyes look through. Many of the unnoticed
sheep would have been good enough to win if the best had
been away, and unsuccessful exhibitors (including some of the
leading breeders) must have felt that defeat in such a class was
very far from disgrace,

But the great Class of Single Rams was that of Shearlings,
not only for the extraordinary number of 101 entries, of which
eight were absent and two disqualified by the Inspectors of
Shearing, leaving 93 sheep in the pens and 9] in competition,
but also for the surpassing merit of a large proportion of the
class. If great credit was due, as it certainly was, to the
breeders who sent up such a display, great credit was also due
to the Judges, who most ably discharged the enormously heavy
. duties of their task. By competent men, whose partialities, if
anything excepting their judgment influenced them, might be
supposed to incline towards other than the winning sheep, the
awards were emphatically approved.

The near approach to ideal perfection (which is—no points
at all—or, each point in such true proportion to each other
point as not to be appreciably better than any other) increases
the difficulty of description. There is nothing to catch hold of
in these models, so if we want subjects for telling description
we must go to the worse end of the class. If the Judges felt
this as keenly as the official reporter, they got out of the scrape
very cleverly—vide their report on Class 126. Lord Chesham’s
four, three by “ Dudmaston,” and one by one of his sons, two
out of “Comus” ewes, one from a dam by “ Prince Imperial,”
and one from a “ Royal Aston” ewe, were equally beyond praise
and description, excepting such praise as nauseates and such
description as fails for want of faults to bring out the merits into
relief. It is a “ Dudmaston-Comus” ram that had the first
prize of 677. 10s.; and another, bred from the same sire and
dam’s sire, took the fifth prize, the third and fourth Latimer
entries being both highly commended. Mr. Joseph Beach, of
The Hattons, was the exhibitor of the second winner, Mr. T. J.
Mansell (Dudmaston) having the third- prize sheep, and
Mr. R. M. Knowles the fourth-prize sheep, Capt. Townshend’s

flock again came into notice in the representative form of

670 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

“‘Trueman,” a capital shearling by “Sir George ;” but his
“Prince Teck” escaped notice in the multitude of high-class
sheep competing. As the list of commendations is not added
to the prize-list in the Appendix, and in these two classes
of rams, commendation, whether high, low, or of medium level,
means selection of exceedingly good sheep from among good
sheep, the names of those breeders whose sheep in either or
both of the classes received that honour may be here men-
tioned :—Mr. Thomas Mansell (Harrington Hall); Mr. M.
Williams, Jun.; Mrs. Maria Barrs; Mr. J. Bowen-Jones ;
Mr. T. S. Minton; Mr. T. J. Mansell (Dudmaston Lodge) ;
Mr. T. H. Miller; Mr. R. Loder, M.P.; Messrs. Crane and
Tanner (Shrawardine); Mr. R. Thomas; Mr. Thomas Fenn ;
Mr. J. E. Farmer; Mr. F. Bach, and the Executors of the late
Mr. W. German; and there are two or three other exhibitors,
whose names are also in the prize-list, or have been mentioned
already in connection with the sheep highly or otherwise
commended. To these might be added a long list of exhibitors
of meritorious sheep unnoticed. Three very useful shearlings,
uncoloured, were exhibited by Mr. Charles Randell, of Chadbury.
Class 127, Pens of five Shearling Rams, contained 33 entries ;
30 pens, or 150 sheep, were exhibited. Of course, the merit of
the sheep singly was not quite equal to that of the rams in the
immediately preceding class, because (as a rule) any exhibitor
who had a supremely good one naturally chose to let it stand
upon its merits in single competition rather than spoil the
appearance of four good sheep in a pen; but really the class
was almost more wonderful and more creditable to the breeders
and the breed, if possible, than the class of single entries. The
matching in so many of the pens was something extraordinary,
showing that the uniformity which every good breeder desires
has been in a great measure obtained. Lord Chesham’s first-
prize pen, admirably matched in character, all large, of true
symmetry and immense substance, with good heads, was an
instance of exception to the rule that the best sheep go into
single competition. Any one of the five was quite good enough
for the strongest competition in a class of single entries, and it
is questionable whether the best in the pen was not a better
sheep than any exhibited singly. ;
The Class of Pens of ten Ram Lambs, 13 entries, one cancelled,
had each one of the 12 pens filled, ‘The full number of lambs,
therefore, was 120; and in the next following Class of Pens of
ten Ewe Lambs, 14 entries, one cancelled, three other pens
empty, 100 lambs were shown. These 220 Shropshire lambs
formed an interesting,feature of the Show, as examples of the
growth and development of the Shropshire at the age of about

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884, 671

four months, most of the lambs having been dropped in March,
a few in February, and a few in April. Messrs. Bradburn, the
exhibitors of the first-prize two-shear ram, had the first prize
for ram lambs, and the second for ewe lambs; Mr. R. Thomas,
of Baschurch, the first for ewe lambs, and third for ram lambs ;
Mr. W. H. Beech, of Codsall, the second for ram lambs; and
Mr. Loder, the reserve in the male and third in the female
class. Some commendations were also awarded.

The pen of ewes exhibited by Mr. Joseph Beach, of The
Hattons, was the foremost feature of a splendid Class of Pens of
five Shearling Ewes, containing 41 entries, but six being absent,
175 animals were shown. Here again the Latimer flock was
well represented, and Messrs. Williams and Bradburn were
also successful, the Earl of Shrewsbury’s pen having the reserve,
a good position in so strong a class, and the Oaklands, Whittle-
bury, and Shrawardine pens, and those of Mr. E. Farmer and
Mr. W. German’s Executors receiving commendatory notice.
Messrs. Bradburn’s ewes were at the head of the last Class of
Shropshires, Pens of ten Breeding Ewes, 11 entries, one absent,
100 ewes in the pens. The Report of the Judges, and the
prize-list, will tell the rest. Although the labour of judging
was divided, Messrs. Coxon and Evans taking the rams, and
‘Messrs. Bowen-Jones and Keeling the ewes, the following joint
Report has been returned by the four Judges.

Report of the Judges of Shropshire Sheep,

The exhibition made by the Shropshires cannot be deemed otherwise than
worthy of this now most popular and much admired breed of sheep. Taking
place as it did in their own district, much was expected of them, and the -
Judges congratulate the breeders on the fact that the Shropshires formed
perhaps the most striking feature of this most successful Show; and in
exhibiting, as they did, more than double the number of sheep as compared
with all other breeds put together.

Cxiass 125, for Two-Shear Rams, contained 34 entries from most of the
principal breeders of this class of sheep. ‘The first-prize animal was a good
specimen, carrying beautiful character, with good head, straight spine, well
covered with a fine fleece. The second-prize had splendid touch, with a well-
covered back. The third-prize, No. 1096, showed great masculine character
with heavy flesh.

Cuass 126 contained the unprecedented number of 101 entries, giving
the Judges a most trying ordeal to award the five prizes allotted to the
class. Amongst the yearlings were a large number of first-class animals,
reflecting great credit upon the breeders. The competition was very close,
and the numerous commendations testify that many of the rams which
were commended were nearly on a par with those to which prizes were
awarded.

Cuass 127, for Five Shearling Rams from one flock, calls for special notice,
containing as it did no fewer than 150 animals of extraordinary merit,

showing that the Shropshire breeders have no fear of exhibiting their sheep
in numbers.

672 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

Crass 128, for Ten Ram Lambs, contained 120 animals, many of which pos-
sessed good character, and were likely to develop into good sheep.

Cuass 129 contained 130 ewe lambs, to which the same remarks will apply
as to the ram lambs.

Crass 130, for Shearling Ewes, was represented by 41 pens of 5 each,
forming in themselves a grand exhibition. ‘The first prize was awarded to
No. 1294, being as perfect specimens as any breeder could possibly desire.

Cuass 131, for Zen Breeding Hwes, had 10 entries, but, calls for no special
remark,

JoHN Evays.

Joun Coxon.
CHarLes R. KEELING.
J. BowEn-JONES.

SOUTHDOWNS.

The Southdowns filled three tolerably strong classes; Two-
Shear Rams, 19 entries, six absent ; Shearling Rams, 32 entries,
four absent ; and Pens of five Shearling Ewes, 9 entries, one pen
absent. In quality, the general estimate was that they stood in
order of merit as good, better, and best ; the Two-shears forming
an unquestionably good class, with one or two notably fine
rams in it, but not on the whole equal to the larger Class of
Shearlings, which for their number had a very small proportion
of inferior sheep among them; while the show of Ewes was
particularly good throughout, not a bad or middling pen to be
found in it. In all the classes the Sandringham flock was well
represented, better in the better Class of Shearlings than in the
good Class of Two-shear Rams, but best in the superlatively
excellent Class of Ewes, in which the only pen from Sandringham
had the second prize. Mr. Chapman’s two-shear ram, well
known as a winner elsewhere, took the lead in his class; and
Mr. Carew-Gibson’s, in the third place, separated Lord Walsing-
ham’s second and reserve sheep; and in the Shearling Class the
Merton sheep came out in greater strength, with four entries, but
one was absent, and the three exhibited took the first and third
prizes and the reserve number. Indeed, it is noticeable that not
a single entry from the Merton flock was passed over by the
Judges. In the Two-shear Class, as in the Shearling, four
entries had been sent, but one of the four did not appear in the
pen; and in that class, besides the honours already mentioned,
a commendation was awarded, while the one pen of Merton
ewes received the third prize. Mr. Colman, whose shearling
ram was second in his class, was still more fortunate in winning
the first prize for ewes. Sir W. Throckmorton had two or
three good sheep in the Shearling Class, one particularly good ;
and a pen of beautiful ewes highly commended; as also were
the ewes of the Duke of Richmond, Lord Hastings, and Mr,

Jonas, of Ickleton, the latter having the reserved number.

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 673

HampsHIRE Downs.

The only fairly strong class in point of number was weakened
by the absence of nearly half of the number entered. The Two-
Shear Rams, 5 entries, were all in their places ; but the Shearlings,
11 entries, mustered only six in the pens: of five entries of
Pens of Ewes, one had been cancelled, and the remaining four
appeared before the Judges. Here, again, the females were
first in merit; but what artistic colouring! For two of the

“pens the blush-rose, and for one pen the yellow marigold, might
have been the pattern tint. It is very pretty, certainly, but what
does it mean? Upon the same principle of improvement upon
nature, why should not the black coats of the Welsh cattle be
powdered blue, or the Shorthorns appear in pea-green? The
horses generally are too sleek for similar appliances, but they
might receive a coat of varnish. Mr, H. Lambert’s pen of five
splendid yellow ewes was fairly first in the prize list, the beauti-
ful pink ewes of Mr. H. Spackman and Mr. F. R. Moore taking
respectively, and deservedly, the second and third places. Mr.
F. P. Brown, whose ewes were not quite in the same bloom,
although intrinsically good, filled the remaining pen. Mr.

- F. R. Moore’s rams in both classes were sheep of grand sub-
stance and quality ; his two-shear rams were uncommonly heavy-
fleshed, great in the neck, over the loins, in the legs of mutton
and connecting twist, with a thick layer under the breast and
floor of the chest. Mr. Read’s sheep made good second winners
in both Classes of Rams.

Report of the Judges of Southdown and Hampshire Sheep.

The Southdown classes were well filled, most of the principal flocks being
represented.

Oxass 132.—Two-shear Rams were very good, and Crass 133, of Shearlings,
numbering 32 entries, were especially good; and Cuass 134—<Shearling
Hwes—were remarkably fine without exception.

The Hampshire Downs were not very fully represented, but some fine
specimens of the breed were shown, especially in Crass 137. ‘The whole of
the pens of ewes in this class were of considerable merit, and the prize-winners

were exceptionally good.
RicwHarp RELFE VERRALL.
JOSEPH CARPENTER.

MountTAIN BREEDS.

It is probably quite impossible for the Royal Agricultural
Society to listen to the applications for separate classes which
come from so many quarters. Here we have a miscellaneous
collection of Exmoor, Scotch, Welsh, Clun Forest, and Lonk
Sheep ; yet if we look at the numbers of each, how could separate

674 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stoch at Shrewsbury, 1884.

classes be reasonably expected? and if separate classes were
granted, some aggrieved Herdwick breeder, or some breeder of the
White-faced horned Limestone sheep, might complain that there
was no room for him, and demand additional classes. The Two-
shear Mountain Ram Class at Shrewsbury contained 13 entries
(all pens occupied), of which 6 were Exmoor Horned, 2 Scotch,
and 5 Welsh sheep; the Shearling Class, 17 entries (all shown),
comprising 4 Exmoor, 3 Scotch, 7 Welsh, 1 Lonk, and 2 Clun
Forest ; and the Class of Ewes (5 shearlings in each pen),»
10 entries, one absent, the 9 divisible into 4 Exmoor, 2 Scotch,
1 Welsh, and 2 Clun Forest pens. In the Class of Older Rams,
all the prizes and the reserve went to the Exmoor sheep; in
the Shearling Class, the first and second prizes to the Clun
Forest sheep, the third to a Scotch ram, the reserve and a high
commendation to the Exmoors, and a commendation to one of
the Welsh entries (one of the 7 Welsh entries, by-the-bye, had
much of the Exmoor type); and in the Class of Ewes, again,
the first and second prizes were awarded to pens of the Clun
Forest breed, the third prize and a simple commendation to
Exmoors, and two high commendations to Scotch sheep. The
only specimen of the Lonk (a pen of ewes of the same flock,
entered, being absent) was passed unnoticed.

OTHER BREEDS.

“Other Distinct Short-woolled Breeds” were all comprised
in two small classes: Rams, One-shear or Two-shear, having 7
entries, six exhibited ; and Shearling Ewes, three pens of five,
all shown. The six rams belonged to three exhibitors, two
entries to each—Mr. F. Shepherd showing Ryelands; Mr.
Smith, Suffolk sheep; and Mr. Herbert Farthing, the Somerset
and Dorset horned breed. The same three breeds also were
represented in the Class of Ewes, the Ryelands and Suffolks being
exhibited by the same breeders; the Somerset and Dorset
Horned by Mr. H. J. Smith, of Stoke Abbott. Mr. J. Smith, of
Thorpe Hall, last year very successful with his Suffolk sheep
at York, won the first prize for his shearling ram, “ Ben,” and
the first prize for his pen of ewes; the second prize in the

Ram Class going to a Ryeland, and in the Ewe Class to the
Dorsets.

Report of the Judges of Mountain and other Distinct Breeds of
Short-woolled Sheep.

The classes of Mountain Sheep are certainly a most peculiar lot to adjudi-
cate upon, there being so many breeds in the same class—some shorn, and
others not—which makes it still more difficult, and we think that a sub-
division of these classes may be worthy of the consideration of the Council.

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 675

Most of the exhibits we considered were very good specimens of their
breeds,

The other Short-woolled classes were well represented in quality, though
not in numbers, there being three entries in each class, each one being of a
different breed. ‘The Suffolks were superior in both classes, followed with
good exhibits of Ryelands and Dorset-Horned ; latter class exceptionally good.

T. WILLIAMS.
Ros. SHORTREED.

PIGS.

The Judges of the Black and other distinct Breeds (excepting
the recognised White Breeds, which have precedence in the Cata-
logue) have made so exhaustive a Report upon the classes
brought under their notice, that little remains to be said; and
to this elaborate Report one of the Judges, a highly competent

_ authority, has added a note which is in itself an epitomised

history of the Small Black Breed. The Judges of the White
Breeds, more briefly, have given an outline of their department
of the Show. These Reports will be found in their order, each
at the close of the group of classes to which it refers,

Eight disqualifications by the Veterinary Inspectors on account
of the advanced dentition of the pigs entered for competition
are recorded, and in one other case disqualification was pro-

nounced on the ground of the state of dentition of young pigs,

accompanying their mother, showing age beyond eight weeks.
The following are the Inspector’s Reports :—

Report of the Inspectors of Dentition of Pigs.

We, as Veterinary Inspectors to the Royal Agricultural Society, have
examined the pigs entered in Cuassxes 144, 146, 148, 149, 150, 152, 153, 154,
156, 157, 160, 161, 164, and 165, and find that in the pigs No, 1507 in ~
Class 149, No. 1537 in Class 152, No. 1551 in Class 1538, No. 1569 in
Class 156, No. 1605 in Class 160, Nos. 1612, 1618, and 1625 in Class 161, the
state of the dentition does not agree with the age given in the book of
entries.

In Crass 145, the young pigs with No. 1478 show a state of dentition beyond
the stipulated age of 8 weeks,

W. Duaurp.

Besides these disqualifications, one sow (No. 1576) was de-
clared disqualified (under Rule 22) in consequence of a protest
handed to the Steward of Swine, calling attention to the fact
that the animal had been coloured and oiled, contrary to the
rules of the Society.

Larce WHITE BreeEp.

Boars farrowed in 1881 and 1882 numbered 6 entries; last
year’s Boars, 7 entries; Sows, 14 entries; and Pens of three

676 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

Breeding Sows of the same litter, 5 entries. The first prize in
the first class was awarded to Mr. Joseph Ashworth’s “ York-
shireman ;” the pig that had the reserved number in the same
class at York; and a son of the same boar, belonging to the same
exhibitor, was first in the second class this year. Major Platt’s,
Mr. P. Ashcroft’s, and Messrs. Nuttall’s breeding sows, as
winners, scarcely give their class a very high character, although
fairly useful-looking. Messrs. J. and F, Howard’s Pen of Young
Sows, first in the next Class, were pretty well up to the usual
quality of the Britannia Farms herd, although their older sow
was considered a shade below the Large Breed Standard—a fault
not often found in pigs from that source.

MippLE WHiItrt BREED.

Older Boars, 5 entries; Younger, 6; Breeding Sows, 13; and
Pens of Three, 5 entries; made the show of Middle Breed White
Pigs. Beyond Mr. P. Ascroft’s older boar and Mr, Walker Jones’s
‘“‘ Dynamite,” in the same class, there was little to notice in the
male classes, excepting the name of Major Platt’s boar “ Jenny,”
in connection with that of his sow, “Sol,” in a previous class
(these entries were from Wales), and a big boar which got into
a Middle Class by some error of description. The Younger Boar
Class was wretchedly poor; two-thirds of the pens were empty,
and the other third not very creditably occupied. ‘The Breed-
ing Sows were a very fair lot, some good, so far as the Showyard
model pig is concerned; and as that model is recognised, and
all Judges are expected to keep the approved form in the mind’s
eye during the process of judging, no objection to the awards
at Shrewsbury can be entertained.

SmAtL Wuitre BreeEp.

A Class of Older Boars of considerable merit numbered 8
entries ; Younger Boars, 14 entries ; Breeding Sows, a good class,
17 entries ; and Pens of Three, in which a prize was awarded
to the pen from the Prince Consort’s Shaw Farm, 8 entries.
The well-known Tortworth strain was represented by both the
first-prize boars and the reserve boar in the Younger Class, and
the Coleshill strain by the first-prize breeding sow and the
first-prize Pen of three Sow Pigs.

Report of the Judges of Pigs of the White Breed.

In Crass 143 we found three pigs absent, and the first-prize pig was the
only one fit for competition.

Crass 144,—A very moderate class, and short of entries.
.. In Cuass 145, No, 1469 was considered by us more fit for the Middle Breed

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 677

class than the larger. No. 1478 was disqualified, owing to the pigs exhibiting
with her being over age.

In Chass 147 we found No. 1490 more fit to be exhibited in the Large
Class than in the Middle.

In Crass 148 four pens were empty, and neither of the pigs were good;
and the Judges were long before they concluded to award a second prize.

In Crass 149 four pens were empty, and we can commend the whole class
with the exception of one pig.

Cuass 151 was an average class.

In Crass 152 three pens were vacant.

In Crass 153 four pens were vacant, and we can generally commend the
whole class with the exception of two pigs, viz. Nos. 1552 and 1553, which
we admire, but consider these two pigs are entered in the wrong class.

Winttram R. W. Beswick-Royps.
JOSEPH SMITH.
JosH. CULSHAW.

SMALL Buack BREED.

The excellent Report of the Judges, as already intimated,
deals so fully with these classes, that the following statement of
numbers may be considered sufficient introduction :—Boars of
1881-2, 5 entries; Boars of 1883, 4 entries; Breeding Sows,
4 entries; and Pens of three Breeding Sow Pigs, 3.

BERKSHIRE.

Boars of 1881-2, 8 entries ; Boars of 1883, 19 entries; Breed-
ing Sows, 31 entries; Pens of three Young Sows, 11 entries.

OtTHER Distinct BRrEeEps.
Boar of 1881-2, 2 entries ; Boars of 1883, 5 entries ; Breeding

Sows, 6 entries; and Pens of Three, 3 entries. A remark
of the Judges suggests the expression of a hope that before the
Tamworth pig is excluded from the Shows of the Royal Agri-
cultural Society of England, he may have a fair test in rearing
and feeding, and then in ham and bacon curing, and in house-
hold use, side by side with some of the model pigs of the
recognised Showyard type.

ont of the Judges of Small Black Pigs, Berkshire and any other
Distinct Breeds.

The Small Blacks were representatives of the homesteads of the Duke of
Hamilton, Mr. J. A. Smith, Major Dods, and Mr. Northey. The latter had one
entry, and although the animal—a sow farrowed in 1882—was bred in
Devonshire, the pedigree as given in the Catalogue reads as of Suffolk
origin. The same may be said of Major Dod’s (No. 1365), who dates from
Great Yarmouth. The other two exhibitors are from Suffolk, and the pigs
shown by them are the lineal descendants of the original “ Black Diamond”

678 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884.

strain, so famed as prize-winners in years gone by, under the colours of
the late Mr. Thomas Crisp, Mr. Mumford Sexton, and Mr, Stearn.*

Of the prizes awarded, the Duke of Hamilton takes all four firsts offered,
Mr. J. A. Smith three seconds, and Mr. Northey one. In the Report we are
requested to make on the pigs brought before us, there is little to dwell on as
regards individual entries. The best in the Boar Classes we took to be the
young one from Easton Park, No. 1572, but his hair was scant and short,
and we think the Duke has shown better animals elsewhere. The Old Boars
were an unsatisfactory class to judge; so unlike each other, so varied in cha-
racter, so different in their merits and defects, that we had great difficulty in
arriving at a conclusion as to their proper places on the prize-list. We
decided, however, that the depth of carcass, heavy hams, and good hair of
the Duke of Hamilton’s “ Young Robert” gave him an advantage over
Mr. Smith’s thin-faced, short-ribbed, but grand-backed “ Akenham Hero,”
No. 1564, to which we awarded the second prize. The reserved number fell
to the Duke’s “‘ Young Sam,’ a pig with a model fore-end but a wretched
back, and otherwise not a Show boar.

The Sows were better; the winner a very good one indeed, from the same
sire as the Duke’s first-prize boar, but withal of a higher-class stamp.
Mr. Northey’s second-prize sow is a heavy-fleshed, short-legged animal, with
a good face, but of a soft, fatty handling, which betokens a very little lean
meat, and was sent before the Judges, contrary to law as we were informed,
with a decided appearance of artificial colouring.

The three young sows of the Duke of Hamilton’s pen No. 1579, were well-
grown specimens of the breed, every advantage having been taken of the
early farrow, the Catalogue states. ‘They were sired by the reserve-number
boar, but showed a decided improvement on his form and build.

On the whole, we thought there was a want of uniformity of character,

* The present race of “Small Blacks” have their home very much in East
Anglia. They are more or less, as stated above, the descendants of the pigs
with which the late Mr. Thomas Crisp, of Butley Abbey, Mr. Sexton, of Wherstead,
near Ipswich, and Mr. Stearn, of Brandeston, all in Suffolk, won with all over
the kingdom twenty-four or thirty years back. ‘These were improvements on
what Sir Thomas Western and the late Mr. Fisher Hobbs worked up out of the
original Essex breed crossed with the Neapolitan pig. One of the most success-
ful introductions of a fresh strain was from Devonshire, in all probability from
one of the same family whose name appears in the same Report. A boar, known
in the county of Suffolk as “ Northey,” had a lasting influence on the breed. He
was used by Mr. Wolton, of Kesgrave (a celebrated breeder of Suffolk horses,
since removed to Butley Abbey), with the greatest success, and, I believe,
Mr. Crisp had him for some time after Mr. Wolton had done with him, In 1855,
Mr. Crisp sent one of his best sows (a descendant, I believe, of the “ Northey ”
boar) to the Paris Exhibition. The Judges condemned her as too fat to breed,
and withheld the prize. On her voyage back she gave birth to eleven good pigs,
and brought them all up. The litter made what at that time were called fabu-
lous prices. One realised 50 guineas, and the best blood in East Anglia goes
back to this famous litter of pigs. The sow was called ‘‘ Black Diamond,” a
name by which the Small Black Breed of East Anglia is well known at the pre-
sent time. Mr. Crisp died about 1869, and the pigs were sold off. Mr. Stearn,
who was one of the most successful breeders of the “* Black Diamonds,’’ has ceased
to show; and Mr. G. M. Sexton sold off his pigs by auction three or four years
ago. He did more to spread the fame of the Blacks than eyen Mr. Stearn or
Mr. Crisp. Mr. J. A. Smith, one of the most successful breeders of the present
day, bought largely of the Wherstead strain, and though the agent of the Duke
of Hamilton has brought the Easton Park pigs to the front a good many times in
the last few years, one and all derived their original stock from the “ Black
Diamond-Northey ”’ strain alluded to aboye.—H. B.

Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stock at Shrewsbury, 1884. 679

a varied type of hair and form, which looks as if the breeders of the Small
Blacks of the present day had no particular model before their eyes in their
efforts to produce a prize pig. Certainly those brought before us at Shrews-
bury lacked that precision of character which Messrs. Sexton and Stearn gave
us twenty years ago.

The Berkshires showed nothing of this; with certain exceptions there was
a commendable adherence to the recognised characteristicsiof the breed in the
entries we looked over. Indeed, the hard-fleshed, “lean-meat” appearance of
which the Berkshires had outward evidence gave one the idea of satisfying
the present-day requirements much more than the soft-handling specimens
in certain other classes of both colours. In making our awards, we endeavoured
to keep what we considered the true type well before us, and, so far, we had
ample choice among the good ones. We thought Boars, old and young, and
Sows of the old class, a very grand display. We passed over one of the most
perfectly formed animals among the Berkshires without bestowing even acom-
mendation. This was Sir W.'Throckmorton’s No. 1613. We did so on account
of her marked divergence from Berkshire character. She had neither the form,
the hair, nor the facings of the breed. If there is any strange blood in her
pedigree, we were right in our decision ; and if from a pure stock, this eminent
breeder has worked his material into a manufactured article of another type,
and we made our protest against the innovation.

There were far too many individually good specimens to make it necessary
to call especial attention to any particular entry, beyond the scale of merit we
recorded in our awards; and if the Class of three Young Sows appeared to
come short of the standard of excellence which the older exhibits possessed,
the reason is obvious. It is quite enough for the breeder to produce a single

. animal which shall peer above his fellows in a class of twenty or thirty; to
produce three good animals in one litter is more than can often be accom-
plished. We may, however, say that in this class the feeding talents of many
of the exhibitors were evidently beyond that faculty best described as the
“ breeder’s eye.” Ina pen of young sows for breeding purposes there should
be something besides the up-hill and down-dale outline of a forced maturity
without form oy promise.

Of the Classes for Other Distinct Breeds we have little tosay. The Tamworth
pigs had it all their own way; the informal entries of others which appeared -
on the list were simply out of court because there were places for them else-
where, and were passed over accordingly. Possibly the unsightly, sandy-
skinned, long-legged specimens to which we awarded the prizes possess merits
beyond their personal appearance; otherwise we are not sure we ought to
have encouraged the exhibition of anything so wide of the recognised form of
animal life in the Showyard.

We have one more note to make. We remarked there were no prizes for
sows with pigs on them. It appears that fecundity in swine is a quality the
Council of the Royal Agricultural Society of England does not recognise as
worth encouragement. Now to those who have had any experience in pigs
it is well known that nothing baffles the skill of the breeder more than the
tendency that cultivated specimens invariably exhibit of a non-breeding dis-
position. You get form, early maturity, fattening qualities—everything that
ambition attempts, but this is always more or less attended with the dis-
appointment of smaller and smaller litters as the cultivating process goes on.
This will perhaps be charily admitted by the breeder of fashionable sorts ;
but we ask those who are practical pig-breeders if it is not almost invariably
the case? Would it not be well to give prizes for sows shown with not less
than six, eight, or nine pigs? Let the pigs have nothing to do with the
chance of the mother’s winning ; to judge the dam in connection with the
produce always creates a difficulty; only let it be shown that the model sow

Wot. xx.—B. 8. 2Y

680 Report on the Exhibition of Live-Stoch at Shrewsbury, 1884.

has the indispensable property of being able to perpetuate her tye: and
that in quantities compatible with profitable pig-farming.

Herman BrDpeE.t.
G. E. LAscE.urs.

CHEESE AND BUTTER.

As Dairy-produce is closely connected with the subject of
Live-stock, this seems to be the fittest place for the following
Report :—

Report of the Judges of Cheese and Butter.

There was a large show of Butter, and, with few exceptions, the quality
was extremely good, possessing the rare old English delicate flavour. One or
two lots we disqualified, evidently having been tmixed with salt. We noticed
an absence of colour in most of the samples, which is somewhat unusual at
this period of the year.

Although the entries of Cheese were not numerous, the quality was excep-
tionally good, and the condition excellent for the month of July.

We noticed an entire absence of Foreign Cheese, and regret that there were
no entries of Stilton, which certainly ought (in our opinion) to be included in
the Catalogue of the Royal Agricultural Society of England.

We had some little difficulty in awarding the prizes, in consequence of the
general excellence of the exhibits, and hence we have highly commended and
commended several lots.

On the whole, we consider the Show a very good one in our department.

JoHN Hasrry.
JOHN STAFFORD.

BEES.

Happily little acquainted with the “ points” of these irascible
insects, the writer must beg to decline criticism upon this
department of the Live-stock at Shrewsbury ; but would express
a confident anticipation of good results from the exhibitions of
Bee-management at the Society’s Meetings. The cottage bee-
keepers of England commonly go so ignorantly on in the
clumsy and often cruel methods of their ancestors, that it would
be well if, through the Society’s instrumentality, instruction in
modern systems could be still further extended to them.

The reader of this Report may have noticed that the writer,
although not always in perfect accord with the Judges in their
awards and comments, has endeavoured to abstain from strongly
marked variance, and to recognise, in all cases, the authoritative
character of the judicial decisions. This he is anxious to
emphasise, because, in a rather large acquaintance with breeders
who are also exhibitors, he repeatedly hears remarks which
indicate the existence—not, happily, the prevalence—of a very

On the Purification of Water by means of Iron. 681

cramped, warped, and twisted notion of the spirit in which such
men as officiate at the Shows of the Royal Agricultural Society
of England discharge their duties, and a very imperfect notion
of the responsibility which an exhibitor incurs. Incompetency,
often, dishonest partiality, sometimes, is imputed to the Judges.
May not the theory of exhibition be thus stated ?—The question
at issue among breeders, or between each exhibiting breeder
and each other exhibiting breeder, is as to the comparative
merits of certain animals in the possession of those breeders
severally. That question is submitted to arbitration, and is to
be decided in the Showyard of the Royal Agricultural Society
by men appointed by a competent elective body representing
the exhibitors. The Judges are selected as men of high cha-
racter, and as each an expert in his own line; and the
exhibitors, by the act of entering their animals for show, and
again by the act of sending them to the Showyard, accept the
arbitration of those Judges, and should frankly and loyally
abide by it. To discredit the Judges because they have de-
cided against a certain animal, would seem to be a most un-
generous act, if it were not worse than that, a breach of good
faith ; just as much so as a dishonest decision on the part of the

- Judge would be. The exhibitor sends his animal in faith that

a competent Judge will act honestly; the competent Judge
accepts office (theoretically, at least) in faith that the exhibitor
will accept his decision as an honest one. ‘The difficulties of
Judges can be rightly estimated only by those who have them-
selves officiated as Judges, and who have so learned how many
questions, beyond mere outside appearances and sensations per- -
ceived by touch, must be mentally asked and answered before a
faithful decision can be given. We want a little more English
manliness, a little more gentlemanly superiority to mean sus-
picion ; not among exhibitors in general, but among those of an
unhappy minority to whom the foregoing remarks may apply.

XXII.—On the Purification of Water by means of Iron. By
-W. Anverson, C.E., M.Inst.M.E., Consulting Engineer to
the Royal Agricultural Society of England.

Ir has long been known that iron possessed the remarkable
property of removing colour from water, and of decomposing
organic matter held in solution.

Some twenty-seven years ago, Dr. Medlock took out a patent
for the use of iron as a purifying agent; but it was not till
within the last fourteen years, when Professor G. Bischof took

2x2

682 On the Purification of Water by means of Iron.

up the subject, that anything really practical was done. Since
that period, however, a great development of the use of iron has
taken place, and it has now reached a position of such hygienic
importance, that a notice in the pages of this ‘ Journal’ cannot
fail to be both interesting and useful.

In an excellent article on the composition and properties
of drinking-water, and of water used for general purposes,*
Dr. Voelcker has fully explained the conditions which render
water fit for the arts and for dietetic purposes ; and he alludes in
that article to those important properties of spongy iron which
Professor Bischof has laboured with unwearied constancy to
adapt to the purification of water.

First, Professor Bischof had to provide the metal in a suitable
form, in sufficient abundance, and at a low price for use in
filters. This he accomplished by improving the process of
reducing the “purple ore” of commerce, the refuse of the
roasting of iron pyrites, by means of coal and coke, regulating
the temperature of the furnace so as to allow the particles of
reduced iron to stick together very loosely and produce a highly
porous substance, to which the name of “spongy iron” has.
been given. Next, he turned his attention to the application of
iron to domestic filters; and it is important to note that the
principle on which iron acts upon impure water is totally
different from that of any other filtering substance. It does not,
in fact, act as a filter at all, but it is slowly dissolved by the
water, forming carbonates and low hydrated oxides, which pass
into a higher state of oxidation at the expense of free oxygen
in the water, or of oxygen taken up from the air by the water
after its passage through spongy iron. ‘The precise action is
not well understood, but it depends, speaking broadly, upon the
instability of the lower oxides of iron, and upon the absorption
of the free oxygen in water.

The tendency to combine with free oxygen is probably one
of the causes of the destruction of animal and vegetable life
which undoubtedly takes place in water purified by iron. It
is well known to those interested in aquaria, that water which
has been in contact with metals, and especially iron, is nat
suited to many kinds of fish ; hence the pumps used have glass
barrels, and the pipes and other parts exposed to the water
are made of ebonite. Again, to agriculturists the presence,
in the soil, of protosalts of iron, such as are formed by the
action of ordinary water upon spongy iron, is a sure sign of
sterility of the soil.

In combining with the free carbonic acid in the water, iron

* ‘ Journal,’ R. A. 8, I, 1875, vol. xi. p. 127.

=

On the Purification of Water by means of Iron. 683

acts in the same way as lime in the well-known Clark process ;
the carbonates of lime and magnesia held in solution, in conse-
quence of the presence of uncombined carbonic acid, are thrown
down, and the water by that means is very materially softened.

In domestic filters of ordinary construction, and indeed in all
but spongy iron filters, the impurities are separated by mecha-
nical action, and they become concentrated within the substance
or on the surface of the filtering medium, where germs of all
kinds find a favourable breeding and feeding ground, so that,
after a short time, a filter, unless cleaned, becomes actually
injurious to the water passed through it, although apparently
still rendering it bright and clear, because the extremely
minute organisms which are injurious to health pass freely
through the filter with the water.

Animal charcoal and, to a smaller extent, vegetable charcoal,
possess indeed the property of purifying water, not as mecha-
nical filters only, but as media in the pores of which chemical
reactions take place; but these substances also soon become
inert, and have to be periodically revivified by washing in
acids and by heating.

Spongy iron, on the other hand, from the nature of its action,
<loes not require periodical renewal, because its substance being
slowly dissolved, fresh surfaces are constantly presented to the
action of the water. When used in the form of a filter, indeed,
the gradual accumulation of impurities requires to be removed,
in order to allow the necessary freedom of percolation; but the
impurities which do collect among the iron are perfectly harm-
less—there is neither animal nor vegetable life.

The amount of iron dissolved is very small, depending on the
quality of the water. It is less than one-tenth of a grain per
gallon, or one-seven-hundred-thousandth part by weight of the
water operated on.

The process of purification is of a twofold character. First,
the water must be acted on by the iron, and afterwards the iron
taken up must be separated from the water, and the free oxygen
which had been absorbed must be restored to the latter. It is
well also, when practicable, that the gross mechanical impuri-
ties should be first separated by ordinary mechanical filtration.

In domestic filters (Fig. 1, p. 684) Professor Bischof has
arranged the whole process in a most ingenious and perfect
manner in a single vessel.

First, if the water to be filtered contains much suspended
matter, comes a preliminary mechanical filtration, a layer of
sand being placed on the top of the perforated plate, c, then the
contact with spongy iron, I, and the final abstraction of the
iron, and oxidation by means of a mineral called pyrolusite, s,

684 On the Purification of Water by means of Iron.

the native peroxide of manganese, which rests on a substratum
of sand and gravel.

Fig. 1.—Seetion of a Filter with Ball-cock complete.

B. Ball-cock.

U. Unfiltered water.

V. Screw-valve.

I Spongy iron.

8, S'S’. Prepared sand.

xe
So
gq
S
~)
S
w
&

>

F. Filtered water.

T. Stop-cock.

On the large scale there are two ways of arranging treatment
by spongy iron.

According to the earliest method, a double set of filter-beds,
A and B, Fig. 2, is constructed, one about 4 feet higher than the
other.

In the upper bed, A, is deposited a mixture, ©, about 3 feet
deep, of three parts of gravel and one part of spongy iron,
covered by a layer, D, 6 inches deep, of ordinary filter-sand.
The lower filter, B, is an ordinary sand-filter, such as is used by
many water companies. The water to be purified is first
mechanically filtered in passing through the sand, D, laying
over the iron and gravel mixture, ¢, through which it next

On the Purification of Water by means of Iron. 685

passes, and becomes impregnated with iron; it is then conveyed
into the lower filter by the pipe, B, and falls in such manner as
to be as much mixed with the air as possible. The iron which
had been dissolved is deposited, chiefly in the form of the red
oxide, and is, together with the impurities rendered insoluble,
separated by the sand-filter. The purified water contains no
trace of iron.

Fig 2.—Section of a double set of Filter-beds.

The filter-area required for this process varies, with the
quality of the water, from 50 to 150 gallons per square foot of
surface per twenty-four hours for each filter. The attention

. necessary is little more than that which has to be bestowed on
all sand-filters, namely, the periodical scraping off and washing
of the top-layer about one-half inch deep of sand. The mixture
of iron and gravel, especially with very bad water, has occasion-
ally to be uncovered and broken up, and the layer nearest the
upper surface washed.

An instance of the application on a large scale is afforded by
the Antwerp Water Works, where in 1880 Professor Bischof’s
method was adopted, and has continued to work with very
satisfactory results ever since. After three years’ continuous
action there is no sensible diminution of the quantity of iron.
The waters of the Nethe, which are yellow and turbid, are ren-
dered beautifully bright, clear, and palatable, and, according to
a recent analysis, the free ammonia is reduced from 0:032 grains
per gallon to 0:004 grains, or to about one-eighth, and the
albuminoid ammonia from 0-013 grains per gallon to 0-006, or
to less than one-half. Full particulars of this application will
be found in a paper by me, which was read before the Institu-
tion of Civil Engineers on January 16th, 1883 (‘ Proceedings’
Inst. C.E., vol. lxxii.).

Although the system adopted at Antwerp has proved so suc-
cessful, the cost of the application was very great, on account
of the large quantity of spongy iron, amounting to 900 tons,
required to charge the filters, the large area of land covered by

686 On the Purification of Water by means of Iron.

them, and the cost of cleaning entailed by the very impure
character of the water operated on.

To obviate these objections, I determined to try a method
first suggested to me by Sir Frederick Abel, namely, that of
shaking up the water to be treated with any iron in a divided
state, instead of letting it filter through it. It is obvious
that, inasmuch as the object to be obtained is to expose fresh
clean surfaces to the action of the water, some arrangement by
which the particles of the spongy iron would keep themselves
clean by rubbing up against each other would present the best
possible mode of application.

The form which the apparatus has assumed is twofold.

Fig. 3.— Section of Filter-bed supplied by Revolving Purifier.

In the first, Fig. 3, the iron fills about one-tenth of a cylinder,
A, revolving slowly on hollow horizontal trunnions, B and ¢.

The water to be purified is taken direct from the source, and
passed into the cylinder through the trunnion, B, its course
being checked by a spreader-plate, D; the iron is caught up by
numerous longitudinal shelves or ledges, £, fastened to the inner
surface of the cylinder, and is constantly showered down through
the water; the rapid fall through which, combined with the
attrition against itself and the surface of the cylinder and shelves,
tends to keep the iron perfectly clean. The water passes slowly
through the cylinder, and issues out through the trunnion, ©, at
the opposite end, entering it by means of an inverted bell, F,
which effectually prevents any iron being carried over. The
water from the revolving purifier is then allowed to flow on to
an ordinary sand-filter, G, into which it should fall, so as to be

On the Purification of Water by means of Iron. 687

aérated as much as possible, and where the depth should be so
great as to allow four or five hours before it reaches the sand.
The revolving purifier requires very little power to drive it,
only a few inches of head to cause the water to flow through,
and it is particularly suited for large water-works, and situations
where power is to be had.

The other form of purifier consists of placing the iron, for a
depth of 4 or 5 feet, into a vertical pipe, a, Fig. 4, terminating

Fig. 4.—Section of Filter-bed supplied by Vertical Purifier.
Let

c

in a cone at the lower end, like an inverted sugar-loaf. The
water is forced through a jet or small aperture, B, in the apex of
_ the cone, under a head of 8 feet or 10 feet, and issues by a
lateral branch, ©, at the top of the pipe. The rush of water
keeps the whole of the iron, D, on the move, and consequently
while the water becomes thoroughly exposed, the iron is kept
perfectly clean, both by the washing and the rubbing action
continually going on. After leaving the purifier, the water is
poured into an ordinary sand-filter, E, in the same manner as
from the revolving machine.

This form of apparatus is best suited to situations in which a
fall of some 10 feet can be spared, or where pumping power
exists. The purifier requires no attention whatever beyond the
occasional addition of a little iron, and it occupies very little
space.

The chemical effect produced is even more complete than in
the case of the iron filter. Thus at Antwerp, in the water from
a revolving purifier dealing with 166 gallons per minute, the
free ammonia was reduced from 0-032 grains per gallon to
0-002 grains, and the albuminoid ammonia was reduced from
0-013 grains to 0-004 grains per gallon, or less than one-third.

The size of the apparatus varies with the quality of the water
which affects the time of contact required. At Antwerp three
minutes’ contact with the iron is found sufficient ; but some very
bad and highly-coloured waters require as much as six minutes.

688 On the Purification of Water by means of Iron.

Sand-filtration is not always necessary ; subsidence in large
tanks or reservoirs frequently answers equally well, for the iron
possesses the property of curdling together the impurities like
isinglass, and causing them to subside quickly, which, before
treatment, they would not do in any reasonable time.

The stock of iron required on the system described is very
small ;a machine to deal with 500 gallons per minute holds a
charge of about one ton and a quarter, and the rate of use, in-
cluding fine particles washed away in the first instance, is, with
the worst waters, less than 15 lbs. weight per million gallons.
The cost of the iron is about 6/. per ton for large quantities, and
8/. for small.

With respect to the effect of iron on the sanitary condi-
tion of water, it is daily growing more and more certain that
the views held by Professor Bischof, Dr. Frankland, Dr. de
Chaumont, Dr. J. Lane Notter, Dr. Voelcker, Mr. Hatton, and
others who have examined the matter, are correct, namely, that
not only does the iron oxidize or burn up obnoxious organic
impurities held in solution, and therefore incapable of separa-
tion by mere filtration, and throw down salts which cause hard-
ness, but that the germs and living organisms, both animal and
vegetable, are killed, after sufficient, though by no means long,
exposure.

In the interesting discussion which followed the reading of
my paper at the Institution of Civil Engineers, Dr. Frank-
land dwelt upon the extraordinary vitality of germs and
organisms exposed to the action of powerful alkalies and acids,
and expressed surprise that they should be so powerfully
affected by a substance so neutral as iron.

It is certain, however, that the water in the purifiers is largely
deprived of its free oxygen, and the inference is highly probable
that many living organisms cannot consequently exist, and are,
in fact, smothered for want of air. In the revolving purifier it
is necessary to provide a cock for periodically letting off the
gases which collect. These gases are found to extinguish the
flame of a taper instantly, and on analysis are proved to contain
only 84 per cent. of oxygen. It is satisfactory to find, as a con-
firmation of the views of the eminent men above quoted, that the
inhabitants of Antwerp have been free from all epidemics,
although they have been for three years supplied with water
taken from a most offensive and discoloured tidal river, -a river
which flows through and drains a highly-farmed country, and
which takes the sewage of several large towns and many
villages.

There is no doubt that, by adopting purification of water by
spongy iron, almost any source can be made thoroughly fit for

Report of the Senior Steward of Implements at Shrewsbury. 689

dietetic purposes, and the effluent water of sewage purification
and sewage farming can be made not only unobjectionable,
but a decided gain to the stream into which it may flow. It
may further be remarked, that freedom from colour, bright-
ness, and palatability of water are no evidences of its purity in a
hygienic sense. Ithas been shown over and over again, as for
instance at Caterham during the epidemic of typhoid in 1879,
that such waters have held the germs of deadly diseases ; but it
is alrnost equally certain that, after treatment by iron, they
become perfectly safe and wholesome—in fact, the process of
purification by iron is a guarantee of the fitness of any water for
the use of man.

XXIII.— Report of the Senior Steward of Implements at Shrews-
bury. By Lord Moreton, M.P., Senior Steward.

IN writing the customary Report which is required from out-
going Stewards, I need not enter into any detailed account
either of the mechanical novelties exhibited at the Show or of

. the Trials of Sheaf-binders which were held afterwards; both of

these subjects will be dealt with in the next number of the
‘ Journal’ by the able pen of Mr. Thomas Bell.

I am glad to be able to congratulate the Society on the
success of this year’s Show. They were extremely fortunate in
the Showground, in the weather, and in the crowds who
thronged the ground. I hope the financial result will not lead
the Society to regret that, after an interval of thirty-nine years,
they revisited the ancient town of Shrewsbury.

The Working Dairy was again an object of great interest to
visitors. This year a change was made in this department,
horse-power being substituted for steam, to demonstrate that
expensive steam machinery is not an absolute necessity in this
important branch of farming. The unfortunate accident (happily
not so serious as it at first appeared) to one of the dairymaids
cast the only cloud over what was otherwise a most fortunate
week.

The Trials of Sheaf-binders were held in August, a few miles
from Shrewsbury, and lasted a week; during this time the
weather was all that could be desired, indeed, those whose duty
required them to walk behind the competing machines will not
soon forget the intensity of the heat. Although the trials did
not prove very attractive to the general public, it would be
difficult to overrate their importance, being perhaps the most

690 Report of the Senior Steward of Implements at Shrewsbury.

thorough that this or any other Society has ever held. The
awards of the Judges were :—

Secrion I.—SHEAF-BINDING MACHINERY.

Cxiass 1.—First Prize of 1007. for a Sheaf-binding Reaper, the binding ma-
terial to be other than wire: awarded to Messrs. Hornsby and Sons,
Limited, for No. 4568.

Second Prize of 50/. for a Sheaf-binding Reaper, the binding material
to be other than wire: awarded to Messrs. J. and F. Howard, for No. 47.

Cuass 2.—Separate Sheaf-binder, the binding material to be other than wire.
Prize withheld.

Section IJ.—Ensiuace.

We have carefully tried the whole of the machines entered in this compe-
tition; we have not found any single machine that completely meets the
condition under which the prize was offered, viz. for an efficient machine for
cutting and elevating materials to be preserved in silos. We consider, how-
ever, that Messrs. Richmond and Chandler’s machine, No. 16380, is deserving

of high commendation for the efficiency of its arrangements for cutting the
materials,

MIscELLANEOUS.

Silver Medal to Burlingham, Innes, and Paternoster, Stand 87, for new
patent self-feeding motion attached to Article No. 1709, as an efficient safety
guard to the feeder of the machine.

Silver Medal to Richard Hornsby and Sons, Limited, Stand No. 262,
Article No. 4606, for Plough marked L. M., fitted as a gripping plough, with
steel breasts.

Tromas BELL.
Mason Cooke.
Wma. Scorson.

I should like to take this opportunity of urging upon all
exhibitors of implements the desirability of making a point of
reading over the rules of the Society every year when making
their entries. Many exhibitors seem to take it for granted that
. the rules and regulations relating to the exhibition of imple-
ments are never altered, thereby giving themselves much
unnecessary trouble, and adding very considerably to the work
of the Stewards.

In conclusion, I must heartily thank my brother Stewards and
all others with whom my work has brought me into contact, for
the unvarying kindness I have experienced at their hands from
the time 1 entered upon my stewardship at Reading till now,
when I step aside and make way for my successor.

( 691 )

XXIV.— The late George Turner. By JoHN CHALMERS
Morton, Editor of the ‘ Agricultural Gazette.’

THERE is not much of incident to be recorded in the quiet life
of a home-loving countryman, however active and public-
spirited he may have been. When one has spoken of industry
and enterprise and success upon a farm; of activity as a
Guardian of the Poor, as a Churchwarden, perhaps as a Magis-
trate, or as a member of a Highway Board; of kindliness,
good sense, and friendship as a neighbour ; of pursuits outside
the mere business of agriculture —country sport, political
activity, and the few other relations with the outside world
which such a life possesses—the story is complete.

So old a Member of the Society, however, as Mr. George
Turner,* and one so well known both in its Council-room and
in its Showyards, ought not to pass away without some reference
to our loss, in the pages of our ‘Journal.’ In Mr. Turner’s case
the agricultural side of the memoir dominates the whole. A
thorough countryman, he was energetic as a farmer—hearty,
serviceable, and kindly as a neighbour—keen and clever as
a sportsman: he had been especially useful as Chairman of
the Highway Board of his district: he was traditionally loyal
to the political party with which his family had been long
connected, and so good a countryman was a first-rate county
canvasser for his party: and his advice and help were invoked
and gladly accepted, not only by the political leaders who
appeared upon the scene at intervals, but constantly by neigh-
bours of every degree. It was through the Royal Agricultural
Society and its Council Chamber and its Showyards that he at
length became known to his brother farmers generally. Looking
back through the now long series of annual records, one finds
his name as taking first prizes for Devons “bred by himself”
so long ago as 1840 at Cambridge, and he was first at Shrews-
bury in 1845 for his “ pure Leicester sheep.” Both flock and
herd thus entered on a long career of success: and there is a
certain wistfulness in the feeling with which, in the earlier
volumes of the Society’s ‘ Journal,’ one who has attended nearly
all its Meetings from the first reads the constant succession of
awards to the same old name, beginning so early in the history
of the Society, and continuing so long.

Mr. George Turner was the second son of Mr. John Turner,
of Cadbury, Devonshire. He was born in 1793, and educated
at Tiverton; and after living for a year or two at home, he

* Mr. Turner was one of the original Members of the Society—elected in 1838 ;
and he had been a Member of the Council since 1845.

692 The late George Turner.

early took charge of a farm in his own neighbourhood, from
which, three years later, he migrated to a larger one at Barton,
near Exeter, of which he was the tenant during the greater part
of his active life. Holding ultimately 350 acres there, some
200 acres at Halescombe, smaller outlying farms elsewhere,
and upwards of 200 acres at Great Bowley, which was the
family property, he had at one time nearly 1100 acres in hand,
giving ample scope for all the agricultural skill and energy at
his command. His reputation as a farmer rests chiefly upon
his herd and flock, of which the credit must, for the most part,
be attributed to his own skill as a stock-breeder. The flock was,
however, to some extent selected by the father, who during many
years used to take an annual journey on horseback into some of
the eastern and midland counties, and on some of those occa-
sions brought back with him sheep from the flocks of Mr. Burgess
and other well-known Leicester breeders, paying occasionally
prices for rams rivalling the highest prices now reported.

Mr. Turner’s reputation as a Devon breeder hinges probably,
to some extent, on the herd handed down to him in the outset
of his career; but latterly, of course, and for half a century
and more, he had depended on his own skill in selection from
the material at his command. How great that skill was is
proved by the successes achieved at almost all the annual Shows
of the English Agricultural Society and those of the Bath and
West of England Society. From 1840 onwards the Barton flock
and herd won prizes at the annual Shows of the Royal Agricul-
tural Society ; and when the Bath and West of England Society
held its Meeting at Dorchester, of the thirteen cattle and sheep
sent, every one received a prize. From a list before me I see that
two first prizes were won at Cambridge and Liverpool in 1840
and 1841; four, three, four, and three at the succeeding Meetings
at Derby, Southampton, Shrewsbury, and Newcastle ; no fewer
than five at Gloucester, four at Lincoln, six at Carlisle in 1853,
1854, and 1855 ; and as many as eight at Canterbury in 1860.

He exhibited also at the International Show at Paris, where,
with Jonas Webb, he shared the honour of conducting the
Emperor and Empress round the English classes. He both
took prizes there, and sold the animals he exhibited. He had,
indeed, received more than five hundred prizes in all during
his career, ‘This unvarying success was of course due not only
to good judgment and skill in the selection of animals, but to
constant carefulness and industry in the management of the
farm. One of his most noteworthy characteristics was his
constant industry and activity, shown both on the farm and off
it. After a long day spent, whether in sport or in the fields,
there was no listless evening, but earnest occupation—reading,

The late George Turner. 693

correspondence, or accounts—engaged him. And though I have
no report to give of his farming apart from the successes of his
stock, yet one so energetic certainly did not fail to make the
land produce its utmost for both man and beast. Mr. Druce
speaks of the attention he devoted to the catch-meadow system
of irrigation, by which in Devonshire early green food is
provided for the flock. And at the Exeter Meeting of the
Royal Agricultural Society in 1850 a large party were wel-
comed on his farm, to whom he explained and illustrated the
process, letting the water on roughly and out of season for the
purpose.

Mr. Turner left the Barton farm some twenty years ago,
owing partly to political differences with the landowner ; and,
retiring to Great Bowley—a smaller occupation, his own pro-
perty—his business thereafter was to some extent restricted.
Still, however, his Devon cattle and his Leicester sheep were
annually sent for almost invariable success, until—his sons
leaving him, for the Church or the army, or for agricultural
occupation in another county—he at length concluded, not,
however, until he was past eighty years of age, to give up
business, The sale of his stock took place in 1881, at a period
of great agricultural depression, when, of course, they did not
realise such prices as he had obtained for them annually before.
Both Devon cattle and Leicester sheep are less distinctly in
the front rank among competing breeds than they used to be;
and it was with something of a disappointment that a long
agricultural career was brought to anend. Not, however, that
honours had been wanting of a kind most likely to give him
great pleasure. He was elected an honorary Vice-President of the
Bath and West of England and Southern Counties Association,
and he had received a very handsome gift of plate from his
neighbours on leaving Barton, on which the following words
were inscribed :—‘“‘ To Mr. George Turner, of Barton, in testi-
mony of the sense his numerous friends entertain of the
important benefits he has conferred on the Western Counties
by his persevering and successful efforts to improve the breed
of cattle, and his spirited and liberal conduct for the advance-
ment of the agricultural interest in all its branches.”

_ Mr. Turner retained his warmth for the agricultural interest
till the last. I had the pleasure to receive from him one of
the latest letters on public affairs he can have written. It
was dated June 28 of last year, and was written in answer to
a request for information on the promise of that year’s harvest.
“T send you,” he said, “ my opinion of the prospects of agri-
culture in this neighbourhood ; and my great age (within two
months of ninety) must be my apology for any mistakes that

694 The late George Turner.

I may make ;” and then follows a rather hopeful account of the
yield in Devonshire last year. Nor does he bate one jot of
hope, or even confidence, for British agriculture generally.
“] have just heard,” he says, “of a letter received by a neigh-
bour, from a man who emigrated from an adjoining parish to
this two years ago, wherein he says that beef is from 103d. to
14d. per lb., and bacon and lard 9d. in America, so that impor-
tations of ae will not ruin us.” The quotation is made, not
for the likelihood of the American report, but for the insight
which it gives into the heart and strength and hopefulness of a
veteran agriculturist. ‘Lean cattle are selling very high, and
leave but little margin for the grazier. Sheep are also dear, but
wool low. Pork cheap, but the mechanics will not eat it
because it is so. The labourers are better off than ever, having
high wages and a cheap loaf.

“T enclose a copy of a letter of mine,” he adds, “to the
‘Western Times’ of Exeter, which you can do as you please
with. I do not now attend the Council of the Royal Agri-
cultural Society, of which I am by twenty years the senior
member, being the only one left who helped (in my parish) in
my humble way, to form it with those great and good men, the
late Duke of Richmond, Lord Spencer, Messrs. Handley, Pusey,
Hobbs, Ransome, &c. ; and I had been an exhibitor up to 1881,
having won nearly 600 prizes from different societies; but I am
now content to criticise other judgments.”

His letter to the ‘Western Times’ is quite worth repro-
duction here, both for the portrait of himself which unwittingly
the writer gives, and for the good advice with which it ends :—
‘I quite agree with Lord Ebrington that the British farmer has
nothing to fear from the importation of animal food from
Australia, nor do I think from any other country. I also
believe that you will never see beef and mutton lower than at
the present time, nor will you ever see wheat at a higher average
price than at present; and I will briefly state my reasons for
thinking so. In the first place, our population is increasing
at least 500,000 a year, every one eating more animal food ;
next, we are 6,000,000 deficient of sheep ; 2,000,000 acres of
poor land are out of cultivation alread y, and 200,000 of the best
are taken up by railways. I have farmed (sometimes largely)
for sixty-five years. At the beginning I got more manual
labour done for one shilling than I now get for two, and if
the poor land only just paid at the time, when the produce
sold at one-third more, it must be worthless now; and all
the thin-skinned soils that won’t grow grass are dear at
any price. But I firmly believe that the best land in a
short time will be worth more than ever it was, and that we

The late George Turner. 695

shall have a difficulty in finding animal food sufficient for the
people.

‘With wheat it is very different, as it is very easy of transit,
and will be brought from all parts of the world, let the price be
what it may. I heye some relatives in California, where they
harvest, thresh, and winnow their wheat in the field without
rain, place it in sacks on the quay at the harbour, and wait
until the vessels come and take it away, If the labourer has
only to pay 6d. for his loaf instead of 9d., the remaining
3d. will go for meat. My advice to my brother-farmers is
—‘ Grow as much beef and mutton as you can, and as little
wheat.’ ”

It was to the herd and flock that Mr. Turner wisely looked for
any way out of our present difficulty that may be possible. It
was through the herd and flock that his own great contribution
to the agricultural improvement of his day was made. ‘“ He
had, in my opinion ”—I quote a letter with which I have been
favoured by Lord Bridport—“the best herd of Devons in
1862 of-any Devon breeder. In that year he left Barton, but
continued in a smaller way to breed cattle and sheep, main-
taining his reputation as a successful exhibitor until the last
few years of his life. I may mention that when His Royal
- Highness the Prince Consort established a herd of Devons
in Windsor Great Park, many of Mr. Turner’s contributed to
form it.”

With some particulars of this herd, as the reputation of many
successors rests upon it, I conclude this short memoir. The
following notes by the experienced hand of Mr. W. Housman
were written some years after Mr. Turner had left Barton.
They were published in the year 1870 in ‘Bell’s Weekly
Messenger.’ “It is now” (1870), he says, “more than fifty
years since Mr. Turner began to breed Devons. The first
portion of his stock was inherited from his father; and to that
he added, by purchase, infusions of the best ‘Quartly’ and
‘Davy’ blood obtainable, together with some good material
derived from the herd of Mr. Halse. Amongst the bulls
used by him in recent years, ‘Albert Victor’ (776) holds a
prominent place in his estimation, as a most valuable and
strongly impressive sire. He was bred by Mr. Turner himself,
from his cow ‘ Vaudine, a winner at the Royal and Bath
and West of England Shows. The sire of ‘Albert Victor’
was ‘Leotard’ (866), a son of ‘The Little Known’ (733),
whose descent in the maternal line (pure ‘ Quartly’ blood; he
was bred by Mr. John Quartly) traces to the Bristol ‘Royal’
first-prize cow ‘ Prettymaid,’ and the celebrated ‘ Curly’ family
of the late Mr. Francis Quartly. The male line of ‘The

VOL. XX.—S. S. 22

696 The late George Turner.

Little Known,’ taking, we mean, the succession of sires, is one of
peculiar splendour. ‘ Napoleon’ (259), a mediate sire, distin-
guished himself at the ‘Royal’ and Bath and West of England
Shows; ‘Duke of Devonshire’ (35), ‘Napoleon’s’ sire, was
a ‘Royal’ first winner; so was his sire, ‘Baronet’ (6), and
‘ Baronet’s’ sire, ‘ Quartly’s Prince of Wales’ (105) ; ‘ Prince
of Wales’s’ sire, ‘Prince Albert’ (102), was a winner at
Barnstaple; and ‘Prince Albert’s’ sire, ‘Hundred Guinea’
(56), won the ‘ Royal’ first prize in the Aged Class at Bristol.
Our Devon readers know very well that ‘Hundred Guinea’
was a son of the prize-winning ‘Sillifant’ (120), and that his
blood on both sides was derived from the patriarchal ‘ Forester’
(46), whose potent and favourable influence upon the Devon
race is so notorious among the initiated in Devon history as to
make the name of ‘ Forester’ one of the most familiar of their
household words. ‘ Albert Victor’ creditably followed the lead
of his ancestors, winning at the ‘Royal’ Show first prizes at
Plymouth and Leicester, on the former occasion as a calf, in
the latter Exhibition as an aged bull. He was also the winner
of a first prize at Falmouth (Bath and West of England) in
1868.

‘“‘ Mr, Turner’s present herd may be divided into three leading
general sections, of which his ‘ Lady’ tribe is one; the second
comprises the ‘May Dew’ family and others; and the third is
composed of ‘ Duchesses, eight or ten in number. Besides these,
he has three recently purchased at the sale of Mr. John Quartly’s
Devons, Mr. Philip Halse, of Molland, bred ‘Duchess Ist,’
the first-prize yearling at the Canterbury Royal, and now a fine
true-framed old cow of twelve years. The rest of the ‘ Duchess’
family Mr. Turner himself bred. ‘Duchess 2nd,’ a daughter
of the old cow, was by Mr. James Quartly’s ‘King of the
Bretons’ (659), the son of ‘ Napoleon’ (259) mentioned above,
and inheritor, therefore, of the same grand paternal ancestry
claimed by ‘The Little Known.’ It is worth notice that the
sire, as well as the dam of ‘Duchess 2nd,’ was a first-prize
winner at Canterbury; and ‘Duchess 2nd’ is herself in every
way worthy of her parentage.” Breeders of Devon Cattle will
probably thank the editor of the ‘ Journal’ for permitting this
reference to the history of Mr. Turner’s herd, from which many
of their own best strains have sprung.

There is little more to say. Mr. Turner, as his letter quoted
above, written in his last year, abundantly proves, retained his
warm interest in agriculture to the last. I have before me
a memorandum, in his own hand, of a journey made in 1877,
to his friend Sir Thomas Boughey, of Newport, Shropshire, in
which the home farm there is described as the cleanest and best

The late George Turner. 697

managed he had ever seen, and the home herd as “the best
eighty Devon cattle in England ;” and the farming notes of
what he saw on the way up and down are as hearty, bright,
and incisive as he could have written had he been fifty years
younger.

Mr. Turner was one of a family who had settled in Devon-
shire from time immemorial, and in the parish of Cadbury, on
the family estate, for two centuries and more. He thus was
thorough Devonshire, and is well designated in a newspaper
notice of his final sale :—“ George Turner, a worthy successor
of Arthur Young, of Bakewell, and of Coke, who has made
Devon famous in the agricultural world.”

The end was not long delayed. Born on August 1, 1793,
he died on June 1, 1884. Strong-voiced, resolute, and whole-
hearted to the end, the gallant old gentleman had ridden the
whole run with the hounds, a ten-mile point, coming in at the
death of the stag, so lately as 1876, in the eighty-fourth year
of his age. He had retained the management of his home-
farm throughout, without any help or interference. His broad-
brimmed white hat had been conspicuous for sixty years and
more wherever countrymen gathered, whether in market-place,
in Showyard, or in the field ; and there was hardly a grey hair
under it even at the last. ‘ Turner,” he once heard a whisper
in the midst of business at the Council table, on the occasion
of one of his last attendances, “what hair-dye is it that does
so well with you?” ‘Temperance, my lord,” was the prompt
reply ; “ you just try it!”

Mr. Turner is worthily succeeded in the agricultural world
by his second son George, who occupies the farm of Thorpe-
lands, near Northampton, where the pure Leicester flock
is still in existence, and whence it is annually sent to take
prizes in our Showyards. He had followed there another note-
worthy agriculturist, who has long since passed away—
Mr. Clarke Hillyard, whose book on the practice of farming
stands first upon the list of donations to our Library (see
‘ Journal,’ vol. i. 1840), and whose white head and ready tongue
I well remember many years ago as he descanted on the merits of
the prize Devon ox with which he had just taken the Gold
Medal of the Smithfield Club. Mr, Turner’s eldest son is the
Rev. W. B. Tumer, of Braywood Vicarage, near Windsor.
Another son is in business in Manchester; and his fourth son

is Major Turner, of the Bengal Staff Corps.

2 F 2

( 698 )

XXV.—Reports of the Honorary Consulting Entomologist. By
E1Lganor A. OrmeEroD, F.R.Met.Soc., Dunster Lodge, Isle-
worth, near London.

May, 1884.
The Hop Aphis.—I have pleasure in being able to report

that serviceable information has been sent in during the spring
regarding the first appearances of the hop aphis.

These have been observed both on the first shoots of the hop,
and on damsons, in the condition of wingless females, depositing
living young, commonly called “lice.” The specimens which
were forwarded to me from hop-shoots were of the true hop aphis,
Aphis (Phorodon) humuli, those from the damson I consider to be
of the variety of the hop aphis, known as the Aphis (Phorodon)
humuli, var. Malaheb, which is the kind or variety which is
believed by many observers to spread on the wing from damsons
and sloes to hops.

The first specimens of these “‘damson-hop” aphides were
forwarded to me on damson-buds, from Kent, on the 25th of
March, and the lice on the shoots sent were numerous.

On the 29th of March lice of the hop aphis (of which speci-
mens were forwarded) were found on young shoots of hops
on many hills in a “Grape” hop-ground at Barming, near
Maidstone, by Mr. Whitehead, and in most cases where the
small lice were observed, a large active wingless viviparous
female was also observed near them. Shortly after the above
date more lice were reported from the same hop-ground, and
they were also found by other hop-growers near Maidstone. On
the 31st of March “lice” were found on “Grape” hops at
Wateringbury ; on the Ist of April they were found on young
shoots at Crouch, near Sevenoaks, and on the 14th of April
wingless females were observed, after careful search, in a hop-
ground near Hereford.

We have thus clear proof of attack, beginning in various
localities by means of the deposit of lice by wingless females,
which females it appears impossible to suppose have arrived on
the young hop-shoot by any other means than that of walking
up from the hill, be it out of the ground, or out of the hop con-
tained init. I have therefore suggested the application of such
dressings to the surface of the hill as might be likely to poison
the wingless females, or at least keep them from crawling up
through matter, which should be obnoxious to them, but at
the same time not be hurtful to the surface rootage, or to the
young hop-shoots pushing up through the application.

Reports of the Honorary Consulting Entomologist. 699

Experiments on this point are being carried on with lime,
lime and salt, and also with ashes sprinkled with paraffin; and
I am myself trying the effect of spent gas-lime (that is gas-lime
which has been exposed for about eight months), applied as a
thin layer on the ground, around the pushing shoots, and I do
not see that any injury has been caused by it.

With regard to the attack which is considered (and, as far as
I can judge, with much reason for this opinion) to come on the
wing later in the season to hops from damsons and sloes, there is
great need of more precise information, and it would be very
desirable to have specimens forwarded for minute examination
as soon as the “fly” appears on the upper part of the hop
shoots.

The true hop aphis, the Phorodon humuli, is well known, and
under the microscope is distinguishable by the lowest joint of
the horns being bluntly toothed or gibbous, and also by the
tubercles on the forehead having a tooth on the inner side.

The Phorodon humuli, var. Malaheb, is recorded as _ being
found on damsons, sloes, and plums, and is considered by many
qualified observers to migrate from damsons, &c., to hops—there-
fore to save trouble I call it here the “damson-hop” aphis.
This much resembles the true hop aphis, but is described scien-
tifically as not having the tubercles on the forehead so much
developed as in the case of the wingless viviparous female.
There is great difference of opinion as to which genus of aphides
this kind should be placed in, and from specimens sent me I
incline to think that the characteristics, so far as amount of
forehead tubercle are concerned, are very variable, but it may
be distinguished from two other kinds which often infest plums
or damsons as follows. The viviparous females are green,
whereas those of the Myzus cerasi, often found on cherries and
plums, and of which the pale lice in their early state much re-
semble hop-lice, are wholly black, saving an occasional clouding
with green.

The Aphis pruni, or common plum aphis,* is, as far as I see,
always without frontal tubercles. I mention these points as
some guide to observers who wish to enter on them, but at the
- same time beg to submit that what we most urgently want just
now is plain practical experiment. It is certain that hop-lice
(irrespective of their scientific names) have been clearly seen in
many different localities, being deposited by wingless females,
and it is of some importance to notice that these were first
observed by a well-skilled grower, but (though numerous) had

* The above characteristics are mainly taken from the ‘ Monograph of British
Aphides,’ by G. B. Buckton, F.R.S.

700 = Reports of the Honorary Consulting Entomologist.

not been noticed by the labourers; and the other observations
sent to me were by qualified observers after special search.

I therefore submit that it is likely that the wingless females
were depositing lice as freely in many places where they were
not observed, and that now is the time, if not already too late,
to check a large part of the coming attack.

Attack may very likely come later in the season on the wing,
also it is very likely that the circumstance of these females
depositing living young so early in the season may be unusual,
and an effect of the very mild winter. But in any case, now
they are at work, it is of great importance to check attack, and
any experiments, even if only applied to two or three hills, to
find how to clear off what are on the shoot, or to prevent more
creeping up out of the hills, would be of great service, and if on
a larger scale, of proportionate value.

Attach of Grubs of Daddy-longlegs.—This has been reported
as occurring to a very injurious extent to corn crops after clover
Jey, and broken up grass pasture, and also in grass, at various
localities both in England and Ireland. From the great number
of the flies which were noticeable in the autumn, it appeared
likely that such would be the case (see ‘ Journal of Royal Agri-
cultural Society,’ 1884, part 1, p. 325), unless means were
then taken to prevent attack. For measures to carry the young
corn over the attack, as far as can be done now the grub is
present, I am advising the use of fertilisers, and also rolling
with the Cambridge roller, or Crosskill’s clod-crusher; for
although rolling by day is not at all certain to kill many of the
grubs, as they are not then on the surface, it consolidates or
“firms ” the ground, so that the grubs cannot travel freely from
-one plant to another.

The grubs dislike light and heat, and come on the surface at
night, and, in examinations lately made, were found in great
numbers on the surface of the infested field at 1 am. From
this and other observations it appears that if the heavy rolling
could be applied after sunset, or before sunrise, that a much
larger number of grubs would be destroyed. Experiments re-
garding this point have been promised on badly attacked land
in Devon and in Lincolnshire, and the results will be reported.

For fertilising applications I am suggesting a mixture of
guano and salt, applied at the rate of 4 cwt. the acre; or of a
mixture at the rate, per acre, of guano, 14 cwt.; salt, 2 cwt. ;
and kainite and superphosphate, 1 cwt. each.

Either of these mixtures has been found useful in checking
attack, and as guano has been found to injure some kind of
insects, and salt helps to make the surface tenacious, there
appear to be reasons for their good effect, besides the manurial

Reports of the Honorary Consulting Entomologist. 701

properties. But as the expense of dressing is very heavy, I may
add I have had notes of failure of effect from the following
applications, namely :—of salt, at the rate of 3 cwt. the acre,
over a 17-acre field ; of heavy dressing of soot to 3 acres; of
quicklime to 4 acres; and a dressing of salt of 2 tons, mixed
with half a ton of nitrate of soda, on about 12 acres of land, did
not kill the grubs, though it thinned them.

Where the crop has been so totally destroyed that re-sowing
was necessary, I have replied to enquiry on this point, that it
would be mere waste of money to sow till the grubs were
cleared ; also I have suggested that scarifying the surface, so as
to turn up the leather jackets to the birds, would be better than
ploughing, as these grubs can stand want of all food, excepting
what they may obtain from the earth, for certainly three weeks,
and would gradually work their way up without having been
injured.

I have not as yet advised hand-picking to clear infested
ground before cultivation for re-sowing, but I fully believe that
where the grubs are to be found (as sometimes is the case) as
numerously as upwards of thirty just below the surface in two
feet in a drill row, that it would answer thoroughly to have them
collected at some small sum per stated measure.

Notes have not been as yet sent in of the effects of nitrate of
soda used alone; but as I have found on experiment that the
immediate effect on the grub was to make it entirely evacuate
all its contents, it might very likely act as a deterrent as well as
a fertiliser. Mixed with dissolved bones, it has proved service-
able in raising good grass free from attack where the ground
had been re-sown after attack. I have also found a light
sprinkling of gas-lime, which had been exposed upwards of a
month to air, useful in preventing attack being set by the daddy
longlegs’ flies when present on grass, and for autumn use a
heavy dressing of spent gas-lime on grass, or fresh gas-lime
where the land is to be broken up, answers well.

Injury to Osiers—An enquiry of some importance has been
sent from Northallerton regarding injury to shoots or stocks in
osier grounds from the attack of a red maggot, nearly allied
to the red maggot of the wheat, which proved (as far as could
be seen in this stage) to be the larva of the Cecidomyia salici-
perda of Dufour.

The grubs are oval, legless, and orange coloured, and furnished
with a dark-coloured horny four-pronged process, placed below
the head. These grubs lie in small cells (which they have
scraped for themselves in some way, and [ rather think, from
examination, by the help of the above process) just beneath the
bark or within the wood of the shoot, and in the specimens sent

702 ~=Reports of the Honorary Consulting Entomologist.

these cells were placed so closely side by side, that sometimes
the whole surface beneath the bark was pitted with them, and
in all cases the bark was so completely loosened and destroyed
for a length of some inches, that it was peeling off in ragged
flakes, and consequently the shoot above would certainly
perish.

The grubs were (about the middle of April) turning to
chrysalids in their cells ; these chrysalids are of a bright scarlet
colour, and show the shape of the future gnat midge, and are
peculiar from having two upright horns, or sharp somewhat
triangular ear-like processes on the head. The midges come
out about the beginning of May, and are in shape much like the
wheat midge (figured in the ‘ Journal’ of the Society, part i.
1884, p. 329); the colour is of various shades of brown or
grey.

The best way to prevent the renewal of attack is to remove
all the infested shoots from the osier ground, early enough in the
year to ensure the grub being carried off in the sticks, or
destroyed, by burning the pieces that are absolutely worthless,
before the time comes when it will develop to midges. The _
beginning of April would be quite early enough for this, and
where, as in the instance reported, the osiers are spring cut,
there would be little loss or difficulty in this treatment. Shoots
left, on account of smallness for cutting, to run to a second year
appear particularly liable to attack, plainly in consequence of
being present in order for egg-laying, when the midge develops.

Other applications have been sent to me relating to crop pests
and measures of prevention of insect injury, both home and
colonial, to which I have carefully attended. Some information
has already been forwarded in reply to the Society’s circular
regarding maggots in manure. This at present chiefly refers to
daddy-longlegs grubs.

These have been found in cattle-droppings on pasture land ;
also in very large numbers in rotten turf which had been cut
and piled in the autumn; and also with other grubs in decayed
weeds and other vegetable matter left heaped during winter
for experiment.

Full details of these and other observations in progress will
be given in due course. I have forwarded about 300 of the
Society’s circulars to observers, and have reason to hope forsome
serviceable returns.

The Warble Fly.— beg further to submit that my attention
has been directed to the yearly injury to horned cattle, and
the depreciation in the value of hides caused by the attaek
commonly known as “ warbles.”

Reports of the Honorary Consulting Entomologist. 703

From careful study of the history of the ox bot-fly, or warble-
fly—the (strus (Hypodermus) bovis—joined to the recent
experiments made by Mr. Stratton, there does not appear to be
any doubt that from the time that the first ulceration takes
place, by which an opening is formed into the coming swelling,
that the maggot within can be rapidly and surely killed, with
little trouble or expense.

In Mr. Stratton’s recent experiments, the simple application
of a little mercurial ointment, placed on the orifice, killed the
maggot. A little arsenite of copper (commonly known as Paris
Green, or Scheele’s Green) likewise killed the maggot, but
caused some slight inflammation; and a little pitch served the
same purpose, excepting in one instance, where the maggot was
not quite certainly dead on examination. The mercurial oint-
ment acted the best, as it not only killed the maggot, but rapid
decomposition followed.

These applications were tried when the warble was in the
advanced stage it attains in spring, but would, as far as we see,
act equally well as early as about October of the previous year.
The warble-fly deposits her egg during the summer, and the
maggot, which takes its position within the lower layers of the
hides, is at first quite smooth in its skin, and lies without
. Causing noticeable harm, and also, as far as is known, without
communication with the air; but afterwards (at its first moult)
it gains a skin set with patches of minute prickles, by means of
which irritation, and then ulceration, is set up, and the opening
formed.

This takes place towards autumn, and by passing the hand
along the back and loins of the cattle, the warble may be_
detected as soon as it is as large as a nut; and early attention
would be of great service to the cattle, and further is of great
importance relatively to saving loss on the warbled hide.

At first the cavity is very small, and whilst it is still only a
small sore, healing will readily take place on removal of the
cause of irritation ; but after some months, when the maggot has
nearly attained its full size, it has been found, by the observa-
tions of German anatomists, that a growth which much re-
sembles that of the various layers of true skin has formed over
the inner surface of this maggot-inhabited hole in the hide;
consequently, when the maggot has left it, although the cell
may draw together, there appears good reason why the already
healed surfaces should not unite.

Other points in the habits of the fly may be brought to bear
on reducing the amount of attack, and when it is advanced, such
methods of action as pricking the grub, or squeezing it from the
warble, will destroy it; but the measures needed are those

704 Reports of the Honorary Consulting Entomologist.

which can be applied easily, and so early in the progress of the
attack as to save the winter presence of the grub, and I believe
that going over the herds once or twice in the autumn, and
supplying a little mercurial ointment, would easily and surely
meet this point.

But although the entomological part of the attack is plain,
still it involves questions of cattle-treatment with which I am
not fully competent to deal, and I therefore submit my views
respectfully for consideration, and shall be happy to give full
details of the life-history and habits of the warble-fly, if
wished,

JULY, 1884.

I beg to report that during the last two months I have
received about twenty communications regarding methods of
prevention of insect-ravage, and points bearing practically on
this subject.

These have been mainly with regard to warble-fly on cattle,
daddy-longlegs’ grubs, wireworm, willow-beetles,—which have
been seriously injurious in Cheshire,—and beet-carrion beetle,
an unusual attack, which was reported from Mageney, Kildare,
Ireland; and also many communications on the subject of hop
aphis, which is proving a most serious trouble this season; and
communications regarding practical instruction bearing on the
prevention of insect-ravage.

Inquiries regarding the name (and treatment of attack) of many
other insects have been sent in; but as many of the observations
are in progress, to be brought forward more completely, with
illustrations, in the autumn report, I beg leave now only to enter
on some points possibly serviceable for present use.

The appearance of the beet-carrion beetle (Silpha opaca,
Linn.) has been considered, on the few occasions when it has |
been recorded in these islands, as very probably taking place in
connection with the mixture of what is described as “ garbage”
with the farm-manure—that is to say, the mixture of dead
animals, or portions of them. This beetle and its grub infest
putrid animals, but the grub is also occasionally destructive to
mangold-leafage.

The grubs when full grown are nearly half an inch long,
blackish, and remarkably like wood-lice in shape. The beetles
are not so long, are very flat, and of a squarish oval shape,
and brown-black in colour, and may be known by the edges of
the wing-cases being turned up, and by having a raised lump
between the two outer of the three ridges that run down each
wing-case.

Reports of the Honorary Consulting Entomologist. 705

As the recorded attacks of the grub do not appear to have
extended beyond from about May 20th till the latter end of
June, this is one of the cases in which stimulating dressings,
such as nitrate of soda, superphosphate, or other applications
which will keep up the growth of the leafage until the grub has
left it, are particularly serviceable. Also care should be taken
not to plough up a crop damaged by this grub too soon, for if
the centres are left in the mangolds when the time for the grub
to change comes, the plants may very probably, in the end, turn
out little the worse for the temporary attack.

Attack of the mangold-leaf maggot is now beginning ; and in
this case also (when attack is set up) almost the only serviceable
treatment appears to be the application of stimulating dressings
suitable for encouraging an immediate hearty growth. Nitrate
of soda seems to do best; but guano, superphosphate, or any
rapidly acting fertiliser, would probably act as well. Pinching
out the blister with the maggot in it, or drawing the maggot-
infested plants and destroying them, does good by preventing
the second attack, which would have arisen from these maggots
(when they left the leaves) turning to chrysalids, and thence to
flies ; but for the time being this treatment does almost as much
harm to the leafage as the mining of the maggot.

It would be very useful if notes were sent in whether this
attack was prevalent on land which had been autumn, rather
than spring cultivated.

Attack of hop aphis is becoming very threatening. Many
communications have been sent in, accompanied by specimens,
which I have carefully examined microscopically, and in many
cases figured, as far as requisite, with a view of showing in the.
autumn report the points of difference between the true “ hop
aphis,” Phorodon humuli, and the true “ plum aphis,” the Aphis
pruni; and likewise the kind (whether a different species or
only a variety) scientifically known as the Phorodon humult,
var. Malaheb, but which, from being found both on hops and
damsons, may be conveniently called the hop-damson aphis.

With regard to the origin of attack. It began on the hops
very early this year, by means of wingless females coming up
from the hills and depositing live young. So far as this first
attack goes, it appears to me it might be prevented by prac-
ticable treatment.

In the acre of trial ground at Stoke Edith, which I am per-
mitted the use of by the courtesy of Lady Emily Foley, the hops
which were dressed over the surface of the ground of their hills,
early in the season, with various applications to prevent the
female aphides coming up, remained clean from attack until
May 26th; whereas those in the other part of the same hop-

706 Reports of the Honorary Consulting Entomologist.

garden were infested by wingless females and lice on the under-
side of the leaves, Likewise a plant isolated from all outside
attack (of which the ground was treated last autumn to pre-
vent or destroy lodgment of aphis) has remained quite clean
from attack.

When the “ fly” came, the acre of plants was infested by the
pest on the wing like the others.

With regard to where the attack of “ fly” —that is, of aphis
in the winged state—comes from, there appears to be good
reason to believe that it comes both from neighbouring hops,
and also from damsons and sloes, which, from specimens sent to
me as early as March and onwards, I find to be infested with
the variety of hop aphis considered by many entomologists to
infest both hops and various kinds of plums. On June 28th I
received from Wateringbury, Kent, freshly gathered sloe-sprays
loaded with aphides, which, after long and careful micro-
scopical comparison with the true hop aphis, I. consider to be
the hop-damson aphis, Phorodon humuli, var. Malaheb.

I think, therefore, that it is very likely indeed that a portion of
the attack comes on the wing from sloes and damsons, but by no
means all, as there are differences in form (as far as I see) in
these two kinds or varieties: and from information sent in
up to this date it appears to me that if, as far as hop-grounds
go, measures were taken to prevent the hills being in-
fested when the aphides are leaving the hop-bines in autumn, or
were so treated by dressings laid on them in the spring that the
hop aphis could not crawl up through the application, that it
would make a great difference in the amount of first attack,
and necessarily diminish the amount of hop “ fly ” that would
be produced on the bines.

But, further, I certainly consider that the complete removal of
sloe hedges, and also, where damsons are grown, dressing over the
ground beneath them as suggested above, would be very likely
indeed to lessen the amount of these pests on the hops near.

In experiments which I have tried in my own garden, | have
found that a good sprinkling of gas-lime in spring, on the surface
of the ground through which the hop-shoots were coming up,
did no harm at the time, and the plants are growing well now.

Experiments are in progress relatively to additions to the
usual soft-soap washes which may be of use, and which will be
reported ; but, as far as appears at present, it is prevention by
treatment beforehand that needs working out, for remedies are
necessarily both enormously expensive and not always of service.

With regard to ox warble-fly, excellent communications are
being sent in, and arrangements being made for further ob-
servations and reports on the few points still needed.

Reports of the Honorary Consulting Entomologist. 707

From specimens sent of the warble in hides recently removed
from the animal, I have found that when the grub within has
reached its full development, late in the spring, that a kind of
skin has formed round all the upper part of the surface of the
perforation through the hide, which appears quite to account
for the perforation frequently (if not always) not healing
perfectly after the grub has left it. The point of killing the
maggot in the warble is easily managed, and, if this could be
done at the first beginning of the formation of the warble, whilst
the sore was still small and unhealed, instead of when after
some months the grub cavity is large, and the upper part healed
over all round the opening, a great amount of injury to cattle,
and their hides, and loss to the owners would be saved.

The great point that we now want information on is when
the first swelling and ulceration of the warble, and the opening
of the small orifice (in which the black extremity of the grub is
visible), takes place.

On the Continent this is stated to be in autumn ; here I have
not as yet received information of the warble being noticed
earlier in-the winter than January. In this matter the skinners’
or butchers’ assistants, who have the opportunity of seeing the
swelling of the warble plainly in the subcutaneous tissues of the
hide, would be the best helpers. We might thus learn when

-it was first seen in various districts, and attention be thus
directed in good time to the cattle of herds commonly infested.

A great deal of assistance is beiag given on these and other
points from the district of Aspatria, Cumberland ; and I wish to
acknowledge with thanks the assistance of Mr. Henry Thomp-
son, the veterinary surgeon there, in sending specimens and
procuring co-operation in observation throughout that neighbour- _
hood. The result of the observations now in progress, as to
egg-laying on the cattle, date of appearance of warble, and
other details, will be submitted in the autumn report, with
details also of the washes and applications to the backs of the
cattle which have been found preventive of attack, and all other
points which may be of practical use. I have prepared a
series of illustrations of the warble-fly attack, and some con-
nected points, which, if permitted, I shall be happy to place
at the service of the Society.

Enquiries have been received respecting the great outbreak
of the grass-moth caterpillars on the Ystradyfodwg mountains,
and other localities, beginning at Bwlchyclawdd, near Rhondda,
in South Wales. Specimens sent appear to belong to the
antler moth, the Chareas graminis, which appears from time to
time in vast hordes; but it is very possible that there may be
one or two other kinds of moth caterpillars nearly allied in

708 Reports of the Honorary Consulting Entomologist.

habits also present. Specimens have also been sent of the small
green willow-beetle, the Phratora vittilina, which had been
causing serious injury to willow grounds near Lymm, Cheshire,
but was met by most careful and judicious co-operative mea~
sures on the part of the growers.

To all these and other applications sent in I have given the
best attention in my power.

Aveust, 1884,

Autumn Treatment for Prevention of Daddy Longlegs attack.—
During this year, as well as on previous occasions, I have
received many communications showing the great prevalence of
daddy-longlegs’ grubs in crops put in after broken-up pasture
or clover ley.

The undisturbed state of the surface leafage in such situations
just suits the flies for egg-laying, and (when merely turned
down by the plough) the grub easily comes up again to the
crop. Any measures which will disturb the surface or make it
poisonous to the hatching grubs are certain to be of use.

Brush harrowing does some good by tearing up much of the
surface rubbish in which the fly lays; penning and hand-
feeding sheep makes the land obnoxious for egg-laying, and the
trampling and sodden state of surface kills any stray grubs.

Early breaking up is very useful, as the fly looks for moist
places, and this operation presents them instead with the dry and
bare underside of the land-slice. But where special treatment
is not convenient, much good may be done by applying in good
time (that is as soon as, or before, the daddy flies appear) such
regular agricultural dressings as will destroy the top herbage,
and thus prevent it attracting the flies, and will likewise kill the
hatching grub, and in due time, when mixed and worked by
cultivation, be useful for manure.

Heavy dressings of lime fresh from the kiln, and spread hot ;
gas-lime at the rate of about 2 cwt. the acre, if caustic, or in larger
proportion after some six months’ exposure ; salt at from 6 to
12 cwt. ; and lime and salt mixed, may all be expected to be ser-
viceable. Salt acts well at about 10 cwt. per acre by also
destroying couch or twitch; and gas-lime is useful as rather
increasing than lessening the value of the farmyard-manure
applied, and likewise preventing small lumps spread about from
becoming shelters for attack.

It is no harm to kill the surface vegetation at the autumn
dressing, and the heavy application, when mixed in the land,
will do nothing but good to the next crop.

Winter cultivation cannot be trusted to as a means of getting

Report of the Consulting Botanist. 709

rid of “grub,” as it can be with caterpillars, for the “ leather-
jacket-grubs” will bear being frozen stiff without being injured,
and also will bear being under water of ordinary temperature
for at least a couple of days and nights without being drowned.
But thoroughly good cultivation, to put the land in such good
heart as will send the crop growth well on, is of great service in
case attack does occur, and will often save the need of special
applications to press it on afterwards.

The above treatment is equally serviceable for the prevention
of wireworm, and dressings of lime, or gas-lime, have been re-
ported as especially useful in preparing land to prevent attack
of the turnip and cabbage-root maggot.

XXVI.— Report of the Consulting Botanist.
By W. CarrurTuers, F.R.S,

JuLy, 1884.

THE work of examining and testing seeds has considerably in-
creased during the current year. Five hundred and forty-three
.samples have been, up to this time, submitted to me. In too
many cases the seeds have been sent just before they are wanted
to be sown, and the report of the germination has come too late
to be of practical use. It is overlooked that the germination,
while it is hastened by artificial appliances, is a matter of
time, and that a report of the results would be untrustworthy
if it were sent before the experiment had exhausted itself, .
would be unfair to the seedsman, and, moreover, of no value ina
case of law.

The general result of the examination of the seeds this year
is, that there is a decided improvement in the quality of the
seeds. Take, for example, the seeds of the meadow fescue. In
1883, I found only 26 per cent. of the samples of this grass
free from rye-grass. This year the percentage has risen to 70;
and even the adulterated samples have less of the rye-grass intro-
duced, for only 4 per cent. had over 50 per cent. of rye-grass
this year, as compared with 16 per cent. last year. In the fox-
tail a still more gratifying result has to be reported. Last year
no less than 40 per cent. of the samples failed to reach the low
standard adopted for this grass by the Council ; while this year
I have not had before me a single sample that has not ger-
minated more than 20 per cent., and nearly half of the samples
have germinated more than 50 per cent, This fully justifies

710 Report of the Consulting Botanist.

the raising of the standard for this grass, and is a very important
result of the Society’s work.

The presence of ergot has been more abundant in the samples
of fiorin examined this year than recently. I have detected it in
samples of other grasses, but only very rarely ; but some singularly
good examples of fiorin were rendered worse than useless by the
presence of this most dangerous parasite. No less than 60 per
cent. of the fiorins were thus affected. In one case, where a
quantity had been purchased by a member of the Society, who
had specially contracted that it should be free from ergot, though
it was found to be a remarkably good sample, it was very badly
ergoted. Unfortunately he had used a portion of it in a mix-
ture which he had sown on a five-acre pasture adjoining some
good marsh-land before receiving my report, and had also
mixed the remainder with other seeds, which were thus rendered
useless. In reply to his complaint, the seedsman informed him
that he had only a day or two before discovered the ergot in
the seed, and then sought to minimise the injury by pointing
out the smallness of the ergot. The ergot of fiorin, however,
though very small, is as fully capable of developing the disease
in the other grasses of the pasture as the more bulky and
obvious ergots of the larger grasses.

The substitution of the worthless wavy mountain hair-grass
(Aira flexuosa) for golden oat-grass continues to a very serious
extent ; no less than three-quarters of the specimens. submitted
to me as golden oat-grass consisted entirely of this worthless
substitute.

The presence of dodder in clovers has been this year more
abundant; in one-fifth of the samples of red clover, and one-
fourth of those of alsike, the seeds of this parasite have been
more or less abundant.

The most important step taken this year towards securing
the best seeds has been the guaranteeing by various firms in the
seed-trade the purity and germination, subject to the examination
of an experienced botanist. The result has been most satis-
factory, and has fully established that a guarantee can be safely
given by the dealer who has determined for himself the quality
of the seed he is selling. I have examined three series of
samples that I have known to be guaranteed, and the guarantees
of which have been communicated to me. From correspondence
{ know that guarantees have been given in other cases, but the
nature of the guarantee has not been communicated to me, I
have no information as to the merchant from whom the first and
second series of samples were obtained, but from the correspond-
ence in the guarantees for each sample of the three series I
assume that they have been supplied by the same seedsman.

Report of the Consulting Botanist. vt

The third series of samples I examined twice, first the samples
submitted by the merchant, and then samples drawn from the
bulk supplied, the purchase of which was dependent on the
analysis and trials being up to the standard specified in the
guarantee. The following are the results of the four independent
examinations.

|
| iT.
Guarantee] Trial, | ‘Tr | Tre | ‘tue

Meadow Fescue.. .. .. .. 90-95 95 94 98 96
Tall Fescue <8 Re 80 37 | 491 90 87
Hard Fescue .. A 85-90 =e 85 83 92
Rough Meadow Grass seats 70 55 =| ~— 86 88 91
Timothy Se ate ae 95 100 |} 99 95 99
OS So) 90 92 | 94 92 88
(prc | ee 90 98 95 97 95
Foxtail = en 70 67 67 80 75
Red Clover Bt at ge ee 90-95 #3 99 90 98
Alsike.. . Se eee 90-95 re 95 94 98
White Clover Saegse es. as | 2 d0=99 # 94 100 94
VS a ae ee 75 90 81 86 83

The guarantees given above are those for the samples in the
third and fourth trials. The only variations in regard to the
samples for the other trials were as follows :—For the first trial
samples the meadow-fescue was guaranteed 90 per cent., the
dogstail 85 to 90 per cent., and no guarantee was given with
the yarrow, at least no guarantee was communicated to me; for
the second trial samples the meadow-fescue was guaranteed
95 per cent., the hard fescue 85 per cent. the yarrow was
guaranteed “ "good germination,” and the three clovers 95 per
cent,

The only real divergence from the guarantee was in the case
of the sample of meadow-grass in the first series; I am unable
to account for this exception. Before giving the result of the
year’s work in my Annual Report, I will again test this sample,
with the view of ascertaining the explanation. For the re-
mainder of the samples it is obvious that the merchant or mer-
chants, while guaranteeing a high germinating percentage, were
supplying seeds of such ascertained quality that they were more
than able to cover their high guarantee.

VOL. XX.—S. S. 3A

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